//------------------------------// // A Close Call at the Asylum // Story: Five Nights at Pinkie's // by Hazel_Hester777 //------------------------------// It had been years since that job was taken by Hester, but now she hasn’t been seen in a long time. Hazel had been acting sick due to separation. She has been at the asylum more regularly nowadays, not just for her meds, but to cry alone in her room and sleep off the pain; she only goes to her house when it’s time for going back to the real world. Their Creation-Children have been a little depressed with missing their other maker, but they don’t show it when they’re at work. Then the pizzeria where the Familiar used to work shut down altogether. A new one was built soon after, with remakes of the old animatronics. According to rumors, the old animatronics from the previous pizzeria were kept in the new one for spare parts. Still, despite being new, the pizzeria was still haunted with the deaths of the next security guards. “Remind me again, why are we going here?” Crystal Rose asked as they approached the asylum with Rosette Thorn, Daylight Shine, Karmatic Note, and Serene Breeze. “We’re going to visit Hazel” Rosette sternly answered her cousin. “In the asylum?! I know she’s depressed and all, but why would she…” “Traumatic experiences and this also were she goes to sulk” “Why do you know this?” Serene Breeze asked. “Dude, what kind of best friend would she be if she didn’t know where she would go to hide?” Karmatic Note smirked. “Right, and you go here too” Daylight Shine crossed her forelegs. “I have crippling depression!” “Enough! Let’s just find Hazel and get her to speak up!” Rosette firmly shushed her friends before knocking on the door. The door was opened by Nurse Redheart. Though she worked full-time a nurse in a hospital, here she worked part-time hospital and part-time asylum. The patients just adored her. “Oh! Welcome to Wonderland Asylum! How may I help you?” “Uh, hi there! We were hoping you could help us” Crystal began. “Is this because of Karmatic Note’s refusal to…?” “No, it’s something else. We’re looking for somepony here” Rosette stated. “Is Hazel Nut Vine here?” Nurse Redheart nodded. “Right this way” The group followed Nurse Redheart around and stayed close for out of fear that one of the members may be able to escape and they could be a victim. They passed by the staff every now and then as they wheeled meds and bottle around in different rooms. There were also other rooms that kept the truly unstable isolated to prevent damage. Finally, they made it to the room with the sign, “Main Room” “You’re just in time, we just gave the patients their meds so they should be rather approachable and docile for now” Nurse Redheart added when they looked around. Much to their comfort, the room was not that filled with patients. Some had gone into their rooms to sleep off their meds. The few who were present were just sitting around all docile. Some even slept on the tables. The girls scanned the area with their eyes but they couldn’t spot the girl they were looking for. “You might find her sleeping in her room. The meds make her tired at times” Nurse Redheart said as she walked to the rooms nearby. “She’s in Room G-17” “Thank you” After a while of searching for the room, they finally found the room labeled G-17. Rosette went up ahead to knock. At first she hesitated. She never really saw Hazel when she was in this asylum. But she had to know how she was and talk to her. She knocked, but the door didn’t open. Instead, it only creaked open. “Hazel? It’s me, Rosette” the girl called to her. No answer. She peered in through the small opening to see any sign that she may be there. All they saw was darkness. Faint light from the binds of a curtain at a window was all they had to get a glimpse of what was inside. Finally, she focused hard enough and saw the silhouette of her friend on the bed. “Hazel, it’s Rosette” the girl tried again. Still no answer. The girl she was calling to just lie still on her bed. She didn’t even move. “Bruh? Are you okay?” Karmatic Note called to her. “Well, we wasted a trip. Let’s go” Crystal said as she turned to leave. She didn’t want to be in this asylum anymore. She was stopped by Daylight. Rosette tilted her head to the side. Something didn’t seem right. Hazel wasn’t really a heavy sleeper, and she learned that on an educational tour when they had to share a room with Angelic Song. She slowly moved close to where her friend was. She was lying on her side, facing away from the window in case of light. Looking down, she saw something was started to stain the covers. It looked like it was still spilling. “Turn on the lights!” Serene nodded and turned on the lights. Rosette screamed at the top of her lungs when she saw the state her friend was in. All the others screamed as well when they got a clear view of the situation. Hazel’s arms, they had cuts on her wrists. “I’LL GET THE NURSE!” Serene cried out before running off to go find the nurse. As soon as she left, Crystal fainted and Daylight had to catch her. Rosette felt tears stream into her eyes as she held the cut arms. They were cold and pale, as her skin was a pale as the asylum gown she wore. She could hear breathing and feel a pulse, but it was faint. “Hazel, stay with us!” Hazel soon reopened her eyes to a bright light. Her vision was blurry at first, but eventually cleared up as she soon was able to see again. The first thing she saw when she could see was that her room was bright again. Who turned on the lights? As her vision swam into focus, she able to see that she was surrounded by her friends. Rosette Thorn had her head on her left bedside, as though she were crying her eyes out. Karmatic Note had closed her eyes while lying her head on the other side of the bed; the song she was listening to was a sad one. In a corner, on two seats, were Daylight Shine and Crystal Rose. Daylight was reading a book she brought with her while Crystal was still unconscious. Serene Breeze was talking to the nurse about how this happened. “So, it wasn’t suicide?” Serene asked to make sure. “No, somepony cut her. Don’t worry; we’re taking care of it” Right, she now remembered what happened. She took her meds and was heading to her room when somepony hit her and knocked her out unconscious. When she regained consciousness, she saw that it was another one of the unstable clones of Twilight Sparkle. She cut her wrists and she was losing blood. The next thing she saw was darkness and silence. Why did one of the clones have to be insane? She tried moving her arm, but it would barely move from the amount of blood loss. She managed to move her eyes enough to see that the cuts on her wrists were all patched up. Hopefully, there would be no permanent scars. She also noticed that one of her arms was attached to a blood bag nearby, practically to give her back the blood she lost. “Guys…” she whispered my voice a bit raspy. The Nurse, Serene, Daylight, and Rosette noticed. “Good, she’s wake. I’ll give you some time alone” the Nurse said before going out of the room. Serene nodded before waking up Karmatic Note while Daylight woke up Crystal. “Hazel!” Rosette was happy to see her friend was up. She immediately pulled her in for a hug. “Oh, I thought we were gonna lose you” “Bruh never lock yourself in your room to kill yourself again!” Karmatic yelled to the girl. No doubt, she was in hysterics again. “It was another patient” Serene assured her. “Oh” “Dude, we were so worried!” Rosette made Hazel face her before pulling her back into a hug again. “Crystal fainted” Daylight pointed out. “It was from utter shock and nothing else!” the blue-skinned girl talked back. “I’m sorry, it’s just…” Hazel coughed a bit. “Don’t you dare apologize! When I get my hands on whoever did this to you, I’ll…” she began to squeeze her friend tightly. “Rosette…” “Yes?” Daylight tapped her shoulder. “She can’t breathe” “And…my head…aches” Hazel choked out. “Oh, sorry, Hazel!” she let go, allowing the girl to breathe. “It’s alright” the girl began to catch her breath. “I’m thankful that you were able to come here just in time. A few more minutes and I would be dead for the rest of the night” Everypony knew that in this Wonderland, if you died or got killed, you will come back to life the next day. The only way it’s truly permanent is as if you were Executed at the hands of the Rulers. If one does get Executed, their real-world counterparts won’t be able to go back to Wonderland until they gain a new account in any of the MLP websites. Thank goodness for our system here. “By the way, what are you guys doing here?” “We wanted to come and check on you, and help you. We knew you came down here to cry at times” Rosette replied. “It’s about Hester, isn’t it?” All nodded. “I’m sorry; I just miss her so much that it hurts quite literally” “We know, but I think we have a way to find her” Crystal spoke up. “Really?” She nodded. “They’re hiring security guards at night, but this time, for extra precautions, they allow groups to make sure there are higher chances of survival” “If we take the job, we’ll take shifts and find Hester soon” “Okay, let’s go!” Hazel tried to get up, but her head began to ache again. “We’ll go when you’re all better” Rosette said as she pushed Hazel back into bed.