//------------------------------// // Day One (Part two): The town // Story: The Whispers of the Stars // by donceluzza //------------------------------// Whispers of the Stars Chapter 3: Day One: The Town Afternoon of Day 1 Only 156 hours left I awkwardly stumble through Ponyville and into the marketplace. My first line of questioning is for the pink mare I met yesterday, Pinkie Pie. I remember how she lied about how the Church was a Ponyville tradition yesterday. “Knowing that, she’ll be useful in establishing how bad this town really is.” I mumble. Usually I keep these thoughts in my head, but in a semi-drunken state, it is hard to make any distinction between things I should say, and things I should not. My mumbling seems to draw the attention of the locals, not that he cared. One of the stands I come across is an apple stand run by Applejack, another mare I need to see. “Excuse me, Miss Applejack.” I call to her. Applejack responds in a visibly annoyed tone. “Yes mister, if y’all’re looking fer booze yah ain’t gonna find none here.” I chuckle drunkenly. “Every pony always assumes that a drunken stallion is looking for more alcohol.” I saunter up and tut several times, “Kind of insulting, don’t yah think pardner.” Applejack’s jaw visibly tightens. “If you are looking for apples…” she states, losing the accent. “No need to drop the country belle accent on my account milady, I was just teasing. I figured you’d appreciate it more than the obvious, ‘you must get the booze jokes often’ line.” I hold out a hoof to shake, “Name’s Copper, Copper Coin. I’m detective from Manehatten.” “Ah visited there once, didn’t care for it none.” “She’s a great city, full of stallions in uniform like me.” I puff out my chest jokingly, “Albeit I’m not nearly as in shape as you are.” I put an elbow on the table and stare at her with a smirk, “I imagine that you have beat off a lot of stallions with a stick.” Applejack shoves me off of her cart. “Either buy some apples or beat it!” “Ok, Ok, no need to break out the finely toned weapons; I’m just looking for some pony.” “What’d you say?!” “I said I’m looking for some pony mi amore, a pony named…” Before I can finish, Applejack punches me square in the jaw. This would have knocked any normal pony out, but with my stamina combined with my semi-drunken state, it just causes me to swear a few times. “Ok, I’ll ask some pony a little less, erg,” I look at her legs one last time and then back at her steamed face, “hot-blooded.” I rush away before the angry farmer can punch a hole through me. My drunken visage and obnoxious flirtation jokes earn me silence from many of the mares that set up shop in the markets. I shuffled up to a table selling carrots run by a mare with a bright orange mane. “Hallo my sweet carrot vendor I have an inquiry for you.” The carrot vendor rolled her eyes, “What, no ‘wanna see my carrot’ jokes?” “The night is still young.” “It’s the middle of the day.” I look up to the sky. “Oh right, I forgot. So anyway, I’m looking for a mare by the name of Pinkie Pie.” “I don’t know where she would be at this time of day.” the annoyed vendor answers. “Oh come on, um, Crunchy?” “Crunchy?” “Well, yeah; carrots are crunchy right, or am I thinking of lettuce?” I start to chuckle nervously, “This is embarrassing.” “My name is Golden Harvest, and I’m serious I don’t know where she is.” “But this is a tightly knit cult community.” “Excuse me, ‘cult’?” I roll my eyes. “Oh come on, the church, and the ‘tradition’.” I raise my hooves in a quotation mark gesture on the last word, “You people are some weird anti-Celestia cult. I mean, not that there’s anything wrong with that Goldy.” “Don’t call me Goldy, and we are not a cult!” “But you are anti-Celestia, are you not?” Golden’s face blanched, “I’m sorry about that Goldy, I was just kidding.” “Right, well I honestly don’t know where Pinkie Pie is.” “Well then do you know of some pony else who might know where she is?” A cyan mare comes from behind me and grabs me by the shoulder. “What seems to be the problem Golden?” Rainbow Dash pulls my to face her, “this little twerp giving you trouble?” “Oh please;” Copper scoffed, “I’m just scouting around for some info Rainbow Smash.” “What’d you call me?” She pulls my face closer to hers. She growls and stares knives into my soul. “I said I’m just scouting around for some info.” I answer, “I want to talk to Pinkie Pie, there are a few inconsistencies with her story from yesterday that I want to check out.” “Rainbow Dash, don’t.” Golden whispers to the cyan pegasus. “Yes, Rainbow Dork, ‘don’t’.” Dash’s eyes flash with rage before calming down, “You’re drunk.” “Sorta, why, Ponyville doesn’t like drunks either?” Rainbow Dash laughs and puts her hoof around me while she starts leading me away from Golden Harvest. “You know you’re a funny guy Copper; not many ponies have the guts to call me ‘Rainbow Smash’.” “Wait, THAT’S what ticked you off?” I stop to spit on the ground, “Shoot, I wasted a good line like ‘Rainbow Dork’ when I could’ve just said ‘heya Smash’.” “You don’t like me very much, do you Cop?” “Not really, yesterday you were all stubborn to me when I was just asking questions.” Rainbow sighs. “Listen, I’m just a little…” she paused, “protective of Ponyville.” She stops me near an alleyway packed with crates. “You were trying to accuse Ponyville of some kind of ‘conspiracy’ that ended the life of Diamond Tiara; you’ll scare ponies doing something like that.” I hold back my laughter. “You know, Filthy thought the same thing. He thought that ‘the town killed my baby’.” I punctuate the statement with some fake crying. “Personally I think that’s nuts. If this filly was killed, it was a lone psycho, not some conspiratorial effort.” Rainbow laughs with me, “Yeah, I guess you’re right.” She laughs a little more while glancing back towards the markets. “Well, I need to talk to Pinkie Pie,” I tell the rainbow mare, getting back on topic, “again just for clarification on a few things she said yesterday.” Rainbow nods, “I understand. Well, I think that you’ll find what you’re looking for near the edge of town.” she points out near the entrance to the Everfree Forest, “Around there, you’ll find a bar; she might be there.” I nod in agreement. “Well, I suppose that it’s worth a look. I think that some of the mares here will be happy I went somewhere else for a while.” “Yeah just check it out, it’s called Hop’ Scotch.” She prods me in the side, “And on an unprofessional note, you should try out the house special, ‘Hopping Mad’.” “I’ll take your word for it.” I leave the alleyway and start walking down the path that Rainbow pointed out. I take one look back towards the markets where Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and Golden Harvest are talking and looking back in my direction. ///////////////////////////////////\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ I continue down the path until I reach the edge of Ponyville. The entrance to the Everfree Forest is creepy and therefore, pretty empty. A small cottage, the forest itself, and the bar that Rainbow Dash had mentioned are the only signs of life present for quite a ways. Based on my research the cottage was supposedly an animal shelter/vet run by a pony named Fluttershy. However, the place looks like it had seen better days. The doors and windows are boarded up, the garden around the cottage has wilted, and even the chicken coop is completely destroyed. The bar nearby looks even seedier than the seediest bar in Manehatten; the name, the wood looks old and rain-worn, the sign hangs limp from one chain as the other has been rusted off. I semi-drunkenly trot into the bar grabbing the attention of the patrons. “Alright, I’m looking for a pony by the name of Pinkie Pie, and I ain’t going to stop until I find her.” A few patrons snicker to themselves uttering ‘I think someone had a few too many’ to each other. “Alright, now that I have your attention, I was told that Pinkie Pie could be found in this bar.” Many more started laughing at him, “Now where is Pinkie Pie?” A large earth pony stallion with a bright red coat started to walks up to me. The pony has a sliced open green apple for a cutie mark, and is also the biggest stallion I have ever seen. “I’m sorry for my friend’s rudeness.” He says in a deep booming voice while motioning to the other patrons. Those that the stallion motion, silence their laughter. “Pinkie Pie doesn’t usually come around these parts; she usually stays closer to the center of town.” “Curses, that blasted pegasus lied to me.” I scuff my hooves along the ground and curse. The red stallion chuckles, although it sounds like a mountain if it could laugh. “Relax; I’m sure that you’ll run into her eventually, not exactly a big town.” He wraps his considerably large hoof around me. “The name’s Macintosh, Big Macintosh.” “I’m Copper Coin, ex-detective; currently employed as a writer for a magazine in Manehatten.” “Well mister Coin, allow us.” He motions to the rest of the room, “To give you a warm Ponyville welcome, first round will be on me.” I let out a wild whoop and sit down at the bar. As I take a seat, Big Macintosh walks over to a karaoke machine in the back of the room and turns it on. I instantly recognize the guitar pickings from the song. Big Macintosh grabs the microphone and begins to sing. “There must be some way out of here.” Big Macintosh began. “Said the Joker to the thief,” I mutter. “Said the Joker to the thief,” It suddenly strikes me that it is the same song from the dream. I continue to listen to Big Macintosh croon along to the lyrics of the song that played in my dream. I shake his head, trying to push away the thoughts of last night’s dream. I start to sift through my saddlebag, looking for my wallet. I sift my hoof through the saddlebag, scouring the inside of the bag. One of the ponies walks up to me. “Looking for something?” “My journal isn’t in here.” I open it up and spill the contents onto the bar. Inside is my wallet, a few pictures of Ponyville, Filthy’s letters, and my old gun. “Everything is in here but my journal.” “You think it was stolen?” The pony asks. I ponder the question for a few seconds. “Who would want to steal my journal?” I start to laugh to myself. “Seriously, I’ve got a wallet and a gun in here and some pony would steal my bloody journal?” The laughing causes every pony the bar to stare at me. “No, I must have forgotten it where I’m staying.” Big Macintosh stops the music and walks over to me. “And where would that be, friend?” he asks, looking at my empty wallet, “cause you must’ve left your money there too.” The bar chuckles with him. “Heh… yeah…” I remember the reason I was searching for booze in Derpy’s house is because I am completely out of money. “That or I just forgot I was broke.” “Now how does some pony simply forget that Mr. Coin?” Big Macintosh softly asks, whispering in my ear. I laugh nervously at the accusation. “Well, the Rich family is planning on paying me one thousand bits just for investigating this town.” The bar stops, several patrons spit their drinks out; all eyes are on me again. “You are getting paid one thousand bits, for just looking around, not even finding anything?” “Yep, I stay for a week and find out what I can find,” I answer, “another two thousand if I find her alive, and another two thousand if I find out who kidnapped her or killed her as Filthy assumes.” Big Macintosh sits at the stool next to me. “Barkeep, two Hopping Mad’s please.” The bartender nods and begins furiously mixing the two drinks. “So Filthy thinks that she was killed huh? So does that mean that you’re staying with Filthy?” I ignore the continued questioning of my place of residence. “Filthy seems to have it in his head that his daughter is dead despite the fact that there is no evidence to suggest that.” The bartender places the drinks in front of the two of us. “Thanks for that, but I’m broke.” “It’s on me Copper.” Big Macintosh said as he smiled, “Every pony should get a chance to try the Hopping Mad at least once.” He raised his glass with his hoof. I lift my glass and clink it with Big Mac’s. I gulp down the ice cold liquid, washing away the terrifying memories of the dream, and the song. “So Filthy thinks that Diamond is dead, and I assume he still blames us?” Macintosh asks. I nod in response. “Not that I can blame him that much, I mean I saw your reports on the search and they weren’t exactly police quality.” “Well we aren’t police Mr. Coin.” Big Mac says solemnly, “We don’t have your, if you’ll pardon the cliché, city-folk training and police force.” “What are you talking about?” I raise my voice, “Your entire TOWN went looking for this girl; that has to be at least one hundred ponies, as opposed to the thirty or forty police officers we get on the more important cases!” “‘More important cases’?” “You know, when some rich guy or famous gal loses their kid or their friend after a hard night of partying and they just know that they’re dead because some pony had some grudge against them in college.” I take another drink, “I mean I’ve never even heard of a whole town searching for one lost filly, no matter how rich her dad is.” “Maybe we just have a sense of community that you just don’t have up in the big city.” Big Mac jokes while prodding me in the shoulder with his hoof. “Yeah, you guys are like the cult I never joined.” Again, many faces in the bar sour at my rambling. “Uh, not that there’s anything wrong with your weird whatever you are cult. I’m sure it’s quite nice.” Big Macintosh just keeps smiling and orders another drink for the two of us. “We don’t consider ourselves a cult Copper; you’re gonna make more enemies if you keep talking like that.” “Yeah, I kinda ticked off at least every female in the markets today, though not entirely because of the whole cult thing.” The bar patrons begin to laugh again, “Yeah I kind of hit on this fine little piece of southern comfort that punched me in the face.” “Ya mean mah sister.” “Based on the accent, yeah, she must’ve been your sister; Applejack right?” “Eeyup.” “Tell her she’s got one heck of a right hook, not as fine as her legs but pretty close.” Big Macintosh laughs heartily as I recount every bad pickup line I used on Applejack and Golden Harvest. “Wow, no one’s ever gotten my sister so mad that she just up and punches them in broad daylight.” I puff out my chest in a victory pose to joke around. “I’m no normal stallion, Macintosh.” “Clearly.” Time eventually passes as almost every pony in the bar gathers around me to hear my stories of my time as a detective. Every crazed killer, psychotic lawbreaker, and nutty rapist seemed to entertain the bar more and more. I turn to the clock on the right wall of the bar trying to see it through my blurred vision. “I should probably head out by now, excellent first day on the job though.” Big Macintosh stops me at the door. “Ya sure you don’t want one of us to bring you home buddy?” “Nah, I’ll be fine;” I lie as I slowly walk to the door, “I need to check someplace out first anyway.” Big Macintosh cocks an eyebrow. “Where ya gonna check out this time of night?” I point out towards the Everfree Forest. “Yer gonna check out the Everfree Forest at this time of night?” “Well yeah.” “Ya do realize how stupid that is right friend?” “Why?” A pony grabs me by my head, “Because it’s the Everfree Forest! It’s the scariest, most horrifying place ever; even in the daytime.” I put a hoof to my chin in thought. “Alright, I’ll just check out the forest for a few minutes, and then I’ll head back.” “Alright, well you be safe now Copper buddy, and just remember.” I look at Big Macintosh, “We may be different than the rest of Equestria, but that doesn’t mean we’re some sort of crazy child-killing cult.” I giggle a little nervously, “I know, frankly I kind of like you guys. I mean, Filthy attacked me when I first went to his house; he seems to be more of a killer than you guys.” The crowd walks up and hugs me. “Well then you go and do your fancy investigating and maybe we’ll see you for a drink tomorrow?” “Sure.” I give one last hug to the various bar patrons and head out for the Everfree Forest. After arriving at the entrance to the Everfree forest at night, most ponies would probably realize their mistake. I, however, see it as a challenge set before me that I do not intend to lose. The forest seems to hiss and growl as I walk further into Everfree, paying no heed. I suddenly start to hear something, something that he knew from somewhere else. “Come little children, I’ll take thee away.” I shake my head; I remember this song from somewhere. “Hello, who’s there?” The singing voice ceases. I run further into the forest searching for the voice. “Where are you?” “Rest now my children, for soon we’ll away.” I know this song from somewhere; I just cannot remember where it was. “Please just tell me where you are?” I shout, running deeper into the dark forest. I still cannot remember where I have heard the song before, but I know that I have heard it from somewhere. “I’ll take thee away.” I keep running until I trip over a pile of rocks and start to tumble down the side of an incline. Once I hit the bottom, my vision starts to fade and the world starts to become shrouded in darkness. “Here in my garden of shadows.”