Padded Walls and Smiling Faces

by Blake Winter

Rating: teen
Tags: Slice of Life, Nurse Redheart, Original Character, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Fluttershy
Length: 2636

The day-to-day troubles of being a mental patient.

Patient No.16, formally known as Scarlet Crescent is your average Pegasus. Except the fact that she is clinically insane. She has since been administered into Ponyville's Mental Hospital, possibly the best one in Equestria. Now I'll say this now, this isn't about a crazy doctor, a murderous patient, or horrible treatment procedures. It's just the daily routine of a simple lunatic.

Published 2014-10-10 03:40:06 UTC
Last updated 2015-02-25 17:04:15 UTC

Day 0 - Arrival

I looked around waiting room. Very bland, white walls, pictures of happy ponies and rainbows...

"This place is quite boring, isn't it Dusk?" I asked my friend. He was sitting in front of me, his pearly white, sharp toothed grin ever so clear on his pitch black fur.

"Yes, it is. Why are mental hospitals always so dull?"He chuckled as his body faded away and only his grin and blank white eyes remained. I heard a mare's voice from the left.

"Scarlet Crescent is it? My name is Doctor Redheart, I'll be your ...uh... handler. If you would just follo-" She paused and looked at my 'self-hugging' jacket. "Oh, uh...I'll be right back." She hurried away into a door behind the front desk. Not two seconds later she rolled out a wheelchair. She instructed me to sit in it, which I gladly did, since it was vastly more comfortable than waiting room chairs. I was taken to a metal door with a slide hatch about head level and another at hoof level. I assumed one was for talking and one was for sliding in meals. On it was the number 16. My handler opened the door, it was a padded room of course, just right for the lunatic like me.

"Miss Scarlet, this will be your room. I hope you find it comfortable." Doctor Redheart said as she helped me into the blank, white, room. It was in fact, very comfortable, maybe because all but a few feet of the floor was cushioned. I sat on my haunches and looked around. It was a small room, maybe 10 or so feet wide from both sides. A stack of two mattresses complete with pillows and a blanket sat in the far left corner, a poster of rainbows and happiness in the right. The door closed behind me and nothing but a small metal hatch was left in the now fully padded walls. I looked back to the bed, Dusk was lying in what most ponies would call a sexy pose. I thought nothing of it.

"So Scarlet, how's the new home?" I smiled and scooted my way over to the bed. I took a seat next to him and rested my head on his flank.

"It's quite lovely actually. It's no Palace but I can deal with it." Dusk poofed away into a cloud of black fog. I frowned. He always leaves whenever I want to have a conversation with someone! I hopped onto the bed and grumbled. Nothing to do in this bland room. I could try to smother myself with the pillows, maybe blunt force trauma from the floor padding?

I probably shouldn't be thinking like that, but, I should probably get some sleep, tomorrow feels like it'll be big. Maybe I'll even get a visitor! Hopefully Fluttershy comes along, I do miss her ever so much. I grinned as I climbed onto the pillows and closed my eyes.

Author's Note

So, now begins the silliness of living inside a padded room for who knows long. What fun! Anyways, hope you enjoyed this. Rate/Comment all that jazz.

Day 1

I awoke to a strange silence. No distant conversations, no visitors, no nothing. I sighed as the door opened and Doctor Redheart walked in. She undid my hugging jacket and gave me a daisy sandwich, it was pretty horrible to be honest. But alas, I could't complain. It's the only thing I've eaten for the past couple days. Sadly, after I was finished she put my hugging jacket back on me. I frowned and threw my head onto the pillow.

"I see no point in locking me up in a room, in what way will this help my insanity?" I questioned my handler. She opened her mouth to answer, but closed it and looked at the floor in thought.

"I'm...not sure, but usually it will help if you are secluded for a period of time. Eventually, once you have gained my trust, I will allow you to leave your room." She stood and left my room, thankfully, I don't know why but I just can't stand her. Maybe that's just Dusk's influence. I looked over to a box she left behind.

After struggling to open the damned thing with my mouth it appeared to be...crayons and paper? Huh. Oh well! A box of crayons is better than a box of nothing! I smiled and took out a black one. They were fresh, unused and all around a very nice assortment of colors. I took out a piece of paper and sketched out a rough portrait of Dusk, poorly drawn sadly. I never had that good of an artistic talent. He looked over my shoulder when I was finished and smiled.

"I think it's a spitting image." He chuckled and took out his own crayon, he floated out his own piece of paper and started scribbling on the paper. I sat watching him, excited to what he would create.

He set the crayon back into the box and showed me the paper. I grinned and gave him a hug, well, as good of a hug as I could do with my jacket on.

"Oh thank you Dusk! It's beautiful!" I nearly shouted, he drew me! It was spot on too! I'm not even sure how he did that with a crayon! He patted me on the back and took the drawings and stuck them on the wall next to my bed. I inched my way over to his side and smiled at him. The smile quickly faded because as soon as I looked over he turned into black mist. I lied on the floor, the cushioned surface painfully keeping me from bashing my head in. I struggled to get out of my hug-coat, I couldn't get my hooves out but I loosened the straps on one of my wings. For at least a couple hours I tried to free my wings, just to stretch them out. I did just that, content with my progress I went back to my bed. While I slept I had my normal few dreams, like the one were Dusk was a 'real' pony and he and I were special someponies, the one about me and Fluttershy becoming friends again, that sort of thing. I like those dreams.

Author's Note

I don't have anything clever to say.

Day 2

I awoke to hear another patient screaming. I assumed it was No.15, my next door neighbor. It was definitely a male, maybe a bit girly but that's not really important. I sighed and rolled out of bed. I was met with the soft floor sadly, I was hoping I would fall into a deep well and break free from my pitiful body. I took to rolling around on the floor as a means of excitement. That went as well as you would expect. Not too much longer I heard the door open. It wasn't Doctor Redheart, though, it was somepony else. The 'somepony else' was a stallion, average build, pink coat, red mane. The only thing that caught my eye was his cutie mark, a Pocket Watch. Okay? He cleared his throat and look at me.

"This is Scarlet Crescent correct?"

"Yes....." I rose to my haunches and tilted my head.

"Ah! Good, now, my name is Sych Ology. I will be your therapist for the remainder of your stay here." Doctor Redheart came into my room and helped me onto a wheelchair and took me to a room on the other side of the Hospital. I was put onto a comfy couch-thing in front of an armchair in which Sych Ology sat down in. Redheart left me and the 'therapist' alone.

"So, Miss Crescent, let's begin. What is your full name?"

"Scarlet Dawn Crescent"

"Birthdate?" He scribbled on a notepad.

"December 9th."

"What is your age?" He wrote that down too.

"24."

"Mmhmm, Okay, we will now continue with a couple personal questions." He flipped the notepad to a new page and looked back at me.

"Did you have anything thing bad happen in your foalhood?"

"Nope, regular ol' story. Mom was nice, Dad worked too much, Grandparents spoiled me, etc."

He nodded. "Any friends?"

"Well, there's Fluttershy." He nodded "And Rainbow Dash, Ditzy Doo, Spitfire, a few others I can't be bothered to remember at the moment." He scribbled on his notepad.

"So you were very social?" I nodded. "Okay. So, when did the strange activity begin?" I thought for a moment, legitimately forgetting when Dusk went a bit...strange.

"Um.....around when I turned 16, I think? Something like that. At first I thought it was just Dusk adapting to my age. Turns out he was seriously looney. He started to have an effect on me and well...you can see what happened." I chuckled, Dusk sat on the couch next to me. "Hello Dusk." Sych looked around, trying to find something.

"Er, Dusk?"

"Yes. He's right here." I pointed to the spot where Dusk was. Ology raised an eyebrow.

"Uh, no he's not."

"You sure?"

"Y-yes, very sure." He let out a nervous chuckle. Dusk smiled wide, baring his sharp toothed grin. I couldn't help but grin myself. He made kind of a concerned face and stood up, quickly exiting the room, saying that he was getting Doctor Redheart. A few minutes of silence passed, the door opened and Sych Ology and Redheart walked in.

"Are you completely sure she want you dead? She was just suicidal and had alot of hallucinations, nothing super bad. Never wanted to kill anyppony." He whispered into her ear. She rolled her eyes. "You might be a little looney Ology." He sighed and walked out. Good, I don't think I like him. Redheart put me into the wheelchair and put me back in my room.

I let out a long sigh as I plopped onto the floor. Doctor Redheart fed me another daisy sandwich. Once I was finished she left, leaving me to slam my face into the wall repeatedly. I did this for a good half-an-hour or so. I was about to hit the wall again but everything went black.

....whoops.

Author's Note

I hate myself for the name Sych Ology. I really hate myself. :flutterrage:

Day 3

"So Scarlet, beautiful name by the way, you're from Cloudsdayle?" My friend smiled, twitching his neck like he normally does.

I nodded, "Yup. Right next to the Rainbow Falls." That wasn't entirly true, but I could see it from my balcony.....when I jumped off it....

"Heard it's quite the sight." He smiled at me. I returned the smile, a real smile. I felt warm...

My friend took a sip of the glass of water he had and levitated a couple of hay fries to my mouth, I grabbed them all in one big chomp around the yellowish-green aura. Having a unicorn when you have a straight jacket really helps out. "Thanks Twitch." He smiled and nodded. We sat in silence for a while, occasionally munching on our fries. The room in which we sat was the same dull off-white as any other room in this building. There were askew tables and chairs lying about, a couch and a television. The TV didn't seem to play anything besides a happy, colourful cartoon I wasnt familiar with. Other patients with various conditions sat around, eating, sitting in corners, some were on the floor rolling around. It was sad really.

I heard hoof-clops behind me. I let out a pitiful whimper as Doctor Redheart wheeled me back to my room for bedtime. Twitch gave a shakey wave, presumably as upset as I was. Well, I suppose I made at least one new friend here. Once we reached the door, Redheart pulled out an envelope and put it infront of me to read.

"Look who sent you some mail Scarlet, your good friend Fluttershy!" She smiled. Opening the letter for me. She set it on the bed for me to read, it was the usual 'how are you doing?' type thing, genuinely concerned for my wellbeing, as per the personality of Miss Shy. The letter made me feel better in a way, at least she had not forgotten about me. Though, part of me felt bad that she had to think of me wasting away in here. I was never getting better, I knew that for a fact.

Doctor Redheart said goodbye and left me in the empty room. The drawings were still stuck to the wall, the one of me still overly pretty. I flung myself onto the bed, staring up at the blank ceiling. I don't know how long I lied there. But it must've been a while, I passed out. Tonight seems to be a dreamless one...

Author's Note

Oh my gosh! An update! Yeah sorry guys, I've been sick for the last few weeks.

Dream World

The darkness turned into a pleasant green, I knew this green well, Fluttershy's little garden in the back of her cottage. I looked down, still in the damn straight jacket. Of course, I knew very well that this was just a dream, and I couldn't do anything about it. The garden was bright as ever, flowers blooming and butterflies fluttering. A squirrel ran up and per tech itself on the chair. He nibbled on my leg a bit. I shook my leg so that it would leave, instead it bit a chunk out of my calf.

The squirrel fled, blood flowed from the wound all over the ground. I wanted to scream, but I just couldn't. Most Dreams where I couldn't actually move on my own account, but this one was different. I hopped from the chair and landed on all four of my hooves. The jacket fluttered away, like some sort of weird bird. I trotted around to the front door, smiling at my mended leg.

"Oh, hello Scarlet! Would you care to come in?" I heard Fluttershy's voice come from the door. I entered, and she went into the kitchen to get some tea. When she returned she poured me a cup. Instead of the normal brown-ish color tea normally was, it was an almost pitch black. The longer I stared the more I could make out....Dusk's face?

"W-what?" The cup of 'tea' clattered to the ground, along with myself. The floor have out and I fell into a deep well. The world went muffled as I sank into the watery abyss. I struggled against the water, but it seemed that the straitjacket had returned. My vision started going dark. I couldn't breathe. I couldn't feel. Then.....nothing.

Absolutely nothing.

But then, after the longest time, I heard yelling. I couldn't make out what the yelling was about, or who was the source. There was a sharp sting in my chest, I started breathing again, rapid and shallow. My eyes opened to meet the clean white of the Hospital. I could see shapes of ponies, no details, just vauge shadows.

"Scarlet. Wake up, my lovley." I saw a wide grin on one of the shadows.
"Dusk?"
"No, no, it's Redheart." I regained my vision, Redheart helped me tp my haunches. "You nearly suffocated yourself, what were you doing?"
"I....don't know." I rubbed my head. The jacket was off, how nice.

Hours of questions, asking what I was thinking, why did I do that, etcetera. I beared with the insanity until they allowed me back to my room. They left the jacket off this time. The only thing they did was put a camera in my room. In a weird way, I found comfort in it...

Author's Note

Yeah, these are going to be scattered around the story.

Rate, comment, all that jazz.