She was only there because her wing was sprained.
Or at least, that's what they kept on telling her.
But deep down, she knew there was more. It had been two months and she had yet to see the light of day.
They didn't want to let her out. They didn't want peaceful and loving Equestria to hear of the horrors taking place within their happy little façade. They wanted to keep them calm, and most of all, happy. To do that they needed the lunatics to stay out-and the secrets to stay in.
She had been watching a young colt that day. He was rough, but cute as a button nonetheless. Still, his playfulness had gotten the best of her left wing, and she struggled as a gladiator not to let the mother on to it. As soon as she was out of the house, she stumbled herself to the hospital, where they regretted to tell her that her Patagial tendon had been torn. Not a huge deal, just a minor surgery and a few days of heavy rest in the Manehatten hospital. A few seconds was all it took for the mare to go from patient- to prisoner. One single glance at a blue pony with stringy white hair sticking in all directions, One second to follow her as the guards took her to the basement. And suddenly, the mare was doomed to a lifetime of confinement.
"Isabella, that's a new pony. I don't know that pony's voice. Isa, I don't like change." The tiny mare spoke in a shattered-self esteemed voice. Her eyes were wide open though completely useless, and the dull off-color pupils seemed to be taking in every candela of light that graces itself upon the surface of her eye. "I am really hearing it, right?" The voice that she spoke in was soft and gentle, with just a bit of confused sprinkled on top.
"Yes, That is a new pony. A mare." Isabella Unsure talked in slow and measured words, even though she knew that the younger pony wasn't hard of hearing- in fact, her hearing was quite advanced considering she had little complications from other senses to distract her. Isa had been the only pony in the Asylum to really reach out to Crystal when she had been dumped here. The poor little thing was terrified, and struggled to get her feet correctly on the ground due to the fact that she couldn't see, and the things that she heard were simply visions of her mind, and not real. Crystal Clear was not only blind- but also was cursed with a terrible case of paranoid Schizophrenia. When Isa had first approached the lightly colored pony, poor Clear could hardly tell that Isa was a real person at all. She just curled in on herself and started to yell for Isa to "Go away and leave me the buck alone!" and "Stop following me".
Clear pulled herself closer to Isa, her wings fluttering a few times in nervous spurts. Isa gave her a small nudge of compassion, before speaking again. "She looks inexperienced. Don't think it's a transfer. Probably doesn't even know what she's in for just yet." Isa clicked her tongue a few times following, and, although Clear couldn't see it, she shook her head. Nothing more unpleasant in the world then watching a new pony be thrown head first into the freezing pool that was 'The Asylum for Wayward Equestrian Mares'. Truth be told, this particular mare seemed quite confident despite an obviously injured wing, and bags of exhaustion under her eyes. Her pastel color scheme would soon be dulled down like the rest of them, and she would no long hold the hope she seemed to carry along with her casted wing.
"Think she'll make it?"
Isa sighed softly, her mature demeanor failing for a small moment. "Probably not. No better than us, anyway." With that, Isa pulled the covers over small Clear using her restricted magic, and curled up outside the blanket next to her. Although being under the blanket would have been something marvelous in the chill of the Asylum, her paranoia of other ponies thinking of her sexually overpowered most of her needs. The cold would pass. The memories that may have been avoided would not. She lay her head back down on her hooves, and closed her eyes.
Everything seemed like it was going to be ok. The parents of the young colt had brought her blueberry muffins to munch on, and the young, pastel Pegasus was curled up in the hospital bed, trying to get as comfortable as she could without hurting her sprained wing. She looked at the plain, analog clock on the wall. It was nearly midnight. She tossed and turned but couldn't seem to catch a wink of sleep. To make matters worse, a dog had started to bark just outside her window. She finished off another blueberry muffin and tried to count sheep. But the barking had turned into howling, and she couldn't even count to fourteen before she would lose her spot and have to start over. Frustrated, she carefully stepped out of bed and put her hooves on the windowsill. A cold autumn breeze sent chills through her. She wondered, what pony would leave a dog out in the cold like this? She looked carefully at all the doors of the houses lit by streetlights, but saw no trace of a dog barking to come inside and share a warm bed with somepony. A shadow of movement made her jump, and the pain in her wing caused her hooves to slip and she landed on the tile floor of her room. She groaned and lifted herself up, shaking her head in confusion. As she carefully peeked around the once again window, she realized everything had gone quiet. She looked around, she could have sworn the movement came from the roof of the hospital, but there seemed to be nothing anymore. In one swift movement, two stallions dressed completely in black flew from one of the windows, and tackled a pony she had moments before thought to be a messy birds nest. The pony let out a yelp once, but was quickly silenced by the stallions as they tied her mouth shut with a cloth. Though she could not see, the seemed to be hurting the poor mare, and she couldn't even make a sound to call for help. The two stallions tied her up and dragged her down the stairwell that lead them to the ground. The Pegasus pony stood silent for a while, worried and fretting. Should she go for help? Should she follow? Her curiosity won the better of her, as it often did, and she cautiously stepped out onto the roof of the hospital. It was perfectly flat where she was walking, but she worried about falling, and was horrified at the thought of tumbling off the ledge and having no wings to save her. The mare and the two stallions were out of sight now, and she couldn't hear them either. She stopped for a minute, still torn about what to do. She looked towards the stairs, which were only a few strides away from her, and then over the ledge. Once again unsure of herself, she turned to look back at her window. Instead of the faint glow of her candle, she was met with sudden bright lights blinding her. She was pinned down, and she screamed as her wing twisted underneath her. Her agonized cries were silence by hooves crushing down on her mouth. She hadn't realized anypony was talking to her, she couldn't concentrate. But when she failed to respond to the accusatory questions of the stallion, she was grabbed and forced into a sitting position, the light still blazing in her eyes.
"I asked," the stallion said impatiently, "what you were doing out here." She squinted and shook her head in confusion. As her sight adapted, she realized there was not only one but three stallions. One holding the flashlight to her face, the other holding her tightly from behind, and the last one, eyes burning with anger, who was asking her the questions.
"Answer me!" He demanded. And the stallion behind her tightened his grip. She yelped and blurted,
"I don't know! Please! My wing is hurt! I heard something out here… A dog… but it was another pony.. a mare…" The stallion talking motioned for her to be released, and she was, much to her relief.
"A barking mare… you're sure? Was there anyone else with her?" She scowled and tenderly touched her wing,
"Yes, I'm sure. There were two other ponies with her.. capturing her it seemed. They were both stallions I believe." He continued to stare at her. Almost as if through her. His eyes were hateful and his eyebrows were knitted together.
"We're sorry for the inconvenience miss. There was an incident here recently. For now, I think we must take… necessary precautions," he spoke without emotion, hardly seeming sorry at all, "I think it would be best if we… moved you… for tonight. Just while the uh… investigation is going on. We wouldn't want to keep you… awake… while you're… healing." The flashlight dropped from her eyes, and the two stallions came to her sides. They seemed a little to close to be escorting her.
"I suppose that's alright… let me go retrieve my things." The Pegasus began to walk towards the hospital rooms, but was cut off by the two of them.
"No need miss…" The head stallion said, "we will have them… delivered to you. Shortly. For now, please come this way." He guided her away from the windows leading into the rooms, and the two guards followed at her flank. She was about to question when a chill silenced her. They headed down the stairwell