All of the mane six, well all of them but one, were gathered in the throne room of Princess Twilight's castle. They were having one of their scheduled meet ups.

"Have any of you seen Pinkie recently?" asked the princess of friendship.

"Can't say I have, since a couple of days ago. I reckon you haven't either, since your asking," Applejack concluded.

"Me either," added Rainbow Dash.

"Nuh-uh," Fluttershy murmured with growing concern.

"Nor have I," Rarity said destroying everypony else's last bastion of hope that Pinkie wasn't missing.

"In that case, we need to find her!" Twilight started. "Rarity and me will search Sugarcube Corner. Fluttershy and Applejack, you two search the hospital. Who knows what could have happened. Applejack, try asking around. Everypony, rendezvous in town square."

"Ronda what?" Rainbow asked perplexed.

"Meet back up in town square, darling," Rarity explained. The five ponies ran off, in their groups, in different directions after exiting the castle.

"What do you think happened to her, Twilight?" Rarity asked on the way to Sugarcube Corner.

"That's what we're going to find out right now, no need to speculate," Twilight replied. They arrived quickly to be greeted by the Cakes.

"Twilight, Rarity, how's it going?" Mrs. Cake asked calmly.

"Have you seen Pinkie within the last couple of days?" Twilight inquired, ignoring her question.

"I haven't, why?"

"No one has, she's missing."

"You should know Pinkie better by now, Twilight, she'd disappear for a week to chase a balloon. No need to worry."

"Pinkie may be random, but there's no way she would go this long without interacting with one of us. Either due to consideration or necessity. She isn't the kind of pony to lose all contact with her best friends, even for a day.

"Maybe you're right..." Mrs. Cake conceded.

"Don't worry Mrs. Cake, we'll find her!" Twilight proclaimed. She and Rarity trotted to the previously agreed on location. When they arrived they saw that the other three had already returned. "Any luck?" Twilight asked. The other four shook their heads in unison. "We haven't either unfortunately," Twilight said with her head down.

"How about we hire one of those PI fellows for help?" Applejack suggested.

"Who needs to hire a private investigator, when you can have a detective for free?" Rarity asked, suddenly changing into her costume modeled after Shadow Spade. "After all, I did save Rainbow from being falsely kicked out of the Wonderbolts not long ago."

"I can back her up on that," Rainbow blushed.

"We could be talking about Pinkie's life, Rarity, we need professional help," Twilight argued.

"Not confident in my skills? Fine then, be that way! We'll split up, I'll be the detective for my group," Rarity snarled, blinded by her own vanity.

"Separating when bad things are happening never works out well. I don't think it's a great idea. "

"Well, I do, AJ and Fluttershy, you're with me!" Rarity insisted. Fluttershy, not wanting to anger Rarity anymore, walked over to her quickly. Applejack followed shortly after, seeing no way to change her mind. Twilight shook her head in annoyance.

"Don't do this Rarity!" she warned Rarity.

"You aren't changing my mind Twilight," she responded before going out of sight with the other two.

"There's nothing you can do," Rainbow said.

"Your right we have to focus on what matters, finding Pinkie," Twilight agreed.

"Alright Rainbow, we need to find a map" Twilight said as she started searching the immediate area. "Oh, here we go!" she exclaimed, as she began levitating a map she found in a trash can. She closely examined the map and mumbled "Hmm, can't seem to find one," her voice amplified "there isn't a single private investigator in all of Ponyville!"

"Well there isn't a lot of crime, so I guess there's not much need for them here," Rainbow speculated.

"Then maybe Canterlot has one," she changed her focus from Ponyville to Canterlot. "Yes! There are three of them."

"Sweet, let's fly there right away,"-Rainbow takes off-"race ya!" Twilight followed her at a reasonable pace but didn't have nearly as much horsepower as when she was powered up by the other princesses. Rainbow arrived on the streets of Canterlot about forty seconds before Twilight. "Still undefeated," she said with a smirk on her face, remembering the day Twilight raced her over and over again. The pair began walking down the street.

"The closest PI should be right there," Twilight informed her partner, pointing at a building about 12 yards away. They arrived at a door with a sign reading:

"Private Investigator-
High crimes-800 Bits
Low crimes-300 Bits
Missing ponies-100 Bits
Fact checks-45 Bits"

"Hopefully he gives discounts to princesses," Twilight hoped. She opened the door to reveal a dimly lit and rather small room. To their left was bookshelf filled completely with spell books. "Wow, some of these spellbooks are really advanced, even beyond my abilities," Twilight thought to herself. To their right was a large scroll with a long list of names.

"Why are you here?" asked the brown stallion in the back of the room with a suit on minus the coat.

"I'm Princess Twilight Spar-"

"I didn't ask who you were, I already knew that. I also know your friend here, Rainbow Dash. You two are quite famous around here. What I asked was 'why are you here?' Only answer the questions you are asked."

"My friend, I guess you know her, Pinkie Pie has gone missing. I need your assistance."

"I see, when was the last time you saw her?"

"At a birthday party she organized."

"Whose birthday?"

"Derpy Hooves."

"Could she having something to do with this?"

"No, I say that with one hundred percent certainty."

"You seem to be a good judge of character, do you think anyone would want your friend, out of the picture?"

"No, literally everypony she knew was friends with her."

"Do you mean literally in the correct sense, or do you mean figuratively?"

"I mean what I say. Pinkie Pie was friends with everypony she knew."

"So, the job was done by somepony who didn't know her, perhaps a crime of passion."

"Why are you assuming she's dead? She isn't!" Rainbow Dash cut in.

"It's best to assume the worst. If you're right, then you won't be caught off guard. If you're wrong, then you'll be pleasantly surprised."

"She isn't dead!"

"Rainbow, calm down," Twilight chimed in. "He's just doing his job."

"Speaking of jobs, perhaps I'm mistaken, but I don't believe you've payed for my services yet." The detective reminded them.

"How much do they cost?" Twilight asked.

"Didn't you read the sign? 'Missing ponies-100 Bits.' If you thought being a hero to all the land got you a discount, you're sadly mistaken," the detective informed her. "Also, if this turns out to be more than Ms. Dash thinks it is, well the price will be going up." Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes.

"I don't have that much money," Twilight said with tears beginning to form. The detective sighed. He then levitated a small red box out of the drawer from his desk. He opened it and looked at the contents for almost five seconds. His eyes then looked back at Twilight.

"I know what it's like to lose someone too," The detective stated with a shaky voice, completely different from his regular deep and confident voice. "I'll help you."

"We never got your name." Twilight reminded him.

"I never gave it, nor will I. Call me detective," Rainbow bucked the air, annoyed. "I can see you're the irritable one of the group," said the detective

"How about you tell me what your doing with those advanced spellbook?"

"Reading them obviously. Yes, my magic is powerful."

"What's that scroll with all the names on it?"

"Enough of these pointless questions!" the detective responded, before teleporting all three of them to Ponyville.

"You know where we live?" Twilight asked.

"Like I said, your story is quite a well known one," The detective reminded her. "Where was the birthday party for this Derpy character?"

"Right over here," Twilight pointed at a house with her hoof. They entered the house. Inside were two mares, Vinyl and Octavia. The detective went up to Vinyl.

"Do you know anything about the disappearance of Pinkie Pie?" She shook her head. "How about you?" the detective inquired.

"Detective?" Octavia turned around.

"Octavia, you know this joker?" Rainbow asked.

"Octavia, long time no see."

"How long has it been?"

"Years, thank you for what you did."

"As I've said every time you say that, I'm the one who should be thanking you. You were only in danger because you were helping me."

"It's nice to see you again, but I'm here for a reason. Do you know anything that could help with my investigation?"

"I do actually."

"Go on."

"She said that she would head to the Everfree Forest, after the party. She was supposed to meet someone."

"Who is this someone?"

"She didn't say, unfortunately."

"This is quite the lead regardless," he turned to Twilight, "Let's go." The three galloped to the Everfree Forest.

On the way Twilight asked "how do you know Octavia?"

"I met her during the first year of being a detective. She was my client. She had her cello stolen. Apparently it meant a lot to her. I found the no good crook and well, the pony was a powerful unicorn. I wasn't quite there yet. We got in a fight. He won. He was going to end me well, at least until Octavia knocked him over the head with a lamp she found on his table. She saved my life. I was... scared, I didn't want to ever be in that situation again."

"Enough of the life story!" Rainbow interrupted.

"Very well then, let's focus on your friend." They arrive at the entrance of the forest.

"I should warn you. Some very dangerous creatures live in this forest," Twilight informed the detective.

"You're an alicorn, I'm a powerful unicorn, and your friend here is... fast, I guess. We should be fine," the detective responded.

"Hey!" Rainbow responded to the insult.

"Let's get going," said the detective. Twilight and Rainbow followed, one more reluctantly than the other.

"Maybe we should see if Zecora knows anything," Twilight suggested.

"Who's that?" asked the detective.

"She's a zebra who lives in here."

"That's perfect! She has to know something," the detective said. Twilight took the lead.

"Get demoted?" Rainbow laughed at the detective.

"Keep that up and I'll just leave. Did you forget I'm doing this for free?" the detective warned.

"Whatever," Rainbow responded.

"Right up here," Twilight informed the detective.

"Is that a tree?" he asked.

"That's Zecora's hut."

"I see, interesting," the detective took point again. He knocked on the door.

"You have knocked on my door, but what for?" Zecora opened the door.

"I'm investigating the disappearance of one, Ms. Pinkie Pie."

"She is missing, surely you must be kidding?"

"No, do you know anything?"

"She met me on the way, do you suspect foul play?"

"You were the one she was meeting?"

"She met me on the way to another, some kind of long lost brother."

"Brother? It sounds like Pinkie was tricked into meeting someone. Do you know where she was headed?"

"Hmm, this is quite the case, I will take you to the place," Zecora led the group to a clearing not far from her hut. "I must be going now, staying here my schedule would not allow," with that Zecora was gone.

"What's that?" Rainbow asked pointing at bush with something pink sticking out.

"Sweet Celestia!" Twilight levitated the pink pony out of the bush, "Pinkie Pie!"

There was silence.

Something was wrong.

Twilight brought her closer. "Pinkie!" she begged, "please be ok!"

The detective put his right hoof over Pinkie's heart.

There was no pulse.

"She's gone," the detective grimaced.

Twilight instantly fell to the ground, crying "I failed one of my best friends!" Rainbow Dash couldn't contain herself after Twilight was crying. She also burst into tears.

With that Pinkie was no more.

Author's Note

This is my first fan fiction. It's actually the first time I've written anything this long. I'm planning on writing somewhere between 10-20 chapters if this first one does well. Any feedback would be much appreciated.