Conditioning
Discord, or Dr. Cruebel as he would soon have to introduce himself, sat at his desk with his dry eyes fixed on the screens in front of him. Any moment now. His focus darted between the screen for Celeste's room and Sombra’s room. How many hours have I been awake? He rubbed the bridge of his nose. Too many.
He jumped at the sound of chains. Sombra was pulling at them again. Discord groaned and pressed his fingers to the button for his intercom. “What did I tell you about doing that, Sombra?”
Sombra glowered at the camera, raising a hand
“My dear little unicorn you did not tell me that you knew sign language,” he said humorlessly.
Sombra dropped the chains and leaned against the wall, closing his eyes.
Discord returned to massaging his face. He needed coffee. This body got tired too easily.
“Dad?”
Discord jumped. Once again he had fallen asleep. The clock on the screen showed him almost an hour had passed. He blinked his eyes and sat up in his chair. “Good morning.” He glanced at her and gave the best smile he could muster before yawning. He stretched his arms above his head and arched his back, giving a satisfied groan. “Your hair looks nice,” he said, opening his eyes and glancing towards her messy bun.
“Thanks... has she woken up yet?” she asked, pulling an extra chair over to watch the screens.
Discord shook his head. “Not yet... any moment now. Did you sleep well last night?”
“Only after I took some meds.”
His brow furrowed. “How did you get them?”
“I made them.”
“Hmm...” he kept his gaze on Celeste’s screen. “Don’t do that too often. Last night was fine but I don’t want you developing a habit.”
“I’ll be fine,” she protested.
Discord paused before nodding. “Yeah... you will. Maybe I’m the one who should be taking meds to sleep.”
Screwball wrapped her arms around him and rested her head against his shoulder. That prompted a smile and a kiss in her hair from him. “I can’t wait to meet her,” she said, her eyes fixed the Celeste’s screen.
“Neither can I.” He groaned again as Sombra pulled at the chains. “What have I told you?” he said, after pressing the button and provoking another glare.
“Why do you keep him chained?” Sarah asked, her brows contracting.
“Trust me, it’s for your safety.”
“I don’t go in that room anyway.”
“He could still reach you... I don’t ever want that happening.”
“Dad!”
“I mean it, you don—”
“No! Look! She’s awake!”
They both leaned in to stare at her on the screen. Her eyes were definitely opened. She seemed to be shaking. Could she remember any of it? Would she know who Screwball was? It was a lot to hope for but it could be possible.
After some looking at the room and herself, she sat up and hugged her knees to look around again. She felt her face. her hand went to the back of her head and she stopped when her fingers reached her hair. She tried to grip it but it had been cut short. She stared at her hands.
“I am Princess Celestia.”
Discord sighed. Of course... she couldn’t have remembered.
“So... this isn’t her then?” Sarah sked with some disappointment in her voice.
“Not yet. She’s in there, but we’ll have to get her the hard way.”
The woman on the screen held the blanket to her chest then looked down curiously. Discord’s eyebrows furrowed as he watched her take out a piece of paper. She unfolded it and read the words.
“Did you leave her something?” Discord asked his daughter.
“I... didn’t put that there.”
The chair rolled back as he pushed himself away from the table.
“Dad?” Sarah asked, following.
Discord stopped in front of Celeste’s door and cracked his neck. He needed a moment. How had a note gotten to her? Did it appear when he was asleep? Did Chrysalis do it?
He nodded to Sarah who opened the door.
Discord stopped and tried to hide the fact he was staring. She had been so beautiful before... so alive and... Now she was just skin and bones despite his best efforts to keep her fed. He cleared his throat and approached her, stopping his feet before the came too close, stopping his arms before they wrapped around her and pressed her to his chest in comfort. No, that would scare her.
He held out his hand. “Now, you remember what we told you about the notes. Please give that to me.”
“Luna, I want to wake up now!” she shouted.
This hurt more than he was expecting: to see her here and to not be known by her... No, he had to focus! He took one step closer. “Give me the note, please.” she pulled the covers up. Seeing her so scared of him that she would put a physical barrier, however fragile, between them... his resolve was slowly being eroded.
"Should I give her a sedative?" Said the girl he knew was still clutching the door handle anxiously. He almost flinched at the thought, almost, he's a man with a strong resolve.
"No, that is not necessary. Besides, we don't know how it will react with her treatment." He replied calmly. He reached out his hand expectantly, but Celeste only retreated further away.
"Daddy?"
"Honey, listen to me. Do not get nervous, that will only encourage her to act rashly, but we must all be calm and reasonable- mustn't we Celeste?"he didn't dare break eye contact, in case the action gave away his emotions.
"Do you really think I'm going to believe any of this, Discord?" He sighs internally at the name.
"Give me the note." He repeats calmly, his hand still outstretched.
"Answer my question!" looking into her eyes you can see confusion pain and anger if you know where to look. Unfortunately, he did.
"Let me help you." He pleads. Her response is to spit in his hand, he doesn't move to wipe it away. Anyone else and he might have found the gesture cute, spunky. Here it just hurt, but he retained the mask of calm indifference like a true professional.
"Please, may I have the paper?"
"What does it mean to you?" She asks defiantly.
"It means nothing to me. But to you, it furthers your delusions," the lie is carefully practiced, carefully sculpted.
"Delusions?" She scoffed.
"You haven't been well these past few years."
"This is ridiculous!"she yelled in a fury.
"Please, give me the paper." He repeated.
"No!" Her rage increased once more.
"Why don't we talk then?" He asked her, turning towards the metal table. He sat in one of the three chairs bolted to the floor, then he waited. Celeste didn't move, she just watched. She stares for a long while, and in her eyes he could see that she felt something wasn’t right. He hid his smirk for the sole fact it wasn’t appropriate, but he did find a subtle amusement in her distrust. Even if this was a serious matter, it was still nice to see a smidge of that old rivalry between him and Celestia. He dispels the thought, she can’t be Celestia, not anymore.
“I don’t want to talk,” she says defiantly.
“Well then, give me the note,”
“No,” She repeats.
“You have to give up one thing or the other,” he tells her.
“Or what?” she asks, attempting to sound menacing, but she looked a little scared if anything. He shrugs and sits in a chair.
“Then I’m just gonna sit here” He says, looking at her idly.
“Until I talk or give you the paper?”
“That’s the idea.”
“And if I talk to you, can I keep the note?”
“Perhaps,” his first thought is no, but he quells that in the interest of getting a little bit of cooperation.
“Then I’ll do neither,” she says, crossing her arms. He holds back an exasperated sigh, she was always a little hardheaded.
“Celeste, you realize we can take the note from you at any moment. However, it’s better for you to give it to us.” he tries to reason, she doesn’t say anything for several seconds as she thinks, but her answer is clear.
“Then you’re going to have to force me,”
“I had hoped it wouldn’t come to this...” he sighs and his shoulders drop as he releases the tension from upholding his composed demeanor. He turns towards Sarah, “Sarah? Please bring Nurse Alice, tell her that Celeste isn’t cooperating.” She jumps slightly and nods.
His gaze stayed fixed on Celeste, who looks away occasionally. He can see words brimming on the edge of her tongue, but she doesn't say anything.
It's almost like she's thinking intensely on something, maybe multiple something's. She shifts uneasily as Cruebel continues to watch.
"Celeste?" He asks, she corrects him abruptly.
"My name is Princess Celestia."
"May I call you Celeste?" He struggles to not sound like he's begging.
"No." She affirms. "My name is Princess Celestia."
"No nickname?"
“Definitely not.”
“Was there something you remember your friends calling you?”
“You’re not my friend,” she said after a long, emphatic stare. He holds back a cringe and instead opts for a more tactical approach.
“Well, I want to be.” He offers a small smile, but Celeste just stares some more.
“You’re not yourself.” I could say the same to you. Dr. Cruebel jerks back slightly in surprise as Celeste rushes him, she grabs his clothes and gets close to his face. His shock quickly turns to anger, she was attacking him. He watches as she comes to her senses and he tears her off him. She doesn’t resist and sits back down.
“That surprised you, didn’t it?” he asks her, she nods shakily. he calms down as his anger subsides, “You keep forgetting that you’ve been like this for a while. When we took you out of the catatonic state, this became your normal behaviour. That’s why we don’t want you writing notes to yourself.” He holds out his hand but Celeste doesn’t respond. “Celeste, look at the note.”
She looks at the note hesitantly, Dr. Cruebel could see the emotions dancing across her face. “Please...” he insists. She continues to stare at the note, playing with it slowly.
“But, why should I even trust you?”
“Because if you don’t give me that note, I will have to stay here until you do, constantly trying to get you to talk. Do you want that?” he finds hope in the fact it seems like she’s resisting less. “Don’t worry. We’ll help you get through this,” he reassures her as she reaches her hand out and places the note into it. He puts his hand on her shoulder reassuringly, but she just stares blankly at the table.
“I heard you needed my help?” a svelte female voice says. Dr. Cruebel looks at the door to find the other ‘doctor’ at the door.
“It’s unnecessary now; she’s agreed to cooperate,” he said, taking his hand from her shoulder and advancing towards the door.
“So, the drugs are beginning to work then?” the girl asks as Dr. Cruebel as he leaves the room.
“Of course they are, Screwball,” the female voice said.
The door slams. Alice, the other ‘doctor’, looks at him unamusedly, he looks absolutely livid at her, though.
“What?” she asks.
“Are you trying to help her relapse?!” He whispers fiercely. “ her name, is Sarah.” He says, he pushes past Alice coldly. She rolls her eyes as Sarah runs after him. Alice takes a second to look at the door before slowly turning and walking the direction opposite of Doctor Cruebel.
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its alive
5876094
yes, it took a while figuring things out. the transfer of the story was a while ago, but it took a lot longer to actually revive.
5877250
thank you! I really hope I can.
You... I have waited... for so long...
Thanks
Hey, you're not dead!
5876278 Was there a reason the sequel was given to you and not written by the original author?
5879750
Well, she tried to start it. Hence the first three chapters... but she couldn't finish it, so she gave it to me so I could finish. That was a couple months ago, it took a while to get the hang of the flow of the story.
Edit: first four chapters. I only wrote the latest one.
Thank you so much for this. I remember writing this scene and then my whole ability to write just broke. It means a lot to have you take on this story. I'm glad you'll give it a chance to live again ;u;
5880810 Well, you did a pretty good job. There wasn't too much of a difference in the writing style.
5883105 So what happened to you?
5883105
Thank you, I only hope I can do it justice.
I don't quite remember you having changes in tense (as in having some parts in past tense and some in present tense for no apparent reason) in your writing. You should probably fix that.
Also, I couldn't really follow some parts because there were so many pronouns without clear antecedents. Because of this, I did not like this chapter. I could not understand who was who.
This will update right? Believing Stories is one of my all time favorites.
7312208
I'm working on it, rest assured. but even my own stories are on hold for the time being.
7314912 Understood!
7314912 good enough for me. You can't rush cooking or writing. Both tend leave a bad taste.
*pokes* Is this dead?
8285010
not dead, not officially.
8285769
Is there any hope for an update then?
8286018
Perhaps. But, not immediately.
8286578
I would imagine so. This is one huge mind-screw of a story. :)
Still a bit confused, I guess
Man, I have the fondest memories of this story.
Honestly, I wish one of the authors would just provide the full explanation behind what's happening. This incomplete non-linear story doesn't help.
Why did you stop writing this story?