The moon hung low in the sky on the dismally chill autumn night, as the wind whistled sharply. It was early morning, so early, most considered it night still. Epenex, a strange pony with blood red fur, bright green eyes, dark gray hair, and two little white fangs, wandered aimlessly. He had an apartment to sleep at, but his insomnia, and anxiety, was keeping him up. He was particularly anxious about his situation- he had just got out of a mental facility, had been given assistance to be able to afford a place, and felt like somepony was following him. He always felt like somepony was following, watching, listening, or reading his mind. He really did not know why he felt anxious, and he was upset with himself for being so. Epenex looked around cautiously but there were no other ponies in sight. He decided to make his way back to his apartment and to try to go to bed. As he was walking back he thought he heard a voice, and let out a small shriek. He looked around again, but still saw no other ponies. “It's all in my head” he thought, but then remembered that he hadn't heard voices in years. Not since they increased his dosage and started giving him an injection- it was a quiet and peaceful period where he felt relaxed and more at ease. He got scared, maybe he should tell his psychiatrist, he thought- no he didn't want her to think he was going crazy again. It was probably nothing, so he continued on.
Epenex woke up the next morning sweating, he had only slept five hours- his usual was ten. He had been dreaming of how he had spent the last painstaking five years of his life. It had been mostly boring, he wasn't really allowed to do what he wanted, although he had learned a lot about himself. He felt a little hopeful for the future, but that hope seemed to mostly stem from the fact that he knew the future was when he would be dead. Epenex’s outlook on life had not improved. Epenex took a quick glance at his wrist to see thirteen red vertical cuts- though they mostly blended in with his fur color, so it was not glaringly evident that he has cut himself. He felt bad for doing it to himself, as he was told it was wrong, but it made him feel better in the moment. Epenex took a deep sigh and left his apartment. The sun outside irritated him as it shined in his eyes with a blinding brightness. Epenex tried to ignore it as he went to the market in search of some fresh food to eat. It was while he was nibbling at an apple he had bought when he heard a voice that sounded as if it came from everywhere at once. "You're worthless" the voice stated coldly. Epenex spun his head around to see where the voice was coming from but found no source. "Kill yourself" the voice stated again. Epenex quickly forgot about hearing the voice, but felt down and suicidal for a reason he couldn't pinpoint. He was always feeling like that though so he didn't think too much of it.
By noon Epenex was feeling even worse. He was sure there was a pony trying to assassinate him, and he wanted to hurt himself to prove he could still feel. Epenex never knew where these ideas came from, or why he believed them, but he rarely questioned them. It happened to be one of those rare moments. He tried to recollect as to why he knew somepony was going to assassinate him. Then he thought maybe he didn't know, maybe he had just guessed. A memory came back to him, he remembered hearing a voice earlier that had tipped him off about the assassination, but he couldn't remember who had said it or why he had believed them. He tried to push the thought that somepony was trying to kill him out of his mind. He couldn't. Epenex found himself walking down an empty road when his anxiety caught up to him. He didn't want to die, so he started to run. He ran all the way back to his apartment and locked himself inside. He then began frantically checking every corner to make sure that no pony was hiding around. He found no sight of anypony else, and felt slightly relieved. His relief didn't last long as a loud knock broke the silence. He jumped up, scared, and ran away from the door. It must be the assassin, he thought. A voice from the other side of the door called out to him, "Epenex, you home?". Epenex thought the voice sounded slightly familiar, so he creeped closer to the door. "I'm here to give you your injection" the voice stated. Epenex realized what was happening, ever two weeks he got his anti-psycotic medication in the form of a shot, it had been two weeks since his last shot.
Epenex, with much care, slowly moved towards the door. Another loud knock broke out and Epenex, quite frightened, yelled out "I'll be right there!". He creeped towards the door knob and quickly opened it, a smiling face stared at him. The mare had a small, straight, mint green mane with a white stripe in the middle, pastel green fur, and beaming sea green eyes. "Why are you shaking?" she asked kindly. Epenex wondered if she was the assassin. "I'm just anxious" he responded. She looked at him with worry and calmly stated "It won't take long and it's mostly painless". Epenex eyed her nervously. "Don't worry" she exclaimed with a smile. Epenex was worried however, and he slowly backed away. "It'll be okay" she assured, but Epenex at that moment decided that he needed to kill her before she killed him.