Promised Memories

Chapter 2 – Gathering a Team

Eight hooves are better than four

“I want to thank you all for coming. Twilight, Luna, Crimson…” All three nodded to her, although Crimson was the only one who knew how dire the meeting was. Celestia sighed and nodded to Crimson. With a nod back, Crimson stood and began to pace around the room.

“I’m afraid there is no easy way to say this, but I’m better at breaking news and not feeling bad about it than Celestia, no offense. So I volunteered to tell you all and I’m willing to answer any questions.”

“What is it, Crimson?” Luna asked, generally interested in something so big that Crimson had to take the weight off of her sister’s shoulders.

“I’ll be frank, there’s been a murder.” Immediately, both Luna and Twilight gasped in extreme shock. Luna hadn’t been around for a thousand years, so she wasn’t very experienced with them. And Twilight had never been involved with one.

“A… murder?! By the beard of Starswirl…” Luna whispered as she looked down at the floor.

“Celestia, is this true?” Twilight asked, giving a pleading look at Celestia.

“I’m afraid so, Twilight. Crimson here is the lead detective on the case and he’s good at what he does,” Celestia reassured while Crimson nodded to Twilight.

“Your friend Applejack was the one that discovered the body.”

“Please tell me she’s alright…”

“Yes, Twilight. I convinced her to go to the hospital and get a bit of psychiatric help in case she was suffering any trauma. Given how easily she calmed to such a terrible matter, I could only assume she was going through shock. That, or…”

“Applejack would never do anything this evil!” Twilight snapped, standing from her chair.

“Twilight!”

Crimson turned to Celestia and said, “No, Celestia, it’s alright. Twilight, you must understand how delicate this situation is. I can’t play favorites, which unfortunately is what I already did by telling her to get help. I’m sure she’s a stand up mare, but I must assume the worst of everypony.  Especially in a matter this important.”

“Just trust me when I say she would never do anything like that. Ask her yourself, she’ll tell you the truth. She is the Element of Honesty after all.”

“Oh, so she’s one of the Elements of Harmony? As important as that is, I’m afraid it doesn’t garner anything from me. I’ve got a job to do and I don’t care if a Princess is to blame. I’ll find who the killer is… and I’ll let them know I’m the one who found them.” Twilight and Crimson stared at each other, a tension in between the two. Crimson definitely didn’t see their first meeting going like this, but he knew she was forgiving.

“Okay, I understand. But please just trust my word that Applejack had nothing to do with it.” Her request was responded with a sigh and Crimson turning towards Luna.

“Luna, could I please speak to you outside?”

“Crimson, I don’t really think now is the time-“

“Please, it’s important.” He turned back to Celestia. “Celestia, if you don’t mind, I’m going to speak to Luna while you explain everything to Twilight.”

“Of course, Crimson.” Crimson gestured towards the door after looking at Luna. After getting a nod from Celestia, she stood and followed Crimson to the balcony.

“What is it that you can tell me but can’t tell my sister or Twilight?”

“This isn’t related to the case…”

“What do you mean, Crimson?”

“Remember when you first took me in as your protégé? And you promised to never enter my dreams?”

“Crimson, I never have nor never wi-“

“I want you to break that promise.” Crimson stared with a straight face at Luna, pleading motionlessly and expressionlessly for assistance.

“Crimson, I’ve known you for ten years. You’ve never asked for anything like this. Is… is something wrong?” Crimson sighed as he remembered the dreams that had been haunting him for so long. Ever since the first time he realized they were connected, he thought of asking Luna for help. He’d essentially known her since she was released from the moon eleven years previous. But somewhere in that hope was fear. Until the most recent dream, he was afraid to know what the dreams meant.

“For months now I’ve been having dreams… I know they’re all intertwined. I also know they hold answers to who I am… But when I wake up, everything goes fuzzy. I’ve tried to write them down before they are gone, but I never fully succeed. I’m asking for help… not as a friend or even your protégé, but as a lost soul.”

“You know I don’t like entering the dreams of ponies I know… Even if they do ask me.”

“I know I’m asking a lot of you, but surely you understand how important this is to me. I… I could know who I was, who my parents were. I may even figure out what exactly happened to me to make me lose my memory. Don’t I deserve the right to know any of this?”

“Crimson, I…” Luna whispered, sighing afterwards. “I can’t promise you won’t like what I tell you.”

“Maybe I won’t… but I at least need to know.”

“When you go to sleep tonight… You may feel you aren’t alone. I’ll be there, watching… Taking note of everything.”

“Thank you, Luna. Now, I believe we have a nightmare that is happening right now to step back into.”

“Oh, double fun…” The two opened the door to the balcony and stepped in to find Celestia standing before Twilight.

“Twilight, are you sure you can do this?”

“Yes, Princess. I’ll take care of forensics and help Crimson in any way I can… Even against my friends.”

“I’m sorry to have to ask this of you… So sorry…” Celestia leaned down and hugged Twilight, before turning back to Crimson. “Twilight has agreed to help you in whatever you need, even if you believe one of her friends or even one of us has done it. We all understand how serious a matter this is and I have granted you jurisdiction even above both me and Luna. Crimson, you are the first pony in the history of Equestria to ever have more power than all the Princesses combined… and it’s because I know you will find out what happened.” Crimson looked between the nodding heads of Luna, Celestia, and Twilight, unsure as to how exactly he should react.

“Wh-what about the other detectives from the previous murders?”

“It was always me that handled those… but I know that you’ll do better than I ever could,” Celestia explained.

“I don’t know what to say…”

“You don’t have to say anything. Just find who did this… I know you never cared about the money from these jobs… so I’m going to offer you something greater. If you find out who did this, I’ll put every single one of my resources towards finding your parents. Not only that, but we’ll give you anything you ever wanted and ever will want.”

“Actually…” he quickly responded, looking at Luna. He stopped as he was greeted with the sight of her slowly shaking her head. “That sounds great. Thank you, Celestia.”

“Crimson, could you do me a favor and go get Octavia? I’m going to show Twilight to the forensics lab and I’d like to have some relaxing music to return to.”

“Of course, Celestia.” Crimson said his farewells to the Princesses and departed for Octavia’s room. As happy as he was to get another chance to see Octavia, his mind was filled with questions. And for the first time, not just related to the investigation either. Questions on what he would dream, what questions those would answer and what questions the answers would bring. He knew as well as anypony that each answer brought at least two more questions.

“Are you just going to stand there or come in?” asked Octavia, who was standing in her door waiting for Crimson to finish zoning out.

“Oh, sorry. I’ve got a lot on my mind. The Princesses are ready for you in the gardens.”

“Will you be there?”

“Sorry, but I’ve got somewhere to be. It’s very urgent, or else I’d happily attend,” he said with a smile.

“Oh, alright… but if you get time, stop by after and I’ll give you an encore.”

“I’ll be sure to,” Crimson responded as he began to walk down the hallway. He had never even been aware of there being a lab of any kind, so no doubt he was completely unaware as to where this lab was. Right now, all he wanted to do was take a quick walk in the garden and think about the events of the day.

So many things flooded his mind. Questions, worries, doubts, everything one could think about in such a situation. He wondered if maybe Celestia would mind him joining in on the listening in the garden, but he knew the urgency of finding any forensic evidence. Plus, it had just occurred to him that he was not once informed on whether it was a mare or a stallion that was killed. He didn’t really want to see a body that was the product of the murder scene he saw, but he was also curious about it. He hated that curious part of himself sometimes.

“Hey, Crimson!” Crimson stopped and looked around, trying to see where the voice of Luna had just come from. “Up here!” He looked up to see her flying down from the balcony. Upon landing she neared him. “Do you want me to show you to the lab? Tia told me where to find it.”

“I understand. And yes, I was just about to ask how to get there.”

“Okay, come with-“

“Hello, Princess Luna.” Crimson and Luna both looked to the left as Octavia neared them. “I just need a moment to set up, if you don’t mind.”

“No, not at all. Celestia is showing Twilight somewhere. She’ll be here soon and then you can start whenever you wish. And thank you for showing up on such short notice. We recently got some… bad news, and Celestia and I both can relax to your music. I’m starting to wonder if we should just book you a permanent room…”

“That would be nice, but completely unnecessary. I’m happy to travel from anywhere in Equestria to play my music for the Princesses. Will it be just you two tonight?”

“Yes, unless Celestia has another change of plans.”

“Princess, sorry to interrupt your conversation, but…” Crimson interrupted, clearly a bit impatient. While he still wanted to listen to the music genius of Octavia, his curiosity had changed him back to the un-relentless detective he was known as being.

“Oh, of course. Sorry, Octavia but I really must escort Crimson somewhere. Now that I think of it, I don’t think you two have ever met.”

“Oh… We have,” Octavia said while glancing towards Crimson.

“Oh? Well, you two should do something sometime. Seeing you two together, you look so cute!”

“Luna!” Crimson exclaimed, stepping away from Octavia.

“What? You do,” Luna snickered. “You’ll have to excuse him; he was always a bit shy off the job. Especially around mares he has an interest in…”

“H-hey!” Crimson could feel behind his ears begin to heat up and he was sure his face was redder than his cutie mark as Octavia started laughing.

“So that’s why you never introduced yourself to me before…”

“No, that’s not it at all! I mean, it is, but it’s not! Luna!” He frowned as both Octavia and Luna started laughing at him. He wanted nothing but to literally sink into the ground and creep away back to his house. He never thought it possible, but Luna had just done the worst thing a mother could ever do. And she wasn’t even his mother!

“Relax, we’re just having a little fun,” Luna giggled. For somepony that was just informed of something horrible, she was amazingly relaxed. He guessed she was just used to acting as usual in the presence of others. “Come on, I’ll show you where you’re going.” Crimson happily obliged and followed Luna, looking back to Octavia as they walked away.

“See you later, Crimson.” Once they were out of earshot of Octavia, Crimson stepped in front of Luna and glared at her.

“Was that really called for?”

“Was what called for?”

“Back there, with Octavia. You completely embarrassed me,” Crimson angrily snapped. He had never once lost his temper with Luna, but he was stressed with the day and he supposed he had just snapped under it all.

“Just making conversation, Crimson. It shouldn’t mean anything to you, unless… oh, my… You don’t… do you?” Crimson just continued to glare at Luna, taking deep breaths to try and calm himself. “You do, don’t you?”

“Fine, yes, I do. I’m twenty-eight and I’m finally in love. Sure, she probably doesn’t care anything for me in any romantic way, but I do. I know I have no right to be mad; there’s no way you could have known…”

“I’m sorry, alright? If I would have known, I would have been quiet. I guess I’m just used to teasing like that. I used to do it to Tia sometimes… so I’m sorry, okay? But… why didn’t you tell me? I could have arranged for you two to meet.”

“That’s exactly what I didn’t want. Like you said, I get shy around any mares I like. Speaking of which, how did you know that anyways? I’ve never shown any hints to support that before.”

“I… before I made that promise to you, to not invade your dreams… back when I didn’t trust you fully… I entered one of your dreams to make sure you weren’t a spy.”

“You what?!”

“I already said this was before I promised that to you! It was on the night before you got your cutie mark. I went into one of your dreams… In there, I saw you with a mare. You two were happy, but you couldn’t stop mumbling. You seemed incredibly shy, which I knew was uncharacteristic of you. But it was only around that mare.”

“Wait, about how old was I? Do you have any idea?”

“I don’t know, maybe around twelve or thirteen?”

“I don’t remember that at all…”

“Do you think…?”

“Yes, I think you saw something from before I lost my memory. Why… why did you never tell me?”

“I still didn’t entirely trust you. And when I finally did, I made the promise to never enter your dreams. I didn’t want you to know I ever did.”

“I could have been looking for that mare instead of living in seclusion in my house. She could have known something about me… and you never told me?”

“Crimson, I’m sorry…”

“How do I know that’s the only time?”

“I swear, I never did it after I promised. I still feel guilty about ever doing it in the first place… You don’t have to believe me if you don’t want to. And I’d understand if you don’t want me to enter your dreams tonight either.”

“No, I still want you to. I’m not mad, just… well, a little upset. You know how much it hurts me to not know who I am. You knew information but never told me…”

“I said I’m sorry.”

“Just forget it; she’s probably long gone…” The two stared at the moonlit ground, neither looking at the other. Luna, for being ashamed of never telling Crimson of her dream invasion. And Crimson for getting angry.

“Come on, I have a crime to solve,” Crimson happily said with a smile. He was actually far from happy, but he didn’t want Luna to know that. She was more of a mother than anypony had ever been and indeed a better friend than anypony had ever been. He understood why she did what she did and he was sure he would have done the same in her hooves. Still, now that he knew he once liked another mare, he couldn’t help but wonder who she was. Maybe after this was all over, he would look her up. That is, if Octavia turned him down…

The two silently walked towards Luna’s chambers, which puzzled Crimson. Luna was still locked away on the moon during the aforementioned virus outbreak, so why would it be in her room? Then he remembered that this wasn’t her original room, as the two had originally shared Celestia’s room. He had never seen what it had been before Luna moved in, since he had never been in the castle before. At least as far as he knew.

As Luna revealed a false wall behind a bookshelf, which in turn lead to a very large staircase, he couldn’t help but remember the day he had met Luna. It was only about six months after she had returned from the moon. After he had been caught by the guards while sneaking around trying the find the thief who had stolen from him, they had brought him to her. Due to him being found sneaking around, she immediately didn’t trust him. And no doubt she would have had him locked away had Celestia not heard and intruded. After that, it wasn’t until his second mission –the night he got his cutie mark- that she began to trust him.

After that, she immediately warmed up to him and began to teach him magic and how to properly act. He did know that before he met Luna, he wasn’t as verbal as he was now. Soon, the two were as close as Twilight was to Celestia.

“I’m going to have to see if Twilight still remembers that spell that gives ponies wings… This descent would be much easier if you could just float to the bottom,” Luna complained, flapping her wings. She of course was talking about him.

“Hey, not all of us can go all Alicorn like Twilight did.”

“Well, you don’t want to be a Princess, do you?”

“No thank you. Although I will admit, having wings would be useful.” The two stopped and caught their breath as they looked down the remaining steps. The descent was in a circular formation with a hole in the middle in which they could see the floor about seven flights down.

“If I had to choose, I’d take my horn. Flying is nice and all, but I use my magic far too often to give it up.”

“I hear you; I’d be lost without it. Oh, by the way… I always wondered why Twilight doesn’t have her wings anymore. I heard Celestia mention a spell or something back a long while ago, but I never really questioned it until I saw her back in Celestia’s room.”

“She didn’t like being different from her friends. She was happy with the whole Princess thing, but couldn’t get used to having both wings and a horn. So she had Celestia use a spell to make her look like she used to while retaining being a Princess. After all, wings and a horn don’t make a Princess…”

“I see. So, why do you gain wings and a horn when you become a Princess?”

“Crimson, its best you didn’t ask that. I don’t even think I can explain it… just do what I do and see it as a… perk.”

“Fair enough, I suppose,” Crimson responded. They still had about three flights left, but Celestia met up with them rather fast due to flying upwards.

“Oh, you two finally made it!”

“Well, we would have made it faster if it weren’t for the never ending staircase…” Crimson complained.  “How did you ever even get bodies down here during the virus outbreak?”

“There used to be another entrance in the town that we sealed off and covered with Joe’s donut shop. Well, his great grandfather Joe anyways…”

“Wow, what a boring family line.”

“Tia,” Luna interrupted, “I’m going to head back up. Can you show Crimson to the lab and I’ll go help Octavia?”

“Oh, sure. I understand if you don’t want to go down there. The body isn’t exactly a pleasant sight…” Luna nodded and flew back up the staircase. Celestia looked at Crimson and gestured for him to head down the stairs before she flew back down. He quickly descended the rest of the steps and stood next to Celestia.

“How’d Twilight react?”

“Exactly as I expected… she was terrified at first, but after she got used to it, her willingness to learn took over. Almost immediately, she began to examine everything about the body. I don’t see how she does it… I’ve seen a few murders but I’m still not used to it,” Celestia explained.

“Oh, I understand.” Celestia stopped in front of a door and turned to Crimson.

“Here it is. You’ll understand if I don’t go back in.”

“Of course.”

“I’m going to join my sister in the gardens. Please, feel free to join us if you and Twilight finish up before it’s over.”

“It’d be my pleasure, Celestia.” Both nodded to one another as Celestia made her way back down the hall. Crimson sighed and slowly entered the room, bracing himself to see the body.