Life on the Murder Scene

by The Red Parade

Octavia (So Long and Good Night)

Funerals are fucking stupid. Thank Celestia I won’t be alive to see my own.

I take a puff of my cigarette, watching as the smoke drifts out my mouth and into the dry desert air. In front of us, a crowd of mourners gathered around a coffin—a stain of black in a sea of green.

Grass is fucking stupid. Only place it’s good for is a baseball outfield. It sure as hell doesn’t belong in the desert. But for some fucking reason, they decided to put a grass fucking field in a cemetery.

The pastor’s voice is mostly lost in the wind, but I still hear bits and pieces of his spiel. Asking that Luna guide the soul to safety, or some crap like that. I never believed in, and neither did he.

“Raindrops, dear, are you alright?”

My ear twitches at the voice, and I grimace. “Yeah, I’m fan-fuckin-tastic, Tavi. Absolutely aces. Couldn't be better.”

She sighs. “If you’re going to speak, be a dear and at least face me.”

I stick the cigarette back in my mouth and turn to look at her for the first time. Octavia’s wearing a black suit coat with a pink bow tie—makes her fit right in with the rest of the mourners, although she doesn’t seem too bothered by the heat. Don’t know how she pulls it off. Then again, I don’t know anything about her anymore. She takes off her sunglasses, her purple eyes boring a hole into me.

I snort. “That shit doesn’t work anymore, Tavi.”

She lets out a low ‘hm.’

Something nudges me from my right. I flinch and turn. Apple Fritter frowns at me. She hates it when I swear. Too fucking bad, I think. I don’t say it though. “Look, Fritty, I’m fine.”

Apple Fritter raises an eyebrow. Unlike Octavia, she’s just wearing her usual work clothes coupled with a white stetson. I don’t even know if she owns any formal clothes.

Fritter keeps giving me a weird look though. I sigh. “What? What do you want me to say?”

“Raindrops, she’s merely concerned, as am I,” Octavia says. “I know that Fading’s friendship meant a lot to you.”

He hated that name. Almost as much as I hate mine. “Yeah, sure.”

Apple Fritter shakes her head. She starts waving her hooves through the air—Equestrian Sign Language. I raise an eyebrow as I watch her hooves flail around. I know a few words from hanging out with her, but she’s still moving too quickly for me to keep up.

Octavia nods and signs something back. They go back and forth for a few seconds, leaving me clueless. I grunt and flick my tail. “Talking behind my back? You wound me. I’m right here, you know.”

“Yes, dear,” Octavia says flatly. She flashes a few more signs at Apple Fritter before turning her attention back to me. “We’re just concerned for you, that’s all.”

I squeeze my eyes shut and let out a hiss. “I know, I know.” She’s right; they’re looking out for me. It’s not fair to take all this out on them. I’m still fucking pissed, though.

When I open my eyes, Apple Fritter’s reaching into her saddlebags. She pulls out her blackboard and a piece of chalk and scrawls out a message. “Don’t lie. You’re not okay.”

Ouch. Apple Fritter might be a mute, but damned if she isn’t observant. “Who the fuck are you to decide that?”

Octavia puts a hoof on my shoulder. “Raindrops, this isn’t about making us happy. We know you. Stop deflecting and tell us what’s wrong.”

I take a puff of my cigarette again. “There’s nothing wrong! One of my best friends is dead, okay? Excuse me for having a hard time dealing with this. And wait, since when did you give a shit about my life? I don’t know what the fuck you even do nowadays.”

“And why should that matter?” Octavia shoots back.

“Yeah? Now look who’s deflecting,” I spit back. “Fucking hypocrite.”

“What is your problem?” writes Fritter.

I sigh, taking another puff of my cigarette. “No. There’s no problem. Just trying to process why one of my friends was shot to fucking death in an alleway outside a convenience store.”

“You’re upset. I understand,” Octavia replies.

“Well, aren’t you a mare of many deductions. How long did it take you to figure that one out?” She doesn’t understand. Nopony else can. It’s not that Fading Light was my friend. It’s not that I have nothing to my name and nothing to live for. It’s that if anything, I was supposed to die before him, because he was someone and I was no one.

I spent a lot of time talking to Fading. He had a wife and a daughter. Me? I’ve got no family that gives a shit about me, nopony who relies on me, and no reason to keep living. I should have died. Not him. Never him. “Fucking useless,” I mutter.

Apple Fritter’s ears fold down. My own ears twitch, like they wanted to follow hers. “Look, I know you guys are just trying to help. Thanks for that. I just… need to figure out how to deal with this.”

Octavia nods, though her eyebrow stays raised. “Of course. And should you ever need us, we’re here.”

I manage to give them a smile. “Yeah. Thanks.” Even as I say those words I feel something brewing inside of me.

She takes a deep breath and glances at the sky. “Well, I suppose we should get going. Will you be staying for a while longer?”

“Yeah. Probably.”

“Very well. So long then, Raindrops,” Octavia says.

“Good night,” I answer. I watch as they walk away and turn back to the grave. I walk towards it, not making eye contact with anypony. Most of the mourners are dispersing now, anyway. The smile slips away from my face.

I find a unicorn mare standing next to the grave, wearing a black dress and veil. Underneath the dress, her body’s wrapped in bandages. Guiding Light is a widow now. She looks up as I approach.

Guiding dries her eyes with the back of her hoof. “Raindrops,” she croaks, her voice hoarse. “I was wondering if you’d come.”

“Yeah. I wasn’t sure myself,” I reply.

Guiding nods. “I guess you’re going to need a new drinking buddy,” she offers.

I chuckle at that. “I guess so. It’s gonna be hard to find someone else who can keep up with me though… I’m really sorry, Guiding.”

She sighs and falls silent for a bit.

I have to pick my next words carefully. “Guiding… can you tell me what happened?”

Guiding wipes her eyes again and gives me a small, knowing smile. “No, Raindrops. I know what you’re thinking. The Marshal’s Office is already carrying out their investigation. I’d prefer to let them handle it.”

“Look, Guiding, I like those guys, but you and I both know how busy they are,” I argue. “Think about all the crap they’re up against. Vultures, Foundry, those Cactus Brigade fuckers. They’re overworked as is.” Guiding hesitates, and I take my chance. “Please, Guiding. Let me do this. For Fading.”

Guiding bites her lip, and her eyes flicker to the grave. She’s conflicted. I start to regret pushing her like this, but I shove it aside. I need to do this.

“We were on our way home from the theater,” Guiding says in a quiet voice. “A group of ponies cornered us in the parking lot. Said something about getting revenge and how nopony disrespected the Vultures. Fading tried to calm them down, but then one of them tried to grab Bright…” her eyes flick to a young foal, hugging a stallion in a suit and crying. “That’s when Fading lost it. He drew his pistol and they… they…”

Guiding’s voice breaks as tears start streaming down her face again. I flinch, my eyes darting around for a few seconds, before my shaky hoof pats her on the back. Thankfully, somepony else—somepony more skilled at dealing with this sort of thing—notices and comes over to comfort her.

“I… didn’t get a good look at the attacker,” she chokes out. “They… said something about not disrespecting Dogma. That’s all I know.” She sobs into the blue pegasus’s chest. The pegasus glares at me and starts to lead her off.

As she leaves, she looks up at me. “Raindrops… please don’t do it. It won’t bring him back.”

I nod and watch as she’s taken away from the grave. I take the cigarette out of my mouth and toss it on the grass, stomping it out. I’ve heard the name Dogma before. Some high-ranking Vulture who runs the streets like it’s his own damn yard.

I look at the grave one last time and tip my hat at it. “So long, Faders. Good night.”

I spread my wings and take off into the sky, mulling on what Guiding said.

Somepony murdered Fading Light. I’m going to find them, then I’m going to fucking kill them.

Comments

[Vis-a-Viscera]

And so the hunt is afoot.

I do love seeing how Killjoy's mind tunnels to the task; good story start, Red.

[Silent Whisper]

HECK YES! I've been waiting for this story to post! It's really really good! Get HYPED everyone!!! We're in for a great ride!

[wishcometrue]

Funerals are fucking stupid. Thank Celestia I won’t be alive to see my own.

Starting off with a bang, huh? These two sentences give us such a good look into Raindrop's character as well as her emotional state, as well as establishing the setting of this chapter. Just. So good.

Yeah, this is really good, Red. I'm already dying to see what comes next.

[The Red Parade]

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Thanks guys! ^^

Couldn't have done this without your help!

[Snow Quill]

As someone who naturally curses a lot, this is fantastic. I love Raindrops character and the allusion of gang war stuff? Oooh, I’m excited for this

[Revluc_The_Pony]

Geez...Scary!