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// Chapter Seven- Another Visiting Day Down 
// Story: The Journals of Silas Sombra 
// by DreamWings 
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Diddy was waiting by the door for a visitor. His first visiting day hadn’t gone very well. Rosen had been the only pony he’d seen and, although she was nice, he would rather have seen one of his old friends and family. But today was going to be different. Today was second time lucky and everypony knew that the second time was always the luckiest—despite what Siren had said about the third time being the luckiest. 
Siren had already been taken to his room to have a conversation with his parents. They’d seemed like nice ponies, quiet but nice. They’d been very kind to Diddy and had given him some of the treats they had brought for Siren. Siren’s parents had good taste too. There was nothing better than chocolate milk-bottles to cure what ails you. Diddy sometimes wondered if he might have a tiny bit of an obsession with chocolate milk, but quickly shrugged it off. He couldn’t help if he liked it.
Other parents had stayed with their children in The Living Space. Bow Wow’s parents were oddly normal. They seemed to be chicken farmers as far as Diddy could tell. It was somehow ironic that they should raise chickens for a living and have a dog for a daughter. Nana didn’t have any parents so she was visited by an older sister and her husband. Nana didn’t particularly seem to like the husband and often went over to Bow Wow and told her to bark at him. The husband shuffled around awkwardly. He clearly didn’t want to be here. Diddy didn’t blame him. He knew by now that if Nana didn’t like you then nopony would like you. She was like a moral compass for the hospital.
Silas was talking to Rosen in a corner. There was another mare visiting with her this time. Diddy didn’t like to look at her. She was wearing a crown and royal emblem and it reminded him too much of Tia and Loony, his Princess friends from Canterlot. He supposed Loony must be over one by now—maybe even two. It had been so long (at least it felt like it) that he wasn’t even sure anymore. He couldn’t bear the thought that Loony should grow up thinking he was some kind of monster. She was like a little sister to him. Tia, however, wasn’t his sister. He could never see her as any other thing except his best friend. Yet, he knew she meant more to him than that. He just couldn’t quite figure out how to properly describe what she meant to him.
It wasn’t Tia visiting though. His mother was visiting him today. She’d promised to bring him some surprises as well. He couldn’t wait to see her. 
She wasn’t his real mother, mind you. Diddy had had another mother before he’d come to Canterlot. He hadn’t really liked that mother very much. She was always cruel to him. Grain, on the other hoof, was always nice to everypony. There wasn’t one day that he wasn’t thankful for finding her. After he’d lost his father, and then his mother, he hadn’t known how he would carry on. He’d been at military school, training to be a guard like his father, and he’d made plenty of friends there, but still he couldn’t escape feeling lonely. It was on meeting King Alicorn that everything finally managed to click into place, and he managed to get the family of his dreams.
He had four brothers: three older and one the same age. Galloway was his favourite (he was the one that was the same age as him). He could be boring sometimes, he was all about following the rules and listening to the teachers, but he could also be kind of fun. And even if he wasn’t Diddy didn’t care. All that mattered to him is that Galloway, and the older three ponies as well, where his brothers. When he was with them he felt included in a way that he’d never felt before. Well, that’s sort of a lie. When he’d first gone to school as a foal he’d felt included, but that was all ruined by one pathetic little pupil—Diddy preferred to forget it. He preferred to forget him.
His mother hadn’t arrived yet. The nurses were watching him with interest. They’d never seen anypony with the condition he had sit still for so long. Morning Glory was waiting nearby. She knew Diddy more than anypony else on the staff, along with Rainbow Dragon, and she smiled to see him so relaxed. She liked it when her patients were happy or excited. It was what she’d gone into nursing for. She could still remember the visits she made with her mother to go and see her baby brother in N.E.M.I. . He’d had the same condition as Nana, in that nopony could understand what he was saying or doing, but Morning Glory had always understood him. The doctors trusted her with the patients because they knew she could understand them better than anypony. 
She walked up to Diddy and sat down next to him.
“How’re you doing, Diddy?” she asked.
Diddy stared, unblinkingly, at the door. He was shaking with excitement. “I’m great. She’s going to be here soon.” 
“I can’t wait to meet your mother, Diddy. From what you’ve said she sounds like a great mare.”
Diddy nodded. “She is. She’s the best. She said she’s going to bring a surprise.”
Morning Glory's smile grew wider. “And what do you think that’s going to be, I wonder?”
“I don’t know,” Diddy said. “Her being here will be great though.” He thought for a second. “Morning Glory?” he asked.
“Yes, Diddy?”
“Do you—Well, do you think Tia might’ve come with her? She did say it was a surprise after all and that’d be the best surprise of them all.” 
He glanced at Rosen, Silas and Princess Lilac out of the corner of his eye. Morning Glory noticed it.
“It might be and it might not be. I’m sure whatever your mother brings you you’ll enjoy.”
“That’s just another way of saying don’t get your hopes you, isn’t it?” Chrysi asked mischievously as she walked past with her mother. Her mother had dressed up in her best disguise today. Diddy tried not to laugh as she pulled faces in Nurse Temple’s body. Chrysi’s mother was a lot of fun.
“My daddy used to do that,” Diddy said as Chrysi and her mother left.
“What did your daddy used to do?” Morning Glory said.
“He used to tell me not to get my hopes up in the same way you do—in a hidden, nice way.” Diddy fought back tears as he thought of his father. The avalanche of memories was crushing his head and he wanted to think of happier thoughts. “Mommy does the same—my new mommy I mean. The old one just used to tell me I was stupid for getting my hopes up.” 
Morning Glory nodded. Diddy had never really spoken about his old family before. She knew he didn’t like to. He had been making a lot of progress since he’d arrived at N.E.M.I. . 
She stayed with him whilst he waited. An hour went by and visiting hours were almost over. Most of the ponies had left or gone back to their rooms but Diddy had remained where he was, in front of the door. He knew his mother would never forget him. She couldn’t. She wouldn’t. Maybe, she was just tied up somewhere and was late.
Morning Glory looked anxiously up at Nurse Temple. Nurse Temple shrugged and looked at the clock. Silas was wandering back into the Living Space, having just seen Lilac and Rosen to the door. They’d promised that next time they’d bring some other friends of his and Silas was grinning from ear to ear at the thought. He saw Diddy’s focused face and sighed. Visiting hour was officially over now. 
“Hey, Diddy, budge up. I’ll join you,” he said, sitting down. 
“She’ll be here soon,” Diddy said.
Silas patted him on the back. “Yeah, I know. Rosen’s sometimes late when she comes here.”
“She’ll be here soon,” Diddy repeated. The words were even beginning to mean nothing to him, let alone to the others. He already knew that she wasn’t coming. He just didn’t want to believe it.
It was two days later that her letter arrived. She’d actually given it to one of Galloway’s friends, Nocturn,  to drop at the post office for delivery two days before she was expected but Nocturn had apparently forgotten. He’d remembered just in time for it to arrive late. Diddy had been locked in his room over those two days, worrying and panicking. The doctors had given him all sorts of medicines but had declared it no use. He had to spend some time alone to get over it. 
Morning Glory wanted to deliver the letter herself but Nurse Temple got to it first. When Diddy heard it it made him cry harder, and Nurse Temple merely told him to get over it, there were other visiting days and other ponies to visit. But to Diddy there wasn’t. In his eyes his mother had been his last chance to prove that nopony blamed him for what happened with Blankety. He didn’t expect anypony to ever visit him again. He was alone and scared and being locked up hadn’t helped him.
Silas couldn’t do anything but watch. He wanted to do something and it was Siren that came up with the idea to write to Lilac and ask her to bring the special visitors sooner rather than later. Silas knew, if Diddy could just hold it out a bit longer, he was going to have the best surprise of his life. Just hold on Diddy, he thought. Just hold on.