//------------------------------//
// The Origin Of The Mindbenders 
// Story: The Secret of Sheldon Clopper. 
// by theanonymousbrony 
//------------------------------//

"A what?" my mother exclaimed.

"A Mindbender."  Said Dr. Egghead.

My mom felt a bit nervous, but my dad however just brushed the thought away, "Don't be ridiculous, Egghead.  There's no such thing as Mindbenders."

"So they say in the universities," said Dr. Egghead, "but everything they've told you was a lie."

"What do you mean?" said mom.

"What I mean is that those stories about the Mindbenders are true."

My dad still wouldn't believe this, "And just what proof do you have that our son is in fact a Mindbender?"

"After I perform some very simple tests on Sheldon, we shall see whether these suspicions of mine are true or not."  When he finally came back to the room, he placed a piece of paper on the little table and said, "Sorry for keeping you waiting, Sheldon, your parents and I were just having a long discussion.  But now that I'm here, see if you can answer these questions for me." 

The paper he'd handed to me was filled with questions that only somepony as smart as Albert Holstein could answer.  But luckily for me I was able to get the answers out of Egghead's head and finish it in less than a minute.  As he was just staring at the piece of paper, I took my chalk and I've written, "Anything else?"

He soon snapped out of his surprised state and said, "No, that'll be all, Sheldon.  Just play with some of the toys while I go talk to your parents."

When he walked out of the room, my parents were standing there, waiting for his answer.  "So, what's the result?"

Dr. Egghead took a deep breath and said, "He's a Mindbender."

My mom was shocked to have heard this, but my dad still wasn't convinced.  He took the paper from Dr. Egghead and said, "What do any of these questions of have to do with him being a Mindbender?"

"Because a normal pony would take hours to answer those questions," said Dr. Egghead, "your son answered them in less than a minute."

"But how does that make him a Mindbender?" asked dad.

Dr. Egghead took off his glasses and said, "Because he read the answers through my mind."

My mom--again--was shocked to hear this, but my dad said, "Is that all the proof you have?"

"You want more proof," said Dr. Egghead, "then take a gander at what your son is doing."  My mother and father then looked through the window and were both surprised to see me making all the toys float around.



After they had witnessed my playtime, my dad was now completely convinced.  "So, you're saying that my son is something that only existed in myths?"

Dr. Egghead was taking out a big book from his shelf as he said, "Yes, it's true that nowadays Mindbenders are considered to just be myths.  But that's only because everypony chose to believe that it was only legend and not history."

When he placed the book on his desk, my mom saw the symbol on the cover and said, "That looks like Sheldon's Cutie Mark."

"That's because it's the mark of all Mindbenders."  Said Dr. Egghead.  He then opened the book and he began to tell my parents the "history" of Mindbenders.  "You see, Jack and Diane, we don't see or hear that much about Mindbenders because they only existed in a time before we were ever born.  The Mindbenders were a secret society that mostly consisted of earth ponies and pegasi who were born with special Mind Powers.  Most of them lived in the Mind-Temple far off into the outskirts of Equestria, while some--believe it or not--lived in Canterlot.  Those who were living in Canterlot were once the trusted servants of Princess Celestia.  This was during the years when the Changelings were constantly trying to invade Equestria; but with the help of the Mindbenders, Celestia was always one step ahead of them."

My father then decided to share his opinion, "OK, so this secret society of Mindbending ponies had kept the Changelings from devouring the love in Equestria.  But then how come the Mindbenders are no more, exactly?"

Dr. Egghead was a bit reluctant to tell my parents this, but he knew that he had to.  "Well, you see, the reason why there aren't anymore Mindbenders is because they were all killed."

"Killed!" cried mom, "b-by the Changelings?"

"No," said Dr. Egghead, "by Celestia."

My parents were in a complete state of shock after they'd heard those words.  "But why would Celestia do such a thing?!" said dad, "after all they've done to protect her kingdom, this is how she repays them?!"

"This of course is the main reason why everypony wanted to not believe in all this," said Dr. Egghead, "but alas, it did happen; there was a time when Celestia was cruel and bloodthirsty."

"But why though?" asked mom.

"Well according to this book," explained Dr. Egghead, "it was because she found out that the Mindbenders who were serving her were actually plotting to overthrow her.  When she had discovered this, her trust for the Mindbenders was completely shattered.  And because of this, she ordered her guards to kill the Mindbenders who were living with her.  And when they were dead, she had her guards go and destroy the Mindbenders who were at the Mind-Temple."  As he was saying this, my parents were becoming even more scared than they were before.  Dr. Egghead then concluded this by saying, "So as you can see, your son is the first Mindbender to have ever been born ever since that dreadful massacre that happened so long ago; and he might very well be the last."

My father took a big gulp and said, "So what must we do?"

"Simple," said Dr. Egghead, "get your son as far away from Canterlot as possible."

"You mean move to another place?" asked mom.

"Exactly, the further away he is from Celestia the better.  This place is too filled with ponies who remember this history, and if they were ever to find out about Sheldon's secret, then they might tell Celestia herself.  Because if word ever got out that there's another Mindbender in Equestria, it'll be the biggest controversy since the day those three humans had fell from the sky."

"But all of this had happened thousands of years ago," said dad, "surely Celestia still isn't resentful by this dying race."

"True, it has been a long time ago, but you forget that Celestia is as old as time itself.  Which means that she'll still remember anything that has happened in Equestria; even if it was over a thousand years ago and nopony else can remember."

My mom then said, "OK, so as long as he's far away from Celestia, he'll always be safe?"

"Not quite, even if you're leagues away from Celestia, there's still other ponies that you'll have to worry about."

"What do you mean?" asked dad.

"Well, what if an innocent bypony was just walking by and he just happens to see Sheldon moving something with his mind?  He might ignore this and never bring it up again, or he might tell this to a guard and in turn the guard will tell this to Celestia.  So it'll be up to you two to make sure that your son learns to control these powers."

"And what sort of powers are we talking about, exactly?" asked dad.

"Well the book doesn't really explains these powers, but what I could gather from it is that Mindbending is mostly consisted of four abilities.  The first ability is called Mindhacking: Mindbenders mostly use this when they're trying to get information out of ponies.  For example, let's say that you were hiding a birthday present from Sheldon, and he was trying to find its hiding spot.  All he would have to do is read your mind and he'll get the secret right out of you.  The second ability is called Mindpushing: this is basically the Mindbenders' way for moving objects--kind of like what you saw Sheldon doing a few minutes ago."

"Oh, you mean like how unicorns move objects with their magic?" asked mom.

"No, unicorns don't move objects with their minds, they just use their magic.  And magic has nothing to do with Mindbending.  Now the third ability--which you won't need to worry about--is called Mindversing: it's just Mindbenders talking to each other through their minds--and Sheldon's the only one in Equestria.  Now the fourth ability that you will need to worry about is called Mindbreaking: this one is usually just used as a defense mechanism."

"What does it do, exactly?" asked dad.

"Well this sort of ability is only triggered when a Mindbender feels threatened or angered; what happens is that a Mindbender will use all the power within his mind to take full control of another pony.  Whenever a Mindbender is doing this, what happens first is that the pony he's trying to control will hear a long beeping noise, then he'll feel an agonizing headache through the nerves of his brain.  When the Mindbender has complete control over him, he can make that pony hurt himself or others.  But if the Mindbender were to ever apply too much pressure to the pony's brain, then it might result in it exploding.  Not only that, but it can also prove fatal for Sheldon.  Because if he were to ever use this ability, he'll start to feel fatigue; and if he doesn't take a break...well, he might accidentally kill himself."

My parents were both in stunned silence for awhile, then my dad was able to say, "OK, so we have to keep Sheldon away from Celestia, not do anything that'll make other ponies suspicious, and help Sheldon control these possibly dangerous powers of his.  But what I still want to know is where we should move to?"

"My suggestion would be to go to Ponyville; it's a small-town where very seldom things tend to happen, and you might be able to live a nice, normal life there.  Now as for schooling, you'll have to let Sheldon attend a public school.  I know that your family has always attended private schools, but you can't risk it with Sheldon being a Mindbender and all.  It's very important that everypony still thinks that the Mindbenders are extinct."

"OK, we now know exactly where we need to go to."  Said mom.  "But what do we tell Sheldon?"

"Don't bother coming up with an excuse, he'll just get the truth right out of you.  And if by any chance he resents to this or refuses to go away, just remember that it's for his own safety."

As my mom went in to get me, my dad said to Dr. Egghead, "You've been helping my family for so long, Egghead, that I don't even know where to begin to thank you."

"There's no need," said Dr. Egghead, "I'm just always glad to help out a good friend."


...


When we got back home, my parents were each giving me these worried glances.  I took my chalk and wrote down, "What's wrong?"

My dad took a deep breath and said, "Sheldon there's...there's something that you need to know.  Dr. Egghead told us what your Cutie Mark meant; it means that you're a Mindbender."

"What's that?"

My mom decided to explain it for me.  "It's a type of pony who can move things and read other ponies thoughts, just through the power of their mind."

"You mean you know about these strange things I do?"

"Yes son, we now know everything."  My dad said, "We also know that your life is in danger."

"Why's that?"

"Because Princess Celestia doesn't like Mindbenders," my mom explained, "and if she ever found out that you're one of them, then she might take you away from us."

"Which is why we're going to have to move."

"Where to?"

"We discussed this with Dr. Egghead," my dad explained, "and he suggested Ponyville.  If we do move, then you'll have to start attending public school, and you'll also gotta learn to keep this talent of yours a secret.  Do you understand, son?"

When he mentioned public school, I couldn't imagine myself to be any happier.  Because if you were having to go to that private school with all those snobs, you'd want to go to public school too.  So with my chalk, I wrote down, "When do we leave?"

As they each looked at each other in surprise, my dad then said, "As soon as we get everything packed."  So without wasting any more time, my family and I went straight to packing.


...


I was able to get things done quicker with my newfound skills, but I was gonna have to learn to not depend on it too much when we go away.  We had to make a quick stop to my grandparents house to say goodbye; they were happy to see me with a Cutie Mark, but were even more surprised when they were told they'd be staying at our old house.  Then after my parents explained everything, we immediately got aboard the first train to Ponyville.