//------------------------------// // IT'S ME // Story: Catatonic // by FaelaArts //------------------------------// Dear Princess Celestia, What a day. Let me just say how much of a relief it is to get back to an old rhythm, even for a while. I know the circumstances are far from great, but I’m no use to anypony if I can’t focus. How is it for you? Has Luna made any progress? As for me, we actually have a list of a few potential suspects, and even apprehended somepony we suspect is this killer. Like I said, what a day. The pony who we apprehended I actually haven’t gotten the full name of. Both Fluttershy and the guards call him Mike. Speaking of Fluttershy, would you believe this stallion was staying at Fluttershy’s? Apparently he was scared of the killer. He’s not purple, but he is wearing purple clothes. It’s possible we saw purple clothes and not a purple pony, but we’ll soon have things solved once the question pony arrives. You might have noticed I mentioned guards. This is where things become complicated. Apparently, they know both this ‘Mike’, AND the killer from a past world/life. I’m still grilling details out about the whole thing, but after the argument I saw, it seems unlikely they are lying. I’ve never seen two ponies fight like that before. From what I understand, there existed two places. Or maybe one, it was hard to tell from the argument. At one place, four of the guards terrorised this Mike pony for one or two weeks. And there’s a second place that burned down, apparently with Mike inside it, where he was terrorised by both the killer and a fifth guard. I’m not sure what to believe, but there’s definitely some connection to the killer between these six. As such, I’m attaching pictures. Maybe they’ll be of help in your investigation. I’ll try and find out as much information as I can, and inform you once I’m finished problem sleuthing. Good luck with your own search! Hopefully we’re getting closer to finding the killer, if we don’t already have him yet. Sincerely Twilight. “Hrm, so it’s as I fear then,” muttered Celestia, glancing toward the photos included with the letter, looking to the one labelled ‘Mike’. Glancing to the many piles of birth certificates, Celestia went toward the ‘m’ pile, and began flicking through them. Thankfully, there was only one gray pony in the selection. “Hold on, isn’t that…” Placing the file down, Celestia swam through the sea of papers toward the ‘purple’ pile. Flicking through it, she smiled. There was a picture of the opening of the Restaurant in Canterlot with children and staff in front of the building. In the picture was both a purple pony, and a small gray colt. “Okay, think. When was this taken?” Flipping the picture over, Celestia read the words written on the back. ‘Grand opening in Canterlot’. Eyes narrowing, Celestia wondered if this entire chain of restaurants had been to facilitate this murdering spree. Shuddering, Celestia rose from her castle of paper, heading toward the throne room where Luna was doing the paperwork. “I honestly don’t know how you do this day in and out sister,” commented Luna as she signed another document. Walking over, Celestia held out Twilight’s letter, waiting as Luna read it. Handing over both pictures, she glanced to the sleepy guards. When had they last been relieved? “Ahh yes, I know this building. They had me sign off papers requesting permission for a construction project not five minutes ago. Business Sense, do you know when your company was established, or whom this pony might be?” Glancing toward a suited pony, Luna levitated the picture over to him. “Ah yes, this fella. Sad story, one day he vanished without a trace. We were about to congratulate him too on making this such a successful business. Went by the cooky name of Abbins Hilderen.” Chuckling, the pony bowed, heading for the exit. Concentrating, both Celestia and Luna teleported into the domain of paper. “Hopefully he didn’t cover his tracks too well.” Diving into the ‘h’ pile, Celestia smiled as she managed to find the birth certificate, and basic information about this ‘Abbins’. Flipping through the pages, Celestia found a picture of him as a colt, and sighed. “This is the stallion alright. Just look at those eyes.” Showing the picture to her sister, Celestia knew for a fact that nopony that young should have such a hardened look. “But how is this possible, shouldn’t he have lost his past memories? Shouldn’t they all have?” Handing back the picture, Luna sighed. “Normally yes, but with stronger memories it is possible that they remain. And considering this pony is a killer, it does not surprise me. What I want to know is why these ponies did not reincarnate in their world.” Eyes narrowed, Celestia racked her brain for a rational answer. “Maybe the guards Twilight speaks of know the answer.” Glancing to the letter, Luna placed a hoof to her chin. “You know sister, I don’t need to be here to visit the killer’s dreams…” Leaving her sentence open, Luna waited as Celestia turned toward her. “Are you sure Luna? You would be in danger if the killer caught wind of your presence.” It was dangerous even if Luna didn’t go. But it would be the easiest means of getting complicated answers quickly… “Do not worry sister, I will be fine.” Giving a smile, Luna embraced her sister, and then went to pack. Mike slumped in the cell, and closed his eyes. Leaning against the cool wall, he let his mind wander. Allowing a small smile to fall on his face, he imagined what things he would have done with his life, had he had time to finish it. “Mike, are you awake?” Raising his head, four ponies were on the other side of the bars. Stiffening, Mike shifted closer to the wall. Singer sighed, rubbing his forehead. “Come on Mike, seriously? Look, if I didn’t hurt you the first time, I aint gonna hurt you this time.” Sighing, Singer shrugged to the other three, and took a seat. Pizza Party slowly walked up to the bars, and placed a hoof on one. It clanged, causing everypony to wince. “Hey Mike? It’s me, you know uuh…Well to get to the point I just wanted to tell you sorry for what we put you through. I know it doesn’t exactly make us even, but if you ever need a favour, let me know, any kind of favour, and I’ll be more than happy to do so.” Breathing out, Pizza sighed, and stepped back. Glancing toward her, Mike’s expression narrowed. “You know what I want? I want you to die in a fire, find out what that feels like. Can you do that, huh?” Scoffing, Mike looked away. Closing her eyes, Pizza sighed, and turned. “If that is what you really want Mike.” Three hands reached up, stopping her in her place. “Pizza, what the microphone? You’re not seriously going to off yourself just because he asked you too, right?” Giving a nervous smile, Singer glanced to the other two. “Well yeah, I am. I told Mike that I’d do it, so I have to.” Once more stopped by their hands, Pizza grunted, trying to break past them. “Just stop, seriously leave me alone. And don’t kill yourself, I didn’t mean it seriously.” Still glaring to the side, Mike turned to face the wall in objection. Breathing a sigh, all four guards relaxed. Stepping forward, Sprinter Surprise growled once, tapping on the bars three times. “Now ‘isten ‘ere ‘ike, we’re sorry fer what ‘e did, tat dun mean ya can get yer booty up on us en’ it aint our fault tha’ place burned down wit ‘ou ‘side it.” Nodding once, Sprinter smiled at the others, and then turned to look back at Mike. Taking a step back, he gave a small yelp as his scruff was grabbed by Mike. “I always hated you the most. The other three were at least predictable, but no, you had to smash on the door, and drain the power too.” Releasing him, Mike walked back over to the bed, and sat down angrily. “Let’s just go guys, this was obviously a bad idea.” Singer began to walk toward the door, but stopped upon seeing Guitar String was by the bars. “Mike, I understand you can’t forgive us, but please at least accept out apologies. I know you don’t care about us, but it would really mean a lot to us if you could. Just think about it, okay?” Stepping back, Guitar nodded to the others, and followed them toward the door. Glancing toward them, Mike’s expression softened, and he sighed. Hearing this, they all paused, and looked to Mike. “I have been a little hard on you I suppose, considering the fact we were both stuck in personal nightmares.” Standing up, Mike walked over to the bars, and looked each of them in turn. “I can’t forgive you for what you did to me, but I do accept the fact you are sorry. Now please, let me get some sleep.” Turning, Mike walked over to the bed, and laid down. Breathing out, the four shared a relived smile, and exited the room. “So there was five restaurants?” Tilting her head, Twilight winced as Music Box growled. “No, there were three.” Looking between Music Box and Twilight, Singer wondered how long she had been asking questions. Waving the others off, Singer waited for a break in the questions. “Miss Twilight, may we please continue this tomorrow? I need to rest for my shift in the morning.” Well, that was easy. “O-Oh right! Sorry. I’m just having my trouble wrapping my head around this. Were six or ten killed?” Tilting her head, Twilight gave a sheepish smile as she began to head for the door. “Alright, we’ll continue first thing in the afternoon. Which won’t really be the first thing, but I digress.” Waving both goodbye, Twilight went to go re-join her friends on patrol. “So what do you think the chances are of finding-he asleep again.” Singer chuckled, and pulled a blanket off a nearby table, wrapping it around Music Box. Shaking his head, he headed back into the cell room to begin watch over Mike. With Music Box asleep, he was left on the solo shift.