55 Days

by Mocha2007

Rating: everyone
Tags: Tragedy, Adventure
Length: 2025

Our hero must solve a series of murders erasing history, before he himself is erased.

Our hero must solve a series of murders erasing history, before he himself is erased.

But there's more than one force at work here…

This story is based upon a nightmare I had. If you find violence, murder, or snarky comments offensive, you have been warned.

Published 1970-01-01 00:00:00 UTC
Last updated 2013-04-07 03:11:17 UTC

Day 1

55 Days

DAY 1

Twilight is dead. We all killed her, though that was not our intent. That is, all but one. Who could have plotted such a thing? How did they deceive us into this murder? Why is that somepony currently murdering another pony once every eight hours? Why do the murders occur the same time every day? How can I solve this? That is my dilemma. This is the case of the century; and at this rate, might be my last case.

I have 55 days.

SUGARCUBE CORNER, DAY 1, 12:01 PM

I must interview everypony in town... Great, this shouldn't take longer than, oh, 55 days or so. Less if I'm dead.

Pinkie walked into the room.

"Hiya, Hal!", exclaimed Pinkie cheerfully. Perhaps too cheerfully, recent events considered. Oh, I forgot to mention my name is Halt Kent. Not that it's important.

"So Pinkie, let's sit down and have a little chat."

She sat down in front of me.

"What're we chattin' about?", said Pinkie.

"Tell me what happened on the day of the incident. Start from the beginning."

"...Incident?", she said.

"When Twilight was killed! You were in the same room when it haopened!"

"Who's Twilight?", she questioned.

My god, this is why I hate talking to her.

"Ugh... I think I'll go ask Fluttershy instead. I'll come back tomorrow."

I stepped away from the table.

"Goodbye."

I left the building, bound for Fluttershy's cottage. Hopefully she'll have answers.

FLUTTERSHY'S COTTAGE, DAY 1, 12:31 PM

I knocked on the door.

"Who... Oh! Um... Hi, Hal."

She opened the door, and I stepped inside after giving her a slight nod. We sat down at the table in the living room.

"So, do YOU have any information on what happened yesterday?"

"What happened yesterday?"

"...the killing. Jeez, does everypony here have amnesia?"

"Oh, my! That's awful! Who was killed?"

I just sat there, stunned.

Doesn't anypony remember???

"Your friend, Twilight Sparkle."

"Twilight... Sparkle? I don't recall anypony by that name."

"You've been friends for years! She operates the library!"

"We have a library? Oh that's nice, now I don't have to go to Cloudsdale to get my books."

Sweet celestia, whoever killed her didn't just kill her... They wiped her off the face of Equestria!

Day 2

55 Days

DAY 2

I had a bad night's sleep. I sent a letter to Princess Celestia to confirm this was not just a practical joke, though the only other time was long ago in criminology class, long ago. I woke up, just sitting there motionless on the bed. I saw a scroll on the ground. A few seconds passed.

After I finally realized what that was, I quickly scrambled over to the scroll, and read it as fast as I could.

"Hal,

It seems there are forces at work that not even I cam contain. I do not know what is happening, but if you think somepony is the killer, you have my permission to kill.

Yours,

Celestia"

This... is not good.

HOTEL ROOM, DAY 2, 10:51 AM

I am pacing around my room. I cannot think of my next step. How am I to track down a killer who leaves no trace? The place where it happened is missing, the victim's body, missing, the witnesses' memories, missing.

My thinking was interrupted by the appearance of a scroll coming from thin air and falling to the floor.

Another message? I picked it up and read it:

"Hal,

I was informed that Spike and two others have gone missing as well. The only ones who have forgotten are the residents of ponyville, we still have copies of birth records for them all here. I'm sending some men to do a daily head count. We'll know if anypony else disappears. I'm also arranging for you to move your base of operations to Cloudsdale; this way you don't forget about anypony.

Yours,

Celestia"

I started packing immediately, eager to not be a victim.

CLOUDSDALE CAFE, DAY 2, 6:01 PM

I'm not hungry. I'm just... Demoralized. My only hope is that there's some sort of pattern to these killings. I looked at the victims details again and again, there's no similarities. I should assume there is a pattern... In hopes that there is one. It seems that such a pattern wasn't going to be included in census data. It must be personal.

There's a pattern, and I'll find it! I have to... For the sake of all of us.

Day 3

55 Days - Day 3

CLOUDSDALE HOTEL, DAY 3, 6:53 AM

These two other ponies... Firewing and Dry Healer... I must find more about them. But... Nobody here remembers them... Dry healer has no living relatives, but Firewing has a sister in Cloudsdale, I could ask her since her memory is intact.

Sometimes I hate being an Investigator...

HEAD COUNT OUTSIDE PONYVILLE, TWO HOURS EARLIER

Sometimes I hate guard duty...

Commander woke us up at 4:01 AM. Today I had to check on "Derpy Hooves", and three others.

I began to stroll through the streets. I was nearing her address.  I heard strange noises from an alleyway. I looked for a moment, but saw nothing. I continued to the house.

I knocked on Derpy's home. No response.

"Hello? Ms. Hooves?"

No response.

"Ms. Hooves?"

"Oh, sorry!"

I jumped, she was right next to me.

"Where were you at such an early hour?"

"Just taking a little stroll, that's all."

"Hmm... Okay. I have others to check on, so i must leave."

I began walking away.

"Why are you checking on ponies?"

I stopped. I had already been briefed on what to say.

"...Celestia's orders. Temporary security measures, for the upcoming visit next month."

"Alright..."

I continued on, towards the next pony's house.

NOW, FIREWING'S SISTER'S HOUSE

I knocked on the door.

"Oh, hello! You're the one who talked to me on the phone, yes, please come inside!"

She motioned to come, and I entered. We sat down.

"Can you tell me about your brother?"

"Ah, Firewing? Yeah, he just moved to ponyville just a couple years ago. He has a few friends. He runs his own store in town. I just visited him last month, yeah?"

"What was... Err... Is he like?"

She doesn't know what happened, best to keep it that way.

"Yeah, he's into flying and photography. He sells his images in his store, he takes the greatest pictures, yeah? Loves the land. He says he sees it differently, he can see it moving, growing, breathing. He can feel the emotion of the land. He knows how to get that into a photo."

"He sounds amazing. Do you know if he knows Twilight Sparkle?"

"Hmm... I don't recall him mentioning that pony. He might know her, you should ask him, not me."

A little over an hour passed.

"Well, thank you for your time."

I got up and headed for the door.

"Oh it was no problem really, it's always nice to have guests."

I walked outside, and said goodbye.

It seems that he is completely different from twilight. Perhaps there is just no pattern.

Day 4

55 Days - Day 4

CLOUDSDALE HOTEL, DAY 4, 7:01 AM

Another bad night of sleep. I had nightmares, strange ones. With every passing day, more people die...

Two scrolls lie on the floor.

I picked one up;

"Hal,

Three more ponies died yesterday. Strangely, at the same times. On the advice of the council, we have quarantined ponyville. This way, the killer cannot enter, as the town is spellbound.

Best of luck,

Celestia."

But if this note came from celestia...

I picked up the other note:

"YOU CAN'T KEEP ME OUT."

How did the killer get in here; the place is guarded! Why didn't they kill me? Something is amiss...

"Sir," said a guard next to me. I must've ignored him when he entered. "all our men in the camp outside Ponyville!"

HEAD COUNT OUTSIDE PONYVILLE, 2 HOURS EARLIER

Aaand last house... The apple family. Alright, let's go.

But when I got there, I stopped. The air smelt of almonds, apples and smoke...

I saw smoke coming from the barn.

"Fire!", I shouted.

I ran to the house to wake up the apple family, but as I got closer, I got weaker; I couldn't breathe. I blacked out, as I felt my body being dragged away.

NOW

"Have the princesses been notified?"

"Yes. Commander also reports that there's a fire in Ponyville."

"Huh!?"

I stepped to my window. Sure enough, there was smoke on the horizon.

I'll be there immediately!

CAMP OUTSIDE PONYVILLE, FOUR MINUTES EARLIER

"Tell the investigator that all our men our missing, and that we're putting out a fire in Ponyville now."

The guard pegasus flew, bound for Cloudsdale.

That investigator better have answers, or we're all doomed...

I trotted to central Ponyville, where the blaze was being extinguished. There was the fire chief, and fireponies putting out the blaze.

"Is it under control?"

"Yes, we have it to this block. It'll be out soon"

I saw a pegasus on the horizon, running towards us.

"And here's our investigator, chief."

He looked where I pointed.

NOW, RUNNING TOWARDS PONYVILLE

"I came as fast as I could! Hello, commander!"

I gave a wave.

"The fire's under control. As the chief here needs to determine the source of such a devastating event," he said while handing me a fire helmet, " we need you to help."

TEN HOURS LATER

"This isn't adding up, how can the fire originate from all of these houses at the same time?"

"I don't know chief, but I'll bet you the killer has a hand in this."

"There were no traces of accelerants... how did this burn so rapidly?"

I thought for a moment.

"Princess Celestia thinks there's dark forces at work here."

We sat for a minute, silent.

"So you're saying you have no idea?"

"Unfortunately."

I handed my notes to the chief, and stepped away from the table.

"Goodnight.", I said as I walked away, back to cloudsdale.

Day 5

55 Days - Day 5

CLOUDSDALE HOTEL, DAY 5, 8:03 AM

I slept better last night, but I'm still clueless as how to continue on the investigation. There was another note on the floor. I read it:

"GIVE UP

THINGS ARE NOT AS THEY APPEAR

I WILL BURN ALL OF THEM

I AM STRONGER THAN YOU THINK

YOU CANNOT STOP ME

YOU CANNOT SEE ME

YOU CANNOT KILL ME"

How am I supposed to interpret this? There's no clues here. I stared at the note some more.

What am I missing? The only thing notable is the single case and lack of punctuation. The paper itself wasn't special. The ink wasn't special. At least... that to my knowledge...

I blinked.

The note looks the same... except... No! This is definitely different! But how? I just KNOW it's different, but it's still the same note... I picked it up and stared at it pensively, then blinked. The paper changed!

"QUIT.

EVENTS ARE NOT AS THEY SEEM.

I WILL RAZE THEM ALL.

I AM FOREVER ENDURING.

YOU CAN'T HALT ME.

YOU CAN'T VISUALIZE ME.

YOU CAN'T MURDER ME."

How is this possible? How can the text itself change? I blinked again, trying again.

"HALT.

THINGS ARE NOT AS THEY VISUALIZE.

I WILL IGNITE ALL OF THEM.

I AM IMMORTAL.

YOU CAN'T TERMINATE ME.

YOU CAN'T COMPREHEND ME.

YOU CAN'T MAKE ME MORTAL AGAIN."

How in Celestia's name can this be happening? Is the other note like this too? How long have i not been noticing this? Why is the text altering?

There has to be an explanation. There has to be! Are these just random words? They can't be... Or... No... Could these not be actual words at all? Could this paper just be conveying it's meaning in whatever way it feels most effective? Yes... Yes! That has to be the answer! There we go, problem solved... just cursed paper, that's all! But... If they could do that to the paper without my knowing... They could have poisoned me too... Or worse yet... outright killed me...