//------------------------------// // Chapter 8 // Story: To See Her One More Time // by TheMessenger //------------------------------// Chapter 8 "No fricking way," Neil repeats. "No freaking, flipping, frigging, frogging, frolicking-" Robert shook as he crouched over the box. With eyes wider than he ever thought possible, he stares. His jaw hangs in astonishment. He tries getting up, tapping the box with his foot in carelessness. Robert swallows hard as bright pink eyes blink open and stare back. Those eyes are accompanied by a long snout-like nose and two pointed ears that peaked through a mess of hair colored by every hue of the rainbow. The nose and ears were light-blue, like the sky, as with the rest of the body, which was like that of a dog or any similarly shaped mammal, save for a pair of feathery wings. It was barely larger than a puppy. Four long legs were attached, each ending with a hard hoof. At the rear hung an unusual tail, one made more of hair than of flesh. An equine tail, colored the same way as the hair on its head. A young rainbow-haired pony sat in the cardboard box, staring. It stares at Robert with rosy eyes. He stares back, his face breaking into a large smile. "Hi there," he says uncertainly. He waits, as if expecting a reply. There is none. "Uh, what are you doing here?" Robert tried again. Again, there is no verbal response. It- "She." "Pardon?" "Nothing." She looks around, taking in her surroundings, then returns to Robert. Robert rubs his chin, deep in thought. His attention returns to the young pony as she shivers in the cold September wind. She shakes again and lays down, huddling her legs close to protect herself from the unrelenting cold. She tries ducking her head under a wing, seeking warmth from those blue feathers. Robert grimaces at the scene, his eyes softening even further, almost to the point of tearing up. He all but rips his warm hoodie from his body reaches forward. The rainbow-maned filly squirms in panic. In her frantic struggle, her wings flutter desperately in an attempt to escape. Carefully, gently, tenderly, Robert wraps the filly with the jacket and holds her close. He feels her struggle against his arm, though it is much less panicked. She is suddenly aware that the once biting cold has been subdued and she relaxes, ignorant to Robert's discomfort to the cold. As he looks down at the filly that rests in his arms, Robert begins to forget the chill as well. "It's all right," he assures the young pony. "Let's get you somewhere warmer, huh?" Robert smiles again. The filly looks up in confusion, tilting her head to the side. She blinks. "Don't worry," he says, almost coos. "I'm not gonna hurt you." Robert looks around and into the sky. Stars twinkle on the black canvas above. "It's getting late, and you'll freeze out here." The little pony snuggles in Robert's arms as if in response. She looks back at the jacket-less man holding her before resting her chin onto his arm with a small sigh. Her eyes slowly close and before long, she is asleep. Robert moves slowly as to avoid waking the winged filly. His eyes pick up the slack, quickly shifting from side to side. Every so often, he glances over his shoulder through Eva and Neil, oblivious of their presence. At last, Robert reaches his home. His porch light stands like a beacon, like a lighthouse. The neighboring houses sit in the darkness, creating an eerie contrast. As carefully and as quietly as he can with a single arm, Robert pulls out his keys and works at the locks. Several seconds pass by, interrupted only several sharp clicks as hidden bolts slide from the other side of the door. The little pony doesn't seem to mind. She is warm. The door is finally opened and darkness reaches out to welcome Robert home. He feels his way along the wall and finds the switch. The bulb above flickers, then floods the hallway with light. He passes by the portrait of the happy family. "Hello Mom. Hello Dad." The pony begins to squirm and struggle again as Robert walks into the living room. Her eyes blink open, unsettled by the sudden exposure to light. Robert sets her down on an old couch. The jacket falls in a crumbled pile. With wide eyes and a child's curiosity, the pony scans the room, taking note of her new environment. Robert watches as she explores the old couch. Her attention suddenly turns to the coffee table nearby. Robert, for the most part, simply stares. "What are you doing here in my world?" he mutters. The filly looks up at him with a blank, confused stare. It is her only response so Robert tries again: "Are...you lost?" Her ears fall flat against her head and she finds sudden interest in the ground. No words were exchanged but her expression spoke volumes. "Oh" is all Robert can muster. He stares at the lost filly, himself lost in his own thoughts. He shakes his head; she's beyond lost. "Well..." he begins uncertainly, "...until something happens, I guess you can...stay with me." The filly lifts her head. The worry shining in those rosy eyes are a reflection of just how encouraging and convincing Robert had sound. He tries to offset this and his own apprehension with a smile. "Don't worry," he says, partially to the filly and partially to himself. "I'm sure whatever brought you here will fix itself within time. We just...gotta wait. Is that all right?" Her ears perk up. For the first time, she smiles. She smiles and that's all the assurance Robert needs. ***** "No freaking, flipping..." "Neil, I get it," Eva groaned in aggravation. "I don't think you do," Neil shot back. He pointed at their client who led the filly through the house, pointing out various rooms of interest. "If you did you'd be panicking like me, because Robert has a freaking cartoon horse in his arms. How in the name of science do we explain this? They didn't just glue some wings on a horse and dye her blue; she doesn't even look like a real horse. She's the real deal, a real, honest to God, honest to Einstein and Newton, My Little Pony pony! Not a plush, not a toy, a real freaking, flipping, frigging-ow!" "Stop panicking," Eva snapped, rubbing the back of her hand. "Yes, this job just got real unorthodox, and God writing this report is going to be pain, but it's still our job. Act like the professional you're paid to be and panic after you're done." Neil stared at his partner. "Sometimes I think I work with a freaking Terminator. How are you so calm all the time?" "Work now, scream later." Eva tapped her chin as she watched Robert and the little Pegasus enter the small kitchen. "That pony...she's the one from all the voice clips right?" "Yeah, Rainbow Dash." Neil took several deep breaths before walking over to the chair the filly sat in as she waited for Robert who was at the refrigerator. "Looks a lot younger than she does in the show though." "There might be a connection between the pony and Robert's daughter," Eva observed as she joined her partner. "These memories were unlocked using the sound of Rainbow Dash's voice after all..." "You think we'll finally get to meet this mysterious girl?" "I hope so." Eva sighed. "Otherwise we've hit another dead end and I don't think we can afford that." Robert returns with a handful of baby carrots and beckons the little pony toward him. "H-hey, Eva?" "Hmm?" "We're seeing this too right? And there's no way, no freaking flipping frigging-" "Neil..." "Is it possible that Robert's just hallucinating?" Eva thought for a moment before shaking her head. "Not with our tech. If we were encountering some hallucinations the system would have booted us out of Robert's memories to protect our own brains. It's a reason why we run background checks for hallucinogen usage." "What about-" "Beta blockers aren't hallucinogens. No one could have predicted that Johnny took drugs to deliberately cause memory loss." "Yeah, like anyone could've predicted blue cartoon ponies with wings," Neil scoffed. Robert led the young pony back into the living room. Carefully, he broke the carrots into smaller chunks and offered them. The little blue Pegasus regarded the vegetables with a tilt of her head before devouring them hungrily. Robert sat back and watched as the filly chewed away. Her eyes close and she smiles. She must have been hungry. Bits of carrot falls onto the floor but Robert doesn't seem to notice the mess. At last, the carrots are gone. The pony looks around before her eyes settle on an old recliner. She climbs on it and settles in. Robert opens his mouth as if in protest but quickly shuts it and settles back down on the couch with a small shrug. The pony shivers. Robert gets up and walks over to a closet. She watches intently as Robert pulls out a small blanket. She yawns and grins as he lays the blanket over her. Robert smiles back, almost apologetically, and sits back on the couch. Robert watches the filly. The filly watches Robert. Every so often one of them blinks and the other smiles as if in victory. Time passes... "So...are we just gonna sit here and wait or..." "I suppose we should start looking for a memento," Eva suggests. She looks around. Nothing special catches her eye. "Time to do some poking around them." As she spoke, Robert slowly closes his eyes. His head rolls onto his shoulder and he slouches in the couch. Soon, light snore fills the room. The filly grins, triumphant, and she leaps off her chair. She makes her way to Robert's sleeping body and climbs next to him on the couch. The pony wiggles her way through and rests her rainbow hatted head on the inside of Robert's elbow. The rest of her body curls up against Robert and she closes her eyes as well. Soon she too is asleep. "D'aww..." "What was that?" "N-nothing," Neil quickly asserted. "It's just cold is all." "I could've sworn you said-" "Let's go find that memento shall we?" Though the living room lamps were dim, a bright glow filled the area. Neither Robert nor the pony snuggled against him seemed to mind the light they seemed to emit. "It's doing it again," Neil said, hold up his wrist as the device beeped and shook. This time, he appeared far more annoyed than worried. "Eva..." The light grew blindingly bright.