Morning Meir Mysteries: Case 1: A Mad Mare Affair

by XombieSlayr

Chapter 11: "Enemy Of My Enemy."

Chapter 11: "Enemy Of My Enemy."

Gold Digger said nothing as I tended to our wounds. I had used the first aid kit in the bathroom to mend the cut on my side, as well as tend to the bruising I had on my stomach from where I was kicked.

Gold Digger had a light bruise on her neck from where she had been pinned to the wall by the assassin's hoof. She flinched a bit, as I dabbed it with medicine. We still didn't talk to one another as we moved the unconscious assassin downstairs and "gently" tossed him on the couch.

I mean I could clearly understand why. Up until now, she had caught me in a trap with a Hashashin, and had been acting friendly to lower my guard. This had all been one big setup.

But still...she had tried to stop the assassin from coming after me. And other than her obvious snobbish attitude, she wasn't as bad as I had originally pictured. Although, I suppose I hadn't really given her a chance to be just yet.

It was then that Gold Digger finally turned and spoke to me. "Thanks...for...y'know." The way she said it, was like she had some great amount of difficulty saying the words. As if she wasn't sure if she should say anything at all.

I turned and looked at her kindly. "You're welcome." I answered, putting the medicine back in the first aid kit.

"Why did you save me?" she asked suddenly. I turned back and looked at her in surprise, as if the fact the question was even asked seemed ridiculous. I decided to humor her. "Why did you have an assassin pretend to be your butler?" I retorted.

She chuckled to herself. "Heh. An answer for an answer. Okay, well, to put it simply: I didn't."

"Huh?"

"Somepony else sent him over. Not sure if it was The Grand Master, or one of those other nut-jobs."

"Nut-jobs? So you don't even want to help them rule the world, or whatever?"

Gold Digger laughed as if I'd told a very funny joke. "As if! I mean, not to sound stuck up or anything....

(I stifled a chuckle)

"But look at me! I've got money to burn and my company has no problems financially or with keeping up with demand. I'm perfectly fine on my own! So why help a group of maniacs with their ridiculous world domination plots? What risk was ruling the world, when I already have my own little slice of it?" She stated, with so much pride it practically emanated from her.

I raised an eyebrow. "So...why are you working with them, then?"

Gold Digger's eyes glittered with delight. "Oh, why simple Ms. Meir! For the money of course!" she said enthusiastically, as if the answer was simple to guess.

I stared at her in disbelief "What?! You just said you have no problems with money!" I exclaimed.

"Oh I don't. But come now, is there really such thing as too much money?"

I was in awe at the kind of mare Gold Digger was. Salah hadn't been lying at all. She was as greedy and spoiled as they came. What could anypony possibly want with so much money? Then again, perhaps this was just who Gold Digger was. And even with her greed, I still saw some kindness in those eyes when I first met her. Perhaps she wasn't as bad as she wanted others to think.

She paused for a minute as her smile dropped a bit. "So...Why did you save me?" she repeated.

I didn't need to think of my answer. "Because I would never just let someone die. Not if I could stop it. I'm a doctor, Ms. Digger. When push comes to shove I will always do everything in my power to make sure somepony keeps breathing. Including you."

She smiled whimsically. "Huh. Good answer." she said satisfied.

She turned to me. "I guess you want answers too don't you?" she said, simply.

"Yeah, I do."

She sighed. "We'll....I owe you one, so...fine. What do you wanna know?"

Questioning (Gold Digger, Owner and President of Gold Group, Possible Ally?)

We decided to sit down in the other couch as we talked. Poncy had returned and made us glasses of ice tea, as he was sure to keep an eye on the assassin, who was still knocked out. For a moment, it actually looked like we were just having a normal conversation. After setting my glass down, I asked my first question. "Alright, so first off....just who is The Grand Master? What does he want?"

"He's some evil mastermind in a cloak who wants to rule the world, apparently. Not just him now either. Those other ponies in The Circle-

"The Circle? That's the name of your organization?"

"Of their organization, yeah. I'm just in it for the money. But them....they're all serious about taking over everything. They're crazy!"

"How long has The Circle been around?" I asked.

"No clue. Must be really old though. The way The Grand Master talks sometimes, it's like he's ancient or something!"

I raised an eyebrow."How so?"

"He goes on about how in ages long forgotten, the dark ones ruled....or something. He's definitely off his saddle. I usually try to ignore him, but...

"But, what?"

"He knows, somehow! He knows when I'm spaced out and ignoring what he's saying. I can't see his face, but I....feel him staring a literal hole through me. It's creepy as heck!"

My thoughts raced to put this new info into storage in my brain. The Grand Master was very intimidating indeed. But the way he sounded, he sounded like a literal monster out of a fairy tale. But, that was ridiculous. He was just a pony under that cloak.

Wasn't he?

I paused as I took another drink of my tea. I was amazed at how well this was going with Gold Digger. Even though she was a member of this "Circle" she was only apart of it for her own (albeit, greedy and selfish) reasons. If she wanted to, maybe she could actually help us! Who better to have as an ally in this, then somepony who's actually apart of the group behind everything.

But I wasn't stupid. I knew that Gold Digger may not be evil, but she wasn't exactly a saint either. If I wanted her as an ally, I needed to appeal to her base desires. And I had a good idea of what that was.

I decided to ask her to help us later on. I had to get a few more answers for a few more questions in the meantime. "Who are the other ponies in The Circle?" I asked setting my glass down again.

Gold Digger paused a moment. "Let's see....besides yours truly, of course, there's the casino mogul, Tycoon Tex."

"Who's that?"

"This fat big city earth stallion in an oversized top hat. Talks in this real thick southern drawl. I can never understand him, with all his jaunty, Texan babble, but The Grand Master apparently does. Or at least pretends to."

"What's his story?"

"Don't know, don't care. All I know is he's rich (Not as rich me, but...still) and he's on board for The Grand Master's world domination plan."

I sighed. That wasn't anything to go on, but it was still something at least. I decided I would look into Tycoon Tex a little later. Once my business with Gold Digger was through.

"Who else?'

"Other than me and Tex, just a bunch of stuffy bureaucrats who are too scared of The Grand Master, to not do what he wants....and then there's Nair."

"Nair?"

"Grand Master's right hand mare. Just as scary as he is. Maybe even more so. Never shows up to meetings, never talks to anypony. Never needs to. It's way too weird."

Interesting, I thought. Nair must be his assistant or advisor of some sort. And she apparently has just as much clout in The Circle as the Grand Master does. If I could find her, she may be able to tell me more about the Grand Master. Though from how she sounded, it wouldn't exactly be an easy task to find her, let alone be able to speak with her.

I moved on to my next question. "What sort of work do you do for The Circle?" I asked. I had heard her talking about acquiring properties from Marquis and controlling economic factors, while they were in the tunnels. But I didn't want to let her know that just yet. In case she went back to the Circle after this. I was just here for information. There was no need to give away information she didn't need to know. Not just yet.

She took a sip of tea, before answering. "Real Estate. I buy properties that can be used by The Circle for their own purposes, in exchange I get a nice monetary exchange from the previous owners, plus a bonus from the members of the circle, as payment for me keeping the deal under wraps."

"Sounds shady." I said disapprovingly.

Gold Digger only shrugged. "Business is business, sweetie. But there is one particular property that The Grand Master has more interest in than any other property for some reason. And he's angry that I haven't been able to get it."

I raised an eyebrow. "Which would that be?"

"The Mareposa Cathedral. For some reason, he keeps getting on us about the importance of the place. About how its the central linchpin in our entire operation. About how I need to obtain it for them."

"The Cathedral? What does he want with an old landmark?" I asked.

"No idea. He keeps saying once we get it, we'll find out. Except it's owned by the city of the Mareposa. Even I'm unable to just buy the place!" Gold Digger explained.

I thought for a moment. For The Grand Master to make such a high demand, for a single building, there must be something of great importance hidden there. Something that The Grand Master needs, desperately. Which means If I got it before him, I would have leverage over him...and The Circle. My mind was made.

"Alright then, lets go." I said hopping off the couch.

Gold Digger looked confused. "Uh...go where?"

I turned and smiled at her. "The Mareposa Cathedral. That's what The Grand Master wants so badly, so there must be something hidden there. Something he wants. So, It's something I want." I explained. "So come on, lets go."

"Whoa, hey! Hang on." Gold Digger hopped off the couch. " I've answered your questions. So I'm done. We're done." She said sternly.

I turned back to her. "So you're just going to keep doing what some insane cloaked maniac keeps telling you to do? You're going to let the Circle just take over the world?"

Gold Digger scoffed. "Not my problem, sweetheart! I have my own world to look after."

But as she turned and started trotting away cheerfully, I knew then how to get her on my side. "If The Circle rules the world....then what's left for you?"

She stopped in her tracks. I couldn't see her face, but I could tell I'd gotten to her.

I kept pushing. "Once The Circle has what they want, they won't need you anymore. They'll take over everything. Everything you own or ever have owned, will be theirs. And there would be nothing you could do to stop them. Is that what you want?"

Still she said nothing. But I saw her hooves shift a little, as she thought it out.

After a minute, she finally turned to me. "And whats in it for me if I help you, then. Hmm? What could you possibly offer me in return, Ms. Meir." She asked snarkily.

I only smiled as I answered, "If The Circle gets taken down, that means you can snatch up all the properties they own when they lose custody of everything. And....you'll make plenty of money in the process." I said with an equal touch of snark in my voice..

Gold Digger looked down as she put a hoof to her chin in thought. I couldn't have cared less if Gold Digger was only doing this for herself. If she needed money to be influenced, then fine. Once The Circle was taken care of, I had every intention on letting her have all the spoils. I had no interest in it, and she didn't want to rule the world anyway. So why not?

Then a wide grin spread across her face as her eyes glittered brighter than ever before. I could practically see the gold coins sparkling in her field of vision. "Hmmm...Heh, I like the way you think, Ms. Meir." she said in a very excited tone. "Alright, then!"

Without warning, She suddenly wrapped an arm around my neck and pulled me close to her, so our faces were squeezing one another. "Then from here on out, you and I are besties! We'll take down The Circle, then reap the rewards that come with it!" She exclaimed.
"Or at least I will." She added softly.

"Uh, great." I said awkwardly, as my cheeks squished against hers. Not exactly what I had expected the outcome to be, but nevertheless, I had gained a new ally in my mission to take down The Circle. Gold Digger was no saint herself, but she only cared about money. As long as she knew she was getting it, she would be as saintly as I needed here to be.

And in the long run, that was good enough for me.