//------------------------------// // Investigation/New Partners // Story: Vacant Niches // by Jongoji245 //------------------------------// Days pass since your first days in Estes Park. On a bright side, you aren’t bullied; while being with a group of Juniors is weird, it gives you relief to go for days without being crammed to your locker. With that fear aside, you added confidence allows you to study and pass tests with at least a B. On the dark side, these attacks like the one you saw on the eve of your third day are getting worse. The shortcut you take to school gets destroyed one evening, so you take another route before that too is destroyed the next evening. Something’s up, and you demand answers. The sixth of September, you are in your advisory, stirring up quite a conversation with Discord and Screwball. “It’s pissing me off!” You exclaim, stretching your arms to add your point. “How would Mom like if she’s in my shoes?” While you’re curled up in a huff, you feel a hand touch your side. Discord knelt next to you; even then, the mismatched man is twice your size. “You’ve been here for almost a month and you haven’t even got a clue?” He says sarcastically, getting your attention. “And what’s that supposed to mean?” “Cosgrove telling you not to go out at night, winged beings, destroyed city blocks.” Discord gestures to the hallway. “I’m surprised you didn’t see any blemishes on any one of them.” “You think,” - You raise an eyebrow - “they’re-?” You get your mouth pinched by Screwball. “Hey! Don’t spoil it for them!” She orders, pointing to her left. You squint, wondering what she is referring to as Discord joins in the thousand mile stare. “Them?” You lean forward, expecting someone to come out. “Who’s them?” “He isn’t ready.” Discord mutters behind your back. Coming out of advisory, you make your way towards the Junior hallway. As you do, your ears pick up sweet talk. Mushy love stuff. Shy gibberish. Your determined look becomes shaky as your mind is plagued with gossip. It’s two weeks away from the Fall Formal, one of their many high school dances. You haven’t given it much thought on getting a date; any dances you go in your old school meant a two way trip to the janitor’s closet. You turn your head away one second before colliding with another student. Make that two, as you look up to see Chelsey and Tex. “Oh, excuse us!” Chelsey apologizes, lifting you up. As she does, you notice one such blemish: a deep cut running along the side of her arm that appeared to be cauterized. “Where’d you get that scar?” Chelsey draws her arm back, covering it the wound with the other. “Cut myself.” She answers, walking with whom you assume to be her boyfriend away from you. That sudden act raises your eyebrow, so you decide to go to the source: the leader of the pack (or that's what you think at least). You sneak a peek, seeing Cosgrove unloading his belongings while collecting a few others. You hug the wall, coming up with a good plan. “Okay, just walk up, look at him straight in the eye and tell him what the hell is going on.” You nod, make a sharp turn to see Cosgrove in front of you. “Hi, Anon.” He greets, walking around you and towards the cafeteria. You follow him, watching for any suspicious movements. This does get his attention while he eyeballs you. “Something on your mind?” “(Tell him, damn it! Tell him!)” Your brain screams when your eyes catch Featherweight and Indigo Blue talking to each other. “Gonna ask someone to the Fall Formal? (Son of a bitch!)” “No, why?” Now you sweat like a racehorse. No way are you able to get him to talk the way you want. You decide to go where the river takes you. “Why? You let out an embarrassing chuckle before nudging Cosgrove. “Surely someone as burly as you would be a great ladies man. Got a girlfriend?” You see Cosgrove stop, turning himself to you. “I don't have one.” “Not even close?” You see him look ahead, getting you to turn around. Apple Bloom is at her locker, unloading her backpack. Getting the idea, you look back at Cosgrove. “You two were…?” “Friends. Just... Friends.” He turns around, beginning to walk away when you cut in front of him. “C’mon, why don’t you ask her? What else could she-?” You stop talking when you feel Cosgrove’s hand on your mini-mullet and spins you around. Before you is the man that shared Scootaloo’s colors. After a few more painful dance classes with Zipporwhill, you’ve found his name as Tender Taps. In some ways, it does make sense since you do see the two together in dance class. That doesn’t stop you from asking another question. “Did you break up or she…?” The closest thing to an answer is a head shake. “Did you, or didn’t you?” “Action is stronger than words, Anon.” Cosgrove walks around you. You stammer, coming up with another question. “Why don’t you fight for her?” Fight, yeah, that’s what got him to stop. You find his fingers curl, shake a little, then open again. “The last thing we’d want is a fight.” Is what he answers before continuing his walk. You are about to turn around; Apple Bloom was behind you, giving you a glare. Between her and Cosgrove, both appear able to give your a black eye. Fortunately, she also walks around you to the cafeteria. You walk to a locker and slam your head repeatedly. “YOU. STUPID. BLOCKHEAD!!” You insult with each slam of your cranium. “Hey!” You turn around, seeing Cranky Doodle scowling at you. “Show a little self-control.” After he leaves you alone, you place your damaged cranium on the locker. You screwed up this round, there’s always a round two. But you need an elaborate plan. As you eat lunch, your brain begins to work on the next plan. When you finish your classes for today, you go to the library. You pull up your Facebook account and type Cosgrove’s name in the search bar. “All right, my friend. What should I know about you?” You scroll down the page. “Cosgrove Thunderfoot, birthday: seventh of November, occupation: part-time farm hand at Sweet Apple Acres, common hangouts: Turtle Park. Ah ha! Now to-” You feel a few taps on your shoulder. The librarian, Ms. Cheerilee, gives you the third scowl today while pointing to a sign next to the laptop. Academic purposes take priority when using computers. You chuckle uneasily, log out, close the browser, and log out the computer, all while keeping eye contact with the librarian with the librarian as you leave. Once you leave the school, you take out your phone and open up its web browser. But the interface didn’t pop up, giving you a message Your connection is not private. “Damn it, I keep forgetting to get the password.” You look ahead, seeing a few passing faces. “I’ll just have to go with public radio.” Public radio only goes so far when you haven’t fully explored the city. Even asking for help, you keep looking up at the signs to see where you're going. And even then you get lost. It’s near the evening, and you are nowhere near this Turtle Park. You decide to ask a professional, and so find a traffic officer. “What you gotta do is go to the plaza, then take the bridge across the river. If you reach the arcade, you’ve gone too far.” “Thanks, officer.” Ignoring the officer’s scolding, you pedal to the metal through the rush hour traffic to the bridge. Across the river, the common hangout is more forested. Seeing the CRV and a red truck next to it, you hooked the bike to a tree and look around. You're deeper into the haystack, it shouldn’t be long before your find the needle. “Why do they call it Turtle Park if there aren’t any-?” You yelp at the sight of a large gaping mouth. In a while, you open your eyes and lean left. What is before you is a well-carved stone snapping turtle. You hop on the shell, scraping your belly as you crawl to the top. In the twilight, you couldn’t help but enjoy the sight: the mountains almost blue, the town having streaks of red, and a warm wind blowing in the cold air. “Wow… do I feel stupid.” You shift your body around; what you expect just Cosgrove you also see another person sitting next to him on the softshell turtle. You hope to have a man to man conversation, but perhaps you could get something by a pair of loose lips. You make as little noise as possible as you creep to the bushes. You did hear a little more idle chatting, but that’s muffled because of your business sneaking in the foliage. You finally get close to the statue, lying on your side to get a good view of the two. But there wasn’t any talking from either of them; what you saw was Apple Bloom leaning her head on Cosgrove. While it is a lovely sight that is the exact opposite of what Cosgrove just told you, your patience has gone where the dead crabs go. You hear rustling behind you, forcing you to hide when the two look behind them. They look forward once more before standing up. “Let’s check up on the others.” Said Apple Bloom as they shuffle down the turtle. You curl back even further, keeping your hands safe from their shoes and boots. By the time you got up, they were already long gone. Round Two lost. Perhaps, it’s for the better, and so you unhitch your bike and make your way home. You look around; no flying people or monsters in the alley. It’s a delight to come home, get your homework done, and go to bed. Though there haven't been any new damages after last night, you still rode around the current repair sites to Canterlot High. You are still flustered that you couldn't get an answer, but se la vie. You walk through the crowd to the freshman locker hall on the other side of the school. You take off your backpack and begin spinning the first number in the combination. “So, enjoy what you saw?” You turn around, finding Tender Taps standing behind you looking frustrated. “What I saw?” you ask, raising a brow. “Yeah, last night.” The older teen leans forward, supporting his weight on the locker to his left “In Turtle Park.” “Uh…” Your memories of bullying are brought forward as you get yourself into a ball. You shift your eyes to Apple Bloom approaching your and Taps. “What's going on here?” She asks, eyeballing the both of you. Tender Taps looks at his dance partner when you raise a hand. “Tender was thinking I saw you and Cosgrove on the stone softshell turtle.” You immediately pull your lips back to your mouth, but the damage is already done. “Is it true?” Taps scowls at you than to her. “Are you and Cosgrove back together?” “You think…?” Apple Bloom rubs her temples than stretches her hand. “Taps, I wanted to take dance classes to get some stress off of me. Cosgrove waited for so long, he wanted me to be happy. But I haven't been happy… Because he wasn't happy.” You see Tender Taps relax, taking his hand away from the locker. He takes a relaxing breath and turns around. Apple Bloom places her hand on his shoulder. “We can still be dance partners in class, right?” In your perspective, you see your classmate close his eyes. “I… need to be a soloist for a while.” He mutters, pulling his shoulder and going towards his class. You look forward, seeing Apple Bloom giving you a skeptical look. “What were you doing spying on us?” One problem down and lassoed into another. Over time you have come across an urban legend that has proven to be true; Apple Bloom’s family is honest bound in such a way they can tell a fibber by just looking at him. And now you’re in her crosshairs, and it’s clear to her that you can’t keep that little secret anymore. Your belly begins to churn, signifying its need for more food. “Can we discuss this over breakfast?” It doesn't take you long to go into the cafeteria, stack a couple donuts, a cinnamon roll, and a chocolate pancake. You sit at the nearest table, joining by the older farm girl as she held a glass of apple juice. “Well?” She asks, keeping a firm grip on the cup. The bought time spent, you take a deep breath. “I was thinking all the time, and all the time thinking.” You bite down on the donut, about to finish your answer with stuffed cheeks. “These attacks that have been going on, I think Cosgrove might be involved. Is he?” You also found the urban legend to be a double-edged sword, for while Apples can spot a fibber, they themselves can’t fib. You see her tighten her grip before it is her turn to take a deep breath. Your muscles barely contained the excitement, your brain especially screamed as it waiting for the answer you sought for two days. “There’s a magical portal that leads to a world filled with ponies and somehow that magic is corrupting one of us, we don’t know who, but she’s the one responsible.” You and Apple Bloom keep your silence, especially with your mouth stuffed to the brim. You begin to chuckle, swallowing a little of your food before going into a full blown laugh. “A magical land, with horses?” You laugh even more, wiping a tear from your eye. “You really believe in this stuff?” You see her straight face, but you can't tell if she is lying or not. You hear the five-minute bell, instinctively getting you to stand and walk away. As you get ready for dance class, you kept glancing at the lone Tender Taps. It some way, or maybe not, it was your fault that he’s wanting to go solo. As you leave the gym, Zipporwhill goes into your view, all prepped up and ready to go “Ready for another lesson?” Zipporwhill stamps her feet rapidly, a habit you noticed after your fifth day. “I promise not to be so rough.” You see Tender Taps give you a passing glare as he walks to the center of the gym. You grasp her hand and take her to a corner of the gym. “You think you can be Tender Tap's partner, just for today?” You sneak a peek at the stretching man. “I feel bad for him after this morning.” The four-eyed classmate looks at Tender Taps, then gives you a look as she raises your fist. Assuming that was an insult, you feel your muscles tense up again. Zipporwhill gives you a quick, gentle bop on the nose and walks towards the center of the gym in time with Hoofer Steps turning on the salsa track. You attempt to do a few solo moves, stepping the tips of your toes in time to a few beats. As you do, you take a look at your little favor in action. Zipporwhill's fast, erratic dancing is causing some trouble for Tender Taps, but with experience at his side, he fought over the control of the dance. You raise a smile just as you lose your footing. You expect the hard landing when someone catches you. In your perspective, Apple Bloom appeared to stand on the ceiling. “Soloist doesn't fit you.” She says, propping you up and holding your hands. “Let me lead.” Comparing her to Zipporwhill, Apple Bloom’s movements were more controlled; a little shaky, but controlled. When she spins you around, it’s in a middle ground that you don’t fly away, let alone get dizzy. When going into the Rumba, you take a glance to Zipporwhill and Tender Taps. The rocky start gave way to an eloquent dance routine; you swore they could make good dance partners. As the music fades, and the session is done, you could feel your muscles ache, your back popping when you bend down. “Wonderful, students, wonderful!” Hoofer Steps applauds. You join your classmates in the men’s locker room. While changing into your regular clothes, you feel a tap on your shoulder. You turn around, finding Tender Taps behind you. “Yes?” You ask, muscles tensed a little. “I’m sorry about this morning. I thought when I saw you watching Apple Bloom and Cosgrove…” He shakes his hands. “I didn’t mean to snap.” “You’re… Welcome.” You relax, putting on your shoes. “It’s nice to change partners for once.” Tender Taps chuckles, “Yeah, Zipporwhill’s a little wild, but she’ll calm down.” You begin to stand up and walk out of the room. “Oh, hey. The next time you see Apple Bloom, tell her she’s always welcome to be my dance partner.” He taps the ground five times. Knowing what this means, you finish the rhythm with two loud taps. The bell rings once more; you walk out the locker room, heading towards the lunch room when you are suddenly wrapped in a strong grip. “Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!” Zipporwhill cheered in a happier tone than usual. “Yeah, you’re welcome.” You thanked with a forced breath.