A week later...

Sweetie Belle's POV

I don't want to do this. At all. I have to go to school. But I didn't want to leave Applebloom alone in that hospital. But I guess I have to if I want to try not to fail again. I sighed at I walked down the final path towards the schoolhouse. Hopefully it won't be anything like last time. I gave a weak 'hello' to Ms.Cheerilee and walked into class to my seat. I turned left to see where Scootaloo was. Unfortunately, she wasn't even there. Again. I'm going to be alone at school. Again!

I sighed as I took out my notebook and pencil and waited for the lesson to begin. This time it was the history... of... why do we always have history first? Seriously, every day we have to go straight to history, and it puts everypony back to sleep. That was a horrible idea. I struggled to stay awake as Ms.Cheerilee talked about... something. I don't know, I just fell into a deep sleep that I really needed. And it felt so good. But five seconds later...

"Sweetie Belle?" The familiar voice of my teacher got to my ears and woke me up instantly.

"Er, yes Ms.Cheerilee?" I said a bit flustered.

"I know it's hard to stay awake, but can you please try to pay attention?"

"Yes Ms.Cheerilee."

And I had to stay awake while listening to her talk about... the history of... something. I can't even concentrate. This whole thing is getting to me more than I need it to. I... I have to pass. It's a bit embarrassing being two years behind already. I wrote down what she was writing without really noticing and was relieved when history was over and we had Equestrian. I was relived that I was able to pay attention in this subject without much of a problem.

Even though I was able to pay attention, I was still happy to hear the recess bell ring. I hurried out of my seat and headed outside into the fresh spring air! Or, at least I tried to, until a voice stopped me.

"Sweetie Belle. I need to talk to you for a moment." Ms.Cheerilee said.

"Okay" I sighed and followed the teacher back to her desk.

"Sweetie Belle, I noticed that you can't quite concentrate in history much. Your failing in it." She stated in her calm... teacher voice.

"I know, I just can't concentrate. It's just so... boring!"

"Well, you need to be tutored."

"Oh, that's fine. When is this tutoring? Recess?" I asked curious to find out when I'd have to learn... boring history.

Cheerilee had a guilty look on her face for a quick moment.

"After school."

---

"You didn't have to yell at her, Sweetie Belle. Didn't I tell you how unladylike it is to raise your voice so much?"

"Yes Rarity." I sighed as we walked back to the hospital.

"Sweetie Belle... I know you always want to be with Applebloom... are you doing this because of what happened to her?" She questioned hesitantly.

"W-what?! No! The first time was because Diamond Tiara pushed me too far when she said something bad about Applebloom. This time is because I don't want to be tutored after school because Applebloom... wait." I stopped as I thought about what I said.

It was because of what happened to her. I want to be by her side all of the time because... well, she's my best friend. I want her to be safe and I... want to stay with her. All the time. I really like her and... every time I see her, I feel as if I have to protect her from anything that could possibly hurt her in any way. I want to be her shield. Who she runs to for help. I want her to be... mine.

I shook my head. I may be getting a bit... possessive over her. Here I am trying to be her knight in shining armor and trying to keep her to myself. I feel like I cant trust her with anypony else and... What in Tartarus is wrong with me? These are weird thoughts. Maybe I need some help. But then I'd be separated from...

Yes... I think I need some help. There was a moment of silence between Rarity and I as we continued walking to the hospital.

"Yes, it is because of what happened." I said, starling Rarity a little.

"Maybe you need to talk to somepony about it?" She suggested.

"Maybe. I'm not sure who though." I said a bit unsure.

"I may need to get you a therapist Sweetie Belle. They always make sure not to tell anypony anything they hear, and you can probably get this off of your mind."

"That would probably help. I'm not really that sure about it, but I'd do almost anything to get this off of my mind." I sighed at the thought of spending even less time with Applebloom, not only because of history tutoring, but also because I might have to go to a mind doctor.

"Rarity... how will I get through this? I... I don't know what to do... or what I'm doing. I'm just so tired and confused."

"I will be honest with you Sweetie Belle. I really have no idea. But you are a very smart filly. Very smart, strong, and wonderful. I'm sure you'll be able to figure this out." She said with a warm smile.

"I don't feel so smart. And what if it doesn't turn out good in the end. What if I'm not smart enough to get through this?" I asked.

"Sweetie, if you aren't able to get through this, I swear to Celestia I will stop making dresses and work on a farm." She said with one of the most serious looks on her face.

I started to talk until she turn towards me again and spoke before me.

"Listen Sweetie Belle. I believe in you. I believe you can overcome this challenge. I believe that you can figure this out. If you cannot, then I most certainly cannot either." She paused.

"Sometimes I feel as if you're the bigger sister."

"Wait, what?!" I exclaimed confusedly.

"Yes, Sweetie Belle I do. At times you're smarter than me, act more mature than me, and take care of me as if I were the younger sibling. I have no idea what I'd do without you." She stopped walking for a moment.

"That is why I think you can do this Sweetie. I may not know what to do, because I've never gone through this before, but I am confident that you can find out how to handle this. I'll be there for you the whole way through this too. It might be a humongous task but... well, I think I recall Rainbow Dash saying you sung a song about having hearts as strong as horses?" She said with a smile on her face.

I smiled, and gave her a big hug. I was so glad she was my sister.

"Now, let's get you an appointment to the therapist. I'm pretty sure you can get in there to speak with him in a few days or so." She said and we turned down the opposite road that the hospital was in.

I sighed, and hoped Rarity was right. I hoped I really was smart enough to get through this. Somehow, I'll have to do this. Somehow.

---

"Oh, that? Well, all you have to do is sign this paper and she'll be able to see Dr. Hybrid right away." Said the voice of a red stallion that stood at the front desk of the therapist office.

"Really? That easy?" Said Rarity in a surprised voice.

"Yeah, that easy. We haven't gotten many patients here lately, and we have a lot of free time on our hooves. Really, we don't know what to do with all of the time. I'm surprised this place isn't closed. You're the first ponies we've seen in here in months." He explained.

"Wow. Um, anyway, I have the paper filled out right here." Rarity said as she slid the paper across the desk to the stallion. He barely acknowledged it.

"Okay then, you're good to go. The room is two doors that way." He said, pointing to the hallway on the left side of us. I nodded and headed towards the room.

I looked around the hallway as I walked towards the room. The hallway was all the way on the other side of the room and I had a bit of time to look around. I saw flags with Celestia and Luna on them, along with pictures of what I assumed was the previous doctors that had worked there. There was also a few wooden chairs, a couch, a clean looking bathroom (I won't let the look fool me), and several designs carved into the wooden walls. The place smelled like fresh pine and wood. Like nature itself I thought. It calmed me that the place felt and smelled like nature. Like I belonged here. I bet that was on purpose, but it was good enough for me.

I approached the door that had a golden sign with the name 'Hybrid' carved into it. I took a deep breath and walked into the office. It was just as simple as the other room, only this one had bookshelves full of books, only two chairs, both of which looked very comfortable, and windows that let in the beautiful sunlight. But there was one thing I saw that was really unusual. A pony... or at least I think it was a pony... that could somewhat be compared to Discord. The stallion had weird eyes as one was comparable to a dragon's eye but the other one was normal. He had one large tooth sticking out one side of his mouth and a smaller, but still pretty big fang out of the other side. The thing that confused me most was the... animals? He was mixed with. He had a tiger paw, a hoof, a dragon foot, bear claws, a bunny ear, a fox ear, a bat wing, a pegasus wing, and a...cat tail? Everything about him screamed confusion. It was like looking at a pony Discord but without the crazy red and yellow eyes. I hesitated at the door.

"Oh hello there. You must be...Sweetie Belle? My assistant just sent me the paper." He said in a calm, welcoming voice that sounded nothing like Discord.

"Um... yes?" I said unsure of how to... act around him He was... well... weird. And I felt weird.

"Oh, no need to be shy in here. I'm friendly! I promise I wont bite!" He said with a small chuckles. I walked up to a chair that sat in front of him and sat in it. This is going to be very... very awkward.

"Um..." I said but trailed off as I couldn't bring myself to ask why he had so many different... animals mixed into him.

"Oh, I'm pretty sure you're wondering why I look so weird. Oh boy, I get that question a lot... Oh! Don't worry about it little filly I'm not angry or annoyed!" He said when I winced at his comment.

"Well, let's just say that when I was born, I had no doctors to help my birth and when my father tried to do it, he didn't know that you wasn't supposed to use magic to help pull me out. It caused a malfunction in the spell, and everything went wrong. But I still have a wonderful life and get to help ponies like you!" He said with a smile.

"Oh... uh, I guess that kinda makes sense." I mumbled.

"Well then, Sweetie Belle, what about you? Why did you have to come to my office today?" He said.

"U-um... you wont tell anypony this, right?" I asked.

"Won't tell a soul." He said. "Matter of fact, I'l lock my mouth, bury the key, build a house over it, and live in it!" He exclaimed, giggling. He paused at my confused expression. "Oh, I uh... learned that from Pinkie Pie... yeah... so, continue on please."

"W-well, my best friend, Applebloom, got raped by a big stallion. I actually got to see it happen too. She's paranoid and frail and... and pregnant. She's too young for this, just like I am! And here I am being possessive of her. I feel like I should be around her all of the time, like I don't trust her with anypony but me... and I want to be her hero, her knight in shining armor... and it sounds really weird to me. Who thinks about that stuff? I feel so abnormal... so weird, so... so frustrated. It's like I have a problem with my fantasies or something." I explained.

"Hmm, well, I hate to be nosy and mention tragedies to ponies who are still trying to recover from one, but... did you act like a hero or a knight in shining armor at the time this was happening? A lot of ponies do that and want to protect the same pony's life all of the time. It's where we get most of Celestia's Royal Guard from. You see, after something life threatening happens to a pony you really care about, it's normal to feel protective over them all of the time. The possessiveness could be because you don't want another pony to hurt them and you feel that if you let them go, that that is what will happen. What you need to do is try to calm down a little. I'm sure she'll be fine, as Equestria rarely ever have these situations happen. Can't say the same for the griffons though." He explained.

My head jerked upwards in realization. He was right! It made complete sense that that was the issue. But... how could I calm down. These feelings are affecting how I handle the other things I have to get through. How will I be able to truly calm down to go on with life?

"But how can I calm down? I... there's just so much happening and..." I trailed off.

"How about you see me after school every day, and I'll help you through this. It's not like this place is packed or anything." He said with a calm smile.

"Y-yeah, that sounds like a good idea." I said.

"Great, so is there anything else you'd like to talk about. It can be about any random thing you want. It helps me clear my head when I get into a conversation that isn't directed towards... darker... situations." He said.

"Um... sure. I wanted to ask... why you're not like most therapists?" I asked.

"What exactly do you mean? Because I am different in several ways!" he said with a small chuckle.

"Well, you're... happier than how ponies usually describe therapists." I explained to him.

"Oh, that? Well you see, Sweetie Belle, I don't think that boring, old, frowny ponies that pretend to listen to ponies is a good therapist. Especially if they have a monotonous voice. Ick. I think that just depresses the patient more and is really no help. I want to act friendly so that they feel like they're going to a friend's house and not a stuffy doctor's office with some stallion they don't know that wears too much cologne. I feel that it makes the patient more... comfortable." He explained with a smile.

"Oh, well that's nice." I commented.

"So, what do you enjoy doing?" he asked.

"Um... I like to crusade with my friends" I told him.

"Crusade?" He asked. "Interesting. What do you crusade for?"

"Cutie marks! My friends and I don't have ours yet, so we find things to do that could possible make us earn our cutie marks. But... most things don't go as planned." I explained.

"Oh? How so?"

"Well, we never earn one in the end. And we've tried so many things!" I exclaimed.

"What exactly have you tried?" He asked.

"Bungee jumping, skydiving, tight rope, daredevil, shooting ourselves out of a cannon and even water purifiers!" I said.

"Wait... water purifiers? What did you use to purify the water?"

"Bleach and gasoline." I stated.

"Ppffffft... hmhmhm.... hahahahahahahaha! Oh my... wow! Tha-hat's just- hahahahahaha! Oh... you just messed up my professional act. I'm not supposed to laugh, but that got me good! Sweetie Belle you are a joy to be around! B-but Gasoline and Bleach... wow. Um, but on the serious side... you do know that those can be deadly separated and when put together can make a fume that if you inhale it too much you could pass out, right?" He asked.

"Umm... I uh... didn't know that." I said, hesitating a little.

"Okay, let that be a lesson; never mix chemicals together. That's very deadly. Also, never mess with gasoline... it is flammable. And, uh, never drink bleach... that's deadly too. Um... and let's just say that Ponyville is so lucky to have nice ponies making sure the water is clean." He said, shuddering at the thought of so many ponies dead, or dying a painful death.

"Well, how do you feel?" He asked out of the blue.

"What?" I asked.

"How do you feel?" He repeated.

"Normal... wait. I feel... normal! I... it felt good to have my mind on something else other than what happened." I said.

"That's exactly what I wanted to do! I'm pretty sure this could help you a lot. You need some time to get your mind off of what happened so that you won't be stuck on this problem so bad. All you need is somepony to talk to. A friend." He said and smiled.

I smiled back. That may be the answer. Friendship. I was the friend that helped out Applebloom when she needed help. I just needed the same thing. Sure I had Rarity and Applejack and all of their friends but... I never really talked to one of them. I blocked them out. I just needed to open up the whole time, yet I isolated myself with Applebloom.

"Thank you so much!" I yelled and quickly hugged him.

He hugged me back, chuckling a little bit while doing so.

"It was no problem.

---

"Oh Celestia Dammit!"

"What is it brother?"

"Sweetie Belle has a solution to her problem!"

"Sooo?"

"So, she's gonna try to fix everything! Her mind won't be so distraught and she'll try to help everypony. She's the light that'll help that family out, I just know it!"

"That's a little bit far-fetched but... you're always right when you say something far-fetched! What do you think we should do?"

"We're gonna put her right down where she started."

"Alright, who should we hire?"

"I think somepony needs to escape prison..."

"Wonderful idea! We're gonna be so rich after we run the Apple's business down. And then we'll finally have enough money to help her."

"Yes, yes... she'll get that treatment in no time!"

"And no longer shall we live in fear that she'll die."

"You've got that, brother!"

Author's Notes:

Okay to answer a question you might have:

I put the hybrid character in there because... I just wanted to. I always find a way to put my characters into my stories. I snuck in Lunar Eclipse and Variety Hybrid so far. They're married and also... Variety lied about why he was mixed with so many animals. He came from the Sonic Universe just like Lunar Eclipse did and happened to still be mixed with many animals as a pony. But... well... nopony knows or will know.

So yeah, I know there are many errors in this chapter, but I still hope you enjoyed it. And, uh, you know the drill... CONSTRUCTIVE CRITICISM is GREATLY appreciated.

And an added note:

I am very sorry that I took so long to put this chapter out. I had so many ideas and wrote them out so that I could have my head clear for this story. I may have made it a bit... too clear. So I had absolutely no idea what I was gonna do. I had finals and I was just so stressed lately. Then... I.... well... I have absolutely no excuse for this. I just wanted to say sorry. You readers mean the world to me. I don't know what I'd do without you guys. I love you all, and I'd do almost anything for you. I hope you can all forgive me. I will do my best to update on this story more often, I promise. If I can't... well... who says it's too early to apologize? Sorry about that too. I really hope you all forgive me for this.

SMGA Signing out.