• Published 18th Sep 2013
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My Little Investigations: The Silent Dirge - Metool Bard



Some maniac is aiming to silence every musician in Equestria. I, for one, will not stand for it.

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Confrontation: Silenus

April 10, 1:01 PM
Lincolt Center
Convention Floor
***

"So, what's our next move, Octy?" Vinyl asked after we had finished our lunch.

I sighed. "I don't think I should tell you, Vinyl. You'll laugh at me."

Vinyl raised an eyebrow. "Well, now I'm even more curious."

"Of course you are," I said, rolling my eyes. "Listen, do you know Silenus by any chance?"

"You mean that drunken donkey that's been giving security a hard time?"

"Yeah, that's him."

"What about him?"

"I, think he might know something," I said, dipping my voice. "Just earlier today, I saw him chasing Mare-Do-Well all over the place, claiming that she was behind everything."

Vinyl blinked. "Is it just me, or does this mystery keep getting weirder?"

"It's not you, trust me," I said. "Anyway, if he is hiding something, I need to know what that something is."

"I see," Vinyl said with a contemplative nod. "Well, it's your call, Tavi. Good detectives don't dismiss any leads, after all."

Oh, thank Celestia; she's taking me seriously. Kind of. Whatever, it's good enough.

"So, how should we go about looking for this Silenus guy?" asked Vinyl.

"Hey, you there."

A gruff voice called out to us from behind. I turned around and there was Point Dexter, leading Silenus by the collar. Well, that answers that.

"Is there something you want, Mr. Dexter?" I inquired.

"Have you seen Pan anywhere?" said Point Dexter. "This drunkard got himself lost again and he's driving me out of my mind."

"I keep tellin' ya! That shadow'sh up to no good!" Silenus protested.

It seems he's still on about Mare-Do-Well being the villain in all this. This was a great opportunity to have a bit of a tete-a-tete with him and set him straight. I cleared my throat.

"I'm afraid I haven't seen him since this morning," said I. "However, I'll happily take Mr. Silenus off your hands and look after him."

Point Dexter knitted his brow and flicked his nose ring. "Well, Mr. Licks said that I shouldn't let him out of my sight, but to be blunt, I'd do anything to get rid of him. How about this? You stay here with him while I look for Pan."

"That's perfectly fair," I said with a nod.

"Great, thanks," said Point Dexter before taking off.

"Shtupid officher," grumbled Silenus. "Doesh he not know how to do hish job? He should be catching that shadow, not baby-sitting me!"

"You seem thoroughly convinced that this shadow is the cause of all our problems," I said. "Why is that?"

Silenus gave me an odd look. "Why do you wanna know?"

"I'm simply curious," I said with a shrug.

Silenus's eyes narrowed. "Curiosity killed the cat," he said darkly.

"Well, good thing Octy's not a cat then," Vinyl retorted.

Silenus paused for a moment and stroked his chin. "Hmm. Good point," he said (sweet Celestia, I can't believe that worked). "Alright, I'll tell ya what I know, but if anypony ashksh, you didn't hear it from me."

"Understood," I said with a solemn nod.

"Yeah, sure," said Vinyl. "But by the same token, you'd better not lie to us."

"H-hey! I don't lie!" snapped Silenus. "I jusht, get the truth wrong shometimesh. But not thish time!"

Bother. This is not going to be fun. Oh well, here goes everything.

***
Argument: The Shadowy Villain
***

"That shadow'sh been shtalking ush shinche yeshterday," said Silenus. "What'sh more, I caught it trying to deshtroy a pieche of evidenche. It'sh clearly behind the attacksh and the kidnapping of that lyrisht. I don't know why it'sh doing thish, but that doeshn't matter. I'll find out when I beat the truth out of it."

This, was too easy. Far too easy. I could tear down that argument with no trouble at all. But, something struck me as odd. Besides his slurred speech, Silenus actually sounded remarkably coherent for an intoxicated donkey. It's as if he was drunk and not drunk at the same time (if, that makes any sense). As such, the reason he was wrong is not because his argument was nonsense, but because he was missing something important.

"Let's start off by clarifying something," I said. "You think someone attacked Vinyl and Symphony at their respective performances, correct?"

"No doubt in my mind," said Silenus.

"How do you figure?"

Silenus tilted his head. "Pardon?"

"To the casual observer, those incidents were simply accidents," I said. "Meaning that you're not a casual observer."

Silenus shrugged. "I didn't shushpect anything until I shaw that shadow yeshterday," he said. "From there, it didn't take me long to connect the dots."

That's, quite a large leap in logic. Silenus might not be telling me the whole truth here. Which is odd, seeing as he appears to trust me on some level. Well, if I must earn his trust, then I know the perfect way to do so.

"Mr. Silenus, were you watching those performances when Vinyl and Symphony were attacked?" I inquired.

"Well, of courshe," said Silenus.

"See, I don't think you were," I said.

Silenus' eyes went wide. "What do you mean by that?"

"If you were watching those performances as closely as I was, you would know something special about this shadow you keep going on about," I said. "Both times, that shadow has appeared. And do you know what it was doing?"

Silenus had no clue. "Attacking?" he guessed.

"No," I said, adjusting my bow-tie. "It was saving the victims."

Silenus stared blankly at me before taking a large swig from his flask.

"Th-that'sh outrageoush!" he sputtered. "Why would the killer shave hish own victimsh?!"

"Perhaps the shadow is not the killer," I said. "Perhaps you made a mistake in assuming it was."

"I preshumed! There'sh a differenche!" Silenus barked.

"Nnnnnnno, there really isn't," said Vinyl.

Actually, there is, but it's very subtle. However, whether he's presuming or assuming doesn't matter; Silenus is still wrong. Mare-Do-Well is not our enemy. And I had another way to prove it.

"You said before that the shadow is responsible for that attacks and Lyra's kidnapping," I said. "Are you certain that's the case?"

"Absholutely," said Silenus firmly.

"Well, I just had a talk with Lyra," I said. "It turns out the kidnapper wanted to protect her from the killer. I don't know if you know this, but she received a death threat stating that she would be killed if she played music."

"Yeah, I know about that," said Silenus. "Everypony here got one."

"Whoa whoa, time out," said Vinyl, gesturing with her hooves. "How do you know that?"

Silenus blanched. "Crap! I shaid too much!"

So he is hiding something. Now we're getting somewhere.

"Answer Vinyl's question, Mr. Silenus," I said firmly. "How do you know about the death threats?"

Silenus paused for a moment to take a swig from his flask. "W-word of mouth," he said. "I've been hearing rumorsh about it here and there from different poniesh. Eshpecially that Shtar Maker guy muttering to 'imshelf about conshpirachy theoriesh being made by, you."

He pointed at me when he said that, and I saw a twinkle in his eye. "When you've been traveling ash long ash I have, you notiche thingsh," he said. "Sheemsh to me that you've got shomthing to hide, madam."

Bloody nora! How the hay did he turn this around and end up exposing me?! It's clear to me now that he has something to hide, but I have no way to prove it! And in the meantime, what am I going to do about this?!

"Well, you caught us," said Vinyl with a chuckle. "Tavi and I are trying to solve this mystery, just like you are."

"Vinyl~! Why does this not bother you?!" I yelled.

"What? He's on our side," said Vinyl with a shrug. "We don't really lose anything by telling him."

Except maybe our cover. Which we need to make sure the killer doesn't get suspicious of us. Ugh, there's no use fighting it at this point, is there?

"Vinyl's, right," I said. "We are trying to figure this out. Promise you won't tell anyone."

"As long as you keep your end of the bargain, I'll keep mine," said Silenus, sounding more sober. "Remember, you heard none of this from me."

"Right, of course," I said with a sigh. "Well, now that we have that out of the way, perhaps you should share with us how you know about the death threats."

"Simple. Pan knows," said Silenus.

I gave Silenus a quizzical look. "Well, of course he knows. He got one too, didn't he?"

"It's more complicated than that," said Silenus grimly. "And unlike everypony else, he didn't think it was a prank."

"How do you mean?" I asked.

"It's a bit of a tale," said Silenus. "Try and follow me on this, madam, because I don't wish to repeat myself."

***
Testimony: Pan's Knowledge
***

"Ever since Pan developed his Music Code, there have been those who have tried to steal it from him for their own nefarious purposes," said Silenus. "Of course, none of them succeeded. But they all had one thing in common. None of them were interested in the musical aspect of the Code. They simply wanted the power."

Okay, what did this have to do with anything? Because the way I see it, Silenus went from Point A to Point C without bothering to stop at Point B. I don't know if that was intentional or not, but I had to ask more questions.

"Performing magic through music is quite an impressive feat," I said. "But what makes it so special? Unicorns use magic in their everyday lives, and you mentioned before that satyrs can do the same. The method of casting shouldn't matter, should it?"

"Normally, it wouldn't," said Silenus. "But the Music Code has some spells that can only be cast through it. Take me, for instance. Thanks to a special enchantment through the Code, I can get as drunk as I want and still maintain my coordination if I so choose."

"So, that's why you were able to chase the shadow all over the building," I mused.

"Indeed, madam," said Silenus with a nod.

"I'm still confused," said Vinyl, rubbing the side of her head. "What's this got to do with the death threats?"

"Indeed, I'm curious about that as well," I said. "There isn't really any connection between being threatened not to play music and some twat trying to get their hooves on a spell book that uses sheet music."

Silenus's face darkened. "I shouldn't show you this, but seeing as we have a deal, I trust that you won't tell anypony. So, here."

He gave me a note that I presumed was the death threat Pan received from the killer. And indeed, it was addressed to Pan. However, it wasn't the same note:

Pan:

If you don't surrender the Music Code, I will destroy all music. Heed this warning, or face the consequences.

If the fact wasn't already clinched before, it was now. The killer is trying to silence all music in Equestria. And his motive is to gain access to Pan's Music Code. I'm not exactly sure why, but considering what Silenus said, I can hazard a guess that it has something to do with power. I can't imagine anyone would be so trite as to do this.

"Hey, quick question," said Vinyl. "Does Sapphire Shores know about this?"

"Nope, and you won't tell her, neither," said Silenus gruffly. "She doesn't need to know."

"Alright, alright. Sheesh, mellow out," said Vinyl. "So, our killer finally has a motive. It's a stupid motive, but hey, I'm thinking this guy's pretty stupid already."

"Don't be so quick to dismiss your enemies, madam," said Silenus with a snort. "Whoever this madman is, he's evaded capture so far. He must be doing something right."

Before I could say anything else, Point Dexter reappeared with Pan by his side.

"Silenus, you caaan't keep running off like this," Pan admonished. "What do I have to do, tie a rope around your neeeck?"

"N-no need for that," said Silenus hastily. "I'm, terribly sorry I've given you so much trouble, Pan. You as well, officer."

Point Dexter snorted. "You'd better be," he said before turning to me. "Thanks for your help, ma'am. I'm going to let Mr. Licks know the good news."

With that, he took off.

"We'd better get going, too," said Pan. "I haaave some praaacticing to do with Sapphire. Come along, Silenus."

"Coming, Pan," said Silenus. As they left, he gave me a stern look, as if to say, "Remember what we just talked about." I nodded in return.

"Well, that went smoother than I thought it would," said Vinyl.

"Agreed," I said, knitting my brow. "Although I wish I could've asked Pan a few questions. He knows what's going on."

"I'm sure you'll get around to it," said Vinyl. "Anyway, I'm gonna go ask Neon if he's seen anything suspicious. Seeya later."

With that, Vinyl left. Well, at least this was a step up from yesterday. I was finally getting some answers. Problem is I still have a few pressing questions. The biggest of which is the identity of this madman trying to hold us hostage. I started for the performance studio when I heard a voice behind me.

"I think that donkey's hiding something."

I spun around, and just like yesterday, there was Mare-Do-Well. She was once again leaning against the wall.

"You were eavesdropping, weren't you?" I said.

"As part of my investigation, yes," said Mare-Do-Well. "Why you're still at it is beyond me."

"We've been over this," I said firmly. "I'm not giving up. I can't. Not with so much at stake."

Mare-Do-Well sighed. "Tsk tsk tsk. I admire your courage, Ms. Melody; really I do. But you have to understand that you're putting yourself in harm's way and making my job more difficult."

"I was in harm's way when this whole bloody mess got started," I said.

"You know what I mean," said Mare-Do-Well. "Listen, the only thing I'm worried about is your safety and the safety of everyone else here. So, I'm asking you for the last time: Leave the detective work to me. I'll protect what's important to you, I promise."

I don't know how she knew my reasons for embarking on this mad endeavor, but that didn't matter. I shook my head.

"I'm sorry," I said. "I can't abide by that, Ms. Mare-Do-Well. I dug myself into this pit, and I need to dig myself out."

Mare-Do-Well obscured her eyes with her hat. "Then, I guess that's that. Just don't say I didn't warn you."

"OCTY~!"

The conversation was interrupted by Beauty Brass calling out to me. I quickly turned to see her and the rest of my ensemble.

"I think we have to arrange a proper meeting spot for the rest of the festival," said Parish. "We can't keep searching for you like this. Ponies might start complaining about Beauty Brass."

"Right, sorry," I said sheepishly. "I was just..."

I turned back to where Mare-Do-Well was, only to find that she once again disappeared. Honestly, how does she do that? I-I simply don't know.

"You were just what?" asked Frederick.

"Nothing. It's, silly," I said, clearing my throat. "Anyway, seeing as we're all here, we should get another practice session in, yeah?"

"Glad to see that we're all on the same page," said Frederick with a smirk. "Also nice to see that you remembered your cello this time."

"Yes, well. I figured I'd be needing it," I said, brushing the back of my mane.

Beauty Brass tilted her head. "You okay, Octy? You've been acting very strange lately."

I sighed. "I'm, managing. It's just that this whole ordeal with the main events is, kind of getting to me."

"Oh," said Beauty Brass, casting her gaze downward. "I know how you feel, Octy. I'm worried about our performance tomorrow, too."

"We know, Beauty Brass," said Parish warmly, patting Beauty Brass on the back. "But we can't let happenstance dissuade us."

Or deranged maniacs, I added mentally.

"Parish is right," said Frederick. "Come what may, we should do our best. Now then, let's find ourselves a vacant performance studio."

Without waiting for acknowledgment, Frederick led the way. Of course, the rest of us followed him. As we walked, I couldn't help but notice that Beauty Brass looked a bit pale. It was just as she said. She was worried about this whole ordeal just like I was, although to what degree remains uncertain. Frederick and Parish seemed to be a bit concerned themselves, but they kept a stiff upper lip. And what's more, none of them were willing to give into the killer's demands, whether they believed them to be true or not. I smiled to myself. I expected nothing less from my ensemble; my close friends that I've grown to know so well.

They weren't giving up. And neither could I.