Whatever Happened to Pinkie?

Rarity sits at the boutique, brushing her hair, contemplating how to go about researching for Twilight. Pinkie Pie had given her Evening Light's address. She finishes primping and getting herself dressed for the occasion. Rarity recalls a time she spoke to Sweetie Bell about the importance of managing one's appearance. Rarity and Sweetie Bell had met Diamond Tiara's father and didn't want to dress up nice just to impress Diamond Tiara.

"Sweetie Bell dear," she had said. "It is always important to make a good first impression, even with company that is, how shall I say, less ideal." It turned out for the better, too. Filthy Rich is now a client of hers and Diamond Tiara seems to have toned down the bullying a little bit lately.

For this occasion, Rarity is wearing a red and black block stripe dress with a matching scarlet scarf to accessorize. She adjusts a stray hair with her brush, takes one last look in the mirror and confidently nods. "Perfect."

She walks out the door toward Evening Light's address. She looks at the paper that Pinkie gave her. His house is all the way down on the other side of Baker Street, toward the outskirts of town. She trots a relaxed stride, thinking over what to say and how to ask it of him, without coming off as accusatory. In a way, Twilight was right to pick her for this job. It does require a little discretion. She smiles, knowing details and discretion are her specialty.

The town is bustling at this time of day, not too far out from lunchtime, but slowly as she approaches Light's House the noise filters down to a dull hum. There are very few places near him. Light's house is a little plain and quaint. It is a small house with mostly beige painting. The paint in parts of the outside is chipped. The lawn is slightly overgrown, as though it's occasionally paid attention to, but not in the last few weeks. A few old newspapers lie at his door. Rarity looks at the date on one of them. Its dated from about two weeks out. She remembers that paper because Mayor Mare announced a new law that would allow for free dental care for all ponies living in Ponyville. She shrugs and looks to the door, scrunches her muzzle, hesitates for a moment, then knocks on the door.

For a moment, the house is quiet. She waits a few moments more. She knocks again. Nothing. She is about to step out when the door opens.

"Yes?"

"Oh, uh hello, yes, hi!" Rarity scratches her hoof and smiles. "My name is Rarity, and..."

"I know who you are."

"Oh, uh you do?"

"Yeah. You're part of my niece's little entourage. You own that little dress shop, too."

"Yes, the boutique." Rarity intakes a quick, short breath. "Well, yes. Thank you. I'm flattered."

"Oh, no need for that, Miss Rarity. I just like to know my surroundings is all. No need for you to be flattered."

"Oh...well okay then." Rarity smiles. She looks over at the stallion in front of her. She can tell he's older than her, though not elderly by any means. He seems to be middle aged. His fur is coal colored with a bright yellow mane, very course hair. Not kept up very well. Rarity considers asking to help him with it, but controls her impulse. His cutie mark is similar to twilight's but with differences. Like Twilight's, he has a large star, but his does not have other stars around the outside. The star is the same color as his hair. Further from the star is a smaller telescope icon.

"Well, that is a fantastic cutie mark! What do you do?"

Light smirks and gives out a light snort. "That was before I retired. I used to work at an observatory, observe various celestial bodies. Don't really do much of that anymore. I tend to be pretty good at keeping myself busy." He looks right at her. "What can I do for you today, Miss Rarity?"

The question throws her off. It's not what he says, but the way he says it. It comes across as a mixture of politeness, but somehow it feels threatening. She cannot place it, but her body subconsciously shudders.

"Well, yes. I'm calling to ask about your child."

His eyes widen. "My child?"

"Yes...Snails?"

"Oh. Yes."

"How's he doing? There's been some weird things happening lately and Twilight saw how he acted. I heard he was sent to a mental hospital?"

"Oh yes, well he's been under a lot of stress lately. It's difficult enough for a boy his age without having to endure his little...well you know his brain, it doesn't work like most kids, so...The doctors tell me he should be fine and back in a few days. He's making a lot of progress, they tell me."

"Oh, well I'm so happy to hear that!"

"Good. Well, thank you for taking the time to talk, but if you don't..."

"Oh yes, yes, I understand," Rarity sticks her hoof in his door. She hopes it doesn't hurt, but Light catches the door for her. "But I just wanted to know if you knew where the hospital is? We were hoping to visit him to see if he's doing okay."

"Honestly, Rarity, I don't think you need to go to any trouble. He's a pretty tough little colt and he's doing okay. Thank you though."

"Oh no, I insist. I really must be there for him in his time of need."

Light pauses for a moment, raises an eyebrow at Rarity. "I'll be right back," He retreats into his house. A few moments later, he returns with an address. "The hospital closes visiting hours mid afternoon, so I suggest going over there tomorrow. If you leave today, you'll just be wasting your time," He looks her over a little longer. "The hospital doesn't like late night visitors."

Rarity smiles back. "Well thank you so much again, Mr. Light. Do you by chance know where I can meet up with his friend Snips?"

"Afraid not. I suppose his school, but I don't know."

"Okay. Well thank you for your time."

He shoots a quick half-hearted smile, then shuts the door. Rarity breathes. "Well," She shrugs. "That was interesting. I suppose I should talk to Snips."

She turns around and trots over toward Miss Cherilee's school. She spends her time analyzing the conversation between her and Evening Light. He was brief, as though hiding something. He seems polite enough, but something about his tone bothers her, intimidates her, even. She knows to go tonight, despite what Light said. Hopefully, he's wrong. At least the day seems sunny enough. After Rainbow Dash's shenanigans, it is a welcome break. She had read that other pegasi from Cloudsdale were called in to temporarily fix the weather since Dash disappeared. Rarity's thoughts wander over to her, wondering how Dash is faring.

The schoolyard is close by. Rarity trots over to Cherilee with a friendly smile. "Good morning, Miss Cherilee."

"Oh, good morning, Rarity. How are you today?"

"Oh just marvelous. It is such a gorgeous day, do you not agree?"

Cherilee nods and smiles. "Very much so. How can I help you?"

"Well, I was just wondering if you have seen Snails's friend Snips today?"

Cherilee scrunches up her face. "Oh no, I'm afraid he's been out of school the last two days, ever since Snails had his little...episode."

"Is...is Snips okay?"

"Oh, yes, I'm sure of it. He has a note for both instances. If you ask me, he's probably not really sick, but just recovering from what happened to his friend. Those two are so close, and we're all rooting for Snails."

"That's why I'm trying to find Snips. I was planning on visiting the hospital near Canterlot today and wanted to see if he wanted to give Snails a message."

"Oh, well that's awfully thoughtful of you, Rarity," Cherilee smiles. "As luck would have it, we all made Snails a card. We were going to mail it out today, but if you're going there anyway, would you mind if I just gave it to you?"

"Oh, well not at all!"

Cherilee walks with Rarity over to her school desk to retrieve the card. "Here you are, and here is Snips's address. I'm sure it would really cheer him up to know you're going over there to visit him."

"Why thank you so much, dear. I really appreciate everything."

"Oh course."

Rarity sees the address and sees it is over on the other side of town. If she's going to make it to the hospital tonight, she's going to need to hurry. Her trot turns into a quick cantor. Quick enough to get there fast, not so quick as to mess up her perfectly crafted hair.

Rarity knocks on the door.

"Who is it?" she hears muffled on the other side. The door opens.

"Oh, hi! Rarity, is it? What brings you here?"

"Hi there, um, I'm sorry I don't have your name?"

"Lana."

"Yes, Lana. Pleasure to meet you. I'm here to check on your son, Snips, because I was going to visit his little friend Snails in the hospital and wanted to know if there was anything he wanted to say to him."

Lana's eyes bulge with excitement. "Oh, you couldn't have had better timing, Miss Rarity. He's been moping around like a little mopey moper ever since Snails left. Let me go get him." She leaves the door open a crack.

"SNAILS!" She hollers up the stairway. "SNAILS COME DOWN HERE,"

"MOM!" she hears back. "I WANNA BE LEFT ALONE."

"But Snails...I have a special surprise for you..." Lana singsongs.

"I don't wanna surprise, mom."

"Oh I think you'll like this surprise."

"I doubt it, mom."

"Come on, Snails. Only for a moment. You have a visitor."

"MOM! I told you I don't want to see any of the kids from school."

"It's not."

"...It's not? Who is it?"

"Come on down and see."

Lana opens the door and smiles. "I'm so sorry you had to hear that. He can be so stubborn sometimes."

"Oh it's quite alright, darling." Rarity flicks her name back into position. She hears Snips approaching.

"Is it Snails? Is it Snails?"

"Well no, sweetie, it's..."

The door swings open. "Miss Rarity?" His mouth hangs open. "What are you doing here?"

Rarity laughs lightly. "Well...I was going to go pay a visit to your friend Snails, and wanted to know if there was anything you wanted to-"

"Oh boy! Do I!" Snips runs up the stairs and hollers down. "I'll be right back!"

Lana smiles a fake smile. "Lot of energy, that one. Sorry he interrupted you."

Rarity laughs again. "Oh no harm, my sister Sweetie Bell is the same way when she's excited about something. It's just the age."

"I agree."

Snips appears at the door again. "I'm so happy you're going to visit him, Miss Rarity. I've been begging my parents to take me, but they keep having to work and they say it's a long trip." Snips pouts. "I miss him."

Rarity beams a smile over to him. "Well, what would you like me to tell him?"

Snips jumps up. "Yeah! Tell him I miss him and that I can't wait to race him again once he gets back."

"Race him?"

"Yeah! So as a joke, we gave each other pets. I gave him a pet snail named Scissors and he gave me a pair of scissors he found in his dad's kitchen and named it Snaily."

Rarity giggles. "Wonderful."

"Yeah! But the thing is, when Snails left to the hospital, he left Scissors behind. Here."

Snails grabs a small snail and places it in Rarity's hoof. She does her best to stifle a horrified howl.

Lana rolls her eyes. "Snips, you've been keeping that in the house?"

"I had to, momma, I had to hold onto it for Snails."

Rarity squirms as she says it, "Well, it's very sweet and...thoughtful of you to give this to him. I don't suppose you might have a, um jar to place him in so I don't lose him?"

Lana nods. "Of course."

Lana walks off to find the jar. Rarity leans over to Snips. "So, if you don't mind me asking, do you know anything about why Snails did what he did?"

Snips frowns a little. "Naw. I mean, his dad's always been a little weird. Didn't really like you guys much, and Diamond Tiara's been picking on us both quite a bit."

"Yeah," Rarity rolls her eyes. "I know how she can be. Anything happen right before or did he say anything to you?"

Snips rolls his eyes to the upper left. "Hmmm. Well, there was this one thing that's kind of bugged me. Don't know why though."

"What's that?"

"Well, you see a long time ago, Snails told me he was going on a camping trip with his dad. Him and his dad don't do a whole lot of stuff very often. He mostly hangs out with me, so he was super excited. I was kind of sad that he wasn't hanging out with me, but I get it."

"Oh?"

"But see, when he came back, he was really, really quiet. Didn't really say anything for a few days. He spoke to me a little, but not very much, and that's it. I asked him what was wrong and he didn't say anything."

"How long ago was this?"

Snips shrugs. "I guess months ago. I don't really remember."

Months ago. Rarity shudders.

"So, why is this weird now?"

"Well see that's the thing. He told me the day before he freaked, that his dad wanted to do another camping trip this weekend, and Snails was freaking out. Totally opposite of the way he acted last time. He said he told his dad he wasn't going, and his dad got mad at him. Told him he needed to enjoy the wilderness with him or he would be grounded for a week. I've never seen Snails so upset. I mean, you don't know him like I do. He does everything slowly, but he was practically running around in a panic."

"Oh my. Thank you, Snips, for telling me this. I best be off, and I'll be sure to bring, um, Snaily is it?"

"Yeah!"

"Yes. Snaily, over for Snails to keep. I'm sure he'll be very happy to hear from you."

Snips bounces excited. "Gee, Rarity, you think so?"

Rarity nods a single, solid, nod. "Yes."

"Woohoo! Thank you, Rarity! Have fun."

Rarity takes the snail jar. "Thank you for the jar, darling. I'll be sure to return it as soon as I return."

Lana shakes her head no with a look of disgust and mouths the words, "Keep it."

The walking distance from Lana's house to the train station is fortunately not far, as Rarity's hooves begin to ache from all her walking.

"One train to the Canterlot Mental Health Hospital please."

The ticker seller looks at her with a blank, empty face. "Alright. Will you be visiting or staying there?"

Rarity looks at the ticket booth operator with an open mouth. "Excuse me?"

"Yes ma'am, I said will you-"

"Oh I heard you quite alright! I will be visiting, you colt!"

The booth operator's face remains expressionless. "Okay, one round trip ticket."

Rarity fluffs her main, snatches the tickets away and boards the train. "The nerve of some ponies."

She looks to the sun. It's getting a little later in the sky. According to the address written to her by Light, it is about 3 hours away, a little outside of Canterlot. Rarity sighs and sits. Nothing else to do. At least she is able to rest her legs.

"I'm on a train to Canterlot, and I cannot even see the newest fashions, and I am riding on the train with a snail. A snail. And not even a cute one."

She looks at the snail, then back toward the window. "I apologize, little guy. You just don't know how to accessorize, being a snail and all."

She sighs again, thinking over what Snips said about the camping trip. He said months ago, but he didn't say how many months. Snips didn't say where, but what if Pinkie was involved somehow? What if she was a part of the trip? What if that's why she disappeared? But that didn't explain her memory being gone. It didn't explain the dead body in the Everfree forest, and it didn't...well it didn't explain much of anything. Pinkie is still alive. Why did Snails not want to go camping? What happened?

Rarity spends her time watching the trees fly by and rehearsing to herself what she will say to Snails, what she will say to the nurses when she arrives later in the evening than preferred. She enjoys a light dinner on the train, a salad, light dressing, and combs her mane and tail. Even when visiting a mental hospital, she is mindful of her appearance, of the eyes of others.

An hour left on the train, and she naps.

"All arriving, Canterlot Mental Health Hospital!" The conductor shouts it, but Rarity does not move. The conductor sees her sleeping, and approaches. "Miss," He taps her arm. This is your stop, madam."

Rarity shoots up, horrified at the trail of drool left by her on the arm of the seat.

"Oh, I am so sorry, sir."

"No problem. Head on down. Exit's that way."

"Thank you."

Canterlot Mental Health Hospital looms on a high hilltop. The building's exterior looks well enough, if a little dated, but almost appears more like a mansion than a hospital. The only seeming indication to the latter is the glass double doors that automatically open. The building is made from sturdy old oak, built to last for ages. Rarity walks through the door.

"Oh, hello! Welcome to Canterlot Mental Health Hospital. Do you have an appointment?"

"Erhm, no, I don't...I'm here to visit a patient of yours."

The inside of the hospital is nothing like the outside. Everything seems new, and clean. The floors are white tile with tan-painted walls. On the side of the entrance, the receptionist sits behind a desk, and a wide metal door stands nearby.

"Oh? How wonderful!" The receptionist smiles. "Most of our patients don't get too many visitors. Most visitors tend to be a little intimidated. But, you seem okay!"

Rarity puts on a fake smile and half laughs. "Heheh, well I always was a brave one."

"That, you certainly must be." The receptionist smiles back, oblivious to the counterfeit nature of Rarity's smile. "Who are you here to see?"

"Snails."

"Ah! Snails. He just finished his group session according to the schedule here, so he should be open. Let me ring in Doctor Gears."

"Doctor Gears?"

"Yes. The psychologist assigned to Snails's case."

"Oh."

The intercom buzzes loudly. "Doctor Gears? We have a visitor for Snails."

"Oh, wonderful! It'd do the lad some good. Who is it?

"I'm sorry," The receptionist slightly frowns. "I didn't catch your-"

"Rarity." She nods. "A Miss Rarity, sir."

"Alright, well bring her in. I should like to speak briefly with her myself before she speaks with him, if it is alright with her."

The receptionist looks back at Rarity. Rarity nods again. "Of course."

The intercom buzzes and the metal door opens. "Just so you know," the receptionist says, "Visiting hours are until 6, so you have about an hour before we'll need you to leave. We try to get the patients fed and start their bedtime routine, so that's when they get the most troublesome. I'm sure you understand."

Rarity nods and attempts to fake a smile again. The receptionist shoots her smile back. "Good!"

Rarity walks down the hallway. Quiet, calm music plays in the halls. She sees the patients as she walks along and she smiles, a bit nervous. A few stare off into space, a few stare directly at her, and others approach a little closer, trying not to look, but occasionally peeking. Rarity holds her face, but her body shrinks a little, unnerved at the glances she is getting.

A stallion in a white coat and stethoscope approaches her. "Oh hello!" She calls out the distance. "You must be Doctor Gears! Pleasure to make your acquaintance."

The Doctor says nothing and just keeps walking toward her. A few of the patients start to snicker.

Rarity stares down at the tiled floor a few moments and then looks back up. The Doctor continues his quiet approach. "Excuse me. Doctor Gears?"

The Doctor continues to approach Rarity silently. The patients start to laugh a little harder. "What? What is it?" Rarity backs up a few steps. "Doctor...Doctor Gears?"

The stallion stares at Rarity. Rarity stares back, and subconsciously moves her head back a little. The stallion jumps right in front of her and belts out at the top of his lungs, "Figaro! Figaro, figaro, figaroooooooo!"

Rarity jumps backwards. The entire area goes wild. The other people in the ward start laughing at the top of their lungs. "Ha! Doctor Gears!" One of them says. "It never gets old."

"Now, now, break it up, gentlemen. Let's not be rude to our guest."

Rarity spins around and sees an older stallion with grey hair and a white coat, no stethoscope. "I'm sorry if our patients here scared you. They very much quite like that gag. Thought I could get over here in time, but I don't move as quickly as I like anymore." The old stallion smiles, a genuine one. Rarity returns with a genuine smile of her own, perhaps a smile of relief. "Pleased to meet you, I'm Doctor Gears."

"Rarity." She looks back. "So who is that?"

"That is 'Doctor Opera,' though most of the residents here just nickname him Bubbles. He's easier to handle if we let him wear the Doctor coat and stethoscope. What can I say? Sometimes the delusionals can be the most fun around here."

"Yes, haha." Rarity laughs a little nervously. "So, um..."

"Yes, you're here to visit Snails? Are you family?"

"No, uh actually. Closer to friend. I'm doing it for a friend of mine who is a um, well I suppose she's a aunt of his. We didn't find out until recently."

"Well, I'm sure he'll be happy to see you, nonetheless." The doctor smiles.

"So...how is he?"

The doctor leans back and smiles. "Mostly okay, I suppose,"

Rarity furrows her brow. "Mostly?"

"Yes. Well," The doctor's words are clipped and short. "Step into my office please." Under his genuine smile is a slight air of hesitancy, as though not sure who he's dealing with. "He's very quiet. But he's far better than when he came here. We had to use some medicines to calm him. We've got him speaking again. That's a major improvement, but there are certain things he still refuses to talk about. Perhaps you can shine some light on it?"

"What sort of things?"

"Well, for one, he absolutely refuses to talk about his father, or what made him act the way he did the day he was sent here. His symptoms are very similar to that of a trauma patient's."

"His father? You mean, Evening Light?"

"Wha-" The doctor's face pales. "E-Excuse me. What did you just say?"

"Evening Light. Snails father," She watches as the Doctor's eyes dilate. "Why? What's wrong?"

"He...he was a patient here."

Rarity jerks his head back. "What?"

"You didn't know?"

"No. I...just met him today."

The doctor looks out the window. "That explains a lot. He was a rough one, too. This poor colt."

"What do you mean? What happened to Light?"

The doctor grimaces. "I'm afraid I cannot share that with you. Revealing confidential patient information like that could cost me my job. I might never work as a mental health professional again if word of something like that got out. In fact, I may have already crossed that line. I'm sorry. I'm sure you understand, but I simply cannot share information like that."

"Dr. Gears, are you familiar with the circumstances as they were before Snails was brought here?"

"Yes, but I don't see how-"

"I need you to listen to me. It's true that I'm here to visit Snails, but I'm also here because I'm trying to get to the bottom of mystery that could have many innocent ponies lives in danger."

"Nice try."

"Please," Rarity stops him by throwing her hoof in front of his chest. "Please listen to me. The other day, my friend, Princess Twilight Sparkle, was shocked to watch this boy smash his own face onto the ground, and then spit blood on her."

"Wait, you're that Rarity?"

"Yes. Now this colt, Snails has never done anything like this before. Since around that time a few days ago, Ponyville has been going crazy. People have been having nightmares, my friend's dog killed itself by running into a tree over and over. Twilight herself has been having horrible nightmares involving static noises and buzzing and seeing just awful, awful images, and I don't think things are getting better. Even Princess Luna is in a coma."

"Excuse me, did you say buzzing?"

Rarity stops mid rant. Her face drops. "Pardon, but did you hear me just now? I just said Princess Luna is in a coma, and you're worried about buzzing?"

The doctor has a distant look on his face. "I'm sorry. It's...it's just all so coincidental."

Rarity stares at him a moment. "Perhaps not. What happened, doctor?"

The doctor bites his lip, nods left and right. Rarity can see how close he is to breaking. She widens her eyes. "Please? For me?"

Doctor Gears sighs and closes the blinds to his office, speaking in a low voice. He looks around the office like a teenager trying to steal candy at a gas station. "Now, miss Rarity. You listen here. I'm going to share something with you that really ought not be shared. We're talking not just my career on the line here. We're talking scandal. This hospital has done a lot of good, and if word of what I'm talking about gets out, this whole hospital could go under. So I'm trusting you, do you understand?"

Rarity nods a confused nod.

"Good." He holds his hand out. "And I'm only telling you this because I believe you when you say weird things are going on. Truth is, a few weird things have been going on here as well."

Rarity tilts her head back. "What kind of weird things."

The Doctor sighs again. "I'll start at the beginning."

"When I was a new doctor here, years ago, I was not a member of senior staff. I worked with patients, I helped them, but I was not a decision maker. When Evening Light came here, he was temperamental. He was what we call a delusional. His daughter mysteriously disappeared, possibly kidnapped. This was after his wife had passed. As best as I could tell, he loved his daughter as much as anypony could. I don't believe he killed her, but the man was positively convinced that his babysitter had."

Rarity tilts her head. "Babysitter?"

"He used to yell her name, but the mere thought of that babysitter would drive the man to mad fits, thrashing about. We would give him medicine to calm him down, but sometimes that wouldn't be enough. He would bash his head into the walls, find anyway he could to cut himself and then just write her name on the walls over and over."

"Oh my. Why was he so sure it was her?"

"That's what delusionals do. They want an explanation for something they can't explain so badly that they invent one, fight for it, and don't let go until some level of reality shatters the glass forever. In some people, it never happens. When he was more healthy, he would swear to me that he would do anything he could to get revenge on her for murdering his daughter. Those were his best times."

"So he hated Twilight, then?"

"Oh that's right! That's the name. Oh my. I can't believe I never made the connection before. Princess Twilight Sparkle? That Twilight?"

"Yes, my friend."

The doctor's face pales more. "I'm not sure I have the stomach to tell you the rest of this."

"Please, doctor, I need to know."

The doctor pauses for a moment. "Okay, well. One day, Evening Light suddenly begins to improve at a drastic rate. No nightmares, denying his previous delusions, no swearing to kill Twilight, no writing her name in blood. Nothing. It's like overnight he becomes this outstanding, well-adjusted member of society. I and the other doctors in his care see this change. He keeps it up for a solid month. The other doctors meet and they decide to release him. I write that I am against it, and that he still risks a danger to society. In my opinion he was faking it so he can go about his mission of revenge on Twilight, but they ignore me and set him free. To know that he's Snail's father, well, no wonder that boy is the way he is."

Rarity looks toward the door.

"Don't worry," the doctor says. "I'll give you a little extra time with Snails. "

"Thank you," she nods. "Is...there more?"

"No." He says the word a little too shortly. "Nothing more."

"That doesn't sound too scandalous."

"I've changed my mind. I'm not going to tell you about that. It's too awful and it has nothing to do with this."

"Please."

"I'm sorry, miss Rarity, I've already made up my mind."

She snorts and opens the door. "Fine."

The doctor looks sadly at her. "Let me know if he opens up to you at all."

Rarity shuts the door behind her. A nurse quickly approaches her. "He didn't tell you everything, did he?"

Rarity looks over confused. "Why no, but-"

"Go ahead and talk to the boy. I overheard your conversation. When you're done, there's something I want to show you."

She opens the door to Snail's room. "Hey Snails! We have a visitor!"

"Oh goody! Who?" Snails looks over as Rarity enters. "M-Miss Rarity? What are you doing here?"

Rarity beams a large smile. "I brought you something." She pulls the snail out of the jar and tries her best not to scream.

"Scissors!" Snails jumps up and down excitedly. "Oh thank you! Thank you, miss Rarity! Did you talk to Snips? How is he doing?"

"And this is from your classmates," She hands Snails the card.

"Wow. Thanks, Rarity."

"Snails is doing very fine. He misses you."

"I miss him too."

"Have you been well?"

"Yeah. Yeah I have. At least, I feel a little better."

"Oh? Is there anything you'd like to talk to me about?"

Snips. looks down. "Well..."

Rarity leans in. Snails looks away. "No. There's not."

"Snails. Are you sure?"

"Yes."

"Snails, I understand you don't want to talk about things. People I care about have been hurt, and I'm worried about them. I need your help because I don't know why they're getting hurt."

He looks up. "Did...did dad hurt them?"

"I...don't know yet. Do you think he might?"

Snails contorts his face and begins to cry. "Please...Miss Rarity. I don't want to remember. Don't make me remember. Please."

Rarity sits, silent and awkward. She opens her mouth to speak, but shuts it again. "Oh Snails. I don't know what happened, but I promise you everything is going to be okay."

The tears flow more strongly. "No it's not. Dad isn't going to stop. He wants to hurt you too, Miss Rarity. All of you. I like you Rarity. I don't want to hurt you."

"No one said you have to."

"Don't make me go back."

"Snails, I'm so sorry. I don't know what he's done, but anything you can tell me to help, please let me know."

His cries die down to a light sniffle. "Dad, he has imaginary friends. I'm the only one who knows about them. He talks to them when he thinks I'm asleep. They're going to help him hurt her."

"Hurt who, Snails?"

"Twilight!" His crying returns, stronger then ever.

"Hey hey, it's okay, it's okay. We'll stop him, okay?"

"You can't, Miss Rarity. Nopony can. His friends won't let you."

Rarity looks him in the eye. "We'll find a way. Okay?"

His sniffles die down, and finally Snails nods.

"I have to go now, okay? I have to help Twilight."

Snails nods again. Rarity walks out the door. "Miss Rarity?"

"Yes?"

"I'm sorry about Pinkie."

"It's okay, dear," Rarity smiles. The door shuts. "Wait, what?" Rarity does a full spin and is about to reenter the room when the nurse from before stops her. "I'm sorry Miss Rarity, but it seems we're out of time." The nurse lifts her eyes upward to catch her attention.

"Yes one moment, I just need to as-"

She pulls Rarity back. "Please. He needs to rest, and I don't have a lot of time. My shift is ending and if I hang around too long I'll look suspicious. I want to show you something."

The nurse is older, though not quite as old as Doctor Gears seems to be. "It's this way," She leads Rarity down a long hallway towards what looks like a maintenance closet. "Please hurry." She half-whispers it.

Rarity looks around her for signs of anything else. "Are...are you taking me to a maintenance closet?"

"Yes," The nurse walks up to the closet and pulls out a ring of keys. She unlocks it. The door slowly creaks open.

"What's in there?" Rarity asks.

The nurse points. "Take a look,"

"Um...it's empty,"

"Was,"

"Was?"

"It wasn't empty about 6 months ago. It had something very awful in there that I remember from the past. And about six months ago, there was a break in, and someone took it." The nurse look expectantly at Rarity. She returns a confused glance. "Wow," the nurse continues. "Dr. Gears really didn't tell you anything, did he? Okay look, when Evening Light came here, he was very, very manic. He would scream, attack us, attack himself, just anything. It was so awful that our medicines stopped working after a while. Medicine or not, he would power through and be a danger to anypony around him."

"What happened?"

"Well," The nurse nods to the side. "I'm the only pony outside of Dr. Gears who was working around the time it happened. Nopony else here has been around long enough to remember it, but we had to rely on out-of-the-box thinking and alternative methods to calm him in a way that didn't endanger anypony, so we did something...a bit...illegal."

"Illegal? But what could you have possibly done?"

"Well, you know those old electro-therapy devices hospitals would use for their patients?"

"Well, those are so archaic that- You don't mean that-"

The nurse slowly nods. "At the time Evening Light was here, we still used them. It was pretty rare, there were only a few like Light that we used it on, if only because it was the only way to help them stay calm. It did it's job."

"Oh. Oh my?"

"Now, you're not going to run off saying anything, are you? This is still a hospital, and we've put it behind us now. I feel bad to have been part of the whole thing, especially with what happened to Evening Light."

"What happened?"

"One of our new staff who wasn't aware of the machine until a few hours before we decided to tell her, well one day she was assigned to give Light the treatment for the day. She had no idea what she was doing and we instructed her to be quiet about it. We left her with no documentation on how to use the thing. Everypony just thought it was an obvious, evident thing. We strapped him securely and left the room for her to do it. It was no excuse for that level of negligence."

"What did she do?"

"Well, the part where the electrical current goes through, there's two pins, one for each side of the temple. When current runs through it, it's supposed to relax the brain. Maybe she was frazzled, or maybe just that inexperienced, but she accidentally instead stuck the pins in his ears."

"Oh. Oh my." Rarity covers her mouth without realizing it. "I can't begin to imagine how painful that would be. How awful."

The nurse nods some more. "That's around the same time that Light stopped being so wild, stopped thrashing about. At the time, I thought maybe it had somehow accidentally done the trick, accidentally healed him. Maybe he just decided to put aside his anger and work toward something else."

Rarity gulps. "So...it was just stolen about six months ago, you said?"

"Yeah, sounds about right. Maybe a little earlier than that. Why? Have you seen him?"

"Yes. Yes I have. I think it's time I left to go back to my friends."

The nurse nods. "I'll tell Snails you said goodbye."

Rarity sits in her seat at the train, contemplating what to do. She sees the sun fade away in haste, trying to imagine where to go to first when she gets back. She wonders how Celestia is handling raising both the sun and the moon every day. She considers that Celestia used to do that, so it must be no different. The ride is long, winding, and bumpy, but Rarity refuses to fall asleep again. Her friends need her too much. Beauty rest is great, but she has to tell Twilight. She has to find out if she's okay.

It is complete nightfall when Rarity arrives in Ponyville, and she immediately makes a beeline toward Twilight's palace. Something catches her eye. Evening Light's house, the door is open. She pauses, takes a few steps backwards and walks up to the door.

"H-h-hello?" She calls out a safe distance away. She hears nothing. She backs up a few steps. "Oh dear, what do I do? Twilight could be in danger, but then, if I go in, maybe I'll find out something about him, about where he plans to go. What he plans to do."

She hesitates, looks at the house, then over toward the palace. Her instinct tells her there's safety in numbers, but if he is out, this may be her only chance. She rocks back and forth for a few moments. "Oooh," She moans. "Fine." She takes a short, deep breath, and enters Light's House.