When Ghouls Cross Over

Chapter 9: Visits

“And how are you doing this fine day”

“How have you been feeling Dashie?” Fluttershy asked with a smile.

The rainbow maned pegasus sat up in her bed and stretched, she glanced over to her wing before smiling at Fluttershy and the investigator beside her. “I’ve been better thank you” she said with a small smile.

“How’s everything back at the castle?”

“It’s fine” Fluttershy said with a smile. “Did Kaneki visit you today?”

Rainbow Dash shook her head. “No, not today. Pinkie came by earlier and told me he said he was going out to eat and would visit tomorrow.”

“Oh” Fluttershy said her ears drooping a bit. “I’m sure he’ll be back to visit later” she said with a smile. “I wonder why he always goes out to eat instead of making something for himself.”

“Yeah, I’ve actually seen him going out late into the night sometimes for a meal. It is a little strange but then again he’s not really from here is he?” Rainbow Dash said stretching her other good wing, before leaning back into her bed and relaxing with her arms behind her head.

“I suppose” Fluttershy said.

“Don’t worry” Sting replied getting the two’s attention having spoken out for the first time since arriving here. “Kaneki is...he has his own habits that he likes to stick to. It’s not that strange from where I’m from...it’s” Sting internally cringed as he said this, “almost common” he finished with a forced smile.

The other two seemed to buy his farce.

“Oh I see” Fluttershy said with a nod. “Well Dashie we’ll see you later okay? Rarity told me she’d visit later today as well, so just try to get some more rest.”

“It’s what I’ve been doing since I got here” Dash replied with a smile.

“Do you know when you get out?” Sting asked as him and Fluttershy rose from their seats.

“A days from now” she replied.

Sting nodded looking at the empty beds next to Rainbow Dash, he glanced back down at her. “What happened to the two that were in here?”

“Bon-Bon and Lyra?” Dash asked with a cocked brow. “They were in here just to check for any serious injuries. They left this afternoon, Kill Shot dropped by earlier in the morning and said he’d pay them a visit actually.”

“Is that so?” Sting asked. Fluttershy and Dash looked at their friend noticing the way his eyes narrowed when she’d mentioned Kill’s visit.

“Well then, we’ll visit again, can’t wait to see you up and about Rainbow Dash” Sting bowed, then left the room. Fluttershy glanced back at Dash with a confused look before waving goodbye and following after her human friend.

“Sting!” he stopped at the waiting room downstairs. Turning his attention to the yellow pegasus chasing after him Sting waited for Fluttershy to catch up before the two left the hospital. “What’s wrong Sting?”

“Wrong?” he asked with a curious tone in his voice. “Why would something be wrong?”

“It’s just..the way you looked when Dash mentioned Kill Shot would be checking on Bon-Bon and Lyra it just- it just made me think there was something going on.”

Sting stopped in his tracks, staring at Fluttershy. The mare did the same looking at Sting with worry as if she had touched on a unwanted subject.

She had.

The day Kill Shot and Kaneki returned with Dash, Lyra HeartStrings and Sweetie Drops, he had seen their condition after visiting the three at night hours.

The levels of anger he had the following day was outrageous. That day Sting made Kill Shot tell him what happened and after a decent amount of swearing, cursing and promises he wouldn’t adhere to the senior detective yielded the truth.

They had fought a ghoul, the two equines had followed him to the spot when he was tracking the ghoul and he had been incapable of being able to protect them properly after being surrounded. Rainbow Dash had joined to help but was easily overpowered. Luckily though Kaneki had stepped in and the two were able to rid themselves of their enemies in a matter of minutes.

Sting didn’t ask why the mares didn’t remember what happened. He knew what his partner had done. He’d used the medicine that wiped out recent events in the memory banks completely. And it was a permanent effect. The mares wouldn’t recall what had happened, but they surely would get the sense that something is missing or they’ve been through something that requires acknowledgement.

Perhaps that was why his partner had left this afternoon, saying he was going for a walk. Sting knew now that Kill Shot was in fact going to check on the mares and see how they were doing.

He smiled turning his attention to Fluttershy who had just asked if he was alright. Sting merely nodded his head. “I’m fine, thanks. Here let me walk you back home” he said with an outstretched hand.

Fluttershy took it, walking with Sting in the direction of her home. The two walked in silence as Sting contemplated just what his partner was up to this exact moment.

I just hope nothing bad happens while I’m away.

Kill Shot now made his way through the streets of Ponyville. He smiled warmly to each equine that waved at him, as he headed for his primary destination.

Bon-Bon and Lyra Heartstrings home.

One thing that had interested the senior investigator with these two is that they had followed him. Persevered, even when he had lost them and even dared to stay when the ghoul had emerged. But there was something else. Something else that caught Kill Shot’s attention.

The day after Kaneki and him had rescued the girls he had gone to visit the two when he’d heard they were awake. And he found that while the pill he had given the three had done it’s job he found the mint colored mare stare at him with a look of familiarity.

So here he was, at the residence of the two mares. Now standing in front of their door about to knock and confront them or in actuality to confront Lyra, as she had been the one staring at him the most the day he had visited the two equines.

Knock! Knock!

“One second!” a voice called from within the household.

Kill Shot waited, and within a few seconds came out one of the mares he had helped save wearing an apron, tank top and shorts. Bon-Bon stood staring in surprise at the human.

“Oh, it’s um you” she said with some confusion. Kill Shot didn’t respond but simply smiled kindly.

“May I come in?” he asked. It took a second for the mare to register that the investigator had spoken to her. She’d been too busy staring at the man to notice at first, clearly studying his appearance all while she stood there, her mouth hanging slightly open.

“Oh uh yeah sure? Come on inside” she said opening the door wider and allowing room for the investigator to walk in. Kill Shot accepted and stepped inside, waiting for Bon-Bon to lead the way.

The beige earth pony after locking the door behind them, moved ahead of Kill Shot and motioned him to follow her to the living room. Once there the two sat done in pregnant silence for a few seconds with Bon-Bon’s hands firmly gripping her apron, her eyes occasionally glancing over to the human who had a completely calm and friendly disposition.

Kill Shot cleared his throat before speaking, “Excuse me Miss Bon-Bon,” the mare flinched nervously looking up at him with a nervous smile.

“Please remain calm, I’m not here to interrogate you or anything” Kill Shot said with an outstretched hand for reassurance. “I just came to talk to you and Miss Lyra Heartstrings.”

“About what exactly?” she asked her nervousness increasing. She’d learned that this person who’d brought her and Lyra to the hospital was an investigator apparently from Japony and if that was true the mare was seriously concerned that her secret identity and her real name would be discovered.

“It’s about the time before you two got in the hospital, before your accident. But before I discuss things with you I need you to bring Miss Heartstrings down here. Is she here?”

Bon-Bon nodded, her nerves relaxing having been given this clarification. “Yeah, one second let me go upstairs and get her.”

Kill Shot nodded, watching the mare walk off upstairs with a smile before his friendly air completely disappeared once she was gone, taking on a more serious expression.

Kill Shot’s eyes carefully scanned the room. It was normal, decorations hung up on the walls with some classical musician posters hung here and there. Nothing really out of the ordinary.

It was then Kill Shot began to think about some of the things he’d noticed upon entering the two mares home. Bon-Bon’s nervous behavior, being one that particularly caught his attention. Is it possible the medicine didn’t work as well as it was supposed to?

For you see the Lapse, a medical pill developed by one of the medical agencies in Japan, has two capabilities. The first is that it can create a gap in one’s memory. Ponies like Rainbow Dash, Bon-Bon and Lyra Heartstrings were physical proof of the pills success. And the second is the pill can only effect the most recent of memories; there being no way for the pill to select a certain memory and erase those, it only effects the most recent and recent alone.

There is however like all medicine, that hasn’t been tested as much as it should be, has some after-effects. And these after-effects basically make the whole pill useless if the effect were to ever kick in.

While Lapse has the ability to erase the most recent of memories completely, the digesters of the medicine will not absolutely forget the event that has been erased from their mind. As it is more of a form of amnesia that is being applied to the digester. This was proven when Kaneki had hinted to the investigator that Rainbow Dash did recall something happening.

So if the medicine still left lingering feelings behind. Then that means the reason Lyra Heartstrings said nothing to me on my first visit there, was because she may still recall some of the things that occurred. That would also explain Bon-Bon's reaction to me being here, Kill Shot reasoned.

The sound of clicking hooves drew the investigator’s attention from his thoughts as he looked up to see the mint colored unicorn and her beige friend walking towards him.

“Here she is” Bon-Bon said before turning around, “If you need me I’ll be in the kitchen. I’ve got some candy I need to finish making” she said before waving goodbye. Kill Shot nodded his head and thanked her for bringing the unicorn to him.

Turning his attention back to the unicorn the human immediately took notice of the spark in her eyes as she stared at him.

It was the kind of spark the investigator hadn’t seen in a long long time.

“Please” Kill Shot said after a few seconds of silence, scooting over in his seat to pat the cushion next to him. “Sit, let’s talk. I want to hear how you’ve been doing” he said kindly, his warm expression returning.

Lyra Heartstring simply stared at the human before her, her eyes wide, her heart beating. The unicorn felt a lot of things right now. Strangely enough one of them was fear. For that reason she knew not why, but the most strong emotion of them all was the desire to know this strange alien before her.

The unicorn did not waste a second to sit by Kill’s side the moment he had offered immediately taking the seat and looking at him with interest and curiosity. Her eyes taking in every feature on the man’s face.

Clearly she could see that the man had no muzzle like her race did. She could see the chiselled-ness that was his cheekbones and how the did well to accent his jawline. Kill Shot, made no movement to withdraw as the mare studied him but simply waited patiently for her to finish before he would touch on any topics.

Lyra was grateful for this.

Once the mare had finished looking over his face the two’s eyes met and Kill immediately noticed the faint blush that touched her cheeks. He let out a small smile. Cute, he thought. Then he felt the mare poke his leg with her finger before looking away meekly and asking him a question.

“C-Could I see your hands?” Lyra asked shyly.

Kill Shot shrugged, not seeing the problem at all. “Sure” and so he offered his right hand, the one that wasn’t gloved.

Lyra took the hand and placed her own hand in it. Kill Shot was frankly surprised at how soft it was, despite the feeling of her coat and skin it felt quite warm. Lyra however noticed the roughness of Kill’s hands. Like they’d been through much work, labour and possibly even suffering.

Her ears wilted a bit at the thought of such a kind alien having to go through such kind of pain. Kill Shot noticed this and gave her hand a gentle squeeze encouraging her with his own signature smile.

Finally when all was nonverbally said and done, the two put some space between them so that Kill Shot could finally get down to what he was truly here for. Bon-Bon having finished her candy making now joined Lyra in a seat next to her both paying attention to what the investigator was about to say.

“Well then” Kill Shot began. “I can see your friend here is quite interested in my species” he said earning a embarrassed smile from the aquamarine unicorn and an annoyed look from the earth pony glaring at her friend.

“But, I really should get down to business” he said his tone now growing serious. The two mares picking up on this immediately ridded themselves of any previous reaction. Giving Kill Shot their full attention.

The man’s light brown eyes fixed on the two before he spoke. Ready to expect any sort of answer they’d give him. “What do you to remember from two days ago?”

Streamlight now headed in the direction of Twilight Sparkle’s castle. The detective had asked around for directions for a majority of the day after awakening and getting something to eat and had finally began making his way towards the crystal tree-like castle.

“Finally” he thought with relief. The unicorn had gone to Sugarcube Corner to double check if Kaneki was there, but only found that the human had gone to the castle with the town’s number one party planner. So that’s where he was headed.

After a few minutes the stallion reached the castle door. Knocking on it only to hear from within a “Come in!” before entering.

Climbing the flight of steps his hooves clicking around the staircase, Streamlight made his way into the common room after opening the doors.

It was there he was greeted with the eyes of four mares, a dragon, and the one he’d been looking for.

“Hello” Twilight said. “Is there something we can help you with?” she asked.

Streamlight however said nothing. His eyes were now directed on the human standing behind Pinkie’s seat. The white haired boy looking back at him with curiosity in his eyes.

Streamlight slowly, yet fluently pulled out the picture of Kaneki in his pocket. Kept his eyes on the boy for a few seconds before looking at the picture again as if this were all just a dream.

He now understood why the pegasus mare had been so confused when she saw the picture of Kaneki, and the person that stood before him now. It was like they were two completely different beings.

Silence transcended the room as the five mares and dragon looked at the MDA detective, then looked back at Kaneki who was simply giving the unicorn a blank stare.

A few more seconds passed before Applejack’s voice drew the unicorn’s attention away from Kaneki for a few seconds.

“Excuse me sir!” Applejack said for what was most likely the third time. “Ah don’t know what business you have here but we did ask you a question. What are you doing here, and state your business!” she said hotly.

Streamlight registered what was being said but he quickly looked back at Kaneki before looking back at the mare and then her friends who were all beginning to eye him with suspicion.

“Ahem. I apologize for that it’s just uh. I thought I was looking at a different person” Streamlight said. Twilight’s brow raised in confusion.

“And who are you?” Spike asked.

“I’m Junior Detective Streamlight, with the Manehattan Detective Agency. I’ve come here due to a certain issue that I would like to discuss with...your friend over there” he said waving his hand in Kaneki’s direction.

Pinkie Pie immediately stood on her hooves confused. “What do you mean you want to talk with Kaneki? What’s the Manehattan authorities got to do with him?”

Streamlight’s eyes turned in Kaneki’s direction. The eyes now expressing a look of suspicion in them as they stared back at the unicorn.

“Well” he said walking towards Kaneki and holding the picture out for only him to see. “Why don’t you ask him yourself?””

Kaneki’s eyes slowly widened as he gazed at the image of himself before him. Immediately snatching it up in his hand and staring at it, surprising Pinkie and the others with the way he ripped it out of the detective’s hand.

Time seemed to slow for the boy as he felt all eyes now firmly glued on him. Kaneki quickly crumpled the picture up in his fist and shoved it in his pocket, his surprised eyes never losing their shocked state as he looked up at the unicorn.

“Where did you get this photo?” he asked in a calm yet cold voice.

Streamlight’s eyes narrowed as Kaneki now glared at him with silent fury.

“That’s for me to know. And you to never find out. Now come with me. We’re going to have a nice, long talk.”