How to Heal a Redheart

by PinoyPony

Rating: everyone
Tags: Slice of Life, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Sad, Nurse Redheart
Length: 2212

For Redheart, working at the hospital seems to be an everyday task. It's until one night that she realizes that she plays a huge role in the lives of her patients

Redheart used to love learning and working as a Nurse at the Ponyville's hospital. But, over the course of many years, her life has grown mundane. She has fallen into routine, and doesn't realize her importance in other's lives.

In one short night, she comes to realize the impact she makes in every patient's life...

A short story of the importance of Gratitude

Thanks to zlack3r for the art

Published 2016-01-02 04:40:01 UTC
Last updated 2016-01-02 04:40:01 UTC

Gratitude

“Nurse, did you hear me?” Doctor Strongheart poked the Nurse’s shoulder “Hello, Equestria to Redheart?”

“Hmm… What?” Nurse Redheart sprung up like a jack-in-the-box

“I was just asking what you were planning to do for Winter Wrap Up.” The Doctor asked.

“Oh, I’m planning to help Fluttershy awaken the animals for spring… that’s my favorite job” Redheart answered with a yawn.

Doctor Strongheart raised an eyebrow “Are you okay, Redheart? Is there anything wrong?”

“Yeah, I’m fine, I’m just… tired that’s all” Nurse Redheart rubbed her baggy eyes.

“Tired is right! If I can remember correctly, you have been up here at the hospital for the last 3 days, straight” Doctor Strongheart said. He got an idea “Hey, you know what? Go home and get some rest, we can cover for ya”

“Thanks for the offer doctor, but I must decline,” Redheart said.

“Nonsense Nurse! You need some rest! Go home and get to bed!”

Nurse Redheart hopped out of her chair and whipped up a quick excuse. “I’ll need to take care of the colt on the 3rd floor,” She mounted her saddlebags “See ya later Doctor”

Doctor Strongheart said “Okay, go take care of whatever you need to do, but you must promise to go home and get some shut-eye,”

Nurse Redheart was about to give the Stallion some more reassurance that she was fine. But she couldn’t think of any clever comeback. He was right, her mind wasn't in any state to do her job, let alone come up with fancy comebacks. She needed to recharge her batteries. After managing a “Fine then”, she exited the room and headed for her next job.

The secretary tapped the nurse’s security card with her magic and said “There ya go, Nurse Redheart, enjoy the rest of your evening”

“Thanks,” Nurse Redheart grasped her access card and stuffed it into her pack. “You guys sure you’ll be fine while I'm gone?”

“Oh, don’t fret darling! Besides, you’ve earned yourself a good long rest!” The Secretary replied before rolling in her swivel chair playfully toward the ponies coming in. “Hello, how are you today?” She asked customarily.

“Good,” The Stallion answered “We would like to see our son, Steep Slopes”

The secretary scoured her files, looking for the specified colt.

While the Secretary was busy, Nurse Redheart Interjected “Upstairs, 3rd Floor, Take a Left. It’s about two doors down from the end of the hallway”

The Mare and the Stallion stared at Redheart blankly.

“I checked up on him a few minutes ago... I’m his Nurse” She clarified.

“Uhm… Thanks, miss,” The Mare said. They trotted over to the elevator and waited for their turn.

Redheart caught a glimpse of toys, flowers and treats peeking out of the top of their saddlebags. The parents were trying to smuggle into the hospital for their colt, but obviously didn’t do a good job of it.

It was horribly irresponsible of her not to catch something like that. But they were a nice family with good intentions, she didn’t want to be that wet-blanket that ruined their day (or evening, technically). Besides, she was off-duty now, it wasn’t her problem at the moment.

“My, you’ve been in here for way too long,” The secretary observed, organizing the files she pulled out. She tucked them back into the cabinet.

“I’ve known this place since I was a little filly, it’s like a second home.” Redheart explained.

“So…” The Secretary leaned over her desk “Tell me, what happened to this colt?”

“Against new code. Medical practitioners aren’t supposed to mention confidential information about their patients outside the hospital” Redheart smirked.

“Oh, don’t give me that, Redheart!” The Secretary waved her hoof, dismissing the Nurse’s ‘by-the-book’ excuse. “Besides, we are still in the hospital…”

Redheart rolled her eyes “Steep Slopes is in for minor fractures to his left Radius and Ulna, due to sledding accident on Ponyville’s steepest hills,”

“You know you could’ve just said he broke his left hoof in a sledding accident,” The Secretary swiveled back to her notes, recording the arrival of the parents. “Have a good night’s rest Nurse, your brain is fried”

“Whatever” Redheart said while trotting out. She exited out the hospital doors and into the cool night. The Nurse muttered something to herself saying “It’s nice to see ponies caring for each other, especially family and friends” Those two ponies were extremely nice bringing a thick sack of loot to spoil their little colt with.

She smiled briefly, before a gust of icy wind reminded her of the current state that Equestria was in. Shivering, she pulled a hoodie from her saddlebags. Hastily slipping it on, she shivered again as the cold fabric touched her coat.

She began her short trek into town, marveling at her surroundings. It seemed as if Equestria was dead.

Typically, like the leaves, the energy of life starts to fade. Everything becomes more sluggish and mirthless during the winter. Ponies usually didn’t come out as often as they did when the blazing sun arose.

That, and walking through Ponyville in the middle of the night, everything around her seemed to be void of color and life.

The only thing that noted that this place was still populated was the silent trickle of fountain in the plazas. The water had a spell on it to never freeze, so ponies can enjoy the beauty of the fountain year-round.

As she looked upon the small fountain, she spotted the moon casting its silver gaze on the ever-blue water. The nurse looked up at the moon and smiled thankfully “Thank you Luna, your night is beautiful”

It was best to thank the younger princess, since a simple thank you was the only thing missing from Luna’s life. It was because nopony bothered to thank the princess, that Luna began her slow descent into the terrible Nightmare Moon.

She continued along, hoping that Luna’s shift would be better one.

Alas, Redheart came to a familiar cottage. She pulled out a set of Keys and unlocked the door. Stepping into the cold abode, her hoof steps echoed across the walls. The Hardwood mimicked the cold of the outside, and it was hard for her to continue on… but it was her home.

Redheart trotted across the sea of the cold hardwood floor, and into the dining room. Lifting her saddlebags up, she dumped a thin stack of paperwork onto the table. This was paperwork she ‘borrowed’ from the hospital.

Even if everypony didn’t allow her to work at the hospital, she still snuck work with her back home. Her home is where no nagging doctor or secretary could bother her.

Looking over the papers, she caught herself a couple of times dozing off. She shook it off a couple times, only for it to creep back in.

That was the last straw… it was time to nip this lethargy in the bud. But the Nurse wasn’t just going to use any old stimulant…. She was going to use the most powerful medicine known to Ponykind!

She skipped over to the kitchen and opened the freezer. The contents of the Freezer was chock-full of cartons and tubs… which only could mean one thing: Ice-cream! She pulled out a tub and a big spoon and sat down at a small table, resuming the tedious paperwork.

It might’ve been a little weird for a pony to be eating a cold treat in the middle of winter. A cup of Cocoa would’ve done better. But, the Nurse seemed to prefer Ice-Cream over anything else.

Ice-cream was amazing. Best treat that no pony would turn down without a darn good reason. The Hospital served it sparingly, but that didn’t stop the Nurse’s transformation into an Ice-cream-aholic. Not only did it come in multiple flavors a pony could conceive as tasty, but it possessed mysterious powers.

It could make any time fun, no matter how grueling the task. It could lift the spirits of anypony and act as a powerful motivation tool. But, the most common use for it was numbing emotional pain… at least temporarily.

Now she could concentrate! All she needed was a tub of Rocky road and a ‘generous’ amount of Fudge! If only the hospital had such a dish, then she could stay for weeks on end!

The first few papers were easy to get through… just a few signatures and organization, and it would be ready for Hospital filing!

Then… Redheart came across an envelope. In haphazard, yet readable hoof-writing, it was marked “To the best Nurse!” The ‘r’ in Nurse was backwards. Judging from the vibrant crayon writing, she concluded this was from the colt on the 3rd floor.

Suddenly, the Ice cream, which was once sweet, turned sour in her mouth. Distastefully, she hauled the super-size tub back to the freezer.

“That’s enough of that… I need to stop,” She closed the freezer door and searched for anything remotely interesting.

How disappointing… her home was relatively empty. She didn’t bother getting some furniture to spruce it up. All she needed was a freezer, table and chairs, ice cream, hygiene items, a mattress, a couple of blankets, and a couple of pillows. Nothing more, nothing less.

Besides, this house was empty for most of the day, it’s not like it was going to use it often anyway.

She was half-tempted to open up her gently used home for rent. She needed a lot of money to pay off her student loans, after all. But first things first, she needed to find a responsible pony who will respect her property.

Just another problem… probably one that she would address and ignore at a later date.

With a swish and a flick of the pen, she finished up the last paper. She decided it was best to get some sleep. It would be good for her colleagues, and quite frankly… herself.

Eagerly, she combed through her closet and slipped on a comfy set of red and white socks. She climbed into bed and struggled for warmth in the cold night. “Goodnight… nopony” she said, turning off the lights.

Two o’clock AM, and the nurse got no sleep whatsoever. Her body was tired, but for some strange reason, her thoughts were still racing.

She tried to null this insomnia with a couple more quarts of ice cream. But still, her ADHD mind wouldn’t shut up.

She sat down at the table, quadruple checking the paperwork, making sure everything was in order. The Envelope caught her eye again. This was the 6th time that she passed on reading it.

As much as she enjoyed making her patients feel at home, it wasn’t right of her to get into their personal lives. A simple smile and ‘how’s it going?’ was all that was needed. Nothing more, nothing less. Besides, that was all she really needed to do… administer to their needs and fake a smile.

But, for some strange reason, this letter, captivated her attention. She didn’t know what was it about it, maybe the scritchy-scratchy writing… or the obvious grammar and spelling issues?

She rolled her eyes and opened the letter.

Dear Miss Nurse,

How ar yu? Did you like Hearth’s Warming Eve?

I got a nu sled, what about yu?

I like how yu smil all the time. Yu are really very nice, and I hop other ponys like you like I do.

Thank yu for everything. You are the best nusre in the whole world.
Frum Steep Slopes
P.S. I like yur cute mark, so I dru it

Down at the bottom of the page, was a messy picture of her cutie mark.

Even if the red cross surrounded by four red hearts was a bit crooked, she knew that the colt had written the letter to the best of his ability. Nurse Redheart’s eyes welled up with tears.

Nurse Redheart slid the letter back into the Envelope. Redheart pondered a moment that perhaps she has forgotten who she really is. She was caught up in her work all winter long, ignoring the sickness that has grown inside of her. Because she was covered up in a fake smile for so long, she forgot what a true smile was like.

Even if the letter was short, it was still sweet.

She tucked the letter back into her saddlebags.

Redheart headed back to bed, pondering on what she could do to be a better Nurse

“Maybe I’ll write a letter back to him before I go back to work!” she thought to herself aloud. She smiled as she shifted into her blankets.

At last, she could finally get some well-deserved sleep.

Author's Note

Just like Redheart, we can fall into the confusion amidst us. But, when we show gratitude to each other, it can transform our lives for the better. The main reason why the human spirit suffers is because there is not enough "Thank you"s to go around. I know it may not seem like much to us right now, but to another, it could make a world of a difference.

Just remember, we all live to help each other. Send a "Thank you" to anyone!

To Read more "Thank you" Quotes, just click the link!

As always,
Pinoypony