The Burdens of the Mind

by zero3991

Office Prep

Doctor Clear Mind shook his head as he entered his office. He was not looking forward to today. Paperwork was piled on his desk a mile high and he was fully booked for appointments. This was going to be a long one.

The grey earth pony sighed as he looked at the doctorate framed above his desk. Psychology had seemed like such an easy field when he started out. Equestria had been an easy place to live, the monarch was loved, and harmony abounded. Therefore, things such as PTSD were very rare. Most of his cases had been simple physiological issues solved with a little unicorn magic and perhaps some potions.

That all changed, however, when Nightmare Moon returned. News about the return of an evil alicorn had spread like wildfire and a flood of anxiety attacks occurred overnight. It didn’t help that she was apparently a long lost princess, and was therefore returned to ruling the night after her supposed redemption. The ponies of Equestria understandably started questioning the ruler they had trusted and were terrified of the prospect of needing to trust a creature they thought of as a monster. It took several months for his office to stop being flooded with ponies requesting his help so they could simply function. Unfortunately, this was just the beginning.

Not long later, the Discord incident happened. Clear Mind shuddered remembering the storm of patients after that fiasco. That creature hadn’t simply taken the harmony that so many were used to away; it had completely broken their faith in reality. Some had been beyond even his ability to help. He remembered sadly the families he had needed to inform that their loved ones would probably never be sane again.

Not long after, Princess Celestia’s own student had thrown an entire town into chaos. The details on this one were a bit sketchy, but this served to further erode the populace’s trust in her. Cases of patients with anxiety disorders increased yet again.

Finally, there was the royal wedding, where the ponies of Equestria had their belief in Celestia shattered. A changeling attack would have been bad enough. The concept of being unable to trust even your family had broken more than a few ponies. However, Celestia had also been defeated in direct combat. Many ponies had watched the ruler they believed could protect them struck down and captured in a matter of seconds.

Clear Mind sighed as he looked at the puzzle piece he had for a cutie mark. His special talent had certainly been needed recently more than it had in his many years. And it was needed again today. He organized his desk a little, arranged the two couches and he called out to the front desk to tell them he was ready for his first appointment.