My Little Investigations: The Silent Dirge

by Metool Bard

Fugue State

April 11, 7:00 AM
The Marerriot Hotel
Room 308
***

"Octy~."

I squirmed a bit as I felt a hoof prodding me awake. I'm used to Vinyl waking me up at the crack of dawn, but after what I had been through last night, I think I deserve to sleep in. Vinyl, however, didn't agree.

"Octy, c'mon. Wake up," she said, continuing to shake me.

"Mmph. Five more minutes," I pleaded sleepily.

"Do I have to tickle you?"

I groaned. It appears that Vinyl isn't going to budge on this.

"Alright, fine. I'm up, I'm up," I said groggily, sitting up in bed and rubbing the sleep from my eyes.

"Good," said Vinyl. "So, what happened last night? Did you manage to catch BB?"

"Mmm. Yes," I said with a yawn. "She ran into Centrot Park, but we managed to find her okay."

"Cool," said Vinyl. "What was she freaking out about, anyway?"

I sighed. "She knows about the death threats being real. Pitch Perfect told her about it yesterday. After last night's attack confirmed it, she panicked."

"Ah," said Vinyl with a nod. "Well, at least we won't have to be all secretive anymore."

"Not that you were doing a good job of it," I grumbled. "And besides, I think we still need to keep on our toes."

"Why's that?"

"Two reasons. One, my ensemble is scheduled to perform tonight. That means we're the killer's next target."

"Okay. What's the other reason?"

I gulped. Vinyl isn't going to like this one bit; I know it. I just hope she doesn't get too mad.

"While searching for Beauty Brass, the killer jumped me," I said. "He knows what I've been doing. I-I didn't get a good look at him; he was wearing this cloak. But I know it was him because he was wielding the same tuning fork weapon that was used against Symphony."

Vinyl placed a hoof to her mouth and gasped. "He did what?! Tavi, a-are you alright?"

"I'm fine," I said. "Mare-Do-Well managed to rescue me."

Vinyl breathed a sigh of relief. "Well, thank Celestia for that," she said, casting her gaze downward. "Still, maybe I should've gone with you."

"It's not your fault, Vinyl," I assured her. "I brought this upon myself by risking my neck in the first place."

"That and putting yourself through the wringer," said Vinyl with a sad chuckle. She tried to play it off as a joke, but I could tell that she was being serious.

"Yes, that too," I said, biting my lip. "Actually, I came close to breaking down last night while looking for Beauty Brass."

"And did you?" asked Vinyl.

I shook my head. "No, thankfully."

"Then we've still got a chance," said Vinyl, placing a hoof on my shoulder and looking me in the eye. "I don't wanna lose you, Octy. And while I'm glad this Mare-Do-Well pony is on our side, I'm gonna step up my game, too. If that dock-hole tries to hurt you again, he has to deal with me."

"Wouldn't that require knowing who he is?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.

"The promise still stands," said Vinyl.

I smiled. Vinyl has a firm philosophy that nothing is impossible as long as you put your mind to it. It's a good philosophy to have, but she sometimes takes it too far by ignoring reality. This time, however, I feel that she's right to think that.

"Thank you, Vinyl," I said.

"It's what I do," said Vinyl. "So, we're gonna try and catch this guy before your performance tonight, right?"

"That's the plan," I said. "I have a few leads, including some evidence that Pan knows something. But first..."

My thoughts were interrupted by a knock at the door.

"I wonder who that could be," I pondered aloud. "Hold on, I'll get it."

I got myself out of bed and walked over to the door. When I opened it, I was surprised to see Fiddlesticks standing before me.

"Hey," she said with a tip of her hat.

"Hello," I said with a sigh. "Fiddlesticks, I want to say that I'm, sorry about what happened last night. I wanted to prevent the killer from attacking you, but..."

"Y'all don't need to apologize fer that, Tavia," said Fiddlesticks warmly. "The important thing is we all got out alright thanks to that Mare-Do-Well feller. Pitch got the worst of it, but the doctors said that she just needed to have her ears bandaged up fer a bit."

"I'm, happy to hear that," I said. "But, what about Sapphire Shores?"

"From what Ah hear, she's gonna be okay, too," said Fiddlesticks, furrowing her brow. "'Course, Ah haven't seen her since Ah left the hospital last night."

I'm not sure what it is, but something about that strikes me as odd. Mmm, it's hard to think on an empty stomach this early in the morning. Or any other time for that matter.

Wait. I just remembered, I'm meeting my ensemble for breakfast! Now that they know what's going on, maybe they can help me.

"I'm sorry to cut this short, Fiddle, but I have a previous engagement," I said. "Again, I'm glad you're alright."

"Yeah," said Fiddlesticks, pulling me into a hug. "Ah'm glad, too. Take care of yerself, Tavia."

"I will," I said. "Vinyl will bring you up to speed. I'll see you later."

"Um, Tavi? I don't mean to interrupt, but are you planning on going out without your bow-tie?"

I blushed profusely as Vinyl brought up an excellent point. I know, it's just a bow-tie; I shouldn't be so self-conscious. However, I have my standards, as do many ponies with my upbringing.

"Th-thank you, Vinyl," I said, going back inside to make myself presentable.

***
April 11, 8:45 AM
Au Bon Pony
***

At breakfast, I told my ensemble the entire story from the very beginning, making sure not to leave out a single detail. Beauty Brass came close to shrieking a few times, but Frederick was there to rein her in. When my story had concluded, Parish was the first to speak.

"That's, quite a tale, Octavia," said he. "And to be honest, I never really pictured you to be the gumhoof type."

"You're, not the first one to say that," I said. "Again, I'm sorry for holding out on you for so long. It's not that I don't trust you; I do."

"We understand, Octavia," said Frederick. "Although I will say that your efforts to keep Beauty Brass calm did end up being in vain."

Beauty Brass blushed and cleared her throat. I'm guessing she didn't want to be reminded about that. "Actually, there's something that bothers me," she said.

"Oh? What's that?" I asked.

"Fiddlesticks told you that Sapphire Shores was going to be okay, right?"

"That's her guess. Why?"

"Well, if Mare-Do-Well was busy saving Fiddlesticks and her band, why isn't Sapphire that badly hurt?"

Eureka! That's what's been bothering me. Mare-Do-Well said that she couldn't be in two places as once, plus the attack on Sapphire completely broke the killer's pattern. By all accounts, Sapphire should be in critical condition or worse. Thank Celestia she's not, but still, this is quite odd.

"You raise a good point, Beauty Brass," I said. "If I bump into her, I'll be sure to ask her about it."

"If you want my opinion, I think the attack on her has something to do with Pan teaching her that spell from his Music Code," said Frederick, taking a sip of his coffee.

"Yes, but how could the killer know about that?" asked Parish.

"Simple. The same way he knew about Pitch Perfect's ear twitch," said Frederick.

If Frederick is onto something, it's kind of going over my head. Nevertheless, perhaps there is a connection.

"Well, whatever the case, I'm going to make sure that the mastermind behind all this is stopped before sundown," I said. "Mark my words, he won't be hurting any of you. Not if I have a say in it."

"Bold words, Octavia. I'm sure you'll stand by them," said Frederick with a knowing smirk.

"Just, try not to push yourself too hard, Octy," said Beauty Brass, her face clouded with worry. "If you need to take a break, I'll be willing to help."

"We all will," said Parish. "Considering the pattern, there's not much point in us practicing for tonight with this madman still on the loose. Know that we're behind you all the way, Octavia."

I suddenly regret not letting them in on my secret. Sure, Beauty Brass panicking would've been a pain. But like Vinyl and Fiddlesticks, I take comfort in the fact that they're there to support me in this troubling times.

"Thank you," I said. "Thank you all. This, really means a lot to me."

"We know," said Frederick. "So, let's finish our breakfast and get this investigation underway, eh?"

"Sounds like a plan," said I. This was indeed a good sign. I still had my worries, yes. If you've been paying attention, that's what's been driving my actions throughout this entire bloody mess. But for the first time since this all started, I really feel confident that I can do this. I have the will to push forward, friends both high and low, and enough evidence to put all the pieces together. Indeed, there is no stopping me now.

...

What? You expected me to launch into an embarrassing confidence-fueled chant to psych myself up, didn't you? Well, sorry to disappoint, but I'm not ruining the moment by making myself look like a twat. Though I am glad that I managed to catch myself before I did.