//------------------------------// // Chapter 2: The Nurse and The Alien // Story: Shelter: New Beginnings // by Raikage77 //------------------------------// Chapter 2: The Nurse and The Alien ~ ~(Redheart)~ ~ The young white medical mare made her way through the doors of Ponyville General to start her work shift for the day. It was a little past eight in the morning and though the hospital was relatively empty, save for the other medical ponies, doctors and nurses like herself buzzing about, helping patents and assisting those who needed it. Redheart trotted up to the front desk, giving a smile to the brown and green maned earth pony sitting behind it. “Morning, Checkup,” she greeted. “How was your night?” “Alright, I guess. I had some trouble sleeping, but nothing other than that,” Checkup said. “Is there something wrong,” Redheart asked, before giving her a look. “Don't tell me you're still having nightmares about Rin.” “Um ...yes, and no,” the mare said. She sighed. “I know you said it ...she is harmless. But, I just can't help the way I feel. I mean, what if she's acting helpless to lead us into a false sense of security for when the invasion starts?” Nurse Redheart couldn't help but giggle. “Checkup, trust me, Rin isn't some invader or monster out to conquer Equestria. She just a shy girl without a home, who just so happens to be from another planet.” The green maned desk mare gave her a look, then shrugged. “If you say so, Red; all I'm saying is that we should keep our guard up. She's only been here for a few days. We don't know her,” she said, matter of factually. “Remember the changelings?” “Of course I do.” “Well, this could be the same thing.” “I'll keep that in mind,” the white medical mare said, before she trotted through the double doors to her left, towards the employee changing room. I swear, sometimes ponies are so paranoid sometimes. Not everypony different is out to get us. Then again, she couldn't really blame them for being cautious. Rin was otherworldly, the first being from beyond the stars in the recorded history of Equestria. In all the movies she had seen having to do with aliens and space, it was always portrayed that the government would have a clean up crew on standby, cover everything up, and deny that anything ever happened, like with the supposed UFO crash in Rosmare. However, when Rin, a really real alien was brought into the hospital a week ago, Twilight Sparkle did everything but try to cover up the fact that there was an alien in Ponyville General. ~One Week Ago~ “Well, Mrs. Pots, you gave your husband quite the scare yesterday,” Redheart said, smiling at her patent, reading the clipboard in her hooves. “But, I'm happy to let you know that everything came back just fine.” The elderly gray mare sighed. “Oh, that's good. I was worried something might have been really wrong,” she said. “Thank you for taking care of me, Nurse Redheart.” “Its nothing, I'm always happy to help, ma'am,” Redheart said. “Once everything is in order, you'll be good to leave tomorrow afternoon. I'll be sure to let Mr. Pots know the good news,” the white mare placed the clipboard on the small desk near hospital bed. “Is there anything else I can do for you before I leave for the night.” “Oh, no, I'm perfectly fine, dear,” Ms. Pots said with a soft smile. “its been a very tiring day. I'd just like to rest.” Redheart gave the elderly mare a nod, and picked up the clipboard. “If there's nothing else, you have a nice night, Ms. Pots and I'll be back to check on you in the morning.” “Yes, you have a nice night as well, dear.” With nothing else needing to be said, Nurse Redheart turns and trots out of the room, balancing the clipboard on her back as she slid open the door and close it behind her, before taking the board in one hoof, making her way down the second floor corridor. She gave a sigh, then smiled softly. I love this job. She thought to herself. Being a nurse had been her dream ever since she was a young filly, even before she had gotten her cutie mark. She loved helping ponies; rather they be sick, hurt, or just needed a shoulder to cry one. It felt good to have ponies depend on her and the level of trust they had in her was worth more than anything she could think of. Redheart wasn't afraid to admit that, yes, the pay was good as one would expect working in the medical field, and for a lot of ponies that was the main reason they became a doctor or a nurse. Not to say that that made them bad ponies, because she had seen time and time again that they were generally concerned for the patients in their care. But, for Redheart, it was more than a good paying job. It was her calling, one she had had since that incident back in summer camp, when she gave first aid to one of her bunk-mates who got seriously hurt playing in the woods and earned her cutie mark, in the form of the red cross and four pink hearts on her flank. She loved her job, and she loved helping other ponies even more. However, helping ponies was tiring work, and at the moment all Redheart wanted to do was change out of her uniform, clock out and go home, have dinner and relax with a good book before she went to bed. Aside from close friends, many ponies didn't know it, but Nurse Redheart was a huge fan of the scifi genre. Plenty of the books in her collection were on medical things, such as nursing techniques and assisting in surgeries; those books were in small amount, compared to the massive collection of science fiction adventure, some that she had owned since she learned to read in grade school. Her favorite book, or rather books from her collection wasn't one that she had personally brought herself, but a gift from her grandfather, a series called: The Space Odyssey by somepony named Nightscope; aliens, UFOs and government conspiracy theories and countless other things, the books went into it all. Redheart wasn't a believer in everything the books told about, unlike some fanatics, as much as she would like some of the stuff to be true, though she did believe in life on other planets and somewhat in UFOs. I know so much about aliens, maybe I should write my own book. The medical mare mused. She turned right at the end of the corridor, and pushed open the metal door leading into the hospital stairwell with her head. As she made her way down the stair spiral of stairs towards the first floor corridor, a coworker of hers burst out of the door leading to the first floor before she could even attempt to open it. “Redheart, I've ...been looking for you,” the light blue maned mare said, panting. Redheart gave the mare a look of concern. “What's wrong, Cool Press?” “I-I don't really know how to explain it, honestly,” Cool Press said. “All I know is that its an emergency. The Apples, Applejack and her brother, they brought some ...thing in for medical attention.” “Brought what in?” “Just have to come see for yourself, Redheart.” Nurse Redheart nodded, and the two made their way through the first floor hallway at a fast trot, their hooves echoing on the white marble floors as they made contact with them. The mares took a right into another hallway at the center of the corridor, and exited out into the waiting room through the door at the end. The waiting room was in complete chaos; medical staff were rushing about, and as she turned her head, Redheart spotted three ponies, two nurses and a doctor, loading some kind of long maned creature onto a hospital bed, the doctor check the things heart and breathing as they did so. The medical mare was taken slightly aback at the sight of the thing. She had never seen something quite like it in her entire life, it remembered her somewhat of a Minotaur, but it also had similarities to a young dragon, lacking wings, scales and a tail. “What in Equestria is that,” Redheart asked, turning to her coworker. Cool Press shrugged. “No idea, Doctor Stitch doesn't know what it is either.” Redheart spotted the doctor in on the other side of the room, talking to Applejack and her brother. She suddenly had that small mystery itch, the one that came out whenever she read one of her scifi alien books; she wanted answers. With a start, she trotted towards Doctor Stitch and the Apples, taking a few glances at the thin, brown maned creature on the moveable bed. “Doctor Stitch,” Redheart said as she approached the three ponies, getting their attention. “Cool Press said that you needed me. What's going on, and what's that creature over there?” Doctor Stitch adjusted his glasses on his muzzle. “I have no idea what it is, Redheart. I've never seen a creature like that before now. I'm not even sure how to handle what Applejack and Big Macintosh just told me.” Redheart raised an eyebrow. “What do you mean, Doctor?” “They said that the creature fell from the sky, in a spaceship, if I'm understand correctly.” “A spaceship, like a UFO,” Redheart said. She turned to the farm ponies. “A UFO really crashed in your orchard?” “If that's what ya call the black thing that destroyed some of my trees and nearly set our property on fire,” Applejack said, frowning. “Then, yeah.” “I don't care what it is, all I know is that the thing inside was in mighty bad shape,” Big Macintosh said. “Can ya help it, Doc?” “We'll do our best, but until we examine the creature and find out what its body is like, we're going in guessing, here,” Doctor Stitch said, before sighing. “And right when I was about to get off work, too.” Oh ...Celestia, then that means. Redheart looked over to where the medical staff was carting the creature away towards the ER. That thing is a real alien from outer space. My books were right, I knew there was life on other planets! Give medical attention to an alien. That scratched one life long dream off her bucket list. ~Present Day~ Looking at herself in the mirror, Nurse Redheart placed a nurse's cap neatly over her pink mane, adjusting it ever so slightly so that the cap was at the right angle. The symbol on the cap was the same as her cutie mark, a red cross with four little, pink hearts in the corners. And we're good to go. The white coated mare thought. Once she was sure everything was in shape and her white nurse uniform was in order, Redheart left the changing room and trotted down the hall to the elevator. She had just pressed the button for the third floor, when her good friend and coworker, Doctor Stitch turned the corner, trotting in her direction with his face in a bundle of papers being held by his magic aura. He had yet to notice the nurse, so Redheart greeted him first. “Good morning, Doctor.” The brownish-red coated unicorn looked up at the sound of her voice, a smile forming on his muzzle. “Ah, Nurse Redheart, good morning,” he said, stopping next to her. “How are you doing?” “I'm good, I think,” the pink maned mare said, happily. “I'm still kind of excited, honestly. Everything that has happened this past week; I still can't believe it.” “Well, you have every right to be,” Doctor Stitch said. “Not many ponies can say they've help nurse back to health Equestria's first extraterrestrial visitor. Has her condition changed at all?” The elevator gave a bing, and the metal doors slid open. The medical mare gave a nod as the two trotted into the lift; the doors closed and the metal box ascended upwards with a start. “Rin's doing much better, now, and she's able to move somewhat on her own. But, Doctor Aid is concerned.” “About what,” Doctor Stitch asked. Redheart gave him a sad frown. “To be blunt, her muscles are in a horrible state. I'm surprised she can even eat on her own; the doctor and I don't know how long she was starving, but with how her muscles are its as if she hasn't moved on her own in literally years.” “Can Rin recover from this?” “At this point, its hard to say since we barely know anything about her or even what she is. She can barely walk and she sleeps for hours at a time. Whatever the poor dear's been through, I don't even want to imagine.” Doctor Stitch sighed and shook his head. “Hearing that, I find it hard to believe how anypony can be scared of her,” he said. “She's lucky to have you taking care of her, Redheart. Celestia knows the other nurses and staff are too scared to get close to her.” The elevator stopped at the third floor. A loud ping sounded and the doors opened; as Redheart began making her way into the corridor, the unicorn doctor continued. “Be sure to keep me posted on how our guest is doing.” “I will, doctor,” she said. The doors slid closed, and the white mare started down the hall towards the first room on her list on patents. She went from room to room throughout the entire morning, checking on different ponies with the other assigned nurses and before she knew it, an hour had passed; it was close to eleven when she left one of her coworkers to tend to the needs of an elderly mare to continue on to her next patent. The one patent none of the other nurses wanted to help. Shame, and they call themselves nurses. Redheart trotted pass three doors until she got to the last room in the corridor; being polite, she softy rapped her hoof on the door. “Rin, are you awake?” she waited for a few moment and no one answered. Must still be asleep. She slid open the door and entered the room. The room was quiet and smelled clean, like every other hospital room in Ponyville General. The heart monitor on a continuous loop of soft beeps and in the large bed, her extraterrestrial patient slept soundly in a blue nightgown, with an IV hooked up to her arm. Redheart felt bad for having to wake up the poor girl, but she had to take her to the hospital bathing room to be bathed, something she couldn't do while Rin was sleeping. The pink maned nurse reached a hoof over and flicked on the light switch, then walked over to the window and threw on the curtains and lifted the window to let the nice, morning breeze into the room. She hears a groan, and the medical mare turns around, seeing the alien shifting a bit underneath the covers, before she yawns and her eyes blink open. Redheart smiles and trots over to the bed. “Good morning, Rin.” “Um ...h-hi.” “How are you feeling dear,” the medical mare asked. She noticed the girl straining somewhat to sit up, and gave her a helping hoof until she sat up on her own. Rin's gained some weight. The nurse noted. Good, but she's still much too thin. “T-thank you, nurse,” the girl said, meekly. “Its no trouble at all, dear,” Redheart said. “You shouldn't strain yourself too much, if you need help, just let me know, remember?” Rin frowned. “I remember.” “Rin, what's wrong?” “...I used to be able to do everything by myself. Back in my world I could walk wherever I wanted without help, now I can't even go two steps without falling,” Rin said, bitterly. She grabbed some of her long, brown hair and ran her fingers through it. “My hair isn't even the same color anymore. I-I'm so confused; I thought I would've seen him by now so he could answer my questions." "Him who, dear?" "Discord," Rin looked at her. The white mare blinked. "Wait, Discord? Like, Discord, Discord. The Spirit of Chaos?" Rin nodded. "Y-yes, he sent me here." Oh, Celestia, this changes everything. I should have known. UFOs don't just come falling from the sky without him being involved Redheart thought with wide eyes. "Rin, why didn't you tell that to Princess Twilight when she came to visit?" "W-was I suppose to? ...Am I in trouble?" Redheart placed her hoof on the girl's hand. “No, of course not, dear,” she said, softly. though her thoughts completely different. If Discord has something to do with Rin being on Equestria, the Princess Twilight needs to know. “Its just that Discord is known for doing these types of things. He might have sent you here as some big, practical joke." "But, I asked for him to send me here." "What," Redheart said. "So he didn't send you here against your will, at all?" Rin shook her head. A sad frown formed on the girl's lips as she traced her slim fingers along the outline of her frail legs underneath the sheets. "I was alone for so long. I didn't have any friends to talk to, no one. It was just me and my drawings," she gave a small smile. "Then one day he showed up out of no where, and I finally had someone to talk to. But, after all that fun, he had to leave and I didn't want to be alone anymore, so I begged him to let me go with him," she sighed. "I didn't expect that leaving home, would make me like this." "You'll get better, Rin. Its just going to take some time, but I promise you, you will," Redheart said, smiling. "You know what always cheers me up when I'm down in the morning?” “What?” “Breakfast,” Redheart answered. “How about we get you some food in your belly, and after that you can have a warm bath. Doesn't that sound nice?” Rin gave the pink mare a small smile. “Y-yes,” she began reaching over to the side and paused. “Oh ...right ...my tablet is gone.” This wasn't the first time the pink maned mare noticed the girl looking for whatever she called a 'tablet'. The first day she woke up, Rin had panicked, yelling about how the tablet had everything on it and how she had to find it. It must have meant a lot to her, for her to reach for it all the time. Redheart thought. Sighing, she trotted into the bathroom and grabbed a toothbrush, toothpaste, and filled a glass up with water and brought the tray of items back to her patient, holding the metal tray in her mouth. She placed the tray on the nightstand, and Rin picked up the toothbrush and toothpaste and started cleaning her mouth. When Rin was done brushing her teeth, Nurse Redheart took the tray back into the bathroom, making everything was clean for the next time it needed to be used; as she trotted out, she headed towards the door, and spoke. "I'll be back in just a moment with your breakfast, dear." The girl gave her a nod, and Redhead left the room and continued down the hall towards the elevator.