Nurse Redheart took another swig of her coffee as she manned the front desk of her clinic. The place was quiet, as it usually was that early in the morning. Most of her patients were either asleep or knocked out cold from sedatives. It was her partner’s turn to make rounds and check to make sure that nopony had died and that nopony had stolen from their supply of gloomsbane. Again.

“It’s probably Pinkie Pie,” the nurse thought aloud to herself. “That mare is always far too happy.”

She glanced out the window only for her gaze to be met with the same dark view of Berry Punch’s liquor store she always had to see. Her ear twitched as she heard pleasured moans and sweet nothings coming down from the mare’s bedroom on the second floor. “The least she and Colgate could do is close the window,” she sighed as she drank again from her mug.

Not that she was jealous or anything. No sir. She was perfectly fine running her clinic and helping ponies in need most of the day instead of having a sex life. A sex life she would very much love to have with Colgate. A sex life she couldn’t have with Colgate because she was bucking Berry Punch. Every. Single. Night. And she had to listen to their throws of passion from her station at the front desk. Every. Single. Night.

Redheart didn’t even notice that she was biting the rim of her mug until a shard of porcelain chipped off in her mouth.

She quickly spat out the ceramic splinter as the front door opened, the bell above it ringing. “Welcome to the Twin Hearts Clinic, how may I be of service to you this morning?” She looked up to see the biggest celebrities of Ponyville and perhaps all of Equestria, the Elements of Harmony. Her customary welcoming smile faded as she saw their condition. They were covered in scratches and gashes clearly caused by claws, each one riddled with splinters. Though they all had battle scars, Applejack and Rainbow Dash had more than their fair share compared to the others. “You went into the Everfree Forest to investigate that explosion earlier, didn’t you?” the nurse asked with a sigh.

“How did you know?” Pinkie Pie asked with child-like wonder, bouncing on her hooves and smiling as wide as ever despite her injuries. Or perhaps because of them. Maybe she was a sexual masochist.

Redheart shoved that train of thought off its tracks and sent it careening into the gorge of Never Going To Think About That Again as she said, “Because I know you girls way too well. If there’s an adventure to be had, you six will be right on top of it and come to me to patch you up.”

“Sorry if we’re being a bother, Nurse Redheart,” Fluttershy apologized, hiding behind her mane.

“Yes, you really must have your hooves full without having to worry about us,” Rarity added.

The nurse couldn’t help but smile softly. “Don’t worry about me; it’s my job, after all. You got into a fight with some timber wolves, right?” The sextet of mares nodded. “Then we’ll need to pull those splinters out and clean those wounds before they get infected.” She turned around and called, “Sis, we’ve got six cases of timber wolf wounds! Get the disinfectant and the tweezers!”

“Coming right up!” a far too awake voice sang in response.

“Actually, Nurse Redheart,” Twilight cut in, “we’re not the only ones who got hurt in the fight.”

Redheart turned around and cocked an eyebrow. “Please don’t tell me you brought your pet dragon along with you.”

Twilight narrowed her eyes. “For one, Spike is not my pet. He’s like a younger brother to me. But that’s beside the point. Point is, we got into that fight with timber wolves in the first place because this colt was getting swarmed by them, and we decided to help him out.”

“Big mistake,” Rainbow Dash muttered.

Redheart was about to ask who they were referring to when the colt in question floated from behind Twilight and over the other mares’ heads. The lab coat wearing stallion was limp in the unicorn’s magic grip, though he was apparently still awake judging by the mumbling come from his mouth. “The name’s Doctor Insano; a pleasure, I’m sure,” he growled, his tone a defeated one.

“What exactly were you doing in the Everfree Forest?” the nurse asked.

He opened his mouth to respond, but Twilight cut him off. “He said it was a teleportation experiment gone awry, hence the explosion earlier.”

“And to be honest, Ah don’t trust him,” Applejack huffed as she shot a glare at the prone colt. “Those goggles of his can shoot light that kills anythin’ it touches; a death ray, he calls it, and he’s already shown he’s willin’ to use it.”

“Why else would I invent a death ray if I wasn’t going to use it to kill things?” he asked in the voice of the long suffering. “I don’t think the inventor of the blender used it as a contraceptive.”

“Not to mention he’s a huge jerk,” Rainbow Dash spat, shooting him a glare as well. “He made Fluttershy cry!”

Said yellow pegasus hid behind her mane and mumbled, “I’m okay now, though… really.” Rarity gave her a comforting nuzzle, prompting a smile out of her.

Redheart looked down at the bound unicorn, her lips drawn into a thin line and her brows raised. “He’s hurt really badly. It’s going to take quite a few bits to patch him up. Do you have the money to pay for it, Mister Insano?”

“That’s Doctor Insano,” he growled. “And sure, I always keep my wallet in my lab coat while I’m conducting dangerous experiments in teleportation technology. No, of course I don’t have the money to pay for it!”

The nurse shifted her attention from the colt to the assembled mares. “Well, this clinic doesn’t do IOUs. Any of you want to pay his fees?”

Rainbow Dash snorted. “You’d sooner get me to clip my wings.”

“Money’s a bit tight at the farm, so Ah can only spare enough bits for my treatment as it is,” Applejack explained.

“I’m already in a bit of debt taking care of all my animals… sorry,” Fluttershy apologized.

“I’d love to, but all my parties may have put me in a teensy weensy mountain of debt too,” Pinkie Pie said with a nervous giggle.

“I have a research grant from Princess Celestia, but it’s really only enough to get by,” Twilight said, avoiding eye contact. “And I’m not exactly rolling in bits from my job as the town librarian.”

Rarity’s gaze shifted to all her friends in turn before she sighed. “Business has been good at the Boutique lately, and while I don’t exactly like this gentlecolt, I suppose I can pay his medical expenses.”

Redheart smiled. “I would expect no less from the Element of Generosity herself.”

The fashionista smiled back and puffed up with pride. “I just do what I can, darling.”

“Get a room already,” Insano sneered. After a quick kick to the back of the head from Applejack and a squeal of pain he added, “And thanks, I guess.”

“You’re welcome, you ungrateful oaf,” Rarity huffed.

“Good morning, all,” Nurse Tenderheart sang as she trotted in, the disinfectant balanced on her back and a pair of tweezers between her teeth. “Oh. Oh dear. Looks like this will take a while.”

“If we hurry, we can get them cleaned and out of here before daybreak,” Redheart assured her sister. “Right now I need you to go get a gurney with restraints. As I understand, this colt is a hazard to himself and everypony around him.”

“You sound like my mother,” Insano muttered as Tenderheart nodded and went to do as she was bidden.

“And as for you,” Redheart started, turning her attention back to the colt, “I’ll be confiscating those goggles. There are no weapons allowed in the clinic.”

“Like fuck you are!” Insano yelled, struggling against his bonds anew. “I’ll kill every last goddamn one of you before you take my goggles!” He turned his gaze at Nurse Redheart, but before he could get a shot off Rainbow Dash pinned him and slammed his head into the floor facing down. “Get off me, you harpy!”

“Not until you give me those bucking glasses,” she growled, pinning him under her and grabbing the rear strap of his goggles with her teeth.

“Sis, grab some heavy sedatives, on the double!” Redheart shouted into the back of the clinic.

“No! Stop! Don’t!” Insano ordered as Rainbow Dash started tugging the goggles over his head.

“They’re stuck!” the pegasus said through her gritted teeth.

“Hold on, sugarcube, I’ll help,” Applejack said as she sat in front of the struggling doctor and put her hoofs on either side of his head and pulled on the goggle’s straps.

“I said stop, you stupid harlots!” Insano bellowed. The goggles started to come loose, but blood started to leak from behind the straps.

“Stop, you’re hurting him!” Fluttershy gasped as the colt’s blood seeped onto the floor.

“We’ve almost got it!” Rainbow Dash assured as she pulled harder.

Insano screamed in pain as the goggles came off with a sickening squelch. Applejack tumbled backward, the goggles held between her hooves. The cowpony froze when she saw that the inner ring of the metal-plated straps was covered in prongs and needles that were coated in blood.

“I can’t see!” the doctor screeched as he flailed on the ground, blood cascading down every angle of his head like a gruesome waterfall. “I can’t see, I can’t see, I can’t see!”

“What’s wrong with him?!” Twilight asked.

There was a loud thud; Fluttershy had flopped over unconscious. Pinkie Pie had her hooves over her eyes while Rarity had her hooves over her mouth, her face turning green. “I think I’m going to be ill…” the fashionista groaned.

“I…I didn’t mean to do that!” Rainbow Dash protested as she stood stunned over the flailing doctor.

Redheart shoved the cyan pegasus off of him and turned him over onto his back. She pulled his neon green mane away to see a neat line of holes around the circumference of his head that were gushing blood. “It looks like those goggles of his were attached directly into his skull...”

“Get off!” Insano roared. He snapped his restraints and scrambled away from Nurse Redheart, his blood splattering and dripping all over the floor with each sway of his head. A shared gasp went around the room as they peered into his chalk white eyes.

“You’re… you’re blind?” Twilight asked, her jaw slack.

“Of course I am!” he spat angrily, wiping the blood away that was dripping into his eyes. “Do you think I wear those goggles because they’re fashionable? I wear the damn things because without them, I can’t fucking see! That’s why I built them in the first place!”

A pang of pity went through the nurse’s heart before she remembered how dangerous he was. The colt blindly staggered backward away from the mares, toward the returning Tenderheart. Redheart gave her a meaningful look, and her sister nodded, drawing a syringe.

“Now, give me my motherfucking goggles, you thieving cunts,” he growled. “I invented them. I built them. I earned my damn sight! I’m not going to let you take it away from–”

Insano’s threat was cut off by a surprised squeal from his lips as a needle pierced his plot and the plunger was pushed. He wheeled around to face Tenderheart as she pulled the syringe out again. “What… what did you do to me?!” he demanded, taking a threatening step in her general direction. “Starting to feel sleepy… fine motor functions impaired.” He stumbled over drunkenly, bumping into the wall. “Sedatives… you resourceful bitches.” He collapsed over against the wall and slumped down it, knocked out cold and his own blood pooling around him.

Redheart let out a breath she didn’t even realize she was holding before taking another deep one in to compose herself. “Tender, get him in that gurney and tend to his head injuries. Keep him sedated until we can get more information on him.”

“I’m on it,” Tenderheart said, her voice and body shaking as she did as her sister told her.

Redheart sighed and looked over to the Elements of Harmony. “Why don’t you all just take a seat while I get all this blood cleaned up?”

There was a heave and a splat as Rarity vomited on the floor.

“And that.” Next Chapter: A River in Egypt Estimated time remaining: 3 Hours, 56 Minutes