The pony mind is an intricate series of firing neurons that control the processes that keep us alive. The one thing that has eluded our best scientists is what makes up the conscious mind, and why are we part of the few species that are graced with this gift. Much research has been done in an attempt at solving this vexing question. But while some consider this to be a gift, but I know first hoof, that it is a load of horse apples.
"...Patient number 24755. Name, Ludovic. Patient displays symptoms of both multiple personality disorder, and paranoid schizophrenia..."
"Hey Alex. Allleex."
"Now Ludovic, how long have you been hearing these voices?"
"Alex, look at him in that coat, he looks ridiculous, it is obviously too big for him."
"Ludovic?"
"Hey Alex you know what you should do?"
No...
"You should totally kill him."
I said no...
"Oh come on, be a guy. I'll give you a cook-"
"Ludovic!" You jump at his shout, but the restraints kept you still.
"I'm sorry, what was the question?"
"How long have you been hearing voices?"
"Its just the one voice."
"Right now at your trial, you said that the voice took over and caused you to kill those ponies, citing the same cause in your previous trials for assault, is that correct?"
"Yes."
"Did he cut me off, ohhh now you have to kill him."
I am not going to kill this doctor.
"Now what do you think triggered this psychotic episode?"
"Wait why am I asking? I'll just take over, like all those other times."
With that a searing hot pain envelopes your skull, as you brake free of the restraints. With a scream of agony and rage, you lunge at the doctor, who remained calm. A sharp pain hits you in the back of the neck, and you slump to the floor.
"Ooo, I should have known they would take certain precautions, see you in the morning Alex."
"Patient is extremely irritable and dangerous, I recommend high dosages of anti-psychotics, and isolation from the other patients..." That is all you hear before the tranquilizers take hold.
"Day two, of isolated observation. The anti-psychotics seem to be effective, the patient seems to be less aggressive, and claims to no longer be bothered by the voice. If he continues to show improvement, he will be removed from isolation, and rejoin the other patients."
"That's great to hear doctor."
"Well you aren't rehabilitated yet, you still have a ways to go."
"Hey Alleex. Long time no see. I've got a surprise for you."
You wake up to the sound of sirens echoing around your padded cell. The heavy metal door had been ripped off its hinges, but your sleep was undisturbed.
What happened, what's going on?
"Based on the sirens, I think it might be a riot, but the damage done to the door might mean something more... sinister. Well? What are you waiting for let's go."
What? Where are we going?
"We're escaping of course, what, did you want to wait for a welcoming party?"
You stand up and try to keep balance on the padded surface. The transition from the soft padding to the cold tile floor is invigorating, and you feel a certain sense of freedom, as you breathe in the cold, recirculated air. After taking in the new environment you notice the bodies of patients, and guards alike strewn across the floor.
"S-STOP RIGHT THERE!" You turn around and come face to face with a guard, using his magic to hold his nightstick.
"Oh my, would you look at that, no tranquilizers. You know what this means."
You don't mean...
"Hmm how long has it been since I got to partake in some ultra violence? It doesn't matter, all I know is that its been too long."
Once again you are greeted by searing pain as you lose control of your body. You rush the guard and easily disarm him, and proceed to bring the nightstick down on his head. You follow his unconscious body to the floor, and continue to hit him. After three hits, the blood begins to flow, and it splatters beautifully through the hall.
ENOUGH! You forcefully regain control of your body.
"Oh god." You fall back on your flanks, and do your best to kick the lifeless body away from you.
"You know it would be much easier if you just did what I told you, Alex. But then I wouldn't be able to enjoy the ultra violence for myself."
get... out... of MY FUCKING HEAD!
"Ooo somepony has learned a big boy word. Now come on, get up, that freedom can't wait forever."
No.
"Come now Alex, either you escape on your own free will, or I force you to leave.
You stand up slowly, wiping what blood that hadn't dried, from your fur. You search the guards' bodies hoping to find a map. When your search prove fruitless, you gingerly step between the bodies as you make your way to the closest exit. As you walk through the door, you notice that you are in a shorter hall with more isolation cells. You hear unintelligible rambling as you walk by one of the doors.
"I would keep your distance from that fellow Alex. He might try to make you kill ponies. Hahahaha, its funny because that's what I do to you."
Shut up.
"Oh you're no fun."
The door at the end of the hall has a sign with the first aid symbol on it, and you begin to get an idea. You enter the room and begin to search through the cabinets.
"Why are we still here? What are you looking for?"
Oh just Hydrogen Peroxide, I don't want to look like a mess. You find the pills you were looking and quickly swallow one.
"Come on Alex, I know when you are lying, wait what was that you just swallowed?"
See you in the morning.
"Goddammit Alex, I'll be back and you will feel my wrath..."
With that your head is silent once more. You take off your straight jacket and put on one of the extra doctor's coats and put as many of the pills as you can in the pockets. You search this room for a map but to no avail. You make your way to the next door and step through
"Hey boys, look, fresh meat hehe."
You start to reconsider taking those pills.
You look at the group of ponies. Most of them still appear to be in their restraints, one of them is strapped to a gurney and is twitching violently.
"Now lets not do anything we might regret." You chuckle nervously as you creep towards the door.
"Sic him boys." Two of his minions charge at you. You kick a nearby cart at them and rush out the door you came in from. Only one follows you, the other pinned underneath the cart. You make your way to the next hall, and navigate around the bodies. You briefly consider hiding in your room, but you realize it isn't a very secure spot. You hear the sound of hooves nearing the door, and with no where else to go you duck inside. The door open and closes quickly followed by a brief period of silence. The silence is broken by low thuds, and you realize that he is checking to make sure you aren't hiding among the bodies. You breathe a sigh of relief, but freeze when the thuds stop.
"Mmm I love caged rat." His voice close to the door. You hug the wall and wait for the inevitable. His head pokes through the door way and you immediately kick at it. Unfazed by the blow he pulls you out of the room and slams you into an adjacent wall. You gasp for air as he slowly walks towards you. You right yourself, when he is just a nose and you kick at his front knee. You recieve a hearty crack in response, and his leg buckles from the loss if support. You stand up and give him a swift kick to the head, ending his cries of agony.
"I say, good show Alex, I guess I have been rubbing off on you after all."
If you had rubbed off on me at all he would be dead, and he isn't.
"I wouldn't be to sure about that." You stare at the body, your horror slowly growing. You reach out hesitantly. Nothing.
Oh...
"Oh as in, oh yes? You felt the rush didn't you? The joy of taking a life?"
What are you doing back?
"You should really learn to read the label next time, one wrong pill, and BOOM your standing in a pool of blood, made from everyone you ever cared about."
Fuck you.
"Hey you were there, the judge said you were the guilty party." You look at the pill bottle. The dosage was significantly less then what you were given before. Your silent contemplation is broken by the sound of hooves nearing the door behind you. With no time to spare you rush toward the other end of the hallway and kick open the door.
"Don't move!" A female voice shouts at you.
"Oh look Alex an innocent bystander, you know what that means." The sharp pain once again hits your brain, and you fight back with all your strength. "WHAT? How dare you deny me my delicious ultra violence." You find the source of the voice. You look at the yellow unicorn her face stern, but her voice was nervous. She wore no clothing, making it impossible to tell if she was a patient or a doctor.
"You have to let me through" You take a step forward, and she adjusts her grip on the device she is holding. The device sparks with electricity, it seemed obvious that it was to incapacitate dangerous individuals, but had now been modified to do much more than stun.
"M-move again, and I can't be blamed for my actions."
"I don't plan to hurt you, i just need to ge-" The door behind you is thrown open and the second lackey leaps on to your back. Your attempts to buck him fail, and he sinks his teeth into your flesh. Biting through the pain you slam backwards into a nearby wall, causing him to lose his grip. You then grab him off of your back and slam him against the open door way, his neck kicks back and his lifeless body falls to the floor.
"Geez Alex you didn't have to kill him, oh wait, you totally did."
"Who the fuck bites someone?" You look at the tufts of orange fur that was ripped from your coat, and kick the lifeless body out of anger. You return your attention to the mare. "Now will you let me through?"
"How do I know you won't do that to me?" She said, her eyes shifting nervously between you and the stallion you just killed.
"You haven't tried to kill me yet." She still seems hesitant, but she soon lowers her weapon. "Does that elevator work?" You motion towards the elevator behind her.
"It should, I didn't want to risk being ambushed so I stayed down here, why do you ask?"
"I'm going to try to find a way out of here." You say, as you press the call button for the elevator.
"Wait, let me come with you, I don't belong here."
"You and me both." The elevator doors open and you both step inside. You look at the panel, the highest floor being b15.
"Why does it only go to b15?"
"Maybe they didn't have elevators when they built those floors." You shrug and you hit the button. You look up at the floor counter. 86, 71 floors to go. You continue to look at the counter, and almost a minute later the number changed.
"Soooo, you come here often?"
"What?" You stare at her confused.
"I'm just trying to make small talk."
"Usually you ask what my name is."
"Well i'm sorry if I like to be different." You both sit there silently for a while.
"Its Ludovic."
"What?"
"That's my name."
"Oh. My name is Buttercup." You try to stifle your laughter, but not very well. "What?"
"Nothing, its just that... your name is stupid."
"Well, your name is stupid." After that you both remain quiet.
So you aren't going to make me kill her?
"Oh my no, you killed two people on your own, I think that's enough headway for this chapter."
Chapter?
"Did I say chapter? I meant day, its kind of hard to concentrate for some reason there is a lot of activity going on in here. Wait, why are you thinking about dirt?"
Oh no reason. Your ear twitches nervously. What am I not allowed to think about dirt?
"No, you can think about whatever you wan... wait why are you thinking about statues now? In fact, it seems like you are trying to avoid thinking about something." Your eyes dart up to the floor counter. "Come on Alex, even if we were at the fifteenth floor, I'm still here." You take a glance at your companion but realize too late that was a mistake. "Oh Alex you dog you."
Shut up.
"Oh my no, I am going to bother you like you wouldn't believe."
Look its been awhile, you know with the whole you making me kill my family, and then being on the lamb for two weeks, and being stuck in here for... I don't even know how long. She is the first person that hasn't drugged me, or that you haven't made me kill, so yeah there might be some anticipation.
"Wait you don't remember how long you have been here?"
I only remember the first few days.
"Strange." You notice that your companion has been concentrating on a corner for awhile now.
"Umm Buttercup, is everything ok?"
"Yes!" She answers, obviously caught off guard. Her eyes dart from you and back to the corner.
"Its not a very good idea to lie, if there is a problem it would be better if I know ahead of time."
"Umm, I may or may not suffer from hallucinations every now and then." She sighs heavily. "Its how I ended up here. When I was young everyone thought I was talking about imaginary friends, but as I grew, many ponies thought I would be hazardous to society, and I was brought here. So how did you end up here?"
"I would rather not talk about." You return your gaze to the counter. B43.
"This is boring come get me when something interesting happens." Youe lie down on the floor not wanting your legs to get tired. The time dragged on and the distance between the floors seemed to grow.
"Ok you seem way to sane to be put in here, there has to be something wrong with you." You sigh heavily.
"I hear a voice, it doesn't tell me to do things it makes me do them. I'm not going to tell you what actions brought me here, but just know, that I didn't want to do it."
"Do you hear it right now?" You shake your head. "Did it have anything to do with what happened down there."
"No, that was mostly anger." She stops asking you questions and once again the elevator car grows silent. You start to whistle softly, trying to stave off boredom, and you recieve a confused look from Buttercup. You stop whistling, and smile trying to play off the situation. Suddenly her stomach rumbles, and she blushes as you fail to hold in your laughter.
"And how is me being hungry, funny?" She asks with a playful glare.
"Umm..." You think for a bit. "Now that you mention it, I'm not sure how its funny."
"Why did you laugh then?" You shrug in response.
"Umm." You try to think of how ask this question without sounding crude. "I know this is a personal question but, when was the last time you... well you know."
"Had sex?" Her face a mixture of disgust and intrigue.
"No." You brace yourself for some form of attack.
"Been through heat?"
"Yes. I'm not trying to take advantage of you, if it happens before we get out of here that could make things slightly more complicated."
"Well..." She pauses to think. "The last time it happened, was about two weeks ago, but it has been happening very often since I have been here. Maybe the constant lighting has something to do with it." You nod in agreement.
"Then we don't have much time, hopefully we can make it the outside, or if not at least somewhere safe." She nods in agreement. There is a sudden ding, and you hopefully look up at the floor counter. "What kind of elevator dings ten floors away from the destination?"
"More importantly, what kind of elevator takes this long to go up 71 floors?"
"I know it feels like we have been in here for hours."
"We have been in here for at least on hour, judging by the time between floors." You groan when you realize the leg you were leaning on has fallen asleep. You try to shake your leg awake, ignoring the tingling sensation. Finally the elevator begins to slow its ascent, and the counter dings again.
"Finally." You sigh. You prepare to leave the elevator but the door doesn't open on its own. "Oh dammit." You walk up to the door and try to pry it open. Seeing that you are having a hard time opening the door, Buttercup helps you pull on one of the doors. The door finally gives and you can see light poking through the crack in the door. Along with this light there is faint heat emanating from the other side. You squeeze your hooves into the crack and do your best to push the two doors apart. Both of them give way, and you are able to see into the other side of the doors but from this vantage point its hard to make out any details. You push the doors open further, and you see the source of the heat. In front of the elevator is a pile of burning mattresses. You look about the room and notice that all the windows and doors are severely damaged.
"Holy crap."
"I immediately regret this decision." Buttercup nods in agreement.