Peppermint shivered as a cold breeze caressed the soles of her hooves. She felt the goose bumps on the skin beneath her white-colored coat itch with the fear of being alone in the dark manor. Peppermint’s only companion was the small, burning candle she held magically aloft with her unicorn horn.
The flickering light of the candle bravely guarded the young mare from the surrounding darkness.
Peppermint slowly crept down the shadowy hall toward the lone door at the end. The frightened mare heard hoof-steps pacing around in the room beyond and she hoped to Celestia that it was from her missing friend Taffy. However, the two mares found no evidence earlier of squatters in the rooms below. This mansion was abandoned for years and still looked the part.
Thus, who else was here but her lost friend?
A sense of bravery surfaced in Peppermint’s mind.
Thus far, all of her fears as she explored this old, abandoned manor had stemmed solely from her own imagination. The moving clouds that occasionally blocked the half-moon in the night sky only played tricks with the moon’s light. The breeze that whistled in the hallways sounded scary, but it was otherwise harmless.
There were no ghosts or boogeymen within the old mansion. There were only Peppermint and her friend Taffy who got separated while exploring the maze-like hallways.
Calmness returned to Peppermint as she continued to move toward the door at the end of the hall. The candle that hovered before her lit up the dark hall and brought sensible commonness to the shapes she saw. The red-maned unicorn was not surrounded by watching shadows, but by dusty blankets that covered old chairs and leaning end tables.
Peppermint cleared her throat when she reached the end of the hall. “Taffy, are you in there?”
“Peppermint?” asked the worried voice of a mare on the other side. “Can you hear me? I think I’m locked in this room! It’s dark and I can’t find a window!”
“I’m here, Taffy! Hang on, I’ll get you out!” Peppermint replied with confidence.
The young unicorn studied the door knob and noticed that the lock was indeed facing the outside. Peppermint found it strange that the last resident would do such a careless thing. Perhaps it was used to lock an unruly pet in the room? The idea seemed cruel and unnecessary to her. Pets couldn’t open a door regardless so why would anyone turn the lock around?
Peppermint turned the lock with ease and then pushed the door open. The room was indeed dark and there were no windows here. Perhaps this was a walk-in style closet? No, the room was much too big and lacked any shelving to support the idea.
“Taffy? Where are you?” Peppermint called out in question.
“Over here!” cried a scared Taffy. “Can you hear me? I think I’m locked in this room!”
“Yeah, I got the door unlocked,” Peppermint said as she surveyed the area for her friend. She could only see faded blue sheets that were draped over old, worn chairs. The red-maned unicorn entered the room slowly, wondering if her friend was locked in a closet within this room.
“Peppermint?” whispered the voice of Taffy from the darkness.
Peppermint turned toward the sound of her friend’s voice and met the reflecting glare of a huge suit of strange-looking full plate armor. It stood upright on only two legs, not the four legs common to pony folk. The suit’s metal sleeves were disproportionally long with two elbow joints and rusty, clawed gauntlets that hung at the ends. The helmet was designed to cover the entire head save for a small window slit for the eyes, but the top of the headwear appeared bashed in deeply with a large blunt object.
If a creature was wearing the helmet at the time the impact was made, it most certainly did not survive the wound.
Peppermint slowly approached the alien looking armor. She noticed a design on the chest plate under the thick layer of dust that painted over the armor like a gray skin. The unicorn gave in to curiosity and brushed aside the years of dust from the chest plate. She saw a chiseled eye across the plate, an eerie single eye that almost appeared to have stared right back at Peppermint.
“Can you hear me? I think I’m locked in this room!” shouted Taffy’s voice.
The armor lurched forward at the scrawny unicorn. The clawed gauntlets rose up on their own accord with the squealing sound of aged rust. Peppermint let out a silent gasp and backed away. She instinctively put the lit candle between herself and the approaching armor.
As the giant metal suit trudged forward implacably, the chest plate yawned open with the appetite of an awakened predator. Inside the chest plate, Peppermint started right into the glazed-over eyes of her unicorn friend Taffy. The imprisoned mare was curled up in a fetal position, her skin sunk to her bones, her mane ragged, and her mouth left hanging open in a silent visage of fright.
“It’s dark and I can’t find a window!”
Peppermint screamed aloud as the realization came to her that it was the suit itself mimicking her friend’s voice! The terrified unicorn turned and fled for her own life out of the room. She galloped down the hall with all deliberate speed as the giant lumbering suit slowly followed her.
Peppermint took the stairs two at a time. No, three at a time! The unicorn leaped down the staircase, but her hooves slipped on a bent board halfway down the path. The unicorn tumbled down the rickety wood stairs hooves-over-head. The little candle went out as it too tumbled along with her.
The candle rolled away into a dark corner, returned to the oblivion of the darkness that now surrounded Peppermint.
A searing pain had cut deep into Peppermint’s ribs and her left rear leg. She tried to stand, but her sprained leg refused to carry any weight. The unicorn hobbled on her three remaining legs toward the front door. Behind her the pounding sound of the armor’s metal boots reverberated across the manor’s second floor landing. They marched like the drums of a heartbeat, always in pairs and never ceasing.
“Peppermint?” echoed the soft disembodied voice of the pony once known as Taffy.
Peppermint was in tears of pain and fright. Her mind panicked to escape faster than her injured body could move. Peppermint reached the front door and yanked as hard as she could at the large, rusty handles. The old doors fought back and resisted to open more than at a snail’s pace.
The heartbeats of the armor’s steps grew closer as it descended the stairs.
Peppermint cried in terror as she continued to pull on the doors, widening the exit inch by inch. She began to wedge her body into the space as she pulled hard; her muscle ached with her full effort.
The heartbeat loomed over the unicorn as rusty claws reached out from the darkness.
Peppermint struggled as she squeezed her body through the small doorway. Tears streamed down the unicorn’s eyes as she wailed out, “Celestia, please take me instead!!”
~ ~ ~
“’Slam!’ went the mansion doors!”
The audience jumped at Trixie’s words. A sudden crack of magically created thunder caused the younger ponies to scream in fright. The azure unicorn slammed her book closed as she looked at her captivated audience. “No trace of Taffy or Peppermint was ever found. To this day even the Armor of Gilgamesh remains at large, wandering from abandoned house to abandoned house. It remains dormant, silently waiting to feast upon the unfortunate passerby who would dare venture into the empty dwelling it haunts.”
Trixie stood up and took a bow. The small gathering of ponies gave her applause, but many of the children instead hugged their parents for comfort. The crowed soon stood up and dispersed from Trixie’s stage. Several ponies dropped some coins into a till as gratuity for the entertainment. Trixie made sure to thank each of them for their generosity.
“Don’t forget!” Trixie reminded the departing audience. “The Great and Powerful Trixie’s first novel is available for purchase! Pick up a copy of ‘Lulamoon West versus the Devil Dogs’ here or at your favorite bookstore! Trixie will even autograph your copy for free!”
A skeptical, young orange-coated mare gave Trixie a frown. “I’ve read your book,” she said with disappointment.” I think Daring Do is a far better read.”
Trixie tried hard to maintain her smile. “Ah, but Trixie’s tale is based on real experiences!”
“Yeah, like your Ursa Major story was?” the dissident pony chided back. “You’re just a boasting, over-groomed copycat.”
“Trixie is not over-groomed,” the unicorn defended. “Trixie simply has a lot of natural beauty.”
A second heckler, a short brown stallion, joined in the argument. “Bah, you’re just all smoke and mirrors. Don’t try to make yourself bigger than you really are.”
“The Great and Powerful Trixie is a talented entertainer and is not afraid to use her wide array of skills!” the azure unicorn said with proud resolve. “Would you keep a sundial in the shade?”
“What?” the first heckler asked with a confused look.
“Forget her,” the stallion said, “Let’s go find some real entertainment elsewhere.”
Trixie’s grand demeanor deflated significantly as the hecklers trotted off. She waited until the audience had all left before she stepped down from the stage to pack up her traveling wagon.
Trixie tried not to let criticism get under her skin like it used to, but she had quite a lot more of it now than ever before. The unicorn let her eyes shed a couple tears before wiping them away. ‘Salty water under a bridge’ as her mother used to describe them.
Still, despite the naysayers, Trixie was doing well for herself here in Manehatten. She had a decent-selling novel now and a completely new repertoire of magic tricks that dazzled her audience. Trixie was even able to save enough money to purchase a new traveling wagon and bring her show on the road again.
Granted she had not left Manehatten yet since her audiences remained quite small, but it was still progress toward building an honest reputation. Trixie often thought of her new life like a recovering alcoholic who had given up the drink.
After she finished packing the benches, Trixie used her magic to fold the stage together into its wagon form once more. She blew out the two hanging lanterns that had flanked her stage, which left just the one small lantern above the entrance to her wagon as the only local light source. Finally, Trixie sat down on the rear steps of her wagon and levitated a small tin thermos of water to her side. The metal cap slowly unscrewed itself and the unicorn took hold of the container of refreshing cool liquid.
Trixie sat back and peacefully watched the stars.
Manehatten’s Central Park was quite nice at night, a large patch of serene woods surrounded by the bustle of the big city. Trixie recalled that in her youth she would come here with her mother Jessenia and the rest of the gypsy clan every weekend. The gypsies came to sell quilted clothes and hoof-made jewelry while many of the city’s families gathered at the park for picnics and sports. It was a simple life, but that was the charm of it.
Trixie remembered that she always snuck away from her mother to watch the street performers juggle bottles and tell stories to the children. The unicorn knew from a young age what her destiny would be. Entertainment was in her blood. Making clothes and jewelry might have been fine for her mother, but Trixie craved the attention of an audience.
Trixie mused how different her life would have been had she been born an earth pony like her mother. Her talent would certainly not have been magic if that were the case. Trixie chuckled. Her mother was probably the biggest mystery of all to her; an earth pony that gave birth to a unicorn.
“Excuse me, ma’am?”
Trixie’s thoughtful moment popped like a soap bubble. She turned to her right and saw a young male courier standing nearby with a letter. Trixie put her tin thermos down and stood up.
“Yes, how may I help you?” Trixie responded politely.
“Evening,” the colt said, “I have a letter for Trixie Lulamoon. I believe that is you?” He brushed back a few strands of his long, blonde mane and then produced a small envelope from a sack he shouldered.
Trixie nodded in the affirmative before she took the letter. The unicorn’s eyes looked over the writing. The letters that formed her address were meticulously straight and tidy and her name was written as ‘Miss Trixie Lulamoon’. This gave the envelope the appearance of business rather than a casual letter from a friend. The strangest detail was what was missing from the envelope.
There was no return address.
“If you could sign here, Miss Lulamoon,” the courier instructed. The colt then handed Trixie a small pad with a schedule on it to sign confirmation that she had received her letter. After scribbling a quick signature, the courier thanked Trixie and galloped off without a goodbye.
Trixie wondered who would have paid to have a letter sent to her after hours. She remembered paying her bills on time for once so it couldn’t have been a collector. Perhaps it was a letter from her friend Ellie or Cheryl, but disguised as business in order to throw off prying eyes? Ah, that would have made perfect sense. The three of them had made a few enemies during their adventure in Saddlestone several months ago.
Trixie tore into the envelope. She pulled out a letter, an index card containing a series of numbers, and a train schedule for the next two months.
Well this was certainly not mysterious.
Trixie unfolded the letter and read it under the lone lantern light.
Dear Miss Lulamoon,
I have recently read your new novel, Lulamoon West, and this literary work has made me a believer. I find that the tale contains more truth than most readers may ever know, but at the same time it is dangerous to continue your series unless you keep current with your references. If I may be so bold, enclosed is a series of card catalog numbers for books you might find helpful in your next novel. Seek the research at the Royal Library in Canterlot. I am sure you will be inspired.
As for the train schedule, that will be explained once you do your research. I’m afraid I cannot say anymore, but I hope that this information will make your next adventure just as successful.
Sincerely,
Stone Rose
Trixie reread the letter to ensure she had the right meaning of the words. Either she had acquired a very strange fan, or her novel had rocked the boat to the point someone important took notice.
While Trixie had changed most of the names and specific details of her past adventure out west, any pony that was there would have seen the connections to the actual events that took place at Saddlestone.
The only problem was that she had no proof of the real truth, thus writing about these ‘facts’ would have been no more substantial than conspiracy and hearsay. The relic was completely destroyed and the Horizon Walkers organization was very good at hiding their tracks. This was evident when the newspapers published the discovery of the ancient temple found under the town of Saddlestone, but had made no mention of a relic or a group of secretive ponies who tried to acquire said relic for their own agenda.
However, it now appeared that some pony wanted Trixie to find new evidence of that hidden truth and bring it out into the open. The only question now was if Stone Rose had Trixie’s best interests in mind or if this pony were in it for personal gain?
Well, as a famous inspiration once said, 'Success is jumping at opportunity as one does to conclusions.' Trixie entered her humble wagon and began to pack light for a trip to the capitol city of Canterlot.