//------------------------------//
// Exploration and Exploitation 
// Story: They Call Me Insanity 
// by Commander Ice 
//------------------------------//

Mad Mind made his way out of the hospital, stepped out into the open world and sighed as he felt the suns rays bathe him in warmth. A slight breeze travelled by, flowing gently through his messy, chaotic mane. He smelt the fresh air and let out his breath in relief of finally getting out of the hospital and escaping that horrible smell of disinfectant.

As Mad Mind enjoyed his time of freedom from the hospital, he noticed that the hospital was upon a small hill, overlooking a small, colourful town. He grinned. 
'So that's Ponyville...' Mad thought to himself as another small gust of wind passed by, causing the leaves on a nearby tree to rustle.

Somepony clearing their throat brought Mad Mind back from his little rest as Twilight Sparkle brought up the front of the group, eager to give Mad Mind a five-star tour of the town. 

Connor made a rain check on the other mares, seeing if they were ready to go. Fluttershy was at the back of the group, remaining quiet as ever, Rarity was trying to bring up conversation with Applejack and failed horribly as Rarity began getting to get into another argument with Applejack.

"Darling, why would you not want to try on dresses for me?"
"Listen Rares: I appreciate the offer and all, but I'm not one for dressin' up. I just don't see the need."
"Applejaaaaaack..." Rarity began whining and whining but not before noticing Mad Mind staring daggers at her. Not wanting to deal with a pissed off Mad Mind again, she quickly shut up and apologized to Applejack.

The last mare of the group, Rainbow Dash, was utterly bored out of her mind. She tried doing small loops to entertain herself, but quickly got tired of that and began drawing things on the ground. Mad Mind let out a small chuckle at this: somepony needed to teach her a thing or two about patience.

Rainbow soon got bored of that as well and spoke up. 
"Ugh! Can we get going now? I have things to do! Clouds to clear! Naps to take!"

'What does she mean "clouds to clear?"' Mad Mind thought to himself but shoved these thoughts out of his mind quickly so he could respond.

He quickly looked at Twilight. "Ready when you are." He said with a smile.
Twilight nodded and the six began making their way towards the small village and, eventually, arrived in the square. There were lot's of ponies in the square: buying and selling food, clothes and many other things.

'Clothes? Ponies wear clothes? Since when? All the ponies I've seen so far have been...'
'Mother of god...'
'Ponyville's a village of nudists.' Mad Mind went wide eyed at this thought, but didn't allow himself time to worry about it as the group arrived at their first destination: A gingerbread house.

No, seriously.

A full scale gingerbread house with icing, gingerbread and gumdrops... Mad Mind rubbed his eyes and blinked before sniffing and wiping a tear from his eye.

'It's beautiful...' He thought to himself as Twilight began talking.

"This is Sugar Cube Corner, Ponyville's local bakery. No, it's not real gingerbread,"
'Dammit!'
"You'll find loads of treats in there, and Pinkie Pie works here as well."

' I swear I'll be here. A lot.' Mad Mind thought to himself as they left the gingerbread house and made their way directly to an apple orchard.

Not just any orchard though: The orchard.

It was HUGE! thousands upon thousands of trees covered the landscape filled to the brim with the red and green delectable fruits. Mad Minds eyes went wide upon seeing this. In the distance, he noticed a large, red barn and a farm house directly beside it.

Applejack took the lead for a few minutes to show the farm. "Welcome t' Sweet Apple Acres! The largest apple orchard in all Ponyville!"

"Not to mention the only one..." Rainbow muttered to Mad Mind with a chuckle. He hardly payed any attention to Rainbow as he looked around the orchard. He moved his gaze back to Applejack.

"It's lovely, Applejack." Mad Mind said to her with a smile causing her to chuckle.

"Thanks fer the compliment! Here," She said giving Mad Mind and the others an apple. "Free of charge. Well, It's been nice meetin' you Mad Mind, but I need to go and finish up the farm work. Them trees won't buck themselves." She said, and with a tip of her hat, she made her way towards the barn.

"Well that was nice of her." Connor said as they made their way back towards town square.
"Applejack's a nice pony once you get to know her. And also one of the most honest ponies around." Twilight said, levitating her apple up to her mouth and taking a bite.

Connor froze, his mind getting into another debate.

'That apple... Just floated up to her.'
'How? That's not possible.'
'Magic.'
'Oh please. Theres no such thing as magic.'
'You're in a land filled with talking ponies. Don't tell me whats possible and not possible.'
'Honestly, logic? You were deleted. Just get lost!'
'But where will the fun in that be?'
'It's not supposed to be fun. Go. Now.'
'I will... Eventually.'

"MAD MIND!" Mad Mind instantly jumped at the sound of his name being called directly into his ear.

"OW! What the hell?" He began, but noticed a laughing Rainbow Dash beside his head. He shook his head and turned his gaze to Twilight. "Soo... What's up?"

"Mad Mind: you were standing there for a full five minutes. Is there something wrong?"
Mad Mind gave her a sheepish smile in return. "Oops. Sorry Twi, my mind kinda wandered off. It took me a while to find it again is all."
Twilight nodded, not entirely convinced. "Okay, but keep track of it this time. Don't want to lose you again." She responded as she turned around and kept walking. Mad Mind shrugged and followed the rest of the group until they arrived at a large, carousel-shaped building. This time, Rarity went up to the front of the group and spoke.
"This is Carousel Boutique. My shop where I design my clothes."

Connor stopped, thinking this was as good a time as any to ask questions. "So you make clothes?" He asked curiously.
Rarity glanced at him in confusion. "Why yes dear. I design clothes for ponies all over Equestria. Why do you ask?"

"Well, we've been walking around town for quiet some time now, and I noticed very few ponies wearing clothes. Is there something wrong with business or do ponies just not wear clothes often?" Mad Mind asked, eyebrow raised.
An awkward silence overcame them for, what felt like, an eternity before she finally spoke up again.
"Well... You see: Most higher class ponies, like ponies from Canterlot, wear clothes to show their status. Ponyville is slightly different. The ponies here are, for the most part, of equal status so there is of no real need for clothes, unless for a celebration of course, than there is a dire need for attire to grab the attention of other ponies."

Mad Mind rolled this thought around for a second before responding. "Huh. Well that clears thing's up for the most part."

Rarity's face than changed, as if she remembered something of dire importance. 
"Oh my! I have totally forgotten about my order! I have to finish 4 dresses in three days! I have to get to work. It was a pleasure to meet you Mad Mind. I'll be off now. Good-bye!" She said quickly as she ran back into her shop.

The remaining ponies, Twilight, Rainbow, Fluttershy and Mad Mind, all began to make their way towards a dark forest on the outskirts of town. Mad Mind swore though: he thought he saw a bright flash as they left Carousel Boutique.

As the four of them arrived at the dark forrest, Twilight began speaking again. "This is the Everfree forest. Not many ponies go into there though,"

Mad Mind gave her a look of confusion. "Why? Is there something wrong with that forest?"
Rainbow decided to give her opinion about this. "Of course there's something wrong with it!"
"And what might that be, O' wise Rainbow Dash?" Mad MInd asked sarcastically.

Rainbow decided to drop it. "That forest isn't natural. All the animals have to take care of themselves!"
Mad Minds expression changed to one saying 'Are you freaking serious?' as Rainbow continued.
"And the there trees are unnatural as well! And worst of all..." She paused for dramatic effect. "The clouds move by themselves!"

Mad Minds eye twitched. Than he burst out into a massive fit of laughter. He fell to the ground, holding his sides as he rolled around laughing intensely. Twilight and Rainbow exchanged looks of confusion. "How's that funny?" Twilight asked curiously. Mad Mind grinned.
"Seriously? Is that it? It's just a damn forest! Nothing more! I fail to see how this forest is at all bad!" He exclaimed.

Rainbow gave Mad Mind a stern look. "It's not just a 'normal forest', this forest is one of the scariest, darkest forests of all dark and scary forests!"

Mad Mind chuckled. "Aww. Is poor little Dashie afraid of the big, bad forrest? Maybe you need somepony to hold your hoof?" Mad Mind taunted. Dash shook her head "I'm not afraid of anything!" She boasted as she flew up a few inches and puffed out her chest to prove her point.

Mad Mind grinned as he saw an opportunity for more humiliation (If he could get it past that thick skull of hers...)
"Oh than please! If you would be so kind as to give us a tour of the Everfree forest. Being the fearless pegasus that you are, surely you must be a... Capable tour guide for such a," he paused as he stared up at Rainbow and stared her straight in the eye. "Spooky forest."

All the fearlessness and dignity rushed from Rainbows eyes as Mad Mind stared directly into them. He grinned as he saw it simply disappear. "M-maybe some other time..." She stammered out, trying hard to not maintain eye contact. He grinned. He knew he was getting somewhere with this argument and was going to keep pressing her, but Twilight decided to step in.

"Rainbow, Mad Mind just wanted to know what the forest was like is all. I don't see much of a problem with it,"
Rainbows face as Twilight said this: priceless. Her eyes turned to the size of pins and she began stuttering over her words until Twilight spoke up again. "But it'll have to be another time. Our tour of Ponyville isn't complete yet and were wasting time. I have a tight schedule to keep and we need to keep moving." Rainbow let out a sigh of relief at this. Twilight began moving to the next part of the tour and Mad Mind followed. Rainbow quickly flew up next to Mad Mind and began conversation.

"Look: It's not that I don't want to show you around the Everfree, it's just... I don't know my way around. We might get lost for all I know, and maybe attacked by some vicious animal! Or-" Mad Mind cut her off at this.

"Alright, listen. I only took this tour so I could find my way around Ponyville, not because I wanted to spend more time with you girls. I would personally prefer if I found my way around myself, but since you guys are trying to become my friend so badly, I had no choice but to go with you on this tour." Mad Mind stated to a confused Rainbow Dash. 

"Why do you have a problem with us? We've been nothing but nice to you and you refuse to show us any respect."

"Correction: You've been too nice to me. It just seems too suspicious, too good to be true. I still don't trust you girls entirely yet. It all just seems too perfect for me: no hardships, no problems, just waking up somewhere in a place I don't know with a chance to make friends,"

Mad Mind shook his head and avoided Rainbows gaze. "It's all just too good to be true." He muttered.

Mad Mind turned his head back and saw a hurt Rainbow. "I guess your just a lucky guy than." She said as they continued following Twilight. "If I was brought into a place I don't know I would probably freak out as well, but when I see ponies who are just trying to be friends with me..." She smiled. "I guess it's kinda a good thing knowing that I have ponies who care about me."

"To me, that's just jumping to conclusions. What if the ponies you call friends were using you the entire time? And after you serve your purpose, they just backstab you, throw you out like trash. What do you do then?" Mad Mind asked, paranoia clear in his voice.

Rainbow froze. Mad Mind looked at her and saw that she was more hurt than before. "Y-you don't honestly think...  That were going to do that to you. Do you?"

Mad Mind thought about this for a good, long twenty seconds before responding. "I think not. And I hope not. But, at the moment, I can believe anything. And I'm choosing to believe in this for the moment."

Rainbow's eyes went wide at this as she felt a strong, sad feeling within her. "Look... I gotta head back home now. Need to finish clearing the clouds. I'll see yah later Mad Mind." She said as she took off into the sky in a rainbow streak.  She felt a heavy feeling in her heart.

'I would never do that,' Rainbow thought to herself as she arrived at her massive, cloud house.

'Would I?'


XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX


"And here we are at... Where's Rainbow?" Twilight asked as she only saw the two ponies with her.
"Oh. She went home. Something about 'clearing clouds' and being 'bored out of her mind'." Mad Mind explained.

The trio had finally arrived at a cottage which had an infestation of critters of all shapes and sizes. The place looked slightly overgrown, but it complimented the fact that is was so close to the Everfree.

"This is Fluttershy's cottage. Or the local vet..." Mad Mind drowned out the rest of the words Twilight had to say as his mind kicked into gear.

'Why is she showing me all of the girls houses?'
'Is she really that desperate to get you to become friends with the girls?'
'She know's I don't trust the girls whatsoever. Maybe she thinks that by showing me their houses, I'll visit them more often and become friends with them!'
'Theres always a damn catch, isn't there?'
'She's looking at me funny. Maybe I missed something important. Are ears prepared to receive more shit?'
'Ready.'
'Let her rip.'

"Huh? Wha?" Mad Mind asked, completely oblivious to what Twilight just asked.
She groaned and face hoofed. "I said: that maybe Fluttershy would be a more capable pony to guide you through the Everfree forest. She knows the place like the back of her hoof! Isn't that right Flutershy?"

Said pony was now hiding behind Mad Mind in fright. "No... I refuse to do it... If thats okay." She said softly. 

Mad Mind smiled. "Twilight, it's fine. I can explore that place for myself when the time comes."

Twilight and Fluttershy let out a small gasp as Mad MInd said this.

"You're planning on exploring the Everfree forest?" Twilight asked, concern in her voice.
"Well, yeah."
"By yourself."
"Yeah."
"With no defence of any sort."
"Yup."
"And no idea where to go?"
"See? You understand."
"Your mad."
"Are you seriously figuring that out right now?"

Twilight sighed. "Mad Mind, you can't simply investigate a place you don't know! That's dangerous! You could hurt yourself, or worse!"

Mad Mind groaned "Twilight: what's the fun in already knowing something and than doing it as opposed to not knowing what your doing and doing it anyways?"

"I dont see where this is going..."
"You learn more when you don't know what your doing. You get to investigate things for yourself, understand things for yourself and do things that benefit your knowledge! It's better than having somepony spoil it for you and ruin the experience."
"That makes no sense."
"What's the fun in making sense?"

Fluttershy let out another small gasp as Mad Mind said that. She stared wide eyed at Mad Mind before moving towards her cottage. "Um... I need to... Go now, if thats okay... It's time to feed Angel bunny and... She get's cranky when she doesn't get food." She quickly made her way back to her cottage making Twilight look up at Mad MInd in confusion.
"Mad Mind, stay here. I'm gonna check on Fluttershy. She looked like she had something on her mind..." Twilight explained as she made her way towards the small cottage.

Twilight/Fluttershy

Twilight knocked on the door to Fluttershy's cottage and, a few moments later, was greeted by the butter yellow pegasus.
"Oh! Twilight! I... Wasn't expecting you until the party." Fluttershy meeped out.
"Fluttershy, is there something wrong?" Twilight asked, concern in her eyes.

"Oh... Of course not Twilight. Nothing wrong here." Fluttershy said with a fake smile.
Tragically though, Twilight saw right through her disguise. "Fluttershy..." She said impatiently, waiting on her friends response.
"Oh alright... What Mad Mind said earlier just brought up some memories is all."
"What kind of memories?" Twilight asked with increasing curiosity.
"Of Discord," Fluttershy responded simply. "I remember I had a small argument with him one day when he tried to walk a sandwich through the park... I told him that sandwich's don't need to be walked and what he was doing made no sense, and he said 'What's the fun in making sense?' Just like Mad Mind."

"Fluttershy, are you going somewhere with this?"
"No. That was just what I had on my mind. It slightly startled me is all."
"Oh. Okay Fluttershy," Twilight said as she backed away from the cottage. "See you at the party!" She whispered before rushing off to meet back with Mad Mind.

Mad Mind

As Twilight made her way towards the cottage, Mad Mind decided to make a few notes on certain landmarks he'll need to remember to get around town. He'll, of course, remember where Sugar Cube Corner is, Sweet Apple Acres was also a promising landmark as well. The Everfree forest marked the edge of his mental map.

'Just need one last thing' He thought to himself as he noticed the sun setting directly over the Everfree.
'Alright. I now know where north is. Mental map complete.' As his thoughts closed up for the day, he began watching the sunset as it slowly made it's way over the Everfree forest, making the sky turn a bright shade of purple and orange. He smiled as the sun continued to make it's descent over the Everfree and was later joined by Twilight.

The lavender alicorn smiled as the sun went down. "You know," She began, drawing Mad Minds attention. "I don't think I've told you this, but I'm her apprentice." Twilight said a proud sparkle in her eye.

Mad Mind blinked "There are a lot of 'her's' here Twilight. Who are you talking about?"
"Princess Celestia." Twilight said with a smile.
What Mad Mind was about to say, was probably going to be the stupidest word that ever came out of his mouth:
"Who?" He asked curiously.
Mad Mind swore he heard the sound of smashing glass that represented Twilights mental thought process going into a million pieces. She quickly laughed it off and responded. 

"You know: Princess of the Sun, most powerful being of all Equestria, Ruler of Equestria." Twilight began rattling off some of the nicknames that her mentor had.

Scratch what I said earlier: This was probably stupider.
"... Nope. Doesn't ring a bell." If Twilights mind could shatter any more, it just did. These words escaping Mad Minds muzzle was probably the worst idea. Ever. "How do you NOT know the Princess of Equestria??!!" Twilight shouted at the alicorn stallion. "She's the ruler of all Equestria for Faust's sake! Everypony knows her!"

"Yeah well, everypony but me." Twilights eye twitched at this statement.
"Princess Luna?"
"Who?"
"Do you at least know her?"
"No."
"Nightmare Moon?"
"Nope."
"Princess Cadenza?"
"No."
"King Sombra?"
"Who the hell is that?"
"Queen Chrysalis?"
"... Twilight. You sound crazy right now."
"I'm crazy!??!" She shouted. "YOUR'E the one whose crazy Mad Mind! You don't even know who our leader is! Who her sister is! This is more basic than adding two and two! How do you not know what two plus two is??!!"
"Twilight, just calm down for a minute..."
"Mad Mind... Do you know who Faust is?"
"... Do you?"
"Answer my question."
"Yeeeaaaaaaaaaahhh... No."
Twilight's eye twitched. Than twitched again. She tarted to slowly shake in her spot, making Mad Mind a little uncomfortable.

"I'm gonna take this opportunity, to run away now." Mad Mind said as he began making a mad dash back into town. Upon his arrival, he noticed most of the town was empty. It was still not closing time for the stands yet (from what he learned) and all the stands had their produce on display still.

'Don't they remove the display items when they close?' Mad Mind thought to himself. He shrugged it off, thinking it was probably just a small mistake. Besides: he had more important things on his mind, like finding a place to hide from Twilight.

He quickly looked around town for a good place to hide. There was Sugar Cube Corner, but that seemed to oblivious: Twilight knew he and Pinkie understood each other. That might be the first place she looked.

He kept scanning his surroundings for a good place until his eyes fell upon a tree house.

No. Seriously. An actual, freaking house inside a tree. Mad Mind couldn't help but laugh at this odd phenomenon. Than some parts of his brain began clicking together like puzzle pieces: enough windows for him not to be seen, but just enough to maintain a hiding spot and observe anypony coming up to him in any direction, the lights were off and proved that nopony must be home and it wasn't too oblivious. The perfect hiding house.

He walked up to the candle shaped door and stopped dead.

'What if someone lives here but they're asleep?'
'Then explain yourself.'
'But look at this place! I don't like it when the lights are off.'
'Why?'
'We could be interrupting someponies privacy! And I swear I hear someone on the other side of this door...'
'Well, it's either hide in the tree house, or avoid a crazy Twilight; your pick.'
'... Good point.' 

As he shrugged off the little mental argument, he quickly put a hoof on the door and pushed it open. It was a two-piece door, so he had to open both the top and bottom. He quickly stepped inside and gently closed the door behind him. He sighed as he relaxed against the door. He was about to drift off into sleep when suddenly...

The lights flew on and dozens of ponies jumped out of their hiding spots and shouted one word all together:

"SURPRISE!"