> Pinkie promise > by Deadcat > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > On a rock farm > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Chapter 1: On a rock farm "Pinkamena Diane pie!!!" The sharp voice cut through the darkness like a knife on fabric. My eyes pierced through the sky as I felt the pinging of cold rain on my pink matted fur. I felt small pebbles dig into my skin as I sat up. My ice blue eyes darted around and my familiar environment set in. The cold rock farm looked as bland as ever before. I looked over to the metallic voice that woke me up. I saw my mother standing at the doorway of our boring home. "I told you to move the rocks from the east field to the west field. Now just what the hell do you think your doing sleeping on the job!!!" My mothers stern voice weighed me down. I was at loss of explanation. I had been outside moving the rocks for days. I suppose I fainted. "I-I'm sorry!!" I called out through the loud rain, my words seemingly lost in the downpour. "I'm just so tried... Please" my pathetic words fell to the ground. "GET YOUR UNGRATEFUL FLANK OFF THE GROUND AND WORK YOU LAZY FILLY!!" My mother yelled, her uptight gray bun starting to lose it's composure. I got off the ground and I began to push the rocks west, surely I would get a beating for talking back to my mother, if I'm lucky though, I might just get a few hits. My father though, if I talked back to him- I silenced my thoughts out of fear. 'Concentrate on the rocks, not how much your hooves hurt, not how hungry you are, and not the blurriness in your vision. Just the rocks' I cooed quietly to myself. Warm wet tears began to flow out of my eyes. The salty droplets of pure sadness were lost in the fast falling rain as the sounds of the lonely downpour echoed through my flattened ears. A few hours later, I walked up the stairs of my house, and went toward my bedroom. a sudden and sharp pain spread across my face as my head was thrown adjacent to the side. Warm crimson blood was dripping down my face as another blow to the face was sent into my direction. "Please!!... Stop.." I cried weakly as my words fell to the floor, just as pathetic as I was. My mother halted the 22nd blow to my face and instead, took me and threw me to the hard, cold, wooden floor. She panted heavily, and straightened her bun, as a few strands of hair set loose. The beating was over. I scrambled to the corner of my bedroom, shaking uncontrollably, as sweat, tears, and blood matted my light pink coat. I desperately tried to hold in my tears, my eyes shut tight. She walked to the doorway of my room, which doubled as a tool shed. "Don't ever talk back to me" her words slithered out of her mouth, dripping with disdain. And with that she harshly slammed the door, sending the tools that adorned the wall into a clatter. I quietly sobbed to myself, letting the salty tears pour out of my eyes like a raging river. I slowly made my way over to a small box as I opened up the rotting wood. I placed my hooves around a small piece of rust stained gauge. I slowly rapped it around my foreleg where a big gash resided. I placed pressure on it to stop the bleeding. "THE STARS!" I gasped aloud remembering the important thing that had slipped my mind. I placed my lower left hoof in a small crack in the plain wooden wall. Then I hoisted myself upwards, peering through another crack, like a small window. I saw all the glittering, gleaming, hopeful stars. They twinkled and shined through the black violet sky. Suddenly, a bright star flew across the black sky, lighting the whole world aloft for just that one moment. I gasped and almost lost my balance of the small ledge I was wedged in. I shut my eyes tight "I wish that I will find a friend and that all my suffering will finally end" I whispered silently to myself, "I wish that I will find a friend and that all my suffering will finally end" i repeated about 10 times and hopped down from my small ledge and rested my head on the foamy firm pillow. I then grasped onto the ratty blanket trying my best to keep myself warm, but I still lay shivering. I shut my eyes tight, the last of my salty tears flooding out as sleep overcame me like a black wave, pleading for escape. My eyes darted open to the same cold tool shed. The bland and rusty tools clattered and banged to the walls they were hung on Every time there was a movement outside. I yawned as I straightened out my dark pink mane. I heard hoof steps running just outside my door, I open the door slightly to see my 3 bland sisters, Inkie, Blinkie, and Maud pie. Their bland gray coat colors camouflaging perfectly with the rest of the home. We all walked to the kitchen where my mother and father stood. I noticed my bright pink mane and coat standing out from the ordinary blandness of the rest of my family. "Pinkamena. Why have you not moved all the rocks yet?" My father stern voice struck fear into my heart. "I- I'm sorry. It's to many rocks! I can't do-" my word were cut off when I felt a sharp stinging in my Cheek as my father's hoof smacked across me. I weakly fell to the cold floor with a silent shriek. My sister and mother stood in the corner. "I KNEW WE NEVER SHOULD HAVE ADOPTED YOU." He screamed, his words hurt harder than any physical damage his hoof could create. It wasn't long before my mother poured insults on me, like searing hot acid. Usually, I would feel sad, I would feel weak. But today, a strange emotion replaced all the regular ones. The new emotion filled up in my stomach, like a glass filling up with water. I stood up shakily. "Stop it." I said quietly, but firmly. The two dictators were taken aback. "Excuse me?" My father said leaning closer for dramatic effect. "What did you just say?!" His voice got louder before he punched me in the gut. The reflection of a knife glinted in my eye. A new, developed rage filled me. I was overflowing. I grabbed it in the cleft of my hoof "I SAID FUCK YOU!" I screeched as I thrust the silver death tool into my fathers stomach. Warm crimson blood sprayed everywhere like rain. I took hold of the knife in him and thrust downwards, the gooey sound of insides spilling out was the only noise in the room. My sisters stood in horror as my mother lay frozen in the sight of her husbands entrails draped across the floor. His limp body fell to the floor with a thud. That's when my mother took action. Next thing I remember was her tackling me to the ground. Dust from the cold floor rose up into the air as I laid with her pressure keeping me down "INKIE PIE, CALL THE POLICE!! MAUD PIE, CHECK YOUR FATHERS PULSE! BLINKIE, GET THE FIRST AID KIT!!" My mother commanded like a drill Sargent. All three sisters stood still in shock and fear of what I had just done. "NOW!" She screamed. The 2 sisters ran down the hall to complete there tasks. Maud pie, reluctantly walked to her mangled father. She saw the gooey sliminess of her fathers organs, she saw the fear in his bloodshot eyes. She placed her hoof on his neck. "I- it's gonna be okay." She cooed shakily as she felt for his pulse, he was still alive "Pinkie didn't mean it..." She said unconvinced as she turned her head toward me in fear. She mouthed the words: "it's okay" and smiled softly. Next thing I remember is my mother's cold iron hoof hitting the temple of my head. Blood streamed from the side, and before I passed out, a small and hysterical laugh slipped from my mouth. Blackness enveloped me, and I was soon unconscious. > With an iron hoof > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Chapter 2 : with an iron hoof I don't remember much after that day. Everything was hazy. Like a dream where you can't tell what's happening. There wasn't much that I could remember. I was scared and alone. I could feel cold, metallic, iron bars between my hooves. I'm pretty sure I heard screaming too. I suppose my mind was slowly processing what had happened in the days before. My memory was slowly eating away... "Pinkamena?" A stern voice and the sound of a gravel being thrust against the wood snapped me out of my half-conscious state. My eyes darted around. I was in a court room. The mahogany furnishings adored the room. Ponies were sat in all corners if the room, there disapproving eyes of fear burning through me. How did I get here? What had happened? Questions flooded my thoughts as I began to breath heavily. "Pinkamena?" the voice repeated. I cocked my head to the side where the judge was sitting. The steely voice was emitted from him. "Do you know where you are?" He asked. I looked around some more. I was at loss of words. My breathing got heavier. "How did I get here?!" I exclaimed. My eyes opened wider and darted around, as my ears flopped up, being alert. Silence filled the room. The judge looked at me and pity filled his eyes "you are in the equestrian court room. You were taken here after a short stay in prison while awaiting your trial," he paused. "Do you know why your here?" My eyes got watery. "No....." I murmured. My words fell to the floor with a clatter as the silence continued. "No!" I yelled slightly louder, the police guards standing in all corners of the room began to slowly advance on me, as I I were a foal about to throw a tantrum. My eyes turned to the judge. "Please tell me I didn't... Please..." I uttered. The judge was a stallion, he looked strong, but yet he seemed full of pity towards me. He looked down at the floor shutting his eyes tight. My pupils dilated. Then I laughed. Everyone in the room stared at me oddly. 'Why is she laughing?' Everyone probably thought that... I didn't care. My laugh got louder and louder. The police guards advanced on me. Trying to calm me down. "I killed my father!!!" I laughed, tears pouring from my eyes. I put my hoof up gesturing for the guards to calm down "I'm okay. I'm okay." I reassured the guards although they didn't look convinced. Silence and confusion filled the room "We are just gonna ask you a few questions okay? Just try and answer them as best you can alright?" The judge said his voice cutting through the silence. I felt mocked, the way he just talked down to me as though I were a foal. The rage in me grew a little bit more. Battling my urge to yell and run away, I conquered the feeling, and went on with what I was supposed to do. A stallion at the far corner of the room stood up. He trotted toward me with a confident grin. He stood in front of me as I gulped nervously. "Pinkameina Diane Pie, did you kill your father?" he scoffed. I paused. My mouth felt dry. I started to shake. I could feel my blood turning cold, and for a second, it was like I had the knife in my hands. The knife I used to kill my father. The question sent a pang of guilt through my mind. That guilt was replaced by rage. The same feeling that filled me before I sliced my father open. "The bastard had it coming" I spat, my words caked in venom. The court room gasped. Everyone sharing looks. I placed my hoof over my mouth. I didn't mean to say it that bluntly. I felt like the rage was splitting me in to, forming my brain into something it wasn't. The stallion looked down, his eyebrow high on his stone face. "What do you mean by that? Did you plan this out beforehoof?" He asked inquisitively. "H- he beat me! He hit me and punched me and cut me everyday! Until I was bloody! Until I was unconscious! My mother would too!!! They would call me names. They would say bad things. They made me feel bad. They had to be stopped." I said sternly, a darkness in my tone. The tall dark stallion walked back to his desk "I rest my case" he said arrogantly as he shuffled the papers at his desk. A mare in the other corner stood up "Judge if I may say something!?" she gasped. Her eyes glued to the judge. The judge simply nodded his head. The mare stood up firmly "It was obviously self defense!" She stated "OBJECTION!" Yelled the other dark stallion who asked me questions before. "Overruled!" replied the judge. Both the mare and stallion sat down. "Pinkamena, why didn't you tell anypony? Why didn't you ask for help" asked the mare. I stared at her. Why didn't I think of that? "There was Nopony around. Only my sisters, b-but they didn't know." I looked down, tears welled in my eyes. It was silent. So silent that I swore the whole court room could hear my heart beating. The judge took a deep breath "hearing both sides of the case, I will now make my ruling towards the punishment of Pinkameina Diane Pie," he said calmly, remaining his composure. My heart began beating faster. "I find Pinkameina Diane Pie guilty for the death of Limestone Pie and sentence you to 4 years in Helping Hoof psychiatric hospital" his words hit me. I was speechless. I was scared. "Please.... No" my powerless words echoed throughout the court room. "NO!! NO!!! PLEASE PLEASE!!!!" I screamed as the police guards grasped ahold of me. I was crying and screaming as they hauled me in the back of a carriage. Blood stained my lip when they threw me into the carriage. A damn cut. What was going to happen to me? Helping Hoof? I've never heard of such a place. Weakly, I crawled to the corner of the carriage and held my hooves close. No home, no family, no friends. Just me. Tears streamed down my face and a whimper escaped my quivering lips. I was alone. I was broken. > Welcome to damnation > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Chapter 3: Welcome To Damnation I woke up feeling surprisingly more comfortable than usual. I was warm and comforted. My ratty hole ridden sheet was replaced by a wooly blanket. I laid comfortably on the mattress and my weary head rested on my pillow. And for once, a slight smile spread across my face. A florescent white light burned the outside of my closed eyelids. Slowly I opened my eyes. 'Oh yeah,' I thought grumpily, 'I'm here.' I let out a mental sigh as I tried to turn around, adjacent to the bright light. But I found myself unable to move. My eyes bugged open as I began to panic. Why couldn't I move? Was I paralyzed?! I took ahold of the blanket with my mouth and ripped it off. The cold air of the room stung my body as I took notice to the restraints holding my limbs. I began to thrash. I frantically threw my self all around in a sweaty panic "PLEASE!! HELP ME I CAN'T MOVE!!" I screamed. My panic ridden voice echoed throughout the small room. The room was painted an odd off white color and was adorned with painted animals. It looked like a nursery for a new born foal. Suddenly the white door in the corner slammed open and a old looking mare walked in. She had bags under her eyes and she looked tired and sad, but yet she had a painfully fake smile sewed onto her face. Her coat was a light gray and she had a light blue mane with a red hat on top. Her cutie mark was a smiley face. She seemed strange. Two large and strong stallions dressed in white followed behind her closely. "Calm down sweetie, it's alright." The nurse softly cooed as the guards fiddled with my restraints, "My name is Nurse Blue Heart," she said with the smile still glued to her face. I stared at her cautiously as the guards freed my hooves. I rubbed them as I saw the deep bruises that formed there. The nurse took fast notice as well. "Oh dearie!" She exclaimed as she flocked to my hooves. "Looks like were gonna need more pads on your restraints!" She said with a smile. "Why do I need restraints!?" I blurted out. I had not meant for it to sound that harsh. But the words fell to the floor with a clatter. The nurse just stared at me. Like it was a mess that she didn't want to clean up, like I was a mess. She laughed nervously, "Well someponies don't sleep well and uhh..." She paused looking for the right words, "and well... We don't want them hurting themselves or others," she finished, feeling confident about the question she practically avoided. 'So I hurt other ponies?' I thought with a mental cry. 'How could I hurt other ponies... I just got here?!' The thought caused more questions to flood into my mind. I remembered the trial, but at the trial the judge said that I stayed in prison a few months while awaiting the trial. If I forgot those months... "how long have I been here?" I questioned quietly. I Immediately put my hooves to my mouth. 'Did I say that out loud?' Celestidammit. I'm such an idiot!! The nurse's fake smile faded to one genuine one... Of pity. She put her hoof on my shoulder sympathetically "You have been here for about 2 months dearie" I gasped. '2 MONTHS!!! How could I have been there for so long and how could I not remember! I thought the trial was just yesterday!' My thoughts raced like a runaway train. The blue haired nurse obviously saw my worry. "Honey, you have been here for a while, but you have been what we like to call catatonic," she said the last word slowly and made sure to emphasize it, Like I didn't know what catatonic meant. I mean, sure I never went to school, but sometimes I would read Inkie's books. Besides, I was 12 years old! I wasn't stupid! "So now that you're fully conscious, we can begin our treatment!" Nurse blue heart cheered happily. "Now you must always have a nurse accompanying you alright, if you see that there is not a nurse or doctor around you yell and scream as loud as you can so we can find you alright?" She explained. I grunted. I knew at that moment I was not going to get any alone time. But I tried to reassure myself; I'd find away to escape somehow. She then handed me some slippers and a gown and helped me into them. She gestured for me to follow her. I looked down the clean white halls, they were sparkling and gleaming like they had been washed a thousand times. The smell of chlorine filled my nostrils as I heard the screams of disobedient patients echoing through crystal-like hallways. The hospital reminded me of somepony hiding behind mask, the halls were pristine and the nurses and doctors were professional working, but behind all the cleaning supplies there was an ugly face, and dark secrets. The hospital was falling apart in the sense that there was something going on. I could sense it, and I was just a filly! The nurse stopped and opened up big oak doors, the doors, like the rest of the hospital, were gleaming and shined. "Where are we?" I asked quietly. "Just in the cafeteria! It's breakfast Time!" She beamed. My knees began to feel wobbly and I felt sick all the sudden. I peered through the oak doors and watched all the other mentally insane ponies. They were twitching and shaking and staring into space, they were yelling and jumping and.... Scary. 'Oh you're one to talk pinkamena, after all you sliced your own father open, and don't even feel bad about it! And you call these ponies mentally insane?' My mind scolded and I was right, I shouldn't be to quick to judge these ponies. "I killed my father, why are you letting me around other ponies?" I said the words blunt and direct. I could tell the nurses and doctors were gonna jump around and sugar coat any questions I asked, so I might as well be blunt. "Well pinkamena, social skills are important to develop in the mentally ill, and trust me, you couldn't hurt anypony even if you tried," she chided with a fake smile. I grunted as I reluctantly trotted into the cafeteria. It looked... Almost normal. I mean if you took out all the stuttering, shaking, twitching, screaming mentally unstable ponies, it would look like a normal cafeteria, although the ends of the tables were padded and the chairs were too, and there was no silverwear. When I asked why the nurse quickly changed the subject. I sighed as I grabbed a biscuit and some water. The biscuit was dry and tasteless. A meal hardly fit for the homeless, the water tasted dirty but I shrugged it off. After all, at least I was able to eat. I saw all the other catatonic patients having to be spoon feed. I wondered if they had to do that to me when I was 'catatonic'. My eyes drifted to the rest of the dull patients, reminding me much of my dull rock farm. At least the hospital was cleaner. I thought. That's when something bright caught my eye. She was another filly, like me. She had a bright rainbow mane that shined like the stars at my old home, she had a cyan coat that seemed to shimmer. She was a large contrast form the rest of the dull patients. I stared at her for the longest time, admiring her brightness. I noticed she had a mischievous smile on her face. She was planning something I could tell. She flapped her wings slowly as if she were revving her engines. That's when she looked up, and our eyes met. Her warm magenta eyes stared into my soul as her evil smile seemed to fade into a look of shock or disbelief. My ice blue eyes stared back at her. The world around us melted, the quiet roar of the conversations around us muted. It was just me and her. And for the first time, I didn't feel alone. 10 seconds later she finally broke the gaze. He head quickly turning back to her plate. I slowly fixed my gaze onto my dreary half eaten food. Processing what had just happened. 'Who was that pony? Why did she seem different? I liked this pony. I wonder if we could be friends. I wonder what she thinks of me.' "RAINBOW DASH EAT YOUR FOOR NOW!" A loud voice silenced my racing thoughts. Just then, a rainbow and blue blur shot upwards in my peripheral vision. My head cocked towards the commotion. There I saw the rainbow filly flying at the top of our already high roofed cafeteria. Her nurse was yelling and screaming for her to come down. Some Pegasus nurses were flying up to catch her, but the cyan Pegasus would outfly them. Damn she was fast. Other patients were up on the tables screaming at the commotion. Some were cheering her on. Suddenly the Pegasus stopped and looked down at me. A toothy grin spread across her face as I continued to stare at her in wonderment. I laughed, but not the insane kind of laugh I was accustomed to. A real laugh. Then she zoomed off in a daze flying throughout the lunch room. As the yelling continued, frazzled nurses trying to calm everypony down. Just then the doors slammed open leaving everything and everypony motionless. They all stared, some in fear as a tall unicorn stallion trotted in. He did not look happy. There was a scowl set across his face. A green aura around his horn matching his green eyes. His white lab coat was sitting around his caramel coat. His gray white mane was nice and slick. "RAINBOW DASH! GET DOWN NOW OR SO HELP ME YOU WILL BE IN THE TIME OUT FOR TWO WEEKS!" The doctor screamed with all his might. "catch me if you can!!" The rainbow haired Pegasus scoffed in reply. As she zoomed around and suddenly, she stopped, a golden aura surrounded her she was dragged down by the doctor's magic. "NO!!! STOP!! THIS IS CRUEL, IM A PEGASUS!! I JUST WANT TO FLY!" She screamed, her words echoed through the silent room. Her cry's and pleas bounced of the clean white walls. She was dragged down to the ground as the guards forced her limbs into a straight jacket. She continued to yell and scream as she was dragged out of the room. "Who was that?" I asked my nurse. She was filing her hooves with a hooffile and seems accustomed to the whole outbreak. "That was Doctor Helfing." She said blowing on her hoofs. I looked at her In confusion. "No no not that one! The Pegasus one!" My eyes looked at her beaming with curiosity. "That's Rainbow Dash." She murmured. She must have sensed my curiosity because she perked up a little bit "I can't tell you about the other patients..." She accused," but she is quiet the troublemaker, I wouldn't follow her example," I thought for a while and something Doctor Helfing said had stricken me. "What's 'timeout'" I asked. The nurse's eyes met with mine and she looked serious. "That's someplace ponies go when they do bad things. When ponies are in real danger to themselves of others, we put them there so they can be alone to reflect back on what they had done" she said. Then her demeanor changed, "but you don't have to worry about that, you're a good pony," she plastered on another fake smile and I did my best to hide my seething anger. I was not a foal! Why did they Insist on treating me like one! "Why are you so taken with rainbow?" The nurse asked as she resumed her nonchalant attitude. I didn't know how to reply to that... Why was I so taken by the rainbow filly? "Because she's like the stars" I said > The star filly > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Chapter: 4 The Star Filly The rest of the day was nurse Blue Heart showing me the rest of the halls. They were dark and ominous and... Fake. She showed me the different activities available, there was an art room, an athletics room and a music room, she told me that tomorrow I would begin my schedule. "But today my dear you will be in the commons room," Nurse Blueheart calmly said, her voice smooth like lacquer, but still rather frazzled. We continued to walk down the ominous clean hallways. The only noises were the repetitive clicks of our hooves against the shiny floor. After multiple twists and turns, we finally reached our destination. She opened up the large oak doors as I timidly walked into a colorful room. It was full of fillies and guards alike. There was padding everywhere along with babyish board games and safe toys. There was a colorful carpet with alphabet letters as educational music hummed soothingly in the background. There was another section of the room that was cut off by guards, but from what I could see, it had older mares and colts in it along with more mature looking games... Well as mature as games can get. The quiet roar of the room filled my ears as the low murmur washed over the sounds of the music (thankfully). I awkwardly stood in the room, beginning to tremble. I did not have the best social skills. Other fillies sat down and laughed, screamed or twitched. That's when I saw Rainbow Dash. She sat in the corner, deep bags under her eyes. Shiny tears dripped from her eyes as she clutched something green in between her hooves. I noticed that she had a white padded cord around her wings and around the circumference of her body, immobilizing her flight abilities. I slowly trotted up to her and sat down right next to her. I stayed silent. The Pegasus paid me no attention as she let out a sob. Now that I was closer to her I noted something was off about her; every so often, she would twitch and shake, I also noticed a reddish purple ring around her cyan neck. My eyes looked down at her forelegs and inner thighs. That's when I saw red lines, they were deep cuts, they looked almost infected. They were perfect straight lines of pure desperation. They were self inflicted. At that moment, a new emotion swelled within the rage and sadness I had been conditioned to. A emotion then blossomed in me as bright as a flower in the middle of spring. It was empathy. The new found sympathy has taken control of me, just as the rage did before. So I wrapped my forelegs around the cyan Pegasus. Her eyes were like deep magenta pools of emotion. She twitched with more velocity and quickly broke away. "Uh... Hi?" She said shakily. She sat there awkward and stiff. Just then I snapped out of my deep feelings and realized how strange the situation was. "Oh.. Uh hi," I quivered. A semi silence enveloped us. I say semi silent because the conversations of other patients hung over our heads. The awkwardness of the situation was so apparent that you could almost feel it. "I'm Rainbow Dash," she said as she wiped away her tears. I grinned from ear to ear, relieved that she didn't think I was a weirdo. "Oh- I- I'm Pinkamena Diane pie!" I piped up. My beaming face of excitement dawned on her swollen eyes. The Rainbow haired filly giggled. 'Whats so funny?' I thought as I tilted my head to the side in confusion. "That sure is a mouthful, what if I just called you..." She placed her hoof on her mouth and tilted her eyes upwards, as if she was deep in thought, "what if I just called you Pinkie Pie!" She beamed ecstatically. I nodded my head in agreement. "What's that?" I questioned, gesturing to the green stuffed animal glued to her hooves. Rainbow pulled it in closer to her furry bosom. "His name is Gummy." She said matter-of-factly as she held him up the the air. He was a green little alligator with pink buttons for eyes. Time had obviously taken it's toll on the stuffed toy. The seams were tearing apart letting white stuffing pass through, clumping and bulging out like a caterpillar trying to escape it's chrysalis, anxious to see it's new found shimmering wings. The threading on the eyes had been torn up leaving the left one to be on the edge of falling off. There was dirt stained into the green fabric, but as raggedy and old Gummy was, he was still cute. "He's adorable!" I giggled as Rainbow's smile grew bigger. The rest of the time we spent dwindling in the common room was the funnest time I've had since Maude Pie's birthday! Me and Rainbow played games and laughed up until the second we were sent to group therapy. "Group therapy?" I shook nervously as Rainbow trotted beside me, her rainbow mane sticking out in every direction. "Oh, it's not that bad..." She chided. I felt so nervous, my pupils dilated, my heart pounded against my chest like it was gonna jump out my throat. Our nurses trotted in front of us, deep in their conversation about hooficures... Or something. I fixed my gaze on the cyan Pegasus. My insides twisted like someone was stirring them with a fork. "I... I don't know, Rainbow- uh- I don't really- do well around other ponies." I stuttered, my words shook to the floor. Rainbow grew a sympathetic smile "Well, you did ok around me..." She pointed out, her red cheeks contrasted the rest of her azure coat. Suddenly my cheeks felt hot as I turned away in embarrassment. We walked the rest of the way together and then sat together in the group therapy room. The nurses left us there in the compartment with none other than the infamous Dr. Helfing. Suddenly the memories of him yelling this morning flooded through. as my body began to shake more, I noticed Rainbow's constant twitching did too. He smiled, but not the fake smile I had seen since I had been here, a sly smile, the kind of 'you-will-be-dead-when-I'm-done-with-you' kind of smile. I gulped. "Take a seat," he hissed as all the fillies and colts followed his commands like a choir of obedient robots. We all sat down on the plastic chairs in a careful circle. The sound of hoofsteps on the tile floor filled the room, it slowly got more quiet as the ponies got situated. "Good afternoon," He paused as he smacked his lips. "Today we will start by introducing the newcomer, Pinkamena Diane Pie., He said as he pointed at me. All the eyes in the room were directed at me as I smiled nervously. "You can just call me Pinkie Pie," I suggested, taken to the nickname the rainbow filly gave me. Dr. Helfing scowled. "Well then, now that were are all caught up, today the topic will be 'how to cope with wing and horn restraints,'" His scowl faded to a sly smile as he directed his attention to Rainbow Dash. The cyan filly sunk in her chair and looked to the floor, she looked defeated. As I looked around I saw a few other unicorns with horn restraints look down to. But not every Pegasus and unicorn was restrained. I wondered why. "Restraints are given to little fillies who break the rules using magic or flying, they can also be given to earth ponies who use their hooves to hurt others, for example, Star Flect here used her brute strength to beat up another pony, so she was restricted." The doctor said gesturing to a filly with yellow hair and a lavender coat. In between her hooves were chains, making running impossible and walking difficult. I was taken aback in horror. These "doctors" had the power to basically immobilize me and have it be perfectly okay?! THAT was insane. The red marks around the filly's shackles made it evident they had been there for quite a while. "Rainbow, how about you go first, after all, you just got your restraints. Any suggestions on how to cope?" He said with a sly smile, cocking his head in a arrogant grin. The cyan Pegasus's frown stiffened into a deep scowl filled with rage, it was obvious that seething and searing rage boiled her insides. I stared at Rainbow and watched as the scowl faded into a sly mischievous grin. "Why yes, I actually do have a idea on how to cope with these restraints," she said with sarcasm,"How about you take them off!!" She said in a yell, the words of pure rage stifled a giggle from the group. The doctor's head whipped around and directed a stern scowl at the giggling party. They Immediately silenced as the agitated doctor turned to Rainbow, his sly smile once again on his face. "Well, Rainbow, your behavior makes that hard to do, because you misuse the right to fly." He pointed out. I watched. As Rainbow's glare deepened, I didn't think a pony could ever look so angry. She took a deep breath and lightened her scowl, matching the doctors sly grin. "Well doctor, you're right, I am so very sorry for flying like a normal celesti-damned Pegasus!!!" She scoffed sarcastically, she had lost her composure halfway through the sentence and it ended up being a bit of a yell. "Rainbow we don't tolerate that kind of language here," Dr. Helfing said, hinting to the vulgar word in the spunky Pegasus's sentence. Rainbow laughed at how absurd he was, and I would have to agree, he was acting like a flankhole. "You hate me, it dosent matter how sane I am or how sane I come to be, you hate me and will do everything in your power to make my life miserable!" She accused with vehement rage swollen in her voice. "I will not feed your paranoid delusions, and if you continue this pungent and contentious attitude and forget to remain in control of your emotions, well then you will know what true misery is," He said smoothly. Everyone in the room gasped. 'Was that a threat?!' I thought 'doctors don't threaten patients to get better!!!' Even the vapid Star Flect seemed shocked. And there were no nurses or guards in the room to hear... He was unstoppable. Rainbow's outrage became more evident on her face. "How DARE you!" She spat furiously. The anger In her voice sickened me. I knew that she was in attack mode. I knew as soon as I watched her hostile figure form fists. I put my hoof on her shoulder, her fury stricken gaze whipped around to meet my sympathetic one, her rage melted away like a candle as she stared at me. "He really dose want to see you miserable, and if you attack him, you will be in solitary confinement for a long time. Don't give him the satisfaction. He's not worth it," I mumbled, praying to Celestia that she would just sit down. The vexed Pegasus took her seat. Her searing gaze of hatred still scowling at him as he continued on with the therapy. I leaned over to her ear, "At least your mane had color!" I whispered her her ear, hinting to the fact that he had a dull gray mane. She giggled and then leaned into my ear, "At least your mane has style! His looks like an old mop!" She whispered in a low raspy voice. I began to laugh harder and harder and Dr. Helfing scolded us, my guess is that he knew what we were saying. "That's not very nice," he said a little bit offended. "You're not really offended by what some DELUSIONAL mental patients have to say about you really?!" Rainbow scoffed rolling her eyes for dramatic effect and mocking the fact that he had called her delusional not so long ago. His eyes narrowed in rage and a slight devilish smile grew across his face, "GUARDS!" He called as they walked in "Send Pinkamena and Rainbow Dash to their rooms for the rest of the night with no dinner." He commanded, putting on a smug smile of victory. "GOOD I DON'T WANT YOUR AWFUL FOOD ANYWAYS!" Rainbow retorted as the guards dragged us away, but unlike her, I was starving. > Stick a cupcake in my eye > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Chapter 5: stick a cupcake in my eye An intense hunger made my poor stomach growl as I closed me eyes tight, making the bags under my eyes stretch as I closed them. Sleep did not find me yet and I reluctantly stared at the constantly ticking clock. It was 1am. Pristine and demure nurses slowly walked to the end of the hallway and vanished. I guess they were going home, but the guards still remained, patrolling the halls every so often.I wondered if they ever slept. I grunted and turned around, covering myself with thin, white, bed sheets. The florescent white lights dimmed the hallways and seeped into my eyes, making sleep impossible. At least it wasn't super bright and throughout the night, they would get darker.... Hopefully. I let out a sigh. I hated it here. It was cold all the time, the facility's were just too clean, it always smelled of chlorine and orchids. You had to be constantly monitored and escorted by fake nurses made of melting plastic, and of course, the infamous, dictator, Dr. Helfing. But there was one thing that made this prison of cleaning supplies tolerable, one thing in all this derangement and insanity, one clarity, one thing that made sense, one thing to help me get up in the morning, and that was the little filly with rainbow hair. She flew through my thoughts, her messy mane, her cyan coat and azure wings, beating like my heart, her perfect magenta eyes shimmering through the darkness of my days. The thought of her makes my eyes flutter as I try to close them. Why was my heart beating as fast as her wings? Why was my face red by just thinking of her? The door handle shook. I whipped my head to the direction of the door handle, it shook over and over creating a slight jingling noise through the empty room. 'Why would a nurse be knocking at my door at this time?' My mind raced, sweat dotted my forehead. Suddenly the door burst open and standing there was none other than the spectacular Rainbow Dash. "Rainbow what are you doing here!? H- how did you get in here?" I stuttered, my nerves still frazzled. The arrogant filly cocked her head into the air, looking proud of her achievement. "Check it, so, I got a new nurse, cause my old one quit cause apparently she 'couldn't handle me'," Rainbow paused and let out a slight chuckle, "so anyways, she wore a hair clip today so I went in for a hug and carefully fastened it out of her hair, she had no clue! So, I thought that you might be hungry so I picked a few locks, and here I am! Wanna go make cupcakes!?" She jumped up excitedly. I laughed. "And how are we gonna do that?" I questioned as we stood in the darkness of the room. I began to wonder how exactly she slipped past the guards. "Uh, duh! Were gonna pick the lock to the kitchen and make them there with flour and stuff, also, how do I make cupcakes?" She said placing a hoof on her chin. I giggled and shrugged "'Guess we will find out!" I chuckled. Rainbow the proceeded to open the door as we snuck out into the dark hallway. Slowly and quietly, we made our way through the hallways. A guard was just a few meters away. Rainbow told me that the helmets that the guards wear have a blind-spot, so at just the right angle, we can avoid them. Slipping past three guards, Rainbow took the lead. As I carefully trotted behind her, it struck me again the she doesn't have her cutie mark. How does a filly with so much spirit and pride not have a cutie mark? As I watch her from behind, I analyze the beauty of her. Wavy, striking hair, her hind legs were strewn with muscles, but she didn't look bulky. She looked tough. I wish I were tough. But everyone has weaknesses, no matter how tough they were. I kept my muzzle down low to the ground, the smell of cleaning supplies filled my nostrils. Rainbow Dash's bright tail was quietly bouncing in front of me as we continued to creep through the darkness. Finally, we got to the kitchen door, which was locked. "Cover my back, I'm gonna pick the lock," the mischievous filly whispered to me, and turned her back to the hallway. She began fiddling with the lock as my eyes scanned the empty dark hallway. Suddenly, my bright blue eyes darted to the end of the hallway where I saw a magically lit flashlight turn the corner. Without thinking I grabbed Rainbow Dash and pulled her into a dark corner. Hoping there would be a little blind spot, we bolt huddled together, praying to Celestia that the guards would not find us. It was nice though, aside from my pounding heart and heavy breathing, but, Rainbow dash was pushed up against me, so close I could feel her heart pounding in her cyan chest. I tried my hardest not to blush, but my cheeks still felt hot. The guard walked by, he seemed sleepy and his eyes were half closed. He lazily walked by, tripping over his hooves. His flashlight of death barely grazing us. He walked away. We both breathed sighs of relief. We knew the consequences of being out of your "room" after nightfall. The cyan filly flocked back the the kitchen door, and finally, it opened and we hurried in and slammed the door behind us. "Umm.. We need butter!" I called out as I continued to skim the cookbook we found adjacent to the door. Rainbow dash darted to the fridge and tossed 2 sticks of butter at me. "Okay... Um last thing we need is flour!" I instructed. It was silent as Rainbow skimmed the room for some four. "Uh.... About that.." The rainbow maned filly chuckled nervously. Pointing her azure hoof to the sack of heavy flour all the way up at the top shelf, too high for us to reach. "I- I need my wings to get up there!!" She shouted attempting to stretch her bound wings. She looked devastated at the fact she couldn't do simple things without her beloved wings. "No you don't! We can do this together!" I called out confidently, trying to comfort the sad trapped filly. "Now uh... I'll give you a boost up on the shelf and while your on me? Try to grab the flour okay?" I planned. Rainbow Dash flashed me a confident 'I-can-do-anything' look and nodded her head with a grin. She pointed me down into my back as she carefully stepped on me with grace. She reached up, trying to reach for the sack of flour as she continued to complete the dauntless task. Suddenly there was an abrupt crash and Rainbow, me, and the flour all fell to the floor in a clatter. The entire bag of four fell right on us and clung to out matted fur. Then we burst out laughing. "We- we- haf- haffta be- quiet o-or they will hear!" Rainbow sputtered between gasps of breath and a flurry of laughter. After a while of lying on the spilled flour we were calm enough to salvage whatever was left of the flour and add it to our ingredients bowl. "Is it chocolate or vanilla?" The cyan Pegasus questioned, tilting her head as she fixed her gaze on the thick cupcake batter. I was perplexed. "it looks like vanilla.." I said, with a hint of uncertainty in my voice. Rainbow cocked a grin and next thing I knew, a hoof-full of batter was chucked into my face. Shock enveloped me as the Pegasus giggled up a storm. I felt a stinging in my eye and realized all the cupcake batter had been splashed into my open eye, I yelped and backed down. The cyan filly stopped laughing and rushed to my aid, little did she know of my batter full hoof just behind my back, and as soon as she got close, I splashed it across her face. Her face of worry faded into a face of confidence and fun as we continued to throw the batter all around, and after a few minuets, we were caked in batter (no pun intended) "At this rate were not gonna have any batter left for the cupcakes!" Rainbow giggled. I agreed as I salvaged the rest of the thick sugary batter into the cupcake tins and off to there fiery demise. I licked my lips enticingly as I looked around, The kitchen was a mess. There was batter on the walls and flour everywhere, "Do you think we could have made anymore of a mess?" Rainbow rolled her eyes sarcastically as she began to clean the batter on the walls, and after an hour or 2, the cupcakes were iced and cooled and the kitchen was clean. We crouched in the darkness, the warm cupcakes on my back as we were finally safe in rainbows room. I noticed gummy sitting peacefully on the bed. Posters adorned the wall, and there was a desk full of drawings. "I didn't know you drew?" I sputtered as I climbed up on the artists chair, I noticed a picture, of a little pink filly with straight, darker pink hair. I giggled "Hey, I-Is that me?" I scoffed happily. The embarrassed, azure filly dashed over and covered up the picture, her cheeks stained a crimson red as I continued to giggle,"It's a very good representation of me!" I laughed as I trotted dauntlessly over to the cupcakes and shoved one into my mouth. They tasted awful. But we still shoved them into our mouths, because in a mental institution, cupcakes were a delicacy, and also I guess, at that time, we didn't know what good cupcakes tasted like. "Tihf if rewey goof!" Rainbow said with her mouth full of cupcakes, crumbs flew in every direction as I giggled, stuffing a 5th cupcake into my mouth. After all the cupcakes were finished, we began to talk "I hate it here," I shouted, breaking the silence. "Join the club." Rainbow scoffed, another silence washed over us. "Why are you here?" the bound Pegasus asked, poking her hoof at the ground awkwardly. 'What should I say? That I sliced open my fathers' stomach?! She would never want to talk to me again!' My mind raced as I began to panic, I suppose the observant rainbow-maned filly took notice to my worry "It's okay," with an empathetic sigh, she put a hoof on my shoulder "I won't judge you," she gave a amiable smile. Her grin melted my heart, much like it did on the first day I met her in that cafeteria "I- I- uh-" I paused looking at her with my misty blue eyes," I, I killed my father, I split him open, because, he hit me and beat me everyday and made me feel bad and I hated him!" I shouted, I covered my head with my hooves as silence came upon us. I waited for the surprised blue filly's reprise. She then laughed. "Well then, it sounds like the bastard deserved it!" She scoffed. I cocked my head in her direction "Y-your not afraid of me?" I asked surprised. A tear if sadness and relief escaped my lonesome eye. Gently, Rainbow took her hoof and wiped it away. She then smiled at me "Pinkie pie, this is a mental institution, we're all crazy here! If we weren't feared, we wouldn't be here! So, of course your scary, but I am too!" The rainbow maned filly reassured with a smile. I laughed as I went into a hug, Rainbow flinched as I wrapped my forelegs around her thin figure. "W-why are you here?" I asked. Rainbow stiffened as she broke the hug and began to breath heavily. Silence fell upon us once again as rainbow began to hyperventilate. I slowly approached her and put a hoof on her shoulder. She flinched again. "I tried to kill myself 12 times." The filly finally confessed as shock filled my veins. I hugged her tighter "Why?!" I cried tightening my grip on the breaking filly. "He, at night, he would do things, H- he would- AAUUHG!" She screeched breaking out of my hold and falling to the floor with a cry. "I wished I could have killed him!!! I should have killed him like you!! He told me I could never run away! He trapped me!! I HAD to get away!" She put her legs into her chest, blanketing her head with her hooves, pulling on her raggedy mane. I slowly caressed her back, "Shhh," I comforted, hoping to calm her down. After about 5 minutes she was visibly calmer. She sat up and propped her back against the wall. "He would always bring me back, but, the 12th time I tried to hang myself, he couldn't bring me back, he took me to the hospital and the hospital put him in jail, and me here." She uttered as I stared in disbelief. What did she mean that 'he did things to her'? I suppose that 'he' was her father, but did he beat her? It sounded more intense than that, but I didn't want to ask. "I would miss you if you died." I stated. Rainbow looked at me, flabbergasted, "R-really?" She questioned. I smiled "Of course I would silly filly!! Your my, y- your my only friend, my best friend!" I stated excitedly with a smile. "I never had a friend," Rainbow said, looking down to the floor sadly. "Well you do now." I said, something filled my heart, something I have never felt for another pony before, something I thought would never find me, it was, none other than.... Love. > Hope to fly > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Chapter 6: Hope to fly Instead of going to the Commons Room, Rainbow Dash wanted to spend time outside at the courtyard. "We have to sneak out," she told me. We slipped passed the ominous hallways and the emotionless guards. After a few windy, squeaky staircases, we found the doors to the courtyard. Using the hair clip from her nurse, Rainbow opened the door, revealing tall, grassy hills and a glowing sunset. "Check it," she called confidently. She nudged me over to the courtyard, where black fences were bound together surrounding it. The sunset shimmered through the trees, creating long and abstract shadows along the grass. The orange glow ripped through the small gaps of Rainbow's hair, making the rest of her hair shimmer in a lovely gold and orange. "Hey...... Hey Pinkie?" My eyes bounced to Rainbow. "Dude, are you okay? You were lookin' at me all weird. Is there... a problem?" Rainbow gave me a worried look; it melted my heart, that she would worry about me. "No," I said,"everything is perfect." She nudged me to her side, "I have a game we can play." A game? I've never played a game before. We never played games at the rock farm. As the pungent Pegasus led me to the edge if the courtyard, she said we'd be playing "leap pony". "All you have to do is jump on top of me, land on your hooves, and let me jump over you!!!" She said. I gave her a worried glance. What was the point of this game? I looked at rainbow and rolled my eyes playfully. "Ready?" said Rainbow. "Yeah....." I replied. Leaping into the air as swift as I could, I breathed in the crisp air. I landed in front of her, and Rainbow winked at me, a sign of approval. Just as graceful as she was, Rainbow jumped over me, stretching her hooves mid-air, enjoying the soothing whistles of air through her ears, and landed on the luscious grass on the ground. "Okay!! Your turn Pinkie!!" I scooted my hind legs back, and conjured enough momentum to jump over Rainbow. I was in the air, as soon as I heard a strict voice from behind. "Hey? What are you doing here?" said a guard. My lips trembled. "W-we were j-j-just," i began, but thankfully, Rainbow put her hoof before me. With a sly grin, she lied to the guard, "We were just going to the hills and courtyard cause out nurses wanted us to get physical activity,"she scoffed, kicking at a pile of leaves and grass as she cocked her head in the air. The guards eyes narrowed, "Where are your passes?" he questioned harshly. The frazzled Pegasus searched her mind for a spurious comment to buy us some time. It was silent for a while. The guard sighed heavily "ya know what, I don't want to punish a filly today, and you don't want to face doctor Helfing again, you didn't see me, I didn't see you" he spat asperously. And with that he trotted of nervously. Rainbows paranoia melted of as she wore a victorious grin. "C'mon, last one to the hill is a rotten egg!" Acknowledging what she instructed, I followed the cyan filly to the hill. My hooves hurt quickly, so at a fast rhythm, I began to......hop. I gained speed, but not enough to beat Rainbow. She zoomed past, her mane flapping against the wind. Right behind her, the sunset glowed more than ever before. I felt free. I felt happy. Closing in at the top of the hill, Rainbow got there first. I saw the wild flash in her eyes. She was remarkable. Bold. Beautiful. "PINKIE PIE!! LOOK HERE!" Rainbow squealed. I Galloped over, and saw a bunch of dandelions along the top if the hill. They were white and fluffy. We sat upon the soft and safe ground as we caught our breaths. I glared at Rainbow and closed my eyes as I breathed in the fresh air. I practically drank it. I hadn't been outside in what felt like ages, That hospital was a living nightmare, But out here, it's remarkable. It was much different than the bland and tiring rock-farm. It was all grey and lonely, But this, this is different. There are different shades if blues and greens. I hadn't seen hills large as those but the rocky piles I had to collect from. The sunset turned bright orange and sparkly, to a gloomy, but just as lovely red orange. My eyes darted to Rainbows mane. It was so amazing. The filly had majestic hair. My eyes began to travel to her flank. She doesn't have her cutie mark, and I hope to see what it becomes. My eyes peeped at the white rope that binded her wings together. Poor Rainbow, Pegasus are supposed to fly, not be caged. It was cruel to cage a pony born with wings. Her natural merrit was to fly, but there those doctors were, defying the laws of nature. "Pinkie, Let's make a wish.." She suggested pulling a dandelion to her lips. She Mumbled a few soft words, she then opened her eyes and looked at me. "Your turn,"she said. Mimicking her actions, I made a wish I'm my head. It's like back in the farm, how I would wish upon a star. I looked at the cyan filly, "what did you wish for" I asked curiously, batting my eyes. Rainbow Dash scoffed, and flipped her bangs out if her eyes. "I wished that I can one day get out of here. I want this place bulldozed and gone. What about you?" I took a deep breath and slightly grinned " I wish...... I wish that I could fly." I blushed and looked at Rainbow. It's silly how an earth-pony like me would want the desire to fly. But playing leappony and hopping high as I did racing on the hill, I felt happy. I wanted to feel happy forever. Rainbow seemed to understand what I meant. "Once I get this dumb restrictor off, I think I can help you with that." I softly thanked her. Rainbow is just so wonderful, But sometimes, she's just really upset. Softly sniffling to herself, I soon realized that under her messy bangs, Rainbow was crying. "Pinkie, I wanna fly too. I-I wanna fly so damn bad!" I looked at her face, tears reflected against the soft sunset. I inched closer to the poor filly. I didn't know what to do. I didn't know how to comfort her. "Rainbow, I'm so sorry. It's so wrong, what they are doing to you. You don't deserve this," I said. I rested my chin on top if her head. "Nobody deserves this. " Rainbow looked at me. Despite the tears, she laughed. "Pinkie, that's the longest thing I've ever heard you say," sniffling, she nuzzled her face into my neck. I smiled,"don't you worry Rainbow, I'll help to get you out of here." And with that, we gazed into the vanishing sunset, waiting for our wishes to come true. "Ya know. I have an idea, we could just run, we could dart past the security and through the gate and past the Everfree. We could just leave." She suggested with a sad smile. I nodded my head excitedly. We both knew we would never escape, somewhere in the back of our broken minds and lost hearts, we were aware of the improbability of our escape, but there was something about the idea of having that option that we fancied. The false hope that we could cut our torture short was the fuel in our engines. "Where would we go, Dashie?" I inquired, calling her by the nickname I had just invented. The cyan Pegasus gazed out at the sun and ignored the fact I called her 'Dashie' "That's the fun part, When we don't know" she uttered ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Rainbow Dash," Nurse Blue Heart called," Are you ready to take off your restricter?" Eager to get it off, the sky blue pony trotted off the chair she was sitting on, and headed right next to the nurse. We were in the Pegasi Corridor, where all the pegasus patients are treated. I looked around the room. There were red window curtains, but the windows were marbled, so we couldn't see through them. The tile floors were bleach white, and the front desk of the treatment room was occupied by nurse Blue Heart. "Please, Rainbow Dash, follow me." But Rainbow tugged back and eyed from Blue Heart to me, and back to Blue heart. "Uhhh....can Pinkie- uh Pinkamena..... Can she come with me? I want her to be there when I get this darn thing off." Nurse Blue Heart gave a stern yet sad look, "Rainbow Dash, this is the Pegasi Corridor. An earth-pony like her shouldn't be here in the first place." But Rainbow wouldn't take 'no' for an answer. "Please! She needs to be there!! Please!!" Nurse Blue Heart softened her look. "Okay. But she will have to be exempt from the Commons room for one day." Rainbow looked at me, and for an attempt to make her happy, I nodded, it was worth it to lose a day in the Commons Room for Rainbow Dash. A happy smile flooded across her face. Blue Heart led us to a room, and told me to stay near the door. The room looked just as ominous and empty as the hallways. There were black countertops and cabinets lined against the walls. The rooms were white, and there were no windows. There was a chair in the middle, and a pile of shackles in the corner of the room. Oh no.Two guards were lined up against the wall, and just as she came in, they pinned Rainbow to the wall. "HEY!!! What's your problem?! I didn't do anything wrong!!!" The spunky filly quickly looked at me, a pleading expression on her face, maybe that I might do something. I wasn't sure what was going on, but Rainbow needed my help. Although, I couldn't force myself to move. "Don't worry, my dear Pegasus, of course you didn't do anything wrong."The soft nurse walked by the counter that was formed the perimeter if the walls. She opened a cabinet and grabbed a needle with blue liquid inside, almost like the color of the Pegasus's azure coat. One of the guards placed Rainbow Dash into the chair, while the other grabbed the shackles, and attached them to the chair and onto Rainbow's front and hind hooves. "Wha-Hey!! Get me out!! Pi-" but before she finished saying my name, Blue Heart stuck the needle into the side of Rainbows hair. I gasped and shoved my body closer to the edge of the wall. Why did Blue Heart do that?? "It's alright, we are still taking off Rainbows restrictor, we just need to chain and sterilize her, just so that she won't bolt off after the restrictor is off" the nurse cooed, a fringent tone in her voice, just like the lose hair in her perfect blue bun. I exhaled deeply in relief. Nurse Blue Heart walked towards a weak and dazed Rainbow Dash, and punched in a combination that unlocked the restricter. The guards then released Rainbow, and she crashed onto the floor. One of the guards picked her up, and took her out of the room. The other gave me a scroll, and before I could ask Nurse Blue Heart where Rainbow Dash was being taken, she answered, "they are taking her to her room to rest. Tomorrow she will wake. Then she focused on the scroll I was given. These are the rules that apply to Rainbow Dash and her wings. Every time she breaks a rule, she will be......punished. Got it?" I looked at her and nodded in agreement. Blue Heart then led me out if the room, and I exited the Pegasus Corridor. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Rule 1: a nurse of Pegasus origin must accompany you at all times" I read out authoritatively, mocking doctor Helfing's voice as Rainbow giggled. We sat on the soft and warm ground. Patients trotted around the courtyard. It was recess which meant we hadn't had to sneak out this time. Rainbow kicked the ground in a flurry of frustration. "UHG! This blows," she yelped angrily,"with all these ridiculous rules, I might as well still have my restrictor on!" She spat at the ground in vehement wrath. I approached my rainbow friend in a calm demeanor. "Hey, look on the bright side-" I paused to think of a bright side. I was left without one and blushed with embarrassment, we both giggled. Rainbow looked to the sky, longing, evident in her eyes, with a grin, she flapped her wings, as if she was revving her engines. "What are you planing, Dashie?" I queried as her magenta eyes stared at me with a hint of mischievous excitement. Suddenly she grabbed me by the tail and flung me onto her back and flapped her wings and we took of to the sky. Nurses screams ceased in the thin air as we out flew the Pegasus guards darting after us. I held on for dear life as the wind forced my eyes open and my mouth to be pulled back to my ears. Suddenly, a smile crossed my lips, the biggest I've ever smiled. My ice blue eyes shrank in sheer joy and happiness. Adrenaline pumped through my veins, as if someone had injected it straight into my heart. I'm flying. Finally, Rainbow had came to a halt and we stayed frozen and still in the thin air. Rainbow was breathing heavily and so was I. Rainbow slowly soared to a nearby cloud that she laid her hooves on. Then I noticed how high we were. The hospital was about the size if a golden bit from up here. My heart raced faster as I hollered in a mix of horror and excitement. "RAINBOW DASH AND PINKAMENA , COME DOWN AND ONCE AND FACE YOUR CONSEQUENCES!" A loud voice boomed up to us. As I looked I saw a caramel coated doctor with a megaphone. "Oh great, it's doctor Helfing," I fixed my gaze onto the exasperated but free Pegasus. "Dashie, there never gonna let us fly again." I remarked quietly and flatly. "Then let's make it one hell of a ride" she grinned We shot downwards, gravity pulling us faster and faster. I screamed in excitement but my shriek was lost in the wind bellowing through my ears. A white cone of air began to form around us as we go faster and faster. My mind raced as fast as my heart. Excitement turned into fear, and back to excitement. It seemed we were going too fast. "Rainbow, are you sure we won't crash? We are going to fast!! Rainbow be careful!" I screeched. The cone of air got thicker and thicker, I was sure that we would give out and the wind would conquer us and we would all die, but Dashie was determined. Determined to give me the ride of a lifetime, and that it surely was. Suddenly the cone of air gave way and as I broke a loud crashing noise followed. I whipped my head around to see a rainbow colored explosion coat the sky and light up the cold, thin air. My eyes sparkled in the light as I noticed flecks of pink in the rainbow explosion. I noticed a rainbow trailing our path downwards to the hospital. With hope, I stared at Rainbows flank, and just as I hoped, her flank began to illuminate, and then, I saw a shape slowly seep onto her flank. Her cutie mark. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I suppose, now that I look back on it, the rainbow mares cutie mark, doesn't only mean she was a born flyer, it means she wants to lift others up. Somepony's wonder why it took her so long to do a second sonic rainboom, but I know why. The first time she did it, was with me. She was determined to help me, she cared for me enough to sacrifice her freedom to show me a good time, to help me, to save me. The second time was at the young fliers competition. She was determined to save Rarity and the Wonderbolts. The third time, was at Shining Armor and Princess Cadence's wedding, she was determined to give them the best wedding ever. Her cutie mark has a deeper meaning to it, it means she loves another pony so much to give them the gift of the sonic rainboom, she saves a pony and gives something to a pony every time she dose a feat like that. She's not just a born racer, she's a born savior too. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ When my hooves landed on the soft dirt, one thing about me had changed, my hair was spastic and bouncy, it made me look happy and outgoing, it chained me. I guess it was from the Rainboom, my hair fluffed up. I came to like my hair like this. Guards and nurses rushed to us and held us down and dragged us of into the hospital. Ponies in the crowd of mental patients cheered us on. "Stick it to the man!" A tall dark stallion yelled. That's when I realized, we weren't the only ones who had sensed the corruption of Helping Hoof, and we weren't just mischievous filly's, we were a sign of hope to everypony else, we were the living proof of the hospitals downfall, and dr. Helfing knew it > plan ponyville > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Chapter 7: plan ponyville Doctor helfing sat on the other side of the cold, steel, silver desk, his hooves were placed on the side of his head as he moved them in a circling motion, just beside his tightly shut gold eyes. "What am I going to do with you?" He murmured as he continued to massage his temples. Despite the see-through rage in Doctor Helfing's demeanor, Rainbow and and I were happy and excited. My bouncy curly pink mane jumped in the crisp draft of the room. Rainbow stared at her flank and marveled at the mark that had adorned it. "I don't see what the big deal is, it was just a little flight! Nopony even got hurt!" Rainbow retorted as she turned her gaze away from her flank. The dark red scars on the inside of her thighs were tinged purple, they looked infected and were not healing the way I knew scars to heal. Doctor Helfing shot up from his desk and slammed his hoofs on the silver table, creating a clammer throughout the white marble office. "DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHAT YOU HAVE DONE!?" He screamed as he glared at rainbow from across the desk. He then whipped his death gaze at me and I recoiled in fear. "You have not only brought attention to this estate with your little rainbow explosion, but you have made all the patients of this institution think that they can go flying off the handle! You have created chaos!" He argued as we stayed silent. "What's so bad about the 'attention being brought to this estate,'" the cyan Pegasus commented suspiciously. She cocked her head upwards as she spat out the words that landed right on Dr. Helfing's clean silver desk. He deepened his gaze. "It's bad because Princess celestia and all of Equestria saw that rainbow explosion, and, because of that, she will question our ethics! Why, she probably thinks that we let our patients here do tricks like that!! She will shut us down!" The doctor lamented as he sank down to his desk. "So what? What is so bad about that?" I spat, with venom in my words. Everypony in the room, even Rainbow, gaped at me. I had always been a quiet pony, I had been raised at that rock farm to be quiet and respectful. But I could never respect a place like this, a place that caged ponies and had the nerve to call that 'treatment". Because, that was not treatment, that was being given up on and thrown in this hell-hole. Ponies were sent here because family's couldn't handle them, so then the nurses and doctors locked them up to rot. "What's so bad about that, Pinkameina Diane Pie, is that if this place is shut down, they will send about 1000 mentally ill ponies out into Equestria to wreak havoc on out this peaceful land. We achieve the peace here in Helping Hoof, and we keep killers, like you, off the streets!" He shouted. His words impaled me. I looked at the ground and warm tears poured from my eyes. 'Am I a killer? Am I a dangerous pony? They have to keep me of the streets?' Thoughts of self doubt filled me as the tears cut through the silence and landed on the ground with a quiet crash. My bouncy mane flattened. Rainbow stared at me with sympathetic eyes. The sympathy melted into rage. She cocked her head towards the infamous doctor. "SHE IS 10 TIMES THE PONY YOU WILL EVER HOPE TO BE!" The rainbow-maned filly stated firmly. I broke from my self-pitying state and looked at her. A smile crossed my lips. My vapid mane bounced back to life. Rainbow was looking out for me. She cared for me. Dr. Helfing rolled his eyes. Clearing his throat, he pushed himself from his side of the desk, and trotted behind Rainbow's chair. "I sentence you to a week in solitary confinement." He spoke flatly as I looked to Rainbow in fear. A certain nurse with a brown bun, who had stayed taciturn in the corner had stepped forward. "Dr. Helfing, you must understand, solitary confinement is for ponies who are unable to calm down, who pose a danger to themselves. Uh, well- these two are calm, I believe a more suitable punishment would be, Maybe, revoked grounds privileges, or something like that," the nurse nervously contradicted, in a shaky voice. Doctor Helfing's scowl deepened and his evident anger sharpened. He shot from behind Rainbow, and turned around, looking directly at the Nurse. With that, he shot his hoof across her face, quick and hard, a sound of a lighting crack across her cheek. I widened my eyes, it was like how father would slap me when I did something wrong. The timid nurse stared blankly at the ground, and then to the doctor. "Don't forget, who has the PHD here, nurse," he shouted, "Remember who is in charge, and I say, solitary confinement for one week, GOT IT?!" Silence filled the room after the doctors sharp remark. The nurse gulped and stepped back. "YOU CANT DO THIS!" The azure winged Pegasus shouted. The doctors sly smile grew, dripping with evil and corrupted power. "Orderlies," he called as they walked in on command, like robots awaiting instruction. "Take these two to 'time out'" he mocked, "and make sure they are put in separate rooms!" He called just as the door cut off the last bit of his sentence. I looked at Rainbow with tears in my eyes. Tears were already pouring down her face, I noticed as they sparkled in the artificial light of the hallway. She looked down at the sparkling white floor, she slowly complied with the orderlies. She had given up. The spunk and fight in her eyes had melted away, all that was left was nothing. It broke my heart to see the most amazing filly ever so broken, broken like I was. I elbowed the tall orderly in the chest as he coughed and his eyes bulged out. "WHOS READY TO PARTY?!" I giggled as I ran as fast as I could to Rainbow. "DASHIE!" I screamed as the tears in my eyes let lose. She turned to me and noticed half the staff running after me. She let out a laugh, and suddenly, the spunk returned as she shook of her guard and dashed towards me. "PINKIE YOUR CRAZY!" She teased as she giggled. "THATS WHY IM HERE SILLY FILLY!" I shouted back as we darted closer together. We finally smacked into each other, but we hadn't planed that far ahead. The guards closed in. "I just wanted to say bye" I giggled and giggled at the silliness of my actions. "See ya in a week you crazy party pony!" She laughed in reply as she was dragged off by the orderlies. I smiled sadly, knowing our inevitable fate. They forced my limbs and forelegs into a straight jacket, but I continued to laugh and cry all at the same time. I really was losing it. My only anchor to reality was the star filly. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Time for your morning medication, Ms. Pinkamena" the nurse chimed as she clicked open the locked door. I grunted as I rolled my eyes. It was hard to move with my limbs restricted. The nurse trotted over to the corner of the padded room where I resided. She poured colored pills of madness down my esophagus. Before she left I called out: "Please let me leave! I'm not hurting anypony!! I- I just wanted to fly!" I choked on my tears. The nurse's fake smile melted away. I noticed a little red mark on her cheek, so faint, but it was there. How hard did Helfing hit her? Her chestnut brown hair remained in a perfect bun. "I wish I could do that, Hun," she cooed softly with a sad smile. "You don't belong here Pinkie, you did bad things and you know that, but solitary confinement won't help you and everypony knows it. If I could have it my way you wouldn't even be in a straight jacket." She whispered softly, afraid that her words might be herd by and orderly. "Treatment is not just locking somepony up cause' you can't deal with them, so I know Pinkie, I know better than anypony else you don't belong here. But I have no margin for error! Ever since I defended you, Dr. Helfing has been making my life miserable, and he's doing a damn fine job. As you can see, Dr. helfing is a bad, bad pony. He honestly dose not know anything about the true treatment of the mentally ill!" She called out as a determined scowl crawled on her face. "Anypony that challenges his position, scares him, that's why he is threatening me, and locking you up!" "I challenge the doctors position?" I asked as a small silence entered the room. "Yes, he is afraid of what he can't contain, and you and Rainbow Dash, can't be contained." She paused as she smacked her lips together. "Pinkie, I don't say this to any of my patients, but..." She closes her eyes, "I'm counting on you to change this. You and dash, you have the power to shut this place down, you can fix this!" She emulated encouragingly. "B-but how?" I cried with pessimism. The nurse chuckled, "Well first things first, you need to improve your acting skills!" She giggled as I tilted my heads in confusion. "You have to get out of here, you have to no matter what it takes, you need to act happy all the time, and smile even though it hurts. This system is corrupted and won't help you even if you wanted to be, even if you were honest! You have to pretend to be sane and happy, and comply with the system always, even if you don't want to. Then, when they let you go and they trust you, you are free and you expose this place for all it's worth." She smiled deviously as I nodded. I would do this, I had to. I had to help everyone, and make them smile for real! "What about Rainbow?" I Inquired. The amiable nurse gave me an empathetic smile."Tell her to do that too, I know how she likes to get into trouble" she laughed as she trotted out of the room. She paused at the door way and turned back to me. "I believe in you Pinkie, all of us nurses are on your side." She smiled and left me alone with my thoughts. Before letting me go, I looked into her eyes and grinned. She smiled, "you may see me escorting you around the halls" she winked and trotted outside ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The following days blurred together. Day and night melted into one boring blob and all sense of time faded away. Being fully conscious, it made for a rather boring-decent into madness. Finally the door opened. The sun from the window across from my cell shined through the open door. I squinted my ice blue eyes. The same nurse trotted in. A warm smile across her face. "It's over Pinkie." She unlocked me from my straight jacket and I stretched anxiously. My tight limbs ached as I pulled on them. "By the way, my name is Nurse Ratchet" she softly smiled, and led me outside. I eyed at her. The natural light of day was a treat for somepony who had been locked in the dusty and artificially lit padded room. I took a deep breath of the chlorine scented hallways. She led me off to the Commons Room, I assessed that it was the afternoon. But when we passed the commons room i panicked slightly. "W-where are we going?" I stuttered fearfully. She looked down at me with her shimmering emerald eyes. "Im so sorry Pinkie, I tried everything, I went talking to the doctor trying to talk him out of it, but Dr.helfing is as stubborn as a mule." She rebuffed sadly. My eyes widened In shock as theories of what was going to happen flooded my head and over flowed out my eyes I'm the form of tears. I stayed silent, afraid to know the truth but to anxious to not know. She led me into a lightly lit room. Soon enough, orderlies came in and strapped me in a chair. I felt like I was in a horror movie, and that it was only a matter of time before the pshycopath would come out to rip me into shreds. "WHATS HAPPENING??!!" I screamed as my words flew right into the orderlies ears, and out the others. I glared at them with fear in my eyes. Dr. Helfing walked in with a confident stride. Holding something on his back. My pupils dilated in terror when I realized what they were. On his back were blood-stained, rusty shackles. "No...." I said weakly as I began to thrash. "NOO" I screamed with more velocity. i shook with all my might. I knew nothing would happen, I knew that my defiance wouldn't change anything, but I still continued to thrashed wildly. I didn't care what the nurse has said, I wouldn't comply to this, I couldn't. The orderly held me down with restraints as the white maned doctor slowly approached me. His deep orange pools looked at my ice ones. I stared at him with a pleading look. "Please...don't do this." My pathetic voice uttered quietly between sobs and screams. He smiled menacingly. His orange eyes held no emotion, his face held nothing but bitterness and vile. He broke the pity filled gaze I gave him and turned towards the orderlies. He nodded a signal. I gave a bloodcurdling scream as they clicked the cuffs on me. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I slowly stumbled through the halls behind Nurse Blue Heart. Nurse Ratchet had to go to another patient leaving me alone to cope with the "restrictor" that made my hooves ache. The chains clattered across the ground with every careful step I took. I missed running. I missed the feeling of wind through my mane. I missed being able to walk without tripping. I held my head down in despair. Warm tears let lose down my cheeks. This was my life now. I was trapped. Nurse Blueheart led me into the commons room and let me off into the crowded room. My mane bounced back to life as soon as I saw the rainbow blur from across the room. I thought that maybe if I played a bit with Rainbow, maybe I can manage to smile again. I tried to run as fast as I could to catch her, but soon enough tripped over the shackles and rolled onto the floor with a thud. "CELESTI-FUCKING DAMMIT!" I screamed through clenched teeth. The nurses rushed over to see if I was okay and by now Rainbow turned around to the chaos. Her vapid look turned to one of torment as she saw the shackles that incased my hooves. She darted over, resisting the urge to flap her bound wings. "PINKIE!!" She called as she finaly got to me. "What- what did they do to you!" She spat in pure disgust. I gave her a smile. "Never mind that now." I dismissed. I the proceeded to inform her of what nurse ratchet had told me. She rolled her eyes when i explained the whole "complying with the law" thing. "It's okay, as soon as we are out, we can go to Ponyville!" I exclaimed happily. She tilted her head ajar as she stared at me in amusement. "Ponyville? Why ponyville?" She inquired. "Because, it's the town of joy, I hear" I beamed. Dashie giggled in excitement. "Okay then, let's call it, 'Plan Ponyville'," she suggested as the nurses chided the patients out of the commons room. Plan ponyville. Our only beacon of hope, in our dark and broken lives. > Cross my heart > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Chapter 8 cross my heart Me and Dashie sat in the lunchroom groggily. We had played through the whole night and got little sleep. Dark bags hung under our eyes as she yawned loudly, wiping sleep from her eyes as she closed them and drifted off onto my shoulder as she rested her head on me. My face went instantaneously red as Rainbow snored on my shoulder, her warm face pressed against my body. I giggled. "uh, Rainbow?" I laughed as I poked my hoof at her and she shot upwards like a rocket. "Oh...sorry" she said in a scratchy voice, her cheeks painted red. I giggled more as I played with the slop that I had been served for breakfast. I noticed the cyan pegasus picking at her food, rarely shoveling a small bite into her mouth. My eyes drifted down her slender figure and I saw her ribcage poking out and her thin stomach. Then I saw a X over her heart. I stared in shock. How could that have happened?! "DASHIE! WHAT HAPPENED TO YOUR CHEST!?" I blurted out loudly. Causing Rainbow to blush and sink down in her chair. Some nurses looked at us and I Immediately regretted my loudness. "I-I'm Sorry..." I shook my head and looked down. Rainbow looked up at me kindly. "Don't worry about it." She dismissed,"I can't tell you though, doctor helfing threatened me to secrecy." She cried softly. I looked at her with pain filled eyes. "If there's somepony in this hell hole you can trust, it's me RD." I stated with a warm amiable smile. "He did it to me, convinced everypony that it was self inflicted." She spoke softly and looked over her shoulder with paranoia. I was flabbergasted. I knew Dr.Helfing was a bad doctor, but to be harming a patient? It was unbelievable. Suddenly a nurse walked up to Dashie and began wrapping gauze around her chest. The cyan filly blushed out of embarrassment. "Now Rainbow Dash, eat your food" Nurse Blue Heart ordered sternly. A slight tinge of annoyance appeared on the pungent pegasus's face. "No" she defiantly declaimed. The nurse was taken aback by her bluntness, but hid her shock under a forged smile. "Now Rainbow, if you don't eat, I'm going to have my orderly friends here have to force it down your gullet." She remarked matter-of-factly. "I....don't.... give... A BUCK!" she screamed slightly as she sent her food tray clamoring to the floor. The tray cracked in half and the food splattered across the reflective clean floor, as if it was tainted. The loud clang was enough to grasp the attention of every insane patient, tired nurse, and unkempt orderly in the room. The blue nurse gasped at the sound of the seething, rainbow-maned filly's vulgar language. Two orderlies walked toward Dashie and hoisted her up. She thrashed in hopes of getting free, but to no avail. "YOU CELESTI- DAMMED ASSHOLES!! PUT ME DOWN!" She screeched as she threw all her strength into her violent shakes. They took her out of the cafeteria, and normal daily activities continued, and with all the commotion I was able to sneak out and follow Dash. She was propped on the orderlies back's facing backwards while the strong stallions faced forwards, so they didn't see me making funny faces at the azure winged pony. Her face of agitation faded into one of laughter. She erupted into hysterically giggles, and the orderlies thought nothing of it, since here at the hospital, plenty of mad ponies laugh without reason. The orderlies turned the corner into Dashies room and began to strap her down into the bed. "HEY!! WHATS THE BIG IDEA?!" The pegasi's raspy voice yelled at the sight of the restraints being locked onto her. One black maned orderly held her mouth open, while the other shoveled in spoonfuls of funky food. Rainbow hissed through clenched teeth and she spit out a mix of food and slobber onto the strong black maned stallion. The slimy food concoction landed on his face with a splat as food and saliva dribbled down the magenta eyed pegasus. She stuck her tongue out childishly. "Oh! You asked for it!" The stallion yelled as he wiped of the wet food from his face, revealing a deep scowl. He grabbed something that looked similar to a sippycup or something a foal would drink out of, compleat with a spill proof lid. They shoved it down her mouth but every little bit of the nutrients in the cup dribbled out rainbows thrashing mouth. The orderlies had finally given up. "Fine then, we will come back later, until you decide to eat something, you can stay strapped in here like a good pony," he mocked with a grin and trotted out the door. I dove under the bed before they saw me. and they trotted out to the hall without a worry. They didn't bother to lock the door, where was Rainbow gonna go anyway. "DASHIE!" I called as I ran towards her bed side. She looked at me weakly, the thin pegasus was wearing out. I began to wipe off the remaining remnants of the battle with the orderlies and she looked up quietly. "Don't you remember Dash? You have to cooperate..." I said softly,"that's the only hope we have." The cyan Pegasus shut her eyes tight. "I-I know. B-but g-g-giving in is like a-admitting they w-w-won" the pegasus's twitching became more rapid as she struggled to convey her thoughts. "I know, I know. But when they let us out. We can have this place shut down, then you can win, but for now, you have to conform." I said with a small smile as I stroked Rainbow's mane lovingly. The door opened. "Pinkamena! What are you doing here?!" Nurse Blueheart trotted towards me. I looked nervous. I wanted to fight back and tell her what I really thought. But I held in my interjections. "S-s-sorry, I- I just wanted to see if Rainbow was okay. I'll go back to the cafeteria now." I lamented sadly as I trotted back to the cafeteria, with the orderly following me close behind. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The sound of kids laughing and screaming filled the room. Crayons and pencils and stuff of all that matter laid in the center of the table. It was time for art and everypony was drawing with there non toxic colored pencils. I sat alone and waited for rainbow to return. The assignment was to draw 'something that made us happy' so naturally, I drew dashie and me having a party in ponyville. I waited for that day to become a reality, i played the scenario out in my head almost every night. "Uh, excuse me?" A quiet voice behind me pryed me from my painting. I turned around to find who the voice belonged to. A young filly still without her cutie mark named Star Flect stood nervously behind me, her yellow mane glinting in the artificial light as she poked her purple hoof at the ground. "Huh?" I questioned as I waited for her to respond. "I just wanted to say thank you" she said quietly. "What for?" I inquired. I had sometimes seen star at group therapy, but she was always so quiet and taciturn that I had never once spoken to the fragile earth pony, but I did notice her hooves were in the same kind of chains mine were. "For you and Rainbow doing the sonic rainboom! Ever since, I can't stop dreaming of it! It was so beautiful! And It gave me so much hope! I mean, if you can do that, what can I do?" She Beamed, her face brightened as a big smile crossed my face. "My pleasure" I playfully nudged her and laughed as she smiled and darted back to her seat. Finally, Rainbow walked through the door. Her magenta eyes met mine and she trotted over to me with a smile. I hoped she was okay, Had she cooperated? "Hey pinks! So what we drawin?" She asked as she grabbed a paper with her mouth and caressed the colored crayons, as if to Find the perfect one. "Something that makes us happy!" I exclaimed with a smile. Dashies eyes drifted down to my paper as her bright eyes laid on my dream. She grinned as she inspected the paper closely. "I like it," she spoke, "how about as soon as we get to Ponyville, we have a big party! Just like In the picture." My smile grew impossibly wide and I bounced up and down. "OH BOY! Really?!?!" I called as my eyes brightened. Rainbow laughed. "Of Course! And you can plan it!" She called. I nearly fell out of my seat I was so excited. I began to call out excitedly and rainbow giggled. "What are you drawing?" I asked as I watched her carefully sketch out a picture. "It's you and me doing the rainboom!" She said with a confident grin, "Pretty good right?" She said arrogantly. I nodded, my bright pink mane bounced at the fast motion of my head. I felt honored that I made Rainbow happy. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I tripped and stumbled through the hallways next to Dashie, the shackles making the ground clatter. My always cheery face was now a annoyed scowl. I kicked the ground, "I HATE this thing!" I called angrily. The rainbow-maned pegasus obviously saw my frustration. "Why don't you just... Hop?" She said. I laughed at the silly idea. "Well why not?" Rainbow continued. She was right, not like I had much to lose. I began to bounce up and down through the halls, the cuffs making a loud bang when they hit the floor, but I made a springy noise as my mane bounced up and down. "ITS WORKING!" I called out excitedly as a grin split across my face. "Well of course it is! All my ideas work!" the confident filly strided. I bounced down the hallways with ease as I was able to move Freely. The mound of patients were corralled Into the classroom where a pathetic attempts at lessons were carried out, but, most of the patients just stared in to space. I yawned as the teacher droned on about subtracting. Suddenly, a piece of paper flew over my shoulder and onto the desk in front of me. It read: "Could this class be any worse?" -Dashie I giggled slightly and wrote my response, "Yes, Dr. Helfing could be teaching it" -Pinkie I threw the paper and it sailed over to the cyan filly's desk, I soon herd a slight chuckle stifle from her desk as we continued to pass the note back and forth. A nurse trotted over to the rainbow maned pegasus's desk. Nurse Blueheart whispered something in Dashies ear, too quiet for me to hear. The pegasi's face drooped and got pale as her pupils dilated in shock. She gave me a frightened look as the nurse coaxed her out of the room. My smile faded into a look of endless worry. The happiness that flowed into a smile soon drained into a puddle of horror and curiosity. Rainbow's expression looked all panicky, and I could think of is what Blue Heart took her out for. Little did I know at that time, a great threat had arose > Pinkie promise > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Chapter 9: pinkie promise "Time to wake up, Pinkamena." My matted pink ears fluttered open. Nurse Bluehearts high voice chimed as she opened my bedroom door. My eyes opened slowly as fatigue washed over me and an unbelievable feeling of tiredness grew within me. I hadn't been sleeping well. The past few days I Had been so worried about Dashie that I hadn't slept. I hadn't seen her since that day in class when she was pulled out. I often thought about where she was, what happened, and began to wonder if Dr.Helfing had anything to do with her vanishing. "Anytime now!" The blue-maned nurse called out with a falsified smile. I stretched my hooves (or as much as I could with the restrictors) and wearily got out of bed. She led me into the cafeteria. The line was slow, and I could feel my eyes droop in exhaustion. The low murmur of conversations steadily filled my ears, only to be broken by a defiant patients scream. I watched the screaming patient try to break out of there horn restrictor, but after the orderlies dragged her away, I went back to poking at my artificial food slowly. The day dragged on as I stumbled through the hallways, to groggy to hop. I sat in class, not listening to the teacher trying her hardest to get some piece of irrelevant information into the patients brains. I looked at the desk that Rainbow usually sits. I hoped that she was okay. Nurse Ratchet came to pick me up from the classroom, and she escorted me to the Commons Room. The hallway lights were bright, and the quiet halls made me uneasy. "Where's Rainbow Dash?" I broke the silence as my hooves ached and throbbed in the tight restraints. Nurse Ratchet tilted her head at the slightest degree, "In her room I suppose" she replied calmly as she continued to walk forward. I looked down at the ground as thoughts flooded my mind. "Is she okay?" I asked pleadingly. Worry struck my mine for my rainbow friend. "I don't know, she's not my patient." The brown maned nurse danced around my question; I knew she was avoiding telling me something, but I didn't dig too much into it. I was afraid of what I could find. I decided I would go to the cyan filly's room, but the only problem was I didn't know how. Rainbow was always the one that visited me, she had the bobby pin that allowed her to pick the lock. Hopelessness filled me and my sad gaze drifted to the floor. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Nurse Ratchet galavanted into my room with a big smile. It wasn't the kind of fake smile that was often worn around here, it was a real kind of 'guess-what' smile. I was too tired and didn't have much interest to think into it and she passed me my pills and water. Her grin grew wider and wider by the second, and when I handed her the empty cup that had but a few drops of water leftover, she said something strange. "Do you want a hug?" She beamed. My confusion grew immensely. Until I saw a rainbow pin caressed in her hair glinting in the artificial light of the room. I grinned. She was doing this on purpose, she was letting me go see Dashie. I went in for the hug and slowly unfastened the pin that resided in her mane. A peaceful strand of hair sailed down to her neck. "Thank you," I said quietly as she stood at the doorway of my cell,"Thank you so much." She winked and said nothing as she walked out the door. The smile on my face grew wide as I waited anxiously for the nurses to leave and the guards to pass. Then finally, it was time. I crawled fearfully through the dark, the pin tight on my teeth were I hid it. My eyes darted from side to side as adrenaline pumped through my veins and a strange sense of alertness filled me. I stealthily darted down the Pegasi Corridor hall, as I tried best I could to make my chains silent. I finally got to dashies door and fiddled with the lock. A guard approached the corner, I saw his flashlight illuminate the corridor and his light crawled around the hall. My fiddling became more frequent as beads of perspiration formed on my light pink forehead. The light became brighter as the hoof steps became audible and echoed in the long hallways. 'Hurry up,Pinkie, hurry up!' I thought to myself as I flustered to open the door. The guard turned the corner, and finally the door opened. I poured myself into the room and closed the door and watched anxiously through the window as the guard walked by. I breathed a sigh of relief and turned around, to see exactly what I hoped. Rainbow Dash. Her once vivid mane was dry and gray, and her cyan coat was worn and embellished with many more deep reddish purple cuts. In her hooves, she held a sliver of sharp plastic caked in blood as the fresh cuts on her fur bled. "Dashie...." I said silently as I calmly trotted up to her. Though I was happy and excited to see her, I controlled myself and slowly took away the plastic and put it down and hugged her tightly, I felt her blood drip onto my coat. "Doctor Helfing didn't make that X did he?" I whispered, hinting to the X cut across her chest. "I was ashamed to tell you I did it myself" she sobbed silently. My sympathy for the cyan filly grew exponentially as I gave her a smile. I wasn't mad that she had lied to me, I was sad that she felt she couldn't tell me. "What happened, Dashie? Where did you go?" I Inquired as I rubbed her back lovingly "Nurse Blueheart told me that something had happened and that Doctor Helfing wanted to see me, I got worried and scared-" she paused as she began to look uneasy. Rage began to replace her anxiety. "He's dead. My dad killed himself in prison." She remarked bluntly. I gasped softly. Silence filled the room. So that was it. The "he" Rainbow referred to when she told me she was hit. It was her father. 'But why would Rainbow be sad about this?' I thought. I thought she hated her father, after all, she told me her father beat her, just like mine. Something was going on here, something Dashie wasn't telling me. "I WANTED HIM TO SUFFER! I WANTED HIM TO ROT IN PRISON LIKE THE SCUM HE IS! BUT HE GOT AN EASY WAY OUT! HE GOT WHAT I ALWAYS WANTED! HE GOT TO DIE!!! WHY DID HE GET TO DIE AND I HAVE TO ROT!!" She screamed. In all her overflowing wrath, she arose of the floor and threw a hoof at the wall in anger. Then she threw it again and again and again until bloodied bruises formed on her hooves, they throbbed with every punch. I watched in fear as she punched the wall in her anger. Finally, I ran up to her and held her down, caressing my body over hers. But she kept punching. Throwing soft yet meaningful hits against my stomach, I payed the toll. I took the pain . Finally, her punches ceased, and she nuzzled her face into my neck. Gulping down the air, I tilted my head up, and over her shoulder. Tears doused my mane, and Dashie sobbed. I didn't know what to say, how could I possibly try to comfort her. "I'd miss you of you died....." I said softly, and looked down with a slight smile,"Besides, I know this place sucks, but at least I'm here right?" I stared at her in silence, waiting for a reply, waiting for some sign of subsided anger. She began to sniffle, and took her head out of my neck. The pearls from her eyes were now dry, and she spoke quietly. "Y-You're the only reason I s-smile now-a-days." She uttered. I grinned as I pulled her into another hug. She broke the hug quickly and walked up to Gummy, her little raggedy friend. She seemed calm for a moment but then I saw the anger that seemed to vanish, come to light. "ITS JUST NOT FAIR!" She screeched as she began to rip up the stuffed alligator. I jolted, but remained calm "Dashie, no.... Please stop that...." I remarked quietly, but my words were lost in the raging river of emotion that the cyan pegasus displayed. She tore at the toys already ripping stitches, and the toy was demolished under the strong pegasus's strength. Silence filled the room as she breathed heavily above whatever was left of her toy. She collapsed on the ground and cried out. "NO! What have I done!?" She sobbed. Her emotions were swirling around her and at that time, I suppose, I just didn't understand why she would break something she loved. I stood beside her and held her sobbing figure once more. The room was silent aside from the cries from the little filly. Her cold tears seemed to freeze in the air and brought a stillness in the serene room, every sob sent a shiver down my spine. "I'm so sorry this happened." I said in a raspy whispery tone. My voice echoed through the cell. Rainbow looked up at me, dark bags under her eyes, and wrinkles on her face. Everything about her seemed tired and worn out. But she was still beautiful and her eyes were still so bright. I stared at her for a long time, seeing her etched out face, it was magnificent. "Don't you worry, w-we will get to Ponyville soon! And we will be happy! I promise!" I smiled the best I could, yet I knew my eyes still pitied the filly. But her anger washed away, and she smiled with me, as if nothing happened. But then she looked sternly into my eyes. "Pinkie......" She cooed. I looked at her with content. "Yeah?" I replied, hoping what she would say wouldn't get her sad and worked up again. "Do you Pinkie Promise?" The cyan Pegasus said softly. Quickly she looked at the ground, and through her bangs, I could see that her face was red. I tilted my head in perplexity. "Pinkie Promise?" I echoed in confusion as the rainbow maned filly arose beside me. Rainbow's head bounced back up "Yhea, Pinkie Promise! I made it up! Ya get it, 'Pinkie' Promise," she giggled at her pun. "I made it out of our little inside jokes, see?" She placed her hoof and drew a X over my her cyan chest, over the bleeding scar she had already carved. "Cross my heart-" she said with a brightness in her eyes as she began to flail her hooves in the air, ",hope to fly-" she exclaimed, hinting to the way we both dreamed of flying. She then closed her eye before sticking a hoof on her eyelid,",Stick a cupcake in my eye!" She finished, hinting to the day we made cupcakes together, and some batter got in my eye, then proceed to splash half the batter all over our selves. Images of that night were still fresh in my mind. All the fun that we had. "It's perfect." I giggled and sat up straight, "I Pinkie Promise, we will get to Ponyville. Together!" I put my hoof on my chest tracing a heart. We both grinned madly, overcome with ecstasy. Suddenly, with a bundle of beautiful emotions raging over me, I couldn't fight it anymore. I leaned in and planted my muzzle firmly against hers. The kiss lasted for only a few seconds, but to me, it seemed to last for hours, century's even. I broke the kiss immediately, my face bright red and I got up and backed away. Rainbow stared at me in shock. "I'm- I- I'm so s-s-sorry!" I stuttered as I slowly backed away. The cyan filly's shock, faded, and was replaced by a smile. Her blush contrasted her blue coat. She slowly walked up to me. "I didn't know you were a filly-fooler, Pinkie. " she grinned, her blush growing bigger by the second. "Uh? F-filly...fooler?" I questioned nervously as my eyes darted around the room. "A mare who likes other mares, ya know, that could get you in a lot of trouble here." She slowly got closer to me until we were mere inches apart. "Lucky for you, I've never minded getting into trouble." She giggled as she leaned in and we shared a deep kiss. All the worries that had once been in me melted away like butter. The world around me vanished, everything seemed just perfect. A feeling of compleat bliss overcame me. I was happy I was free > Rock candy > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Chapter 10: rock candy A giddy smile flooded over my face as I waltzed through the hallways. I was love struck after me and Dashie proclaimed our love. We vowed to keep it secret, afraid of prolonging our stay if somepony had found out. Sadly, it was my time to see Doctor Helfing in his office, face to face. Every time I thought about it, my insides twisted up and bile rose up into my mouth. Nurse Ratchet led me up the staircase and up to the infamous, emotionless, doctor. She thrusted open the door. I was greeted with his well known sly smile. "Why, come in, Pinkamena." He hissed. I shakily took my seat and gulped when Nurse Ratchet left. "Hello dear." He spoke. I avoided eye contact. I hated looking into those vapid, lifeless, golden eyes. I stayed silent. "Not so talkative today, I see." He grunted as he shuffled his papers. "You can always talk to me Pinkamena, if you don't talk, you won't ever get better." He smirked. I almost scoffed. Was he serious?! After all the shit he has put me through, he still has the nerve to want to talk to me?! I gave a forced smile. "Oh I know that Doctor Helfing, I have nothing to admit. I mean, you already know I killed my father, and you obviously know why, but I'm getting better everyday! I just feel so happy that I have no need to talk, I suppose that I will be out of here in no time." I grinned with a confident smile, sure in my words. I couldn't think of a reason that they would keep me here, I was already so compliant, I was almost never much trouble. "Oh, Pinkamena," he crinkled his muzzle and talked down to me, the way his sentence rose out of his mouth, I knew I was in for a beat down. "If only you could be out in a short time, but I'm afraid that won't happen, you see, my dear Pinkamena, you slaughtered another pony! A crime punishable by death, but, the merciful judge took pity I you and sent you here, to be out In three more years would be highly improbable." He spoke with confidence, he smashed out all the light I had in me. My heart dropped down into my throat. "W-what? N-no! I'd never hurt another pony! I-" I choked on my words. "Well, you already have been here for about a year, so don't feel to bad." He mocked. Once again, my heart slid down my throat. My pupils got small and I choked in disbelief. I couldn't believe it, I had already been there for a whole year?! I gasped for air. A knock on the door pulled me away from my shocked state. Nurse Blueheart entered the room cautiously. "Excuse me sir, but Pinkamena has a visitor." She chimed. 'A visitor?' I thought in perplexity. I had no friends outside of these hospital walls, and I doubt my family would come and see me after what I had done. Doctor helfing groaned and signaled me and the blue nurse off and we trotted through the empty halls, my hoofsteps clanged with every movement and echoed through the hospital. Finally, nurse Blueheart opened the locked door to a small room. The door slowly creaked open as I waited anxiously to see who had visited me. Inside the room sat a calm pony with a straight purple mane and a bland gray coat. "Maude?" I gasped as I slowly approached her. I stayed silent as I walked up to her. She gave a soft and small smile. "Hello, Pinkamena." She uttered in a monotone voice. "I like what you did with your mane. It suits you." The blue nurse seemed to feel awkward. "Well, uh, I'll be back in about and hour. If you need anything, just tell the orderlies outside!" She declared with a false grin, and with that, she shut the door and left me and Maude alone. The gray earth pony embarked to me and gave me a strong hug. "I- I don't understand.. W- why would you come to see me after what I did?!" I exclaimed wearily. I broke the hug, and stared at my sister. Sadness filled my blue eyes as Maude's usually, emotionless face, grew a smile. "Pinkamena, you saved us. Father, was an evil evil man. He beat all of us, and hurt everypony. Because he is dead, me and your sisters have been happy, and free. You saved us." She spoke flatly, but still with much emotion. I grinned as I gave her a bigger hug. I began to tell her all about my stay here, and all about Dashie and Doctor Helfing And Nurse Blue Heart and Nurse Ratchet. I also told her of how I got my ecstatic mane, and my nick-name. "Pinkie, I'm going to get you out of here I promise-" she stopped her sentence to reach into her saddle bag. She took out a black box looking thing. "This is a camera, it's some sort of new fancy technology, if you take pictures of Doctor Helfing's mistreatment, you can get out of here." I stayed silent as I took the camera. I felt it in my forearms, it seemed to naturally fit in the clefts of my hooves. I smiled and nodded at Maude's plan. "But I could never get this passed the guards." I contradicted sadly as I reluctantly placed the camera on the table. Maude stared at me a while, she appeared deep In thought. She then grinned and took the black box from the table and hid it in my big poofy mane. It was practically invisible in the pink, messy, tangled hairs. I gave her a big hug. She reached back down into her bag and took out a necklace with colorful candy rocks on it. I beamed as she placed the necklace around me. I remember we would always make these for each other back on the rock farm. Nurse Blueheart trotted back in the room. "Okay Pinkamena, times up." She commanded as Maude and I shared a look. "I love you, Pinkie." The subdued earthpony uttered calmly as I was taken out the door. "I love you too Maude." I called back as the door severed me and the gray earth pony. I really did love my sister. Unlike every pony else, she understood me. Or at least, she tried to. She kept an eye on me. I loved her. I began to lick the rock candies, tasting their elicit and vivid flavor. I just wished I could have made the necklaces with her. I beamed in excitement. I'm gonna get out of here. > Transitions > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- END OF PART ONE The next few months I spent in bliss. The dreary ominous hallways and fake melting smiles of the staff could no longer bound my ever growing happiness. Me and Dashie spent all of our time together, and we would visit every night. We used the camera to take pictures of doctor helfing's conduct. For just a moment in my life, everything seemed to be okay. We always complied with the rules and got into little trouble, causing the staff to lay off us a little. Rainbow thought that we would be out In no time if we kept this up. It was all okay for a while. I was happy. Little did I know, that nothing can stay okay for long. START OF PART TWO > Anniversary > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Chapter 11: anniversary The darkness cradled me as I darted through the dark hallway. It has been three years since I first woke up here, and about two since the night me and Dashie confessed our feelings. A warm basket was strapped to my back, as translucent and warm steam arose from it and danced through the perfect hallways. The rainbow pin that nurse ratchet have me all that time ago, was clenched in between my teeth. It was wearing down significantly due to the frequent need for picking locks, but it still worked. I finally reached the rainbow pegasi's door. I picked the lock like a professional and opened the door. I galavanted through the door way and waltzed into the room. "Honey, I'm home!" I called out playfully with a giggle. There was a swift multi-colored shadow that flew by me and soon I was tackled to the floor by the playful Pegasus. She was on top of me and we stared deep into each other's eyes, giggling and panting. We shared a long passionate kiss before I broke it to pick up the basket that had fallen of my back during the tackle. "I thought you would never show, Pinks." Rainbow teased with a grin. I rolled my eyes as I reached for the basket. "Happy 2-year anniversary Dash," I stated as I rummaged though the brown carrier. "I have a present for you! Now, close your eyes and open your mouth!" I commanded happily. "Pinkie, c'mon-" the cyan Pegasus rolled her eyes. "I hate surprises, just tell me." She giggled. "Do it! Besides, the best kinda prize is a SUR-prize." I repeated with a silly grin. The rainbow maned pony gave one more eye roll before shutting her eyes and opening her mouth wide. "No peaking!" I poked fun. Suddenly I grabbed a fresh warm cupcake out of my basket and thrust it into dashies mouth. She choked on it in surprise, then began to giggle madly as she lapped the icing that cascaded across her face. She sneered at me playfully, then proceeded to grab a cupcake and smear the icing on my face. We both giggled wildly until the laughter finally died down enough for me to present to her the next gift. I reached into the basket and pulled out a little stuffed alligator. It was Gummy. He was fixed, his green fabric was brighter and the stitches held him together more firmly. I placed it in front of dashie. She stared at it in bewilderment. She slowly lifted it up to inspect it more closely. "Is this G- Gummy?" She stammered. I nodded my head violently and my smile grew wider. "Sorry it took so long. I-it's hard to find a sowing machine in a mental hospital, Maude helped me out with most of it." I laughed nervously. "PINKIE I LOVE IT!! I can't believe you fixed Gummy for me! You are the best mare-friend in all of Equestria!" She beamed as she squeezed me into a hug. I laughed and my face turned bright red. Rainbow grinned as she reached for a large box under her bed and slid it out in front of me. "Open it." She coaxed with bright eyes staring at me with excitement. I smiled as I slowly opened the package and took out the treasure inside. It was a book. On the front was a picture of me and Dashie. It was titled 'Pinkie Promise'. I flipped through the pages and saw pictures of me and the pegasus's fun. "It's a scrap book. I stole some supplies from the art room, and used the camera from Maude. This book documents us from the past 2 years. I've been waiting so long to give it to you, and look-" she stopped her explaining as she began to flip through pages rapidly. "I left the last few pages blank so we can take pictures of us as adults in ponyville. This book represents our promises and wishes and dreams." She stated as she looked at me with wide eyes. "Dash... It's the most beautiful thing I've ever seen. You are the most amazing mare I've ever met, you are gorgeous, and magnificent, and athletic and spunky, and ever since that first day I met you, I have been mesmerized by your incredible demeanor." The words flew out of my mouth poetically, as if I hadn't even needed to think about them. The rainbow maned filly's eyes grew and started to cloud with moist tears. "Pinkie, you are the best thing to ever happen to me. I can give you everything I have, and ever will have, and I still won't be able to deserve you." Her words struck my heart and I almost stopped breathing I was so happy. That was the kindest thing I've ever heard. I drew my muzzle closer to hers until we were mere inches apart. "I love you, dashie." I said softly as I stared deep into her eyes. "I love you more." She uttered back through gasps of air. I couldn't take not kissing this filly. I leaned in and shared a passionate kiss. I felt her tongue slowly slip into my mouth as we shared the kiss for a long time. I felt rainbows warm hoof slip down the notches in my spine and down to my flank and between my thighs. We slowly moved to the bed, neither of us waiting to break the kiss. She carefully laid me down on the bed and slowly got on top of me. Her hoof between my thighs beginning to rotate "D-dashie I don't know h-how to do t-this." I shuddered between tinges of pleasure crawling up my spine. "Nether do i, but we have all night to find out." She smirked as our night of pleasure ensued > Apple jean > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Chapter 12: apple jean My heavy eyelids began to flutter open. I felt a warm soft mass beside me, and when I opened up my eyes, the color of cyan filled my vision. I remembered the night before, the night of pleasure I smiled slightly as I yawned. I nuzzled my head into Dashies warm chest lovingly. I strung my arm around her. For once, I felt comfortable, and safe. My smile stretched as the eyelashes surrounding my eyes closed again. Then I remembered where I was. And remembered the penalty for being out of your cell. I heard the voices of nurses and doctors outside and I knew it was too late. The door slammed open with force as Doctor Helfing stomped in with orderlies following close behind. Both me and Dashie sprung upwards in surprise. I fell from the bed onto the floor, and when I landed, I saw out little yet sacred scrapbook sitting peacefully. I quickly slid it under the bed, making sure nopony noticed it. The orderlies picked me up off the floor and held me by my stomach. I tried flailing my limbs, trying to thrash free. But after everything I tried; came with no avail. The orderlies held the already galloping Rainbow Dash and she screeched in reply. Her worried eyes gazed to me as we were slowly being dragged apart. I assumed by now, they've discovered the truth of our forbidden love. "What's gonna happen to us?!" The worried pegasus screamed over the commotion. I gave a soft reassuring smile. "I-it's gonna be okay!" I remarked, unconvinced. "I love Rainbow Dash!" "I-I love you more." The rainbow filly's tears were flowing everywhere and choking over her sobs, then, the door slammed, separating us, as I was carried down the hallway. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The white-maned doctor sat across the desk, with his hooves reclined on the arm rests of his black, leather chair. I glared at him. It felt like that day after we did the sonic rainboom, and were awaiting punishment, only this time, there was no cyan filly beside me. "So, Pinkamena Diane Pie, how long have you considered yourself a-" he paused and licked his lips, like he had a bad taste in his mouth from the words he was about to say, "-a filly-fooler?" He spat in disgust. I gasped angrily. "Why the hell does it matter?!" I interjected, much like rainbow dash would. "Because, it's just not natural for a mare to like another mare, but don't worry, we will undergo harsh treatment, and get you a normal life as soon as possible." He grinned sinisterly. I continued to glare at him. How was I wrong for loving another pony!? I just didn't understand. "I'm not wrong! I haven't done anything wrong in 2 years. You have to let me go!" I begged wearily. He only kept the same sly smile. He must have seen that I was refusing to show too much emotion, he saw that I was trying to hold in my sadness, much to his dismay. He saw that I was getting better at controlling my emotions, and this shook him to the core. "Well, first things first, we will relocate you and Rainbow Dash to different rooms, we will have guards stand outside your door at night and have a pair escort you everywhere, and of course we will need to change up your schedules so you won't see Rainbow Dash again." He spoke sternly, but couldn't hold in his giddiness. He loved to see me in pain, HE was the sadistic pshycopath, not me. The last words he said rang in my head, my legs felt weak and wobbly, my vision began to swim and blacken around the edges, I felt like I was going to vomit, bile rose up into my mouth and my heart sank. I collapsed on the floor weakly, a sense of numbness surrounded me. I didn't cry, I had no tears left. I didn't scream, I was too weak. I just stared down at the floor, my pupils dilated. I saw two pairs of brown hooves step into my small field of vision, I looked up to see Doctor Helfing. I looked up at him with my pleading eyes, hoping he would take pity on the blubbering, insane, pathetic, filly-fooling pony. His empty eyes stared at me with with a blunt stare, as he hoisted me up into his arms. I was too miserable to thrash, too cold to care. He carried me through the hallways, my vision blurred. I could see nothing but his smirking, evil, face. He set me down in the bed of my room and began to restrain me. He wrapped a restraint around each of my hooves. "We will relocate you as soon as you feel stable." His blurry voice echoed through my ears as a ringing noise followed. The brown unicorn doctor locked the door and orders two guards to stand outside. Everything was ruined. The only light in my life was crushed, destroyed, it was maliciously torn apart. The only happiness I'd ever known had been diminished and eroded into a small pile of nothing I was nothing. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I stared at the ceiling of my new room, my restraints still tight around my bruised hooves. Somehow, tears had found me, they poured down my warm, dirty cheeks and landed all over me, my hooves were so restrained, I was unable to wipe them away. The door opened in my dark room, but the restraint on my forehead prevented me from seeing who it was. When the pony who had entered came closer, I was able to see out of the corner of my eye that it was Nurse Ratchet. She spoon-fed me food and gave me my medication silently. "Why did this happen..." I whimpered. Nurse Ratchet sighed and wiped of the tears running down my cheeks. "I don't know 'Hun, sometimes, things just happen that we can't explain, but Pinkie, everything happens for a reason." She cooed in a slight country accent. Lightly, she ran her hoof through my mane, which was now flattened with sorrow. If my hoof wasn't restrained, I would have probably kicked something. "But why!? Why could this have happened?! What did I do wrong!?Everything I love goes away!! I don't Understand!!" I screamed as I felt the brown maned nurse continued to stroke my mane lovingly. "Perhaps, to teach you a lessn'" she repeated. I noticed her accent getting stronger and stronger. "And what lesson could that be?" I rejected harshly. She grinned. "That even in the face of doubt, you gotta smile." I tilted my head (as much as I could with the restraints). I was muddled. Nurse Ratchet must have seen my bewildered state. "Ya see, even in the face of doubt, you haffta laugh, even if your scared to death, if you laugh, you can take away anyponys power, even Doctor Helfing's. Next time he tells you something that scares you, you laugh, you can't be afraid of what you think is funny." Her voice soothed. She still must have seen my perplexity. "Here, lemme put it in a way ya might understand-" she grinned as she began to sing a song "Giggle at the ghostly, guffaw at the grossly, crack up at the creepy, whoop it up with the weepy, chortle at the kooky, snortle at the spooky And tell that Doctor Helfing to take a hike and leave you alone; and if he thinks he can scare you then he's got another thing coming, and the very idea of something just makes you wanna laugh!" She ended the song in giggles and I joined in on the laughter. The ending of the song was a bit jumbled, which only added to the silliness. "I think I get it now" I said between gasps of air and laughter. She slowly got up and walked to the doorway. "Nurse Ratchet, what happened to your accent?" I inquired. "Well, Hun, I ain't ever lost my country accent, I'm just good at hidin' it." She retorted with slight amusement, "and you don't haffta call me Nurse Ratchet, you can just call me, Apple." "Apple?" I asked, to which she nodded. "The real name is Apple Jean, mah family grows an apple orchard, but the farmin' life ain't ever been for me, so I became a nurse to help other ponies, and changed my name to sound more formal." She blushed slightly as she told her story, "my elder sister, Granny Smith, has her own orchard down in Ponyville actually, perhaps you and Rainbow can visit her someday." She gave a large smile. Rainbow. I wish she were here. Silence filled the room as I stared deeply at jean. "Can you be my mother?" I cooed softly. I felt stupid for asking such a silly question, but Apple Jean, was the closest thing I had ever had to a good mother. "Of course, darlin'" she replied with a smile as she kissed me on the forehead, "Night' Pinkie" and with that, she left the room. After all, she was the only nurse that didn't call me Pinkamena, the name that I hated. My flat mane had once again, fluffed up. A talk with Nurse Ratchet- I mean, Apple Jean, has always made feel better the more she spoke. At least she would never leave. > The roof top > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Chapter 13: the roof top My life, that had once seemed so full of life and energy, had faltered, and died. Everything seemed empty, and only my conversations with Apple Jean at the end of each empty day kept me somewhat sane. I tongued all the colorful pills the nurses had given me, I had lost the will to take them, and most of all, I had lost the will to fight. I no longer retaliated every possible chance I could. Doctor Helfing broke me. No laughter ceased my lips, not even the feeling of a sweet smile had fallen across them, my world was empty and ruined. I thought that I had it all, that nothing could touch me, and as long as Dashie was by my side, I was invincible. But she was gone, and along with her, the only happiness I had ever known. It was out dream to be together no matter what. I suppose not all dreams last forever. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A gentle nudge shocked me out of my state and I whipped my head to the side to see Jean. "You okay, Hun?" She cooed as I realized I had been staring at nothing for the past hour. I weakly nodded and turned around as I soaked in my surroundings. We were in the Music Room. Sharp sounds of untuned musical instruments filled my ears. Filly's and colts were slamming on piano keys and throwing jostled tambourines, their insane yet confused pupils displayed within every obscure note that they played. Clatters and clunks of banging instruments tangled in the air and sharp sounds of a violas made me shutter. My ears,in a failed attempt to silence the sharp nosies, were forced to adapt to the unsavory sounds. A slight scream had filled the room, causing the nosies of broken instruments to silence slightly. My head cocked to the side where the scream was emitted. I saw a small filly, about my age, she violently thrashed around, her black mane everywhere, her red streaks shaking in the air. Earthpony hoof restrictors bruised her hearty gray coat, that was already embellished with bruises and cuts. She began hitting her head against the piano in the corner, in a frazzled attempts to remove another yet another restrictor-a magical restrictor strapped tightly to her horn. I swear I saw blood run down her horn. I had never seen a pony with both a unicorn restrictor, and a earth pony one. She was dragged out of the room and sent to 'Time Out'. My gaze drifted down to my hooves. I had been so deep in my mind, that I had not even noticed that my restrictors were gone, leaving nothing but slight bruises on my pink flesh. I was too sad and tired to care about it though. "Pinkamena!!" A a slightly annoyed voice called out. It was Nurse Blueheart, she fastly trotted up to me and when I whipped my head upwards, I saw that the music room had been emptied and the lights had been shut off, leaving me in darkness. How had I not noticed that everypony was gone? Time had been playing tricks on me. "Pinkamena! I've been calling your name for hours!! Why are you in here still!?" Shouted nurse Blueheart in a tizzy, out of breath from the slight jog to the corner of the room in which I resided. I looked at the ground, confused at how everypony else could just forget me. I wasn't about to tell her that I had zoned out for Celestia knows how long, it wouldn't really help my case that I was still a little bit sane. "I-I was hiding, I- I didn't want to- uh- go to class." I squeaked, knowing she wouldn't buy my awful attempt at a lie. But she slurped it up. She sighed. "Pinkamena, you can't just skip things you don't want to do! Well that's just great, your schedule is all messed up!" The aggravated nurse hollered. "Nurse Ratchet had your schedule for the day and she had to leave for a emergency, which is probably why you were left here...." She gave another tired sigh, and for once, I saw the side that the teal nurse that had long since been masked by the false smile. She rubbed her forehead and gave a frustrated groan. "Let's just go get lunch." She sighed as she led me out of the dark and into the falsely lit hallway. "Nurse Ratchet," I said quietly to myself, I almost forgot that was Apple Jean's fake identity. I wish that she were here. My eyes traveled down the hallways, wandering into the cafeteria. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The cafeteria was the same, bland, padded, and loud place as ever. It was like the Rock Farm, and mother's and father's thundering voices. The murmur of filly's and colts flooded my ears as nurse Blueheart sat next to me on a padded, but yet firm bench. I poked my food, reluctant to eat the so called, "sandwich." That's when something caught my eye. A rainbow and cyan blur in the corner of my eye. A piece of sunshine that made my life feel complete. Rainbow Dash walked next to two orderlies, holding her lunch tray begrudgingly. Her warm magenta pools of rage met mine. Her rage melted into one of relief, she gasped lightly as she stared into my cold blue eyes. "D-dashie...." I murmured quietly. She was all the way across the lunch room, and I knew that my words were lost in the low roar of patients. "PINKIE!" She screamed as the orderlies began to tighten there grip on her. I darted to her, at a speed I thought I could never achieve. She slammed her back hooves into the guards stomachs as the released her and moaned in pain. She darted towards me, tears flowing from both of our eyes. We finally reached each other, and to our satisfaction, were able to reach the door of the cafeteria and dart out into the halls. The guards may have been stronger, but we were faster. I felt her warm body brush against mine as we darted through the halls. We dashed around corners and ran and ran until we reached a part of the hospital that was under construction. It was dark in those under developed area, and it was cold. Rainbow, since she was faster, led me to wherever she wanted to go. "C'mon Pinkie, w-we have to-" she couldn't finish because she started to choke in tears as she galloped. I was happy and confused, but nevertheless, we were together. We reached a strange door pointing upwards. It was a dead end and we heard the screams and shouts of the guards not far behind. Rainbow sniffed, and her wet face soon morphed into a determined smile. She grinned devilishly as she pulled out a pair of keys from under her restrained wing. She must have swiped them from the orderly before dashing of towards me. She fiddled with the keys and continued to try each on on the hook until we found the one we needed. The hoofsteps of the guards got closer and closer. Then, the door opened with ease and we thrust ourselves into whatever place it had led into and slammed the door shut. We were on the roof. Cold air seeped into my bones as I looked at the snowy winter that the land below had bore. The dead trees poked between the white, misty, cold. My breath froze and hung in the air. The twill winter breeze brushed my spastic mane. Rainbow's sniffles stopped, and she turned around facing me. Gasping for air, she stood straight, and properly re-introduced herself. "Hi." Rainbow gasped between slurps of breath she desperately tried to catch. "Hi!" I replied with a giggle. I ran up to her and and with no words, planted a kiss on her cheek. She blushed lightly as she returned the favor. I trotted towards the edge of the tall hospital. I stared down at the cold ice below. I grabbed Dashies hoof and cuddled her closely, feeling her warm cyan flesh against me. Rainbow began to sniffle again, and her constant twitching became more rapid. We could hear the faint yells and panicked screams from the guards. "They're never gonna let us see each other again..." The cyan Pegasus cried sadly, her warm tears melting the snow below her. I walked closer to the edge. "Then let's go somewhere else." I suggested with a sad smile as we both stood near the edge. "Let's both live together, forever." Dashie looked nervous, but nodded as soon as the guards panicked calls became more audible. I suppose, plan Ponyville is taking a detour, but now, it didn't seem to matter. "Filly foolers don't go to pony heaven." The rainbow-maned filly stated sadly. "Then, whatever hell were going to has got to be better than this, at least we will be together." I chuckled lightly as a tear rolled down my cheek. The filly kissed it with a grin. "Hell can be heaven with you." Rainbow called. I blushed as I took in a deep breath. The door burst open and guards poured into the small rooftop. In a flustered panic, Dashie grabbed my hoof, we both looked into each other's eyes for the last time and hurled ourselves of the roof. Rainbow looked upwards in fear and I saw Doctor Helfing staring down at our falling bodies from the roof. The cold wind whipped us as tears poured from my eyes. Time flew faster than Rainbow Dash, and for our last few seconds, we stared at each other. My grip on the Pegasus's hoof grew tighter and we fell to our icy graves. > Regression > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Chapter 14: regression Beep. Beep. Beep. The small ringing noise in my ears grew louder and louder. My eye lids were to heavy to open and my sheets felt different then before. It didn't take a genius to know that I was not in my normal hospital cell. Thoughts of: 'where am I?' And 'what happened?' Flooded my mind. The constant beeping of a machine steadily continued at an even rate. I gave an attempt at opening my eye lids. They felt like they were made of lead, and that somepony had glued them to my face. Finally I had got them almost all they way open with much effort. The room swam into focus as I noticed that I was in a real hospital bed. The bed was more cushioned, with wires dressed along my arms and chest. The sound of the heart monitor continued to beep on. My vision then focused on a figure looming over my restrained body. "Oh, you're awake." The figure hissed with disdain. I recognized the voice immediately and placed it as none other than Doctor Helfing's. Suddenly, I remembered the events that led up to this. I remembered the sensation of falling, and Dashie next to me. I remembered the golden aura that surrounded us as we were lifted from the ground and up back to the roof. I remembered the filly Pegasus whispering: "3A" into my ear. I remembered my voice yelling: "I love you Dashie!" As me and my friend were torn apart. And most of all, I remember her response: "I love you more!" That being the last thing I remember before blacking out. "W-what happened?" I complained in a small and delirious voice. "Well, you and your mare-friend failed at a double suicide attempt. I managed to save you before you hit the ground using my magic, but unfortunately, the thrust of your tiny little body against the harsh spell I was using couldn't take it, you blacked out and suffered from hypothermia, you have been in a coma for 3 days." He retorted, slightly annoyed by the fact that I had almost succeeded at ending my own life. "W-What!!? Where is Rainbow?!" My weak voice shouted in surprise. I began to breath heavily. 'What if she actually died?!' As soon as the thought entered my mind, I pushed it back, knowing that I wouldn't be able to cope with that. The white manned doctor groaned in frustration. "She is fine!" He snapped, "But it doesn't matter anyways because she has amnesia! The impact hit her head and she is beginning to forget things, and soon she will forget you." My relief was short lived. My heart dropped into my stomach. This time, I was not as numb, I was angry. "NO! SHE WOULD NEVER FORGET ME! DONT SAY THAT!" My restricted limbs could not thrash, so I simply put all my energy into conveying my voice. "Soon she will be able to leave, and you will be stuck here forever!" His deep voice yelled back, like he was a foal again, fighting. He began to smile, in pleasure of my agony. Tears poured down my face. "You really are making my life miserable on purpose." I cried weakly, my squeaky voice accepting defeat. Doctor Helfing's sly smile was gone, and all that was left was rage. "You bet I am! I will continue to make your life as miserable as I possibly can because of what you have done! You should have been put to death row! You should be dead, it's slaughterers like you that make Equestria a dark place! It's Ponies like you that destroy everything! It's ponies like you that killed my parents right before my eyes, so it's my responsibility to give you the hell that you deserve!!" He screeched, his voice echoed through my head. Silence filled the room. Doctor Helfing had been taking out all his anger on me, all his hate and rage for the killing of his parents was on me. Perhaps he had once been a good pony, with good intentions, but I have seen his heart warp into a dark, emotionless mass of pure rage. "But I'm not the pony that killed your parents, I'm just a little filly that made a mistake." I squeaked timidly. Doctor Helfing's eyes became wide with anger. "All slaughterers are the same." He echoed with rage and wrath. Prejudice. The preemption that I would never see Dashie again became evident. Rage filled me but I held it back, knowing that it would make me no better than the real phycopath In front of me. "You are so lost, Doctor Helfing." I smiled timidly. His anger disappeared and was replaced by a simple stare. The anger that I thought had left, suddenly shot back on his face. "You are going to be locked up forever. I hope you rot." His harsh voice interjected. My smile did not leave my face as I softly shook my head. "I'll tell somepony what you plan to do with me, and I will get you fired." I calmly stated. "And who do you think they are gonna believe huh?! A delusional mental patient, or me, a trusted doctor with a PHD?!" He shouted. For a moment, I felt like we had switched places, here I was, calm and kind, and he was like the patient, yelling and screaming all source of nonsense. "Look at you. Look at all you can do, you could help so many ponies-" I was Interrupted by a hoof slam to my face. Silence and shock filled the room. Warm blood trickled down my already bruised, and badly beaten face. "Your just throwing away all you could do." My words rang through the impeccable and eerie silence. The crazed doctor ran to the door and stood in the doorway before whipping his deathly gaze at me. He then stomped out of the door with a slam. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Worry had been my enemy. I had been told that Dashie was forgetting. Forgetting all we had. Tears streamed out my eyes as I paced around the room. It had been two months and the unsure feeling of wether or not my dear mare friend remembered me haunted me every second. The guards outside my door had been dismissed this night due to staff shortage and my limbs moved freely without restraints or restrictors. This was my chance. My flustered demeanor grew when I scattered all across the room in hopes to find something to open the door. The feeling of desperation filled me and I felt like I was rotting. I was slowly dying, the physical pain of my wounds was nothing compared to the fact that my Dashie would probably have forgotten me by now. I couldn't find anything to open the door, and It was killing me. "NOOOOOOO!" My voice screeched a bloodcurdling cry. The blood pumping through my veins boiled, and the feeling of hopelessness grew. Warm tears that glazed my coat once again, began to flow out of my blood shot eyes. In my sudden surge of emotions, I gazed upwards, as if I sensed something up there. "P-p-please C-celestia, if you truly a-are there....p-please t-take me to my Dashie" I cooed weakly. Tears streaming from my eyes. Then I noticed up on ceiling, adjacent to the door, a vent. It wasn't the vent itself that I was particularly interested in, but the nails, plastering it to the celling. I knew that I needed one of those nails. A grin grew across my face as the feeling of hopelessness subsided. I walked over to the window that was right below the vent. Bars of iron decorated the window making any access through it impossible, but I didn't need to go through it, I wanted to climb on top of it. Swiftly and silently, I bowed down, giving a meaningful prayer to Celestia, for thanks. Then I hoisted myself up into the window ceil, and then proceeded to wedge myself in-between the bars. It was rather uncomfortable, but worth it for Dashie. I was finally high enough that I could reach the vent. A small burst of warm air pushed back my bouncy mane. Now I needed something to unscrew the nail. I grunted at the fact I was empty hoofed. Suddenly, I knew what I could use. I grabbed hold of the wiggly tooth in my mouth, it was already coming lose, and since it was just my baby tooth, it would grow back, or something along those lines, I'm no dentist. I ripped out the tooth and held in a cry of pain. Tears welled up in my eyes as my mouth began to bleed. I stuck the tooth into the wedge of the nail and began to turn it around until it was lose. I fell to the floor and spat more blood out onto the floor. My mouth hurt so much, but it didn't matter, I was going to see my Dashie. I remembered 3A. "THATS IT!!" I yelled in excitement as I realized that 3A was Rainbows room number. It all made sense, that's why she whispered that in my ear before we jumped! I almost giggled in excitement as I began to pick open the door. I darted through the hallways at a fast speed. 1B, 2B, 3B The rooms sped by me, but the only one I wanted was still far away. 4B, 5B, 6B Suddenly, a guards flashlight blinded my vision and hoofsteps filled my ears. There was no where to hide. No. No I was not going to get caught, I had gone to far. I sped over to a wall and tried my best to hide myself. The guard was right beside me, then, his pupils met with mine. We stared at each other in silence. He looked away and walked on. I continued to dart down the hallways. 'How had he not noticed me, I knew he saw me, why did he not yell at me?' Panicked thoughts darted through my mind as I remembered something that Apple Jean said to me a long time ago.... She had said before she left my solitary confinement room, that everypony was on my side. Perhaps the guard was on my side, perhaps he didn't care, but it didn't matter to me anymore. I stood In front of room 3A. I fiddled with the lock and galloped inside. Excitement and happiness morphed into tears, and I smiled Only to be met by a confused looking Rainbow dash. > Gaurdian of the insane > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Chapter 15: guardian of insane. I stared deep into the rainbow filly's magenta eyes. Her magnificent sparkling eyes melted Into my vision. "D-dashie?" My raspy voice cooed softly. She continued to stare at me In confusion. My heart dropped to my stomach and a feeling of indescribable sadness filled me. She had already forgotten me, and I hadn't even said goodbye. Tears began to drip down my dirty cheeks. "P-p-pinkie?" Her voice spoke with perplexity. Her voice was icy, cold, and scared. She darted towards me and flung her forearms around my quivering body. "Y-you remember me?" I said with a hope filled voice. "Of course!" She uttered as she continued to dig her head into my shoulder. Out relief was short-lived. "Pinkie, I-I'm so scared! I-I'm forgetting things and I don't know why and I'm starting to forget you- a-and I don't know what to do I'm just so scared and-" I silenced her with a deep kiss and wrapped myself around her more tightly. "Shhh." I calmly cooed the flustered Pegasus. I broke the kiss and felt her tears cascading down my pelt. Something in the back of my mind told me a fact that I was not brave enough to investigate. Something That I could not cope with, it continued to eat away at the back of my head and I felt a throbbing pain where it had gnawed on my brain. It was the truth, the truth that I was afraid to finalize in my mind, it was the fact that this would be me and Dashie's last night together forever. At the rate she was forgetting things, I knew that in the early morning hours, she would have long forgotten me. The Pegasus seemed aware of this and it terrified her. The least I could do, was give her a happy ending. "Shhh, it's okay, we are here tonight, and that's all that matters, okay?" I softly spoke into the filly's cyan ears. She nodded apathetically as I wiped the wet tears from her dried cheeks. She still seemed plagued by the fact that we both new this was the end. "D-do you remember what you said to me, that day we did the sonic rainboom right? Well, I said that they would never let us fly again and then you told me something I won't ever forget, you said: then let's make it one hell of a ride-" I paused to let out a small laugh, "so let's make tonight, one hell of a ride." Rainbow dash first looked at me with uncertainty, but then a toothy grin spread across her face, "let's get this party started." She remarked with enthusiasm. The remainder of the night we spent playing games, and laughing and telling secrets. We just pretended that nothing outside of us existed, it was just me and dashie, and the rest Of the world didn't matter. It was just us. "Smile!" Dashie Instructed cheerfully as the flash of the camera momentarily blinded me. Just as the camera snapped the photo, the Pegasus leaned in and pecked me on the cheek. We waited patiently as the picture printed out the bottom and we then glued it in the scrapbook. It was about 5:00 am and I felt that our time was coming to a end. Suddenly, Dashie scrambled under the bed and emerged back to me all dusty, but in her hooves she held A soft green alligator, she placed it in my hooves. "I want you to have this.." She said as I felt the green mass in my hooves. "G-gummy?" My voice shook,"are you sure, y-you love gummy" The rainbow filly nodded her head vehemently. "I'm positive, besides you need something to remember me by, perhaps we can get a real pet alligator when were older." She suggested with a grin. I saw her smile slowly deteriorate into a frown, her eyebrows creased together in a worried look as I saw wet shiny tears form in the whites of her eyes. "Hey d-don't worry, we will get to Ponyville and we will do it together." I reassured her. I rubbed my hoof through her rainbow mane, the multicolored hair cascading in all directions from my fleshy pink hooves. "I don't remember much about that day, the day we met, but I remember those icy blue eyes stating into mine, your dazzling eyes, there what I remember most." The panicked mare seemed slightly flustered, but masked it with a calm smile. "I'll tell you what happened, and I'll tell you all that mattered, that we did meet, and we did become good friends, and we became mare friends, and that is all I could ever want." I explained as I continued to run a hoof through her mane. "Look. Look deep into my eyes." The Pegasus instructed, I followed her command and looked into her eyes, They were like warm magenta pools of emotion that you could just jump into and be surrounded by warmth, I also noticed something, there was a spark, a light that made her sparkling eyes glow. "There magnificent..." I stated calmly, I was memorized by her. "D-don't you see that spark?" She inquired. I nodded slowly, still memorized by her eyes. "That spark isn't in my eyes, it's in yours, it's reflecting through mine, you see, sometime you put all your hope into somepony else, when It was in you all along." The Pegasus stated. That was the deepest thing id ever heard the argumentative Pegasus say. The Pegasus continued, "I mean, you should see your eyes, pinkie, there dazzling." I blushed lightly at the compliment and hugged her close. "Thank you." I whispered as I leaned in a placed my muzzle against hers, we both leaned in and kissed for a long time. I felt her warm mouth against mine as tears formed in my eyes. I knew that the end was closer than ever. And I was scared. I broke the kiss and hugged the rainbow filly tight, the only friend I had ever known was leaving, and my heart was broken, but never in a million years would I show it. I held her close and felt her warm tears pang on my coat. "P-pinkie promise we will go to Ponyville together?" The rainbow maned Pegasus asked. "Pinkie promise." I echoed with a sad smile "A-and pinkie promise you won't forget me?" She added "Cross my heart, and h-hope to f-fly, s-stick a cupcake in my e-eye." I choked between silent sobs. "I love you Dashie." My grip on the Pegasus tightened, this was the end, it felt like a train was coming but I couldn't move of the tracks. "I love you more." The cyan filly stated calmly, perhaps she was unaware of what was coming, or perhaps she wanted to give me a happy ending too. "I love you most." I whispered in her ear. I felt her body go limp in my arms, like a warm mass. She was still. She was gone. The sobs I had been trying to hold in, had broken through and I let out a silent scream. Tears poured out of my eyes like a waterfall. I heaved Dashie to her bed and rested her in her room peacefully. I grabbed our scrapbook and the stuffed animal. Just as I was about to leave, I heard a small voice. "W-where am I?" The small voice from the corner cooed with fear. I whipped my head to see where the voice had emitted from. That's when I saw the cyan filly sitting up in her bed and looking around, terrified. I stayed silent for a while and hid myself in the shadows, my heart was daring to speak, but my throat had refused words to come through. "D-do you know who you are?" My shaky, dry throat finally lost the battle "Of course I do! I'm not stupid! It's rainbow dash and I'm the best flier in all of equestria!" She spat harshly, unaware of my fragile state,"now tell me where I am!" My mind raced as I tried to come up with a response. 'I might as well give dashie a happy beginning, the life she deserves' I thought as my shaky voice uneasily gave an reply "Y-your at the wonderbolts academy, your loving parents sent you here to find your cutie mark, they love you, they love you so much, a-and you got your cutie mark when you did the legendary sonic rainboom, which is why you are the best flier ever." "Then why are my wings all roped up?" The filly interjected. "Because you hurt them a little when you did the sonic rainboom.." "B-but I don't remember.." I noticed the Pegasus constant twitch, had stopped, and as far as I saw, she seemed completely normal at first glance. "D-don't you remember? The wind blowing through your mane, the big rainbow explosion, the people cheering your name..." I trailed of and got caught in the memories of that day. Rainbow nodded, unsure at first, but then vigorously, "Yeah..." She exclaimed happily,"thanks pin-p-p- wait, who are you?" The Pegasus laid her hooves on her head, as if it hurt to remember. Hearing the first part of my name, I got so excited, but I knew she wouldn't remember, and it broke my heart. Tears were pouring out of my eyes As I continued to hide myself in the dark of the room. "I'm-I'm y-your guide, y-you won't know w-who I am but I p-promise to protect you always- I pinkie promise." I choked between sobs that hung in the air, I watched patiently to see if there could be a spark of remembrance In the Pegasus. She looked of into the distance and didn't respond. I slowly moved to the door and opened it. I stood at the doorway in silence. "I will always love you." I remarked as I calmly left Dashie. I darted down the hallways and finally got back to my cell. I poured into my room and let out a cry. Tears cascaded from my eyes and I continued to sob. My Dashie was gone. I cried and cried and screamed all night until a bright light distracted me from my sobs, when I turned around I noticed a mark becoming indented on my flank. My cutie mark. They were 3 balloons, blue and yellow. Often I ponder why I got my cutie mark that night, and it finally seems clear to me. The balloons don't just signify parties and fun, it represents hope. I raised Dashie up, I was her balloon, I gave her hope and gave her the life she always deserved. My cutie mark means that my special talent is not just being a crazy party pony, but to give ponies the hope they always forgot they had, my talent is to protect and raise Dashie up, and I pinkie promised I would, I decided right then and there that I would protect her from the truth, I would never tell her about our life, because if I did, her reality would be tampered, and I wouldn't want to change the perfect life I had given her. I will guard you,dashie. I was the guardian of the insane. > Gummy > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Chapter 16: Gummy Within a month, Rainbow dash had gotten out if the Institution, and, rumor has it, got a job as a Weather Mare in Ponyville. I avoided her at all costs, I had managed to trick her into thinking she was in Wonderbolts Academy the whole time with the help of Apple Jean, and the others who agreed with me about Helping Hoof's corruption. My life had seemed empty, and I just wanted to see Dashie, but I knew, deep down in my heart, that the mare that was in there, was now gone. "Pinkamena?" Nurse Bluehearts calm voice interjected my reading as she slowly walked into my room,"Doctor Helfing wants to see you." I walked with her down the halls and through the mangling twists and turns until I reached his office door. I trotted in and sat down on a freezing, metal chair. Something about the doctor seemed strange and different, he was no longer wearing a sinister smile, instead, there were dark bags under her eyes and stress wrinkles around his face. "Where do you plan to go, when you leave?" Doctor helfing spoke flatly, as if there were weights in his words. "Manehattan, maybe." I lied, I was truly going to Ponyville of course. "Oh good, so you won't be in contact with Rainbow Dash?" I shook my head angrily, trying to hold in every piece of rage deep within me. I lied once more," If I go to Ponyville, if she sees me, she will have no idea who I am. Just the thought of that...... It kills me." After I said that, my heart seemed to drop a little. What I just said, in a way, was true. His sly smile returned "Okay then, you're free to go, Nurse Ratchet will escort you to your destination." His heavy words rung through my head, I would have been happier if a certain cyan Pegasus was with me. I'm leaving the hell-hole. But then something crossed my mind. I got up and walked to the doorway before turning around,"Why? Am I better? Am I recovered?" I questioned shyly. Doctor Helfing chuckled a bit before wiping a tear from his eye for dramatic affect,"Don't be silly Pinkamena, you will never be recovered! I'm letting you free because there's nothing I can take away from you, I already gave you the most misery I could manage; truth is, you bore me now, you have given up on trying to break free and fight me, I've already taken away the thing you hold dear, your life is the worst that I could possibly make it." He looked deep into my ice- blue eyes,"So you can leave, I'm done with you." The blood pumping through my veins boiled and the feeling of rage washed over me, it engulfed me. "Y-you took Dashie away on purpose?" My voice shook in anger. His mocking laughter continued, "No, no, no dear, the whole 'forgetting' was just a stroke luck, but, walking in on you two after having sex was pretty lucky too!" I grimaced at his words, I wanted to scream, I wanted to kill him, but I was getting out and I couldn't endanger that. I remembered what Apple Jean had once told me, so, I did the only thing that I could: "Doctor helfing, I feel bad for you, I'm gonna go out, and have a life and get over this place, but you, you will always remain. Your so sad about your own life you take it on defenseless patients, you are a sad colt, and I am sorry for what you have become." My voice was calm and friendly, much contrast to the cruel things I was saying. He stopped for a second, and looked at my flank. I suppose he noticed my cutie- mark came. "Leave." He spat bitterly. His sly smile was gone, his scowl was all that remained. He kept his eyes down, he was silenced. "With pleasure." I added as I waltzed out of the room. I gallivanted down the hallway only to be greeted by Apple Jean. I ran up to her and she gave me a big hug, she already had my saddlebags packed. "Do you like it? The saddlebag?" I glanced at it, noticing my cutie-mark was on it. She knew I loved it as I gave her a giant hug, and she hugged me back tightly. "Let me guess, yah wanna go to Ponyville?" She teased happily. I nodded as tears of joy poured out of my eyes. The only thing that could make it better is if Rainbow Dash were here. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ We trotted along the dirt path to Ponyville, Apple Jean told me all of her plans for her life and told me about the Cakes family, she said that they would take me in and teach me how to cook in their bakery. My grin grew impossibly wide as we continued to trot down the path. "Ah just gotta do one more thing 'fore I take you off to the bakery" Her country accent proclaimed as we took a sharp turn into the everfree forest. We continued to trot calmly as we entered the dangerous Everfree Forest. We came to a small tree hut,"This place belongs to mah friend Zecora, and, she's gonna help me with something. Now yah stay out here." She instructed as she reached into her saddle bag and pulled out a small stuffed alligator. "Hey, what are you going to do with Gummy?" I intruded but my words were lost as she darted off towards the hut. I waited there for what seemed like forever until Jean came out. "Ah have a present for yah!" She exclaimed happily as she turned around and I saw something on her back. It was Gummy, but something was different. His button eyes were gone, and his back was shiny. He was alive. "W-what in Celestias name?" I spoke as I was memorized by the magic that I had witnessed. "Like it? I asked Zecora and she turned him alive, so now he can be your pet, he ain't much trouble, he don't got any teeth so I reckon he's safe ta be around." The brownish nurse said with a polite blush. "I LOVE HIM!! THANK YOU SO MUCH!" I screeched happily as I hugged the nurse and the alligator. Gummy, jumped up and bit my tail and his body hung limply in the air. I giggled wildly as we made our way back to the bakery. "I'm gonna miss you." I said sadly as I looked down at the dirty ground. "Don't be to sad 'bout it, besides we can write letters to each other, and it will all be okay" Jean smiled warmly as she gave me a hug. We finally got to the bakery and said our goodbyes "Don't forget about your past Pinkie, don't forget about that hospital." She reminded. "I don't think I could even if I tried-" I paused and giggled sadly,"Jean, you made me the mare I am today, thank you for being my last beacon of hope." "And thank yah for bein' mine." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I unpacked my stuff and greeted the Cakes, they seemed like a nice couple and I was glad that they were so kind. I walked out into Ponyville, i felt the warm sun beat against my back as a small sliver of cool air passed over me, causing my bouncy mane to shake slightly In the wind. A cyan blur caught my eye and I shifted my gaze to the sky above. Dashie... She flew dynamically through the clouds, each one disintegrating as she ripped through it. Her fit build was much bigger and older than I remembered, it made me think about just how old we are, and just how far we both had come. I stared up at her amazing moves and she gracefully bounded through the blue sky, cutting and slicing through the white masses of fluff. She was so beautiful. Everything seemed clam and peaceful, but my journey was not done yet. I ran back up into my room and grabbed out a manila folder from my saddle bags. I ran to the the train station, and bought the next ticket to Canterlot. I had one more task I had to do > Exposed > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Chapter 17: exposed The train shook and jumped as we scampered over each track. Happy and light conversations filled the cabin as ponies sat and waited for the train to arrive at the station. Smoke and soot billowed and cascaded out of the engines of the train as It gave a fearful and loud screech and came to a stop. I looked out the window calmly as the train station came into view. Canterlot was a fancy, shiny place full of fancy, shiny ponies. Gems and dresses lined the walkways as snooty mares and colts gallivanted with their heads held high above the rest. I trotted along the paved paths and weaved in between selfish, high class ponies, until suddenly, something crashed into me and mocked me onto my flank. "Hey!" I shouted angrily as I got up from the dirt to see what had bumped into me. It was a purple unicorn mare with a pink sparkle cutie mark. It was Twilight Sparkle. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Of course, at the time I had not met her and did not know it was Twi. She didn't even look up at me, she had her muzzle deep in her book. "Oh- sorry!" She called out as she passed by me without even seeing who I was. I rolled my eyes and continued down the path. Finally I had reached my destination, Celestia's castle. I trotted in and two guards immediately stopped me. "What's your business here?" One unicorn colt asked sternly. "To see the Princess." I calmly stated. "Nopony sees the Princess." "But-" my plea was stopped as a white alicorn walked into the room. She wore a kind smile and I watched her translucent, flowing, shimmering mane wave through the room. Her coat was white, and beamed as sunlight shimmered over it. I bowed politely and stated at her in awe. She was the second most beautiful pony I had ever seen, first was Dashie, of course. "P-princes Celestia, thank you for seeing me!" I called out, trying to contain my happiness. She smiled warmly as she led me into her throne room,"Now what is it you would like to talk to me about, my little pony." Her voice was smooth and soft, it floated through the air like silk. "I am here to inform you about the corruption in 'helping hoof psychiatric hospital'" i stated matter-of-factly as I reached into my saddle bag and grabbed out the manila folder, I gave it to Celestia and she began to flip through the photos that I had taken,"As a patient there myself, I have witness several of these indignities and unjust instances. The head doctor there, Doctor Helfing, beat many of his patients and his staff, and threatened them, and me, he purposely made my life miserable." The calm white princess was shocked at this. "I will have this place demolished to the ground at once, I'm so sorry, Pinkamena, about what happened to you and Rainbow Dash." I gasped lightly,"You mean, y-you know about us?" I questioned silently. She nodded with a smile and ran a hoof through my pink bouncy mane,"it's all over Pinkamena, it's all okay." Tears began to form in the corners of my eyes. The pain was over. "S-so you know that you can't tell anypony about this?" I said between sobs of joy. She nodded and pulled me into a hug. I broke the hug, and sniffed,"Call me Pinkie" Things were finally starting to look up for me. > Satisfaction > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Chapter 18: satisfaction I trotted down the familiar halls of the Helping hoof Hospital. Everypony bounded out of the place once they heard the sounds of the demolisher starting up. There I was, walking amongst the chaos, in front of my old room, I could smell the distant, rotting stench of broken dreams and vacant shells of the happiness I had once had. Nurses and doctors screamed and rushed outside. I calmly trotted down the hallway, against the stream of panicked staff. There was a relaxed smile over my face as the excitement of what I was about to do settled in. Then I saw somepony. Somepony that I once knew, it was Nurse Blueheat. Her blue mane, was turning into a hue of gray and there were dark bags and wrinkles on her face. She was much older, but so was I. She stared at me in disbelief for a while but shook her head and walked right by me, without even looking me in the eye. My mane was flat and straight, which is probably why it was easier for her to recognize me, but it didn't matter and I didn't care, I was here for one reason. I walked by room 3A. I stared at it for a while and I could almost imagine it, actually, I saw us; I saw me and Dashie, laughing and playing. I gulped down tears and walked on, and finally I got to my destination. The doors gold writing glinted in the dying artificial light. I walked into the dimly lit office. "Aren't you a sight for sore eyes." I spat with spite as I stared deep into the eyes of the pony who I had intruded on. Doctor helfing stared at me. His smile was now pure shock. "W-what are you d-doing here!" He stammered with fear as I gazed at him evilly. "I just was in the neighborhood, and I decided to stop in and say goodbye." I said with a sinister giggle,"I also wanted to tell you how great my life is, I get to watch Rainbow dash fly everyday and she is as free as a bird and you couldn't stop that, we are finally happy!" "Y-you mean, she remembers you?" "W-well no, but-" I paused and looked down sadly. "Oh good, so it worked." His smile reappeared. "What do you mean?" I said suspiciously He took In a deep breath and grinned,"I suppose that I can tell you the truth since this place is going down, well, I made Rainbow forget, I Injected her with a serum that cut of her memories, so she would forget you, and not be a filly fooler, it was the only way that I was able to get her out of here, it was a bonus that it would add to your torture." His smile returned with sly confidence. The blood in my veins boiled, my heart stopped. Pinkie pie disappeared, Pinkamena took control, and it was time for her to end the torment of her childhood dictator, and I let her. It was time for the torment to end, it was time for him to die, I knew it from the day that I met the infamous doctor, that I would kill him, he needed to die. His cruel words and constant punishment and agony he had put me through over the years had finally come back to haunt him, and I was going to give him all that pain, he was going to feel all the agony that I had felt. My hoof reached down into my saddle bag and felt around for something cold and sharp. I knew this would have to come to an end. I pulled it out and revealed the gigantic knife, it's silver blade glinted in the dying light. A impossibly wide crazed grin formed on my face. "Your not really going to kill me, Pinkamena, they would find out, and you would end up right back where you started." I stared at him silently for a little longer,"I wouldn't be so sure doctor, you have no friends, you have no family, nopony here wouldn't really mind if you just, vanished. Your mangled carcass will rot beneath the rubble of this hospital and your shattered dreams." Sweat dripped down his brown coat and he gulped nervously. He knew I was serious. He tried to run to the side but I grabbed him and threw him down with my strength and plunged my knife deep into his hoof, he yelped in pain and I dug the knife deeper and deeper until it came in contact with the wall behind him. I thrust out the knife and licked off the blood. I cut vertically down his hooves and blood gushed out, staining his clean hospital floor, I grabbed the slabs of skin and pulled then apart and dug my hoof through the tendons and muscles in his hoof until I came in contact with the bone, and then, I thrust it out. It took a lot of strength and effort, but finally his hoof became limp and bendy without his bone, and the muscles had been all torn out. I began to wonder if he was in pain, or if shock had taken hold and made him numb, but it didn't matter to me, as long as he got what he deserved. I took the bone in my hands and ripped it in half, showing off the jagged white shards. I got good grip of the bone and once again plunged it deep into his hoof until the bone pinned his brown flesh against the wall, like how you would tack a poster up. He gave a blood curdling, ear shattering scream and tears streaked his face, this was the only time I had ever seen the doctor as vulnerable as he was. I repeated the process on all four of his hooves until he was utterly immobile. "Okay, now let's begin." I exclaimed with a sadistic grin. The pain became to unbearable for the doctor and he finally threw up, and promptly, emptied his bladder into the floor, causing the smell of urine to become evident in the room. "Yuck!" I exclaimed as I jumped out of the way of his urine,"you have to learn to control that, Doctor Helfing." I giggled at his embarrassment. I grinned more as I explained to him what was going to happen next,"Now I'm going to cut of your ears, but I'm going to leave your eyes, because I want you to see-" I paused and panted as I got closer to doctor helfing's vomit and blood covered face,"I want you to see- I- I want you to see- who is doing this- I want you- I want you to look deep into my eyes, and know- that I- that I am responsible for this." I breathed in and out rapidly and my pupils dilated as I smiled. I cut of his ears slowly and he shouted in agony. I can feel the tendons and muscles ripping, and warm blood trailed down his face. "Y-you awe a mounsteh." His weak voice said, his words obscured by his loss of hearing. I knew he could no longer hear me, but I spoke anyways,"No no, Doctor Helfing, you are the monster that created me." And with that, I spliced open his stomach, revealing his exposed innards to the dust and draft of the air. I tried to hold in my giddy excitement but I couldn't and I began to giggle madly. I reached into his stomach and felt his warm, fresh, insides pumping with life. The desire to end that life was getting stronger and stronger as I took hold of his gooey intestines and pulled them out with might. He vomited again and released his bowls, the smell of urine became stronger, but was masked by the metallic smell of blood. I worked my way up to his beating heart. I felt it pumping desperately in my hands, trying to compensate for the massive amounts of blood he had lost, but the little heart knew it was over as soon as It felt my cold, bloodstained hoof grip around it. I shifted my gaze and looked deep Into the doctors eyes. They pleaded and begged for me to stop, but this time, it was my turn to be the emotionless pshycopath. "See you in hell." I uttered as my grip got tighter around his beating heart. I pulled upwards and the red, slimy organ popped out with ease, becoming loosened from the tendons that it was hooked onto. Doctor helfing gurgled and emptied the last of his urine and vomit before finally dying. His eyes rolled to the back of his head and the life slowly evaporated into the air. It was quiet. I stood up and looked around the silent room. I was alone. The agony filled screams of my victim had vanished and all that was left was the strong smell of piss and blood. I grabbed the knife and rubbed against his mane, wiping it clean, and put it back in my saddlebag. I calmly strolled through the empty halls. My shadow followed me and my empty hoofsteps bounced of the rotting walls of the once pristine hospital. The lavish, clean, doors and walkways were faded and cracking. The sudden sound of the demolisher outside snapped me from my reflective state as I darted down the hallways to the back entrance of the hospital. I looked in the broken mirror that hung on the lonely wall before I left. Blood was caked on my face and my straight pink mane. I went to a bucket if dirty water in the corner and washed the blood off, I walked over to the mirror and poofed up my mane. I darted out of the hospital just in time to see it fall to the floor. I watched it's breaking figure collapse to the floor. It spit and coughed up dust and smoke and it rested peacefully on the ground, it's work was over and the torment that had boiled and resided in the hallways had been released into the air, and vanished. I watched as the worker ponies had left me alone with the shambles of my ailments. I started on the path back to Ponyville. The birds sang there songs of joy and the wind whistling through the trees sounded like a symphony. I began to bounce and a smile spread over my face, not a crazed smile, not a forced smile, a real smile. Pinkamena was gone. Pinkie was here. > The star mare > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Chapter 19: the star mare Once I made it back to Ponyville I lived peacefully and worked at the bakery. My once exciting life had gotten redundant and calm, so I decided that I might as well make friends. After a few months, I had made friends with almost everypony in town, they all knew me as Pinkie Pie the party pony, and I decided that I might as well make friends with Dashie. It was one of my greatest fears, to see her face-to-face. The thought of her looking at me, not knowing who I was, it killed me. I couldn't bear it. But I Pinkie Promised, I'd watch her, I'd protect her. It was a dark Wednesday, and it had started to pour rain right after lunch and I had been caught out in the storm. Rain hit my back and drenched me in cold water. I ran home as fast as I could manage but I ended up being cold and wet. I felt the rain stop and I saw sunlight around me, but it was still pouring. I looked up to see that Rainbow dash had punched a hole in the white fluffy clouds and made a dry spot for me. "What are you doing out here in a storm like this?" Her raspy voice called out to me. "Trying to walk home." I say sarcastically and begin to giggle. A few tears of devastation formed in my eyes, but I blinked them away. Hopefully it looked like raindrops, not tears. Suddenly, the cyan pegasus flew ahead of me, the clouds vanishing at her hooftips, until there was a clear, dry path home. "T-thanks!" I called out happily "No problamo, I'm Rainbow Dash, by the way." She stuck out her hoof and I politely shook it. "I'm Pinkie Pie! It's super-super nice to meet you, D-Rainbow!" The rainbow maned pegasus stared at me for a while, her curious and bold eyes reflecting magenta. She walked me the rest of the way home. She told me about her life, about her kind and supportive parents, that her father died in a lighting-bolt accident and her mother had died of the flu. She spoke about the rainboom and the Wonderbolts Academy. It's funny how out minds make up things, and it seemed that Rainbows subconscious had done everything it could to hide the truth from itself. I was just so happy to see her so happy. She flew in the air, she was free, she was happy, and if she was happy so was I. I decided to make up my own story, so I told her about he rock farm and said that I had seen the rainboom from my rock farm, and that that's when I smiled and realized my talent of cheering others up. The fake story I made up wasn't entirely a lie though. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I sighed as I trotted up to my room and looked out my window. It was night and the stars were shimmering, like small sparkles that decorated the black night, like glowing pockets of hope. The cyan mare cut through the black night and swirled around in the night sky with the stars. She really was the star filly, and she still was, she was my shooting star. They say that shooting stars are incredibly fast and they rocket across the sky in mere seconds, but they light up the whole sky in the process; they grant your wishes and make you smile. The same could be said about my Dashie, although she didn't stay with me for long, she still lit up my whole sky and granted my wishes. She is my star mare. > The truth comes out > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Chapter 20: the truth comes out "Well, a few months after me and Dashie became friends, that's when twilight came to town, I had already been pretty aquatinted with everypony and I noticed pretty quickly when twilight got here. "I decided that I'd throw a big party to welcome her, the party i'd always wished I had when I got to Ponyville, and then the whole nightmare moon thing and the elements of harmony and well, you know what happens after that, don't you?" I say with a smile on my face. I play with my bouncy mane and Fluttershy sits across from me. I had just told her everything, from the rock farm, to now. I even told her the gruesome slaughter scenes, I was sure she would reject me and positive she would hate me; but it's Fluttershy, she wouldn't hate anypony. "Well, I- I came here because I heard that you also went to the wonderbolt academy and well I was just worried that if somepony asked you how to got your cutie mark and then they would ask if you saw Rainbow and you would say no and I just-" Fluttershy puts a hoof up to my mouth to silence my worrying. "Don't worry pinkie, w-well we could always coordinate a story, together." She says, her voice is calm and soft, it would be almost impossible to hear if It wasn't already silent in her house. Fluttershy got her cutie mark when she ran away from flight School. She was cold and alone when a single butterfly came and led her to Ponyville, she met the animals there and the animals took care of her, she says that she had heard the sonic rainboom, and she was pretty sure that everypony in Equestria probably could too. Once we were done, I altered it so she fell out of the clouds after Dashie was racing her bullies. That's when she did the sonic rainboom and Fluttershy discovered her talent and blah blah blah. "Thank you so much Fluttershy." I say. Tears start to form in my eyes, I'm just so happy that she understood. "Pinkie I just-" she pauses and starts to cry. She throws herself over me and sobs,"I'm so sorry you and R.D had to go through all this, if only I had known-" "Fluttershy it's okay, besides, it's all over now." I say with a grin. It was nice to be able to talk with somepony for once, i had kept it all locked up inside of me, I had to swallow the tears and hold in the pain and I had to keep a smile, because I was everyponys rock, if Pinkie was sad, so was everypony else. "I- I will help you protect Dashie, I hear that she's applying for the wonderbolts training camp or something, it's harsh training and it's run by spitfire, I think, only the best get in!" She sniffles and picks herself off, I can tell she is trying to be strong. "Don't worry, I'll make sure she can get in, I have a few connections, they can pull some strings." I smile and start to tap my hooves on the ground. At least I wasn't the only one protecting rainbow At least I wasn't so alone anymore. > End > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Chapter 21: end. I trot back to my small room and quietly walk up the creaking steps of the bakery. It's night and the stars shine brightly in the black, thick, velvety sky. Who knew that it would take all day to tell my story. Just look at how far we have come, I just wish that Dashie was here, to see the fact that we won. I plop down on my bed and lay with my stomach to the ceiling, feeling rather nostalgic. It had been quiet a while since I've reminisce, it was odd to taste the flavors of my life all over again, some parts tasted bitter, but the times with the Pegasus, those were the sweetest. I start to think about everything, not just the time in the hospital, but the time with my friends, the time we defeated all those monsters like discord, the changelings, and nightmare moon; and we did that all with friendship. Having close relationships with other ponies was not only important to defeat the monsters on the outside, it was also good to battle the nightmares inside you. Without Dash, I'd probably be a whole different mare. I think back to the exact moment my entire life changed, it was all because of the rage I killed my father with, that one action changed my life for the better. Of course, I'm not saying to act on your rage and kill ponies you hate, I'm saying that even mistakes, can change your life for the better, and, that sometimes the moments that you are the most alone and the most sad, are the ones that are the most important. And here I was, my dream had come true, I was in ponyville and I had friends, I should be happy, I SHOULD appreciate what I have, but part of me continued to dwell on the past that continued to crawl out of my throat, like a bug that won't go down. I think the thing that bothers me the most is the fact that we didn't get a long enough goodbye, it was like she just left out of my world and I miss her so much, I dream of her a lot and I just hope that she is happy, because I knew she loved me a lot, I knew her love for me was undying and I knew it was still here, I just didn't know where. It's hard trying to protect Rainbow. Just trying to be around her, it hurts sometimes. When she flies away, I hop as fast as I can, trailng behind her. She finds it a bit annoying, I can tell. A lot of times, I wish I could tell her, that it was my duty to go after her, but I can't. Suddenly, I feel cold slick scales prod on my stomach. I look down and see Gummy, he sits nonchalantly on my puffy belly and I giggle as his eyes blink at an uneven rate. His presence reminds me of something, I jump up and almost fling him off me, but he seems okay. I dart to the closet and begin to search frantically for something and then, my eyes rest upon a big brown box. I grasp it and stumble out of my closet with and unstable stance and I collapse down and fall to the floor. I scramble for the box and open it up. Dust and dirt flys everywhere and billows into the cool air, I look into the box and look for the little scrapbook inside of it. I pull it out, letting the words 'pinkie promise' shimmer in the dark room like a lost treasure. I spend all night flipping through the pages of our faded fun. I giggle and cry for each page and the dawn breaks through. The light shines over the peaceful cottages of Ponyville and spreads it's golden rays of hope across the peaceful land. And finally, I reach the second to last page and start to close the book. I couldn't bring myself to look at the last page, that was where we promised to get a picture of us in Ponyville, and we never got it. My heart throbbed, tears poured out my eyes. Gummy walks by me and looks at the book, he sticks his nuzzle into the book and flips to the last page. I see writing. Scribbles of black ink that are inscribed on the page. My heart skips a beat and my eyes skim over it. I begin to read it: 'Dear, Pinkie Pie. I'm starting to forget things and I haven't seen you since that day on the roof top. I'm afraid I won't get to say goodbye, and I dream constantly that you will come waltzing through that door with some cupcakes and a smile. I know..... I know what Doctor Helfing is doing to me. I know he wants me to forget. I want to write this all before I forget it all. But that's okay, because I wanted to tell you, how much you mean to me. Even if I forget about you, you will always be in my heart, even if I don't say I love you everyday, I do, even if I don't tell you how beautiful, I still think you are and I always will. You will always be in my heart, you're plastered on there, your not going anywhere! I also, wanted to tell you, that, I don't care what happens, I don't care if I can't fly forever, I don't care where we end up, as long as we end up together, because, your my dream, you are my only wish. Love, your Dashie.' Tears cascade from my eyes. My heart stops beating and a feeling of peace and joy washes over me, it freezes me and I'm paralyzed for a moment. I lightly place my hoof over the writing. "You were always my dream." I choke between sobs. Gummy walks over, and I pet him, he's my only comfort. A knock on the door halts me from my overwhelmed state and I notice that it is late in the afternoon. "Hey, Pinks? You in there?" I here a raspy voice call out to me. It's Rainbow Dash. I get up of the floor and walk to the door, I heave it open, and the pegasus's magenta eyes stare at me. I see the spark. "Pinkie- are you okay? You've been crying!" She shouts. She sits next to me, and helps me on my bed. "I- it's okay, it's all okay now." I see Dash breathe in like she was about to argue, but then I see her eyes trail down to the scrap book resting on the floor, the page where she wrote her note. I think I see something. I think I see her remember, or at least I hope I do. "W-what's that?" She says calmly and she continues to stare at it. I smile sadly and look down,"It doesn't matter anymore." Silence fills the gap in between us and she shakes her head and wipes away her dazed state. "Anyways I came over here to ask if you wanted to uh- hang out?" She blushes slightly and the magenta contrasts her cyan coat. I grin excitedly,"Of course Dashie!" I walk beside her and wipe away the last of my tears. I feel her warm wing rap around me lovingly and we both blush as we trot outside, only to be greeted but the sunny Ponyville day. A sweet smile crosses my lips, a smile I had missed, a genuine smile, the most ligament smile I've ever smiled, all because, I wasn't alone anymore. I was finally happy. THE END > epilogue/ alt.ending written by Picture perfect pony > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Here is an amazing alternate ending/ epilogue written by picture perfect pony, i recommend it!! http://www.fimfiction.net/story/190532/pinkie-promise-epilogue#comment/4408182