It's not RAD
An awkward silence filled the room and meaningful glances were exchanged. Nurse Redheart’s coffee seemed to have taken effect and she placed a hoof on Dayglow’s foreleg to give her the emotional support needed to press on.
“Your Majesty, I don’t question your motives, nor your ability to care for the child,” Dayglow swallowed dryly, “But I have concerns.”
“We shall hear them,” Said Luna. “Feel free to speak your mind.”
“Green is very anxious about other ponies finding things out about her. Being placed in a highly public position is going to be difficult for her to cope with,” Dayglow explained. “At the same time, she can’t be sequestered away to protect her from public scrutiny because she needs to be socialized; she’s already afraid of other ponies and the last thing we want is to legitimize that fear by telling her she needs to hide from the general public.”
“When she presented herself to us in her dreams she displayed a remarkable level of control for somepony so young,” Luna said, “If we do not take the filly under our wing I feel a great opportunity will have been missed. We will work with her to manage her anxiety - as the guardian of dreams we challenge thee to find somepony more experienced in dealing with such matters.”
“Green’s guardianship is still undecided,” Dayglow said. “I’ll take her majesty’s offer into consideration when I make my recommendation. I will, of course, bow to your absolute authority should you choose to exercise it.”
“Before we make any decision we should hear all the facts,” Paperstack said. “Redheart, you have been Green’s primary nurse for the last two days, what is your assessment?”
“On the first day I took care of Green she was still delirious and when I introduced myself as her nurse, she told me that she was a nurse too.” Redheart said, “She was very hesitant and asked for help with everything. At first, I thought she was just desperate for equine contact, but she also seemed ashamed for needing help and would cry and apologize for ‘wasting our time’.”
Redheart looked downcast.
“I tried to reassure her, but after a few minutes she couldn’t remember anything I’d said.” Redheart continued, “She had enough awareness to read the name off of her ID bracelet, but claimed she didn’t remember her own name. She kept telling me that she was a pony, but I’m not sure what exactly she meant by that.”
“Before you ask, yes, we did check if she was a Changeling,” Paperstack said.
“We would not have asked,” Luna said. “Her behavior is not at all consistent with a changeling infiltrator, but we suppose it is good to be certain.”
“Night Shift reported that during the night Green wandered into another patient’s room and introduced herself as the patient’s nurse.” Redheart continued, “Either she honestly believed herself to be a nurse, or she was just playing pretend. I noticed that Green was given morphine by evening shift before she went to bed, so it’s possible her increased confusion was a result of that.”
“When I cared for Green again the following morning Green was less confused, but still claimed to have no memory of what happened to her.” Redheart said, “She also claimed to have no grip in her hooves. Her lack of hoofgrip was reported to doctor Redcross who instructed us to record it as non-compliance pending a review.”
“Her lack of coordination makes her appear much younger than she is, watching her walk I was worried she was going to flop like a newborn.” Redheart said, “Listening to her speak you’d think she was a teenager. She’s clever and has a good vocabulary, but she’s still at the stage where she thinks that nopony else could understand what she’s going through. She lies constantly and thinks nopony will notice, so that does show a certain level of immaturity. She did manage to trick one of my trainees into letting her read her patient notes.”
“She’s having panic attacks, but she also has techniques to cope with them that were clearly trained.” Redheart said, “That along with her general familiarity with hospital procedures suggests that she’s spent some time in a hospital; if she told the princess she’s experienced this type of injury before I would be inclined to believe her.”
“Her sense of humor is dark, she’s making jokes about things somepony her age shouldn’t really be thinking about, but if it helps her cope I’m not about to scold her for it.” Redheart said.“I thought I had a pretty good idea of what was going on with Green - until she had a magic surge.”
“A magic surge?” Twilight asked, “You’re sure?”
“Well I’m no unicorn your highness,” Redheart explained, “But my trainee who witnessed it was and he assured me that it’s not something she could have faked. The burst of unstructured magic was felt by ponies several rooms away, and afterwards she fainted and had to be treated for magical exhaustion.”
“We thought you might be interested to see her thaumatology results, so here’s a copy.” Paperstack provided the younger princess with a stack of papers, “In summary; there’s nothing wrong with her magical pathways, certainly nothing to explain her magic surge, and as you’re no doubt aware a magic surge in a child her age is virtually unheard of.”
“That’s putting it mildly.” Dr. Azure Light said, “Until yesterday the only recorded case of a foal experiencing a magic surge this late was her Highness.”
It took Twilight a moment to realize what the doctor was saying. “Wait, you mean- oh Celestia,” Twilight grasped the edge of the table, “She didn’t hurt anypony did she?”
“No, your Highness,” Redheart reassured, “She used up her entire mana pool, but so far her magical potential is not in the same magnitude as yours.”
“Her mana pool is within the normal range for her age group.” Dr. Azure Light explained, “Most unicorns her age have difficulty expressing their magic though. Learning to keep their magic contained is something that happens naturally during infancy. When we teach older children to cast spells deliberately they have to work against their natural reflex to pull their mana back.”
“Have you read any of the studies about the effects of a low-magic environment on childhood development?” Twilight queried.
“Not that I recall, your highness,” Azure Light answered, “I assume it would in some way stunt the development of their thaumic system?”
“Actually it’s very much the opposite,” Twilight went into lecture mode, “Ponies that grow up in an environment with very little magic have overdeveloped thaumic pathways which allow them to use small amounts of magic more efficiently. Fine control is difficult for them however since -”
“Twilight, I’m sure this is fascinating, but what does it have to do with Green?” Luna cut in.
“Right, heh,” Twilight said, “Green’s thaumic pathways, you tested them?”
“We did, Your Highness,” Azure Light answered, “They were within normal variation; neither atrophied, nor overdeveloped, which is one of the reasons her claim to have no hoof grip doesn’t make sense. If she was unable to use her magic at all from age zero to eight then we would be able to tell.”
“Why would she lie about that?” Asked Applejack.
“I’m not an expert in foal psychology, but that type of behavior is typically associated with an attachment disorder.” Dayglow said, “When a foal is very young if they don’t develop a secure bond with their caregiver they resort to different behaviors to get their caregiver to give them attention. It may be a little premature before Green has seen a psychiatrist, but-”
The mare looked down and began searching through her bag. After an awkward silence, it became clear that she couldn’t find what she was looking for.
“Applejack,” Dayglow asked, “Do you still have that pamphlet I gave you earlier?”
Applejack pulled a pamphlet from under her hat.
“Reactive Attachment Disorder?” She read off the paper.
“It’s common among foals in the foster care system.” Dayglow explained, “Neglect or abuse in early development, or being separated from a caregiver they have bonded with, prevents the foal from forming a secure attachment. They have difficulty trusting others, poor self-worth, anger, and a need to feel in control. They’re willful and disobedient, sometimes they lie pathologically. They want to get attention and care, but they feel like they have to do something to get it. Some of them are very quiet and don’t show any emotion in case it makes you angry and you abandon them, others act out and scream and cry about minor things, acting like they’re helpless because they’re afraid they’ll be ignored otherwise.”
“It does seem to fit,” Redheart admitted. “Although Green seems more willing to use manipulation to get what she wants than outright disobedience.”
“She disobeyed our orders when we were searching for her in the forest,” Luna countered, “Even when it put her at great risk, she wanted to be in control of her rescue rather than leaving her fate in the hooves of others.”
“It’s too early to pathologize her behavior,” Azure Light argued, “We haven’t seen how she acts in a comfortable setting.”
“I’m not sure there’s such a thing as a comfortable setting for her at the moment.” Dayglow countered, “Attachment disorders are on a spectrum, you’d be hard-pressed to find any abused foal who didn’t have an attachment disorder to some degree. The ‘treatment’ is essentially just good parenting, though the trauma they’ve suffered makes that much more difficult. Fundamentally, it’s an inability to trust.”
“What exactly do you mean by ‘good parenting’?” Asked Applejack. “I’m not even a real parent, are you sure there’s not somepony more qualified?”
“She needs somepony to be dependable; firm, yet forgiving.” Dayglow explained, “Somepony to help her work through her anxiety, to cope with her stress, and to show her that she can trust them to always be there for her. I’m not going to sugar coat it; it’s going to be very frustrating, for you and for her, but if you stick to it then it will be very rewarding - and we’ll be here to give you whatever support you need.”
“I’m sure you can do it.” Said Twilight, “You’re the most dependable pony I know.”
“You were there Dayglow,” Applejack said, “She was so terrified of me that she threw up all over herself, are you sure it’s a good idea for me to be the one taking care of her? And I wouldn’t know the first thing about helping her with her magic problems.”
Applejack chewed her lip nervously.
“It’s not that I don’t want to help, it’s just...” Applejack said, “To be honest I didn’t know what I was signing up for and it frightens me a little. What if I get this wrong and I end up making things worse?”
“If you weren’t at least a little worried I’d be concerned you weren’t taking this seriously.” Dayglow consoled, “The important thing to remember is that you don’t have to do this alone - I’ll be working to make sure that you have a strong support network to call on. I also have some parenting classes which I think would be helpful, as well as counseling, for you and for Green. At the moment this is just a foster placement, but from what little we know about her past it’s likely that she will need somepony to adopt her.”
“Our goal in taking Green as our ward is not merely to have her for ourselves, but to ensure she receives the best care possible.” Luna said, “While we are sure your facilities are adequate for caring for the ponies of Ponyville this is still a small facility, without a dedicated pediatric ward. In Canterlot Green would be able to receive more specialized care.”
“With respect, your majesty,” Azure Light responded before Paperstack could begin her defense of the hospital, “If Green had a safe home to return to she could be discharged tomor- today.”
The doctor corrected herself, seeing it was after midnight.
“She will need outpatient treatment and followup, but none of her injuries are serious enough to require hospitalization.” Azure Light said.
“I’ll need a repeat x-ray to ensure her foreleg is healing correctly, and she will need to come in next week to have her cast removed.” Dr. Stone explained in his monotone, “If she were one of my regular patients I would have discharged her yesterday morning. Extended hospital stays are statistically inadvisable.”
“We’re getting ahead of ourselves,” Paperstack said, “We should finish reviewing the case before we start talking about future plans. Redheart, you were telling us about Green’s magic surge?”
“Did anything happen that might have triggered the magic surge?” Twilight jumped back into the conversation, “My magic surge was triggered by a wave of magic that later turned out to be a Sonic Rainboom. I don’t think Rainbow was practicing her one yesterday, but I can definitely ask.”
Redheart looked uncomfortable at the question.
“Green’s magic surge actually seems to have been triggered by my trainee,” Redheart explained. “Apparently he had been helping his baby sister with thaumic field pressure sensitization exercises and decided to try them out on a patient without consulting anypony.”
Luna looked displeased at this revelation.
“I’ll want to speak with him tomorrow.” Said Twilight. “That type of exercise should be very safe so I don’t see the harm in him trying it, but I want to know exactly what he did.”
“I’m sure that can be arranged, your Highness,” Redheart said. “After Green’s tests in thaumatology she slept for a couple of hours and I placed her under the care of Soothing Melody, another of my trainees. When Green woke she met with Dayglow and Applejack, and you all heard how that went. When Melody was showering Green she described the filly as ‘submissive’ and emotionally flat, until she touched the filly’s flank. Green panicked and covered herself with her tail while she did breathing exercises - and then the filly apologized to Melody for getting scared. When I talked to Green she denied anything happened at all.”
“So she feels like she needs to cover for other ponies.” Dayglow commented, “That’s not a good sign.”
“If she’s trying to cover for Melody she’s not doing a very good job,” Twilight noted. “By saying nothing happened she’s making it seem like something much worse happened.”
“She was in a lot of pain.” Redheart explained, “And it was the end of a very stressful day, she probably wasn’t thinking clearly - she denied pain as well, even though I could see it on her face plain as day. It seems like she’s getting very frustrated.”
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I feel so bad for Green : (
Love it!
She just needs to... get a grip!
So is Green just going to withdraw from ponies and lie about his origin, going out of his way to work against trying to be helped or recover? Because that seems like he's just tryingcto self-harm in a way that makes no sense, and prevents anything from ever getting better. I just... suddenly I have no idea what they're thinking or how anything they're doing is supposed to accomplish any goals. Its confusing and I don't get any of it.
10245424
Green hasn't done anything in this chapter - this is just how other ponies are interpreting her actions.
(Ah, what a pleasant surprise! More theorizing on why Green is the way she is... it's quite enjoyable to see them working on the puzzle when we know what really happened.
As for me, I kept thinking that there was a conclusion I might draw, obviously wrong, but I could see myself coming to it.
A medical professional kept Green as a prisoner in isolation since foalhood, and forced complete reliance on themselves. Regular interaction would be inferred otherwise Green wouldn't have such a well-developed mind, but ultimately, it might explain a few things.
The evidence for that would be one, knowledge of the terms. It can be explained away by basic mimicking, but calling herself a nurse and kind of knowing how to act like one and talk like one gives some evidence to having been exposed to the language before.
Two, revelation of a broken limb. Green revealed that one of their limbs had been broken, but preliminary analysis showed no signs of it. This would only be if Green did not in fact have a broken limb, which would seem unlikely to them as it was an accidental admission, or if the limb was near perfectly reset. Combined with the seeming isolation and dependence of Green, this would mean that to be reset that way, the one isolating her would have had to know what they were doing, and presumably have access to the materials to do so.
Three, lack of basic control over body. Both in hoofgrip, and movement. This would suggest a lack of knowing how to use both, but wouldn't make sense for an otherwise healthy body. However, if kept isolated by someone who discouraged independent movement, and the development of a hoofgrip, it could make a degree of sense. They'd know how to keep them healthy while keeping them controlled, still, and dependent, not letting them move about. And similarly with the magic surge, if there was equipment to actively suppress the ability to cast magic, then perhaps the pathways would be kept more or less healthy, but a full blown surge not be achieved.
And four, a distrust of ponies. Dayglow has gone through the symptoms better, however this fear and distrust of other ponies could be something instilled by the captor since an early time. And her submissive behavior, combined with attempts to regain control and manipulate the situation, outside of it, shows that she's willing to play docile when seen, but attempts to find some way to circumvent when not. Because she obviously doesn't trust them. This, again, could tie back into captivity, and showing submission to the one who forced her to depend on them, but secretly seeking some form of control or escape otherwise.
Now, obviously, this is all completely wrong. We know what happened, and this theory is flawed, because it's just not the case. But given the information arrayed, it's the sort of conclusion I would come to.
And just wanted to share those thoughts! Enjoying the conversation. Adults continue to be worried about foal, as is proper.)
I kind of feel like it's about time Twilight did some tests of her own and discover some tell tail evidence that Green doesn't belong in that world.
That and no one would place a child/foal with someone the child is afraid of.
And for that matter, it's time Rarity put on her gumshoe outfit. They've got more than enough evidence to suggest something isn't quite right with their assumptions. Maybe it's time for Time Turner AKA "The Doctor" to pay a visit?
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i.imgur.com/u6riHzP.png
10245461
EEEEEEE!!! That's cute!
While their conclusions are troubling, it doesn't actually change things. The advice is still to be a good parent and provide a stable home.
On that note, Luna needs to butt out. Whether Green has a disorder or not, she's not going to fit in well at the palace.
10245437
Okay, that makes more sense. Its been a while since I read the rest of the story. It seemed like he was aiming fir staying as "Green" and giving up everything who he was before, when it was established that his current state is a bad thing.
If green told the truth from the beginning this would not have happened. Now it's possible that it's too late, they already made their own conclusions.
10245507
Green is not a clever pony.
Ironically that's literally the only thing I question about Lunas ability.
She more than any other pony is equipped to handle Greens... unique difficulties.
I didn’t think about how complex an adult mind in a child’s body can be. That being said, I wouldn’t trust Green around Luna or Applejack.
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Honestly I wouldn't trust them around any of the main cast or princesses (except maybe cadence). They have no knowledge of child rearing, and insanity tends to follow in their wake.
Also, green needs a planeswalker not a pony family.
Man I wonder how green will react to this
10245595
I'd say someone whose duty and "divine domain" involves helping ponies deal with and heal from trauma is more apt to help a pony deal with and heal from trauma than the princess of love - but that one would be a close second, gotta agree.
Yay, new chapter that lays groundwork for action.
Let's see what will happen
10245607
Likely not very well
10245615
Cadence has experience actually physically caring for children though.
10245615
Greens nature alone is enough for Luna to be detrimental to helping them. Look at what happened with applejack, she threw up everywhere out of fear from the memetic fanon that applejack is a lie detector.
Someone that can see all of your inner thoughts and demons through your dreams? And living with them? Green would probably get a heart attack.
I like how the distrust, misunderstanding, expectations and all that social/psychology goodness lead the ponies to form a nice messy (yet reasonable) bundle of wrong about Green. Even in a land of magic and Discordtm they go their own version of "common sense" route first instead of going "its obviously magic fix it
plot deviceTwilight!"Everyone is being competent and reasonable, that makes it really fun to read.
Can't wait when Nurse RH/Twi/Lulu ect witness Green's own experience as a nurse and a person. How will they fit that in their minds is gonna be interesting.
10245683
Knowing the way this plot is going, they might dismiss it as delusions. I mean, mind control and mental manipulation is not uncommon here.
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Sorta agree, but I still think Luna is best choice. Not unreasonable she's had to handle a few kids in her life. Probably just my own bias around the Princesses speaking tho.
Really like the story, the situation in quite enthralling, but I'm wondering where this is going to go. Can't wait to see!
Though not without reason...
Fantastic demonstration of dramatic irony. Green refused to explain her true origins, and so the ponies had to work with the information available. As a result, well... Yeah, interesting times ahead. Though that surge will definitely stick in Twilight's craw. I wonder what she'll discover in her investigation.
Amazing how much her reactions can be read in a drastically different light.
Luna probably has more experience dealing with psychological issues than anyone else in this story.
As well as the insight to notice the inevitable discrepancies when Green's behavior in her eventual care does not match the official diagnosis.
It's gonna be interesting to see how Green interacts with Luna in her dreams shortly.
And with Mango.
Interesting times ahead...
This is an awesome story. I just read through all you've written so far, and I'm in love with the story. It's realy cool the way you write the interactions between characters, and the way you make it easy to look at each perspective. It's realy cool, and very admirable; I'm glad you're writing it. I can't wait to see where the story goes and what you do with the characters.
Ha ha I'm sorry but every time I look at the cover art I see a pony body then a black griffin head with solid green eyes and a green unicorn horn
I know it's supposed to be green's hair/mane but because I can't see her muzzle it looks like a griffin head, and her ear makes the eye. Am I the only one seeing it?
I hit like, smashed that subscribe button, and rang the bell. You're welcome.
10245844
Sure, let's just create a semi-sentient dream construct to constantly replay her issues until that somehow resolves things. Somebody give her ladyship her honorary psych degree.
I'm having a hard time trying to describe how I feel about these ponies going down a rabbit-hole of wrong ideas about this situation. What can Green do to convince them? I think the best shot would be to relay as much knowledge as possible, telling of her origins and using her technical knowledge to reinforce that idea. Still, I'm not sure if that's even a good idea. Might be better to just go with what you've been given and not make more of a fuss about it than it already is.
10246215
Nothing more ironic than depressed psychiatrists.
excited for more, absolute gem of a story
Hello, Cozy Glow.
10245461 Pinky gives hug, it's super effective.
Honestly at this point I think the best course of action would be to escape and find the tree of harmony. I'm sure it can give some sort of maguffin to allow green to return home or show the truth to the ponies.
Staying in this situation is spiraling down a feedback loop that will only get worse.
"So be it"
*clicks link*
10245957
I kept seeing a black Changeling nymph in a green jacket...
10246682
I mean, the first time they found Green they thought she had run away from home and got lost in the forest. Running away from her foster home and going into the forest again seems like it would only reinforce that.
10246697
If they get caught. If they have the tree backing them up then they can get their story straight (or go home immediately instead of losing complete control of their life.)
10246409
Reactive attachment disorder can also cause an underdeveloped sense of empathy and an inability to form meaningful relationships with others.
10246704
I have a feeling this story is about them loosing complete control and having to learn to trust again, that isn't going to happen if Green can escape the situation.
10245458
My mind didn't wander quite as dark.
I did actually think about the clues, and what 'I' would derive from them.
I would think that with Green's know and hospital jargon, and add the way she played Amy, she spent a lot of time in a hospital, socialising more with hospital staff than her peers - this could be because she had suffered something that had her spend a lot of time in hospital, but she got a clean bill of health - with what I know of Biology, I might point out, that it was too clean. (But then again, I don't know what marks healing magic leaves or erases in this AU.)
A likely explanation then was a mother or father going regularly in and out of hospital, bringing Green with them.
That also ties in Green's comment of 'do what is best for the patient'.
She's seen this in action, and 'I''d bet she has seen it fail spectacularly enough times for animosity.
Then think what it does to a kid to have one or more parent who even just periodically cannot take care of them?
Together these would help explain Green's distrust of other ponies and need for self reliance. Have a child who needs to look after their own parents, and one reaction is that they grow up fast.
A child who can't ever bring a playmate home and have to regularly dodge sensitive questions because they're convinced (not without reason) that anyone finding out how dysfunctional their home actually is, will mean having that home torn apart.
Then there's the aversion to being a bother/burden. I have been somewhat down that road, trust me, even six year olds can tell when they're a burden, and it's not hard to picture that the negative associations with that could develop to a detrimental shame triggering aversion to it.
If you live in a household already strecthed thin with issues, the conclusion that if you remove the burden that you are, say, by leaving, then your family would be better off to take care of the other issues, wouldn't be far off.
Of course I know that logic doesn't hold up to court, but I could see the sort of impulsive logic of children leading to such conclusions.
What many seem to forget, is that children in general isn't nearly as oblivious or innocent as general consensus.
In that regard, I'd point out that as far as handling Green, the personal at the hospital have been shooting themselves in the hooves.
If I know one thing that can make you cut out, no matter your age, it's to meet a wall of being heard but not listened to - and that situation was established very early here.
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That all fits quite nicely and is well reasoned, but they're still hung up on the "make me a mare" comment.
10247042
Yeah, they've been really quick (Though not unreasonable) to get tunnel vision on that one.
I'm not a health professional by any capacity, so I don't know if it's normal practice to focus on one diagnosis untill inconsistencies tells you that you're wrong.
I'm more used to work with data, where the inconsistencies are the interesting parts.
That and holistic thinking....
I'd make a terrible doctor.
And the trainwreck continues on, without LISTENING more to the patient they will keep making errors in judgement until all involved get frustrated