Another sunny day shined on Equestria, an especially uplifting weather for the staff in Ponyville General. For one nurse, however, this day would prove to be quite stressful, perhaps even a little traumatising. Snowheart was tasked with taking care of their most recent patient, a lost filly who’s ran away from home, or so she was told.
Along that, a worrisome list of instructions was handed to her regarding how she should act near her. Bizarre and somewhat contradicting things such as don’t show your teeth when you smile, always smile when you talk, etc. It sounded quite... daunting, but she’s dealt with strange cases before. Surely things will go well, right?
Taking a deep breath, she entered the room, smiling exactly as the instructions said. The filly opened her sleepy eyes, mumbling something as she slowly woke up. She took her sweet time to notice the nurse approaching her.
“Hi there, sweetie! Did you have a good night sleep?” she asked joyfully.
Olive rubbed her eyes before looking at the nurse. She still looked tired despite sleeping for quite a while, staring at her with the intensity of a sloth. Her mane was puffy and extremely messy, the same went for her tail.
“I see...” Snowheart said, trying to fill the eerie silence in between the beeps of the machines. “Then I’ll make this quick so you can relax for the rest of the day.” she exclaimed, slowly pulling the bed’s cover down. As she did, the nurse noticed that the filly’s eyes widened, looking down at said cover. “What’s wron-”
Olive’s face turned red as she quickly moved her legs and tail to cover her “private areas”. The bed was stained, and so was her fur. It looked like it was there for a couple of hours. The filly kept staring. Her eyes were filled with shame, avoiding the nurse that tried her best to put on a reassuring look.
“Don’t worry about your bed!” she said in a bubbly voice. “I’ll call somepony to change the sheets! In the meantime, we’ll go to the bathroom together so we can change your bandages!”
Olive shuddered, she always hated taking off the bandages. Her wounds were ugly and painful. She didn’t like having somepony there to see them. Right now, she only wanted to be alone, to deal with the embarrassment.
“I-I’m really s-sorry.” she apologised, stumbling over her words a bit. If only she could stop messing up her sentences, that’ll make her look less like an idiot.
“You don’t have to be.” The nurse reassured. “You’re not bothering us, if that’s what you’re worried about.” She helped the filly step off her tall bed and escorted her towards the restroom.
Olive was following closely behind. Her walk was awkward, unsure, with all the grace of a drunken stallion. Her eyes were quite heavy, and her mouth was stuck wide open thanks to her constant yawning. She could crumble at any moment.
Nurse Snowheart stopped. “I promise this’ll only take a few minutes at most. You can take your shower later!” she said, sensing the lack of energy coming from the foal. She didn’t have the sense of professional detachment as the older nurses, and despite being not the most perceptive, Olive noticed it.
“N-No, I’ll take my shower now.” Olive protested. She still looked very uncomfortable, her words not sounding all that genuine. She felt more like she was trying to make herself less of a hassle for the mare.
“Of course, dearie!” The nurse smiled. “I don’t want to make you feel like you don’t have a choice. I’ll even help you clean yourself if you’re having trouble with your injured leg!” Her words openly carried lots of joy, probably at the idea of helping out a cute filly, something she apparently didn’t get the chance to do much prior to this very day.
Inside the bathroom came the hard part for Olive. It was time to take off her bandages. It was always painful and disgusting to see her open wounds. Nurse Snowheart could clearly see her discomfort as the filly always closed her eyes and turned her head away from the injuries, clenching her teeth whilst taking sharp breaths.
“Don’t you worry, sweetie! This will only hurt for a brief moment.” Snowheart reassured. Pulling off the bandages around the midsection, she heard the filly groan in pain. The bandages were stained with a horrifying mix of red and green, most likely coming from the painkillers offered yesterday.
Olive was now battling her morbid curiosity. A part of her mind was screaming “Just one peek, come on!” while the rest didn’t want to see any of it. Sometimes, ponies just can’t resist the temptation to look at bad stuff, to see the ugly.
“There! All patched up!” When Olive opened her eyes, a new bandage was placed over her grievous wound. She breathed a sigh of relief only to be interrupted by the nurse’s voice. “Now, for that nasty head wound.”
The filly gulped.
As it turned out, Olive didn’t quite know how to take a shower. Wherever she lived prior to being found near Ponyville must have not been a very hygienic place. Once again, the two ponies felt differently about this experience.
For Olive, it was uncomfortable. Being cleaned up, especially in the private areas by a mare she didn’t really know got her frozen in place, staring dumbly at the shower’s wall. Her face turned a bright red through it all. She only really broke her stone face when the mare told her something. On the outside, she just seemed quiet, calm. On the inside, it was nothing but internal panic. Operation: don’t do anything stupid was a go.
For Nurse Snowheart, it was like playing with a cute doll. The cute filly was very responsive to all her instructions and even gave her a smile when she talked to her. Olive was a sweet foal indeed, only a bit shaken up because of recent events. Cleaning her up, cheering her up and talking about life in general, it almost felt like this child was her daughter for a moment. Hoping to one day get a foal of her own, it was no surprise why she was so gaga for this little pony.
Once Olive was all cleaned up and dry, it was time to move on to her mane, more specifically; to fix it. Snowheart gleefully picked up a brush with her mouth, instructing the filly to stay still.
Olive then discovered another thing that she disliked, the feeling of the brush against her mane. Maybe it was just because it was an old one, but it always got caught in her mane, pulling on many strands of hair which hurt. The filly groaned as the brush pulled her head from left to right.
“Is everything alright? A-Am I hurting you?” The nurse asked, sensing something wrong.
Olive’s eyes widened as she gazed away from the mirror. “N-No.”
Snowheart went back to brushing, this time going a little slower and gentler. The foal is admittedly not great at lying.
The nurse’s efficiency shined through as she finished styling the filly’s mane and tail in ten-minutes flat, and she was even taking her sweet time. Once done, she directed Olive out of the bathroom, touching her hind quarter to do so. This simple touch, however, surprised the little unicorn terribly. Instinctively, her flank contracted as hard as it could.
She squeaked and wrapped her tail around her flank, jumping away like a frightened cat. In her moment of panic, her instincts kicked in and her horn began to light up. Sparks of electricity came out of it and soon, disaster stuck.
“You’ve been working late, I presume?”
Redheart sat down in the break room close to a table, happy to finally take a moment to relax. Doctor Hoof was also present, brewing a cup of coffee. The heavy bags under his eyes indicated a lack of sleep, which wasn’t entirely uncommon for the poor doctor.
“Yes, I did, again.” the doctor sighed, taking a sip from his cup. He recoiled slightly, surprised by the heat of the drink. “It’s not easy being a doctor in a small town. There’s so little of us, and so many of them.”
“But you’ve got to admit it’s gratifying to aid other ponies.” Redheart smiled. “Helping ponies out brings me great joy, I sure hope it does for you.”
“It does outweigh the downsides of being a doctor.” Doctor Hoof admitted. “I just hope I won’t fall asleep on the job today; I could barely stand up just this morning alone. I don’t want to imagine how the rest of the day will go.”
“You’re not the only doctor in town.” Redheart informed. “I’m certain the others won’t mind if you take some time off to rest properly. What I’m saying is; don’t overdo it.”
Doctor Hoof chuckled and went to take another sip of his hot cup of coffee when the building suddenly rumbled, spilling the coffee all over his face. Nurse Redheart fell from her seat, smashing her face on the table. Dizzy, she took some time to regain her senses, alerted by the screams of pain of the stallion who was trying his best to wipe the coffee off him.
“Oh sweet Celestia it burns!” he shouted. Redheart trotted out of the break room, eyes darting left and right as she tried to understand what happened. Many ponies stared in one direction, most likely the ground zero for this incident.
The mare galloped in direction of the source of this seismic activity, shocked to see a few cracks pop up in the walls nearby. On her way, she found Nurse Sweetheart who stood in front of Olive’s room, looking awfully nervous.
“Wh-What’s going on in there?!” Redheart shouted, terrified at the idea that something could have happened to the filly.
“I-I-I don’t know!” Sweetheart answered. “It just... came from her room!”
Not wanting to spend more time in the dark, Redheart entered the room. It was empty, with not much sign of destruction except for the cracks below the bathroom’s door. Approaching it, the two mares heard a few distinct sounds coming from the other side.
As they opened the door, they were greeted with a scary sight to behold. The walls and tiles were cracked, the items inside were scattered everywhere, some even spilling on the walls, tiles and the ceiling. The mirror had shattered, and some pieces fell directly on Snowheart, though thankfully none of them did much damage, only giving her small cuts.
Olive was curled up inside the shower in a foetal position, sobbing quietly. Nurse Snowheart, on the other hand, looked eerily pale, unresponsive to the arrival of the other nurses. Her pupils were pinpricks and she didn’t look like she was even breathing. Sweat dripped down her ghostly white face as her legs were trembling. She was paralysed in fear.
“Snowheart! What happened in there?!” Redheart asked, shaking the mare to snap her out of it.
The only answer she got was in the form of a trembling hoof pointing to the sobbing filly in the shower. Redheart motioned at Sweetheart to take care of their fellow nurse while she trotted up to Olive.
“Dearie... I-is everything alright?” The nurse stammered.
Upon hearing her voice, Olive opened her eyes. They didn’t look like the eyes of a pony anymore. They were black, with emerald-colored pupils instead of her usual olive ones. Seeing the shocked look on Redheart’s face, the filly cowered even further.
“It’s my fault!” The filly croaked. “I’m a monster!”
The mare took her in her hooves and brought her close to her chest, letting the filly rest her head on the nurse. “You’re no monster.” she reassured.
“Ponies don’t hurt each other.” Olive said. “Only monsters do.”
“Sweetie...” Redheart hugged her. “Everypony makes mistakes. It’s not your fault.”
The filly’s eyes turned back to normal as she looked up at the nurse. “I’m really sorry.”
“We know you are. I’m sure Snowheart will forgive you. I already do.” She patted the foal on the head, finally succeeding at calming her down. After some time, she lifted her up and carefully placed the filly on her back. “Let’s get you back to bed. We may have to get you a new room. One with a... working shower.”
Redheart heard snoring and as she looked back at Olive, she realised that she had already fallen asleep. The nurse caught herself smiling at this peaceful sight, before moving out of the now temporarily closed room. They’re going to need some help. Some help from a pony who’s well versed in magic.
The sun was hitting hard in Ponyville. The temperature was less than generous to those who enjoyed going outside. It was hot, very, very hot. Nevertheless, Applejack didn’t shy away from her duties on Sweet Apple Acre. No matter how much she was sweating, how close she felt to passing out a times, she pressed on until her headache became too much to bear.
She went back inside to hydrate herself before the pain got any worse. She placed down her hat on the kitchen table, picked up an empty glass and poured some water from the sink.
“Oh come on! It had to be this hot on a Saturday!” Applejack looked behind, hearing the voice of her younger sister.
“Yeah, now we can’t go to our clubhouse without dying of dehydration!” Sweetie Belle complained.
“This sucks on ice.” Scootaloo added.
Applejack quickly chugged down her glass before moving towards the three fillies. “Howdy girls. Ah suppose it’s too hot to be playin’ outside?”
“Yeah... and we had so much planned for today!” Sweetie Belle responded sadly, flipping through a small notebook.
“There’s always time tomorrow.” Applejack consoled. “Ah’m sure ta weather’ll be perfect tomorrow.”
“Sure hope so.” Scootaloo gritted through her teeth. She spread out her small wings and flapped the sweat off them. “I hate being all sweaty.”
Seeing her older sister, Apple Bloom remembered something important. “Hey Applejack!”
“Hmm?”
“Ya went ta see the new filly yesterday?” Apple Bloom said excitedly, her tail wagging around.
The other crusaders also shared her excitement, staring at Aj with great interest. “Come on! Tell us about this Olive!” Scootaloo insisted.
Applejack giggled. “Alright, alright. Ah’ll tell ya what Ah know, but Ah gotta go back ta work in a few minutes.” She picked up her hat from the table and put it on.
“Apple Bloom told us she was also a blank flank! Does that mean we’ll get a new member?” Sweetie Belle asked.
“Ah’m sure she’ll love to have new friends.” Applejack responded. “But ya gotta remember that this filly will need some time to adjust to ‘er new surroundings. Can Ah count on ya to be gentle with ‘er?”
Apple Bloom nodded rapidly. “Of course ye can count on us! We’ll be the best friends she’s ever gotten!”
“Right. Oh, and Ah don’t want ya to do any sort of dangerous activities ta get yer cutie marks with ‘er!” Applejack informed.
“She’s got a broken leg, so y’all have to find somethin’ less... physical for the time being.”
Scootaloo groaned, but the other two didn’t seem as disappointed. “Understood! The Cutie Mark Crusaders value their member’s safety above all else!” Sweetie Belle said, saluting the mare with a hoof.
“Now ya get back to, um, crusadin’. Ah’ve got some work ta do.” Applejack said, trotting up to the front door. The three fillies quickly ran upstairs and as Aj opened the door, she was suddenly struck in the snout by a hoof.
“Oops, sorry! I was about to knock on the door when you, um, you know.” Twilight Sparkle rubbed the back of her head, embarrassed. She was also sweating immensely, courtesy of the unbearable heat outside.
“Ain’t that unfortunate...” Applejack responded, caressing her snout. “So, whatcha doin’ here?”
“Well...” Twilight’s wings began to move nervously on their own. “I was called in by Doctor Hoof-”
Applejack’s eyes widened. “Doctor Hoof?! Did somethin’ bad happen at the hospital?”
Twilight looked down. “I’m afraid yes. There’s been an accident. A magical one at that.” The alicorn looked at her friend, worried. “The filly you brought in a few days ago wrecked an entire bathroom with her magic.”
“W-What? But she’s told me she’s too scared ta use magic!” Applejack shouted in disbelief.
“They didn’t tell me much.” Twilight informed. “All I know is that they need me to help the filly deal with her magic problem.”
“Is she alright?” Applejack asked, her voice going soft.
“Thankfully yeah, the same went for the nurse who was there. Nopony got hurt, but they’re scared of what will happen next.” Twilight’s voice became more assured, confidant. “It’s up to us to help this filly.”
The earth pony nodded. “Ah sure hope it ain’t too bad of a magic problem. She sure looked like she had a terrible past.”
Twilight Sparkle began to feel the effects of the sun once again. “Well, I’ll be going then. It’s horribly hot outside.” She turned around and walked away, only to stop after a few steps. “Oh, um, I almost forgot to ask; what’s her name?” the alicorn asked with a sheepish smile on her face.
Applejack sighed. “It’s Olive. C’mon, they didn’t even tell you that?”
“Heh, I guess they were in too much of a hurry.”
Back at the break room, Redheart and Doctor Hoof helped Snowheart calm herself down. Everypony in the hospital were on high alert, wandering if this incident was going to happen again. Through it all, Redheart heard many ponies openly express their fears of the new filly, to which she found very disheartening to see these adults treat a foal as some sort of monster.
“Do you want a glass of water, Snowheart?” Doctor Hoof asked. The nurse didn’t respond, still breathing heavily. Worried, Nurse Redheart waved her hoof in her face, trying to get the mare’s attention.
“Snowheart, listen. We need to know what happened in there.” she said. “This isn’t just for the filly’s safety, it’s for everypony’s safety in here.”
“I-I almost died in that bathroom.” Nurse Snowheart stammered. “I had a near death experience!” she said, her voice growing louder as she grabbed onto the other nurse. Doctor Hoof scribbled down in his notepad.
Redheart bit her lip. “We know the filly somehow did this. What we want to know is what triggered such a strong emotional response.” she said, her voice as strong as steel.
Snowheart’s panic began to wane as her breaths returned to normal. “I don’t know. I-I just touched her flank to direct her out of the bathroom and...” she stopped, feeling guilty about the whole situation.
“Don’t blame yourself.” Redheart consoled. “You simply found one of her triggers. We’ll just have to be more careful next time.”
“Found one of her triggers, yeah...” Snowheart said, her voice sounding a little sarcastic. “Next time we accidentally discover one, we’ll blow up the entire hospital.”
Redheart frowned. “What happened? How did she destroy the entire bathroom?”
“Her magic’s not normal. Not for a filly, not for a unicorn.” Snowheart blurted out. “It’s like she’s got a monster in her!”
Nurse Redheart’s anger rose in her body. “Got a monster in her? What the hay do you mean by that?” she asked, her language getting a littler unprofessional.
“Didn’t you see her eyes when you rushed in there?” Snowheart shouted. “That’s not the eyes of a pony! And you didn’t even see the worst of it.”
“What?” Redheart asked, fear and anger both mixing together. “What did you see?!”
Snowheart looked down, her pupils were now pinpricks. “Her jaw unhinged, opened to a degree that’s just... impossible. Th-There was an eye inside her mouth. I-It looked at me a-a-and it was angry! It wanted to kill me!”
Redheart practically had to hold her down. The nurse was too agitated, her sentences were becoming a jumbled mess as she was having a panic attack. “C-Calm down!” she pleaded until Snowheart went limp, passing out of exhaustion.
Doctor Hoof dropped his notepad, shocked at what he had just heard. “Wh... The hay did she just say?”
Nurse Redheart cocked her head back, staring blankly at the ceiling. After calming herself down, she trotted up to the doctor. “Did you write down what she said?” she asked.
“Most of it, yeah. She was speaking too fast in some instances, but we do have a clear picture of the incident now.” Doctor Hoof said. “That just leaves the question of what we’re going to do with Olive now.”
“We’re keeping her here.” Redheart bluntly responded. “Olive needs our help and we are not going to give up on a foal, got it?”
“I-I wasn’t going to kick her out.” Hoof stammered, taken aback by the aggression in the nurse’s voice. “I swear!”
“Strong Hoof? Did you feel that?”
“N-No boss. I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“It felt like I was at two places at once. It was strange, but... it felt amazing! I need to figure out what happened, though I feel like you’re about to get your ass kicked for some reason.”