The Black Cloak Files

by kudzuhaiku

For What Darker Purpose #2

As Sunset Shimmer entered into a small but comfortable parlour upon the ground floor, she saw a unicorn maid slipping out of another narrow servant’s door. She forced herself to hold her tongue; Sunset remembered Hibiscus’ remark about how the ponies on the hill had to be responsible, because this was magic and they were unicorns.

There was also the fact that Hibiscus and her family had a maid. Sunset reconsidered her position—the maid might live here out of necessity, after all, she had to eat and have a place to rest her weary head when the day was done. She might be working to earn room and board, there was a lot that Sunset Shimmer didn’t know and snap judgements would help nopony.

Some things were apparent though, this family was a bit higher up on the hill than the others. They might not have the mansion on top of the hill, but by the looks of things, they were no less influential. The cost of having pink rose marble hauled out into a swamp had to have been considerable. The parlour, while now a little threadbare and worn down, was filled with what had been expensive furniture. The couches were velvet, fine wools, silk brocades, and rare woods. There were paintings on the walls, Sunset Shimmer assumed the paintings were a collection of matriarchs, a committee of stern, harsh, solemn school marm types, with Hibiscus included among their ranks.

The lights overhead were gas lamps, of course they were, Sunset Shimmer couldn’t imagine this place having electric lights. This town had been built on tar and oil—it had once powered many of Equestria’s lamps, this town had once been instrumental in the battle against the ever present, ever looming darkness. The fittings were fine brass, etched, decorated to a high degree. There were no cobwebs, no sign of dust, everything was immaculate. These were ponies that were clinging to their old way of life in much the same way a drowning pony clings to a life preserver, there was a palpable sense of desperation in the air.

Sunset sat down on a somewhat faded blue fainting couch. The slick fabric had lines of darker blue and a soft, smooth corded texture, almost like corduroy. She sighed, feeling impatient, wondering when Bucky would be coming back down. She wanted to get started, something about this place, this house, unsettled her. She drew in another lungful of cool, moist air. Using a waterfall to cool one’s house was clever, Sunset wanted to know more about how the system worked, but she wasn’t here to study waterfalls and cooling methods for fine houses built in swamps.

She watched as Hibiscus passed in front of an open door, a pegasus stallion following along behind her, and the two of them speaking in low, hushed voices. Sunset’s ears perked, she strained to hear what was being said, but all she could hear was indistinct mumbling.

“Lord Buckminster, this way…”

Sunset saw Hibiscus once more through the open doorway and then she saw Bucky’s cloaked form. Bucky seemed to be moving with deliberate slowness, no doubt he was taking everything in, observing details, and piecing everything together. She watched as he entered the room, his face still hidden within the shadows of his hood, his eyes unseen, Hibiscus would have no way of knowing what Bucky was looking at, what he was studying, what secrets that Bucky was trying to uncover. Sunset could hear the faint clicking of Bucky’s claws on the wooden floor.

“If you will excuse me for one moment,” Hibiscus said as she slipped out of the room, leaving both Sunset and Bucky alone together.

Bucky waited, watching, and when Hibiscus was gone, he turned his hooded head towards Sunset Shimmer. “Anything interesting?” he asked in a low, faint whisper.

“They have a unicorn maid,” Sunset replied in her own secretive whisper, “so the unicorns living at the top of the hill aren’t the only ones in town.”

“Hmm.” Bucky sat down on a couch upholstered in fine red and gold fabric, something that Bucky felt that clashed with the blue couch that Sunset was sitting on, but who was he to judge? “This house has many enchantments, poorly done enchantments, simple enchantments, but there is much magic to be found here. For a family of earth ponies, they are well off and must have known some rather magical unicorns.”

“They had ties with House Bitters,” Sunset said, worried about how Bucky was dealing with that particular bit of information.

“Indeed, and it paid off handsomely.” Bucky cleared his throat. “Minion, while the house itself is quite nice, it is quite modest looking on the outside, at least by standards of wealth. That said, the inside, the furnishings… these are quite opulent. These couches, this room, the rooms we are staying in, these are the sorts of surroundings I had as a foal, furniture such as this could be found in my family’s houses.”

“What are you saying, Master?” Sunset asked.

“Think for a moment, Minion,” Bucky replied, speaking in a low, muted whisper. “This raises a few questions. If these ponies are living in hard times now, as they claim, how did they afford all of this? That kind of money tends to endure… so they are wealthier than they let on, which is possible, the other option is all of this was a gift to keep them loyal.”

“Master?” Sunset’s brows furrowed.

“Minion, this an earth pony family and they wanted to compete with the unicorns on the hill. It is entirely reasonable that the agents of the Bitters family brought with them furniture and housewares to secure favour with the local eyes and ears for their business interests. The agents of House Bitters probably brought with them the less desireable furniture that they threw out, the stuff that didn’t meet their standards, and I’m guessing it ended up here… mind you, this is only a guess… supported by the fact that if this family had any sort of real wealth, they could have left by now, moved to another place, taking their finery with them, and establishing themselves in another place. For whatever reason, they have stayed here in the swamp. I strongly suspect that the agents of House Bitters gave these ponies just enough to give them the illusion of wealth, which goes a long way in a backwater like this.”

Scowling, Sunset didn’t care much for what Bucky had to say, disliking it all the more because there was a good chance that he was right. She glanced at the fine paintings on the wall. How hard would it have been for House Bitters to send one of the artists they patroned down here to paint a picture? It would have inflated the ego of any matriarch in charge quite a bit, would have made them feel important, proud, it would have made them feel like earth ponies who had accomplished some great thing, but as Bucky had said, it was probably to keep them loyal to the business interests of House Bitters.

Ears perking, Sunset turned and looked at the doorway. She could hear hooves and a soft, almost inaudible shuffling sound. Hibiscus entered the room, followed by a younger mare, and a third figure, small, foal sized that Sunset could not see because a couch was in the way. The foal was hiding behind the couch and Sunset could hear heavy breathing.

Funny thing was, it sounded as though there were two ponies with heavy breathing.

“Laurel, Lavender, please, come out and say hello to our guests. Be a good filly,” Hibiscus said in a commanding, but gentle voice.

It took every bit of self discipline that Sunset Shimmer had to deal with what she saw. A filly stepped out from behind the couch, her pelt a muted purple pink. The filly had not one, but two heads. She walked with slow, halting steps, shy, fearful, her movements skittish.

One head was normal, the other was stunted and a bit shrunken. It appeared as though two fillies had merged, keeping separate heads but having a merged body. Hanging just below the filly’s left shoulder, two small, twisted, stunted legs dangled. In front of where the legs sprouted, a second neck protruded, thin, scrawny, warped, and the second head hung from the malformed neck like a growth. Looking at the filly, Sunset felt tears welling up in her eyes and all she could feel was pity.

What had done this?

There was a muffled thump, which almost startled Sunset, and she saw that Bucky had slipped down from the couch where he was sitting. Of course Bucky would endear himself to the filly. Sunset felt a hard lump manifest in her throat. “Come here,” she heard Bucky say. Sunset was having some trouble breathing and her eyes stung.

“Oh, there is twice as much of you to love,” Bucky said as he sat down upon the floor.

Almost holding her breath, Sunset watched as the timid filly approached Bucky. Her mane, a dull blue green on both heads, spilled down her necks and bobbed over her face. The second smaller, stunted head snuffled, it was clear there were some breathing problems, no doubt caused by her malformed features.

“Can you tell me your names?” Bucky asked.

“I’m Laurel,” the well developed head said.

“And I’m Lavender,” the stunted head replied, speaking in a somewhat wheezy voice.

“Oh, you are adorable, come here to me.” Bucky tapped the floor in front of him with his hoof.

It was no surprise that the filly went to Bucky, Sunset watched as the two headed filly moved on weak, trembling legs, going to him, and sitting down. She heard Hibiscus gasp, a matron’s worry, and then she saw Bucky’s foreleg wrap around both Laurel and Lavender.

“Don’t be afraid of me,” Bucky said as he reached up with his talons and grabbed his hood.

As Sunset watched, Bucky tugged his hood down, revealing his face, his deformed, scarred, twisted, scaly face. She saw Laurel and Lavender both looking up, there was no sign of fear, of fright, there was only curiousity. She watched as Bucky lowered his head, dropping himself down to eye level of the little filly in front of him. She saw Laurel raise her right leg and touch the withered, scaled side of Bucky’s face.

“So that’s why he wears the hood,” Hibiscus whispered, her voice low, almost fearful, her eyes locked on Bucky.

Sunset Shimmer heard a giggle coming from both Laurel and Lavender as Bucky continued to hold her. He was whispering something to both of them, but she could not make out what Bucky was saying. He was doing what he did for every foal he encountered, making them feel special, worthwhile, building them up. She heard a weak squeal from Lavender, followed by a laugh, and then Bucky scooped them up from the floor in an affectionate hug.

“Lord Bitters, there has been quite a number of foals just like her that have been born. She is the only one that lived. Many births are stillborn. In the past few years, it has become unbearable. There are more deaths than births.” Hibiscus gave Bucky a pleading look.

“There is something I don’t get,” Bucky replied, shaking his head. “Why would anypony cause a curse like this? What would they hope to gain?”

“I don’t know, I can’t even begin to comprehend it myself.” Hibiscus frowned, her eyebrows furrowing. “Necromancers consort with demons, who knows why they do what they do?” The earth pony matron’s stare turned hard and flinty. “About fifty years ago, Plover, who was at the time, Master of Hill House, was burned to death in the town square for necromancy—”

“Was there proof?” Bucky asked, giving Laurel and Lavender a squeeze.

“I don’t know, maybe.” Hibiscus gave Bucky a troubled look. “That was before my time. An angry mob pulled him from his home. He was a wizard who dabbled in strange magics. Earlier in his life, he had done some questionable things, but seeing as how he was the Master of Hill House, he was never made to answer for what he did. Rumours continued to fester. A foal was born with an extra leg and three eyes… members of Plover’s own family turned against him, furious with him, and gave him to the angry mob.”

“Oh my,” Sunset gasped.

“For all we know, some opportunistic family member might have wanted Plover out of the way and the angry mob might have been very convenient.” Bucky’s voice was cold, somewhat sardonic, and his words had the crushing weight of logic about them.

“Given what happened, somepony might be getting revenge for what happened fifty years ago… it is as likely a motive as anything else,” Hibiscus said to Bucky.

“I am not convinced… at least not yet.” Bucky set the filly down on the floor, steadying her, and then with a nudge, sent her teetering off towards Hibiscus. “But that is why we are here, to determine the truth.”

Sunset Shimmer cleared her throat. “Sounds to me that this trouble started over fifty years ago. If said necromancer was the true cause, it seems to me that these troubling signs would have ended with him, but I’m guessing that for the past fifty years, there has been a lot of birth defects. While I do not rule necromancy out, something is going on here, something that goes beyond just one pony.”

Hibiscus frowned, a sour expression on her face, and Sunset Shimmer was forced to wonder if the mare wanted honest justice or just simple revenge. It was obvious that she wanted the residents of Hill House to suffer, the pitiful sight of Laurel and Lavender was all the motivation that Hibiscus needed, but Sunset Shimmer began to suspect that there was a lot more going on. She wondered what Bucky was already no doubt piecing together. She was curious as to what Mask and Fever Cure had found.

From the sounds of things, there was a mystery here to deal with.

Author's Note:

Whodunnit?

Comments

[Longhaul]

Whodunnit?

The butler did it. It's always the butler.

[marcelojj]

In the next chapter of Law and Order: Special Ponies Unit, we´ll fight heavy metal poison, necromancy and family fights !

[Midnight Musashy]

who?
I'm still leaning on it's either the environment, (the comments where very convincing) or something having to do with hibiscus, something strikes me as off about her.

[Dream Seeker]

I have a feeling...
It's genetic birth defects.

[lordofmyth]

A question just came to mind. If there are two minds, does that mean two souls?

If there are two souls, there may be some hope for the filly. for a soul is something more significant than mere flesh.

[kudzuhaiku]

6741947

Always an interesting question when it comes to conjoined twins, isn't it?

[lordofmyth]

6741960 thankfull in a fantasy setting, one could give an answer.

[Spiritus Arcane]

I'm betting old toxic/magical waste dump that has leaked into the groundwater. Probably the reason WHY the Bitters were paying off the town leaders to keep them loyal.

[Quantum_Shift]

6741616
Possibly from rampant inbreeding?

[anunenka]

6742466

Nah. No banjos... yet.

[ChibiChabot]

Great update. Thanks Kudzu.

[Captain Nibbles]

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