The letter lay rolled out across Twilight Sparkle’s table as the purple unicorn made an attempt to quickly pack her bags. It had arrived earlier this morning from Princess Celestia, who was very insistent that the task now at hoof was very important. Of course, Twilight had her doubts about going alone into the Everfree forest to try and locate a few lost ruins of some old shrine from ancient Equestria, but if that’s what the Princess wanted, then who was her most faithful student to refuse such an important request?
“Let’s see... I have two quills, four parchment papers for recording valuable notes, an extra bag of snacks, hmm... Oh! I need books! And a map!” Twilight muttered to herself as she raced around the library, locating the items.
“Uh, Twilight, don’t you think that bringing all those books might take up too much room in your bag?” Spike suggested as he watched the unicorn levitate a huge encyclopedia down from its shelf.
“Are you kidding, Spike? Books are the most valuable things to bring on a trip like this!” Twilight exclaimed.
“Well, I was going to suggest bringing along some rope and perhaps a knife in case you run into any, er, trouble?”
The purple unicorn let out a laugh. “Don’t be silly! I’ll be fine! You just need to worry about taking care of the library while I’m gone, which should only be a few hours, maybe a day or two at the most, depending on how lost I get. But I have a map, or four, actually, so I shouldn’t even lose my way at all!”
“Famous last words,” the baby dragon muttered as he went back to helping Twilight pack.
Two hours later, Twilight Sparkle was ready to go. She bid goodbye to Spike after going over the long list of chores that he had to get done while she was away. The baby dragon was definitely less than happy about working during his free time, but the humongous gem that Twilight promised him for his troubles would make it all worth it in the end.
As she walked, Twilight wished that one of her Ponyville friends would be able to come with her to make the journey a little less long. It wasn’t like she was afraid; the Everfree forest was more fascinating than terrifying for her, but having the company of another pony would’ve... eased her nerves a little. A pit of concern had begun to widen in her stomach as she began to wonder what would happen if she never located these ancient ruins at all. And why in Equestria was Princess Celestia so concerned about them anyways?
Soon, the gentle rolling hills of Ponyville began to descend into a murky swamp, and the blue hues of the sky itself seemed to fade into darkness. Twilight swatted her tail at a few pesky mosquitoes that buzzed around her. Even the smell had gone from a sweet flowery scent to the odor of a dank, mould-infested forest full of old, knotted trees that... ugh! Twilight jumped as a strand of an overhanging branch brushed past her leg.
“It’s just a branch,” she reassured herself. “Don’t be silly, Twilight. There’s a logical reason for everything except Pinkie Pie. You should know that by now.”
The unicorn settled down on a nearby log to survey her map. If her calculations were correct, she was still in the outskirts of the forest, and the place she was trying to reach was a lot closer to the center.
The center of the Everfree Forest...
It made Twilight wonder if anypony had ever gone this far before...
Once she was sure that her bearings were right, Twilight Sparkle packed up the atlas she had brought of the forest and continued on. Every hoofstep she took brought her closer to her goal, she could feel it.
“Just think of it now, I’ll be the first pony to wander this far into the forest, like a pioneer of a new land!” The idea of it made Twilight feel giddy. “Thank you, Princess Celestia!”
Of course, the bookish unicorn was interested in the ruins themselves, too. This wasn’t just history in the making, but a study of history as well.
And Twilight loved history.
So why was there a slight feeling of uneasiness creeping up on her?
“I’m going on a study! A study! A study of some his-to-ryyyyyyyyyyyyy!!!” Twilight sang out as she skipped down the path. She had taken to making up songs as she went along to get her mind of off the imposing night and the creepy, twisted scenery. Oh, and the strange feeling that she had overlooked something important.
Her belly felt queasy with every step, and the singing ceased for a second as Twilight moved around a barely visible patch of mud.
“Now let’s see,” the unicorn whispered. “I have my books... My food... My maps...What could I possibly have forgotten?”
Dumping out her bag as soon as she stopped to rest, Twilight did an inventory. Everything was there.
“See? I’m just overreacting again, ha ha ha,” she laughed nervously. Using a simple levitation spell, Twilight repacked her saddlebag and got back on the narrow trail.
The trees seemed to stare at her menacingly, daring her to make one wrong move. Sinister sets of eyes gazed out from behind bushes, and the wind rippled by her with a ghostly murmur.
“Everything is going to be okay,” Twilight reassured herself. “I’ve been in this forest many times, and once I was even turned to stone. Ha, nothing can be as bad as that was.”
Twilight laughed aloud, using a trick that she had learned from Pinkie Pie. The pink party pony was right; laughter did have a way of making this seem less frightening.
However, it did nothing to the feeling of disorientation.
Suddenly, Twilight became aware of a strange wailing noise. She used her tail to swat at the bugs that hovered around her head.
“Pesky mosquitoes!” she said, annoyed. Her horn lit up as she cast an anti-bug charm on herself in hopes that the noise would go away. Unfortunately for Twilight, the noise only grew louder.
“Hmm, what else could that be?” the unicorn mused aloud. “Maybe a siren? Or a distress signal! Oh, that has to be it! Someone’s probably in trouble! I have to go help them!”
Conjuring up a light spell, Twilight raced through the muck as she headed towards the sound. Whoever it was needed her help, she was sure that Princess Celestia would understand. Putting the needs of others in front of hers had proven praiseworthy after she had saved the Crystal Empire, so trying to save someone who had gotten into trouble in the middle of the forest surely would meet her mentor’s approval.
{I’m running out of time}, Twilight thought as she increased her speed. Branches and mud smacked against her face as she sprinted through the swamp. The distress signal grew louder, sounding a lot more like a siren to her than anything. But now that she was committed to helping the situation, Twilight forged on without hesitation.
“Hold on,” she cried out. “Help is on the way! I’m almost there!”
A bright light in the distance suddenly came into Twilight’s view as it swiveled around, surveying the area. Ponies’ voices could be heard shouting over the siren. They seemed desperate. Apparently, something big was going on.
Twilight paused to catch her breath. Somehow, she felt that she wasn’t on the right track anymore. Was this what was in the middle of the Everfree forest?
“Over here! I heard noises! She went this way!” a stallion’s voice shouted over the chaos.
“This way!” another yelled as hooves trampled over the ground that sounded strangely solid.
“What’s going on?” Twilight wondered aloud in a hushed voice. She could feel the vibrations that resulted from a herd of other ponies stampeding across the dirt.
Wait, dirt?
Yes, Twilight confirmed as she stamped her hoof down on the solid ground.
Bam!
Suddenly, she felt somepony collide with herself. The other pony skidded across the dirt, her rainbow-coloured mane outlined by the bright beam of light.
“What?” Twilight gasped out. “Rainbow Dash? What are you doing in the middle of the Everfree forest?”
“Shh!” The other pony raised a hoof to her mouth. “Just shut up and keep still.”
“Why?”
“SHHHH!”
A strong pair of front legs suddenly wrapped themselves around Twilight’s, restraining her.
“I found two suspicious ponies over here!” a stallion shouted. His grip tightened as Twilight tried to twist free.
“What’s going on?” she demanded. “Who are you ponies?”
The stallion restraining her snorted. “Like you don’t know, escapee!”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about! My name’s Twilight Sparkle, and I’m-”
The stallion shoved his hoof over her mouth as he dragged her into a small clearing that had been outlined by the searchlight.
“We got her! We got Rainbow Dash!” another stallion shouted as he and four other stallions emerged with a struggling cyan pegasus. Rainbow Dash was biting and kicking her restraints as they led her into the clearing. “You... can’t... keep... me... here...” she spat out as she swung her head backwards and whacked one of the stallions on his nose.
“Augh!” he cried out as blood dripped down his muzzle.
The other stallions pressed Rainbow Dash down onto the ground so she could barely move. All of them had blood and dirt all over their faces and coats from the struggle.
Twilight watched in horror as the stallion with the smashed nose took a needle out of his coat pocket and jabbed it into the Pegasus’ side. Rainbow’s leg twitched in a feeble attempt to buck him before falling back down and lying still.
“Get her inside,” the stallion ordered. “I doubt that the Warden will go easy on her this time. Oh, and you know that cute little orange mare with the apple cutie mark? Make sure she doesn’t get dinner for the next week. It’s what she gets for helping this one.” He kicked Rainbow Dash’s unconscious body before spitting on her.
“But what do we do with this one, sir?” the stallion restraining Twilight asked.
“Bring her in. She must crazy to be in league with Rainbow Dash. We can get her committed here no problem.”
Twilight dared not move as she was dragged through a thick, iron-wrought gate. A huge building made of stone and surrounded by barbed wire towered over her. She couldn’t help but notice the bars across the windows, and the maniacal screams that passed through the walls to her ears.
“I didn’t know that there was a prison in the middle of the Everfree forest. Where am I?” she wondered, glancing at the stallions. They all wore coats that, at one time, must’ve been white, like some kind of... doctors.
The stallion with the bloody nose laughed. “This ain’t no prison, sweetheart.”
The realization dawned on Twilight in an instant.
“So you finally figured it out, eh?” the stallion said, noticing the ah-ha expression on the unicorn’s face. “Welcome to the Everfree House for the Mentally Insane.”
The heavy iron door on Twilight Sparkle’s cell slammed shut with a bang!
“You have half an hour to get that uniform on before lunch,” the guard who had dragged her there said as he retreated.
“Wait!” Twilight called after him. “You have to let me out of here! I’m not crazy! Let me talk to whoever’s in charge! I’m a student of Princess Celestia!”
The unicorn’s voice shook in desperation as the numbness of her mind faded. Only now, locked inside a tiny cell, did she realize the seriousness of her situation.
Twilight shrank down away from the door as she felt a sob well up in her.
{This can’t be happening. I have to be dreaming. Yes, that’s it! In a moment I’ll wake up and everything will be normal! I’ll be inside the library with Spike and then I’ll walk into Ponyville to visit all of my friends}, she thought.
Knocking herself in the head with her hoof, Twilight tried to force herself back to reality, but each attempt only caused her pain instead.
{So I’m not dreaming. I’ll have to find someone who’ll listen and explain everything to them. I’m sure that once they realize that this has all been one big misunderstanding, they’ll let me go, right?} Twilight let out a sigh. Somehow, she didn’t even believe herself.
Staring down at the tattered patient uniform, Twilight debated whether she should put it on or not. It was stained with unrecognizable substances and had uneven stitches that made the unicorn wonder how the outfit possibly stayed in one piece. Twilight let out a small laugh as she imagined Rarity taking a look at it. The ugly asylum attire would surely have given the fashion-conscious unicorn a heart attack.
“I might as well,” Twilight murmured as she slipped it on. “I’ll just take it off later when I go to clear my name.”
An automated buzzer echoed through the asylum halls as all the cell doors slid open in time for lunch. Twilight Sparkle got up from where she sat, now donning the unattractive uniform of the mental hospital’s patients and meandered down towards the lunchroom.
As she walked, Twilight noticed something strange. All the other ponies she saw were mares with messy, unkempt manes and tails, wearing the same outfit that she wore, sure, that much was obvious. But as she looked closer, it became apparent they were all... Earth Ponies, something that struck her as unusual for such a large institution.
{Am I the only unicorn here?} Twilight wondered. {Nah, that can’t be it. I’m sure that there are more... Plus, Rainbow Dash is here, and she’s a pegasus...}
“Line up here to get your grub!” a stallion shouted, indicating to where a bunch of trays were stacked in order for the asylum ponies to use them.
“Huh, ‘grub’ is right. Ah jus’ can’t believe the stuff they’re allowed to feed us here. Why, what Ah wouldn’t give for jus’ an apple...” a pony behind Twilight muttered. The purple unicorn’s ears twitched as she instantly recognized the voice that had spoken.
“Applejack?” Twilight turned around, her eyes widening as she caught sight of her friend. The farm pony’s mane was in a state of complete disarray, and she had visible scars running up and down her face that Twilight couldn’t remember being there previously, but it was undoubtedly her. “What are you doing here? I thought you were in Ponyville!”
The orange mare snorted. “Ah wish. Y’all have no idea of what Ah’d give jus’ to be back home on mah farm.”
“Well, why aren’t you?”
“Ah... Ah dunno. It’s a long story, Ah suppose you can say.”
Twilight cleared her throat. “What I meant, is, why are you here? You and Rainbow Dash.”
“Rainbow Dash? Is she okay? Ah haven’t seen her since las’ night.” A look of concern flashed through Applejack’s eyes.
“I’m sure she’s fine, knowing Rainbow Dash and all...” Twilight trailed off. “You never answered my question. Why are you here and not in Ponyville?”
Applejack looked down. “Like Ah said, Ah dunno. Ah wish Ah did, but Ah honestly don’t. Ah’ve been here for years, but Ah don’t remember how Ah got here,” she said quietly.
“Years?!” Twilight Sparkle exclaimed. “How could it have been years if I only saw you yesterday?”
The farm pony’s expression went completely blank. “Ah’ve never seen you before in mah life. Are ya sure you ain’t mistakin’ me for somepony else, sugarcube?”
“What? But that can’t be right...” the unicorn wracked her brains for possible logical answers, but found none.
“Applejack! There you are, darling!” a familiar pony’s voice shouted.
“Yeah! Did you save us a spot? Huh? Huh? Wow, I’m so hungry I could eat a cow!” another one added before laughing crazily. “Ha ha but I’m sure that wouldn’t taste very good. Unless you just drank all the milk... Ooh! I wonder if there’s a cow that’s made fully out of milk... Or chocolate milk... I love chocolate milk!”
Twilight’s attention was immediately diverted to the three ponies that just entered, all of them friendly faces. “Rarity? Pinkie Pie? Fluttershy?” she whispered.
Rarity smiled at her. “Oh, you must be new here. I see you’ve met my good friend Applejack. I’m Rarity, by the way. Before I came here, I was the most famous fashion designer in all of Canterlot!”
“She suffers from megalomania,” Applejack whispered underneath her breath. “That’s why she’s here.”
“Er... It’s nice to meet you, uh, Rarity. I’m Twilight Sparkle,” Twilight said awkwardly. It was weird to reintroduce herself to one of her best friends.
“Well then, Twilight Sparkle, you must be new here! You still have your...”
“Hey Rarity! Ain’t ya gonna introduce the others?” Applejack interrupted, indicating to the two ponies that stood behind her.
“If it isn’t any trouble...” Fluttershy added in her soft voice.
Rarity cleared her throat. “Ahem. Yes. Twilight Sparkle, this is Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy. Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy, this is Twilight Sparkle.”
“Hi guys,” Twilight said, waving to them.
Pinkie Pie let out a large gasp and bounced over to her. “Ohmigosh ohmigosh it’s a new pony! I’m Pinkie Pie, but you probably already know that because Rarity already introduced us and I’m so excited to meet you and back in Ponyville I would’ve wanted to throw you a biiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiig party but here we’re not allowed to throw parties which really sucks because that’s my special talent and I just looooooooove parties!!!!!”
“Breathe, Pinkie,” Applejack reminded her. The pink pony nodded and inhaled deeply before rambling on about her parties.
{Well, some ponies never change}, Twilight thought, relieved.
The five ponies soon got to the front of the line and received their share of the disgusting glop that the tough-looking mares running the cafeteria called “soup”.
“Ugh! Today’s lunch is even more revolting than wearing last month’s fashion!” Rarity complained as she sat down at a table.
“Well, you’re not exactly wearin’ the latest duds yerself,” Applejack pointed out. Rarity sniffled dramatically as she cast a disgusted gaze down to her outfit, and Twilight could’ve sworn she saw a tear leak out of one of the fashionista’s makeup-less eyes.
“It’s not like I have a choice. You’re in the same boat as I am here,” Rarity said, glancing away.
“The only difference bein’ that Ah don’t care.”
“If you were as civilized as I am, you would.”
Applejack rolled her eyes. “Even in a mental hospital you jus’ have tah be so dang fussy.”
“Um, excuse me, girls, but can you stop arguing please?” The two bickering ponies ceased conversation as they heard the sound of Fluttershy’s soft voice.
“Fluttershy’s right,” Twilight agreed. “We need to stick together if we want to get out of this mess.”
The four other ponies looked at her with complete confusion written all over their faces.
“Like... escapin’?” Applejack ventured.
“Yeah,” the purple unicorn said. “You see, I’m not supposed to be here. Last night when I ran into Rainbow Dash, the guards grabbed me because they thought I was in league with her. I’m really a student of Princess Celestia and I have to get out of here and go home!”
All of her friends fell silent.
“Um, Twilight, I’m not sure you quite understand. Nopony has ever successfully escaped from here before. I mean, Rainbow Dash has tried three times already, and she’s the bravest pony in the entire institution!” Rarity told her.
“Yeah! And if you get caught, they have these huge zappy things that go “ZZZZZZZZ” and you go “AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH” and the next morning, they scrape your dead body off the floor!” Pinkie Pie added, doing a dramatic reenactment of somepony getting electrocuted.
“Plus the Warden is really mean. She doesn’t show mercy on anypony who dares disobey her,” Fluttershy whispered.
Twilight raised her hoof. “Okay, okay. I really think you guys should give it a shot, but if you don’t want to, I can’t force you. Anyways, I’m here because of a mistake. I’m sure that whoever’s in charge will let me go once they realize that this has been a little mix-up.”
“That’s what they all say, darling,” Rarity said, rolling her eyes.
“What’s what they all say?”
“That they didn’t do nuthin’ wrong. We’re all here for somethin’, Twi, you gotta understand that if you’re gonna last a day in here,” Applejack told her.
“Well, what are you guys here for?” Twilight wondered. She had no idea why all of her friends had been put into a mental hospital in the first place.
“Megalomania, as Applejack pointed out earlier. They think I have delusions of grandeur!” Rarity started.
“Paranoia,” Fluttershy whispered. “I hear voices that nopony else does.”
“Extrasensory perception,” Pinkie Pie explained. “In other words, it’s just my Pinkie Sense, but a whole bunch of ponies thought I was crazy so they took me away to the funny farm! At first I thought it would be like a farm with a whole bunch of clowns, and I was like, Ooh! I love clowns so I...”
“Pinkie, that’s enough!” Applejack cut her off. “Ah think Ah mighta told ya earlier, but Ah actually don’t know why Ah’m here. Ah’ve seemed tah have lost a big chunk o’ mah memory...” the Earth pony looked down at her barely eaten soup.
“What about Rainbow Dash? What happened with her?” Twilight asked. The other four exchanged glances.
“Well... Ah guess y’all should probably know. She didn’t make the Wonderbolts, which kinda sounds lame in comparison, but that was RD’s lifetime dream, and she blew it. So she started doubtin’ herself and it got tah the point where she could barely function. Then, one day, while she was out in public, she saw the pegasus who took her place on the team, the spot that she shoulda had. So, she waited until that pegasus came closer, an’ then...” Applejack trailed off for dramatic effect. “Wham! She attacked her, jus’ like that! As it turned out, Rainbow had been harbourin’ a secret grudge against that pegasus, waitin’ fer her moment tah strike. In jus’ three days, she was transferred from prison tah here when her behaviour turned violent an’ uncontrollable. She’s been here ever since.”
“Wow... Poor Rainbow Dash...” Twilight gasped. Suddenly, a strange thought occurred to her. “Hey, when I saw her outside the prison when we were captured, why didn’t she use her wings at all? The stallion guards weren’t pegasi, so she could’ve easily outflown them... I don’t understand... Rainbow Dash never walks if she can fly...”
“They cut my wings off, okay?” a different voice interrupted. The ponies at the lunch table let out a collective gasp. In front of them stood the very same mare that they were just talking about.
“There ya are, sugarcube! Ah’ve been worried sick ‘bout you! What in tarnation did they do tah yer face?” Applejack exclaimed.
“I’m fine. Don’t worry about it,” the newcomer muttered.
Rainbow Dash cast a dark glare at Twilight as she sat down next to Applejack with a plate full of food. Her mane was covered in dirt and grime, and there was a black ring around her right eye. Fresh cuts and scrapes decorated her face as if nopony had made an attempt to bandage her up. On her back, sticking out from underneath her torn up asylum uniform, were two little knobs, one on each side that, at one point, must have supported her wings. She sat patiently while Applejack dabbed at her injuries with a wet napkin.
Twilight pulled her gaze away from the cyan pony to glance at each of her other friends. Fluttershy, like Rainbow Dash, bore the knobs that signified wing removal. Rarity had a small, barely noticeable bump on her forehead where her horn had been cut off. Pinkie Pie and Applejack, however, showed no signs of handicapping, but since they were both Earth Ponies, Twilight guessed that whoever ran the institution did not find them to be a potential threat.
{How did I not notice this before?} the unicorn wondered. {But now that I’m here, will they do the same to me...?} Panic began to bubble up inside her as she began to realize all the things that would be taken away from her with the removal of her horn. Surely Princess Celestia wouldn’t bother mentoring a magic-less Earth Pony...
Even her cutie mark and Element would become obsolete...
“Twi? Are you okay, sugarcube?”
Twilight Sparkle suddenly became aware of the other ponies at the table staring at her, concerned expressions on their faces.
“Heh heh, I’m fine...” the unicorn murmured nervously as sweat poured down her face.
“But you look absolutely dreadful, darling! Your face went ghostly pale all of a sudden,” Rarity said apprehensively.
“Yeah, you look like you’re really worried about something. Ooh! Ooh! I know! You’re worried that your horn will get cut off so you won’t be able to use magic and you can’t be the student of a powerful princess and be part of the Elements of Harmony and even your cutie mark will get all dry and dusty and then it’ll fall off!!!” Pinkie Pie shouted.
“How did you know that?” Twilight asked, her mouth hanging ajar.
The pink pony shrugged. “Lucky guess.”
Suddenly, the background murmur of other ponies’ conversations died down, leaving the room in total silence. Loud hoofsteps thudded against the ground as the door to the cafeteria slowly slid open.
Fluttershy let out a squeak and dive-bombed underneath the table. “It’s her,” she whispered timidly.
“Who?” Twilight wondered. Her friends all looked incredibly nervous, even the usually fearless Rainbow Dash. Applejack cautiously placed the cloth she was using to clean RD’s wounds down. Rarity and Pinkie Pie clung to each other as if they were bound together by glue.
Everypony in the room wore the same frightened expression on their face.
“It’s the Warden.”