Cozy Glow: Psychology PhD

by Jmaster49

Rating: teen
Tags: Sad, Drama, Original Character, Cozy Glow, Raven Inkwell, Slice of Life, Cheerilee, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Flurry Heart
Length: 16275

Cozy Glow, having been given a new life, is now a psychiatrist working to help troubled children that were just like her.

Thanks to the efforts of Pale Vestige and Cheerilee, Cozy Glow now has a better life where she can focus on rekindling the troubled youth who were once like her. Join her and see how she does it.

(In honor of the one-year anniversary of Interviews With Equestrians!)

Published 2021-08-14 05:20:01 UTC
Last updated 2022-10-05 21:36:39 UTC

Teaser

My life was forever changed thanks to the efforts of dad. Pale Vestige--the best detective in all of pony history. He was the one who saved me from my stony prison. When I got out, my body had aged along with time and I was instantly thrust into being a grown mare in a world that I didn’t quite understand. That’s where mom came in. She did so much to help me comprehend why everything is the way it is while dad continued to work hard for us--oh! I guess I should mention that Cheerilee Vestige is my mom.

And yes, they had gotten married.

It was a super awesome thing that happened a little over four years ago now. Easily my favorite part of life. Of course, I also had lots of amazing friends as well. Chiefly of which being Flurry Heart. She had been one of the main ones who looked out for my sake and made sure I was treated fairly despite all of my past troubles. Oh, and she was about to be married to Pound Cake soon. Well, more like engaged. They were too young to get married just yet, but you knew they loved each other just from the way they both kept each other safe, supported each other, and did their best to resolve their problems in a civil way.

Wonder if they got any of their skills from watching mom and dad?

Anyhow, the most important part was that I now had a full-time career. I was now a psychiatrist. I worked with living beings who have suffered through a lot of trauma and needed guidance to get them back on the right track. It worked in tandem with my family. Dad would investigate and find the troubled individuals and bring them to me. I’d do my best to rehabilitate them. And if necessary, I would send them to Cheerilee for some special tutoring so they could find new families.

Everything worked perfectly between us. Allow me to show you.

So the way things work is that I do my job closely alongside Raven Inkwell. She’s been in the psycho-therapy profession for quite a few years now. And by a few, I mean a super long time. We’re talking decades! Anyway, whenever I get a case to deal with, Raven gives me the rundown of my patient and I try my hoof at communication. If that doesn’t work, then I request assistance from her. But usually, I tend to do just fine on my own. Watch me!

One day, as usual, I waited at my desk with my glasses on. Yeah, I needed them because all of the extra reading I did caused me to have blurry vision. But it was worth it to keep doing my job. Anyhow, I waited and eventually heard a knock at my door.

TAP-TAP!

“Come in!” I said as I glanced at the door.

As always, the white earth pony answered the door to tell me what had been going on. “Dr. Glow,” she addressed me, “I have a patient for you. I think it’ll be simple enough for you to tackle solo as I’ve been letting you do recently. Are you up for it?”

“Sure,” I agreed with a nod, “Who is it?”

Inkwell flipped over a clipboard. “...A colt. Whip Whirlwind is his name.”

“What’s his diagnosis?”

“Cutie Mark Trouble,” she explained, “Feels as if his cutie mark doesn’t really fit who he is. Do you think you can help him?”

CMT. A very common affliction among the youth of ponies. Something I had dealt with often on this job, so it’ll serve as a good introduction to how I operate.

“Of course,” I assured her with a smile, “Bring him in as soon as possible.”

About a few minutes later, I watched as the little green pegasus colt entered my room. I had taken a seat on a chair next to the therapy couch where I invited him to sit. “Hey there, Double-Dub!” I used his name as a way to make him feel welcome. “How are you?”

The colt trotted up to the cushion, and lied down upon it. “...Okay.”

I straightened my glasses and took a look at him. “Just ‘okay’? Why don’t you tell me what’s wrong?”

“...You promise not to tell anypony else?” he sat up and glared at me with a worried stare.

I held up my right hoof and stated my oath. “Cross my heart. Everything is confidential between us--that means super secret.”

With the knowledge that things would be kept just between us, he seemed to have relaxed a bit. “Alright. I just feel...worried about my cutie mark.”

I took a look at his flank. His cutie mark depicted what appeared to be a buckball court. “Oh? How come, Whip?”

“I hate sports,” he mumbled as he lied back down, “I want nothing to do with sports. I prefer art and painting. Why is my cutie mark like this?”

Something like this was very difficult to navigate. I didn’t have all the answers of course. But my job was to do my best to help out however I could. In times like these, I would always make sure I could show foals a perspective that they could choose to follow for a happier life so they wouldn’t have to resort to, and wallow in anger.

So gather around. I’m going to tell you how things go around my office. How ponies can still find their way through life with enough support regardless of their situation. Ponies like me who thought the world needed to be destroyed didn’t realize that there was something more to it all. And to destroy it would only serve to make things worse.

Obviously, I was the worst-case scenario. But even so, I didn’t want any other child to go through what I did. Whip here is going to serve as the perfect case to help me show you how I work around the office.

Welcome to my therapy session.

Patient 1, Part 1

I took a deep, mental breath. I didn’t want to alarm him or make him feel bad. After all, this was a relatively common condition that many young ponies suffered from. Cutie Mark Dysphoria to be exact. Don’t worry. Despite the scary-sounding name, it was actually fairly simple to diagnose and cure. The objective of the therapist in this situation should be to calm the patient and assure him that he can still do what he wants to do despite whatever the mark on his flank shows.

Now I know what you’re thinking. But Cozy, isn’t this a fundamental defiance of the way that the natural pony world works? And to some extent, it is. But we live in a time period now where no one wants to force themselves into a field or hobby that they’re uncomfortable with for the sake of satisfying some destiny.

And besides, just because a cutie mark shows one thing, that doesn’t mean it should be taken at face value…

“...Alright, Whip,” I said with a smile, “It sounds like you suffer from a simple case of Cutie Mark Confusion.”

There was no way in Tartarus I was using an overly complicated term like ‘dysphoria’ to a foal. It would only serve to concern and worry them more than when they first stepped hoof in my office.

The little pegasus colt flapped his wings--a natural reflex. “Well that makes sense, I guess. But what does this mean?”

I decided to use what I knew from the conversation, and feed it back to him to get a proper communication loop. “Well, you said you like to paint and practice other forms of art, correct? Would you mind explaining that a bit more?”

“Oh, okay.” His face lit up a little bit, and he sat upright on the couch. “Well, it’s simple: I have loads of paint supplies at home. In fact, I even have a stand dedicated to showing off my canvases. Someday I hope to open an art exhibition in a museum or something so I can show off my skills to everyone.”

Alright! I was getting somewhere. Now I just needed to know the finer details regarding what exactly he enjoys about it. Then I could use that to find another interpretation of what appeared to be a buckball court on his flank. After all, not everything is meant to be accepted one way…

Plus, it helped that I was also really interested in art.

I leaned forward with an excited grin on my face. “Ooh, really? What do you like to draw, Whip?”

“Lots of things,” he replied, equally excited, “But my personal favorite thing to draw would probably be landscapes.” He lifted his hooves into the air. “I love flying high into the sky and drawing whatever comes to mind from a bird’s eye view. It’s so...relaxing, you know?”

I spread my wings. As a fellow pegasus, this was something I could easily relate to him on. “Uh-huh! It’s super fun to be able to just swoosh right into the sky and relax on a cloud or just take a lazy flight on a relaxing Sunday.”

“Mm-hmm,” he agreed with a nod. “That’s what I do sometimes to get away from the stress of school. It’s fun to be able to think for myself.”

Now those words concerned me. ‘Think for myself’? ‘Stress of school’? Just how much was he stressed out on a regular basis?

“Think for yourself?” I asked, looking down at my clipboard, then back up at him, “Are you having any trouble at home or at school?”

His answer was direct and swift, but not super ‘in-denial’ levels of swift. “Huh? No, not at all, really. I do just fine in school despite some of the homework being a bit...long-ish? And my parents are great. They both support me well and want me to pursue art…” he turned away and hung his head. He looked at the floor with a disappointed sigh. “...But we’re all so confused as to why my cutie mark is this buckball court. It doesn’t make sense.”

I tapped a pen against my chin, and looked closer at his cutie mark. To be more specific, it was an outline of the various lines that made up a buckball court. No color at all aside from the green hue of his body. Was there a deeper meaning here, or was I grasping at straws?

That’s when I thought of something. Instead of doing the customary inkblot or word association test, I wanted to take a different approach with this colt. “Okay, whip. I have an idea.”

He shifted his eyes upwards, his cheeks resting on his hooves. “You do? What is it, Dr. Glow?”

I got up from my seat, and trotted over to my desk. If this was going to work, he was going to need some good materials. I retrieved a set of colored pencils and a blank notepad from my drawer. I kept them there so that my patients could draw out what they were feeling.

But in this case, I wanted Whip to draw from his heart.

Once I acquired the items in my wingtips, I approached Whip and offered him the drawing supplies. “Here it is. I want you to draw me something that speaks to you. It doesn’t have to be about how you feel. It could just be anything that comes to mind.”

The young pegasus grabbed the book and pencils. “Oh? That’s all you want me to do?”

To give him some space, I sat back down at my desk, and looked over some paperwork. I knew it’d be hard if I was looming over him and his work, so I wanted him to feel comfortable.

What I didn’t realize was that it’d take over an hour. Every so often, I’d look up and see him with one colored pencil in his teeth, and others held within his finger-like wingtips. He was clearly hard at work, and I could’ve sworn I saw a few beads of sweat run down the side of his face.

Just what was he scribbling?

Patient 1, Part 2

And after about an hour, just as I predicted, Whip would call out to me. “Done, Ms. Glow!”

In that timeframe, I had managed to sort all of the papers on my desk. So it was a total win-win since I could get extra stuff done in between. As soon as I heard the colt call out to me, I jumped out of my seat, and flew over to him.

“Oh, you are?” I asked, “Are you ready to show me what you’ve made?”

The adolescent colt had a surefire, wide grin on his face. I could feel the confidence oozing off of him. It was a total one-eighty compared to what he was like when he first stepped hoof in my office.

“Yup!” he replied, “Here it is!”

I waited with bated excitement. I felt like I’d explode within those few seconds of him turning his canvas around…

And that’s when I saw it.

A beautiful, almost realistic landscape made entirely out of the colored pencils I gave him. A simple field with beautiful, endless rows of grass, an apple tree in the middle of it, and a lake off to the right. If I didn’t know any better, I’d have guessed it was someone’s old photo that they had taken from twenty years ago. It was that good!

“Wow!” I chirped, “That looks amazing! The fact that you drew this in an hour is insane! I’d never be able to come up with something this good in that amount of time.” I rubbed my left wing atop his head affectionately. “You could easily make a living as an artist if you’re this good.”

“I know,” his excitement dropped as he glanced at his flank once more, “But what still confuses me is that I have this buckball court outline on my butt. It doesn’t make sense. As you can see, art is...well, it’s not a talent, per se.”

That was rather new. Most ponies described their cutie marks as symbols that represented a specific talent that they or others had. But Whip Whirlwind was a bit different. He didn’t use the term “talent” to describe what he was good at. And I was curious as to what he meant by that.

I sat next to him and asked. “Would you mind going into greater detail? What would you refer to it as?”

He tapped his hoof against his chin as he looked up to the ceiling. “Well...from what I know, a ‘talent’ is something that you’re just sorta good at by nature or something. Something you don’t really need to practice because you’re good at it without even trying. ‘Gifted’ is also a word I hear ponies and other folk use. But...I wasn’t always good at art.”

“You weren’t?” I asked curiously, ready to take more notes if I needed to.

“Nope.” Whip looked directly at me, and kept going. “I practiced super hard for weeks on end every day when I came home after school. And I got better and better until eventually, well--I’m here where I am now.”

I had to think critically. Just how would a buckball court outline appear on his flank if he loves to draw? When would it have appeared? There were so many questions that I had at the ready, but unfortunately, I knew he wouldn’t be able to answer them all. I’d have to pry very hard into his personal life just to uncover those details. And while they may have proved useful, I knew my time was better spent tackling the problem directly rather than merely putting a band-aid over the symptoms.

Ultimately, I went a more simplistic route. The fact that he practiced hard to prove himself every day was something worth praising, so I made sure to congratulate him.

“That’s...spectacular,” I said, marveling at his skill on that paper, “You deserve all the support you get from your parents in that case. I can’t imagine how hard it must be on you.”

“It’s alright...but do you know why my cutie mark is like this? Like I said earlier, I don’t even play nor like sports. So I don’t get it…” he slumped over, placing his hooves against his cheeks.

Admittedly, I didn’t quite fully understand it either. Pony biology was a fickle thing with no absolutes. However, I did have one theory. One that may not have been correct, but was still worth mentioning.

“...Whip…”

He sat up and looked at me with anxious eyes. Eyes that quivered with a make-or-break sensory perception. “...Yes?”

“...Your cutie mark--it’s not a buckball court.”

“It’s not?”

I shook my head. “It’s not. Because that’s not your special skill. I want you to look into my eyes. Tell me what you’re good at.”

“...I’m good at art?” he said in a half-hearted tone.

I stood up, and tried to motivate him a bit more. “Mind saying it a bit louder? What are you good at? What do you like to do?”

“I’m...I’m good at art,” he said with a bit more confidence than before, and stood up with me. “But what is this going to accomplish?”

I had a small hunch. This colt was so distraught over his cutie mark that he suffered from a lack of self-esteem. In order to help him acquire his correct, permanent one, I would have to help him accept who he was.

I could only hope it would actually work.

“If you feel right in who you are, don’t dictate what your mark tells you,” I said and turned to my side. “Mine is a chess piece and I don’t even play chess all that much, but it represents my intricate state of mind. You are suffering from a form of dysphoria where your mark isn’t positioned right. And thus, you need to grow into yourself.”

Whip rubbed the back of his head. “...I suppose so. But how do I do that?”

Since we were both pegasi, I could use that to his advantage. I walked over to a nearby window, and opened it. “Wanna come fly with me for a second?”

“Oh? Sure, I’m always up for a flight,” he replied with a smile and spread his wings.

“Then let’s go. And bring those art supplies with you.”

And so we flew off, and out of the Town Hall building where my office was located. I didn’t take Whip very high or very far. Just out into the air enough to where we had a good, bird’s-eye view of the landscape of Ponyville below us. A few other pegasi were busy pushing clouds around as usual, and earth ponies and unicorns were busy working various jobs in the markets and shops below. Nothing out of the ordinary.

I hovered in the air, and pointed a hoof at the notebook Whip had been carrying. “Alright, bud. Gimme your best work. Draw like you’ve never drawn before.”

“Will this really help fix my mark problem?” he asked, hovering next to me.

“Like I said before--don’t let a body mark dictate what you can and can’t do. You have the power, nay, the right to take control of your life. Don’t let your life take control of you. Okay?”

While I hated being vague, I had to be in this instance. If this was going to work, Whip needed to find the will within himself to break past his troubles. Yes, I could push him in the right direction as much as I wanted, but it was up to him to take that step.

And with newfound determination…

Whip stared at the colored pencils. The green colt stared at them, then the page, and then the town down beneath him.

And he started to draw. That kid drew faster and harder than he did before. After one illustration, he’d flip the drawing pad over and turn to look at a different part of the town, scribbling away with the most elated look on his face.

...And that’s when it happened.

I was almost blinded by the light from his flanks. Just as I predicted, his cutie mark had not properly formed yet. That buckball court outline was re-shaped right before my eyes into the outline of a black pencil.

“Double-Dub!” I called for him, “Look at--”

But he was too focused on his art to answer. “I’m feeling it!” he shouted with glee, “I’ve got it, Ms. Glow!”

I clapped my hooves. “That’s awesome! When you’re ready, let’s head on back to the office.”

That was just one example of many of my patients and how they turned out. It’s super fun to see the smiles on their faces when the gears turn in their heads or we reach an epiphany together. I’ve got loads more--oh right, I should explain how well it went with young Mr. Whirlwind, shouldn’t I?

After he was done drawing, we went back to my office, and I marveled over each of his works. That kid had drawn landscapes of the Town Hall, the School of Friendship, the markets, Sweet Apple Acres, and the sky itself. The amazing skill he displayed with those colored pencils was off the charts. Seeing his cutie mark adapt to what he wanted was just the icing on top.

“Yes!” he cheered once I put him in front of a mirror so he could inspect his mark, “You were right, Ms. Glow. I can’t let my body make me feel a certain way. I’m super glad you showed me how to handle it.”

I waved my hoof downwards, “Aw shucks. You did most of the work, Whip. I’m just glad you’re okay.”

The colt flew over to me, and almost tackled me to give me a hug. “Thank you so much. I’m gonna tell my parents about this! They’re gonna be so happy!” He let go, and grabbed up his drawings.

“They will,” I said proudly, “Because you’ve earned it.”

With chipper good-byes, I waved to him as he left my office.

“Bye, Ms. Glow!” he said as he flew out of the room.

“Bye!” I replied, “Hope to see that art gallery one day!”

So...wanna know more about my job?

Patient 2, Part 1

So that’s how my job goes. I think you have a good understanding of how it works. Ms. Inkwell or the Mayor lets me know who needs help, and I generally do my best to help them. Though, if it’s a situation where I can’t exactly help on my own, then I usually ask for Inkwell’s help. Sometimes even with the help of a friend or two.

Join me as I tell you how this particular situation played out.

As always, there was a knock on my office door.

Tap-tap-tap.

“Come in,” I said while organizing the various files I had on my desk.

“Yo.” Imagine my surprise when I saw Flurry Heart appear. She was wearing her usual sunhat and shades disguise to keep the citizens from smothering her. “What’s happening, sister?”

“Oh it’s you--how’ve you been, Flurry?”

“I’ve had my ups and downs,” she replied as she teleported into the chair in front of my desk and removed her shades, “But overall, I’m good. I really need your help, though.”

I pushed my glasses down, and gave her a concerned look. “You need my help? What’s wrong?”

“Well there’s this Diamond Dog kid who wants to become a miner in the Crystal Empire but her parents won’t let her because they want her to be some kinda--” Flurry had to pause and levitate a notepad to read what she wanted to say next. I couldn’t blame her--I sometimes forget my points halfway through making them. “...Wrestler? Sumo I think. Pound probably knows more about it than I do.”

“Hrm…” I tapped a hoof against my chin and gave it some thought, “So what we have here is a classic case of living through the child in a vicarious manner.”

My alicorn friend tilted her head and looked at me as if I had suddenly grown two more. “...Vica-what?”

“It means using one’s imagination,” I said as I tapped the side of my head, “in order to cast those thoughts onto something else. Most folks nowadays call this ‘projecting.’”

“Oh, so that’s what that is,” Flurry replied with a slow nod of realization as she leaned back in the chair. “I’ve heard about that from mom and dad before, but I never knew what it meant. Thanks for clearing that up.”

I raised a brow. “Under what context have your parents said that?”

“When dad can’t find his projector.”

I leaned upon my desk with both hooves in front of my face. I couldn’t believe what I had just heard. “Wow...just...wow.”

Flurry started to laugh with a snort. “Hehe! Yeah, he’s not that good with machines.”

While that was funny, we had to focus on the more important stuff at hoof. “Alright, so where is she? Is she with you now or is she in the Empire?”

“Oh she’s with me. Though, I let her hang out with Maud for a bit before I brought her here. Figured they’d like all that stuff, ya know?”

I started to scribble down in my notes--the pencil clutched tightly between my wingtips as I looked for as much info from Flurry as possible. “I see. How old is she?”

“Hm, didn’t think about that,” she replied, “But I’d say she’s certainly a teenager. Several years below you and me.”

“Alright. Tell her to come in as soon as possible.”

Flurry got up from the seat, and trotted towards the door. “On it, sis. And make sure you don’t overwork yourself. I’m sure you’ll probably be tired once it’s all said and done.”

Oh she had no idea. But I wasn’t about to tell her that directly. “Yeah...thanks, Flurs.”

With that, I watched my alicorn friend leave and about five minutes later…

She entered.

A young diamond dog girl with brown fur and green eyes. She wore nothing but a simple spiked choker and matching spiked wristbands. Certainly fitting the ‘tough girl’ archetype to a T as she sat down on the therapy couch with one leg crossed over the other.

And interestingly enough, she was staring at a book the whole time. The title read: Finding Rare Gems For Newbies.

I had to be tactful and break the ice carefully. “Ahem...er...hi?” I said with a wave of my hoof. “My friend Flurry Heart brought you here. She said you were into mining.”

She didn’t respond with much. Simply with a curt, “Mm-hmm,” in what sounded like a deep voice.

“...Right. So apparently you’re having some issues with your parents? Care to elaborate on that?” I asked as I got up from my desk and approached her.

Silence. I could almost hear her eyes focusing hard on those pages. Since she gave me no response, that let me know I needed to back up a few steps further. Take time to build up to what she wanted to talk about.

I took my seat in the chair that sat across from the couch, and redirected the conversation with something else entirely. “That’s a nice book. What’s it about?”

At last, I got an actual answer. “...Digging for stuff.”

“I see...what kind of stuff? Just gems or is there something else you’d enjoy digging for?” I asked while pointing out the title of her book.

“...Bones, sometimes,” she replied softly while shrinking back against the couch.

That made sense. All dogs loved bones. But I wondered where her passion for digging as a career came from. To find that out, I needed to play to her interests.

So I thought back to what Flurry had told me. “Say, my friend mentioned someone. A Maud Pie. Do you know her?”

“...Mm-hmm. She likes rocks and digging like me.”

“Why don’t we go back to her for a bit?” I offered, “See what we can find out while digging.”

The diamond dog girl put the book down, and allowed me to see her face. “R-really? You want to actually...join me?”

“Of course,” I said as I stood up, “Only if you want to of course.”

“No...I do,” she shut her book, and stood up with me. “...My name is Zoe by the way…”

“Cozy Glow,” I said with a smile, “Nice to meet you, Zoe!”

That was the easy part. But getting her to actually open up would be the hard part. Join me and see how it goes.

Patient 2, Part 2

Alright, so I took Zoe back through Ponyville so that we could meet up and see Maud. If this Diamond Dog girl liked to dig for bones and research other rare items, then why should she be stopped? Not every diamond dog wants to be a rough and tumble bulldog. Some of them liked to be smart little collies!

Those are the smart ones, right?

Anyhoozle, we walked through and towards the edge of Ponyville towards the caves that Maud liked to mine. Our trek there was mostly quiet, so I decided to pop a question to Zoe once we got close.

“So. Uh…Flurry tells me you met Maud earlier. Did you two say much to each other?”

“No…” Zoe replied while shyly twirling her floppy ear around her finger, “Not really.”

“Well I can’t blame her,” I said with the best inviting smile I could muster, “Maud’s not really a conversationalist. But I’m sure we’ll be able to talk to her.”

“...Are you sure?” Zoe looked up at me with her innocent puppy eyes, “I don’t…like to bother people.”

I nodded and replied. “Don’t worry. I know how you feel. I don’t like to bother people either. But it’s like my dad always says:” I put on a deep voice to mimic him, “‘You’ll never know what someone’s thinking until you search for answers.’” And then I returned to my normal tone once I was done quoting him. “...Or something like that. His weekly lectures were long.”

That must’ve worked somehow because my little imitation caused Zoe to giggle. “Hmhm! That sounds nice…” But her smiling expression faded as quickly as it had appeared. “...My dad just makes me sit through boring fighting lessons all day. I can’t stand it.”

Oh? Was she opening up? That was good progress.

“Why do you think that is?” I asked, wanting to hear multiple angles of the situation. “Does he know you like to dig?”

“Well…no…” she admitted while looking away from me, “I haven’t found it in my heart to tell him. And I think he wants me to wrestle so I can keep myself safe…but I already know how to.”

“Hm…” I furrowed my brow as we walked, and continued to wonder: How to respond to such a situation? I honestly didn’t quite have one. My dad loved what I did. However…that’s where having some assistance from an outside perspective came in. “Hold that thought for me, okay Zoe?”

“Oh. Y-Yes Ms. Glow…”

Case in point: Maud Pie. Now where was she…?

We arrived at the cave system where Maud usually could be found, and I called out to her.

“Ms. Pie? Maud?” I launched my voice and it echoed around the cave system. “You home?”

And in response, I got a resounding, “Yes.”

Then Zoe looked up at me and whispered. “...Are you sure this is okay? Maybe we should come back later…”

“It’s fine.”

“ARF!” Zoe barked and leapt behind me.

I looked up to find Maud was standing right there in front of us wearing a pair of reading glasses. How she managed to appear here without us hearing her move was a question I didn’t know the answer to. And to be honest? I wasn’t sure if I wanted to know anyway.

“Oh, hi Maud…er, Ms. Pie,” I said while I idly petted Zoe on the head to relax her.

“Maud is fine,” she droned, her expression unchanging. “What brings you here, Cozy?”

I was always taught to show respect to those older than me, but I suppose that a more casual scenario didn’t require formality.

“Er, I--Ahem. I have a friend that wants to speak to you a bit more…if that’s okay.”

“Is it Zoe?” Maud tilted his head at an angle to see around me and spotted the little diamond dog gal. “It is. I met her earlier. But we didn’t talk much.”

“I see…well, maybe now you can?” I looked down at Zoe and she had relaxed since I started petting her. So I pulled her forward ever so slightly. “Is that okay with you, Zoe?”

She looked down, then up at Maud with a nervous, quivering lip. “...Only if Maud’s not busy.”

“I’m not,” she replied, “I wanted to show you some of the things I’ve been digging up. They’re aluminum oxide gemstones that have been forming over the past few thousand years.”

“Uh…” I was at a loss for words because I had no idea what she had just said.

But you know who did?

“Oh…sapphires, right?” Zoe asked, her tail wagging, “A lot of them are blue, but my favorite is the padparaschas! Though, they’re super rare…”

“...I have some of those. Wanna see?” Maud offered as she turned around and prepared to walk off, to which Zoe accepted.

“Oh, sure!”

Meanwhile, I was stuck wondering what the heck padpara…whatever they just said--I was wondering what exactly those were. But! There was progress in the making here. One thing was for sure, I knew Maud would be a much better chatting partner for this particular case? Why? Because like Zoe, she once had problems with her parents accepting who she was. It was foolproof.

All I had to do was observe the subject in question and see how she responded to favorable stimulation.

…Okay, it took a while. Like, about three hours worth of picking through rocks, geodes, and other crystals. But it was worth it. Seeing Zoe in her element, truly happy with herself was what made it worthwhile.

But it all came to a head when Zoe asked the all-important question.

“...Ms. Maud. Um…has anyone ever doubted you?” Zoe asked as she sat next to the pile of orange sapphires they had mined together. “Or made you feel like…you shouldn’t do what you like?”

And Maud responded with the answer that I expected. “Loads of ponies thought I wouldn’t do well as a geologist. Even my own parents doubted me at first.”

“...They did?” Zoe asked with a confused expression. “Why?”

“They thought I wouldn’t bring enough enthusiasm to the profession,” Maud went on as she casually broke a rock in half with her hoof, splitting the crimson ruby geode open. “In reality, I was able to do it my own way. Because I never doubted myself.”

“...Never doubted yourself, huh…”

I was busy ineffectively chipping away at a rock using a pickaxe with my mouth while making notes using my wingtips to hold the pencil and pad. It was all coming together…

Patient 2, Part 3

“But I just don’t have enough confidence to tell them…” Zoe muttered as she sat down on a nearby rock, “My parents are the ones who take care of me and pay for everything that I do. I can’t exactly blow them off and force them to accept me.”

“No. You can’t,” Maud said as she trotted over and sat on the ground in front of her, “But you can show them how passionate you are. If your parents really love you, they’ll understand that your passions don’t align with theirs.” She picked up a little rock--wait was that Boulder? “My mom and dad wanted me to run the farm at first, but once they realized that I wanted to be a geologist, they let me go. And here I am now. Boulder and I have each other’s backs.”

“Who’s Boulder?” Zoe asked, wagging her tail.

Maud placed the little roc--er, Boulder on the ground. “He’s shy around diamond dogs, don’t mind him.”

“I see…well, my parents do love me, so I think they’d be willing to listen.” Zoe nodded, “I just need to speak up for myself, right?”

“Right.”

The dog girl turned to me for advice next. “What do you think, Ms. Glow? Does Maud make sense?”

I was caught off-guard, and looked up from my notes with a nervous expression. “Oh uh…” To be quite honest, I had no clue what to say since their rock-y dialogue was completely lost on me. “I think she’s really good at…that.”

Maud was quick to call my bluff though. “If you don’t comprehend what we’re saying, it’s okay to say so. I won’t judge you for it.”

“Nonono!” I tried to clean up my act, “It’s just…okay, yeah. I’m not really an expert on geology. But Maud is. That’s why I brought you here, Zoe.”

Zoe simply giggled--and that was the first time I saw her fully enjoy herself since we met. “It’s okay, Ms. Glow. You don’t need to force yourself to try and understand us. We all have different things that we’re good at. Right, Maud?”

“Right.”

“Technically, having a skill does not make you better than anypony else. It’s how you use that skill that changes how other ponies see you.”

“AWK!” Cozy squealed like a parakeet and flew into the air. “What the--?!” She looked down only to see it was a harmless earth pony that had appeared behind her. “...Oh. Mud Briar. It’s you. How long have you been standing there?”

“Technically, it hasn’t been very long at all.”

Maud flashed the tiniest of smiles on her face and introduced the stallion. “This is my husband. Mud Briar. Mud Briar. This is Zoe and Cozy Glow.”

“Technically, I’ve already met Cozy Glow when she tried to--”

“A-tututut!” Cozy shoved her hoof in his mouth to keep him from talking. “We uh--ahem. We don’t need to retread that little nugget of info, hehe…heh…”

Mud Briar casually pushed her hoof out of his mouth--his expression as neutral as always. “I see. Very well.” He turned to Maud and asked, “Honey, do you have those pieces of wood that I lent you? I need them for the Winter Art Festival.”

“Of course I do, dear,” Maud droned right back, “I’ll take you to them once I’m done here.”

Zoe came up to me and whispered into my ear. “...They’re both…a perfect fit for each other, huh?”

“Yes. Yes they are,” was all I could really say in return. Maud and Mud Briar were two very…eccentric ponies that were practically made for each other. Despite that, they were both really helpful in regards to Zoe’s conflict. “What do you think so far? Has their advice been good to you?”

“I think so,” she replied as she scratched behind one of her ears, “It took me a bit to understand what Maud was trying to say, but I think I have it down now.”

I smiled and said, “That’s great! What do you wanna do now?”

“Well…” she picked up the pickaxe once more, “I think I wanna dig with Maud for a bit longer until she’s ready to go off with her husband. If that’s okay.”

“Fine by me. So long as I don’t have to carry ‘em,” I replied as I flexed my wings, “I’m more of a light glider than a heavy lifter.”

Zoe responded with a smile on her face as she wagged her tail. “You’re awesome either way, Ms. Glow.”

Not gonna lie, I almost teared up. Seeing that kid find her passion was what made life worth living. But my work wasn’t quite done yet. See, this is where the hard part started. I couldn’t actually get any results until she went home and told her parents what she thought.

All I could do was hope to goodness that her parents were reasonable pooches.

Once we were finished speaking to the Sticky-Rock pair, we started walking back to my office located at the Town Hall.

Next to me, Zoe was carrying a burlap sack filled to the brim with the pieces of stone and crystal formations she had mined. Soon enough, she asked me the all-important question. “...Do you think my folks will accept my dreams, Ms. Glow?”

I had to be honest. “I can’t say for sure. But from my own experience…things work out in better ways than you might expect if your parents truly love you.”

One of her ears flopped down in front of her face which she had to move out of the way with a paw. “...What do ya mean?”

“Well…let’s just say that my dad went to great lengths for me,” I explained as I walked along with a vacant smile on my face, “Lengths that nobody else has ever gone to. And my mom ensured that I’d be able to live a comfy life once it was all said and done. If my parents can do that much, I’m sure your parents would be willing to accept a minor career change.”

“You’re right…” Zoe nodded with a little bark, “Ruff! I can’t stand back and let my parents dictate my life. They should want to give me a chance. Thank you so much, Ms. Glow. I think I understand my problems better now.”

“It’s perfectly fine, kiddo--” I was interrupted by a hug from the little dog girl. Naturally, I put a hoof around her and held her close. “...You’re very welcome, Zoe.”

And in that moment, I felt like I had channeled the best parts of both mom and dad to make that little girl’s day. I think they’d be proud of me…

Break 1

Yeah, turns out my job was stellar. I had everything I could ever want regarding where I was now. However, there were still some things that I often wondered about. Such as how those students from the Friendship School were getting along nowadays. They were all adults so I was thinking of a way to reach out to them.

I even proposed this idea to pops, and he was interested in it.

“That sounds great, kiddo,” he said to me in between writing something down on a document on his desk, “Just make sure you try to catch everyone at a convenient time. Oh, but don’t try to catch them all at once. That’ll just stress you out.”

I looked up from my notes with wide eyes as I realized that I’d been writing down a schedule plan to see everyone all at once. Pops knew me too well.

“Hehe…oops-” I muttered as I crossed that out from my notes.

My little slip-up caused him to chuckle, which was always a nice thing to hear from him. “Hmhm…don’t stress yourself out too much, kiddo. Your mom and I are no strangers to overworking ourselves. Can you believe she’s still teaching even now?”

My mom--Cheerilee--was the best teacher in the world, so it wasn’t a surprise to hear that she was still at it. She had quite a healthy body after all. “Of course I can,” I replied with a smile, “She’s the best! You’ve both done a lot for me, and I wanna see you both prosper as you get older.”

The old man raised a brow at me and replied, “Now hang on. I’m not getting old just yet. You’ve got nothing to worry about on that front. Why do you think the crime rate around here has gone down so much?”

I giggled into my hoof. “That’s because nobody is gonna dare commit a crime while you’re around. You’re the best!”

“...I learned from the best, kiddo,” Pale replied with a smile on his face, downplaying my compliments.

Speaking of which, that got me to think. “Oh yeah--how’s Ms. Righ--er, Grandma doing lately?”

“The force over in Manehattan keeps trying to convince her to retire, but she’s not about to quit just yet. Guess I take after her in that regard,” Pale said with a small chuckle--his adoptive mother always put the faintest smile on his face when he thought about her. Made me happy to see him happy.

“You sure do. You guys literally helped change the world in ways not even Princess Twilight could manage!” I squealed--I couldn’t help but shower my dad with praise--he deserved it.

And naturally, he deflected it with a roll of his eyes. “Agh--don’t start with that now, Cozy. You know I’m just doing what I can to make sure this world finally knows some semblance of peace. For instance: I’m currently investigating Starswirl The Bearded.”

I tilted my head. I thought that old geezer was an Equestrian Hero. “Wait what? Him? Why? What’s he done to warrant investigating?”

“Nothing…in this world,” Pale explained as he put his hooves together on the desk, “But I’m getting reports from The Human World that there are loads of creatures running amok and causing mayhem for the people living there. Twilight’s recently given me jurisdiction to file such incidents under the law.”

The human…oh! The human world where counterparts of us existed. I always wondered what it was like there--and if my human self was fortunate enough to be living with Pale and Cheerilee’s human selves. That’d be nice.

My wings flapped with excitement as I leaned on his desk with my forelegs. “Oooh…does that mean you’ve talked to your human self recently?”

“...Not directly, but we’re working on it.” Pale grabbed a file from beneath his desk with his mouth and showed me a few pages of it. “Long story short, there’s a few creatures that Starswirl has sent to the Human World that he’s currently being interrogated about. Some changelings, a vampony, a shadowpony--who knows how many others have been cast out into a world they don’t understand?” He crossed his hooves and tilted his head down so that his eyes weren’t visible, “Not to mention how many innocent humans are probably suffering from what they’re doing to their home.”

I scanned over each of those pages with my eyes and shuddered. It made me realize how grateful I was over the fact that I wasn’t sent there instead. I could only imagine causing unnecessary destruction for these two-legged primate creatures.

“So you’re gonna give him the ol’ grillin’?” I asked with sparks in my eyes, “Can I--”

“No.”

As expected. I knew pops wouldn’t let me, but it couldn’t hurt to ask! “Fiiine…” I replied with a pouty face as I put my left hoof to my cheek, mushing my face in a little. “Is it because you wanna protect your widdle baby daughter?”

“Yes.” Didn’t miss a beat that stallion--he looked up at me with a well-meaning smile. “Just focus on what you’re able to accomplish for yourself so you don’t get swept up in everything,” he said as he got up from his desk and ruffled my mane with his hoof. “Cheerilee and I are trying our best to break those old habits as we speak.”

I flinched, shutting one eye as he patted me on the head, then opened it as I asked a question inquisitively, “Oh? What are you both doing?”

“Well--”

Just before he could answer me, mom--Cheerilee--walked into the building with her mane done up in a bun. She was wearing a red dress that looked similar to the one she wore at their wedding--one that the dancing mares from Caballo wore.

“Pale, I--oh, Cozy! How are you today?” She approached me and gave me a hug, nuzzling her cheek against mine.

“Hrrk!” The embrace was a bit--okay a lot--tighter than I expected. I had to push myself off of her just to breathe! “Ahem--I’m doing just fine, mom. I was just thinking of going to visit Smolder when I got the chance.”

“In that case, you’re in luck--I think I saw Smolder flying near Ponyville on my way here,” Cheerilee replied, “Looking to make a new friend or two?”

Yeah, something like that. I paused and took a second to rub my hoof behind my head. “...You could say that.” Then I quickly changed the subject. “So! Uh…what’s the occasion, mom?” I asked, noting her dress.

“Oh this? Well, Pale and I are going dancing. Isn’t that right, hun?” Cheerilee looked over at pops with a wink--blech. I could already tell where that was going.

“For sure, Cheery,” he replied, approaching her and kissing her on the cheek, earning a giggle from mom--double blech. “Sorry, kiddo. I’ll have to cut our visit a bit short.”

I couldn’t be mad--they were the shining example of the perfect couple. “Ah, pffft--don’t worry,” I scoffed as I waved my hoof downwards, “I’ll just come back another time.”

“Let’s go, Pale--you want to show everyone what we can do, don’t you?” Cheerilee started trotting out of the door, and made eyes at Pale, flicking her tail to get his attention. “See you later, okay Cozy?”

Naturally, dad was obligated and had to take off. “Coming, hun!” But before he did, he took a look at me, “Quick Draw is making some poutine. Ask her for some, eh?”

My eyes lit up--that was our family’s favorite dish! Cheese curds and fries with gravy--perfection! “Oh, I will! Have fun at your dance club!” I waved my hoof in the air, happily parting with my perfect parents for now.

“Good luck with Smolder, kiddo,” Pale replied as he took off his hat and coat and placed them on a nearby clothing rack. “Do your best--but not more than what you’re able.” And with that, they left.

To say that I loved them would be an understatement.

Patient 3, Part 1

Alrighty-roo. So! With that in mind, I started looking for Smolder on that sunny day. I had heard from a few ponies around Ponyville that they saw an orange dragon walking around with a silver one in tow, looking to potentially enroll him in the School of Friendship!

…

Ooogh…the School of Friendship. Doesn’t exactly contain the best memories for me. I was a bit of a weirdo back then with the whole, ‘hellbent on taking power’ thing. Honest to Celestia, I can’t even remember what I wanted that power for--much less what I intended to do with it once I got it.

Regardless, if I was going to make amends, I had to start somewhere, right?

So I trotted down the road in Ponyville, awkwardly smiling at all of the friendly faces that greeted me as per usual. Still not used to that, frankly.

Soon enough, I’d arrive at the School of Friendship, and who did I see?

Smolder in all her orange, scaly glory. Though she was much taller than when I last saw her with more--ahem--mature features like more pronounced hips and curves. Still, she looked to have the same personality as always--she was impatiently tapping her foot against the ground outside of the school, seemingly waiting for something--or someone.

“Ugh--where in the heckin’ blazes is she? I told Starlight to meet me here this morning!” Smolder groaned as she threw her hands into the air.

I got a closer look at the dragon boy with her. He was about the same size as Smolder when she was younger--teenage more or less. He had some sick silver scales that reflected the sunlight like a mirror and wore some rectangular glasses on his face. In his left claw, there were some books, though I couldn’t quite make out what they were.

“...Maybe we should send a messenger, perhaps?” the dragon boy said with an inquisitive tilt of his head, “It’s possible that she’s simply running late. Or maybe she slept in? Hrm…”

I figured that that moment would’ve been the best time to make my entrance, so I did.

“Um…heya!” I called out as I trotted over, “...Smolder! It’s me…Cozy…ha…ha…” Cloud nuggets. I was sweating like a melting ice cube as I spoke to them with this dopey smile on my face.

Thankfully, Smolder was quick to address me and helped make things less awkward. “...Oh, hey Cozy Gl--” She turned her head so fast she nearly spun around! “Cozy Glow? Damn you’ve grown…”

Looked in the mirror lately, Smol? I couldn’t help but scan her with my eyes the same way she did to me. “...So have you. You look…matured.”

“Ugh,” Smolder rolled her eyes, “That’s probably the least creepy thing I’ve heard anyone say. As the current Dragon Lord, you got no idea how many of them are suddenly ‘falling in love’ with me.” She folded her arms and rolled her eyes. “Hmph--more like untamed lust.”

The dragon boy made himself known by speaking up, “Ahem…excuse me, do you two know each other?”

Smolder and I exchanged an awkward stare for a moment.

“Uhhhhh…”

“Uhhhhh…”

Yeah, there was no solid way to answer that. There was a bit of an awkward silence between us for a moment because of it.

Until Smolder broke it. “...Yeah, you could say that. We had a bit of a…run-in a few years ago.”

“Yeah, haha…a not-so-friendly run-in,” I replied while rubbing a hoof behind my head.

“But we’re cool now,” Smolder spoke up for me in a surprising display of maturity. “She’s gotten way better and is a good role model for the kiddos around here from what I’ve heard.”

“Wow…you are?” the dragon boy asked with sparkles in his eyes, “That’s…amazing. I’m glad ponies like you are running this town.”

That compliment made me blush because I knew I didn’t deserve it. That’s the last thing I ever wanted was to be in control of something again. “Oh uh…thanks, buddy. You’re too kind,” I replied with my best smile, until I realized something: I didn’t have the kid’s name. “Oh! Erm…what’s your name?”

Smolder picked him up and placed him on her shoulders. “Oh yeah, my bad. This is a business affair and I didn’t even properly introduce him. This here is Ash. Tell her, bud.”

“Y-yes…” Ash replied with a smile as he spread his wings, “My name is Ash. It’s nice to meet you, miss…?”

“Cozy Glow,” I replied, “Great to meet you too.”

Moments later, the door to the School of Friendship was opened by Headmare Starlight who waved us down. “Hiya! Sorry! I slept late and Sunburst came into my room to wake me up, and then I--ahem--I mean, come on in!”

Smolder looked up at Ash and said, “That’s your cue, kiddo. Go knock ‘em dead.”

Ash nodded and flew off of Smolder’s shoulders towards the front doors to the school. “Thank you for the opportunity, Smolder. I won’t waste it,” he spoke with a hint of breakage in his voice. And with that, he left us alone.

“...Waste?” I asked as I tilted my head, “What’s he talking about?”

Smolder had been waving and turned to look at me. “Oh uh…well…it’s a long story. To make it short, Ash used to live near Klugetown, but a war broke out near there and it’s currently being taken back by cowboys.”

“...Cowboys?”

“Yup,” Smolder folded her arms, “His home isn’t safe anymore and he’s got nobody to watch out for him. I figured the best place to bring him would be here or whatever--someplace I know he’d be safe.”

What a beautiful sentiment. But it made sense now. The way Ash had been speaking lent a rather sorrowful backdrop to his tale. Though, I wasn’t sure if I could handle dragon psychology.

“You made the right call,” I replied, “Everyone here is gonna watch out for him. I know they will.”

“...Cozy, can you do me a favor?”

I took a step back--one of my hind legs raised out of surprise. “...M-me?”

“Yeah…I’ve been hearing about your therapy stuff or whatever and…” Smolder’s tail swished in a nervous manner as she spoke. “...Can you run a diagnosis on Ash for me? I just wanna know if he’s okay.”

“...”

Yeah I’d need a case of Red Buffalo for this.

Patient 3, Part 2

So yeah, I pretty much spent the next night scrambling through my notes for any info on dragons I could find. Not even Pale-Pops knew anything about them! This would easily be my most challenging task yet! How was I supposed to diagnose a dragon as a pony?!

“Argh…” I rubbed my head after bumping it against a shelf in the middle of the night. Was I stressing out too much about this? “It’s fine! It’s fine…he’s just a dragon--what’s the worst he could do?”

In my manic state of panic, I turned to a plastic mold of a skull that I often spoke to when I was alone. “...Burn down the entire school? What no! I-I owe them this! If I can do Smolder this one solid favor, then maybe she can forgive me for what I did in the past, right? Right?”

I stared at the fake skull, and it stared back at me with my loose ends in my curly hair and twitching eyelid.

“...What am I doing? I can’t make Ash conform to pony ways. I need to treat him like a dragon--maybe wrestle with him a little--or fly! I can fly with him and show him great places to blow smoke!”

Yeah, turns out my skull friend wasn’t actually anywhere as useful as I thought. With a whinny and a huff, I kicked it into the nearest garbage bin and flopped onto my bed.

“Guess I’ll just have to see for myself once I speak with him tomorrow….probably shouldn’t have drank all that red buffalo--urp!”

Also, it turns out that energy drinks are terrible. In fact, the only thing they’re good at is sending me to the bathroom--in which I proceeded to puke my guts out. Yeah--not fun whatsoever. I think I was stressing out too much. Maybe Ash was a nice dragon like Spike and I was getting worked up over nothing.

Whatever the case, I needed to relax myself so that I could rest. After all, a therapist is only as good as her last case--or is that buckball?

The next day…

So I trotted on down to the School of Friendship. I had asked Starlight in advance to let me in so that I could speak with Ash during off-hours--whatever those were. Looking back, I had no idea how this school’s schedule worked. I guess that’s what happens when you’re too busy trying to take it over.

But in reality, Ash wasn’t inside at all. He was outside on the buckball field, playing a rousing game of it with the other students. I noticed a kirin and a zebra or two among them. Seems as if more species were getting involved which was always a good thing.

But of course, I didn’t get involved right away. I wanted to wait until their little game was done before I got involved.

“Hey, Cozy--”

“AWK!” I swear I shed a few feathers when I heard someone call my name. “...Oh, it’s just you, Starlight. Don’t do me like that.”

Indeed--the Headmare of the academy had approached me with a bashful smile on her face in an attempt to cover up those aged wrinkles under her eyes.

“Sorry about that--I’m just…checking up on you,” she explained, “Smolder told me about the concerns she had regarding Ash. Don’t worry. If you need help, Sunburst and Trixie are wonderful guidance counselors and can help you with anything you need.”

Oh yeah. Those two…

No offense, but they didn’t strike me as the most helpful regarding dragon mental processes. I needed to try and find out if there was anything bothering the little guy before I did anything like get them involved.

Plus, between you and me--I think she’s a bit sweet on them both so she’s a bit biased.

“Oh yeah--no problem,” I replied earnestly to hide my doubts, “I’m just concerned that, as a pony, we won’t be able to understand a dragon like Ash very well. It’s going to take a lot of notes to be able to suss out all the potential variables involved,” I said as I pulled out a pencil and notepad from my curly mane. “But don’t worry. I’ve got ways to keep track of everything.”

Starlight looked at me with a smile, then giggled. “Oh you....you’re just like your father. An expert in mental gymnastics and notation.”

“Hey, Pale’s methods weren’t exactly standard, but they saved the world didn’t it?”

“I can’t argue with that,” she replied, “I just hope you’ll be fine. I don’t want you to stress yourself out. That’s how you end up getting into energy drinks and fall into a state of self-loathing. Tea is a much better alternative for stress anyhow.”

Oh good. If only my stomach and I knew that last night!

“Yeah, I think I got that. Don’t worry about me--” I waved my hoof dismissively, “You just…do whatever it is principals do-”

“Paperwork,” Starlight lamented with a roll of her eyes and she began to trot off. “Lots and lots of paperwork…”

Once I was alone, I could observe them all more carefully. Ash was flying in the air and playing defensively to keep the balls from entering the baskets as his teammates--a kirin and a zebra--had respectively taken on the roles that a unicorn and earth pony would normally play.

He was pretty good too! The opposing team--consisting of a male yak in the earth pony position, male changeling in the pegasus position, and a female unicorn--couldn’t even score a goal against him!

As the game ended though, there was something rather specific I noticed. Something that only the keen eye of a pony raised by a detective and a teacher would rationalize:

Not once did he breathe a single spark of fire.

Now this may seem like quite the conclusion to leap to. But among the crowd--several other dragon students breathed smoke and brief sparks to show their excitement. But Ash? Not a single flicker. Even as he roared after winning the match--nothing.

“Hm…” I rubbed my hoof against my chin as I gave it some thought. Maybe I was jumping to conclusions? Only one way to find out--

“Excuse me--”

“AH!” I yelped yet again.

Turns out, Ash had walked up to me to address me. Guess I was lost in thought for longer than I…thought?

“Oh, sorry--did you need something?” I asked with a nervous smile on my face.

“I couldn’t help but notice you were focusing on me during that match,” Ash explained, “Did Smolder put you up to this?”

“...No?” I lied as I darted my eyes.

Ash slapped his claw against his forehead in disappointment. “There’s no need to hover over me. I’m perfectly fine, ma’am. Tell Smolder that she’s off her proverbial rocker. And please don’t follow me--I have problems with people who follow me.”

Before I could say anything else, the silver dragon was already wandering off into the building with the other students close behind. I could faintly see an annoyed frown on his face--indicating that he hated being watched over.

How was I gonna handle this kiddo?

Patient 3, Part 3

Okay so this wasn’t going well. I needed to enlist the help of someone who knew about dragons. Smolder was out since she had gone back to the Dragon Lands, and Spike was busy with Princess Twilight in Canterlot. So I had to get some info from some indirect sources.

The best place to start was almost certainly pops’ crew.

So on that same day, I left to go to the agency and asked Pale what he knew about dragons.

“Hmm…yeah I’m not much of an expert on them, kiddo. But I know who is.”

My wings unfurled as I clapped my hooves. “You do? Who??”

“This man right over here--” But then Pale was cut off by a voice that shouted…some foreign obscenities from the next room over.

“Aw, bugger it to hell and back ya feckin’ yankee-doodle shite--I need those documents sorted right away, savvy?!” I heard the sound of someone slamming a telephone on its cradle as hoofsteps trotted out to us.

It was Flash Drive! The half-unicorn, half-zebra pony from Trottingham that stood a bit taller than Pale with a stocky build. Did he have experience with dragons?

Well, first off, he looked like he was mighty miffed at whoever he was just on the phone with.

“We install the feckin’ phone lines and then they get crowded with foolish nonces that end up taking the piss out of us,” he grumbled as he buried his hoof against his forehead. “I swear, Pale. One’a these days, I’m gonna curse someone’s entire existence if this shite keeps up.”

“Don’t say that,” Pale rolled his eyes with a casual smile, “You know that we’re working out the kinks as we speak. I only called you down here because Corkscrew was on a supply run.”

“Supply run to feckin’ Timbucktu is what it sounds like--what a day…” he shook his head and looked at me, gasping as soon as he saw I was standing there. “Oi! Cozy--mate, how long have ye been standin’ there?”

I smiled an awkward smile and simply waved ‘hello’ with my hoof. “...Long enough to have a neat look into Trottingham’s vernacular style.”

“And you just let her stand there while I went off like a bloody muppet, eh?” Flash Drive turned to Pale--pops simply laughed in response.

“Now that’s a new one,” Pale said with a chuckle, “Don’t stress yourself. In fact, she’s actually looking to hear from you about dragons.”

“Dragons, eh? Wot for?” he asked, turning to me once more.

I went ahead and explained the situation with Ash…

“...long story short, I have no idea what he’s thinking,” I finished. “I was hoping you could help me since Pale said you know about dragons.”

“Eh, I know a thing or three, yeah. Mainly through travels and reports from me dad,” he explained, “Sounds like this little lad here is going through his usual status of dragon adolescence. He’ll be a tad standoffish for a while unless he trusts ye.”

I sighed. “I was afraid of that. Smolder’s gonna be disappointed once she finds out I’m not up to the task.”

“Don’t sell yourself short, mate,” Drive did his best to comfort me, “If anyone can do it, it’s you. You’ve been across all sides of the psychological spectrum at this point and I think you’ve got it. Though, if you need help with…enchantments, then my ladyfriend and I might be able to help ya.”

As soon as the black unicorn said that, my gray earth pony father immediately started to panic. “Oh no. Ohhhhh no,” he reeled his head back, “I don’t think you should get Zecora involved. You might end up bringing something down on us that you aren’t prepared to fix.”

Flash Drive chuckled while nudging Pale with his hoof. “Hey now, I’m just jestin’ ya, bruv. At any rate, I think you’d do better by bein’ straight with him. Tell him you’re worried about him and ya wanna help in any way ya can.”

“Alternatively,” Pale added, “You can go for a more subtle approach. Find out what this dragon boy likes, dislikes, and takes interest in. Then you can approach him when you’re ready.”

“Hmmm…” I tapped my hoof against my chin as I thought about it. Both options were pretty good, but I wasn’t sure how to go about it. After all, some kids do better when you’re more direct with them while others do require more careful approaches so you don’t set them off.

The hard part was figuring out what to do in the first place.

Nevertheless, with the aid of Pale-Pops and Uncle Drive’s advice, I had a newfound plan ready to go. “Thanks, guys. You always know just what to say when it comes to helping others.”

“No worries, fam,” Drive replied, “Tis what we do.”

Pale nodded as he trotted into the other room, “He’s right--though, I’m gonna go check out what’s up with this phone. See ya later, huh Cozy?”

“Oh, for sure,” I added with a smile, “Don’t work yourselves too hard, okay? You guys should consider retiring pretty soon if I’m being honest.”

“Ha! That’s not gonna happen, little bird,” Drive replied as he trotted after Pale, “Buggers never rest and neither do we.”

As he walked off, I knew in my own heart that I couldn’t give up on Ash no matter how hard it got. But now I had two ways of going about this. Should I be direct with Ash and approach him with more sincerity? Or should I be sneaky and study him from afar before I engage?

Patient 3, Part 4

Okaaaaay. There was no way I was gonna be able to talk to Ash directly. Mainly because I kinda already tried that and I don’t wanna make him feel any more awkward than he probably already does.

So instead, I decided to stal--er, tail him! It’s just what Papa-Pale does when he’s looking after someone, right? It’s not illegal if you’re not caught doing it!

Hoo boy, maybe I should keep my thoughts to myself sometimes.

Anyway, the next day when school got started, I entered the campus wearing a sunhat and a pair of glasses. It kept who I was a secret from most of the kiddos there like a charm. If it worked for Superstallion, then it could work for me.

With a clipboard in my hoof, I trotted around the campus, realizing just how big this place was. It was like entering some little filly’s dollhouse. From the outside, it looked like your average two-story building, but on the inside, it was gigantic with super high ceilings akin to that of a castle!

“Twilight almighty--just who designed this place?” I asked, then realized whose name I just spoke into existence. Of course it’d be someone like her who crafted a place like this. She was used to those large, open spaces…that she could fill to the brim with books. That wasn’t a roast, I was just spitting facts.

Anyway, getting off-track. I needed to figure out which class Ash had first and how his schedule went so I could follo--er, tail him throughout the day. Man this doesn’t sound good any way I spin it, but dragons are built so differently that I don’t have much choice when it comes to how to approach this. If Smolder is worried about him, then I have to take this seriously.

DIIIIIING!

That was the first bell for the day and everyone was getting out of their dorm rooms to head towards their first classes. Time to locate Ash.and see how he goes about his day.

So I casually stayed idle by one of the classroom doors, disguising myself as a member of the faculty as the students entered the common area. I saw ponies, griffons, kirin, zebras, changelings--the whole nine yards. Oh, and dragons of course.

Ash in particular seemed to exit from Hall Omega. The silver dragon could be seen walking alongside a young male minotaur, female griffon, and a female zebra.

Interesting. Time to see what sort of dynamic their friendship has--assuming they’re friends at all.

Ash walked ahead of them and the young minotaur--who was brown in color--approached him afterwards.

“Hey! Looks like we have the mixed martial arts class next, bro!” the minotaur squealed in his raspy young voice, “This is gonna be awesome.”

“Hm…I suppose it couldn’t hurt to brush up on my skills,” Ash replied as he stretched and rolled one of his arms. “But do keep in mind that we also have home economics as well. That’s equally as important.”

“Aw, c’mon. Learning how to cook won’t make you stronger, Ash,” the minotaur boy replied as he raised his fist, “You gotta know how to fight if you wanna survive!”

“...And what if you go hungry?” Ash mentioned, “No matter what happens, you need to eat in order to live, Titanus.”

So the minotaur’s name was Titanus, huh? Pretty powerful. So now I knew that Ash had at least one other connection in this institution. Glad that he isn’t completely alone.

The zebra and griffon had parted ways with them and gone off in their own direction. I suppose their class schedule was completely different. Either way, my focus was the dragon boy. I tailed them both until they arrived at the training grounds for self-defense. A nice new addition since everyone agreed to start teaching the next generation how to stand up for, and defend themselves as well as each other.

So I hid in one of the bushes near the training grounds in the field located behind the school. Their combat coach was the retired Wonderbolt, Spitfire--who was apparently rather adept in many forms fighting including Wing Chun. No, I’m not joking.

Anyhow, I watched closely as I saw Ash and other other kids run up and start pummeling various training dummies. On Spitfire’s command, each of them started stomping, kicking, and throwing their targets in order to ward off would-be attackers. Very neat stuff and I hyper-focused on Ash…

Ash’s method involved the use of his fire breath to create a shield for a more defensive combat style--and the end result was him flying into the dummy with it in order to set it ablaze and reduce it to nothing but--well, ya know.

It was interesting though because I had seen dragons use their teeth and claws way more often when it came to fighting. What about Ash was different than most other dragons…?

“Are you watching them from a bush?” a voice suddenly spoke up from behind me, “Isn’t that kinda weird?”

“I’m a doctor,” I spoke up in response to the voice as I looked down at who it was. It was that griffon girl from before. I immediately narrowed my eyes and said, “Hey. Aren’t you supposed to be in class right now?”

“Oh, uh…I’m done with the baking class,” she continued. Her feline lion half was a teal color of fur and her eagle-half was comprised of pink feathers and a yellow beak along with soft green eyes. “But I bet you’re lookin’ at Ash, right?”

I glared at her once again. “No. Even so, who are you, little missy?”

“Fenja,” she replied--the ‘j’ was pronounced like a ‘y’, “And I just had a hunch. Guess you’re not interested in the little behavior quirks I noticed he has, hm?”

“Wait…you’ve noticed his behavior quirks?” I asked with an interested, yet doubtful tone of voice.

This was a bit suspicious.

Patient 3, Part 5

“Yeah. He’s a total weirdo,” the griffon girl went on, “He doesn’t like showing off his strengths at all and prefers to stay hidden in the background. It was…kinda shocking to be honest. I thought dragons loved being the center of attention.” She folded her arm claws and shook her head, “He’s cute, but that’s about it really. Nowhere near as tough as I thought he was.”

I narrowed my eyes and tilted my head.

“Okaaaay--unnecessary personal comment aside, do you think this could play into Ash having any insecurities at all?”

The griffon shrugged her shoulders. “I dunno. You’re the psychiatrist. I’m just telling you what I’ve seen. Don’t take it as gospel.”

I rubbed my hoof against my chin as I gave it some thought. Was this griffon really being truthful or was she trying to throw me off? Griffons had a long-standing history of stabbing everyone--including each other--in the flank, so taking what she said at face value could prove to be my undoing.

“Right…I’ll keep that in mind,” then I asked, “Oh by the way. What’s your--”

But the next time I blinked, she had flown off before I had even finished talking. Rude. But I couldn’t focus on it too much. But what if there was some truth in what she said and Ash really did feel insecure about himself? I guess the only way I’d be able to find out is if I tailed him some more throughout the day.

Once their combat classes were over, everyone would head back inside to the showers to get cleaned up. I stood out in one of the hallways and looked at the itinerary board to see what exact class Ash would have next…

“Let’s see. Wake-up, self-defense training…arts and crafts,” I muttered as I dragged my hoof down the list. “Alright. So that’s what’s next. Now which way is the--”

“Excuse me,” a small female voice called out to me. It was the zebra filly from before. “I need to get to the arts room. We’re creating abstract shapes to represent our cultures and I absolutely cannot be late under any circumstances.”

“Oh, sorry,” I stood aside and allowed her to look at the board. “I’m just…patrolling the area, ya know? Call me security.”

Surprisingly, the zebra girl bought it. Then again, she looked far more interested in her school’s schedule than whatever I had to say at that moment. “Yeah, yeah--that’s nice. Anyway, let’s see…ah. Here it is. Room 4D4. Alright, gotta get going.” And with that, she started prancing off towards the room.

I didn’t want to follow her straight away because that’d make me look creepy. Instead, I waited for her to round the next corner of the building, and then took after her. Hopefully the arts teacher wouldn’t mind me hanging around in the background.

Speaking of which, who was the art teacher anyway?

Well, when I got to the room, I (unfortunately) got my answer…

“Gather around, fillies, gentlecolts, and…other assorted randomized creatures that have been written into the background of this scene--and express yourself with colors on paper!”

Discord. What was he doing here? Last I heard, he had naearly destroyed the place and all of the students within it about 15 or so years ago. In what universe could they have a good reason to bring him back for?

“What-the-what?” I muttered as I stepped back and away from the art class as Discord began to give a lecture on paint. It felt surreal to see the embodiment of chaos apply himself to something for the benefit of others. Nay, it felt insane.

To my right, I saw Sunburst walking through the hall, and immediately brought myself over to ask him.

“Excuse me, Mr. Sunburst. But are you aware that Discord is in one of your classrooms and is currently trying to ‘teach’ art?” I added with airquotes via my wingfeathers.

Much to my surprise, Sunburst responded amicably. “Oh don’t worry. He’s learned his lesson and won’t be trying the same stunts that he used to pull when we were younger. Plus, he’s only here because our usual art teacher couldn’t make it today due to a sickness. Everyone was so busy that Discord offered to fill in for her.”

Well that sounded better than I thought. I suppose I could give him a chance if everyone else is willing to. Besides, he wasn’t my focus anyways.

“Alright. Thanks for the explanation. Have you seen Ash around? His next class is art, correct?”

Sunburst pulled out his notes and confirmed it. “Yup. Just be careful. From what we’ve seen so far, Ash gets rather…protective of his craft.”

“...protective?”

That’s when we heard a familiar dragon's voice call out from the art room.

“...don’t mess with my work! You’re disrespecting my art!”

“...Hoo boy,” I muttered, dreading to think about what that could be the result of.

Patient 3, Part 6

“I’m disrespecting your art?” Discord’s voice replied, “Well excuuuuuse me, little prince. Why don’t you show me if you can do any better!”

“I will. Gimme that paint can!” Ash called out in return.

I hurried into the room, fearing the worst for them both. Were bite-acudas gonna fly off the page? Were the paint cans gonna be turned into flying chocolate pigs?!

No actually.

Ash was busy painting by hand, using his claws to create beautiful strokes of art on the canvas in front of himself! By the time he was finished, he had hand-painted a beautiful horizon--wait, no. That was a volcano erupting and shooting gold out of itself. Pretty creative, I won’t lie.

And thankfully, it turns out that Discord wasn’t harassing him at all. I guess it was just his weird little way of being an eccentric teacher. Once Ash was finished with his piece, everyone in the class--including Discord--marveled at his creation.

“It’s beautiful…” the draconequus muttered as he shed a single tear…that turned into a full-size tissue that he used to blow his nose with. “This piece it’s--it’s bold! It’s brash! It deserves to be on display in every art museum from here to Canterlot!”

“...I don’t know about that,” Ash said shyly with a nervous smile, “It’s not anything I’m naturally gifted at or anything. I learned it all from an old friend of mine.”

Hm. An old friend? That could explain a lot of the repressed feelings and emotions that I can clearly see he’s burying down deeply. If there was a way to extract those emotions out of his head so that I could properly analyze who he was as a person, then I could begin to make progress.

After that, he didn’t speak too much more. Discord simply took control of the class once more and started making them paint in a black hole!

Nah, I’m kidding. He just started to have them paint more as normal. But as I said, I wondered if this old friend of Ash’s could lead me to unlocking more about him. The problem would be to get him to open up about it. What to do…

RIIIIING!

Soon enough, it was time for lunch. Everyone left their various classrooms and began heading off to the dining hall for the food that was being prepared by--huh. According to the itinerary I had, lunch was being prepared by--

“Saffron Masala?!?!??!” the entire class yelped in unison as soon as they walked into the lunchroom, and saw the mare who ran the Tasty Treat in Canterlot.

“Hello, children!” she called out and waved, “Come on, I have lots of delicious food for you to try! No pushing or shoving!”

And in a flash, all the kids lined up carefully and quietly. I don’t know what’s more unbelievable; the fact that Saffron was here serving her family’s dishes to the students, or that she managed to get them all to follow orders and stay quiet.

Regardless, I needed to get some of that good stuff too. It smelled delicious!

…

Of course, I waited until all the students got something to eat first. But I guess I didn’t realize that I was actually rather…famished, to put it lightly. I actually hadn’t had anything to eat today--knew I should’ve packed myself some of dad’s poutine before I left.

But it was all good. Why? Saffron’s dishes looked amazing. She had multiple trays of food that she had prepared just a few hours ago in this very kitchen! I didn’t know what to try first. The curries, the different types of bread she had to offer, the rice dishes…

“Ah, Cozy--how are you?” she called out to me, cutting off my train of thought.

I wiped a bit of drool from my lip and replied. “Oh, uh…I’m…doing just fine, thank you. I’m actually here working on a patient. Not much else I can say besides that.”

“That’s understandable. I hope you can take care of whoever it is,” Saffron replied with a concerned tone, then smiled, “But while you’re here, let me ask: How is your father doing?”

“Pale? Oh, he’s great--he’s actually been taking more time to himself lately,” I explained, knowing full well that he and mom were probably busy doing whatever silly things adult ponies do together. Like playing card games and watching kissing movies. Blech. “Saving the world takes a toll on your body and mind that he needs to relax off. Superheroes don’t usually get much of a break, ya know?”

Saffron giggled. “Oh yes…my father is more or less the same way. Always devoted to his craft, but to the point of detriment. He’s getting a bit…older now, and I don’t want him to hurt himself. But he insists on being in the kitchen with me.” She sighed and rolled her eyes with a faint smile on her face. “I suppose I can’t blame him for it though. It was always our passion to make food that could put a smile on any-creature’s face.”

Well, she was certainly right about that. From the corner of my eye, I could see Ash sipping one of the bowls of Saffron’s hottest brown-colored curry with a grin on his face. Though, he was all by himself…

That’s when I had an idea.

“Sounds wonderful, Saffy! I hope you and your dad will continue to have a good relationship with each other like me and my old man,” I smiled and looked over the various sets of food she had available before spotting the exact same, golden-brown curry. “Hey, can you get me a bowl of that?” I asked, pointing to the tray.

“Oh, of course!” Saffron used her magic to levitate a bowl, and a ladle to scoop me some of the curry before offering it to me on a lunch tray with some rolls, a juice box, and what appeared to be a bowl of fruits that I had never seen before. “This one’s a doozy of a recipe from my great-grandfather. I hope you enjoy it--oh, and tell your father I said hello!”

I took the tray in my hooves--my nose twitched from the sheer punch of spice from the curry that struck me dead on. This was a big risk, but it’s one that I had to take. “Oh I will. Thanks a bunch!” I waved and left the line…and would eventually find Ash’s table to take a seat directly across from him.

“Hm? Oh, hello,” he spoke to me with a surprisingly friendly tone, “I didn’t think anyone would come sit with me. Are you new here?”

Oh haybales. That’s right. My sunhat and shades were the perfect disguise since it kept my naturally curly--and beautiful--mane in place.

“Uh…y-yeah!” I answered nervously…

“Hm…” To which Ash raised a brow, glaring at me for a moment as I smiled with chattering teeth, hoping to Flurry Heart that I wouldn’t be found out.

Patient 3, Part 7

Surprisingly, Ash was rather blunt with me. Clicking his claws on the table, he rolled his eyes and asked me straight up.

“...why do you care about me so much?”

“Hm?” I paused-mid slurp of Saffron’s curry, then swallowed the rest. “Whaddya mean, kiddo?”

“I heard rumors that ponies only look out for their personal best-interests in order to make themselves look better as the progenitors of ‘friendship’ as a form of magic,” Ash explained as he folded his arms. “Do you believe in such a thing?”

“...Well…that’s a loaded question,” I dodged that, not knowing how to answer. I don’t speak for all ponies. How am I supposed to answer something like that?! No way. Instead, all I could do was answer his first question. “...but as far as caring about you goes, of course I do. I want you to feel happy and safe. Friendship stuff be damned.”

Ash stared at me for a moment as if I had two heads. What I said must have resonated with him on some level. “...You’re willing to do whatever it takes to help me then, hm?”

“Of course,” I reiterated with a nod, “You can tell me anything. It’s all confidential. I promise. Nothing you tell me will leave my lips to anyone. Not even Smolder. Not unless you want me to speak to her that is.”

After a moment of silence, Ash relented, and decided to speak up for himself. “...Alright. To make a long story short…I used to be a thief. I grew up with no one to call family, so I did whatever I could to survive. Including stealing.”

“...Ouch…I know what it’s like to not have anyone to call your own family,” I replied with a frown. That hit me rather hard as I remembered what my foalhood was like. Not exactly the most fun times.

“...But it’s even worse for me,” he went on, “As a dragon, stealing from other dragons is considered a death sentence. You’d better be stronger than the one you’re trying to steal from or else you’re going to face…a lot of pain and humiliation.”

Considering how dragon culture was sometimes, I was almost too scared to ask. But this was my job, so I had no choice but to inquire.

“...what kind of pain and humiliation?”

Ash hesitated for a moment, but eventually explained. “...A harsh beating, followed by burial up to your neck in lava. Don’t worry--we’re fireproof. But it’s still like being buried in sand to where you can’t move at all.”

“...That’s horrible,” I muttered.

Ash shrugged his shoulders and leaned forward with his arms on the table. “It’s the way of the dragons. You’re either weak or strong and that determines your value amongst your peers. Smolder’s been doing her best to keep things civil and loads of dragons have adopted to her new ways…but some not so much.”

“I get it now,” I replied, “You’re being bullied by those stuck in the ways of the older dragon lords. You feel pressured into acting a certain way when you don’t want to.”

“Don’t get me wrong,” he replied, “I understand the value of standing up for myself. Being tough does have its time and place when it’s necessary. But I think there’s still too many dragons that take things too far.”

Okay, now that I was getting somewhere, it was time to bounce off of his perspective.

“Alrighty-roo. If you had the opportunity to change the way dragons are viewed, what would you do?”

Ash looked upwards as he gave it some thought. “Hm…I suppose I’d do what I can to prove that dragons don’t need to be mean to get their point across. That…showing kindness isn’t to show weakness.”

“Goodie. I think I know of a way you can do that--”

He then raised a brow. “...Are you sure? No offense, but…you’re a pony. I’m not sure if you’ll adapt to dragon culture very well.”

“...Kiddo. I’ve done a lot of mean things in my life for the sake of power. Trust me. They’ll get to see exactly what it means once we have you show your stuff off.”

“...Show what off exactly? There isn’t anything remotely remarkable about me.”

“Are you kidding? I saw you out there during those training sessions,” I consoled him and tried my best to encourage him. “You’ve got a style unlike anyone else’s.”

Ash rolled his eyes and rested his chin in the palm of his claw with his elbow on the table. “...Ignoring the fact that you were watching me, how does that--in any way--prove that I have what it takes to help make positive changes on dragon culture?”

I rubbed my hooves together. As much as I didn’t like to admit it, I still enjoyed scheming from time to time in order to accomplish whatever it was I wanted to accomplish. Of course, this was all for the sake of Ash, but the rush of coming up with a plan never got old.

“Let’s just say...I have a few ideas.”

Patient 3, Part 8

Alright, so I needed to make some preparations over the course of the next few days that came after in order to help Ash out. It was abundantly clear that Ash needed a creative outlet for his talents, but needed to feel comfortable while doing it. So what better way to do that than to allow Smolder to see what he was capable of?

And maybe a few other dragons as well.

“Are you sure about this, Cozy?” Ash muttered, “I love art, I really do. But will this actually help improve the image of the dragons?”

“Absolutely,” I encouraged him with a gentle pat on the head, “Show them your stuff with how well you can draw. You did super well in Discord’s class--which shocks me to say honestly.”

Ash giggled at the thought. “Yes, I was just as surprised as you were. But it turns out the God of Chaos is actually quite the artisan. He even taught me tips and strokes that I never would’ve thought of myself.”

Ash was sitting out in the field and painting up a storm on multiple canvases. His creative energy was flowing at a crazy fast rate as his claw swiped across the paper to create innovative piece after innovative piece.

All according to plan. The idea was to show off his work at an outdoor gallery to showcase how dragons could be creative. I just needed the next few stages of my plan to fall into place.

“Hey, Cozy,” Smolder said as she landed on the ground next to me. “You said you wanted to see me and a few of my friends, yeah?”

I nodded and turned to face her. “Yup. I think I finally figured out what was eating away at Ash’s mind. He liked to be creative but doesn’t know how to express himself very well,” I explained with an excited flap of my wings, “So what better way to do it than by letting him show you guys what’s what?”

I looked around and didn’t notice any other dragons with her.

“Now--wait, where’s your friends?”

Smolder grabbed the bridge of her snout and groaned. “Probably gawking and pony fashion. We don’t normally wear clothes like you guys do, so they’re falling a bit behind--”

Soon enough, I watched as several dragons of multiple colors landed nearby. A few guys and gals who were out of breath.

“Sorry, Lord Smolder,” one of the girl dragons apologized--a black and green one, “We kinda got caught up looking at--” But then she stopped dead in her tracks to look at one of Ash’s paintings. “Oh my--what’s that?!”

The painting she was looking at was a realistic interpretation of Smolder’s entire body. The orange dragoness was captured perfectly in a pose where she stood blowing a small ring of fire.

“Well now…” Smolder commented on the visage that Ash made of her. “You got my good side, that’s for damn sure. And my curves are anatomically correct.”

“Hey check this one out,” one of the male dragons pointed out another one of his pieces. This one was a beautiful mountainside with lots of dragons perched on the rocks.

Soon enough, everyone was walking over to look at his art. I could’ve sworn that I heard a few of them say that he should open up a museum.

To his surprise, everyone was rather supportive.

“...wait, you like my art?” he asked them with a curious tone.

“It’s awesome!” another girl dragon called out, “I wish I could draw half as good as this.”

“Where’d you learn to draw this well?” one of the dragon guys asked.

Ash was so overwhelmed at first that he couldn’t help but blush as he took in all of the praise. All he could do was quietly wave at me as he started to speak to them.

“Knew it’d work out,” I muttered confidently, and looked at Smolder. “You’ve done a great job of keeping them all in line, huh?”

But she was still busy admiring her portrait. “...Oh! Uh…well, let’s just say that the dragons are much more complaint once I managed to figure out how to tame them and get them to listen.”

I leaned forward with an interested expression. “Oh? What didja do to ‘em?”

“Trade secret. It involved a lot of jewels though,” she said with a little giggle. “But you did a great job helping Ash come into himself. All he needed was a little confidence boost and you gave it to him, Cozy.”

I kinda downplayed myself. Didn’t wanna look self-righteous or anything. It was just my job after all. “Me, what? Pffft…I just got him to grow into his scales or what have you. I can’t take all the credit.”

“Well you better accept it,” Smolder shot back with a teasing smile, “I’m citing you as the reason why draco-equine relations are getting better. So deal with it~”

“M-me?”

I nearly passed out from the praised. That was so thoughtful that I couldn’t even process how it felt to hear. I was just glad that my move on the board worked out just as I intended.

And you wanna know something?

On that day, he gave me another painting. It was of me…as a dragon! Standing on two legs with pink scales and blue wings. I looked so damn cool in it! That’s why I keep it framed above my desk so that I’ll never forget it.

Ash had finally found his place in the world.