If there was one thing Ponyville was lacking, it's the truth. After all, where was this on the map? Never did Twilight Sparkle see any such a building as the one she was currently in. Surely, she missed it in the brochure. Yeah, that was the issue.
Everypony thought it was odd Twilight of all ponies had gotten checked in. Nopony confessed to being the one to do it, not even Spike. Even Applejack, in all her honesty, denied checking her in.
"Get a hold of yourself, sugarcube," she said, "Don't you go overdoin' it just 'cuz of some little mistake, now."
A mistake, it was. It has to be.
"Twilight Sparkle?"
This place was separate from the Ponyville Hospital, or even the entire town altogether. The ponies here were less friendly-looking than Nurse RedHeart, but they might just be that way due to the conditions of this working area. They might just be extremely nice without any intent to murder her.
Yes, that's it. It must be! Twilight did nothing anypony could say was particularly harmful. Sure, there was that one time with the Want-It-Need-It spell, but Princess Celestia did forgive her for it.
... didn't she?
"Twilight... Sparkle."
It was a wonder how she even came here to begin with. This must be a facility similar to Cloudsdale's rainbow-making factory, or even Ponyville's own basement of morbid cupcakes. The workings of this area seemed to be top-secret, or at the very least, very well-concealed. Did the Princesses know about this?
Could they be the reason Twilight was here? To expose the horrors of what could turn out to be a death sentence? Would she even make it out alive? Or were the Princesses behind this entire scheme’s very existence?
"Miss. Sparkle!"
"Oh!" Twilight raised a hoof, "Present!"
The old green Earth mare with the greying mane, name-tagged as Ms. Clipboard but was without one other than her cutie mark, sighed sharply. "Come on, young lady. We don't have all day. I'll need you to follow me. Everything has already been prepared for your stay here at McHoof."
The waiting room, if you could call it as such, was the only place which seemed safe for now. It was where Twilight had been upon entrance, sitting and pondering, for what seemed to be only five minutes. As they had left the safety of the first room, Twilight kept her guard up while still remaining remotely pleasant. Her first impression with this pony had not been a good one.
Ms. Clipboard was taking them out of the waiting room where Twilight had entered, to the left side of the building. A yard away was a latched, of all things, white picket fence with the words "Halt. Standby."
"So, um, Ms. Clipboard," began Twilight after clearing her throat, "How long did you say I would be staying?"
"I'm afraid I can't tell you that, Miss. Sparkle."
Twilight cocked her head. "Uh, why not? Don't I have a right to know?"
She received another sigh, this one more annoyed than the last. "It is not my place to tell you, Miss. Sparkle. I am merely the pony who takes you into your appropriate ward. You may take it up with either Dr. Psyche or Dr. Mind Watcher when you have the opportunity. Now, please, don't ask me any more unnecessary questions."
Twilight Sparkle has always had her suspicions of institutions that dealt with the mind. It was something she never had a chance to fully understand, and thus, never blindly trusted it.
She hadn't gotten that far in her studies yet, surprisingly. After all, psychology covers a vast number of subjects - foal psychology, traumatic instances in a pony's life, deficiencies of the mind... just to name a few, of course. Picking just one area would lead to many more, and how could anypony choose just one part at a time?
As for Doctors Mind Watcher and Psyche, she would have to be extra careful around them.
The latch on the fence was opened with the orange glow of unicorn magic, and Ms. Clipboard went right on in. Twilight was supposed to follow her.
However, right here, Twilight Sparkle had a choice. She could turn back. She didn't have to be here, did she? After all, nopony would ever play such a prank as far out as this. What friendship lesson was there to be learned here? How would Spike be able to see her?
"Well, there should be visiting hours..." she said to herself. "Maybe I could get Spike to bring me some of the books I need. Okay, mental checklist time! Books I need - Filly Psychology; Understanding the History of Equestrian Psychology Books I, II and III; and The Mare's Complete Guide to Not Having a Mental Meltdown in a Mental Facility for Mares by Mares - hardcover and annotated version, of course."
"Hey, kid!" barked a gruff voice from above, startling the mare's thought process, "Move along!"
The source of the voice was a dull-colored blue unicorn a floor or two above behind an open window. He, too, seemed annoyed with her today, but for good reason. With a sheepish grin and a nervous laugh to him, Twilight sped through the open gate to her new but temporary home.
She stopped in front of Ms. Clipboard and a maroon-colored Pegasus mare in a nurse uniform.
"There you are, Miss. Sparkle," greeted the nurse gently in an accent that reminded Twilight of Rarity. "Clipboard here has been telling me you are a curious little filly with loads of questions!"
Blushing, Twilight nodded.
"This is Nurse Flyby. She's the head nurse in the ward of which you will be at during the course of your stay, Miss. Sparkle." Ms. Clipboard droned. She began to walk back where Twilight came from, giving the two a final glance as she said a farewell to Nurse Flyby. "I leave Miss. Sparkle in your capable hooves."
When the old mare was out of sight, Nurse Flyby cleared her throat. "Are you ready, Miss. Sparkle? The South Mare Ward isn't far."
Twilight took a deep breath.
"All right, let's go."
This is it. What comes to pass now... will come to pass. Nothing will be set in stone.
Nopony will be worth giving even a milligram of trust. Not here, anyway.
Not until Miss Twilight could qualm her fears that it was completely safe for her.
Author's Note
This is my first ever MLP fanfiction, so I'm not very confident about it. I know the idea is quite cliche and such, but, that didn't really stop me, now, did it?
