Trails of steam danced through the cold air from the cup of coffee on the desk. Touching the edge of the paper cup with the tip of his hoof, Hope Seeker felt the scolding liquid within was still too hot to drink comfortably. Coffee should be too warm to guzzle so you can sip it and enjoy its robust flavor, but in its current state Seeker felt it might ignite the container it currently sat in. He rested his elbows on the desk as he stared into the black liquid. He had hoped that the hot refreshment would relieve the weight of his heavy eyelids once he was able to drink it, but for now he watched the mist emanating from the surface and allowed his mind to slip.

Hope Seeker’s office was getting darker as the Pegasi maintained one of their summer storms, only lit by the street lamps outside the window and the white crystals that were affixed to wall sconces like primitive torches. The building owner had prohibited Seeker’s use of lanterns or open flames after the last incident where his office was lit aflame. He tried to explain that it was an attack on him that lit the flames in the first place, but his plea fell on deaf ears. His rent was raised to help cover the property damages.

The only entrance into the cramped office was an ill fitted wooden door with a pane of warped glass set into its upper half. Though the glass had a decent sized crack through it, the words printed on its surface: “Hope Seeker, Private investigator” were still legible. Hope rested his head on his hooves, suspending his head above the cup of coffee as he blew along its surface in an attempt to cool it faster. His thought continued to wonder in his tired state, exhaustion tightening the grip it had upon his mind.

Memories began to flash past as his fatigued brain tried to answer the ever present question: “How did I get here?” Seeker was abandoned at a young age, too young to remember what his patents looked like let alone who they were. The orphanage he grew up in was mostly populated with earth ponies that had lost their homes and families from some catastrophic events like large accidents and natural disasters that could not be prevented. Hope however was not only given up by choice, but was also the only unicorn there. Unicorns were normally taken in by the schools to advance their teachings much in the same way Pegasi were brought to the clouds to be taken care of by those who could teach them how to fly properly. Not to say that it was uncommon for a Pegasus to have their ability to fly stunted because they grew up on the ground rather than with their head in the clouds.

Seeker had little to no guidance when his magic began to flourish, but that didn't stop him. It only made life more interesting for him. Rather than finding somepony else to answer all his questions for him he began doing research on his own. His endeavors with his arcane studies did not increase the magical power that he himself could exert, but rather gave him the knowledge that he needed to manipulate and amplify his results. He spent endless hours creating staves, wands, and other devices to give him the effects that he sought. The cutie mark that stood against his beige coat, a wooden staff carved with glyphs and runes and a red gem set into its head, was another sign of his remarkable talent for such artisanship.

Once he reached an appropriate age to apply for a magic school without a requiring a guardians approval, Seeker submitted applications to every academy and university he could find. His knowledge of magic however proved feeble on the written tests. His arguments were valid according to all his own research and experimentation, but the field of magic his talent resided in was highly theoretical and the schools were unwilling to test the validity of his claims. His practical testing did not fare any better as he was not allowed to use the tools he had created. The test was designed to challenge the subjects pure power and control, not how well your toys work. The understanding of manipulating his own magic was unable to overcome the tests that, with the assistance of his trinkets, could have been passed easily.

With too many failures under his belt he decided to forget the idea of learning how to properly use his magic and instead find ways he could use what he knew to support himself. Seeker went back to the earth ponies he had grown up with in Maretropolis and started working with the local police departments as a consultant. The jobs that he was called in for regarded crimes that were currently listed as unsolved due to the lack of evidence. With some of his unique tools, Seeker was able to uncover details and traces that were overlooked by the original investigators. The pay for these jobs however was abysmal and made it difficult to make ends meet at times, so he decided to supplement his income by doing a little work as a private investigator.

The pay would have been better if the jobs were steady, but the ones that would come through his door were lacking in number to have made it his primary job. As it was he had not had a customer darken his doorway form almost a week. Even the librarian from Ponyville that called him on an almost regular basis to locate missing books had been out of touch lately.

Though she never paid him in bits, but Seeker never minded her work. The jobs she offered were too easy for him to take his normal payment rates in good conscience. Depending on what book was missing he could almost track it down without magic at all. If the missing book involved Daring Do then he would find it at the home of the local weather Pegasus, books on baking would most likely be with an eccentric earth pony living with the Cakes at the local bakery and so forth. Rather than the normal currency of metal coins she would pay him with small lessons on magic that he used to improve his own work.

Seeker was not doing well financially however, and rent would be right around the corner. He would be willing to take almost anything right now. He didn't care if it was a lost pet or magically suspended houses, anything was better than sitting around his office waiting for time to tick away. His boredom reached the point where he wished someone would try to burn down his office again with that mysterious green fire when the ringing of the nearby phone brought him back to his senses.

Seeker reached out a hoof to pull the receiver from the phones base. He could have used his horn to levitate it to his head, but if there was something he could do without his magic, he would. He believed that just having magic didn't mean you had to flaunt it, but he was fairly sure that the idea was enforced on him as a child.

"Seeker, Private Investigation." He said with the blunt tone he reserved for such reiteration. No reason to sound too desperate for work, especially before any had been offered.

"Hey Hope, its Lightning." The feminine voice poured through the speaker making Seeker smile and wince. It was his contact at the local precinct Lightning Shield.

"I thought i told you to stop calling me that." Seeking responded before taking a well needed sip if his now perfectly warm coffee.

"Awe, and I thought we were on a first name basis. Why do you have to be so pessimistic anyway?" The voice chortled back though Seeking could hear the smile she wore.

"So am I to assume this is a social call? I'm with a potential client right now and can’t discuss anything that isn't business." he lied as he continued to drink his coffee. The warm beverage was well deserved as the temperature of the room continued to drop with the storm outside coming to fruition.

"You always were a bad liar Hope, but I do have a scene i need you to take a look at." Lightning said with as much emphasis on his name as possible.

“Bad?”

“We've got a body, too young to have just keeled over. No medical history to back up a sudden death. No wounds that we can tell till the coroner gets her. No signs of a struggle or forced entry.” Lighting rambled through the short version of the report she would be filing.

"Suspected murder then? Alright, you know my normal fee. Where do you need me?" She quickly rambled off an address that Seeking scrawled on a loose piece of paper on his desk. "Got it. Anything i should know before i head over that way?"

"Nope. I'll be waiting." Lightning said before hanging up.

"How rude. She didn't even say goodbye." Seeking stared at the receiver with a forced hurt look on his face for a few moments before hanging up the phone himself. He still wasn't sure how the contraption worked, even after dismantling three of his own. He finished off his coffee before standing up from his desk to collect his things.

The coat rack next to the door was relived of its burden: a black canvas duster and black fedora. Seeker had to brush his shaggy brown mane from his face before placing the hat on his head. He would prefer his hair was shorter, but with a lack of funds going to a barber was not an option and he did not want to attempt the feat himself.

The jacket he pulled over his back was heavy with all the equipment that found their homes within its many hand stitched pockets. Lastly a long wooden staff was thrown over his back, held in place by a small strap of leather looped over his shoulder and across his chest.

Disengaging the enchantments that maintained the lighting crystals within the room Seeker left the office, locking the door behind him. On his way out of the building he stopped on the floor bellow, where a small law firm was located, just long enough to steal another cup of courtesy coffee before facing the storm.

A wave of thunder greeted him with the chilling rain as he stepped out into the storm. It was going to be a long walk.

Author's Note

I'm not too familiar with this format, but we will see how things turn out over the next several weeks.