The alarm, ponykind's number one necessary evil in this world. The one thing that Discord himself finds annoying, and the one thing that even Pinkie Pie is too annoyed by. Unfortunately, that alarm clock was in Duo's home, and it was making that annoyingly loud sound. The instant it came on, Duo's hoof slammed down on it as hard as he could, fully intent on breaking it and ending it's reign of terror. However, all that happened was him hitting his hoof on the night table, sending a wave of pain through his hoof and fetlock. After almost literally shoving his other hoof into his mouth to prevent his scream of pain from waking up his pregnant wife, he turned off the alarm and got out of bed. He gave his wife a gentle kiss on the cheek, and gently ran his hoof through her two-toned mane, before she woke up with a smile of her own.
"Good morning love, did you sleep well?" Duo's wife asked.
Duo leaned down and rubbed his snout with hers. "I always sleep good when you are next to me. Although I wish I could have slept longer." He said, a little upset about it. "However, I have to get used to waking up early if I want this to work."
Duo's wife giggled happily as she retuned the snout nuzzle with her own. "Well then good luck, I will be here when you return. Hopefully you bring back chocolate and pickles, we ran out."
With a nod of his head, Duo turned and started walking out the door. "Don't worry, I won't forget about it. You just get rest okay? Don't worry about anything. I love you."
His wife smiled as she nodded her head. "Okay, I love you too, Duo."
He grinned happily before walking out the door to begin his first day as the Ponyville Therapist.
An awkward silence filled Ponyville as Duo walked next to Princess Twilight Sparkle, it being too early in the day for any big activity to happen. In fact the only ponies Duo saw were those who worked at the Ponyville Hospital, or in Ponyville Elementary School.
"Thanks again for accompanying me to my first day at work, Twilight." Duo said.
"Of course! I am excited to see my student finally beginning a new chapter in his life." Twilight replied happily.
Duo chuckled slightly before looking away with a frown. "I am nervous though, what if I can't help anypony? Oh no... what if I make them worse?!"
Twilight placed a hoof on his shoulder and gave him a reassuring smile. "You will do fine, Duo, just keep believing in yourself. I know I do."
Duo took a few deep breaths before nodding his head and returning the smile. "Yeah, you're right. I will do great!"
After a few minutes of idle chatter, the two of them finally reached Duo's small business building, Ponyville Therapy. Duo looked at the door of the building before unlocking it and walking inside. He was very surprised to see that it was already fully furnished with a desk, a therapy chair, a few file cabinets, and a picture of Princess Twilight Sparkle on his wall for good measure. He instantly made the connection as he looked at Twilight. "You didn't have to do all this."
Twilight smiled sheepishly before giggling. "It's fine, I wanted to do this for you. Besides, you are Ponyville's first ever Therapist! Who knows how many ponies you can help?" She said with excitement.
Duo chuckled nervously. "Well, hopefully I can help anypony that comes. However, I know that not everypony can be helped. I will do my best though, I can promise you that." He said with a determined nod of his head.
Twilight felt joy swelling inside of her when he said that, happy that he was so determined about this. "Well, I did something extra for you and took the liberty of compiling a list of ponies that wanted to be your patient and even made a work schedule for you that took into account your pregnant wife's needs, your own needs, and days off." She said as she levitated a scroll towards Duo.
Duo stared with his mouth agape as she said all this, taking the scroll and reading it. He raised an eyebrow when he saw the first name. "Derpy Hooves? Why would she need help?" He asked curiously. As far as he was concerned, she was the most normal out of all of them, crooked eyes aside.
Twilight thought for a few seconds before remembering something. "I overheard her roommate, Carrot Top, saying that Derpy kept talking about demons she saw and that only she could protect Ponyville from them."
Duo simply chuckled when he heard this. "This is going to be a long day, isn't it?"
Twilight just shrugged. "Maybe, maybe not, it all depends on your way of thinking."
Duo continued looking down the list before going wide-eyed at one of the names. "Princess Celestia?! Why would she need therapy?" He nearly yelled, only to get a hoof shoved in his mouth by Twilight.
"Shh, don't say that too loudly. Princess Celestia does not want anypony to know about this, it would possibly paint a bad image of her to her subjects. Not to mention how it would look on her politically." She said in a hushed tone.
He waited for the hoof to be removed before he continued speaking. "Very well then, I will do my best. It says here that my first client will be here in two hours. I suppose I better get ready then."
Twilight nodded her head and started to walk out. "I have faith you will do great, Duo, don't worry." She said with a smile before leaving.
Duo nodded his head and sighed before sitting in his chair at is desk. "Let's see what this day brings." He said with a happy smile, although nervousness could be seen behind his eyes.