Running for your life twice in one day isn't something that anyone should have to go through, least of all someone in the middle of an existential crisis and suffering from leg injuries.

Needless to say, I was doing just that. Sweat slicked my coat down to my skin as I tore through the forest, flight instincts again over-rode all, pain fell to the wayside to make way for deep-seated animalistic fear. I was making a habit out of panicking.

Still, I was getting exercise in, some part of me was deeply pleased to finally have a chance to open up and run, something I hadn't much occasion to do for any distance within the confines of the pasture. My mouth was open, I was... making noises, unfamiliar noises.

I was screaming, the word rose to the front of my mind, some memory from long before, from the pasture... I shook my head, I could hear the wolves behind me, smell them. They'd come back from where I'd come from, chased me from the pond, chased me towards the rising sun.

There was a break in the trees, I leaped through the gap and onto a cleared path through the forest, cobblestones clinked under my hooves as I leaned in and pushed myself harder. I was terrified out of my mind, injured, hungry... and I'd never felt more alive. The wolves sped up, trying to catch me.

They were fast, but I could knock a hole in the wind.

I lowered my head and gave it everything I had left, just like those times under the bright lights, just me and three barrels... only this time there was no rider. In front of me the path elevated and there were two stone walls on either side.

A bridge. The word entered my mind, another memory, I'd heard it spoken before, only now did everything connect. I cleared the bridge in only a few bounds, the wolves were falling behind, I heard noises ahead.

I pulled my head up, slowed my sprint. Voices were ahead of me. The rush was wearing off, the pain was coming back. I pressed on towards the Voices as a limp asserted itself into my gait. I crossed out of the forest, into the wide open.

I saw fences, recognized pastures. The Voices were near. My ears pivoted around, homing in on the sounds, I turned my head. They were like the Face in the water. Whatever I was, they surely were the same. The Red one, the Orange one.

Red looked in my direction first, Orange followed suit. Red was chewing on straw, Orange had an oddly familiar hat. They both started towards me, were making noises, words, I realized.

I couldn't make it out, the rush was leaving me, fatigue and pain were setting in. But it was okay, Red and Orange were like me, they were a herd, if only a herd of two. Safety in the herd.

I closed my eyes and let gravity take me, I hadn't the strength or will left to fight it.

When I opened my eyes again I was laying down on something soft, much softer than anything I had ever laid on before. Something was on top of me, I kicked out my legs and was immediately tangled up and started to roll.

I was falling, and then I wasn't. I hit the ground with a thud and jolted myself fully awake. My legs were tangled up in a sheet of fabric. I heard hooves clopping against wood, approaching me rapidly, I struggled with the sheet, thrashed wildly on the floor, trying to kick it off of me.

A click, the door opened, Red was standing over me. He leaned down, bit the corner of the sheet and pulled. I flopped out of it and leaped to my hooves and scrambled backwards up against the wall of the room I'd found myself in.

Red looked surprised, though by what I didn't know. "Miss... are ya alright?" He asked me.

My eyes widened. He'd spoken, I'd understood him. Was that something I could do as well? The Handlers were the only ones who could talk, and I'd never really understood them, not really, but this...

I looked down at the floor, opened my mouth, "ahh... hnnnf..." the sounds felt foreign in my mouth, the sounds wouldn't come out like I wanted them to. My eyes darted side to side, I heard more hooves, was it Orange?

Red stepped closer, he didn't have the stick of straw in his mouth anymore. "Miss...?" He looked troubled. I felt troubled, so we had that in common.

I couldn't step back any more, my flank was against the wall. Orange poked her head into the door. I bit my lip, looked up at her, "Ahhfuhh..." I tried. I was getting closer to the word, could she tell what I was feeling? Could he see the panic on my face?

The more I thought about things, the more my panic built. Red looked at Orange, she looked back at him. My ears pivoted around, listening for anything else approaching. Flight response was starting to take hold of me again. I fought back against it.

"Affraaayy..." I was getting better at forming the sounds, still not quite there though. I closed my eyes and tried to force myself to relax. Instinct was fighting with intellect, neither was willing to give even an inch of ground. I opened my eyes again to see Orange stepping closer.

She took her hat off with her front hooves, I was mystified that she was able to bend her legs that way, and she stepped closer. "Are... ya alright?" she asked me. Her face looked kind.

I looked up into her eyes, "a... afraid." I'd done it, spoken. The first word of my life. Panic started to set in again, what was happening to me? Was this even real?

Orange's face fell, she stepped in close to me, I didn't stop her. She put her hoof on my back, the contact was... vaguely familiar. "We'll figure what ever this out, yer gonna be okay, alright?"

To my surprise, I felt a little better and when I looked in her eyes I believed her.