"Just watch over him, okay?" Ivory Spark told nurses Blaze and Rose Petal, the former of which coming in early and the latter offering to stay late that night. "When he wakes up, offer him something to eat and make sure he uses his magic to do that. Afterward, ask him if he needs to use the bathroom and if there was anything else he needed or wanted to do, like play a game or read a book. Don't let him scratch his cheek too much, and check on his bites. If he starts to try and hurt himself, get me or Doctor Night."
"Are you going to be back tonight at all?" Blaze asked her.
"Probably not," she sighed. "I've got a few interviews to do and some notes to write up. I'll see if I can get back early tomorrow morning."
With that, she went out, heading into the lobby to see the mare and stallion who claimed to be Leo's parents still sitting there. She was a bit tense seeing them. For her, this was always the worst part of the job. She'd dealt with quite a few angry parents in her short career thus far, most of them innocent, a few of them not. They always started off assuming she was just a normal doctor, but quickly realized why they were being questioned. They were almost always upset, a few humiliated that they could even be thought of doing something so awful to their colts or fillies. Of course, right now, it didn't help that Thundertail already revealed what she was thinking. It would just make it that much more difficult to get information from Lucky Day and Blue Mist, make it that much more likely for them to deny any accusations of mistreatment. But still, she knew she would have to interview them.
She decided to start with who she thought would be more likely to lie to her. "Blue Mist!" she called in a friendly tone. "Is it okay if I met with you privately for a little while?"
Lucky Day rolled his eyes as his wife got up. "Here we go," he mumbled.
The two mares walked into the hallway opposite of the one Leo's room was in, and Doctor Spark began to ask Blue Mist general questions about her son. Where they lived, how old he was, if he went to school, if he had any friends. All of her answers were predictable enough: They lived on the outskirts of Baltimare, her son went to school there, he didn't have many friends, and he would be six in a few months. She said she would describe her son as "a bit alone, but happy".
She knew it would be a waste of time, but Doctor Spark went through and asked the mother more specific questions, like if she thought Leo would ever have a reason to be afraid of anypony, if he ever acted unusually, if he ever had nightmares or got scared easily. All of her questions were met with the same response: no. It was typical, though. Most parents she interviewed gave the same answers. Finally, she got to the big questions. Why do you think Leo was afraid earlier? Do you think anypony in his life could be hurting him? Has he ever shown signs of self harm? To these, she got more of the same, a mix of between “no” and “I don’t know”.
Doctor Spark listened, took notes, watched Blue Mist’s reaction carefully, and came up with… nothing. Through it all, the mare she interviewed was calm, cool and collected, which was a small relief for her. It was much better than dealing with somepony who was upset. She seemed genuinely concerned for her son and asked questions at all the right times. It was the outcome Doctor Spark expected, and she silently thought that the mare was a very good actor. Still, even though the outcome was expected, she was still silently frustrated with Thundertail for what he said earlier. He might have screwed up this whole process with his words. She might not have been able to learn anything either way, but she would never know that. She might have been able to get something out of Blue Mist had he not interfered. And now she was fairly confident that Lucky Day wouldn’t be helping her out much after what Thundertail did. It would just be another half hour wasted.
Still, she had a job to do, and wanted to do it thoroughly. If a wasted half hour meant she might have the chance to get more information about Leo, she would accept it. She called out to the orange stallion to come to her, sending Blue Mist on her way. He quickly and grumpily took a seat in one of the chairs in the hallway and turned to face her.
“You might already know what this is about,” Ivory Spark said politely, telling him what she told his wife, “and you might feel like I’m trying to accuse you of something, but I need you to answer my questions honestly. This isn’t an interrogation or anything like that.”
“Just get on with it,” Lucky Day grumbled, annoyed.
“Okay,” she started. “We'll start with simple questions. How old is Leo, and where does he live?”
“Six in August, and with us near Baltimare,” he said grumpily.
“Does he have any siblings?”
“No.”
“What about friends or acquaintances?”
He sighed. “None that I can think of. He spends most of his time at home with his mother.”
“Where does he go to school?”
“He’s homeschooled,” he told her.
“That’s interesting,” she commented, quickly writing what he said down.
Lucky Day looked at her suspiciously. “Why is that interesting?” he asked.
“Oh, no reason,” Doctor Spark told him. “I was homeschooled myself is all,” she lied. “What do you do?”
“Construction,” he said as a matter of fact.
“Is that a typical nine-to-five sort of job?”
“It’s an “all hours of the day” job. Whatever they schedule me, I work.”
“So Leo stays at home with his mother most of the day?”
He shrugged. “I guess so.”
“Do you ever spend alone time with Leo?”
“Not really,” he said, “and even if I did, I wouldn’t do what I know you’re thinking I do to him.”
“I’m not thinking anything, sir,” she said honestly. “But I do want to move on to more focused questions. Um…” Doctor Spark looked at her notes, then asked, “What would you say Leo’s personality is?”
“Normal,” Lucky Day answered, then added, “Maybe anxious?”
“Would he have any reason to be anxious?”
“None that I can think of. As far as I can tell, it’s just the way he is.”
"Would you say he gets scared easily?"
"I guess," he said. "Well, not scared. It's more like…"
"Startled?"
"Yeah."
"By anything in particular?".
He paused for a second, seeing what road she was going down. "No," he answered, watching Doctor Spark right something down. "And this narrative you're trying to build around us isn't going to work," he continued.
She looked up at him, and said honestly, "I promise, I'm not trying to build any narrative around anypony. I can understand how you'd feel that way, but I'm just writing down the responses you give me. Uh…" She looked quickly to her notes again, then asked, "Does Leo ever have nightmares?"
He sighed. "Yes. A lot, actually."
"Can you say how often?"
He sighed again. "A couple of times a week at least," he admitted. "They're really bad."
"That's terrible. Do you know what they're about?"
"I can't say. He doesn't tell me, and I haven't really thought to ask."
"How do you get him to calm down?"
"His mother calms him down," Lucky Day told her honestly, albeit with a slight tone, wanting to avoid any implications she might have about him. "She usually hears him first anyway."
Doctor Spark was hating this. She appreciated his honesty, but hated everything he was saying. This was really bad. She probably had enough information to be finished talking to him, but continued on anyway.
"Does he ever act unusually in certain situations?"
"What do you mean?"
"Well, does he get nervous when you leave for work, or when certain ponies are over, or anything like that?"
"I guess he gets nervous when I leave. But construction's a dangerous job, and I've explained that to him."
"Do you think there could be any other reason?"
"I don't know. Maybe he doesn't-" Lucky Day paused, his mouth still open, finally realizing just exactly how all of his words were being taken, and what conclusion Doctor Spark was coming to.
"Maybe he doesn't what?" she asked politely.
"No," he started, getting defensive. "No, no, no, no, no, no, no. That's not what's going on. Blue Mist wouldn't do that." But even as he said it, he was realizing how perfectly all the pieces were fitting.
"Do you think Leo would ever have a reason to be afraid of anypony?"
"No, and least of all his mother. That's her son. She wouldn't ever do anything to hurt him."
"And I'm not saying she would. I'm just trying to get a complete story."
"Well, part of your story should be that she doesn't hurt Leo."
Doctor Spark sighed. She didn't like where this was going, but continued on. "So while you're working, what do Leo and Blue Mist do all day?"
"I… I don't know," he admitted to her, his tone changed to one of worry.
"How often does he leave the house?"
“He- not often. He, um, he mostly stays home with his mother.”
“Was it her idea for him to be homeschooled?”
Lucky Day winced. “Um, yes.”
“Does she ever help him out with using magic?”
“She tries, but she says that he has a poor magic field.”
“That is the case,” Doctor Spark explained, “but it’s looking like that’s a result of lack of use.” She waited a few seconds, letting him process what she told him, then asked, “Do you think your wife would intentionally keep him from using magic?”
“What? No! She’s practically fed up with how much she has to do for him.”
“What kinds of things does your wife help Leo with?”
“She- she helps him with things he can't do himself, like eating and using the toilet." He stopped for a second, watching her write what he said down, then started again. “I know how this all might look, but it’s not the way it seems. It’s not what’s going on. She wouldn’t abuse Leo!”
"Why do you think he ran away?"
"I... I don't know..."
She didn’t want to go on, but continued on to one more question anyway. “Why do you think Leo reacted so strongly when you two came into the room?”
“Oh, no,” Lucky Day whispered, and covered his eyes with his hoof. “Please tell me this isn’t happening. This can't be happening!”
"Have you ever, um," Doctor Spark started, then stopped. And now came the worst part of the interview. "Have you ever seen Blue Mist touch him in a sexual way?" she asked quietly. "Or anywhere on his genitals? Even if it seemed like an accident?"
"She bathes him every single day!" he told her, clearly upset. "Oh, Celestia, oh, damn it all! How could I let this all slip past me? I could have stopped this! I'm such an idiot!"
"You're not an idiot," she said softly. "It's not always easy to see the signs. I've seen a lot of cases like this." She paused a second, before giving him the news, "But, um, you should be prepared for Leo to live with somepony else."
Yep... This is the end of this familie. The Stallion was to bussy working hard and the mare needed to compensate... In the worst way possible.
Problem found. Now the solution can be worked out.
Will you reveal what exactly have Blue Mist done to Leo?
Man, I could feel what Lucky was feeling; that got pretty intense. The slight indignation at such ridiculousness then following the sudden realization and that hollow feeling in the pit of your stomach. It's great!
And there we go. The picture is being completed.
10105655
Maybe. I've been considering it
The concept of a child being abused by his or her family in a story has been done so much i consider it a cliche at this point. On top of that, it’s often done poorly by the author.
But you, however, are not falling into the same traps that claim so many stories. And you’re pulling this off masterfully.
From the first paragraph of this story I was interested in where it would go and how it would turn out. I’ve had theories of the future of this story; some turned out to be incorrect and others still remain to be seen. The characterization here is nothing short of phenomenal.
The only thing I am not a huge fan of is Leo having mental arguments with himself. However, these internal debates are written in such a way that they serve the plot and reinforce his character. Most of the time when people do that they screw something up. That you haven’t done so is impressive.
I find myself almost ready to forgive Leo’s father. He seems like he genuinely wants the best for his son so far and really had no idea what his wife was doing. I will withhold my ultimate opinion on his character for now, as it remains to be seen what he will do with the information he received.
In short: the combination of a normally contrived plot with such alarmingly realistic characterization gives you an uncommon take on a type of story that has failed so many times before. I am very impressed.
10/10. Possibly my favorite story on this site so far. Keep it up!
10105934
Thank you! I appreciate the kind words!
10099190
Time skip in a critical time like that? Hell no!
Every day counts.
10099216
I agree hole ♡ Every day count in a critical time like this.
I hope i dont sound like a hypocrit but it was mostly the slow pace 'plus selfin sulting/damage inflicting' getting me riled up
10105655
It already is now... If you read between the lines as they say...
Not really a gore etc. fan.
10105892
Rather hint at it and than leave it be. The unspoken is often more impactful.
Dude, none of us care how long it is, so long as the story keeps updating. No need to cripple your self worrying about the word size. Just update! Some if not most of us are long-time members of this website and are not worried about the word count, hell gives us more to read, its why we're here! Just don't cripple yourself by putting these "limits" on yourself. Sorry if I sound like an ass.
10106230
Or reveal it, cause some of us are slow, and have 'it' fly over head. *Cough* , some of us need it spelled out.
It would definitely be interesting to see what Blue Mist does next. You could have her seem like she is backed into a corner, and have her act out, forced to kidnap Leo and try and run or something. Anyway, good chapter
Sorry, I have trouble keep up with comment on a story. For the last two chapters were awesome, at least is answers a lot of questions and talks on a interesting approach. Well learning that the original Leo is now in the human one's body and relive the entire life from there, which make me wonder the sheer level of power that Jinn can wheel, and is certainly sounds like almost a equivalent exchange between the two to have both a fresh start in life; it looks like both Leo's are analogues of each other and I wonder if it is the case for other people he meant in his previous life?
I did though it was interesting that it was the mother who actually was the abuser of Leo and was skillfully hiding everything behind a mask, even form her husband and I take it that is where the previous Leo was actually addicted to drugs that she prepared for Leo; I take it that she was a pharmacist or sorts. For the father, he might be charged with gross elegance for not noticing all the sign, but could have extenuating circumstances for being way too busy with his work to really be a father figure for Leo, and just dismissed Leo's nervousness as normal as he was so used to see him like that it just didn't occur to him all these years that his son was abused in hiding. I wonder if he could still see Leo after this, if he is found Innocent of any accusations, it's not going to be a fun time for him and the betrayal of his wife.
I wonder his Leo will or can testify for this, being so young, also now they can actually confirm his age now. I wonder if we will get to see Leo interacting with other foals soon, he can't be the only foal in the hospital after all?
10106927
On the genie: Yes, he is quite powerful, but doesn't wield any real power. He can only grant the wishes of others. Outside of that, he can't really do much else.
On Leo: The two are certainly similar in some respects, but more opposites in others. Ours had parents who cared but largely screwed himself over, the other was screwed over by his parents. Although both weren't going to live very long in their previous circumstances.
On interaction with other foals: I'm writing the setup to that at this very moment
10106638
Google a offical case if you wannt details i advice. we other would rather not... that some messed up shit...
10107259
PM me? I can't tell if its physical abuse or... never mind it just clicked while i was typing this. Ignore what I said before.
Hoooo boy. This is going to get ugly.
It was at that moment Lucky discovered how much he accidentally fscked up... Feel sorry for the dude, reminds us of... Well, let's hope his namesake applies...
If Lucky is what he seems to be, and if this is what's really happening, I could only imagine the turmoils of emotions he's going to have. Why must the good onea have to go through this stuff. Just... Ugh
Ouch. I really hope he gets visitation rights as it really isn't his fault Leo was abused, just make sure Blue is nowhere nearby.
Man this Dad just fell in love with a Pedoophile, man that gotta sucks really bad!
My question is Did they either fell in love or he got a Pedo pregnant by accident? No Pony will never know.
I love the way you have Lucky Day reacting. I think it feels like a normal reaction, like it's a genuine reaction. For all I know it could be completely different from the reaction someone would have ln real life, but it seems like how someone would react.
This story is really good. As a former addict I can honestly sympathize with Leo. I got off of heroin over 10 years ago, and I remember what it was like at first. Withdrawal. Feeling useless. Hating myself for wanting to give in. Wanting to give in. The cravings. And especially the constant struggle with myself just to ask for help.
But I also know how good it feels now. Don't get me wrong, I still have cravings but I'm don't feel like I need or even really want to do it again. I still have to deal with the emotional and physical and psychological problems I had before that I was trying to escape from and the problems that my "escape" left in it's wake. But now that I have a clear head and distance from that point in my life, it's not as bad as I convinced myself it would be.
God poor Lucky day, I feel so bad for him.
lucky day is not having a lucky day
11088048
Yeah, losing your son, and realizing you never actually knew the individual you thought was your wife in the space of one terrible, awful conversation has to be pretty horrible.
One of the better chapters I've ever read. Efficiently horrifying and very believable.