The cases of Mystery Mare

by Mystery Mare42

Phantom part 1

I was glad that I was getting a break from the cases I been getting. I have been getting exhausted and needed a well deserve rest. I sat on my couch drinking some tea, Nancy was upstairs laying on my bed. I was reading the latest edition of the Ponyville times taking about strange attacks on several cities. I heard the door open and when I look up seeing a white pegasus stallion with a blue mane wearing a green vest, red boots and goggles. I seen him around only a few times but I did not know much about him aside from his name which was Dusk Dash.“Hey....um.... Miss Mare?”

“Yes Sir?” I motioned for him to sit down.

He took a seat opposite of me on my other couch. “Somepony took all of my robots from my lab.”

“Hmm I see.” I sip my tea and I start thinking looking the stallion over. So he has a lab, that must mean he has a good source of income and if he builds robots then he must be very skilled and intelligent. I take another sip of tea as I listen to him speak.

“And used them to attack cities From Manehatten To Canterlot.”

"Why do you have these robots in the first place and how much damage have they caused." I take a glance to the paper I was reading seconds ago.

“I am working on increasing ponies lives to to the high demand the ponies don't live long enough so that's why the robots. And the damage is billions of bits worth of repair.” He said to me.

I nodded. "Do you have any suspects?"

"None"

This case interested me somewhat and even if I wanted a vacation from my cases I knew I couldn’t turn him down. I set my tea down as I stood up I slipped on my saddle bags glad that I haven’t had the chance to put them away yet. "I will need to go to the scene of the crime."

Mr. Dusk nods. "Of course follow me" I nodded and headed out the door with him as he lead me to his lab. When we get there I see that it was damaged beyond repair by the thief, the ceiling was caved in in certain areas, the floor was covered in blood and uneven, there was sparks everywhere and there where hole where the robots escaped on the wall. Even as it looked severally damaged it reminded me of something where my brother works. He would love to see this.

I open up my saddle bag pulling out my small tool box where I keep my things for collecting evidence. "Was there a struggle here?"

He nods."Yes this was were I fought the thief and the blood is mine."

"I thought you said you had no suspects?" I said as I took samples of the blood.

"The thief wore a mask"

"Alright. Can you give me a description?" I get out my notebook to write it down.

"I saw the mask for maybe a split second before passing out"

"Describe it please" I asked

"Ummm do you know what a noh mask is?"

Shaking my head I replied."Nope."

"The mask was a show mask."Mr. Dusk said.

"Still I will need a description like shape, color and that stuff" I held my pencil ready to write it.

"It covered the face completely, I remembered it being blue oh also it was formed to well" He conforms his hooves to cover his face perfectly like a mask. I nodded as I wrote it down. "And that is all I saw." I put my notebook away and pull out my magnify glass and start searching for any clues as he watches. While I was searching I noticed that Mr. Dusk had fallen asleep. I go over to him.

"Wake up!" I said to him in an almost angry tone.

He wakes up. "What?"

I look at him. "I don't like ponies sleeping when I'm working"

"I'm sorry"

"It is fine good sir" I nod as I start pacing.

"Alright" He replied.

As I paced I looked over to him. "How could the thief gotten into your lab"

"Only my friends know how to enter my labs so they could've told their friends and one of their friends may have been the thief"

I nodded. "How many of your robots were taken Sir?"

"Two thousand nine hundred ninety nine." He replied.

I looked stunned. I wondered how somepony could have gotten ahold of all those robots, didn’t Mr. Dusk have some security in this place. "That is a lot of robots."

"That's all I made." He said as I nodded. "please solve this!"

"I will" I told him, this was indeed an important case that I needed to solve. Almost three thousand robots could cause great damage in the wrong hooves and they probably already have.

"Thank you." He smiles.

"You're welcome. Before I leave is there any way you can remotely shut down these robots?" I figured if they could be shut down then it would be easier to bring them back and to stop them from causing any damage.

He nods. "There is a prototype remote."

I raised an eyebrow wondering if a prototype will still work on the robots."Will it work?"

"Yes but you have to be 100 feet from the robots" He tells me as he looks around the wreckage for it. After a few minutes he holds out a grey colored box with several buttons and lights.

"Got it" I nodded. "May I have it sir?"

"Yes you may and you can keep it." He holds it out to me and I take it putting it in my red saddlebags. I take the next few minutes gathering up any evidence that would probably not help at all but I gathered it just in case. We exchange our goodbyes as he tells me to be careful as I leave the lab to search for more clues. When I got outside of the lab I see an anonymous letter meant for Mr. Dusk. It said something along the lines for him to pay an outlandish amount of bits or Ponyville gets destroyed.

"Hmm interesting. " I pick up the note and go show it to Mr. Dusk as he was fixing the lab as much as he can."Excuse me Mr. Dusk, I found this." I hold out the note to him

"WHERE?!" He screamed seeing it.

"Outside the lab." I told him.

"I wish you didn't find it" He took off his goggles.

I raised an eyebrow. "Why?"

"I'm supposed to keep Ponyville Safe... But I have nowhere near that amount of bits and now the thief know I hired you look on the back of it" I nodded and looked on the back of it, it revealed to be have a hoofprint scanner that the thief probably made. It was made to look like the paper and feel like nothing. I seen a few of these when I once snuck into my brother’s work. I looked at him as he spoke. "I was about to burn it."

"Why" I honestly wondered since this could be valuable evidence.

"To prevent him from knowing I hired a Detective."

I nodded "I see. The thief must have access to some advance technology to made this hoof print scanner on the back of the note."

"Now Ponyville is in danger!" He proclaimed.

"I’ll make sure its safe. I'll get back on the hunt" I leave the lab once again in search of the thief. I look around to find another note, this one said that if I poke around more the thief will blow up my house. I just throw it away not worrying about the threat. After I throw it away I see Mr. Dusk run past covering his face,I follow him and hide watching him.

His fur was getting darker. "Dammit why now."

"Hmm what could be going on" I whispered.

"That detective ditch my case." I heard him say as I continue watching my interest in this case increasing. "Seem I have to stop that thief myself."

"Why was his fur getting darker?" I asked myself.

"I KNOW YOU'RE HERE MISS MARE!" He yells at me. I walk out and look at him taking observations of his look. He summoned a table with a glass of wine right by him and he picks it up.

I was surprised by this."How could you summon a table?"

Mr. Dusk drinks some of the wine.“I am Part of the Royal Family.So I have some magic"

I nodded finding this interesting. "Hmm good to know"

"The fool I reside in doesn't have a clue."

Him saying that got me thinking about a book I once read. "So it is sort of like Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde"

"Except I try to kill this fool so I have full control"

"So may I guess it was you who destroyed the lab?" I asked.

"That and I let the thief in."

He must know the thief then. I thought "Then who is the thief?"

"He goes by a code name"

"Tell me it." I said to him sounding serious.

"He said he will kill me if I said it"

"Doubt it "I replied.

"He is a very good spy. he has way of killing ponies." He said to me as I see sword marks all over the dark fur. He continues speaking. "So I will keep my life."

"May you give me any clues?"I said asking another question.

"He never shows his face and can be anypony." I nodded as he asked me a question of his own. "How about a deal?"

"What's the deal?" I asked in reply expecting some outrageous deal.

"I tell you the thief's codename in return I want protection"

I nodded. "Fine then sir:

"His codename is the Phantom." I wrote it down in my notebook."Now hold your part of the deal."

"I'll protect you the best I can sir. How may I please speak with the regular Mr. Dusk to tell him." After I said that I watch as the table with the glass of wine disappeared and slowly this dark version of Mr. Dusk’s fur retuned white and changed back to normal.

He looked at me."Ugh what happened?"

"You appear to have a darker version of you inside yourself. who was working with the thief. "I told him and as I speak I notice him becoming shaken.

"Well still My Darker version knows better than let the thief see the robots" He told me.

"Why is that?" I asked.

"He knows the secret about the robots."

That got my attention. What secrets could the robots be hiding, could it be what they were made of or what they could do. "What would that secret be?"

He turns away."I rather not say, lets just say Omega or the end."

"Is there a nuclear bomb in it or is that like their power source?" I suggested for an answer.

"Nuclear Reactors and it's about their ability to combine with each other" I nodded understanding now why it was so important for me to find these robots. He asked me again to please stop the thief and as last time I told him I will. He wished me good luck and I went on my way. Of course I knew that after I left the lab once again that Mr. Dusk was following me. I look around seeing that everything was normal and an idea popped into my head.

"Hmm they could be able to blend in." I said to myself. I heard a reply of they can and I turned around and saw him. "Why are you following me?"

"I wanted a piece of the action of solving crimes." He told me.

I nodded "I see. Well come along but keep your dark self under control."

"I'll try It is a matter of time before he takes control."He replied.

I nodded once again. "Okay sir" I get back to walking looking around as he follows me.
As we were searching I notice Mr. Dusk sat down. "You okay?"

His fur turned dark as the dark Mr. Dusk took control."What do you think?!"

I roll my eyes seeing that he has reared his ugly head. "Oh I see your back."

"Yes I did with a message." He told me.

"Yes what it your message Hyde?" I smirked.

"Stop!" He commanded.”If you continue you put me, you and everypony you care about at risk"

"I rarely care about anypony." I said coldly not saying who I do care about which is only like four or five ponies.”

"What about your maid?"

I looked confused at what he said, I never had a maid. I had gotten rid of my butler a few weeks ago but that was it. "I had a butler and I got rid of him."

He smiled. "So you see ponies as a waste."

I shook my head. "I do not. "

"You and me aren't that much different"

I avoided what he said the best I could as I glared at him. "I don't care. Why are you in control Hyde anyway?"

"I don't know myself" He tells me. I told him we should be getting back to the case and he returns to the normal Mr. Dusk who hired me. We get back to searching which was painstakingly boring. I started to think about the thief wondering his motives, where he could be hiding and his skill level. As I was thinking he spoke to me. "Only if the old mask used by the phantom are useful."

I looked stunned. Did he have the masks and did not tell me when I asked for a description of it. Was it in the wreckage in the lab? Why didn’t he tell me this earlier. I try to sound calm and recompose myself as I speak. "It can be. "He hands me them as they feel like real flesh.
"This is sick..." I said in a cold disgusted tone examining the mask. They seemed well made even if it was made from flesh.

Mr. Dusk nods. "I agree."

"Aside from the material used which is disgusting I can tell that this seems well made, the person most likely had expertise in making masks." I said giving it back.

As he takes them back he replied. "I don't know any mask makers. This might be a fake clue."

"Most likely is." I replied knowing that some criminals leave clues on purpose to try and throw the police and ponies like me off the case.

"Hmmmm. Something doesn't seem right." Mr. Dusk said.

I nodded. "Indeed it does not."

"Why are these mask here when the Phantom prides himself on his realistic mask making?"

I take a quick glance at the masks once again. "The masks could represent something"

"Like?"

"Hmm not sure. Does the mask look like anything to you or maybe it was made from a certain pony you know." I said to him and watched as he took a closer look at the masks, a look of recognition appeared across his face.

"These masks look like Dark Dusk's personal Army."

This was the first time I heard of this, I wondered why he would have an army. Yes I could understand that he could have once since he is part of the royal family but why the evil version of my client have an army. "He has an army?"

"Dark Dusk Does." He nods. “When he want to kill ponies."

"Then I suggest you make him stop or else I will be going to the police on this matter." Even if you are part of the royal family I will not condol the killing of ponies.

"Okay." He replied and then he decides to tell me more hoping it's relevant "He has a little gem for each thing in his army."

"And what does that mean good sir?” I asked wanting more clarification on it.

"He can call anyone of them whenever he wants"

I nod. "Oh I see. We should get back to the case.” I nod once more and start walking down the street as I search for more clues. Mr. Dusk continued to follow.

"I wish I was more helpful." He told me.

I sighed. "It is fine, this would be easier if I find more clues or if the clues we had make sense to me."

"Can I have a run down of all the clues?" He asks.

"Let's see, we have the notes that we found in you lab stating the amount of bits and such." I started pacing now as I ran off the items. "And of course the masks." The next thing Mr. Dusk said surprised me as he put the pieces together.

"He used the masks to trick my dark side into the lab then after a struggle defeated my dark side. Then after securing the robots and making off with them he wrote the notes to make me go to the black market and sell my blueprints so I would have the bits to pay him and after I did he will go to the black market get the blueprints and make his own army of robots"

I nodded hearing his explanation. It did help put things together. I knew of the black market he talked about as I think of my older brother and the times he was sent to go there. "You thought about this a lot I see."

"I started to put the pieces together after seeing that the Masks are of Dark Dusk's army and how hastily they were thrown off. It makes sense."

"It does good sir" I said to him.

"So does it help?"

"It does incredibly." I smiled. "It helps me think and helps me think about what is going through the phantom's head as well. Now back to the case. Where should we head to next?"

"Up to you." He replied

"Well the phantom would need someplace big to hold all your robots, is there any place like that?"

"There's my Manehatten lab."

"You have another lab? Does anypony besides you know where it is located."

"Oh A bunch of Ponies. That's where I take orders for designs and there is a large back room." He said.

"Then to Manehatten then. Do expect us to be there long?"

"Depends if the Phantom is there or not"