A group of ponies walks down a winding rural road. They seem to be bickering about something. I can't think of a better way to introduce them than through a narrative, so that is what you're stuck with. And since I'm the narrator, I can say whatever I want. But we are here to introduce these ponies, and after this you'll never hear from me again. So...I guess this is goodbye. Oh yeah, and the narrator is not responsible for any misrepresentation of OC's personalities. Not in the least. This is all the author's fault. I just wanted to point that out. -camera zooms in on group- "I can't believe we're this late!! Who's idea was it to leave anyway? We should have stayed back in the last town!" said Snow Mark. "Uh, I think it was Dark Shine's," replied Crashsite. "It's not like it would be a problem to travel at night or anything," protested Dark. "For YOU, maybe. The rest of us like to be able to see where we're putting our paws! Or...um...hooves! If Haze hadn't gotten lost at that Science Convention, we wouldn't be late anyways!" complained Tyro. "I didn't get lost... you just couldn't find me..." mumbled Haze. "Hey, look! What's that sign say?" The rest all turned to look at Silver Shield, who had found a large stone block with words carved into it. COMPOS MENTIS INSANITY ASYLUM "Wow! This is named after Dr. Mentis!" said Silver. The rest stared at him blankly. "What? Why are you looking at me like that?" "Well, aren't you going to explain who he is?" asked Lucky impatiently. They had all been traveling together for a while now, being adventurers and such, but that didn't mean they always got along. "You mean you don't know?" asked Silver incredilously. See what I mean? Oh wait, it's me, the narrator! Looks like I'll be joining you after all! "Well, let me think. No. Now...would you please tell us?!" said Snow. "Hmmph. Fine. He's only the most famous Phycologist in Equestria. ...Or close to it. He's famous for his revolutionary method of letting his patients roam free. He believes it helps them, and so far it's not been proven wrong." "That sounds ridiculous. Letting crazy people run around? This guy must be insane himself," said Zephyr. "No, no. They're in a separate facility," said Silver. "The staff and the Doctor live in a separate building. In fact, I bet we could spend the night there!" Spoiler: Situation Here is where you start. Naturally you need to go to the Asylum, but otherwise you can do pretty much anything you want. It's dusk. Late dusk. Very dark. You need to get to sleep soon, so you probably should make haste to get there.
"Well we probably should stop somewhere to rest soon. We should be safe." He paused. "No one here is crazy right." He had a jokeing grin on his face but wasn't sure if the others could see it.
Gives a quick look about his surroundings, he sees that the asylum seems to be the only structure in their vicinity. "I agree with Crashsite, and the Asylum looks as though it's our best chance at the moment. Hey, maybe we'll get to meet one of the patients! That could be interesting, right?" he says with a chuckle, which turns into a full on laugh at Crashsite's remark about having somepony crazy in their group.
Zephyr hovered enthusiastically in front of the rest of the group. His cobalt feathers fluttered through the cold night's air and a wry smile flashed across his face. "Alrighty, I'm convinced. Any longer without some proper sleep and I might end up snapping myself." The smile on his face transformed from a wry one to a more devious form. "Besides, it's not like any of you are scared, are ya?"
"Not really... But maybe it'd be better if we carried on to the next town. It's just that if we found an inn, we'd have a more secured place to stay." Haze looked down the long road, seemingly twisting forever onwards into the distance. It'd be a long walk... But better than here.
Dave gave Haze a rough nudge on the shoulder "Dawww are you... SCARED?" Dave started chuckling to himself.
Silver raised an eyebrow at the antics of his companions. "Well, I for one don't feel like walking another 20 miles in the dark looking for the next place to sleep that isn't a patch of grass. ...And besides, I really want to meet Dr. Mentis!"
"No... But there's no reason for them to not say "Get lost" and throw us out the door. And what if they don't have anywhere for us, or don't want to take us in? Besides, the night's nice..."
Silver looked at Haze to make sure she wasn't joking, and when he'd determined that she wasn't, he said, "......Uh, it couldn't hurt to try, Haze."
"Scared...well.." Tyro answers, reluctantly wondering behind. The scarlet stallion shakes his head, his long, shaggy mane still threatening to render him blind. "It's not so much being scared as being concerned about being surrounded by free-range nutters. A pe, per...pony can probably cause you quite some damage if they think your a rampaging manticor or something?" He looks up and out upon the surrounding hills and trees. They were pretty cut off, what with there being no light sources or even fireflies around to show signs of civilisation. The thick black on all sides made any trees stand out as looming spectres in the moon's gentle luminescence. He was finding it hard to stay on track as he strained his eyes for lit windows. The hope of finding a hotel near by was getting more and more remote. "Maybe we should have turned left rather than right...." He mumbles, looking behind him. Then back that the rest of the group. He sighs and drops his head. "Fine! The Free Range Funny Farm it is but I'm not overly keen on it. Also, if anypony thinks I'm suddenly a Changeling or something, I'm leaving, all right?"
"I'm sure it's perfectly safe," said Silver, already walking down the path to the Asylum. "I mean, the Doctor and his staff practically live here, at least according to what I've read, and the position of the building so far away from any towns doesn't seem to suggest differently. They've survived this long; how dangerous could it be?"
Haze let out a sigh, but she knew that this'd probably be the easiest way. "Okay... I guess we could give it a go."
"If everything does go wrong and we're up to our eyeballs with crazy ponies," Tyro announces over everypony else, "I'm grabbing hold of Zephyr as he flies away." He throws the pegasis he'd just designated his escape plan a cheeky grin. "What? It pays to plan."
With the darkness and his bad eye Crash was having a hard time seeing. 'BAM' Crash walked right into something big and hard. "Oh Celestia My face." He said putting a hoof to his injured nose.
Dark Shine shurgged. "If it does go wrong, then we can always hep eachother escape. In other words, why not go?" Dark looked towards the building infront of him. He wondered how big it was overall...
"I just don't know it's worth the risk... " Haze starred at the building for a few seconds. It was a concrete block, with no windows, and it looked quiet vicious and sinister, a prison keeping only the most dangerous of ponies. She'd have to force herself to go in. "... Let's just go. Can we please just go in? " In the corner of her eye, she saw Crash bounce off the sign they had stood at. "Erm, are you okay?"
Crash looked to haze. "Yeah I'm alright, Just in a little pain." He then added. "And I think I might have broken my nose." He sounded like he had a stuffed nose indicating he was probably right.
