Hearts for Medicine: The Work of Canterlot Hospital

"Good Knight" by Nurse Snowheart

Hello. My name is Snowheart. 

A big surprise, that is not. 

I am the head of psychology at the hospital. I have a doctorate in psychology from Canterlot Tech. 

Those are not surprises either.

What IS a surprise (at least to some) is that I do have a heart. "Snowheart" could hint at my heart being "cold", but that is not the case. In fact, I am very softhearted. It is a grave misconception that psychiatrists are ultimately unfeeling. It is just that we see so many problems, and we have to shut it all out, lest we end up worse than the ponies we are trying to help. Even that does not work sometimes. I know great psychiatrists that have been driven to madness, no matter how much they tried to resist. 

It is because of such cases that I am extremely careful, especially when the ailment involves magic. 

For instance, in the case I had this morning. 

The stallion's name was Knight Lights, a member of the Lunar Guard that protects our illustrious Princess Luna. He, as many of his colleagues are, is exposed to the darker side of Equestria's magic. It comes with serving the Princess who deals with nightmares and darkness, I suppose. 

The stallion in question was brought in by the Head of the Lunar Guard, a mare by the name of Midnight Winter. She had been alerted by her subordinates that Knight Lights had been hostile during the day and talked to himself frequently. His eyes, it seemed, turned catlike and green in these bouts of aggression. Most recently, he has had faint shadows gathering at his mouth. This led General Midnight Winter to determine that he must have some professional help. 

The General herself brought Knights Lights in at 7 this morning. He is a dark blue pegasus with a pale gold mane and tail, not bad looking at all. Being a psychiatrist, I could tell that General Winter thought the same. She had to hurry back to her work, leaving me with the patient, who was hoofcuffed and seated in a chair across from my own. He was obviously not all "there" mentally. His eyes were very shifty, and they flickered green like a candle in the breeze. I started off with some standard questions about himself, asking how he was and such. He answered me with such phrases as "We are doing well" and "We have had no problems with our friends". It was always interesting, seeing a case like his up close. There was no doubt as to what ailed the stallion: a nightmare cloud. The Lunar Guard, as I mentioned, was often exposed to the darker Equestrian magic, and every once in a while, scraps of the nightmare forces that plagued ponies' dreams would decide to get together and latch on to an unfortunate pony. In this case, the nearest host happened to be Knight Lights. 

In my experience with treating nightmare clouds, the best healing often comes by sleeping. Her Majesty Princess Luna has magic that chases away the nightmares that are born outside the pony, and the Princess herself often steps into dreams to obliterate the rest. Nightmare clouds are slightly sentient, and try to keep ponies awake in order to avoid Luna's wrath. However, this could be remedied with a simple anesthetic, which I ordered for Knight Lights. I accompanied him to a room where he could sleep and regain full control of his mind. He was sound asleep when I left the room. I wished him the very best of slumbers, for he is, at his heart, a good knight.