Pony POV Spin-Off: Neo Stream BD (Before Death)

by JDEzekude

Chapter 2: Level Up

My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic
Reharmonization Pony POV Side-Story Fan-Fic
Episode Title: "Neo Stream B.D. (Before Death) - Level Up"
Written By Jordan Dean "Mystery" Ezekude and Dragon-of-Twilght
Inspired By Alex Warlorn

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Day XX/XX/XXXX
??? Hours Before Death
Stream Residence
Ponyville

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... ... ...

I slowly opened my eyes. I was staring at the ceiling of my own bedroom.

I gently rubbed my eyes with my hooves as I slowly sat up on my bed.

I didn't have any dreams last night, but I was more than thankful to have slept peacefully for once. After my gruesome nightmare, I thought I'd never sleep again.

I then turned to my bedroom window to look through. It was a dull, cloudy morning. Dark clouds full of rain hung over all of Ponyville. The streets were almost completely empty. I wasn't surprised. Not many ponies like standing around in the rain for several minutes. Neither did I when I was a foal.

But as I grew up in this town, I started to like the rain. I don't know how to explain this, but I almost feel emotionally attached to the rain. It fills me with tranquility and helps me put my mind at ease. Sometimes, on a rainy day, I would go for a walk through the streets of Ponyville while listening to calm tunes on my WalkPony like Moon Stardust's "Hermit in Canterlot." It helps me take my mind off a lot of things.

That reminded me. I still have a lot of things I need to take off my mind right now. And this time, I won't be able to do it alone.

After getting myself washed, I slowly made my way downstairs into the living room. I could hear my mother in the kitchen. She just finished cooking scrambled eggs for our breakfast.

"Um," I said. "Morning, Mom."

"Good morning, dear," my mother replied with a smile as she set both plates down on the dining table. "Your plate is on the left."

"Thanks, Mom. Um, do we still have a phonebook in the house?"

"Yes," she confirmed. "It's right next to the phone in the living room. Why?"

"I want to make an appointment," I replied. "And sort myself out once and for all."

Thus, I approached the table and opened up the phonebook. It only took me a few minutes to find the phone number for Ponyville Hospital. Upon finding it, I picked up the phone and dialed the hospital's main hotline. I then held it to my ear waiting for somepony to answer.

"Don't you want to have your breakfast first?" my mother asked.

"I'll have it after arranging my appointment," I responded.

And so, I continued to wait patiently for somepony at the hospital to answer as the traditional dialing tone echoed in my ear. After a few seconds, the tone finally stopped.

"Hello?" greeted a friendly male voice on the phone. "Ponyville Hospital."

"Hi," I softly replied. "My name is Neo Stream, and...I..."

I hesitated to speak once again.

No, I have to do this. I'd rather do this myself than have somepony else do it for me.

"I need help," I finally continued. "I think I'm mentally unwell...and I need to go to the mental ward."

"OK," the receptionist replied calmly. "How so, sir?"

"Well," I explained. "Ever since...the Princess Gaia incident, I've been getting more easily upset than usual. And a few days ago, I've been having...homicidal dreams...I don't feel comfortable talking about my problems with anypony; not even my mother. But, I think that, maybe, if I go to the mental ward, I might find somepony to talk to."

"I understand," the receptionist replied maintaining his tone of voice. "Unfortunately, we can't register ponies for rehabilitation straight away unless it was an emergency. So, would you mind if we send a psychiatrist over to your house to assess the situation?"

"OK," I sighed reluctantly. "If you have to."

I was hoping not to talk about my problems at home. But, unless I go through with this, they might think that I don't need to be rehabilitated.

"OK, can you please give me the address of your house?"

"It's 40 Sunny Street, Ponyville."

"Alright, thank you. The psychiatrist should arrive in about half an hour."

"OK. Bye."

"Have a nice day."

Thus, I put the phone back down with a reassured smile.

This is it. I'm finally going to get my life back on track.

"Are you done?" my mother called. "Your scrambled eggs are getting cold."

"Oh, right!" I chuckled turning back to her. "Sorry."

And so, I sat down at the kitchen table to have my scrambled eggs which had already gone cold a few minutes ago. I don't mind eating eggs cold though. They taste great all the same.

I then remembered that I needed to pick up those pills Coffee Swirl said he'd have for me today. So I went back down to the Beautiful Day Café with my favorite black jumper and umbrella to keep me out of the rain. I didn't feel like taking my WalkPony with me as I wanted to go without it for a change. Besides, I've already listened to most of the songs on my WalkPony so many times that I know them off by heart.

I eventually made it to the Beautiful Day Café. As I came in out of the rain and wiped my hooves on the doormat, I noticed that the café was almost as empty as the streets of Ponyville. At least I didn't have to wait in line this time around.

"Um...hey," I greeted as I approached the counter. "Have you got the pills for me?"

Coffee Swirl sighed as he reached under the counter to retrieve a bottle of pills that was almost full. "Like I said yesterday," he deadpanned. "It can be taken once a day; but, if you feel like you need a boost sometime in the afternoon, don't be afraid to pop in another."

"No," I replied. "I don't think exceeding the dosage would help one bit."

"Uh, speaking of bits," I continued slapping two bits on the counter. "May I please have a coffee to swallow it?"

"That was what the doctor told me when I was prescribed these things." He casually reached around to the machine and produced a café latte. He then replaced the bits on the counter with my new coffee. "Either way, here's your coffee."

"Thank you," I smiled placing one pill on my tongue before swishing it down with a sip of my fresh café latte. This time around, I felt more awake than ever after a few sips.

"This is great," I beamed as I drank the rest of my coffee. "I really can't thank you enough. Ever since we first met, I've been having less trouble sleeping at night."

"That's usually how it works," Coffee replied. "You should still make some sort of appointment with the shrinks though. I'm not exactly qualified for this sort of thing; I just have perspective."

"I already have this morning," I confirmed. "They'll be coming to my house in about twenty minutes. Well, in case I don't come back for a long time, thanks for everything you've done for me."

Thus, I took my leave once again; this time, with more confidence. I felt that my conservation with him went better than before. Although I made a terrible first impression of myself to him, he wasn't afraid to point me back in the right direction.

More importantly, after that horrible Princess Gaia incident, he once felt the same way about Fluttershy as I did. He hated her for what she put us all through. But, in the end, he forgave her and moved on with his life. I don't know if I could ever forgive her, but I do know that I want to move on too. Otherwise, everything that Coffee said would happen to me if I don't will come true.

When I got back home, I patiently waited for the psychiatrist downstairs in the living room for the next ten minutes. I didn't feel like playing my games or listening to music right now. All I wanted to do was focus on my important meeting with the psychiatrist. I was probably gonna be answering a lot of questions and I didn't want to be unprepared.

While I was waiting for the psychiatrist, I noticed Coffee Swirl walking past my house in the pouring rain. He didn't even have an umbrella with him. What was here doing out there in the cold anyway? Didn't he care that he was getting soaked out there? Was he checking up on me?

Eventually, there was a gentle knock at our front door.

"Could that be the psychiatrist?" my mother asked.

"Maybe," I replied as I dashed to the front door to open it and find out. Standing outside in the pouring rain was a sunshine-yellow pony with a short, tidy white mane as well as matching spectacles, raincoat and backpack.

"Mr. Napoleon Eurabatres Stream?" she asked with a greeting smile.

"Yeah, that's me," I confirmed with a nod. "Everypony calls me Neo. You must be the psychiatrist seeing me today."

"That's right," she replied. "May I please come in?"

"Oh, sure!" I greeted standing back to let her in. I didn't want her to leave her outside in the cold for another minute.

"My name's Bright Light," she said as she came in and hung up her raincoat on our coat hanger. "I'm a special needs assessor from the Ponyville Hospital Mental Health Department. Now I understand that you contacted the hospital earlier claiming to be mentally unwell and in need for rehabilitation. Am I correct?"

"Yeah, that's right," I responded as we proceeded into the living room.

"Can I get you two anything?" my mother kindly offered. "Food? Drink?"

"No thanks," Bright Light politely declined as we all sat down on the settee. "I'm OK."

"I'm alright too, Mom," I answered.

"By the way, Neo," Bright Light continued turning back to me with a slightly more serious face. "Are you alright with your mother being here while we discuss your problems?"

"Yeah," I replied with a gentle nod.

"Are you sure?" she asked. "We can talk somewhere else if you want to."

"No. I think it's important that my mother listens to what I have to tell you."

"Alright then. Now I would like you to tell me as much as you can about your mental illness just so that I can assess the current situation and see what kind of help and support you'll need. Is that OK?"

As much as I can...

"OK," I finally sighed.

And so, I told her everything. I told her about my traumatic encounter with Princess Gaia, my violent outburst at the Gala and my homicidal dreams. I even told her about meeting Coffee Swirl yesterday who used to have similar problems to the ones I have right now.

I found it extremely hard talking about it all in front of my mother, because I really didn't want to share any of this with anypony. However, I didn't go into too much detail about my nightmare. Nor did I mention killing my own mother in that nightmare. I was far too afraid of what my mother would think of me if I did.

I was expecting Bright Light to be asking a lot of questions. But instead, she listened quietly throughout writing down everything I had to say in her clipboard. She only asked one question at the very end.

"So how did you sleep last night?"

"Well," I answered. "After that horrible dream, I thought that I'd never be able to sleep again. But, strangely enough, I did. I didn't have any dreams, but I slept peacefully. Maybe it was discussing my problems with Coffee Swirl that helped me sleep."

"I see. Is there anything else you want to tell me?"

"No," I replied. "At least, not now. Maybe later when I'm at the hospital."

"I understand."

Thus, she stopped writing and put her pen and clipboard to one side.

"Now, Neo, are you sure you want to go through with this?" she then asked. "It may take several weeks for you to be fully rehabilitated; maybe even months."

"I don't care how long it takes," I firmly replied as I turned to my mother. "I've spent my entire life running away from my problems and myself. But now, I've got nowhere to run and nowhere to hide. The time has come for me to face my problems."

My mother was clearly surprised by my sudden determination.

"And, so far," I continued. "I haven't been dealing with them the way I should be. Instead, I've only been creating more problems."

I then wrapped my arms around her knowing that I may not see her again for a while.

"That's why I have to be rehabilitated," I finished. "To finally learn how to properly face my problems and solve them."

Thus, the entire house fell silent safe for the sound of the rain outside. It was enough to put my mind and soul at ease.

"I see," said Bright Light finally breaking the silence. But I didn't mind. I then felt tears rolling down my right shoulder. They weren't my tears this time; they were my mother's.

"Take care of yourself, OK, Neo?" she sobbed quietly as she patted me on the back. "And remember that I love you and I always have."

"I know," I replied still holding her. "And I love you too."

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