Fact Finder: The Show Must Go On

by Zombi

Trusting Me

They were talking about him in the other room. He knew were; there was no questioning it. He observed his surroundings carefully, not that there was much to see... The bedroom was as dark as the deepest pit in Equestria, the only light emanating from the next room, which shone brightly through the minuscule gap below the closed oak door, creating a narrow blade of light that sliced through the darkness like a hot knife through a block of butter. His dull grey ears pricked and he listened closely, sitting up in the cold, slightly damp bed. There they were... Still talking, despite it being so late... Or so early. It was always impossible to tell whether the sun was rising or setting; for the passage of time always seemed so strange to him. Like a concept he understood, but at the same time he could not grasp. Still, the hushed voices persisted... So familiar, yet so alien to his ears... Finally he recognised the unusual voices.

They were his parents.

Little Zombi edged his way to the end of the bed, taking care not to fall as he had done on numerous occasions, on all of which his floods of tears were left unanswered. He eased himself down from the high bed, ensuring his stubby, foal legs were set firmly on the dusty wooden floor before allowing himself to release his firm grip of the mattress. Even then the abnormal pegasus landed clumsily on his infant flank. He rose, dazed and confused by the sudden jolt, but eventually regained his composure, scampering quickly yet quietly to the thick oak door, which had been sealed shut my countless locks from the opposite side, pressing his small, sensitive ear to the wood.
"I don't know how much longer we can keep him here like this..." sighed the more feminine of the two voices; which Zombi assumed was the voice of his mother. "We feed him, we give him shelter-"
"It, dear." The other, more masculine voice cut in. His father? "Stop talking about it as if it's a pony. I keep telling you: We don't have a son." Zombi took his ear away for a moment, staring at the door with an expression of complete and utter confusion pasted across his pale grey face. His Scarlet lips parted slightly as if he were about to correct the stallion who was probably his father. Silly! The oblivious foal thought to himself, realising, (in his infantile mind, at least) that this must be some kind of unusual joke. His enormous black and red eyes twinkled in childish amusement and his round, bone-white cheeks pulled into a fanged grin. I'm your son!
"B-But... we made him!" The mare despaired. "I gave birth to him!"
"Don't associate yourself with that thing, hun... Remember; we just keep quiet about him and keep him out of sight. As far as anyone else is concerned, we never had a child."
"It feels wrong... Locking him in that room... He actually believes that everypony in the outside world will try to kill him if he leaves!" A sound came from the room. The sound of a heavy hoof impacting upon a glass table impatiently.
"Amber..." The stallion muttered, icily. "If that little... creature... believes every word we tell it. then that's fine... Personally, I should have slit its freakish little throat myself when I had the chance..."

Then there was silence.

Zombi understood. He comprehended what he had just heard perfectly... But he didn't want to accept it. His short, grey legs quaked violently as they wheeled away from the door, causing Zombi to collapse back onto his blank behind; trying to suppress his agonised tears and wails. Had every smile they had shown him been a mask to disguise their utter disgust and shame? The pegasus foal retreated into himself; curling himself into a protective ball. All this time he had been shut away from the warm, welcoming sun and the light of day... He thought they cared... He thought they loved him, and only desired to keep him safe...

Zombi awoke in silent tears...Why should he make his misery known when he was certain nopony would come to his aid? He had always been alone. Why should thing's change now? If I cannot trust my own parents... He thought to himself. Can I truly trust anypony?His ears pricked as the voices from the other room continued to discuss what should be done with him... But, wait... These new voices were not those of his "loving" parents. The still half-asleep pegasus strained his mind; trying to recall recent events...
"Hold on..." The female cut in. It was evident in his voice that she was struggling to comprehend something. "That still doesn't explain how he was able to slaughter a pony from such a distance!" Zombi recognised the familiar, slightly aggressive voice as the detective, Fact Finder. Yes... It was all coming back to him now... The grotesque, grey-coated pony sat up in the bed, painfully; his body covered in prominent bruises and his bones creaking with severe aches. As he remembered, this unfavourable condition had been delivered to him by the detective's unofficial partner, Hot Pursuit.
"Well..." Pursuit began, obviously mulling over a preposterous thought, deciding whether or not to burden the fiery tempered mare with such a ridiculous idea. But even before he could change his mind, it was too late.
"'Well'?" Fact snapped impatiently. "'Well' what?" Zombi was listening curiously; eager to hear an explanation for his accusation. The timid stallion would never even harm a fly, let alone murder innocent ponies!
"Well; what if there were two Zombis?" The silence that followed was almost painful to listen to, as Fact Finder scowled for a moment, before considering the suggestion carefully. It was clearly far fetched. Although no more so than Zombi himself...
"Ah..." The Fillydelphian detective sighed, thoughtfully. "It's a long shot, HP... I mean; how can two ponies look exactly the same? Especially somepony as weird as him?" Zombi took no offence from the remark. Instead, he shuffled to the edge of the bed and lowered his hind hooves quietly on to the soft, carpeted floor, wincing from the burning aches and pains of this simple movement. Even so, he held no grudges against Hot Pursuit; knowing that the officer must have been deeply disturbed by recent events. The thought grated against Zombi's sensitive mind. Two of him? He could not even begin to comprehend how such a thing could even be possible... He brought his front end down painfully, planting all four of his shaking hooves firmly, before stumbling slowly and awkwardly towards the door. Despite his clumsiness, his hooffalls were silenced by the thick, damp carpeting. It could be a changeling, or a unicorn using magic to disguise him or herself... But how and why? Nopony ever saw him. And when they did he was gone before they could get a good look. Zombi pressed his grey hoof against the door gently, pushing it open while taking great care not to frighten Fact or her companion. But despite his efforts, the door released an enormous creak, alerting the two ponies in the living room. The bat-winged stallion sighed heavily and pushed the door open, sauntering in slowly and making it perfectly clear to everyone that he did not wish to harm either of them... As he made his way to the center of the warm, brightly lit room, he could feel the piercing gaze of the two unicorn ponies trained intensely on him; deeply unnerving him. Eventually he stopped, his leathery wings clinging to his quivering form as he rested his flank hesitantly on the floor, glancing at both Fact and Pursuit in turn.

It was Fact Finder who spoke first.

"Feeling better, hun?" The scarlet-maned pony inquired in her best attempt at a soothing tone. Her expression had twisted into something resembling a concerned smile; but her inner confusion prevented her from completing the gesture. She instead appeared exhausted and desperate. Zombi nodded slowly, forcing down his tears of despair. He had absolutely no idea what was going on... All he wanted was to be left in peace; out of the way of all the complexity and business normal ponies had to contend with every day of their lives. His presence would only complicate their lives further; And he was well aware he would never be accepted as anything even remotely normal... Pursuit rose from his seat and walked over to the slightly smaller pony with a look of embarrassment and guilt furrowing his caramel brow. He stopped in his tracks when Zombi flinched and cowered at his approach.
"Look, I'm... I'm sorry about what happened earlier..." He murmured, although the grey stallion could sense his words rang true. his many experiences with strangers taught him that he could never trust anypony. Not even himself. A patter of padding paws alerted Zombi, and he diverted his gaze to the floor beside him, where Ace had come to investigate the visitor in depth, his canine body crouched low in a cautious position so as to spring away should the bat-winged creature choose to attack. Such fears never came to pass, as Zombi simply stared blankly at the curious dog, who soon deemed the pegasus "friendly enough" and curled up by his side, shuffling against slivery his fur to warm himself. This kind gesture urged Zombi into a sense of relative security; enough so that he could respond to questions and provide simple responses at any rate...
"I-it's alright, sir..." He whispered in a small, stammering voice. His wide, ruby eyes flashing between the other ponies, though always coming to rest on Fact Finder. She was pretty, in an aggressive sort of way... She had a certain fire and venom to her personality; visually represented by her blazing scarlet mane and toxic emerald eyes... Yes... Rather pretty...

Zombi shook his head furiously in an attempt to dislodge the thoughts from his wandering mind. This triggered an involuntary reaction in one of the detective's eyebrows, causing one to lower and the other to rise, almost disappearing beneath her thick, blood-red fringe, as well as a slight upward twitch in her lips. She appeared both amused and deeply concerned. Hot Pursuit had chosen to stand back with the same expression; only his lips had opted to twitch downward, and his body tensed considerably. Suddenly aware of what he had done, Zombi immediately and desperately tried to think of a way to explain his unexpected action. When he ultimately came up with nothing, he resumed staring regretfully at the carpet; his mane forming a makeshift curtain over his pale face as his cheeks reddened with sheer embarrassment.

More silence. More staring.

"You, uhh...You ain't all there, you know that?" The caramel coated stallion breathed, earning himself a swift, yet gentle(non-crippling) punch to the gut from Fact Finder, who had apparently risen from the chair while Zombi was engaged in his staring contest with the cream carpet. The audible thump of hoof against stomach made Zombi raise his head in curiosity, his dull grey ears pricking and his wings flapping lightly.
"If anypony's gonna be insensitive around here it's gonna be me! You're meant to be the considerate one. And besides..." She crouched beside the smaller stallion, who backed away slightly, before sitting completely still. The mare reached out a pale hoof and stroked the oddly-featured pegasus soothingly... "He looks like he could use somepony considerate, right about now..." Once again, Zombi allowed his fragile mind to wander. So, she does have a gentle side... But wait. There was something amiss, here... What was it? Her face? Something about her face. The quivering colt studied the detective's expression carefully, growing paler and more anxious the more he looked. Her face carried a message. And that message was clear. "I'm trusting you... But as soon as you step out of line, I'll kill you where you stand. Got it? Zombi blinked as shivers surged down his spine, almost causing his dark tail to whip. Would she do that? Would she really kill him? Whoever they have confused him with has obviously made the unicorn detective extremely desperate... Maybe even afraid. Pursuit craned his neck to peer past his partner. He grimaced and patted Fact on the shoulder softly.

"Hey, Fact... He's not looking too good. D'you think he should head back to bed? Rest up a little more?"
Fact turned a little bit, never one taking her brilliant green eyes away from Zombi. "Hm...? Oh, no. He'll be just fine, won't you?" The pegasus' head tilted up and down ever so slightly, not daring to use any unnecessary motions lest he incur the wrath of this vengeful mare... "See?" She said brightly, smiling directly at Hot Pursuit. "Just fine!" The golden-maned stallion merely shrugged and trotted into the bedroom to check if Zombi had made any kind of mess. Just what kind of mess the unicorn suspected of him was a mystery... And not one Zombi really cared to solve all that much. He grew out of his bed wetting stage a good while ago; A few months, perhaps. Fact Finder opened her mouth, all sympathy in her expression had completely vanished... However, there was no hostility to speak of. Only desperation and ice-cold fear remained. "Zombi..." She whispered softly. It felt strange... Almost alien to hear his own name from another pony's tongue... He had been alone for so many years. So very alone... "I need to know something from you. Something extremely important." As she spoke, Zombi absorbed every word. He could tell his answer would be of the utmost importance. For once, after all this time... He was being trusted. And that notion of responsibility terrified him... Nopony trusted him. Not unless there was imminent danger. "I need to know exactly what happened after I captured you." She continued; her hooves were planted firmly on his shoulders, while her beautiful, venomous eyes bore holes in his skull with their fearful gaze. "Exactly. I want to know if I can truly trust you..." The bat-winged pegasus opened his mouth to speak. To tell his cowardly tale of fleeing and hiding... Before he was suddenly cut-off. Somepony had barged through the wooden front door. Zombi's pale grey head snapped to the side to stare at the intruder in utter horror. No! He couldn't let so many ponies see him! She would tell everypony about him! The slender pegasus mare stood, fuming in the doorway. Her cheeks were red with rage and her eyes blazed like orbs of burning hatred.
"I can't believe you got away with it!" She screamed in frustration, which appeared to be directed at the crimson-maned unicorn. "You should have been fired in an instant! I bet the Commissioner's just playing favourites... If it had been anypony else he-!" The screaming ground to an abrupt halt, as the infuriated, slim mare realised something was wrong here... Out of place... Her round eyes surveyed the apartment, on the hunt for what exactly it was that seemed to be niggling at her subconscious. They found Zombi. Her eyes widened to an almost unnatural size and her pupils
contracted equally so.
"There's this thing called a doorbell." Fact Finder said simply; not yet registering the urgency of what had just occurred.

"I suppose you've heard of it?"