The Nurse and the Bug

“So… ya just charged blindly… at a pack of vicious fucking… beasts.” Tender deadpanned. “Smart…”

Vector sighed. “I honestly didn’t care… I thought I would die anyway. Weather it be by a timberwolf or a pony. I… didn’t value my life at that moment.”

Tender brushed her hand sensually across Vector’s shoulder, but didn’t speak.

“I don’t even know if any of my clutch mates survived… I don’t even know if the queen survived.” He rubbed his face with his hands, before groaning and resting his head back against the pillow under him. “I may not even have a hive to return to.”

“Don’t think like that, Vector. Y-you shouldn’t make yourself feel bad about what happened. Be happy you lived. Be happy to know that there’s a chance others might have survived.”

Vector grunted. “Easy for you to say…”

“It might be, but it’s still true. You lived. Ivy might have lived too.”

Vector rolled away. “D-don’t tease me like that!” He yelled.

Tender was sure he was shedding tears from where she couldn’t see. She sighed and rubbed the changeling’s back in an attempt to comfort him. “I’m sorry, Vector… I don’t mean to upset you. But please, for your sake, don’t hate yourself for surviving. You’ll only upset the mare who healed your wounds and gave you a bed to sleep in.”

Vector shivered. “Thank you…”

Tender smiled. “But of course, I’m just doing my-”

“For everything. You saved my life when any other pony would have probably helped me bleed to death. You gave me a place to sleep. You gave me food, love, and compassion. You gave stern words when I was acting like an idiot and comforting words when I needed them… Thank you, Tender Hoof.”

Tender was at a loss for words. His words touched two parts of her, both pity and strong compassion for the changeling. It warmed her and chilled her at the same time, making her shiver. Her eyes began to tear up, before she threw herself at Vector and embraced the crippled stallion.

Vector stiffened at the feeling of the mare hugging him, but the feeling wasn’t at all unpleasant. He soon relaxed and let the embrace continue.

“You’re welcome… Always… My friend.” Tender whispered.

Vector’s chest knotted up. His emotions overflowed and he quickly rolled to face Tender, wrapping his arms around her and pressing his lips against her own.

Tender stiffened, her eyes going wide in surprise. Her mind went blank as a deep blush spread across her face. She was too stunned by the action to break away.

After a long moment, the changeling finally broke the kiss and looked at Tender. He instantly noticed her shock and his heart sank. “Umm… Tender?”

“Wh-why… did you kiss me?”

Vector looked away, blushing deeply in embarrassment. “I… I-I… I don’t… know. I… S-sorry…”

Tender let go of the stallion and sat down on the floor. Her expression still showed as shocked. Her heart pumped at an increased rate and her chest tingled all over. She found it a little hard to breath in her stunned state.

“Tender, I’m sorry. I-” He was cut off when Tender placed her finger over his lips.

“How do you feel about me?”

Vector lifted an eyebrow and pushed the mare’s hand away. “What?”

“How… do you feel about me?” Tender repeated. “What do you picture when you think of me?”

Vector was caught off guard by the question. He hadn’t ever thought about what he felt for Tender, besides thankfulness. But now that she had mentioned it, there was a feeling he couldn’t quite place. Admiration? No. It couldn’t be that. The only other thing he could think of was the one thing he assumed he had never felt before. “Longing…”

The one simple word made Tender’s mouth go dry. “Vector?”

The changeling snapped out of his thoughts and looked at her.

“Vector… Do you… Do you love me?”

Vector’s bottom lip quivered. “I-I don’t know! I’ve never felt like this before! I’m not even sure I know how to! We don’t get get taught to love!” He cried out in frustration.

Tender placed her finger over his lips again. “Shhh… It’s ok.” Her horn lit up as she cast a quick spell on him, making the stallion gently lul into a deep sleep with a spell. “Let the alcohol wear off. We’ll talk about this tomorrow.” She whispered as she levitated Vector to the room she gave him, along with his crutches, before retreating to her own room. After undressing, she collapsed onto her bed and slowly drifted off.

“Why in Tartarus did I do that!?” Vector yelled in frustration and hit his head against the fridge. He and Tender were standing in the kitchen, Vector on his crutches and Tender with a glass of orange juice.

“What? Kiss me? I don’t know. You tell me.”

“That’s the thing. I don’t know!”

Tender flinched. “Hay! Don’t yell at me just because you’re acting like the stallion you are!”

“I don’t know what else to do!” Vector yelled back. “I’m clueless about love, other than how to get it and how to consume it! That’s it!”

Tender groaned and rubbed her face. “It’s too damn early for this…”

Vector crossed his arms. “So what should I do about what I’m feeling?”

“What do you mean?”

Vector sighed. “I mean what should I do to keep that from happening again?”

Tender placed her glass down on the counter. “Easy. Quit drinking around me, or at least don’t do it as much.”

He sighed again. “Fi-”

“Or… Learn how to care about somepony. And the best place to start… would be with me.” Tender interrupted.

Vector looked her in the eye. “What do you…”

“I’m willing to give you a chance, Vector. I haven’t had a relationship for years. You would be an interesting change in scenery… considering you can change the scenery whenever you feel like it, but that’s not the point. I’m willing to break another law for you. So I can teach you how to love.” Tender explained. “I thought long and heard about it today. Well… at least I thought about it before you woke up.”

The changeling was frozen in place. His mind drew a perfect blank as he let what she had just said seep into the blank canvas. ‘A chance… To love…’ He thought, but aloud he asked. “Why?”

“Because…” Tender looked away. “I-I want to love you, but it would be wasted if you can’t love me back.”

“What if we get caught? They’ll kill me. Can you live with that, Tender?”

“No… No I can’t…” She replied in almost a whisper. “But I want it to be worth the pain. I want to be able to say that I truly loved the stallion they put to death. I want it to be worth it enough for me to want to curse my princesses for taking you from me. But to get there… I want you to work hard to learn how to be the loving stallion I see in you.”

Vector was speechless again. His jaw visually slackened and nearly dropped. Had she really just defied her rulers? For him? For his love? He was deeply touched by what she had suggested, but also very afraid of what would happen to them if they were caught. It scared him to be the one who left behind a broken heart. He would rather watch the one he loved die, knowing she wasn’t alone, than to leave her in pain for the rest of her life.

The stallion sighed and slowly nodded. “Ok… Ok… I… I’ll do it.”

Tender smiled.

“If you make me a promise.”

“What kind?”

“Never let me die first. I never want to see the one I love watch me die, only to live her life alone and in pain. I would rather it be me.”

Tender’s eyes teared up slightly, but she wiped them dry. She walked closer to him and wrapped her arms around his neck. “You earned this just for what you said.” She leaned in and gently kissed Vector, brushing her lips softly against his long fangs.

Vector closed his eyes and wrapped his arm around her waist, letting his crutch rest against his side as he enjoyed the mare’s soft lips. The love he tasted from her was so rich and sweet that it made him nearly drunk as it flowed into him. It made his heart throb hard against his chest and his breathing quicken.

Was this what it felt like to give love back? If so, he liked it, so much in fact, that he began to thirst for the feeling of giving it back. It made him feel so… complete.

Tender broke the kiss. It had only been a few seconds, but Vector looked like he had been gone for an eternity. She giggled at him. “Virgin, I take it?”

Vector lifted an eyebrow. “Is it that obvious?”

Tender giggled again. “There’s no shame in that. Not like you’re in any shape to be doing anything like that anyway, even if I was willing to do that yet. You still have a long way to go, tripod.”

Vector blushed. “Hay, quit calling me names.”

“Oh, let a mare have her fun.” Tender stuck out her tongue playfully.

Vector smiled. “Just wait till I heal. I’ll make you regret those words.”

Tender smiled back. “We’ll see about that, bug boy.”

“It’s not fair! I can’t call you any names!”

“Get over it.” Tender laughed, before leaning back in to kiss Vector again, but it was quick.

Vector blushed. “What was that one for?”

Tender looked up at him and blushed. “For making me laugh.”

“So I get a kiss every time I do something good?” Vector licked his lips. “I think I like that better than getting alcohol.”

“Yeah, well… Don’t get used to it. You’re gonna have to work harder for each one, at least until you give me a reason to love you.” Tender said in a teasing tone.

Vector pouted. “Will I get one every morning if I make you breakfast every morning?”

Tender idly circled her finger over his chest as a blush warmed her cheeks. “Mayyybe.”

“You’ve got yourself a cook. Oh… and um… I’m an omnivore. So… yeah… My body can’t handle just veggies and love. My body needs the carbohydrates and protein to rebuild my chitin.” He gestured to the gouge in his chitin where the flesh beneath had healed already.

“You want me… to buy you some sort of meat… You must be joking.”

Vector shook his head. “I need it.”

Tender Hoof groaned loudly. “You are so not easy to take care of. Do you know how weird I’m going to look when I go to buy meat? And the closest place to get any is Cloudsdale, thanks to the griffons and the few dragons that visit.”

“Please, Tender? I’ll give you a hoof rub.”

Tender’s ears perked up at the mention of a hoof rub. It had been a long time since anypony had even touched her hooves. She sighed and bit her lip. “Fine… Thirty minutes each hoof. After every trip I make to get it.”

“Thanks!” He let go of Tender. “Go sit down. I have breakfast covered.”

Tender blushed. “Umm… Y-you don’t have to do that. I-I’m already awake. I can take care of it.”

Vector leaned closer to Tender with a sly grin and half lidded eyes. “What are you going to do to stop me?”

The blush on the mare’s face deepened. “I-I’ll go get you a sirloin right now and cook it for you.”

Vector’s eyes widened. “You’re gonna… What?”

“I’ll go right now and buy you a sirloin if you’ll let me cook it for you.”

The crutches dropped from Vector’s grip and clattered to the floor. His mouth watered furiously. “A-are you sure? I-I mean, you’ve never dealt with meat.”

“Oh, please. I know enough about muscle and fat to know how long it will take to burn. How hard could it be?”

“Seasoning, prepping, making sure it cooked all the way through to keep me from eating raw meat. I do have standards, despite what ponies think of us.”

“Oh…” Tender looked away and rubbed her arm, an embarrassed blush on her face. “I, uh… didn’t think of that.”

“It’s fine, but do you still want to do this for me?”

Tender didn’t look at him, but nodded.

“Then I’ll do all the parts that involve the preparation. You do the actual cooking and whatever you’re eating.” Vector said. “That’s if you still want to cook at all.”

“No, I want to do it.”

“Alright… One sirloin.” The black griffon looked up to see Tender standing at his stand. He lifted an eyebrow. “For one pony…”

Tender scratched the back of her head nervously and nodded. She avoided the old griffon’s gaze.

“You alright, miss? Didn’t suddenly turn carnivorous, did ya?”

Tender shook her head. “I-it’s for my friend. He’s injured and I’m taking care of him.”

The old griffon sighed and stood from his seat behind the meat stand. “Alright. Give me a sec to package it for ya. Pretty sure a mare like yerself wouldn’t want to get blood all over ya fur.” He walked back into the magically cooled tent. He returned a moment later with a thick strip of bloody meat inside of a tightly sealed package.

The blood covered sirloin made Tender cringe, but she dropped the bits onto the stand anyway.

The griffon shook his head and handed over the meat. “I can’t believe I just sold a sirloin to a pony… This don’t make no sense, but here ya go anyway. Not gonna say no to the right amout a money.”

Tender took the sirloin from him and tried not to drop it out of shock when it squished slightly in her grip. “Th-thanks.”

The griffon gave her one last funny look, before shaking his head again. “No problem…”

Tender left quickly, trying to avoid all of the looks she received.

Walking back to the cloudsdale train station was a nightmare. The way it was set up is that and urban section of the town was sustained by clouds and housed many pegsi and griffons. But the market and other such shops were built at ground level beneath the floating city, allowing unicorns and earth ponies to buy and sell to the locals.

There were so many ponies and griffons walking to and from it that Tender had accidentally slapped three ponies in the face with the sirloin she was carrying on the way to the station. It was even worse when she got to the station itself.

The security had said she looked like a suspicious character and apprehended her to inspect the sirloin, constantly saying it was a chopped up piece of pony. The search, of course, turned up negative and she was released with the sirloin still in tact. To make up for their mistake though, the security gave her a free ticket for a first class ride back to Ponyville.

Tender sighed and looked out the window of the seat she at. The train had long since started its journey and she was running the situation again and again through her head. Though, thankfully, she didn't have to do that while holding the sirloin. The attendant had placed it in the ice cold wine cooler before she had taken her seat.

As she watched the fields pass by her viewpoint from the window, Tender's thoughts slowly drifted to Vector. She had heard pretty much his whole story while she was taking care of him. It gave her a reason to take pity on him, though she didn't let him know that. There was also something about him that would never fail to tug at her heart. Maybe it was just her emotions toward a sick patient, but it still felt different.

She had told him that she had wanted to love him, but did she really?

Little did she know... Vector was having those same problems.

As the crippled changeling lied on the couch, board out of his mind, his thoughts constantly drifted toward Tender. He couldn’t even feel her love and he still couldn’t stop thinking about her. Not even watching his new favorite tv show could even stray him from it.

Vector tried to brush it off as simple gratitude for her helping him and even exposing that she cared for him as a potential interest, but he couldn’t be falling for her too, could he?

“No… That can’t be right… I was taught to hate them my whole life. How could I fall for a pony?” Vector asked himself as he gazed up at the ceiling. “Maybe it’s just… No… That can’t be it either… Gah! This is so frustrating! I hate emotions!”

He threw the remote to the tv across the room, but caught it with his magic before it hit the wall. He brought it back over to himself and clicked the tv off. “I’m sick of sitting around… I wish these damn injuries would heal up.”

The door opening snapped Vector away from his thoughts as Tender walked inside with a thick package held in her magic. The smell of raw meat surged into Vector’s sensitive nostrils, making his mouth water. He quickly sat up and stared at it as Tender brought it to the kitchen.

“This better be worth it, Vector. I got tackled by security on the way to the train station from Cloudsdale.”

Vector cringed. “Heh…  Sorry.”

Tender sighed as she placed the sirloin in the fridge. “It’s fine… At least they’ll know me the next time I go.”

Vector pulled himself up from the couch and grabbed his crutches. Using his crutches to pull himself up, he stood and made his way to the kitchen to find Tender washing her hands. He walked up to her and wrapped his arms around her midsection. “Really, Tender. I’m sorry I keep putting you into situations like this. If I wasn’t crippled for the time, I would have done it myself.”

Tender sighed and leaned back against the changeling, luckily Vector was leaning on his crutches or her weight would have made him fall. “Why is it so hard to take care of you? I haven’t had this much stress since taking nursing in college.”

Vector nuzzled into her neck. “I promise I’ll make it up to you when I can walk properly again.”

“I got you a big enough sirloin to last you a few days if you section it out. I think it would last you a weeks worth of dinners.” Tender said. She pulled her hands out of the sink and shook the water from them, before shutting off the faucet.

“Thanks.” Vector kissed her neck. “I want to make it for myself. I keep putting you through enough. In fact, I’ll help you with everything else too.”

Tender shivered from the kiss on her neck. “B-but…”

“If you refuse my help, I’ll stick you to the couch with a binding spell and cook the whole meal myself.”

She blushed. “Y-you wouldn’t.”

Vector smiled. “Try me.”

“You are evil, you know that?”

“So I’ve been told.”

Tender crossed her arms. “Then wash your hands and pull your meat out.”

Vector laughed. “I don’t think you would want me to do that.”

Tender blushed. “Y-you know what I mean!”

Vector only laughed harder.

“By the way...” She shoved herself back against Vector, knocking him off his crutches. The changeling cried out as he stumbled and fell onto his rear. The crutches clattered to the floor next to him. “Kiss me again without my permission, and I’ll toss your sirloin in the trash.” Tender said with a sly smile.

Vector groaned. “If only you knew how hard it was to deal with you as well.” He picked up his crutches and, with a little struggling, picked himself back up onto his hooves. “Can’t believe you knocked a cripple onto his ass. Have you no shame?”

“Only on weekends.” Tender replied as she moved out of the way of the sink and made her way toward the fridge to gather her dinner. She didn’t bother to touch the meat, knowing Vector was going to take care of it instead.

“Wow… You’re the one who’s evil.”

“So I’ve been told.”

Vector winced in pain, whimpering slightly as he watched as Tender slowly bent his knee. She had said that the fracture hadn’t gone far from the knee, so moving it would be quite painful for a time. She had bent it already three times and Vector was ready to snatch it away from her and curl up into a ball.

He was laying in his bed with Tender standing at the foot of it. She had recently gotten her job back, so her medical resources were replenished.

“Oh, be quiet, you big foal. I’ve dealt with this before and this has to be done to loosen the muscles and to make sure the bone isn’t pinching the tendons. I brought some pain medication from work and I’ll give you some if you be good.”

The changeling grit his teeth and dug his claws into his bed, but otherwise didn’t fight. Though, he did grow at her loudly every time he felt his knee pop. “Y-you’re… t-torturing me, woman!”

“Not the first time I’ve heard that.” Tender placed his leg gently back down on the bed and rubbed her fingers across the bruise where she knew fracture was. Something felt out of place. She groaned loudly. “Vector… Whatever you do, don’t move. The fracture is healing wrong.”

“Wait… Wha- Ahhhhhhhhh! Fuck!” Vector cried out in pain when Tender suddenly snapped the bone back into place.

Tender snached her hands away. “Sorry. Would have been more painful if you were expecting it.”

Vector resisted the urge to strike her and focused on rubbing his broken leg. “G-gods dammit, Tender… I’m starting to think you enjoy hurting me. First knocking me off my crutches, then needles, then you rearrange my leg bones.”

Tender closed her eyes and shook her head. “Oh, you are such a little mare.” She opened her eyes, only to see a yellow pegasus mare with a pink mane sitting in Vector’s place. She blushed and hid her face behind her mane.

“P-p-please don’t hurt me….” She said in a shy voice.

Tender was stunned for a moment to see Fluttershy, but shook it off quickly, having reminded herself that Vector was a changeling. She sighed. “Don’t do that, Vector.”

The changeling Fluttershy giggled. “What’s wrong? Can’t take a joke?” Vector asked as he changed back to his normal form.

Tender shook her head and used her magic to quickly and gently wrap his leg back in a cast. “You are so bipolar…” She got up and walked away, heading for the door.

“W-wait… Tender…”

Tender stopped and turned to look back at the changeling.

“I want to know… What does it feel like when you love somepony?”

Tender was caught off guard by the question. She attempted to shrug it off, but his pleading eyes made it hard. “W-well, I… Its… hard to… explain. Its different for some ponies. Some its an explosive feeling, like fireworks in their heart and… others its just… gradual, but…” She looked away. “But… How can you love somepony that you don’t know if you can fully trust? Like you want to, but something holds you back…”

Vector wiped his eyes, cleaning a stray tear out of one before Tender could see it. “What if… What if we could change that?”

Tender looked back up at him, her eyes wide. “But Vector, I-”

“I’m not looking for an excuse.” He interrupted. “I’m asking what you would do if we could change that.”

“I… I don’t know…” Tender admitted.

“Do you want to find out?”

The thought of it ran through Tender’s head many times, but before she could respond, her hooves began carrying her out of the room. “I’m sorry…” Was all she could get out before she left the room.

Later that day, Tender left the house, leaving Vector alone with a half a bottle of cider. It probably wasn’t a great idea, but she didn’t care. She quickly made her way toward Ponyville.

The little town was busy with work as usual. It was a farming town after all. Ponies walked to and from various homes and shops to store and purchase various items. One wouldn’t even think for a second that there was a whole castle built right where the library once was until they looked up at the massive structure or that there was more crazy situations that happened around the cozy town until you lived there for a year.

But Tender didn’t pay any attention to any of that. She was too lost in the thoughts of the changeling that was stuck in her care.

The truth was that she did love him. A lot. And she knew that he could feel it every second of every day she was around him. She only wished she could feel his. If his stories taught her anything, it was that he was taught not to be trustworthy of ponies. Everything he was doing could all be a trap, but something in her heart didn’t want to believe that.

Tender suddenly felt herself run into something big and sturdy. The impact knocked her over. She shook her head and looked up angrily at whatever it was she hit, but her gaze softened when she looked up at the shy look of a big, red stallion with green eyes. “Oh… Hay, Mac.”

Big Mac nodded. He reached down with his large hand and lifted Tender by her arm, setting her back onto her hooves.

“Thanks. Sorry about that.”

“No need for that, miss Hoof.” He replied politely in his deep voice.

Tender blushed. “Heh, you’re sweet.”

Mac smiled. “Don’t let Cheerilee hear you say that to me.”

Tender returned the smile, but it slowly faded and she looked down at her hooves.

“Somethin’ wrong?”

She sighed. “Mac… I don’t know what to do. I… I think I’m in love with my friend, but… I’m not sure if I can trust him to be faithful. But I can’t get him out of my head.”

Mac sighed and crossed his muscular arms. He was used to mares coming to him with their problems because he would listen, but he never expected to hear it from the mare he had told all of his problems to when he had hurt himself applebucking and was left in her care.

“What should I do? I mean, I think he loves me too, but I don’t know for sure.”

“Test him.” Mac replied simply.

“With what?”

Mac shook his head. “That’s for you to figure out.”

Tender rolled her eyes. “C’mon… You got Cheerilee to fall in love with you, why can’t you help me?”

Mac rolled his eyes. “Mah sister and her friends love poisoned us.”

“Oh… So… test him, huh? Alright. I’ll see what I can do. Thanks, Mac.” Tender said, before walking around Mac as she made her way toward the Ponyville hospital.

The big stallion watched her leave and sighed. “Eyup… She’s lost as pear in an apple orchard.”

Vector, as always, was sprawled out on the couch. The only difference was that the tv was off and was just lying there staring at the ceiling. His thoughts drifted about lazily in his head as he reflected on his memories.

First it started as worry for his hive again, then it was boredom and thinking about random things, then there was a point where his mind drifted to Tender. He had been thinking about her a lot and it was starting to bother him. If he could feel so much love pouring out of her and into him, then why won’t she let him love back?

What had happened earlier wasn’t the first time. It had happened pretty much the same way every time, but this was the first time she had left the house after he had asked her. He didn’t know how to akt, so he would stay quiet until Tender calmed, but she wasn’t around.

Vector was once again lost.

“Mares are so fucking complicated… There’s gotta be a way to break the ice.”

Vector rummaged through his hind for an answer, but only succeeded in giving himself a stress headache. He sighed and decided to relax the best he could. He was still so distracted by his thoughts that he didn’t even realize that he had drifted off to sleep.