Chapter 1
The grandfather clock in the corner of the room read 11:55 AM.
“Five more minutes.” You say to nopony in particular.
Taking another glance at the admission form, you try to get a feel for what to expect from your newest patient. Picking up your magnifying glass, you begin to look over Rarity’s handwriting for some clue into her personality. While it wasn’t an exact science, it had proved useful in the past.
Small hoofwriting… Could mean she’s a focused individual… you think as you glance it over. While the cursive itself was elegant and pleasing to the eye, something bugged you.
Third letter of each word is capitalized. Didn’t that mean cultural refinement? you ask yourself. You reach into your desk and retrieve a notebook and flip through a few pages before stopping at a particular one. Yup, there it is. I was right. And these tall t’s and d’s could mean vanity.
The sudden knock at the door makes you jump out of your chair, startling you out of your thoughts and sending the papers and magnifying glass into the air.
Acting quickly, you grab the magnifying glass with your mouth and scramble for the papers before stuffing everything into your desk drawer. As soon as things looked respectable, you clear your throat.
“Come in.”
Slowly, the door opens and a white unicorn stands in the doorway. Her purple mane looks unkempt and the bags under her eyes did nothing to hide the fact she’s had one too many sleepless nights.
“Come in and sit down Rarity. Oh, and close the door behind you.”
Rarity slams the door and stomps over to the couch before collapsing into a heap, sprawling out in an undignified fashion.
You wait for Rarity to say something, but she remains silent as she stares up at the ceiling.
“So… Rarity.” you begin. “Why don’t you tell me a bit about yourself?”
She rolls over onto her belly and looks at you with contempt. “You have everything you need in that paper I gave your secretary,” she says curtly “Or can’t you read it?”
Instead of sharing a few crass words with her, you smile warmly. “I assure you, I read it and re-read it. I just want to hear it from you.”
Rarity sighs heavily as she sits up on the couch and repositions herself, crossing her hind legs and putting her hooves in her lap.
She’s refined after all; that’s one, you think with a self-satisfied grin.
“Well, I run the Carousel Boutique out of my home. I get commissioned for my fabulous work from all over Equestria, since it’s clearly the best.”
And there’s the vanity. Two for two.
“I really don’t see why I need to see a psychiatrist. I mean, it’s not like I’m having second thoughts or anything, it’s just that… What if I’m overreacting?” she asks with a hopeful smile. “I mean, I’m not the toughest pony, not by a long shot and I would even label myself as being ‘delicate’, it's just... What if this is all just one big faux-pas?”
“We’re going to figure that out right now. Tell me a about some of the things that have been bothering you as of lately.”
Rarity takes a deep breath. “Well…”
As Rarity begins to rattle down an impressive list of grievances, from her bed sheets not being white enough to the hot tub water at the spa not being clean enough, you reach out and knock the mug of pencils on your desk over. Rarity immediately stops talking and stares intently at the mess.
You look to the pencils and then to Rarity. “Please continue,” you say nonchalantly.
“Aren’t you going to pick those up?” she asks sharply.
You shrug indifferently at the question. “I will later. Right now, I want to hear more about you.”
“O…Okay…” Rarity says shakily. “Well I… You see…” Rarity turns away from you but glances over at the pencils again. “…the thing is I… I…” Rarity’s left eye begins to twitch sporadically and she continues to stare at the mess of pencils. “I…I… I CAN’T TAKE IT ANYMORE!” she screams. Using her magic, she levitates the mug and pencils into the air and puts them back in their original place.
“Much better,” she says elatedly “Now as I was saying, I-”
Reaching out, you knock the mug over again, causing Rarity to gasp aloud. “You’re doing that on purpose!” she cries. You simply stare back at her, waiting for her to do it again. And sure enough, she sets everything back in order, taking great pains to arrange it in the way it had been when she had first walked in.
“THERE! Now don’t do it again!” she says sternly.
You slowly reach out for the coffee mug again.
Rarity stares daggers at you as your hoof draws close. “DON’T. YOU. DARE.” she says, her words dripping with anger. You retract your hoof and put it in your lap, eliciting a sigh of relief from the frazzled mare.
“Good, now-”
In one swift movement, you knock the mug over again before Rarity can react. Rarity’s eyes bug out of her head as the pencils once more fall, her mouth agape as they hit the floor one by one.
Rarity leaps forward and slams her hooves down on the desk. “WHY DO YOU KEEP DOING THAT?!?” she screams.
“Why do you keep picking them up?” you ask.
“Because!” she retorts as she picks the pencils up one by one, either forgetting she can just levitate them or too enraged to concentrate at the moment.
As Rarity bends down to pick up the final pencil, you step on it. She looks up at you, her mouth hanging agape.
“Because why?” you ask.
“Because it’s not right, you quack!” Rarity exclaims as she pushes your hoof away and picks the pencil up.
You let Rarity finish setting everything back up and calm down before saying anything else.
“I take it you’ve been spending a lot of time lately trying to make things ‘perfect’, am I right?”
“I guess...” Rarity says uneasily. “There’s nothing wrong with perfection, is there?”
“How often do you think you get the thought ‘This needs to be perfect’? Once, twice a day maybe? More?”
Rarity bites on her lower lip at the question and shifts uneasily in her seat. “More than a dozen seems closer, actually...” she says meekly.
“And aren’t these thoughts why you’re here today? Because you can’t sleep at night? Or go to the spa? Or talk to your friends?”
Rarity draws herself into the fetal position and remains silent.
“On a scale of one to ten, how anxious do you feel on a normal day when things aren’t perfect?”
She shakes her head “Eight... Maybe, nine...”
“And how long do you think you’ve had these thoughts?”
Rarity’s eyes begin to well up. “I don’t know...” Tears are starting to run down Rarity’s face as she tries shrink away from you.
Getting out of your chair, you take a seat next to Rarity. “How long?”
Rarity buries her face into your chest and cries openly. “Years...” she says breathlessly. You put a hoof around Rarity’s shoulder and draw her closer as her sobs turn into ragged cries.
“What’s wrong with me?”
Taking a deep breath, you try to find the right words. “It’s called Obsessive Compulsive Disorder or ‘OCD’ for short. In some cases, it’s benign and people live ordinary lives with it. In others, these thoughts and compulsions take a hold of everything and can turn their whole lives upside down.”
You do your best to comfort her as you continue to explain.
“People get it for all sorts of reasons. Emotional trauma, genetics, injury... The list goes on and on. The fact that you’ve realized that you’ve got a problem and that what you’re feeling is wrong has probably made things worse. But I’m going to help you.”
Rarity looks up at you, tears still streaming down her face.
“I’m going to be there for you, every step of the way and you’re never going to have to face any of it alone.”
Rarity tries to regain her composure as she chokes back more tears. “P-Promise?” she asks.
You hold Rarity a little closer. “Promise.”
For the longest time, Rarity doesn’t say anything and her tears fade. You continue to hold her as the minutes tick by, waiting for the sign that she’s okay.
“W...What do we do now?” she finally asks.
“Welp-” you say as you get to your hooves “You’ve already admitted that you’ve got a problem and we’ve identified it.” You say as you help Rarity up. “Now, we try to treat It.” you say plainly. Rarity gives you an odd look.
“And just how do we go about doing that?”
Going back around your desk, you reach into a drawer and pull out a sheet of paper. “There are many treatments for OCD, but because of your history, we’re going to avoid medication. Even then I wouldn’t recommend it. Instead, we’re going to try some cognitive-behavioral therapy.” you say as you reach down for a pencil.
“Cognitive-behavioral therapy?” Rarity mimicked as she cocked her head to the side.
You can’t help but smile at Rarity’s puzzled expression.
Cute. You think as you continue to write.
You spit the pencil out of your mouth and give her the paper.
“This is your homework for tonight.”
Rarity takes the paper and looks it over, her face contorting in confusion. “What is this? ‘Bring any number of dresses to next appointment at 8 AM sharp?’”
You give her a nod. “Trust me, it will all make sense later on. Now, I don’t want you to make anything tonight. I want you to bring me something you’ve already done.”
Rarity looks the paper over and gives you an odd look. “Why didn’t you just tell me instead of writing it down?”
You chuckle at the question and lead Rarity to the door. “Rarity mein fräulein, in my line of work, when a pony walks out that door, they don’t tend to do what I ask unless I’m there holding their hoof or write it out for them. And it’s not because they forget, it’s because they think it’s not going to help them. You get what I’m saying?”
Rarity looks at the note and then back to you. “Yes Doctor, I think I do.”
You give Rarity a smile as you walk with her out into the streets of Ponyville. “Good. Now I’m sorry I have to cut this short, but I’ve got to leave for a consult.”
“Of course Doctor, I understand. I’ll see you tomorrow, I promise!”
She’s getting better already you think with smile.
* * * * * * * * * *
“Damn it all!” the unicorn yells as he watches the golf ball sail off into the air. “Sliced it.”
“I still don’t see why you think magic will make your golf swing better, Bones.”
“And I still can’t figure out how you swing so well without it, Fritz.”
“Years of practice and a steady swing.”
“Yeah, yeah... Come on, let’s go find my golf ball.”
“Bones, I have to ask. Why do you still do your consults like this? I mean, doing them back at your office seems smarter.”
“Yeah, but it’s less fun. And besides, Dash has been dragging me all around, taking me wedding shopping and I haven’t had any time to play.”
“Oh yeah, I forgot to congratulate you on that. Glückwünsche.”
“Thanks. I’ll see you at the wedding, right?”
“Count on it.”
“So, how did it go with Rarity?”
“She’s definitely in a tight spot. Her OCD is making her miserable. But she wants to get better.”
“That’s what matters, right?”
“Right... Hey Bones?”
“Yeah?”
“You don’t need a consult, do you?”
“No...”
“You just wanted to play golf, didn’t you? Because the responsibility of marriage is getting to you and you just want a sense of normalcy?”
“Fritz, I hate it when you do that.”
“Do what?”
“...Never mind, just golf.”
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Hah, I love the interlude.
Also the bit with the mug, that was hilarious.
I detect a german pony. I like
Oh great, that last bit is making me hear the protagonist's voice as Scarecrow. Oh well, Scarecrow is a kind of doctor.
Oh .. haven't i have already told you, that i love it, how you you are crossing over your stories?
And .. german "Sigmund" Freud Pony is epic Win!
17710
Scarecrow and Strange playing golf...
I see what your dowing
keepig your stories connected
... XD You know what I love best? Trolling the previous me's! XD I hope I can keep up the great work!
~ Minstrel of Equestria
Dash is getting married.........
.................i would type something in german but i dont know the language
Why in the last section do I feel like I am talking to myself over a game of golf? Oh whatever, it doesn't matter; I'm a DOCTOR!!
this is promising. must read more!
media.comicvine.com/uploads/5/52044/2060390-i_like_it.jpg
Knocks down cup
Could you not do that?
Please stop! PLEASE!
Thank you-
YOU SON OF A BITCH!!!
You did well, my student.
What?
My OTHER Student, Twilight.
Knocks down cup
Doesn't knock down cup
Knocks down cup
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Meanwhile
When I read the German accent, all I thought of was the Medic from TF2. Sad, huh? Also entertaining.
"Let's practice medicine..."
German pony? All I can say to that is: wunderbar!
I'm sorry I had to
514523 I'm guilty of that as well, and I'm part German
Okay, a few points in here that are really, really bugging me...
While the character is quite professional for the most part, and you actually asked legitimate questions for this type of scenario, the Doctor has quite a few slip-ups in this chapter alone that would probably make him lose his job VERY quickly
- Judging her based on her handwriting...In fact, any form of judgement is highly unprofessional and irresponsible of him, in his line of work.
- He gets out of his desk to sit with Rarity - Physical Contact apart from shaking hands is a NO-NO
- Telling Rarity about her condition. This may seem odd, but when I had to go to professional counselling myself I found that we never once discussed the topic of what my Therapist felt I had (like OCD, Anxiety disorder, the obvious Depression, anything) because it would put ideas into the person's head.
- Referring to the people he helps as 'patients' - This one is bad, and I've heard it from people currently going through Psychiatry Courses in college.
- Discussing Rarity's appointment with his friend. Breach of confidentiality = Fired, revoked license, and heavy lawsuit practically on the spot.
And lastly, I might be wrong as haven't read it all, but the premise of him being in a romantic relationship with someone he's currently helping is HIGHLY illegal and could mean jail time.
This story is...eeehhhh. To many elements that are very inappropriate for the character. The type of slip-ups he makes are the type he can't afford to make if he wants to keep his job.
Straight rainbow dash? What is this madness?
Nice^^
but whats up with all the German words?
I want to become a psychologist now, so I can fuck with people by knocking down cups.
751073 remember man, this is equestria not America.
I like solving problems
TO THE WATCHER-MOBILE
Rarity has OCD. Well, there's a relation me and her share.
I like it, I'm writing a story about Rarity so I am reading stories about her to get an idea of how to write her.
Translation: "Rarity my Miss."
Yeah. Not really the right word to use there if you're going for the German angle, unless you're actually German and know more about it than I do. With what I know, however, "Fräulein" was the wrong word to use there. If you wanted to say something like "my dear", which I would think is what people would normally say, "Meine Leibe" is what you'd say.
Sorry for the grammar naziness. Maybe I have OCD.
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3208319 same