//------------------------------//
// Chapter IV 
// Story: My Life As an Underappreciated Ponyville Nurse 
// by Sailor_Pluto 
//------------------------------//

I poured soap into the sink in my office and turned the water on, filling the metal basin with tons of little bubbles.

"Oh yeah," I said, sticking my hooves into the pure bubbliness. "That's what I'm talking about." I started flinging soap into the air and smacking it with my hooves, when I heard another knock on the door.

"Better not be Twilight again," I muttered, trotting over to the door as slowly as I could. Upon opening it, I found a sad looking stallion with droopy green eyes standing outside. His mane was scraggly and black, and his coat was a semi-dark shade of brown. He wore a red tie, and his cutie mark was of a basket.

"Can I help you?" I asked, even though I seriously didn't care.

"I think so," he said, his voice sounding pathetic.

"Come on in," I said, ushering him into my office and guiding him to the examination chair.

He made a weird face and looked down at the floor. "What did I just step in?"

"That would be soap bubbles, sir."

"Why are there bubbles on the floor?"

"Because I filled my sink with them and was playing with them. Got a problem with that?"

He shrank back a little. "N-no..." He slid up onto the chair and started fiddling with his tie. I grabbed my clipboard.

"What's your name?"

He looked up at me. "Huh?"

"Your name. I need to know it. What is it?"

"Oh." He looked back down at his tie. "Basket. Basket Case."

"I see." I scribbled his name at the top of a new patient sheet. "And what seems to be the problem with you?"

He sighed, long and dramatically. "I was...hoping you could tell me that."

I narrowed my eyes at him.

He sighed again. "Well...you see...a couple of weeks ago, I went on this date with a school teacher that my friend's girlfriend told me about. She was really pretty, and I really liked her, but..." He shrugged. "...I guess I said something wrong, because she left before the date was over and hasn't talked to me since. Whenever we see each other around town, she always avoids me."

I nodded and made a note on my paper. "What do you think you said wrong?"

He shrugged again. "I...may have said that her dress was ugly. That's it though! I was just trying to save her from having to wear something so ugly again." He thought for a moment. "...Also, I may or may not have pooped in her bed."

I nodded again. "I don't see why she was bothered by that. Obviously you were just trying to help her out. But...the poop in her bed..."

"Yeah?"

"That's not something any mare will find attractive under any circumstances."

He wilted. "It's...it's not?"

I shook my head. "On the contrary, everything else you did was perfectly acceptable. She must have been an idiot for getting mad at you. Just find a new mare."

He blinked. "...A new mare?"

"Indeed. A new mare worthy of a stallion as great as you."

A smile crossed his face. "Thank you, doctor!"

"I'm a nurse."

"Oh."

"Also," I set my clipboard down. "Sorry to sound rude, but next time you're having mare troubles, don't come to the doctor's office for help. That's just stupid."

He nodded. "Don't worry, I didn't find that to be rude. Also," he gestured to his face. "I have this sinus infection that just will not go away."

"Alright." I wrote a prescription for an antibiotic on his chart. "Give this to the pharmacy."

He took the paper gratefully, still smiling. "Thank you!"

"No problem."

He slid off the chair and trotted out the door. Another nurse passed by him, to which he said, "I have a sinus infection."

I smiled. "I don't know why, but I like that Basket Case. I guess it's because he actually gives me the appreciation I deserve."