Several rays of sunshine cut through the blinds of the apartment of a white mare, sleeping peacefully under a few blankets with a small smile. On the night stand rested a nurses cap with a cutie mark of a red cross with four hearts surrounding it along with a clock.

Two lamps stood on either side of her bed as she breathed evenly, shifting onto her stomach. The room was fairly modest, a few pictures on her book shelf that was mainly full of nursing books and romance novels that the mare was fond of.

She nuzzled her blanket a few times as the alarm went off and Redheart flailed a foreleg before slamming down on the clock to shut it off.

“Ugh.”

Redheart licked her lips as she kicked the covers off her and she shivered slightly, making a mental note to mess with her apartments thermostat later.

Redheart forced herself out of bed, stretching out with a long groan and she pulled the blinds open, staring out of her window at the view of the East River.

Even at seven am, Manehatten was bustling with taxis being pulled by stallions, ferries heading out on the water to the Statue of Liberty, pegasi flying around or pushing clouds. Everypony was a small dot to her from her apartment.

The two towers of the WTC stood proudly in the distance and Redheart cracked her neck before she started to brush her mane as she watched some ponies flying to the observation deck.

It had been at least four to five years since Redheart had been up there as she stifled a yawn and set down her mane brush, picking up a hair tie as she went about putting her mane up in a bun.

She picked up her nurse hat and stuffed it into her saddlebags hanging from a hook next to her bedroom door. She quickly sprayed herself with perfume, sighing contently at the smell of raspberries.

Redheart yawned as she trotted through her apartment to the coffee machine as she went about her normal routine of coffee. Breakfast was being skipped in favor of meeting with Tenderheart, Grace and Coco for breakfast before Redheart and Tenderheart went to school.

Coco and Grace would presumably be going to work at Suri’s boutique on the west side of the town after. Redheart didn’t really know Suri that well, but she did hear stories from her two friends and she wasn’t really a fan of what she heard.

Coco was too nice to say anything bad about Suri, but Grace sure wasn’t. Redheart still remembered the words Grace had used and they were very unfriendly and rude.

That mare is a rude bitch and a cunt to everypony she meets. Quoting Grace, of course.

Redheart was far too kind to ever say that about anypony ever.

She took a sip of her coffee and sighed as she continued to watch out her small kitchen window at the ponies below her for a few more moments.

Redheart hummed to herself as she rinsed out her mug and set it in the sink to clean later when she came back home and she grabbed her apartment keys, opening her front door and locking it behind her as she stepped into the hall.

The paint on the walls of the hallway were fading and peeling in some spots along with the occasional small hole. The railing on the stairs was a bit loose, way too loose for Redheart to be entirely comfortable using it.

Redheart took a half step to her neighbors door and knocked softly, swishing her pink tail occasionally as she waited.

“Hello, Mister Royal Shine,” Redheart sang out as the door opened and the elderly tan stallion stood in the doorway. “How are you today?”

“Fine.”

“Have you had breakfast? We don’t want your sugar going down again, do we?” Redheart smiled warmly at him and he raised an eyebrow with a bored expression.

“Yes, I’ve ate and I’ve taken my blood sugar. Now good day.”

Redheart sighed as the door slammed shut and she scuffed a hoof against the concrete flooring. That was unsurprisingly short lived.

Redheart started trotting down the steps and she narrowly avoided some colts running up the stairs laughing as she gave a slow exhale.

“Don’t play on the stairs,” Redheart warned one as she continued walking. “Those four have a death wish.”

Redheart stopped at the elevator and pressed a button, humming to herself as she waited patiently for the elevator. It made an awful sound and dinged as the doors opened with a rattle and she stepped inside, pressing a hoof against the one button.

She listened to the annoying elevator music as Redheart cringed internally at the grinding sound the elevators gears made, ninety nine percent certain elevators weren’t supposed to sound like they were going to drop and kill all the occupants inside at a moments notice, being her.

“In a week or two, I was gonna bring you diamonds,” Redheart hummed softly to herself and tapped a hoof against the carpet and the elevator groaned in protest. “Maybe that’s not such a good idea.”

Dying due to elevator sounded like an embarrassing way to go. It’s up there with, say food poisoning or choking to death. You’d be surprised at how many ponies choke to death. Three thousand ponies. That’s a lot of ponies.

Granted, any death is obviously tragic but Redheart would like to go out in some cool way. Like in her sleep so she didn’t feel anything.

Thirty eight thousand ponies a year died in their sleep. Equestria had over a million ponies and other creatures in it. Redheart imagined it was fifty fifty for her. Practically nopony really had a pleasant death.

“I really shouldn’t be thinking about dying right now,” Redheart muttered as the elevator dinged and she stepped out once the doors opened. “God bless I’m out of that death trap.”

“Morning Red,” her landlord, Quick Bit, waved as she trotted past him.

“Mornin.”

Redheart would normally stop and talk longer with him, but she was always on time. She made it a point to show up at least five minutes early anywhere she was going. Old habits die hard, Redheart supposed.

It was even busier looking than it had from her apartment and she forced her way through a throng of ponies. She had long since learned that being assertive in Manehatten was key to surviving in the bustling town.

Redheart whistled sharply, waving a hoof over her head.

“Taxi!”

A cab being pulled by two stallions stopped in front of her and she quickly climbed into the carriage before somepony could steal it from her.

And that was a thing that happened. It always told her the rest of the day was going to go poorly when it happened to her. Redheart got a bit more angry than she probably should when that occurred, though she didn’t use as colorful language as Grace tended to.

“Misty’s Cafe, on Ann Street and Bank Street, please.”

Redheart sipped her tea as she listened to Grace complaining about her morning. Grace was a lavender earth pony with dark purple glasses and a blonde mane with a cutie mark of a pale blue quill with a teacup next to it along with a blue fabric, a blue pencil stuck over her left ear.

“And then the fucking water heater of my complex broke,” Grace continued her furious fuming as the other three mares listened. “Because my freaking landlord refuses to get it fixed and just tries to do it himself.”

“Why don’t you just switch apartments?” Tenderheart suggested as the blue earth pony went about putting blackberry cream cheese on her bagel.

“Can’t. It’ll cost me more in the long run if I move out before my lease is up. Got six more months.”

“You can stay with me if you wish until it’s fixed. My couch is available,” Coco suggested as the cream colored earth pony brushed her blue mane aside before adjusting her red tie she always was wearing.

“We will see, I guess,” Grace grumbled and slouched against the table as she pushed her glasses up into her mane. “You’re quieter than Coco normally is, Red. What’s up with you?”

“Nothing. Just quiet today,” Redheart answered and she glanced outside at some police ponies trotting down the sidewalk with two royal guards and the four shared a laugh about something. “Not much to talk about.”

“So,” Coco broke a donut in half and tossed one half into her mouth. “How’s the nursing school going?”

“Busy,” Tenderheart answered and paused. “Expensive. Lots to learn. My head feels like it’s gonna explode.”

Redheart gave a dry chuckle. She felt the same as her friend and fellow student. The two were both nineteen and in their second year of schooling. Coco was the second oldest at twenty one, Grace was twenty three and was ironically the shyest of the group at first. Redheart had honestly expected it to be Coco at first to be the most shy.

“She’s not wrong,” Redheart confirmed softly and she flicked her light pink tail as she watched Tenderheart put up her green mane in a messy bun. “Lots to learn. That being said, I don’t think I’d do anything different. It’s a great opportunity for us to help our fellow ponies and hopefully save lives.”

Redheart was still reeling two years in about how expensive her schooling was. She was going definitely be feeling it for the next few years. She was fairly lucky her mom and dad helped pay for half.

She had considered joining up with the Royal Guard for a long time. They had promised to pay her nursing school after four years in the Guard as a medic pony.

Tenderheart had gotten a scholarship for her to the school. Redheart wasn’t entirely privvy to all the details, but it was something for poor families to send their kids to school. Which Redheart didn’t judge. Wasn’t any of her business and Redhearts family certainly wasn’t all that well off themselves.

“Oh buck,” Tenderheart muttered and she glanced at a clock the cafe the four had decided to go to had above the wall. “Our class starts in an hour. We’re gonna have to leave in five minutes to make it to our subway train.”

Coco grimaced slightly. She personally hated the subway. Too many ponies all crammed on top of each other and all up in her business. Wasn’t natural to her. And then there was always the occasional fight between ponies on the subway, which she was grateful was rare for her to witness.

“Our shift starts in forty five minutes. You know how Suri is,” Grace commented and started giggling to herself. “You know, she’s Suri-ously a bitch.” Grace continued to laugh at her joke as the other three gave light hearted chuckles.

Had to give Grace some wins otherwise she tended to get all mopey and depressed. And that really helped nopony because the other mare would end up surrounded by dozens of empty ice cream containers and a bottle of wine.

The brain freeze would come later and the hang over quickly following the next day along with the vomiting and constant bathroom trips.

Redheart was all too familiar with that whole scenario as Grace either ended up on her couch somehow or Coco’s. Rarely Tenderhearts because the other mare apparently didn’t baby her enough. Or whatever the phrase the half drunk Grace had stated that one time.

“I’ll catch you two girls later,” Grace winked as she slapped down some bits on the table. “My half of the tab. Have fun at school you two. Let me know if you run into any cute stallions. I could use some stability in my life.”

Tenderheart rolled her eyes as they all slapped down bits and pushed out their chairs. Redheart was really not looking forward to being crammed up next to some pony for the next ten to twenty minutes at least.

If the two nurse students were lucky, at least.

“Oh goody,” Redheart faintly made out a stallion in the back mutter. “Another day in hell.”

Redheart and Tenderheart both shared an annoyed look as they sat a table in the front of the class. A fake pony skeleton was hanging from the ceiling in the corner or Redheart hoped it was a fake at least.

Be a bit awkward if a pony had agreed to donate their body to science or whatever and here they were, hanging in a classroom for everypony to see.

That would be a horrible fate or at least it was to Redheart. Redheart adjusted her hat and sighed softly as Tenderheart took a sip of her smoothie.

“Alright everypony, morning!” A mid forties looking stallion trotted in with a suit and tie. “Sorry I’m late. Had a meeting with the Dean. How is everypony today?”

“Good Mr. Spectacle,” the room chorused as he sat down at his desk. “How are you?”

“Good, thanks,” Bright Spectacle sat down at his desk, adjusting his glasses. “I hope nopony is missing today. It’s your education and money, not mine.”

Redheart zoned out as he went down attendance of the ponies in the class. Attendance was always a boring and tedious process to her.

The last teacher from her first year just had them sign a sheet when they walked in class every day and she just shoved it in a drawer after everypony was sat down.

“Alright everypony, for the next four months, you’ll be sent to work alongside some doctors and nurses to learn some hooves on experience. Hence the nurses caps I distributed out last week with your cutie marks on them. Redheart, Tenderheart and several others are being assigned Manehatten Central Hospital,” Mr. Spectacle searched through some sheets and Redheart crossed her hooves.

Manehatten Central was a fairly big hospital. As the name implied, it was in the center of Manehatten and got the most injured ponies out of the other eight hospitals in the town.

Mostly stabbing victims, ponies in need of surgery right away, burn victims, the like were sent there. Redheart had heard stories that there was never a dull moment there.

Obviously, they had a large budget to suit their needs. Redheart idly prayed she got assigned to somepony in the ER. She enjoyed the chaos of running around and calming scared ponies down. Her kind and calm personality did help out a lot with stuff like that.

“Naturally, to get you prepared, we’re gonna go over some codes you’ll hear in hospitals. You’ll have most likely heard these already I hope, but it’s always best to go over them,” Mr. Spectacle spun his chair to face his students. “What’s a code red?”

“A fire or possibility of a fire?” A gold mare in the back called out hesitantly.

“Correct, good work Golden Glow. What is a code black and what should you do in a code black?”

“A code black is a security, such a bomb or a pony with a weapon. You’re supposed to help escort patients out if there’s a bomb, following Royal Guard and police instructions. If there’s a pony with a weapon, we’re supposed to lock ourselves in a room with patients, close the blinds and shut the lights, placing ourselves between our patients and the threat if necessary,” Redheart recited and the teacher nodded.

“You don’t have to place yourself in front of the patients, but everything else is right.”

Redheart didn’t necessarily agree with that but she opted to stay silent. This time at least. She was well known around her school for defending all of her opinions aggressively, for better or worse. Tenderheart did answer a few, which made the white mare proud of her friend for that.

Tenderheart did have a tendency to get overlooked by most of her peers, which aggravated Redheart a bit. She didn’t necessarily like all the competition some students had with each other.

In Redhearts eyes, they were all there with the shared purpose of saving lives. She personally felt that should take precedence over some stupid grudge but unfortunately not all shared her opinion on the matter.

“I hope I get to work with foals,” Tenderheart whispered and nudged Redheart as the white pony sat quietly. “Freaking love kids. The maternity ward would be nice.”

“I hope I get the ER. The chaos of the emergency room sounds more my speed than anything else, honestly. But kids do sound nice, I suppose.”

While Redheart didn’t have a problem with kids, she loved kids. Kids were freaking adorable unless they were screaming in your face. She didn’t really think the maternity ward of the hospital would be crazy enough to suit her.

Redheart sat and allowed some other students to answer his other questions. Redheart had really hoped nopony would fail on what a code blue was. Even normal civilians knew what a code blue was.

“I’ll be posting the assigned sections from the hospitals later after class so be sure to check the board. Now open your books to page one thousand, five hundred and seventeen,” Mr. Spectacle instructed and Redheart took a sharp inhale.

She had a hatred for the thick, heavy books she had to buy. They were unwieldy, large and hard to carry. Her old saddlebags had already ripped from the weight causing her to have to get specially made ones with enchantments to make them more sturdy.

Thank Celestia for magic and unicorns, Redheart licked her lips as she started flipping through pages, Tenderheart peering over her shoulder and Redheart pushed the book between them to share.

“Thanks,” Tenderheart muttered and flicked a strand of mane away from her eyes. The mare was too proud to ask for help when it came to the bits area, but Redheart had kinda figured she wouldn’t be getting any of the books from the store on the first floor.

Redheart had already made a note to buy Tenderheart them for her birthday next week unless Coco had beaten her to it.

Redheart stretched her hind legs under the table and sighed as she felt her legs start to become tingly from sitting still for too long. She’d probably have to drag Grace out for another jog on her next day off.

“Salad bar again today during lunch?” Tenderheart asked and Redheart nodded.

“It’s not even been a full hour and you’re already thinking about food?” Redheart teased with a small smirk. “Yes, I get enough of fast food smells at work. I feel like I’m getting unhealthy by just being there.”

“That’s what you get for working at Burger Queen,” Tenderheart retorted with a grin and Redheart chuckled. “How you can afford a studio apartment in downtown Manehatten on a fast food paycheck is miles beyond me.”

“I’m stingy with my money.”

That, and working two jobs somehow while studying. It did leave Redheart little time to socialize or have time to do something she liked, but she practically lived off coffee and energy bars.

But she did know it would pay off once she graduated. Especially since being a nurse paid good money.

She personally had her eyes on a nice house in a nice area of New Colt City, preferably with a colt friend and maybe a foal if she was lucky enough. Or maybe Neigh Jersey, where most of her family lived.

Excluding her parents, of course who still lived in Manehatten. She was incredibly close to her parents, visiting every Sunday for family dinner.

Redheart shook her head quickly and went back to studying with Tenderheart on the topic of Microbiology.

Work first, think about personal life later.

Author's Note

Name: Redheart.

Eye color: Blue.

Coat color: White.

Mane color: Pink.

Age: 19(currently)

Element: ?

Motto: Be kind, for everypony you meet is fighting a battle.

Bio: Redheart is a kind hearted nurse who enjoys helping others and doing her best to save lives of everypony who comes into her hospital, whether it's an adult pony to a scared foal.

She was born in Manehatten and spent all of her life in the city. She is currently in nursing school alongside her friend, Tenderheart.

She is part of Grace Manewitzs friend group along with Coco Pommel and Tenderheart. The four often meet up for breakfast at Misty's Cafe every morning.

Redheart currently works at Burger Queen and a hobby store.

While kind and friendly, she can be stern and strict with those who are loud or disruptive in her hospital. She is incredibly competent and intelligent.

She later helps Sunset and the royal guards search for a missing foal with the goal of reuniting the family, later using her apartment to store the child for the time being.

She later becomes an Element of Harmony, though which one is currently unknown. Redheart is the second strongest of the elements and fastest on the ground.

She and group of five other nurses were later sent to Baltimare to help assist in cleaning up the town after a series of tornadoes.

Redheart often can be seen playing as mediator when members of the Elements are fighting, later working with Berry and Flitter to get over their differences.

Redheart enjoys relaxing at home after long shifts at the hospital and her other jobs or with her friends at various places around Manehatten.

She is incredible close with her parents and can often be found at their house every Sunday for family dinner. She is an only child.

Redheart doesn't handle death well, occasionally using alcohol to help cope with the occasional patient dying and suffers from depression.

She and Berry Punch can often be found together drinking their troubles away and are very close friends, later delivering her friends foal.

She later administers a DNA test on Sunset upon the unicorns request, the two being stunned by the results.

Redheart later takes part in helping defend Canterlot against the changelings and witnessed the Queens defeat. Redheart was instrumental in talking one of her friends down from killing the Queen.

Redheart was later seen in the background helping clean up Canterlot and administering medical aid to changelings and ponies alike.

Redheart is a firm believer of the Neightingale Pledge and stands by it wholeheartedly. She only breaks the "do no harm" rule once.

She moves to Canterlot later on, traveling by train with Sunset, White Lightning and Silver Spanner and the royal guards, later forcing the train to stop to help an injured mare on the side of the tracks.

She thoroughly enjoys White Lightnings company and jokes, Flitters generous spirit, Silver Spanners intelligence and honest opinion, Sunset's impressive talent with magic and Berry Punchs loyal personality.

She later has multiple various arguments with Silver Spanner over untested medical equipment, leading to multiple tense altercations between the two.

Abilities: Redheart is highly intelligent and strong. She is skilled in the medical field and is the Elements healer.

Weaknesses: Her depression can hinder her abilities. Redheart is very hard on herself when she believes she failed a patient or loses one.