Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective - The Equestrian Connection

by Akamia


Chapter 2: 7:15 PM - 7:30 PM

Chapter 2

7:15 PM
Ponyville Square

I made it back to the fountain I left in. Sure enough, Flora was right where I left her, dancing that dandelion like she didn't have anything better to do.

"Oh, you're back!" Flora greeted me, "How did it go?"

"That pegasus didn't help at all! I didn't find anything out!"

"Really?" Flora asked in surprise, "That's too bad. I could have sworn she told you that she knew you a year ago. Oh well... So why are you here? Did you learn something useful?"

"Yeah. Yeah, I did. Something you didn't tell me I could do earlier!" I replied. I can think about the significance of that year before now later.

"I didn't? But I'm sure I told you about it..." Flora said.

So that was her, after all...

"L-Look, just, let me save myself! Four minutes before death, you know? I don't have time to wait around!"

"B-But..."

Before Flora could respond properly, I ghosted to my corpse, which was not taken away yet, thank goodness. I then re-entered the living world...

Nothing happened. At all.

"You can't save yourself from death..."

"What?!"

I felt myself getting frustrated. Did I seriously come here for nothing?!

"I was trying to tell you that, you silly filly!" Flora said in her typical humorous tone, "If we could, don't you think I would have done that for myself already? Use your head! Like this!" And then she accelerated the dandelion to the point in it's lifetime where the seeds are ready to fly, and the wind blew them all away.

"Um... Sure. Right," I responded. I was furious at how I was apparently not able to save myself, but I guess I can't be helped. Looks like I'm stuck like this for the rest of my "life", in a manner of speaking.

"Don't feel bad, Gilda!" Flora tried to cheer me up, "At least there's lots of good you can do while you're like this, and you can even find out who you were along the way!"

"I guess..."

Well, if I'm going to find out anything about myself, I suppose I'd better ask Derpy about what she knew about me from a year ago. I'm not sure why I didn't do it sooner, but then again, I had saving myself on my mind.

I made the jump from my body to the fountain. But before I left, I saw some wavy energy coming from this thing while I was in the Ghost World. Was this here the whole time? What in the world is it?

"Hey, Flora?" I began, "What in the world is this stuff, anyway?"

"Oh, that? It's been there the whole time. I'm not sure what it is, myself."

I see, so it's a big mystery at this point to even her, the one who otherwise seems to know everything. Great. Just perfect.

I said my goodbyes and took the fountain to Derpy's house, without any intent to return to see Flora again.


7:20 PM
Derpy's House

When I arrived at Derpy's kitchen, there was nopony there. Derpy had left, and she took her little unicorn with her. Guess she didn't want to stick around after what went down earlier. So I started searching the house to look for clues, jumping from one object to the next.

I made it to Derpy's bedroom, and boy, was it a mess. I could have sworn everything that was supposed to be right-side-up is now upside-down. Was it this way all the time, or had somepony come in and made it the mess it is...?

One thing is certain, however: I can't find any leads by hanging around. I'd better have a look at some of the stuff thrown all over this place.

I make my way to a piece of paper on the floor and give it a read. Seems like it's something to do with her occupation as mailmare. Must be her cre... creden... proof of her job.

I note the address of the post office and make my way back to the kitchen sink, where I use it to go to the post office.

This is my only lead to her location, if anywhere at all... And it's looking like she might be in trouble again.


7:22 PM
Post Office

Upon arrival at the post office, at a drinking fountain inside, I find an unfortunate scene.

Derpy? She's alive and well. Her foal, on the other hoof...

Derpy herself is not happy at all. She's been driven to tears. I can't say I blame her.

The post master was nowhere to be found. I guess it's his night off.

But why was the little one attacked? Wasn't Derpy the target...? If she was, why isn't she dead again, as well?

I knew I wasn't going to get the answers I needed, staying at this drinking fountain. It's time to have a look around.

Before talking to Derpy, I checked around to see if the foal's killer was anywhere in the building. He (or she) was not. I then took a look outside a window near the newly departed. A flower vase was helpful enough to give me someplace to see outside from. Strangely, there was no hole in the glass, unlike what happened last time. Derpy will have to get that fixed when she gets home...

Either way, the killer was not outside, at least not anymore. I suppose I'll have to ask Derpy what happened. So I made my way back to her, and began conversation.

"Where have you been??" Derpy was still breaking down. I guess I would be, too, if my offspring just died right before my very eyes, "My little muffin won't wake up...!"

Does she know her little "muffin" is actually dead...? "What happened here?"

"I don't know..." Derpy sobbed, "It all happened so fast. Another one of those mean ponies showed up out of nowhere and shot my Dinky with magic, and she just fell over... That meanie just ran off...!" She started crying again.

"Hey, hey, I'm sorry for your loss, but right now, I need your help. Again," I told her, then explained that I wanted to hear about how she knew me one year ago.

"But what about Dinky? Aren't you going to save her?!" Derpy was still crying.

"W-Well... I..."

"Please! I-I'll try to remember what I knew about you, if you just do this one thing!"

"But... I..." I thought about it for a while. Realizing I probably wouldn't get anything out of her when she's like this, she most likely wouldn't talk to me ever again if I refused, and I'd never find out who I was, which would make the past half hour meaningless.

"... Ugh... Fine..." I relented, "She'll be back with you before you know it... I guess."

Derpy's tears of sadness quickly turned into tears of happiness, "Oh, thank you, thank you!"

When I left her mind, Derpy turned to the corpse of her filly. "Don't worry, muffin! Gilda's going to help you! I know she can!"

Well, I'm not sure she can hear you yet, but... Alright, here goes nothing.

Into the corpse.

The blue flame of the filly's unconscious spirit was before me. I decided to let it rest for the time being. There's really no point in aggravating it.

I suppose it's time to go back in time, four minutes before this filly's death.


7:16 PM
Four Minutes Before Death
Post Office

Taking it from the top, I found that the assassin that attacked our little filly was in the building, hiding behind the postmaster's desk. Another green unicorn... How many of these are there, anyway??

At any rate, for two minutes, our victim didn't arrive. On that third minute, Derpy and her foal entered the building, believing they were safe. The assassin listened to them talking, presumably to confirm his target, then came out of hiding and fired his magic blast. From what it looked like, he aimed for Derpy, but missed and hit the filly, instead. The replay stopped with a shocked expression on his own face, with one on Derpy as well, but with tears welling up in her case.

I'll be honest, this was not what I expected. But at least the solution seems simple enough. I think what I have to do is knock out that pony before Derpy and her daughter get there...

So, I rewind time again, and start working my magic. First thing, I possess an inkwell that was on the desk... Can I knock somepony out with one of these? Probably not, it doesn't look big enough. I move to a big book instead. Upon doing so, I launch it up, over the unicorn's head, and it lands on it. Hard. The unfortunate unicorn was out cold. I knew that this way, at least the filly I was saving wouldn't end up dying, but then Derpy might actually die instead, should he wake back up in the present... Trouble with this situation, however, is that I can't throw ponies around like I can with small objects or creatures...

Ah! An idea! The inkwell! Let's put that to use!

I rewind time one more time. This time, I realize that the key is not to knock this unicorn out, but to make it so that he can't shoot either Derpy or Dinky. This means I'll need to blind him with ink.

It's the first minute. I quickly take possession of that inkwell, and throw it in the air, like I had done with the book, then I possess that book again, knowing that the inkwell will be no good to me any longer after it hits. This time, it lands on the unicorn's head and shatters, spilling ink all over his face. He panicked, and started trying to find his way around. He eventually crashed his way out the window I looked outside earlier.

Breaking windows must be a thing, tonight... I should be glad I don't have to pay for 'em.

On top of that, it seems I have averted somepony's fate again... Back to the new present. To Derpy Hooves.


7:26 PM
Post Office

When I came back to the present, Dinky was alive and well, and Derpy was no longer crying like she was earlier. In fact, she had this confused expression on her face, as she was examining the broken window. I went to her.

"What happened here?" She asked me.

"Oh, that... Yeah, somepony went out the window... I was kind of responsible for that," I replied. It's enough she remembers her own death, but does she remember her daughter's?

Speaking of which, when I was ghosting, I didn't see a core on the little filly. It must be because she was still unconscious as I was doing the work to save her, because Derpy regained her consciousness while I was working, but she didn't... This ghost stuff is confusing.

"So, can you tell me about me?" I asked Derpy.

"Oh, uh... Sure, I guess... What do you want to know about?"

"Just tell me what you knew a year ago."

"I knew you a year ago?" Derpy asked.

"Uh, yes, you said as much last time..."

"Oh! That's right!" Derpy laughed innocently, "Um... Let's see... Uh... Hmm... Actually, I didn't know much about you, even then. I heard from some pony at Sugar Cube Corner that a griffon named 'Gilda' was being a real meanie... You are a griffon... and your name is 'Gilda'... But you can't be the same Gilda, can you? That would be silly, you saved my life!"

She's right... I don't think I could be that Gilda... though something in the back of my mind says I know her... Why would I think that? That other "Gilda" sounds like some complete jerk! I don't know anypony like that, do I?

"Um... Thanks, Derpy. For telling me," I said, "I'll keep looking for more information... I'll see you around."

"Oh, you're welcome, Gilda!" Derpy said cheerfully, "Oh, would you like me to keep a lookout for you? I think I might be able to help you with your memory!"

Honestly, I don't think I want her help. But considering that I'm otherwise alone in this, I don't see how her assistance can make anything any worse for me.

"Sure..." I answered hesitantly. There's gotta be a catch... "Is there something you want me to do while you do that?"

"Umm... Well, finding out the cause of all these attacks would be nice..."

"Done. I was thinking about finding that out, anyway. After what I've seen tonight, I think they might have been responsible for my death," I stated.

"Oh, alright. I'll start looking, then!"

"Alright. Take care, Derpy."

I leave her mind and go back to the fountain. Keeping in mind what Derpy told me about this jerk who shares my name, I went to this "Sugar Cube Corner" she mentioned. I got this odd feeling somepony I didn't like is going to be there...

Green unicorns everywhere, aiming to take out an innocent pony. A griffon that shares a name and species with me, and turned out to be a jerk. There's something strange going down tonight... The mysteries are adding up, one by one.

And I'm going to crack every case before dawn. Because that's what I must do to unravel the Mystery of Me.