Coming very, very soon... · 6:48am Jun 1st, 2014
It hadn't taken the five long to track down the elusive Neighser Crane. His first mistake was setting up shop in a town with only a couple of psychiatrists to begin with. Once they separated their names from the regular medical doctors, it was just a matter of locating the one who wasn't assigned to Ponyville Hospital. His second was setting up his office in a moderately busy part of town. If it had been exceptionally active, then he would have been found out almost instantly, but a moderate level of business would allow him to earn a steady income while giving him enough privacy to continue his illicit experiments in secret.
And third, the address was clearly printed on the interest slip.
Admittedly, that was the biggest lead.
To everypony's surprise, the building was just a building. There was nothing outwardly sinister, and the small portions they could make out through the light in the windows allowed them to see that it was still normal inside. They could hear a light rustling within, but could see nopony to connect the sounds to. If it weren't for Raindrops' behavior, there would be nothing making this structure any more special than the two it was sandwiched between.
Trixie cleared her throat and stepped to the door. “Come on, girls. Let's get this over with. Remember, our first priority is to find out what he did to Raindrops. He might be evasive, or we might have to piece the answer together in between his cackling. Ponies like this are like politicians; they want nothing more than to burst out in evil laughter, but have to contain that impulse to be presentable.”
Carrot Top raised an eye. “And how do you know this?”
Trixie scoffed and adjusted her pointy hat. “Plenty of crazy ponies have had audiences with Princess Luna. Why, just a couple weeks before I came to Ponyville, there was this one nut who had this plan for a machine that would let you talk to anypony else with one. What, aren't letters and magic good enough for this guy?” She spun around. “But enough talk! We've waited long enough. Time to get some answers.”
Her hoof pounded against the door, creating an echoing knocking noise that pervaded throughout the night air. After the third knock, however, the latch suddenly gave way, sending the whole thing swinging open in a cacophony of squeaking hinges and creaking wood. The ponies looked about themselves for a moment, but finally just shrugged and went into the lion's den.
Neighser Crane's front lobby was not that different from any normal doctor's waiting room, at least when it came to the small country town ones. There were two couches sitting in perpendicular directions against a wall and joined by a small corner table, all of which looked like they had fallen out of the back of a garbage cart. A couple of magazines and books, many of them for foals, were strewn across the floor and seats, their edges worn and tattered. There was no receptionist, nor any guard; the only occupants were the five brave ponies.
And whoever was on the other side of the door at the end.
It's continuing! JOY!
“But enough talk! We've waited long enough. Time to get some answers. Mwuahahahahaha!”
“Uh, Trixie? About that laughter thing...”
“I was laughing for entirely unrelated reasons.”
I'm sort of surprised that ponyville has any psychiatrists in it given its size. Still I suppose it is a town of crazy ponies so they probably do good business.
You know if Raindrops volunteered, Crane is legally off the hook right? So he has no reason to be sneaky about it.
what is?....