Chapter 4
Asylum
Chapter 4
“Over here are the arts and crafts rooms. There are two of them, due to the different needs of our patients. After all, every pony is different. The room across the way is for the patients that need more assistance. It’s mostly hoof painting, drawing with crayons, Play-Doe – that sort of thing. This one here is for the patients like you that we can trust with more responsibility. You know, havin’ access to clay, oil paints, and scissors.” Applejack glanced back over her shoulder as they walked past the two doors. She gave Twilight Sparkle a knowing smile. “I bet you think it sounds a bit childish, calling it ‘arts and crafts’ like this was an elementary school and all, but expressing oneself creatively can be very therapeutic.”
Twilight nodded at the words and spared a glance through one of the windows. She didn’t return the smile.
“Now, down this way are the life-skills classrooms...” continued Applejack as she resumed her tour of the hospital. Twilight followed Applejack like a dutiful shadow. She didn’t say anything, only nodding whenever prompted by a pause in the noise or a look from Applejack. She had more pressing concerns.
What about her other friends?
The question had plagued her ever since they had left her room. She had been so thrilled when she had first found something of her Applejack in the mare she was following. She might have a different accent and she might have become a doctor, but beyond the altered history, it was still the same pony deep down. Feeling hopeful was a rare occurrence, and Twilight had savored it for as long as she could.
Their tearful embrace had been interrupted by Dreamer with an embarrassed cough, who had told them that dinner was going to be ready soon. After one more examination to make sure Twilight had recovered from the anesthetic he had bid his farewell, leaving the two mares to go on to the dining facilities together. With Applejack’s help she had managed to stand upright and walk out into the hallway. Although her limbs had been stiff, the sense of liberation had put a spring in her step. There were no orderlies with truncheons, no nurses with fake smiles, and no doctors watching her – none save the one she called friend.
The sense of optimism she had started to embrace had not lasted long, however.
Just as Twilight had allowed herself to take solace in the familiarity in this world’s Applejack, the doctor had turned to give her a happy grin. “Now how about we go down to the cafeteria, sugarcube? I’ll give you a little tour on the way; it won’t take long. Plus, there should be a few of your friends there when we arrive. Isn’t that excitin’?”
Twilight had froze. Although Applejack’s expression had been warm and sincere, the words had plunged a cold spike through Twilight’s heart. “My... friends?” she had finally asked, the icy touch of dread returning with unwelcome familiarity.
“Oh, I know you might not remember any of them right now,” Applejack had said as she squeezed Twilight’s shoulder, attempting to reassure her. It hadn’t worked. “No need to be self-conscious about it neither. I’ll be there with you, so don’t you worry none. Hopefully, once you meet them, it should free up some of your memories. So come on, sugarcube. Lets go get some grub and say hello.”
Twilight had dumbly followed her while she struggled to reign in her thoughts. Friends. Her friends. The simple phrase was laden with terrible consequences. Somehow she had kept herself ignorant of what Applejack’s presence had truly meant. But her words had pulled the blindfold from Twilight's mind, and she could finally grasp the horrible potential the innocuous phrase represented.
If Applejack was here... then what about the rest of her friends?
Twilight had been struck mute by the terrible possibilities inherent in Applejack’s words. So she had continued to follow Applejack while she had pointed out the sights and locations along the way, not saying a word. She still didn’t trust herself to speak. What could she say?
Ahead of her, Applejack rambled on about one of the nearby rooms, but Twilight didn't hear any of it. The dreaded phrase drowned out Applejack’s words. It had been joined by five names, each one ominously circling her thoughts like buzzard’s around a carcass.
Rainbow Dash. Rarity. Pinkie Pie. Fluttershy. Spike. Each name was accompanied by a burst of images and sense memory: a rainbow streak in the sky, a new dress sparkling in the sunlight, the scent of flour and sugar, the soft melody of bird song, the loving grin of a younger brother.
If Applejack was here, it made sense that the others could be as well. It was a logical assumption, after all. But were they as different as Applejack was? Could all of her friends be familiar strangers, faces she recognized but knew nothing about? What if Applejack was the one closest to her memories? Could the others be as foreign to her as the hospital was? She wanted to ask about her friends, yet she dread what answers she might receive. Her tongue continued to lay dormant in her mouth.
Twilight tried pushing back against her fears. She wasn’t even sure what friends Applejack meant. It was just as likely that in this world she didn’t know most of her real friends. A more reasonable conclusion was to assume that Applejack meant friends from the hospital – other patients they said were her friends on the basis of artificial memories. It was foolish to fear what was highly unlikely. Twilight truly had nothing to worry about.
The voice of logical doubt didn’t work. Twilight wouldn’t believe the false assurances, despite how much she wished that she could. Her insides twisted in on themselves as she continued to replay what she knew in her mind. It was depressingly little: she had nothing to go on, not a hint about Rainbow Dash, Rarity, or Pinkie Pie. Even Spike, her brother-slash-assistant, seemed to have vanished completely from her life.
Fluttershy, however...
The tragic story about the pegasus mare resurfaced time and again, unable to be ignored. It wasn’t proof of anything, just a tale from this Applejack’s past. Yet, her attempts to convince herself that it had to be just a coincidence couldn’t stop the assault of nightmarish pictures, each one dragged up from the depths of her mind to torment her. A pony crying in a dark room... a blood-stained chunk of jagged glass... the panicked shouts of doctors as they attempted to keep a half-dead mare alive...
It was Fluttershy the orderlies had found. Twilight couldn’t know that, of course, but a terrible certainty that it was fact destroyed any attempt at logical skepticism. She could see it as if she were there; her friend sobbing in the darkness while ruby tears leaked from the gashes in her wrists. The fear and nausea from the sight were real, even if the images were not.
It was surely just a fabrication of a distraught mind, another example of her imagination tormenting her. Yet, Twilight couldn’t keep from believing the story was about Fluttershy, no matter how much it hurt her. She was a terrible friend for so quickly assuming that she could be the suicidal pony of the story. Even the guilt wasn’t enough to keep her mind from continuing to torture her with the grisly fantasies.
Applejack stopped without warning, and Twilight just managed to pull herself short of an embarrassing collision. It was the second time that day she had almost planted her horn into another pony’s backside. Twilight glanced up to find an expectant look on Applejack’s face, oblivious to the narrowly averted accident. Twilight nodded numbly, too distracted to even blush. Satisfied, Applejack continued her tour, gesturing silently at the door beside her.
Behind her, the unicorn plodded onward.
Twilight tried to convince herself that this world wasn’t hers. Whoever the friends were, they weren’t the same ponies she had learned to love. The Fluttershy that haunted her mind wasn’t her Fluttershy. These ponies were just reflections in a dirty mirror, dark facsimiles of reality. Her real friends were in her memories. In fact, her friends were probably back home in her world, trying their best to save her themselves.
Twilight repeated the lie over and over as if to make it true through force of repetition alone, desperate to make herself believe. It wasn’t working. Every time she tried to force her logical side to accept it, she remembered what she had seen in Applejack’s eyes.
Applejack had been so different. Her accent was muted, her body language was wrong, and even her scent was off – the earthen tones of dirt and soil had been replaced with the sterile odor of antiseptics and soap. The past she described was far removed from what Twilight knew to be real.
Yet, those eyes had been exactly as she remembered, full of determination, compassion, and honesty. Beneath the mutated past it was the same Applejack. Deep down, the bonds of friendship that had given them the strength to defeat Nightmare Moon were still there.
Eventually Twilight found herself unable to repeat the lies any more. She wasn’t going to believe that the Applejack she was following was not, in some way, related to her Applejack. Futility and madness lay down that path. Trying to force herself to believe a lie was anathema to everything she stood for!
She needed more information, she needed to find out about what had happened. Twilight tried to dredge up some more confidence as she struggled back against the morose thoughts that had plagued her since leaving her room. Whatever the “truth” of this strange world was, she was not going to hide behind lies any more. This twisted reality would not break her.
Fluttershy’s soft cries taunted her resolve, the terrible moans rising up from the shadows of her mind. Twilight swallowed. She would have the strength. Whatever anguish she might suffer, she had to stand up to it. There was no other option. Giving in to lies to spare herself the pain of this world’s altered past was just another form of self delusion. This world was not hers, but she would meet its challenges and succeed.
She had to pass through this trial without losing herself to despair. If she surrendered, if she gave in, she would never escape. Raising her head a little higher, Twilight forced herself to close the gap between her and her friend Applejack. She would not give in like the sobbing mare of her nightmares.
Twilight would fight back, and she would find a way home.
The walk to the cafeteria was taking longer than Twilight had anticipated. The cause of the delay was fairly obvious, she considered, glancing over at Applejack. Her guide had decided to give her the scenic route, after all. She wouldn’t be surprised if she had been shown nearly every room in the hospital.
She wasn’t too upset, though. How could she be? Focusing on what Applejack was saying kept her mind off of what she might find when she finally met her “friends”. It wasn’t much consolation, but it was enough to banish the nightmarish images from her mind. Even the ghostly moans of the not-Fluttershy had gone silent, thank Celestia.
Having to follow Applejack around as she pointed out every bathroom and janitorial closet in the hospital was a small price to pay for taking away her nightmares.
“This here is our musical room. We have all sorts of musical instruments in here,” Applejack declared proudly, propping open the door to the room so Twilight could peek inside. “We’ve got a piano, cellos, violins, flutes, and the like. They’re all donations, of course, so you’ll have to excuse the second-hoof nature of them all, but they work just fine.”
Twilight took a glance around the inside of the small room. Instrument cases lined the walls, circling a collection of chairs and music stands. A white mare with a light-bulb cutie mark sat tuning a violin. The dark blue stallion she was talking to glanced up from his cello, noticing the onlookers. He said something to her before they both turned and waved. “Hey Doctor A.J.!” said the mare cheerfully. “Hey Twilight!”
Applejack waved back with that artificial smile. “Heya Bright, heya Finder. Don’t take too long with your practicin’, supper is gonna be ready real soon.”
“We won’t,” they said simultaneously. They glanced at each other. “Jinx!” they shouted in unison, launching them into a giggling fit.
Twilight stopped waving at the unknown ponies when Applejack did. “It’s bigger than I expected,” Twilight said, pulling back her head to let Applejack close the door. She tried to ignore the familiarity the two ponies had used when they had called out to her; it brought back dark thoughts concerning her friends she was still trying to suppress. “You have enough chairs in there for twenty more ponies at least. Do you really have enough patients to use them all?”
“Sure do, sugarcube. We actually hold little concerts every once in awhile. You know, on holidays and such.”
“You have enough ponies you trust with musical instruments to play concerts? I knew you had a lot of patients, but I guess I was still underestimating just how many there actually are."
Applejack nodded as she continued on down the hallway. “We sure do. It’s a big hospital, and plenty of our patients are responsible enough to handle musical instruments just fine. Even most of our long-term guests can be trusted with certain activities. Take the mare back there, Bright Mind. She’s smart, really kind and considerate, and most of the time she’s just like any other pony – so much so that it might not seem like she needs to even be here. However, she suffers from crippling Nyctophobia.”
“She’s afraid of the dark?”
“Not just afraid, Twilight – she’s terrified of it. If the lights go out, or even just get dim, she has these terrible panic attacks. They’re so bad that she can injure herself and others attemptin’ to find light. Her parents had to commit her when she was still a young filly, after she put her father and sister in the hospital.”
Twilight inhaled sharply. “She attacked her family?”
“No, no, no. Not like that,” said Applejack as she waved a hoof. “See, the power went out at their home when they were going upstairs to put her to bed. They’ve had power outages before, of course, so they usually put her to bed early enough that they could light some candles for her, in case it went out during the night. Well, this time it happened while her father and older sister were helping her up the stairs, when they didn’t have any lights up. Bright panicked, and knocked them all down. Her sister broke a leg and her father broke two vertebrae, along with the other cuts and contusions. He was nearly paralyzed.”
“Oh... oh my...”
“Yep. Normally they might have been able to handle it as a family, with therapy and medication, but Bright Mind won’t talk about her problem at all. She’s in denial about her fear, so there wasn’t much her parents could really do. So she's been here at Broadhoof for about a year or so. Her family does come to visit regularly, and she gets lessons to make up for the school she is missing. Really, outside of her phobia, she is a regular little filly.”
There was a heavy silence between the two mares as they walked together. Twilight mulled the story over in her mind. “So she got committed by her parents,” she finally said. “I mean, to be stuck in a place like this... it sounds more like a prison sentence than anything.” She noticed a shadow cross Applejack’s face, but it vanished as quickly as it had appeared.
“They’re not all committed here by others,” said Applejack carefully. “In fact, the vast majority of ponies we deal with have voluntarily checked themselves in.”
“Voluntarily? Ponies actually want to come here?”
“Sure do. Lots of ponies come here for treatment. We are the biggest psychiatric hospital in Equestria,” said Applejack proudly. “While we have a pretty sizeable long-term population, most ponies are just here temporarily. Some come back regularly for check-ups and further therapy, but most are here for less than a week.”
“Short-term patients don’t sound like they would be much interested in playing music for the hospital,” she pointed out as they turned down another hallway.
“Well, sure. Most of the hospital is just like any other hospital, really. If you’re only here for a day or two, you don’t rightly need to have access to arts and crafts, now do you? This part of the facility is our high-security wing. Our guests here need to have recreational activities they can enjoy. And music, like paintin’, is a great source of therapy for many ponies.”
“High-security wing?” Twilight repeated, her eyes narrowing.
Applejack flinched. “I, uh, I... I meant to say that this is our intensive-care ward,” she stammered, unable to meet Twilight’s gaze. She really was a terrible liar.
Twilight’s eyes drilled into the doctor. “But you didn’t say that. You said ‘high-security’.” She continued to push Applejack, keeping her voice measured and quiet as she advanced on her. “High-security carries certain connotations about it. Things like guards... and cells... and dangerous criminals...”
Applejack gulped as her back pressed against the wall. “Well, Twilight... um, you see...” she said, looking everywhere but the unicorn’s face. She’d let something slip and had revealed something she hadn’t meant to, and Twilight wanted to know what it was.
“Especially odd mistake to make, considering that face you made when I called this place a prison,” Twilight continued, moving in closer until she was just inches from Applejack. She had her cornered against the wall like a hungry timberwolf. “So come on, Applejack – we’re friends. Why did you call this the high-security wing?” She had to keep pressing Applejack, keep her on the back hoof, before she could find an excuse.
Twilight couldn’t have predicted that the excuse might find her.
“Hey, Doctor A.J.! Heya T... Twilight? Ohmigosh! Twilight!”
Whatever imminent victory Twilight had hoped for was obliterated by the loud shout. They jerked their heads around as one, both of their eyes opening in shock as a pink missile rushed down the hallway at them. No, not at them – at her. Whatever it was, the blur was on a collision course with Twilight.
The sprockets within Twilight’s mind caught and then jammed in the sudden gear-shift, the machinery freezing up as it struggled to adjust to the approaching threat. Her legs were trapped in molasses as she floundered beneath the flight or fight reflex. It was too late. At the last moment she lifted a protective hoof before her face and closed her eyes.
The object slammed into Twilight with enough force to launch them both through the air. Gravity was a jealous lover, however, and greedily reached out to pull them back into its embrace.
Thankfully, the hard tiles were there to break her fall, and Twilight hit the ground with a sharp smack. A moment later the breath was knocked from her lungs when the missile landed atop her, Twilight’s soft purple flesh selflessly shielding her attacker from the impact. The two of them slid a yard along the tiles in an entangled mess.
“Twilight! Oh I’ve missed you sooooooo much!” Pinkie Pie shouted as she nuzzled the unicorn’s chest, ignorant of Twilight’s pained gasps for air as Pinkie squeezed her in a tight hug. “You were gone forever!”
A small part of Twilight was comforted by the fact that Pinkie Pie was acting so... normal. Well, normal for Pinkie, at any rate. The exuberance, the happiness, the over-the-top displays of friendship – it was the Pinkie Pie she remembered.
The rest of Twilight was obsessing over her imminent suffocation.
“Pinkie Pie!” Applejack barked loudly as the edges of Twilight’s vision began to turn grey. “Let go of Twilight this instant!”
The stern disapproval in the command snapped Pinkie Pie out of her lethal greeting. “Oh no! I’m sorry Twilight! Oh Celestia, I didn’t mean to hurt you!” She released Twilight and leapt to her hooves, her voice quivering. “I didn’t mean... I was just so super excited to see you! I was really worried about you since you had been gone for so long!”
Twilight gasped loudly as she filled her starving lungs. Oxygen had never tasted so sweet. It was a highly underrated gas. “It’s... okay... Pinkie...” she managed to wheeze in between bouts of pained coughing. Instead of exploding with anger as she had half feared might happen, Twilight found herself relatively calm. She chalked it up to meeting another one of her friends. That, and oxygen starvation.
“Pinkamena Diane Pie! What have we told you about actin’ like that?” Applejack asked, scolding her like a disobedient filly. Applejack trotted over and offered Twilight a hoof, still glaring at Pinkie Pie. Twilight took it gratefully and pulled herself upright again. Her chest still hurt and she was still wheezing, but she no longer felt like an anaconda was trying to make her its next meal. That was something, at least.
“Well?” Applejack demanded.
“But doctor... I didn’t... I wasn’t...” Pinkie looked at the other two ponies aghast, her voice a shame-filled whisper.
“I said, what did we tell you about actin’ like that?” repeated Applejack, her voice and expression dripping with maternal disapproval.
“That... I’m not supposed to rough-house in the hospital,” Pinkie finally said, her sky-blue eyes trembling as she stared down at the floor. The poofy hair Twilight remembered so well was gone, the currently straight locks as despondent and limp as the rest of her.
“Exactly. Now, you apologize to Twilight this instant, missy.”
Pinkie Pie spun around to face the unicorn, the corners of her eyes already glistening with tears. “I’m so so so sorry Twilight! I really really really am! I didn’t mean to run into you like that, but I was just so excited, and I hadn’t seen you in so long, and... and... pleasedon’thateme!” The last of Pinkie’s apology came out in a rush – a single long word of guilt and fear – before she clapped her hooves to her eyes and began sobbing.
Twilight stared down at the crying Pinkie Pie in wide-eyed silence. She glanced over at Applejack with an expression of perfect confusion. The other mare gestured with her head at Pinkie Pie, urging Twilight to respond. “Um... apology accepted?”
“Oh thank you Twilight! Thank you thank you thank you!” she said ecstatically, her body sagging in relief. Pinkie made as if to give Twilight another hug but caught herself, blushing deeply. She sniffled and tried to dry her eyes with a hoof instead. “I’m super serious Twilight, I feel awful for treating you like that. I was so excited to see you again that I... I just wasn’t thinking.”
Applejack stepped over to Pinkie Pie. “Hey now, sugarcube, she accepted your apology already, so there’s no need to keep beatin’ yourself up over it,” Applejack said, rubbing the back of her neck. The disapproval had been replaced with a tone of gentle reassurance. Pinkie Pie sniffled loudly, her tear-streaked face breaking into a hesitant smile.
“Yeah, Pinkie, I’m just fine now,” she said with a reassuring grin, ignoring the throbbing bruises up and down her sides. Pinkie Pie seemed to brighten up immediately, her own smile growing wider. Although Pinkie had nearly assassinated her with irrational exuberance, she couldn’t deny that the happy energy in that smile certainly was a welcome taste of home. “Just, you know, don’t do it again.”
“I promise I won’t!” she said. Her body went rigid and her eyes shot wide open. “No, that is not enough! A promise just won’t cut it this time.”
Twilight blinked. Talking with Pinkie Pie could leave one feeling like they were always one step behind. “Actually, that's just f–”
“I must Pinkie Promise!” Pinkie Pie interrupted loudly. Before Twilight could respond Pinkie dropped into a deep bow before her, kneeling on her forelegs and touching her head to the white tiles of the floor. She looked like a knight swearing an oath, although Twilight couldn’t remember many illustrations of knights wearing hospital gowns. Twilight glanced over at Applejack, but she just shrugged helplessly.
“I, Lady Pinkie of the Order of the Pie, do declare that I shall never ever ever ever harm my bestest friend, Lady Sparkle of Broadhoof, no matter how excited I be,” she said firmly. Twilight assumed Pinkie was attempting to deliver her speech with the gravitas of a knight swearing an oath, but the entire effect was subverted by the childish phrases. That, and the fact that her voice was muffled by her awkward stance, making it sound as if she were talking through a towel. “Wherefore, henceforth, heretofore, for yonder more, I do make this a Pinkie Promise; may it never be broken! Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye!” At which point Pinkie Pie lifted her head just enough to prod her left eyeball.
Words completely failed Twilight. Silence reigned.
Eventually Applejack let out an exasperated sigh. “Pinkamena, please get up off the floor. It ain’t sanitary.”
“Okie-dokie!” a beaming Pinkie Pie said as she leapt to her hooves. “There! Now you know I’ll never ever do that again! I take my Pinkie Promises veeeeery seriously.”
“I’m quite aware of that,” Twilight replied as her brain finally caught up to the rest of her. It was hard to process it all: Pinkie Pie was acting erratically and energetically and exuberantly and...
… and just like the real Pinkie Pie. A genuine smile spread over Twilight’s face. “You know, Pinkie, it is really good to see you,” she said. Pinkie hardly seemed different at all. Some of her earlier fears were banished by the warm relief she felt spreading through her. Maybe, just maybe, if Pinkie was so similar to her real self, then the others could be as well. Twilight might even have been mistaken about Fluttershy! It was a reassuring thought.
“I’m glad to see that you haven’t changed one bit,” Twilight continued, drawing strength from the familiar presence. “Well, except for your hair, I guess.”
“My hair?” she asked, lifting her eyes upwards. “What’s different about my hair?”
“It’s... flat.”
“So?”
“It’s supposed to be all, you know, poofy.”
Pinkie tilted her head like a confused puppy. “Poofy?” she repeated. “My hair isn’t poofy.”
A hint of her earlier dread returned. “Really?”
“I think I’d remember if my hair was ever all awesome and poofy,” Pinkie Pie said with a firm nod. “I mean, poofy hair sounds super cool. If I knew how to get my hair all poofy, I’d totally do it!”
“Oh. Right. I was just confused,” Twilight lied through a nervous smile. “That kinda thing happens after you hit your head.”
“I’m still super sorry about that,” Pinkie Pie apologized again.
“Oh, its okay Pinkie. Don’t worry yourself about it,” Twilight waved a hoof, covering for her own gaffe. She let some of her own concerns go as well, pushing thoughts about her friend’s lifeless hair from her mind. It wasn’t important – a different hairstyle meant nothing. It was just a small, cosmetic change. Nothing she needed to get worried about. Pinkie Pie was still just as she remembered.
“Now Pinkie Pie, don’t be bothered if Twilight here asks you any odd questions,” Applejack said, giving her a gentle touch on the shoulder. “The reason you haven’t seen her recently is she’s been undergoing a new treatment. Now–”
“Really?” Pinkie Pie interrupted, glancing between the other ponies. “But what does–”
Applejack ignored Pinkie and kept smoothly talking over her – it looked like a well-practiced skill. “Now one of the side-effects of the treatment is that Twilight here is havin’ a little trouble with her memories. So, if she has any strange questions about stuff, just go ahead and answer her as best you’re able. Twilight ain’t tryin’ to be rude or nothin’, she’s just tryin’ to fill in the blanks. Okay?”
“Absolutely!” Pinkie said, before her eyes bulged out of her face and she gasped – again. Spinning around she pushed her face against Twilight’s, her eyes locked on the unicorn’s. “But you still remember me, right Twilight?” she asked with frantic urgency.
“O-Of course,” Twilight said. Two years of being friends with Pinkie Pie didn’t prepare one for the frequent and disquieting breaches of personal space.
“Whew! That's a huge relief!” Pinkie Pie said, wiping non-existent sweat from her brow with exaggerated care. As Pinkie pantomimed being ‘hugely relieved’, Twilight glanced around the hallway; they were the only ponies there. Twilight frowned.
“Uh, Pinkie” she asked slowly. “Why were you out here alone? I mean, you’re a patient, so shouldn’t you have an escort or something?”
“Oh, but the doctors and nurses trust me!” Pinkie Pie chirped.
“What she means to say,” Applejack explained, “is that Pinkie here is one of our patient assistants. She a good girl, helpin’ us out around the hospital with small tasks. Carryin’ notes, cleanin’ up after others, and that sort of thing. She’s proven herself responsible enough to not need an escort all the time.” Pinkie Pie smiled proudly at the compliment.
Applejack turned her head back towards Pinkie. “Of course, that doesn’t give her the right to just wander the halls on her lonesome,” she pointed out, some of the iron returning to her voice.
“But I have a good reason! Honest!”
“Which is what, exactly?”
Pinkie Pie took a deep breath, her chest expanding like a party balloon, before she exhaled her answer as one long sentence. “I was outside helping Doctor Roy put away the equipment after we finished playing our games and he told me it was time to go to dinner so I was all like yay and was really happy because I was super hungry even though I was kinda sad because we had been having lots of fun and then I was going towards the cafeteria but then I started to feel a tingling in my left hip and a left-right twitching in my tail and so I took a right instead of a left and then another right and then I took a left and that's when I found you and Twilight!”
“Pinkie sense?” Twilight asked as Pinkie Pie gasped for air, the question leaving her mouth before she was even aware she was speaking.
“Exactly! I felt something, and it lead me right to you two!”
“Oh, don’t you encourage her,” she told Twilight before turning back to the other mare. “Pinkie Pie, I know you believe you have this sixth sense of yours, but that's no excuse for wandering off on your own. It just ain’t safe.”
“But–”
“No buts!” Applejack stomped her hoof for emphasis. Her face softened. “Look, Pinkie... we can’t let you go off on your own because we’re responsible for you. If we don’t know where you are, then how can we help you if something bad happens? It just ain’t fair for you to put us in that sorta position. Do you understand?”
“Yeah, I know...” Pinkie Pie said softly, lowering her head slightly. “I just... this one was really strong.”
“I’m sure it was, sugarcube. Just remember, though,” Applejack said in that Official Condescending Doctor Tone that Twilight loathed so much, “that while this time you found us, what if somepony else finds you next time? You might lose your privileges if they find you just wanderin’ the halls. Or worse, what if Nurse Ratchet were to find you?”
Pinkie Pie’s eyes widened in alarm. “Oh gosh, I didn’t even think about that!” she said, twirling her head around as if the nurse was sneaking up on her.
Applejack rolled her eyes. “Pinkie, she’s not here right now. It was just a hypothetical question.” Pinkie exhaled in relief. “Now, since we found you – well, I guess technically you found us – why don’t we all head off to supper together? That way you can catch up with Twilight here. Does that sound like fun to you?”
“Okie-dokie-lokie!” Pinkie Pie said, her voice as happy and cheerful as before. “It will be so much more exciting now that I get to talk to my bestest buddy Twilight! Not that I don’t like spending time with my other bestest buddy, Dr. A.J., but now it will be with my two bestest buddies! That's like,” she counted on her hooves, “four times the excitement!”
Twilight couldn’t help herself. “Four times? I think you mean two, Pinkie.”
“Nope. Four!” Pinkie Pie declared with absolute certainty. “Because there would be two of you, but you’re both my bestest friends, so that is worth at least four regular friendships. But then, because there are two of you, I’d have to split my time between you both since I only have one head, so two plus one equals three. Then I–”
“I’ll just take your word on it, Pinkie,” Twilight chuckled as the three of them turned to continue back the way Pinkie Pie had come from. Closing her eyes, Twilight could almost forget that they were in a hospital. They were just three good friends, walking to a picnic. It was so perfect, so real, it couldn’t be just a fabrication. She knew these ponies from a different life, a different world.
The pink mare was whistling some dangerously catchy tune, and Twilight was fairly certain that if it got stuck in her head, it might never get out. Despite the hair, it’s definitely the same old Pinkie, she thought as she glanced over her friend, taking comfort in the sense of sameness. Yep, same quirky sensibilities, same bubblegum-pink coat, and the same balloon cutie m-
“Sweet Celestia! Pinkie, what happened to your leg!” Twilight shouted as she jabbed a hoof at her friend’s side, her good humor evaporating in shock. Pinkie Pie’s left hind-leg was covered in scars that rose up to the top of her thigh, obscuring the cutie mark completely. They looked like old burns, the wrinkled patches of skin naked between a few thin clumps of ragged fur.
“What?” Pinkie Pie nearly tripped at the outburst, instinctively shifting her tail to cover her wounded flank.
“Twilight! Now that is a rude question!” Applejack said simultaneously, giving Twilight a disapproving stare.
Twilight continued to point her hoof at the scars while she shifted her gaze repeatedly between the two mares. Pinkie Pie sniffled, pulling her tail in closer to cover her scars like a foal clutching a security blanket. “I... I thought you said you remembered me?” she asked in hurt whisper.
“I don’t remember that!” Twilight snapped in an accusatory tone. Her anger flexed and opened its eyes, a dragon stirring within its cave. She had been betrayed. Once again she had let herself take comfort in something familiar, only to have her world sundered by another terrible revelation. Every time she let her guard down there was another shock to her system, another mocking reminder that she was far from her home and trapped in some terrible reflection of real life.
She finally noticed Pinkie Pie wrapping her tail protectively over her scars, trying to mask her disfigurement from Twilight’s judging hoof. Twilight’s anger was extinguished by a cold shower of guilt, icy shame freezing her heart. Her leg fell limply to her side, unable to hold it aloft beneath the weight of sudden self-loathing. She had been shouting and pointing at her friend’s scars! How could she be so callous, so cruel, so uncaring? What kind of a friend was she?
No matter how unprepared she was for it, they weren’t to blame. It wasn’t fair to be so short with her friends – they had done nothing wrong. The world she had been pulled into was at fault. Her anger snapped irritably as it was pushed back into the recesses of her mind.
“I’m sorry, Pinkie,” Twilight apologized like the loathsome little speck of guilt she was. “I remember you just fine. I just, I don’t remember those... scars. And... and I wasn’t prepared... I was just surprised. I didn’t want to think about a friend of mine being hurt so badly,” Fluttershy flashed through her mind, “but still, I was completely out of line, and I’m very sorry.”
The other two ponies shared a look at her words. Applejack nodded, and the embarrassment on Pinkie Pie’s face slowly melted away. “It’s okay, Twilight,” Pinkie said with a smile, her tail uncurling from around her flank. “I mean, Dr. A.J. said you might not remember everything, after all. Besides, you didn’t mean it, and you said you’re sorry, so there’s nothing to be upset about. We’re still bestest buddies, right?”
It was off-putting, having Pinkie Pie trying to reassure her after what she had just done. “Well, thanks, Pinkie,” Twilight replied, managing a weak smile in return. “And yeah, we’re still bestest buddies. Nothing’s going to change that.” Her shame was still there, a rain cloud hanging over her thoughts, but the complete lack of ill will on her Pinkie’s face made it a bearable affliction. Still, she had to do something more than just apologize – she owed her friend that much, at least.
Twilight’s smile broadened before she dropped down into a deep bow, mirroring Pinkie Pie’s own ridiculous stance earlier. “I, Twilight Sparkle, do declare that I shall never be such a rude jerk to my friends. Cross my heart, hope to fly... uh, stick a cupcake... in my eye?” The oath ended with a yelp as both Applejack and Pinkie Pie burst out into loud guffaws. Twilight joined the laughter as she stood back up, rubbing her sore eye.
“Super dooper! Now there’s absoposilutely no reason for any of us to be sad any more!” Pinkie Pie declared cheerfully, bouncing on her hoof tips eagerly and looking as imperturbable as ever. Good ol’ Pinkie Pie, Twilight thought happily.
“That was a very nice and mature thing to do, Twilight,” Applejack told her with warm approval. “But I think its about time we get to movin’ on. I don’t think we need to stand around apologizin’ to each other no more. Besides, supper is going to begin soon. I don’t know about you two, but I’m as hungry as a pegasus who just flew to the moon and back. But I still have a few more rooms to show Twilight before we can eat, so lets get a move on so the soup’s still warm when we get there.”
The tour was much more lively as a trio. While Applejack had been very thorough in her descriptions, Pinkie was a pent up ball of barely related anecdotes and tangential stories. For every room Applejack pointed out, Pinkie Pie had a story about the time when something had happened to her/a friend/a doctor/a friend of a friend/someone she’d never known. And then she had another story related to that.
As often as not they were contradictory and nonsensical, but Twilight found the non-sequiturs refreshing. It helped remind her that, deep down, this Pinkie Pie shared something concrete with the Pinkie Pie she remembered. The scars and mane were just bits of smudged frosting; the rest of the light hearted strawberry cake was still there and intact – and just as she remembered.
Twilight blinked. Baking metaphors? She’s affecting me more than I thought. Shaking her head Twilight focused on catching the last of Pinkie’s stories.
“... so when he went off to go get some towels so he could clean up the waxing compound, I was left with the whole hallway to myself. So I did the only thing I could – I took a running start and slid allllll the way down the hallway!” Pinkie said, stopping just long enough to rear back and lift her forelegs skyward to better illustrate her position. “It was so much fun! Even the part where I hit the wall was okay, because it didn’t hurt that bad. I was going to do it again too, but then Mr. Janitor showed up and told me to go away. But still, I traveled from waaaay over there all the way to this wall here! Isn’t that awesome?”
“Pinkie, that was very irresponsible of you. You might have been hurt,” Applejack said, suppressing her own amusement with an extra dose of her ‘responsible doctor’ voice.
“But I wasn’t hurt, so it makes it all okay!” Pinkie Pie reasoned cheerfully. Applejack opened her mouth to argue the point further, but Pinkie Pie had already continued into another story about the time a family of toads had made a home in the air vents.
Twilight just shook her head with wry bemusement when Applejack glanced over at her in helpless defeat. Pinkie Pie’s optimism and sunny disposition was as infectious as it was incorrigible.
Twilight turned her eyes back to her energetic friend, doing her best to ignore the burns on Pinkie’s flank or the faint limp in her gait – two painful reminders that, for all their similarities, this Pinkie Pie had a different past from the one she knew.
On the other hoof, she considered, Applejack isn’t exactly the same either. Maybe once she had a better grasp on all the facts, she might be able to put together some sort of plan for escape. Her internal checklist still had “escape” as the primary goal, followed closely by “get back home”.
Escape was becoming more and more important. Despite the presence of two of her friends, Twilight didn’t trust the hospital one bit. It was more than just their lies about her mental state. It wasn’t even the fact that they had her locked up and magically silenced – both of which were very large impediments to her safe return. Twilight glanced around the green and white hallway. No, it was deeper than that. She distrusted the place on a primal level. It was an instinctive mistrust, a gut feeling that told her not to take its word on anything.
She pushed her doubts aside. They were inconsequential for the moment. She wasn’t going to escape until she had more information to go on. Ruminating on her fears wasn’t going to bring about freedom any sooner. She had to absorb all the small details like a sponge, hoping she didn’t miss-
High-security! Twilight winced as the word exploded like a firecracker in her mind. In the confusion of the post-Pinkie collision, she had completely forgotten about Applejack’s comment. How had it slipped her mind for so long?
Twilight coughed, trying to get Applejack’s attention. The doctor didn’t hear her, too engrossed in a heated discussion with Pinkie Pie on the pros and cons of using frosting as a condiment for sandwiches.
She groaned softly. It didn’t matter – the opportunity for answers had been lost with Pinkie’s powerful – and painful – arrival. Applejack had been caught off-guard when Twilight had pounced. Forced on the back-hoof when Twilight took the initiative, Applejack had been so close to letting something slip. But now?
She watched Applejack groan in defeat as Pinkie declared water to be “a hundred-hundred times better with whipped cream”. No, too much time had elapsed. Applejack wouldn’t be stumbling around for an answer if she asked again. Twilight didn’t have her pinned against the wall like some frightened prey – now it would be just one friend trying to get a secret from an unwilling companion.
After another turn a set of double doors came into view, ‘cafeteria’ printed across them in large block letters. The sounds of muffled conversation and the smell of food grew more noticeable as the group drew closer.
It wouldn’t hurt to ask Applejack over dinner anyway, Twilight supposed. A half-truth was better than nothing at all. It would be nice to get even partial answers to the questions knocking about within her head. As was her style, Twilight had prepared a list to make sure she didn’t miss any again. What had happened to Pinkie’s leg? Why had Applejack called this a high-security wing? Where were her other friends?
The doors were thrown open ahead of the group, the loud bang bringing all three ponies to a jerking halt.
“Let go of me you bastards! I said let go!” a pale green mare screeched as a quartet of burly orderlies frog marched her into the hallway. She squirmed and bucked wildly, spit flying from her lips as she tried to break free. Two of the stallions were doing their best to tighten the straps on her straightjacket, the straps pulling the mare’s forelegs tight across her stomach. She wasn’t making it easy for them – the black eyes and hoof-shaped bruises attesting to her stubborn resistance. “I know you’re in on it, all of you! Why won’t you just accept the truth? Stop believing the lies, you dumb, blind fools! Let! Me! Go!”
The group of ponies disappeared around a corner, the echoes of their struggle clearly audible long afterwards. Confusion reigned in their wake. The three mares stared back at each other uneasily. Twilight added another question to her list, once she managed to close her jaw.
What was Lyra doing in a straightjacket?
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“You have enough patients you trust with musical instruments to play concerns?"
concerts
Good to see some familiar faces in this chapter.
You know, I'm just glad that Pinkie isn't strapped down a ala Hannibal Lector or something.
Again, a great chapter and a new friend. Well, two if you count Lyra. I wonder what happened to the rest of them?
Oh, boy. I sense a mass-jailbreak with the mane six incoming!
1997188
Good catch! Thank you kindly!
1997223
Yeah, I felt like I had to have Pinkie as a patient, but I didn't want to go the terribly cliche "she's a laughing psychopath" route.
As to the others... I guess we will have to wait to see.
1997226
[youtube=borbm2f6k_Y]
Lyra is there because Humans... I think, I might be wrong, but that's what I think
... someone's rounding up unicorns and convincing them they're in an asylum for nefarious purposes.
Even if it's not true, that's what I choose to believe today.
How many more chapters will there be?
Hmm, I wonder if Lyra is mentioning a human conspiracy?
This story just keeps getting better and better~
Nurse Ratchet. I see what you did there. I officially love this story.
Oh dear, this is one dark, and might i add quite cynical story. I LOVE IT!
We need all of the mane 6, save for Applejack to be inmates. Also it would be nice to see Doctor Whooves yelling that he is a time traveller who came to Equestria in a blue box called a T.A.R.D.I.S while the staff is trying to lock him into a soundproof cell.
Twi and Lyra battle buddies!
... Shit just got real.
I know where you can find my OC now.
lies, lies, lies,,,
1997263
"Let me go! I have hands! I HAVE HANDS!"
1997267
A big game of unicorn round-up?
1997268
Unknown, although as I write more I'm really nailing down what and where I want to go with the story. I'm developing the ending, and figuring out the best way to get there. I have a few more scenes that I have to get through first, of course, but I don't plan on it ending very soon.
me gusta
1997269
"And thumbs! Sweet, amazing, opposable thumbs! Let me down!"
1997275
Oh, thank you! I'm glad its improving.
1997291
Well, it wasn't too clever. I'm not that smart. Of course, now I'm just waiting for the first piece of Nurse Ratchet fan-art...
1997292
I'm a bit of a cynical bastard myself, so its no wonder I write that way as well.
I'm conflicted about Dr. Whooves / Time Turner. If I include him, I don't know if I want to go the fan service route or try something different. Oh god, the pressure!
1997297
[youtube=Yx8FanC70S4]
Just, you know, with a lyre. And books.
1997302
"Get out of the cello case."
(Muffled) "No."
"Please get out of the cello case."
(Muffled) "No. I like it in here."
IS Princess luna Going to show up in this story?
She saw behind the curtain, man. Don't poke around in places you don't belong, you might not like what you find!
1997312
Pies pies pies... mmmm...
Oh, sorry, I was distracted. By delicious - and nutritious - pie.
1997322
Um... Yo tengo un gato en... mi pantalones?
This story is beyond awesome. I demand MOAR.
Um, please?
1997361 ... Would you be able to actually put that in the story? Cuz that's too good not to use.
1997361 Feel no pressure at all.
Well maybe the pressure of my scalpel against your throat if you stop writing.
But hey, no worries, right? 
We have a paranoid Twilight, a straight maned Pinkie, a doc Applejack, a suicidal Fluttershy, and an insane Lyra. continue please. I'm interested
1997365
Perhaps...
Wow, what a dick answer, DoD.
Quiet, you.
1997374
PAY NO ATTENTION TO THE PONY BEHIND THE CURTAIN!
themightyginge.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/behind-the-curtain.gif
1997380
Lord Daemungus: (Puts on hockey mask)
Fanz: No! No more talk! You go in! You write! Write! You write it! You write it, we read it! Write it! Write it! Write! Write!
Lord Daemungus: Be still, my dogs of war. I understand your pain. We've all wanted to read more. But we do it my way!
Fanz: Losers... losers wait!
Lord Daemungus: We do it my way. Time is our ally. The story will be ours. Then you shall have your readings.
mutantreviewers.files.wordpress.com/2011/07/mrfhline17.jpg
... whats with all the movie references I've been pulling recently?
1997376 And why do you have a cat in your pants? I can speak english, I just wanted to express my feelings in spanish. have a Trollestia
Let me guess...Lyra is in the hospital because she believes there are things called "humans"...
I'm starting to wonder if this is gonna end up like that Phineas and Ferb episode... a dream inside a dream... inside a dream? (or nightmare in this case)
EDIT: Rather, a dream inside a nightmare, inside a nightmare/dream?
1997382
Put a pony in a box?
[youtube=bEM_uCNc8Uo]
1997389
N-None at all. *gulp*
1997418
And a 60-foot tall radiation-breathing Spike!
... damn, there I go, ruining the end. Again. Jeez. More rewrites ahead!
found some hints about twilight situation. very clever indeed
1997486 Yes. Like, they're walking back and they overhear something like that happen. It's to funny to pass up.
1997466
Oh, thank you!
[youtube=q0jMy0qCQkc]
1997469
And they live in her closet. Yup.
1997483
You're starting to go down the Sleeping Dream Horns route. Be careful you don't get trapped within a dream inside a dream inside another dream.
Oh god I felt so bad for pinkie, and yet I love her so much
Continue...
1997491
Fair warning: I'm generally not that clever.
1997505
"It's a shame we have aaallll this delicious cake out here."
"Oh yeah, it so tasty. Mmmm mmmm!"
(Muffled) "I want cake!"
"Oh no, you can't have any. What if you spill some? It would make the cello case all sticky!"
"And it would attract bugs!"
(Muffled) "But... but..."
"No cake for cello case ponies. Rules are rules."
"More for us, though!"
(Muffled) *whimper*
1997522
They're right behind you!
mimg.ugo.com/201008/54883/cuts/turns-out-its-man_288x216.jpg
1997459 Ok
Sorry, I get a little crazy when I get enthusiastic.
1997606
She's posilutely adorable!
On a side note, I wanted to give her the straight hair without having to resort to the "she is a killer / mad as a hatter" reasoning. You know, just 'cause.
1997615
*Puffs pipe* Indeed.
1997629
Don't we all?
1997618 What kind of cake is it? In all seriousness though, I think you should add it to the story. And NOT just as an excuse for my OC to be in the story. (Really, what kind of cake???)
WAIIIIIIIIT. You're making Twister angry! He could HURT YOU! He's a serial killer! THAT's why he's in there! He'll feel suicidal a few days after, but still!
When I read "Omigosh Twilight!" I just thought It's Pinkie Pie! Either Pinkie Pie or Fluttershy.
or 
What can I say about this chapter? Well...
For starters, Pinkie covering her flank reminded me about Babs Seed. Secondly, Pinkie seems even more scared about losing her friends than what looked in Party of One. Thirdly, I am ashamed of myself, forgetting about Spike like that! Forthly, this chapter looked like a little pause for Twilight frail mind and she looks more prepared for whatever will come next.
Lastly, good chapter! Keep calm and move on.
1997644
Why should I save you? You're Hitler!
media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lndggraDdr1qh35ht.jpg
Welcome to... the Scary Door.
data.whicdn.com/images/45722628/scarydoor7wu_large.jpg
1997654
Serial killers aren't trusted with musical instruments. Who gives a murderer a large chunk of wood or metal?
... ah. Point taken.
1997684
Well, at least I wasn't subtle about it.
1997686
Thank you kindly! Yes, she does seem to be acclimating with her delusions/nightmare/cure/alternate reality/whatever pretty well.
But how long will that last?
Just *fine* I would assume
Wow. Its amazing how you make them so similar but so different. Poor pinkie
1997721 He only goes into killer mode when you anger him, so you are treading on dangerous grounds, not letting him have cake.
Really though, cello case pony, in or out of the story? I need an answer.
1997722
Thanks for the
finefind!So sad already. You don't even know how she got those burns...
1997734
I don't know. It's funny, but I doubt it will be in. The OCs I've used are mostly just one-off characters. I think you would be better off writing a short scene about it yourself. I'd read it!
1997748 Hmm, well it's too short to be a story itself, so I'll just write it and post a blog post about it. You can find it on my page later. Meanwhile, if you go on now, I have funny GIFs and fail videos.
Seriously, both you and demon warlock should stop writing such awesome stories , I need to study
Good job, keep up ^^
I like this. I really like this. Specifically how you right Twilight (and her thoughts).
You don't have her always insane. Hell, you don't even have a clear transition between 'normal' and 'bout of insanity. The way you do it is almost… Kafkaesque. There is no 'sane' vs. 'insane' Twilight. There is Twilight's imagination, and the products thereof, but outside of that, Twilight is Twilight is Twilight. Her thoughts waver unsteadily along a tenuous tightrope above a sea of insanity: sane, yet almost falling at every step.
This… sense of impending doom (again, Kafkaesque in a nutshell) is just…
You nailed it. Do you have experience, or are you just well read on the symptoms of various psychological disorders? I ask because of this portion of the above quote:
is phrased so excellently. Exactly like someone who suffers from (or is very familiar with) one of several mental disorders might put it.