//------------------------------//
// Chapter Seven 
// Story: The Little Filly Who Could 
// by Boopy Doopy 
//------------------------------//

“Um, is something wrong?” Ivory Spark asked carefully, looking behind her for a moment before turning back to the filly. The mare wasn’t exactly new to the job, having worked in foal psychology for nearly two years up to this point after spending a few years in general nursing, but she could safely this was the first time she’d received a slack jawed expression from somepony in response to them learning her name.
Bright Side blinked at her, just as confused as she was, and Ivory Spark continued, “Is there someplace you remember me from? Like I said, I don’t think I’ve seen you before, but maybe my memory is slipping. Can you remind me, please?”
“Nope. I definitely haven’t seen you before.” Emily said quickly, shutting her mouth for a long moment of silence. After a few seconds, she asked, “That’s Doctor Ivory Spark, isn’t it? Your first name is Ivory?”
“Yes it is, but you don’t have to call me by my full name or doctor. You can just call me Ivory or Sparky if you want to. I’d just like to get to know you, if that’s okay.”
“Um, heck.” The filly tapped her hoof against the arm of the sofa nervously. “Heck, heck, heck. Um– gosh dang it, this is gonna suck so bad. Um… heck.”
“Why do you think this is going to be bad, Ama Lee?” the mare asked carefully, taking a couple of steps farther into the room, closer to her. “Is it okay if I sat down next to you?”
“Yeah, you can, and it’s not your fault this is gonna suck. It’s just… you know. Shit.” Bright Side and Ivory Spark both cringed at her crass language, and she quickly apologized. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t curse.”
“I think everything will be okay, for what it’s worth,” Ivory Spark told her carefully, taking a seat directly next to her, just a cushion away, opposite of Bright Side’s sitting in a couch across the room. She wanted to try and build a persona that she was her friend and help the filly feel comfortable, and knew that things like sitting close to her would help with that. She glanced up at the stallion who requested her here and gave him a look that said the two of them should have some space.
“Do you think things won’t be okay?” the mare asked.
“Oh, I thought everything was gonna be wonderful and smooth and I’d be happy forever and ever and never have to think about a whole lot of things I’d left behind for the rest of my life, but that plan just went racing out the window, didn’t it? I guess I should’ve expected it.”
“Expected what?”
“For you to be here,” she explained, making Ivory Spark raise an eyebrow. “You being here means a whole bunch of things that I don’t want to happen. I guess I can’t control it though, since you’re already here. I know exactly where this is gonna end, and it’s kind of disappointing.”
“How what is going to end, Ama Lee?” The mare made a mental note to keep track of what to write down in the conversation. She wanted to keep the filly’s full attention, and make it appear that she was interested in what she was saying, not that she wasn’t.
“Do you mean me talking to you, or something else?”
“I mean… nothing. It’s nothing,” she said quickly, firmly, seeming like the decision was a snap one to keep her mouth shut. It definitely piqued the mare’s curiosity, but she didn’t say anything yet. Instead, she kept silent and watched Emily, waiting for her to continue on her own.
“So yeah. That’s what that is. Absolutely nothing.” The filly took a breath, and then, as though realizing how she was being seen, put on a smile and asked, “What do you wanna talk to me about?” She sounded more like a young foal now, as opposed to the older filly she’d just gotten. It lined up with the notes Bright Side provided her.
What also lined up was her stimming and rubbing her hoof against the couch cushion. Just a quick glance at it showed fur starting to be rubbed raw by how often she seemed to do it. It didn’t seem like it stemmed from stress; it was just a subconscious activity on her part, as was the way she kind of wiggled around in the seat and tapped her hoof on the ground. It seemed like hallmarks of ADHD, but that wasn’t a determination she could make just on looking at her.
“I just wanted to see what you’re like,” Ivory Spark told her, wearing a kind smile that seemed to make Emily smile in return. “Bright Side told me you might need some help, so if it’s okay, I’d like to try and help you.”
“Well, I do indeed need lots of help, although it’s gonna be a lot more than I expected, that’s for sure,” Emily said. “I mean, I expected a foal psychologist to come in, but I was honestly unprepared for you. Speaking of which, I have to ask: have you met a foal named Leo yet?”
“I can’t say I have, no. Do you know him?”
“I do, in a vague sort of way, but that’s not a conversation to get into since it doesn’t really matter. More importantly is this: are we gonna get pizza, and will it have spinach and diced tomatoes on it? I’m hungry!”
“Bright Side promised you that, didn’t he?” Ivory Spark smiled. “That’s what he promises everypony I talk to. Pizza. It gets a little old after a while, but it sure is tasty, especially if you have unique tastes like you do.”
“My mom says I have unique tastes and that I’m a picky eater, but I don’t think I am. I just don’t eat gross things, like milk and mayonnaise.”
“I can’t say I like mayonnaise either, but little fillies like you need milk to have big and strong bones.” Emily giggled happily at her words, the mare not knowing what it was she liked about it but taking it anyway. She seemed like she was settling after the initial shock of seeing her. Why was she so surprised?
“What kind of foods do you like to eat? Do you think if I gave you a paper and some crayons, you could write out a list for me?”
“Mhm,” she nodded, flapping her wings and standing up at the same time as Ivory Spark did. She really was tucking her tail, but it seemed like she was somehow trying not to do that, her tail untucking after she realized that it was. Certainly interesting.
“We’re gonna head over to the dining room to get started, if that’s okay,” she told her politely. “If Bright Side is bringing pizza, we don’t want to get his office all messy and leave crumbs everywhere, do we?”
“Nope! I know where that’s at!”
A minute later, the two were sitting down side by side again, the mare using her magic to grab some crayons and paper to use and watching as Emily made a list of foods she liked and didn’t like. As she did, her free hoof was now slowly slowly petting itself over her thigh, probably because she liked the texture of her fur. It was certainly cute, but not really ideal.
“Sweetheart,” Ivory started gently, “if you can, make sure not to rub your coat too hard, okay? I don’t want you to rub your fur off on your legs like you did around your hoof.” She hated interrupting her obvious stimming, but rubbing her hooves along fabric and grinding away the fur wouldn’t be great.
Emily looked at her hoof and blushed bright red. “Sorry,” she said embarrassedly, halting immediately and flattening her ears against her skull. Not the reaction Ivory Spark wanted. 
“You can rub. I just want to make sure you’re being careful is all.” The filly didn’t start up again though, going back to working on the list, and the mare continued, “I’m sorry I don’t remember you, but if it’s okay, can I ask how you remember me?”
“Oh, it’s nothing.”
“Are you sure?”
“Well, I mean, it’s not nothing, but– I don’t know what to do about it. Is this gonna copy that story exactly? Or only this part? I hope it’s the latter, but if it’s the former, then… I don’t know what.”
“Copy what story, Ama Lee?” Ivory Spark asked quietly, hoping her gentleness would get her to engage. It didn’t work, the filly only sighing and shaking her head sadly for a second as she stopped writing.
“It doesn’t matter. I shouldn’t be getting so worked up over this. Well, I should, but I shouldn’t.”
“It’s okay to feel bad,” the mare told her. “If you’re uncomfortable with me or because of me, it’s okay. I don’t want to make you get worked up.”
“It’s not you, it’s just… nothing. Never mind.” She let out a breath and sniffled, closing her eyes as she quietly whispered, “I don’t wanna lose this already is all. I just got here.”
“You don’t wanna lose what?”
Emily didn’t answer, going back to writing for a minute as she sat next to Ivory Spark looking misty eyed. It made her frown to see. She wanted to help and try to figure out what was going on, and what it was about her that was getting to Emily, but didn’t push. She wondered if she should actually direct Bright Side to get another pony to work on her. 
“But you know what?” Emily started out of the blue, as though reading her mind. “It’s kind of cool meeting you. I mean, after all, you’re Doctor Spark! The one and only!” Then she paused for a moment, putting on a serious expression as she asked, “Can I touch your fur?”
“Uh, sure, if you want to,” the doctor shrugged, extending a leg out for her to grab hold of. The filly casually touched it, and practically squealed as she did. She seemed like she was happier than if she was told she was getting an ice cream sunday as a surprise treat.
“This is so cool! I touched Doctor Spark! This is the best day of my life!”
“And why is that now?” she asked, the mare now smiling again. “I mean, I’m good, but I’m not that great.”
“Because you’re Doctor Spark!” the filly said again. “Also, I finished the list. The foods I don’t like is kind of long.”
“Oh yeah? Let me take a look here.” She scanned over the paper, noting the neatness of the hoofwriting as compared to other fillies her age more than she did the foods on the list. Very interesting, something that, when combined with how she spoke about things, suggested she was older than the seven years she gave to ponies before.
“Ice cream?” Ivory Spark as she raised an eyebrow. “You don’t like ice cream?”
“Nope. It’s too sugary and sticky and makes me thirsty when I eat it,” she explained. “I haven’t eaten any in a long time cause I don’t like it.”
The mare smiled and shook her head, chuckling out loud a little bit. “You like spinach and diced tomatoes on pizza, but don’t like ice cream? You’re one strange little girl, I’ll say that much.”
Emily giggled back happily in response, any despondency she had a little while ago seemingly in the past now. “I am a weird girl, aren’t I?”