• Published 10th May 2013
  • 7,981 Views, 223 Comments

The Road To Recovery - unicorn92243



Sequel to Scootaloo's Painful Secret. Now that Scootaloo is away from her abusive parents and in the custody of Rainbow Dash, she can focus on recovering from the trauma she was put through and getting on with her life.

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2. Therapy

Chapter 2

Therapy

“Hello Scootaloo, how are you feeling today?” Asked Dr. Sunny

“Bad,” Scootaloo’s head was hanging, her ears laid back as she stared at the floor.

“Oh? Why bad?”

“My Mom sent me a letter. She said it was all my fault. That everything was my fault.”

“I see, do you think it’s your fault?” Scootaloo shrugged, looking uncertain. “Look at me Scootaloo.” Slowly the little Pegasus obeyed. Dr. Sunny looked at her seriously. “Now how exactly could any of this be your fault?”

“I could’ve been a better daughter, so Mom didn’t have to punish me so much.”

“Ah, but what your mother did wasn’t punishment, it was abuse. Do you know the difference?” Scootaloo’s brow furrowed, and she slowly shook her head. “Punishment, real punishment, is to help teach you right from wrong. When your mother hit you or spanked you, did you learn anything?”

“Yeah…”

“What did you learn?”

“To stay away from her when she was mad.”

“Now you see, that’s not what a punishment is supposed to teach. Did she ever tell you what you were being punished for?”

“A few times, but usually it was for something that wasn’t my fault, like the plumbing backing up.”

“I see, and the rest of the time?”

“She’d just grab me, hit me, yell at me, then send me to my room.”

“And the only thing you learned was to stay away from her when she was angry, correct?” Scootaloo nodded. “Well that’s not how a punishment is supposed to work at all.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, did you ever get into trouble at school?”

“A few times,” she nodded.

“Tell me about one time you got into trouble.”

“I hit Diamond Tiara in the mouth.”

“Oh my, why did you do that?”

“She was making fun of me and my friends.”

“And you got in trouble?”

“Yeah, but she did too.”

“What happened?”

“We had to stay after school and write lines. I had to write I will not hit other ponies a hundred times. Diamond Tiara had to write I will not make fun of other ponies a hundred times.”

“Did your teacher tell you why you were being punished?”

“Yeah, she said hitting others is wrong, even if they’re being mean to me. She said I should have come told her that Diamond Tiara was bothering us and she would’ve stopped her.”

“So then what did you learn?”

“That fighting is bad.”

“So you learned something when you were punished is that right? Because your teacher explained to you what you did wrong? Correct?”

“Yeah.”

“Okay, so can you tell me how your mother and your teacher punished you differently?”

“Be-because when Miss Cheerilee punished me she told me what I’d done wrong, and it really was my fault, and when Mom punished me she usually didn’t tell me what I did wrong, and when she did… it wasn’t my fault?”

“Very good Scootaloo, that’s exactly right. How do you feel now?”

“Mad.”

“At your mother?”

“Yes.”

“That’s okay, it’s okay to be angry, just as long as you don’t take it out on other living ponies.” Dr. Sunny got up and took down a stuffed Pegasus and set it in front of Scootaloo. “Why don’t you pretend that this is your mother? You can say or do whatever you want to it.”

“I don’t know…”

“Go ahead dear, it’s all right.”

For a moment, Scootaloo felt silly, but then she really focused on the doll, and she could almost see her mother’s smug face in front of her.

“I… I hate her.”

“Tell her Scootaloo. Why do you hate her?”

“I hate you because you’re so mean to me. You were always mean to me.” She gave the plushie a little shove.

“Very good Scootaloo, keep going.”

“You shouldn’t have killed Peaches puppies! You should’ve let me say goodbye to her like you promised! It wasn’t my fault the plumbing backed up! Why didn’t you love me! Mom’s are supposed to love their children! I hate you! I hate you!” Scootaloo started punching the doll over and over before breaking down into sobs. She could feel someone holding her and after a few minutes she started to calm down, looking up at the Doctor.

“Feel better?” Dr. Sunny asked as she gave her a tissue.

Scootaloo wiped her face and blew her nose.

“Y-yeah, some.”

“You have a lot of anger and pain inside of you. Feelings that you weren’t allowed to express, but you can express them here, or at home. You can pound your pillow or scream into it, or talk to Rainbow Dash. Does that sound good?”

“Yeah, Mom never let me do anything like that. She’d punish me if I tried.”

“And was that the right kind of punishment or the wrong kind?”

“The wrong kind.”

“And what is the wrong kind of punishment called?”

“Abuse.”

“And was it your fault?”

“No… no it wasn’t.”

“That’s right, it wasn’t.”

“Dr Sunny? Why did Mom hurt me?”

“Because she decided to take her problems out on you instead of facing them herself.”

“That’s not very nice.”

“No, no it’s not. Well I see our time is up. I’ll see you on Thursday Scootaloo.”

“Okay, bye Dr. Sunny.” Scootaloo waved as she left the room and joined Rainbow Dash.

“Hey kiddo, want to get some ice cream before we go home?” Rainbow smiled.

“Yeah lets go!”

Dr. Sunny sighed as she prepared to meet with her next patient. Privately she thought ponies like Scootaloo’s mother should be sent to the moon.