Crunch.

Crunch. Crunch.

Crunch. Crunch. Crunch.

Scattering.

Rustling.

Panting.

It slows.

Pain.

Falling. Skidding.

Salty. More pain.

Panting speeds up.

Check behind.

Impact.

Black.

Light.

Odd cave.

Face.

Mouth moving.

Odd sounds.

One is familiar.

Lost.

I gesture at me.

Imitating their sounds, I say "Lost!"

The face looks back. It makes a similar gesture.

"Nurse," it says, along with a whole host of unrecognizable sounds.

'Nurse' gestures at the soft rock I sit on.

Nurse walks out of cave to leave.

Dark. Sleep now.

Outside the hospital room, Nurse Redheart stood talking to another nurse.

"He didn't seem to know what I was saying, First Aid. He had that look in his eyes, y'know, the one where they just stare, like you're speaking some other language?"

The other nurse nodded. "I know the one. My grandstallion was like that, near the end. Just... stared."

Redheart shook her head and sighed. "This one's a sad case. He did say one thing, though."

"What's that?"

"I had been talking to him, telling him how he was found, when said that he might have been lost. He cut me off, and half spoke, half yelled, "Lost!" while gesturing towards himself."

First Aid was taken aback. "What happened next?"

"I made a similar gesture at myself, and said 'Nurse.' He looked a bit calmer after that, so I motioned toward the bed and turned off the lights."

"Huh. Anyway, I'm getting off soon, want to come?"

"Sure, be right there."

Dark.

All dark.

Unnatural shapes running. Chasing.

Catching.

Pain.

Red.

All red.

Lost.

I am Lost.

Fear. Lonliness.

Help me.

Awake.

Noises.

Light. Noise from a face.

No, it's Nurse.

"Nurse," I say.

It replies with a stream of sounds. I don't listen. Ignoring is easy.

Suddenly, Nurse makes a different sound.

Angry sound.

Angry makes me angry.

I growl.

It steps back.

Surprised.

I grin.

Nurse makes a scared sound.

I snap at it.

Nurse runs from the room.

I stand, triumphant, on my soft rock.

I retreat underneath, into my den.

"He- he- he- HE ATTACKED ME!"

The hospital staff looked at Redheart. She didn't look hurt.

"How, pray tell," said Cutting Edge, "did he attack you? You don't look hurt."

"Well, he didn't actually attack me, but-"

Cutting cut her off. "So what DID he do, then?"

Nurse Redheart snorted. "I was GETTING to that, Doctor Edge. Thank you for cutting me off.

As I was saying, he didn't PHYSICALLY attack me, but did jump on his bed and growled at me.

His teeth were sharpened and rough, and more than a bit yellowish red."

First Aid shuddered. "R-r-r-red? As in, blood-red?" Nurse Aid shrieked and ran under the table.

Redheart sighed. "No, not blood-red. More like, berry-red. The mare who brought him in did say he was near the Everfree forest. Judging by his demeanor, I'd say that he's been in there quite a while."

Cutting stood up. "Well, I believe it's time for me to meet our patient." With a deep breath, he left the lounge, and headed toward the patient's room.

Clop. Clop. Clop. Clop.

A face.

Clop. Clop.

It grows closer.

Clop. Clop.

Nearer my den.

Clop.

And to its doom.

Creeeaak.

Inquisitive sounds from the face. It looks around my den, I think, to find me.

Just as face starts to leave, I jump out.

The patient growled, having pounced out from under the bed, and in front of the door.

Doctor Cutting backed into a corner, and yelled "HELP! GET OFF OF ME!"

The patient circled the doctor, and snarled. "Nurse?"

Cutting, having been taken aback by the patient saying anything, stammered "N-no, I'm not Nurse. I'm Doctor Edge."

The patient stopped, and stared inquisitively.

With a sigh of relief, Cutting said "Doctor. I'm Doctor Edge." He paused for a second, and tried to remember what Redheart said to him. "What was it that she said? She gestured, and... Oh, yeah!"

The maroon-colored doctor composed himself and while motioning towards himself, said "Doctor."

The assaulting patient stood up straight, and pointed towards himself. "Lost."

Suddenly, hospital security burst in. "Stop!"

The patient started growling again.

"No! NO! Don't hurt him," yelled Doctor Edge. "I'm fine now, thank you."

After a quick glance at each other, the two security ponies decided to comply.

The patient, still snarling, yelled something along the lines of "Fl'rah'ayru!" in a half growl, half yell.

The doctor said, "No, no. Shhhh... Lost, shh..."

Like that, the patient took a deep breath, and went back to his bed.

"Hmm," thought Cutting. "He calmed down easier than expected."

At that moment, Nurse Redheart came in. "Are you ok, Doctor? I heard noises, and-"

"Don't worry, Nurse. I'm just fine."

Under her breath, she muttered, "It's a shame."

"What was that?"

"Oh, nothing," said Redheart with a nervous chuckle. "How'd you get him so calm?"

Provided an opportunity, Cutting boastfully said, "Through my brilliance, I was able to tame the savage beast. He repeatedly lunged for me, but I would have none of it. Rather, I slowly conversed with him, and talked him down. By the time the guards had arrived, there was no need! I had already defeated the greatest foe of mine to date."

Redheart just stared. "Are you kidding me? That's what happened?"

Edge chuckled. "More or less."

"You- you- you're worse than that braggart, Trixie!"

"Au, contraire, my faithful nurse. Trixie was a braggart AND a liar. I just embellish. They're totally different."

"If you say so."

"I do."

The nurse shook her head. "How's he doing?"

"It turns out, that he does have a name he likes to be called," said Doctor Edge.

"And what is it, may I ask?"

"Lost. I calmed him down by calling him Lost."

Redheart raised an eyebrow. "And it was that simple? That isn't just more... embellishing?"

"No, ma'am. That's the truth."

It was at this time that Lost spoke up. "Nurse," he said, pointing at Redheart, "Doctor," he said, pointing toward Cutting, and "Lost," he said, directed at himself.

"Doctor, Nurse, help Lost?"

Redheart smiled, and said "Doctor, Nurse help Lost."

Author's Note

Alright, first chapter done. Lemme know what you think!