Farewell to the Moon

As the sunlight found its way into the unicorn’s apartment, Verity groaned and shifted her head on the slightly damp book, wrinkling the pages while trying to escape being woken up and squeeze in a few more moments of sleep. After a few minutes, she gave up and stumbled to her feet, closing the book with a quick snap. She heard the mail slot clatter, announcing potential work for the detective. It was the only job that she found fulfilling when compared to her old employer - sleuthing kept her mind occupied and she actually enjoyed finding out about other ponies through her investigations.

Stifling a yawn, Verity rubbed her eyes and levitated the book she had used as a pillow back to the shelf it belonged, before she pushed her wild mane out of her face. Scooping up the letters with magic, she glanced at them briefly before she tossed them at the messy table, electing to take a shower first. As she turned away from the door, another fell through the slot silently.

She simply stood in the shower for several minutes, the hot water woke her up far better than the sunlight had. As the water streamed down from her mane, she contemplated her day. There was the library she wanted to visit, cases to investigate, and groceries to get. Verity caught herself mumbling what she had to do and chuckled.

Turning off the water, Verity climbed out of the shower and levitated a towel to dry her mane off. As soon as her mane was dry and brushed, she quickly manipulated it into its customary braid. She then turned her attention to her tail and repeated the process. Looking at her reflection, she shrugged and stepped back into the messy office, heading towards the kitchen.

Opening the cabinet, Verity blinked at the empty shelves. Maybe it had been a few more days than she had thought? Since when was she almost completely out of food? She shook her head and began opening other cabinets to see what she had to survive on. A box of battered cereal and a small bag of crackers was all she had left.

“Damn,” she muttered, scrutinizing her messy apartment. She headed towards the small stack of letters and began rifling through them for a job she could easily do in a day.

“Murder… Foalnapping… Thieves… Murder…” She listed them out loud as she read them, not one of them striking her interest – such typical jobs in the current age, and she knew they would take more than a day to complete properly. With a soft growl of exasperation, she tossed them aside and leaned against the table. Her emerald eyes looked down at the lone letter sitting by the door and after a moment of hesitation, the letter was scooped up in an aura of magic. Verity examined the letter closely, noting the insignia of the sun and the moon on the paper. The princesses were contacting her..?! How did they even manage to get the letter there?

Almost reluctantly, she broke the wax seal and began reading the letter inside.

Dear Ms. Verity,

We apologize for contacting you in such a manner. Usually matters that happen within our city are handled by the Royal Guard. However, as of late, they have been exceedingly busy dealing with rogue ponies. Therefore, we have been reaching out to detective ponies such as yourself to see if they would help with the matter that has arisen in our own castle.

As you may or may not know, our nephew Prince Blueblood was murdered a week ago. While he may not have been as popular with our subjects as he wished, my sister and I were trying to help him change his personality so that he was more likeable by the general public. Unfortunately, it appears he may have made some enemies due to his manner.

He was found dead in his study, appearing to be asleep until he was attempted to be woken. Prince Blueblood was found to be drained of blood and with a black rose next to him. This has been a trend that has been rapidly surfacing around Equestria and we have yet to determine who is behind this. We are offering substantial payment for investigation and apprehension of the culprit. Please understand that the Royal Guard is far too busy to offer any real assistance unless the need is dire.

Regards,

Princess Luna

P.S. There has been also been a massive theft of muffins as of late from the kitchens. We would greatly appreciate it if you would also look into this matter as well.

Verity blinked and reread the letter. Muffin theft came off as the weirdest request she had ever received. “What kind of pony would waste time stealing muffins??”

* * *

A week prior to Luna’s letter…

Crescent glanced outside, the moon having finally been restored to its full glory, the silvery white body reflecting in his eyes. He leaned back in his seat and sighed softly, the carriage bumping softly as they came to a stop in front of the Canterlot Castle. He clambered out of the carriage and nodded at his driver, who inclined his head in return. He waited till the carriage had gotten a good distance away before turning to face the castle.

The guards stood stock still as he approached. They remained so until he was within speaking distance before they addressed him. “What is your business here?”

“I’m here to see Prince Blueblood.” Crescent replied with a slight dip of his head. The guards nodded and one began walking towards the entrance – they had been informed by the prince himself there would be a visitor. As he followed the stallion, Crescent glanced at the gate where another guard had already taken the former’s post. Times had definitely changed for Equestria.

Following the guard into the castle, he made mental note of each door he passed. As he was beginning to doubt he’d remember the turns and steps needed to return to the exit, the guard stopped in front of a door and lifted a hoof to knock. After a few moments, a voice answered. “Come in.”

The guard nodded curtly to Crescent before turning down the hall, his hoof steps echoing softly. Crescent pushed the door open, his cloak rustling gently. The Prince stood at the other end of the room, gazing out the window at the city..

“I’m glad you agreed to meet with me. I expect you’ve had your hands full these past few months?“ Blueblood glanced over his shoulder at Crescent. “Oh… forgive me. I was expecting somepony… older. I assumed Silver would be here himself.”

Crescent smiled slightly, pushing the door shut behind him. “My father retired a few months back. The task has fallen to me to continue his ideas for Equestria.”

“Ah, so you’re Crescent? Your father mentioned you once. Something along the lines of a son who had rebelled against everything he was taught and still managed to make him proud at his indomitable will?”

“That sounds like my father.“ Crescent answered, his eyes narrowing at the Prince’s statement. The look on his face dissuaded the Prince from pursuing the subject. “Now I assume there’s a reason you contacted me directly?”

“Straight to business, ah?” Blueblood smirked, turning to his desk. “Well, if you checked the letter, I listed a few of the details.”

“I may have skimmed it.” Crescent replied, walking over to inspect the books sitting on the shelf. “I get quite a few letters from ponies all over, all trying to contact my father to help with his ideas of a new Equestria.”

Blueblood watched the grey stallion’s back, his expression calculating. “Your father simply wanted to unite Equestria with the ponies who had abilities over those who do not.”

Crescent turned in his direction, one golden eye meeting Blueblood’s own. “Let us be real here. My father wanted those without abilities to be under our control. They are weak, pathetic, and truly worthless to the new generation that has arisen from the ashes of the old. True, the old regime is still in place, but it's only a matter of time before everything is under your control.”

Blueblood felt a cold smile before he responded. “And what about your own opinions? Do you agree with your father’s goal to help me?.”

“My thoughts on this?” Crescent turned all of his attention to Blueblood, his cloak rustling gently at the movement. “Do you want my help, or do you just want to waste time talking?”

“You misunderstand, Crescent.” Blueblood replied, levitating several scrolls towards the earth pony. “I’m just curious as to why somepony who hated their father is now continuing his work.”

Crescent approached the desk, his eyes on the scrolls. “There’s no need to worry yourself with it, I have my reasons. Now, may I have the name of your associates?”

Blueblood hesitated and floated them towards the grey stallion who placed them in his saddlebags. “You’ll find all the names of the ponies who are contributing towards reshaping Equestria. The lot of them are old fools, but nonetheless, I need their support if I am going to succeed.”

A low chuckle grabbed his attention, causing him to look up at Crescent. “You want to overthrow the Princesses so that you may assume the throne yourself?”

“I thought that would be obvious, yes.” Blueblood replied, a confused expression on his face. “Do you have a weak memory?”

“No, no… I just wanted to confirm this with your own words.” Crescent fished out a scroll, secured with a black ribbon and tossed it onto the desk. Blueblood glanced at the scroll and at the other pony before lifting it. Pulling the ribbon free, a stack of pictures fell out as the scroll fell open. As he lifted them up, there were images of ponies twisted and covered in injuries, laying in the mud in chains or bound in some way. Blueblood scowled and looked up at Crescent, his face hidden in shadow.

“What is this?” Blueblood demanded, his eyes full of fury and barely concealed fear. “Where did you get these?!”

“Is this the Equestria you have in mind?” Crescent replied quietly. “Slaves? Treated as nothing more than objects?”

“I don’t know what you’re-”

“That’s what the others said. Right before I decided to tear the knowledge out of them.” Crescent cut him off, taking a step forward.

Blueblood opened his mouth to call for his guards when a hoof slammed into his throat, staggering him before he was knocked down. Shaking off the impact, the Prince prepared to summon his magic to defend himself when he felt a hoof press against his throat. He looked up at Crescent who had the detached look of someone who was fulfilling an unpleasant task and scowled.

“Let me up or I’ll call-”

“It doesn’t matter to me.” Crescent replied quietly. “I know about your little slave organization, and all about your plans. You are going to give me everything of yours that relates to this. All of it.”

Blueblood bit back a retort, his horn lighting up as he levitated multiple scrolls onto the desk in a neat stack. Crescent glanced at the pile of scrolls briefly before turning his attention back to Blueblood. The prince let loose a bolt of energy into Crescent’s face, knocking him back.

Blueblood scrambled to his feet and ran for the door, stumbling slightly. Just before he reached the door, he slammed into the grey stallion, who had materialized in front of his exit. As he stumbled back, the only thing Blueblood could see in the dim light was crimson bone and uncanny white teeth grinning at him. The flesh was slowly knitting itself back together, and the prince felt his mind go blank in panic.

Crescent’s jaw popped audibly as it reattached itself and he spoke softly.

“You shouldn’t have done that…”

* * *

Crescent closed the door behind him and wiped his muzzle clean. As he began to walk out, his thoughts turned towards the future. When he had investigated his father’s office, Crescent had found a long list of pony names that he had heard of. He had chosen to investigate and had found that the names of all the associates was a network of ponies who were trying to overthrow the current regime of Celestia and Luna.

At first he had tried to expose them to the public and show what they were trying to accomplish. His attempts were successful for the most part, but his new enemies had tried to have him silenced. The public hadn’t even recognized what had happened due to the pure chaos that had broken out.

Eventually, he had given up on that approach and simply decided to eliminate them in return. While in his heart, he knew there had to be a different way, one did not spring to mind even after all this time. Crescent did not wish to be caught, and he took great care to remove the evidence of the conspirators so that when they were discovered, the public images of his victims wouldn’t be destroyed. Most of the ponies involved were prominent beings in society who had respectable reputations. He had cleared over half the list before he had managed to get to Blueblood in the first place.

The prince had been near the top of the list, but with Blueblood being royalty, it had kept him from getting access into Canterlot castle. A stroke of luck had occurred when Crescent had been contacted directly from Blueblood, allowing him to get inside and-

Lost in his thoughts, he never saw the purple unicorn until he had almost walked into her. She yelped in surprise and stumbled back, the stack of books she was levitating almost falling to the floor. He moved to the side as she regained control over the spell, books quickly straightening up.

“I’m sorry to have scared you, I was just caught up in my thoughts.” Crescent offered, mentally kicking himself for falling into a lapse of concentration.

“It's alright.” Twilight replied, one hoof on her chest, wincing as her heart raced. “I should have been paying more attention as well. Too many books and you start to forget where you are.”

“Very true.” Crescent smiled politely at her. “If you’ll excuse me, I have somewhere to be.”

“Oh, alright.” She replied, her lungs still hurting from the scare. Breathing had been more difficult since the Incident. She watched him as he headed down the hallway, her expression full of confusion. If he was a visitor, what was he doing in that section of the castle..?

The halls had twisted him around, and he knew he was lost. His wandering thoughts had prevented him from returning the way he had been led in. Turning and heading past the kitchens, Crescent heard a loud bang followed by a string of cursing. He paused for a moment and looked at the door as it shook.

“Damn it!!” He heard a mare snap followed by more crashing. The door flew open and a pony came staggering out with saddlebags that were stuffed full of muffins. She froze in her tracks when Crescent gave her a quizzical look. Her magenta mane was a sharp contrast to her pale yellow coat, her cutie mark barely visible. He leaned to the side to see it more clearly - it resembled a puzzle piece from what he could make of it.

“Oh buck…” The mare murmured, taking a step back. “Please don’t tell anypony?” Crescent stared. She looked at him imploringly, her eyes wide and begging. She kind of reminded him of Amethyst…

“You’re stealing from the princessess’ kitchens?”

“No! They didn’t have any ponies’ name on them!” She snapped at him, clutching her saddlebags closer.

“Do you work here?” Crescent asked, looking around to see if the unicorn had come to investigate. Thankfully, nopony seemed to notice something was amiss.

“Well… no. I don’t have a job.” The mare scuffed her hoof on the floor. “I’m just hungry…”

“How’d you get in here?”

“I changed into one of the guards and came in…” She replied almost sheepishly, adjusting her bags and looking guilty. His ears perked up at that. A changeling?

“Tell you what, I’ll get you and your muffins out of here.” Crescent said, thinking quickly. He hadn't wanted to teleport out, it would have helped if the guards had seen him coming and going, but it couldn't be avoided. “If, when we get out of here, you tell me your name and what you’re doing in Canterlot.”

“Okey dokey!” She exclaimed before being hushed by the grey stallion. He placed a hoof on her shoulder and closed his eyes. The next moment, they were gone.

* * *

Present day…

Verity chewed her cereal thoughtfully as she looked back over the letter. If it had indeed been a week, then she would have very little to go on apart from whatever they had managed to investigate. Either way, she couldn’t refuse a job that could get her the bits needed to pay rent and buy food. Especially considering who had made the request in the first place. And the princesses were kind ponies - supposedly - perhaps she could ask they pay reasonable expenses while she worked on the case.

Finishing the stale cereal, the unicorn found her saddlebags and gathered what she needed. A notebook, quill, the letter... nodding to herself, Verity set off for the castle, keeping an eye on the towers as they got closer.

Food was a reasonable expense, right?