Octaves - The Chronicles of

by Victoria_the_dragoness

The First Chronicle - Chapter 3

The First Chronicle

Chapter 3

When Dash awoke in the morning, around eight thirty; her cloud blanket was curled all around her uncomfortably. She had woken up at midnight from an odd and troubling dream and had a difficult time falling back asleep. Dash couldn't remember much about the dream, only that it was a damp, dark and unfamiliar environment and it was freezing cold. She just knew it was a part of what kept her awake though.

After much fussing and kicking at the cloud blanket, Dash managed to straighten herself out and jump up from her bed. It had never been that difficult for her to sleep or even get up before. She blamed the dream she had and really wished she could remember it better.

Dash flew into her bathroom and looked in the mirror. Her eyes were restless and had dark circles under them. At any other time it wouldn't have seemed like a big deal, but this time she had really needed to rest. Dash had to figure out what all the disappearances were about, and she couldn't do that if she were too tired to stay awake during an interrogation.

There was nothing to do but accept it and deal with it. She'd put up with tiredness before, plus she needed to get started quickly. "Alright," Dash began, as she stepped out onto the porch to begin her day. The pegasus pulled on her EBI uniform and coat, placing her pistol in the holster on her waste and stretching. She spread her wings and readied herself to take off. "It would probably be best to start with finding out where the missing ponies were before they disappeared." Dash crouched and kicked off from her cloud, speeding quickly to the house of the most recent victim listed: Lyra Heartstrings.

It was eight forty-two by the time she was ready to take flight. Except for a nip in the air and a chilly snowfall all around town, it was another perfect sunny morning in Ponyville. The pegasus ponies were readying themselves for a large downpour of snow to get caught up with the winter season, and unfortunately Dash had to investigate in it. Another thing the pegasus would quickly shrug off and deal with.

This was far more important than just some light snow storm.

Nopony was up and about around town, being too early in the morning for most folk to be wandering the streets. Dash didn't see Pinkie anywhere either this time, strange considering how much of an early bird she always was. She's probably stuck baking at Sugarcube Corner for the Cakes, Dash figured.

When the cyan pegasus landed at the front door of Lyra’s house, Dash immediately felt an air of gloom around her. The door was unlocked, having been left by the owner of the home, so Dash strolled in with her pistol drawn in case the foalnapper returned.

It was quite dark inside for it being a sunny day out, the blinds were down and the curtains drawn as if something happened here that somepony didn't want anypony else seeing. It was a bit unnerving for a house in Ponyville to feel so unpleasant to be in, but Dash couldn't think of that right now. She had to focus. She had to find some evidence that would lead her to whoever did this.

She looked around the room and saw how messy everything was. It could have been the team of investigators that did it, but something told Dash that it had to be a struggle between captor and captive. Tables were flipped and paper was crumpled on the floor everywhere; with no other option but to start at the beginning, Dash began to look for signs.

The cerulean mare searched through the piles of paper lying undisturbed on the ground to see if anymore lists of ponies had been left for her to find, but she came up with nothing. Only unsent letters and book pages that were torn from their covers lay there. Dash decided to keep some of the pages to be analyzed back in Manehattan and kept searching.

When she was crouched over one of the pieces near the bookshelf, Dash noticed some blood smeared on the edge. It was already dried up from being there for several months; she decided to take a sample of it for later tests.

Dash scanned the room again to see if she'd missed anything and saw some hoofprints on the carpet. They started near the bookcase, blackish red in color from the dried blood. It stained the carpet now; Dash followed the dried blood to the stairs and saw the hoofprints on the steps. The walls were covered in the blackish red all along the hall as well, until she reached the top.

Dash was beginning to piece this scene together; it was obviously a struggle on both sides, she only hoped that the blood would be tested and come up with two separate samples. "This pony was bleeding to death. This could never be a simple disappearance, how did this case get overlooked so quickly?" When she checked the upstairs rooms, Dash found nothing out of place or in a mess; whoever did this obviously knocked Lyra out on the stairs, but where did they go after that?

There were no tracks of blood leading back to the entrance and nothing else of value on the first floor, so Dash holstered her gun and thought about who she last saw before disappearing. She remembered that Lyra hung out with Bon-Bon a great deal. Seemed like the best place to start. Dash decided to go check on what she knew about this.

Leaving the house undisturbed for the most part, the pegasus sped off towards Bon Bon's home, eager to find out more about this haunting mystery in Ponyville.

*****

Arriving at Bon-Bon’s house at around half past nine, Dash quickly began searching the area around her house for any clues. She knew Lyra and her were close, so the pegasus thought it was possible for them to have met up before the disappearance.

The flower garden near the house didn’t seem to have been disturbed, but Dash suspected it would have been Bon-Bon’s doing. Her garden was always kept weed free and clean. Unfortunately for Rainbow Dash, it was also evidence free.

Shaking off her disappointment of the unsuccessful search, Dash proceeded up to the front door and tapped it with her hoof. Shortly after the earth pony in question answered the door to find the cerulean mare on her step.

Before Bon-Bon had time to say anything resembling a greeting, Rainbow Dash pulled out her badge and showed it to the beige pony, saying, “I’m special agent Rainbow Dash, I’ve come to ask you a few questions about the disappearances occurring in Ponyville. Do you have any information regarding this case?”

The statement seemed to have the pony confused. For a few minutes Bon-Bon only stood there, with her mouth open a little, as she stared in shock at Dash’s question.

Dash waited for her reply patiently. She had learned to adopt a calm atmosphere when talking to ponies about the crimes they’d witnessed; and Dash also knew that some ponies needed time to collect their thoughts on the matter, especially one cutting as deeply as this did. Her attitude as an agent was quite professional and well thought-out; she got to the point quick and received the evidence she needed.

Still the ponies were all silence, neither one of them choosing to speak to the other or to look away. Only a few moments passed after that though when Dash saw a change in Bon-Bon’s stance. She almost seemed to shrink away, as if the situation had just dawned on her and she couldn’t help but break.

“I…I thought that case was already over.” Bon-Bon said, trying to keep her composure a little longer. Her head sunk a little and her ears drooped noticeably, but she kept her eyes on Dash. She still wanted answers, just like Rainbow Dash did. “Why are you asking me about this?”

At hearing such a response from the sweets-making pony, Dash knew there must be something more to the disappearances than just vacations. She had to press the subject further. She had to know what Bon-Bon knew. “I’ve reopened the case file. It never should have been closed, there’s gotta be something that the other ponies missed…and I’m gonna find out what it is.”

The beige pony blinked and glanced around to see if anypony else was within earshot. “How are you an EBI agent, Dash?” Bon-Bon asked. Even though she used her name, she looked upon Dash as just another stranger now. Just an agent, here to ask more questions.

“I’ve been in Manehattan for a few months, trying to get into the agency.” Dash replied, keeping constant eye contact with Bon-Bon to see what reactions the pony gave her. “The reason I joined was to figure this out, but I never expected the ponies on the case to be so lazy about it. I mean, they found nothing. No evidence to prove what really happened here and what’s still happening.” She stepped closer to the mare and placed her hoof on her shoulder. “I want to know what really happened to Lyra.”

The mention of her name took effect immediately. Bon-Bon turned her head away, not trying to keep her cool any longer but to keep from crying. Dash walked up to her and placed a hoof on her shoulder.

It seemed to do the trick. Bon-Bon stifled her tears and sighed heavily before turning to Dash. “Please come in. I’ll make us some tea.” She stepped aside to let the cerulean pegasus through and quickly shut the door.

Once inside Dash was escorted to the living room while Bon-Bon descended to the kitchen. The earth mare offered Dash a seat, but the pony didn’t move.

Instead she opted to look around the room, scanning the table tops and shelves for clues until Bon-Bon returned with a tray of goodies. She set them on the table and took a seat on her couch. Bon-Bon still appeared to be nervous – her hooves shook as she placed the tray – but she was noticeably calmer than before.

Dash decided to cut to the chase. She strolled up to the distraught mare and stood over Bon-Bon. “What happened back then, Bon-Bon? Why did Lyra go missing months ago?” Her words were warmer than the beige pony imagined they’d be. It felt to her like they were having a secret conversation to which Dash had sworn to keep to herself with those two innocent questions.

Bon-Bon shivered slightly at the cold feeling running up her spine, but she knew with certainty now that she could trust the pegasus. Taking a deep breath to calm her nerves, the pony began, “It was the day before the disappearance…Lyra had just come by my house that afternoon with news that she had a concert to go to. One she could play her lyre at. She’d told me about it first, but it spread fast. I guess that was thanks to Pinkie…she had already heard about it and neither Lyra nor I remembered telling her about it. I suppose it was just her Pinkie sense.” Bon-Bon chuckled lightly and took a moment of silence, but soon she continued. “Anyway, the day before it happened Lyra came by with a letter from Pinkie…for a party at Sugarcube Corner. It was to celebrate her big chance. She was really excited and I was excited for her…she couldn’t wait to tell everypony at the party more about it.”

At this, she teared up and turned her head away slightly, unable to tell Dash what happened. But the cerulean pony had to know. Hadn’t she said the ponies on the case before questioned her on all this? Did they even ask her the right questions? What was going on? Why was this file closed so easily, with so much evidence reporting a foalnapping?

“Please Bon-Bon, I have to know. I have to catch the pony responsible for all these disappearances…I know they’re more than that and I know you think so too.”

Bon-Bon sniffed and took a glance at Rainbow Dash. She could see the sincerity in Dash’s eyes. She decided to keep going.

“I told her I would be there later, after I finished an order of sweets…but it took all night and I ended up falling asleep. I went over to Pinkie’s that morning, but she said Bon-Bon never showed up……it quickly turned into a disappearance case and I was interviewed for being her best friend a few days later. By that time the case had been closed, so it was just a light interview for the news.”

Dash stood in silence. She still stared at Bon-Bon, waiting to see if she was really done. Seeing if she was telling her everything she knew. When she said nothing, Dash placed a hoof under her chin. “Hmm.”

Bon-Bon nodded ever so slightly, as if just barely noticing her presence now. “I can understand why they would interview me just after it happened…back when the trail was fresh…but why bother now? Everything’s been taken down and…and you say that they didn’t even leave anything in a report? Are they trying to cover something up, or-or keep something secret?”

The pegasus shook her head. “I don’t know why they’d do that, but I’m trying to figure things out. Not all evidence is lost with time.” With that final thought, Dash turned and made for the door without touching her tea. When she reached the entrance, she turned, saying, “Thank you for your help. I hope what you’ve told me leads to more evidence for this case.”

“Do you want to take the letter?” Bon-Bon asked before the cerulean mare could leave.

“What letter?” Dash replied, already guessing what the earth pony meant.

Without another word, the beige pony trotted into the cellar by the front hallway and returned with a small note in her mouth. It was dusty, but the words could still be read easily. “Lyra left it here before she went missing. I decided to keep it…she never made it to her concert…or her party…”

Dash coughed at seeing the mare’s eyes run with tears again. Dash hesitated for a moment, but leant forward and hugged the poor earth pony. Bon-Bon returned it gladly and sniffed when the two separated.

Dash told her that she would find who did this and all the other foalnappings.

She promised.

Author's Note:

Alrighty then. I have re-read and edited this chapter as well, ridding it of more grammar errors or otherwise. I'm quite happy with my past self's good work on these chapters. I've written quite the mystery and suspense story so far. Hopefully I can keep it up until the end. And hopefully you guys are surprised with the ending as well.

My mind is stirring with possibilities when it comes to many of the plot points, it's difficult to keep everything in order. But of course stories like these are always challenging to write, because you have to create the crime and work back from there. The reason for the character to be the killer must make sense and the time has to be spot on. It's fun to think of all these things though.

Thanks for reading guys. Next week is the next chapter, and I hope you all enjoyed this one. ^^

Comments

[Monochromatic Rainbow]

I must admit, aside from a few misspellings and the like, you seem to be doing pretty well. Something I might like to draw attention to- Rainbow seems awfully open with everypony about her work on the case, but that may be your intent or something? Idk, just a little stylistic nitpick.
One area I had a slight issue with was when Pinkie said she would be hosting the party in the previous chapter- the way it was written made it sound vaguely like she was hosting a big public party for the reopening of the case file, which seems like something you wouldn't want. Other than that? Pretty good

And also: Damn, that prelude.