“Uhh-”

“It’s alright, sweetie. Take your time.”

“Err- E.”

“Very good! Now, can you tell me what this one is?”

“E.”

“Ooh, sorry, Ditzy, this is an ‘F.’” The doctor’s words had a profound effect on the filly. She drooped her head a few hooves, her eyelids fluttering closed as she took a deep, shaky breath. The doctor cringed slightly at the scene unfolding in front of him, a bluish-gray pegasus mare with a lighter-brown mane quickly wrapped a caring hoof around her daughter, currently sitting a decent distance from the white poster on the wall.

Off to the side, sitting disinterestedly, was an earth-pony stallion. His coat was a dark gray, his mane white. He wore oval-shaped spectacles, his blue eyes beyond barely paying attention. His hooves were crossed over his chest, almost itching to get out of the doctor’s office.

“Doctor, what’s wrong with me?” The small filly asked in a polite, yet squeaky voice. The doctors heart dropped a few notches as he remembered what the filly’s mother, Graceful Falls, had said earlier about the filly.

Along with eye-sight issues, she had a few developmental issues as well. Most the time, she couldn’t understand, or would pretend to not understand the situation unraveling. Most pediatric psychiatrists said she was trying to get the adults to talk when she felt they were in uncomfortable situations. And so, the doctor talked.

“Nothing, Ditzy. You’re just a tad bit… special? Sometimes, ponies don’t grow up one-hundred percent. But that’s nothing to be ashamed of. As a matter-of-fact, you are special. And you should feel special.” He had approached the pouting filly, resting a hoof tentatively on her shoulder, along with Grace.

The moment was interrupted by a scoff from the stallion.

“Special? I’ve never seen a filly her age who can’t read.”

The doctor took a deep breath inwards, trying not to snip back at the father, Zippy. He leveled his emotions back, still facing away from the stallion. He decided the best coarse of action was to completely ignore him.

“You have an excuse, Ditzy. Your eyesight isn’t normal. You’ll just need more help in the future-”

“Lot more help.”

The doctors throat clenched again. He tried swallowing the lump in his throat. Judging by Grace’s expression, this wasn’t the first time this sort of thing has happened. He closed his eyes, and breathed deeply once more. His face temporarily contorted to one of frustration before remembering peering eyes were focusing on him.

Well, one unfocused peering eye. The other one was drifting towards the floor.

“S-So.” Graceful Falls spoke for the first time since arriving. “Is there a- a- spell you could use?”

“I’m sorry, Grace, but these sorts of things are very delicate. There isn’t always a magical spell to fix everything-” The doctor realized his condescending tone, and mentally took a step back. “Sorry- I didn’t mean for that to sound rude. I mean for a developing filly like Ditzy, her condition developed in such a short amount of time, we likely would’ve never caught it.”

“Doctors…” The stallion grumbled. He clenched his teeth again.

“I- I understand. It’s okay, it was a dumb question anyway…”

“No! Not at all. No medical question isn’t worth asking.” He gave her a small smile, to which Grace only looked away, back at the attentive filly. Although she was atleast partially looking at the doctor, it seemed like something else was going on inside her mind.

“There are 35 tiles in this room.”

“...What?”

“35 tiles. The ponies who painted this room took 1,326 paint strokes with a roller.”

“Huh?”

“That, and the previous pony in this room had an advance form of hay-fever.”

“How- did you know?”

“About what?”

“T-The paint strokes. Your eyes… you can’t see the wall!”

“I can’t. When we walked in, I ran a hoof over the wall. If each portion is a brushstroke, I eye-balled the multiplication along the length and height of the wall, times four for each wall.”

“R-Right. Then what about hay-fever?”

“Did the last patient have hay-fever?”

“Y-Yes?”

“Yeah. I can smell it.”

“What?” The doctor shook his head, trying his hardest to expel the confusion and refocus onto the filly sitting in front of him. “Y-You can smell hay-fever?”

“Yup. When a pony looses one of their senses, their other ones are raised to make up the difference.”

The doctor took a long sigh, for perhaps the tenth time that day, and offered a smile. He raised a hoof, ruffling the small filly’s mane.

“You were always the smart one, weren’t you?”

“Yup.” She said, smiling back.

“Alright, time to get the hay out of here.” Zippy said, standing onto his hooves. “I dunno about you guys, but I am hungrier than a horse. Grace, you’re paying.”

“Wait! I still need you two to fill out-”

“Grace can do it. I’ll be waiting out in the lobby.” He quickly pushed open the door to the rest of the hospital, and walked out.

“Mom- why is Daddy mad?” Ditzy looked to her mom for comfort. She diverted her gaze away from the filly.

“B-Because he doesn’t like hospitals.” She lied.

“Mom. You know I’m not asking about today. I’ve asked this question a thousand times. Why is Daddy always mad? Why can’t I get him back the way he was before?”

“B-Because- h-he doesn’t. Umm.” Graceful came to a mental halt, still not meeting one of the filly’s eyes.

“Because your father doesn’t understand you.” The doctor cut in. “You need to be there for him to understand. You need to be the filly who ropes him back in. Ya’ got that, sis?”

“Yeah. Thanks.” She looked to her hooves. “...I wish I had you for a dad.”

An icy-dagger was thrust through the doctors heart. How could somepony be so cruel to such a precious thing?

“I- Ditzy, I’m your family doctor. I’ll always be there, alright? Please, never discredit your father. He does try. He’s just… confused. Now, I believe you have a hungry stallion waiting for you, hmm? Let me go grab that paperwork.” He got up, and paced to the door, taking one last look at Grace holding Ditzy in her hooves. The sight warmed his heart.

Hopefully, he could see this through.

“E.”

“Very good.” He moved the stick down lower. “What’s this one?”

“F, then P.”

“...And?”

“T, O, Z.”

“...Aaand?”

“L, P, E, D.”

“Aaaaand?”

“PECFDEDFCZPFELOPZDDEFPOTECLEFODPCTFDPLTCEOPEZOLCFTD.”

“Very, very good!” The doctor dropped the stick from his magic, instead opting to grab a nearby clipboard, going over a few simple notes. “Well, everything here looks absolutely fantastic! She is a perfectly healthy 6-year-old unicorn.”

Ditzy’s smile grew a few paces wider, and quickly made to wrap her daughter in a constricting hug.

“Dinky- I’m so proud of you!” The small purple unicorn started to struggle breathing.

“M-Mom, it’s a physical!” She took a deep breathe in. “You can’t really do ‘good’ at a physical!” Finally, Ditzy’s grip loosened, and the filly took several deep breaths, her head swimming with built-up oxygen.

“But you can!” Ditzy looked at the doctor, one eye slanted towards the floor. “Doc, don’t you remember my physicals?”

“Why, can’t say I don’t.” He put a hoof on his chin, remembering the years past. Dinky’s face turned to one of pure confusion as she looked at the doctor like her world was shattered.

“Wait!” She half-yelled. “You were mom’s doctor, too?”

“Of course, Dinky. Family doctors are just that. Family doctors. We stick around for life.” He puffed his chest up, displaying proud.

“Just how old are you?”

“Dinky!” Ditzy suddenly shouted, pulling her into yet another hug. “You can’t just say those things!”

“It’s quite alright. After all, a doctor never reveals his tricks.” The doctor winked at the filly.

“B-But that’s what Trixie says. Wait, were you Trixie’s doctor, too?”

“Can’t say I’m familiar with the name. I’m not everypony’s doctor, unfortunately.”

“Oh. Was mom healthy?”

“Err-” The doctor turned to Ditzy, who gave him a smile and nodded. “Well- Mom always had developmental problems, you know this. She had to have extra help growing up. You better be happy you take after your-” He stopped, mouth still open. Nope. Touchy subject. Don’t go there.

“After my what?”

“N-Nothing. You’re just lucky you didn’t go through what your mother did.”

“What did she go through?” Dinky turned to Ditzy. “Mom, what happened?”

“Well, sweetie…” Ditzy looked forwards, pondering what to say next. A lump formed in her throat. “You know how grandma is sweeter than an apple pie?”

“Yeah?”

“W-Well, she wasn’t always like that. Everypony makes mistakes, and while Grandma was having me, she made… a lot of mistakes.”

“Like what?”

“S-She married the wrong stallion. That stallion let her- uhm- hit the cider?”

“Oh. Wait! Does this means I have a grandpa?”

“No!” Ditzy accidentally shouted in the small room. She put a hoof over her mouth, and looked warily at the doctor. Dinky moved away from her mother, and looked at her in the eye.

“Why not?”

“H-He wasn’t very nice. He died a few years ago.”

“Like dad?”

“Eurgh-” Ditzy didn’t want to be reminded of him, either. And the fact she’s lying about the circumstances around Dinky’s father’s disappearance. “N-No.”

“But just ‘cause he’s dead doesn’t mean he’s not my grandpa.”

“Dinky, grandpa wasn’t a nice man. Family means sticking together. He didn’t stick together, so he isn’t family.”

“Oh.”

The doctor had failed. He hadn’t watched the family pull through. He was watching a broken single mother with her only daughter. Yet, they still seemed extremely happy. Ditzy was talking like nothing was wrong in the world. It was like watching Ditzy explain what an apple was, and why they tasted good.

Then a thought occurred to him.

Something Ditzy did twenty years ago.

Dinky was asking questions because she was concerned for her mother.

She already knew the answers. Ditzy knew she did, too.

Dinky was trying to get Ditzy to talk, because she thought it got too uncomfortable.

Deja-vu.

Although the sad scene almost brought a tear to the doctor’s eye, the sadness couldn’t help but become overwritten by a bout of happiness. Although the two ponies in front of him had their hardships, they were still smiling to each other. They were still happy.

The battle was fought and lost. They laid down their swords, yet they were still happy.

“Dinky, I have one last thing to give you.” He reached a hoof into his coat-pocket.

“Lollipop?!” Instantly, the small filly was sitting directly in front of the doctor, puppy eyeing him.

“Yup. And it’s all yours.”

“Gimmiegimmiegimmiegimmie-” She took the lollipop, and without a moments hesitation, sunk her teeth into it.

“The wrapper needs to come off first.”

“Puh!” She spit out the plastic. “Knew that!” And continued eating.

Author's Note

This was, litterally, my second ever attempt at writing a MLP Fanfic. My first attempt was Rusty Gear, and that came out about as well as you would think. This one is very rough. First draft rough. I canned it because it felt too overly- i dunno, edgy? Some of the character dialogue made me raise an eyebrow while writing it. Also, I made Derpy super smart for like- no reason. Reeks of early writing.