P A R A N O R M A L

Chapter 2:

Discovering Yourself

Red and blue lights flashed through the relatively quiet neighborhood. Ponies in uniform combed over the entire area of the simple, wooden building. Medical ponies worked diligently and carefully as they carried a body bag out of the house on their stretcher. Gently, they lifted it into the back the ambulance carriage, the paramedics joining in the back as it sped off for the police station.

One officer watched the carriage go before turning to look at the stallion shivering from underneath a police blanket just outside his own home. In all her years of service, Quiet Patrol had never experienced a case like this. Whatever that… thing was that the paramedics dragged off, it had nearly killed a pony on her watch. She wasn’t going to let something like that happen twice. Adjusting the brim of her cap, the unicorn walked over to the victim, noting he was on his haunches and using his forelegs to keep the blanket covering most of him.

‘He’s still a kid, Quiet. Go easy on him,’ she thought to herself as she stopped next to him and took a seat there on the cold ground, the evening dew soaking into her fur. “Some night, huh?” she said simply, glancing at the stallion before watching her officers do their jobs around them. The vic only nodded, adjusting the blanket slightly. “What’s your name?”

The pegasus let out a shuddered breath. “B-bravely. Bravely Default.”

“Neat name, kid. I’m Detective Patrol, call me Quiet.” Brave nodded as the officer looked at him. “Can you tell me what happened? If we’re going to do all that we can, every bit of information helps.”

“W-well…” he stammered a bit before swallowing hard. “I, I was just having an late night gaming session with some friends-”

“Was it one of those friends that called the PPD?” she interrupted.

Brave nodded. “Y-yeah, I think it was Queenie. If-if it hadn’t been for her, I think I’d be a goner. She told me to run…” he mirthlessly laughed, shaking his head. “I should have listened instead of questioning it.”

“So she told you to run, but you didn’t,” Quiet summed up, “What happened next?”

“When she screamed at me, I yanked my headphones off and almost immediately I could hear someone, something breathing. I turned around and… dear Celestia it was hideous! It had no fur and its skin was all pale and wrinkly. B-but it had these long forearms with claws sharper than anything I’ve ever seen, except for its teeth. They looked sharp enough to cut a knife to pieces. And then…” he trailed off, shuddering.

“Then it attacked,” she filled in, getting a nod out of Brave. “Tell me, what happened when it struck at you? Did you run; attack it? Because, if I’m being honest, you should be the one we carried out of that house.”

“I… I don’t know,” he admitted, looking at the ground as slowly shook his head.

“You don’t know?”

“It’s all a blur. It was about to eat me one moment-”

“How did you know it was going to eat you?”

“I could just… feel it, I guess? I know that doesn’t make much sense, but it didn’t feel like it was just there to kill me; it saw me as food. Like I was gonna say, one moment it was gonna eat me and then the next its at my hooves, completely unmoving. I really don’t know what happened, I swear.”

Quiet nodded, getting back on all fours. “That’s all I need for now. We’ll be in touch if we need anything else. Do you have some place you can stay until we’ve finished examining the crime scene?”

Brave was in the process of shaking his head when a feminine gasp could be heard moving towards them. He looked over and blinked at the pale yellow, earth pony mare coming over to him. Even in the dim light of the night, he could clearly make out the swirly, cobalt-blue and fuschia maned pony. “Ms. Bon Bon?”

“She a friend of yours?” Quiet asked.

“Seasonal employer,” Bon Bon answered for him. “Bravely helps in my candy shop during some of the busier holidays.” She leaned to look at the house before back at the pair. “What happened here?”

“Monster attack,” the detective answered simply.

Bon Bon gasped, putting a hoof to her mouth. “Oh my Celestia, Bravely are you ok?”

He nodded, though Quiet was the one to speak. “He’s got a few bruises and probably good shock to his psyche, but the medics said he’ll recover. Can’t say the same for the creature, though; thing’s deader than a doorknob.”

Brave noted that Bon Bon seemed more surprised than she should have, but figured it was simply due to the extraordinary situation. “What kind of a monster? And how did it die?”

“We’re not entirely sure, but it’s not pretty to look at it. Paramedics said it’s neck was snapped entirely in two. Was probably gone before even hit the ground. Whatever did it though, I’d put on the force in a heartbeat. Anyway, you wouldn’t happen to know someone who could put up the kid here, would you?”

“I’m twenty-four, you know,” Brave muttered under his breath with a slight deadpan.

“Oh certainly. I have a spare room at my apartment that we could put him up for a nights.”

“Um, how many nights are we talking here, exactly?” Brave asked, looking between the two mares that were deciding his life for him.

“Only a couple days. Just need to collect a few bits of evidence to see if we can piece together what happened. After that, you should be able to return to your home with full confidence.”

“Oh thank the princesses,” he muttered.

Bon Bon pursed her lips and narrowed her eyes at Bravely. “I don’t have to hire you this season, you know.” Brave gulped as Bon Bon’s expression softened upon looking at the detective. “I’ll make sure he gets settled in until you’ve completed your investigation officer,” she turned around, motioning with her head for Brave to stand. “Come on. Let’s get you out of the cold and you can sleep this night away.”

“Um,” Bravely looked between Bon Bon, Quiet, and his own home before sighing and standing up. Using his wings, he shifted the blanket off and hoofed it off to the detective. “Thanks, officer.” Falling in step behind his new landmare, they trotted off into the night.

Quiet chuckled silently as she walked back to the front of the house, looking at it with a wary eye. She stopped in her tracks, however, as a question began to nag at her brain. “Now, just what was she doing out here this late?” she asked the open air, her fellow officers continuing to tape off the area.

* * * * * * * * * *

“Woah-ho! That’s incredible!”

Brave had to cover his ear from the high pitched shout of the mare across from him. After the sleepless night from before, it wasn’t welcome for Bon Bon’s roommate/best friend to be screeching at him so early. He glanced back at the mint green, unicorn mare staring at him with those wide, golden eyes. He’d always known Lyra Heartstrings to be rather energetic, but even this early was too much for him.

“That’s not quite the word I’d use for it,” he drolly replied.

“He’s right, Lyra,” Bon Bon scolded, waggling the spoon of her cereal at her best friend. “Bravely could have been killed.”

“Oh,” she said, her silvery, green mane drooping with her emotions as she put that puzzle piece into place. “Yeah, I guess that’s isn’t something to be so ecstatic over. Sorry.” She rubbed the back of her head with a forehoof, looking sheepish over her former outburst.

Bravely shrugged, taking another bite of his oats and raisins cereal. He swallowed before saying, “It’s no big deal, I guess. At least I survived, right? I’m kind of worried over what could be said about the others that creature met before last night.”

“Oooh, you think that could have caused those missing ponies over the past month?” Lyra asked, not bothering to swallow her bite before speaking.

“I wouldn’t go jumping to conclusions just yet,” Bon Bon warned. “Let’s let the police do their job; I’m sure they’ll release a statement once this hits the news.”

“Oh Celestia,” Brave groaned, holding a hoof to his head. “I’d completely forgotten about possible press coverage. I don’t wanna be in the news for almost being eaten!”

“Better than being in the paper for being eaten.”

“Thank you, Lyra,” Bon Bon deadpanned.

Lyra chuckled sheepishly, quickly resuming her breakfast like the others. The remainder of the meal lay in silence until Lyra finished and started cleaning the dishes. Bon Bon finished almost a moment afterwards, looking at Brave as he ate. Her eyes wandered all over him when he wasn’t looking, taking in every little detail. She noted the bedhead he never bothered to fix, his mane almost always unkempt like his short tail. He’d asked him some time ago why he kept his mane longer and his tail shorter, only to get a reply that it “felt natural” to him. She glanced at his wings, seeing how little they were used as Bravely had always been considered more comfortable on the ground, though he always seemed to be hiding something when he was asking about it. She focused on his hooves the most, her eyes narrowing as she noticed something… off about them.

Bon Bon opened her mouth to say something, but another decided to speak first.

“Oh shoot!” Lyra grumbled loudly, looking in the refrigerator. “We’re all out of milk and eggs.” She sighed, closing the door. “I was gonna make egg salad for lunch today.”

Taking the opportunity, Bon Bon spoke, “Well, why don’t you make a quick run to the market, Lyra? I’m not gonna open the shop until later today anyway.”

“You sure?”

The earth pony nodded. “Bravely and I will be fine for an hour without your happy company.” She gave her roommate a playful smirk, her eyes closed. “Can’t go without your egg salad after all.”

Lyra rolled her eyes, levitating her purse over to her with her golden magic and draping it over her neck. “Oh really? Is that why you’re always putting hot sauce on it?”

“Oh come on! I just like it hotter is all.”

Lyra giggled as she trotted out the door. “Be back soon~,” she singsonged before closing the door and walking off into town, leaving Bravely and Bon Bon home alone.

Bravely tapped his hooves on the table for a moment, having finished his breakfast just before Lyra decided to leave. “Sooo…,” he drawled out, “You wouldn’t happen to have a computer, would you? I’d like to let my friends know I’m alright.”

“Oh sure,” she nodded, pointing into the den off to the side of the open living room. “Right in there. Don’t have any of those ‘webcam’ things, though, so you’ll have to do with ‘chat rooms’ or whatever you technogeeks call it.”

Brave rolled his eyes, standing up from the kitchen chair. “Thanks, Ms. Bon Bon.”

“Just Bon Bon, Brave. You don’t have to be formal with me when we’re off the clock.”

“Oh, ok. Thanks Bon,” he cheekily grinned, heading into the den and getting to work on setting up his chat room.

Bon Bon stayed sitting at the kitchen table, sipping at her coffee; black, like always. She sat there for several minutes as the clacking of her computer keyboard became the only sound in the house. After nearly thirty minutes, she finally stood and moved to the kitchen drawers and removed a certain implement.

Without a sound, she crept to the den. Practiced precision kept even the tiniest clop of her hooves from ringing out as she edged ever closer to her target. His back was to her, completely engrossed in the textual talk on her computer. There was no possible way to see her from his position…

Nor the knife she held curled in her fetlock.

She balanced herself on two legs behind Brave, keeping her target blissfully unaware.

Two steps away.

One step.

She was right on top of him. Without a single emotion in her eyes, she swung the knife down towards the top Bravely’s head.

Said head shot up instantly as his body reacted, shoving himself and the chair back from the desk and into Bon Bon. She grunted as the wind was knocked from her and landing on rump.

Bravely spun in the chair just as Bon Bon jumped back to her hooves, gripping the blade before stabbing at her target.

It never reached.

In a sudden, and surprising movement, Bravely’s rear leg shot forward in front flip that kicked the knife out of Bon Bon’s grip and embedded it in the ceiling above them. He landed deftly on his rear legs before catching a jab from Bon Bon’s forehoof.

With quick skill, she wrenched her hoof out of his grip as she spun to strike him with the other hoof. Bravely moved his own hoof horizontally in front of his face, blocking the blow.

Bon Bon was far from finished, however. She spun again in the opposite direction, her hooves flying in a flurry of movements, each one just barely blocked by Bravely. Only for a quick jab to his barrel to push him back against the desk and his rear drop to the floor.

His attacker leapt high into the air, grabbing the knife and using it to pull herself to be standing on the ceiling. With a shove of her rear legs, she wrenched the knife out of the ceiling and once again brought it down on Bravely…

Who clapped both hooves to the blade, keeping it from taking from his life.

Bon Bon pressed down, her emotionless eyes looking down at Brave’s empty grey eyes. She saw no emotion in them, only action and resolve. She smirked before letting up and pulling back from Bravely, putting a good distance between the two as she watched him. She noted his body panting hard as light and emotion returned to normal, staring back at her in shock and fear.

“B-bon Bon,” he breathed. “Wh-what did I do wrong‽”

She took a deep breath, steadying her own heartbeat which had risen substantially from the brawl. She chucked the knife away, letting it clatter to the floor. “Had to confirm a suspicion.” She smiled cheekily at him. “You’ve got skills, rookie; more so than any beginning agent I’ve ever seen. I think you’re going to make a good addition to the agency.”

Bravely stared back at her, with only one word on his mind,

“WHAT‽”