//------------------------------// // The Lullaby part 2 // Story: The cases of Mystery Mare // by Mystery Mare42 //------------------------------// I think back to my assistant files and remember the stallion that appeared in my office one day wanting to help me. His name was Iron Gaze if I remember him correctly. I remember he lives by the Everfree and head there. It didn’t take long to find him as he stuck out with the coat he always wore. “I have a case for you to help me with.” He nods. “Yea? What is it?” "It is about a missing book. " I said "A book? from where?" He asks me. "It is a book that belongs to a Miss Musicnotes. You know her?" I ask. He nods. "I know her, she's a good friend of mine" "Good. Well she was in Canterlot and lost a purple covered book." I tell him. "A purple book.." He thinks I nod. "Yes. She did not tell me much of it. It was very late when she arrived at my office. She only told me it was one of a kind." "Ok, I'll get on it" He tells me as he was about to leave. "We will be on it." I corrected him "I thought I said that I work alone" Mr. Iron Gaze said. "Yes but I don't. She gave me the case so we are doing it together." I crossed my arms. "Keep up then" He opened his wings and shot of to Canterlot "You do realize I'm a earth pony!" I yell to the Pegasus. "Exactly"The wind says behind me. I start walking toward the train station. I buy my ticket and read a book on the train ride. A while passes and so does the scenery as it arrives there. I get off and see that Mr. Iron Gaze was there waiting for me. "So you waited for me." I said sounding surprised. He held up a book with a purple cover. "Is that it?" He nodded "It wasn't really lost, she had just dropped it and a guard picked it up and found me to return it to the owner." I look over to the book. "It would help if I knew what was in the book, to confirm it." "Her name is written inside the cover, she does it to most her books, unless they're lent to her" He says as he hands it to me. I look in the book seeing the mare’s name. I flip through the pages and noticed where a bookmark was and that the page was missing. “Was this page always missing?” I asked holding the book open. He looked at the book "It's one of those books where you have to find pages." "Hmm..it looks like it has been torn recently, if it wasn't why leave it booked mark to a ripped page." I said looking at the page closely. "There are often reasons" Mr. Iron said "Hmm..From what I learned about the client, she doesn't seem to be the one to tear pages out, Who found the book?" I shut the book and start walking. He follows me down the streets. "One of the luna guards" I nodded. "Please take me to him or her. I have a few questions." I put the book in my bag and pull out the list Miss Music had given me that showed all the places she went. "He'll be in the mess hall now, or in the barracks" My assistant said. I nodded as we walked, my eyes glued to the list. It said that Miss Music had went to a jeweler and a cafe, I wondered why she went there. We arrived at the barracks first and when I tried to enter a guard stopped me. "Excuse me ma'am you're unable to enter this building without authorization" He said. "I don't care sir, I'm on a case." I said in a serious tone. Mr. Iron walked up. "She's with me so it's fine"I nodded and looked at Mr. Iron as he spoke, the guard nodded and moved aside. We both walk in and look around. "Do you see the guard Mr. Iron?" I ask and when I turned to look at him, I noticed he was already speaking with another guard. "Looks like he found him." I muttered and walked over, by the time I got there my assistant was already thanking the guard. "What did he say?" I asked feeling left out. "He said he found the book on the floor, and all the pages were intact when he gave it to me" He says. "Hmm.. is he sure about that?" I asked. Mr. Iron nods. "He had a look to see who the owner was" "Then how could the page have gotten ripped out..did he set the book down at anytime?" I start pacing. "Nope" He tells me as he watches me pace. I stopped for a moment and looked at him."Then how could a page have gotten torn out." "No idea"He replied. "Hmm.." I continue pacing and I open up the book to try to think what page could be missing. The book just contained old songs that didn’t even make sense to me. Under any of the songs it gave information about them like how there was a song to give ponies strength and what not. Why would the client care about this book, she had said it was the first clue in a quest she is on but how would this book help her? I started to think back to the articles I had one of my contacts find for me but my thoughts were stopped when my assistant spoke. "The page could have fallen out?" "Hmm.. it does seem like an old book so I suppose that is possible." I muttered as I was pacing trying to regain my thoughts. "Hmmm, one second" He flew off quickly as he did when he ditched me in Ponyville. "Please stop doing that!” I shouted as he flew off. Where he went I have no clue but he hasn’t even let me solve the case, he was doing everything himself. He hasn’t even let me leave the station. That truly has pissed me off completely. As I stood there waiting I noticed a small piece of paper with red ink. I instantly picked it up, I knew this was like the other scraps I have been finding. Why I keep finding them in these strange places I have no clue, maybe it had something to do with the Doctor character I had met. I now wonder if I have found enough pieces to solve that mysterious puzzle.