The Nurse and the Bug

“Ahhhh! F-fuck! My leg!” A male changeling cried in pain as he tripped over a protruded tree root in the dense forest. With tears of pain in his eyes, he quickly glanced behind him to see if they were still pursuing him, but finding nothing but shady trees and fallen leaves. Not taking any chances, the changeling picked himself up off the forest floor and limped as far as he could go. A constant sharp pain in his leg told him it was broken. The pain limited his movement greatly.

He was suddenly sent sprawling again by one of the many Timberwolves pursuing him, before being pinned to the earth beneath a massive paw.

The Timberwolf that had trapped him growled, showing a row of sharp teeth as he looked upon his food for tonight. The beast sent a clawed swipe across the changeling abdomen, causing him to wail in pain. Just before the wolf could finish the job, the changeling knocked it away with a blast of magic, the explosion momentarily stunning the rest of the pack.

Scrambling to his hooves, the changeling took off, leaving a large bloody trail in his wake.

He ran for what felt to him like hours, but he didn’t trust his mind at the moment. He was losing blood fast and he was beginning to feel cold and numb. He feared it wouldn’t be long before the wolves caught back up with him to finish the job. Already he could hear their howling, or was that just his clouded mind playing tricks on him? Either way he wouldn’t survive without help. His wounds were deep and gushing blood every time he moved.

The changeling stumbled over his own hoof and collapsed on his hands and knees. He gasped for breath and tried to to push himself to his hooves again, but he was too weak. Defeated, he fell to his side and let the cold darkness slowly sweep him into unconsciousness.

“Tender Hoof. How many times have I told you not to overdo it? This makes the twelfth overtime this month. You’re supposed to be home by now. What would your husband think if you had one?” A pearl white earth pony mare in a nurse uniform complained. Her mane was a deep pink and tied into a bun, while her tail hung loose. She and another mare sat in the head nurse’s office with the white mare behind the desk.

“Pfffft. Oh, come off it, Red Heart. Let me work as long as I want. The patients love it when I look after them.” A bright blue unicorn mare shot back. Her mane was straight and black, but cut short just above her jaw line. Her tail was just as straight and black, but it was left to grow almost long enough to drag the floor.

“Ugh... You’re not taking the other nurses into consideration. When you do this, you take jobs away from them.”

Tender Hoof crossed her arms. “But I like what I do.”

Red Heart sighed and looked down at her desk. “I understand that, Tender Hoof. That’s why I’m going to kick myself for what I’m about to do.”

Tender Hoof gasped. "You aren't thinking-?!

“I’m laying you off for a month, Tender. Maybe longer.” Red Heart stated. She pulled out an envelope and placed it on the desk in front of Tender. “That’s this months pay, plus your overtime. I’m sorry, but your coworkers are forcing my hand.”

Tender Hoof took the envelope without looking at it, or even seeming to acknowledge its existence. Her expression was one of both disbelief and anger. "So... This is all you can do, huh?" She said in a monotone.

Red Heart didn’t meet Tender’s gaze. “Please don’t be angry with me. It’s not what I wanted to do, but the company didn’t give me a choice. Just be glad its only a month or so. They could have made me fire you.

Tender Hoof scowled. "Firing someone for doing more work than they should? Sounds  legitimate."

“It wasn’t my call. The company kept getting complaints about lack of work and pay, so they made me lay off the pony that worked the most. I really don’t want to do this, Tender, but I have a family to feed and I can’t afford to be fired because I didn’t do this.”

Tender flinched slightly at Red mentioning her family. "Well... I guess it's fair... You’re right, of course. You need to feed your family."

“I’m sorry. Really I am. But… I-I have to… ask you to… l-leave.” Red Heart struggled to say past a guilty and regretful lump in her throat. She tried hard to keep herself from letting tears flow, because she knew the company was going to make her keep Tender out of work longer than they told her.

Tender sighed. “If that’s what you have all decided… Then I will.”

“I-I’ll have somepony escort you out.”

"No need. I do... well, did work here. I know where the door is."

“You have a half hour to say your goodbyes to the nurses that you know damn well didn’t complain about your overtime.”

"What... Like all two of them?" Tender said harshly.

“S-seven, actually.” Red Heart corrected.

“Please tell me you were one of them…”

Red Heart slowly nodded.

“Alright. Thanks…” Tender Hoof replied before turning and walking away.

Once Tender had gone, Red Heart slammed her head down on her desk, knocking over picture frames and a cup full of pens. “What have I let happen?”

Tender didn’t even bother with talking to any of the other faculty. In fact, she didn’t even look at them. She didn’t want to look and see a smug little grin on their face. But at least whatever she would have done, they were in a hospital. She quickly made for the front entrance of the building and threw it open with her magic as she stormed out into the afternoon air.

She took a deep, calming breath of fresh air. “It’s only for a month. I made enough overtime to last me two. It’ll be fine, Tender. You’ll be back to work in no time.” She tried to further calm herself, though it didn’t help much. She worried about the patients that she helped every day and wondered if the other nurses could care for them as she does.

Tender sighed and shook off her thoughts. She shouldn’t think of it as being laid off. It should be thought of as a… a vacation. Or a break. Yeah, that’s it. A break from working so much. She deserved it after all. Tender smiled at that and began her walk home.

Tender Hoof didn’t exactly live in Ponyville. She liked the little town, but her home had been destroyed once before when she did live there. She still had nightmares of Ursan bears every once in a while. She decided to live in a little home near the far corner of the Everfree clearing. It was just close enough to hear a few of the animals that lived there, but far away enough to where she never spotted any.

She also liked the farm lands out that way, finding that many of the farmers were very kind and friendly toward her.

As Tender walked down the dirt path way to her home, she saw one of the many farmers that lived along it and waved to him. “Hi, Plow! How’s business today!?” She called to him.

The sturdy built brown earth pony looked up from his plow and smiled, waving back. “It’s doin’ swell, miss Hoof!”

“That’s great to hear! I’ll be expecting some of your carrots at the market next week then!”

“Sure thing, miss Hoof! Yall be careful now! Mah wife done heard a lot of commotion from that there creepy forest ya live by! Wouldn’t want anythin’ tah happen to ya!” Plow warned.

“I’ll be careful! Tell Ginger Root I said hi!”

“Will do! Thank ya!”

With that, Tender continued on her way. ‘Why would there be anything in this part of the forest?’ She thought to herself as she approached her home.

Tender’s house was a little two bedroom home with enough room for a small family. When she had first found it, the wood had rotted, the roof had caved in, and the windows were all but shattered completely. Since then, it had been repaired and restored to a cozy little home for one with a full kitchen and a working bathroom. It was less than what she could afford with her income, but she liked things simple. She normally ended up donating a good portion of her earnings anyway.

She pulled out her key when she approached the door and unlocked it before going inside. She flipped on the light switch and illuminated her living room.

The living room was pretty simple. A soft couch. A coffee table set in front of that with a small fish bowl on top of that. The dormant hearth of a wide fireplace protruded from the wall to the left of the couch. A small TV sat on an entertainment stand opposite of the couch.

Tender sighed and collapsed onto the couch on her back. She unbuttoned her nurse uniform and slipped out of it, knocking her cap off of her head as well.

Once the uniform had been removed, it was easy to see how well her body curved through her thin short sleeve shirt and her short shorts. Her legs were slender, but strong from her being on her hooves for most of her work days.

Her horn lit up with a blue light and a moment later a glass of apple cider floated toward her from the kitchen. She grabbed it out of the air and took a sip, enjoying the slight burn as the alcohol flowed down her throat.

“At least she paid me…” Tender said to herself. She pulled the envelope from her discarded uniform and ripped it open. She had just taken another sip of sider when she read how much she had been paid.

Right there. On the very bottom on the unfolded paper. Stapled to it. Was a white check. It read in clear, bold letters 8,000 bits.

Tender choked on her cider and ended up spitting it out on the back of the couch, but she didn’t care. She immediately read over it again. “Holly mother of Celestia! There is no way I worked enough overtime for an extra three grand!”

The mare set the paper down on the coffee table and stood from the couch. She began pacing back and forth. “Red Heart could get fired over this… Why did she do this?” She stopped, her eyes wide. “Unless she knew the company was going to lay me off longer…”

Tender ran her hand through her mane as she stressed over the situation. “I… I need some fresh air.” She quickly made for her back door and stepped out into the cool air, before sitting down on her porch step. The thoughts of what might happen while she was gone ran through her mind. “You sly bitch. You risked your job over me again… I’m sorry, Red… I’m so stupid.”

Something moving in the woods broke Tender away from her thoughts. Her ears perked up as the sound of rustling leaves reached them. She scanned the forest wall, but found nothing.

“May… maybe I’m just paranoid… This whole thing is screwing with my-” Tender stopped when she heard it again, but closer this time. She looked frantically back and forth through the trees, until a shadow caught her eye. It was small for something from the Everfree, about only as tall as a pony and it seemed to be limping.

Tender didn’t move and slowed her breathing as she watched it move, for fear of it being a trick; bait for a silly snack as herself. It wasn’t until she watched it stumble and fall, did she even make a sound. Tender gasped and sprinted for the forest wall, pushing past the brush to get to whatever had fallen.

She soon had her answer when she approached the body.

It was a stallion, but not one like she had ever seen. He was dressed in badly torn clothing that looked to have once been a black t-shirt and a pair of cargo shorts.

His entire body was covered in a hard, black, chitinous substance that made him look like a bug. His horn was crooked and filled with holes, but his face held a young, strong, and handsome look to it. His arms and legs, like his horn, were filled with holes from his hooves and hands to his knees and elbows. On his back were two thin wings, also like a bugs, and filled with holes as well. His mane and tail were a light green, almost an aqua marine.

He appeared to be unconscious.

It took her a moment to register in her brain that this… creature had collapsed from something. Tender knelt down at his side and placed her two fingers over his jugular. There was a pulse, but it was weak. She gently rolled him over onto his back to look his body over for any injuries, soon coming across a deep slash across his abdomen. It came down at a diagonal angle from his right shoulder to his left hip and his entire front was covered in a thin layer of blood.

Tender gasped. “Wh-what happened to you?” She quickly took off her shirt and ripped off a piece of it to hold against the wound, using the rest to wrap around his midsection to stop the bleeding. She then hooked her arms under the stallion’s shoulders and began dragging him toward her home.

The weight of the creature made Tender struggle, but she fought through it, dragging him up her porch steps, and into her home. She quickly made for her couch and lifted the creature up onto it, placing his head gently onto a pillow. She then ran off to her room, wasting no time to begin looking through her small personal library of healing spells. Pulling out one for large wounds, she made her way back to the creature and sat down on her coffee table next to him.

Tender opened the book and quickly flipped through the pages until she found what she was looking for. She set the book aside and pulled the makeshift bandage out of the way as she looked back to the book and recited the spell in her head. Her horn lit up brightly as she cast the spell on the creature’s body. She watched patiently as the flesh slowly stitched itself back together, but the chitin remained damaged.

She gently touched the gouged amorous shell. “Why didn’t this heal?” Tender whispered to herself. She looked back to the book and flipped through the entire one hundred and fifty pages, but didn’t find anything about healing thitin. “That’s weird…”

Tenders at back down on the coffee table and looked at the stallion worriedly. She desperately hoped what she did would be enough. All she could do now is wait.