The Lulamoon Files

The Lulamoon Files

Chapter Four: Friendly Chat

Written by TheCrimsonDM

I arrived back at my office just a half hour before my meeting with Flitterbell. Was it wrong that I was looking forward to helping somepony else out, somepony that didn’t have to do with pony eating monsters? Maybe, but then again it was hard to argue with a paycheck.

I waited, reading from one of my paperback books that I had yet to get too. I kept my hat on hiding my horn just in case the poor filly was afraid of unicorns, it seemed like everypony else was. Time ticked by slowly as I continued to wait. It was ten past noon before there was a quiet knock at my door. I almost didn’t hear it.

“Come in,” I hollered.

The door opened very slowly to reveal a white mare, earth pony with big blue eyes and a short cut blue mane. She looked at me with wide eyes with a hint of fear in them. It was once she came in and looked behind her as though she expected somepony to be there that I knew that it wasn’t me she was scared of. She shut the door.

“Flitterbell, I presume?” I asked in as gentle of a tone as I could.

She nodded. “Yes, I… we spoke over the phone.”

“You had wanted to meet me, well now you have. What do you want?”

She looked back toward the door once more. “I think I’m in danger.”

I raised an eyebrow. “And you came to me… instead of the cops… why?”

“T-they don’t know. I mean, it’s just that, it’s uh, not… normal.”

Now I was looking at the door as if expecting a boogypony to jump through it. Which wasn’t unreasonable mind you. “I would like to help you if I can. But I need details, what's wrong?”

“I… well you have to believe me, please believe me.”

“You’d be surprised the things that I’m willing to believe.”

“I saw a monster,” She nearly gasped at her own words. “I know that the EUP wiped out all the monsters a long time ago. But, but I saw it.”

This was a common reaction. Ponies fully believed the lies that the EUP council put out about monsters being dead. They all knew that was a lie, in fact anypony living in a unicorn sanctuary would know that monsters were not gone from this world. The mindless ones were living in unicorn territories, hidden and safe. The smarter ones made homes in earth pony cities, after all it was a perfect hunting ground.

In fact it wasn’t too uncommon to find earth ponies that weren’t quite sure if unicorns even existed anymore. I couldn’t blame them. After all I was an oddity, and boy did my kind hate me for it. Sometimes I wondered if unicorns really wanted the other races to just up and forget that they existed. Of course with one of the leaders of Equestria being a unicorn, that was pretty much impossible.

“What did you see exactly?” I asked.

“It was big, like, like a wall, and it was made out of rainbows. I… it was coming for me. It was chasing me. I thought I was dead for sure. I ran, I ran past the stores, into the parade, and all the way back to my car. I was sure it was going to catch up to me before I got here.”

“Why do you suspect the monster is after you?”

She bit her lower lip. Her eyes darted at my desk. “It wasn’t the first time I’d seen it.”

“Okay, now why would a monster be after you?”

“I, I don’t know.”

“Do you have any enemies? It isn’t impossible to hire ponies to summon monsters for you if you have the right connections. And if it’s made out of rainbows it probably came from the Sun courts, which makes it fea.”

“I… I don’t understand? S-somepony sent a monster after me?”

“Maybe. It’s a working hypothesis.” I scratched at my chin. “Have you ever encountered anything weird before? Magical or otherwise?”

There was silence for a moment. Then she drew out a small box from her purse and laid it flat on the desk. “I… um… I found this.”

I stared at it. The box was long thin, and rectangular. Old burned wood stood out to me with a gold engraving at the top that read, ‘To the True Blood’. I reached out with my senses and probed the box. It was indeed magical, but I couldn’t feel any wards around it. A magical ward powerful enough could easily destroy my entire office if I wasn’t careful.

Oh well, you only live once. I opened the box.

Inside there was nothing but an old gold key. It was large, almost comically so. I couldn’t fathom the lock that this key went too, if it even went to a physical key at all. The magical energy seemed to surround the key. For a long moment I tried to figure out what the key was, what it could do, or what it belonged. When none of those things came to me I shut the box’s lid again.

“This is indeed a magical key,” I said. “Where did you get it?”

“I… borrowed it.”

“From where?”

“The back of a blue convertible,” she admitted. “P-please don’t tell anypony. I didn’t know that it was magic. I swear. I won’t ever do it again.”

I shook my head slowly. “You stole a magical key, don’t know what it does, where it came from, and worse yet who it belongs too.” Judging by the engraving it was someone or something old and powerful.

“Tell you what, this key is probably keeping you in danger. I can take it off your hooves, find out who it belongs too, and then return it.”

She smiled at me for the first time since coming into my office. “Really? Oh but will that keep me safe? What if the monster comes back to find me?”

“It probably is looking for the key, not you. Still I can get you somewhere safe, Flitter.” Saint Mistmane's church was a place I would send ponies that were in danger of the strange and magical. It was the safest place I’d seen yet, and with one of the most caring caretakers I’d ever met.

“Oh thank you, Miss Lulamoon.”

“There is however one thing to discuss before I even consider any of that,” I said.

Her face faltered. “W-what?”

“Why, how you're going to pay me of course.”

***

Nine silver bits. That’s all she had on her. I mean it’s not like I would really turn her away if she didn’t have the money, but that didn’t mean I wanted to do work for free. Flitterbell had decided she really wanted nothing to with the key after I walked her back to her car. She drove off saying that I could throw it away for all she cared, so long as it got the terrible monster off of her. She headed off to Saint Mistmane's Church.

I had already put the key and its box into one of my drawers, warded to keep any magic inside from getting out. Then I went out to start my investigation into this murder scene of Applejack’s. I had only precious few clues to go on, but I knew that Cloud Bounce had been one of Rider’s men. So my best bet was to find out who Rider was connected too. It took a couple of hours and several calls but I eventually found out that Cloud Bounce was quite friendly with a number of other ponies working in Rider’s group as well as a few that were not. One of which had me personally worried, Cloud Bounce had been friendly with a little reporter that I had had the pleasure of knowing.

I knew where this reporter was lucky enough, she had come to Manehattan demanding that I tell her all about the world of unicorns and wizards. Which of course I couldn’t do. That knowledge would put my life in just as much danger from the wardens as it would hers.

Still I could offer up something tantalizing to get what I wanted out of her. I am the Great and Charismatic Trixie after all, how could I not charm her into helping me?

After calling her up we decided to meet up at a local coffee shop. It really didn’t take too long before I was walking in there and looking for my little reporter. As usual she was there early, her pristine white coat was hidden only by a fancy looking brown trench coat. She wore a hat that matched it. Locks of purple mane fell over the side of her face and her eyes were looking wistfully into her cup of coffee.

Rarity, one of the most beautiful and annoying mares I’ve ever had the pleasure of knowing.

I took a seat across from her, snapping her attention back to me. I gave her playful grin. “Hello, Rarity.”

“Oh, Trixie, you know you shouldn’t scare me like that dear,” she had an accent that spoke of hidden wealth.

“My bad, but I guess today is just chalk full of surprises.”

“Oh?” she raised the cup of coffee to her lips and tentatively took a sip. Part of my baser anatomy kicked into gear reminding me that Rarity was indeed very beautiful.

“I was doing some research into a case, and it would seem that you might have met with someone and I am very curious about it.”

Her hoof tightened around the coffee cup and a devilish smile grew over her lips. “Oh.”

“Yes, so I was wondering if you’d like to help?”

“I’m sorry, but a reporter has a duty to keep things such as this off record, well until I put it on record of course.”

“Of course.” I nodded, but I could feel the muscles in my back tightening. She was going to extort me for any information that she could in order to help. “So what will it take to loosen those lips of yours?”

“Mmm, what indeed.”

“This is impor-“

“First, why don’t you tell me what it is that you wish to know about? That might help a little bit.”

“You were looking into Cloud Bounce, the pegasus, why?”

“I’ve heard rumors that he was dead.” I couldn’t help it, my eye twitched and she caught it faster than a speeding pegasus. That sly smile grew over her lips. “Oh, how dismal. Well that is what happens when you follow a piece of dirt like Rider.”

“But, why?”

“What could this have to do with you? Honestly, your only interested in the spookyness in our-“ Her eyes widened. “How? How did he die?”

“I can’t say.”

“Police investigation no doubt? They won’t get far, Rider will call of their investigation and start his own if he hasn’t already.”

That was probably true and Applejack was probably going to kick my flank because of it. “You still haven’t answered my question and I seem to have already answered one of yours.”

She looked out the window at the passing by ponies on the sidewalk. “You know I like this place, it’s safe, quiet, and passes lots of little secrets like ours. Rumors do seem to circulate in places like this, sometimes those rumors focus on Rider. For example a rumor that he was looking to get himself a real bonafide unicorn wizard. Imagine it, a unicorn in our city?”

I rolled my eyes. “Yeah, it sucks to be the only one here.”

“Well as an earth pony I suppose I’d never understand what it feels like. Still I have to wonder, do you know who that wizard could be?”

“He tried to hire me, I told him no.”

She blinked. “Wait, you? He tried to hire you? Seriously? I don’t know what worries me more, the fact that he was crazy enough to actually hire you, or the fact that you were crazy enough to turn him down.”

“How could I work for a piece of dirt like him, after all his employees seem to be having some trouble with a terrible case of death going around.”

“Okay, fine, tell you what; depending on the answer to my next proposal I will tell you exactly what I was looking into with Cloud Bounce okay?”

I nodded.

“Do you want to see a movie with me tonight?”

I opened my mouth ready to answer, but stopped dead. She had just asked me out on a date. Sure I knew that she was likely just using me, trying to get more information about the world of magic, she had some kind of delusional earth pony obsession with it. Still it was a date, and I was sorely lacking from those lately. Considering how pretty she was I already had my answer.

“Alright, what time?”

“Nine,” She said with a pleased smile.

“It’s a date.”

“Yes, it is.”

For a moment silence hung in the air between us, our eyes met and I had a deep interest in finding out whether or not her grape lipstick tasted as good as it looked. Of course she had to ruin the moment by looking away and clearing her throat. “Alright, darling. You’ve won. I heard that Cloud Bounce was meeting with some very strange animals, and selling them. At first I thought it was likely a rare animal exchange until I heard the description. Looked like dogs, but large as any pony, and better yet they seemed to be made of wood, and alive!”

I swallowed. Celestia’s Hellfire. Cloud Bounce was dealing with constructs, the darn wardens wouldn’t like to hear that.

Her eyes brightened. “Oh do you know what they were?”

I gave her a scowl. “I already answered your questions.”

“Oh phooey, maybe later than. Anyway, I did hear about where he was supposedly selling these beasties at too. A little warehouse on the dock, neutral territory for the gangs. Rider set it up for sensitive deals. Fisher’s Wharf.”

If Cloud Bounce was selling illegal constructs it meant two things; one he had somehow come into contact with a supplier for them, and two that he had found a buyer. I was pretty sure that Rider wouldn’t have touched the magical scene with a twenty foot pole made of solid gold. So Cloud Bounce could have been selling them under his boss’s nose. Still this deal could have very easily backfired on Cloud Bounce, anypony interested in such things would be knowledgeable in the world of dark magic, and most ponies that were did not play well with mortals.

I stood up. “Thank you, Rarity.”

“It was my pleasure, darling. I really do wish you could just sit and spend some more time with me.”

“I have something to look into,” I said.

I turned and left the diner confident that I could start to make sense out of this mess.