Ponid-19

Party Favor led everypony through the village and down one of the new side streets. As they trotted along, Starlight was able to get a very good look at what had become of the ponies whose lives she had attempted to destroy. She saw familiar faces living happily and with their own cutie marks intact. Some of them had families of their own, and small foals played joyously at their parents’ hooves. Others owned businesses and conducted them with all of the talent and individuality she had tried to take from them. Each new sight was both an uplifting experience and a dagger to her soul. She remembered how her former socialistic and fascistic tendencies, along with a complete rejection of friendship had led to a town where everyone truly was the exact same.

How mundane things must have been for them, she thought sadly, and…I caused it. What the hell was I thinking coming back here?! Now all I wanna do is run away! I mean, to see their lives now and to know just how egregiously erroneous of a leader I was…it’s…almost…too much to take!

She stopped and shook some tears away. Trixie and Rose Garden helped hold her up and encouraged her with their smiles. She realized that she should be happy for everypony and not beat herself up for her past misdeeds. They were buried back there, along with her old life, and now she had a new penchant for loving and caring for her fellow pony. She had learned how to love her cutie mark again, and in so doing, had acquired a new appreciation for the different talents around her. She suddenly saw everyone in a new light, and became excited that so much had changed since she left.

She suddenly saw Party’s hooves stop in front of an old, dilapidated structure. She looked on in shock. Surely, this wasn’t Clean Bill’s residence?! It just couldn’t be! The walls were cracked and looked ready to crumble at a moment’s notice. The pillars on the front porch had undergone a severe weathering, and the slats beneath them were bent and broken. The windows had all been smashed, though it appeared that the incidents happened some time before. The roof sagged, and Starlight noticed water dripping from it. Vines grew over the outer siding, and some of that appeared to have been burned off in a small fire.

“No…” Starlight said, “…he was always so neat and organized!”

“That was before he went insane,” Party said, confirming Starlight’s fear that this was the old doctor’s place of living. “We had to exile him from the village, because he was threatening to do experiments on foals.”

Starlight’s mouth dropped to the ground. “But…he was such a nice pony! I remember him giving me shelter for a few days when I first arrived. True, I might have taken his cutie mark, along with a lot of his intelligence, but it was returned to him! He should have gone back to the way he was! How can somepony so kind, charming, and benevolent go so wrong?”

Party Favor shook his head. He was at a loss to explain just why the aged stallion had bats in his mental belfry. It seemed impossible to justify, yet it had happened right in front of him. He remembered the very day that one of their town’s most respected citizens and newest fathers, Double Diamond, came to him with a complaint that Clean Bill had offered him 500 bits to use his daughter to test some kind of new serum. The only issue was that, had the serum failed, the young filly would have died instantly. Naturally, Double had refused and Clean Bill had run about the town screaming, breaking things, and causing a general ruckus. Party and the other ponies had no choice but to throw him out and put him here. That was the crime, but the reasoning for it was beyond Party’s comprehension.

“You’ll have to ask him yourself, I’m afraid,” he said, “now, if you’ll excuse me, I must be getting back to the town hall. I’m due at a meeting in five minutes. But, it was wonderful to see you again, Starlight, and please know that you’re welcome here anytime.”

“Of course,” she responded, “and it was great to see you, too!”

Party Favor waved farewell and trotted off to his meeting, leaving the five investigators standing there dumbfounded as to what to do next. The rotting excuse for a building didn’t have any kind of doorbell, nor did it even have a front door! It was simply a wooden frame in the wall, surrounded by weeds that grew up through the floorboards. They stepped carefully, and Kite String rode on her mother’s back. They managed to pick their way through the foyer and into something of a kitchen, where more dirt and grime met their eyes. A foul stench wafted into their noses as well.

“PU!” Kite String said, “Mommy, this place stinks!”

“You aren’t wrong, my little one,” Rose responded, “but let’s try to keep things quiet until we find Dr. Clean Bill.”

“Who are you?!” A new voice barked sharply, “what do you want?!”

Starlight turned and smiled as she recognized the brown stallion in front of them. His mane had grown long and tangled, and his beard drooped towards the floor, but there was no doubt of his identity. Even though he might have gone insane, she still saw a glimmer of kindness in his eyes. She trotted over to him and shook his hoof gladly.

“Dr. Clean Bill!” She exclaimed, “it’s wonderful to see you!”

“Who the hell are you?” The old stallion replied, “how do you know my name?! Oh, my dear Celestia, they’ve come to drag me off to the asylum, haven’t they?”

“Oh, no, no, no!” Starlight said, “we’re friendly ponies! I’m Starlight Glimmer, remember?”

“Oh, yeah…the bitch that took my cutie mark.”

Starlight blushed as she saw Rose begin lecturing Kite on the “naughty” word that he’d used. “Um…yes, I did do that. But I’ve changed completely! I work for friendship now, and I’m a personal compatriot of Her Highness, Princess Twilight Sparkle.”

“Eh?” The old pony asked, “these ears ain’t what they used to be, ya know. Speak up!”

“I SAID THAT I’M A FRIEND OF PRINCESS TWILIGHT’S!” Starlight shouted.

“Oh, alright, alright, I’m not deaf!” Clean exclaimed, “I’m just a little rough around the old auditory canals. But I’m still sharp as a tack!”

Starlight looked around them, then raised a curious eyebrow. She wondered just how much truth there was in his statement, but he didn’t give her time to ask. He barked at them to follow him, as he was working on something “secret” in his laboratory and wanted to show them. Starlight was a bit trepidatious at the thought of his crazed old pony having a lab of any kind, but then she cleared the cobwebs and focused on her mission. Clean Bill might have some valuable insights into the world of the virus, ones that not even the Equestrian medical officials did. She remembered that he was always into the realm of the bizarre. His intelligence and curiosity for the unendingly strange was never quenched, and she hoped that this was still the case. His ideas could help them save Equestria.