Disclaimer: I do not own Hasbro, My Little Pony or any characters, places, or events in the extended cannon, although it would be awesome if I did.
Recurring Memories Chapter Three:
School, Lies, and Those Words
It was a beautiful morning, if you’ll excuse the cliche. The weather was just starting to turn towards winter, so the air was the barest bit crisp. The leaves had not long ago started turning, so they were beginning to put on their coats of color in celebration of a summer gone well. School had come into session days ago, making the streets and houses eerily empty during the day.
In an unusual twist, I was awoken by my daughter early in the morning instead of the other way around. She looked at me with a frown. “There’s some ponies here for you, Dad,” she said. “They said that they ‘found another’, whatever that means.”
I groaned and rubbed my eyes, slipping out from under the covers. “Thank you, Star,” I said. “Could you tell them I’m on my way down?”
“Sure thing,” she said, “I have to go out that way anyway.”
I nodded. “Have fun at school.”
“Yeah,” she snorted. “Fun.”
I ignored her sarcasm as she walked out of the room and downstairs. I needed to talk to Rainbow after this. Star still didn’t know about her parentage, even two months after our arrival in Ponyville. What excuse did she have?
Pushing out those thoughts, I walked into the bathroom and splashed water into my face. I was getting soft. I used to be able to wake at a moment’s notice. I wiped my face with a towel, thinking back to the activities of the night before. I was up fairly late, maybe that’s why I was so tired.
As I was about to step onto the stairs, Star brushed past me. “Hey, what about school?” I asked. I didn't think that she wanted to go, but she legally had to. I wasn't going to break any laws I didn't have to.
Besides the obvious exceptions, of course.
She looked over her shoulder. “Closed until further notice.” She looked forward and continued straight to her room. Most likely grabbing a book.
I blinked. Oh, yeah. I left the body pinned to the school. I completely forgot that detail. Meh, whatever. I headed downstairs, seeing the two guards from my first murder scene a month ago. Guard one—or was he guard two?—was standing in front of guard two, waiting for me to come downstairs. “I’m assuming this guy is at the school?”
Guard one narrowed his eyes. “How did you know that?”
Guard two smacked his companion in the back of the head. “You just sent his daughter upstairs because school is cancelled, idiot.”
Guard one rubbed the back of his head, glaring at the other guard. “Yeah, yeah. Didn’t need to hit me.”
“It made him feel better,” I said, getting a nod from guard two. “Okay, let’s head out. Fill me in on the way.”
The guards started walking, and I fell into step between them. Guard one spoke up, “We found this guy pinned to the schoolhouse by a sharpened branch.”
“Ouch,” I said. “The branch was through him and into the school? That must have taken strength.” I was mad, what can I say? I didn't take a pedophile watching my daughter with grace and dignity. Sue me.
“An incredible amount,” guard two said. I needed to learn their names at some point. “It was the same perp again, I’d bet my job on it.”
“Why would you say that?” I asked. Besides the fact that I carved into his forehead, of course. That was always a nice touch.
“He had the word PEDO carved into his forehead,” guard two said. “It seems that Equestria has a serial killer.”
“We have a term for this?” I asked as we rounded the last corner in our trek. After this point, it was a straight shot to the schoolhouse. “I would think that this is a new thing.”
“Griffons have them from time to time,” guard one said. “They are incredibly rare, though, and Equestria has never had to deal with one before. Serial rapists, sure, just not murderers.”
“Even more imperative that we find this guy as fast as we can, right?” I asked. That wasn’t happening. I wasn’t getting caught at this point. “Let’s list what we know. So far we have two killings in Ponyville. Both of them where the killer thought they had committed, or were thinking of committing, a crime. I’m not sure which.” I glanced at guard two. “I'm assuming that we have no cases of molestation reported?"
"None. Just like we had no reports of rape when the alleged rapist was murdered," guard one said.
"Okay, so we'll assume that the perp snatches ponies before they can commit a crime," I said. "That makes finding him hard."
"Why?" guard two asked.
Because he’s functioning as your boss. "We have no idea when he will he will strike," I said instead. "If he was grabbing accused criminals, we could predict him. As it is, we don't even know why he does what he does. He could do it to remove those he sees as threats, he could do it because he feels he needs to, or it could even be both."
Guard one spoke up as we neared the schoolhouse, "You seem to know a lot about this guy."
"If you're going to make an accusation, make it. Don't pussyfoot around it," I said, levelling a glare at him. He might be a problem if I can't train him properly.
"I'm just saying," he said, backing off.
"Guys," guard two said. "We forgot about the first victim."
"No we didn't," I said. "He was sodomised by the statue, remember?"
"No, Aurora Blast," he said. "Found beaten, bloody and with the word MONSTER carved in his forehead in his home in Cloudsdale."
"Similar, but it doesn't fit," I said. This could be awkward if I didn't clear it up.
"How not?" guard one asked.
"First," I said as we walked up to the schoolhouse and stopped. "Monster isn't a criminal, like rapist or pedophile. Second, that bastard had already committed his crimes, so it wasn’t a preemptive strike. Third, he was left alive instead of being murdered. Finally, I know who did that one."
"Who?" the guards asked in stereo.
"Me," I said, taking a gamble. During the shocked silence I walked around the corner to see the fruits of last night's work. A blue and yellow stallion was speared through the chest with a three inch branch. That was a bitch and a half to do, I have to say.
"What do you mean you did it?" guard two exclaimed as the duo followed me around the corner.
"I broke each of his legs, both his wings, and carved monster into his forehead," I said. "It was more than deserved."
"What did he do that required such an extreme reaction?" guard one asked me.
"That is a private matter," I said. "Don't push it."
"That is a crime!" guard one exclaimed.
"We can't charge him, man," guard two said.
"Like hell," guard one growled. "Streak, you're under arrest for aggravated assault with a deadly weapon."
"No i'm not," I said calmly. This was working out about as well as I figures it would, but it might throw them off my trail.
"He's right. He was given a full pardon for any and all crimes committed," guard two said. "We can't touch him on it."
"Back on topic," I said. "I believe this killer is emulating my crime. A copycat."
"Why would somepony copy a vile act like that?" Guard one's face scrunched up in distaste.
"Admiration?" I said with sarcasm. I continued more seriously, "Maybe because it gave them a point to base themself off of? Whatever the reason, Aurora's assault is unconnected to the murders." I was lying through my damn teeth at that point. Glad Applejack wasn't there.
"I guess it takes a criminal to catch a criminal," guard one muttered under his breath. Louder, he said, "So what can you get from this?"
I looked over at the body. "I saw this stallion before. He was always hanging around the schoolyard with a camera. I never thought anything about it."
A third guard came up and saluted guards one and two. "Sirs, we finished examining his house." Guard three looked over at me with worry.
"Report, guard. He's assisting," guard two said.
"We found pictures, sir," guard three said.
"There's more than that, spit it out," I said.
"They were all pictures of fillies," he said. “They focused on the four fillies locals call the Cutie Mark Crusaders. Easily two-thirds of the pictures were of one of them." My brow furrowed as he continued. "There is no doubt in my mind that he was going to molest one of the fillies."
"So it was like we thought," guard two said. "Murder to prevent lesser crimes."
"Which one?" I asked guard three.
"As best as we can tell, his first target was the blue filly with white hair. We're still working on getting their names," he said.
I didn't hear half of what he just said, since I was busy stomping over to the corpse. I killed him too quickly. My throat burbled as I approached, and I immediately started to slam my hooves into the dead pony's face. Repeatedly.
"What are you doing?" guard three exclaimed, jumping at me. Only to be blocked by guards one and two.
"Let him do his thing," guard two said.
“What? Why?” the new guard said. “Why should he be allowed to despoil a body like that?”
“Blue filly with white hair,” guard to said. “Isn’t that—”
CRACK
The guards looked over to find the bastard’s face caved in. I sat over his cold corpse, panting with exertion. The siding of the school was cracked behind his head from where I hit it. I took a few steps back before spitting on the body. I turned around. “Much better now.”
“Wha–better?” guard three asked. “You just destroyed evidence, let alone desecrating a corpse like you just did!”
“Blue filly with white hair,” I said, walking back to the group. I had a surprising lack of blood and brain matter on my hooves, probably because he was dead before I started swinging. “That’s my daughter. My only regret is that some other bastard killed this one, so that I couldn’t.”
“You just—” guard three started.
“Don’t try it, kid,” guard two said. “We already learned that if Streak wants to do something, it’ll be done.”
“But–but—” guard three tried again.
“Geez, it took you guys this long?” a familiar voice asked from above me. I looked up to see a certain sexy cyan pegasus floating. She landed and locked eyes with me with a smirk. “I figured that out pretty fast.”
“That’s funny,” I said, smirking right back. “I say the same thing about you.”
“Miss Dash, I’m afraid you have to leave,” guard one said. “This is an active crime scene, and we cannot legally allow civilians to be here right now.”
She cocked an eyebrow. “Streak is right there. What about him?”
“He’s what we call a ‘civilian contractor’,” guard two said. “He’s not a member of the guard, but he helps out on a specific case.”
I shrugged as my marefriend looked over at me. “I volunteered at the last crime scene,” I explained. “This won’t be a constant thing.”
Rainbow’s eyes narrowed, scanning the four of us. “What kind of crime scene is this?” she asked. I pointed behind her, and she slowly turned around. The blood drained from her face as she beheld the stallion. I’m not sure if the caved in face or the branch through his chest bothered her more, and I wasn’t going to ask. “Oh. My,” she paused, looking at me green in the face. “What kind of god would be listening right now?”
“I think I’m just going to start using them all at once,” I said, walking up beside her and draping a foreleg over her withers. I started walking, guiding her away from the gruesome corpse. “Thinking of using the exclamation, ‘oh my gods’. What do you think about that?” I shot a look at the guards, and they understood. The crime scene would be there in an hour, but I couldn’t ignore Rainbow.
“That sounds like a good idea,” she said unusually quietly. “It’s better than ‘oh my Celestia’.”
“Anything is better than ‘oh my Celestia’,” I said with a small smile. “Especially with you as jealous as you are.”
“I’m not jealous,” she said, getting louder and closer to her usual self, “I’m protective. There’s a difference.”
I gave her a small nuzzle, “I’d love you either way.”
She locked up, cheeks becoming a bright red, and would have toppled over if I wasn’t holding her up. As it was, we stopped in the middle of the road and attracted a little bit of attention. Damn it, I said those words, didn’t I?
“Do you?” she asked, looking me in the eyes.
“Love you?” I asked. She nodded, and I looked back at what we had been through and what we had done. Then double checked what we had done—especially to each other—just course. After a moment of silence I found my answer. I leaned forward and gave her a quick peck on the lips. “Of course.”
She had a stupid grin on her face as we kept walking. Eventually, her smile fell. “I still haven’t told Star,” she said.
“I know,” I said. “I will say that I am disappointed, but I understand.”
“It’s just so hard to do!” she exclaimed as we walked through town. “I have so many ponies I need to talk with, but I haven’t, even after two months. I need to try and patch things up with Twilight, I need to apologise to Cloud Chaser, and I need to talk to Star.”
“Cloud Chaser hasn’t spoken with you?” I asked, confused. “She came to me about a month after we arrived—the same day I ran into Starswirl, actually—to ask me advice on how to patch things up with you. I told her to come talk to you.”
“Why would she feel the need to ask to know to talk with me?” Rainbow asked. “We’ve been best friends since Cloudsdale.”
“You hit her,” I explained. “You lashed out in anger and hurt her more than physically.”
“I know,” she sighed. “I really need to get around to doing things, don’t I?”
I smiled at her. “I won’t say no, but I also have some ponies I need to talk with, and I’ve been putting it off too.”
“Who would those ponies be?” she asked.
“I asked Luna two weeks ago if she could get another of those Starswirl books for Star,” I said. “I also have to talk to Twilight.”
My marefriend tilted her head slightly as we walked. “What about?”
“I went to talk with her about why she was avoiding me a month ago,” I said. “When I didn’t give her a choice besides answering, she kissed me.”
Rainbow deadpanned at me. “And you didn’t tell me before now why?”
“Because it wasn’t a big deal,” I said. “At least, it’s not something that needed to get out.”
“How was that not a big deal, Streak?” she exclaimed, slipping out from under my leg. “She freaking kissed you and you didn’t tell me for a month!”
We were starting to attract attention from the ponies around us. “I didn’t tell you, because it meant nothing to me,” I said. “I didn’t tell you, because it didn’t change anything besides make being around Twilight more awkward.”
“You still should have told me,” she grumbled, frowning.
I sighed. Damn it, she was right. “I’m sorry,” I said softly. “You’re right.”
She smirked. “Of course I’m right,” she said, sticking her nose up in the air. “I’m perfect.”
I chuckled, swinging a leg back over her withers. “How about we head home?” I asked, waggling my eyebrows. “They aren’t expecting me back yet.”
She looked over at me with a half-lidded look. “I have a better idea,” she said with a smoldering voice. I felt the fur on my body stick up as an electric current passed through me from nose to tail.
“What would that be?” I asked, suddenly even more excited.
She licked my muzzle from the tip to base slowly, drawing out giving her answer. “I have rope,” she whispered in my ear after she finished, “and a house where we don’t have to be quiet.”
My ears perked up immediately. I was suddenly incredibly excited.
—*~*~*—
I’ll say one thing, she was right about the cloud thing. I was feeling great. I had just had some fun with my marefriend on the comfiest damn substance in existence, it was a beautiful day, and I had killed someone brutally yesterday. I didn’t think that day could get any better.
I was, of course, proved wrong when I returned to the crime scene. Guard two was snickering. “Had fun?”
“You have no idea,” I said, grinning.
“Oh, I think we have a good idea,” guard one frowned. “You realize that clouds don’t block sound at all, right?”
My mouth froze open. The whole town had heard Rainbow and me, every sound. Even when I made her beg and scream. That was. . . awesome! I grinned more. Rainbow would get a kick out of that. I was pretty sure both of us had at least a minor exhebitionism fettish, so that just made my day even better. “Good,” I said.
“Do you have no shame?” guard two asked, shaking his head.
“Not one bit,” I said. “Back to the case, however.”
“There’s not much more for us to do here,” guard one said. “We pried the body off of the wall, and put in an order to fix the siding. Luckily, nothing was damaged inside the wall, so it’ll be an easy fix.”
“Could you talk to Luna for me?” I asked. “Tell her I’m still waiting for an answer, and that I would take it as a personal favor if she could pass me some bits for working on this case while looking for a job.”
Guard two cocked an eyebrow. “You don’t have a job?” he asked. ”I didn’t know that was possible in a town of this size.”
“No cutie mark,” I said, turning so he could see my flank. Every inch of it was pitch black, as it was since I changed. I turned back to looking directly at them. “Without a cutie mark, I can’t get hired. I’m looking, but so far I have nothing.”
“I wish you the best,” guard two said. “We’ll make sure to talk with the Princess for you.”
“Thank you,” I said, nodding at him. I turned to guard one. “I don’t want to hear more half accusations from you, do you understand? If you’re going to say something, say it.”
He glared at me. “Fine,” he said. I got the impression he didn’t like me.
I turned around and walked into town, just enjoying my walk as I went. It was cool enough to be slightly chilly, but warm enough that it wasn’t uncomfortably so. I watched foals and fillies run through the streets, chasing each other playing games only they knew the rules to. I felt better knowing that they were safer after I removed that damn pedophile off the streets. It made the whole thing worth it, honestly. Killing wasn’t something I took pleasure in—even though torture was a guilty pleasure of mine—so I liked knowing that I didn’t kill for no reason besides keeping my secret.
It took no more than a few minutes to walk to the library. I don’t know what drew me there, but I decided it would be a good idea. I needed to borrow her balloon anyway, so it all worked out. I opened the door and called out, “Twilight Sparkle, I am in need of transportation!”
The mare in question stuck her head out of the doorway at the top of the stairs. She glared at me playfully. “You have hooves,” she said. “Aren’t they transportation?”
“They don’t get me up to Rainbow’s house,” I said.
“Why don’t you just have her fly you up?” she asked seriously. “That way I don’t have to go through the whole shebang of getting the balloon out for you.”
I grinned. “She’s a little tied up at the moment.”