Medical Procedures

It was a seemingly slow day at the Ponyville Clinic as always, but today was about to get much more interesting.

Dr. Stables, the brown maned stallion with a heartbeat monitor cutie mark was at his desk filing the usual paperwork that came in daily. His tired eyes looked over at the notepad once more for the fifty-third time and lazily returned to the documents in front of him. He happily averted his gaze as the mail pony came in through the sliding glass doors with an upbeat trot. Relieved at the visitor arriving and hopefully saving himself from the dull silence, Dr. Stables stood and greeted his guest with a content smile. “Welcome to the Ponyville Clinic! What might I be able to do for you on this fine afternoon?”

“Nothing much, but I do have a letter for one Ms. Nurse Redheart.” The mail pony reached into his bag and dug out a small envelope with her cutie mark labeling it.

As it was snatched up by the doctor’s magical aura, the gentlecolt asked, “What for? It appears to be from Canterlot...”

“Beats me,” The delivery steed claimed. “All I know is it’s for her hooves to open only, and that I should keep out of her business.”

Once he left, Dr. Stables’ ears drooped in dissatisfaction, then the doctor magically clicked the buzzer and spoke into the microphone, “Nurse Redheart, you’ve got a letter. Come on over to the front desk once you’re finished with your current task, please.”

Several minutes passed by before a mare with a soft pink mane and a brilliant, snow white coat emerged from around the corner. “Was I called?”

“Yes,” Dr. Stables said. “You’ve got this letter from Canterlot. Your hooves only.”

Curiously accepting the parchment, she slowly opened and began to read it with a growing smirk.

“What’s it say?” the doctor questioned, his own curiosity getting the better of him.

“They want me to attend the National Nurse Convention as a guest of honor! I attend the convention every year, but this is a dream come true! Only the best nurses get to speak, so I must’ve impressed somepony important this year at the clinic.” She lifted her hooves to her face as she squealed in delight. “I’m so excited!”

“Whoa there,” the doctor laughed. “Now, don’t you need a waiver to be accepted into those sort of things from the lead doctor of your assigned hospital? Guests of honor have to stay the entire duration of the event, plus you’ll need at least a day or two to travel. That’s quite the extended vacation...”

She turned to him with blushing cheeks, and lowering her muzzle while still keeping eye contact, she tentatively asked, “Um, may I please go, Doctor?”

He chuckled lightly and answered, “Of course you can. Just be sure to get me a gift while you’re there. I’ve been needing a shiny new stethoscope.” He winked at her, making the nurse’s face turn bright red. Without warning, Nurse Redheart gripped him by the neck and hugged the unicorn tightly.

“Thank you so much! I won’t forget this.” She smiled and slowly backed away, excitement and nervousness lingering over her head as she exited the clinic to head home and prepared for her travels.

Dr. Stables grew wide eyed as he glanced around, a sudden realization knotting in his stomach. “I don’t have a Lead Nurse anymore...”

Hastily, he pulled out several pamphlets looking for the specific one detailing the convention’s time of start and end. Once he found it, his jaw dropped. “Three whole weeks?!”

Dr. Stables placed the paper down on his desk and shook his head while chuckling at his own predicament. “I have got to learn not to make my mind up on such subjects so quickly... Now what am I to do? Without Nurse Redheart, this place won’t stay organized for very long... But I couldn’t dream of ruining this opportunity for her anyway...”

He trailed off from speaking to himself and glanced around the corner to see all the less experienced nurses tending to the sick and injured patients, cluttering up their charts and misfiling their medical histories. Without Nurse Redheart’s exceptional guidance, these young mares were lost.

Just then, a young white nurse with a blonde mane stumbled around the corner with a bundle of paperwork in her hooves. “Where should I file this pony’s injury reports in relation to her blood-work and x-rays? Because we can’t just, like, put it all together right?”

The head doctor glanced down at his own desk covered in odd stacks of papers and files. “Well... just leave those here for now and I’ll figure it out in a minute.” He let his face fall gracefully into the desk as the nurse trotted away. “We need help...”

As he kept his head planted on the pile of papers, a hoof tapped his shoulder. “Excuse me doctor, but I couldn’t help but overhear, and well... I noticed for myself that you’re having a bit of an issue.”

Dr. Stables glanced up into the deep blue eyes of a gorgeous white mare standing in front of him. “I’m sorry. My behaviour just now was completely unprofessional... I just...”

“Say no more my dear. I understand better than anypony that sometimes it helps to just let it all out. Now, if all this clutter and unorganized piles of seemingly endless paperwork is a problem, I know just the mare who’d be glad to help with what most would consider this an arduous, or tedious task. I do believe she makes a hobby of this sort of thing.” The mare looked him in the eye and smiled softly. “Go down to the library and pay Twilight Sparkle a visit.”

“Twilight... Sparkle... She organises the Winter Wrap Up each year, right? She’d be perfect, I think. Of course, I’d need to run down the same, usual check up on Twilight before I actually hired her.” He leaned up and brushed off his long white lab-coat. “Thank you for your recommendation Mrs...”

“Call me Rarity dear. Now before you go, mind letting me in to see my sister? I’ve been waiting for what seems like an eternity already, and she’s only supposed to have a quick checkup.” The mare fluttered her lashes and nodded towards the infirmary.

Without a second thought, the doctor nodded and placed an ‘Out To Lunch’ sign upon his desk. “Go right ahead, and thank you again. You may have saved this hospital quite the headache. Just head down that hallway and check all the rooms to the left until you see her. I’ll be back shortly.”

He cantered out of the clinic, and in no time at all, he reached the library. Dr. Stables knocked, then heard a feminine voice shout, “Spike, could you get that, please?”

“Why can’t you get it?” the dragon groaned.

“I’m in the shower!”

A moment of silence fell upon the waiting unicorn. He scuffled his hooves on the welcoming mat and took in the sweet scent of flowers that were blooming on the windowsill before finally hearing tromping sounds gradually grow louder. The door opened, and Spike looked up at the visitor. “Hello?”

The doctor smiled and introduced himself. “I’m Dr. Stables, and I’m here to see a miss Twilight Sparkle.”

Spike blinked and shrugging, granting him entrance. The dragon walked over to the couch and chanted, “Twilight, that one doctor from the clinic up the street’s here to talk to you.”

“Coming right down,” the mare shouted as she shut the water off.

The doctor’s jaw fell slack once again as the young mare came trotting down the stairway. Her still moist coat glistened and her long, damp mane clung to her neck and chest. Using her magical aura, she ran the towel across her body and down each leg, the brown stallion gulping as he stared.

With the towel stretched from Twilight’s neck to her mane, she gave herself one more gentle, drying rub, and asked, “Who’s here, Spike?”

The dragon didn’t even peer her way, but instead sat with a book covering his face and pointed to his left. “That doctor.”

Twilight stopped what she was doing, and blushed as she lowered the towel to see her guest staring blankly at her. “Oh, sorry about that. I thought you were one of my friends. In that case...” With her magic cascading from her horn, she instantly made herself appropriate by enchantingly straightening her mane and making every drop of water disappear. “There we go. Now then, you wanted to speak to me?”

Dr. Stables seemed to completely, though unintentionally ignore her words. Instead of responding, he just continued to stare at her, transfixed at how sexually provocative she’d been not a minute ago. So to help him along, Spike nudged his side with an elbow. “Oh, right... Uh, I was... Um...” The unicorn gulped before finding the right words to say. “Nurse Redheart; you recall her, right?”

Twilight beamed. “Oh, of course! She was so kind to us the day Rainbow Dash was admitted.”

“Well, there’s my problem. You see, today, she left for this convention that’s taking place in Canterlot. Before I realized it, I’d let my Lead Nurse take a three week break, and we’ve got quite a few new nurses still being trained, and even the older nurses were heavily reliant on Nurse Redheart’s guidance... My nurses are excellent in their performances, but to say the least, they’re a little sloppy with the filing. Somepony recommended you to help us keep the place organized. I don’t suppose...”

Twilight’s unsure frown soon changed to a flattered smile. “Sounds like you found the right mare for the job. I’d love to help out, so long as you don’t mind me bringing along a few books that I absolutely must read this week.”

The doctor nodded and asked, “Well first I have to ask, what, uh... experience have you in this line of work, Twilight?”

At that moment, Spike and the two ponies heard a crashing sound from upstairs. The dragon put the book down while gulping. “I think Owlicious is still trying to organize your personal library. I’d better go make sure he’s not trying anything too strenuous...” While Spike took care of business in the room, Twilight and Dr. Stables remained in the lobby chit chatting about her possible new title. The doctor caught Twilight’s attention by clearing his throat, somewhat pleased with being alone with the mare.

“Oh, yes. I’ve read a few books on nursing, not to mention several on medical procedures. I don’t think I’m qualified just yet, but give me a night with a certain book detailing what it takes to be a Lead Nurse, and I’m confident you’ll be happy with the results. I only just got it last week and haven’t even opened it! That’s mainly because it’s so...”

“Big?” Dr. Stables asked.

“No, actually,” Twilight corrected him. “It’s too small!”

Looking away at the shelves in disbelief, the stallion shrugged. “I knew I took you for a reader, but that’s impressive... Well then,” he proudly said. “I guess you start tomorrow! We’ll need to do just a few tests, an interview or two, and you’ll be all set.” Standing up and staring at Twilight’s grinning muzzle, Dr. Stables explained, “You’ll need to show up early at the clinic; around six I’d say. Once then, I’ll have some paper work for you to fill out, a new uniform ready and probably even your very first assignment.”

The two shook hooves, and Dr. Stables was kindly shown out shortly after informing Twilight she’d gotten past the first part of employment.

Looking back at Twilight waving goodbye, he said to himself, “What a nice unicorn...” However, the image of the wet, sexy mare lingered in his mind. Shaking his head to clear the memory, he finished, “And somehow alluring... I’m gonna have a tough time when she puts on that uniform...”

Meanwhile, as Dr. Stables retreated to fill out the new-hire paperwork, Twilight returned to her room and greeted Spike. “Is everything alright?”

The dragon rolled his eyes and said, “Owlicious tried to carry your new book over to the shelves. Obviously, he didn’t make it.”

Twilight hovered the book from the ground while magically repairing a broken vase and said, “Well, if I’m going to be a nurse for a while, I’d better brush up on what I’ll be doing!”

As for the owl, he returned to his perch and asked, “Who?”

Twilight glanced at him and claimed, “Me!”

“Who?”

The piece of literature Twilight brought up after giggling at her pet’s questionings was a thick, thousand-paged medical informant that had more than enough references she wished to research. Upon seeing its thick size, Spike grunted and asked, “Is reading that thing really necessary, Twilight?”

Not even peering his way, the mare opened the book to page one and stated, “Yes.”

A few hours passed by, and Twilight was almost finished with her read. It was about five minutes to nine, Spike was already in bed, and the unicorn kept letting off an exhausted yawn with every page turned. Finally, the paperback cover shut and the book was returned to its place on the shelf. Twilight looked at the time, then smirked and confidently stated, “I could’ve totally kept going... but I’ve got a big day ahead of me, so I guess I’ll just relax and sleep... Spike?”

The dragon stirred awake momentarily and looked up to his friend. “Yeah...?”

Before speaking, Twilight gave yet another powerful yawn. “I’ll be gone all day tomorrow... So, be a good assistant and keep this place clean while I’m gone for me?” As the covers were magically pulled over her, Twilight resumed, “More than likely, I’ll be so busy with this new job of mine, I won’t find time to be around much anymore for a while, so you’ll be required to look after the library during my absence. Think you can do that for me?”

The slumbery being gave her a thumbs up and quickly fell back to sleep. Shortly after, Twilight did the same. All throughout the night, the stars up above shimmered brightly while the two slept peacefully. Twilight was more eager for the days to come than she thought. Dreams of her first experience in the medical working place played in her mind and almost seemed real. As for Spike, his dreams were filled with the usual: Ice cream, gems, crystals, and of course, Rarity.