//------------------------------// // 4. (Nonchalant) // Story: A Study in Silver: A RariTwi Exquisite Corpse // by SigmasonicX //------------------------------// Apple Bloom’s voice wavered as she spoke, and Rarity had to commend the spirit of the lanky teenager in front of her for coming forward at all. “I’d gotten here early that day, right? Helping my sis with the supplies for today, is all. Big night means the fancy folk like to spruce up their gardens and such while no one’s gonna be stopping by to see it,” she said. “But anyways, I’d gotten here early and was bringin’ some stuff up to the side of the staff house, where we have our shed. Only, while I was there, I heard voices. Sounded angry, but all hushed, like they knew they might be makin’ a scene.” Rarity nodded, having had far too many heated discussions of her own just out of view of the “respectable public” to not understand. She noticed the girl before her swallowing thickly and decided to prompt her further. “Did you recognise the voices?” “Yeah, both of them were the kind you hear up in these parts all the time. Of course I knew Silver’s voice, since she’d come give us directions for the landscaping sometimes, and the other voice was… infamous, let’s say. Everybody what works up here knows what Spoiled Rich sounds like, even if they’ve never met her.” Even Twilight Sparkle hummed in understanding at that. Rarity raised an eyebrow at that. Illicit apprentice under Zecora, informant, and clearly involved in some high-class circle or another. Still, that wasn’t the case she was currently being paid to pursue, so she shelved her observations. Apple Bloom was still speaking. “Of course I got a little closer to listen in, but I didn’t wanna turn the corner and have them see me behind the house. Mrs. Rich was hissing something about agreeing to come quietly, and Silver sounded scared. At that point I dared to peek around, right? But there wasn’t anyone there threatening them, just Mrs. Rich loomin’ over Silver, holding some kind of paper. Poor girl was crying, but Mrs. Rich wasn’t givin’ up. Then—” Apple Bloom paused to take a breath, collecting herself. Diamond Tiara spoke up from where she’d been standing, just behind the pair of adults. “Then what? What happened to Silver?” “Give her a moment, for pity’s sake,” Applejack hissed. Her arms were crossed, and she was glaring at Rarity, Twilight, and Diamond in turn. She leaned over next to her sister and spoke in a softer voice. “You really don’t owe these women anything. I know what I taught you, but it ain’t nothing compared to your safety.” “Yes, I owe them this,” Apple Bloom almost screamed, before clapping her hands over her mouth and looking over the yard. “I owe Silver this,” she repeated, more softly. “Mrs. Rich got louder, right? She said “this isn’t about you anymore, Silver, dear. This is about what’s good for the family, see?” and grabbed her wrist. Silver tried to scream, but Mrs. Rich covered her mouth real quick and pulled a knife before waving over a couple of big guys to take Silver away, struggling the entire time.” The younger Apple sibling was crying, now, and Rarity reflexively offered her handkerchief to the girl. It was accepted (albeit with another glare and a huff from Applejack) and immediately put to use dabbing the tears from Apple Bloom’s cheeks. “I should have said something then,” the girl said. “Should’ve ran to Sterling Silver and Silver Diadem, they’d have helped, right?” “We… can’t dwell on the might-have-beens, dear,” Rarity assured diplomatically, just barely cutting in before Diamond could launch into a flood of caustic remarks on the inattention of her best friend’s parents. “Besides, there’s no telling who this “family” she was referring to could have been,” she mused. Applejack blanched at the implication. “Come on now, the Silvers may be a little frosty, but they wouldn’t dare kidnap their own daughter!” The detective’s mind was whirling. “It could be that the family is more an organisation, I suppose,” she said. “Multiple literal families, working together. They’d have to be closely knit, insular, definitely powerful…” She paused, snapping her fingers a few times. “You mentioned a paper. What happened to it while Spoiled was wrangling Silver Spoon?” “Uhh,” Apple Bloom scrunched her face, trying to remember. “I know I didn’t see it on the ground after, but I got out of there pretty darn quick. Didn’t look anything special, just the sort of page you see around here all the time.” “That’s a shame,” Twilight murmured. “If I had the paper maybe we could have narrowed down where she got it from.” Rarity shrugged. “It wouldn’t hurt to look,” she offered. “Could you take us back to where you saw them?” It was a short, tense walk behind the little house where the live-in staff spent their nights. Classy but nondescript, and bordering a small, wooded area to provide privacy from the small road off to the side. Rarity watched with vague amusement as the innocent-yet-clearly-criminally-embroiled Twilight immediately bent down to examine the dirt that Apple Bloom wordlessly pointed to. “We brought you back here,” Applejack said curtly. “Is there anything else you need from us?” Rarity kept her cool and extended her hand. “No, thank you, you’ve been very helpful. I won’t be letting slip anything about what your sister definitely didn’t see happen back here, nor will my associates here.” She punctuated the last bit of her statement by glaring at Diamond Tiara, who visibly steeled herself before inclining her head in agreement. Applejack shook her hand. “Appreciated,” she grunted. Somewhat awkwardly, she let go and started to guide her sister back to where they’d been working, a pair of shovels discarded on the lawn. “And, Applejack,” Rarity called, “if you ever need some help with the… legitimacy of Honest Apple Co.’s new owners? You can trust me.” The landscaper stopped cold for a second, then continued walking away, stepping just a little more loosely. “Well, that was pleasant,” Rarity muttered. She could see the staff parking area half-empty as she turned around, and only took a moment to lament having parked her car so obviously at the front instead of blending in around the side entrance before lightly walking over to the others. Twilight had now stopped inspecting the dirt, and Diamond Tiara was slowly walking along towards the spot where the woods met the road, eyes searching the ground for any sign of her fellow heiress’s struggle. The detective stood next to Twilight. “Same dirt?” she asked. “Same dirt,” Twilight replied. “I’m ever so glad Zecora let you slip away to help me out,” Rarity muttered dryly. “Pinnacle of articulation, you are.” “Well, excuse me for not being entertaining while we’re tracking down what’s looking more and more like a high society mob hit.” “Fair enough, I suppose,” Rarity said, biting back a smile. “I confess, I’m still digesting the fact that the actual crime appears to have happened here. Whoever is a part of this “family” is certainly going to a lot of effort to redirect suspicions.” Twilight shrugged, clicking her tongue. “I’m willing to bet it’s got something to do with that Celestial Charity Ball you mentioned. Timing doesn’t really fit, otherwise.” “That may be so, my dear Twili—” Rarity was interrupted by an exclamation from Diamond Tiara, now standing almost at the treeline. “I found something!” The two women quickly made their way over to find the heiress of the Rich estate holding a dirt-stained, slightly damp piece of paper with a message written on it in a very generic font. Sterling Silver, Silver Diadem, you know what you owe us. If you do not deliver the item to us at the Celestial Charity Ball tonight, you will never see your little “investment” again. If you decide that an antique is not worth more than your only heir, be ready at 7:45 on the upper terrace, by the fountain. If you decide otherwise, we’re sure the young lady knows plenty of things about you she’d be more than willing to share when she finds out she’s been exchanged for a trinket. All three of them were speechless. It was one thing to hear of the callous nature of some wealthy parents but seeing a kidnapper so aware of it that the safety of the child didn’t even play into their ransom note was a different kind of shock to Rarity. “Wh…what does this mean for Silver?” Diamond blinked in confusion. “If they don’t give back whatever this is, they won’t return her, will they? And it isn’t like I can just go public with this, there’s a reason I paid you to help!” Rarity nodded, patting the distressed girl on the shoulder as her mind raced. “It seems that we’ll have to find out where they’re keeping her and help her ourselves, then. This message has certainly reached the Silvers by other means.” “Ladies, we’re crashing the Celestial Charity Ball tonight.”