27: Investigation
"I'm coming, for Celestia's sake!" Vinyl shouted as she slowly trudged down the stairs to answer her door. Grumbling in annoyance that it was probably some salespony who didn't understand that just because the sun was beginning to rise didn't mean that everypony was now awake, Vinyl finally reached the front door and flung it open. Before she could scold the pony knocking on her door her eyes went wide as she saw the group of ponies standing outside her house; Twilight, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Spike, Nightshade, Big Mac, and Granny Smith. "Uh... what's up?"
"Vinyl, did Starshadow, Starsong, and Applejack come here after Starshadow's concert last night?" Twilight asked anxiously.
Vinyl shook her head no. "I thought she was going back to the farm afterwards." she said, a yawn finding its way out once she was done speaking.
The group looked around at each other worriedly. "Well, now what? This is the only other place we could think of that they would be." Rainbow Dash said.
Twilight looked uneasy as she stated aloud what everypony was afraid of acknowledging. "So nopony has heard from those three since they left the night club last night." she said in despair. "Vinyl, can you think of any other place that Starshadow may have gone instead of here or Sweet Apple Acres?"
Vinyl thought for a moment before shrugging. "Maybe one or two places if she was alone, but with Applejack and Starsong with her, no. No offense to her, but Starsong can kinda be a buzzkill. Lemme go ask Octavia."
Dashing back inside, everypony waiting outside heard Vinyl yell "Tavi, wake up!" as she charged upstairs to wake up her friend. It only took a few minutes for Vinyl to come back down smiling triumphantly as Octavia came stumbling down to the front door like Vinyl had just moments ago.
"What can I do for you all?" Octavia asked sleepily, rubbing her eyes as she adjusted to the early morning sunlight.
"You don't know anyplace that Starshadow would take Starsong and Applejack, do you? They never returned home after Starshadow's concert last night." Twilight said.
Octavia shrugged, causing Rainbow Dash to flap her wings in frustration and throw up her hooves. "Then what are we all doing waiting around here for? We should get out and look for them!" she said impatiently.
Big Mac, Rarity, Pinkie, and even Fluttershy nodded their heads in agreement. "You're right, we should start searching Ponyville for them." Twilight consented. "We should split up in pairs and each search a different part of town."
"Fluttershy and I will fly over the Everfree Forest." Dash volunteered. Before Fluttershy could raise any objections she found herself being pulled away by Rainbow Dash, the shy pegasus only able to let out a small whimper before they both disappeared from sight.
"Ooh, ooh! Rarity and I can look around town and see if anypony has seen those three!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed. "Come on, let's go! This way!"
"Ahem, yes, let's. Just try not to get distracted by anything this time. You remember the last time you dragged me out looking for something you lost, we ended up in Appleoosa with a crate full of chicken feathers." Rarity said, following the bouncing pink party pony.
Twilight shook her head, knowing all too well that something in town would end up sidetracking Pinkie and Rarity. "Spike, why don't you and Granny Smith also go around town and ask if anypony has seen them. Big Mac and I will search the roads and see if we can find any clues."
Spike and Granny Smith nodded and headed off as Octavia and Vinyl stepped forward. "That's a lot of ground for you two to cover. We'll help also." Octavia offered, Vinyl nodding sternly.
Twilight smiled at their offer. "Thank you."
Not to be left out, Nightshade coughed to remind Twilight that she was still there, but receiving no acknowledgement she decided to speak up. "Princess, where would you like me to search?" she asked dutifully.
"Why don't you head back to the library and get some rest? You've been up all night and still need time to recover from your wounds." Twilight said, but her words did not sit well with Nightshade as she shook her head no defiantly.
"Princess, with all due respect, you need me out helping look for these missing ponies, especially with the threat still out there." Nightshade said.
"I'm sorry, Nightshade, but you need to rest. Besides, we have everything covered, right Big Mac?" Twilight replied.
Big Mac thought a moment and realized there was one thing he had neglected. "Well..." he started to say.
Jumping at the chance, any chance, to be able to avoid being stuck inside while everypony else was out looking, Nightshade bowed in front of Big Mac. "Anything, whatever you need I'll do it!"
"Well... Apple Bloom an' her friends need somepony to keep an eye on 'em."
Nightshade almost fell over from the shock of the request. "You... I'm not a foalsitter!" she said, somewhat insulted that a bodyguard of her level was being asked to watch three fillies.
Twilight looked at Nightshade sternly. "It's either that or stay in bed at the library, but I can't have you out running around Ponyville in your condition." she said.
Nightshade sat down on the ground, her face actually pale as she weighed her two options. Finally, she made up her mind. "I'll watch the foals." she huffed, thinking that that option would be the lesser of two evils.
Twilight nodded. "Okay, be sure to keep them inside for their safety and so you can rest, and do your best to keep them occupied. I'll meet up with you there once we're done looking."
Nightshade nodded in defeat, using most of her remaining energy to teleport herself to Sweet Apple Acres as to not give herself time to think about disobeying Twilight's orders and search for the three missing mares by herself. Satisfied, Twilight turned back to Octavia and Vinyl. "Sorry about that. Okay, let's all go to the club where Starshadow was playing and try to retrace their steps. Big Mac, you said there are two likely routes they took home, right?"
"Eeyup."
"Alright, we'll split into pairs and look for any clues. Let's meet up back at Sweet Apple Acres, hopefully we'll have some sort of lead by then." Twilight said. "Big Mac, you and Vinyl know Starshadow better than anypony here, why don't you two take the main road to Sweet Apple Acres, maybe you two will see something that may have caused them to get sidetracked. Octavia and I will make our way up the back road to the farm."
The other three ponies nodded and split up, headed to their respective areas to search with their partners. Not wanting to chance missing any clues, Twilight and Octavia took their time searching the seldom-used dirt road that led south before looping back around to Sweet Apple Acres. The two mares didn't know each other very well besides seeing the other around town occasionally, so their searching was done mostly in silence.
Due to it still being too early for most ponies to be awake, Twilight and Octavia were surprised to come across two colts on the small road. Even with their backs turned to the two mares, Twilight recognized them as Snips and Snails, and with curiosity Twilight stopped to try to see what the two were bent over and looking at so intently. Though still a few dozen feet away, she could hear the two talking excitedly about some movie...
Octavia, however, continued forward and called out to the two colts. "Excuse me, young sirs, you haven't seen..." she started to say.
Octavia's voice caused Snips and Snails to jump up in surprise, and before Octavia or Twilight could try to calm the two down the colts dashed off into the woods as fast as they could, dropping the item they were looking at so intently just seconds ago.
Octavia turned back to Twilight sheepishly. "I was just going to ask them if they've seen Starsong and the others." she said.
"Don't worry about it." Twilight said. "I'm sure we just caught them off guard."
Curious to see what the two colts had been looking at, Octavia walked over to the object and made a disgusted face as she caught a glimpse of a stallion's cock on the cover. "T-they were looking at an adult movie!" she said, quickly turning away in disgust. "Ugh, who knows what diseases and filth that thing has passed on to those colts."
Twilight couldn't help but laugh. "Octavia, it's just a movie. Yes, those two should definitely not be looking at it, but it's not like the disc or case is contaminated with anything you need to worry about."
Octavia thought about Twilight's words for a few moments before realizing what Twilight said was true. "I guess you're right, but it's still disgusting." she said.
"That it is. We should probably destroy it so nopony else stumbles across it, especially another foal." Twilight agreed. Picking up the porn tape with her magic, Twilight was about to set it on fire to destroy it when Octavia suddenly reached out and grabbed the movie case, her eyes wide with shock.
Confused at the sudden change in mind, Twilight could only look in bewilderment as Octavia continued to stare at it. "Octavia, what in Celestia's name are you doing?" she asked, unable to accept that Octavia could secretly be interested in porn. However, as Twilight took a few steps closer she saw the same thing Octavia had seen. On the cover of the disc case was Vinyl Scratch, who had a stallion's cock in one hoof while she licked at the rod that Octavia had just glimpsed before. The words 'DP The DJ' emblazoned at the top further confirmed that it was indeed a porn tape starring Vinyl, and the copyright date tucked in one of the corners let them both know that this film was a very recent release.
"I... I didn't know she did this kind of stuff." Twilight said softly, but when she finally looked over at Octavia she saw that tears were pouring down the earth pony's face. "Octavia, what's wrong?" she asked.
Octavia could only turn to face Twilight for a brief moment. "I'm sorry, I tried, but I can't be with her." she said cryptically before she ran off back towards Ponyville.
Confused, Twilight gave chase. "Octavia, wait!" she called out, chasing the mare back to town. In her haste to catch up to Octavia, she dropped the movie case back on the ground, forgetting all about destroying it like she had planned just moments before.
She also forgot that they were supposed to be searching for three ponies.
Caw
Caaw caw
"Git outta here, stupid crow." Applejack mumbled, feebly trying to swat away the annoying blackbird that was somewhere nearby. She tried opening her eyes to see where exactly the crow was, but she quickly shut her eyes again as the morning sunlight blinded her and hurt her.
Groaning and rolling over, she felt a fallen tree branch poking into her side. Her mind worked sluggishly to register the pain and to figure out why there was something painfully poking her while she was in bed, and after a substantial amount of time AJ finally began to recall the events that occurred last night.
"Hnng... Sta-Starshadow? Stars... Starsong?" she weakly called out, finally rolling back the other way to move away from the branch. Cracking open her eyes once more, she made sure to let her still sensitive eyes adjust to the sunlight before daring to open them further. Once her eyes were finally open, she quickly regretted her decision to try to see her surroundings as the biggest headache she had ever felt began to make itself known.
"Gosh darnit, rrg!" she growled in annoyance, rubbing her aching head while trying to blink away the blurriness that was blocking her vision. Starting to become impatient with her disabilities, Applejack took a slow, deep breath. "Quit yer complainin', AJ. Ya'll have gotten through worse." she said before opening her eyes all the way and standing up.
She managed to stand on all four legs for a brief four seconds before crashing back down onto the ground. As she struggled back to her hooves her body finally began to feel the full amount of pain she was in; a hammering headache that was accompanied by a severely tender spot on the right side of her head where she had been struck, her body ached all over from being thrown into the shallow ditch on the side of the road, and her mind was still foggy from being forced to ingest the two hoofies. However, her own health was immediately pushed out of her head as she spotted the body of Starsong lying twenty feet away from her. Ignoring the pain in her head and aching body AJ slowly made her way over to Starsong, half walking and half crawling the short distance, though it seemed like miles. Finally reaching her fallen friend, Applejack was horrified to find that Starsong was still unconscious and barely breathing.
AJ's ears twitched as she thought she heard somepony running off in the distance, and her eyes widened as she heard a familiar voice shout out in the distance; "Octavia, wait!"
"Twi?" Applejack tried to call out, but her voice cracked, causing her to cough. By the time her throat was clear she could no longer hear Twilight's hoofsteps. "Twilight, help!" AJ called out, but she knew it was too little, too late. Applejack's heart felt like it had been shattered as she looked back down at Starsong, the poor unicorn mare seemingly on the brink of death.
"Ooh, ooh! Rarity, over here! Look at this!"
Rarity sighed dramatically for possibly the millionth time as she followed the energetic pink pony. "Pinkie, we've walked back and forth across town a dozen times now easily. Are you sure you're on the right track to finding Applejack and the others?"
Pinkie stopped abruptly, causing Rarity to walk right into her flank. "We're looking for who?"
Rarity couldn't believe her ears. "We're supposed to be looking for Applejack, Starshadow, and Starsong!" she said, trying her best to stay calm.
"Ohhhh... whoopsie, I forgot." Pinkie admitted. "I thought we were looking for yummy things to put on cakes."
Rarity stuttered as she tried to suppress the urge to wring Pinkie's neck, but just as she was about to lose control she saw Octavia running back towards her home, the earth pony in tears. Seconds later, Twilight came running up to them. "Girls, did you see Octavia just now?" she gasped in between breaths.
Rarity pointed in the direction of Vinyl's house. "She ran past here just now, just as I was reminding a certain SOMEPONY we're supposed to be looking for our friends." she said, glaring at Pinkie Pie.
Twilight groaned. "Oh Celestia, I forgot we now have nopony to search that road now."
"Well, why don't we go search your area while Pinkie goes to take care of Octavia?" Rarity suggested. "It definitely looked like the poor mare could use some cheering up, and Pinkie is the pony best fit for the job. So long as she doesn't forget what she's supposed to do halfway there..."
Too anxious to inquire more about what the last sentence meant, Twilight agreed to the idea and ran off with Rarity while Pinkie Pie made her way to Vinyl's house. Once they had returned to the path, Rarity and Twilight began carefully making their way towards Applejack's farm once again, but as they neared the spot where Twilight and Octavia had found a certain item both mares heard somepony calling to them from above. Looking up, they saw Rainbow Dash streaking towards them, Fluttershy trailing a few yards behind. Both pegasi landed in front of their friends, Rainbow Dash looking a little concerned.
"Is this seriously how far you two have gotten? And Big Mac said you were paired up with Octavia, not Rarity." Dash said slightly confused.
"It's a long story, but yeah, we just managed to resume looking." Twilight admitted. "Did Big Mac and Vinyl already finish searching their area?"
"Um, Twilight..."
"Nah, we finished looking in our area and were flying back to Sweet Apple Acres when we saw Vinyl and Big Mac, and they said you were looking around this road but would probably be done by now since it's so much shorter." Rainbow Dash said. "Now, I know I'm by far the fastest pony in Equestria and all, but even Fluttershy would have been done by now. What gives?"
"Twilight?"
"We ran into another problem. Pinkie's back in Ponyville with Octavia trying to cheer her up, and Rarity and I just started searching again." Twilight explained.
"Twilight..." Fluttershy said again, slightly raising her voice while tugging on Twilight's tail.
Twilight sighed heavily. "Don't tell me you're going to complain about our slow progress also." she said, rolling her eyes. "Octavia was really upset over it."
"No, it's not that. Um, I think I saw something over there." Fluttershy said, pointing down the road towards AJ's farm. Just a few hundred feet from where the four mares were standing was a sharp bend in the road, and as they walked closer to the area Fluttershy pointed to what she had seen; Applejack's hat.
Rarity surrounded the headpiece with her magic and meticulously shook it free from dirt. "What? I can't let her trademark accessory get dirty if I can help it." she said as the others looked at her.
Their attention was quickly turned to the dirt road where obvious signs of something heavy being dragged along the road was evident. "It looks like one of them may have been injured." Fluttershy said.
All four mares felt their guts wrench slightly at the thought of their friends lying helplessly on the ground, and without any further words Rainbow Dash took off and flew down the road as fast as she could. The rainbow pegasus rounded the corner and disappeared from sight, but mere seconds later her voice rang out in panic. "Twilight, Rarity, Fluttershy! Get over here now!"
The three remaining ponies raced in the direction of Rainbow's voice and let out a collective gasp at the scene in front of them. Rainbow Dash was standing over Applejack and Starsong, the rainbow pony crying helplessly. Starsong was still unconscious and Applejack seemed to be fading in and out of consciousness, but it was clear that AJ had been attempting to drag the drugged unicorn back to the safety of her farm.
Before Twilight or Rarity could react, Fluttershy rushed over to the two fallen ponies, and in a surprising show of strength she managed to hold back her own tears while she gently inspected the two. She sighed with relief when Applejack reacted to being touched and even managed to mumble something, but her concern grew when she began to look over Starsong. As Twilight slowly approached to offer any help, Fluttershy announced something very troubling.
"We need to get Starsong to the hospital quickly. She's barely breathing and I can barely feel her pulse." she said.
Twilight thought for a few moments, trying to figure out a solution; they were quite a ways away from the hospital, and none of the ponies here were strong enough to carry Starsong on their own. Plus they couldn't leave Applejack behind alone as there was still serious concern for her health. Finally, Twilight's eyes lit up as she found a solution that offered the most hope. "Rainbow Dash, you and I will get Starsong to the Ponyville Hospital while Fluttershy finds Big Mac. He should be back home by now, and he can carry Applejack to the hospital. Rarity, I need you to stay here with Applejack until Big Mac gets here."
Fluttershy nodded and took off for Sweet Apple Acres while Rarity gently placed Applejack's head on her lap, but Rainbow Dash stood frozen where she was, still unable to get over the shock of what was going on. "Rainbow Dash, come on, I can't do this without you." Twilight said, hoping her words would get through to her.
Rainbow Dash's eyes stayed locked on her fallen friends. "This... I-I can't... I don't know how..." she said, on the verge of hysterics. The proud mare was still stunned by seeing two of her friends this broken. "And what about Starshadow? She's not here, we gotta keep looking..."
"Rainbow Dash, focus!" Twilight shouted, surprising even Rarity. After the shock of the moment passed, Twilight laid a comforting hoof on her friend's shoulder as she continued. "Look, I know you're worried, we all are. But we can't afford to hesitate here. If we don't get Starsong to the hospital now, she's not going to make it. Once she and Applejack are safe we can get back to looking for Starshadow. But the longer we're delayed here the greater risk everypony's in."
Rainbow nodded after a brief pause to wipe her tears away, realizing that what Twilight had said was right. Without any further hesitation, Twilight lifted Starsong up with her magic and deposited the helpless mare on Dash's back, keeping her magic hold on Starsong's body to reduce the weight enough so Dash could still fly. With one final glance back at Rarity and Applejack, Rainbow Dash took to the skies, Twilight flying close by as she kept her spell concentrated on Starsong's limp body. As the three ponies disappeared into the morning sky, Rarity turned her attention to her friend. Standing guard over Applejack, the white unicorn noted the slightly pained expression on Applejack's face and stroked her friend's mane to try to ease her pain.
"Whatever ruffians did this to you, we won't rest until they pay." Rarity said softly, tears finally escaping from her eyes and falling down her face. Quickly wiping her eyes, she looked in the direction of Sweet Apple Acres. "Fluttershy must have found Big Mac by now. Oh, please hurry..."