Town of Ponyville

by Reeve

Day 2

Day 2

I really should have seen this coming…

How lucky of me, to be taken in by such nice ponies and welcomed into such a pleasant, peaceful town, the kind of place where nothing bad ever happens. Of course something bad was going to happen, but for a pony to be murdered…

I’m still very shaken up by it, even now. I suppose it all started when Fluttershy came to visit me this morning, I had expected her to be here before I was even awake, she had said yesterday that she would check in on me as early as possible. I wasn’t too put off, she probably had plenty of other responsibilities, so I decided to curl up in the armchair with one of the books the librarian lent me while I waited.

When she finally did arrive near midday, I was horrified to see her in tears. She could barely get the words out, but when she finally did I suddenly felt very empty. I never did meet the other lookout who helped me the night I was discovered, I never got a chance to thank him for what he and Soarin did, and now it seemed I never would.

Thunderlane was dead, found brutally murdered in his home. Fluttershy was distraught while I was merely in shock, but we both snapped out of it when the Sheriff arrived at my door. I shouldn’t have been surprised that I would be her first suspect, after all a new mare appears in town and suddenly a stallion dies, I know who I would interrogate had I been in her shoes. She seemed fair enough about the accusation, and Fluttershy stuck up for me the whole time. Eventually the sheriff, Rainbow Dash, decided to drop the questioning, I could tell the whole incident was weighing down hard on her, she did work with the victim after all, they might have been friends.

Rainbow Dash informed us that there was going to be a town meeting in the square, and everypony was expected to attend, even me. Of course I obliged, Fluttershy wasn’t happy about it, believing I shouldn’t be out and about so soon after my injury, but I was already feeling much better and I didn’t want to make myself anymore of a suspect in the townsfolks eyes by opting not to show up.

Turns out the town meeting amounted to little more than a lynch mob on a witch hunt. Rainbow Dash briefly addressed the town, informing them of the facts of the case, how Thunderlane was killed at unknown hours of the morning and that the killer used a knife. The Mayor tried to keep the resulting discussion as ordered as possible, but everypony was content enough to start shouting over one another, desperately declaring their own innocence while firing baseless accusations at each other. I was occasionally dragged into the shouting match, several ponies, none of whom I’d encountered up to that point, accusing me of doing the terrible deed.

Rainbow Dash was decent enough however to tell them off, making it very clear to everypony that she had already spoken to me and found no evidence to suggest that I was responsible. It didn’t help my case that the pony from yesterday, Pinkie Pie, kept whispering benign things to me. Anytime she did, I could see ponies throwing suspicious looks our way. Eventually the Mayor decided to call an end to the ‘town meeting’ after Rainbow Dash strongly suggested we weren’t getting anywhere. Fluttershy and I were just about to leave, wanting nothing more than to get back to the flat and gather our thoughts, when we were approached by two ponies.

They were both earth ponies, a large stallion wearing a yoke and chewing on a stalk of wheat, and a younger mare wearing a Stetson. The younger one introduced herself as Applejack, and her brother Big McIntosh, I was worried she was going to start accusing me of being the murderer, but she didn’t even hint at it. Indeed she was very polite, commenting on my injury and welcoming me to the town. I was a little confused as to why she felt the need to do so when their appeared to be more pressing matters, especially when I noticed Fluttershy trembling slightly beside me.

It was almost as if she was assessing me through small talk, it was a wee bit eerie, particularly as her brother never spoke. She finally broke off the conversation, claiming that she needed to go have a word with the Mayor. I was about to ask Fluttershy what that was all about, but she just shushed me and hurried me back to the flat. I tried again to press her for details, but she just said that I should watch myself around Applejack and her family. First she had warned me against Pinkie Pie, and now Applejack, it feels like there’s a lot more to this town that I’m not aware of.

I didn’t leave the house after that, and besides another couple of visits from Fluttershy I was alone the rest of the day. I tried to do a bit of reading, but I was too distracted by the day’s events. I even tried to meditate and remember back to a time before I was found near the forest, to whatever events led me to be here in the first place, all to no avail. Hopefully tomorrow will be better…

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Diary of Applejack

Wednesday 9th November

Well this is a fine start to my new job. For generations the Apple Family has been in charge of Ponyville, for generations there has never been a pony foolish enough to commit a crime as grievous as murder for fear of what they would suffer at our hands. That time appears to have come to an end it seems, and now as the Matriarch it is my responsibility to see to it that this killer is found and made aware that the only pony in this town who decides when others die is me!

Thunderlane was the victim, one of the town lookouts. A real shame, because unlike Soarin we were always able to bribe him to turn a blind eye to some of our activities. It was Applebloom who told me of the incident, she found out about it when she went into town to work the stall and immediately rushed back to tell me. Of course I hurried over to the scene of the crime to see what I could find out, but naturally Rainbow Dash was already there and had the whole place cordoned off.

I decided I would have to back off, no doubt she would be looking for a way to pin this on me and I wasn’t about to help her with that by snooping around the crime scene. I had to work fast, contacting as many of associates as I could in as little time as possible, I had to make sure that none of my ponies were responsible for this. By the time the Mayor was calling a town meeting, I was content in the knowledge that this was indeed the work of some lone killer.

The town meeting proceeded as predictably as you’d expect in a town like this, Rainbow Dash gave a little information on the nature of the crime and then everyone exploded into frantic yelling. I was content to just wait it out, but Spring Cushion, the pony who owns Quills and Sofas, was very foolish when he shouted my name in the same sentence as the word ‘killer’. Of course a look from yours truly was enough to silence him. Still, I’ll have to send Mac his way tonight, make sure he doesn’t make that mistake again.

When the meeting was called to an end, when anypony with a brain finally got sick and tired of wasting their time, I decided then would be a perfect opportunity to meet this new mare. It seemed especially prudent as quite a few ponies seemed to suspect her of doing the deed during the meeting, but truth be told, as I spoke to her I saw nothing in her that really screamed ‘murderer’ at me. Her doctor quietly mentioned that the girl had no memories, and I think I believe that. I was satisfied to leave her be, I had to run and see the Mayor, make sure she knew that the Family was in no way responsible for what happened.

If Dash does try to pin this on me, and she will, I’m going to need the Mayor’s backing, lest we see the old town gallows being brought out. Besides the day’s events, business is proceeding as it usually does, Flam should be taking care of the Berry Punch job tonight. As for the killer, we’ll keep our ears to the ground, if our dear sheriff can’t catch them we most certainly will.

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Diary of Rainbow Dash

Wednesday 9th November

I can’t believe it; Thunderlane is dead, murdered…

Seriously, the words are right there in front of me and I can’t believe it. I woke up this morning, sure it was going to be a good day, I’d get some work done, make some progress in our fight against the Family. Hopefully I’d be done in time that I could go out for the night with Soarin, try to make up for how distracted I’ve been these last few weeks… or, months. Of course things didn’t work out that way.

I was only in the office a few minutes when Thunderlane’s neighbour charged in, tears streaming down her face. It took a while to get her to explain what had happened, but once she did I flew straight over to his house, and sure enough there he was…

I tried to deal with the whole thing as professionally as I could, but… it was difficult. I’d known Thunderlane for years, true I wasn’t as close with him as Soarin was, but we were still friends. Fleetfoot handled it alright, she always was the toughest of us, but Soarin fell apart when he found out. I tried to be there for him, but I didn’t know what I could say that would make it better. I told him to go home, told him we would take care of the investigation, I didn’t like it but somepony had to.

I wanted so much to believe that it was Applejack’s doing, I even tried to convince myself that was the case, but try as I might I knew full well it had nothing to do with her or her Family. They may be criminals, but they very rarely took lives, and when they did it was always far cleaner than what was done to Thunderlane. When we got everything we could from the crime scene, I went to Fluttershy’s flat. It was Fleetfoot who suggested the possibility, and I knew she was right, if anypony outside the Family was a suspect in this crime, it was the new Mare.

I didn’t like having to accuse her, she seemed nice enough, and Fluttershy definitely believed she wasn’t capable of doing such a thing. I decided to let it go for that moment, although I later instructed Fleetfoot to bring her in tonight for some more questioning, just to be sure. I had hoped my first meeting with her after she was up and about would have been under better circumstances.

Anyway, the Mayor was calling a town meeting, so when my talk with the mare was over we all headed over to the town square. As sheriff it was my job to relay the facts of the case to the town… before they all began squabbling among themselves. It was a complete waste of time, but then I expected as much, this is what happens when the Mayor calls a town meeting on a whim before I’ve even finished my investigation. I did notice Pinkie Pie whispering to the new pony quite a bit, luckily Scootaloo was close enough to overhear them and she told me later that they weren’t saying anything of interest, just Pinkie Pie being Pinkie Pie.

When all was said and done and everypony went home, I went back to the office with Fleetfoot. I asked her to carry on looking into the murder while I tried to make up lost ground on the fight against the Family. She wasn’t happy, I could tell, but she didn’t argue. I knew then I wasn’t going to be making up lost ground with Soarin that day either. When I finally did get home near midnight, he was getting ready to head out. I tried to tell him he should take the night off, but he insisted, I guess it was just his way of coping. I didn’t know what else I could do but let him, so I suggested he watch Berry Punch’s house and let him go.

It’s weird, I didn’t even realise how empty our bed has been feeling these last few weeks without him. Between trying to bring down the Family and Soarin’s night shifts as lookout, I can’t even remember the last time we were really together. I have to make this up to him somehow, when this job is behind us I swear I’ll make things right between us, I owe him that for how patient he’s been with me.

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Diary of Filthy Rich

Wednesday 9th November

Today has been a good day, not many ponies see it that way, but where others see tragedy I see opportunity, and opportunity to finally make Applejack pay for everything she’s done to me.

Poor Spring Cushion will probably not see many more sunrises, speaking out like that. The fool should have been patient like me; you can’t just shout a baseless accusation and hope everypony goes along with it. You need to cultivate the seeds of mistrust, let them grow big and strong before you attempt to reap the rewards. The Apple Family are notorious, everypony is thinking it, even if only one pony was foolish enough to say it, if there’s anyone behind Thunderlane’s murder it’s them.

But one death is not enough, and that’s where Spring Cushion comes in. Poor fellow, didn’t even realise he was volunteering himself. Applejack will of course send her lackey Big Mac to break his knees or cut out his tongue, that’s where my opportunity lies. At long last, after years of toiling away in poverty, I will be able to exact revenge on Applejack for ruining my business and driving away my family.

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Diary of Sweetie Belle

Wednesday 9th November

What an awful day, that nice stallion, Thunderlane died today. Everypony is saying he was murdered, but that just can’t be the case, it had to be some kind of accident or drunken argument. I tried talking to Rarity about it, but she barely pays any attention to me, even now when we haven’t seen each other in so long. These past couple of days she seems really distracted, and I don’t think it’s just with her work like it used to be, I wonder if something happened while I was away in Canterlot.

There was a town meeting today, but it didn’t amount to much. I think the Mayor was hoping the pony responsible would confess or somepony would present some unquestionable piece of evidence. No such luck if that was the intention, all it…

...

Sorry I stepped away for a bit, I thought I heard my sister calling me but turns out she’s fast asleep. It must have been my imagination. Anyway, I’m hoping I can meet up with Applebloom and Scootaloo again tomorrow, I’ve missed them so much since I left and I want to get in as many days with them as I can before I have to head back.

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Diary of Cheerilee

Wednesday 9th November

An awful incident occurred today, one of the town lookouts was found murdered in his house this morning. I tried asking Scootaloo about it, I was terrified this had something to do with the work she was doing with Rainbow Dash. She said she didn’t know anything about it however, I hope she’s being honest with me, even after all these years I never know if she really trusts me or not. I swore I wouldn’t interfere with Scootaloo’s life too much, but I might have to have a word with Rainbow Dash tomorrow, make sure she isn’t getting her into anything too dangerous.

School was of course cancelled today what with the obligatory town meeting, although considering what a waste of time it was, the children would have had their time better spent learning something rather than listening to a bunch of grown-ups arguing and accusing one another. I spoke to the Mayor after and tried to reason with her that the foals shouldn’t be expected to attend a town meeting about such a sensitive subject.

She did agree with me and made it clear that they wouldn’t be expected to attend again in future, but they still might as well get the day off school since I as their teacher would be expected to attend. I told her that was fine, but that I hoped we wouldn’t ever have to attend such a meeting again. Seriously, there’s something wrong with a Mayor who puts more thought into what to do after a murder has occurred rather than preventing them from occurring to begin with.

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Diary of Mayor Mare

Wednesday 9th November

Well today has been just hectic, first I had to hold a town meeting because somepony went and murdered Thunderlane, then I had to spend the rest of the day trying to deal with the dozens of ponies who weren’t satisfied enough to leave the running of the town and the investigation in my hooves. All time that could have been better spent doing… I don’t know, but I refuse to believe that as the Mayor I should really be expected to listen to everypony’s petty concerns.

Well Applejack did pay me a little visit, just making sure that we were still friends and that there was no doubt in my mind that her Family had nothing to do with today’s messy little incident. She even contributed greatly to my holiday fund, such a nice mare! I’d like to have told everypony that our faithful sheriff had everything under control, but honestly I don’t trust her to catch any killers that don’t have an apple themed cutie mark, seriously the mare is hell bent on opposing Applejack.

Obviously I have no faith in a mare such as her, so I sent a little letter to Canterlot this afternoon asking them to send a real investigator down. They were very quick with their reply, which I do like; apparently the chap will be here tomorrow morning. Now that’s efficiency that our sheriff could learn a thing or two from.

I have complete faith that this nasty matter will be sorted out quickly enough and ponies will stop badgering me over such benign issues, then maybe I’ll be able to fit an appointment with the travel agent into my busy schedule.