Searching and Hoping

[Serene Tranquility]

Eastern Residential District, December 14, Evening

Petal marched forward with conviction. Shadows from the buildings loomed over her and Tida as they made their way through the Eastern residential district. The sun retreating into the horizon was a constant reminder of the limited time they had left.

"This is where Pretzel lives." Petal said, coming to a stop in front of a old, run-down house that looked like it was more appropriate for rats than ponies. "If she was coming back from the markets, then she should start looking in.... that direction." she said, pointing down one of the streets that lead towards main street. It was littered with litter and makeshift houses. It looked no different to the other streets. Petal knew this area well though, and she was confident Pretzel would be in that direction.

Turning to Tida, she explained, "Pretzel is a regular at the Harmony Foundation. And a good friend too. She's too proud to live off the charity completely. My guess is some thugs jumped her when she was returning home with groceries." She hoped it was true. Thugs usually don't kill... she hoped...

[Tida]

Tida and Petal made their way to the Eastern Residential district, looking for Pretzel.  Stopping in front of her house, Tida nodded at what Petal said.  "I'll start looking in that direction in that case.  If either of us finds her, we should give a yell.  I just hope we aren't too late..."  Tida said as he went down the street that Petal pointed towards, looking for Pretzel.  His movements were faster than usual, as he knew that time was not on their side, since they had to contend with the curfew, as well as not knowing if Pretzel was alive or not.  He hoped that Pretzel was alive, as he didn't want to have to tell a filly that her mother died.

[Serene Tranquility]

Petal knew what Tida was implying. He wanted to split up to save time. Serene told her they should go together but... it was already rapidly approaching curfew. Petal decided to split up and search on her own, it was the best chance at saving Pretzel.

"Good luck, Tida." She said, running off on her own direction.

----

The street Tida was walking down looked run down. The road was covered in litter and stains of unknown origins, and several rats could be seen scurrying from shadow to shadow. Eventually, Tida would be able to see a elderly stallion in rags leaning against one of the small makeshifts shacks. He was holding a brown paper bag that looked to be holding a bottle. And he smelt heavily of alcohol. He sat there, not even acknowledging Tida's existence, humming a butchered tune to himself.

[Tida]

Walking down the street, Tida noticed an elderly stallion leaning against one of the shacks.  He also noticed that he had a very heavy alcohol smell on him, not acknowledging his presence.  Thinking for a moment, he stopped in front of the stallion and asked him "Hello there.  Have you by chance seen a mare by the name of Pretzel recently?  She has a pink coat with an orange mane, and a pretzel for a cutie mark."  He hoped that the stallion noticed him, and answered his question.

[Serene Tranquility]

The stallion looked up at Tida with lazy, bloodshot eyes. "Pretzel, eh?" She smirked, showing off a set of yellow teeth. "Pretty thing. I might have seen her, but it's slipping my mind at this moment. Perhaps... some bits could jog my memory?" He wheezed. His laugh sounded like a strangled cat.

[Tida]

Tida frowned.  He had a feeling that this stallion was trying to get bits off of him without actually helping, because of the way he spoke, and his bloodshot eyes.  He probably wasn't really thinking clearly.  More importantly though, was that he didn't have any bits on him, as any bits that he would have had went to the foundation.  If he did have some bits on him though, he would probably have tried to give it to him in hopes of getting any information on her last whereabouts.  "I'm sorry, but I unfortunately don't have any bits on me.  Thank you for your help though" Tida said, giving the stallion a slight bow of his head.  "Please excuse me" he said as he started to continue down the street, looking for Pretzel.

[Serene Tranquility]

The drunk pony shook his head and spat at the ground next to him. He moved back into his original state of resting and humming.

As Tida continued down the street, the light of the sun was quickly being sucked away by the shadows. He didn't have that much time left. There were several alleyways littering the street, but all of them lead to dead ends and were filled with trash and rodents.

There was no sign of the mare he was looking for, but as he continued down the street, a grey pony covered with a hood spotted him. He quickly retreated back into the alleyway he was peeking out of, but tripped on a can as he ran, causing a loud clang to echo through the street. The hooded pony mentally cursed himself as he ran further into the alleyway. In the alleyway itself, there were several signs of grafitti. Red paint of "Stay away!" and red skulls covered the walls. On the floor, a freshly crushed apple was splattered along the floor, quickly being devoured by the roaches that inhabited the alley.

[Tida]

Tida continued down the street looking for Pretzel.  He noticed that the sun was quickly setting, and he didn't have much time left.  I hope I can find her... Or that Petal has found her already.  Hearing a clanging sound and catching a glimpse of something moving, Tida immediately went towards it and down the alley.  Seeing the graffiti, Tida slowed down and cautiously looked around to make sure that he wouldn't be surprised, as well as to see if he could find the moving thing that he spotted.

[Serene Tranquility]

The hooded pony cursed as he tripped. He sprained his hoof and now there was no running. He was so dead. Hearing hoofsteps from outside the alley, the hooded pony jumped behind one of the dumpsters that hugged the wall of the alleyway. the dumpster reeked of something nasty.

He peeked out from behind his shelter, spotting only one pony. It was an Earth pony too, he might actually make it out of here. Taking out a small switchblade out of his pocket, he jumped out in front of Tida with an aggressive stance.

"S-stop right there!" He said with a shaky voice. He adjusted his grip on the switchblade so it was more comfortable to hold. "You best get out of here, ya hear?" He realized that sounded more like a warning than a threat. "Or... or else I'll gut ya!"

The hood covered his face, but his voice clearly belonged to a young pony in his teens. His fur was a dirty orange, and his short ragged tail was a vile green.

[Tida]

As Tida was cautiously going down the alley, the figure that he saw jumped out from behind a dumpster.  Tida stopped and tensed up slightly when the orange pony with the green tail pulled a small knife on him.  After listening to him for a moment though, Tida had a feeling that he wouldn't just attack him for no reason, but in self-defense as it seemed that he was afraid he was going to be attacked himself.  I should explain to him in a very calm manner that I'm here only for information.

Tida started to speak in a very calm manner to the pony.  "I promise to leave, though I would like to know if you have seen or heard about the last whereabouts of a mare by the name of Pretzel; a mare with a pink coat, orange mane, and a pretzel for a cutie mark that lives in this area"  Tida asked, making sure that he was in a position to react in case the orange pony decided to try and attack him.

[Serene Tranquility]

The hooded pony gulped. "No!" He said far too quickly. Realizing his mistake, he stammered out, "Uh, nope, ain't no pink mare here. You best turn round right now and go back to where ya came from." He was visibly sweating now. He tensed up and bit down harder on his knife. "Just... Just go away!"

Suddenly, another voice echoed from further in the alleyway, from inside one of the houses that formed the alley. "Yo Loser! Who ya talkin' to?" The voice boomed. It wouldn't be surprising if this voice belonged to a large muscly stallion. The house the voice emanated from blended in with the other houses. The old wood door was covered in grime, and the dingy, broken window next to it painted a fair picture of the state of the house.

The hooded pony cursed. "Uuh... Nothin' B! Just, uh... Just talkin' to mah'self!"

The hooded pony turned back to Tida. "Alright, you want yer mare, she's in there. But leave me out of it." He hissed, keeping his voice down this time.

[Tida]

Tida nodded.  "Thank you... though, if you try anything funny, I will make sure that you are repaid in kind... it sounds like the pony in there doesn't take much of a liking to you..."  Tida said in a whisper as a warning to the hooded pony to not say or do anything to draw attention, or try to stab him from behind while he was checking the house which the voice came from.

Tida quietly made his way further down the alley to the house where the voice came from slowly, making sure to watch where he was stepping so that he wouldn't make any noise to alert the pony inside the house to his presence.  When he reached the door, he tried to open it so that it wouldn't make too much noise, and looked inside to see if he could see the mare, as well as any other ponies that could be inside.

[Serene Tranquility]

The hooded pony nodded and gave Tida a wide berth, allowing him to pass. He waited as he watched Tida go into B's house. Not putting away his knife, he darted further down into the alleyway.

The door creaked in protest at being opened, but that owner of the voice either didn't hear or didn't care. The room that Tida saw was very cramped and gloomy. The floor was covered in soggy old remnants of newspapers and food packaging. There was no mare or any other signs of life apart from a few roaches inside the immediate room, but on the opposite side of the room there was a doorway with a soft light poking through the barely opened door. The floor of the room was covered in tiles, so it was probably a kitchen. A dull thumping sound could also be heard from inside the room.

Suddenly, the thumping stopped and the voice of the stallion roared from the other room, "Hey, I'm gonna cut her up now! You want a piece?"

[Tida]

Tida's stomach turned when he heard the stallion, as he assumed the worst.  Oh no... I hope he didn't already kill her...  moving so that he could see both the door that he entered as well as the door to the other room, Tida mentally and physically prepared himself before saying in a loud enough voice "No, that's alright... besides, eating meat is bad... going to make me sick if I do."

[Serene Tranquility]

The room that Tida entered was a kitchen. Kitchen counters lined the walls, covered with dirty rags and relatively clean utensils, pots, bowls and other cooking supplies. The room was lit up by a candle that sat on a wooden table in the centre of the room. A large, burly stallion stood behind that table. He was a dark grey Earth pony with a short, mangy dark brown mane. He was holding a large kitchen knife in his jaws, and was currently starring daggers at Tida. On the table was a large watermelon that had a large gaping gash from where the pony had started cutting.

"What are ye doin in mah house?" He asked menacingly.

[Tida]

Tida mentally facehoofed; he should have checked first to see if it was actually Pretzel that he was talking about.  Because of jumping to conclusions, he had said something stupid, which might have given the stallion the wrong idea.

Tida gave the stallion a deep bow of his head.  "I'm sorry for intruding, but I'm looking for a mare by the name of Pretzel; she has a pink coat, orange mane, and a pretzel for a cutie mark.  I've heard that she was last seen in this area.  Have you seen where she last was?"  Tida asked in a concerned tone.

[Serene Tranquility]

The stallion stared at Tida, baffled. "What makes you think I know where she is?"

He shook his head in disbelief and brought his knife up and swung it down, cleaving the watermelon in two. He broke a small chunk off and offered it to Tida. "Want some? I won it in a bet. Isn't she a bewt?"

[Tida]

Tida gave a slight smile when the stallion offered him some watermelon.  "No thank you, though, I appreciate the offer" Tida said, giving the stallion a slight bow of his head, politely declining the watermelon.  "As for why I thought that you would know where she was is because a pony with a dirty orange coat and a green tail wearing a hood told me that they saw..."  Tida stopped, and thought for a second before asking "Actually, have you seen a pony with a dirty orange coat and a green tail wearing a hood around this area, specifically where he might live?"  he asked, as he had a feeling that the pony he met earlier tricked him as he ran off to the real location of Pretzel.  He hoped that the stallion had an idea of where he might be, as he might actually find Pretzel if he found that pony.

[Serene Tranquility]

"Aye, that'd be Loser." The stallion replied, putting down the slice of watermelon. "odd fellow with an even odder name. C'mon, he lives right next door." He walked past Tida and out into the alleyway, expecting Tida to follow behind.

"Hey Loser! We need to talk!" He shouted, walking up to a door similar to his own door.

A curse could be heard inside the house. "Go away! I'm busy!"

The stallion called 'B' raised an eyebrow and looked at Tida. "Sorry, he's usually like this... He's harmless though. Do you really think he knows where your friend is though? He might say things."

[Tida]

Loser... what an interesting name for a pony... Shrugging, he followed the stallion to another door where the pony he ran into earlier was probably in, since he heard his voice.  Tida nodded as the stallion asked him about Loser knowing where she might be "I think that he knows where Pretzel is, as he talked and acted as if he has already seen or knows where she is.  Also, he's the one who told me that she was in your place" he said quietly to the stallion.  "Besides, he sounds like he's hiding something at the moment."

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