"I still don't see why we need to be here."
"I told you, we should at least make sure he's alright. We did knock him unconscious."
"Starlight knocked him unconscious, not us."
"She was with us at the time and she didn't know what she was doing. She's one of us, and we're looking out for her."
Rainbow and Twilight were bickering in a waiting room in the Ponyville Hospital, waiting to find out about the pony Starlight had hit with a stick. Starlight was busy pocketing the candy on the nurse's desk.
The ponies stopped arguing when the office door opened and a brown unicorn walked out. Despite him wearing his stethoscope backwards and his clipboard having poorly drawn pictures on it instead of actual important papers, It was easy to tell that he was a doctor.
"How bad is it, Dr. Feelgood?" Twilight asked.
The unicorn looked at his clipboard like there was something medically important on it. "Well, I asked around, looked it up, and, after those didn't work, I asked him, and we both agree that he has a minor concussion."
Twilight facehoofed. "You asked someone with a concussion if they had a concussion?"
"Precisely."
"That doesn't seem like it would work."
Feelgood sighed. "Twilight, Twilight, Twilight. Sweet, innocent Twilight. Look at this business card. What does it tell you?"
Twilight looked at the card he showed her. "This says Bill Laurens, paralegal."
"Ah crap, wrong one! Here, this should be it." He held out another card.
"P.h.d, Feelgood, Dr. It tells me that you don't know what order to put your titles in."
"It says that I am a certified doctor. That means that I know what I'm doing, even if you don't think so. Who's that?" His eyes were focused on Starlight.
"That's Starlight. I took her in not too long ago."
Feelgood rubbed his chin. "Interesting."
"You'd better not be thinking of one of your crazy ideas. If you are, Rainbow will punch you." Rainbow was giving the doctor a dead stare, shaking her head, and punching one of her hooves with the other.
"What do you mean by crazy ideas? I have never thought of doing something crazy."
"What about the time you thought Rarity was a zombie?"
"In my defense, she looked pretty pale to me. But that's not what I was thinking of. It was more like, if you just found her, then shouldn't I check her out, make sure she's fine and all that personal information and such."
"I guess that makes sense. I was meaning to get that stuff done, but I didn't know when I should. Starlight? Can you go with the doctor for a minute?"
Starlight mumbled a reply through a mouth full of stolen candy and followed him.
Twilight slumped into her chair and breathed a sigh of relief. "I love her and all, but it feels so good to just have a moment to myself."
"True that," Rainbow agreed.
***************************************************
"Twilight, can you come in here?"
Twilight woke up when she heard Dr. Feelgood's call. Starlight had climbed into a chair next to her and closed her eyes. Rainbow was splayed out in another, snoring loudly.
She walked into Feelgood's office. "Is there a problem?"
"No, not at all. I just want to talk to you about Starlight."
As he shuffled through his papers, Twilight noticed a pile on top of a chair. "What's that?"
The doctor looked where Twilight was pointing. "Oh, that. Starlight dropped that when she left. Must be all of the candy the nurse had. Looks like she was trying to smuggle it."
"Why would you think she's smuggling it? Maybe she just wanted to eat it?"
"Don't give her the benefit of the doubt on smuggling. That's how most smugglers are made." He handed her a piece of paper filled with notes. "That is all the standard clerical info. Age, height, weight, all that simple stuff. But there were some interesting things. Like when I asked her what she liked to do and she showed me a colored pie chart of how much of her day she does what. What kind of filly does something like that?"
Twilight was only half paying attention to the doctor. She scanned the paper until she found what she was the most curious about. "She's four years old?"
"She is. It's really not as surprising as you make it sound."
"It's a long story. I don't think you'd get it."
Feelgood glanced at the clock on the wall. "Well, lucky for you, the hospital's near closing and I'm supposed to lock up. We've got time, If you want to talk."
**************************************************************
" ... She had knocked him unconscious, so we brought him here. That's it, that's the story." Twilight had spent probably an hour explaining the entire story of how she found Starlight to Dr. Feelgood. But what surprised her more than that was that he hadn't looked away or checked the time while she had talked. He had just stood there, listening and nodding.
"I have to say, it's a good story. But what I'm more interested in is why did you keep her? What made you feel this way towards her so quickly? It takes most parents years to actually feel about their children what took you an hour with Starlight. How could you do that?"
"I kept her because of how I felt, and I have no idea why I feel that way. It's just too confusing."
"It's supposed to be. It's love. It's confusing, it's strange, it's unexpected. Do you want to hear my theory?"
Twilight was skeptical. "I guess."
"My theory is that you wanted company so badly that when she showed up, you didn't want to let go. So you kept her, and when she called you mommy, you didn't want to disappoint her. So you dug deep down and you found those feelings that lie in so many ponies. The feeling of wanting to be a mother."
Twilight gaped. "How would you know something like that? You're a medical doctor who gets mares and stallions confused and doesn't believe in kidneys. How could you know this much about what I'm going through?"
He walked up to the far wall. "Do you see this diploma?"
"The one written in crayon?"
He smirked. "Good eye. Most ponies don't look close enough to notice. But that's not why I'm over here." He reached up and pulled down the diploma and crumpled it into a ball. "It's worthless. Meaningless. I can make a dozen more if I want. What's important is how I got it."
He jumped onto the doctor's desk and sat on it. "I had just graduated from college. I was up, late at night, wondering just what I was supposed to do with a BA in English. I had no money, no skills, just knowledge and a feeling. A feeling that I was actually supposed to amount to something. So I decided to go to medical school. A week later, I left. You know why? Because of a one night stand I had the night before I graduated college. She came to me, and told me that she was pregnant. I was so confused. I had no idea what to do. After a long conversation with my dad, a priest, some guys at a bar, and a clown at the county fair, I realized what I had to do. I left, made a fake diploma, changed my last name to Feelgood to seem more doctor-like, became a doctor here in Ponyville, and a year later, got married. And after years of struggling with a situation about as unexpected as yours, me and my wife had a long talk with a therapist and our parents. That was where we learned what I just explained to you. Why she wanted to keep the foal instead of giving him up. Why she came to me instead of never telling me."
He got off the desk and approached Twilight. "So maybe you are alone in this. Maybe you'll raise her yourself, with no pony's help. But I don't think so. I think you and your friends will keep her as one of your own. That you'll always remember that although few ponies have experienced what you are, plenty have done something similar, and at least a few of us are willing to help you. Because that bond you share is unlike what many ponies can ever feel. It's a bond that you can have only with a pony created just for you. Treasure it. Never forget it. Because no pony may ever feel something like it."
Twilight couldn't believe it. She didn't think there was a pony in Ponyville that did what she was doing, and yet here one was. "You actually did that?" He nodded. "You'll help me?"
"Other ponies helped me. It only makes sense I help you."
Feelgood didn't see what happened next coming. Twilight rushed at him and hugged him. "I can't believe it. It's too good to be true! Thanks doctor. It really means a lot that I can call you a friend."
Feelgood cracked a smile. "Don't mention it. But if you really want some help, I'm sending that unicorn you brought in home tomorrow. You should probably check in with him, he might be able to help you more than I can."
Twilight was puzzled as she pulled away. "How so?"
"Well, I learned a little about him. His name is Frost and he's in town to visit his daughter. Apparently, he met Starlight because they were in the park at the same time. He saw her and he says that she looks like his daughter from a distance, so he ran to her, startling her and causing her to hit him with a stick."
"What does that have to do with helping me again?"
"I was getting to that! He has a granddaughter."
"He has a granddaughter? But he looks so young to have one!"
"That's what I thought, but she's what links you two. His daughter's about your age and just found her at her door one night."
Twilight was speechless. "But, how? It's highly unlikely that some pony that had the same thing happen to her would be in the same town as me and I wouldn't notice."
"Would you like me to give you the actual statistics? I spent most of my week in medical school playing Blackjack."
"Not really."
"Suit yourself. And it's unlikely you would notice anyway. She moved here with her daughter and apparently, she sent him a letter that she couldn't meet him and was leaving for somewhere else."
That saddened her. "The poor pony. He came all this way to see her and she just leaves."
"So he'd probably appreciate you taking an interest. If you want to come by tomorrow, you can talk to him when I send him home."
Because nothing ever goes exactly as planned, Rainbow chose that time to rush into the office in a panic. "Twilight you need to come quick. It's Starlight!"
Twilight jumped up. "What's wrong?"
"I tried to stop her, but she went into that unicorn's room!"
Twilight just stared at her. "Really? That's what you panic about? Why don't you just go in there and get her?"
"Because I'm an aunt. We're like moms, but cooler. If I stop her, I risk losing that cool part."
Twilight sighed. "It's not the best excuse, but it'll do. Let's go. It's been nice talking, doctor. I'll hold you to your promise."
As she walked to the door, one more thought flashed through Feelgood's mind. "Oh, and Twilight? One last thing I just remembered. You don't need to tell any pony she's not yours. If they know, they'll know, but if they don't they'll think she's yours."
"How would that help?"
"It worked for my dad."
"Huh?"
"My dad was adopted. No pony outside and some inside of his family knew until after he had me. It helps a lot more than I can explain and it does nothing wrong."
Twilight mulled it over in her head. It was a good idea. "It sounds like a good idea. Thanks again!" She and Rainbow hurried to Frost's room.
When they were gone, Feelgood walked over to the long counter that held his medical papers and materials and looked at a small cup. In it was a DNA sample he had got from Starlight. Should I have told her? he thought. He shook his head. No, they'll be fine. It was probably an error anyway. I mean, how in Celestia's name could that happen?
There's only one thing left to do: forget everything that happened today, just like dad taught me. He pulled several bottles of cider from a drawer.
Good ol' dad!
****************************************************************
Twilight walked into Frost's room expecting the worst. Him dangling Starlight out the window. Starlight beating him with another stick.
What she found was nowhere near what she expected.
Starlight was hanging onto Frost's head, upside down so her head was balanced on his nose. Their eyes were locked on each other.
And then, without warning, Frost blew air into Starlight's eyes.
The filly fell onto the bed, wiping her eyes. "That wasn't fair! You cheated!"
"We never said no air. It's not cheating if it's not in the rules."
"Best two out of three?"
"You're on!"
"Ah-hem," Twilight interrupted. Even though she didn't want to interrupt Starlight enjoying herself, the sun was low enough already and she didn't want to be out any later than she had to..
The two ponies turned to her. "Hello!" Frost said. "I'm Frost. And you are?"
"Mommy!" Starlight ran to her.
"So you're the 'mommy' she kept talking about? You look a little young, though."
Twilight thought over what the doctor said to her. Just start accepting her as your own, Twilight. You can get his help even if you don't tell him. Say she's yours. She thought of something to say that wouldn't deny it but wouldn't be an outright lie. "Like your daughter?"
If Frost were standing up, he would have taken a step back. "How did you know?"
"The doctor told me. He said she was about my age."
He relaxed. "I told him that much? Honestly, I don't remember a lot of what happened. Only that she -" he motioned to Starlight "- hit me. But it's all fine. Water under the bridge. It was an accident. But did you happen to find out when I'm being let out?"
"The doctor said tomorrow."
He sighed. "That's good. Real good." He turned his gaze to his hooves.
Twilight remembered what the doctor told her about his daughter. "You don't have anywhere to go, right?" He nodded. "Why don't you stay with us for a while?"
Frost and Rainbow were both surprised. "Are you thinking straight?" Rainbow burst out. "You don't even know him!"
"I really don't want to impose-" Frost began.
"Could you both just listen for a second?" Twilight almost yelled. The two ponies stopped talking and looked to her. "Thank you. Now Frost, it's not imposing. I've got plenty of room and I feel bad for putting you here. And Rainbow, I know I barely know him. But I just feel that he's alright, you know? But there's one condition. You can stay with us as long as you help me with Starlight. It's hard for me to raise her by myself, even though my friends help as much as they can. You have a granddaughter, maybe you can help."
Frost thought over her proposal. "I still think I'm imposing, but if you're willing to take me in, I'll definitely help you out. But if I'm going to stay with you, I might as well know your actual names."
"My name is Twilight Sparkle, and this is Rainbow Dash."
At the mention of her name, a strange look seemed to cross Frost's eyes. A look Twilight couldn't recognize. You're just seeing things, Twilight, she said to herself. It's nothing.
"Do you really know what you're doing?" Rainbow whispered to Twilight.
"I'll tell you later, I just don't want to explain it in front of him," she responded. Rainbow seemed to accept it for the time being.
Starlight was jumping up and down. "Yay! We get to keep him!"
Frost smirked. This was easier than he expected.