//------------------------------//
// A Friend in Need 
// Story: A Nurse's Aid 
// by HolyCross9 
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It was late in the evening in Ponyville as Nurse Redheart trotted down the sidewalk on her way home from Ponyville General.  After helping several patients throughout the day, Nurse Redheart was hoping to reach her residence for a chance to relax for the rest of the evening.  She even considered calling a few of her friends and ask them to come hang out and converse with one another.  As she thought about this, Nurse Redheart walked by a dark alleyway when she was greatly startled with a yelp at the sound of a loud metallic bang.  The white earth pony immediately shifted her gaze down the alleyway with wide ways, wondering what had caused the disturbance.  She immediately found out as a filthy pegasus stallion staggered out from the darkness of the alley, slowly approached the white mare.  Redheart observed that despite being covered in grime and dirt, the stallion had a fiery orange coat, emerald green mane and tail that both seem to blaze like fire, and ocean blue eyes.  She had the distinct feeling that she somehow knew this stallion, like she had known him since foalhood.

 "Red," said the stallion in a weak, despondent tone. "Is t-that you?"  Upon hearing his voice, Redheart's eyes instantly widened with recognition.

 "Tough Talker?" She asked with surprise.  "What are you doing here?"

 "P-please...y-you g-g-gotta to h-help m-me....I c-can't..." With a dreary exhale, the exhausted stallion's eyelids suddenly closed as his body fell sideways onto the cobblestone ground.

 "Tough!" Nurse Redheart rushed over to her old friend and quickly examined him, which included checking his pulse, ensuring that he was breathing properly, and probed all over his body for any broken bones. Fortunately, all of them were intact. Once she was done, Redheart, with some effort, hoisted Tough Talker onto her back and urgently set off for her house.  Because Tough Talker was pegasus he had a lighter skeletal structure which made it less of a burden for Nurse Redheart as she carried his comatose and malnourished body through the streets of Ponyville.

 Just hang in there, old friend, she thought to herself with a determined look on her face. I'll patch you up and help you with whatever's happened to you.





 When she managed to arrive home, Redheart immediately set to work: she did her best to clean, wash, groom reexamine Tough Talker for any injuries she may have initially missed.  While she still found no injuries,  Redheart did notice that Tough had gained several bruises and cuts, all of which she also dressed and mended.  Throughout all this, Tough Talker regained consciousness and although he found it slightly embarrassing, overall he didn't mind Redheart helping him out this way. At the same time, Redheart observed that her old friend had a melancholic facial expression and that his bone-thin body had quite a glum posture, as if he had lost something important to him.  When she was done, Redheart led the crestfallen Tough Talker to the kitchen and poured a cup of coffee for him and herself along with a bowl of carrots for each.  Of course, ever since she and Tough Talker arrived home, something had been nagging at the back of her mind regarding him and she had been eager to know what it was.

 "Thanks a lot, Red," said Tough Talker in a dejected tone, taking a sip from his coffee.  "If I hadn't ran into you, I'd be a goner."

 "Of course," replied Nurse Redheart calmly. "Now, if you don't mind, what are you doing here in Ponyville?  I thought you were still living in Vanhoover."  Redheart instantly noticed Tough Talker's sad eyes widening with immense shock like he been hit by a thrown projectile; what's more he had some carrot in his mouth, which he slowly swallowed it down his throat.

 "N-no, I'm not...and I won't be goin' back anytime soon."

 "But why not?" Nurse Redheart instantly noticed the mixed expressions of sadness and anger on Tough's face, who was struggling to give her a proper response.

 "I...well...I-I can't...it's just t-too painful..."  Nurse Redheart removed herself from her seat before quickly walking over to her dejected friend and sympathetically placing one forehoof on his shoulder.

 "Tough, please listen," she said gently.  "I can't help you unless you tell me what happened." Redheart paused for a moment to consider her next choice of words. "Alright, just take whatever time you need to relax yourself before you begin, okay?"  Tough Talker glanced at Nurse Redheart and her reassuring expression before turned back and began a breathing exercises; within a few moments the stallion managed to recompose himself and hesitantly began the narration of what happened to him.





 It all began in Vanhoover where Tough Talker had been living for a few years at a pretty decent apartment along with maintaining a steady job and the enjoyment of being close to the balmy coast.  But despite those advantages, Tough Talker still had two immense imperfections: improper communication skills and anger management issues, flaws that have greatly affected him throughout his life since colthood on account that he would bluntly speak to convey a message which was negatively misinterpreted by others.  As a result, Tough Talker had seldom few friends in his life, thus he often worked hard to help improve his communication skills and maintain his temperament.  One of those friends was a unicorn mare named Cinnamon Butter, a resident of Vanhoover and a pony Tough had known since moving there.  But several weeks ago when the two of them were having a friendly evening outing together in the downtown area of Vanhoover, Tough said something to Cinnamon Butter that unintentionally exasperated her.  This caused an argument between the two ponies that soon erupted into a vicious shouting match that abruptly ended with both ponies vehemently declaring to never speak with each other ever again before departing from each other's presence.

 But later that night while he slept, Tough Talker came to a terrible realization in that he recently made an awful mistake.  When he awoke the next morning, Tough Talker went straight to his home phone and attempted to call Cinnamon Butter in order to apologize to her for the argument they had yesterday evening.  But when he made that first call to her, Tough got an answering machine response instead of Cinnamon's actual voice so he left her a message in that he's sorry for offending her last night and asks for her forgiveness before leaving for the day.  When he returned home though, Tough Talker was shocked to find that Cinnamon left no voicemail on her end, which worried him greatly to the point that he made another voice message toward her with an additional apology hoping that she would answer back.  Tough did this for days without getting an answer from Cinnamon Butter which built up his anxiety and frustration to the point where he had a volatile outburst at his job and got terminated as result.  Things quickly went downhill from there for Tough Talker as he was sequentially evicted from his apartment and forced to live the life of a miserable, unemployed hobo, which didn't help the stallion much since he was severely depressed from his fallout over losing his friendship with Cinnamon Butter.

 Thus with nowhere to stay and hardly any friends to depend on, the despondent Tough Talker spent several days aimlessly wandering across Equestria, caring less about where he was going and only stopping to get a drink of water from any river he could find. All the while Tough's thoughts were on constantly on Cinnamon Butter and how it felt unfair for things to have recently gone downhill  so quickly in his life because she ignored all the apology messages he sent her. But at some point Tough's thoughts shifted to another friend: one he has known since foalhood, who happened to be Nurse Redheart and Tough also recalled that she currently lives in Ponyville. After briefly condemning himself for not remembering this detail, Tough steeled himself and began his search for Ponyville hoping that Redheart would help with his torturous dilemma.

 Of course, Tough Talker soon realized that having himself in the middle of nowhere made it considerably difficult to determine where to find Ponyville, especially since he didn't bring a map or compass. Despite that, Tough pressed on and spent several more days wandering Equestria in hopes in finding Ponyville, even to the point of asking passing ponies for directions to the town. But by the time Tough Talker finally reached Ponyville during the early morning, he had become so physically weak and exhausted that he sequentially haphazardly wandered into a random alleyway and collapsed onto a pile of garbage...only to reawaken later in the evening when Nurse Redheart found him.





 By the time he had finished his narration, Tough Talker was crying and sobbing uncontrollably like a colt who accidentally broke his favorite toy or lost his favorite pet.  There were moments when the stallion paused to hold back the tears, but once he had finished reminiscing what had transpired Tough let himself go without hesitation.

 All the while, Redheart patiently listened to everything that Tough was describing to her without making any accusations or scolding remarks over his actions; she felt utterly shocked, saddened, and appalled with the misfortune that Tough had recently endured.  Thus the moment Tough Talker began weeping after concluding his story, Redheart immediately approached him and gently wrapped her arms around him in a sympathetic embrace which the doleful stallion reciprocated by hugging her back.  Throughout the embrace Redheart mentally recalled moments during her foal hood when she witnessed Tough Talker going through several emotional meltdowns before she rushed up and held in a comforting hug to calm him down.  One of these moments ultimately led to Redheart earning her cutie mark which also helped inspire her to become a nurse in order to help other ponies in great need or pain.  Redheart later discovered that her friend Tough had a life-long mental condition that caused him to have difficulty in socially interacting with other ponies, which further motivated her to become a nurse in order to help other ponies diagnosed with similar maladies.  As she continued holding him in an embrace, Redheart silently promised to herself that she'd help find a way to lift Tough Talker out of his painful depression, no matter what it takes.





 The next morning Nurse Redheart made a call to Ponyville General for an urgent request for a few days off, which her boss granted to her without hesitation. Thus she spent the next few days helping out Tough Talker to the best of her of abilities which included feeding him (he looked quite malnourished), replacing any bandages she had previously placed, comforting and encouraging him in moments of sadness, encouraging him when he was depressed, and calming him down whenever he was the verge of another breakdown, even taking him on peaceful strolls through Ponyville. In turn, Tough Talker would sometimes help Redheart around in her apartment such as cleaning it or rearranging things here and there. Sometimes the two ponies would fondly reminisce about happy moments from their foalhoods together; there were even times when they would look into each other's eyes and get strong (yet brief) tingling sensations, like a spark eagerly wanting to ignite.  Overall Tough Talker very much appreciated everything that Nurse Redheart did for him during his stay at her apartment; despite that the white earth pony mare could tell that her old friend was still by the emotional trauma from losing his friendship with Cinnamon Bun. She felt that more help would be needed for him to ensure a full recovery from his terrible ordeal.





 After spending nearly a week at his old friend's apartment, Tough Talker and Nurse Redheart took a late afternoon walk in Ponyville. Unlike their previous strolls Redheart actually led her friend to a specific location: a tall, shining castle located at the edge of town which surprised Tough Talker. When he asked Redheart about it, she told him that there are some friends she like for him to meet. Sure enough when they entered the crystalline castle, both ponies were warmly greeted and welcomed by Princess Twilight Sparkle and her friends.

 Redheart proceeded to explain to Tough Talker that she had told Princess Twilight and her friends about his current situation and they all agreed to help him out (for free too). The only condition was that he would have to live in Castle of Friendship so that he could be present for the voluntary treatment. When she noticed the confused and worried expressions on Tough's face, Redheart quickly assured him that this wasn't her abandoning him, but rather her providing him another way to help him overcome his depression and grief over losing his friendship with Cinnamon Butter. Redheart also strongly promises Tough Talker that she would come visit him everyday to check on him and analyze how well he's adjusting at the castle, just so long as he does his best to behave cordially around Twilight and her friends while they're helping him out.

 After thinking about and digesting Redheart's words for a minute, Tough Talker reluctantly agreed to stay at the castle and promised to be genial with Twilight and her friends, much to Redheart's delight. The two friends shared a long, warm and tender embrace---one that neither of them wanted to end---before Redheart departed from the castle to her apartment with a last quick glance at her old friend. After watching his friend's departure, Tough Talker decided to speak with Princess Twilight and her friends, who discussed how they were going to help him, which included using a schedule, planned out activities, therapy, and spending time with each of them individually. On top of all that, the group also promised Tough Talker that everything would be fine and they would overcome his problems together, a sentiment that he appreciated.

 The rest of the day was spent with Tough Talker guided through the castle's interior by Twilight's friends, where he was shown some important rooms in the building, including the library, the kitchen, the dining room, a study, and even the room reserved for Twilight's niece. But most of all Tough Talker was shown to a guest room that Twilight had reserved for him to inhabit during his stay at the castle.

 During the guided tour, Tough Talker immediately recognized and openly acknowledged Applejack and Pinkie Pie as two ponies he remembers from his colthood. Both mares, who hoped that Tough remembered them, felt very elated when he did prompting the three ponies to recall memorable moments during their foalhood through the rest of the tour. Thus after realizing that there were two friends among Twilight's group, Tough Talker felt a bit more comfortable and confident with staying at the Castle of Friendship during his road to recovery.





 Later when he was fast asleep during his first night at the Castle of Friendship, Tough Talker was having a nightmare. For weeks since his fallout with Cinnamon Butter, Tough kept having frequent nightmares---some of which involved him getting into acrimonious arguments, or even physical fights with people he knew, including his own friends and family. Tragically these same nightmares served as a major factor with Tough's depressed mood on account that they felt extremely painful to him and the actions committed in the nightmares were things he'd never do in real life.

 His current nightmare was like a replay of his last argument with Cinnamon Butter in downtown Vanhoover except now he was physically assaulting her violently, turning it into a one-sided brawl. But a few minutes after the fray went violent, a very loud "CEASE!" rang out everywhere causing the fight and Vanhoover to vanish around Tough Talker as he suddenly found himself surrounded in a soothing light blue mist, which glowed like moonlight, followed by Princess Luna appearing before him.

       "Are you alright, Tough Talker?" she asked, breaking Tough Talker out of his dazed expression.

       "Wha… Y-yes, I believe so," he replied in a weak and thankful tone before observing the lunar Princess give a small, quick smile.

       "Thank Faust, I'm relieved.  Now, if you're wondering why I am here, Tough Talker, it's because I recently received letters from both Twilight Sparkle and Nurse Redheart about your current mental and emotional condition along with a plea to help you."

       "Well, thanks, but...but why didn't you h-help me before?  When-when I started having this problem several weeks ago? Why didn't you come then?!" Within an instant, Tough Talker suddenly felt like he'd done something terrible during his little fit; for he suddenly remembered that his parents taught him to always be respectful to those of higher position that him. "I-I'm so sorry, Your Highness. I shouldn't have been so offensive with you like that."

       "It's alright, Tough Talker," replied Princess Luna understandably. "I understand your frustration."  She paused to give a sad and grievous sigh. "As for your question...I actually wanted to help you before and would have done so without hesitation if not for a serious complication: whenever I attempted to enter your dreamscape, I always found it blocked by a raging barrier of fire that felt very hot to the touch, even for me.  Despite that though I never stopped trying to gain entry into your dreamscape...until I finally managed to find an opening in the barrier which enabled me to enter your dreams and effectively stop your nightmare." A brief of moment of silence lingered in the air as Tough Talker processed what Princess Luna revealed before he suddenly felt his heart drop, as if he suddenly came to a horrible realization.

 "I...I'm so sorry, your Highness," he apologized morosely.

 "What for?" asked Princess Luna with puzzlement.

 "It's just...all my life I've had serious anger issues...which have been a tremendous pain in the flank for me...and other ponies. I've spent years...struggling to control it...all that rage and anger...yet there are still moments where...it all just explodes...hurting every pony around me. Only now... do I realize that same anger and rage have been preventing...preventing you from helping me when I needed it most." As he spoke tearfully, Tough Talker was staring down at Princess Luna's forehooves, but when he finished he looked up at her face and found that she had a deeply sad, yet understanding, expression on it.

 "Do not despair, Tough Talker," she said sympathetically. "For I am before you now and ready to help lift you from the agony of your anger and depression. Furthermore, you're not alone: for there are other ponies who have endured pain similar to yours...including me. Which is why I desire to help you overcome your immense suffering." Tough's frown flexed upward into a sincere smile from hearing the lunar monarch's response.

 "Thank you, Princess Luna," he said gratefully.

 "Of course," replied Princess Luna with a smile. "Now how about we sit down somewhere and discuss your anger issues together? That way we can figure how to best combat it in your dreams." Tough Talker eagerly agreed to this before both ponies sat down close together. Tough would talk about the many various berserk buttons that fueled his own anger while Princess Luna patiently listened to him like a mother would with her foal.

 After a seemingly long discussion, Princess Luna announced that she had to depart in order to help other ponies in Equastria suffering from nightmares like him. Though Tough felt disappointed that she couldn't stay a little longer, the lunar monarch promised she'd return tomorrow night to resume where they left off. But just as Princess Luna turned to leave, an important thought suddenly came to Tough.

 "Princess, please wait a moment," he exclaimed, causing her to stop and gaze back at him. "I have something to ask of you."

 "What, pray tell, would that be?" said Princess Luna.

 "Well, if possible, could you please look after Cinnamon Butter? I know she probably still hates me to the core right now, but I still worry about her sometimes." Princess Luna immediately gave the stallion a warm and hopeful smile.

 "Of course," she replied with a nod. "I'll promise to look after her as my sister and I would with all our subjects in Equestria. I'll see you tomorrow night, Tough Talker." With that, Princess Luna walked away from Tough Talker and promptly disappeared into the blue mist. Furthermore, Tough Talker had no more nightmares for the rest of his sleep.





 The next morning after breakfast in the Castle dining room, Tough Talker proceeded with therapy sessions with Princess Twilight Sparkle in the study. Due to her status as an avid scholar, Twilight has read and researched many books on psychological/psychiatric therapy, including some that spoke about Tough Talker's condition, and felt elated to use that knowledge to help the depressed stallion. At first, the sessions began with Tough Talker briefly describing his family before he went into sharing aspects about his life including how his mental condition made it hard for him to make any friends and communicating his emotions properly. All the while Twilight would patiently listen as she jotted down notes and kindly ask Tough questions about specific details (along with the promise that everything will be confidential).

 Later sessions involved techniques Twilight utilized to help Tough overcome his depression and prepare him to properly handle future conflicts with potential friendships without destroying them. Some of these including role-playing, breathing exercises, evaluations, assessments (written and physical), behavior modification, mental strategies,et cetera. Twilight would be assisted by Spike and Starlight during Tough's sessions; even Trixie, who visited the castle on occasions, volunteered to help out on one of these sessions (she had recently performed a few shows with colts and fillies who had severe mental conditions similar to Tough's). Despite feeling initially frustrated with some of the sessions, Tough Talker was able to bond very well with the three mares and Spike as he progressed through them.

 After lunch everyday, Tough Talker would go out of the castle to spend the remainder of the day with one of Twilight's five best friends: Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Fluttershy, and Pinkie Pie--not all at once though. He spent that first afternoon with Applejack at Sweet Apple Acres, helping her around the farm with some chores including bucking apple trees. While working, Tough Talker and Applejack often recalled moments from their childhood, such as when the former would often come to the latter's farm to buck apple trees whenever he felt overcome with immense anger and frustration; Applejack would often comfort him afterwards. Being an only child, Tough often considered AJ, Big Mac, Apple Bloom, even Granny Smith as family (along with his loving parents) because they've treated him with immense kindness and understanding.

 With Rainbow Dash, Tough Talker would spend time flying through the afternoon skies with her, whether it involved racing, practicing aerodynamic maneuvers, talking about the Wonderbolts, even clearing out the skies on some occasions. Both pegasi found eventually common ground in that both hated losing in competitions, for as a colt, Tough Talker often lost in several races, causing him to go into emotional meltdowns of anger. Rainbow Dash helped Tough learn to race, not for the sake of winning, but to have fun doing it as he originally did when he first tried it as a colt. Rainbow Dash even introduced Tough to Scootaloo, a good friend of Apple Bloom's, who he managed to befriend over time. There were even a few occasions where Rainbow Dash took Tough Talker to the Wonderbolts compound where he was introduced to several of her teammates. For Tough Talker, a longtime fan of the Wonderbolts himself, this was a truly special moment for him as spoke with them personally while they treated him kindly and respectfully, even the usually strict Spitfire. Tough was even able to convince them to change Dash's nickname from "Rainbow Crash" to "Dasher," much to the latter's delight.

       Tough's afternoons with Rarity were spent helping her out at the Carousel Boutique and relearning proper etiquette from her. Tough initially felt awkward when he found that Rarity lived and operated a fashion store, but she helped in making him feel comfortable during his visits. He quickly realized that Rarity reminded him of his mother, who often sewed clothing and quilts as a hobby (along with being a beautiful mare herself), and he would help the fashionista with any little task she needed done in Boutique which included him posing as a male model on occasions. Some of the etiquette he relearned from her involved how to properly speak with ladies and how to not aggravate them with careless and offensive talk. Tough's afternoons at the Boutique also resulted in him befriending Sweetie Belle, Rarity's little sister, who often visited at times.

 The afternoons spent with Fluttershy were very relaxing, serene, and enjoyable for Tough Talker, especially since the mare in question treated him with kindness and sensitivity (which coerced him to treat her the same way). Furthermore, Tough Talker also utterly adores animals (along with being a nature lover) and he felt tranquil and enthusiastic from being around many living within and near Fluttershy's cottage. Both pegasi would spend the afternoon caring for and tending to the animals' needs, whether it meant feeding them, playing with them, even caring for those who became sick or ill. On some occasions Tough accompanied Fluttershy through the Everfree Forest to visit Zecora's hut to attain medicinal herbs for the sick animals. This benefited both pegasi on account that Tough would fend off any dangerous monsters encountered by verbally berating them (his special talent) which often worked, which Fluttershy greatly appreciated knowing that he'd never talk to her that way. These trips to the hut also gave Tough Talker the opportunity to befriend Zecora.  

 Afternoons with Pinkie Pie proved quite fun for Tough, not only because she could make him laugh easily but also on account that he's known her personally since colt hood. They first met when Pinkie threw a surprise "welcome" party for his family right after they moved to Ponyville. But the "surprise" part frightened him quite a bit, urging Pinkie to apologize along with the promise to not surprise him at future parties, which encouraged Tough to have fun through the remainder of the celebration and sparked their long friendship. In the present day, Pinkie Pie was greatly saddened when she heard about what happened to Tough Talker and swore to herself that she would do everything possible to help lift her old friend out of his painful depression (sensitively too). While Tough wasn't much of a party planner or caterer like Pinkie, it was very satisfying for him when both friends brought smiles to the ponies that attended the parties. Ultimately Pinkie Pie would help Tough Talker relearn to laugh again---something he hasn't done in weeks.

 Every evening when Tough Talker returned to the Castle he would find, to his utter joy, Nurse Redheart waiting for him with Twilight, Starlight, and Spike (just like she promised). Tough would often tell Redheart about his day and what he did while she patiently listened with great interest. Sometimes Redheart's visits were brief while on a few occasions she'd stay long enough to have dinner with Tough, Twilight, Starlight and Spike; but regardless how long she stayed, Tough was always happy while she was present. Before leaving, Redheart always reassured Tough that she'd return every day to check up on him and his progress; Tough in turn promised to be cooperative with Twilight and her friends throughout the duration of his therapy treatment, which made Redheart quite happy.

 For the remainder of the evening and night, Tough Talker would spend time with Spike, Twilight and Starlight (and Trixie whenever she was present) in the library either to read (Tough liked reading) or converse before heading to bed. On some occasions Tough would even read comic books with Spike since the former also is a fan of comic book heroes.

        After going to bed, Tough Talker would spend time with Princess Luna in his dreamscape with the latter helping him in developing ways to overcome the anger and rage in his nightmares. In turn, Tough become good friends the lunar monarch after learning more details about her past, such as how her association with her Nightmare Moon persona made her a misunderstood pony just like him.





 Over the following weeks, Tough Talker went this through this cycle of unique and unorthodox psychiatric treatment in Ponyville. From spending time with Princess Twilight Sparkle and her friends during the day to conversing with Princess Luna in his dreams while asleep at night. Progress was initially slow for Tough Talker, which felt quite frustrating for him at times. Despite such frustration, Tough Talker managed persevere thanks to the kind and gentle encouragements from Princess Twilight, her friends, and Nurse Redheart (who promised that improvements would come).

 And sure enough results did indeed come for Tough Talker, many of them beneficial. His overall mood gradually improved, he suffered little to no emotional meltdowns, relearned better communication skills, memorized and practiced strategies of defusing conflict, had less frequent nightmares, etc. Above all that, Tough was able to befriend Twilight and all her friends (or rather those he wasn't familiar with), which was incredible for him since he never made that many friends in such little time before.

 There were also a few days where Princess Celestia herself visited the castle in order to check on the progress of Tough Talker's special treatment.  She previously learned about Tough Talker's sessions in letters from Twilight and orally from her sister Luna.  Princess Celestia's presence during the sessions brought much warmth, comfort and encouragement for Tough Talker, especially since he's previously met her on some occasions when he was younger and all of them were very wonderful for him then too.

 At one point, Tough Talker asked Twilight Sparkle how much his therapy treatment would cost him financially. He had gone through therapy before when he was younger and those sessions were expensive. But Tough felt greatly surprised and delighted when the Princess of Friendship happily told him that his current therapy treatment was absolutely free; he didn't owe them a single bit for it.

 "After all," she added gleefully. "Friendship shouldn't cost anything." This gave Tough Talker one less thing to worry about during his treatment.





 Seven weeks passed for Tough Talker since he started his therapy treatment and progress was going excellently well for him. But one night when Luna came to visit him in his dreamscape, she had message: that a friend of his, who has been searching for him, would be arriving at the Castle of Friendship tomorrow morning. Furthermore, the lunar monarch requested that Tough be gentle with her on account that she was greatly distressed physically and emotionally. After a few moments of hesitation and puzzlement, Tough Talker promised to honor Princess Luna's request regarding the unnamed individual.

 The next morning, right after Tough, Twilight, and Starlight finished breakfast, Spike rushed in declaring that there were two ponies who wished to speak with Tough Talker immediately. All four bolted out of the dining room and proceeded to the front entrance. Upon arriving, they found two mares waiting for them: Nurse Redheart and another mare who Tough easily recognized as Cinnamon Butter. He noticed that her mane and tail were disheveled and messy, her coat was filthy, and her eyes were red and bloodshot. But before anyone said anything, Cinnamon Butter, upon first noticing Tough Talker, rushed up and fell prostrate before him tearfully apologizing for their argument in Vanhoover, for ignoring his calls, and for treating him so horribly. Tough smiled as he listened to her apologetic words before he bent down and told Cinnamon Butter that he forgives her, resulting in the two of them sharing a strong hug.

 A little later in the dining room, Cinnamon Butter explained to everypony present what transpired with her. The unicorn has endured hard times after her bitter argument with Tough Talker: for a week later she got involved in a volatile incident at her long-time job that caused her to be fired on the spot. Cinnamon subsequently spent several miserable weeks trying to find work elsewhere in Vanhoover, but with utterly no success.

 Just as she nearly gave up, Cinnamon Butter decided to try asking Tough Talker for help only to find that he was no longer at his evicted apartment. Shocked that she may have gone too far, Cinnamon Butter dropped her job search and started desperately searching for him; even to the point of wondering outside of Vanhoover. At some point during her frantic search, Cinnamon Butter was contacted by Princess Luna (via her dreams) who revealed that Tough Talker is residing in Ponyville, urging the unicorn to proceed there. Upon arriving in Ponyville, Cinnamon Butter first met up with Nurse Redheart (on her day off no less) who after being informed with what happened took the latter over to the Castle of Friendship. For just like Tough Talker, Redheart had been notified by Princess Luna in her sleep last night about Cinnamon Butter's morning arrival.

 After Cinnamon Butter finished her narration, Tough Talker, Redheart, Twilight and Spike were astonished and saddened with what happened to her. Knowing that she was still emotionally devastated from what happened in Vanhoover and that she currently had no place to live, they decided to let Cinnamon Butter stay at the Castle as a guest in order to help her recuperate and get herself resettled. Cinnamon Butter joyously accepted their proposal.

 Thus Twilight decided to cancel today's therapy sessions so that she, Tough Talker, and Redheart would be able to show Cinnamon Butter around the Castle and help comfort her when needed. Starlight and Spike went out to inform their friends what had occurred with the promise of returning to the Castle to help Cinnamon. Sure enough Starlight and Spike returned with the five friends in tow. They all spent the rest of the day at the Castle with Cinnamon Butter, which she greatly appreciated.





 Over the next few days, Cinnamon Butter joined Tough Talker in his daily therapy sessions, for Twilight and Redheart hoped that it would help them both if they did them together. Initially Cinnamon Butter felt frustrated with the psychiatric treatment but thanks to some encouragement from Tough and Redheart she managed persevere and make significant progress over time. Throughout the process, Cinnamon Butter not only befriend Twilight Sparkle and her best friends, but she also learned to reconnect with Tough Talker which greatly improved his overall mood and attitude. Throughout the treatment, Cinnamon Butter also learned to act more sensitively with Tough Talker and the statements he makes.

       Within two to three weeks since Cinnamon Butter's arrival, she and Tough Talker made enough substantial progress in their treatment that at their final evaluation Princess Twilight Sparkle and Nurse Redheart declared them rehabilitated, much to their delight. Shortly afterwards, with the help of their friends, Tough Talker and Cinnamon Butter managed to find themselves suitable housing in Ponyville (for neither of them ever wanted to return to Vanhoover). In addition, both ponies attained new jobs in Ponyville (which had good pay): Cinnamon Butter became a baker at Sugarcube Corner where she helped Pinkie Pie and the Cakes bake new sweets for the many ponies that came there. Tough Talker took up a job at Sweet Apple Acres where he helped buck and collect apples for the Apple family (especially since he knows them personally). On many occasions, Nurse Redheart would come over to visit Tough Talker (to his delight), whether it be during a break or at the end of his work day, with the latter resulting in both ponies walking each other home while discussing what their day was like. On his days off, Tough would go out and spend time with his other friends in Ponyville and in the process befriend other ponies too (something he struggled to do in Vanhoover).

       Overall, Tough Talker couldn't be any more joyous in his life: for he had restored his friendship with Cinnamon Butter, reunited with old friends in Ponyville, made new friends, has a job he really likes, and regained his sense of purpose in life. Tough Talker once came to Ponyville a broken stallion filled with misery, despair, and hopelessness, but in several months time he arose from those dark depths and became a stronger pony. Furthermore Tough Talker knew that if he ever endured another emotional and traumatic meltdown in his life, he'd have his friends in Ponyville who would, without hesitation, help encourage and extricate him from his misery. Tough Talker figured that if there was one pony he felt deeply grateful for turning his life around it was his dearest friend Nurse Redheart; for none of it would have been possible without her help.