It had been two months since I started at Canterlot Central, and everything had been going smoothly. I was hanging out with Celestia almost every other day after I finished my paperwork. It also seemed as if I had earned my place at the hospital. Everyone there didn't seem to care that I was human... It was probably White Cross. She may have scared all of the staff into submission.

Speaking of Cross, myself, her, and Sylvia had become close friends whenever we weren't working. Our relationship with Sylvia was a bit more complicated, however. She looked up to Cross and I as mentors and as friends. It's a weird mix, but it seemed to work out okay.

The sense of peace that I felt would not last, though. I knew that something was bound to happen, something always does. Little did I know, it would happen far sooner than I would have expected.

I was walking down one of the major streets of the city, I think it was Mane Street? I wan't paying attention at the time, I was more focused on getting to work. Carriages and different ponies, gryphons, and even a minotaur or two passed me on all sides. It was a really busy morning for everyone, it seemed. Along the way, I visited a favorite coffee shop of mine. Before I could open the door, however, something tore my attention away from the handle.

"LOOK OUT!" A voice shrieked behind me. There was a very loud screech, and then the sound of glass shattering, metal bending, and wood breaking erupted behind me. I spun on my heel to find a wooden carriage half-way inside the front of building opposite of the coffee shop.

From where I was standing, I could see that there was at least two ponies in the wreckage: one in the building, and the other partially under the carriage. "Oh my god..." I whispered to myself in pure shock. Sprinting towards the pony under the carriage, I found that she was unconscious. I quickly made my way to the front of the vehicle, put my back against the carriage and pushed back as hard as I could. The carriage wouldn't budge. "God dammit... COME ON!" I yelled at the carriage and to myself.

Suddenly, something bumped into the wooden mess and it rolled a few meters away. I looked to my sides to see two stallions standing there. They looked like they were headed to an important business meeting. Lucky them, I guess. "Thanks. Now go contact the guard, or anyone who can help! These ponies need help!" I ordered. The two ran off, and I grabbed the newly-freed mare and dragged her on to the road, where the rubble hadn't spread. After that, I quickly snatched the other stallion out of the rubble and placed him next to mare.

The first thing that caught my attention was the stallion. He groaned and raised his hand slightly. I quickly rushed over to his side. "What!? What is it!?" His finger extended and I followed it to the carriage. "The carr—?" and then it hit me.

"Fuck!" I dashed over to the carriage door and yanked on the handle. The door tore open and inside I found an unconscious unicorn stallion in a suit and top-hat, which had fallen off in the crash. He was bleeding severely from his forehead and his right arm was bent slightly at an odd angle. Sighing in frustration, I pulled him out and lay him with the other two.

Over all, the mare had the least injuries. It was just a few cuts and bruises, it seemed. The stallion from the carriage was the second worst, with a broken humerus and possibly a concussion. The last stallion was the worst, with a compound fracture on his left calf, and several deep lacerations on his body. Not to mention that he was conscious. Luckily, they all had clear airways and a pulse, and flail chest, tracheal deviation, penetrating injuries, or bruising didn't seem to be a problem either.

I took off my physician's coat and tore off the sleeves. Tearing the sleeves into two, I made them into makeshift bandages. Then, I approached the conscious stallion. "Hey, I'm gonna save your life. If you have any objections, don't groan," I said. I knew it was impossible for him not to groan. I mean, his leg was ripped open from the inside. Sure enough, the stallion continued groaning, and I made my way to his leg. I ripped his bloody pant leg open to get a good view of injury.

There they were, staring me right in the face: the stallion's tibia and fibula. Luckily, the bones weren't too far out, so I didn't need to reset them and waste time. This was going to suck for him either way. I folded one of the bandages several times to make gauze, then I applied the gauze to the wound. The stallion yelled in pain to this, but I ignored him. I took another bandage and started to wrap it around the leg, securing the gauze. Next, I ran back over to the wreckage and pulled out a few large and long pieces of wood. I brought the wood over and made sure that they would reach along the entirety of the stallion's leg. Taking two pieces, I placed them on either side of the broken leg, and attached them to his leg by tying bandages above the knee, below the knee, and below the fracture. I then placed my index and middle finger on the center of the top of his foot. There was a pulse, good. Then I groped his toes. "Can you feel this?"

"Y-yes... I can," he groaned.

"Alright, can you move your toes for me?" He did with a few pained grunts and I nodded in acceptance. I used more bandages to cover his other wounds and made sure he was okay. Once he was stabilized, I hurried over to the stallion from the carriage. He was still unconscious, and there was blood pouring from his forehead. Carefully, I felt around the wound to see if the skull had been fractured as well. I felt his head squish a little as I touched the area. I rolled my eyes. Of course it had to be fractured, he must have slammed his head against the wall in the crash. Taking more cloth from my coat, I twisted a long bandage around like a towel, and then formed about a third of the bandage into a ring, and then wrapped the rest of it around the ring to make a doughnut bandage. I placed the doughnut bandage carefully on top of the wound, making sure that the fractured part of the skull was in the center of the ring. I then quickly, but gently wrapped bandages around the stallion's head to secure the bandage and stop the bleeding.

Next was his arm. I grabbed another splint from the carriage and brought it back. It reached from his elbow to his shoulder, which was perfect. Using another two bandages, I secured the stick to his outer arm, making sure to tie the knots so that the were pressing against the stick and not his arm. Then I took my coat and ripped a large section of it off. I placed it under the broken arm and lifted it up and over the opposite shoulder to make a sling. For extra immobility, I took another bandage from my now destroyed coat and wrapped it around the arm and upper body, tying it on the rib cage.

As I finished, I got up and ran to the mare. I knelt down beside her and began to bandage her wounds. However, something was off. I stopped and looked at the mare. She was cream coloured and had a dark brown mane and tail. She was wearing what seemed to be a waitress' uniform, and her mane was spilled over the ground. She was also rather average body and breast wise. It looked so familiar to me for some reason, but I didn't have time to dwell on it. Other than those things, all that was left was that she was still...

"...shit!" She wasn't breathing! But she was breathing when I checked her before! Did something happen to her when I was focused on the other two!?

I checked her pulse again to find none! Opening her mouth, I looked to see if there was anything blocking her airway, but there was nothing. I then placed the palm of my hand on the center of her chest, made sure that my elbows were locked, and pressed down about two inches into her chest twice per second. I did this until I reached thirty compressions, then I placed one hand on her forehead and two fingers under her chin, and tilted her head back. Using the index finger and the thumb on the hand on her forehead, I pinched her nose closed. I placed my lips over hers, making sure to make an air-tight seal, and breathed twice, lasting no more than five seconds.

Then I repeated the compressions. And then the breaths again. Then the compressions. "Were the hell were the emergency crew!?" I angrily whispered to myself. I looked up into the street. There was a crowd of on-lookers, but no paramedics could be seen.

I looked back down and breathed into her lungs again. Then the compressions. Then breaths. Compressions. Breaths. Compressions. Breaths. Compressions. Breaths. Compressions. Breaths. Compressions. Breaths. Compressions. Breaths. Compressions. Breaths. Compressions. Breaths. Compressions. Breaths. Compressions. Breaths. Compressions. Breaths. Compressions. Breaths. Compressions. Breaths. Compressions. Breaths. Compressions. Breaths. Compressions. Breaths. Compressions. Breaths.

"Come on, Olivia!" I screamed with tears pouring from my eyes, as well as fear from my heart. "You can't leave me! I don't want to be suck in a world with stupid people and without you!"

I looked down at the young woman under my hands. She had cream coloured skin and brown hair, as well as hazel eyes. Her body was average, as well as her breast size. She was gorgeous by any man's standards.

"Come on! Come on!" I cried after giving her two breaths. "I'm sorry! I'm so sorry, Olivia! I knew what I said hurt you, but please, please live! I didn't mean any of them! I was angry! A-and I was being so stupid! Don't go! Don't leave me! PLEASE! I don't want to be alone!"

Something furry and red grabbed my wrist suddenly, and I tore my soaked eyes away from my friend and to the creature.

Cross looked at me with a very worried expression on her face, which was extremely rare. "...she's gone, Carter. It's already been more than two hours," she said softly.

I blinked a couple of times and realized that my eyes were tearing up, and that I was sweating bullets. Rubbing my eyes, I found myself in the emergency room at Canterlot Central, surrounded by patients and staff, all of which was staring right at me. Did I blank out? That memory of Olivia was really vivid. I turned back to White Cross, taking my hands off of the mare. "... I... Sorry, I don't—" I stuttered pathetically.

"Don't worry about it," she comforted me. "Take the day off. I'll cover for you. All that matters is that you tried."

"What about—?"

"The other two are in surgery right now. They'll be fine."

I opened my mouth to retort, to say that I was fine and that I could help, but nothing came out. After a few seconds, I looked down at my feet, stuck my hands in my pockets, and made my way out of the hospital. What the hell was wrong with me? Why did I blank out when I was trying to save a life?

*KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK*

I threw my blanket over my head and ignored the knocking at the door. I was too angry to speak to anyone, anyway. All that would go through my head was the thought that I could have saved her. I had the knowledge and will, but in the end I didn't. I couldn't. Why? What stopped her from living? Why couldn't I save her?

*KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK*

I covered my head with my pillow to block out the sound. I didn't want to see anyone or anything. I didn't deserve it. How could I call myself a doctor and not be able to save someone? Simple, I wasn't. I was still just a boy. That's why that mare and Olivia died. I was being immature.

*thud*

I barely picked up on a door closing in the distance. There was someone else in my apartment with me, but I didn't care who they were or what they were going to do. After about a minute, someone slipped into the bed with me, wrapped their arms around my mid-section, and nuzzled the inside of my neck. I only knew on person who could be this bold.

"I heard about what happened. Don't blame yourself," comforted Celestia in a gentle whisper.

"Who else is there to blame, Tia?" I asked while flipping over to return the embrace.

"No one's to blame, Carter. This was just an accident," she replied.

I bit my bottom lip. "That doesn't change the fact that I didn't save that mare," I whispered painfully. "How can I call myself a doctor when I can't even save a single mare?"

Tia pulled away from me and poked me in the nose. She then looked straight at me with those beautiful magenta eyes of hers. "You're not a god, you know. You can't expect to save everyone, nor will you be expected to." I flipped back over to my original position and Celestia retook hers. She was so soft... and warm. I couldn't look her in the eye anymore. I felt ashamed that she considered something like me her friend. "...something other than that mare is bothering you, right?" she asked.

I was reluctant to tell her the truth of the matter, the underlying cause of all of my guilt. "...she looked like an old friend of mine... who died in a similar way," I told her.

"Tell me about this friend," Tia ordered gently.

I sighed. "Then I might as well just tell you the story of why I became a doctor," I admitted. "Although, you might hate me afterwards... I know I hate myself whenever I think of her."

Tia hugged me tighter. "I swear on my title as Raiser of the Sun, that I will still be your friend, Carter. Now please, begin," she said.

I sighed again. This was going to suck. "...when I was younger, just about to go into university, I had a really good friend named... Olivia," I started. "She was gorgeous, and like I said earlier, she looked a lot like that mare. Brown, long hair, average body, and cream coloured skin. But the thing I really remember was her hazel eyes, always full of confidence and pride."

I swallowed. This was starting to get really hard to say. "One night, she was driving me somewhere, I can't remember where. Out of nowhere, she starts to say that I was wasting my life: that I wasn't doing anything with my excellent grades. I... I just snapped at her. I didn't want to be told what to do. I just wanted to relax for a bit until we got into the school that we wanted. Then, I would decide what to study."

"But... I didn't say that to her. Instead, I got offended and tore her apart. I said things that I'm ashamed to have used against her, things that she told me in complete confidence. When I was done, I just left her with no apology, and no time to let her respond. And... the next day..." I started to choke up. "I went to her h-house to see if we could make up... and..."

Tia guided me back over to face her and hugged me tightly. "You don't have to say it. I understand."

"I tried to r-resuscitate her, but it had b-been too long... I waited too long. I... I'm pathetic! I couldn't see past my own ego to see that my friend was worried about me!" Tears threatened to stream from my eyes.

"Your not pathetic. You're one of the greatest people I know," Celestia cooed. She nuzzled me and rubbed my back gently to calm me down.

When I did, I continued. "...A few days later, when everything I had done had set in... I... tried to take my own life as well." Tia gasped at this rather dramatically, which made me chuckle a bit. "But, as you can see and feel, I'm still very much alive. I made quite a lot of noise, you see, and someone came to investigate. When they found me hanging from the ceiling, they cut me down and called the paramedics." I reached for my throat at the word 'hanging' and Celestia's hand joined mine, grabbing it and bringing it down and around her.

"I awoke in a hospital bed, with a female doctor standing over me with a distasteful look. I asked her why she had saved me and that I wanted to die, and she slapped me, very hard I might add. She told me that she didn't save me so that she could get paid and I could throw my life away because someone I cared about died. She saved my life so that I could try again to be a better person than I was before. Those words stuck with me my entire life, and they shaped me into who I am. I took Olivia's life, but to atone I'll give people a second chance to be a good person," I explained.

Tia was quiet for a long time, but then she pulled away from me with a smile upon her face. "That a very respectable reason."

My eyes drifted towards the bed. "But, I don't know if I can still do it... I was given a second chance to save someone who looked like Olivia, and I failed. What if I was given another chance to save Olivia? Could I do it? Or would I just kill her again?"

"It wasn't you who killed her in the first place. That was her choice, not yours." I reflected upon her words, and found myself begrudgingly agreeing with them. I nuzzled back into her neck again for comfort. "I think you've been too hard on yourself and it's making you stressed. My birthday is a week from now, and I plan on going somewhere. I want you to come with me and relax. It will be fun, trust me."

I sighed. "I get the that even if I refuse, you'll get your guards to drag me along, anyways. So, I guess I accept. However, I don't know if they'll let me off of work. I've been getting a lot of days off as of late..."

I felt Tia's cheeks tighten into a smirk. "Just tell them it's a direct order from the princess and disobedience is not tolerated," she told me.

Sighing, I agreed. "Fine, I'll come."

There was a few minutes of silence and cuddling, before another question popped into my mind. "Say, how'd that carriage crash? And shouldn't there have been more ponies hurt since they're usually pulled along by two or more stallions?"

Tia hummed in delight. "I knew you'd ask that sooner or later. That carriage was apparently a new model that drives itself using magic. The rider just has to say the name of a destination." She explained. "However, it seems as if they need to recall them now."

Sometimes, I love having a sexy, smart, and bold princess as a friend.

Author's Note

Sorry for this chapter being a week late. I've been strapped for time as of late, and I don't think I'll get a break until the end of January. So, expect the following chapters to be late. Sorry for the inconvenience.

As usual, tell me if you see any spelling or grammatical mistakes. Constructive criticism is also welcomed.