Twilight Sparkle, M.D.
Ponyville Hospital, Day 27, sunrise

Somehow, the whole idea of Redheart calling me by my first name is both surreal and predictable. It haunts me when I wake up, and yet somehow, I feel bad for letting it shock me so much. I’ve been through so much this past week or so that it really shouldn’t be a revelation at all. It doesn’t even mean anything, for the love of Equestria!

It shouldn’t. It shouldn’t. It does.

I keep hearing her voice saying it over and over, with a tone coworkers don’t normally use. Somehow, I’ve warped it into being something even deeper, and even as I realize how irrational I’m behaving, somehow, it just doesn’t stop. I even swear that, the minute I heard her say that name, I heard music in the distance. Not the sort typically associated with romance by any stretch of the imagination, more like carnival music than anything else, but enough to lift my spirits all the same. The sort that says that this is destiny, that somehow, the two of us are getting somewhere--

I lay in bed, running these thoughts over and over in my mind, before slamming a pillow straight onto my head. The more they come into my head, the more I swear I’m sleep-deprived. That’s the only way you could ever get me to act so illogically, after all.

And so, checking the clock one last time, I go back to sleep and hope that maybe, just maybe, I won’t be such an idiot when I get to work.

Twilight Sparkle, M.D.
Ponyville Hospital, Day 27, early morning

“You say you heard music when she talked?”

I was that idiot. I still am that idiot. I’ve officially gone so crazy that I’m actually talking to my receptionist about this, and for some inexplicable reason, I can’t get myself to shut up. How did I get into this mess?

To be fair, my receptionist has been trying to take more of an interest in my life lately. For the most part, though, I’ve largely ignored him or told him I was busy, but today, I don’t have that privilege. I showed up to work especially early to make up for my sleeping in, and the hospital doesn’t open for another half hour. And so, here I am trying to make conversation with my receptionist Spike, who, by the way, also happens to be a dragon. And, somehow or another, that’s the most normal part of this entire conversation.

As much as I hate to admit it, I am getting far too used to Ponyville’s brand of weirdness.

“Maybe I shouldn’t have put that way,” I finally mutter. “I know I sound like a lunatic right now, but--”

“Nah, it was probably just the traveling salesponies being run out of town,” Spike says. “They can’t even ditch us without their theme music.”

Placing a careful claw onto the varnished desk, he leans towards me and asks, “You did hear about that, right?”

Right now, my thoughts are about halfway between “is running traveling salesponies out of town common here” and “is employing an undersized dragon technically child labor.” In any case, his question doesn’t register at first, but once it does, I quickly shake my head. Hopefully, describing the incident will take his mind off how quickly I confided in him about my relationship.

“Well, you’ll probably hear tons about it by lunch. We’ve got another case of food poisoning going around, all thanks to them. Hence why they were run out of town, obviously.”

“Another case of food poisoning?” I ask skeptically.

While I’m well aware that I had to deal with several ponies falling ill from “baked bads” a few weeks ago, including Redhe--Scarlet herself, the blasé way he says it is terrifying in and of itself. From what I can recall, Canterlot National only had to deal with it a few times a year, though I hear it’s far more common in carnivorous gryphon communities. Neither of which, of course, explains why it keeps happening in Ponyville.

“Actually, it was caused by poorly made cider. Which, I guess technically means it’s drink poisoning, but I’m really not sure such a thing exists.”

The dragon gives me a tiny nervous grin in response, and I simply nod, prepping myself for everything that could be thrown my way today. If it’s anything like the last outbreak, we’re about to have ponies flooding our gates any minute now.

It’s only after I trot back to my office and look over the overnight complaints we’ve gotten that I realize that this time, I haven’t felt tempted to mention Dash’s tea fiasco, not even once. A week or so ago, that would’ve been my first snarky remark--to say that perhaps she got her sewage mixed up with her water or something else of that nature. But now, all I can do is sigh in relief, knowing that for once, she won’t get blamed for something like this.

Maybe Scarlet isn’t the only pony I’ve warmed up to here…

It’s sad, but I can’t remember the last time I genuinely had that much of a connection with a patient. Maybe it’s because Scootaloo’s problems ran so deep, but Scarlet had at least some help in the matter. If it wasn’t for her, I’d have dismissed Dash like everypony else, given her a simple prescription and sent her off.

Just the thought of Scarlet changing my life that much is enough to make me blush. And so I force myself to learn as much about this case, and these strange salesponies, as I can, for the sake of the town.

For the sake of my own emotions. Because I can’t let them run wild when my real job could always put life on the line.

Twilight Sparkle, M.D.
Ponyville Hospital, Day 27, noon

Sure enough, ponies are practically flooding Ponyville Hospital, but luckily for me and for everypony else’s sanity, their complaints seem minor compared to the last incident. Most of the ponies affected have minor stomach pain and, at worst, nausea and diarrhea. As always, I keep close watch for dehydration, but other than that, the problem is fairly small. A few ponies who tried to come in last night even come to tell me that their condition has already improved.

Between appointments, I try to piece the whole fiasco together. According to local newspapers, a couple of salesponies came in a few days ago and apparently gained a sudden interest in apple farming. If I’d gotten an apple cutie mark like them, that would’ve been one of the first jobs I’d tried, but apparently that obvious fact was lost on the con ponies. From what I can tell, they’ve spent years traveling from town to town and the minute cider became a valuable commodity here, they attempted to seize on it. Fortunately, the Ponyville apple market was not overtaken by a couple of opportunistic morons. Unfortunately, they thought turning off the quality control mechanism on their weird apple machine was a good idea, and now I have to deal with it.

The more I read into it, the less and less this whole operation makes sense. Why bother building such a complex machine if your plan has such a high probability for failure? How did a couple of quacks manage to build a suction system so strong that it could suck up entire trees at once, and why didn’t they just decide to build Equestria’s most powerful vacuum cleaner? If it only sucked up the trees, how did rocks manage to get into some ponies’ cider?!

It hurts my head just thinking about it, quite possibly even more than it does thinking of Scarlet. Thankfully, even though the epidemic was fairly contained compared to the infamous “baked bads” incident, I still don’t get much time to dwell on it. My office is practically a revolving door at this point, and according to my calculations, a new patient comes in approximately every fifteen minutes. But, then again, since just about everypony has the same problem, I can get them out just as quickly.

Bedside manner, I realize, doesn’t matter near as much in situations like this.

By the time I finally make my way to the cafeteria, the cider cases are almost equally divided into one of two categories. Some ponies fell from the rotten fruit, and some fell from the debris mixed into the cider. Thankfully, the Apples keep their farm pretty well-maintained--although I haven’t had the chance to visit it yet--and so very few moldy apples were left on the trees by the time the Flim Flams came. This means that minor nausea remedies from Fluttershy’s pharmacy are just enough to cut it. However, the debris cases are just a bit more complex.

Most ponies just got splinters and sores in their mouth. The less I talk about the ones who tried to pass rocks in my bathroom, the better.

Judging from the disgusted look on Scarlet’s face when she comes in, I figure she’s just had one of these patients. The minute she sees me, though, her lips purse back into usual position. And that’s when I become acutely aware of something that’s bothered her for weeks.

Ever since I came to Ponyville, she’s always thought I was a better doctor than her, as if such a thing can be determined by the hospital you work at. In many ways, I’ve come to find that’s far from true, and it’s been a humbling experience. But, nevertheless, it’s something that Scarlet needs to realize for herself.

“So,” I finally call out to her, “I’m guessing you just came back from one of the bathrooms.”

For a minute, Scarlet doesn’t respond, but as she realizes she’s in a safe place, she somehow shudders and cringes at the same time.

“This isn’t something they teach you in med school,” she whispers. “It’s been awhile since I’ve graduated, but...I can definitely tell you that.”

She shoots me an overly confident stare and adds, “I’ve seen kidney stones before, just so you know. And now I’m glad they’re surgically removed most of the time.”

After she stops shuddering, she pulls up a chair next to me and lets out a deep breath. I’m honestly not sure if it’s because of her traumatizing experience with Starlight Glimmer or because of her questionable experience today, and I’m not sure I want to know which one it’s about.

“My last patient was bleeding,” she muttered. “Just getting that out of the way before we go any further into this.”

I’m no stranger to patients bleeding in odd places, but just hearing that’s enough to make me cringe, too. It’s enough to make me grateful that I wasn’t the doctor who had to deal with the ponies who got bigger rocks in their cider.

But that’s not the issue I have to deal with in this point and time. No matter what sort of incident Ponyville chooses to fling at us today, I have to know what went through Scarlet’s mind that night. Back when she was still Redheart to me, and back when Starlight Glimmer told her doctors like her were the source of all her problems.

“Before I ask you to say anything, I just want to know that I’m not going to use anything against you. I won’t tell any of the other doctors what’s going on, and I’m not using this information to take advantage of you. You may not believe me, and I almost don’t believe myself, but I’m asking you this because I’m worried about you.”

Scarlet could do literally anything in this situation, but ever true to character, she just scoffs.

“There’s nothing to be worried about. I appreciate the gesture, but my issue isn’t with Glimmer. I have so little respect for her that I only bothered to call her ‘doctor’ when I was around her, and I definitely wouldn’t beat myself up over anything that mare says.”

Her voice is sharper than ever, and yet somehow, I can still tell she’s compensating for something. No matter how hard she denies it, there’s still a chink in her armor, and as she continues on, I can almost hear it break.

“The problem is, Twilight...a lot of other ponies have said the same thing. Ones that are actually trusted doctors. Sometimes, it just seems like no matter what I do, no matter how much I try to surpass them, my family’s shadow is still over my head.”

Unlike the other times we’ve met, she takes special effort not to cry. She knows that even if she has my word, we’re not in a private place this time, and anypony who wants to see her can. But somehow, she just keeps talking anyway, just like how I unloaded in front of Spike this morning.

“You know, you’re the main reason I even wanted to stay here in the first place. You were the ultimate test, in a way. Because if you never would’ve come here, if you never would’ve forced me to prove myself...I would’ve left the minute they tried to transfer me.”

“I thought you wanted to stay with your patients.”

“That’s true, but if you would’ve seen the way things were before you came, you’d understand a lot more. Even before my mother died, some ponies were still on my back. There’s only so much a mare can take, after all.”

After awhile, she stops trying to keep the tears from flowing, but they never come. By the time she speaks again, she already has a wistful sort of smile on her face.

I admit I’ve never seen anypony speak poorly of Scarlet while I’m around, but if I do, I get the distinct feeling it won’t end well for anypony. But, with the way she seems to be now, it may end more poorly for me than it will for her.

“But that’s all over now, at least,” she whispers. “If anypony else says I haven’t earned my slot, I’ll just keep fighting to prove them wrong. That’s why I told you I wasn’t going to show my soft side from today on. Because I need to realize that Glimmer didn’t do anything to me. It’s just me, dwelling on my past and questioning myself. And if I was able to hold my own so well against you, and if I was able to last two weeks against the brightest mind in Canterlot, then who knows what you can do?”

She gives me a tiny wink, making me want to think all this is over, but just from the way she looks at me, I know it isn’t. It won’t be, as long as she keeps saying the one thing that puts her down more than anything.

“I’m not the brightest in Canterlot.”

No, my old self wants to say. You are. You are. You’ve worked all your life for this. Don’t throw it away for her--

“I just got lucky. I was in the right place, the right time, the right med school, the right hospital. All a bunch of rankings that don’t mean anything when patients are concerned. I had the right family, filled with ponies who wouldn’t make me compete with them to feel worthy. And I still ended up here, because somehow or another, I managed to throw it all away. If that’s how it is, then it can be the same for you. You succeeded without any of those things, and that’s practically a miracle.”

Suddenly, I realize that I don’t know where these words are coming from. I’ve never been good at giving pep talks, or doing anything like this. And, before I can fully comprehend what I’m doing, my lips move on their own accord. Just like with Spike, but worse.

Because this time, it’s too late to correct it.

“That’s what made me fall in love with you.”

Scarlet’s expression is wordless, thoughtless, the ultimate cipher. As much as I want her to say something, anything, I know I’ve frozen her in this moment.

Doctor Twilight Sparkle makes mistakes.

I just hope this won’t be one of them.

Author's Notes:

Well, this is as apt an anniversary episode as any, isn't it? I sincerely hope the month wait for the next part won't be too excruciating...