//------------------------------// // Worth Searching For Pt 3 // Story: These City Walls // by KitsuneRisu //------------------------------// These City Walls Chapter 3: Worth Searching For, Part 3 Ok, so, tell me what we have here. These eight little words. Innocent, inquisitive, and all-around very appropriate to the situations in which they were used. "Ok, so, tell me what we have here," said Blitz Breeze, as she looked down upon the charts on the table, including that one special one that Canary had just pulled out. "Ok, so, tell me what we have here," said Twilight, approaching certain topics directly, and skipping over the small talk. "Ok, so, tell me what we have here," said Berry, as she watched Bowler stand up from his initial assessment of the scene. And although questions can change, and morph, and reassess itself to fit a scene, the answers that come back are always very, very different. And for three ponies, across the lands between Canterlot and Ponyville, their answers came one by one. ,---(*< ~---, '---------------'   "These are the maps of Ponyville," answered Canary. "Stretching back to whenever they started making these records." "And this thing we're supposed to find...?" "It's some kind of tablet thing, as I get it. Supposed to be left at the scene at each time Ouros went poof. Princess Celestia told me in detail... she said specifically, when she was handing this thing to me," Canary waved around that old scroll she had just pulled out from her bag, "that the last place Ouros disappeared was in some kind of small cluster of farmhouses a thousand years back, and that it was very close to where Ponyville got started initially." "Initially? You mean there were things here before ponyville?" "Yeah, you'd never really consider it, but I guess it's just one of those things we just don't think about, as ponies. But yeah, apparently the whole area down there? Prime farmland. Had been for thousands of years. Ponyville's just the one that stuck. Even Ponyville itself just started as an apple plantation, you know? Sweet Apple Acres. Been around for that long, would you believe?" "It's nice that they're keeping with tradition. I've had some juice from the Acres before. Expensive as all that, I tell you what. But I guess importing from land to sky isn't going to be that cheap." "Any good?" "Quite different, I'd say. There's a sort of crisp... fresh taste to it. A bit more bite than other apple juices, which sort of cloud up and become all munky and gross in the sun." "What the heck is 'munky'?" "It's a mix between 'murky' and 'chunky'." "Yeah? Sounds like your juice has been invaded by forest primates." "And don't get me started on their special reserves," Blitz mused, putting a hoof on her chin as she recalled the multitudes of juices she once sampled at that festival. "There was that rainbow stuff, and their special cider stuff, and the winter reserve and... I paid a pretty bit for it, Colt bless them." "You seem to be more acquainted with Sweet Apple Acres than you're letting on." "Oh, it was just that one time. There was some sort of juice fair thing going on, and they had a tasting menu, and I shelled out for it." "Hope it was worth it," Canary snorted. "Hah! Well. They have pretty good stuff here. The soil's the reason why, you know?" "Oh yes," nodded Canary. "Soil is one thing I do know about." "Right, that's the country side of you talking now, isn't it?" "I don't have a country side, you bint. Now, listen up. Funny you should mention soil, because soil's exactly what's going to lead us to the tablet." "Do tell, Farmer Canary." Canary glared at Blitz. Blitz merely smiled. "Annnywaaaay... these charts show the expansion of the town. And when you start a farm, you have to assay the earth, right?" "Yeah, of course." "Arable land always is the prime factor in where you choose your initial farm to be. You also never ever build your buildings on the precious soil, and you usually pick the crappy bits to do the industrial stuff on." The first few maps on the table lifted into the air with a magical glow, showing the present-day Ponyville map. It was crudely drawn, hinting to Canary that the city planning committee probably consisted of one pony, who was highly likely to be the mayor herself. But for villages in general, they never needed to think about proper planning until it grew in size to the point where it was already too late. It showed the vast, vast lands owned by the Apple family, and the rest of the town, all the buildings marked out and indicated with cursive writing. It also showed where the current barn and processing plant of the farm was. "So you see, the barn's pretty near the town center today. Probably because of convenience more than anything, but, eh," explained Canary. The second map fluttered down, showing how it was thirty years in the past. Many of the buildings weren't there, they seemed to have disappeared from the outer edges, which made perfect sense. The farmlands, too, shifted. Southward, they travelled, meaning that they had expanded up north since founding. The big inky bubble which indicated the farmland borders was also smaller in size, and the barn seemed to have travelled a little bit west. "Now, you see, this is where it begins," Canary's eyes gleamed. "Town's starting to expand. Modernization's kicking in. Celestia wants to see this village grow. Sent down tons of resources. In return? Gives the traveller a nice place to stay if they can't get into Canterlot's walls. Farm's smaller. They moved closer to the town from a distance away." The third map came down. "Now, look, even fewer buildings, and the town isn't circular any longer. It's more of a line, isn't it? One main street, down which everything can be found. And the most important building, of course, is this one we're standing in right here. Farm's far away from everything, and much smaller, too. Shifted down south even more." Comparatively, it was so. It was as if the farmland was a deflating balloon, drifting down and moving across the pages, and losing shape with each passing year. The town itself shrank considerably, morphing and squashing upon itself, showing the beginnings of a settlement. And the barn... it travelled. Walking across space and time. It wasn't in a straight line, per se, but rather this curvy saunter that took it down and far away from where it was right now. If you plotted a graph on top, you would see a clear line to follow. "But that's where the trouble comes in," said Canary. "This is where it stops. Hundred and so years ago. No way to know if this was where the first barn was made, and no way to know where it actually began." "So how is this going to help?" asked Blitz, tracing the line of movement on the map with a stray hoof. "That's where this thing comes in," mentioned Canary, floating down the 'secret weapon' on top of the stack. It was a rather chaffed piece of paper, obviously worn down by time, with its curling, crisping edges and brown, crunchy texture. "This, this here's what Princess Celestia gave me. It's a map of the area a thousand years ago." "This... paper's a thousand years old?" "No, no, I don't think so. Few hundred, probably. But it accurately depicts how the area around Ponyville was like during the last time that cult disappeared. Or at least, so she tells me." The paper showed a few blotches here and there, and in the end, that was it. Most of it was forest, and it pointed off in the direction of Canterlot, but detailed it wasn't. It merely showed the borders of tiny individual settlements that mushroomed out of the vast farmlands that took up the primary focus of the map. "Now, Princess Celestia told me..." Canary repeated, "that the tablet was lost over one of these settlements, but she didn't know exactly which one. She knows, however, that the settlement was nearest to where the original site of Ponyville's first buildings, right?" "So alone..." "Alone, the maps we have and this chart is useless. However, we put them together..." Blitz glanced at the old map, imagining where the line of barns led, if it travelled down the same path as it did across the other scrolls. "Then this is where it is," Blitz said, pointing to one of the few settlement blobs. "Exactly." "But... it's still only a rough estimate, right? We have no real way of telling exactly where it is, and the place is still fairly large." "Yes, that's right, but at least we can narrow it down, eh? Anyway. let's check out where that area is today," said Canary, lifting all the other maps off the most recent one. "Looks like it's actually part of the Sweet Apple Acre Fields, even today," noted Blitz. "Yeah, seems like, huh? We better take this with us," Canary mentioned, rolling up Celestia's map and the recent one, shoving both into her pack. The rest, she simply left on the table. "Let's go. We got a tablet to find." Canary immediately stepped to the doorway to leave the dusty, old room, but was stopped by the realisation that she was the only one moving. "Canary?" said Blitz, slowly. The air in the room turned slightly blue. The mood seemed to change, merely with one word, but it was the way it was said - the way it was said that was a bit hesitant, and had a loaded bow behind it. "We don't have time to pack up, Blitz, the Mayor can..." "Canary?" came the question again, a little bit more shaky this time. There was no point trying to deny the question, anymore. You gave it a shot, and if that doesn't work, well, let's just see what it is then. Canary rotated in spot, at the edge of the door; at the threshold to the outside, and came to look Blitz in the eye. She was always a particularly serious pony, never one to smile or show any emotion, always soft spoken and gentle to the voice, but she sounded... frightened. For the first time since they had met, and ever since the whole mess started, Blitz sounded frightened. Not even the blood in the room phased her, not even the prospect of protecting a friend from a crazy murderer. But this room... "Yeah, Blitz? What's buggin' ya?" asked Canary, casually, in the gruff way she usually did. "I... don't know if I should be talking like this or not..." hesitated Blitz. Well, a dampener. It figures. Whenever some pony had something bad to say, they usually had to say these kinds of things first, didn't they? It was just part of the ritual of not coming across like a total ass. This is why Canary never bothered with them in the first place. She usually wanted to come across as much of an ass as possible. Just saves ponies the trouble of getting to know her, really. "What's this about?" asked Canary. She'd heard it all. Mostly, anyway. Well, enough. "Isn't something... bothering you?" "Not really, no." "You don't feel something's a bit out of place?" "Listen," sighed Canary, out of impatience. "just get it out, alright?" Blitz took a short breath. "Did Princess Celestia send you here knowing that you were going to die?" Huh. Canary opened her mouth to respond, but she couldn't think of anything relevant to say in this situation. The look on Blitz's face told her that she wasn't joking, and if she were, this would have been in bad taste indeed. "I mean," continued Blitz, seeing Canary's stumble over a response. "she... knows what's going on, right? You went to her castle a bit earlier, and she's on top of things?" "Yeah?" "And she knows... about this cult, and she knows... that ponies are dying. She... knows... about this tablet, which means she's at least come across this cult once before, and enough times to know their behavioural patterns, right?" "Yeah." "I... don't want to speak bad of the Princess, of course, but... why's she only doing something about it now?" "Now?" "Well, why... didn't she get the tablet herself before? She just told you where it was, and she's had all these years to find the tablet... why only now? And why send... you know, you?" The thought only just now passed through Canary's mind, as if it had unearthed itself from the part of Canary's brain that buried all the things that were too troublesome to consider. Was it a fact that Canary was blindly following the princess, like one of her unquestioning subjects? Was she just being played, yet again, by the one pony who could easily play with anypony she wanted? "Well," said Canary, starting up a series of narrow bridges. "I... you've got a good question there. I... have to admit that I never tended to question the words of the Princess." "Not that we should," added Blitz. "Not that we should," agreed Canary. "But... yeah." Princess Celestia had told her, back in the castle. There were going to be five involved... benefactors. And that we were fighting fate itself. Right? Can fate be changed? That was the question of the day, and... well, Princess Celestia, she didn't say anything one way or another, did she? I... affirmed that I was one of the five benefactors, and Princess Celestia... well... she agreed. She seems to think I am. But she said something about having to make tough decisions, as well... Maybe you can't fight fate. Maybe you actually have to play your part, and be done with it. Maybe that's why they never mentioned this cult before. Maybe that's why they buried the truth. "Maybe I'm thinking too much," said Canary, eyes glazed over slightly, as they peered into the recesses of the past and put together links out of nowhere. "But... I must admit, there's something strange. She sends us on this mission in the middle of the whole deal... not at the start, but right in the middle. Earlier in the castle, she had me confirm the name of the cult before she would continue telling me about it, but it was clear she already knew who it was, so why did she need me to mention it?" "And why not do it herself?" "Why not do it herself..." I mean, it did make sense, sort of. She had far more time, more resources, and she could do it in a fraction of the time that we'd take... "No," said Canary, sternly, furrowing her brow. "Beg your pardon?" asked Blitz. "No. That's what I said. No. Now, it's natural for any pony to think like this, especially somepony as... intuitive as you are, Miss Blitz, but, simply, no." Canary shook her head toward her hooves. "We can't start thinking like this. Not now, not here. It's... I... we have to trust her, Blitz. We can't doubt her because... we just can't." "I had a feeling you'd say that." "Yeah. If there's one thing, we just have to. And I do. I trust Princess Celestia. I don't... I don't know why, but I do. I don't trust ponies easily, Blitz. I'll tell you that for free. And I trust ponies in positions of authority even less. But... Princess Celestia? I trust her. And that's all there is to it." "Something special about her?" "Not particularly, Blitz. But... even if she did send me to my death. Even if she knows something that I don't, as long as it means that my death isn't in vain, I'll be happy. And I'm a hundred percent sure that she's doing everything she can to try to prevent this situation from getting worse." "Blind faith doesn't seem like your style, Canary." "It's not. but if I don't put my faith in her and let her in... there's nothing left to have faith in." "Alright, Canary. I won't say I'm that confident, but let's go on ahead, alright?" "Yeah. And don't worry. Next time I see Princess Celestia, trust me, I'm going to be asking her all these questions myself. I might trust her, but I still like knowing the truth, huh?" Canary smirked sourly. "Yeah, me too. No fun in a puzzle without an answer." "So, shall we head off?" Blitz Breeze took one final deep breath to clear her head from the mustiness that was clogging it, and took a look out the window, toward the light streaming in, shining a beam on the dancing flecks of dust in the room, and lighting up their candid performance. "Yeah, let's go," smiled Blitz. "Alright, let's change the mood in here, ok? Come on, we're going to need help, and I'm going to show you a little trick I learnt when you're dealing with government types..." ,---(*< ~---, '---------------'   "What are you referring to?" squeaked Duriandal, as she walked a little behind Twilight Sparkle, as they both headed toward the great outdoors. It was a beautiful day, evidenced by the hazy sun, the rampaging wildlife, and the fact that the green of the trees and bushes was just a little bit greener today. The clouds that lay just here and just there made the weather warm but not hot, and the cooling wind that picked up once in a while made it perfect for a noon-day stroll. Well, it was a tad after noon already, but, really. Only Duriandal paid any attention. Having left Rarity back in her boutique, and Spike to 'assist her' with her daily pattering, as he requested, Twilight Sparkle now found herself free to have an open talk with this most curious of ponies, and the slow stroll to pick up the bottle of stink was just the boat that would carry them across the stream of conversation. The little green-haired pony trotted back and forth, not keeping a constant step with Twilight. She remained behind her, mostly, but when Twilight slowed her gait to let Duriandal catch up, she would slow down herself once she realised that they were walking side-by-side. "What do we have here?" asked Twilight, again, stopping in her tracks suddenly. "I mean... what's up with all this?" "All of what?" asked Duriandal, honestly. She hadn't the faintest what Twilight was referring to. "Alright, I know the past few days have been quite... hard on you, needless to say, and there's reason for you to be nervous, but why... do you... do that?" "Do... what?" asked Duriandal, looking away from Twilight, and toward the dirt path that they were walking along. "That. You've been doing that to me and Rarity," Twilight tilted her head. "Why won't you look us in the eye? We're not going to eat you, you know." "Oh... I apologize. I had not realised I was not maintaining eye contact," she responded, eyes turning up slightly to peer at Twilight, like as if she were peeking out from under a blanket. Twilight giggled. "You know, I know a pony like you, in some ways. She's also quite shy, and a little bit reserved, but... there's something else with you, isn't there?" Duriandal's eyes wandered again. "Yeah, I guessed as much. Listen, you're a friend now, alright? So why not just relax a bit and..." "We are not friends," said Duriandal, lowly. "Whoa," said Twilight, backing up slightly. "That was... uh..." "No, I mean..." a yellow head shot up. "That was not... a statement of refute..." Duriandal's head dipped yet again, like a yoyo lost on its own string, but this time it was in surrender. She closed her eyes, squeezing them hard. Everything was a struggle. Everything was filled with so many problems. She never knew what to say, and never knew how to act. There was just simply something wrong with her. But her voice pushed into her head, a gentle, kind voice. One that was patient and tolerant. One that reminded her of a certain fluffy-haired individual she had just met a few days ago. "Don't worry," the voice said. Do not worry? How was she not to worry? "Explain it to me, ok?" Explain? "Tell me what's on your mind." She felt a figure stepping close to her. She felt the warmth of another body in proximity, but not touching. She smelt her fragrance, and she heard her voice. "Alright, just... I'm not angry, first of all. So don't worry about that, ok? Also, it sounds like you have a problem with... friends." Duriandal's involuntary physical reaction to the word was all that Twilight needed for confirmation. "Just so happens that I'm somewhat... of an expert on the subject," smiled Twilight. It was a short while before Duriandal pried an eye open, only to face Twilight's slightly ditzy, proud, grin. "What...?" whispered Duriandal. "Yeah! I was... well, I had no friends, once. It was a while ago, really. But Princess Celestia, she kicked me down here, and gave me an assignment. She told me... to study friendship." "Study... friendship?" "Uh huh! And... well, I must say, I've learnt quite a lot indeed," Twilight held a hoof to her chest. "How... do you study friendship?" asked Duriandal, weakly. "Well, just like any other subject, I suppose. It's just observation and noting patterns and events, things like that." "But... no... friendship is not that simple. Knowing ponies, is not... that simple. I have tried, and... and it has not worked." "Well, of course it isn't, you know... like a play. You don't all have lines and you can't expect everything to end up the same at the end of the day. Since I came here, I've met five other ponies I now consider to be my closest friends, and you wouldn't find a more varied bunch in all of Equestria!" "Then... tell me what I am doing wrong!" pleaded Duriandal. "Well, honestly, until the point you started freaking out a while back, you weren't really doing anything wrong at all," noted Twilight. "I... was not?" "No, not really." "Were you not already cautious of my odd behaviour? Were you not already noting from the start my strange quirks and my abnormal methodologies?" Duriandal accused, gaining verbal dexterity as she got more worked up. "Well... yes, of course I was," stated Twilight. "There, as you see..." "But what's that got to do with anything?" "... ah... It is... of course..." "The first time I met all of my other friends, I also noticed their quirks and... abnormal methodologies. And trust me, some of them have quite a number of abnormalities indeed," Twilight thought to a certain pink individual she knew. "No, you see..." Duriandal struggled to explain. "Go on," encouraged Twilight. "I... I am different. That is why... it is difficult for me to make friends and keep relationships. It is because I am not like everypony else... do you not see?" "Listen, it is these quirks and abnormalities themselves which make us unique, and uniqueness is what keeps us from being the same as each other. Variety... is what makes friendship possible in the first place," said Twilight, matter-of-factly. "Gah, that was a really good one. I'll have to remember it for the letter later..." "What?" "Nothing! I mean, just the first part. It's true. I don't know about you, but I've found that... ponies who embrace their differences usually don't end up as bad off as they would think. Maybe... maybe you're just avoiding your true nature?" "My... true nature..." worded Duriandal. Her mind flickered back and forth, images rushing past like a slideshow. It was glimpses of her history, too fast for any regular pony to see, but each image still clear in her mind like seeing it for the first time. "It... no," she spat. "No. I hate it. I hate it!" "Oh boy," said Twilight. "My... true nature? That is why I am like this today! That is why I live alone! That is why... everything has happened to me!" Duriandal stamped, kicking up some dust. "You know nothing about how hard it has been!" "Well, we've only just met, so... this is a little heavy..." "No, you see? This is what I mean! I... I try, I try to just... not be myself, but I cannot help it! I just... am, and always, always, it just... causes this! Always!" Stricken tones of grief escaped Duriandal's throat; a muffled whine fighting against the disparity of the universe. Soon it was just followed by shaken breaths that did no good in helping her regain her lost composure. "I... I just want to be... the same as every other pony," she finally continued, through Twilight's observation. "But... no matter how I try, I cannot help but be... myself. And ponies... they hate me. They hate... what I am." "Oh boy, oh boy," chanted Twilight. "No... nopony hates you, alright? It... sounds like you're carrying a lot of baggage with you, first of all..." The unicorn paused. This was, genuinely, something quite large to be dropped in her saddle on the very first day of meeting somepony, but therein lay the key, didn't it? Thinking back on how she, herself, first came to this town... could she have said that she met anypony else under different circumstances? The openness of the ponies here, how they lived, how they interacted, they never held back at all, not from the first second. And that had always made an impression on Twilight. The ponies of Canterlot... they were reserved. Secretive. Just like how she used to be. But it wasn't really their fault, was it? It was just how cities worked. They changed a pony, and made them have to fit in. But there was this pony, standing in front of her right now, this one pony who, by design or stubbornness, refused to change herself for the rest of the world. Or couldn't, perhaps. And that was never, ever, anything to be ashamed of. "Listen, Duriandal?" "What," she said, now sounding like a child coming down from a tantrum. "You've done nothing wrong. Being yourself... is commendable. Even throughout what sounds like a hard life, and I'm sure you've had your share of problems, too. I mean, I don't know what they are, and I can't guess how you might feel, but I do know just one thing..." Twilight gently reached out a leg to place on Duriandal's back, to which she flinched automatically, but allowed eventually. "It's in your nature to be honest about who you are. And there is nothing wrong with that at all. The best ponies I've ever known are the ones who are the most honest. It's the ones who hide that have the problems. But the truth is, not every pony takes the time to get to know another pony for who they are, and, well... I guess we just don't like to take the time." "You've been trying to hide yourself from everypony else, but the only one single pony you've been hiding from successfully is yourself. Maybe it's time to start being honest to yourself, too, and embrace who you are instead of trying to run from it." Perhaps she wasn't thinking, or perhaps she just didn't want to think about it, but the only thing Duriandal could do was throw her head around in a jerking fashion, as if the action threw off the stress of it all. "I do not know, I just do not know," she admitted, finally. "It's alright. I don't... think it's something that's easy to understand. But... please try to remember what I've said, alright? I really... really believe in it." "I will not forget, Miss Twilight," said Duriandal. "I could not even if I wanted to." ,---(*< ~---, '---------------'   "What we have here, Miss Berry, is one seriously overdone pony," replied Bowler, the coroner. He was leaning over the unfortunate remains of the late owner of the bake shop, and he did not really need to expend much of his expertise to tell what cause of death was. The body was charred badly on one side. A good portion of the torso and the side of one of his face was simply burnt, covered with soot and ash and Colt knows what else. Of all the deaths that occurred so far, this one was simply the most callous, the most roughshod, and the one that brought the most amounts of gurgling to the pit of Berry's stomach. She couldn't help but look. She couldn't tear her eyes away from how Bowler pulled the body out of the oven, which was still hot from a previous fire, and turned it over to give it an examination. She couldn't remove her sight from each flake of burnt, crisp skin that fell off the corpse when disturbed. She couldn't bring herself to turn away, as if watching was the last decent thing she could do for this poor victim, as if bringing herself to look at the destruction was giving his death the final dignity that it so desired. But in the end she also couldn't help but feel incredibly weak about it all. Feeling so incredibly hopeless in the world, and wondering how she was going to explain this to Canary later. The sad part was that she was probably going to just tell her, just like that. No dressing down, or dressing up. No hesitation, and no remorse. Just telling her, like discussing the weather. A pencil and a small flip notebook flew out of her legband, where she stashed them for cases such as this. Cases where she needed to jot something down for later, but didn't want to remember it in her mind. The nib flew across the page as she detailed everything about the room, the body, the case. Everything she could see, right now, everything that was slowly squeezing her brain and giving her a headache. She closed her eyes for just a moment, just for the brief rest that darkness brought. "Hey, rest later, ok? You got work to do." She opened her eyes again, albeit with more effort than she would otherwise have thought she would need. "Yeah, you're right, Mister Bowler." "What?" said Bowler, looking back at her. "I didn't say nothin'." "Oh, sorry," mumbled Berry. "I thought I... heard something." "Nope," replied Bowler, looking cautiously around the room just in case. "I ain't heard anything. You need a lie down or something, Berry?" "No, of course not. Thanks for the concern, though." "Concern nothin'! I just don't want you breaking down on me. I'd hate havin' to explain it all to Canary later." "Anyway..." "Anyway. Cause of death, I don't know. I'll have to get this fella back to the morgue to confirm it, The cart's on the way, figured to call them before I left, but it'll be a while before they get here. In the meantime, I think it's quite safe to say that this here pony died... from being stuffed into a working oven. That tends to kill. But don't worry, he didn't suffer much. Probably ran out of oxygen long before any of this damage could be done. High chance he asphyxiated." "But the oven was off when we got here, right?" "Well, I don't know, Berry, you got here before I did, didn't you? Was the damn oven on?" "Yeah, which means somepony had to turn it off... The murderer was here all the way through... stayed to turn off the oven. But the oven's still warm so... he couldn't have left that long ago." It was a chilling thought. "Yeah, and I think he stayed for this, too," motioned Bowler. One of the pony's legs, on the side that was charred, had a flagrant lack of charring. In fact, the leg was quite clean indeed, as if it were purposely protected while the rest of the body was gaining a healthy layer of carbon. "When I pulled the body out, it was lying inside the oven, facing upward. Obviously, the body was staged. This mean anything to you?" asked Bowler. Berry took a step back to take a look at the whole picture. The oven... a brick oven, with a little opening... it was fairly obvious at this point. Just like a little house, the oven was, with an upturned hoof inside. "Yeah... been seeing too much of it lately, Mister Bowler," she said, all the life drained from her voice. "Excuse me a second, I need to check something else." She didn't even wait for Bowler to make his way aside before pushing past him, wearily, and gave the oven itself a good looking-over. Nothing. Nothing on the outside, but... maybe... Without any sort of caution or self-preservation, she simply just stuck her head into the oven, looking around at the inside. On the inside roof of the brick and mortar that made up the chef's implement was writing scrawled in soot. Berry didn't even have to finish reading it, she knew what it said as soon as she saw the 'Three' that prefaced the same message that appeared at both other scenes as well. She withdrew her head, shook it to remove some loose ash, and walked off to the opposite corner of the area behind the counter without a single word, notepad and pencil floating behind her in her wake. "Uh, Berry," said Bowler, gruffly. Berry squeezed her eyelids shut again. "Berry. This ain't about you not worth being a cop and all that jazz, but if you need a lie down, go lie down. I'm still a doctor, alright? And you are acting mighty weird. And by that I mean you're actually acting normal for once." "I don't need a lie down, Mister Bowler," said Berry, to the wall intoning each word as if they stood alone. "Just give me a minute." "Take a minute, Berry. You sure need one, having to do this by yourself." "I'm fine on my own, alright?!" she retorted, raising her voice. "Uh, Berry," came a different sounding voice. "I... didn't say anything. Again. Who are you talking to?" A wave of confusion hit her, like she stood up too fast, a bit of nausea following behind. She turned, again, to look at Bowler, who was still standing there over the body. "What?" "You said give you a minute, so I gave you a minute. You were just standing there for two or three, even, and suddenly you're just yelling out at phantoms. You aren't doing well, Berry." "I was... three minutes?" "Yeah, about. Not that I was taking time." She cringed. She cringed because a bolt of lightning had struck her in the forehead, travelling down behind her eye and lodging itself neatly in the center of her brain. "Wanna tell me what's going on?" ordered Bowler. "Mister... Bowler?" said Berry, a voice shaking like a ship on a torrential sea. "I... I... is it normal... to... hear voices?" "No." "I'm... I think I keep hearing Sergeant Canary... in my head." "Oh, well, that. That's more normal," shrugged Bowler. "Figured it was like some sort of demonic voice telling you to run around and set things on fire or something like that." "No..." Berry replied, shrugging off Bowler's casual attempt at a joke. "I'm getting a migraine, and I keep hearing Canary talk to me. What's... what's wrong?" "Stress, Berry, stress. Alright? Pony like you, I'm surprised you lasted this long, to be honest. Points to you. But yeah, this... case, you haven't had to deal with anything like this before, have ya?" "No..." "And Canary's not around. You got separation anxiety, you do. Just get some water and some rest, you'll be fine." "I can't afford to rest, Mister Bowler... not now. Canary.... Sergeant Canary, she's relying on me. Depending on me." "Yeah, I know, but if you suddenly go cracked plate on her, she can't really rely on you for anything, can she? If you just take an hour for yourself, recharge, at least you can still go on, you daft bat." "No... I... can't," argued Berry. "Yes, you can," said Canary. "Oh no, no no no. You're not there... stop it..." "Just take an hour. You can do that. For me, Berry?" Berry's response was to shake her head, rapidly, but all that did was to make the pain in that was already there much worse. In any case, the shaking of a head usually did not serve to solve any problems. "Hey," said Bowler. "We're done here. I'm done, at least. And you've got everything down. We're leaving. Now." "Ok, ok," heaved Berry, throat blocked up. It was a relief, to be honest. Leaving the scene. She'd spent enough time there, and around too many similar places. At least, she'd be able to get some fresh air on the outside. The bell above the door rung again, and the daylight hit her square in the face as she left, and immediately she began to feel better, in small but relevant amounts. "Oh my Colt, am I glad to see you," cried yet another voice. The scene outside was one that Canary would call annoying, and then she'd have to start insulting somepony and possibly issue a few arrests. Berry's bag had been upturned, possibly to find the police tape, which was now being used in absolutely the wrong manner. Most of it had been pasted across the front, like as if the building was condemned rather than blocked, and Night Flare seemed to be having her hooves full with the crowd, which had not died out in the least. In fact, they seemed to be clamouring for answers, which Night Flare obviously did not have. "Damn yutz," muttered Bowler. "Oh... ah... what...?" asked Berry. "I... I don't know! I was just putting up the tape and then suddenly everypony was asking me, what's going on, what's happening, did something happen? How did this happen? What's going on? All the questions, Berry, all the questions! And I just told them it's a police matter, and they said I wasn't a police, what was I doing here? And then it just got worse and..." "Uh..." said Berry, the onslaught of words crushing her already slow mind. "... and I'm so glad you're here because I don't know what to do!" This was just exactly the kind of thing that held Berry back. She wasn't... smart, or quick, or altogether like Canary was. If Canary were here, she'd take care of this just like that, in a single clop of her hoof. No troubles, no problems. Everything was just procession for Canary, and she knew how to do anything. On a good day, on a day when Berry wasn't already dizzy with a pounding head and lungs that were tired of breathing the same air as the murderer, she wouldn't be able to handle this by herself. But now... She was about to cry. She was about to drop to her knees and beg the world for the return of her mentor and friend, or just something, something to save her. Something to take her away from all this and tell her everything was going to be alright, because she just couldn't tell herself that anymore. Almost like a lifeline, along down the street came the rumbling of wheels, and the stamping of legs. It was almost enough to chase away the fuzzy voices in her ears and the swimming images in her eyes. It was a cart. A cart which was being pulled by two of Canterlot's finest, with a few more riding in back. It was the other precinct, who finally made it to help take the body back, and to help regulate the situation. Berry couldn't help but do one last thing. She took a final look at Bowler, standing there in the corner, looking annoyed, and gave silent thanks to his arrival, and the things he did that just happened to fall into place just now, that would let her survive this for another day. Another day without Canary. ,---(*< ~---, '---------------'   "Oh, a fine town, you have here," said Canary, earnestly. "Reminds me of my home. I still get homesick once in a while, but being here... it really brings back a lot of memories of family, friends... you've done good, Miss Mayor." "Oh..." the Mayor blushed. "Thank you, such kind words." "Nonsense, they aren't just kind words, Mayor," Canary strolled to look wistfully out the window. "They're just comments from... somepony who left her heart behind in a place like this." Blitz had to turn away to hide the sneaking look of amusement on her face. A town, to a Mayor, is like a baby, said Canary. Treat it as such, and watch the parents dance. "Well... well if there's anything the town can help you with..." said the flustered Mayor, eager to go out of her way to do anything for them by this point. "Well," said Canary, twirling around. "I'd hate to impose. We've already left your planning room in such a state, and..." "Oh, don't you worry about that," chimed the Mayor. "I'll have one of the staff clean it up." "... and if you don't mind we need to borrow this map for just the day..." "Of course not, don't even think about it." "... and we need to find something that was lost a long time ago in the southern Apple fields of the Sweet Apple Acres." "Ooooh, those fields are quite large, officer. Would there be anything we could do to make the process easier?" "Well, that might be tricky... it's just a regular jade tablet we're looking for and..." "Wait, did you say jade?" "Yes I did, Mayor. Something that this magnificent town can help with?" "Oh yes, I... I think we can. Just head out, and turn left, and walk toward the building that looks like a large Carousel. It has flags on it. You can't miss it, really." "And who would I be looking for?" "A unicorn by the name of Rarity. I believe her special skill will come in some use." And Canary smiled. ,---(*< ~---, '---------------'   "Listen, I wasn't lying earlier, you know," said Twilight. They had long since calmed down and had resumed their slow walk to the middle of nowhere. "About?" "When I called you a friend. I know we've just met, but... why should that matter?" "Does it not matter?" "No. To me, a friend is somepony who knows me, regardless of time or action. I mean sure, if you do something later that's not very... nice, I could possibly change my mind, but I think it's about giving ponies the benefit of the doubt, isn't it?" "I wish... I had met more ponies who thought like you in my life, Miss Twilight." "Oh, stop it with the 'miss' stuff. I'm just Twilight Sparkle. Alright?" "Alright, Twilight Sparkle." "Just... Twilight will do." "Alright, Twilight." Odd. "Well, I'm sure there's a lot of ponies out there who do think like me. But... well, if you've haven't had the chance to meet them yet, it's just a stroke of bad luck. But really, I've found so many nicer ponies after leaving my old town up in Canterlot. I don't know why you still stay there, yourself." "I... do not know either, Twilight." "Is there something keeping you there?" "I... do not think so. I have just never had the... reason to leave." "Well, you're not very happy up there from the sound of it. Isn't that a reason to leave?" "I have... always found it as a reason to stay," Duriandal said, not sure of what she meant by it herself. "You... like being unhappy?" "No... I do not. Of course I do not. But... maybe... I was trying to find a way to find happiness in where I was placed." "Well, like I mentioned before, happiness starts with yourself. You can't really find happiness, it finds you. I mean, when I first came here, I really hated it. I thought... my teacher had abandoned me. I thought I was being punished for something I didn't know I did. But I realise now... that I only found happiness by being true to myself." "In what way, if I might ask?" "Well, I was a bit of a.... well, I still am, really. A nerd, I guess. I love reading, and I thought that...I had to push others away because they'd interfere with my studies of magic. And those studies was the one thing that got me this far, so I felt I owed it to that to ignore my personal life just to focus on it solely. But... well... I was moved here by Princess Celestia herself... don't ask... and in the end... I found that by letting ponies into my life, I could both be happy and study at the same time." "And you are... happy?" "Well... yes. I wish I had a larger library, but... we can't have it all!" "But it is easier for you," said Duriandal. "How so?" "You are a unicorn. You are blessed with skills that us earth ponies do not have." "I... hadn't... really thought of that, to be honest." "But do you not find it simpler to be part of this community because you have more abilities?" "You know... I ought to tell you about my last Winter Wrap-Up I had here... It was..." "Oh yurgh," interjected Duriandal, suddenly, as the wind kicked up and blew across the path they were walking down. "Is it near?" asked Twilight, suddenly, remembering the reason they were even there in the first place. "Yeff," said Duriandal, covering her nose. "I canff smeff it." "Well alright, let's get rid of it before it causes some kind of biological hazard," nodded Twilight, looking in the direction where Duriandal was pointing. "I thinff I sfee it," said Duri, trotting over to a green lump sticking out of the ground. "No, wait... this isn't it, what is this?" mentioned Twilight, pulling the thing from the soil with some magic. It was buried quite deeply, with only a small corner of it sticking out. It seemed to have been there for quite a while, too, considering how hard it was for Twilight to prise it free from its compact prison. As the dirt fell from the small stone, some etchings became clear on its surface. It was about the size of a small saucer, although irregularly shaped, and it had this odd little circle with an icon inscribed upon it, amidst a sea of other lines and scratches. As much as they considered it, neither pony could make heads or tails of what it was. But one thing was remarkably clear to Twilight, as she looked nervously at Duriandal out of the corner of her eye. "This thing is crawling with magic," Twilight said.