A wilted rose

With a sigh, Terren turned from the window looked around. As he did, his eyes traveled over to the sink just a few feet away and saw the plastic cups set next to the faucet. He made his way over and grabbed one of the cups and filled it with water.

He closed his eyes at the feeling of the cool liquid flowing down his throat before he pulled the nearly empty cup away and let out a satisfied breath.

He walked over to the door after tossing the cup into the small trash bin on the other side of the sink and made his way to the door.

Once there he carefully opened the door a crack and peered out to see a hallway.

Directly across was another door with a three hundred number, most likely the three was the floor, and the rest was left to right the area and section or something like that. It wasn’t important to him as he opened the door more and pushed his head through and looked left to right.

He could see to his right the hallway came to an end with a door, a green sign above it that read, ‘Emergency Exit’ in green and white. From this angle, it seemed that the door was part of an ‘T’ intersection, but the light on the floor to one side showed it may just be a section made specifically for getting out if there was any form of emergency.

‘Wonder if there is an alarm to it. Maybe, maybe not. If I had magic at my disposal, I would probably have some form of alarm, both loud and silent. Well, that depends on the kind of magic as well. I wonder if it’s like a specific type of magic, multiple forms, elemental, or what? Cause the more options the more you could do to manipulate it more than likely.’

After coming to that conclusion to only go to that door if he knew he could escape, and quickly before any could catch him, he turned to look to the left.

Just a ways down the long hallway the other way, he saw a collection of doors on both sides of the hallway. In the distance he could see a pony walking by with a chart in his mouth.

‘Eww? Sanitation issue much?’

As he watched, the pony stopped at a rounded spot in the middle of the hallway before it continued and got up on his front hooves at the top.

It occurred to Terren it may be a nurses desk, or station of some sort, as the pony placed the object on top of the surface and began speaking to presumably another pony.

The moment he saw the familiar form of Nurse Redheart bring herself over the desk and grab the chart, Terren ducked back in to keep from being seen.

Nurse Redheart nearly dropped the chart as both she and the doctor looked down the hall where they heard a loud thunk sound and someone muttering obscenities.

“So, any issues with the human?” The doctor asked as he slowly turned back to the nurse.

“Not really, he asked to look outside through the window. Then seemed tired and laid back down.” She explained before taking the chart and setting it down on the side.

“Hello, Doctor.” Came a familiar voice.

“Ah, Princess, how are you?”

Nurse Redheart looked up over the desk to spot Princess Twilight Sparkle and a few other ponies.

“Just Twilight, and I’m fine doctor. Are you looking after, Terren, the human, or is it another?” She inquired.

“Miss Dash, while I fully understand your need and want to fly often, may I remind you, inside the hospital is a no-fly zone.” Nurse Redheart chastised the hovering Pegasus.

She got a snort in response but after a second, the mare settled down and folded her wings.

“Thank you, and currently, we don’t have any doctors appointed to Terren. Erm, Doctor Sprinter, unfortunately is home with some head trauma. We are working on getting another to stand in.”

“Pfft, that arrogant stallion deserved some sense knocked into him anyways.” The stallion next to the desk said.

“Sketch, er, I mean Doctor. That is highly unprofessional. You know we try to conduct ourselves in a different manner here in Ponyville General,” Redheart chastised.

The Doctor grinned and offered a shrug.

“Uh...” Twilight began before hesitating, unsure of what to say.

Nurse Redheart stopped before she began in on the doctor once again and turned her attention back to those present, “Would you like to see him?”

“Please.”

With a nod, she walked around the desk and began to lead the ponies and dragon to the room.

“Will you need any chairs, Princess?” She asked as she stopped at the door.

“Probably would be best, thank you Nurse Redheart,” Twilight responded with a smile.

With a smile, in turn, Nurse Redheart opened the door and excused herself.

Inside, Twilight found Terren sitting on the edge of the bed, head lowered. She smiled and moved to the side to let everypony else in before she went to sit in front of Terren.

“Well, I have good news, Terren. We were able to find your bag for you. I must say, from what evidence I could gather, I would say it seemed to have been brought with you and lost.”

With that, her horn glowed and with a brief flash there at her side was a large black duffle bag.

Looking up to Terren she saw a distant look on his face, that immediately brought a frown to hers.

“Terren...?”

His head turned to look at her, his eyes still distant before he began to turn and look at all the others.

Each pony he looked at seemed to flinch back, Spike practically jumped and backed away.

With a grimace, Terren closed his eyes and brought his hand up to his head, holding his brow tightly.

“Terren, what’s wrong?” Twilight asked in concern, taking a small step forward.

Opening his eyes and looking over at her, the distant look was gone as he let out a groan.

“Just, my head has been hurting for a bit. Seems to hurt when I try to stand and walk a bit. Thing is, I need to to keep my body from feeling weak.” He explained offhandedly.

“Have you had anything to eat?” Fluttershy suddenly asked.

“Uh... No. I don’t think I’m even-” Terren was cut off by a large grumbling sound, and bent over, his hand now going down to his stomach. “Spoke too soon, I guess,” He said as he frowned, looking down at his own body.

“Well, how about we talk to Nurse Redheart about getting you some food when she comes back.”

“When who comes back?” Came a voice as the door opened.

Nurse Redheart pushed a small stack of a few chairs for the ponies present.

Twilight took the chairs in her magic to help and spread them out for her and her friends.

“Terren has not eaten anything, is there any way you could possibly bring him something?” Fluttershy pleaded in her usual way though she seemed a bit more forward with her concern for Terren.

“Oh, of course. I had nearly forgotten. I’ll see about getting you some soup and bread, sound good?” Nurse Redheart offered a smile to Terren.

He returned the smile, eyes lowering slightly, “Please and thank you.”

Nurse Redheart smiled broadly at that and promised to be right back with some food.

Twilight introduced Terren to Rainbow Dash and Spike. They took some time to speak to Terren to see if he had been able to remember anything as of yet. The most he could do was offer was one or two old memories came back from when he was little, but nothing of his more recent memories.

In time, Nurse Redheart returned with food not just for Terren, but for the rest of his visitors as well.

They enjoyed their time, though noticed how quiet Terren remained. When pressed, he said he was just trying to figure out what was best to do to try and remember things. Though he did admit, the best thing to do would be to focus on other things and let them come back on their on instead of trying to force them back.

After they finished the food, Nurse Redheart had to get everypony to leave as visiting hours had come to an end and was sure Terren needed rest considering he was suddenly starting to slouch forward with an occasional snort.

The mares bid their farewell to each other outside the hospital and went on their separate ways.

Fluttershy looked up briefly to Celestia’s setting sun before she continued on to her cottage near the edge of the Everfree.

She had a lot of things on her mind, and needed to see Discord. She had already sent a message for him and was hoping to see him soon.

What she didn’t expect when she opened the door was the chaos entity laying in a hammock, tied between two palms trees seemingly rooted to her floor. Discord himself was wearing a pair of sunglasses, a bright colored flowery shirt, and sipping from an open pineapple.

“Ah, Fluttershy, there you are. I hope you don’t mind, but I thought I’d let myself in and make myself comfortable while I waited for you.”

Fluttershy smiled slightly and shook her head, “It’s fine Dissy. I invited you here because I needed to talk to you.” She explained as she made her way across the living room after closing the door.

“Oh? IF you want to go out again, it’s only a snap away,” Raising his claws ready to snap.

“NO!” Fluttershy called out, surprising Discord. His sent the palm trees, hammock, and clothing away, proving Fluttershy now had his undivided attention.

“I’m sorry, Discord, but this is very important, please, no more using your magic. We have a problem, and it’s sitting in the Ponyville General Hospital right now.”

Discord fidgeted, not used to Fluttershy being so assertive when talking to him or anyone. He felt a strange sensation around his stomach, he felt uncomfortable, and lowered his head, feeling no like a small foal being reprimanded for something even though he hadn’t done anything wrong. Recently.

He jumped slightly as he felt a hoof on his side. Looking over into Fluttershy’s eyes, a small tear escaped.

“Fluttershy, whatever I have done to upset you this much, I am so very sorry. I thought you were enjoying yourself.”

“Oh, Dissy, I’m sorry, I should explain what’s going on. Here, have a seat, please. I am sure it’s just a misunderstanding.”

As Discord sat on the couch, Fluttershy climbed up beside him and began to explain everything that had happened since their return from their last outing.

Discord had listened, until she began to describe the human, and everything that happened after meeting him and trying to help him.

It was around talking about going back to see him and finding his bag, that Fluttershy began to notice a slightly dark look come over his features as he turned to look at the floor.

“Dissy? I-I just wanted to know if by accident you brought the human here.”

With a small smile, Discord turned to regard Fluttershy, looking almost like himself once more.

“I don’t think there is anything to worry about. I usually do things for the sake of chaos, but not this.”

With that said, Discord stood and began to walk to a door that appeared in the middle of Fluttershy’s living room and stepped through it. The random screams and dark figures that flitted past showed it was a door directly to his own home.

As the door slammed shut, it vanished, leaving Fluttershy alone in her home wondering what was wrong.

After a little bit of silence, the animals that usually ran about freely all began to slowly make their way out into the open.

She fed them, talked to them, and went to bed. Her actions seemed distracted as she did, but with everything on her mind, she was not sure what to do.

Terren woke slowly and began to look around. The room was dark, with barely any light coming in through the window. At some point, it seemed while he slept, a pony had come in and closed the blinds over the window, leaving the room in an even darker night than outside.

He stretched out his limbs and back before rolling over, wanting to sleep more. Try as he might, sleep would not come easily to him after already a few hours.

It came as no surprise. He felt often he would only sleep for a short time and had a need to get up and move around.

It was as he began to stand up from the hospital bed that he began to remember he was not in the same place as he had expected. This place was a place of ponies, not just normal ponies either.

Ponies that could speak, act like humans, but more. They had command of magic, and came in various shapes and colors, from normal ground walking ponies, to Pegasi, to even Unicorns.

As he remained on this thought, he began to remember, also the voice in his kind and what it had said before.

Before giving it time to wake up, he shook his head and focused on one thing. He needed to get away from them all. He knew he didn’t belong, he didn’t even belong among his on kind.

With a sigh he stood, since his mind wanted to keep a hold of certain thoughts, and it bothered him.

What also bothered him was he seemed to remember only a little bit, but many things seemed to jump out from time to time as though he was aware of it, but couldn’t understand or remember why.

“This amnesia crap is total bull. How can I remember things, but not remember things.” He asked himself angrily as he began to move stuff in his bag around.

He stopped as he felt something small and cold from the metal. Removing it, he could tell it was the small flashlight he had bought not long before finding himself in this place.

Additionally, he was surprised he found his sleeping bag rolled up small, as well as his tent inside the bag as well.

Double checking he was glad to see he also had the plastic sticks to hold up the tent as well. He could vaguely remember wrestling with these two things, having tried numerous times to compact as much into this single bag as he could.

After grabbing hat he needed, he closed the bag and searched around for shoes. Finding a pair of black and blue boots under the bed, he grabbed them and slipped them on before meticulously stringing them and trying them tight to his content.

Once done, he moved quietly over to the window and split the blinds and eye level and took a look out of the window.

He could see nothing moving, which to him seemed like the best thing possible.

Still with no idea of what kind of security they had at the hospital, he needed to try and make his way out as fast as possible.

Once he was ready and had his stuff, he made his way over to the door, making a face as his stuff shifted as he moved and made some noise.

Opening it, he looked out and spotted a nurse moving from behind the desk a ways down and heading in the opposite direction.

He turned to the emergency exit door which seemed so much closer and held the illusion of safety beyond it.

“Fuck it, might as ell make a hell of an exit.”

With that, Terren pulled the door open all the way and waited to see if the nurse would do something or continue to walk. He practically grinned as she entered a room and vanished from sight.

Coming out of his room he closed it silently, hearing the faintest click as he grasped the door handle and slowly released it. He turned and made his way to the exit door and spotted the sign that said there were stairs beyond.

Without a care, he pressed the horizontal bar to open the door and heard a fading buzz sound while a slight tingle went up both his arms.

Wasting no more time, Terren let the door close on its own behind him with what seemed like an even louder sound than he thought as it echoed in the stairwell. He hustled down the steps, trying to be careful to not miss any in his rush.

Terren breathed in the surprisingly fresh cold night air and took a quick look around. He wasn’t sure which way to go now that he was outside, he just wanted to find someplace he could escape to.

He took a minute to calm his beating heart, as he slowly breathed in through his nose and out his mouth. During this calming exercise, he caught the scent of thick woods nearby in the air and decided the direction he thought it was in.

As he began to move he heard noises from within the hospital, thinking they had realized what had happened he booked it, his bag bouncing from side to side and he held the straps and kept running.

It was only minutes before he spotted a tree line, having ran past several of the houses he had seen before.

He wasted no time, running along the line looking for an entrance into the woods.

Minutes passed as he occasionally slowed to rest his body and lungs, the sounds and sights of the town fading behind him.

He came to a large clearing that seemed natural to the woods, and he spotted some weird building that looked like it had grass growing on the roof. Completely different from the other buildings.

Something stirred in his mind and he let out a chuckle, “Wonder if the talking ponies have hobbits here.”

He spotted an entrance into the woods not far from the place and headed quickly for it.

Terren stopped and bent over slightly to try and rest some. It brow, back, and arms felt as though they were pouring sweat. He noticed how much warmer the woods became after he entered it, the dense foliage covering the top blocked out nearly all light, the closeness of trees, bushes, and vines, some including thorns seemed to keep a lot of cold at bay.

Terren was glad for this, he had come to learn, in some instances, a thick forest was often the best place to spend winter nights, though it often held surprises when snakes and animals tracked his body heat.

Shivering at the thought of snakes, he stood and with another breath he continued on, now at a walk. He moved the light of his mini flashlight around looking around, occasionally hearing small animals scamper away.

Another hour or so, as he could guess he came to a decent wide clearing.

Terren took some time to walk around it, checking the clearing to see if there were any holes he could detect, random patches of stones, or anything else he could think of.

A tracker he was not, but he still looked to see if there were any obvious animal tracks and excrements. He didn’t ant to take the chance of finding himself in a pack of wolves territory, then again anything could have this place as its territory and he wouldn’t even know.

Once he was positively satisfied, though paranoid, he set his bag down and began to set up his small tent.

He placed his stuff inside after it was set up, barely remembering to pull out his sleeping bag. He zipped up the entrance of his tent and crawled into a comfortable position and quickly fell to sleep.