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// The Manehattan Rehabilitation and Psychiatric Center 
// Story: High School Loser 
// by Frizzy 
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Penn and Doctor Hiccup trotted through the city at a steady pace. Penn was taking in all the sites as they went. Penn was enjoying the architecture, and thought the beautiful colors of autumn really complimented it. 'They sure don't make buildings this big in Ponyville.' he thought. He was going to miss Ponyville. He had spent his entire life there, now look at him: a small-town colt in a city that was much too big for comfort.

They arrived at a building that wasn't quite as big as the surrounding skyscrapers, but it certainly wasn't small. It was about the size of the school he had been attending until his...incidents. A large sign in front of it read "The Manehattan Rehabilitation and Psychiatric Center". This was going to be "home". Doctor Hiccup opened the door, gesturing him to enter. She was wearing an encouraging smile. She wanted him to feel safe, he guessed. Slowly placing one hoof in front of another, he stepped inside.

The atrium looked pretty much like the hospital back home. Same torn couches, same out dated magazines, same smiling receptionist. "Hello, Doctor!" the receptionist called. "Is that the new patient?" Penn stared down at the tiles. He didn't want to face her. He wouldn't be lying if he said he was scared. "Belle, this is Penn. I believe he is signed up for room 24B." Doctor Hiccup patted him on the back, reassuringly. 

Belle the receptionist opened a filing cabinet behind her, and after a few seconds of searching reappeared with a file. "Let's see, Penn, 24B. Looks like you were right. Now, Mr. Penn, I will need you to sign here." Belle said, giving him a pen, and gesturing towards one of the documents. Quickly scribbling his name, he handed it back to her.

"Come along now, we don't want to keep your roomates waiting." Belle said, gesturing for him to follow. Roomates? He thought that he was going to have his own room to "collect his thoughts" in. But, having some other ponies might make the adjustment a little bit easier. Walking down the hallway, then making a left, a right, another right, going up some stairs, then turning left again, they arrived at a door labelled 24B. 

Knocking before entering, Belle opened the door to a large room decorated with paintings. Beethoofven's Twelfth Symphony played through a small stereo. "Bow! Blotch! Your new roomate has arrived. At those words, a gray Earth Pony stallion with a goatee and a violin cutie mark got off one of the three beds in the room, while a white Pegasus mare with a paintbrush cutie mark put down her paintbrush. They approached Penn, smiling warmly. "This is Penn. He's the colt I was telling you two about last week. Make him feel at home. I have to go back downstairs." Belle left, closing the door behind her.

"H-hi." Penn stammered. He wasn't sure just how crazy these ponies were. "So," the stallion started. "Why exactly are you here?" he asked, bluntly. "Bow!" the mare who was most likely to be Blotch shouted. "Don't just be so upfront about it! He hasn't even told us where he's from yet!" Penn looked down at his hooves, tears starting to form in his eyes. "Look what you did!" Blotch shouted. "You made him cry!" She wrapped Penn in a tight hug. "There, there, honey. No need to cry. It will be okay." She stroked his mane as she said this. Penn returned her hug. He felt as if he could trust her. 

Pulling away from the hug, Penn wiped his eyes. "I-I'm from Ponyville. I'm here because I was bullied horribly at school, and tried to kill myself on five different occasions." Blotch pulled him into another hug. "I'm from Hoofington." she said. "I'm here for the second time because of my addiction to alcohol. I lasted 3 months, 2 weeks, 6 days, and 6 hours from the time I first left, to the time I had another drink. All I remember from that night is having a Harvey Wallbanger, then waking up the next morning next to a sweet-talking hobo, with mustard in my mane".

Now it was Bow's turn to speak. "I'm from Canterlot. I used to play violin for the Royal Opera, but after a critic gave me a bad review, something snapped. I broke into they poor guy's house, smashed a great deal of his possessions, then beat him with a violin. Needless to say, there was obviously something wrong with me, so I came here." Bow finished his story, a look of shame plastered onto his face. Penn looked at them, his mouth  hanging open in surprise. They weren't nearly as crazy as he had feared. They actually seemed quite normal. "You two seem fine to me, why are you still here? Neither if you look dangerous."

Blotch spoke up. "The thing about the center is, as long as you come in with a problem, and have the money to pay for it, you're welcome to stay as long as you like. Neither of us are quite sure if we're ready for the outside world yet." Penn looked at them and smiled. As long as they were here with him, he didn't think his experience here would be that bad. "So, Penn," Bow said. "We have about half an hour until they serve lunch, so why don't we get you unpacked, and get your bed ready." Penn nodded in agreement. It would be best to get that stuff out of the way now. As they got him unpacked, they talked about themselves. Penn learned that the center encouraged the patients to have a creative outlet, which explained all the paintings and sheet music that littered the floor. He was happy that he would still be able to write. Things were looking just a little bit brighter.


*AUTHOR'S NOTES*
Hey, guys! I just felt so bad about making you guys wait a months for the prievious chapter, so I figured "Hey, why not make it up to them by busting out another chapter before bed?" So here you go. You deserve it. PEACE!