//------------------------------// // The case of Mr. Lucem part 1 // Story: The cases of Mystery Mare // by Mystery Mare42 //------------------------------// With my last case over with, and the cities now have been rebuilt with the money the EDF took from me. I didn’t really stay around in any of cities that were being rebuilt because I didn’t want to since I just wanted to rest. On this day I was sitting on my red couch enjoying some tea. I had been trying to put together the scraps of paper that I have been finding on my cases since they have felt like a link to me since I found them. I was getting nowhere with them so I decided to rest my brain for a while and relax on the couch with my orange and black cat Nancy. I went to my room to set them down and went back to the couch and relaxed. I should have known my peaceful day would change once he came in. It was my assistant Lucem Diem or as I call him, Mr. Lucem. He worked a case with me months ago. I noticed him enter as I sipped my tea. "Hello Mr. Lucem." I notice him smile as he entered. I had the feeling that he was starting to like me calling him that. "Hello Miss Mystery, Nancy" Nancy meows, jumps off the couch and walks over to him. She tilted her head and her yellow tag catches the light from the window. “It is Miss Mare.” I said taking another sip of my tea. “Have a seat, I got some new furniture since you been here. Would you like something to drink?” He stroked the cat’s head and walked to the opposing couch so he could talk face to face "Im alright Miss Mare" He said smiling "How are you feeling?" I smile as Nancy hopped back up by me. “I am well, been working and such. Why are you here? No pony comes here unless they have a case for me.” He nods and the smile disappears and he whispers loud enough for me to hear "When gods play, mortals lose" He turned to face me "I've just been confronted by a new case, a missing mare who's only lead was being seen with a black stallion who has a white mane and a red puddle cutie mark" he said staring at me waiting for my answer. I sighed thinking of the Lovedale case, remembering by the time we got the case the mare was dead. “Gods play, mortals lose. That is interesting.” I set my tea on the coffee table. “Why would somepony contact you? Where did this confrontation happen? Who is the mare?” "At the train station, why he went to me, I don’t know. His name was Silver Shield and his daughter was Crescent Moon, she's the missing one" He said "He called me Gaia and told me to find a cycle" He spoke remembering each word "HE was the stallion I was looking for, the last one she was seen with." Nancy had jumped off the couch and came back a minute later with my notebook. I start writing what he was saying down, nodding as he spoke. "Very strange." “No, I was ready to leave but as soon as I entered the station he was by my side" he looked to Nancy. "So this happened in Manehattan? " I asked figuring that he went back to Manehattan recently, probably after the government had finished rebuilding "Yes it happened in Manehatten" He smiled at me. I nodded. “Now I guess we are headed to Manehatten then?" He nods "Yes, but before that I saw a stallion on the street. I had stayed in Manehatten for a few days and when walking to the station I saw this red earth pony with a black mane, no cutie mark, when I looked back he was gone and looking down the alley he was next to led to a dead end, I don't know where he went as the crowd was so dense, he couldn't get away fast enough for me to not see him" He looked confused. "Hmm..very strange indeed Mr. Lucem. Thank you for coming to me for it." I pet Nancy. "I'll be ready to leave when you are." "I was ready five hours ago" He said with a look on his face as if he was remembering something. I looked and sounded surprised "Oh?" "I never unpacked my bags, I just put them in my house near the tree library and came here" He smiled. I chuckle. "I see, my bags are usually packed, never know when I will have a case." "...Do you think he meant Cronus's sickle?" He said to himself as he had gotten lost in thought, it was so quiet it was almost not understandable. "hmm..what sickle?" I asked as I heard him. I only heard him cause I was so use to hearing whispers. "And who in the name of Celestia is Cronus? " He nodded to me. "Cronus was one of the first few titans created by the god Gaia and Chaos, he was given a sickle created by Gaia which he used to kill his father and the other titans until him and another two existed, they were locked in tartarus forever, they were created to inhabit this world" He said "The sickle erased the very essence of whoever it cut, so no hell or heaven existed for them after death, they were erased from reality, its truly the worst way to die" He said with a grimace. I looked at him as he spoke, I raised an eyebrow listening. More questions go through my mind. "Wow. How do you know this?" He was at a loss for words until he thought about it and looked confused. "I don't know" "Hmm..you don't know. You are an interesting pony Mr. Lucem, an interesting pony indeed. " I said with a nod. He shook his head "Not interesting, just...not normal" he nodded "I'll go home and get my saddlebags, I'll be back within the hour" he said now standing. "What pony is normal I ask you." I said and nodded. "I will be here." "The ones society chose to rule it" He said with a smile leaving the room.. I chuckle. "Very excellent answer. " I headed to my room to gather anything I may need. I open my box that I keep all my secrets in. I look at the pieces of torn up paper that I have been trying to solve for sometime. "’I’ll just have to wait till I find more pieces maybe then this will make sense." I place a few items in my saddlebag and looked at Nancy. "Be good while I'm gone." She meows. It was now a half and hour since I spoke with Mr. Lucem. I headed down to my office where I saw that he was waiting. He looked around as it now looked more homely "Really nice in here" he said smiling as he looked around at the new pictures of me with different partners as they solve crimes. "They look like nice ponies" he said smiling at me. I smiled. "Thank you. They helped me out a lot " "They look like good detectives" He said looking at the pictures. He turned to me. "Do you remember all these cases?" "Most are just assistants. They don't do detective work for a living, they just volunteer to help." I nodded. "Yes I do." I point to one. "That was the case of the Missing Jade dragon." He nods "How did it end?" "Spike ended up having it. It was all a pretty funny case in my mind." I said with a small chuckle. "Sounds like it" Mr. Lucem chuckled as well. "This case shouldn't be logged" He said to me sounding serious. It was rare for me to not long a case but if he doesn’t want me to then I won’t. "Oh?" I said looking at him and nodded. "If that is what you want. Alright." "Its just...I don’t think anypony will believe us on what's happened even if we do get to the end." he said worried "And before we begin, I need to tell you the full story" I nodded as I listened, he told me of how a stallion passed him with no cutie mark, how he got to the station and the father of the victim wanted him to investigate her disappearance out of nowhere. Leading him to the part where the stallion who the father said took his daughter confronted Mr Lucem. It was a strange case indeed as I listened to him finish. "...He gave me three days to find the sickle, or she dies, but that’s if she even existed in the first place" He finished his story. I nodded. "This is indeed an important case." "I know, thats why I came to you" He nodded to me."You can help the best in cases like this." “Yeah, I can. Plus I bet you don’t know anypony who can help you with this.” I said with a smirk. “So will we be off?” "Twilight Sparkle" Was all he said grinning at me. "Yes, lets go ma'am" He began walking toward the exit. I made a quick check to see if Nancy’s bowls were filled and then I went to follow Mr. Lucem. He spoke as we got outside my home."So, we need to find out who these ponies were in the society" He said talking about the mare who was taken and her father who had contacted him. I nodded as I looked around the town, seeing that Ponyville bustled around them, laughter and conversations ruling all causing Mr Lucem to speak with a slightly louder voice to be heard. "Maybe we can find leads into what the hells going on." “Yes, knowing these ponies will help greatly so that we know how their lives were, why this mare was taken specifically, to know if they have any routines and that if these ponies even exist. By the sound of the story it sounded as if they just seemed to disappear as soon as you spoke to them, like the father.” I said adjusting my saddle bag as I walked. "He appeared to me, not knowing my name but calling me, not knowing I helped the case but knowing I did and seemingly needing help when he gave me no details on where he lived to get in contact or where the girl might be" Mr. Lucem said emphasising on the word might. The station was coming into view and the clock on it struck four o’clock pm. "We might just be running out of time." I nodded, tightening my bow. I spoke in a serious tone. “We better not be. “ "We will not be able to save her if she doesn't exist though" He said as we entered the station, the inside was like the outside, bustling with life and conversation.We could hear some about me and my detective abilities from cases like the golden teapot, the Lovedale case, and a few others. I just ignore the conversations and nodded. I did not like hearing gossip about me, I have seen what gossip and ponies talking about you could do to somepony’s reputation. I walk over to get two tickets to Manehatten. He follows me. "I can get my own ticket this time" He pulled out a small bag of bits as we walked to the counter. I was glad that he was going to buy his own ticket this time but either way it didn’t matter to me if I bought it or not. I heard the conversations about me stop, causing me to look around and notice that as all eyes were set on me and the sound of applause could be heard in the station when some ponies started to clap. I ignore the claps and turn my attention to the ticket pony, I give them enough bits to pay and waited for Mr. Lucem to get his. “Let’s get on the train sir.” I said muttering. He paid for his and turned to me. "Mr not sir. So, straight to the police and see if there is any pony by the names of Silver Shield and Crescent Moon or should we find more about this mysterious pony and these...gods" We both started walking towards the train and I started thinking. We could go see if we could find information on the pony that hired him and his kidnapped daughter or we could go and see if we could find information on the stallion with the red puddle cutie mark who is the kidnapper. I remember in the story how the stallion kept calling my assistant Gaia. That really was confusing me. I turn to him after a few minutes of thinking on the subject. “The stallion who spoke of these gods seems like a good idea to go and figure out first. And as you know Sir, saying sir or mr. is how I speak.” "Tha’ts why I said call me Mr, when you say Sir I feel like killing myself" He was joking obviously and I knew that cause if he did kill himself then he would never know the answer to this case. I look around and notice that the train wasn't like the outer world, in fact it was just the two of us in the cart, it was unnerving to say the least. I turn to Mr. Lucem as he voiced his worry "Where is everyone? with how many ponies were in that station we can be the only two on her for Manehatten." “Yes this is strange, I take the train very often and it usually is packed. This is the first time I seen it this empty.” I said to him as I took a seat.The other end of the cart started to seep with a darkness over its walls as the pony in question walked through the train door. He was just as Mr. Lucem described, he was a black stallion with a white mane, his cutie mark was a red puddle. "My, my, my Gaia, trying to find out about me while the girl suffers."His voice was mocking, "Wont her father be sad." I get up from my seat and walk towards him showing no fear, I thought about every word he spoke. “You owe us some answers. “ I said calmly. He looked at me smiling "No fear, why you disappoint me" Images of the dead Lovedale sister appeared, as well as other dead ponies in many of my cases. Mr. Lucem looked at the walls as the pictures appeared. “I seen things far more worse than you. You don’t feel scare me and you won’t anytime soon. Now I suggest you start talking, I am now on the case, I need answers Sir.” I said to him, not looking at the images, continuing forward until we were face to face. He grinned, his shadow fading and appearing behind me "Silly mare, you think I care what you do on this case, my dear sister behind us is the only one I care about in this whole thing..." He leaned in and whispered as Mr. Lucem just watched "...And when I get that sickle, her avatar, and her will both...die" his voice said it with pure joy. I turned to him after he finished speaking. “You won’t accomplish it. I won’t allow it.” I tried to figure out what he meant by sister and avatar. I thought of the story when he called Mr. Lucem, Gaia. I think hard coming to the conclusion that Mr. Lucem wasn’t a normal pony after all. “He is the avatar of Gaia, isn’t he. Who are you anyway?” "Smart one ain't ya" He disappeared and reappeared once again this time by the door "You're the mystery solver, solve it. But if you want to finish this case..I suggest not mentioning it" His eyes flicked to Mr. Lucem who looked confused as the darkness seeped away and the train started departing, the demon pony disappearing. "What did he say?" Mr. Lucem said putting a hoof on my shoulder. I think about what the demon pony said. I look around expecting him to be watching us. “I won’t lie to him. If he asks, he asks. I won’t hide anything from him and you can’t stop me.” I said. I turn to Mr. Lucem. “Several things.” On a small wind the demon pony’s voice carried "Then you can watch him die as I become the only god to rule this world..." His words faded away instantly. "What were they on?" Mr. Lucem asked patting my back. I move his hoof from my back as I spoke in my cold tone. “Please don’t do that.” I became silent for a minute and thought on what to say. I would rather not risk his life so I just tell him some of it. “Stuff about gods, finding the sickle and that stuff.” I walk over to my seat. He looks bored "Really, back to a cold tone instead of asking nicely...me trying to be nice and you being cold, even, very fair" He sat on the opposite side of the train seats just looking out the window, I could tell that he knew I had missed a lot out. I sighed and looked out the window.