Ruby was afraid, more afraid than she had ever felt in her entire life.
It had been 20 minutes since the alarms had started blaring in Stable 26, and the young Unicorn filly had been terrified. Alarms always meant something bad was happening, and she just wanted her parents to be there to tell her that everything was going to be okay.
Where were they? Normally when alarms went off that sent everypony running back to their quarters to await further orders, heck that was what happened with her after she was ushered out of the school with the other foals.
Where were her parents? They worked in maintenance, so maybe they were helping with whatever was happening?
As suddenly as they had started the alarms shut off and she poked her head out from under the covers that she had been hiding under. Did this mean everything was going to be okay?
She didn't have much time to dwell on it as the loudspeaker in the main room of the quarters she lived in sounded. Instead of the usual voice of Neon Lights, it was the somber sounding voice of Councilmare Crescent Moon.
"Ponies of Stable 26, we apologize for the alert earlier but there was a breakdown of the Stable's air filtration systems. We were fortunate in that one of our maintenance ponies found it early enough that they stopped it before too much damage was done. However, the brave mare and stallion that worked hard to save the Stable did it at the cost of their own lives. Please remain in your quarters until told otherwise, we need to make sure that everything was fixed properly before we can allow you back into the Stable."
Ruby let out a sigh of relief, everything was okay, her parents would be back soon and her life would get back to normal.
That's when there was a knock on the door, she blinked a little but went to open it. On the other side was a light blue Earth Pony mare with a yellow mane that was dressed in Stable 26 Security barding.
"Oh hi Officer Blueberry," Ruby said with a smile, Blueberry was a friend of her parents, she poked her head out the door and looked around but the hall was otherwise empty. "Where's Mommy and Daddy?"
"Ruby, your parents..." Blueberry said, trailing off for a moment, which made Ruby's smile fade and her ears fold a little. "They, gave their lives to make sure the Stable was safe, I'm so sorry..."
Ruby couldn't say anything she just started crying as the older mare pulled her in close and hugged her gently.
"It'll be okay Ruby, I'm here for you..."
The small red filly just kept crying, she couldn't think to do anything else but cry.
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Blueberry had agreed to take care of Ruby following the death of her parents, it wasn't easy on either of them, but there wasn't many families willing to take a foal in right now. She became close to Blueberry's own daughter Candy, and as the months passed things seemed to be returning to normal for Ruby even if she still missed her parents.
When it was her 10th birthday, the time came for her to start her apprenticeships. In Stable 26 until a foal discovered their special talent, they helped around the Stable in different departments to see if any of them would be their talent.
"Are you sure you don't want to try Security?" Blueberry asked Ruby as they made their way into the Stable's atrium. "I can put in a good word for you with the Chief."
"Maybe later," Ruby said as they stepped into the atrium's second floor. "I'm just not sure security is for me, or even maintenance like my parents."
"Don't worry, I understand," Blueberry said and ruffled the filly's white mane gently. "Whatever you do, I'm proud of you, and I know your parents would be too."
Ruby smiled up at the blue and yellow mare and nodded, things hadn't been easy, but she had come to see Blueberry as a sort of second mother. The security mare was strong and brave, but at the same time caring, Ruby sometimes wished she could be more like her.
"Well, here we are, your first apprenticeship," Blueberry said as they stopped in front of the clinic. "Are you ready for this?"
"Umm, did you get your cutie mark on your first try?" Ruby asked curiously.
"Me? Heck no, I tried Security last actually," Blueberry said with a chuckle. "I tried art first actually, I wasn't bad at it, but just didn't click with me. You never know what might click, just get in there and do your best."
Ruby nodded and walked into the clinic, looking around. She saw a young Unicorn mare with a white coat and a dirty blonde mane with a cutie mark of a bird in flight seated behind the desk and she smiled when she saw the filly enter.
"Hey, you must be Ruby Starlight," she said and got to her hooves and trotted over, offering the filly a hoof. "I'm Nightingale, welcome to the Stable 26 clinic."
"Thank you," Ruby said with a smile as she shook the mare's hoof. "Are you to be my teacher then?"
"Yep, you'll be my first apprentice too," Nightingale said, returning the smile. "Don't be nervous, I'll start you out small and we'll work from there. So why do you want to work in medical?"
"Well, umm, my parents died a few months ago in an accident," Ruby said sadly and Nightingale frowned. "I, just want to help ponies, to keep anypony else from dying like they did..."
"A noble goal for a filly so young," Nightingale said with a nod. "I can't promise it'll be easy, but I promise you that I'll at least try. Lets get started on your basic lessons first."
"Okay!" Ruby said, excited at the prospect of studying medicine as they started to work together.
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Over the next few weeks Ruby studied hard under Nightingale. She learned everything from pony anatomy to the best way to brew healing potions, she even learned some basic surgery skills.
Ruby was a quick learner and even Nightingale had to admit she was impressed with the filly's skills. She was soon out of the learning stage and into putting her new knowledge into practice.
"Okay, you're doing fine Ruby, keep it up," Nightingale said as Ruby stitched a leg wound that a maintenance worker had gotten. "Not too fast, you don't want to make things worse, but you're doing just fine."
Ruby smiled and finished the stitching.
"There you go Mister Gear, just make sure you don't get too close to the machines again, okay?" Ruby asked with a smile as the stallion got off the bed.
"Okay kid, I will," Gear said as he trotted off carefully.
"You're doing great, why don't you try the next pony on your own? I'll be close by if you need me," Nightingale offered.
"Do you think I'm ready?"
"You'll have to take the plunge eventually Ruby, don't worry, I'll make sure nothing goes wrong, I promise.
"Okay," Ruby said as she walked over to the next bed where a mare with a broken foreleg, she looked at Ruby strangely for a moment.
"Aren't you a little young to be a doctor?"
"I'm still just an apprentice, but I know the procedure," Ruby said reassuringly as she started to work on the mare's leg, using her magic and a healing potion as she did. "Don't worry, you'll be just fine, I promise."
"Okay, I trust you," the mare said as Ruby continued to work.
She smiled a little to herself, she had been working so hard on this lately that it felt like this is what she was meant to do. Not only to heal ponies though, but to make sure that they were kept safe and happy.
"What happened?"
The mare paused a moment. "I fell down the stairs."
Ruby looked at her hesitantly for a moment, she knew this mare was married to a stallion named Titan who worked with Blueberry, and she wasn't sure if she believed her. She could see some other bruises on her body and she had some doubts that it had been an accident at all.
"You'll be okay, I'll make sure of it," Ruby said quietly, she was going to have to talk to Blueberry later that night, but she placed her small hoof on the mare's.
The mare's eyes went wide in surprise for a moment, but then they softened. She had no idea if she could believe what the filly was saying, but there was something about the conviction in her voice that made her feel a lot better.
Ruby finished patching up the leg and the mare got up and carefully walked away. Nightingale smiled and put a foreleg around Ruby.
"You did good kid, you really..." she started to say then looked in surprise as a glow started behind them. "Hey Ruby, look."
Ruby turned her neck around and looked in surprise to see that in a flash of light a short red cross with gold in the bars and a white star at the center had appeared on her flank. She had earned her cutie mark finally, it marked her as a healer.
She smiled and cried a little, wishing that her parents could be here to see it.
