My Little Investigations: Marehunter

by Metool Bard

Double Illusion (A)

December 14, 1:08 PM
Mt. Kohryu
Welcoming Chamber
***

"Well, that don't look right."

Understatement of the past thirty moons, Applejack. Indeed, the crime scene had completely changed from when we last left it. The leaves on the floor were scattered and bloody, a folded stepladder had materialized from thin air, and most troubling of all, Dodger Dragonvest was nowhere to be seen. Seiryu was hovering above it all and surveying the damage when we touched down.

"This is more dangerous than I had originally thought," he mused, barely acknowledging our arrival. "I do hope we're prepared."

"Prepared for what?" asked Derpy. "And what's that ladder doing there?"

Applejack arched an eyebrow. "Uh, Derpy? That there's a stepladder."

Derpy turned to Applejack and tilted her head. "What's the difference? They both look the same to me."

"Well, they ain't," said Applejack firmly, pointing to the stepladder. "See? It's like two ladders stapled together."

"That doesn't sound all that different from a regular ladder to me," said Pinkie with a shrug. "You really shouldn't judge things based on narrow-minded cultural assumptions, AJ."

I let out an exasperated groan and slapped my forehead. Disregarding the fact that I have no idea what Pinkie's babbling about, I'm just dumbfounded that we're even arguing about this in the first place. Sometimes, it's not easy to deal with being surrounded by a bunch of weirdoes.

"Who cares what it is?" I growled. "The point is that it wasn't there before."

Pinkie nodded. "Sparkler's right, guys. We shouldn't fight over this. Let's just agree to disagree. Ladder, stepladder; pah-tae-toe, ta-mah-toe."

"That's not how the sayin' goes, Pink," sighed Applejack. "But, yeah. We've got more important things to worry about."

"Like Dragonvest," I said darkly. "It looks like he skipped out on us."

"But, how can that be, Ammy?" asked Derpy, rubbing the side of her head. "Dead people don't just get up and walk away."

"That's right, Derpy. They don't," said Pinkie, tapping her chin and furrowing her brow. "Unless..."

Oh no. Please don't say zombies. Please don't say zombies. Please don't say zombies...

"Unless what, Pinkie?" inquired Applejack.

"Unless Dodger Dragonvest was never dead to begin with!"

Oh, thank Celestia. I'm glad to see she's taking this seriously. As I said before, it's pretty hard to tell with Pinkie Pie.

"I have to agree with you on this one, Pinkie," I said. "Rosco and that neko samurai both mentioned the possibility just before we came back here. Now we just have to figure out how he was able to pull that off."

"I just might have an answer for that," said Seiryu, making his way into our conversation.

"Yeah?" I said. "Well, what is it?"

"Let me ask you this first, Star Amethyst," said Seiryu. "You know how Shroud Emeralds work, yes?"

"Well, of course," I stated honestly. "When you're under the influence of its spell, you can't be perceived for a few hours unless you come into contact with mud or something."

"Correct," said Seiryu with a sage nod. "But have you ever wondered what would happen if you used a Shroud Emerald while you were under that spell?"

Okay, he's clearly going somewhere with this. And I highly doubt that I'm gonna like it.

"I have to admit that I haven't given the possibility much thought," I said with a shrug. "I just assume that it would extend the duration of the spell."

"You're partially correct," said Seiryu. "But there is an additional effect."

"And that is?"

"When the first spell wears off, the second leaves an image of the wielder behind."

Derpy blinked. "What kinda image?"

"The image depicts the position the wielder was in when he used the Shroud Emerald a second time," said Seiryu gravely.

I took a moment to piece all this together. "So, you're saying that Dodger used the Shroud Emeralds once, walked up Mt. Kohryu, tied himself up, and then used a second set of Shroud Emeralds to leave an image of himself and fake his death?"

"That's the working theory at the moment," said Seiryu. "At least according to Lord Orph. He had to deal with this sort of thing all the time before the Grand Shoguns banned the use to Shroud Emeralds."

"Hang on, hang on, hang on," said Applejack, raising her hoof. "That still doesn't make a lick of sense. Wouldn't this image show that he's alive?"

"That's actually a flaw with this theory," said Seiryu with a heavy sigh. "There is a way to slow your breathing so that the image you create appears dead, but that technique is limited to the most deadly assassins in the Mewlun Mountains."

Meaning we don't know how Dodger Dragonvest came across this information. As cutthroat as the Diamond Dogs of the underground network are, I don't think even they would find much use for something this sinister. Except for Dodger, or course, but again, he couldn't have learned it from his fellow Diamond Dogs. And honestly, that's just one of many question I have about this whole scenario. Well, better start trying to answer them, then.

"When exactly did this the spell wear off, Mr. Seiryu?" I asked.

Seiryu stroked his whiskers in thought. "I'd say around fifteen minutes or so after you left. Lord Orph sent one of his men to fetch you as soon as he noticed something was wrong."

"And where is he now?"

"He's looking into this trail of blood here," said Seiryu, pointing to the trail. "He thinks he can use it to find the false hierophant."

Somehow, I doubt that. This trail must be hours old, at least. Even if Dodger's paws were all cut up, he couldn't have been losing that much blood. But hey, who am I to tell the Chief of the Samurai Guard how to do his job?

"I reckon we can already guess what the stepladder was for," said Applejack, looking over the object in question. "He obviously used it to maintain his footin' while he was stringin' himself up. But my question is where the hay did he get it from? I don't think there are any hardware stores 'round these parts."

Seiryu floated down to the stepladder and gave it a once-over. "Hmm. It appears to have been forged out of Iron Diamond."

Applejack blinked. "Iron What-Now?"

"It's another type of mystical gemstone," I explained. "But, how can you tell?"

Seiryu pointed to the metallic veins that decorated the walls and ceiling of the chamber. "Those veins have traces of Iron Diamond in them. Even at a cursory glance, I can spot the similarities between them and this device."

"Wait, I'm confuzzled again," said Derpy. "I thought Diamond Dogs treated mystical gemstones so that they could use their magic."

I shrugged. "Well, from what I understand, Fire Rubies aren't typically used as weapons, either. I guess Iron Diamonds have more than one use, too."

"So, wait. You're sayin' that Dodger Dragonvest found the time to sit down, forge this here stepladder, and lug it up this here mountain?" asked Applejack.

"Look, I'm not sold on this, either," I said. "Dodger doesn't have any friends here. Hauling this thing around would slow him down and make him vulnerable to attack. But you can't deny that it might be our best explanation."

"Which means we're missing some major clues," Pinkie chimed in.

"You got it," I said with a nod. "Now, if only we knew where to go from here..."

"Star Amethyst?"

Before I could sort out this problem, another neko samurai entered the cave and approached us.

"What news do you bring from Lord Orph?" asked Seiryu.

"He lost the mongrel's trail," said the samurai. "However, he did manyage to find anyother lead."

"Really now," I said. "Where might that be?"

"The mongrel's trail grows cold at the Valley of Secrets," said the samurai. "Lord Orph is investigating the assassin guilds for more answers."

Derpy gulped. "Wh-why would he investigate them?"

Seiryu closed his eyes and nodded thoughtfully. "The Valley of Secrets stands between Mt. Cloak and Mt. Dagger. Those peaks are where the deadliest assassins in the Mewlun Mountains roost."

And I suppose it's not a coincidence that Dodger's been using an advanced assassin technique to give us all the runaround. Still, I'm having trouble believing that he actually befriended an assassin out here. You'd think that being part of the Neko Shogunate, they would kill him on sight and claim their reward from the Grand Shoguns or something.

"Did Orph say he wanted us to go there?" I inquired.

The samurai nodded. That was all I needed.

"Right, thank you," I said with a bow. "C'mon, gang. Let's go see this Valley of Secrets."

"Um, Ammy? M-maybe I should just stay here," said Derpy, twiddling her hooves.

I turned to Derpy and sighed. "Mom, trust me. I don't like the idea of waltzing into a den of killers any more than you do. Nevertheless, we gotta do this. I'm pretty sure those assassins don't want anything to do with us, but if it comes right down to it, I'll protect you no matter what."

Derpy paused for a moment before giving me a shy nod. "O-okay," she said. "I'll protect you too, Ammy."

"I'll protect us, too!" Pinkie cheered.

"Same here," said Applejack, adjusting her hat. "We've got nothin' to worry about as long as we have each other."

"I can certainly get behind that," I said with a smile. "Now let's go."

With that, we mounted our leaf parachutes and took off once again. While our morale is still as high as ever, we still have a lot of unanswered questions. But out of all of them, one sticks out in my mind more than the others. What the heck is Dodger up to? We're still no closer to answering that, but I know one thing for sure. If he's breaking all of these Neko Shogunate laws to carry out this plan, it can't be anything good.

***
December 14, 1:24 PM
Mewlun Mountains
Valley of Secrets
***

After a brief flight, we came across two of the most uninviting-looking mountains I have ever seen in my life. Both of them were as black as ash, and unlike the other mountains we've seen around here, there were no staircases carved into the ledges. Instead, they were lined with alcoves of varying size, sticking out like footholds one would see on a rock climbing wall. And between them both was a deep valley shrouded in a heavy fog. As we drifted through the fog, I felt a sharp pressure in my chest. The entire atmosphere of this place felt dark and oppressive.

When we got through the fog, the valley itself didn't look any more promising. Even from our altitude, I could see that the place was littered with bones and skeletons. I was hard-pressed to find a place to land where we wouldn't be stepping on someone's remains. Ugh~. That thought right there just made me queasy. We shouldn't stay here any longer than we have to.

"Huh. I spy with my little eye, something that doesn't belong."

I don't know whether I should be relieved or exasperated that Pinkie can still joke at a time like this. That is, if she is joking.

"What're you talking about, Pinkie?" I hollered.

"That."

Pinkie pointed with her hoof, and I immediately saw what she meant. Lying amongst the bones was a large open capsule of some sort. I dunno, it looked like something out of some science fiction novel. And as Pinkie said, it certainly looked out of place. We all touched down and gathered around the odd thing.

"What do ya think it is?" asked Applejack.

"Beats me," said Derpy with a shrug.

Pinkie walked up to the capsule and peered inside. "Hmm. Looks like whoever was in here isn't home. Ooh, there's pretty writing in here, too."

"Pink, get outta there," said Applejack. "We don't want that door closin' on you or anythin'."

"Relax, AJ. I'll be super careful," said Pinkie. "That's my middle name, after all. Pinkie Careful Pie."

"Isn't your middle name Diane?" asked Derpy. "'Cause that's what it says on your letters."

Pinkie opened her mouth to respond, but found that she had nothing to say. "Huh. Touché, my dear Derpy."

"Guys, let's try to focus here," I said, scooting over to Pinkie. "Now, where did you say this writing was?"

"Over here," said Pinkie, pointing with her hoof.

I illuminated my horn to get a better look at what Pinkie was pointing to. For a moment, I couldn't even tell it was writing. It looked like a bunch of squiggles and shapes. And as strange as it sounds, I think I've seen them somewhere before.

"Hmm," I hummed, looking all around the capsule. "Pinkie, do you remember seeing anything like this?"

"Now that you mention it, didn't that kama thingie have markings, too?" Pinkie mused. "Orph said he recognized them."

That's right. The kama had markings on it, too. And looking at this capsule now, I'm pretty sure they're similar, if not the same. What does this mean?

"Am I interrupting anything, Star Amethyst?"

Orph's slick voice snapped me back to the reality. I turned to see him standing there, paws behind his back and his tail swishing from side to side.

"One of your fellas said you wanted to talk to us here," said Applejack.

"Indeed," said Oprh. "But certainly nyot in a grim place such as this. Come, I arranged some tea for us at Mt. Cloak. We'll speak there."

"Um, I thought this was the home of mean assassins," said Derpy, tilting her head.

Orph chuckled. "If you knyow how to conduct yourself, assassins can be quite accommodating. Besides, a member of the guild just so happens to be a former soldier of mine who owes me quite a few favors."

"And, he's okay with this?" I asked.

"For nyow," said Orph, rubbing his eye. "I, might've nyeglected to mention that you four were outsiders. This position is still quite precarious for me and the Nyeko Shogunyate as a whole."

Well, this is going to be awkward. But you know what? Screw it. If it means getting out of this dreadful valley, I'm all for it.

"Um, we're not gonna get you into trouble, are we?" whimpered Derpy.

Orph shook his head. "Nyot at all. Assassins cannyot kill anyone unless their contract is approved by the Guild Master and the Grand Shoguns. I assure you, you are all perfectly safe. Nyow, follow me."

With that, he bounded up the side of the mountain. It sounds to me like this discussion isn't just going to be us exchanging notes. Call it a hunch, but it probably has to do with that report he sent to the Grand Shoguns. He still seems apprehensive about cooperating with us, but not that apprehensive. I'm not sure what to make of that.

"Well, here's hoping the Grand Shoguns approve of us helping them out, I guess," I said with a shrug.

"And some answers," Applejack added.

"And some tea!" chirped Pinkie.

We all gave Pinkie an odd look.

"What? He said there was gonna be tea," said Pinkie with a shrug.

I simply sighed and rolled my eyes as we made our way up the steep slopes of Mt. Cloak. I really don't get Pinkie sometimes. One moment she's serious; the next she's silly. And oftentimes, you can't tell which is which. Eh, whatever. At least her sunny demeanor hasn't wavered that much. Celestia knows we still need it to deal with whatever is up ahead, which might just include our old friend Dodger.

Comments

[theNDinspector]

Hmmm, Shroud-ception.

[Coltz of Personality]

Yesssss, the stepladder joke!

[Ri2]

LADDERS!