Mind Over Matter

by Boopy Doopy

What Hurts The Most

Ivory Spark was tired, both mentally and physically. Dealing with these kinds of things was always stressful, and she always hoped for the best, but tried to prepare for the worst. This particular case, however, was truly awful, and was taking nearly all of her energy. She didn’t get too many cases however, despite Baltimare’s size, third only to Fillydelphia and Manehattan, and most of her previous cases had been verbal abuse or neglect. Those kinds of cases, depending on the circumstances, could be settled through family counseling. A few times, she had to give the recommendation to take foals away, but tried to be understanding of each family’s circumstances. On very rare occasions she referred cases to police, but usually only when she thought parents were being actively malicious. However, although her career had been short thus far and she couldn’t have had more than a few dozen cases, even as awful as those things were, Leo had been the most distraught foal she’d come across. She came in that morning believing the most realistic outcome was that Leo was neglected and that perhaps he was given medicine to sleep through the weekend when his parents didn’t want to deal with him. She would have still almost certainly recommended he be taken away, but still, it wouldn’t be nearly as bad as… well, she’d rather not think of that. As bad as everything looked, Leo still hadn’t confirmed that he’d been abused. It still gave her a tiny hope, however unrealistic she knew it was, that this was all a gigantic misunderstanding. Maybe there was some other explanation for his reaction to his parents. Maybe Blue Mist thought she’d get in trouble if she told the truth. Maybe Leo was lying about being able to use magic and he really did take medicine himself. Even though the police were likely going to agree with her and see what she saw, she would still rather have an innocent pony go to jail than have Leo confirm he’d been hurt as bad as she suspected.

Ivory Spark yawned as she finished her notes. It was just after eleven o’clock at night, and it had been a very long day, coming in nearly sixteen hours earlier. She always felt the second day was the most difficult, and was ready to get back to Baltimare to retire for the night. However, before she could leave the building, Nurse Blaze once again interrupted her.

“What is it?” she asked him, trying not to be annoyed with him for what happened earlier that evening.

“Leo’s crying in his sleep. We think he’s having a nightmare.” He went silent for a second, then added, "It- it sounds like it's about his parents."

She sighed. Normally, a nurse would be able to handle this, but after the Rose Petal’s screwup shortly before he went to sleep, the pair wasn’t going to be an option to calm him down. She was barely able to convince him to let them be in the same room as him after that. She sighed again, realizing she would have to find a motel in North Star for the night.

“I’ll be right there,” she told him, tired.

---

The last three dreams I had in this body were just bad dreams, but this dream could be described as a nightmare.

I was laying in the bed of a dark room I didn’t recognize. I didn't look around, but it felt small, like a colt's room, like my room. I was laying on my side, staring at the wall, when I suddenly heard the door open. It immediately made me tense up as I heard what I knew to be Blue Mist approaching me.

"Don't come near me," I told her quietly, starting to breathe deeply as I heard her come up to the bed. I hated those hoofsteps she made as she approached. It sounded so familiar, like it was a memory, and I didn't want to remember whatever this colt body and I experienced.

The hoofsteps stopped, and a voice that wasn't Blue Mist's said, "Don't come near you? I thought we were friends."

"Mandy?" I said confused, quickly turning to look at her. Sure enough, Mandy was standing there in the flesh, sores still on her face. It turned out those hoofsteps were actually footsteps. "What are you doing here?" I asked her.

"Well," she started, "I heard you were getting clean, and I had to see for myself… uh, why are you in Equestria exactly? And why are you a colt?"

"That's a story I don't want to get into," I told her. "Why are you here?"

"Well, you remember how you told me I shouldn't turn over while I was in rehab? Well, now I'm telling you the same thing."

"Um, what?"

"You know, don't become one of them. Don't turn over." I looked at her with a confused expression once again, silently this time, and she finally said, "I'm telling you not to get clean, dope! Being sober's no fun, trust me. So when I saw that you were sober, I just thought about how horrible you must feel, and I figured why not get you a present? To make you feel better? You know, some horse since you're a horse?"

My eyes went wide as she held up the syringe. "I don't want that," I said quickly.

"Come on, it's been four days," she told me, still smiling. "You have to be suffering. Besides, don't you remember that song you used to sing? Still… hold... back and wonder why. Why... do you... deny what's on your mind?"

"I. Don't. Want. That," I told her again, more aggressively this time, scratching my face.

"Come on. I made up a pun for you, and you know how much I hate puns."

"The thing about me being a horse wasn't even a pun, and I'm still saying no. Just go back to rehab where you belong."

"I see," she told me, sounding sad, taking a step towards me. "You're clearly not Leo, so I'll just have to bring him here."

"Get away from me!" I said loudly as she made her way to me, feeling the panic rise in me.

"Why?" she asked, now at the edge of my bed. "You know you want this. Besides, you're an abused colt, and this is gonna make you feel better."

"I don't want that, and it won't make me feel better!"

"Look, I'll show you," she said as she grabbed my front leg.

"Don't touch me!" I yelled as I quickly yanked it out of her grasp, scooting back in the bed.

She didn’t listen, deciding instead to climb onto the bed, wrapping her arms around me and trying to force me to hold still. “I’m doing this for your own good,” she said. “I want the fun Leo back. Besides, you were the one who told me not to get clean. Now I’m telling you.”

“Get off of me!” I got out, breaking free of her grasp for a second before she grabbed me again.

“Friends stick up for each other,” she said, putting the needle in her teeth for a second to readjust her grip on me. “I’m not gonna let you suffer being sober like I did.”

“Don’t do this!” I screamed, closing my eyes as I struggled against her. “I don’t want this!”

"Why do you have to be difficult about this, Leo?" she said, pushing the needle into my front leg where she thought a vein might be.

---

“I don’t want this,” Ivory Spark heard the colt say in his sleep, watching as he started to cry a few seconds after that. It made her feel sick to her stomach, and she didn't want to imagine what he was dreaming of. She couldn’t begin to understand how somepony could ever be so awful, especially to someone so young. Her own parents neglected her, which was why she chose to be a foal psychologist, but they weren’t actively malicious, and certainly didn’t do what she believed Blue Mist had done to Leo.

She made her way over to him, and he sat up quickly at the sound of her hoofsteps. He turned over to see who it was that was coming to him, and relaxed at Ivory Spark’s sight, which was noticed by her. However, before she reached him and before he could stop himself, Leo said, “She hurt me, and it’s my fault.”

She had a pained expression on her face at that, hating to hear his confirmation of abuse, and hating even more that he thought it was his fault. She got to his bedside, and put her hoof on his mane. “It’s not your fault you were hurt, Leo,” she whispered to him.

“Yes it is,” he sniffed, deciding not to care about how it sounded. The colt figured it was true enough, regardless what context she thought he was discussing. “It’s my fault,” he reiterated.

“It's not your fault you were hurt,” the mare said again, hating that he felt that way. She stopped for a moment, then asked, “Do you want to tell me how you were hurt?”

Leo shook his head, and the two went silent for several minutes as the colt sniffed while Ivory Spark stroked his mane. She knew she should probably try harder to get him to talk about what happened, or even to talk about his dream. She knew it was likely he dreamed about what happened to him, and knew that he would be even more reluctant tomorrow to discuss it. Still, she didn’t press him. She figured him saying Blue Mist had hurt him was enough for tonight, and was too tired right now to try and get more out of him. For now, she would comfort him, not bearing to think about how much the colt was suffering.

Leo was angry at her for hurting him, and hated himself for letting it happen. He knew it was irrational to be angry at Mandy. Sure, she let him spiral, but he let her do it, and he let her spiral, too. Besides, it wasn’t like she got him hooked. He hadn’t met her until a few months after he started. But still, even though he didn’t care about himself, he was angry she didn’t care about him either. She should have pushed for him to go with her to rehab, to get better, but she didn’t. She just let him hurt himself, and let him creep closer and closer to death.

“No,” the colt thought, “She didn’t do anything. She was a drug user. She wasn't really able to make sound decisions for me or about me. I let it happen, because all I do is screw things up. She might have been hurting me, but it was my fault.”

“It’s not your fault she hurt you, Leo,” the mare told him as if reading his mind.

Comments

[Luckyfanisaac]

Here's a short chapter. I couldn't find a good way to integrate Luna into the story without making it forced or overly complicated.

Dream sequence integration then?

[SWEETOLEBOB18]

10116351
I agree, Luna appearing in a dream is the only plausible reason
The problem is, it's too likely to reveal that he's human

[Black--Soul]

No matter what... Leo will need help. Long and intensiv care to get over his problems.

Ones hes over that maybe go for a follow up story?

Normaly its story first and prequel/origin story later.
Here is the chronologic order for ones

[gamerbro123]

Personally, I think I like this story better than "trust once lost." For a story based off another (I think that's what you said this was) "mind over matter" has turned out amazing. Please keep giving me the feels!

[Boopy Doopy]

10116678
I appreciate the kind words! But "Mind Over Matter" is not better than "Trust Once Lost"

[thelegendarytoothpaste]

In my experience, it’s better to just let the words flow. If the plot demands you have a character such as Luna, you will find a spot for her. But forcing it will do no good. I applaud you for your restraint here.

[Luckyfanisaac]

10116393
Well he already appears as a foal. I mean pony.

[SWEETOLEBOB18]

10117105
Well, yes, but
Does everyone he ever knew appear as a pony in his dreams?
Only takes one to blow his cover

Also, modern cars. Flim & Flam had one but not anything like a recent one + airplanes, trains, ships, all different. + the city streets & landmarks.
Dreams are weird but not THAT weird
+ If he dreams of just about ANY movie that he saw

No, it'd take a VERY great deal of luck for Luna to enter his dreams & NOT figure out that he's an alien

[Mix-up]

Well this was interesting, the dream part was interesting as well, looks like she never recovered from drugs and had maybe further encourage Leo to continue taking them or even sold them to him, which could be an avatar of his addition. I wonder if it is normal for a five year old child for calling his mother by her name, and not just mommy? I wonder if Luna is still in charge of protecting pony dreams, what could she be up to sense then? I wonder if She will discover the truth about him and the fact that he stole a foal's body? On the other hand why didn't Luna detect the original Leo's cry for help, what the weak magic field or drugs prevented him to actually reach the dream world proper? Did Luna ever had anything to do with foal services before in helping them? Also what was the Original Leo's fully pony name, was Leo it just his middle name like Pinkamina Dianne Pie?

[Luckyfanisaac]

10117283
Maybe a letter to the princess then to look after Leo?

I have never read a story where Luna is hostile to any human turned pony. So I don’t think it would be bad if it did happen.

[Tattered Ribbon]

It's fine, if you can't logically or smoothly insert a character, then maybe there's no need for it right now.

[tsaukpaetra]

Yeah, you probably should approach writing like "this chapter I want x to appear, now let's justify it". Start with motivations of the characters first, then they'll naturally have a reason to be or not to be and do in a scene, and you don't need to rationalize why they're there since you know why before they got to that point.
Anyways, it's been really fun so far, looking forward to the next chapter!
Keep going! ;)