Nightmare Night

“What!?” Rarity shouted, getting up from the bed, causing Sweetie Belle to roll off her lap and fall flat on her face. “W-we have…. A BROTHER!?”

“Yes…” Hondo explained.

Immediately Sweetie Belle jumped up, excited. “OH MY CELESTIA!” She shouted, completely forgetting about the distress in her parent’s faces. “I’ve always wanted an older brother! What’s his name? How old is he? Does he like Nightmare Night? What’s his favorite color? Is he a fan of-” Sweetie Belle was cut off by her older sister, who had shoved her hoof into Sweetie’s mouth silencing her.

“Sweetie, I think maybe a more important question is… Why he isn’t here and how come THEY never told us about him” Rarity said, eyeing her two supposedly lovable parents.

“We just didn’t want you to feel bad about what he did.” Cookie explained, letting her head hang. “Just like how we feel. But I’m sure it was only a matter of time till you guys found out. So I guess it’s time you guys know the story of your brother and what he did.”

“What he did?... What exactly are you talking about.” Rarity asked, confused.

Cookie took a deep breath before going on. “Let’s start at the beginning. As I said before, that colt in the pictures is your older brother, Elusive.” Cookie explained.

“Elusive? What a nice name!” Sweetie admitted.

“Elusive was our first and for a while only foal. He was a sweet, little colt. He liked to run around and laugh and sing, all those things.” Cookie explained. “He was our ray of sunshine and he loved us dearly, we were one happy family…. Back when we lived in Canterlot.”

“You two used to live in Canterlot?! But you guys said you two lived in Ponyville your entire lives.” Rarity said.

“You know what this means, right?” Sweetie said. “My class project on my parents lives are WRONG! I’LL HAVE TO GET AN F!”

All three just turned slightly at Sweetie Belle, confused expressions clearly visible on all three. Rarity was the first to speak up.

“Y-yeah, what she said.” Rarity said awkwardly, turning back to face her mother. “So what happened then? What did he do that was so wrong?”

“Well you see, when we lived in Canterlot, we would often go on vacation a lot or go out to eat, just we do now and we always left Elusive with a babysitter.” Cookie explained. “We would always leave him with the same babysitter, a teenage pegasus name Quick Tail.”

“Quick Tail was charming, young pegasus.” Hondo explained. “Always daring, always dashing. But was always really responsible, unlike that rainbow-maned friend of yours. She even dreamed of joining the Wonderbolts, one day.”

“Of course, she must have did something wrong, because something caused Elusive to do something horrible on a night she was babysitting him.” Cookie continued to say. “About 15 years on Nightmare Night, we decided to go out to eat, while we let Quick Tail, take Elusive out trick or treating. Elusive loved Nightmare Night, it was clearly his favorite holiday. It was also a very special day for him, as it was also his birthday.-”

“WOW! He was born on Nightmare Night!?” Sweetie Belle interrupted. “That’s the best day anypony could be born on-” Sweetie was interrupted again, by Rarity jabbing her hoof in her mouth.

“Sorry…” Rarity said. “Continue…”

“However after they both got home after trick or treating, after settling down, Elusive did something horrible to Quick Tail.” Cookie said, looking down, depressingly.

“What did he do?” Sweetie asked, removing her sister’s hoof from her mouth. “Did he not share any of his candy with her, even after she asked nicely?”

“No, something worse. When we finally got home that night we saw our little Elusive sitting on the front porch of the house we used to live in back in Canterlot. But something was off, he just stared at us both as we got came into view, he didn’t run over and hug his parents.” Cookie explained. “But that’s not all, when we got closer we noticed he was covered in this thick, red liquid, we didn’t really know what it was. He also had a knife, but not the fake prop knife he had with his costume, it was one of our kitchen knives, which was also covered in the same stuff. We asked where Quick Tail was, but he didn’t say anything. That was until we went inside and saw a sight that would horror us for the rest of her lives. It was Quick Tail on the couch, caked in the same red stuff Elusive was covered in, only now we knew what it was. Blood, her blood to be exact, her entire body was laced with stab wounds and her left wing was horrible mutilated.”

As Cookie explained he voice began to crack more and more, before eventually breaking out in tears and falling into her husband’s forehooves. “Our son attacked his babysitter with a chef’s knife.”

Rarity and Sweetie Belle stood there completely shocked, their eyes wide, their mouth’s agape. Rarity was the first to speak. “He… He KILLED somepony.”

“Actually…. No, we were able to get Quick Tail to a hospital before she lost too much blood.” Hondo explained, as his wife was starting to calm down. “However, her left wing was so badly damaged, it had to be amputated, she could never fly again. Our son basically ruined a mare’s life and dreams.”

“My Celestia… What happened to him, where is he now?” Rarity asked.

“Was he sent to the moon? Or turned to stone?” Sweetie Belle asked, rather frantically.

“Due to Elusive’s age, he was not imprisoned, he was taken to a mental institution, where they could try to help understand why he did it. But he hasn’t spoken a word since that night.” Cookie explained. “He’s been trapped there ever since, in that cold dark cell they call a room! But I know my baby is innocent. He did that because of us… We never spent enough time with him, he was just angry.”

“So that’s why you never left me home alone…” Rarity said, as she realized. “You two were afraid I’d end up like him.”

Her parents nodded. “After that incident… We received a lot of black lash from neighbors for the monster we created. So we moved here to Ponyville to start a new life.” Hondo explained, before facing his two daughters. “And have new foals we could raise right.”

The two sisters stood shocked at what they were hearing, not only did they have an older brother, something Sweetie has always wanted, but a brother that attacked someone.

“W-wait a minute, what about the mask?” Sweetie asked.

“That was the mask Elusive wore on that Nightmare Night. The guards said they didn’t really need it so they let me have it.” Cookie explained. “It was a little big for him, but he still wore it door to door asking for candy, the night he killed his babysitter, the night the guards came and took my baby! The mask and the pictures are all I I have left to remember him.”

“A mask and pictures YOU were supposed to get rid of, Cookie!” Hondo shouted, letting his wife go. “You just had to hold on to him, now our two daughters are making us spill a horrible secret we’ve kept hidden for nearly 15 years, all because YOU were too forgiving!”

“They have a right to know about their older sibling!” Cookie shouted, breaking up again. “He shouldn’t be kept a secret from them, he was just angry we didn’t spend enough time with him!”

“Angry nothing! That THING is evil!” Honda said, rather angrily.

This angered his wife. “How dare you say that about my son. About OUR son.”

“That THING… Is not my son.” Hondo replied. “He is a monster that was born from the wrong body.”

Rarity was rather shocked upon hearing what her own father was saying. To Rarity, she always knew her father as the kind of stallion who loves his family more than anything in the world and hearing this coming out of his mouth was jarring to her and it made her a little angry.

“That’s a little judgemental of you isn’t it?” Rarity asked, glaring at her father.

“Don’t believe me? Then let me tell you THIS!” Hondo said, angrily stepping forward. “Before we left, Elusive didn’t have a cutie mark, now you all know what the purpose of a cutie mark is for right?”

“It’s a mark of what of what makes us special and shows our unique talent!” Sweetie shouted, standing up. “Ms. Cheerilee told us-”

“WRONG!” Hondo interrupted, completely silencing Sweetie Belle. “It’s a badge. A badge that’s given to show what a pony’s destiny is, of what their meant to become. And when we got home, after seeing Elusive caked in the blood of his own babysitter, we found something else different about Elusive… He got his cutie mark…. A blood-covered kitchen knife. Don’t you see Elusive was destined to become a murderer.”

“That’s ridiculous.” Rarity said.

“Cutie marks never lie!” Hondo said, rather sternly.

“What about YOUR cutie mark?” Cookie said, causing everyone’s attention to turn to her. “Your cutie marks depicts three footballs and you never played that sport, since in college where you first got.”

“All it meant was that I was destined to become a pro athlete.” Hondo said. “And I did, I was the best kicker on the Canterlot Hoofball team.”

“If that’s the case, what isn’t to say that Elusive’s cutie mark could mean something different?” Rarity asked.

“Yeah…” Sweetie Belle chimed in, agreeing with what her sister was saying. “I mean my teacher’s cutie mark is several flowers and she’s not a gardener. A-and I also know this mailmare in ponyville who’s cutie mark is bubbles.”

“See… A cutie mark doesn’t always show the EXACT item for a pony’s destiny.” Rarity pointed out. “I got my cutie mark collecting gems and that’s not the only thing I do for a living.”

“What else could a BLOOD COVERED knife mean?” Hondo asked.

“Uuumm…. Maybe he’s destined to become a great chef.” Sweetie suggested, smiling sheepishly.

“I’ll tell what he’s NOT destined to become. A stallion locked up in a mental asylum for the rest of his life.” Rarity said, standing up and facing her two parents. “Cause as soon as me and Sweetie get to Canterlot, I’m going to the mental asylum, where their keeping my older brother. Come Sweetie let’s go.”

But just when the two were about leave, Cookie spoke up. “He’s not in Canterlot.”

Hondo went wide-eyed. “He’s not?”

Rarity stopped and faced her mother. “He’s not? But you said-”

“Before we moved to Ponyville, I requested the royals guards to have my son transferred here to Ponyville.” Cookie explained. “He’s now residing in the asylum here in Ponyville. I’ve tried to visit him, but they say he’s too dangerous to be in the same room with somepony else!”

“YOU HAD HIM MOVE HERE!?” Hondo shouted at his wife angrily. “THAT’S THE WHOLE REASON WE MOVED HERE! TO GET AWAY FROM HIM! YOU STUPID BITCH!”

Rarity and Sweetie Belle gasped at what they heard. They never thought they’d hear their own father use that word, let alone to their mother. The two decided to leave quickly, as Hondo continued to yell and Cookie started crying.

They grabbed their stuff and Sweetie’s cheerleader outfit and headed out the door.

==================================================================

After getting directions, the two sisters came up towards their destination. The Ponyville Mental Health Facility, the place where their brother was being kept.

The building was what you’d expect for a mental asylum, it a tall, wide and white building, with several windows on the front and a large metal gate surrounding the building. The building casted a very shallow somber feeling with it’s bland gray coloring and shady atmosphere, a huge contrast to the rest of the colorful and inviting houses in Ponyville, even the regular hospital casted more charm and light, then the asylum.

“This place looks rather depressing.” Rarity said, as the two walked through the gate.

“For once, you’re not exaggerating.” Sweetie Belle admitted, as the two went inside.

The inside of the asylum, had a little bit more color than the outside, but it was still rather bland. The front desk was a bit different than the one she saw at the hospital, there was a giant window separating her from the rest of the front room, with a little hole at the bottom, allowing just enough room to put a hoof through it.

Rarity went up to the front of the desk, there she saw the nurse who was busy signing papers and putting them in files. The nurse in question, was a buttercream earth pony, with a short, lilac mane and bright lime colored eyes. Her cutie mark was a thermometer, with the heat really high on it. She wore a traditional white nurse uniform and hat and looked really tired and stressed out, this was evident by the bags under her eyes and her mane being rather frazzy. While looking at the papers on the desk, Rarity also saw an ashtray, with a lit cigarette in it. You’re allowed to smoke in a mental hospital?

Rarity tapped on the counter to get her attention. The mare turned her head to face Rarity and immediately put a warming smile on her face. “Welcome to the Ponyville Mental Health Facility. What can I do for you?” She asked.

“My name is Rarity Belle and I’m here to see somepony.” Rarity explained.

“Alright, who are you too see.” The nurse said, opening up a book of patients and searching through it.

“A unicorn by the name of Elusive Belle.” Rarity explained.

The nurse froze as soon as she heard Rarity say those words. “I-I’m sorry… It sounded like the pony you wanted to see was…. THAT guy.” She stuttered.

Rarity was confused. “Who? Elusive?” Rarity asked.

“YES!” The nurse shouted, before quickly calming down and taking a puff of her cigarette. “Look I don’t know what kind of ‘challenges’ you teenagers are doing these days, but that THING is off limits.”

“It’s not a dare.” Rarity explained. “I just found out today that he’s my brother and I want to see him.”

“I don’t care if you’re his GUARDIAN ANGEL.” The nurse said. “You can’t see him and that’s-”

“Actually… I think we can make an exception, Nurse Temp.” A voice said.

Rarity, Sweetie (Who had spent most of the time reading a magazine in the waiting room) and the afore-mentioned Nurse Temp turned to face the stallion who said it.

It was from none-other than the old unicorn stallion wearing a brown coat. He approached Rarity, as Sweetie ran up.

“If I did not hear correctly, I think you mentioned something about you two being the younger siblings of Elusive Belle.” He asked.

“Yes I’m Rarity Belle and this is my younger sister Sweetie Belle.” Rarity explained, jestering towards Sweetie. “And you are?....”

“I’m Dr. Minds Eye. Specializer in mental health and medicine.” The old stallion replied. “I’ve worked here at this asylum for almost 25 years. I’m Elusive’s psychiatrist.”

“Psychiatrist? That’s means you can take us to see him right?” Sweetie asked, rather excited.

“Yes… I can take you to his room, but I can’t let you be in the same room with him.” Dr. Minds Eye explained, in his monotoned voice. “He’s prohibited to be around anypony else.”

“Okay let’s go.” Rarity said, as they headed off. ‘He’s not very emotional.’ Rarity thought. ‘He reminds me of Pinkie’s sister.’

The three ponies walked down the hallway. The walls were lined with several rooms for patients, the doors had windows on the front and the inside of each room didn’t look to bad either. Rarity expected the conditions of this hospital to be horrible, but in actuality it was no different than a college dorm.

“Wow… I thought this place we be a lot more….. Creepy.” Sweetie said, looking around. “Like how it’s described in all the horror novels I read.”

“Don’t believe everything you read.” Dr. Minds Eye explained.

“So anyway, can you tell us about Elusive? Did he really attack somepony?” Rarity asked.

“Yes… It was October 31, the year 2000 when it happened.” Dr. Minds Eye explained. “His babysitter Quick Tail, age 18 at the time, was attacked by 6-year-old Elusive Belle. She had miraculously survived 12 stab wounds, that narrowly missed any major arteries, the doctors said she was lucky to survive.”

“Was she treating him badly?” Rarity asked.

“During her recovery she was interviewed.” Dr. Minds Eye explained. “She said that after taking Elusive home from trick-or-treating, at around 9:00, she let Elusive run off to do his own stuff, she specifically stated she didn’t notice any signs of rebel or anger in the child. She laid down on the couch for nap and around 10:30, she awoke to see Elusive standing on top of her holding a large chef’s knife in his magic aura, before he brought it down and stabbed her multiple times. At around 11:00 the parents arrived home and she was taken in, they were thankfully able to seal her wound before she lost too much blood, but her left wing was too badly damaged it could not be saved.”

Rarity and Sweetie gasped at what they heard, despite the fact they already new, it was a lot scarier hearing it in full detail.

"However though... There was something else to the story. A part she left out for several reasons." Dr. Minds Eye explained. Rarity and Sweetie were confused. "You see, I wanted to get the full story so I asked any neighbor testimonies about what happened that night and I found out there was actually someone else there that night."

"Who!?" Rarity asked, now more interested.

"Yeah who?" Sweetie Belle asked.

"It's best if you cover the filly's ears she wouldn't want to hear this." Dr. Minds Eye explained, Rarity did as she was told put her forehooves over Sweetie Belle's ears, much to her annoyance. "The pony she invited was Fast Blast, 19-year old pegasus and girlfriend of Quick Tail. He told me what really happned that night." Dr. Minds Eye explained. "Turns out Quick Tail lied, what really happened was that after she took Elusive home, she procedded to start having.... revollations with her boyfriend who she had invited earlier."

Rarity was shocked and also a little bit disgusted. "What kind of babysitter invites their boyfriend while she's working?"

Dr. Minds Eye continued talking. "After they finished, at around 10:30, Fast Blast had to leave before Elusive's parents came home. He was lucky enough to leave and not witness the horrifying accident that occured."

Rarity was completely lost for words, a babysitter, a pony parents trust to look after their child, invited her boyfriend so they could have sex. Was that why he did it? Did Elusive witness the whole thing and thought something was wrong? She would have kept on thinking only for Sweetie Belle to interrupt her thougts.

"What's happening? What is he saying?" Sweetie Belle asked, Rarity realized she was still covering Sweetie Belle's ears, so she propmptly removed them. Sweetie Belle then turned to face Rarity "Who did she invite?"

Rarity spoke up. "I can't exactlly tell you. You're too young to really understand."

Sweetie Belle then turned to face Dr. Minds Eye. "Then can you at least tell me what happened to Quick Tail."

Dr. Minds Eye looked down. "Unfortunatly she wasn't abled to cobe with her loss of the ability to fly, to she prompty took her own life."

For the 3rd time that day, Rarity and Sweetie Belle let out a horrified gasp. Rarity spoke up. “Then why did he do it? Was there something wrong with him? Our parents believed it was because they didn’t spend enough time with him.”

“According to his medical records, he was never diagnosed with any mental illnesses or health problems.” The psychiatrist explained, his expression never changing. “Of course it is possible to develop a mental illness at any point in life, but I highly doubt something as severe to make somepony do THAT, could’ve been caused by a lack of parental attention.”

As the 3 were about to round a corner, suddenly a stallion jumped out in front of them. His face was completely concealed by a pair of dark goggles, a face mask and reflector light on top of his head. He also wore a black doctor’s smock and dark black gloves. In his right hoof he was carrying a surgical drill that he activated, while making a horrifying scream noise.”

The 3 jumped back in fear, with Minds Eye grabbing his heart as if it was about to stop.

Suddenly, the masked stallion started laughing. “Ha-ha, Oh man! I got you guys GOOD!” He said, while continuing to laugh. From that voice alone, Minds Eye easily recognized who it belonged to.

“For Faust’s sake! Nurse Scalp! You almost gave me a heart attack!” Dr. Minds Eye shouted angrily, as the aptly named Nurse Scalp removed his mask and goggles.

Nurse Scalp was a pegasus stallion, with short, curly, brown hair. His eyes were a nice neon yellow that really complimented his electric blue coat. He wore light blue scrubs under his black smock, that hid his scalpel cutie mark.

“Oh come on! It's Nightmare Night! Everypony’s entitled for a good scare.” Scalp laughed.

“That scare was not good, you brute!” Rarity said, seeming to be just as angry.

“Are you kidding me? That was great!” Sweetie Belle said, who actually seemed happy about being scared, running up to give the older stallion a high five. “You have got to give me tips for this Nightmare Night!”

“Well, at least SOMEPONY gets it.” Nurse Scalp explained. “Anyway, I got more important stuff to deal with, like talking to a certain front desk nurse. LATER!”

Nurse Scalp was about to leave, only to be stopped by Dr. Minds Eye. “Nurse Scalp before you go and fail at talking to Nurse Temp again, did you empty all those bed pans like I asked?”

“Uh… Well… Most of them…” Nurse Scalp stuttered.

Dr. Minds Eye just stood there, waiting for his answer.

“FINE!” Nurse Scalp groaned, as he turned around went back down the hallway.

After he left, Rarity turned to face the doctor. “How did HE end up working here?” She asked.

“I couldn’t tell you myself.” Dr. Minds Eye said, as the 3 progressed down the hallway.

As the 3 continued walking they eventually came to a hallway that also had a set of doors, although these were quite different from the other doors, they were thinner and had no windows, just these weird mail slots on them, with covers. There the three saw 2 ponies talking, one of them was Nurse Stretch and the other was another mare.

This mare was a lavender earth pony, with purple and white curly hair and eyes the same shade of purple as her hair. She wore a white doctor’s coat, instead of scrubs, which revealed her cutie mark to be a metal screw and a baseball.

As the three approached, Nurse Stretch quickly took notice and turned to face the three. “Dr. Minds Eye, I’ve been meaning to ask-” Nurse Stretch started, before he took notice of the other 2 ponies standing near him. More specifically the older of the two mares Rarity, taking in how beautiful the mare looked. He blushed. “Uh… W-who are these two?”

“I’m Rarity Belle.” Rarity explained, before pointing to her younger sister. “And this is Sweetie Belle.”

“Hi!” Sweetie Belle said, waving.

“I… I’m Stretch…” The nurse said, completely lost in Rarity’s stunningly, beautiful, sapphire colored eyes.

“Wait… Did you say your last name was Belle?” The other mare said, snapping Nurse Stretch back into reality. “You aren’t by chance related to…..”

“If you’re referring to Elusive, then yes.” Rarity explained. “Me and Sweetie just found out he’s our older brother.”

“Wait a minute...” Nurse Stretch said, finally recognizing the mare. “You’re one of the Elements of Harmony! You save Equestria like a dozen times.”

“That’s my sister!” Sweetie Belle said, jumping into the conversation.

“Anyway… These two apparently want to see their… *groan* Older brother.” Dr. Minds Eye explained.

“Oh… So NOW you're referring the patient as an actual pony.” Nurse Stretch replied. “So what made you decide to finally allow family to see him? Did your heart finally grow 3 times today?”

Dr. Minds Eye simply groaned. “No… I believe maybe showing them to Elusive will finally make him break silence and get a reaction out of him, so I can finally advance in my study of him.”

“Typical Minds Eye…” The new mare sighed. “Only doing favors if you find a way to benefit from it.”

“Watch it Dr. Screwball.” Dr. Minds Eye said, glaring towards the mare in question.

Upon hearing her name, Sweetie instantly remembered the mare. “Hey wait a minute… I’ve seen you before!” Sweetie said. “It was during the time Discord took over. Your eyes were all swirly and you didn’t talk you only made those weird noises.”

Dr. Screwball chuckled. “Well I WAS under Discord’s magic and you tend to act quite differently while under those effects.”

“Ok I think we wasted enough time, shall we proceed?” Dr. Minds Eye asked.

“Oh sure! I can take you right to him.” Dr. Screwball explained, as she turned and walked down the hall. “You know I too have a sibling who’s a patient here.”

As the rest followed her down, Rarity was stopped by Nurse Stretch. “Oh hey I was wondering…. Would you mind if I took you out somewhere…. Like a restaurant?” He asked rather awkwardly.

Rarity was a bit surprised by this, before replying. “Oh… I would, but I’m leaving for Canterlot for about a week. Maybe when I get back.”

“Oh…. Okay.” Nurse Stretch said, before turning and walking down the hall.

==================================================================

The 4 ponies eventually came a door, at the end of the long hallway. It seems the light on the far end was running low on power, because it was a lot dimmer than all the rest, making the end of the hallway look rather creepy.

“Okay this is it. The cell containing, patient #312578, aka Elusive Belle.” Dr. Screwball said, motioning to the last door they were at the end of the hallway.

Like the rest it did not have a window, just a mailslot, that could open and close. It didn’t look anything like a college dorm, it looked more like a prison cell.

“This is his room?” Sweetie asked.

“Yes.” Dr. Screwball replied blankly. “He spends every day just sitting in there.”

“It looks rather…… Garish.” Sweetie Belle said, using a word she thought she’d never use in context.

“But you let him out, you know to discuss his problems… Right?” Rarity asked, turning to face Dr. Screwball.

“Afraid not, apparently I’m obligated to only open this door to deliver his food and collect his… waste.” Dr. Screwball explained, turning to face Dr. Minds Eye with a glare. “Apparently we abandon the idea of finding out why he did it.”

“I’ve tried to get that colt to talk for years.” Dr. Minds Eye explained. “I’ve been working at this place for almost 25 years and 15 of those have been spent studying this one patient alone. I’ve been obsessed with him for a while, until I eventually gave up. I’m afraid all we could do now is keep him locked up.”

“Why though?” Dr. Screwball asked. “All he does in there, is sit in a corner and stare at the wall. He hasn’t done anything violent or showed any signs of relent, since that night.”

As the two continued talking, Rarity took notice of something. Beside the door to Elusive’s cell, there was a speaker, with one pushable button next to a small LED light, attached to the wall.

“What’s this?” Rarity asked pointing to the speaker.

“Oh thanks for reminding me. This is a speaker that allows anyone to speak to the patient outside the room.” Dr. Minds Eye explained. “I’m hoping that finding out his parents had more children, he will finally show something…… Pony.”

“Can I see him first?” Rarity asked.

Dr. Minds Eye approached the door and unhatched the mailslot, before sliding it open, illuminating the inside of the room slightly. Rarity then approached and looked through the mailslot. She saw a figure sitting in the corner of the room, unmoving, with his head facing the wall. There was no doubt it had to have been her long lost brother, even though she couldn’t see much of him, she was still amazed that she was seeing him in person. She wondered if he looks any different than he did in the photos they found of him, but unfortunately she couldn’t see anything other than the outline of his body. But while she was noticing body outlines, she noticed that for a unicorn, he was a tad more more bulky than an average unicorn.

“Looks like he’s put on a few pounds.” Rarity said, pulling her eyes away.

“That’s not fat, it's muscle.” Dr. Minds Eye explained. “Despite being a male unicorn, his build is more similar to that of a female earth pony.”

“Can I have a look?” Sweetie Belle asked.

Rarity levitated Sweetie Belle up to the open mailslot to look into. Sweetie Belle looked and saw her older brother. Sweetie could not believe what she was seeing, she DID have a brother. Something that she’s always wanted.

“Hi big bro!’ Sweetie Belle shouted, waving her hoof, trying to get his attention.

“He can’t hear you, remember?” Dr. Minds Eye replied, before turning to Rarity. “Okay Rarity, are you ready to speak to him?”

“Okay…” Rarity said, as she approached the speaker.

“Just hold down the button and talk.” Dr. Screwball explained.

Rarity pushed down on the button and the LED light glowed red, signaling that the speaker was activated. Dr. Minds Eye then took position, looking into the mail slot to watch Elusive’s reaction.

Rarity started speaking. “Um… Hello?”.

Elusive suddenly started lifting his head slowly.

“He lifted his head. That doesn’t usually happen when we talk to him. He must not recognize your voice.” Dr. Minds Eye explained.

Rarity then looked back towards the speakers before continuing to speak. “Um… Hi Elusive…. It’s nice to meet you…. My name is… Rarity Belle.” Suddenly Elusive quickly lifted his entire head up, upon hearing his last name on somebody else.

“It’s working… Keep going.” Dr. Minds Eye explained, emotion starting to appear in his voice.

“I’m your younger sister… Your- Our parents had 2 more children, me and your other sister-.” Rarity said.

Suddenly Sweetie Belle, who was bouncing up and down the entire time, suddenly came up to the microphone. “Sweetie Belle! Hi! I’m Sweetie Belle and I’m your youngest sister!” Sweetie Belle shouted before being dragged away by Rarity’s magic.

“Yes…. Anyway, we just found out that you exist today. And I want to know one thing.” Rarity said, before gulping and continuing. “Why? Why did you do it? Why did you attack your babysitter? Our parents believe they never gave you enough time, is that true?” Rarity stopped for bit, listening for a response from Dr. Minds Eye, when hearing nothing she continued. “Whatever the reason is… I’m sure you didn’t mean it. You were just 6, that’s all, you were probably just confused.” Rarity explained, a smile appearing on her face. “But I just want to let you know that me and Sweetie both know you’re sick and we want to help you. I’ve helped a lot of ponies in my life and I know I will find a way to help cure your problems. I have to go now, but I will come back and see you and I’ll bring my friend Twilight, she’s really smart and she’s a princess.”

Rarity then took her hoof off the button and walked over to Dr. Minds Eye. “So is he doing anything?” She asked.

“Nothing…” Dr. Minds Eye explained, his monotone voice returning. “Why don’t you have a look.”

Rarity went back over to the mail slot and peered in. Sure enough she saw Elusive with his head raised slightly, but nothing. Rarity sighed and was about to leave, when all of a sudden he started turning his head over to face Rarity. In a way it was rather creepy, but Rarity could now see more of his body including the outline of his horn. Rarity froze, was he about to say something? Rarity didn’t dare talk, nor move a muscle, she was certain this was it, a chance for his brother to finally speak out. Unfortunately, those hopes were crushed, as he simply turned back to staring at the wall again.

“Well?... What happened?” Sweetie Belle asked.

“He turned and faced me.” Rarity said, earning interest from her sister and both doctors. “Then he went back to staring at the wall.”

Dr. Minds Eye sighed. “I knew this was a waste of time.”

Dr. Screwball scoffed. “Waste of time? Two sisters got see their oldest sibling today.”

“Thanks for letting us see him anyway.” Rarity said, shaking Dr. Minds Eye’s hoof, before reaching into her bag and pulling out one of her fliers. “You know I have this fashion thing going on up in Canterlot, me and Sweetie are actually heading over to do today, if you’d like to come-”

“Oh… No thank you.” Dr. Minds Eye explained. “I have to stay here, I’ve got a busy week ahead of me myself. As you might know, tomorrow is Elusive’s birthday.”

“Oh yeah! That’s right!” Sweetie Belle shouted. “Are you gonna throw a HUGE party for him? Have some cake? Play some games? I know a pony in Ponyville, who can help-”

“Actually…. No.” Dr. Minds Eye said flatly. “Tomorrow, Elusive is turning 21, making him legally an adult stallion, so he’s going to be taken to court and put on trial for attacking his babysitter. So I can’t come to this fashion thing, you’ve got going on.”

“Oh, well that’s okay. I’ll leave you this flier in case you change your mind.” Rarity explained, handing Dr. Minds Eye the flier. “You know when I come back, and visit Elusive again, I can bring my friends and-”

“Again? What do you mean again?” Dr. Minds Eye asked, now showing anger in his voice. “I said you could see him, if it gets a reaction out of him and we got nothing.”

Dr. Screwball chimed in. “Well technically he did show new signs of-”

“You know what I mean.” Dr. Minds Eye said, turning back to the two sisters. “As far as I’m concerned, I don’t want to see either of you two here, asking about It, again.”

Rarity was taken aback by this. “I’ll have you know, I happen to be friends with the princess of friendship and I know she could probably come up with a way to reach out to him.” Rarity pouted, putting emphasis on the ‘him’ part.

“What exactly could you, or ANY of your friends do, that we medical professionals haven't been doing for years?” Dr. Minds Eye asked.

“Me and my friends have changed the ways of many bad beings.” Rarity explained. “Infact, One of my friends was able to reform a creature of disharmony, as a matter of fact.”

“It’s true!” Sweetie confirmed. “He even once tried to help me and my friends earn our cutie marks!”

Rarity smiled, as Sweetie showed her point. “So, I’m pretty sure me and my friends will be able to help an ordinary stallion like him.” Rarity said, before turning and leaving. “Come on, Sweetie Belle.”

The two sisters turned and walked down the hallway, leaving the two doctors. Dr. Screwball only gave Dr. Minds Eye a glare, before leaving herself.

Dr. Minds Eye, just stood there alone, the only remaining thought in his head, was what Rarity called Elusive.

‘ordinary stallion’ He thought. ‘If only you knew…’