Stories and sessions from a therapist in Equestria.
Bright Thought did not expect to become a therapist to Royals and other Important Ponies. Yet here she was. She's here to help them, to give them a way to work through their issues. This is a compliation of some of her sessions.
rated Teen since, well, this is a therapy session. They're going to discuss some traumatizing things. I will give more specific trigger warnings in the Author's notes. Also, This is part of the Cornerverse-MLP Universe, and will therefore be using headcanons and events discussed to be canon there.
When Bright Thought had decided to become a therapist, she never thought she would ever be helping anyone important. True, everyone was important, but she had never imagined helping anyone that a majority of ponies found important, despite living in Canterlot. Even if she had fantasized, for a moment, of a high-class patient, it would not be straight out of school.
Yet her first client was to be a seventeen year old Princess. A severely traumatized and depressed seventeen year old Princess.
Bright Thought tried to look as professional as possible, considering this. Her brown coat shone and her wings were freshly preened, but her blonde mane and tail refused to stay tied down, leaving it looking as if she had just flown through a windstorm.
As she walked into the room, she took note of how bad her client looked. She’d been healing fairly well, but the bandages around her middle stood out more than the rest. Her coat was a dull pink, and her tri-colored mane hung limply, probably from being unable to take a proper shower. On the bright side, her mane did look brushed, which was a sign that she was well enough to brush it herself or that someone would come and do it for her. However, her wings were also well taken care of, which was more of a sign that she’d done it herself.
“I’m Doctor Bright Heart,” she introduced. “How are you feeling today?”
That only got her a glare from bloodshot violet eyes. She’d expected it, of course. It was a dumb question, since they both knew why she was here, why they were in a hospital room instead of her office. Even if she hadn’t been given the medical records, what had happened was still reported across the world. Still, she felt she had to ask, so she met the glare with her own green eyes.
“Have you gotten any sleep?” she asked.
There was a pause.
“Some,” Cadence answered. “Everything hurts too much.”
“Physically, or mentally?” she asked.
“Both,” was the answer. “It’s hard, when every movement hurts, but the painkillers make me drowsy enough to drift off.”
“But it’s not good sleep,” she said more than asked.
“No,” she admitted, turning her head as much as she dared. “There’s nightmares.”
“That will happen,” she nodded. “I know you don’t want to hear that, but it will. They’ll lessen with time, but it will still be hard sometimes, when it pops up unexpectedly.”
“Aren’t you supposed to make them stop?” she asked.
“Yes and no,” she said. “That isn’t what you want to hear either. I’m here to help you get to where it’s not a constant in your life, and to help you learn to handle it when it does come up. I’m here to talk to, without fear of judgment or anyone finding out, but also to guide you as much as I can.”
They were quiet for a moment. Bright Heart sat back, waiting for her to speak. Her patient stared out the window. They had time, and Bright was willing to wait.
“Do you want me to talk about it?” Cadence asked.
“Only if you want to,” Bright answered. “We can go as slow or as quick as you want. I’ll only push you if I think it’s best, and since this is our first session, that isn’t needed.”
She was quiet another moment.
“Every time I close my eyes, I’m back there,” Cadence said. “In the carriage. I can feel it all. I-I can’t really see anything, but I know their colors. I can see them tumbling past me. I can hear them, us, screaming. I can hear mom stop screaming. And when I wake up, I’m still there.”
“Flashbacks are natural,” Bright Thought said. “While it’s terrible, it’s normal to have flashbacks and nightmares. As for when you are in the middle of a Panic attack, you need to remember to breathe.”
“That seems obvious enough,” she huffed.
“True, but you’re panicking,” she said. “I want you to try now. Breathe in through your nose for four seconds, hold it for two, and then out through the mouth for another four.”
They sat for a minute, breathing in sync. In, hold, out.
“This helps you calm,” Bright Thought explained. “It will be harder to remember in the moment, but use it whenever you need to help stay calm, no matter how small. It will be easier to remember if you practice.”
“Anything else to help?” Cadence asked.
“Depends on the pony,” she said. “Some like when others touch them, either a comforting hug or a minor back rub of sorts, but others prefer to not be touched. Some like to have calming music or voice recordings. Others like doing something physical. You’re a musical pony, are you not? You could try tapping out a rhythm with your hooves to keep track of your breathing. Don’t be worried if you don’t find anything right away.”
“Is that all for today?” she asked.
“If you want it to be,” she said. “Or if you want to talk about something else, we can. We have a little longer before the medical doctors need to check on you.”
She went quiet again. Bright Thought could hear her using the exercise they’d just went over. She waited again.
“It doesn’t seem real,” Cadence said.
“That’s normal as well,” Bright Thought agreed. “They’re called ‘stages of grief’ for a reason, though they’re nowhere near as linear as ponies make them out to be.”
“I wish I got to say goodbye,” she continued. “I wonder if I-“
“As far as I know, Time Travel spells aren’t that good,” she said.
“No, not that,” she said. “It’s crossed my mind, but I know better than to mess with Time. But, well, you’re not allowed to tell anyone this, are you?”
“Everything here is confidential,” she nodded. “Not that I’d want to tell.”
“There’s a mirror,” she said. “It’s a portal to another world, actually, opening for a few days every thirty Moons. In this other world, everyone has a Counterpart. In theory, I could hop through there and see them again.”
“Assuming this is true,” she began, “you could do that. But I’d highly advise against it. They might be ‘your parents’, but they’re not ‘your parents’. You shouldn’t replace them with themselves.”
“I wasn’t planning to say there,” she defended. “I would just tell them goodbye, if I could. I know it’s not them, but it’s a chance for closure that I wouldn’t get here.”
“Maybe,” she said. “I’m not an expert on alternate Dimensions. But if it’s a world similar enough to ours that this would give you closure, you have to be prepared to think that their Counterparts might have died as well.”
“Stars, I hadn’t thought-“ she looked like she might be sick.
“Again, I don’t know if it’s the same or not,” she said. “Writing a goodbye message, even though they’ll never truly hear it, can be helpful. If their ‘Counterparts’ are still alive, there is a possibility of it helping, though since it’s never been tested I wouldn’t know. However, you shouldn’t hold onto it as your only hope.”
“Right,” she sighed.
“That said,” she continued. “Writing a letter of goodbyes might be helpful. If you want to try it out, I’m sure the hospital staff would give you something to write with.”
“I’ll think on it,” she agreed.
They looked up to the sound of the door opening. A Unicorn doctor poked her head in, almost sheepishly.
“Sorry to interrupt,” the Doctor said. “But we should be checking on you now.”
“That’s alright,” Bright Thought said before turning back to her client. “Would you like to take a break for today, or should I come back after the doctors are done?”
“I think I’d rather take a break for today,” Cadence answered.
“Alright then,” she nodded. “I’ll come back in a few days, and we can continue. But should you want me earlier, ask one of the doctors or nurses and they’ll track me down. But in the mean time, you can talk to others. I can’t tell anyone about what was said here, but there are support groups for ponies in similar situations, and if you’re uncomfortable with them, friends will usually lend an ear.”
“Thanks,” she said, giving the first smile she’d seen all day.
“Glad I could help,” she said.
Gathering up her things, she gave her goodbyes and walked out the door.
Bright Thought had been seeing Cadence for a few weeks now. She was progressing well, both physically and mentally. They would now have their sessions in her office. So when another Royal walked into her office, Bright assumed it was to ask about Cadence.
Bright Thought looked up to the sound of her door opening. Seeing who walked in, she wanted to jump up and bow, give her the usual respect. However, within this office, her clients and their family members were just that. No matter who they were or what powers they had. She’d made that promise to herself. So she stayed in her seat and attempted to address the Princess as if she were any other pony.
“Hello,” Bright Thought greeted. “What can I do for you?”
She didn’t answer at first. Bright Thought attempted to analyze her. How did she keep up her multi-colored magical mane? What were her white wings doing? Did her eyes flicker anywhere? But she got nothing from her. Well, not nothing.
What Bright saw was practiced neutrality. She was purposely giving nothing away, even her violet stare said little about what she was thinking. This was a pony that had spent time to pretend that nothing was bothering her. And considering exactly who it was, she had more than one thousand years to practice.
It was nearly a full minute before the silence was broken.
“Cadence has said you’re helping her a lot,” Celestia said carefully.
“That’s for her to judge,” Bright said.
“She has also said you’re good at handling secrets,” she said.
“It’s part of the job,” she nodded. “Even if I wanted to tell, legally I can’t. If you want to know how Cadence is improving, you’d need to ask her.”
“That is not what I-“ she began.
She lapsed into silence again. Bright Thought took notice. For a fraction of a second, she was surprised. She collected herself.
“She said you’re good at handling secrets,” Celestia repeated. “Not asking more about them, not being surprised that they exist.”
“Again, it’s hers to tell,” Bright Thought said.
“She suggested you could help me,” she said.
Bright Thought tried to not look surprised. She probably failed compared to the mare in front of her. She reminded herself that everyone has problems, even a near-goddess.
“Well,” Bright Thought began, “I do have about half an hour free, if you’d like to talk now. Or we could schedule an appointment for another day.”
“Now would be better,” Celestia said.
“Then choose a seat and get comfortable,” she nodded.
Bright Thought pretended to organize her desk absentmindedly. She watched as Celestia settled into the chair, looking for anything. She wondered if this was the symptom or the problem, but only the story would tell.
Though she was fully settled into the chair, she was not relaxed. Bright Thought stopped pretending to search for her quill, and waited, but Celestia did little but stare out the window, toward the Sun she would soon have to lower. Silence dragged on. If Bright Heart did not have things to do, she would let it go for as long as necessary. Still, she decided she’d only speak up if another minute had passed.
Just as the minute was up, she took a deep breath and began to speak.
“The Summer Sun Celebration is coming up soon,” Celestia said.
“In a few weeks,” Bright Thought answered.
There was another pause.
“You do know the story, don’t you?” Celestia asked. “Of why we celebrate?”
“I believe most ponies have,” Bright Thought nodded. “But you would be the only one who knows the full story, having been there at the time.”
Celestia nodded, going quiet for another moment.
“Do you remember how the story begins?” Celestia asked.
“Yes,” Bright Heart answered, choosing not to elaborate.
“’Two regal sisters who ruled together and created harmony for all the land’,” she recited from memory. “’The eldest used her powers to raise the Sun at dawn; the younger brought out the Moon to begin the Night.’. So many ponies forget that part. It’s easier for them, to imagine that their Invincible Princess never has to make hard decisions, to imagine that everything is just black and white, good and evil. To forget the Mare that became a Monster because of others’ faults, and the sister.”
“What was her name?” she asked.
“Luna,” she answered. “Her name is Luna.”
“Present Tense,” she noted. “To be blunt, is that truth or denial?”
“’On the longest day of the thousandth year, the Stars will aid her escape’,” she recited again. “There are four more years left now, and ‘Nightmare Moon’ will return. Maybe it is denial. After all, Immortal’s forms change with who we become. She became a monster. Yet I have to hope that Luna can return from that. If not, she’s just another I have failed.”
“Who else do you believe you have failed?” she asked.
She went quiet again. Bright Thought wondered if maybe she should forget about tonight’s plans.
“I had a family once,” Celestia said. “We were quite unconventional. After all, we just popped into existence one day, and decided we were siblings. But over time, they were gone. Four are dead and buried, but on their own terms. One has disappeared, one went mad and is trapped in stone, and the last is locked in her Moon. I lost the rest of my family because I couldn’t help them.”
“We can’t always help those we want to,” Bright Thought said. “Sometimes what we do isn’t enough.”
“Sometimes what we do is nothing at all,” she replied. “Doctor, I am not delusional. I know what my problem is, and I know why it appeared. I’ve had more than a thousand years to figure it out. I am Immortal, so anyone I bond with I will watch die. Even other Immortals can chose to leave me behind. So while I still interacted with others, I stopped connecting with them. It became second nature, and bled into my relationships with those I had left. I ignored how they were suffering with the same problems, and ignored when they had other problems as well, causing them to leave me in different ways. And one thousand years of ruling alone and playing ‘the Invincible Princess’ has not helped. I can be convincing enough to get through negotiations and please those who do not know me, but it hurts those who find themselves close to me. It takes a lot to break through to me, and even more to get me to show it.
“Luna was not the first nor the last I hurt,” she continued, her voice still level. “I know what the problem is but not how to fix it, which is why Cadence suggested I talk to you.”
Now it was Bright Thought’s turn to stay quiet. Though she was still new, she was not used to ponies knowing their issues and their causes, outside of Traumas of course. She thought for a moment.
“If I may ask,” Bright Thought began. “Why now? You know your problem, and you’ve known it for quite some time. What has happened to make you seek help?”
“I am familiar with the first three, but the rest only sound vaguely familiar,” she said. “Let’s start with Dancing Light and Philharmonica.”
“It has been years since I’ve truly cried for something,” she stated. “Yes, there have been tears at every heartbreaking moment. But Dancing and Philharmonica’s deaths were the first time I’d had a breakdown in centuries, and the first time I’d had a breakdown in front of another pony in nearly one thousand years.”
“Dancing’s final message was the trigger,” she said. “He said ‘They forgive you, and they forgive their family’. I know it was meant about my own family, but I do not know if it was truly their ghosts or just a hallucination of death. I have walked the Underworld, and I know my sisters are not there, so I do not know how they could reach from beyond that. It doesn’t matter if it was real or not.
“And who is Shining Armor?” she asked.
“I’m sure you have heard of him from your sessions with Cadence,” she answered. “You probably heard Twilight’s name as well.”
“Those are kept secret,” she reminded her with a small smile. “But even so, who is Shining Armor to you?”
“He is Cadence’s boyfriend,” she answered. “He’s a good Guard as well. I wouldn’t be surprised if he made it to Captain in the next few years, and a nephew-in-law after that. When Dancing, Philharmonica and Cadence were in their accident, he was in the waiting room with me. After Dancing’s message, he reminded me that while I am an Immortal, I am still a pony, I am still able to feel.
“Was he the one who saw your breakdown?” she asked.
“Yes,” she answered. “Though he most likely doesn’t know how big that was for me. If anyone else had been there, they would have done the same. He reminded me of that.”
“So who is Sunset Shimmer?” she asked.
“My former student,” she answered. “One of many over the centuries, but the first to have left. I know that it is because of my problems. She wanted me as a friend, perhaps like a second mother, but I was distant. She decided to do anything to become ‘equal’ to me, in a hope that I would talk to her as a pony and not just my student, which turned to ambition for power. She wanted to be made a princess, hoping it would be enough, but she wasn’t ready for that. Had I been a comforting force, or even said something kind to her, she would not have turned to dark magic and fled from this Dimension.”
“And Twilight Sparkle?” she asked.
“My current student,” she said. “She’s powerful, and a quick learner, just like Sunset was. I see so much of Sunset in her. Even the way she looks at me is similar to the way Sunset once did, and the bond will grow with time. I do not want her to follow in Sunset’s hoofsteps. I want to be able to help her.”
“And if you do that, you feel like you could help Luna as well?” she asked.
“I don’t know if I can,” she shook her head. “But I believe Twilight might be able to. I do not want her to face my problems, to fix my mistakes, but she might have to.”
“Why her?” she asked. “True, she sounds like with a few years of training she could do plenty. However, what stops you? Is it a true obstacle, or a part of your problem?”
“Both,” she answered. “The only things that can help Luna as she is, are the Elements of Harmony. One thousand years ago, I attempted to use them to help her, and all I did was lock her in the Moon for one thousand years. I should have known it wouldn’t work, since the last time I attempted to help someone with them it had turned him to stone.
“My problems keep me from using the Elements correctly,” she stated. “You need a strong connection to others, a bond of friendship. I no longer have that.”
“Well, I-“ she began.
“Sorry to interrupt,” she said. “But I do believe we are hitting your time limit.”
Bright Thought glanced at the clock. Their time was nearly up. Even if she wanted to go over time, Celestia had to leave to raise the Moon.
“Alright,” Bright Thought said. “We can schedule another appointment if you wish. But for now, I would suggest that you have someone around to remind you of things. Yes, you had a breakdown when you were reminded that you are still a Pony, but it was the biggest show of emotion. I’d suggest you have someone to remind you of that more often, to help you remember to feel. I believe Cadence might be a good choice for now, as another Royal would have less inhibitions about speaking to you of such matters.”
“I… will talk to her about it,” Celestia nodded.
“Good,” she said. “Other than that, if you catch yourself worrying about it, go out of your way to show emotion. Fake or not. Sometimes you have to pretend and it becomes the truth.”