The hallways were starting to brighten up as the sunlight shone from the small barred windows. Silence dominated the entire hospital as the lonely staff member walked through, only the light sound of her hooves and clanging keys bumping against her rump echoed through the halls. Now and then, however, the random sudden echoing laugh or cry would bounce through the hallways, taking any non-experienced staff member by surprise. She was used to it though, and arrived in front of a dark windowless door to cell 427. She levitated her big stack of yellow keys, flipping through them to find the right key. She could hear a muffled voice through the door, but she didn't think much of it.

Lolly Stick found the right key, unlocking the large rectangular padded door, making sure to step back slightly so that she wouldn't get jumped on or something. There, lying in the middle of the dull room, was a yellow mare. Her blue hair had overgrown over the sides of her face, one side curled sharply into itself in one large curl, while the left side had a sizable chunk of hair clearly torn off, baring the side of her yellow left cheek. She looked like she was sleeping on the light-grey floor padding, but her left green eye was wide open while the other was permanently half-closed due to a red bruise that forced it so from under.

Her arms and hooves were bound together by her white asylum jacket, but she also had a special dark-grey wrapping sticking out from her forehead, covering her horn. It was a mandatory feature to prevent any unstable patients from casting magic, and it was extremely effective. It was amazingly simple, too - it simply converted any incoming magic into a tiny spec of light on contact, the simplicity making it re-usable for many years before wearing out.

"I AM A GREEN PONY" the crazy yellow pony blurted out suddenly. "SO MANY FRIEND. GOOD FRIEND. BEST FRIEND." She contorted her spine and neck about, almost as if in pain, or like a dog waiting to get it's belly rubbed excitedly. She always reacted like this to others. It was her signal, it was like saying "hi". At least, that's how the staff interpreted it.

"Alright Artessa," Lolly said slowly and sternly, "Time to wake up. It's food time." She entered the room carefully, helping Artessa to stand on her two legs. They wobbled, but kept her shivering posture thanks to Lolly's grip. Artessa kept smiling, arching her whole body back and forth violently as Lolly led her out of her cell.

"BLUE SKY AMAZINGLY BRIGHT. I WANT TO TASTE IT. TASTE. FLAVOR. BLUE." She said weakly, trying to yell but just not putting enough effort into it. "SWIRLS. B-BATHS."

Lolly walked down the hallway with her first patient of the day, going past the cafeteria where the smell of porridge escaped from the doorway. They arrived next-door into the specially designed "eating room", a safe padded room where they fed particularly difficult patients. It had a soft-edged table and two padded chairs which were bolted into the ground. She grabbed Artessa from the shoulders, simply tossing her onto the seat like a basketball, causing Artessa to continue shaking and blabbering incoherently. Lolly levitated a tissue up to Artessa's mouth, wiping the drool that often dripped from her lips, as she took out some food from a locked chest behind the table.

"HAHAHAHA SHE IS ONE OF THEM" Artessa shouted, almost falling from the chair. The chair sustained her weight well however, it was literally impossible to hurt herself here. She became quiet, continuing to mumble as she kept staring with her eye wide open, her cheeks clearly painfully creased from her years of smiling.

Lolly tried to ignore it, scooping a cup of leftover porridge from the safe into a spoon, turning around to feed her patient. She realized that Artessa was about to fall over, catching her and pressing her against the chair with both hooves. "Careful, you almost hurt yourself, Miss Trap." She scolded, levitating the full spoon towards her mouth. Artessa seemed to become calm for one second, suddenly launching at Lolly with her whole body, opening her mouth and biting Lolly on her neck. Lolly panicked, slapping Artessa in the face almost instantly as a reaction, forcing the crazy yellow pony back into her padded seat. Artessa began laughing loudly, Lolly taking her chance and using her magic to stuff the spoon into Artessa's mouth, letting her swallowing reflex take care of the rest. She swore under her breath, feeling her aching neck from the bite. No blood, she thought to herself thankfully, rubbing her bruise. She remembered to feel glad that her clients were all herbivores - They always send the carnivorous patients somewhere else.

"NO WRONG" Artessa moaned dumbly, choking on the spoon still levitating in her mouth. Saliva was dribbling down her lips as a reaction to tasting food. "MY LEGS WON'T LISTEN," she groaned again.

"There there," Lolly comforted, levitating the spoon out of Artessa's mouth for another scoop, "We don't bite other ponies, we eat our food like good, happy ponies. Don't you want to be a happy pony?"

"I THINK I AM" Artessa shouted, launching her body forwards with a desperate open smile. She was forced back into her chair almost instantly by her carer.

"That's a good pony. Who's a good pony? Whoo's a good pony?" Lolly said enticingly.

"YOU ARE" Artessa screamed, beginning to choke on her food. Lolly panicked, hugging her arms tightly around Artessa as she had learnt in first aid, a sticky piece of porridge splatting onto the table in front of them. Lolly sighed, deciding that was enough food. She levitated a baby bottle up to Artessa's lips, allowing her to unconsciously drink up some vitamins. In a way, it made Lolly feel comfortable, taking care of these helpless patients. She felt the same feeling one would have, taking care of an abandoned animal. They needed you, they wanted to be with you, but they would still hurt and attack you if you got too close. This is how they communicated, normal speech wasn't important with them. It made her feel a little warm inside.

Artessa began aspirating on some of the fluid, coughing and spluttering as Lolly quickly levitated the bottle away, giving her some time to recover. She wrapped her arms around Artessa, her belly slightly rounder than before, clearly well fed. Lolly sighed, leading Artessa back into the hallway, past the cafeteria, which was full of other more trusted patients talking to each other, and Hotch Pot serving up at the counter and multiple staff ponies walking around serving food and helping their patients eat and drink properly. Artessa didn't take any notice and seemed to be almost unconcious, giving Lolly a hard time transporting her. Lolly opened cell 427 with her magic, tossing Artessa into the middle of the room, slamming the door behind her, walking to repeat the process with the rest of the unstable clients in the hallway.

Author's Note

Seen from Lolly Stick's perspective.