My Little Investigations: The Silent Dirge

by Metool Bard

Lost and Found

I awoke to the sound of somepony knocking on my door. I found this odd, because I remember putting up the Do Not Disturb sign before going into my room last night. Odder still, when I looked at the clock, it was a lot later than I'm accustomed to getting up. I say "accustomed" because usually Vinyl wakes me up at the crack of dawn, even though there are days when I want to sleep late. In my current state, I can't even begin to guess who it was, or why they had no respect for my privacy.

With a yawn, I dragged myself out of bed and hobbled over to the door. When I opened it, I was greeted by a grim sight. There stood Fiddlesticks, looking like she had just seen a ghost. Her face had lost all color, and she was short of breath. Warning bells were going off in my head, and I mentally braced myself for whatever bad news she had to bear.

"Fiddlesticks? What's wrong?" I asked.

"Ah think we're in deep trouble, Tavia," said Fiddlesticks glumly.

I blinked. "Um, I already know that, Fiddle. You didn't need to wake me up in order to tell me."

"No, ya don't understand," said Fiddlesticks, shaking her head. "Listen, do ya remember when Ah said that Ah'd be lookin' fer that death threat y'all told me about?"

"Yes, what about it?"

"Well, Ah found it," said Fiddlesticks. "An' it was jus' as you described. But that's not what got me riled up."

I tilted my head. "Then, what is?"

"This mornin', jus' as Ah woke up, Ah found another note laying under the door," said Fiddlesticks. "It was fer Pitch Perfect, an', well, jus' read it."

She reached into her pocket and pulled out a note. As she gave it to me, she lowered her stetson over her eyes. With a sigh, I accepted the note and unfurled it. It read as follows:

Once I put the pieces together, a burst of adrenaline flowing through my veins woke me right up as fear gripped my heart. Last night, before Symphony's performance was cut short, I remember Pitch reacting to a strange sound she heard. Not only that, but according to her, the same thing happened during Vinyl's set when she caught the misplaced beeps in Neon's piece. Could it be that the killer knew she was hearing all this and saw her as a liability? How was that even possible?

"When Ah saw that note, Ah reckoned it was best to come getcha," said Fiddlesticks, still obscuring her eyes with her hat. "'Cause believe it or not, that ain't the worst of it."

There's more?! Oh, sweet Celestia!

"Wh-what do you mean?" I asked.

"Check the schedule," said Fiddlesticks.

I went back into my room and fetched the itinerary I left laying on the nightstand. Right away, I saw what had Fiddlesticks so upset. Tonight's performance was Kazooie's band. And since the killer was apparently keeping tabs on Pitch Perfect, well, I don't think I need to say anything more. Nor do I want to. The very thought just sends chills up and down my spine.

"Oh dear," I murmured, looking up at Fiddlesticks. "Does Pitch know about this?"

"Nah. She's not up yet," said Fiddlesticks with a sigh. "Ah dunno how she's gonna take it, though. This is some pretty scary stuff."

"To say the least," I said. "But, now that I think about it, why did the killer deliver this particular threat to you instead of her?"

"That's easy enough to explain," said Fiddlesticks. "Ah'm actually bunkin' with Pitch. Ah was plannin' on stayin' with some folks Ah know here in Manehattan, but Pitch insisted that Ah stick with the other musicians here. Ah saw her point, an' we ended up goin' fifty-fifty on a small room jus' down the hall."

"I see," I said with a nod. "Well, getting back on track, what do you plan to do?"

Fiddlesticks heaved a great sigh and looked up at me with misty eyes. "Ah ain't gonna lie, Tavia. Ah'm scared. Ah really don't wanna die, an' Ah don't wanna lose mah friends, neither. But Ah ain't gonna give this sunnova bitch the satisfaction of breakin' me. If he wants me to stop playin' mah fiddle, he's gonna have to pry it from mah cold, dead hooves."

Those are brave words, and I don't doubt Fiddlesticks's resolve for a second. After all, I feel the same way. However, I could see her tremble ever so slightly as she spoke. I walked up to her and nuzzled her cheek, feeling some of her tears rub off on me as I did so.

"Well, we're just going to have to make sure it doesn't come to that," I said softly. "We'll have to work extra hard to make sure we catch whoever is behind all this before then."

"Ah can get behind that," said Fiddlesticks. "But, where do we start?"

That was a good question. There were a few avenues to explore, but I couldn't be sure as to where any of them would lead, or if they would lead anywhere at all. After a pause, I decided to just run down the list.

"Well, we have a few options," I said. "First, there's the matter of last night's incident with Symphony. I was sitting next to Pitch at the time, and she said that something didn't feel right. This was right before Symphony's violin string broke."

"Yep, the ole ear twitch," said Fiddlesticks with a contemplative nod. "Ah've seen it before. Whenever Pitch's ears are a'twichin', she probably heard sumthin'."

"Then it's little wonder that the killer would see her as a liability," I mused. "She's privy to his plans. But that begs the question as to how the killer knows that she's hearing him."

"Let's cross that bridge when we get to it, Tavia," said Fiddlesticks. "Speakin' of bridges, we'll need to get Symphony's perspective on this, too."

"If she's willing to talk," I sighed. "She's probably devastated about last night. But, what insight would she have to offer?"

"When her violin string broke, did ya notice that it scratched her cheek?" said Fiddlesticks.

"Well, I would figure that everypony noticed that," I said. "Why?"

"Y'all know yer way around string instruments, Tavia. Think about it," said Fiddlesticks. "Doesn't it strike ya as odd?"

I began to see what she was talking about. In my experience, that would only happen if the violin string snapped at the bridge of the instrument while it was being played. It certainly is possible for that to happen if the strings got worn down to the point where they were too small to slide around in the ridges of the bridge. However, this is Symphony we're talking about. She's a perfectionist in every sense of the word. She wouldn't go on stage if there was a speck of dust on her violin, let alone a weak string (and I'm not joking about that, either. I've seen her clean her violin and hold up a performance simply because of something only she could see. And ponies say I'm fussy).

"Now that you mention it, that is quite odd," I said. "Symphony takes very good care of her violin. If a string was weak, especially towards the bridge, she probably would've corrected it long before she got onstage."

"Glad we're on the same page," said Fiddlesticks with a nod. "Trust me, you don't know how many times Kazooie has lectured me about busted strings, so Ah think Ah know what Ah'm talkin' about."

I, couldn't really comment on that, so I decided to move on. "Right. Now, the third thing we need to do is find Lyra. She's still missing, and nopony knows where she's being held."

"Held?" parroted Fiddlesticks, raising an eyebrow.

"She's been ponynapped," I said. "I don't know if it's the killer or not, but Vinyl found a note from her in Performance Studio B where she was last seen."

Fiddlesticks snorted and obscured her eyes with her hat. "Great. As if this couldn't get any worse."

"Believe me, I've found myself thinking that once or twice," I said with a sigh. "Seeing as there are three of us investigating, it would be wise for us to look into different things."

"Sounds good," said Fiddlesticks. "Ah'll look into what happened last night. Shouldn't take me too long with Pitch's help."

"Right. I'll see if I can get any details from Symphony," I said. "I figure I'll have enough patience to deal with her. Vinyl can..."

I trailed off as I realized something. "Wait a tick. Where is Vinyl?"

"Hey, Octy! Hey, Fiddle!"

Ask a silly question, get a silly answer. Sure enough, Vinyl came running in carrying a paper back with her magic.

"Vinyl? Where were you?" I inquired, more curious than upset. "And, what's that?"

"I went out and got us some muffins," said Vinyl. "I know you had a pretty rough day yesterday, so I figured I'd treat ya."

I smiled. She's still just as full of energy as ever. And for that, I'm grateful. I need somepony to keep my spirits up in these dark times.

"Thank you, Vinyl," I said. "Would you care to join us, Fiddle?"

"Thanks, but Ah'm good," said Fiddlesticks. "Ah'd better let Pitch know 'bout this. Ah jus' hope she doesn't freak out. Seeya 'round."

With a tip of her hat, she headed back to her room. Vinyl raised an eyebrow.

"What's she talking about, Tavi?" she inquired.

I sighed. "Let's discuss it over breakfast. Suffice to say, things are getting a bit more dangerous..."

"I dunno, Octy. No matter how many times I run it through my head, it still doesn't make any sense," said Vinyl as we arrived outside of Lincolt Center. "There's no way this dock-hole is spying on our every move. If he was, then Pitch Perfect is the least of his problems."

"True," I said. "But, there's no other explanation for that threat Fiddlesticks found this morning."

"There's no real explanation for kidnapping Lyra, either," said Vinyl, furrowing her brow. "I'm beginning to think that this guy didn't really think the whole thing through."

I can't really confirm or deny that. "Well, whatever the case, we should work on finding him before the day is through," I said. "We can't afford anymore incidents."

Vinyl nodded. "I hear ya, Tavi. But that might be easier said than..."

"Hey there!"

Vinyl was interrupted by Bon-Bon walking up behind us. She appeared to be feeling somewhat better than yesterday, at least as far as I could tell.

"Oh, hey Bonny. What's up?" asked Vinyl.

"Well, I got a letter from Pan this morning," said Bon-Bon. "He said he had a surprise for me here at Coltlumbus Circle. Would you two know anything about that?"

Vinyl and I shared a shrug. "I can't say that we do, Ms. Bon-Bon," I said. "Actually, I haven't even seen him since yesterday mor—"

I trailed off when I noticed that Vinyl and Bon-Bon were staring blankly at something. I looked over to where they were staring, and my jaw dropped. Sitting off to the side on a park bench was none other than Lyra Heartstrings, safe and sound. I-I could hardly believe it.

"L-Lyra? I-is that you?" said Bon-Bon meekly.

Lyra looked up and gave us a warm smile. "Good to see you, Bons. Sorry for disappearing like that. I didn't mean to."

Overcome with emotion, Bon-Bon ran up to Lyra and threw her forelegs around her. Lyra responded in kind, rubbing Bon-Bon's back as she sobbed into her chest.

"Y-you had me worried sick," Bon-Bon blubbered. "Wh-where the hay were you? What happened?"

That's what I wanted to know as well. But Lyra didn't seem to be in the mood for talking.

"It's, complicated," she said, continuing to hold Bon-Bon close. "I'll tell you about it later, I promise. The important thing right now is that I'm alright."

To be honest, I'm not entirely sure how to feel right now. Part of me is happy to see her unharmed, but I also find myself quite puzzled. Did Pan somehow rescue her from her kidnapper? Is that why he seemingly disappeared yesterday? Where did he find her, exactly? If I wasn't so relieved to know that Lyra's safe, I'd probably be slamming my head against the wall.

"I think we should leave these two alone," said Vinyl. "They've both been through a lot."

"Agreed," I said before turning to Lyra. "I'm, glad to see that you're safe, Lyra. It's good to have you back."

"Thanks, Octavia. It's good to be back," said Lyra. "Oh, speaking of which, could you let Slick know I'm okay? I, might be a while."

I nodded. "Consider it done. I'm sure he'll be very happy to hear that," said I. "Well, I suppose I'll see you later, Lyra."

"Yeah, seeya."

With that, Vinyl and I left Lyra and Bon-Bon to their tender moment as we entered Lincolt Center.