//------------------------------// // Chapter 1: Everypony for Herself // Story: Bush Beat’s Journey // by Tree Sharp //------------------------------// “Hello there.” Bush Beat grinned as the smooth female voice spoke. Slowly his half-open eyes panned to scan the scenery surrounding him as a warm breeze hushed through his light green coat and dark green mane. “What’s up?” the same voice continued. Suddenly Bush Beat’s eyes shot open and his head turned towards the earth pony standing in front of the park bench he was lying on. “Oh,” he said as he blinked. “Gosh, I was miles away. Who are you again?” The amber-gray mare with the cyan mane smiled and said with her eyes fixated on him, “I think you could use a job. Am I right?” The unicorn on the park bench turned his head away. “Who couldn’t?” he said with a sigh. The mare continued, undeterred. “I’ve seen you around this park often. And I’ve been noticing you don’t have your cutie mark.” She tilted her head slightly. “Aren’t you a bit old to not have your cutie mark?” Narrowing his eyes, Bush Beat countered, “So? What’s it to you?” “Well, look,” the mare said with a tinge of apology in her voice. “The Manehattan Hotel put out a vacancy for a page. I think it sounds like an opportunity for you to explore yourself. With a bit of luck, you might even earn your cutie mark that way.” Bush Beat descended from the bench and gave the mare a confused look. “Who are you? Why would you walk up to a homeless pony you’ve never met and just offer them a job? What’s the catch?” “No catch,” the mare retorted without hesitation. “I’m just trying to be generous. The hotel—” “Generous?” Bush Beat interrupted skeptically, turning his head slightly to the side while keeping his eyes on the mare. “Don’t you know it’s everypony for herself?” The mare shook her head. “If you had met the dress designer I met, you’d think differently. I owe my current job to her generosity. Now I’m trying to do my part. Do you want a job?” Bush Beat lowered his gaze and thought for a good while. “Good morning, Bush Beat!” “Morning?” Yawning, Bush Beat entered the hotel’s front lobby and approached the reception desk with barely open eyes. “As far as I’m concerned, it’s still the middle of the night.” The earth pony mare behind the counter gave him a sympathetic look and smiled. “Come on. You’ve been with us for four weeks now. You know the procedure.” The mare picked up a sheet of paper with her mouth and placed it on the counter in front of him. “Actually,” Bush Beat slowly shook his head, “this is the first time I’m on the early shift, so... no, I don’t.” “Oh,” the receptionist responded as her head jolted in surprise. “Alright then. This is a list of all the vacant rooms. Go through all those rooms and work off the checklist on the back.” Bush Beat used his magic to flip the sheet and glance at the checklist. “It’s easy,” the receptionist commented, “I’ve done it a million times. Just check the beds are all made, the bathrooms are stocked with towels and everything... you know.” Bush Beat quietly nodded and walked towards the elevator while emitting another yawn. More than an hour later, having completed the first three floors, Bush Beat emerged from the elevator on the fourth floor. Sleepily he squinted at the sheet hovering in front of his eyes to read the next room number. His exhausted legs carried him across the hall and towards the door bearing the number 407. With a short application of magic, Bush Beat quietly opened the door to the room and walked inside, his head tiredly hung low and staring at the floor. As he was about to enter the bathroom on the right, he suddenly heard an unexpected voice. “Excuse me?” It came from an elderly pony standing by a chest of drawers abutting the wall. Bush Beat raised his head in shock as he noticed the mare staring in his direction. He gasped abruptly and stammered, “Oh!... Oh dear. I’m... I do apologize, miss. I... I thought this room was vacant. Please accept our sincerest apologies.” The last sentence came out exactly as rehearsed as it was. He rushed to turn back towards the door, jumped out of the room and closed the door behind him. The paper he had been carrying with him fell and glided towards the floor. His heart still racing from the startle, he remained in front of the door, motionless, as he tried to calm himself by breathing. From the corner of his eye, however, he noticed another pony standing in the hallway several rooms away. As he turned his head to look at him, the pegasus had already started walking back into his room, shaking his head. In the early afternoon, the ground floor was teeming with newly arriving ponies as well as those in the process of leaving. The lobby was filled with the noise of chatter, and the crowd of ponies was so dense Bush Beat had difficulty reaching the reception desk without bumping into any of the customers. “Excuse me,” Bush Beat called aimlessly into the crowd as he walked past and around various ponies standing and walking. “Pardon me. Excuse me.” One of the ponies he dodged caught his attention. It was a stallion wearing a police hat. And another one right beside him. Looking up and scanning the lobby, he suddenly realized there was a sizable number of police officers mixed into the crowd. Finally, Bush Beat reached the reception desk. He opened the barrier, walked through it and closed it again, separating himself from the mass of ponies. Bush Beat waited for the receptionist on duty to finish handling a customer’s check-in before he addressed her. “What in the hay is going on? Why the police?” Without turning to face him, the mare responded curtly. “Somepony’s been found dead in their room. That’s all I know.” “Dead?!” Bush Beat gasped. He stood for a moment, paralyzed from the shock. When inhaled to ask another question, he found the receptionist had already returned her attention to the next customer in the long waiting line. Bush Beat scanned the lobby once more, keeping his eyes on the conspicuous police hats punctuating the otherwise homogeneous crowd. One pair of officers was in a conversation with a pegasus stallion not too far from the reception desk. “I saw somepony,” he heard the pegasus say. “I saw somepony leave that room.” The pegasus looked around, but his head soon stopped turning as his eyes fixated firmly on Bush Beat. Bush Beat swallowed involuntarily. It was the same pegasus that had been in the hallway earlier. “There!” the pegasus proclaimed as he raised his hoof to point in the direction of Bush Beat. “That is the pony I saw!” The police officers did not hesitate to walk straight towards Bush Beat, who was now staring in disbelief at the scene unfolding. “Sir, you are under arrest. Please come with us.”