BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!

Quickly rolling over, Nurse Redheart swung her hand toward her clock to only hit the nightstand. A thumping noise was able to get through the screen of-

BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!

-noise. The source of the beeping moved and, though the noise became muffled, it was still enough to keep the nurse from falling back to sleep.

“Stupid fu-” a yawn interrupted the curse as Redheart, eyes half-open, unceremoniously rolled off her bed and crawled beneath the blessed furniture. The-

BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!

-beeping was louder down here. This let the nurse know, had this not been the thousandth time doing this, that the runaway alarm clock was under her bed.

“Cursed thing. Why did I buy you?” she asked herself as she grabbed the wheeled alarm clock and jabbed the 'off' button with her finger. With the cursed contraption finally silent, Redheart released a sigh before backing out from under her bed. Setting the clock back on her nightstand, Redheart took a moment to stretch and scratch her bare chest.

Moving to the bathroom, she stripped off her sleep pants before turning on the shower... with her head under the water. The shower spat out the freezing water but the nurse held her head in the stream for a couple seconds before standing straight up again, eyes wide open. Shaking her head, the loose hair whipping around, Redheart chuckled.

“Wakes me up everytime.”

-_-_-_-_-

Redheart stepped out of her home with a bag slung across her chest. After locking the door, she put the keys in the pouch on the strap before turning and walking down the street toward the hospital. She was dressed in her typical nurse uniform, the skirt going down to her knees and the blouse buttoned to the second button. Her mane was up in her usual bun while her tail hung down to her calves. Her nurse's hat was in her bag along with her lunch and a book for her breaks, if she got any.

I swear, she thought, This town has the most accident prone ponies in all of Equestria.

As it was early morning, the roads were crowded with other Ponyville citizens heading to work or market. Many greeted Redheart as she passed by and the nurse made sure to at least wave back. Even though the amount of injuries irritated her, she did try to be kind to her fellow ponies. Many would say that this is because she was a nurse but Redheart thought that, no matter her Cutie Mark, she would've been kind to everypony.

Turning down one of the streets, the hospital came into view. Picking up her pace slightly, Redheart pushed through the front doors to be greeted by the head nurse currently on duty.

“Morning Redheart.”

Redheart approached the desk and leaned against it, “Morning Bandage, anything new?”

“Yes, actually. I'm glad you asked. A unicorn filly was admitted to the psych ward last night. The Doc thinks she has some severe form of PTSD.”

Redheart was interested now... and worried. A filly with PTSD? “What happened to her?”

Bandage shrugged, “Don't know. She just showed up on our doorstep mumbling and shaking with glossed over eyes. When the Doc examined her, she stopped shaking but she still mumbled so quietly that, even with an ear against her muzzle, you can't understand what she's saying. To be honest, it doesn't even sound Equestrian. We took her to her room and sat her on the bed. She... she's been there ever since, staring at the wall with those glossed over eyes and mumbling.”

“Wow,” Redheart breathed, “Poor thing. I'm guessing you want me to look at you?”

“If you would. At least get her to eat something,” Bandage replied.

“Alright. I'll get on that.”

“She's in room 12. Good luck,” Bandage called out as Redheart hurried to the nurse's break room. Dumping her bag, she quickly donned her hat before hurrying over to the psych ward of the hospital. There were two entrances to the ward: the door to the rest of the hospital and the fire escape. Both were guarded by large stallions.

“Morning nurse.”

“Morning,” she quickly replied to the guard. She pushed through the doors and speed walked down the hall while looking at the plaques on the doors.

“10...11...12! Here it is.”

Standing in front of the door, Redheart straightened her uniform and mane. First impressions counted, afterall. Ready, she opened the door and stepped inside. The room was spartan by regulation. There was bed with a single sheet covering it's mattress and a couple of happy pictures painted on the padded walls. That was it. So to see a filly, dressed in a baby blue patient's gown, sitting cross-legged on the bed of one of these warms almost shattered the nurse's heart.

Like Bandage had stated, the filly, who looked to be about eight, stared at the opposite wall with a blank stare. Redheart could also see the filly's lips moving as she muttered to herself. With no reaction to her entrance, Redheart studied the filly. She had a brown coat with a dark red mane, looking almost like blood. The comparison wasn't helped with how her mane flowed down from her head, over her shoulders, and down to the small of her back. Her tail swept to the right with the tip hanging over the edge of the bed, making it look like a small river of blood.

Shaking off the imagery, Redheart stepped closer and looked at the filly's eyes. They were a sharp green in color or at least would've been if they didn't seem dulled. Though Redheart had gotten closer, the eyes remained fixed on the wall ahead of the filly. Her mouth never stopped moving. Stepping next to the bed, Redheart leaned in so that her ear was close to the filly's muzzle. The child's voice was dull drone as she repeated the same four words over and over.

“Nemo me audit nuntius. Nemo me audit nuntius. Nemo me audit nuntius. Nemo me audit nuntius.”

Definitely not Equestrian, Redheart deduced as she pulled her head away from the filly. Finally done observing, Redheart cleared her throat.

“Hey little one, I'm Nurse Redheart. Do you understand me?”

The filly gave no indication that she had heard or understood the nurse. Redheart tried snapping her fingers and waving a hand in front of the filly's face.

“Hello? Can you understand me?”

Again, no response, just the empty stare and endless muttering. Frowning, Redheart decided to climb onto the bed and crawl in front of the filly, breaking her line of sight to the wall. Now kneeling in front of the filly, Redheart leaned her head down to look the child in her eyes. Redheart smiled when she made eye contact with the filly.

That smile was quickly replaced with a grimace as two tiny hands clamped onto the sides of her head with more strength than a filly her age should possess. Redheart couldn't move her body, as if held by a freeze spell but the nurse couldn't remember seeing the filly's horn flash. All she saw were those green eyes. She tried to scream but all that came out was a quiet whimper. Her fear increased as she saw the filly's eyes change. While the iris remained it's bright green, the pupil's changed to become the hands of a clock. The veins in the whites of the eyes became prominent, forming the hour ticks of a clock face.

“Videbis,” the filly spoke loud enough for Redheart to hear her clearly, “Et scies.”

Then, the world went black. The last thing that Redheart saw was the filly's transformed eyes.