//------------------------------// // A Stolen Lyra: Chapter Two // Story: The Ardman Files // by The_Pariah //------------------------------// A Stolen Lyra: Chapter Two I woke the next morning with a pounding headache. Rubbing my head I stumbled into the ensuite. Glancing in the mirror, I straightened my mane and smoothed my coat. As I did every morning, I tried to remember anything about my past, but came up blank. Four different psychiatrists had attempted to help me and failed. I walked back into my bedroom, and grabbed my hat off the floor. Moving quickly, I grabbed my saddlebag and swung it across my back. My first house call today was to Lyra's parents. Then I was going to meet Abandon, and probably beat the stuffing out of him. ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• Lyra opened her eyes slowly. She went to moan, but found she was gagged with what tasted like an old gym sock. She found she couldn't stand either, all four of her legs bound. Using what little leverage she could muster, she looked around. The room she was in was dark, and it stank of excrement. She attempted to focus some magic, but the best she got was a small spark, barely enough to light up her face. A high pitched, nasally voice echoed around her. "Ah, good. You're awake. I've waited for this moment for a long time. Let me tell you something. Lyra Heartstrings, you are going to die a slow and painful death." His high-pitched laughter echoed around the room. Lyra curled up into a ball and began to cry. ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• I strode confidently through the streets of Canterlot, heading for the Paradise Apartments. I had of course read Lyra's file, and I knew that she hadn't spoken with her parents in a few years. This wasn't surprising, considering that her parents hadn’t approved of her career choice. I slid through the front doors of the Apartments and made my way up the staircase. Her parents lived on the eighth floor, but I was fit, and before long I had reached their landing. I trotted up to the front door and knocked briskly. A moment later, the door swung open to reveal a sleepy-eyed mare. She rubbed an eye before yawning out, "Who are you?" "Ma'am, I'm Ardman, a private detective. I'm currently trying to locate your daughter, Lyra Heartstrings." My voice was clipped and professional. She rubbed her eye again, before my words hit home. "Lyra's missing?" She screeched. I blinked several times. "Ouch... Yes, your daughter is missing. Do you mind if I come in? I want to speak to you about her." The mare nodded, and I stepped inside. ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• Lyra woke with a start. She found herself still bound, only this time, there was a single candle glowing on the floor outside her cage. She screamed into her gag. Not only was she bound, she was in a bucking cage! Her captor giggled at these attempts. "It's quite amusing to see you struggle. Nopony can hear you, and nopony will find you. You are going to die, and I am going to watch." Lyra screamed into her gag again and tried to loosen her bonds, all to no avail. ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• I sat down on the single chair in the room, Lyra's parents on the couch facing me. They had offered me tea, and I had politely refused. Now Cello Heartstrings - the mare - was crying, and Rising Bass - Lyra's father - was doing his best not to. "What happened?" His voice was soft, scared. "That's what I'm trying to figure out. As far as I can tell, five days ago, Lyra just vanished. No note, no food or clothes taken, not even her lyre." "That doesn't sound like Lyra at all. She loved that lyre more anything else in the world. It was a present from her grandmother. She never went anywhere without it." The stallion sounded shocked. "Never?" "Never." "I understand that you haven't spoken in a few years." The stallion nodded. "Once Lyra moved to Ponyville, she stopped sending letters. She even stopped coming to visit us when she was in Canterlot. I think it was mainly due to to the fact we made it clear we didn't like her choices." "What choices? As I understand it, you're both musicians." "Yes, but we wanted her to be a musician here in Canterlot. And she has a marefriend." His voice was hushed as he said this, as if he was ashamed. "So? So she loves a mare instead of a stallion. I don't see how that matters." "We just always thought she'd settle down with a stallion, have a few children, continue the legacy." His voice was still quiet. My anger boiled below my calm exterior. I was truly sick and tired of ponies who couldn't accept two mares going out. I saw no problem with it and when it became something like this I just couldn't stand it. "So, can you think of anypony that would want to kidnap Lyra?" I said, diverting the conversation away from dangerous waters. "No, not really. She was nice to everypony." I sighed. "Thank you for your help. As I said to her friends, I'll have her back before two weeks have passed." I stood up, shook both their hooves, and left. I tracked my way to the Canterlot station. From there, I would catch a half-hour train ride to Ponyville, where I would confront Abandon. Everypony avoided me. I had a reputation in this town, a reputation that I shouldn't be bothered unless you had a serious problem. Even after the incident six months ago, my reputation remained. The station loomed in front of me. It was an imposing building, but strangely welcoming. I walked out onto the platform and sat down. The train would be here in five minutes, not much time at all. Exactly five minutes later the train pulled to a halt in front of me. I jumped on board, taking one of the vacant window seats. Staring out the window, I watched the scenery race past as the train pulled out of the station. "Excuse me... there are no other seats left... Would you mind if I sat here?" a soft voice asked me. I turned around to see a yellow pegasus with a light pink mane staring nervously at me. "Hm... Oh yeah, sure, go ahead." She nodded her thanks. "My name is Fluttershy, by the way," she said in her quiet voice. "I'm Ardman. Did you say your name was Fluttershy?" "Oh, yes." "As in friend of Twilight Sparkle? Fluttershy, Fluttershy... oh, you're the Element of Kindness." "You know Twilight?" she asked, her voice growing in confidence. "We've met on a few occasions." "I wonder why she never mentions you..." "It doesn't matter. We only met a few times, I'm nopony special." "Oh, but everypony is special. I'll have to ask her when we get back to Ponyville." "You do that. I have other matters to attend to." I turned my head and looked out at the scenery that rushed past. Fluttershy muttered something, but I had long stopped paying attention. ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• The train screeched to a halt, throwing my daydreaming form forward. I flung a hoof out to arrest my forward motion, but I was too late and my head slammed into the seat in front of me. Fluttershy's voice cut through my headache. "Oh my gosh, are you all right?" Nodding slowly to avoid aggravating my headache, I climbed out of the seat. Together with Fluttershy I left the train, my attention immediately drawn to the town in front of me. "So... Ponyville." The town was rustic, with simple houses and stores. I almost smiled, then the memory of Twilight's betrayal floated into my head and the smile vanished. "Yes, it's great here. I'm going to see Twilight." Fluttershy started to leave. "Before you go, do you know where I can find Abandon Harp?" "Mister Harp? Oh yes, he lives just down the road there," she replied, pointing in the direction of his house. I thanked her and left, walking with purpose straight towards Harp's door. I knocked, already thinking about how I was going to beat him up. The door swung open, revealing a huge pony with a dark, blood red coat and a black mane. He was a spitting image of the photo I had seen. There could be no doubt that this was Abandon Harp, and I was going to need backup if I wanted to take him on. "Yes?" His voice was gravelly, but it had a deeper quality, almost compassionate. "Are you Abandon Harp?" I asked, my voice rising a few octaves in pitch. "I am indeed. What can I do for you?" "I'm Ardman. I'd like to speak with you about Lyra Heartstrings." "Lyra? Yeah, yeah of course, come on in." I walked inside cautiously, waiting for some sort of trap to spring into action, but none did. He guided me to one of the chairs in the living room. "Would you like some tea?" he asked me. I shook my head, my mind reeling at this pony. He was supposed to be a big, bad criminal, but he was acting so civilized. Civilized! He sat down opposite me, a steaming cup of tea between his hooves. "So, what did you want to know about Lyra?" "She's been kidnapped." I realise, in retrospect, that this was a little blunt. Harp choked on his tea. "She's been kidnapped? Wait, why'd you come to me?" "You shouted to the world that you would get revenge after one of the competitions." "And I did, I replaced her shampoo with mane dye. She was neon orange for weeks," he said with a snort; before long he couldn’t hold it in any more and a huge, joyous laugh filled the room. Once he had finished, my anger got the best of me. "Well, this is just bucking great. You were the only suspect." "I was your only suspect?" "Well, you were a criminal and Lyra has no other enemies." "Which is exactly why I took up the harp!" He exclaimed. "I stopped the criminal acts long ago, but ponies still hated me. So I took up the harp, in an attempt to change my image. Surely you know what it's like to try to lose a bad rap, don't you detective?" If I had any sort of happiness left in my body, it abandoned me then. "Yes, I do know what it's like. But now, I have nothing. Thank you for your time, Harp." I gave a brief smile that I'm sure he saw right through. As I stepped outside, the smile dropped. I had no leads, no suspects, no clue. I was back at square one.