Insanity is its Own Reward

Chapters

Roommate
Trust
A Fortiori
Fear
Insanity
Friend
Home Is Where Your Heart Is

Roommate

Insanity Is Its Own Reward

Written by: TheOrdinaryBrony

Edited: by Daedalus & Crystal Secret

Part One: Eve

My dorm’s familiar surroundings appear before me as I awake to the obnoxious and repetitive sound of my alarm clock going off. For the past year I have gotten used to the nonsensical, dull and repetitive routine of a college student here at the University of Maressachusetts. I have lived a rather quiet, undisturbed life here without an annoying room mate, plenty of friends and the ability to pursue my dream of becoming a psychiatrist.

I rise to the early morning sun as its rays stream in through the large arch window. I begin my usual morning routine as I prepare for the day ahead. After breakfast, I pack my saddlebag according to my timetable and I head off to my first class.

Out in the hallway, there are already other ponies on their way to their first class. I don’t recognize any of them as I pass them in a hurry. I’ve only got ten minutes to get to my class and it’s held in a building on the West side of campus.

As I hurry down a flight of stairs, a deep voices calls out to me.

“Hey! Eve!”

I turn to the direction of the voice and find that it’s one of the patrol guards.

“Yeah?” I ask the guard.

“I just wanted to inform you that you`ll be getting a new room today,” he says.

A new room mate? No, no, no. My life has been fine without one. Perhaps he knows more about them.

“Would you happen to know anything else about them?” I ask.

“Other than the fact that he’s a stallion and that he’s majoring in ancient and modern magic.” He replies.

“Ok then, thanks for telling me anyway.”

“You better get going. You’re going to be late for your lesson.”

I hurry down the remaining stairs and exit through the glass sliding doors. Even after a whole year, the campus still is as beautiful as I remember it on my first day. The Maressachusetts campus is a large and expansive area, dotted with various trees scattered across the grounds. It’s the height of Spring and the flowers are in full bloom.

Ornate buildings surrounding the centre of campus, the building I`m headed to is huge and made entirely of glass. A large glass statue of our fair ruler Princess Celestia stands proudly at the entrance. I trot towards it leisurely and pass ponies sitting around studying, some of the ponies seemed relaxed as they socialise in their free period. There is even a pony under a tree, strumming away on his acoustic guitar. I trot along, humming to the pony’s soothing tune.

When I reach my class, I go up the glass steps and to this day, I am still astonished by the weight the glass can hold. I enter the glass building with pride, I have come a long way to be in this classroom and I will always be proud of that fact. I walk down the glass hallways and past several glass cases that conceal ancient books on psychology. I eventually reach the room where my lecture is being held. I take a seat in one of the glass desks and wait for the lesson to begin.

The lesson goes by rather quickly; it was on the negative and positive symptoms of schizophrenia which is a topic I am quite familiar with, having studied before.

As I stand outside my dorm, I`m pulling out my keys and it suddenly hits me like a pile of bricks that I have a new roommate. I had completely forgotten all about him!

Maybe’s an alright guy? Nothing to worry about right? But wait what if he’s a complete weirdo? Oh no, I wouldn’t be able to live with somepony like that? Or what if my room is a mess or he if went through my stuff?

In my panic my hooves shake violently as my stomach begins to churn. My heart races and I try to calm myself down.

Eve, everything is going to be just fine. He’s just a pony? What could go wrong?

I take a deep breath before inserting the key into the hole and turning it. As I open the door, the room appears to be its same tidy self. All except for my desk, which is occupied by a red coated stallion with a cuitemark that resembles a runic circle, his mane looks like he has done it in years and he just sits there drawing something.

With a loud slam the door shuts behind me, causing the stallion to turn his attention towards me, he stares at me for a moment with his dark blue eyes but dismisses me quickly, returning back to his work. For some reason, his horn is glowing a bright red which suggests the idea that he’s studying.

When I trot over to him, I start to think that spending the next six years with him might not be so bad. A friendly introduction would be a good way to form a somewhat acquaintance with this peculiar stallion. I lightly tap his shoulder with my hoof, but he just ignores me.

I clear my throat. “I`m Evening Star, but you can just call me Eve.”

I pause, waiting for a response.

“What’s your name?”

Instead of giving an answer the stallion just continues to write.

“What are you working on?”

That got his attention. He stops writing for a moment and shows me my desk, I look over to see his work. He hasn’t been using any parchment, instead, he’s been writing on my desk. Carved into the wood are various incantations, written in black marker. My blood boils but I try to keep my anger in, so I just breathe deeply.

“I`m trying to create a spell that changes a pony’s eye colour, it should be rather simple but every time I cast it upon somepony, my horn either fizzes out or I get disastrous results. Once I made another stallion temporarily blind for a week, that’s why I transferred here.” He says tapping my desk. “Oh, and by the way, I hope you don’t mind that I wrote on your desk.” He points to my window. “And your window, I ran out of parchment.” He finishes before continuing to write on my desk.

I silently stomp my hoof on the floor, this guy’s got some nerve! Writing on my desk like its parchment! Maybe he’ll listen to the voice of reason.

“Hey, I’ve got some extra parchment in my saddlebag. If you want you can have some.” I offer, trying to be as friendly and polite as possible.

“Nah, I wouldn't want to be a bother.” He replies.

A bother? A bother? You’re writing on my desk you idiot, on my desk! There is no way I`ll be able live with him for the next six years. Wait. What will he write on when there’s no room left on my desk?

My eyes widen at the thought.

What if he begins to write on my walls? Oh no, no way! I don’t want to see incantation all over my, well, I guess they’re now our walls but either way I refuse to have my walls look like crap!

“Oh, yeah. You asked for my name, it’s Red. My last name doesn't really matter though.” He says, still writing more incantations.

Well, it’s obvious now that this stallion, I mean Red is not about to stop writing on my desk. So it’s beyond saving. I just hope he doesn't write on the walls because that is really pushing it.

I climb up to the top of my bunk bed; I pull out my notes from my lesson and decide to study. It would help me keep my mind off my new room mate.

“Hey Eve, you mind helping me out over here?”

I climb down and walk over to him. “Yeah, what’s up?”

“What’s your colour preference?”

“What?” I ask confused.

“What’s your colour preference?”

“Um...orange I guess.”

“Orange. Ok.”

“Now, what’s your blood type?”

“Hmm?”

“What’s your blood type Eve?”

“Ok Red, what’s going on?” I ask, concerned.

“I need to know what your blood type is for the spell to work.”

I gulp. “You’re not going to use me for a guinea pig or anything right?”

He laughs mischievously. “I was hoping you would, but if you don’t want to I can just find somepony else with the same blood type.”

He says.

“That would be preferable; I’m a type A positive.”

He doesn't say anything but instead just scribbles something else on the desk.

“Alright.” He says.

I climb back up onto my bed. Every so often I check on Red, but he seems to be doing the same thing as before, other than his occasional muttering.

I let out a long sight

How could the school possibly put him in a dorm with me? I usually don’t mind meeting a new pony every now and then, actually I love meeting new ponies! But this one seems a bit off. I just hope that he’ll eventually change his studying habits because if I see one letter on my wall I'm going to flip.

Trust

The sound of writing is the first thing I hear when I wake. I immediately lift myself out of my bed and look at my desk, and sure enough there is Red. Did he even sleep at all? He must have there's no way somepony could be this intent on making a spell, even though his determined nature is mildly refreshing...and a little bit disturbing. I jump out of my bed and stretch also attempting to make my bed head look presentable. Red doesn't even turn when I jump. He just gets out of the chair and gets close to the window ad begins to write on it. I feel curious as to what he was writing about so I go towards the desk and attempt to read his writing. Most of it is hard to make out other than my blood type and a few large X's over a few things. I look over at Red who is drawing a large diagram on the window of a badly drawn pony. I'm still mad at the fact that he's writing on my things but I let it slide since I'm now interested.

"I can tell your curious." Red says.

How did he know? "Well I am...a little."

Red turns to me and smiles. "And that's why I wrote this for you." He moves to fully present the drawing. He caps his marker and points to the ponies badly drawn eye. "You see Eve the eye is a very delicate, yet stubborn thing. And unicorn magic can be very unpredictable at times." He says pointing to his horn. "And the iris is the most delicate and complex part of all hence my problem." He says putting his hoof to his chin thinking.

I shrug confused. "And the problem is, what exactly?"

"I just told you the iris is extremely complex." He says as if talking to a stupid filly. "If I make one wrong move on you than I might-"

I cut him off by moving my hoof. "Wait, wait, I told you last night that I wasn't interested in becoming your guinea pig Red. I don't want to end up blind."

"Oh. Oh yeah sorry." He says disappointed. But he brushes it off quickly and continues. "Now as I was saying if I made one wrong move on you...or I mean somepony then they might go blind or something else may happen. That's my dilemma." He finishes looking at the pony he drew.

There is no way I'll ever say yes to being this weirdo's lab rat. I don't plan on going blind or suffering some other unknown fate. I sigh and decide to change the subject. "So Red what time do you have class?" I ask.

"What time is it?" He questions me.

I look over at the small golden clock and tell him. "Nine o'clock."

"Right now then." He says coolly.

My eyes widen. "Wait what?"

"Right now, my class starts right now." He says writing more notes around his badly drawn pony.

"But shouldn't you be getting to class?" I ask feeling slightly concerned.

He shrugs. "Class dulls the mind."

I feel my ear twitch at that. "Why are you even here then?" I ask.

"Just needed someplace to think, don't worry though I'll go to class whenever there's a final or something important." He says still writing.

"But class is important, its what leads you to success." I tell him.

Red continues to write. "Eve you don't understand, this is what will lead me to success, not some boring class taught by some boring teacher."

That's nonsense, professor Twilight Sparkle is the best magic teacher ever! But no matter what I say he probably wont listen, so why even try? The most I can do is cope with him, but I also feel concerned for his well being no matter how strange he is. "So did you sleep at all last night Red?"

"Nope, too busy." He says still writing.

"Red don't you think that you should I don't know, take a nap?"

He shakes his head at the remark. "Nope too busy." He says again.

I sigh, there is no getting through with him! "C'mon Red at least some breakfast?" I ask again.

He stops writing and looks down at his stomach which rumbles loudly. Red takes notice of this and looks at me with his dark blue eyes. "Well I am very hungry." He admits.

I smile. "C'mon I'll show you to the café." I tell him trotting to the door.

He follows me (reluctantly) to the door. I open it for him and motion for him to exit, he eventually does. Not without looking at his work of course. I close the door behind us making sure to keep the it unlocked, (since I always forget to bring my key with me) and I go down the marble stairs with the strangest pony I've ever met.

***

The café is a small quiet place, located near the colleges grand library. I sit with Red at a mahogany table, the table matching the color of the café. A few other ponies sit around too sipping their coffee or eating their breakfast. I sip my own coffee and take a few bites out of my salad. Red however hasn't eaten any of his food, instead he just stares into his hay lost in thought. He's probably just thinking about his spell.

"Aren't fwoo foing fo eat Red?" I ask him, my mouth full of salad.

"Oh yes sorry, just thinking." He says.

He still just looks at his hay. "Red?"

"Yes?"

"What's on your mind Red? You haven't eaten any of your hay." I say pointing with my hoof at his stack of hay.

"Just thinking about my spell, don't want to mess it up." He says still looking at his hay.

"Red stop worrying, and eat just relax a little." I say reassuringly.

"Eve you know I cant I need somepony to test it on."

I narrow my teal eyes at him. "Red I already told you I am not going to be your lab rat." I tell him with a hint of anger in my voice.

"But." He sighs. "Eve I understand your concern, I get why you don't trust me. I wouldn't trust me either!" He says jokingly pointing at himself. "But Eve I have to do this you know I'm not socially adept either, nopony would trust me to try something like this on them."

Yeah no crap. "Red I just don't feel comfortable doing this, you even said yourself that something might go wrong. And I don't want to risk that. I'm sorry Red." I tell him firmly.

Red now makes eye contact with me, but only for a brief moment before looking out of the window next to us, where outside the JV hoofball team is practicing. Red looks back at his hay and takes a small nibble of it, along with a swig of his coffee. I know its his goal to make a spell that could benefit other ponies but I just don't want to take the risk, especially not with this abnormal stallion.

"Eve are you sure?" He asks one more time.

I nod. "Yes, Red I'm sorry but like I said before something might go wrong." I tell him.

He sighs. "But Eve, every day we risk our lives. We risk our lives going outside, like who knows maybe you'll be struck by lightning or something. We risk our lives when we swim, we risk our lives doing everything Eve. But you'd be helping me Eve, please will you just let me test it on you once?" He stops. I open my mouth to tell him no again but he stops me. "Listen and if anything goes wrong you kind tell the professors, the police, whoever! At least I'll know that I tried. But if you don't want to its understandable, it'll just be hard for me to find somepony else for the job." He finishes still looking at his hay.

Is this spell really that important to him? I mean all it'll really do is change ponies eye color. How will this help ponies? I mean this is more of a cosmetic thing if anything. But he's just so intent on doing this. I look at him, he's still just staring at his hay with a disappointed expression written allover his face. I look at my own salad now feeling a little pity for him. He's worked so hard on this, he's even been kicked out of a college because he was chasing his dream. But what if something happens? Oh but look at him, he really wants it to work. I breathe in mustering up my courage, OK Eve whatever happens, happens just go with the flow.

"Alright fine." I say soon after taking a large bite out of my salad.

Red's ears perk up and he looks up at me. "Really? Eve are you sure?" He asks me.

"Yep, Red you've been working hard on this, you deserve a chance." I tell him smiling.

"Wow thanks, don't worry Eve I'll do my best!" He says beaming with pride.

I nod. "I'm sure you will." Oh Celestia help me.

***

We are back in the dorm. Red is ecstatic to try his new spell out on me, he stands in front of me full of joy preparing the spell. I feel happy for him, but also a bit worried for my own life. C'mon Eve you cant turn back now, especially not when he's this happy. Red looks back at his notes on the desk, and the badly drawn diagram on the window. He looks back at him inspecting my teal eyes, looking at each and every detail of my eyes. He looks back at his notes once more (And the diagram) then back to me. He breathes in deeply and smiles at me.

"Thanks again Eve for helping. But you said your favorite color was..."

"Orange." I tell him.

"Oh yeah right, right. OK so you ready Eve?"

I breathe in deeply. "Ready as I'll ever be."

He laughs. "Don't worry It'll be over before you know it." He reassures me.

"I sure hope so." I tell him.

"OK Eve stand still for me."

I stand in place making sure not to move at all. Red breathes and is horn glows a bright red. His horn gets closer to me. Last chance Eve. His horn is inches from my head. Eve c'mon. His horn is now touching my head and I feel a warm sensation going through my body. It feels nice like being wrapped in a very warm blanket. I begin to sweat what if something goes wrong? I breathe in again, be brave Eve be brave. I see a flash of red that only lasts for a split second illuminating the room. But the light fades quickly and Red is standing in front of me smiling.

"Hey Eve open your eyes for me." Red says.

I didn't even realize that my eyes were closed, I probably closed them when the flash of red occurred. I open them slowly letting the light from outside hit my eyes. When my eyes are opened completely Red jumps with joy.

"It worked! It worked!" He yells happily. He looks at my eyes. "Yep orange! Just like the sunset."

"Do you have a mirror?" I ask.

He uses his magic to bring a small mirror to my hoof. I look at myself and sure enough my teal eyes are now a bright, soft orange. They look nice I almost want to keep this color.

"Hey Red?"

"Yeah Eve?"

"Is this permanent?" I ask.

"No, of course not. It's temporary look, just watch your eyes." He says.

I look into the mirror and he's right. In a few seconds my eyes revert to their original teal color. I cant believe I thought this stallion was insane, I cant believe that I even doubted him at all! Red looks at me and smiles, he then throws his hooves on me unexpectedly and whispers. "Thank you." To me.

A Fortiori

I have never once been inside the magic building in our school. The building is large and made of white glossy stone, outside is a large statue of a pony with a long beard looking up at the sky. I think Red told me his name a while ago, umm...oh yeah! Star Swirl the Bearded, that's his name. I trot passed the grand statue and go to the automatic sliding doors where a dark blue unicorn mare stands.

"Hey you." The mare says.

I look back at the blue mare. "Yes?" I ask.

"Your not a unicorn."

Gee really? Is it that obvious? "Ok? What does that matter?" I ask.

The unicorn rolls her pink eyes as if she's talking to an idiot. "It matters because you cant cast spells, so you have no purpose in this building."

"I do have a purpose here, I need to speak to professor Sparkle."

"And why would she want to talk to a earth pony?" She asks.

Wow. I've never once met a racist pony before. Well I guess there is a first time for everything. "Listen I have a spell to deliver to her." I say showing her the piece of parchment.

The unicorn sighs. "Listen. Your not fooling anypony, there is no way a earth pony can make a spell. So get lost." She says glaring at me.

"I didn't make it." I tell her.

"Then who did?"

"You might know him. His name is Red."

She rolls her eyes again. "Oh that guy. He hasn't come to class in a week. What an idiot." She mutters.

At this point I've lost my patience with this mare. Not only did she insult me, but she also insulted Red and that's enough to get me angry. My cheeks begin to feel warm, but I somehow manage to make them turn back to their original pink color. Why am I even going through this for Red? He could just easily waltz right into the building without going through this nonsense.

"Cant I just go in?" I ask trying one last time to reason with her.

"No." She says smirking.

OK that's it! I trot right past her and go to the automatic doors, leading into the building. But...I cant go in something's stopping me. I move back from the doors and look at the unicorn. Her horn is glowing dark blue and the doors are open but there is a force field of blue unicorn magic. I look back at the mare my eyes narrowed.

"Let me in." I hiss at her.

She smirks again. "Nope."

At this point I'm contemplating giving her a hoof to her face. But that could lead to expulsion, so lets not go there. I breathe in attempting to regain my calm attitude, to no avail. I stomp my hoof on the white stone, trying to vent out my anger with this mare. But still I'm angry with her, so what if I'm an earth pony just let me in!

"Racist prick." My though comes out as a mutter but she still hears me.

Her ears perk up. "What was that?"

"Oh nothing." I lie.

"That's right. Just get out of here your wasting your time. And more importantly my time."

"Just let me in." I growl at her.

She giggles. "Nope, I already said you are not going in. Stupid earth pony."

"What was that now?" I hear another voice say.

I look behind the orange force field and there stands professor Sparkle, glaring angrily at the orange unicorn mare. Wow, I've never once in my life seen an alicorn princess in the flesh. I mean I've seen pictures of princess Celestia and her sister Luna. But never in my life have I ever seen an alicorn right before me. Its like she radiates power and authority, the way she stands...proud but also at the same time she seems humble and down to earth.

"I thought I told you that I would not tolerate your attitude towards other ponies Moon." She says looking at the dark blue mare apparently named Moon. "I'm very sorry about this, I've been trying to get her to shape up." She says looking at me with a warm smile. "But apparently she hasn't changed at all." She says looking back at Moon. "Now Moon I demand that you take down the force field this instant." She says to Moon.

"B...but professor." Moon responds nervously.

Professor Sparkle stomps her hoof. "I said take it down." She says sternly.

Moon sighs looking at the ground. "OK." And just like that the blue force field is down.

"And stop loitering around here Moon, don't you have some studying to do?" Professor Sparkle says.

"Yes professor." Moon says trotting away.

"Goodness. Sorry about that dear, I never knew she was still like that. Now what I can I do for you?" She asks.

I show her the parchment. "Well one of your students Red wanted me to give you this." I put it in her hoof. "Its a spell to change ponies eye color."

"Thank you. You can come in if you like." Professor Sparkle says.

I had almost forgotten that the blue force field had been taken down. I quickly enter the building and stand next to the alicorn who is still reading over Red's notes. The interior of the building is large and made of the same white stone that the exterior is made of. All around are purple drapes depicting a unicorn with a glowing horn. And various spell books lay in glass containers, with various hoof written spells. They have spells for everything! Spells for mane growth, spells for good luck, and so on. I'm surprised I'm able to survive without magic.

"This all looks very elaborate." Professor Sparkle says.

"Yes, he has been working on it for a year now." I tell her.

"Well the spell looks like it should work. But I'll send it to the department of magic in Canterlot just to be sure. Who knows maybe Red can make something of himself with this."

"He would love that." I tell her.

She giggles. "Yes I'm sure he would." She smiles at me. "Oh but you may want to tell him that there is a final tomorrow. He wouldn't want to fail that."

"I will professor Sparkle."

"Please call me Twilight."

"I will Twilight." I tell her.

"Good. Now please go do so I have a class to teach in five minutes wouldn't want to be late. Celestia knows what happens when I'm late for something." Twilight says galloping off. The sound of her hooves on the white stone resonating throughout the building.

***

Before I go back to my dorm I decide to go to the bathroom. The bathroom is in the same hallway as our dorm but all the way down to the left. I open the bathroom door and enter. The bathroom is always nice and tidy, the floor is hardwood and the stalls are always kept clean. But I don't plan on peeing instead I go over to the sink and look at myself in the mirror. My purple mane is done in a nice simple braid but I have a few flyaway hairs that need to be put back in order. I begin to do my mane adjusting the little hairs, but they keep coming up.

"Oh what a damn mess." A mare grumbles behind me. "That damn professor." Jeez what's she mad about?

I look into the mirror and see a light yellow pegasus mare in the reflection with a sour expression on her face. In her hoof is a small brown bottle that she drinks from as she goes into one of the stalls. She's probably just some dropout drunk that's mad at the world. I continue to attempt to put my purple mane in order while the mare in the stall continues to talk.

"Who the hell does he think he is?" I hear a gulp. "I know what I'm doing I'm the training psychologist here." Psychologist?

My ears perk up at the word psychologist and I stop trying to fix my hair. Instead I look over at the stall where the mare is at and continue to listen.

"Oh no that could be hazardous!" I hear her yell in a mocking tone. "B.S. its hazardous!" She yells.

The stall door opens and she angrily trots next to me taking another swig from her bottle. She then proceeds to inspect herself in the mirror at the same time making small glances at me. I make eye contact with her a few times. Not too many though she's already in a very bad mood as it is.

"Your in my class huh?" She asks me.

"I'm sorry?" I say.

"I asked if your in my class." She says.

"Um. If you mean professor Trotter's psychology class then yes." I tell her.

"Then I feel sorry for us." She takes another gulp then turns to me. "He's a complete prick." She says, her breath reeking of alcohol.

I cough at the stench of her breath. "Really? He's always been nice to me." I tell her.

"Then your lucky." She says. She puts her hoof out for me to shake. "Names Violet, Violet Hearth."

I take her hoof in mine and shake it feeling very awkward. "I'm Evening Star, you can call me Eve."

"Cool, no way in hell am I calling you Evening Star. So for how long have you been in the horrid class of Mr. Trotter?"

I know he's not a bad teacher but no use in getting Violet mad. "Um, about a year why?"

"Oh Celestia I feel sorry for you." She smirks at her bottle and takes another long drink. "Want some?" She asks.

Never once in my life have I touched a drop of alcohol. I remember when I was just a filly when I said to my dad that I would never drink in fear of becoming like my mom. But I don't want to seem disrespectful so I take the bottle and take a small sip. Wow that stuff is strong the moment that the liquid came in contact with my throat it burned.

"What you never drank before?" She asks.

"Nope." I say trying to get the taste out of my mouth.

"Hmm. So Eve you wanna go do something tomorrow after class?"

I probably shouldn't go with this mare since she'd probably have a bad impact on my studies. But again I don't want to look bad, and maybe Red can tag along too. After all Celestia knows he could use a day outside.

"Sure, but do you mind if my friend tags along?"

"Yes." She says quickly.

Well that was a quick response. "Are you sure he could really use the fresh air." I tell her.

"Not my problem." She says walking to the bathroom door. "If you want to do something just meet me behind the building where they teach magic." She says leaving the bathroom without saying another word.

Well that was. Odd.

***

Soon after the encounter with Violet I went back to the dorm were Red is waiting for me in the desk. He had moved the chair at the desk to face the entryway probably to get the news sooner. Red puts his hooves together excitedly then jumps out of his seat and gallops to me.

"So how did it go!? Did she like it!? Could it be useful to other ponies!? And-"

I put a hoof to stop him from talking. "Red calm down. Yes Twilight liked, and she sent it to the department of magic in Canterlot to be reviewed to see if it'll be useful."

Red's ears go up for a bit, but then droop down. And then his ears perk up again this time they stay perked up.

"So is this good or bad?" He asks.

"Both it all depends on what the department of magic thinks." I tell him.

"Oh...so its like fifty, fifty huh?" He asks.

"Um yes." I say.

"Well I guess that's good."

"Yeah don't worry Red I'm sure they'll like it."

Red smiles. "Thanks Eve." He says. He trots behind me and goes to the bunk bed and rests on the bottom bunk. "Well I might as well relax, no need to let my nerves get the better of me." He says.

Its good to see Red relaxing for once, instead of his constant writing on the desk and the window. He's even run out of space on the desk so now he's writing in the drawers! Well at least he wont be writing anymore notes on my things, not that it matters now anyway. Since the desk is barely recognizable and you can just barely see outside of the window through his notes and diagrams of eyes and notes. Well I may as well get to studying tomorrow I actually have a class so...wait! Almost forgot.

"Hey Red." I say.

"Yeah Eve?"

"Twilight wanted me to tell you that tomorrow you have a final so you'd better be at class tomorrow." I tell him.

"Oh yeah of course. I wont miss class tomorrow."

"So shouldn't you study?" I ask.

He shakes his head, his shaggy mane moving with him. "No need to." He points to his head. "Got it all up here." He says.

"If you say so Red." I respond.

I sure hope he's right I wouldn't want him to fail and not pass. But he should be able to pass I mean he did manage to make a spell that changes ponies eye color. I look back at his notes and smile, yep I'm sure he will pass. After all he is probably one of the smartest stallions in the entire school. Maybe even in all of Equestria.

Fear

Violet never showed up to class today, but I still went to meet her behind the magic building. And sure enough, here she is, standing behind the building, her hooves folded. I trot up next to her and watch the ponies pass by. A few come up in the school's parking lot with their new automobiles. The automobiles are relatively new, being created only two years ago. I really want to get my hooves on one, but they are insanely expensive starting at one hundred thousand bits for the cheapest one!

"Ever wanted one?", Violet asks, looking at the few cars.

"You mean the cars?", I ask.

"Yeah."

"Well yes I would love one, but I don't really have much money," I tell her. And it's true I don't have much money, I'm not really from a high class family. The only reason why I'm here is because I got a scholarship straight out of high school.

"I thought about getting one too," Violet tells me. "But I have the same problem as you. Not enough money."

I nod. "Yep."

"So this Red guy, who is he exactly?", Violet asks looking at me.

"Well a week back I got a new roommate-"

"And that's Red?", She asks, interrupting me.

"Yes. But anyway he's studying ancient and modern magic. And he was working on a spell to change pony's eye color. He tried it on me, and luckily it worked," I tell her. "Though he's a bit odd and very hard to warm up to. He means well," I tell her.

"You didn't have to tell me everything Eve, I just wanted to know who he is." She laughs.

"So Violet, how come you weren't in class today?", I ask.

"Class dulls the mind, closes gateways to originality and creativity," She says calmly. I smile; that's one thing Red and Violet have in common.

We stand there for a few seconds until a hoof taps me from behind. I spin around and see my professor Mr. Trotter standing behind me. He's wearing a button up checkered shirt with a pocket protector. He smiles at me, showing a few laugh lines and various wrinkles due to his advanced age.

"What are you doing behind the magic building by yourself, Eve?" Mr. Trotter asks.

By myself? "No, you don't understand Mr. Trotter you see-"

He puts a hoof up to stop me midsentence and smiles. "No need Eve, your not in trouble I'd never be suspicious of my best student!" He says proudly. He soon looks at a golden watch on his hoof and his brown eyes widen. "Oh my look at the time! I really must be going Eve. Nice speaking to you." He says trotting away.

By myself? What did he mean by "by myself?" I'm clearly accompanied by Violet who is still standing next to me. But I don't blame him he probably just couldn't see her. After all he is about to turn sixty five and he was missing his glasses so probably just a misunderstanding. On account of his bad eyesight.

I look back at Violet and give her a smug smile. "See? He's nice," I tell her.

"Whatever," She says. "You know Eve, I really got to get going," Violet says.

I look at her confused. "But we just started talking," I tell her.

"Yeah, but happy hour is on over at Buck's tavern. Unless you want to come," She offers.

"Maybe tomorrow Violet. But this time you wouldn't mind If I brought Red now would you?", I ask.

She sighs her hooves still folded. "Fine meet me at the tavern tomorrow at five o'clock OK?", She says.

"Of course Violet," I say.

"Good see you tomorrow," She says trotting off into the parking lot.

Oh Celestia what have I gotten myself into?

***

The tavern is made of wood with a large sign with flashing red lights reading, "Buck's Tavern." It took some convincing for Red to come. He had at first refused to come since he was concerned that I might drink too much. But after a few reassuring remarks and a promise to not drink too much, he finally agreed. Outside of the tavern stand two grey ponies, probably guards. We both go to the tavern door where the grey ponies stand looking at us with glaring eyes. When we get to the entrance, the two guards step aside giving us entrance into the bar. Let me just say that I have never once been in a bar before, so I never knew what I was going to see when I entered. Now I'm getting second thoughts about continuing. On the floor two blue pegasi wrestle each other both still (somehow) managing to hold their drinks. We go around the two wrestling ponies and take a seat at the bar on wooden stools. The bartender sees us and quickly trots over. The bartender places his dark brown hoof on the table, revealing a tattoo of a snake going through a skull's eye socket on the side of his hoof.

"Waddya need?" He asks in a gruff voice.

I can see Red shaking a little next to me, but I keep myself together, just barely. "Um what do you have?"

The bartender sighs. "Waddya think?" He motions to the drinks.

"This is a bar so what do you think we sell?", He asks.

What a rude stallion.

"Um...one shot of whisky," I say.

He nods. "And how bout' you red guy?" He says looking over at Red.

"W...whatever sh...she's having," Red stammers.

The bartender laughs at Red's fear and reaches for a brown bottle behind him.

"E...Eve," Red says.

I giggle. "Yeah Red?"

"Could we go I really don't feel safe with this guy. I mean he doesn't seem very-"

"Red please calm down we are going to be fine," I say making eye contact with him.

"B...but-", Red stutters.

"Red c'mon." I say.

He looks at me with a worried expression but eventually he sighs.

"I'm doing this for you Eve," He says barely keeping a grin on his face.

The bartender returns with two shot glasses filled with whisky. The bartender soon after trots away to serve another customer. Red eyes the liquid suspiciously.

"You can't be serious Eve," He says still eyeing the whisky.

"C'mon Red at least just one," I say attempting to make eye contact with him.

"But." He turns to me smiling. "C'mon how about we just study it instead huh?" He asks hopefully.

"Nope, c'mon Red you tried your spell on me so just drink it." I say.

"That was a week ago Eve," He says.

"C'mon...please," I say putting on my best sad face.

Red looks over at me and frowns. He uses his magic, the shot glass going towards his lips.

"Only for you, Eve," He says swallowing the alcohol.

I smile at him and drink from my own glass. The alcohol burns my throat, but I ignore the sensation. For a few seconds me and Red are quiet until.

"Hey...uh bartender!", Red shouts.

"Yeah kid?", The bartender says.

Red slams his shot glass down. "Another one, for my friend too."

The bartender smirks at Red.

"Whatever you say kid," He says pouring more alcohol into our glasses.

The bartender leaves us, and Red uses his magic to raise the glass to his lips.

"Down the hatch," He mutters.

I too drink my whisky. But at this point I think I'm done. I can feel myself getting warmer, so I put the empty shot glass next to Red. I look over at Red whose red cheeks have now turned to a very bright shade of red. His mouth is open, and he looks down at his empty glass. He shakes his head, pulling himself out of his tipsy thoughts. He slams his empty glass on the bar and barely whistles for the bartender to come back.

"Another...another one," He barely gets the words out.

"You sure kid?", The bartender asks, concerned.

Red leans over the bar slowly to the bartender, and they touch each others noses. "What you don't think-" He hiccups. "I can take it?" He asks.

The bartender pulls away from Red.

"Its your funeral kid," He says, pouring more alcohol and putting the glass in Red's hoof.

Red leans back into his regular position and grabs his glass with his hoof and looks over at me.

"Could you believe that guy?", He asks.

He then puts the glass to his lips and drinks all the alcohol in one gulp. He slams the glass on the bar.

"Fgwhat a fhriken prick," He says in a drunken slur.

"Hey Red maybe you want to head back?", I ask, putting my hoof on his shoulder.

He leans away from me slowly.

"Don't grab at me."

He burps. I can smell the alcohol on his breath.

"Do you know who I am?", He asks stupidly.

And just when I thought it couldn't get any worse, he leaps onto his stool and looks around at the crowd of ponies.

"I am Red! The-"

He burps .

"Greatest frickin unicorn that ever lived!!!" And with that he sits back down and looks over at me his eyes half open.

"See sweetheart...everypony loves me."

OK even though Red is my friend, I do not want to get my flank handed to me by other drunken ponies, so I think I'll sneak away to the bathroom just in case things go south. I quickly get off of my bar stool and trot to an area that reads "restrooms." I go around a few fighting ponies who are apparently fighting over who gets the last drink. And head into the bathroom. And if I thought that the tavern lobby was a mess, you wont believe how horrible this place is. The restroom floor is made of old wood with various stains of blood and vomit. And the stalls aren't very well cared for either, out of the three stalls only one will grant its occupant any form of privacy. Since the other stalls have their doors completely ripped off of the hinges. I'm starting to rethink which is the lesser of two evils. Staying in a disgusting dirty bathroom or getting my flank handed to me by drunk ponies. Well I don't have a death wish so might as well make the best of my time in this bathroom. I look at myself in the cracked mirror, most of it is covered in very crude graffiti so I can just barely see myself.

"And that's when I said, blind! Dude your craaaazzyyy." I hear Red ramble on in his drunken stupor outside. Followed by a few giggles.

I'm surprised Red was able to reel in any mares, considering his little quirks.

"Eve!" A voice calls my name.

I turn to the door and see the yellow mare Violet standing at the bathroom's doorway. "Where have you been?" I ask.

Violet pants, "Eve...no time to explain we gotta go, now!" Violet says grabbing my hoof.

I smack her hoof away from mine and glare at her. What in the hay is she talking about? She sounds distraught, as if she's worried for her life. Or possibly both of our lives. "Violet what are you talking about?" I ask felling confused.

"No time we have to go Eve!" She shouts at me.

"I'm not going anywhere until you tell me why your in such a hurry!" I yell back in her face.

Violet looks me straight in the eye, "Eve listen some stallion wearing a black hoodie came up to me asking my name and if I've seen you. I asked him who he was but he didn't answer. So when I refused to tell him my name he pulled out a knife with his magic and tried to stab me!" She says revealing a minor cut on her back leg. "He just barely grazed me, I got away and I knew you'd be here so I flew here as quick as I could." She finishes in one breath.

I put my hoof to my chin. "So what your saying is that there is some unknown stallion in a black hoodie chasing us with a knife with a deep desire to kill. Am I correct?" I ask not believing her sudden claims.

She nods. "Exactly, so c'mon we gotta get out of here before he shows up!" Violet yells frantically.

I laugh, "Violet you cant be serious. Listen you probably had one too many drinks so I think its best that-"

"THIS IS NOT A DISCUSSION! We are leaving now! I don't want you dead Eve." She yells in my face.

"Don't yell at me Violet." I reply sternly, what is wrong with this mare? She doesn't show up at the bar, then all of sudden she just pops up and tells me somepony is after me? This is all happening too fast, it just seems unlikely that somepony would want me dead. I mean what have I ever done to anger another pony? "And what makes you think he wants us dead?" I question her.

She huffs, "Eve I just told you what happened, I even showed you the cut!" She yells pointing to her leg. "Isn't that enough proof for you?" She asks stomping on the ground with her hoof in frustration.

Well if I follow her I'd be able to get away from Red's little scene. So I could just humor her for the time being. "Alright fine I'll go with you." I sigh.

She grabs my hoof. "Good, now c'mon before he finds us." She says puling me out of the bathroom and back into the pandemonium of the tavern.

As Violet pulls me out of the tavern I spare a glance at Red. There he is sitting on the stool, his face a bright red and three mares next to him. He appears to be telling them a story, waving his hooves around in the air with passion. He makes eye contact with me and his mouth forms a stupid looking smile.

"H...hey Eve. Come over here and join us!" He yells motioning to himself and the three other mares with a empty shot glass.

Violet pulls me out of the tavern and I can just barely hear Red yelling for me to come back. I sure do feel bad for him, he's going to have a huge hangover tomorrow. Violet pulls me along, we go through various alleys and side streets all leading us back to the college. The lights are all turned on in the campus making it easy for us to see my dorm building. Violet finally lets go of my hoof when we are in the front of the building, I hope my blood is still running smoothly.

Violet turns to me, "Eve lets go in carefully, he might be in there." She points to the building.

"Violet don't you think your being a little paranoid?" I ask concern in my voice.

"Dammit Eve! I know what I saw! I'm not crazy, please believe me." She says looking into my eyes.

I know she's probably just unraveling but I will try my best to humor her. "Your probably right Violet, lets be careful."

"Good, I knew you'd listen Eve." She replies. "Lets go in." She says going into the building.

I follow behind her rolling my eyes. She is beyond paranoid she's just delusional! She probably just drank a lot before she came to the bar and thought she saw somepony. But oh well, no point in making her more worried then she already is. So I continue with her up the marble stairs and down the long hallway. Until I reach her dorm, the number 177 put in gold on her door.

"Thanks Eve, I just couldn't go alone. I was just well...scared." She admits looking to the floor.

I smile. "Violet we all get scared sometimes, but we just cant let it get to our heads." I tell her.

She looks me in the eyes glaring. "What's that supposed to mean?" She asks.

Uh-oh bad choice of words there Eve, "What do you mean?" I ask playing dumb.

"Don't play dumb Eve, I know what you mean. You think I'm nuts." She says.

"No, Violet listen-"

"Whatever Eve, you'll see just you wait you wont think I'm crazy when he rings your neck!" She yells slamming the door in my face.

"Wait Violet, c'mon." I say knocking on her door, no response.

She probably just needs some time to calm down, she will probably be back to reality tomorrow. I trot back down the various dorms until I reach mine. I pull the key out and open my door, I enter the room and take a seat in the desk. I look out of the window, nopony is out only the various lampposts lighting up the campus. I put my head in my hooves and continue to stare outside, still nopony is out I'm actually kind of hoping for Red to come back. An image of Red lying face down in the tavern comes to my mind. What if he did get beat up by somepony? I begin to get out of my chair subconsciously to go get Red...until I see a silhouette outside. I take a closer look at the figure. I think its a stallion judging by his blocky looking figure, could this be the stallion that Violet thinks she "saw"? Only one way to find out, Violet said that he was wearing a black hoodie so that is the determining factor. I wont believe what she said until I know for sure! I continue watching him, he keeps going on the grass until he goes onto the stone path leading to my building. A feeling of dread washes over me, Violet did say he was after us so...no, no Eve get a hold of yourself! Who knows maybe its just a guard? Yeah, yeah I'm probably right that seems much more realistic than some psychopathic killer after two random mares. I look outside the window again, but...the stallion is gone. I begin to feel hot, where has he gone off to?

He cant just have vanished like that! I take in a deep breath, Eve relax your going to be fine Violet is just trying to scare you don't worry about it. I attempt to control my erratic breathing for a few minutes until I feel calm. Yeah I'm fine no need to worry, I'm going to give Violet hell about this tomorrow. How could she do this? Make me believe there's some killer on the loose! I get out of my seat and fold my hooves, feeling angry that Violet would go this far just to try and get me scared of some killer that doesn't even exist!

Knock-knock

My eyes widen, did I just hear a knock on my door? A million thoughts begin to race in my head about who could be at my door. Its probably just Red who barely got back from he tavern and needs rest. Or maybe its Violet coming to apologize for slamming her door on my face? Or...that killer. I smack shake my head, no this isn't the case! Its most likely Red drunk off of his flank like I said before, but just in case I'll check through the peephole first before letting Red in though. Funny I'm so convinced that its Red and not somepony else.

I trot to the door slowly, one hoof in front of the other each step taking more energy like walking through quicksand. I didn't even realize that I'm at the door now. I raise myself to the peephole and put my eye to it...and its not Red nor Violet. In the peephole is a stallion wearing a black hoodie.

Insanity

I don't sleep. He's at the door. I might die tonight. This is it for me, a short life of nineteen years. I've had it good, a nice school, caring friends. And yet I don't want to die I'm not ready yet, I feel like...I should have already accepted my very possible demise. And yet, I'm not ready. I wasn't made to be slaughtered like a pig by some unknown entity. I feel the sun on my face, its beginning to rise. I feel my eyes closing but I will myself awake, I am not going to die!

I cross over to my saddlebag and pull out my mirror. I've had this since I was just a filly, my dad gave this to me. Or was it my uncle? I forget, that's not the point I know what I'm going to do. I stumble over to my desk, its still covered in Red's notes. I smile at the notes, his tenacity to try to accomplish something so small is refreshing. I look back at the mirror, my reflection looking back at me. My teal eyes are bloodshot from no sleep, and dark circle underlie my eyes. My once well done mane is a mess. How could one night of fear change me so?

Out of purer instinct I raise the mirror and smash it on the desk. The mirror immediately cracks and a small shard of glass falls to the floor. I throw the mirror aside and pick up the glass with my hoof. I look at the glass intently, I see my own teal eye looking back at me. I am not going to die. I squeeze the glass and feel something warm trickle down my hoof and hear a small plip as if water is hitting the floor. I look at my hoof. Blood. I giggle, I almost forgot ponies had that stuff. The crimson liquid of life, its so...thick

Knock, knock. Again he's been there for hours. Hasn't he?

The door, its him. It won't be long now, I have to be ready to kill him if I have to. I slowly creep to the door and look through the peephole. And sure enough there he is...that stallion wearing the same black hoodie that Violet had mentioned. I slowly open the door and sneer, it all ends here.

"We meet face to face." I mutter.

I sneer again and begin laughing, I show him the glass. He backs away a bit and hits the hallway wall behind him. I look at the glass again stained with my blood.

You won't kill me.

And I lunge at him, while looking into his dark blue eyes.

***

To the University of Maressachusetts,

We are sorry to hear about the attack on of your students, Red Flare. We all hope he has a quick recovery from his wounds. Now about your other student Eve. You have requested that she be put in our hospital for treatment. Of course before we could treat her though we ran various tests on her to see what made her attack poor Red. (Celestia bless him) We have come to the conclusion that she has paranoid schizophrenia. Her prognosis is quite grim, considering her actions and how she has plunged deeper into her hallucinations. We have reason to believe that she attacked Red because she thought that he was some stallion that she refers to as "the hooded one." And she rambles on that a mare named Violet can vouch for her. But we have checked your records and have seen no indication of there ever being a Violet. But back to the prognosis, if all goes well we can see a full recovery in seven years. As long as she stays on her medication and goes along with her scheduled counseling. Thank you for bringing this unfortunate to us for help, we are certain that with her treatment and some TLC Evening Star will make a full recovery.

Sincerely,

The Department of Mental Health for Equestria

End Part I

Friend

Part II Red

I never was a fan of hospitals, especially not hospitals that are noisy, like this one. The hospital waiting room is large and various ponies wait like me. Most of them read magazines, or weep to themselves. What a depressing place, nopony belongs here. Especially not my friend. I frown and look at the linoleum floor at my hooves. How could this happen? My friend, gone mad, and all I can do is hope she is getting better. I wish I could do more, I wish I could at least talk to her. But the doctors claim she is dangerous, I know she's not. I know Eve would never hurt me, or anypony for that matter.

Suddenly an image of that early morning comes to me. I had been trying to stumble home, drunk off my flank from the tavern. But when I got there, she was holding a shard of glass and blood was all over her hooves. I tried talking her into dropping the glass, but it was as if she didn't know me, like I was some kind of...monster. I was stabbed three times before the guards came to help me, I was drenched in my own blood, and Eve's blood. The last thing I saw was that pool of blood, and the look of fear and hate on Eve's face, like a caged animal. She longed for freedom with those eyes, freedom from something, and freedom from herself.

"Red Flare?" A voice calls.

I don't say anything but I still walk to the nurse that stands near a white door. "Please follow me sir," She says to me with a smile. I don't smile back, I never understood why people do certain things to convey emotions. She leads me down a white hallway with a mirror showing the parking lot and various buildings. But on the other side are various metal bars locking the "patients" out, but some try to grab at me with their hooves. This seems more like a prison than a hospital.

"Mr. Flare?" The calls to me,

"Yes?" I ask, feeling annoyed.

"Mr. Turner is right through this door." She says, smiling once again.

"Ah...ok." I say, trotting past her and through the wooden door. The nurse says nothing then leaves, closing the door behind her. This office looks nice, its mostly made of pure wood and a few paintings of a beige pony with an hourglass for a cutie mark hang from the red walls. In the center of the room sits a small wooden desk...the same design as Eve's.

"Hello Mr. Flare!" A stallion's voice calls from the desk, "Please take a seat dear friend," He says motioning to the chair facing his desk.

I take a seat and stare at him, waiting for him to say something. But I think I may be making him feel uneasy, I can tell by his fake smile and the way he scratches his brown mane. "Ahem, I don't believe I've introduced myself, my name is Time Turner," He laughs, "but my friends call me Dr. Whooves, so please tell me what I can do for you." He finishes.

Where do I begin? Is Eve OK? What is her prognosis? Are they treating her correctly? Is she fed and watered twenty four seven? My mind reels with questions but I decide to ask the basic question first, "Is...Eve OK?" I ask feeling the emotion of worry which puts my stomach into a tight, uncomfortable knot.

Time Turner swallows, and I can see his adams apple bob around in his throat, "Well Mr. Flare before I can tell you anything you must first see an image of her MRI (magnetic resonance image) and her CT scan." (computed tomography)

I nod, I hope that her scan looks fine. Even though I have no clue what I am hoping to see and what I am hoping not to see. Time Turner dismisses me and begins typing on his computer. Right after he turns it and I see seven images of Eve's brain. I look at the image's feeling confused and Time Turner must notice because, "Mr. Flare as you can see on these images there is a lot of neural activity in her frontal lobe, hippocampus, and her temporal lobes, which is causing her distorted perception on reality. So we have been medicating her with antipsychotics and attempting to give her therapy sessions, daily of course. But sadly they have been of no use, she rambles on that we are trying to keep her here in order to save her for "the hooded one" even our greatest therapists haven't been able to make her see the truth." He sighs and puts his hoof to his mouth, and then he looks outside.

I'm worried. For Eve and for myself, if Eve never recovers then she will never be the same again. Then the only way I can ever remember her by is the distant memory of the tavern. That was the last time I saw her before she lost her mind. Time Turner must notice my pensive state, "I know this is hard for you to take in, and I don't blame you. She is your friend and you care for her, your a great stallion Mr. Flare. You are the only pony who bothered to check up on her."

I feel a twitch at my eyebrow, no visitors? But, "What do you mean I'm the only one that checked on her?"

"I mean what I said, nopony else has come to visit her and your the only one so far. This makes it much harder on the patient Mr. Flare, it makes her think that nopony cares for her," He puts his hoof on my shoulder, "but you came." He smiles.

"Can. Can I...see her?" I blurt out subconsciously.

He shakes his head, "I don't know Mr. Flare I might be putting you in danger, these ponies are-"

SLAM!

I get out of my chair and slam my hoof on his desk, "Listen here Mr. Turner. You may think that Eve is just a way for you to...study. But she is much more than that!" I begin shouting, "She's my friend, not some animal you can leave behind bars like the others I just came across!" I point to the door, where through some glass on the door you can see various hooves flailing about, "I have to see her, its something I have to do," I sigh attempting to recoup myself, "You know that." I finish by taking my hoof off of his desk.

Time Turner looks at his desk and sighs to himself. He reaches into a drawer in his desk and pulls out a walkie talkie. "Um Bulk? Would you mind escorting a red unicorn stallion to ward A room 5 please?" I hear a incomprehensible response, the only thing I can hear is a loud "YEAH!" followed by the walkie talkie turning off. "Please wait a moment Mr. Flare." I nod. After a while a large white pegasus comes in. His appearance scares me, the pegasus is large, and I mean VERY large. His hooves are buff, various veins poke out of his many muscles. His eyes are small and red, they look like they could be cruel, yet they carry a certain kindness with him.

"Mr. Flare this is Bulk Biceps, please follow him and he will take you straight to Ms. Star." He gives us both a curt nod, and I follow Bulk back to the door.

***

This part of the hospital is well lit, many white light bulbs hang from the ceiling and blur my vision. Well maybe its too lit for my tastes. Around me are various white doors, that match the equally white walls. The hallway is quite narrow and the doors have a tiny glass window shaped like a little square. A few of the rooms inhabitants bang on the door, or snarl at me and Bulk through the window. This whole place makes me feel uneasy, it feels wrong the way they seem to treat these ponies like animals.

"We're here." Bulk mutters, he points to a door. It looks vacant. "Mr. Flare you're sure your up for this?"

I cant turn back now, "Yes I'm sure."

Bulk proceeds to take out a small silver key and inserts it into the lock. He looks at me again, questioning my judgment. I nod, he unlocks it. And with a small click *the door opens. The room is completely padded and colored white. There are no windows looking at the outside world, no form of entertainment, no...no nothing. The only thing is a small white bed, with a pink pony sleeping in it. I go into the room but Bulk stops me. "If she's sleeping I can't let you in." He says in a commanding tone.*

"I won't wake her." I tell Bulk.

"You'd better not," He says with a grin, "Hey just take this," He throws me a walkie talkie and I catch it with my hoof, "just press the button and tell me when your ready," He says smiling. I nod and I enter the room while Bulk locks me in the room with a possibly homicidal version of my friend.

***

She sleeps soundly for a long time. Her breathing is steady and unchanging until she wakes up. I feel my face light up and I begin to feel the sensation of joy. I don't approach her just yet instead I watch her, making sure she doesn't wake and attempt to attack me again. But I also stay ready to help her, just in case she falls, or wakes up feeling startled. She begins to get out of her bed but I see that she cannot move out of her bed. The most she can do is put her hooves over her bedside. She doesn't seem bothered by this though, she just looks at her hoof that is chained to the leg of her bed and mutters, "Trapped."

"Eve." I utter her name quietly.

She turns her head quickly and looks at me with her teal eyes. At first she looks angry, and I brace myself for a psychotic break down. But her expression turns to one of relief, "Red...Red, please help me." She begs me pointing to her chain.

I want to comfort her, tell her that I can. That I can end her suffering, but I cant. And with that thought my eyes begin to feel wet, "I...I cant Eve. I wish I could but...but I just cant. But I can talk to you, if you want." I tell her.

She looks at the padded floor and points to a spot on the bed next to her. I slowly take the spot next to her and we both stare at the padded wall in front of us. It must be boring, just staying in a padded white room twenty four hours a day seven days a week. "Why did this happen Red?" Eve asks me, and feel her hoof on my shoulder, "Why? Why? I...I'm scared Red." She whispers to me, I can feel her breath on my face.

"I...I don't know Eve, it...it just happened but I know you didn't mean to attack me but-"

"I never attacked you Red," She turns me to face her, "Your just like the rest of these ponies, saying that I did things I didn't do," her eyes begin to turn red, "I thought you were my friend Red...I would never hurt you."

I know you wouldn't ever hurt anypony Eve but...I even have the scars to prove it. I want to show them to her, just hoping that maybe that could get her back to reality. "I know you wouldn't Eve your not that kind of mare."

"Then why did you accuse me of something I never did?" She asks me.

"I...I don't know," I lie to her, "I haven't slept much...heh," I throw in a fake laugh to make my lie more believable.

She smiles, "Oh. Well you should get on that then. You need your sleep if your going to make more spells."

I smile, its nice to know that she still cares for me, "Yeah, yeah I know but I just needed to visit you." I tell her.

This time Eve doesn't smile, at first her teal eyes scan the room quickly like she's being hunted. And then she brings her muzzle to my ear, "Listen Red I need your help, these ponies are keeping me here to have me ready for...him...so please speak quietly there may be microphones or-"

I cant bear to see hear like this so I stop her, "Eve, Eve please there's no need for that, your fine nopony is watching you. I assure you that-"

She shoves me away from her and backs away from me, and she attempts to get off of the bed, only to be stopped by the chain. Her eyes widen with fear and the dark circles under her eyes become prominent. "HELP! HELP! SOMEPONY HELP! HE'S HERE! HE'S HERE! HELP PLEASE!" I attempt to approach her but she sticks her hoof out at me, "HELP I'M BEING ATTACKED! PLEASE!" She screams for help but nopony comes.

"Eve please I-"

"PLEASE LEAVE ME ALONE!" She screams and tears begin flowing down her cheeks. I too want to cry, but I have to stay strong for her and for myself.

Soon the door opens and Bulk Biceps stands at the door, "C'mon time to go kid." Bulk says to me, ignoring Eve's cry's for help. We both leave the room, Eve's screams slowly subsiding as we go down the hall. And as we trot down the hall I can feel myself screaming as well, begging for my friend to alright.

Home Is Where Your Heart Is

Home Is Where Your Heart Is

I couldn’t stand it. A full year. One full year, and still no progress on Eve. All I’ve gotten were reports on her attempts of suicide and her insulin shock treatments! As if they care for her. To them she’s just an animal for studying. A…a guinea pig! So I did the only thing I could do. I dropped out and took the first train back to Baltimare.

I can’t bear to see her like that. After all I caused this. So, what help am I to her anyway? If she had her mind together I’m pretty sure she’d hate me. I’m a detriment to her. I even decided to live straight now, as in no more harming others for my lousy dreams, and working full time at a restaurant across from my apartment.

It gets lonely from time to time, and since the minimum wage is only six bits I’m barely scraping by. But, I deserve it. I deserve to be alone, to live alone, and to die alone. That’s probably going to be Eve’s fate too. So at least I’m sharing her misery.

The place isn’t that posh either, my parents offered me a place near the nice part of town but I insisted that I wanted a place near the slums. A dingy studio apartment, for a dingy scumbag like myself.

I stumble to the bathroom and look into the cracked mirror, which is still leaking with hard cider from last night. I’m looking at an idiot, a murderer, a deluded dreamer. “You’re an idiot.” I say to my reflection. “You killed her.” I narrow my eyes at myself, “You’re not cut out to be a spell maker. You belong here, with just you, and lots of bottles of hard cider. Wasting your life.”

***

“Jeez Red you aren’t lookin’ too good.” My coworker says to me. He’s a navy blue Pegasus stallion with sharp sulfur yellow eyes and a knack for getting into my business.

“What do you care Lightning?” I say as I wait at the register for the next customer, who was still contemplating his order.

“Well you just look kinda sick is all.” Lightning says.

I narrow my eyes, “Don’t you have some dishes to clean?”

He doesn’t say anything but trots off to the kitchen, leaving me in peace. The day goes on like this for twelve hours. I get a bunch of nice customers then I get that one nuisance of a customer that analyzes your every move and berates you for each and every mistake.

“Hello welcome to Eat n’ Go may I take your ord…mom? Dad?” I say confused. In front of me stand my father, a light orange unicorn stallion with my blue eyes. And my mother a red pegasus mare with light green eyes.

“Hi son.” My dad says, “I would’ve thought that after a few months you would already have moved on from this dump.” Just like my dad, blunt and to the point.

My mom nudges him, “Honey!” She glares at him and he says nothing more, “Red, sweetheart. How have you been?” She asks with a smile.

I sigh half-heartedly, “Great. Everything’s fine. Now if you guys don’t mind I have to cater to the next customer.” I say feeling irritated. They reluctantly move aside and once I’m done move back to their original spot I front of me, “Mom, dad, if you guys want to speak with me you’ll have to wait until my lunch break, and it starts in ten minutes.”

My mom nods, “Ok sweetie.” and she leads my father with her to a nearby booth.

Ugh. What could they want?

***

Well ten minutes fly pretty fast, especially when you’re expecting a dreadful conversation with your parents. I sat down at the booth where my mom and dad should be. Except only my dad is here.

He nods at me, “Hey kiddo.”

I glare at him, “What do you want?”

He looks outside the window, to the thriving metropolis of Baltimare and begins to scratch his graying mane with his hoof, “I…um…heard about what happened son.”

I look down at the table, “Whatever. It doesn’t matter anyway.” I say.

My dad looks to me and reaches for my hoof with his but I pull away. He sighs, “Son you had so much potential. You could’ve made a fortune with your self-invented spells…but-”

I glare at him, right into his stupid green eyes, and “You never cared about my dreams dad. You mocked me. Said I ‘wouldn’t a melt to anything’” I say.

He looks down into his seat and shakes his head, “Listen son. You…you’ve always been a mixed bag. Full of surprises some good and some bad…and I’m sorry for treating you like dirt back then but I-”

I slam my hoof onto the table and the customers turn and stare at us. But I don’t care, “But what!? You wanna take your one and only child to a movie and think everything’s better!? Because it’s too late for that! You just neglected me as a colt, and now you’re trying to make amends so you don’t live with a guilty conscience!” I can feel a lump forming in my throat and my eyes becoming misty, “All I wanted was for you take pride in your son…but no…no being autistic means no love from your father…you…prick.” I barely choke out the last word.

My dad says nothing for a while. Good! Maybe he’ll leave and I’ll never see him again! It’ll do us both some good. But, “Listen son. If I could take all those years back I would. I would spend every hour, every minute, every second with you. But I can’t take those years back, I can’t undo what I did to you son…and…and I’m sorry. But I can’t let my one and only son go down like this. And if you’re not going to accept help then dammit I’m going to help you myself.

I shake my head, tears splashing on the table, “No…no…I don’t deserve help…I-”

I feel my dad grab my hoof but this time I don’t pull away, I let him hang onto me, “I’m not sending you to therapy son if you don’t want to but I need to talk to you.” He looks into my eyes and through my tears I see that his eyes are welling with water too, “I heard about your roommate…um…Eve.”

I wipe away a tear with my hoof, “I gave up dad. It’s hopeless. I’ve given up, even she’s given up.” I say.

He squeezes my hoof, “No son. I can’t let you do that.”

“Why not?” I ask.

“Your mother told me about the way you talked about her from your letters, she was everything to you. ‘Eve this’ ‘Eve that’ that’s all I heard from your mother. And you just throw in the towel?” He says looking sadder than before.

I sigh, “It’s not worth my time. And you know it.” I say, taking my hoof from his.

“Son, life is full of hurdles. This is one of them. You can’t just give up because it’s too hard, you stick it out and care for those you love…you do love her don’t you son?” He asks hopefully.

At the sound of the word love my blood boils and I lumber out of my seat and stand over my father. He looks back up at me hoping for me to say something. Forgiveness maybe but I don’t know because what I said next was me cutting the final string that tied me and my father together, “You’re a crazy old stallion. And you know what? You’re lucky that my fake, whore of a mother is with you. Otherwise you’d be sleeping in a gutter.” I hiss at him. And with that I storm out of the restaurant feeling guiltier than ever before.