Tune of the Piper

by Bookpony579

Chapter 3

"WHAT!?" Twilight asked.

"I know that's a lot to ask." Yearling explained. "But if I learned anything from our last encounter together, it's that sometimes I need a little outside help. From what you just told me and from what I've heard about you, you're just as bright as you're grandmother. Maybe even more so."

Twilight blushed at the compliment. "I appreciate the thought but....I just can't head straight to Hamelin without warning."

Yearling sighed, realizing any further argument was futile. "Just think about it alright? I'll leave you a drop off for the book in case you can't go."

After scribbling down the drop off location on a piece of paper, Yearling made her exit while still keeping a lookout.

"Twilight how can you NOT agree to this?" Flash asked. "The opportunity to be on a Daring Do adventure and solve one of Detective Aurella's greatest riddles?! This is a dream come true!"

Twilight sat down on the sofa. "I know. But I can't just drop everything and go to some city in Germaney. I have my parents to think of. Besides, how would I even get to Hamelin?"

"Did someone say 'Hamelin'?" Velvet asked, walking through the front door.

"Uh..." Twilight and Flash looked at each other nervously, not wanting to find out how the woman would take news. "Yeah. Flash and I are doing a report on the city Hamelin for class. On it's history and cultural significance!"

"What a coincidence!" Velvet smiled. "I need to head to Hamelin to do research for my next book! You and Flash can come with me if you like, get authenticity in your report?"

Twilight was stunned. Even she had to admit the timing was supernaturally perfect. Seeing Flash rapidly nodding his head while grinning, Twilight gave her mother a smile. "That sounds great!"

"Perfect!" Velvet clapped. "We can leave early tomorrow! Flash, I'm sure you can permission right?"

"I'm sure my aunts won't mind."

"Great! After last nights break in, this is the perfect thing to take our minds off it!" Velvet went up to her study to get two extra tickets.

"We're really doing this, aren't we?" Twilight asked once her mother was out of earshot.

"You bet we are!" Flash said, grinning.

"You know you don't-"

Flash held a hand up. "Twilight, I want to do this. Possibly more than anything else in my life." He mentally added, 'besides asking you out on a date.'

Twilight sat there, thinking for a minute, before bursting into laughter.

"Rainbow Dash is so going to kill us when we tell her we went without her."

"She'll live. So I'll guess I should be going?"

Twilight smiled and pulled a math book out of her backpack. "Nice try. We DID come here to do math, remember?"

Flash's face and shoulders dropped in an instant. "...Right."

---

By early afternoon the next day, the group arrived at an airport in Germaney. Then they took got a car that took them the rest of the way to Hamelin.

Hamelin was a large, old city, composed of mostly light brick and stone, with red tiled roofs. Alleys seemed to be a completely foreign concept here.

Once they got through the gates, they checked into the hotel and set their stuff down.

"I have to get to the library." Velvet said, checking her watch. "You have you phones and money to buy dinner, feel free to look around the city. Meet back here at around ten?" She saw the two teens nod. "Good. See you tonight!" With that, the woman went on her way.

"Okay, what's the plan?" Flash asked.

"Daring said to meet her by the statue at the center of the city." Twilight said, recalling the hushed phone call from last night.

---

After consulting the map (and a few locals) the two teens found themselves at a beautifully kept park where, right at the center of it, they found a large statue of a man wearing vastly outdated clothing playing a unique flute.

Twilight went up to the statue and read the plaque inscription: "In honor of the musician who saved our town from certain doom. May his melody continue to play for years to come." She stood back and admired it. "This must be it." She took a deep and relished in the fact that she was possibly standing in the exact same place, staring at the exact same statue her grandmother look at so long ago.

"Glad you two could make it."

The two teens turned around and found none other than Daring Do approaching them.

"What happened to your disguise?" Twilight asked.

"My books mostly sell in Equestria, so there's not much need for a disguise outside it." She eyed Flash again. "Are you still sure about bringing him along. No offense, but he doesn't seem all that bright."

"You realize even when you say 'no offense' it's still offensive?" Flash stated, frowning.

"Don't worry." Twilight spoke up. "Aside from math, he can be surprisingly insightful and perspective when the situation calls for it."

"Still here ladies."

"Right." Daring rolled her eyes. "Did you get a chance to look at the journal?"

"I did get a chance to go through it on the way over here." Twilight said, taking out said journal.

"More like, 'read it enough times to have it memorized by now'?" Flash said, causing Twilight to blush.

"I couldn't help it! It's just so fascinating! All these meticulously recorded details about the clues the suspects, and her drawings are much better than mine-"

"Twilight!" Daring exclaimed.

"Oh, right. Ahem!" Twilight turned to a page in the journal. "Apparently, she originally came here to investigate the crime spree you mentioned. Specifically, the fact that hardly anyone was willing to admit that there even was crime, despite the evidence to the contrary. The cause behind this was a criminal, Don Mob, who stumbled upon the Piper's Flute and used it to take control of a crime gang. After he was arrested, she hid it to prevent another instance of this again."

'Okay, but did she leave any clues about where she hid it?" Daring inquired.

"Yes. She put them just in case somebody did try to find the Flute again. I can't make sense of the other clues just yet, but the first one is a drawing of a building just after she wrote about hiding it."

She turned the book around to show a beautifully drawn sketch of a stone building with a triangular roof with a tall tower to the right and a large stained glass window above the front doors.

"Based on the tour books I've picked up, I determined it's a picture of the Temple of the Gods. It's one of the first buildings ever built in Hamelin."

"That's great!" Flash said. "We have our first lead!"

"Then let's not waste a minute!" Daring exclaimed.

With that, the trio went off to their first clue.

Comments

[Comickook]

Downright superb work on this latest chapter. Again, the exchanges, characterizations and future chapter set-up are all beautifully done in all the right places. I particularly liked how quickly Twilight and Flash were able to think of a logical sounding excuse to get to the town they needed to, the fact that Velvet had a couple of extra tickets for HER very near future trip to that very town, Flash's reaction to A.K.'s jabs concerning his intelligence as well as the added details concerning Aurella's case in Hamelin and how quickly the group picked up on the first clue .

Indeed, I WILL be most certainly be eagerly looking forward to more of this.

[eventyraren]

I like this story, I don't know what more to say.
BTW in the original story dose it not end with he taking all the children out of the town?
But as I said grate story update soon.