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Doctor Stable sat at the reception desk of Ponyville Hospital and let out an exasperated sigh. The golden brown unicorn ran a hoof through his parted brown mane and tapped another impatiently as he stared at the file in front of him. Taking a nearby pen, he signed his name at the bottom of the top page and stared at the hospital entrance anxiously.
It wasn’t long when the subject of his impatience entered the mostly-empty lobby. She was a white-coated unicorn mare with a bright orange mane and a heart set on fire for a cutie mark. She walked in with a partner, a pegasus stallion with white coat and feathers and a syringe for a cutie mark. Neither could see the gaze of the unicorn at the reception desk boring into their skulls, but he could see the fur on the pegasus’ neck begin to stand upright and itch nervously. After a while, the mare started to look around as nervously as the pegasus until she finally turned around and saw the dark green eyes of the Equine staring at her.
“Ms. Fireheart,” Doctor Stable called. “Could you come over here for a moment? We need to talk.”
The girl hugged the pegasus, who scurried off down a nearby corridor, before approaching the counter. Doctor Stable could see her hooves were shaking. “Y-yes, sir?”
“I would like to discuss your performance as of late, Fireheart,” Doctor Stable said slowly, letting every word sink in. “When I hired you last year, you were competent and willing to work. As the months have trailed on, however, you’ve been late numerous times and have been spending the majority of your hours on duty in the break room.” He set down the pen he was holding and crossed his hooves, placing them on the desk. “Have you anything to say to defend yourself?”
“I… I don’t think I’ve been that late,” Fireheart stuttered. “And I’ve shown up and pulled my fair share.”
“You’re thirty minutes late, Fireheart. You were expected in at four o’clock today. It’s four thirty now. Also, your friend Nurse Quick Shot has had to take over your position three times in the past week that you’ve neglected to do your assigned tasks.”
“You’ve had Quick Shot take over for me? But I came to you with a complaint about him interfering and not doing his own work just a few months ago!”
“Well, it seems the tables have turned,” Doctor Stable replied, his calm demeanor and voice contrasting the girl’s near hysterics. “I’ll have you know I did have a little conversation with Mister Quick Shot regarding his behavior. So far, he’s taken it to heart. He has performed his duties admirably to the point I’ve considered hiring him once his internship is finished.”
Doctor Stable thought about continuing, but watched as the mare looked around the dark green eyes searching for some form of hope. Alas, for her, there currently was none. It was then that Fireheart noticed the file sitting on the desk in front of the unicorn. “What… what is that?” she asked.
“Your file,” Doctor Stable replied. “In here I’ve been keeping track of various things regarding your work. Some things include your hours, your paychecks, your position, your duties, as well as any complaints or strikes against your record. Now, I wouldn’t go so far as to file to have your license suspended, but unless you give me one good reason against it… I’m afraid I’ll have to fire you.”
“What!? I… I’ve been doing all my work!”
Doctor Stable calmly sorted through the file in front of him and pulled out a sheet of paper. “We have a complaint here from a nurse that said he had to take over attaching an IV bag to a patient because you left five minutes early the past three days in a row.”
“And I swear to you that I’ve been coming in on time!”
“There’s another one here from a pharmacy technician at the front counter that said he saw you coming in late on a particularly busy day, one which I had called in to see if you could come in early to help with the rush. And I didn’t get a response.”
“I haven’t been spending all my time in the break room!”
“There are two lunch times at this hospital, Fireheart, so that there is always staff on duty. I have near constantly over the last few months seen you attend both lunches in the cafeteria. I’m afraid that’s three strikes against you.”
Doctor Stable put the complaints sheet in the file and handed it to Fireheart, the notice of her termination as the top page facing her. Fireheart gasped at the file in disbelief and weakly accepted it.
“I know we are the highest paying hospital in the region,” Doctor Stable said. “And, I’ll be truthful about this: I’m willing to hire you again once you show you’re committed to the work. Spend some time in a community care center or a clinic and I’ll let you back in once I’ve received some good reports.”
Fireheart took the file and walked away without another word.
As she left, Doctor Stable sighed again and went back to his former work at the computer. Fireheart was yet another nurse lost to incompetence in the past few months. The staff was slowly dwindling, and with Ponyville’s population of ten thousand residents and growing that was never a good thing.
In part he blamed himself for possibly being too strict – Fireheart had shown up to work every day, unlike the last one who kept skipping days and was fired months after being hired – while the rest of him pushed that thought out of his brain. It was his job as head physician to make sure that the proper employees were added to the work, that they could withstand the pressure of a sometimes busy schedule where it was possible to have as many as seventy overnight patients, and as many as fifty a day come through the Emergency Ward. Fireheart had been suited to the work but hadn’t taken it seriously, and that was as important as being competent enough.
Doctor Stable looked towards the sign near the front door of the hospital advertising for an open spot to those qualified. His thought his standards were reasonable – a three point five grade point average from an accredited university, a nursing license, and a minimum two years of internship for a paying position. Sure the internship amount was more than some of the surrounding hospitals, and the grade point average was higher as well, but was that really such a deterrent? The higher ups in Canterlot thought they were quite reasonable and mature coming from the newly-appointed head physician of one of Equestria’s most up-to-date and growing hospitals in a growing town. Surely there must be someone who could answer the call and at least ask for an application.
A few minutes later, he got his answer. A young Earth pony mare with white fur and a pink mane that came to just below her shoulders walked up to the sign and stared at it for a minute. Even from a distance, Doctor Stable liked her; she appeared a few inches smaller than the unicorn (minus his horn), but she walked straight and confident like she was constantly due for something and she already had her papers in a firm grip in her mouth. She walked in and looked at Doctor Stable with a pair of ferocious blue eyes, crossing the lobby in quick strides towards him.
“Hello,” she said, voice calm and professional. “My name is Redheart and I was wondering who I needed to talk to about a job application.”
Doctor Stable smiled. “You’ve come to the right stallion. I’m Doctor Stable, head physician here at Ponyville Regional Hospital. I can get you an application. Now,” the stallion said as he started shuffling through papers, “you look pretty young. Do you mean you want an application for an internship?”
“I’ve already done it,” Redheart said as soon as Doctor Stable had finished speaking, startling him. “I had two years’ experience working inside a hospital while I went to Trotsworth Academy.”
The stallion originally looked at her with shock at how quickly she had responded to the question, then smiled. “Let’s see if we have an application here. Ah, yes, here it is.” He acted as though he was going to give Redheart the papers, but pulled them back before she could grab for them. “You said Trotsworth Academy, didn’t you? What was your GPA there?”
“I had a three point seven five grade point average over five years. I also was told at Trotsworth Medical Center that if I was looking for a paying job I could go back at any time and they would hire me immediately.”
The stallion smiled again. “Here you are. Fill it out and bring it in as soon as you can. It’s been a while since I got someone so capable. I’m sure we could find a place for you here.”
Doctor Stable watched as Redheart finally returned the smile as she grabbed the papers. She was quite pretty when she lightened up. “Atta girl. You need to smile a bit more. I find it helps keep the patients calmer and more responsive.”
Nurse Redheart gave a short laugh. “I’ll make sure to keep that in mind.”