Cheerilee had been walking down the streets of Ponyville late at night to go home, only because she stayed late at the schoolhouse getting ready for a new year of teaching. The air was unusually chilly for a summer night and the thick cloud cover blocked all of the light from the stars and moon, making everything even darker. She was by herself carrying her saddlebag she takes with her to and from the schoolhouse every day, stuffed to the brim with various papers. All of the shops are closed and the streets are void of any other ponies. As Cheerilee strolls along the sidewalk she notices a faint sound as she passes by an alleyway. At first she thought it was the wind or something to that effect, but when she stopped to listen every few seconds the sound repeated, weak as it was. Cheerilee decided to investigate the origins of the sound and entered the dark alleyway. As she walked further in the sound became a bit stronger and echoed as it bounced off of the brick walls; until Cheerilee could in fact determine it was the sound of a distressed foal. Cheerilee frantically looked around knocking over boxes and trash but found nothing so she called out:
“Hello? Anypony here? I wish to help you?
After that Cheerilee could distinctly hear the direction the sound came from and followed it to a dumpster at the dead end of the alleyway. Cheerilee then slowly opened the lid not knowing what to expect and peered inside. As she does so it was too dark to see inside but she heard a weak and labored voice say:
“Ma… muh…?”
The voice then turned into a few seconds of weakened crying before falling completely silent. Cheerliee couldn’t see one bit inside so she reached in with both of her hooves and felt around until she touched what felt like a body, but it was cold and boney. Cheerilee quickly pulled the body to see it was in fact a terribly small and malnourished unicorn filly. The filly’s coat was a dirty but bright orange and her mane was the same color as ivory but was incredibly dirty as well. Cheerilee quickly held the filly close to her body to attempt to warm it and noticed that its only movements were infrequent labored breaths that sounded like weezing. Cheerilee quickly rushed back to the side walk and looked around for another pony while shouting for help, but her efforts were in vain as no pony appeared to be around. Next the filly had coughed a few times and the coughs sounded really painful for the filly. Cheerilee knew that most important thing to do now was to make it to the hospital as fast as her legs could carry her there. Cheerilee without a second thought emptied out the saddlebag and gently placed the filly inside it; then she started running… and she ran… and she ran… and she ran… all the way to Ponyville General, with the condition of the poor filly giving her the strength she needed to make it all the way without collapsing from exhaustion. Upon bursting into the otherwise quiet emergency room, Cheerilee found and then told Nurse Redheart:
“Gasp… Gasp… Gasp… Please Nurse Redheart… Gasp… Take this filly… Gasp… I found her in… Gasp… Really bad shape!”
Nurse Redheart has an appalling look on her face when she sees the skinny almost lifeless filly in Cheerilee’s arms and responds:
“Oh my Cheerilee this filly really is in a rough condition. I’ll have our staff get to her right away!”
Nurse Redheart quickly took the filly from Cheerilee who then immediately went to a chair and sat down to catch her breath. Cheerilee had so many thoughts running through her mind as she waited for an update on the filly. Mainly she blamed herself for staying late at work, thinking the filly would have been in a better condition if Cheerilee had found her sooner. About ten minutes had passed by before Nurse Redheart walks back into the waiting area and tells Cheerilee what is happening with the filly.
“I have some news on the filly you brought in Cheerilee.” Said Nurse Redheart
Cheerilee quickly gets up and frantically asks:
“How is she Nurse? Was I too late?”
With a comforting look on her face Nurse Redheart answers back:
“The filly looks like she will pull through; you brought her in just in the nick of time. Thank Celestia you found her when you did.”
Cheerilee lets out a massive sigh of relief and collects her composure before she asked:
“Where is the filly? Can I see her now?”
“She will be in the nursery soon when she is done in intensive care. I’ll come get you as soon as she is you have my word.”
Nurse Redheart walked back down the hallway while Cheerilee starts to feel happier knowing she saved that filly’s life. The next passing minutes seemed to drag on forever as Cheerilee anxiously waited to see the filly again. Eventually after what felt like an eternity the nurse returned and told Cheerilee:
“We have her in the nursery now; we gave her a warm bath and now the filly is sleeping. We have her on a breath mask as she seems to be having trouble breathing on her own for now. Just follow me and I’ll take you right to her.”
Cheerilee eagerly followed Nurse Redheart down the hallway and after a few turns the nurse had brought her to the large rectangular window that looked into the nursery. Nurse Redheart pointed out the filly and said:
“There she is Cheerilee, in the crib on the far left, sound asleep.”
Cheerilee just stands there staring through the window at the fragile filly who was now contently sleeping and wrapped tight in a warm blanket. Cheerilee teared up slightly and then she asked:
“Can I go in and see her? I want to be with her.”
Nurse Redheart answered her with:
“I’m sorry Cheerilee but what the filly needs the most right now is her sleep. Besides, I have some questions and paperwork for you since you are the one who brought her in and we have no clue who the parents are.”
Nurse Redheart leads Cheerilee to a small office type room and pulls out some papers and a writing quill. Nurse Redheart then began to inquire:
“So you found the filly completely abandoned with nopony else around?”
“Yes that is correct.”
“I see, now if you could just fill out these short forms we can get the process started for sending the filly to the orphanage when her condition improves enough.”
“Wait… I know I’m not responsible for her… but I want to be! I would like to adopt her myself if that’s possible.”
“Why isn’t that a lovely idea. No problem Cheerilee! You’ll have to fill out some more paperwork and get it approved by the mayor, but that shouldn’t be an issue. To start do you have any ideas for naming her? That way I can start her hospital records.”
Cheerilee hadn’t thought that far into it yet as her only current thought was hoping to raise that filly as her own daughter. After pondering her thoughts for a few moments Cheerilee said:
“I felt so good being able to help her, I’m naming her Charity.”