April 9, 8:30 AM
Au Bon Pony
***
"Okay, let's see if I've got this right," said Vinyl after I had concluded my story. "This weirdo pony saves my life and then sneaks into our hotel room to give you peace of mind."
"Yes," I said.
"And now you're thinking that everyone performing at this year's festival got the same death threat we did."
"That's the working theory, yes," I said sheepishly, casting my gaze downward and fiddling with my danish.
Vinyl sighed. "Well, normally I'd tell you that you're just blowing this out of proportion, but after what happened last night, I'm inclined to believe you."
"Mmm," I said with a slight nod. Honestly, there was no real way to respond to that. I was glad that Vinyl wasn't just writing this off as me overreacting, but at the same time, I knew that this story was incredibly difficult to swallow. I wasn't sure if anypony would believe me.
"So, what's the plan, Octy?" asked Vinyl. "Are you just gonna let Mare-Do-Well do her thing and leave it at that?"
"Not a chance," I said, shaking my head. "If I'm right about this, then I need to take a stand against whoever is behind it. You know how much music means to me, Vinyl."
"You're preaching to the choir here, Octy," said Vinyl. "But I really hope you're not planning on going solo with this."
"Certainly not," I said. "This is too much for one pony to handle alone. Besides, I'm, still rather scared."
Vinyl placed a hoof atop my own. "Well, you don't need to worry 'bout that, Tavi. 'Cause I've got your back."
I looked up at Vinyl and saw that she was giving me a small smile. I, really have to admire how much strength and confidence she still has within her, even after someone tried to take her life. I couldn't help but smile back.
"Thank you, Vinyl," I said. "That really means a lot to me."
"Don't sweat it, Tavi. That's just how I roll," said Vinyl. "So, what's first on our agenda?"
"I think a good start would be finding out what exactly what happened during your set last night," I said. "We'll just figure out the rest as we go."
"Sounds good to me," said Vinyl, taking a big bite out of her bagel. "I might wanna check in with Slick Licks first, though. Y'know, to let him know I'm alright."
"That's probably for the best," I said as I sipped at my coffee. "By the by, who's scheduled to perform tonight?"
Vinyl took out her copy of the itinerary and read it over. "Hmm. Looks like it's gonna be Lyra."
"We'll need to talk to her, too," I said. "If she did get the same death threat, we need to warn her."
"That wouldn't change anything, Tavi," said Vinyl, shaking her head. "Lyra's not gonna back out of something like this. Heck, I doubt any of the musicians are gonna back out."
"True," I said. "Either they still think the death threat is a joke, or they'll take the stage anyway just to spit in the face of whoever is threatening them."
"Yeah, that sounds about right," said Vinyl. "Man, that Mare-Do-Well is sure gonna have her hooves full."
"One thing at a time, Vinyl," I said tersely. "I'm curious about this Mysterious Mare-Do-Well pony too, but she's not as important right now."
"No need to get testy, Tavi," said Vinyl defensively. "I'm just saying that she must have a lot of guts to think she can save everyone here by herself."
That, was a good point. But again, it didn't have much bearing on our current situation. Nevertheless, I made a mental note of it.
"Well, first thing first," I said. "We need answers as to what happened last night."
"Right. Neon's got some major explaining to do," said Vinyl with a snort.
Just then, our conversation was interrupted by a loud quarrel going on a few tables over.
"I'm telling you, she's not interested!"
"Well, last I checked, you're not her manager. In fact, she doesn't even have a manager."
I recognized one of the ponies in the debate; the other not so much. The first was an Earth Pony mare named Bon-Bon. She runs a confectionary shop in Ponyville, and she lives with Lyra Heartstrings. My only real connection to her is through Lyra; otherwise I don't know all that much about her. The pony she was arguing with was a unicorn stallion wearing a blazer and a pair of sunglasses with star-shaped frames. His Cutie Mark depicted several shooting stars arching upward. My best guess was that he was some kind of talent scout.
"Look, pal. I don't care what you say. Lyra doesn't need this," said Bon-Bon firmly. "She's fine where she is."
"Really now?" said the unicorn, lowering his shades. "She's fine performing for pennies out in the boonies? I've heard her music, Ms. Bon-Bon. She's got something special. She's got what it takes to become a star!"
"If you think for one minute that I'm gonna let Lyra sell herself out, you're crazy!" Bon-Bon shouted.
"Sell herself— Ms. Bon-Bon, I'm appalled!" said the unicorn indignantly. "I would never dream of doing that to such a talented mare! True stardom comes from talent, not appeasement."
"Forgive me if I don't believe you," Bon-Bon snarled.
"Well, of course you're skeptical," said the unicorn. "But that's because you don't understand what it means to be a star. Ms. Heartstrings has a lot of potential. She deserves so much more than what she has. And I can make her dreams come true."
"That would require knowing what her dreams are, dock-hole," Bon-Bon spat.
The unicorn was quick to fire back. "Oh, and I suppose you know."
"I know more about Lyra than you," said Bon-Bon, refusing to back down.
"Nevertheless, I feel it's best for me to speak to her myself," said the unicorn.
"Over my dead body," said Bon-Bon.
The unicorn took out a handkerchief and used it to clean his shades. "You're being frightfully unfair here, Ms. Bon-Bon. Both to me and to Ms. Heartstrings. All I ask is for one conversation with her. If she says no, then you'll never hear from me again. Sound fair?"
There was a pause as Bon-Bon stroked her chin in thought.
"Let me talk about it with her first," said she.
"I'll abide by that," said the unicorn. "But just keep in mind that in the end, this should be her decision. Good day, Ms. Bon-Bon."
With that, the unicorn got up, gave Bon-Bon his card, and walked away. Bon-Bon quickly tore it up and threw it away.
"Well, that was, interesting," I said.
"To say the least," said Vinyl. "I didn't know Lyra was even popular enough to get pestered by talent scouts."
"Do you think we should ask Lyra about it?" I inquired.
"Maybe," said Vinyl. "Hang on a sec."
Before I could inquire as to what she was planning, Vinyl walked over to the trash bin and used her magic to scoop up the ripped ID card. I smacked my face with my hoof.
"Vinyl, why did you do that?" I groaned as she got back to our table.
"I wanted to know who that guy was," said Vinyl with a shrug. "Besides, I see detectives do that all the time."
"What, dig through trash?"
"No, look everywhere they can for clues."
I let out another groan. "Vinyl, we don't even know if this is related to anything! Besides, can't you be a bit more subtle about this? Ponies are going to look at us like we're crazy!"
"Well, that's how you look at me half the time, so I'm not really gonna notice anything different, anyway," said Vinyl with a laugh.
I rubbed the bridge of my nose with my hoof. I don't know why I even bother; I really don't. I mean, you'd think I would've learned by now that arguing with Vinyl rarely gets me anywhere.
"You're incorrigible," I sighed.
"I wouldn't be me if I wasn't," Vinyl retorted, looking over the ripped-up card. "Hmm. I can't really make this out. The only thing I'm getting is the guy's name. Hey Octy, you ever heard of somepony named Star Maker?"
"Why are you asking me?" I said. "You know that Frederick usually deals with booking our performances. I wouldn't..."
I trailed off as something clicked in my mind. "Wait."
"What is it, Tavi?" asked Vinyl.
"Vinyl, do you think my ensemble should know about this?"
Vinyl shrugged. "I don't think it could hurt to tell 'em. Well, unless BB freaks out. Then everypony in Manehattan is gonna know."
I gave Vinyl a dirty look, but honestly, I saw her point. Beauty Brass is a good friend, but she can't keep a secret to save her life. And if whoever was behind this knew that I was trying to solve this mystery, I'd be in a lot of trouble.
"Well, I'll have to think about it," I said. "For now, let's see what they're up to. I figure we'll meet them at the festival like last time."
"I'm all for that," said Vinyl. "We should probably head over to Lincolt Center anyway and get this gravy train rolling."
She then got up and struck a pose. "Come along, my dear Octy! The game is afoot!"
Oh, sweet Celestia. "Vinyl?"
"What?"
"Don't ever do that again."
Vinyl chuckled. "No promises," she said. "Now c'mon, let's get moving!"
With that, she bounded out the door, just as excitable as ever. I let out a deep sigh as I followed her, doing my best to ignore the looks of confusion we were getting from everypony else. Ugh, I wish she would be more subtle about this. Otherwise, I think the secret will get out long before Beauty Brass gets wind of what we're doing.