Nightshade: Death of a Psychic

"So what's stoppin' ye from seein' the Prince now?" Lucky slid Nightshade a drink.

The stallion stared into the dark liquid as if it held the answer.

"Well, I broke the news to Strike and she nearly put a hole in my face. You almost did the same, so how do you think a Prince with infinite magic and pissed off is going to take that?"

"Fair point. So then what're ya gonna do lad?"

"I'm gonna get an audience with the Prince, but I need to get proof that I'm who I say I am." The unicorn hopped up from his seat, "Tell our friends I'm back. Nobody else. Not Sunbutt, not Luna, especially not Ace. If they don't believe you... Show them this."

He removes an ornate, golden watch from his jacket pocket and puts it on the counter before walking out of the bar.

Nightshade walked back into his old home, heading straight for the attic. He had a theory and now was to time to investigate. As he came up the stairs a figure was waiting for him.

"Next time you decide to fake your own death," Computer stood with a stern face but there was joy in his eyes. Relief even. "Keep us in the loop. Whatever you did, Pandora lost your vitals for a while."

"Well, being in literal comatose put my plans on hold," Nightshade chuckled as they both entered the ship that sat in the attic.

"So, talking to Strike must have been rough. We heard when she pulled the gun on you- I would have stepped in, but I thought she was just alone and drunk again. It wasn't the first time she spent a night in the place while it was empty, it was the first time she didn't cry herself to sleep though. She's weirdly attached to you."

"She'd never admit it though. Lucky didn't take it any better."

"I can imagine. Bri would probably kill you himself. How are you going to break the news to The Prince?"

Nightshade chuckled and cleared his throat, "About that- "

"You weren't going to tell him, were you?"

"No, how could I? you want me to walk in and say, 'Hey Ace, you thought I was dead but I'm actually alive! I waited until now to tell you. How about a hug?' No. He'd probably send me to the sun."

Nightshade paused. I'm missing something, something's not right.

"Computer? What was Totoro convicted of again?"

The metal pony raised an eyebrow as the data came to him, "Multiple homicides, why?"

"No reason. She didn't happen to have a sibling did she?" The unicorn stepped up to the controls, "Pandora, let me fly this one."

"Not that I'm aware of but if she did the records would have been wiped."

The ship shuddered defiantly. Pandora seemed opposed to what he was implying.

"No, I'm not going to mess with The Doctor's timeline. We have a gentlemen's agreement to leave each other alone."

Pandora groaned reluctantly.

"Thank you, love."

Bloody tears rolled down the face of the small rust red mare as she vomited in pain, a shadow figure roughly placed a knife in the filly's hands before walking out the front door of the home. The girl crawled over to her parents who now lay in pools of their own blood, nudging the bodies as she felt around the floor clutching the knife tightly. They felt cold.

"Mommy... Dad?" Now her nightgown was covered in blood, a mixture of hers and her parents.

A metallic groaning sound filled the air, she whirled around blindly in an attempt to locate the origin to no avail.

"Alright," Nightshade's footfalls were softened by the carpeted floor as he slowly approached the small filly and picked her up, "Kiddo... This is where it gets interesting."

Nightshade walked up to the side of the bed where the filly lay bandaged up, he leaned over and nearly flinched as the girl turned her head to face him. Although Computer did the best he could there was still dried blood and some scarring visible around her bandaging. Who would do something like this? This just reeks of chaotic energy... Nightshade thought, almost ignoring the girl until she slowly sat up and brought a hand up to her bandages.

"Hey don't mess with those too much," Nightshade slowly moved her hands away from her face. "How do you feel?"

"My head kinda hurts."

"That's good, that means you still have feeling in your eyes." Nightshade almost inwardly cursed, regretting mentioning her eyes.

She frowned, "Who are you? Are you a police officer?"

"No..."

"A doctor?"

Nightshade held back for a moment. "My name is Nightshade. I'm... Well, a lot of things. Your parents... Whoever attacked them, they didn't make it... I'm sorry."

The girl just looked broken, her whole world crashing down around her.

"So it must have been your sister then."

"Mister?"

"Yes, child?"

"I don't have a sister."

Nightshade raised an eyebrow, "I'm sorry, I've been rude. I introduced myself and never asked you for your name."

"Everyone calls me Torri... But my mom named me Totoro."

"How old... How old are you, Torri?"

"8."