It was raining in the Neo Trotkyo streets as you approached your client’s residence. Fortunately you had taken a gray, wool jacket with you before coming here and the items you had brought along were contained securely inside your saddlebags.
Stepping off the path, you approached a gated residence where your client was residing. Many times, powerful and noble ponies from Canterlot or even Manehatten would own a vacation home here in Neighpon where they would relax and enjoy the pleasures that the region had to offer. Such was the case with your client.
As you approached the gates, you could see a large kirin stallion wearing a black suit standing guard. A couple years ago, the mysterious race of kirin that were once thought to be just a myth had returned and had gradually worked their way into modern society, many of them returning to the land of their origins. Having observed the stallion, you had to admit that he was kind of cute.
After recognizing you, the kirin gave you a bow before unlocking the gate and letting you inside. You returned the gesture before passing through the gates. As you approached the building, you walked through the front courtyard, noticing a green statue in the center of the legendary Meadowbrook. While the statue annoyed you slightly, you continued moving toward the main entrance.
Walking up the steps to the client’s home, you raised a hoof and knocked at the dark green, wooden door. Most would generally be surprised to see an earth pony mare of your caliber performing this kind of job, however, your way with words and your innocent mannerisms did make finding clients easier. Even if in some cases it was for the wrong reasons.
The door opened as a unicorn stallion with a brown coat, blond mane and blue eyes answered the door. Over his body he wore a black and yellow kimono. Even as he first opened the door, you could feel his eyes examining your body, not that you hadn’t expected that. Instinctively, you ignored the stallion’s wandering eyes and gave him a polite, professional smile.
“Hello,” the stallion said, his words as soft as silk.
There were many mares you had met in your life that would have swooned at the sight of this stallion, some even throwing themselves into his hooves to be used by him without a second thought. After all, there were more than a few mares in Neighpon who would love to marry a rich pony from a distant land. However, unlike those ignorant mares, you knew that love wasn't what this stallion was looking for. You also knew that he wasn't your client.
"Hello," you replied, "is Miss Regal available?"
As you asked the question, the stallion's eyes changed from its salacious mannerisms to a more scrutinizing tone.
"Oh, so you're the mare that my sister requested."
You adjusted your round glasses and gave the stallion a wider smile. "Indeed, I am."
Judging from the stallion's attitude, he didn't approve of his sister's request or of your presence. No doubt your reputation had preceded you, at least to some small extent. Nonetheless, he stepped aside and motioned with a hoof for you to enter.
"Please come inside."
Stepping in, you could feel the stallion's eyes still wandering, occasionally drifting toward your flank. It would seem that despite his apprehension at your presence that the stallion was… intrigued by your form. While suspicious ponies were common in your line of work, you knew of ways to put them off your trail.
“Would you like for me to take your jacket, miss?” the stallion asked.
“That would be lovely,” you answered, “by the way, what’s your name, sir?”
“Chocolate Sun,” the stallion replied, as he took the warm, wool jacket from your shoulders.
“Well, thank you, Chocolate Sun.”
As Sun took your jacket, you swooshed your tail slightly. It was an innocent movement that no ordinary pony would bat an eye at, but for stallions like this, it served more as a tease. Instantly the stallion’s cheeks turned a deep crimson.
"Is something the matter?" you asked, giving him an innocent smile.
“Ummm, no, it's nothing,” Sun stuttered, “let me take you to Regal Cream.”
As much of a playcolt this stallion might be, it was very clear that Chocolate Sun wasn't used to being rejected, or even the one being played with. Either that, or maybe that was secretly his thing.
You followed Chocolate Sun as he led you to the room Regal and you had agreed upon.
"So… how often do you do this sort of thing?" Sun asked.
"Oh, it depends upon the season," you replied, "the busy season is in the fall, so when it comes to appointments I can have about nine to ten a week."
"Wow, that's a great deal. Doesn't it become exhausting at times?"
"Sometimes."
It was about then that Chocolate Sun stopped in front of a door. "Okay, here we are."
"Thank you," you said, adjusting your glasses as you gave Sun another pleasant smile.
"So ummm…" Sun stuttered nervously, "do you actually spe…"
Raising a hoof, you covered the stallion's lips, stopping him mid-question. It was so much fun playing with your clients and those around them.
“Why don’t you come and see,” you answered.
Stepping past the stallion, you opened the door and entered the room. The walls of the room were dark gray with a floral pattern and red carpeting on the floor. In the center of the room was a wooden table where your client, Regal Cream, was waiting. She was a unicorn mare with a brown coat, blonde mane and blue eyes. As it would turn out, Chocolate Sun and Regal Cream were twins.
At first Regal seemed uneasy, however, once she saw you, her expression lit up and a smile appeared on her face.
“Thank you for coming,” Regal said, “I left the room just as you had asked. Are you sure mother will come?”
About a week ago both of them had lost their mother, Royal Star, in a horrific accident. To make things worse, there were matters pertaining to the twins’ inheritance that their mother hadn’t addressed in her last will and testament. Specifically, a special heirloom by the name of the Dark Peregrine, a statuette of a bird that had been passed down from generation to generation. Unfortunately, their mother had only mentioned that the twins would inherit the heirloom, not who would inherit it.
Admittedly, any other pony might find it surprising that the twins were the sole inheritors of Royal Star’s fortune considering that her husband, Sour Milk, was still alive.
Because of this, the siblings had started fighting. That was when strange things began to happen.
“Thank you for having me,” you said, “has the statue moved since our last meeting?”
"Yes, it moved from the dining room to the living area earlier today," Regal answered.
While you had a pretty good idea what was going on, you decided to keep that to yourself.
"I see, then it would seem that your mother is near," you replied, "we shall try to communicate with her to see if we might appease her. Is the statue here?"
Regal pointed toward the window where the Dark Peregrine rested on a small red blanket, no doubt setup to make the statue look significant and grand.
“Good,” you said.
Walking over to the table, you picked out a seat and set your saddlebags down next to the table before opening it. Inside were the various items you often used for your work. Opening the bag you pulled forth a small jar containing some salt as well as some fishing line, the latter of which you were careful to conceal, before walking over to the statue.
“I will attempt to establish a barrier,” you explained, “that way, if there’s any dark energy inside, no harm will come to us during the séance.”
Taking the jar of salt, you poured it around the statue, forming what was referred to as a protective circle. As you did that, you stealthily tied the fishing line to the corner of the cloth that the Dark Peregrin rested upon.
“Wait, are you sure you're a paranormal investigator?” Chocolate Sun asked, “I thought unicorns were more in tune with the spirits. After all, they are tied to magic, so wouldn’t they be keen on the supernatural?”
This wasn’t the first time this had been brought up to you before. Fortunately, with your silver tongue and your knowledge on this stallion’s behavior, you knew how to disarm him. Looking up from your bag, you pulled your mane aside with a hoof in a seductive manner, giving the stallion a sly grin.
“While unicorns might know magic, we earth ponies have a magical connection with the earth,” you replied, “do you know what earth is made of?”
“Dirt?”
“Dust,” you answered, “and when everything dies it eventually returns to dust. It is this connection to death that allows earth ponies like me to commune with the dead.”
While Sun seemed to have been stunned by your answer, Regal beamed excitedly. Carefully you walked back to your seat, being careful not to draw any attention to the long, thin string you had.
“Now let us begin,” you said, as you pulled forth a board along with a small heart shaped piece of wood with a spherical piece of glass in the center and placed it on the table.
“What contraption is this?” Regal asked.
“It’s a ouija board and planchette,” you explained, “a device that will allow us to speak with your deceased mother.”
Pulling out three candlesticks, you set them around the table, along with a metal lighter.
“Will you be joining us for this séance?” you asked, looking over at Regal’s brother.
For a moment it appeared that Chocolate Sun might actually refuse, but after letting out a sigh the stallion took a seat around the table. Of course, you knew he couldn’t refuse. After all, if he didn’t witness this, then Regal Cream could very well claim that the ghost of Royal Star had chosen her to possess the Dark Peregrine, and he couldn’t have that. Plus, he might have had the hots for you.
“I guess I’ll join in,” Sun answered.
Regal smiled and said, “Thank you.”
With a hoof you pushed the lighter toward Chocolate Sun. “Then would you mind lighting the candles for me, dear?”
“Uh, sure.” Sun’s horn glowed with yellow energy as he picked up the lighter, flipped it open and lit the three candles around the table.
“Regal, could you turn off the lights?” you inquired.
“Certainly,” Regal said excitedly. Compared to her sibling, it was very clear that Regal Cream was not only intrigued by the séance, but actually believed that you would allow her to communicate with her dead mother.
With the lights off, the room was dark, save for the light from the flickering flames on the candles. They illuminated the table, the faces of the three ponies surrounding it, and the ouija board that rested there.
“Now let us all place a hoof on the planchette,” you instructed, as you proceeded to place your hoof on the device.
Regal eagerly reached out and touched it. As for Sun, it was clear that he was a little reluctant.
“Just to be clear, I don’t believe in any of this,” Chocolate Sun said as he joined us.
“That’s fine, dear,” you answered, “I’m just happy that you are so willing to support your sister.”
As you smiled at the stallion, you could faintly make out the hint of a blush on his cheeks in the candlelight.
“Now, let us begin.” Lowering your head and closing your eyes, you began a traditional séance prayer. “Oh Luna, caretaker of life and death, keep us safe as we speak with your beloved child, Royal Star, from beyond the grave. May you give us guidance with our words and our hooves.”
With the prayer that was customary for seances like this out of the way, you opened your eyes and looked at your client and her sibling.
“What is the first question you would like to ask?” you inquired.
Regal looked at the board. “Mother, are you here?”
For a moment, nothing happened until slowly the planchette began to move, drifting down the board until it rested over a single word. Yes.
The flames on the candles flickered and Regal shivered. Out of the corner of your eye, you could see that Chocolate Sun was still unimpressed. It looked like you might have to pull out some of the big guns.
“Is there anything you would like to ask?” you said, turning to Chocolate Sun.
“Yeah. Mother, if you are here, how did you die?”
Admittedly, that was a tough one. Due to their noble connections, Royal Star’s family had managed to keep the details of her death out of the public eye. Only a select few individuals as well as members of her family knew what had really happened.
Slowly the planchette moved, stopping at a letter before it resumed its movement. F. E. L. L.
Immediately, Chocolate Sun’s eyes went wide.
“Interesting…” you said, trying to push the conversation further without making it too apparent.
The planchette moved once more. P. U. S. H. E. D. Even as the word was formed the lights on the candle flickered again. Sweat was visible on both Chocolate Sun and Regal Cream’s brow. You looked at the twins, giving them an almost suspicious look.
“Is there something you’re not telling me?” you asked.
“N-no,” Sun stuttered.
Again the planchette moved along the wooden board resting on a word. Yes.
Both of the siblings looked at each other nervously. With a reluctant sigh, Regal turned looking worriedly at her brother.
“I think we should tell her,” Regal said.
Chocolate Sun grumbled. Clearly, he wasn’t too fond of the idea, however, it was clear that he wasn’t going to stop his sister from revealing whatever secret they were hiding.
Regal looked at you apologetically. “The fact is our father killed our mother.”
“Once Sour Milk was taken into custody,” Sun continued, “we used a part of our family fortune to ensure that what had truly happened to be omitted from the record to keep our father’s crime from tainting our family’s name.”
As Chocolate Sun said this, a part of you wondered if perhaps the stallion felt happy after finally letting that off of his chest.
“You won’t tell anypony, will you?” Regal asked.
When it came to the various things you were willing to do for money, blackmail wasn’t one of them. At least, not usually. While you weren’t too thrilled about the way Chocolate Sun had looked at you when the two of you first met, Regal Cream seemed to be a good mare, so for her sake you would keep their secret.
“I was hired to commune with your late mother, dear,” you answered, “therefore that is what I shall do.”
Regal was about to say something when the planchette glided across the board. S. H. A. R. E. There was an audible breathing sound when suddenly all three of the candles on the table went out, eliciting a startled cry from Regal.
Now that your trick candles had activated it was time to act. With one hoof still on the planchette, you grabbed and pulled on the string that was attached to the blanket. There was a cluttering sound as the Dark Peregrine fell to the floor. Hearing the noise, Regal squealed.
It was at that moment that the lights came on, Chocolate Sun’s horn glowing, indicating that he was the one that hit the switch. Judging from his pale expression it was clear that he was scared cold. The Dark Peregrine lay on the ground.
“Wh-what just happened?” Sun stuttered.
Looking out of the corner of your eye, you could see that the blanket you had pulled out from under the statue, sitting just next to your chair. Using one of your back legs, you quickly stepped on the blanket, pulled on the string with your hoof, snapping the fishing line, before kicking the fabric further underneath the table.
“It would seem that your mother’s spirit is strong,” you answered, “even the protective circle I set up couldn’t keep her from interacting with the statue.”
The truth was, there was no ghost moving the statue around the house. The fact was both of the twins had been moving the Dark Peregrine around and yet neither one was willing to admit that they were the ones doing it. Now the statue had moved seemingly on its own and neither one of them was responsible.
“What should we do to appease her?” Regal asked.
“It really isn’t hard,” you replied, “going off of what your mother was saying through the ouija board, she wants you both to share the Dark Peregrine, or to work together and agree upon what you both wish to do with the statue.”
Chocolate Sun and Regal Cream looked at each other.
“Maybe we can find a way for us to share the statue,” Regal said.
“And if we decide to sell it, we can just split the profit,” Sun suggested.
The siblings seemed quite happy with their decision. Now that neither of them would be moving the statue around willy nilly, it would appear that their mother's restless soul would be sated.
As you picked up your supplies and put them back into your saddlebags, Regal walked over to you.
"Thank you for your hard work," Regal said, "I don't know how we can repay you."
"Just the agreed upon price will be fine," you answered.
"Oh, of course." Walking over to her purse, and pulled out a money bag with her magic, before bringing it over. "It's all here as promised."
Quickly you opened the bag, scanning its contents to make sure everything was inside. With a smile, you placed the coin purse inside your saddlebags.
"Thank you, kindly."
Chocolate Sun gave you a nod. "May I show you the way out?"
"Certainly."
You followed Sun out of the room, down the hall to the front door, where your jacket was resting on the hanger.
"Let me give you your coat," Sun said as he took hold of it with his magic.
"Thank you, dear."
After resting the jacket over your shoulders, the stallion walked up to the door and opened it for you. You were about to be on your way, when Chocolate Sun began to speak.
“Ummm… I was wondering, would you like to hang out sometime?”
Had this stallion perhaps seen you in a different light? Did Sun now think of you as a potential romantic partner or was he still looking for some flank? As tempting as it might be for you to take him up on his offer, to date this handsome stallion, something that many of the fillies in your youth said would never happen, you knew it was a bad idea. It would be dangerous to go out with him, especially considering that his sister was one of your clients. What if he found out the truth? However, you could also see how financially beneficial this situation could be if you played your cards right.
Standing in the doorway, you gave Chocolate Sun an apologetic smile. “I’m sorry, but I don’t normally go out with clients or their family members.”
“Oh, of course, I knew that,” Sun said, in a joking manner. Though it was fairly obvious that he was just trying to recover from being rejected.
You stepped outside, before stopping on the doorstep. Slowly, you turned around and gave him a seductive grin. “Now… if you happen to have any trouble with some spirits, you know how to find me, dear.”
As you gave Chocolate Sun a sly wink, you could see the stallion blush. With a giggle you stepped out into the night and made your way back to the office.
You sat happily in your office, counting the bits you had earned from your last job, a little chuckle rumbling in your throat. Another successful con under your belt, another gullible pony satisfied. Ghost and spirits weren’t real, you knew that, but apparently not everypony liked to accept such facts.
Of course, all that meant was that there were plenty of foolish ponies out there with pockets that you could clean out.
While a part of you felt a little bad, it didn’t take you much to shake off the guilt. You helped fulfill the wishes of your clients and they paid you for your work. They paid for the illusion and you obliged.
On the wall behind you, there were a few certificates mounted up. One was for Twilight's School of Friendship and another was for a Forensic Degree from the Canterlot Community College, both forgeries. While there were probably a few ponies out there that would recognize them as fakes, you were fairly certain that none of those ponies would be interested in the business you provided. You also had a bottle of holy water that had been blessed by Celestia herself, though truly it was just some water you had sprinkled some sugar into.
Now to be fair you had done a fair bit of research into the "supernatural" and ways to interact with wandering spirits, so if anything, that made you just as good, if not better, than the real thing. Sure you had heard rumors of ponies in other regions of Equestria coming back from the dead, like the supposed return of King Sombra, but those were just some conspiracy theories that popped up among all the chaos of the infamous event called “the final battle”.
A smile crept across your lips as you examined your money. “I wonder where I should go eat later?”
Maybe some sort of sushi dish or a buttered artichoke from a fancy restaurant would suffice for the evening. Then again, you could just save some of your money and buy a cheap pizza; that wasn't a bad option either. Just the idea of food made your mouth water.
It was about then that a knock at your office door disturbed your thoughts. Putting your ill earned bits into your purse, you adjusted your posture before focusing your attention back to the door.
"Enter!" you said, before adjusting your glasses with a hoof.
The door opened and a mare stepped into your office. She was a tall, thin unicorn mare with a pale purple coat, dark gray mane and maroon eyes. A gray suit caressed her form, and with her pink magic, the mare held a pink hoof fan with white flowers. On her nose rested a pair of small, rectangular spectacles. Upon seeing you, the mare gave you an eerily wide smile, sending a slight chill down your spine.
“Hello,” the mare spoke, “are you the paranormal investigator that works here?”
“Uh, yes,” you replied. You adjusted your glasses, trying to distract yourself from the unease you had felt.
Her smile unwavering, the mare walked over and offered a bow before she sat down in the chair in front of your desk.
“My name is Glasgow Oil,” the mare introduced herself, “I had heard of a mare that investigated the supernatural and I knew I had to come see you.”
Looking at this mare, you knew she wasn’t one of your usual clients. Most of your clients were young ponies looking for a thrill or a gullible mare wanting closure after the loss of a loved one. However, judging from the look in her eyes, it was very clear that she had wisdom beyond her years. Such ponies were dangerous, as more often than not they could see through your ruse.
“Well, I just finished a job and had just come back here to gather some things before heading home.”
“Oh, I see. That’s a shame, I have a job that I’m certain would interest you.”
As she said this, Glasgow put away her fan, before pulling a coin purse from her suit pocket and placing it on the table in front of you. Just by looking at it, you could tell that it was filled with a large amount of bits. As much as you wanted to take them, you didn’t want to accidentally put yourself in a position that could result in somepony finding out that you weren’t what you said you were. Some questions were in order.
“What do you have in mind?” you asked.
Glasgow’s smile somehow grew wider at your inquiry. Using her magic, the unicorn pulled out a piece of red paper and a pair of scissors, before she started cutting unusual patterns into the paper.
“There is an abandoned building in the Neo Trotkyo lower district that I have some interest in,” Glasgow explained, “however, the place is supposedly haunted by spirits. Because of this, the construction workers I hired won’t go near the place to renovate it.”
A few small pieces of paper drifted to the floor as Glasgow continued cutting.
“I see and you want me to check it out and see if there are truly ghosts there.”
Glasgow nodded. “I would like for you to prove that there aren’t any spirits there.”
“Okay… and what if there are?”
Once more Glasgow’s smile widened further and you could have sworn that the corners of her mouth had stretched from ear to ear. More paper fell to the floor.
“If there are any phantoms there, then I will gladly pay for you to exorcise them.”
Now it was starting to make sense. While Glasgow Oil was technically your client, she wasn't the one you would be tricking, but rather the ponies she was hiring to renovate the building. Still, you had an act to play and you weren't going to drop it anytime soon.
"Sounds interesting," you said, "do you mind telling me about this location?"
"Apparently it used to be an old hotel, known as the Fury Love Hotel, however, one day the manager and all of the guests were murdered. Ever since then the building has been vacant and has fallen into disrepair."
Now that didn’t sound ominous or disturbing at all. Still, if Glasgow was going to pay you just to walk around the abandoned hotel to come out after performing a fake exorcism, why not take her up on her offer?
Biting your lip, you looked back to the money bag that Glasgow had placed on the table.
“Do you have a deadline in mind for this job?” you asked.
“By the end of the week if possible,” Glasgow answered. Once she had finished cutting, Glasgow put away the scissors and began folding the paper into some sort of shape.
Well, today was Thursday so the weekend was drawing near. That wasn’t a lot of time. Of course, that really wasn’t a big deal, but you weren’t going to let on that that was the case.
“Two days isn’t a lot of time,” you said, “if I were to do this for you, dear, I would need to know that it was worth my while.”
Glasgow motioned toward the moneybag. “The bits before you will be what you receive upfront just for taking this job. If you are able to examine the area and provide proof either the presence of paranormal activity or lack thereof, I will double what you have there and if you find that you need to exorcise the area, you will be paid triple.”
As she finished saying this, Glasgow finished folding the paper and set it down on your desk.
That seemed like a pretty good bargain all things considered. After stroking your chin in a pondering fashion, you gave miss Glasgow a nod.
“Then I guess we have a deal, my dear.”
“Here, you’ll need this.” Reaching into her pocket, Glasgow set a key out on the table. “I’ll be in touch.”
With that said, your new client left your office. Now that Glasgow was gone, you looked at the weird creation that she had left on your desk. It was an unusual paper craft cut and folded into the shape of an hourglass.
“Strange...”
Well, as weird as your clients’ habits could be from time to time, that didn’t matter. In the end all that mattered was the bits and not getting caught. Picking up the coin purse you jiggled it happily in your hooves.
“I guess I’m ordering sushi tonight.”
You stretched as you awoke from your slumber, your soft silken sheets caressing your body. A yawn escaped your lips as you slowly pulled yourself out of your bed. After stretching a little bit, you left your bedroom and made your way into the main living space.
The apartment you lived in consisted of a conjoined living room and kitchen with two separate doors leading to a bedroom and a bathroom. Like many of the apartments in Neo Trotkyo, the walls in your abode were white and the floors made of wooden panelling. The living area consisted of a couch that had been there since you started renting this room, a coffee table, a couple cabinets and a wall mounted television.
Maybe someday, you might have enough money to own your own place that you could decorate as much as you wanted, but for now, this would have to do.
“Well, it’s time to get ready for my next job.”
While you planned to go to the abandoned hotel later in the evening, that didn’t mean you couldn’t make preparations. Walking over to your couch, you looked inside the saddlebags that you had left there, the night before.
Your saddlebags carried various items that were helpful for your so called paranormal investigations, including a deck of mystical cards, a magnifying glass, a crystal ball that could glow with a flick of a hoof and even came with a disco ball mode for some weird reason, some strong rope, and a few other items. Anything to add to the illusion that you were an actual paranormal investigator.
Seeing that everything was in order you decided to grab something to eat. Walking into the kitchen, you walked over to a fruit basket and pulled out an apple. After cleaning it off, you took a bite and walked back into the living room. The fruit tasted delicious as you bit into its juicy flesh.
As you returned to the living room, you heard somepony knocking on your door.
“Just a second,” you said as you took the apple and set it down on a plate that happened to be resting on your coffee table before walking over to the door.
Opening the door, you were welcomed by a familiar elderly mare. She was a unicorn with a grayish pink coat, a flowing green mane and pale green eyes. Adorning her body was a green kimono.
"Oh, it's you," you mumbled, recognizing the mare that stood before you.
There were few ponies that knew that you were a con artist and unfortunately lady Mistmane was one of them. Supposedly she was a member of a group of ponies called the Pillars of Old Equestria, though you were pretty skeptical, because that would make her an ancient sorceress, which was unlikely. Whether that was true or not, she was a mare that was very skilled with herbs and potions. So skilled in fact that when you had tried to sell her a weed as a rare herb, she bought it only to turn around and reveal that it was actually a plant worth three times the amount you had sold it to her for.
However, what you really found annoying was the fact that she almost always seemed to be trying to convince you to change your ways.
“Hello,” Mistmane said, “I just happened to be in the area and thought I would pay you a visit.”
"Yes, I can see that," you grumbled.
Truth was, you were a little surprised that this mare hadn't spilt the beans about you being a fraud. What sort of motive, could she have for holding onto your little secret? The fact that Mistmane hadn't tried to blackmail you made you quite suspicious of her intentions.
Mistmane let out a sigh. "Look, I know we don't always see eye to eye, but I thought that maybe a gift could settle some nerves."
After seeing this, Mistmane's horn flowed with a grayish blue energy as she presented a ceramic bowl, filled with water, holding a single flower inside. It appeared to be a lotus blossom with white petals, the tips of which were black and inky. As irritated as you might be with the elderly mare, you couldn't help but marvel at the beautiful flower.
"Uhhh… thank you," you said, as you took the flower.
"It's an Astral Lotus. I figured that it might fit with your… line of work."
Well, that certainly wasn’t a jab at you being a fraudulent paranormal investigator. Nope, not at all.
“I see.”
“It is a special flower said to be from the spirit realm,” Mistmane explained, “it is said that some ponies who come in contact with the flower can see into the astral plane.”
As interesting as that was, you knew that ghosts and spirits weren’t real, so you doubted Mistmane’s claims. Still it was a pretty flower and if you grew tired of it, you could always try selling it later.
“Well, thank you anyway, dear.”
You tried to close the door, but Mistmane stopped you by placing a hoof against it. Needless to say, you weren’t pleased by her interference.
“No, I’m not letting you in,” you growled, feeling slightly irritated at the delay. That was until you looked back at Mistmane and noticed a mournful look in her eyes.
“Be careful,” Mistmane said, before releasing her hoof and walking away.
Admittedly, you had found Mistmane’s mannerisms to be a little odd. Normally your interactions with the eldarly mare involved one or both of you being irritated with the other, however, her latest action seemed like genuine concern. Almost as if she knew something was wrong.
At first, you felt a little worried by the development, before shrugging it off. You had a job to do and bits to make. With a harrumph, you walked over to the coffee table and set down the bowl with the flower that Mistmane had given you.
“I’ll show you Mistmane,” you said in a mischievous manner, “I’ll complete this job and milk miss Glasgow for every bit she has to offer.”
Smiling, you playfully tapped the lotus flower in the bowl.
“Just try to stop me.”
Reaching for your saddlebags, you prepared to leave.
“And you were actually able to speak with their mother?” Blossom Burst asked, her purple eyes filled with excitement.
Your friend, Blossom Burst, was a kirin mare with grayish blue coat and a fluffy, mustard colored mane. She had light blue scales and the standard red horn that most Kirin possessed. However, what made her one of your best friends was the fact that she had been there for you during a rough patch in your life. Though the fact that she believed everything you told her certainly helped too. She seemed to hang onto every word you had in regards to your career as a paranormal investigator.
“I was indeed, and I was able to help both of them to fulfill her wishes,” you said, before taking a sip of your coffee.
The two of you were sitting at a lovely table inside of a local maid café, the Maidstream Cure, a lovely place where the two of you would meet from time to time. Inside, the café was bustling with customers as well as waitresses wearing standard maid attire, composed of a black dress, white stockings, white aprons and a white, lacy maid cap.
“That’s amazing!” Blossom said, “You’re incredible!”
With Blossom’s praise, you couldn’t help but gloat a little. After pushing your glasses further up your nose, you smiled and crossed your forelegs in a confident manner.
“If you think that’s cool,” you replied, “guess who’s been hired to look for ghosts at the Fury Love Hotel.”
Hearing this, Blossom’s face changed from happiness to actual concern. Quickly she glanced around the room as if checking if anypony else was listening. From what you could tell, most of the other patrons were completely oblivious and those that were looking in your direction were probably only looking because Blossom was a kirin.
In addition to being a kirin, Blossom was considered beautiful by most pony’s standards. While she was a caring individual, Blossom also possessed an exotic, foreign beauty that drew the eyes of others to her.
“You do know what they say about that place, right?” Blossom whispered.
“I know that there was a mass murder there,” you answered, “that apparently everypony who was there was killed in a single night.”
Due to your search for new ways to… convince you clients that you were actually able to interact with the dearly departed, you hadn’t caught much of the local gossip over the years, focusing more on information pertaining to your clients instead. So when it came to the Fury Love Hotel, you really only knew what Glasgow Oil had told you.
“There’s more than that,” Blossom said, “apparently even before the murder, the hotel had a dark history.”
“Like what?”
Blossom Burst took a deep breath. “Well, I heard that supposedly there were a few situations with mares who were guests there being abducted. There was even an account of a mare being raped there once.”
Well, that was unfortunate. It was probably a good thing that the place was now in ruins.
“Is that all?”
The kirin’s expression turned grim. “I heard rumors that some ponies go in there and never come back out.”
Now you couldn’t help but chuckle at that. This warranted an annoyed look from Blossom.
“I’m serious!”
You shook your hoof in an apologetic manner. “I know, it just sounds silly is all.”
For most ponies, stories like that might be intimidating, however, you knew that most of these old myths weren’t real. After all, you had made up a few rumors like that during your career just to sell the illusion and in some cases to bump up your prices.
“Is your phone still broken?”
A few weeks ago, your cell phone was damaged when you had accidentally dropped it during one of your seances. Fortunately this had resulted making the mood a little more spooky. However, now you had a broken phone that was barely holding together with a cracked screen and was practically useless.
“Yeah, I still need to buy a new one,” you replied, “I’ve just been really busy with work lately.”
“Are you sure that’s safe? What if something happens while you're at the hotel?”
Of course, you knew that it was very unlikely that anything dangerous would occur at the hotel, however, you understood her concern. Even if there weren’t ghosts, an abandoned building wasn’t exactly the safest place.
“You have nothing to worry about, dear. I’ll be careful.” you reassured her.
Blossom looked at you with concern. “Just please be careful, okay.”
“Don’t worry, I will.”
It was at that point that one of the cafe’s maids walked up to the table. “Hey, Blossom, my shift is about over so you might want to go dress up.”
Blossom nodded as she stood up from the table. “Well, I have to get ready for work.”
“Take care,” you said, as you watched your friend walk away.
After you finished drinking your coffee, you stood up from the table and left the café. It was time for you to go to work as well.
The sun was starting to set as you stood outside of the abandoned building that Glasgow Oil had asked for you to investigate. Like your client had said, it was an abandoned love hotel with the doors and windows all boarded up.
Walking up to the front door, you pulled out the key that Glasgow had given you. The key was metallic made out of some sort of steel, the base of the key shaped like a snail's shell or a coiled serpent.
"Strange," you mumbled as you pushed the key into the lock.
With a click, the door opened, revealing a dark interior beyond the threshold. Instinctively you reached into your saddlebags and searched for something that could light the way. A smile stretched across your lips as you spotted the tool you were looking for.
“There you are,” you said, as you pulled a flashlight from your bags.
With the flashlight in hoof, you entered the hotel, a beam of light illuminating your way. The first room you entered was very clearly the hotel lobby.
The floor was covered in broken, chipped tile, water damaged wood occasionally visible underneath. The walls covered in decaying, water stained wallpaper, some torn away to reveal old wooden planks like the bones of a rotting corpse. There were also some paintings and statues that probably at one point showed off the female form in very suggestive poses, but were now decayed to the point of looking uncanny.
As you looked around the lobby, you saw the dusty front counter as well as the elevators, which were clearly disabled. There was also a stairway off to the right.
“Hmmm… where should I start?” you asked yourself.
Glasgow had mentioned that the killer had murdered the guests at night, so if there were any ghosts, it was likely that they would be located in the upper levels in the hotel rooms. Not that there would be any. After all, wandering spirits weren’t real.
“However, there might be something that might warrant an exorcism.”
Walking to the stairwell, you took the path ascending up to the next floor, your flashlight keeping you from stumbling.
For around fifteen minutes you checked the floors, finding no spirits as you had predicted. Unfortunately, you also hadn’t found anything that you could claim was a sign of phantoms or revenants, warranting an exorcism and therefore an additional fee.
Sadly, all you had found was rubble and mold.
“What a pain,” you growled in displeasure.
Apparently each of these floors had rooms that were focused on a theme, with each floor having ten rooms dedicated to that specific theme. Admittedly, there were some interesting rooms here, like the one that resembled a fairytale dungeon.
Now you were on the stairs, approaching the fifth and final floor in this building. Stepping onto the floor, you noticed something off to your left. Turning you saw a pale blue light coming out of one of the old, abandoned rooms. Apparently this floor was dedicated to the theme of royal Equestrian bedchambers.
At first, you thought it might just be some moonlight coming through one of the windows, you remembered that tonight it was a new moon. So what was causing that light? Perhaps a television had somehow been left on all this time.
“Well, that’s probably a start.”
A flickering television could definitely serve as an excuse for an exorcism if done right. As you walked toward the room, the sound of somepony crying caused you to stop in place.
“Yep… definitely a tv on the fritz,” you said, as you gathered your resolve and resumed your search.
The crying grew louder as you drew near to the room.
"This certainly doesn't scream horror movie moment," you muttered sarcastically. Yet even then you couldn’t help but feel uneasy about it.
As you turned the corner and stepped into the room, two things struck you as out of the ordinary. One was the room’s temperature; while the hotel wasn’t exactly warm, the cold night air certainly wasn’t this frigid moments ago. It was so cold that when you exhaled, you could see your breath. Second, there wasn’t a television in this room. Instead, it looked like a ransacked bedroom filled with dirt and mold, a broken mirror attached to the ceiling. Oh, and there was some sort of glowing blue flame floating in the air over a broken bed frame. As the spectral orb hovered in place, you could hear the sound of a filly’s sobs coming from it.
“Uh, hello.”
The flame continued to flicker and the sobbing continued. Was this some sort of illusion left behind by some sort of prankster unicorn? Of course, if this was the work on another charlatan like you, it would be wise to be rid of them. This was your job and you weren’t going to let another con artist ruin it.
“Excuse me!”
Hearing you speak, the orb wobbled and gasped, before flying through the air into an attached room. Stepping into the room, you realized that it was a bathroom. As soon as you stepped into the room, the ghastly orb flew into an exposed ventilation shaft, descending into the bowels of the house. Even as the pale blue light faded, the room’s temperature felt like it was returning to normal.
Judging from the way the vent looked, you were pretty sure that it was linked to a furnace or boiler in the basement. Seeing this, you let out an annoyed sigh.
“I guess I’m going to the basement,” you said before preparing to leave the room.
You were startled as your hoof stepped on something and a squeaking sound echoed through the room. With a jump, you stepped back and pointed the flashlight on the weird object you had stepped on. It was a dust covered rubber ducky.
“Really?” you growled out of frustration.
This was clearly a prank, an illusion left behind by some adolescent unicorn testing their magical prowess. This was nothing to worry about. If anything, it might help you earn a few more bits.
Leaving the room, you made your way to the stairs. Although you were convinced that everything was fine, you couldn’t help but feel like somepony or something was watching you. It was just that strange tickle on the back of your neck, like if a creepy insect was creeping along your coat. Each creaking step on the stairs made your coat crawl.
As you reached the main floor you peered down the stairwell to the basement and for a second, you thought you saw a faint blue glow down there.
“There you are…”
The light went dim, as you carefully walked down the steps into the depths of the hotel. At the bottom of the steps there was a rusty door that was open a crack. Pushing the door open the rest of the way, you stepped through into what was clearly meant to be the hotel maintenance areas, with a hallway going to the left and the right.
Metal pipes stretched along the concrete walls like old veins and arteries moving throughout the building. Occasionally water or some other fluid would drip from the metallic tubing, each drop echoing through the halls. There were also some wires resting on the floor.
Looking down the hallway, you saw the glow off to the left. Holding out your flashlight in front of you, you slowly made your way down the hall to where the light was coming from. Reaching the end of the hall, you saw another door that was partially open, the blue glow illuminating the room beyond. The sound of a child crying could be heard beyond.
As you stepped toward the door, your hoof caught on something, causing you to stumble and fall forward. Hitting the floor, there was a clattering sound as something fell onto the floor.
“Ouch.”
Just then, the crying stopped, leaving the area completely quiet aside from the occasional drip from the pipes.
Opening your eyes, you could see that even in the darkness that your vision was out of focus. Reaching up toward your eyes, you could feel that something was missing. Immediately you knew what it was that had fallen onto the floor.
“M-my glasses! W-where are my glasses!”
Carefully you moved your hoof around along the floor, not wanting to accidentally crush your glasses. Without your glasses, you were completely helpless. As you panickedly searched for the one thing that would allow you to see, you could briefly make out that the blue glow was drawing near.
“Here, miss.”
The faint blue glow intensified and suddenly you felt something brush up against your nose as your glasses were pushed back into place. With your lens now back in their proper position, your vision came back into focus and you could see what it was that stood before you. Or rather floated before you.
In front of you was what appeared to be a young unicorn filly with a frizzy mane, however, her body was see-through with her back half completely missing, forming a spectral vapor trail instead. The pale blue glow was coming from her and the linen wrappings around her.
While this did seem rather odd, you were still fairly certain that this was still some sort of magical illusion. That maybe this little filly was using some sort of illusion spell to take on this ghastly form. Though you had to admit that it looked pretty good, especially considering the fact that the filly looked to be five or six years old.
“Alright dear, party’s over,” you said, as you adjusted your glasses.
The filly gave you a puzzled look. “What?”
“You’re not fooling me, dear,” you answered, “I know that you’re just using some illusion spell to trick me.”
This warranted a confused look from the filly. “I-I have no…”
Before she could finish what she was saying, the filly’s head snapped up toward the ceiling as if she had heard something.
As unsettling as that was, you had to admit that the illusion she was making was pretty good. Maybe you could convince her to help fake the presence of there being ghosts here and help out with the “exorcism” in exchange for a small portion of the money. A smile stretched across your face as a proposition came to mind.
“Look, I like what you’re doing,” you said, “perhaps we cut a deal. You help me with something and I can give you a small portion of the profits. What do you think?”
Despite your speech, the filly ignored you, until her eyes suddenly shot wide open.
“They’re here!” the filly whispered fearfully before her appearance suddenly changed to that small orb of blue flame you had seen upstairs, shooting off down the hallway. Turning around, you saw the light sphere go down the hall into the far room.
For a moment, you were stunned by what had happened. You had seen many cons in your line of work and had seen plenty of ponies who tried to fake monster sightings and the like for a crazy video or something, however, this seemed pretty legit. Whoever this filly was, she was a natural. Normally you preferred to work alone as most of the ponies you had worked with in the past were either really poor con-artists or generally quit after a few scams, however…
You stroked your chin as you looked at the door the filly had gone through. If you could convince her to work with you, nothing would be able to stop you.
Adjusting your glasses, you smiled mischievously. “Challenge accepted, my dear.”
After picking up your flashlight, you walked over to the other side of the hall. Seeing that it was closed when you arrived, the filly must have closed it behind her.
Opening the door, you found before you a large room filled with a few laundry machines that were either falling apart or filled with old mildew covered clothing. There were also a few concrete pillars dispersed around the room as well. Stepping inside the room, you realized that it was much colder than it had been out in the hallway.
On the floor in the center of the room was some sort of strange magical circle, etched into the floor with a red substance. Bizarre, almost alien runes lined the circumference of the circle, the markings taking on an unholy appearance. No doubt this was something setup by the unicorn for her prank.
Floating around the room was the spectral sphere that the filly had transformed into. A part of you wished you knew her name, it would certainly make negotiating with her easier.
“Hello dear, what’s your name?” you asked as you approached the glowing orb.
Suddenly the orb flew up toward you, the filly appearing once more.
“You need to run,” the filly exclaimed, “it isn’t safe here!”
Now you were starting to become a little annoyed by this filly’s persistence. While her dedication to her role was admirable, this was going a bit too far.
“Nice try dear, but I’m not falling for this trick.”
The filly’s expression became sullen, ghostly tears dripping from her eyes. “Then you’ll die like the rest of us.”
As the filly’s appearance returned to its spherical form, an aura seemed to flow over the world like a colored lens being pulled over your eyes, everything taking on a dark blue ambiance. It reminded you of being underwater. Immediately, more floating lights came into view, some the same color as her, while others took on shades of yellow and pale green. It was then that you realized one thing.
This wasn’t an act. This was the real thing, a truly paranormal event.
A strange sensation came over you as the ghost orbs floated in place, almost like if you were in a pool and something massive had cannonballed into the water, the ripple impacting you. Something was coming.
Instinctively, you ran behind one of the laundry machines and crouched down.
Peeking around the corner, you saw the ghastly beast. It looked almost like a blanket, like the kind a foal would wear as a Nightmare Night costume, with three holes cut out for the eyes and mouth, however, it was twice the size of a large stallion. While the holes were completely black and devoid of life, the rest of the creature's form seemed to glow with a green, ethereal light. From beneath the spectral fabric you could see slimy glowing tentacles wriggling about.
Aside from a strange dripping sound, the monster made no noise as it floated above the concrete floor. The other ghost orbs that were floating around moved in its wake. For a moment, the entity turned toward you, forcing you to duck back behind the corner. You held your breath, as for a brief moment, you could hear the dripping as the spectral being drew near.
Closing your eyes, you silently prayed to Celestia that you might be able to escape from this place. Then suddenly… the dripping stopped. Opening your eyes, you saw that the deep blue aura was gone now.
Taking a deep breath, you looked around the corner, the monster no longer in sight. Nor were any of those ghost orbs you had seen before. Even the filly was gone.
“What was that?”
You remembered what the filly had said, that you needed to run, that if you didn’t you would die. Was that monstrosity responsible? Could it perhaps be the soul of the murderer, or something far worse?
Now that the coast was clear, you knew what you had to do. You ran for the stairs.
This place was haunted, truly haunted, and despite what you had told others, it was unlikely that there was anything you could truly do to purify it.
As you ran up the stairs to the main floor you were both shocked and grateful to see Glasgow Oil waiting for you. The mare had a quizzical look on her face as you stopped in front of her to catch your breath.
“Are you okay?” Glasgow asked, “you look like you’ve seen a ghost.”
Your chest heaved as you recovered from your run.
“There’s… there are… actual ghosts here,” you coughed.
Glasgow put a hoof to her lips as she giggled, her lips stretching wide. Her horn glowed faintly with magic.
“Oh, I know.”
Suddenly a sharp pain burned through your chest as you felt cold metal piercing your flesh. Looking down you saw buried in your chest a pair of scissors. As you took a surprised breath, a stabbing pain resonated through your body causing you to cough. A metallic taste covered your tongue.
Another giggle rumbled through Glasgow’s throat as she pulled the scissors from your flesh. Feeling shocked from the horrific assault, you stumbled backwards and lost your balance, falling back down the stairs. You let out a sharp gasp of breath as you hit the landing, your body sore from the impact. As you lay there, you started to feel your strength fading.
Forcing your eyes open, you looked up at your assailant as Glasgow looked down at your from the top of the stairs.
“W-why?” you coughed.
Glasgow let out another giggle, before giving you a wide grin, her smile stretching from ear to ear, her teeth appearing sharp and cruel in the dim light. As you watched her, for a moment you thought her head was growing larger, until you realized that it was actually her neck that was growing longer. Like a snake, Glasgow’s head loomed closer, her smile taking on an almost motherly tone.
“No hard feelings,” Glasgow said, “it’s in my nature to kill, just like it was back when this hotel was still in business.”
As your assailant said this, you started putting the pieces together. Another painful cough rippled through your throat.
“Y-you… k-kiled them!”
“Guilty as charged.”
"W-why… me?"
Glasgow looked at you, like a school filly considering if she wanted to share a terrible secret with you. Licking her lips, Glasgow smiled. “I like to… collect… marbles and add them to my reservoirs. However, it is so hard luring those cute little marbles to my reservoirs. When I saw your ad in the newspaper, I knew I had to add you to my collection here in Neo Trotkyo.”
Another foul cough rippled through your throat, the liquid metallic taste being refreshed. The world around you started to blurry.
“Well, I have better be going.” Glasgow’s long neck began to recede. “Don’t take too long sloughing off your mortal coil, okay?”
You could hear Glasgow laughing as she turned and left, leaving you to die on the cold landing. The world around you began to turn black, the corners of your vision shrinking, the tips of your limbs becoming numb and cold. You were dying.
Lying there, a part of you wished you had bought a new cell phone after all. While it probably wouldn’t have saved you here, at least you could have told Blossom Burst goodbye.
“I’m so stupid,” you coughed.
As your vision faded to black, you thought you saw a faint glow out of the corner of your eye, however, before you could perceive it, your sight forsook you and you saw no more.
The world around you was warm, wet and wriggling. Even as you stirred from your slumber, you could feel small, slimy worm-like creatures, caressing your flesh. Something sticky rested behind your head and neck providing some sort of support, a few worms rubbing your neck. The massage was almost relaxing, if it wasn’t for the pain coming from your side as more of the worms rubbed against your injury.
Your eyes shot open from the agony, yet even then the world around you was a blur. After a brief moment, you realized that you were missing your glasses. Even then you could make out the faint green glow illuminating the chamber with countless appendages wriggling along the slimy walls. Immediately you realized that you were inside the creature you had seen in the abandoned basement.
While you couldn’t see clearly, you were able to make the educated guess that this chamber wasn’t filled with worms but with tentacles. Were you being consumed and digested? Were you going to die here?
As you pondered this horrific fate another terrible idea began to form in your mind. In your research of the paranormal and the supernatural, you had read tales of monsters possessing numerous tentacles and tendrils, kidnapping young mares and filling them with their eggs. While you had heard of such monsters you had thought they were just the crazed imaginings of mad fisher mares or the adult entertainment industry, not that they were real.
Now here you were, imprisoned inside such a horrific beast, helpless to stop it from forcing itself upon you. Was this your fate, to be the broodmother of some otherworldly being? To have your womb filled with the offspring of this monstrosity?
Even as you considered this reality, your eyes began to swell with tears. Then almost as if in response to your fear, the chamber around you let out a slight gurgle and the tentacles’ movements became softer. For a moment you could have sworn they were trying to comfort you. In fact, thinking back on it, none of the tendrils had acted aggressively toward you.
Come to think of it, if this creature had wanted to breed with you, why hadn’t it tried while you were asleep?
While your body was covered in a thin layer of slime, it would seem that the tentacles had left your marehood unmolested. If anything, the tendrils seemed more interested in the area where Glasgow had stabbed you with her scissors. Another wave of pain rippled through you as more tentacles directed their attention to the spot.
"W-what are you… doing?"
Another gurgle echoed through the chamber as if in response and for a moment you thought you felt something touching your mind. Then again, that might have just been the slimy tendrils massaging your scalp.
‘Tending to your injury.’ A strange masculine voice spoke as if answering your question. Still it was an answer nonetheless.
“Who’s there? W-what's your name?"
‘I have none.’ The room seemed to ripple with the response, the tentacles wriggling intensified. The feeling of the tendrils’ increased movements sent shivers up your spine.
“W-what do you want from me?” you moaned.
‘The other flesh bound creature attacked you,’ the entity answered, ‘since you were dying I decided to save you.’
“S-save m-me…”
More of the tentacles directed their attention to your wound, eliciting a hiss of pain from your lips.
‘Your injuries were substantial so I enveloped you for safe keeping. In order to save your life, I had to give up my freedom and form symbiosis with you.’
Did that mean that this creature was connected to you somehow? The idea wasn't exactly an appealing one. Especially since you weren't quite sure what this "symbiosis" might entail. Some of your prior fears came back to the forefront of your mind.
"What d-do you mean by… s-symbiosis?"
Another jolt of pain went through your body as more tendrils massaged the site where you'd been stabbed. Your back arching from the agony. Instantly tentacles withdrew from the injury, the other tendrils that were tending to your body, increasing their activity, moving in a nurturing manner like a mother tending to her sick child.
'Without the other, neither one of us can continue to exist.'
Well, if this creature was going to keep hurting you like this, then maybe death wasn't so bad. Maybe you'd turn into a ghost or be reincarnated as some other sort of creature. Perhaps another pony or maybe a tree. That might be nice. Then again there were some ponies that said that when you died that Celestia and Luna would judge you for your sins, granting you either access to eternal paradise or invoking justice and sentencing you to damnation in the depths of Tartarus. Considering your life choices, more likely than not your spiritual fate would be the latter if that were the case.
However, that didn’t matter now. For better or worse, your new… friend had saved your life.
'I am almost done. While you will still need to recover from the attack, your life is no longer in danger.'
That was a relief to hear. The cavity vibrated as if the entity you were inside was humming happily. The combined rhyme of the tentacles and the chamber’s movement provided a relaxing sensation like laying down on a water bed.
‘Alright, this will have to do for now.’
As the voice rippled through your surroundings, several longer tentacles reached out, grabbing a hold of your limbs and belly.
“W-wait!” you exclaimed, terrified at what was about to happen.
Despite your protests the tendrils wrapped around you, holding you secure. Then there was a strange noise that sounded like a bag being unzipped combined with a wet, slippery sound. It was then that you felt the cavity peeling away and gravity pulling you down. Thankfully the entity’s tentacles held you in place, before slowly lowering you to the cold concrete floor.
Immediately you shivered as the cold air came into contact with your slime covered coat. The world was still blurry. However, with the soft green glow coming from above you, you were able to look around and make out a bundle of out of focus items next to you, as well as something that seemed to be reflective. Carefully you reached out with a hoof toward this item, the familiar feeling of your spectacles against your hoof. Instinctively, you picked them up and put them on your face.
The world came back into focus and immediately you realized that you were down in the basement, with your jacket and saddlebags resting next to you. However, considering the fact that you were covered in slime, you figured it probably wouldn’t be wise to put any of them on. There was also that strange blur tint you had seen when you first saw this creature.
“Ewww… gross!” you grumbled as you tried to wipe some of the sticky slime off of your body. No doubt it would take a lot of soap to clean it all off.
As you groaned over how sticky your body was, you noticed the glow of the creature above you wavering. Looking up, you could see that the entity was having difficulty staying afloat.
‘I grow weary.’
While you didn’t know this being well, a part of you did feel concerned for it. After all, it did save your life.
“Are you okay?”
The creature’s body appeared to shrink in size even as it drew closer and closer to the ground.
‘I have expended a great deal of energy to ensure your survival. Now in order for me to continue to exist, I will need to merge with you.’
“Merge?”
Now your savior was the size of a small cat. As it drifted to the floor, you reached out and took it into your forelegs, cradling it like a mother would their own child. In a weird way, it reminded you of what this entity, in its own strange manner, had done for you.
‘I enveloped you in order to save you, now you must do the same for me,’ the creature answered, ‘You must take and swallow my body completely.’
“Wait, what?!”
This seemed like a highly bizarre request. Not only that, but the idea of taking this thing into your mouth and swallowing it whole was rather off-putting. Now this being was the size of a decently sized rabbit.
'It is complicated, however, when I saved you, both of us ceased to be solely of our own respective planes, but a mixture of both. Once strictly physical now you are partially linked to the astral plane. In my case it is the opposite.'
"B-but why does that mean I have to swallow you?"
Now the creature was the size of… a smaller rabbit. Even as it rested in your grasp it was clear that time was running out.
'We are linked now. If you don't do this I will die and your body will undergo rapid degeneration. Please…'
A part of you wanted to save this thing, another part of you was disgusted by the idea. This thing was covered in slime after all, like a weird ghostly jellyfish. You swallowed the excess saliva in your mouth and took a deep breath.
“Fine,” you grumbled, as you took the small, mouse sized being in your hooves.
After gulping once more, you put the entity into your mouth and attempted to swallow it. Admittedly, your taste buds were repulsed by the bitter taste of this slimy thing and it took all your willpower not to gag as the entity slid down the back of your throat.
You gasped for breath, as you felt the creature hit the bottom of your stomach, your insides feeling heavy. Then, slowly, the weight seemed to dissipate before disappearing entirely.
'T-thank you.'
While the being went silent, you could still feel their presence. You also noticed that the slime that was covering your body was disappearing, evaporating into the air and that strange blur tone vanished completely.
Now that the entity was gone, there was no light in the room except for the flashlight that was flickering next to your saddlebags. Walking over to it, you picked up the flashlight and after hitting it a couple times, the beam of light coming from it stabilized.
Looking down at where Glasgow had stabbed you, you could see a jagged scar. A hiss escaped your lips as you hoof grazed the injury.
Even as you put on your jacket and saddlebags, you knew you couldn’t stay here. That mysterious mare, Glasgow, had nearly killed you, and if you stayed around there was a chance that she might learn that you hadn’t died like she had intended.
“I must leave immediately,” you murmured as you made your way out of the room toward the stairs. Tired and sore, you pulled your way up the stairs toward the hotel’s entrance.
Something about the world felt off somehow as you left the abandoned hotel. The shadows seemed to crawl and every light you saw seemed to be watching your every move. While you couldn’t see what lurked in the darkness, you could make out their shapes as they moved. Things that either were not there before or perhaps they were but you just never noticed them before. How did you never notice the maggots crawling through the darkness before?
As tempting as it was to run, you kept calm, not wanting to draw the attention of the things in the shadows. Slowly and calmly, you made your way back to your apartment.
You took a deep breath as you stepped into your apartment and closed the door behind you. Slumped against the door, you tried to catch your breath.
“What’s going on?”
Somehow, you’d managed to see real ghosts, get murdered by a monstrous pony with a long neck, were revived by some sort of tentacle monster that had stuffed you inside its body, had swallowed said tentacle monster, and after escaping the hotel, had managed to see numerous creatures squirming through the shadows. What had just happened?
Looking around your apartment, you were glad to see that everything was still in order. Nothing was out of place, indicating that it should be safe, at least in theory.
Anxious, you took a quick look around the apartment, checking to make sure that the sinister mare that had attempted to take your life wasn’t hiding somewhere. After checking all the closets, cabinets and curtains, you were satisfied that the interior was safe. That meant there was only one area left to check. The balcony.
After gulping down some excess saliva, you walked over to the glass sliding doors that connected your apartment to the balcony. With the curtains pulled aside you could see that, for the most part, the area looked vacant. Taking a deep breath, you pulled one of the sliding doors aside and stepped out onto the balcony. Once more you examined the area to discover that nopony had disturbed it.
As you investigated, you thought you saw somepony looking up at your apartment from the street below. Looking down, you expected to see Glasgow looking back up at you with her terribly wide smile; instead you just saw a mare in a white kimono walking on the street, seemingly oblivious to your peering eyes.
Stepping back into your apartment, you closed the glass door and, for the first time in several months, you turned the latched, locking balcony door. As you heard the mechanism of the lock, click into place, a heavy breath that you had just realized you had been holding escaped your lungs.
Walking over to the couch, you set down your saddlebags and jacket, before rubbing your sore eyes.
"I need to clean up."
Even after the entity's slime evaporated, you still felt a little dirty. Also, your side was still sore from Glasgow's attempt on your life. A warm bath would be wonderful.
“I just need to relax is all.”
Walking into the bathroom, you stepped up to the sink and turned the faucet. Taking some cold water, you splashed your face. Once you were cooled down and felt reasonably clean, you looked up from the water and into the mirror. Immediately you recoiled in shock as you noticed that something was different.
Your eyes were no longer like that of a pony but instead resembled that of an octopus, a large iris with a black rectangular pupil in the center, its long shape positioned horizontally.
"What is this?" you asked, examining these strange new eyes.
Even as you looked at them, you considered how you might explain them, and perhaps even use them in your job. Given time, you’d probably think up something that would work.
Stepping over to the tub, you turned on the water and with a hoof felt its temperature. Once the water was at a decent temperature and a good level, you turned off the faucet and pulled your sore body into the bathtub. You hissed a little as the warm water touched your side, however, after a few seconds, the pain faded and you were able to rest reasonably in the bath.
As you lay in the water you couldn't help but wonder about the creature that was now apparently inside of you. When it had communicated to you, there were two things that stood out to you. It sounded male and it apparently lacked a name of its own.
"Shame. Well, we can't have that."
Perhaps you could come up with something clever to call it.
"Maybe squid… no. Jelly… nah, that seems pretty lame."
While it might look like a sea creature or a jellyfish, that didn't necessarily mean you should call it something like that. It was definitely something to ponder very carefully.
The warm water was nice and relaxing as you lay there in the tub. It didn't take you long to be lulled by the water's gentle embrace. Gradually your eyes closed and you drifted off to sleep.
Looking around you found yourself in complete darkness, the only thing that could perceive was the sound of water dripping. You tried to move, but discovered that your limbs were bound with tight ropes. As you struggled, you realized that you were rocking slightly, that your bindings were holding you aloft.
Your ears perked up as you heard hoofsteps in the distance. With each step there was an echo that was drawing near. Instinctively, you tried to call out for help, but you couldn’t as something rubbery in your mouth prevented you from speaking. Only a muffled cry escaped around the thing obstructing your mouth.
The hoofsteps grew louder until suddenly the sound stopped. There was then the sound of metal touching metal, followed by a giggle that made your blood run cold.
“So you’re still alive…”
A shiver went up your spine as you recognized Glasgow’s voice. What had happened? Did she follow you back to your apartment? Another chuckle echoed through the room.
“Let’s take this off,” your captor said, “let you see what situation you’re in.”
Your vision returned as a black blindfold was lifted from your eyes, revealing where you were. The room was made completely of concrete, with metal pipes running along the walls. Red ropes were tied to your body, the crimson strands woven in intricate and cruel patterns, holding it secure and suspended above the ground, in a manner that left your abdomen completely exposed. The bindings were attached to metal rings drilled into the concrete ceiling.
Before you was Glasgow Oil, no longer wearing a business suit, but instead a gray kimono with a pattern composed of red hourglasses. Next to her was a metal table, with a metal tray resting upon it. On the tray was a collection of scissors of various sizes.
“Is that better?”
With a giggle, your captor turned her attention to the tray.
“Now, which one should I use first?” Glasgow said as she picked up one of the scissors and examined it. Remembering what had happened before, it wasn’t hard to guess what she intended to do to you.
Setting the instrument down, Glasgow turned back to you, a wide smile on her lips.
“What do you think?”
Even as your tormentor asked the question, you couldn’t help but look at the horrific collection of scissors on the table. A pair of rusty garden shears stood out to you. Looking back to Glasgow, you realized, to your horror, that she had been watching your eye movements. Her smile grew wider filled with sharp teeth.
“So you want that one,” Glasgow said, “you have taste. I like it.”
Picking up the shears with her magic, the sinister mare walked over to and rubbed a hoof along your belly. The way she moved her hoof was both tantalizing and unnerving.
“Don’t worry, once I’ve plucked that meddlesome creature from your body, you’ll be joining my collection, my little marble.”
You watched as the shears drew closer and closer to your stomach. Seeing this, you tried to struggle against your bonds, but to no avail. The ropes binding you seemed to grow tighter and tighter.
All you could do was watch as the sharp blades of the garden shears drew closer and closer to your stomach.
'Hello?'
It was the entity's words rippling through the space around you, that made your eyes open, awakening you from the nightmare. Looking around, you saw that you were still resting in your bathtub, only now the world had that same underwater atmosphere as before. There was also a bizarre sensation as you realized that something slimy was lodged in your throat and was now hanging out of your mouth.
Stretching from your mouth was a dimly glowing tentacle, which reached down into the water. Needless to say, you were a little surprised by this, as well as the fact that your breathing didn't seem to be hindered by the tendril's presence. Despite that when you tried to talk, your words were muffled by the spectral appendage.
'I know you probably have some questions for me,' the entity said, 'eventually there will be a time that I can answer them. Unfortunately, I am still tired from our sudden symbiosis.'
Not that it really mattered. With its tentacle poking out of your mouth, you couldn't really ask it any questions anyway. You rolled your eyes.
'I just thought I'd say, thank you. I'm sure this experience has been a little frightening for you as well. You could have chosen to reject me, resulting in both of us parishing, but instead you took me into your body, preserving us both. So thank you.'
Did that mean that this was a scary situation for this creature as well? Slowly the tentacle began to recede back into your throat.
'My body is still adjusting to our merging,' it said, 'I must rest now.'
Once the entity had completely receded, the world around you returned to its original tone. The taste of the slime continued to linger on your tongue and throat. You still weren’t fond of that slimy bitter taste.
Now the water that surrounded you was on the verge of changing from lukewarm to cold. Feeling slightly annoyed, you pulled yourself from the bath, water dripping from your body as you emerged.
Picking a towel off of the rack, you proceeded to dry yourself. Once you were satisfied, you placed it in a hamper so that it could be cleaned later.
Putting on your warm, fuzzy bathrobe, you stepped out into the living area. That was when you noticed that something was off. A beam of blue light flickered from your saddlebags.
Slowly you approached the saddlebags, worried about what potential horror was waiting inside. Carefully you peered inside, relieved to see that it was just a beam of light coming from your flashlight. An annoyed sigh escaped your lungs as you pulled the device from your bags.
“I guess it must have been damaged when I fell,” you grumbled. Well, you knew at least one thing that might fix it.
Pulling out the flashlight, you noticed that the contraption was oddly cold to the touch. Sitting down on the couch, you took your other hoof and proceeded to smack the faulty flashlight a few times. Suddenly there was a spark as a pale blue orb shot out of the device, warranting a surprised yelp from your throat. You watched on as the sphere floated in front of you.
“Uh, hello?”
Immediately in response, the ghost orb changed, transforming into the filly you had seen earlier that night. At first she seemed shocked, before her expression turned to that of pure joy. “I-it worked!”
This event was a little shocking for you, seeing a filly that you were now fairly certain was a ghost, coming out of your flashlight.
“What worked?” you asked.
The filly floated around excitedly.
“My possession,” she answered, “I wasn’t sure I would actually be able to possess this flashlight, but I was, and now I’m free of that place.”
So she had possessed your flashlight, that would probably explain why the vapor trail that was coming from her back half was connected to the lens.
“Okay… first off, what’s your name?” you asked, “and second, why did you want to possess my flashlight?”
With a happy smile, the filly ghost flew over to you.
“My name is Marionette,” the ghost answered, “but my mom called me Mara… when I was still alive...”
While you wanted to ask Mara further questions, you figured it would be good to avoid any questions pertaining to her death and prior life, at least for now.
“So, do you always show your presence to ponies that enter the hotel?” you asked.
“No,” Mara answered, “in fact I only recall a few other ponies actually being able to see us.”
“Interesting.”
So somehow you were able to see the spirits within the hotel, however, you couldn’t recall ever being able to do that before. Was this a latent ability, or caused by something else entirely?
“Hey, what’s this?” Mara asked, pointing to the flower that Mistmane had given you. As you looked at the flower you noticed that the petals were now glowing with a vibrant blue light.
“Oh, that was just a gift from somepony,” you answered.
“It’s a lovely flower.”
Seeing the flower, you remembered what Mistmane had said about the lotus blossom, about how sometimes ponies who touched it could see into the spirit realm. Immediately your eyes turned to slits.
Had this been a part of her plan all along?
“Yes, it certainly is.”
The bell rang as you stepped into Misty Potions and Herbal Shop. Immediately, the scent of fresh herbs filled your nostrils and the sound of some bubbling could be heard. There were herbs in bottles and plants hanging from pots that were anchored to the ceiling.
Your journey to the herbalist's shop had been a bizarre experience. Like the night before, you had seen strange shapes out of the corner of your eyes, some with strange appendages, others with numerous eyes, and a few that appeared to be an amalgamation of numerous animals. You had even seen a few ghosts similar to Mara floating about. However, unlike the night before, the feeling of dread and hunger that had permeated the atmosphere was gone.
As you pondered this, you heard a few things rustling in the backroom before the mare you had expected to see emerged.
"Hello, what may I do…" Mistmane's inquiry was cut short once she realized that it was you who had entered and not one of her customers. The elderly mare looked kind of shocked to see you.
"Good morning, Mistmane," you said, "didn't expect to see me again, did you?"
While you had expected Mistmane to give you an annoyed look in response to your irritation, instead her expression was a sad one. Even as you observed Mistmane, something felt off about her. She looked more youthful somehow.
"I had hoped I would," Mistmane answered, "but I had my doubts."
"So you knew!"
“Why don’t we talk about this in private?”
Using her magic, Mistmane turned the store sign to CLOSED and locked the door.
"Yes, I've known about Glasgow,” Mistmane said, “or at least creatures like her."
As Mistmane said this, she approached you and as she drew near, a quizzical look crossed her face. She blinked a couple times as if trying to reverify what she was seeing.
"Your eyes are different."
"Yes, they are…"
"Something tells me that both your new eyes and your survival are linked," Mistmane stated, "am I correct?"
You couldn't help but sigh and roll your eyes in response. "Yes, that is correct."
Mistmane nodded a couple of times, as if confirming her suspicions, before she began walking to the backroom. With a hoof, she motioned for you to follow. Entering the room, you discovered that it was filled with more shelves holding herbs and potions, some even more bizarre looking then those in the main room. Old, dusty books and scrolls rested on ancient looking shelves. There was also a pot holding a large tomato plant, or at least that was what you thought, until it blinked back at you.
“Please take a seat,” Mistmane said as she motioned toward a wooden table in the center of the room with a couple chairs next to it.
Taking her advice you sat down at the table. As you sat there, Mistmane began looking through the contents of her shelves.
"Around the time that you encountered Glasgow and learned her true nature, did you see anything strange?"
Admittedly, you had seen a lot. Ghost orbs, a murderous mare with a long neck and a fetish for scissors, but you were pretty sure that what she was talking about was the spectral, tentacle monster that had saved your life. You could feel your cheeks growing slightly warm as you recalled how the entity had saved you.
"I had encountered… a spirit," you answered, trying to be as vague as possible.
“Did it look like it was wearing a cheap Nightmare Night costume?” Mistmane asked, giving you a knowing look.
“Y-yes.” Quickly you used a hoof to adjust your glasses, hoping to conceal the fact that you were blushing.
Mistmane nodded as she looked at one of her bookshelves. “Sounds like an Ashikushu.”
“An Ashu… what?”
Pulling a book off of the shelf, Mistmane began to examine its contents.
“Ashikushu. They’re a being that resides in the astral plane,” Mistmane explained, “they usually try to conceal their bodies using blankets, masks, anything they can find. There are only a few tomes that document their existence. It would seem that the one you encountered made a connection with you.”
“Yep, you could say that.”
After setting the book down on the table with her magic, Mistmane walked over to another shelf and fetched some sort of box.
“This might help,” Mistmane said, as she set a wooden box on the table.
“What is it?”
“It’s tea.”
You furrowed your brow as you looked at the elderly mare and the box she was offering. Was she offering you tea for your troubles?
“Really, just… tea?”
Mistmane shrugged. “There might be a few special ingredients.”
Taking the wooden box, you examined it more closely. Carved into the box’s surface was the image of a slender, shapeshifting dragon, his body composed of various parts from different animals. Sliding the lid partially aside, you could see the teabags resting inside, their scent filling your nostrils, so inviting and pleasing to the senses. You closed the box.
“Is it poisoned?” you asked suspiciously.
“No,” Mistmane answered, before she mumbled, “as tempting as it might be.”
While you considered commenting on Mistmane's hushed statement, you decided to refrain for now.
“So… how does it work?”
“The tea should help strengthen the Ashikushu,” Mistmane explained, “no doubt it’s weak from bonding with an annoying brat like you.”
“Hey!!!”
As much as the two of you seemed to enjoy annoying each other, you weren’t fond of Mistmane calling you a brat. While you were annoyed with her, you also knew that Mistmane might have some important answers for some of your questions in regards to this… Ashikushu.
“This… Ashikushu, when it spoke to me before it sounded male,” you stated, “do Ashikushu have a gender?”
Mistmane looked at you questioningly as if you had asked a silly question, before she began rifling through the pages of her book. For a moment you had thought she might have been ignoring you, until she spoke again.
“Technically spirits and entities of the astral plane don’t have a gender unless they were once living,” Mistmane answered, “however, all accounts of Ashikushu, as limited as they are, mention them as being male.”
So it was very likely that the entity inside of you was male. That definitely didn’t make you feel awkward and any way shape or form. Nope, not at all. Your blush DEFINITELY didn’t become an even deeper shade of red… well, maybe just a little.
“Just remember to take care of it,” Mistmane said, “out of all the books and scrolls I have there has only ever been one account of an Ashikushu binding with a pony before. The fact that it is joined to a fraud like you is a disgrace.”
How dare this mare call you a fraud! She was just as guilty, pretending to be the great Mistmane, legendary sorceress from the past.
“Oh, don’t give me that!” you barked, “you’re just as much of a fake as I am!”
“On the contrary I am a genuine sorceress,” Mistmane answered, “if it wasn't for the flower that I grew, you probably wouldn’t be alive right now.”
Even though you could sense that Mistmane was perturbed by this argument, there was also a hint of concern. She may not have liked you, but she certainly didn’t hate you. Reaching forward, you took the box of tea and put it into your saddlebags.
“Fine, I’ll do it!” Slowly you stood up as you prepared to leave.
You were almost at the door when Mistmane called out. “Wait!”
Turning you faced the so-called sorceress, who continued to look at you nervously.
“While I’m sure that you are aware that your eyes are different now,” Mistmane said, “you should be aware that they have been opened to things that few other ponies can see. Creatures of the astral plane and things from other realms.”
That made sense considering what you had been seeing in the streets, the strange sights that you hadn’t noticed before today. Looking back over at the tomato plant, you saw it blink once more. Green eyes with red eyelids looking back at you.
“I will keep that in mind,” you answered.
“Just please be careful,” Mistmane continued, “some of those things don’t wish to be seen and might retaliate if they are made aware of your eyes.”
You nodded in return. “Thanks.”
You sat on the couch looking at the teapot resting on the coffee table, a cylindrical teacup sitting on a saucer next to it. The scent of chamomile and lemongrass filled the air. Carefully, you lifted the teapot and poured some tea into the cup.
Both the teapot and cup were gifts from Blossom Burst that she had given you when you moved here.
“So, what is this?” Mara asked, as she hovered around the room.
“Just some tea that somepony gave me,” you answered, “apparently it is supposed to help me interact with the creature inside of me.”
Once you were sure that the tea was cool enough to drink, you lifted the cup up to your lips and took a sip. You could taste the chamomile and lemongrass as well as a hint of something else as you drank. It was a strange, sweet, fruity flavor that you couldn’t seem to identify.
“Do you think it’s okay?” Mara inquired. As she said this, you remembered that Marionette was a spirit and might have actually been able to interact with the Ashikushu before you had arrived at the haunted hotel. Perhaps the ghost might have some insight on this entity.
“Well, supposedly this tea will help it to grow stronger,” you answered, “out of curiosity what do you know about this creature?”
Mara floated down to the teapot and examined it. “Not very much. It just showed up one day and most of the other ghosts chose to avoid it.”
“I see.” Well, that didn’t help much. You took another sip of your tea.
“It didn't seem harmful. It just floated around the area. Though I'm not sure why anypony would want to hang out around that cursed hotel."
Sipping more of your tea, you considered what she had said. Glasgow had referred to the hotel being one of her reservoirs and Mara stated that the place was cursed. Were they linked somehow, and was this connected to her possessing your flashlight?
"I was wondering, why did you possess my flashlight?" you asked, sipping your tea.
"Well… I just hoped that somepony would take it out of that place."
"Somepony?"
"Yeah, after I saw the mean mare stab you, I thought the spirit might help you," Mara explained, "but then the creature ate you and I thought that maybe somepony would come looking for you, so I took possession of your flashlight. Then maybe somepony would pick it up and take it out of that dreadful place."
Fortunately for both of you, the Ashikushu hadn't eaten you, as it was very unlikely that anypony would have come looking for you. Mara would have been stuck in that flashlight for a long time.
"Since you've possessed the flashlight, are you bound to it?"
"Sort of," Mara replied, "I can leave it, but I can't wander too far from it."
So she was, in fact, bound to the flashlight. Well, that wasn’t too bad. Maybe she could be helpful in any of your future exploits… actually, having a legit ghost on your side would be great. Perhaps you could teach her a few hoof signals so she could help you convince some ponies at your next seance or investigation. Yes, she could be very useful.
You couldn’t help but smirk at the idea. “So, Mara, how would you like to work with me?”
The ghost filly looked at you in a confused manner. “Work?”
“Yes, I’m sort of in the… entertainment department,” you answered, “ponies come to me looking for… specific types of amusement and I act out the role for them.”
Mara gave you a puzzled look. “You’re not… a courtesan are you?”
“Uh… no.” While you were trying to be vague about your job, you didn’t think that Mara might misconstrue what you had said for you serving as a courtesan. Though you were aware of a few mares that would probably accept this as a compliment. Then again, you had found her in an abandoned love hotel, so that was probably where she learned it. Though that did raise some questions as to why she was there.
“So you’re an actual actor?”
You took another sip of your tea.
“Sort of. Ponies come to me thinking that I can speak with the dead,” you answered, “though most are either fools or just want to be entertained.”
“Okay…” It was clear that Mara wasn’t convinced. No doubt, it would be best to try to redirect her attention to something else.
“Well, if you help me, I will consider it as recompense.”
“Re-re-co-um…”
Why was it that this little ghost knew about courtesans but not what recompense was. Now, that was just weird. Perhaps another word would be better. Maybe a little honey on the tongue to make your proposition more appealing.
“Or maybe a favor would be a better word.”
“A favor?” Mara looked a little confused.
“Yes, you are possessing my flashlight,” you replied, “and while I don’t mind you possessing it, it would only be fair if you could return the favor and help me with my job.”
Normally this might be considered a violation of Neighpon child labor laws, however, you weren’t too sure if they would apply in this case. For one thing depending on how far back the murders were, Mara might not technically be a young filly, that and she was a ghost. Also it wasn’t like you were going to wear her out running errands left and right, you would probably have her move some stuff around during one of your fake seances and the rest of the time just leave her be to do whatever it was that ghosts do. Surely, that would be okay. Right?
At first, Mara seemed to ponder what you were saying, then after a moment a happy smile graced her face. “Sure, I guess that’s fair.”
Excellent, you now had a little ghost to help you with your little schemes. You smiled as you drank some more of your tea.
“Then I guess we have an agreement,” you said, "now we just need to disc…"
You were cut off as you felt something lurch inside your stomach, pushing its way up your throat. It would seem that the Ashikushu had gained back some of its strength and was now wanting to make its presence known. Strangely enough, it only caused you minor discomfort.
"Ma'am, are you okay?" It was right as Mara asked this that two rubbery tentacles emerged from your mouth.
Now that the tendrils were partially outside of you, they wiggled a little as they felt the atmosphere. Mara looked wide eyed at the squirming tentacles.
'Hello?'
Well, this was just great. Sure, the Ashikushu was stronger, but you still weren't able to converse with it due to the slimy tentacles lodged in your throat.
"Uh, hello." Mara replied, pulling you from your thoughts. So she could hear it too.
'Hello,' the Ashikushu replied, 'so you must be the ghost that was hanging around my host's belongings while she and I were performing symbiosis.'
The way it said that sounded almost dirty.
"Uh, I guess. My name's Mara."
'It's a pleasure to meet you, Mara.'
It was then that you had an idea. While you couldn't talk with the Ashikushu, Mara could. Looking around you spotted a notepad and a pen sitting on the coffee table. Quickly you grabbed the pad and wrote down, tell him I have some questions for him. Once you were finished writing you showed your message to her.
Confused, Mara looked at the paper before giving you an apologetic look. "I'm sorry, miss, but I don't know how to read."
Hearing this, your countenance, shoulders and ears drooped. Of all things, it just so happened that the ghost who was possessing your flashlight, and could also speak with the Ashikushu, was also illiterate. That was something you would need to address somehow. Could ghosts learn new tricks even if they were dead?
"So, what's your name?" Mara asked.
'I have none.'
Well, you could have told her that, but we're unable to due to something obstructing your throat.
Mara scratched her chin with a spectral hoof. "Hmmm… that's a little odd. Do you want one?"
'If that would please you.'
A smile stretched across Mara's face in response to the Ashikushu’s answer. This was cut short as Mara scratched the side of her head, her face scrunched up in a quizzical manner.
“Though come to think of it, you are bound to the mistress,” Mara said, “so maybe she should be the one to name you.”
‘I see.’
Great, so it still didn’t have a name. What a waste of time.
“But if you would like, I’d suggest Shreel.”
What? Shreel? What kind of name was that? Well, at least it was something. If this Ashikushu was in fact male, then Shreel might actually work. While Mistmane had said that all the documented accounts of Ashikushu said they were male, you didn’t want to be rude and assume, especially considering that the two of you were linked. Somehow you had to find a way to have Mara ask the Ashikushu its gender.
Looking back at the notepad an idea popped into your head. Marionette might not be able to read, but she could still see whatever you put down on paper. Quickly you sketched two pony stick figures onto the paper, one with a long mane with a bow and the other with a short mane and holding a buckball. After you finished the sketch, you presented the drawing to Mara, eliciting a smile from the ghost.
“That’s a nice drawing, miss!”
Really? After giving her an annoyed look, you pointed at the two figures on the drawing before pointing at the tentacles hanging from your mouth. Looking at the drawing, Mara’s face brightened with a realization.
“Uh, sir, are you a filly or a colt?” Mara asked.
Finally you were getting somewhere.
The tentacles in your mouth wriggled. ‘While I don’t technically qualify as either a filly or a colt, I can say that I am male.’
While you were pleased by this revelation, you also couldn’t help but feel a little self conscious about it. Your cheeks felt slightly warm.
“Ma’am, are you okay?”
Admittedly, that was a difficult question to answer, not just because of the tendrils in your mouth. You were about to try to protest and cover up the fact that you were embarrassed, when suddenly you heard the doorbell ring. The sound drew Mara’s attention away from you to the door. Your heart froze as you heard somepony knock at the door and a familiar voice called out from beyond the door.
“Hey, are you there?”
Shoot! Apparently, Blossom Burst was at the door, and here you were with tentacles emerging from your throat. How were you supposed to explain that? Assuming that Blossom couldn’t see Mara or the tendrils in your mouth, you still wouldn’t be able to talk with her. Maybe if you didn’t answer the door, Blossom would just leave.
“If you’re there, please let me in,” Blossom said, “I haven’t heard from you since you went to that hotel.”
So that’s why she was so adamant. No doubt your friend was worried sick that you really had vanished inside the Fury Love Hotel. The tendrils wriggled, almost as if the Ashikushu had sensed your concerns.
‘I will take my leave for now,’ the Ashikushu said, ‘I will rest until later.’
Slowly the tentacles withdrew from your mouth, back down your throat, a trail of slime left in its wake. With a slight cough, you cleaned your lips before walking over to the door.
As soon as you opened the door, you saw Blossom standing there, ready to knock once more. At first her expression was that of panicked worry, but once she saw you, a cheerful smile appeared.
“You’re okay!
You gave a small cough, still feeling some of that slime in the back of your throat. "Uh, yes, I'm fine."
Blossom was quite giddy, probably from seeing that her friend was still alive.
"So I guess your investigation must have been successful," Blossom said happily.
While it was very tempting to tell her that you had found and exorcised all the ghosts residing within the Fury Love Hotel, the fact was that you lacked the bits to prove it. Furthermore, there were actual ghosts there, none of which you had expelled. Quickly, you racked your brain to come up with a clever white lie that might sate her curiosity.
“Sadly, the client changed their mind,” you answered, “they decided to cancel the job.”
Technically, it was true. After all, Glasgow had used the gig to lure you into a trap so she could kill you.
“Well, that’s a shame,” Blossom replied, “but I’m glad you’re safe at least.”
“Yeah, me too.”
Yes, you were safe, but for how long? How long would it be until Glasgow realized that you weren’t dead and perhaps that you had somehow managed to take a spirit from her reservoir? If she found out, would she seek you out and finish what she started? Would she use those cruel scissors on you once more?
“Hey!” Blossom spoke, pulling you from your grim thoughts. The kirin smiled at you happily. “Let’s go get something to eat, it will be my treat.”
Despite your concern, you had to admit that a meal might be kind of nice right about now. You returned Blossom’s smile, before pushing your glasses further up your nose.
“Sure.”
The shop was bustling as Blossom and you sat down to eat. The restaurant your friend had taken you to was none other than Alicorn of Ramen, a pretty fancy noodle joint. Admittedly you felt a little bad that your friend was paying.
"Are you sure this is okay?" you asked.
"It's fine," Blossom answered, "I got a really nice tip at work yesterday, so this is no big deal."
The interior of the restaurant had tan walls, a floor covered with gray stone tiling, and a stainless wooden bench area where the cooks would serve bowls filled with ramen and noodles of many varieties. Hanging from the ceiling were black chalkboards with many dishes and their prices written down. Behind the counter was a unicorn who used his magic to fry the noodles, stir the broth, and cook the other ingredients that would be added to the meals.
After the two of you made your orders, Blossom and you sat patiently, waiting for your food. As the two of you waited, you could see out of the corner of your eye a few ponies that were looking at you and your friend with interest. That wasn’t too surprising, at least in Blossom’s case; she was a beautiful kirin after all.
“The other day I was at a client’s house,” you said, “and they had this cute kirin stallion that served as a guard there.”
“Oh, that’s nice.” Blossom blushed slightly.
“If you wanted, I’m sure I could arrange for you to meet him.”
“I don’t know,” Blossom chuckled, “it’s not like I’m the only one sitting here who lacks a special somepony.”
The truth of the matter wasn’t that you didn’t want a special somepony, rather it was the combination of trying to keep up your image and not finding anypony that interested you that had stifled your love life.
“Here are your dishes,” the cook said, as he placed a bowl of noodles down on the counter in front of you.
As you pulled the dish closer to you, Blossom picked up one of the bottles of hot sauce and poured some onto her dishes. The kirin really liked her meals to be nice and spicy. You remembered one time eating some of her ramen only for your mouth to be filled with near unquenchable fire.
“Maybe I should be the one finding you a coltfriend,” Blossom teased as she finished adding hot sauce to her dish and pulled out some chopsticks.
You couldn’t help but laugh playfully, as you fetched a new pair of chopsticks for yourself. “Like one of your customers?”
Blossom ate some of her noodles before responding.
“At least it would be better than dying an old hag.” Judging from Blossom’s snicker, you were pretty sure she was still teasing you. Not that you minded that. Sometimes it resulted in you giving the greatest comebacks.
“Perhaps I’ll just marry a ghost instead, my dear.”
Even as you said this, you kind of pondered what such a relationship might be like. For the most part, you were under the impression that ghosts were incorporeal. That was, until your recent discovery with both Mara and the Ashikushu. They were both able to interact with their environments to some extent and in the case of the Ashikushu, you could still remember how he had cared for you when you were injured. How it’s tentacles had gently caressed your body as you lay inside that slimy cavity.
As you pondered this, you wondered what sort of things the Ashikushu might do to you if it was actually romantically interested in you. What sort of pleasures might you feel within the grasp of his tentacles? Those tendrils gracefully massaging your body in ways you had never dreamt of. Your body coated with his slippery slime.
You shook your head trying to pull your mind out of the clouds, your cheeks burning red.
“Wait,” Blossom said, “have you already found a special somepony?”
“N-no!” you stuttered.
Seeing you blush, Blossom smiled mischievously. “Are you sure? You seem rather nervous.”
“Y-yes!”
You might have been a bit nervous, but it wasn’t for the reasons she had in mind. The fact was you were a little bit surprised that you had thought of the Ashikushu that way, you hadn’t even given him a name yet. What would mother have thought?
The kirin looked at you a little longer before suddenly her eyes went wide. “It isn’t one of your customers, is it?”
“No!” you said, denying Blossom’s claim.
As you spoke, something out of the corner of your eye caught your attention. Turning your head to the left, you gazed out of the windows of the restaurant and there you saw a familiar mare. Beyond the glass was Glasgow looking back at you. Sweat dripped down your head as you saw the mare that had once tried to take your life.
At first, Glasgow looked surprised, before she smiled and shot you a wink. Then suddenly she vanished into the crowd. Fear gripped you as you realized that Glasgow now knew for certain that you were still alive. As you stared at the window you could feel your stomach churn as if something was moving inside.
“Are you okay?” Blossom asked, pulling you back to the present. Turning back to your friend, you saw that she seemed quite concerned.
“Uh, yeah,” you replied.
“I’m sorry if I offended you. I was just having some fun is all.”
“N-no, you’re fine,” you tried to reassure her. “Something just distracted me is all.”
“Oh, okay,” Blossom smiled, comforted by your statement. However, in the end it was you who needed to be encouraged.
Even though you continued to eat with Blossom in peace, you didn’t feel secure in the restaurant. Glasgow had clearly seen you and had chosen to walk away. Was she waiting for an opportunity to catch you by yourself or was there something else that kept her from pursuing you?
“Here, I bought you this,” Blossom said, as she placed a cell phone on the table.
“Thank you, but you really shouldn’t have,” you replied, “you’re already paying for my meal, you shouldn’t be buying me a cell phone too.”
You tried pushing the cell phone back to your friend, but she put a hoof out and blocked the motion.
“Just take it, you can pay me back later.”
Normally you would have tried to refuse the gesture, however, with Glasgow skulking about it could be useful having a cell phone at your disposal.
“Uh, thank you.”
Blossom smiled as you accepted her gift. As you enjoyed your meal with Blossom you kept a pleasant face, even if your mind was focused elsewhere.
Returning to your apartment, you felt restless. After wishing Blossom farewell, you had tried making your way back home. However, in addition to the strange aberrations that wandered the streets, you had also kept your eyes out for Glasgow, fearing that she might be hunting you from the shadows. Your heart beat loudly in your ears as you locked the door to your abode.
It had barely been a day and the world around you had changed so drastically. One day ghosts and monsters were just delusions and then suddenly the veil was pulled back and your reality was thrown upside down. It was stressful and excruciating. Your heart trembled as you wandered over to the couch, fear gripping your insides.
Sitting down on the couch, you started to feel overwhelmed with emotions as the events of the past two days flowed through your mind. Tears began to well up in your eyes from the pain and mental exhaustion of it all. A part of you just wanted to lay down on the couch and cry your heart out. The world you had known was changed forever and to make matters worse there was a killer on the loose. A killer that was no doubt familiar with this alien world.
Lying down, you took off your glasses and set them on the coffee table before rubbing your eyes. Despite your efforts the tears continued coming. Curling up into a ball, you started to sob.
You were so emotionally distraught that you hadn’t noticed the three tentacles that had moved their way up your throat and into your mouth. You weren’t really aware of them until you felt one of the slimy tendrils touching your cheek, stroking it in an affectionate manner.
‘Don’t worry, my host,’ the Ashikusku spoke, ‘I promise I will protect you.’
The way the tentacle touched your cheek felt reassuring. As you opened your eyes, you could see the blurred shape of one of the tentacles stretching out further than the others and moving in an almost serpentine manner, like a cobra ready to strike.
While you observed the tentacles, you could feel your eyelids drooping.
‘Please rest, I will watch over you.’
Eventually you could resist the call of sleep no longer as mental exhaustion kicked in and your eyes closed. Glasgow might be a problem, but that could wait for another day and then you would have this Ashikushu to defend you as well. For now, it was time to rest.
