The Power Within

From the look of things, Nurse Redheart was obviously relieved that I was doing okay. Had it not been for that information, the bandage removal operation would have been a whole lot quieter. But it didn’t end just there. She now thought what I thought was clear as day from the day one when I arrived here; I was dirty.

She had then washed me in the shower, making sure that none of my wounds would start to bleed or anything. She also dried me with a towel, even if I told her I was capable of doing it myself, but she wasn’t going to take no for an answer. After surrendering myself to her will completely, she had styled my mane and tail to a whole new level. Apparently, she thought nothing of the fact that they glowed like they did; if she’d even noticed it. She had to have noticed it!

There I stood in room five with Nurse Redheart, mane neatly combed over my left ear while my tail remained pretty much the same, just cleaner. Thank Celestia she hadn’t braided it or anything. Then again, my dignity had taken a vacation a long time ago. Had it not been for that, I’d have been blushing like a little filly upon telling her crush that she loved him - or her. I absent-mindedly looked down at my now very clean hooves and wondered if this was going to cost me something later on.

Once Nurse Redheart was done with my tail, I allowed myself to breathe again. I felt like a completely new pony, which ironically was a very fitting theme considering my situation.

Only one thing was missing; namely, my new scarf Redheart had removed prior to the shower I needed to take. The said fashioned piece of clothing soon appeared in my vision, as Nurse Redheart threw it over my neck, tying it tightly together; using a bit too much force for my taste.

“Ugh, not so tight please,” I coughed while putting a hoof between the scarf and my neck.

Nurse Redheart just giggled while slightly loosening her weapon of opportunity.

“But you have to look good, Shimmering,” the pure white mare rambled absently.

“For what?” I asked once she stopped choking me.

The unexpected question caught her off guard and I got the chance to spin around and take a look at her. The mare was blushing and clearly ashamed of something if I had to guess.

“I uh... What would you say about a dinner later tonight?” Redheart asked, circling her hoof on the floor quietly.

I recognized her behavior from that of my own. Despite what she had just done to me, I take it she was also a bit shy, at least with the current subject. But even so, she was asking me out - on a date. On an actual date out for everypony to see. I just blinked while trying to stammer at least some kind of an answer out of my nearly crushed throat.

“I would... I mean, that’s... But I...”

A heavy sigh. That was never going to work and I forced myself to close my gaping mouth.

“Don’t worry, the dinner will be on me. You could pay me back by working for us. I’d imagine you still haven’t found a new job, now have you?” she inquired.

“N-no I haven’t,” I managed to mumble out.

“Is it a date then? This evening at seven o’clock?” the white mare before me asked, looking for a confirmation.

A free dinner sure sounded lovely and to top it off, I was going to get a job as well! I couldn’t believe such a thing would ever happen to me. But that was beside the point. The point was that Nurse Redheart was asking me out. I had no reason to reject the invitation, no matter how badly my brain fought against the very idea after the lunch with Twilight and Spike.

“Oh, uh... Yes, of course!” I exclaimed ever so carefully, causing Redheart to smile faintly. Truth to be told, I was terrified about the whole idea as I didn’t want to embarrass her in public. Not that I was eager to do it for myself either.

“Great, meet me in the lobby at seven, okay? I shouldn’t have to work overtime today,” the nurse said wearily.

The sudden change in her demeanor raised an army of questions in my head, while the concern for her well being also ate into my mind. Was she working too much? I couldn’t even start to imagine how stressful her work must be; to be responsible for all those ponies. No wonder she wanted to spend an evening out with somepony.

I only nodded to her while giving a comforting smile along the way. Of course, I wanted to help if something was bothering her, but I wasn’t going to stick my muzzle where it didn’t belong. It would be up to her to decide if she was going to let me know or not. Isn’t that what real gentlecolts do?

A gentle breeze greeted my face as I walked along the busy streets of Ponyville. The number of ponies was pretty much the same as yesterday, but now I was getting significantly fewer questioning stares. If anything, I was getting far more complimenting looks from the mares around me.

While those looks still felt a bit awkward, I didn’t want to fly as it would probably mess up my styled mane and tail; which I bet was one of the reasons for the others to be eying me. I had seen myself in the mirror at the lobby while leaving the hospital and I had to say that I liked the new look in a way. It was somehow more aerodynamic.

It was still couple hours before the dinner, so I decided to take my time while heading back to the library. The day was as beautiful as ever and I could hear birds singing joyfully, making my steps even lighter. I even allowed a small smile on my face, momentarily forgetting everything bad that had happened a few days ago.

I stopped in front of Sugarcube Corner as the delicious smell wafted from the doors and windows. A pastry of some sort would definitely hit the spot right now, but I had left my saddlebag at the library. Even if the night and morning had been horrible, my little visit at the hospital had really improved my mood and I almost felt like celebrating the new job I was going to get.

But that would have to wait for now. There was no way I’d try to get another ‘free sample’. I was already feeling bad over Rarity having given me the scarf; which I absolutely loved by now. It was so warm and comfortable. If I ever got enough bits, I’d pay her something for it, whether she wanted it or not.

I decided to continue my way back towards the library. Maybe Twilight could give me some tips about the dinner. I wasn’t familiar with the etiquette of dining out.

Three rapid knocks later, I could hear Twilight’s voice from inside before the door opened. She appeared to be baffled.

“Oh, Shimmering? You don’t have to knock you know, you are living here now,” the librarian giggled.

The statement momentarily derailed my thoughts from the upcoming dinner; that almost sounded like I was going to stay here permanently, but she couldn’t possibly mean it like that, nor did I want that myself.

“Um, temporarily, right?” I add, to get the confirmation anyway.

“You can stay as long as you need, I’m not going to drive a homeless pony out onto the street,” she says.

“Yeah, thanks for reminding me,” I mumbled while lowering my head. There goes the happy mood.

Twilight gasped, throwing apologises in my direction, but the deed was done. While I knew she didn’t do it on purpose, I couldn’t help but notice how often she brought those things back to my mind.

“It’s okay,” I stated blankly, stopping her rambling by raising my hoof in front of me. “Besides, I’ve got something to ask you,”

Twilight then eyed me more closely, looking at my mane and tail, but also my missing bandages.

“Wait a minute, where have you been, you were gone for quite some time. What happened to your mane?” the purple mare inquired.

“Well, I went back to the hospital to have my bandages removed as they were turning ponies heads like I was on fire or something,” I stated, annoyed.

“Did you visit the spa as well?”

“The spa? N-no... Actually, I need your advice with something,” I say quietly while circling my hoof on the floor, she didn’t need to know how I got my new style.

Twilight watched me with increasing curiosity, waiting for what I was about to say.

“N-Nurse Redheart asked me out and... Well, I don’t know what to expect, I have never been on... on a date before,” I muttered with a barely audible voice.

One could have read many things from Twilight’s face, but all I could see was this strange expression somewhere between surprise and disappointment; maybe even sadness.

Soon enough, her expression turned into a faint smile while she motioned for me to follow her to one of the bookshelves.

“Well, I don’t know much about the subject either, but I bet there’s a book for it,” Twilight said and grabbed few book from the shelf.

She read the covers and quickly, taking one book after another, making a high stack of abandoned books next to her. I simply followed her working from a distance in awe. I was not sure if such a book even existed, but it was amusing to see her looking for one. This was her job at least from what I understood.

“Spike, do you know where the book about going out with somepony for the first time would be?” she shouted over her shoulder.

There was no immediate answer from the purple dragon. Instead, the said creature appeared from upstairs and stared at Twilight questioningly.

“Twilight Sparkle going out with somepony eh? Never thought I’d live to see the day,” Spike snickered while Twilight herself dropped the stack of books she was levitating, “I don’t think we have such a book, Twilight, but I know something even better; why don’t you ask Rarity? She’ll tell you more than any book ever could,” Spike continued calmly.

To Twilight, the suggestion sounded good, while for myself it was a real nightmare. It was really hard for me to talk about these things with anypony, let alone with complete strangers. If I had known Twilight for couple days and talked with her, Rarity was a whole new case for me. I had barely said anything to her and now I’d have to ask about going out from her. Celestia knows she might even think that I was trying to ask her out.

I shifted on my place while Twilight eyed me curiously before actually giving me the chance to explain myself.

“Uh, I don’t know, Spike... I don’t want to bother her with such thing. Maybe I should just cancel the whole dinner.” I muttered quietly while looking at my still very clean hooves.

“Oh, so you’re going out, and not Twilight?” Spike asked while scratching his head, earning a shy nod from me. “I see. Twilight, could we have some privacy, just me and Shimmering, okay?”

Twilight looked puzzled at first but then nodded to us, “Uh, okay sure. I’ll just go and buy few more quills in the meantime,”

That said, she trotted out, leaving Spike and me behind.

Okay, I had a dinner planned up with somepony, Twilight had just run outside and I was now sitting in the library with a baby dragon while having no clue what was going to happen next. Absolutely nothing seemed to happen at first.

Spike simply stared me while I shifted in my place anxiously, wondering if I should just bolt out from the door, or see where things were going in here. Against my better judgment, I somehow managed to calm myself down in front of this fierce creature. Dragons were always scary to me, small or not.

“Good,” Spike said quietly. “Now that you are calm, I can properly introduce myself. My name is Spike, I’m Twilight’s number one assistant,” he said and took a step closer, holding his claws out for me.

I carefully proceeded closer, raising my right forehoof and shaking his claws. “S-Shimmering Thunder,” I stammered anxiously.

Having no idea why he was doing this, I suddenly felt a bit more relaxed. Maybe he simply wanted to be friends with me?

“Now, take it easy, Shimmering. I just want to help you, okay?”

All I manage to do was nod lightly.

“Can you tell me who it is? I mean, it’s easier for me to help you if I know who you are going out with, right?” Spike asked.

“Um, Nurse Redheart asked me on a dinner later tonight, but I don’t know what to expect. I- I don’t think it’s a real date, she looked a bit tired to me, I couldn’t say no,” I revealed quietly as if she could hear me.

Spike watched me curiously few moments before resuming a soft smile.

“I see. Well, all you have to do is be yourself. Don’t try to act any differently than you normally do. Just be polite and make sure that she’s having a good time, okay?”

That’s all I had to do? She’s not expecting me to do anything else but keep her company? Now that I thought about it more closely, it made sense. Sometimes I was really making my own life a living in hell by worrying about stuff beforehoof.

I raised my gaze from the floor and looked at Spike, a wide smile on my face, “Thank you, Spike,”

“Ah, don’t mention it, we boys have to stick together, don’t you think?” Spike snickered, once again receiving a nod from me; happy and rapidly this time.

I talked a bit more with Spike about the upcoming dinner before Twilight returned from her little trip. The librarian saw Spike and I sitting on the floor, now chatting about casual things like Spikes’ cooking skills. Apparently, Twilight wasn’t much of a cook herself. I guessed that magical abilities can't cover the lack of physical skills, but then again, it wasn’t my place to judge anypony. I was barely able to make a sandwich myself.

Twilight glanced at me questioningly whilst trotting past us, “When is your dinner by the way? It’s starting to get late,”

O-oh... What time was it again? I peek at the clock on the wall and notice it’s almost seven already. How long did I actually sit here with Spike? I would never forgive myself if Redheart was late for our date because of me. I wouldn’t- No, I couldn’t let her down.

“Now!” I screamed and literally flew out of the still open door.

“Wow, he should try to race Rainbow Dash sometime,” Twilight coughed to Spike in the dust cloud.

The sound of bubbling apple cider in my mug was barely audible over the mellow tunes of violins playing in the background. The orchestral music was coming from the small speakers hidden around the dimly lit restaurant. Only some candles on the tables and the counter were lighting up the place, creating a lovely atmosphere.

The smell of different foods and drinks lingered in the air, as waiter ponies served those few customers around us. I didn’t recognize any of them from before, only the one white mare sitting across the round table. I also noticed that most ponies used different perfumes on occasions like this, as the one emanating from Nurse Redheart was all new to me; smelling like strawberries. She’d had some time to prepare herself before she left work. There was no sign of the horrible hospital stench.

As for myself, I was wearing nothing but the fragrance called ‘sweat de la panique’ due to the frantic flight I had taken from the library in order to make it in time.

Nurse Redheart had been waiting for me in the lobby as had been agreed and laughed upon seeing me bolting into the lobby like I did, but at least I had made it in time. I didn’t know if she had an actual reservation for the restaurant, or if we could just go in whenever we wanted to, but I didn’t want to take the risk.

The white nurse hat was now absent, indicating that she was off-duty. Now would be the worst possible time for somepony to choke on their food. I could tell by her demeanor that this was something she had been looking forward to for quite some time. To be able to take off her hat and just relax and enjoy herself. No doubt she loved her job, but this mare was on the verge of a serious burnout.

After leaving the hospital, Nurse Redheart had been constantly talking to me. Mostly about her job, my upcoming job, the restaurant to which we were going, and the weather of course. I remember her praising the weather three times during the walk. The poor mare must practically be living in her office. I thought about it more closely, remembering seeing a blanket there. Nah, she couldn’t be actually sleeping there now could she?

Once we got inside the restaurant, she had been somewhat quieter. We had received our menus and my white caretaker told me that I could order whatever I wanted. The waiter had suggested their seasonal special and I took it, not being entirely sure what I was going to be served; even after he described the dish for me. Redheart took the same thing, only without fried hay. We then received our drinks in advance along with a cute little salad.

“This sure is a nice place,” I commented absently to my partner, still looking around in awe. We had nothing like this back in Whitestone.

“I’m glad you like it. I have been wanting to try out this new restaurant ever since it opened, but...” Redheart pauses momentarily, “...I haven’t had too much free time, nor have I had anypony to come with me. Well, those two things are kind of related to each other,” she continued with a sigh.

I felt so bad for her. Not only she was working her flank off, but she didn’t seem to have too many friends, either. If only there was something I could do to cheer her up. All I could do was to put the most caring, understanding look on my face that I could muster and smile heartily at her. I simply couldn’t find any words for describing what I felt.

Redheart returned a similar smile back with a small nod.

Maybe I didn’t need to say anything in the first place, just listen. Spike’s words echoed in my head, telling me to be myself and make sure she was having a good time. So far everything was going well. She was even smiling now. Even the food seemed to arrive quickly, I noticed as our waiter subtly walked toward us.

“Two seasonal specials,” the brown unicorn announced and levitated the plates in front of us. “Please enjoy the evening,”

The amount of food was a bit surprising, to say the least. I had no experience with different restaurants, but I could tell that this place was on the fancier side.

There was a square shaped pan-fried potato cake in the middle of the plate, surrounded by baby carrots, broccoli, mushrooms, and pieces of onion. On top of them sat different herbs and flowers, which I think was solely for decoration. The brown sauce was drizzled around the plate in a circle, with fried hay also on my plate.

“Ooh, this looks delicious!” Redheart exclaimed merrily, while I was still wondering at the small size of the dish. “Is something wrong?” she asked suddenly.

“Oh, uh... No, I just thought that the dinner would be a bit bigger, that’s all,” I stammered anxiously. Great, now she thinks I eat like a horse.

Redheart giggled heartily, “Yes, it’s a bit of a small portion, but I assume it’s that much tastier,”

I simply stared at the plate before leaning closer and taking a small bite. The explosion of flavors spread in my mouth, causing my eyes to fly wide open from the surprise. Redheart tasted her dish as well, giving me pretty much the same expression; just a tad more ladylike. The food was absolutely wonderful, never in my life, I had tasted anything so yummy.

As we ate, we talked a bit more about my possible job. Redheart told me that they needed somepony to get them supplies from time to time and I could also deliver different packages around the town; things like medicines, bandages, vitamins and what not. The hospital didn’t always have enough staff available to take care of such things, sometimes patients needed to fetch what they needed directly from the hospital and that wasn’t desirable of course.

The pay wouldn’t be all that good, but it should be better than nothing. I doubt I’d pay my hospital bills anytime soon with it as I also wanted to pay for the scarf.

“What about your housing situation?” Redheart suddenly asked. “You said you hadn’t found your own place yet,”

“Well, the mayor said they needed to do a background check and Twilight... Uh, she didn’t want them to do that so she invited me to her home,” I recalled melancholically.

Nurse Redheart watched me for a moment before nodding few times quietly. “I see. Well, my offer still stands. You can move in with me if you want. I mean, I have an empty house and all, it’d be fun to have somepony I could talk with when I’m home. It can get pretty lonely sometimes,”

My eyes started to wet as I listened to her proposition. She wasn’t just an overworking nurse with few friends, she was a lonely shell of a mare who was barely keeping it together with her job. If I ever saw the management of the hospital, I’d like to tell them few things about the insane workloads they put on her.

Without stressing about it any longer, I rapidly nodded to her, “I’d be happy to move in with you,”

The smile on my face probably told her everything there was to tell, while I absently wagged my tail in excitement like a dog. My wings twitched slightly as I thought how happy I’d make her just by being there for her.

Redheart smiled back to me while nodding, “Thank you, Shimmering,”

Once the dinner was over, we had a wonderful berry dessert with caramel pudding, spiced with some exotic dark chocolate. Nurse Redheart paid the bill and we went to the lobby of the restaurant, confirming our plans for the next few days.

I told her that I could move in tomorrow, I just needed to fetch my saddlebag from the library and explain the situation to Twilight. I had no idea how she’d take the news, but for once, I was ready to keep my head. Redheart needed me; she didn’t say it directly, but the clues were all there. On the next day, I’d sign the contract and start working as a courier for the hospital. Everything was suddenly starting to look better for me.

To be a real gentlecolt, I offered to escort her back home. Redheart didn’t hesitate to accept my humble offer. I’d need to learn where she lived anyway.

It was night already, probably around ten o’clock or something. The air was cool and peaceful and I noticed only a few ponies on the streets. The moon was already glowing in the night sky while the stars shyly twinkled above us. What a lovely evening this was. I closed my eyes and inhaled deeply; everything was going to be okay.

The walk didn’t take too long and soon enough, we were at her house. It looked just like any other house in the area, just a bit bigger and tidier.

We stopped at the door, gazing at each other for a moment, not knowing what to say. Well, I didn’t at least.

“Thank you, Shimmering. This has been a wonderful evening. I haven’t had this much fun for a long time,” Redheart said, earning a blushing nod from me in return.

“W-well, I had fun too, I mean... It was an amazing evening,” I stammered, trying to hide my blush the best I could.

Redheart slowly leaned towards me, landing a soft kiss on my cheek and halting my rational thinking center completely. My blank stare could only find Redheart’s smiling face as she turned around towards her home, and opened the door.

“Good night, Shimmering,” Redheart said as she disappeared inside.

I raised my forehoof to my face and touched the spot she had just kissed. Blinking a couple of times, I felt reality starting to kick in again, snapping me out of my trance. I simply turned around and headed back towards the library, a faint smile on my face. I was just so baffled that I didn’t know if I should be doing loops in the air or cry on the ground. The emotional roller coaster was almost too much for me at that point.

First, I was devastated by the dream and sharing the whole thing with Twilight. Then I embarrassed myself at lunch and then I was nervous about the upcoming dinner. Suddenly after that, I felt happy. I felt happy simply because I made some other pony else feel good. And she made me feel good in return.

As I trotted along the street, I felt like somepony was following me. I stopped and spun around but saw nothing out of the ordinary, so I decided to continue. Though the weird feeling of a stalker didn’t go away, I trotted a bit faster. The library was already in my vision. If it was one of the soldiers, I could at least scream for help and Twilight might just hear me.

I stopped at the door and was about to open it, had it not been for the rustling from a bush a few hoof steps away. I froze on my spot, waiting for a bird or rabbit to shoot out of the bush.

But what came threw me right on my flank as I stared at the figure in front me, stunned. I couldn’t move, I couldn’t even breath. I couldn’t believe my eyes, for Celestia’s sake!

“Please, don’t be afraid, Shimmering. It’s me, Leaf Trotter,” the green earth pony said calmly.

Those light green eyes, the jade green coat and even greener mane and tail... His cutie mark of three leaves. There was no mistake, it had to be him.

“L-Leaf Trotter? What are you doing here?” I asked in disbelief as if I was talking to a ghost.

“I could ask you the very same question myself, but I’m afraid I have some bad news for you, my old friend,” Leaf Trotter said.

My eyes widened as they also started to wet. All I could do was hold up my tears and wait for what he was about to tell me. I couldn’t help myself from going through every possible scenario in my head before he told me, though. He probably knew what happened and came to tell me that my family was dead, nopony had survived. They couldn’t have.

Sitting on my haunches already, I sniffled and waited.

“I come directly from Whitestone and I believe you know what happened there,” Leaf started, confirming the facts for himself first. I nodded to him. “The whole village is gone, destroyed by the commander Silvermane and her crew,”

I lowered my head and start to twitch from crying. I was right.

“Silvermane is keeping Crescent Rain as a prisoner there... She’s still alive,” Leaf Trotter revealed, causing my head to rise slowly from the ground.

“She’s alive!?” I shouted in confusion, partly angered by the fact that he was just now telling me that. “Why didn’t you say so right away! We need to go rescue her!” I shouted again and tried to get on my hooves, but Leaf trotter held me down.

“No Shimmering, that’d be suicide! We need more help,” he said while preventing me from taking to the air.

“I don’t care, I need to see her before it’s too late!” I screamed and tried to find my way out of his tight grasp, but my efforts proved to be in vain.

Earth ponies usually had upper hoof when it came to wrestling. Even more so, Leaf Trotter was what we called an outdoor pony. He was toughened by the mother nature herself. He could kick down trees and run hours without getting exhausted. He was a downright exceptional athlete. But he wasn’t going to stop me. Not him, not anypony.

Suddenly, everything else lost its meaning. My life, Twilight, Spike... Even Nurse Redheart. All I was able to think about was my sister and the fact that she might still be alive. I wasn’t going to give up now, I was far too angry to give up.

I struggled even harder against my friend holding me down, gritting my teeth together with all my might.

“Let... Me... GO!!” I roared as loud as I could and jumped into the air.

A sudden flash of light momentarily blinded me, as I flung myself free from Leafs’ hold and hit the library behind me head first. Along with the flash, there was also a loud crackling sound, almost like an explosion now ringing in my ears. I could faintly hear Leaf Trotter yelling in pain somewhere, but I couldn’t see him. Actually, I couldn’t see anything at all as everything was suddenly blackening around me...