Twilight twisted and turned in her sleep, eyes clenched shut, as she suddenly found the previously comforting embrace of her bed to be gone, replaced only by a hard surface, with her sense of frustration as her night time blanky.
The Redheart incident had left her in mind in more of a mess than it was before, so she went to seek slumber. For the first time, it was easy on her as she simply plopped on her bed and closed her eyes. The problem with that was things around her had a nasty habitat of not maintaining their easiness. She considered blaming her purple assistant for the intrusion, but she wasted all that accusation enegry on the dracone… draco… malfoy... whats-his-race.
She heard a soft giggle adjoining her, causing her anger to spike. Grunting a mighty grunt, the purple unicorn raised her head, eyes trying to scan the trickster in front of her, but all she could see was a white blur. “Whoever it is out there, send me back now or else I’ll banish you to the moon. I will do it, I’m Princess Celestia’s pupil,” she warned the joker near her.
“Oh my, dear Twilight Sparkle, how long have you been using that threat?” the familiar playful voice made its presence known, Twilight jumping to attention as she recognized her.
Princess Celestia stood in all her eye-blinding glory in the endless star-filled background, as she looked down upon her star student with a caring expression and a motherly smile.
A motherly smile that screamed bloody death in Twilight’s mind.
“Princess Celestia!” her cheeks took on a dark shade of red as she began to panic. “I am so, so sorry. I didn’t want to sound like I was threatening you or anything - I mean, I would never in my life do such a horrible thing, to you or anypony else. It’s just I don’t know what’s been going on with everypony, me not getting a good night’s sleep, waking up wherever we are, and now I feel so ashamed because I’ve been non-stop gibberish like Applejack predicted, and now I’m panicking because that dumb man in sky said so and-”
Celestia placed a reassuring hoof on the unicorn’s shoulder. “Twilight, calm down,” she interrupted, the smile still in her features. Twlight did as she was told, settling down in her spot. “You don’t have to worry about what you said. I know it wasn’t meant towards me,”
Twilight sighed in relief, before the Princess retaliated with a nasty vendeta. “Though you did sound like Prince Blueblood for a second,” this ultimate insult brought a deep crimson blush to Twilight.
Celestia giggled, continuing with her speech. “You needn’t worry anymore, I have seen what happened to you in the last couple of days, my student.” Celestia waved a hoof, urging for the lavender unicorn her. ”If I have to say so myself, you handled all those problems professionally and calmly even though other ponies in your position would give out under the pressure.”
Twilight perked up at those words. “I did?” she asked. Celestia nodded. “Well, to be honest, Princess, I don’t think things went so smoothy as you say. There were several instances where I almost lost control. Worst of all, I did lose control, in the worst way possible.”
“Did you defraud Mayor Mare? Did you rob the second largest bank in Equestria using only a quill and ink? Did you kill a somepony with a piece of fur?” with each question, the Princess closed in on her student’s muzzle.
“N-... no.” she responded uncomfortably.
Celestia pulled back, a smile plastered on her face. “Then you did much better than all others before you, back to the days of the great Starswirl the Bearded.”
Twilight’s eyes widened. “Wait, Starswirl the Bearded was also confused with a doctor?”
Celestia raised a brow. “Confused? He wasn’t confused with a doctor, he was a doctor.”
Twilight froze as her mind entangled itself with the new surge of information. “He WHAT?!”
“Of course, Starswirl was an expert in the magical field of medicine. You’ve read the books about him, right?” Celestia’s horn glowed as a brown, ancient book appeared in front of her with the same aura. Flipping through some pages, she eyes the knowledge they gave. Or lack thereof. “Oh, so that’s what I forgot to mention,” Upon realizing it, Celestia closed the book. “I knew I should’ve taken those memory pills while I was writing this,” she giggled.
Twilight’s stomach lurched violently as she puffed her cheeks in disgust. “I think I’m gonna be sick,” she stated sickly, a bucket appearing underneath her, wrapped in a purple aura.
“Don’t you have something for that?”
Twilight did not time to answer as urled onto the bucket, the contents of her rushed lunch spilling slightly on the outside. As she raised her head up, she glazed over Celestia. “Why did you bring me here?” she wheezed.
“There is one more thing, actually,” Twilight expectantly - or as much she could with all the vomit - awaited the final comeback. The brown book disappeared in a flash of light as images began transcending over the non-existent pathway. “You see, I’ve been watching you since the very first day,”
Twilight turned and recognized the images. They consisted of the “patients” she “treated”.
She clenched her bucket tight as she was lifted up.
----------------
“And that’s how I got my wings.”
“Such a strange tale, you'd think something like that would end up on the evening news,”
“You’re telling me, I couldn’t sleep for 2 months after that little incident. My wings certainly didn’t help,”
“‘Little’ is an understatement. I haven’t seen that many ponies round up to see a single unanticipated performance since that one enchantress everyone feared came to town. What was her name again, Tim?”
“Trixie, and please don’t compare to her. I already have enough problems as is without you reminding me of everything else occurring around me that hurts my already broken pride.”
“Trixie? The name sounds familiar…”
“She came in here a week ago complaining that she could feel her magic weakening ever since her home was destroyed. After a whole lot of boasting of her part, mainly from her being one of the greatest unicorns of Equestria while I was stuck in medicine, I prescribed her some anti-depressants, lied and told her they were magical steroids and she went on with her day.”
“Wow, no doctor-patient confidentiality, I see.”
“Like I care. I mean really, who’s gonna stop me?”
“Well, I am your supervisor. My job is to make sure you do your job and follow hospital regulations, which is a drag in my opinion. Not to mention that, if you screw up, I make you learn from your mistakes, so you might want to re-evaluate your stance.”
“Right, from my mistakes. Next time, I won’t do the same mistake of not helping my library’s intruders without a license.”
“Duly noted,” the elevator door opened, revealing grey maned, beige stallion in a black suit. His right foreleg clutched a cane as he limped off the elevator followed closely by a lavender alicorn, a doctor’s coat adorning her anatomy, with a clipboard suspended in an aura of the same hue. “So, where are you headed to next?” he asked.
She picked up the clipboard with her magic. “I’ve got a patient in room A113 that came through recently, says he’s developed a severe case of band-aid poisoning, whatever that means.” Twilight said as she scanned the papers.
He hummed lightly, limping to his destination. “Crazy ponies are the most interesting ones to work on. If I were you, I’d take it.” he said in a matter-of-factly.
“As if I have a choice,” Twilight placed the clipboard on her back as they reached a fork in the halls. “Looks like this is where we split,” she turned to the stallion. ”Thanks for the company, doctor…”
She struck a hoof to her face as she realized that, despite him being her supervisor for the past few months, she had not once asked for his name. “I’m sorry, I didn't quite catch your name,” Twilight admitted in half shame with a sheepish smile . Though it was tartarus on Equestria for her, this doctor was actually one of the only ponies - if not the only pony - who listened to what she had to say without her having to feel self-conscious about herself. Mostly because that doctor also had questionable authority over her and hospital, and mybe that was part of the reason why she trusted him, but she digressed.
The doctor gave her a condescending stare, deciding whether or not to answer the question truthfully. “My superiors call me House.” With that, he turned left, reaching his designated spot while leaving Twilight to her own.
The alicorn sighed as she began to head to her patient whom she thinks she had known before a voice called out to her. “Don’t forget, tomorrow is Redheart’s birthday.” House yelled. “Give her something nice for me, will ya?”
He was right, she thought, Redheart’s birthday was coming up. How could she not know? Well, maybe because besides that one time when she was still a unicorn and her library wasn’t connected to the hospital walls, they hadn’t spoken to each other much. Twilight was grateful for it. After all, it was partially Redheart's fault that she had to resort to this option. A doctor for life... the mear thought brought shivers to her spine.
Though she did have to admit, with the hospital no longer across the darn street, she didn’t have to trot a long way to get to her home. The hours were good too, with more free time than her library job, paid vacations and a salary that covered tree insurance, but even so.
As she made her way to the room, Twilight pursued her lips as evil and very naughty plans polluted her once innocent mind.
She knew exactly what to give Redheart.