December 14, 11:22 AM
Lincolt Center
Performance Studio B
***
"Uh-huh. That's right. Just off of Coltlumbus Circle; Fourth Floor, Performance Studio B. Okay, thank you."
Lockdown tapped his earpiece and turned to us. "I just had a word with the Manehattan PD. They're sending somepony over to investigate."
"Word, word. Any idea when they're gonna get here?" asked Vinyl.
"They said they'd be here as soon as possible," said Lockdown. "So I'd say in about, oh, five, maybe ten minutes."
Vinyl knitted her brow. "Hmm. Not a lot of time for us to sleuth, Octy. We should find a way to wake Rarity up and get this show on the road."
"Now wait a minute," said Lockdown gruffly. "Mike Check says that you're all investigating something, but you don't look like any detectives to me. In fact, I'm pretty sure three of you are famous musicians in your own rights."
"That's actually true, Mr. Lockdown," I said sheepishly. "We're not really detectives, but we are conducting an investigation for Princess Twilight Sparkle. It's a bit of a long story."
"You think that story will be enough to convince the cops when they get here?" inquired Lockdown.
"Frankly, no," I said, brushing the back of my head. "I-it's actually rather far-fetched. But it is true. Mr. Check can vouch for me."
"And what makes you so sure of that?" asked Lockdown, staring right down at me.
I swallowed. "W-well..."
"Ooh, my head."
Before I could say anything, Rarity moaned and slowly sat up. It looks like she's finally come to.
"Are you okay, Rarity?" asked Fluttershy.
"Mmm. I've been better," mumbled Rarity. She then noticed Sweetie Belle being held in Fluttershy's forelegs, and her pupils dilated. "S-Sweetie Belle! I—"
"Okay, calm down there," said Vinyl, placing a firm hoof on Rarity's shoulder. "We don't want you fainting again. That won't do anypony any good."
"R-right. Sorry," said Rarity, taking a few deep breaths. "Fluttershy, how is she?"
Fluttershy cast her gaze downwards. "Well, she's unhurt. Physically, anyway. She hasn't said a word since we found her."
Rarity let out a sigh, her eyes welling up with tears. "M-may I?"
"Oh, of course," said Fluttershy, passing Sweetie Belle to Rarity. Rarity then held Sweetie Belle close to her chest and stroked her back.
"I'm sorry, Sweetie Belle," she whispered, tears running down her cheeks and ruining her mascara. "I'm sorry you didn't get your chance to shine. Don't worry, we'll fix this."
Lockdown cleared his throat. "Um, I don't mean to interrupt, ladies, but you mind doing this somewhere else? The police are on their way right now, and they're not going to like seeing you ponies standing around where you don't belong."
Vinyl turned to Lockdown and raised an eyebrow. "Didn't we just get through explaining that we're here on official business from the freaking Princess of Friendship? We need to investigate, too."
"Look, it's not that I don't believe you," said Lockdown defensively. "I just don't want to get into trouble for letting civilians tamper with the crime scene."
"Ah, don't worry about it," said Vinyl. "I've got the perfect solution."
Oh no. This can't be good. "What are you talking about, Vinyl?"
"We're calling dibs."
There was a pregnant pause as we all stared blankly at Vinyl. Fluttershy was the first to break the silence.
"Um, what're we doing?" she asked meekly.
"Well, we were here first, so we've got first dibs on the investigation," said Vinyl with a shrug. "Ergo, we're calling dibs."
"Vinyl, do you really think that's going to fly with the police?" I groaned, massaging the bridge of my nose with my hoof. "We're not a bunch of foals on the playground, in case you haven't noticed."
"Hey, the rule of dibs trumps all, Tavi," said Vinyl. "Besides, we know what to look for; they don't. If anything, they should be thanking us for giving them a head start."
"Except it's more likely that they're going to throw us in jail for tampering with evidence," I said. "Vinyl, you have to think these things through."
"Tavi, if we did that for everything, we wouldn't get anything done," said Vinyl, folding her forelegs. "Sometimes, you just gotta go with your gut."
Ugh, I feel like I'm arguing with a child. Actually, I almost always feel like that when I argue with Vinyl, so not much has changed there. Oh, forget it. I know nothing is going to change her mind at this point.
"Right, fine. Whatever," I conceded. "But if we get in trouble for this, I'm blaming you."
"I wouldn't have it any other way, Tavi," said Vinyl with a cocky smirk. "So, how should we start this?"
"I think we first need to figure out what attacked Ms. Shores," suggested Fluttershy.
"Agreed," said Rarity. She then noticed that Sweetie Belle was still nestled against her bosom and blushed. "Uh, you all start without me. I'll just, be over here. Ah ha ha... Hoah~. Mother and Father are not going to like this."
"Is there anypony who could conceivably like this?" asked Vinyl.
"Not the time, nor the place, Vinyl," I scolded before clearing my throat. "Anyway, getting back on track, I think Fluttershy makes a good point. You don't mind, do you, Mr. Lockdown?"
Lockdown snorted. "I still think this is a bad idea, but it looks like you ladies can't be persuaded. Alright, I'll allow it. But I'm keeping my eye on you, so no funny stuff."
"We wouldn't dream of it," I said somberly. I then walked over to Sapphire's unconscious form and looked it over with a critical eye. To be honest, I'm at a complete loss. She didn't appear to have any open wounds, and I couldn't see or smell any blood. Upon closer inspection, I saw quite a few lacerations decorating her face and forelegs. But the odd thing is none of them were particularly deep. It just looked like someone tried to give her a bunch of paper cuts. Now, I'm no doctor, so it's very possible that I'm overlooking something. Even so, those lacerations couldn't have been made by a hoof.
"I think we'll need a more trained eye for this," I mused. "Ms. Rarity?"
"Mmm?"
"Could you take a look at Sapphire's costume? I think we might be able to gather some clues from it."
Rarity's face flushed red again. "W-well, I would. But I really feel that Sweetie needs me right now. Fluttershy is very good at sewing though. Perhaps she could help."
"Oh, I really don't think I'm nearly as good as you, Rarity," said Fluttershy, twiddling her hooves. "Nevertheless, it would probably be best if you took care of Sweetie Belle, so I'll give it my all."
"Thank you, Fluttershy," said Rarity with a sincere smile. "You are a true friend."
Fluttershy nodded and flew over to Sapphire's body. She narrowed her eyes and took a long, particular look at the tattered costume. Suddenly, she recoiled and placed a hoof to her mouth.
"Oh my," she gasped.
"What's up?" said Vinyl.
"I-I don't think even Rarity would be able to save this," said Fluttershy glumly. "It looks like it was torn apart by a tornado."
Rarity let out a strained grunt. Looking at her, it appeared that she was ready to explode in anger. But because of Sweetie Belle, she held it in. I'm guessing that being a famous fashion designer, Rarity takes pride in her work. From what I understand, she's made plenty of costumes for Sapphire Shores, so hearing something like that couldn't have been pleasant for her.
"Well, it's not a whole lot to go on," I said, furrowing my brow. "I spotted quite a few lacerations on her forelegs, and her costume was apparently damaged beyond repair. But I don't know what manner of weapon could've done this."
"It could've been some kind of spell," said Vinyl. "We already established that this phony Mare-Do-Well knows Pan's Music Code for some reason."
"I'm not so sure about that," I said, tapping my chin. "If she was using Pan's Music Code, then Mr. Lockdown should've been able to hear her."
"Actually, that's not entirely true," corrected Lockdown. "From what I've been told, the performance studios here are designed with soundproof walls so that musicians can practice without disturbing anypony else."
So the assailant could've attacked her at any time without Lockdown noticing. That's not exactly a comforting thought, but it certainly explains things.
"Out of curiosity, Mr. Lockdown. When did Sapphire and Sweetie Belle enter this room?" I asked.
Lockdown scowled and snorted. He still didn't seem too keen on us investigating. I personally don't blame him, seeing as this was all Vinyl's idea.
"They arrived about half an hour ago, give or take," he rumbled.
Seeing as we discovered this mess at around eleven-twenty (by my estimate), that means there's roughly a twenty minute gap between Sapphire and Sweetie Belle entering the performance studio and us finding them in this horrific state. And of course, as Lockdown claims, no one else entered or left the room during that time. But Babs Seed seems to think otherwise for some reason. I might need to ask her about that later.
"Wait, wait. I just thought of something," said Vinyl. "That door only locks from the inside, right?"
Lockdown arched an eyebrow. "Yes."
"And this room is designed to be soundproof, right?"
"Correct."
"So, why did Sapphie need you to stand guard?"
Lockdown let out a low growl. "What are you implying?"
"I'm not implying anything," said Vinyl with a shrug. "I'm just saying putting you in front of the door was overkill on Sapphie's part. Unless, of course, she was expecting something to happen."
"Vinyl, that preposterous," I sighed, rolling my eyes. "Do you honestly think that Sapphire would know anything about this? Heck, even if she did, I don't think she would somehow figure out that she was being targeted."
"Look, I'm just not ruling anything out here, alright?" said Vinyl. "Crazier stuff has happened, Octy."
I hate to admit it, but she has a point. Still, we can't go around chasing every presumed lead that comes our way. If we did that, we'd just be running around in circles, and that won't get us anywhere.
"I don't think there's much else we can do here," I said. "We should get going. Thank you for bearing with us, Mr. Lockdown."
Lockdown huffed. "If you find the one behind this, you'll have my gratitude," he said, stepping to one side and opening the door.
"Don't worry, big guy. We will," said Vinyl with a wink. "C'mon, let's—"
She was about to leave when all of a sudden, we saw that several police officers were heading out way. Well, bugger. I was hoping we could make our exit before they got here, but it turns out we're not that lucky. A dark brown Earth Pony stallion with a five o'clock shadow and a grey trench coat walked up to the head of the pack and looked around the room.
"Alright, which one of you is Lockdown?" he asked.
"That would be me, sir," said Lockdown.
The stallion nodded and took out his badge. "Detective Shamus, Manehattan PD," he said. "You reported an attempted homicide on Ms. Sapphire Shores, yes?"
"That's correct, Detective," said Lockdown, giving us a sideways glance. "These ladies were just leaving."
Shamus arched an eyebrow. "Pardon me for asking, but what were they doing here in the first place?"
"Investigating, that's what," Vinyl blurted out before any of us could stop her. "You're welcome."
Shamus narrowed his eyes. "You think this is a joke?"
"You have to understand, officer. With Vinyl, everything's a joke," I said.
"Well, I ain't laughing, see?" said Shamus with a snort. "Now, I'll be sure to question you all later. But right now, you all need to clear out. Unless, of course, you plan on spending the rest of your day in a detention cell."
"Hey, I'll have you know that we were sent here by Princess Twilight Sparkle herself," said Vinyl, standing her ground. "And if you arrest us, you'll have to answer to— mmph!"
I swiftly cut her off by placing a hoof over her mouth. I normally don't do this, but I'm not about to get arrested because of Vinyl's tactless behavior.
"Don't mind her, officer," I said, ignoring Vinyl's muffled protests. "We'll, just be on on our way now. Come along, everypony."
With that, we all piled out of the studio. Once we were out of earshot, I released Vinyl.
"Tavi, what'd you do that for?" she groused. "We had dibs!"
"Vinyl, this is complicated enough without getting in trouble with the police," I admonished. "We are not doing anything illegal under my watch."
"But, what do we do now?" asked Fluttershy.
"Well, I don't know about you, but I want to find Mother and Father," said Rarity, looking down at Sweetie Belle as she cradled her in her foreleg. "I don't want to slow you ponies down by fretting over her this whole time. And while it'll be hard to tell them what happened, they're going to find out eventually."
"We understand, Rarity," Fluttershy cooed, nuzzling Rarity's cheek. "Is that okay with you two?"
"Actually, I want to find Babs Seed and see what she has to say," I said. "However, I'm sure we can kill two birds with one stone and look for them both. That is, if Mike Check hasn't caught up to Babs already."
"Well, what're we waiting for, then?" said Vinyl. "Lead the way, Octy."
I nodded, and we started on our way. Thinking about it now, I'm worried that this is going to be more difficult than the Manehattan Music Festival. Not only are we throwing child trauma on top of everything, but the actual detectives are not going to be too happy with us poking our noses where they don't belong. Except, of course, we have to do just that. Otherwise, Mare-Do-Well's doppelgänger may never be found. And if she's so destructive that she managed to injure somepony undetected, I can't let that happen.