Equestria Noire: The Beginning

by Spike-Fan_1995

Rating: mature
Tags: Profanity, Shining Armor, Violence, Princess Celestia, Death, Main 6, Drama, Original Character, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Dark, Other, Tragedy
Length: 19875

A young detective moves to Ponyville with a haunting past

Night Mist is a young detective who moves to Ponyville. He doesn't want friendship. Why is that? Is it because he's too shy? Is it because he's a jerk? Or is it because of his past that haunts him to this day?

His first case is to find three royal guards who mysteriously dissapeared overnight.

Now Night Mist is forced to work with Twilight and her friends to help find some missing royal guards.

Will Night Mist reveal his haunting past to them? Will he become friends with them? And, most of all, will he learn the true magic of friendship?

Published 2018-03-25 04:50:07 UTC
Last updated 2018-04-11 19:46:11 UTC

Part 2: Meeting Celestia

I woke up from my slumber when the train arrived to Canterlot. The lady over the buzzer told everypony, which included me, that they had arrived in Canterlot. I didn't get the best amount of sleep, but good enough sleep. I got a full hour and a half. That's pretty great for a guy who usually doesn't get a lot of sleep.

Anyway, I got off the train and walked through town. And as I walked, I could see all the rich snobs who lived here. The kind that would steal money from the poor and give to either themselves or somepony that's just as rich as them and would hope for more money in return. The kind who would bribe you to make sure they're name wasn't dragged through the mud.

Yeah, it's safe to say that in my work, I have had some run-in's with Rich families. And most of the time, even if I gave them all the evidence in the world, even if they were caught red-hoofded, and even if they flat out ADMITTED that they did the crime, they would still get off scott-free, simply because they were rich and would do everything they could to make sure they're family member, like a son or a daughter, would never see the inside of a cell, even though they totally belonged there for the horrible atrocities they committed. So, basically, society today says "Everything, whether legal or not, is okay as long as your rich". Yet, if you were poor, and you were accused of something, and didn't do it, more likely than not, you'd get convicted anyways. Hell, even if you were found not guilty, because of the media and their coverage of events, they will always say "The Justice System is Flawed" and then that guys life will be ruined forever, because of that accusation. It's just a tough spot to be in when your a detective. You try to everything you can, and sometimes it just leads to one thing: FAILURE.

Anyway, I continued walking through this rich, snobby town, when eventually, I made it to the royal castle. The home of Princess Celestia and Luna. It was huge. Even bigger than they say in the newspapers. I walked up to the main entrance where I saw two royal guards, who were muscular looking pegasi, standing at the front door. They looked like those kinds of guards you see in the movies where they stay completely frozen like a statue. And no matter what you do to them, they will never move a muscle.

As I walked up to them, they held out one of each of their wings in front of the door and in front of me.

"HALT! WHO GOES THERE?" They both said at the exact same time. Really? They used a line that old line. You would see those in the oldest of old movies. But I decided to play along with them, just so I could see Princess Celestia and get this over with.

"Detective Night Mist. Princess Celestia called me for a meeting. I'm originally from Michneighgan." I answered them as respectfully as I could, even though I wanted to bop them on their heads, just looking and sounding stupid.

"Ah, yes." The guard on the left said. "Princess Celestia has been waiting for you for a while now. Your right on time. Follow me." He said as he walked into the castle. I followed behind him.

As we walked through the castle, I looked around at all the artwork that was done in this castle. It did look outstanding. All the enemies Equestria has had over the years, and defeated by the Elements of Harmony. The artwork of it looked great. Hell, they even had one of "Great and Honorable, Spike the Brace and Glorious".

Then, finally, we made it to the main room. There she was. Princess Celestia. The ruler of Equestria. Sitting in her throne. She did look like the ultimate royalty. Mainly because she deserved it. I mean, she ruled Equestria. Her and I made eye contact.

"That will be all Cavalier." Celestia said to the royal guards next to me. He then bowed to her and left to go back to his position. She then looked at me and spoke in her kind-hearted voice.

"Hello, Mr. Night Mist. I'm so glad you came all this way for this meeting. Let me just say, it's an honor to speak with somepony of law enforcement. An everyday hero so to speak." She said to me.

I then bowed to her in respect. "Absolutely your majesty. And thank you for the hero compliment, but I'm not one. I just do my job." I spoke to her in a respectful manner.

Oh, modesty is in everypony, I can see." She said to me with a smile on her face.

"Maybe it is. So what is it?" I asked her point blank.

"Hmm?"

"Why have you asked for a meeting with me? I'm just a regular pony who happens to be a detective. If you have called a meeting for me, this must be because you have a pretty big case for me. So is that true your majesty?." I asked her.

She looked a little surprised at how quickly I caught on. I guess she must have underestimated me slightly.

"Well, yes. I do have a job for you. And it's pretty big." She answered me.

"Well, your majesty, I always thought that you would want the Elements if Harmony to do a job this big. No offense, your majesty, but saving the world isn't my job. My job is to keep the streets safe from criminal scum. So why would you need me for a job this big?" I asked her honestly.

"Well, I wouldn't call this "saving the world" kind of big, but it is big overall. And the reason I called you is because I've read about your work. And I must say, you are a pony who has my utmost respect. You truly are an honest detective. So I thought that, because of how skilled you are, and at such a young age no less, maybe you could help us out in this time of need." She said looking very serious.

Wow. Princess Celestia just said she was a fan of my work. That will definitely be a huge mark on my resume now. This feels great that I got high praise from her.

Well, enough stroking your ego Night Mist. She said this was a "time of need". What did she mean by that?

"What do you mean time of need, your majesty?" I asked her.

"Well, 3 of our royal guards have gone missing 2 months ago. One night they just disappeared without a trace. No note. Nothing. I even had my faithful student Twilight Sparkle and her friends look for them, but they found nothing. No clues, no evidence, no proof, nothing that would tell us what happened to them. So, when that happened, I knew I needed the work of a real detective. Somepony who can gather evidence, proof, and clues that can help us find out what happened to them. And, since I've read your stories about the amount of cases you've solved, and how you solved them, I knew you were the right pony for the job. So that is my job for you Detective Night Mist. I need you to find out what happened to the three royal guards who went missing 2 months ago." She said to me with a worried, but proud look on her face.

Alright, this seemed like a pretty good deal. So I agreed. "I will accept this case, your majesty. I promise I will find out what happened to these royal guards, and bring them back safe and sound. You have my word as a detective." I said to her.

"Thank you good sir. But there is one thing that I also request, and I don't know if you'll like it." She said to me. Oh great. Bad news. What could this possibly be?

"What is that?" I asked her.

"I would like you to work with my student Twilight Sparkle and her friends." She said to me.

You've gotta be fucking kidding me. I get a case that is brought to me by Princess Fucking Celestia, and now she ruins it by saying I have to work with somepony. Uhh, this just ruined the good feeling I had a moment ago.

"Princess, with all due respect, I prefer to work alone." I told her.

"I understand that. And I can say that you can get this done by yourself if you could. But, these girls want to protect Equestria just as much as you want to protect the streets. Plus, they felt very bad about not finding anything before. Now, with you, maybe they could have some hope in solving this case." She said to me.

"*Groan* Before I do this, tell me this, why should I trust them?" I asked her brutally honest.

"Because, not only will it solve this case in a quick amount of time, but I feel you and them could become friends." She said to me very sweetly.

Friend. Again. Somepony uses that word that is nothing but fake nonsense. Why would Princess Celestia care if I made friends or not. Ultimately, I knew that there was no point in arguing with her. So I agreed, much to my dismay.

"Alright. I'll work with them. But I can't make a promise on if I become friends with them or not. I'm really not looking for friends. All this is just business. I hope you can respect that, your majesty." I told her in the most honest way I could.

"I do respect that. But please at least try to make friends. They are very good ponies. I promise you that." She said to me.

Yeah, last time I was friends with somepony, it didn't end well. But I had a job to do. So I ended the conversation the way I always ended it with my clients.

"I'll do what I can." I said to her as I turned around and headed for the exit, preparing to go to "The Castle of Friendship". Ugh, revolting name if you asked me.

"That's all I ask." Celestia said with a confident smile on her face.

I eventually reached the exit, and left the castle grounds. Ugh, why did I have to work with somepony? Partners usually just got in my way. All the cases I've done before, I did them on my own. So, why would I need a partner now? Let alone 6 partners. Now that is just ridiculous.

But, a jobs a job. And if Princess Celestia is the one who gave it to me, then I'll know I'm going to get a pretty big payday. And that was something that I definitely looked foreward too. So I guess I'm going to have to swallow my pride for now and just deal with it.

Well, let's just hope these ponies are good enough to work with. And let's hope they don't try to get into my personal life. Cause that will cause huge problems for us. Big problems.

Part 3: Meeting The Elements of Harmony, Possible Friends? Maybe Not

Ponyville is said to be one of, if not THE, most friendliest town in all of Equestria. I can see that in a way. As I walked through town, literally everypony I came across smiled and waved at me and introduced themselves, two of which were a cream colored earth pony mare named Bon-Bon and her marefriend, a mint green unicorn named Lyra. And yes. They were THAT type of marefriends. As in a lesbian couple. Not that I have a problem with that. I'm okay with the LGBTQ movement. Now I'm not a guy that would bend over backwards and treat you like the most important pony in the world if you were, but I will give you credit for having the guts to say that you were gay. You had my respect for that.

Now, when these ponies did wave and say hi, I just did a quick wave or a quick hello and went back to doing my business. One thing I will say is that these ponies definitely did not look like criminals. This looked like a town where everypony was happy and everything was roses. That's what it looked like. However, it may not be the case. Trust me. I've seen this before. Just because something looks great, doesn't mean that it is. Could be something sinister going on underneath somewhere. It's always a possibility.

Anyway, I finally made it to my destination. The Castle of Friendship. Where Miss Twilight Sparkle and her friends did "friendship business". Whatever the hell the means. It's probably not as important as they make it out to be.

I went and knocked on the door. I waited for a couple minutes, until a little dragon answered the door. This was "Great and Honorable, Spike the Brace and Glorious" as he was called by the Crystal Empire. He was a total hero to those ponies.

"Hello, what's your name sir?" He asked me politely.

"Detective Night Mist. Princess Celestia sent me here to talk to Miss Twilight about the missing royal guards case. I'm on the case and she wants me, Twilight, and all her friends to work together." I explained to him.

"Oh, come on in. Twilight will definitely want to hear about this. She's gonna be excited to get a second chance at finding them." Spike said as he allowed me in. I entered and followed him to the main room, which had a huge map of Equestria, where they would find what they call, a "friendship problem". Heh. Total joke if you ask me.

However, as I was walking through the corrider, I heard a pony talking to another pony. It sounded like she was comforting her. What could this be about?

"Hey, cheer up Pinkie. Don't listen to what that asshole said." I heard a pony say.

Pinkie? As in Pinkie Pie? Oh no. She probably ratted me out to her friends. She's going to recognize me and things are going to be bad now.

"I can't. He was so mean. How can anyone not want friends? How can anypony want to be a loner? And why would they be so mean to other ponies?" I heard Pinkie say. She sounded pretty upset. Did I hurt her feelings that bad? I was getting close to the room. I could feel the tension coursing through my body.

"Maybe he was just having a bad day Pinkie. Don't take it personally." I heard a different pony say to her.

Spike was the first to walk into the room. He was greeted by Pinkie and the rest of her friends.

"Hey Spike, who was at the door?" Pinkie asked him.

"This detective guy. His name's Night Mist. Come on in." He said as he waved me in. I came in, and Pinkie immidiately recognized me. She didn't look happy.

"Hey! Your the meanie that yelled at me this morning. What are you doing here?" Pinkie said as she had a mad look on her face.

The pony next to her was a cyan blue Pegasus who was named Rainbow Dash. She was the next to speak.

"Wait! YOUR the jerk that made Pinkie cry? I outta smash you right now." She said to me in a threatening kind of way. I wasnt afraid of this mare. I wasn't afraid of anypony.

It was, at this point, where Spike ran out of the room. He looked scared. Can't say I blame him. Something was about to go down.

The next one to speak was an orange earth pony mare. A farm girl named Applejack. She also didn't look to happy either.

"Yeah, there was no reason for that. You better apologise to her right now." She said to me, also threateningly.

Next to Applejack was a white unicorn named Rarity. She was with them on me apologizing to Pinkie.

"That, sir, is no way to talk to a lady. So apologise now, or you will suffer the consequences." She told me in an attempt to be intimidating. But she wasn't. To me at least.

Finally, there was a pale Pegasus who was named Fluttershy. She looked nervous, but still willing to sand up for her friend.

"Um, you better apologize to Pinkie. Um, or else." She said looking like she was trying to be assertive.

These ponies trying to intimidate me? Well it won't work. I don't care if it's five against one, or if they are mares. I'll make them regret threatening me.

"I'm not here to apologize. I'm just here to see Miss Twilight Sparkle. I have a message from Princess Celestia. But don't you ever threaten me, you hear me? You don't wanna mess with me." I told them in a threatening way. They threaten me, I threaten them back. Fairs fair.

Then Rainbow Dash got out of her seat and in my face. "Oh, you think you can beat my ass, huh?" She said trying to be intimidating again.

"Oh I don't think, I know I can whip your stupid looking ass, you bitch." I told her.

"Yeah, bring it asshole." She yelled at me.

I was about to bring out my steel chain that I kept in my pocket to smack this bitch across the face. Then her friends were about to join Rainbow Dash. But that was all interrupted when a huge voice boomd through the room.

"WHAT IS GOING ON HERE?" The voice came from Twilight Sparkle. The Princess of Friendship. Behind her was Spike. So the reason he left was to go and get her to solve this little mess. She didn't look amused. All her friends were surprised at Twilight's huge voice.

I was about to explain myself, when Rainbow Dash spoke first.

"This is the guy that made Pinkie cry earlier today. Now he comes in here saying he's got a message from Princess Celestia. And he was about to fight all of us." She said to her.

"What? Is this true?" She said to me looking cross.

"The part about a message from Princess Celestia is true. She called a meeting with me, and told me to come here. Now, as far as the fight, these ponies here were demanding I apologise to Miss Pinkie Pie here, or they were gonna beat me up. So I was just standing up for myself." I told her in a calm way.

Twilight looked back to her friends and asked them "Were you girls really planning on beating this guy up? You shouldn't threaten violence with somepony. Especially if Princess Celestia is involved with this." She scolded her friends.

"But Twilight, this guy deserves it. He made Pinkie cry. Telling her he doesn't want to be her friend, don't bother me, and made her run away crying. I was just standing up for Pinkie here." Rainbow said as she hugged her friend with support.

"Okay, everypony just calm down. Let me try to resolve this situation." Twilight said. Rainbow and her friends calmed down, but still looked at me with anger on their face. She then turned to me.

"So, your the one called Night Mist right? The new detective who moved to town earlier today?" She asked me.

"Yes. Thats right. After I got the meeting call from Princess Celestia, I moved here from Michneighgan." I told her calmly.

"And, from what Pinkie told us, she greeted you, and you declined being her friend, correct?" She asked me.

"That also is correct." I answered.

"Why don't you want to be friends with Pinkie? She's one of the nicest mares in Equestria." She asked me curiously.

I knew the real answer, but I wasn't gonna give it to her. So I gave a different answer.

"I'm just a guy who doesn't need friends. I'm just here for business, and business only. I'm not looking for friends." I told her.

Then Pinkie chimed in. "There isn't a reason to not want friends."

Twilight looked at her and said "Pinkie, let him finish. Then we'll talk." Pinkie didn't look happy.

She looked back at me and said "Well, Night Mist, was it? Even if you aren't looking for friends, I still think it was unnecessary for you to tell at Pinkie and make her cry."

"Well, if you had been there, you would know she stereotyped me and put her hooves on me. So I just was being honest with her." I told Twilight.

"Well, that's just Pinkie being Pinkie. She doesn't mean to offend other ponies. She's just very outgoing. I'm sure she didn't mean to offend you. So, could you please just apologise to my friend? If you do, we'll hear you out on what Princess Celestia wants." Twilight told me.

Then Applejack pipes in. "You gotta be kidding Twilight. This guy makes Pinkie cry and now we have to listen to what this asshole says? He's probably a liar."

"Oh, I'm a liar,huh? Well, your no different than me, because YOU have a problem with the truth coming from somepony you don't like. How's that?" I asked her in a smart ass way.

"Why you--" Applejack started, until Twilight held her back. "No, Applejack. There's no call for that."

When she managed to restrain her, she looked at me and asked "Well, what's it gonna be?"

I looked over at Pinkie, who still had a less than happy look on her face. Then I looked at Twilight. If I apologized to Pinkie, then I would gain Twilight's trust. Maybe not everypony else, but if Twilight trusted me, then they would support her. Maybe not me, but I don't care what they think. So, I guess it's time for me to do something I didn't want to do, but had to, to get everypony on the same page.

I went over to Pinkie, looked her in the eye and said "I'm sorry Pinkie Pie." Point blank, nothing else.

She then, out of nowhere, pulled me into a hug. "Oooh, I forgive you. Pinkie always forgives." I felt uncomfortable with the hugging, so I gently pushed her off. Not in a forceful way though.

Everypony in the room, while not smiling, gave me a nod off approval. Even Twilight.

"Now that that drama is out of the way, what is it you wanted to see us for Night Mist." Twilight asked me.

"I'm here to deliver that Princess Celestia is re-opening the missing royal guards case that went in effect about 2 months ago. From what she told me, you guys found absolutely nothing right?" I asked them.

They had there heads down in shame when they heard this. Twilight then spoke. "We searched for hours and hours, days and days, weeks and weeks, but we found nothing. So we had no choice but to quit, because it was staring to affect our schedule with friendship problems. We didn't know what else to do." She said with a depressing tone in her voice.

"Well, lucky for you girls, I'm a skilled detective. I've been one for about 4 years now. With you girls knowing Equestria better than me, and my detective skills, we can find out what happened to them. I made a promise to Celestia. And I'm gonna keep it." I told them confidently.

Then Applejack spoke next. "How can we trust you though?" She asked me.

"You'll just need to cooperate. We don't need to be friends, just work together so we can solve this case." I told her.

"What else can we do though? We did everything." Fluttershy asked in a quiet, but visible voice.

"No offense, but you girls have never had detective skills like I have. Just follow my lead, and we'll find it. May take a while, but we'll get it." I said to them.

"Woah woah woah, follow your lead? Why the hay should we do that?" Rainbow Dash asked me defiantly.

"Because I know what I'm doing, when you girls did not know." I answered back to her.

"So? Just because your a skilled detective, doesn't mean your in charge of us. We've been protecting Equestria for years now. Why should we listen to you?"

"Actually, I think that's a good idea." Twilight answered.

"WHAT?" The rest of her friends said out loud.

"Twilight, you can't be serious about this. We just met this stallion under difficult circumstances, and now he's the one leading this?" Rarity asked her

"Yes girls. He knows what he's doing. He's been a detective for a while now. And I think he has what it takes to find out what happened." She said to all her friends, who now had shocked looks on their faces. Twilight then faced me.

"We'll accept you as the leader of this case Detective Night Mist. Anything you want from us, you got it. If it means finding those royal guards and bringing them home to their families, then we'll do it." She said to me confidently.

I smiled at her confidence. She was alright in my book. And, even though the other girls didn't like it, they agreed to listen to me.

"Alright, now that we've gotten that out of the way, I need to talk with somepony who knows the royal guards better than anypony. Do any of you know who Shining Armor is?" I asked.

They all raised their hooves, and Twilight spoke. "I should know him. He's my big brother. My BBBFF."

I had a confused look on my face.

"Big Brother Best Friend Forever." She told me.

"Okay. Well, I need you to contact him. I need a list of names on all the royal guards, their positions, their schedule, and when they sleep at night." I told her.

"Why do you need all that?" She asked me.

"I'll explain everything when he comes here. I need this Twilight." I told her.

"Okay, Spike take a letter." She told Spike. He then got out a quill and wrote the letter to Shining Armor. Things were just getting started with this case. I just hope that when we find the guards, they'll be found alive. Well, only time will tell.

Part 4: Questions; Answers? (Updated)

Spike had written and now sent the letter to Shining Armor. It took a couple of minutes, but he wrote back saying he was on his way. From what Spike read to us, it sounded like he was happy to hear about this. Must take what he does extremely serious. Like he actually does have regard for the well being of his guards. I guess I can respect that.

Rainbow Dash then came up over to me and said "Well, since we're going to be working together, I guess we'll have to introduce ourselves. My name is--".

I interrupted her as I said "Rainbow Dash. I know who all of you are."

They did look a little surprised at that. I then pointed at each of them and said their names.

"Your Rarity, Applejack, Fluttershy, and the dragon is Spike." I said to them. Spike then smiled all giddy-like as he appeared happy to know that somepony knew who he was and how famous he is.

"How the hay do y'all know our names?" Applejack asked.

"I've read about all of you in the papers when I was living in Michneighgan. Plus, I think everypony in all of Equestria knows who all of you are. And if they don't, they're probably living under a rock, or are just not all that bright." I said to them.

Then Rainbow Dash, who I figured had a big ego, then spoke with complete confidence. "Well yeah, everypony knows the Greatest Flyer in all of Equestria. Not to mention all the times we saved Equestria from complete Doom."

I had a deadpan stare on my face as she stroked her ego in front of me. Not that having an ego is wrong. Everypony has somewhat of an ego. I know I have one. So if I said anything, then I would, frankly, come across as a hypocrite.

"So since you know us, have you seen any of my awesome performances in the Wonderbolts?" She asked me with a confident smile on her face.

I answered "No. I'm not a fan of the Wonderbolts."

She looked shocked. Like she did not see the twist coming at the end of the movie.

"YOUR NOT A FAN OF THE WONDERBOLTS? WHY?" She asked me with a loud tone to her voice.

"I just never got into them as a kid. I never had time too." I answered her. Wait, why did I say that last part?

"What do you mean you never had time too?" Dash asked me looking confused.

Should I tell her about my past? FUCK NO! I don't feel comfortable doing that. That, and if I did, they'd feel sorry for me and try to be my friend. Can't trust it. Not after what happened to me. So I guess I'll tell a little white lie.

"Let's just say I had a rough childhood. I was constantly working with my family. So I had to grow up a lot quicker than most foals do." Yeah that'll work.

"Did y'all work on a farm?" Applejack asked me.

Why did they have to know details?

"Something like that." I answered to her, looking as straight faced as possible.

She then looked at me as if I was lying. Like she could tell a liar when she sees one. Granted, I know I'm lying, but I'm lying for selfish reasons that are nopony's business but mine.

Thankfully, Fluttershy spoke before Applejack did.

"I'm so sorry to hear you never got a chance to be a kid. Everypony should at least some fun in their life." She spoke in her quiet and calm voice. She sounded very genuine.

"Well it happens to some ponies. I was just one of them." I said to her.

"Are you and your family still close?" She asked me looking curious.

It was at this point I literally had to hold in my rage. still close? STILL FUCKING CLOSE? NO I'M NOT CLOSE WITH THOSE FUCKERS. AFTER WHAT THEY DID TO ME? She could----*groan* never understand what my real "family" has done to me. I wanted to tell her off, but we're all on the same page here. If I yelled, everypony would be on my ass again. So I spoke in the best way possible. So I took a breath, and calmed myself down.

"No. We aren't close. In fact, we don't talk at all. And, frankly, I'm glad we don't." I answered her. She looked a little shocks to hear what I just said.

Then Applejack spoke again. "How can y'all say that bout your family? Family is important. I'd be nothing without my family." She said looking all defensive at me. Did I really have to tell her? No. She'd probably just yell at me again.

"I don't really want to talk about. I hope you can respect that." I told her. She was about to speak, probably about to tell me to tell her about it, when all of a sudden the doors came bursting open. It was Shining Armor. He had with him a couple scrolls, which, if I had to guess, were the royal guards' positions around the castle and everything else.

"Big Brother." Twilight squeed with excitement. She ran over and hugged her brother. I would say this was sweet, but, due to personal reasons that I don't want to get into right now, I just rolled my eyes. Thankfully, nopony saw me do that.

"Good to see you too Twily. Now where is this Night Mist guy?" He asked her, while also looking around.

I came up to him and extended my hoof to him. "I'm Detective Night Mist. You must be Shining Armor, captain of the Royal Guards. Correct?" I asked him.

"Yep. That's me." He said as he and I shook hooves.

"Now, before we talk about the documents, I need to ask you, Mister Armor, about the three royal guards that went missing." I said to him with a straight expression. I did need to gather as many facts as I possibly could to find these guys.

Shining Armor nodded his head and said "Go right ahead."

I pulled out my notepad and pen. I've always carried around a notepad with me when I'm on a case. It's very hoovedy to have when you want to remember clues when your about to catch the suspect.

"So what are their names?" I asked him preparing to write it all down.

"Platinum Shine, Bronze Shield, and Steel Bar. They're all about 23 or 24 years old. They've been royal guards for about 3 1/2, 4 years." He answered me as I wrote down all the info he gave me.

"Can you give me a physical description of all them?" I asked.

"Sure. Platinum is about 6'5, muscular, a light blue coat with a dark grey mane. Bronze is actually taller than all three of them. He's 6'11,kinda skinny, but still in pretty good shape. He's got a bronze coat with a dark brown mane. And Steel, he's the shortest one of the group. He's about 6'2. He's actually in the best shape out of all of them. I think he works a lot harder than most of them because he's a lot shorter than all of my guards. He's got a silver coat with a dark blue mane." He explained to me in great detail. Most ponies would say they don't need all the details, but when your a detective, you need every detail you can get.

"Can you tell me anything about their personalities? Like, are they good to get along with? We're they good at their job? Things like that." I asked him. This could be a pretty good lead on them.

"Well, I can't say much about Bronze or Platinum personally, because I'm not all that close to them, but my wife Cadence actually knows Bronze's marefriend. Those two go to the spa every week. Their actually pretty good friends." He said to me.

"What's her name?" I asked him.

"Meadow Blossom. All I know is that she and Bronze live in Ponyville. At Ponyville Pines Apartment. She's in Room #54." He answered me as I was a bit surprised at that. A loved one of one of the victims lived in the same apartment as me. I think he noticed my surprised look, cause he looked at me and asked

"Hey buddy, are you okay?" He said looking concerned for me. Twilight and the others did as well. This I could actually be honest with them about.

"Yes. I'm fine. It's just I also live in that apartment complex. You've actually given me another lead. Thank you for that Mister Armor." I said to him.

"No problem. And just call me Shining." He said with a smile on his face.

I went back to asking him a few more questions.

"So your not personally close with Platinum, but do you know anypony that is?" I asked him.

"The only one who I think could be is his partner Silver Star. They work together. And, from what Silver has told me, they actually are very good friends. He's on shift right now in Canterlot. If you want, I can tell him to come here and answer some questions for you." He offered me. His offer seemed genuine. Like everything he was saying, he meant it. I think maybe I can trust this guy. Or at least I hope I can.

"No, that won't be necessary. But thank you for the offer. Now, the last guard I wanna talk about is Steel Bar. How close are you to him?" I asked him.

"Actually, it's kinda funny. I'm the one who personally asked Princess Celestia to hire him. This guy busts his ass because he really wants to be a royal guard more than anything. I was impressed by how hard he works. So, I figured, why not give the guy a chance to show us what he's got. So I went to her, asked her to hire him, and she said yes." He said to me with a smile on his face.

"Sounds like the two of you are very good friends." I told him.

"Oh yeah, we are. Hell, I was actually the only pony he came out to before he disappeared." He told me.

"So, he's gay?" I asked him.

"Yeah, and his boyfriend Picture Frame is pretty worried about him. I actually have his address as well. They live together, in the Crystal Empire in a pretty small house. 1319 South Leland Street is the address." He told me.

I wrote down every thing that Shining Armor had told me about the three royal guards. So, I've got Meadow Blossom, the marefriends of Bronze Shield, Silver Star, the partner of Platinum Shine, and Picture Frame, the boyfriend of Steel Bar. Those were pretty good leads. Also, I still had the documents to look over as well.

"Thank you, Shining Armor for that information. You've been a big help." I told him.

"No problem Mister Night Mist. Anything to bring them home safe." He said with a smile on his face.

I put my note pad and pen away. Now, it was time for the documents.

"So, now that I have some info on the guards, do you have the documents I asked for?" I asked him.

He looked a little hesitant before he showed me the papers.

"Yeah, now before we go over this, I just want to know one thing."

"What is that?"

"Will any of my other guards be hurt in the process if I give you this information?" He asked with a tone of seriousness in his voice.

I had a feeling he was going to ask this. I can tell, after three of his guards went missing, he didn't want any more getting hurt. I could tell he was a good stallion. Wait, why do I feel this way? ...... Maybe I'm just in a good mood.

"Shining Armor, I give you my word, I will do everything in my power to make sure nothing bad happens to your guards, like what happened to the others. I promise." I told him with a bit of boldness in my voice.

He smiled at me and then gave me the documents. I took a look at them. This looked like a lot of paperwork. I'm gonna need some time to look this over.

"This looks like I'll need to do some studying. I'll look this over back at my apartment. I'll report back to you all some time tomorrow." I told everypony in the room.

"Why not just study here? We have some rooms you could study in." Twilight offered.

"Thanks for the offer, but I prefer to study in private. With nopony else around. Plus, I just feel more comfortable in my own apartment. That, and I also have to ask Meadow Blossom some questions." I answered her. She looked a little puzzled at my answer.

"While I'm going over these documents, I have a job for you Shining Armor. And for you Twilight Sparkle." I said to them.

"What do you want us to do?" Shining asked me with a look of seriousness.

"Anything you want, we'll do it." Twilight said.

"Shining, I want you to go speak to Silver. Get as much information as you can from him about Platinum. Then report to me over at my apartment. It's number 32." I told him.

"Understood." Shining said with a salute. I don't know why he did that, but he did.

"So, then you want me to speak to Picture Frame?" Twilight asked me.

"Yes. Get as much info as you can out of him. Then, you also report back to me at my apartment." I told her.

"Yes sir." She said

Then, I looked over to the her 5 friends.

"As for you guys, I want you to keep on a look out for anything that you may find suspicious. Anything you find that seems suspicious, report to me." I told them.

They nodded in agreement.

"Like I said, I'll contact you all tomorrow. See you then." I said as I walked towards the front door. I then levitated the documents and put them in my bag. I knew I was going to stay up late tonight. Gonna have to drink a lot of coffee.

*******************************************************************

*3rd Person Point of View* *Castle of Friendship after Night Mist left*

Twilight looked at the exit with a bit of confusion. Mist seemed to have a bit of trust issues.

"Are you sure it was a good idea to give him those documents Shining?" Twilight asked her brother.

"If it's any step closer to finding out what happened to those guys, I'm willing to take that chance." Shining said.

"Maybe so, but can we trust him? Cause he was such a rude obscene stallion when we first met." Rarity asked with a bit of drama to her voce.

"Even if he is, he's the right pony for the job. And if Princess Celestia says he's okay, then I'll be okay with it." Twilight answered.

"You know fellas, I don't know bout you, but I think he's hiding something." Applejack said.

"Oh come on Applejack." Twilight said to her with a bit of annoyance in her voice.

"I'm serious Twi. He looks like he's keeping something secret from us."

"Honestly, I'm kinda agreeing with Applejack on this one." Rainbow Dash said.

"Okay, what makes you say that?" Twilight asked.

"He looked kinda suspicious when he was talking about his past. Like, something happened to him that he doesn't want us knowing about." Applejack said.

"Yeah, he looked like he was avoiding talking about that." Rainbow Dash said.

"Well, maybe its something really personal. Maybe he's just a private pony." Fluttershy said.

"Fluttershy is right you two. If he doesn't want to talk about something, you can't force it out of him." Twilight said.

"Yeah, well I still wanna know about it." Rainbow Dash said.

"I do to. If he's gonna keep secrets from us, how can we trust him?" Applejack said.

"We don't have a choice. Sorry girls, but there's nothing we can do." Twilight said.

"Yeah, well I'm gonna keep my eye on this guy." Rainbow Dash said.

Shining Armor looked over at Rainbow Dash and said "Look, I'll admit I'm a little curious too, but if he's gonna help us, we need him to trust us. I need my guys to come home safe. And if I have to do everything he says, I'll do it to get them back. So, Rainbow Dash, can you please just deal with it for now?"

Rainbow Dash groaned in annoyance. "Fine. But I'm still curious and nothing can change that." She said.

Everypony looked annoyed at her comment. But they dealt with it.

"So, what should we do now?" Pinkie Pie asked.

"Well, I'm gonna go over to Picture Frame's house right now. Shining, you go see Silver." Twilight told Shining.

"You got it. I'll see you guys later." Shining said as he ran out the door.

As Twilight approached the door, she was stopped by her friends.

"Anything you want us to do Twi?" Applejack asked.

"Why don't you girls go see if there's a friendship problem. And if there is, go do it, and while you are, ask around about the three guards." She told them.

"All right. We'll get right on it." Rainbow Dash said as she and her friends went over to the Cutie Map.

"Okay good. Come on Spike. We got work to do." She said to her little dragon assistant.

He nodded and ran up to Twilight and hopped on her back. They then left to go ask Picture Frame some questions. They just hoped that they would get some information that would help solve this case.

Part 5: Interviews and Studying

*Night Mist's POV*

As I left the Castle, a lot of things were on my mind about the missing royal guards. Questions like:

How did these three guards disappear from a heavily guarded castle?

How did it happen with no pony noticing?

And, mostly, WHY did this happen?

Now, I'm no expert on security or magic, but I would have to think that with a big castle in Canterlot, it has to be heavily guarded with either multiple guards on duty, or has to have a magic spell that prevents any outside Invaders from launching an attack on Canterlot grounds.

Now, I did hear a story that about 6 years ago, when Shining Armor and Princess Mi Amore Cadenza were set to be married, it turned out the real Cadenza was abducted by the former Changeling Queen, Chrysalis. And she disguised herself as Cadenza during the entirety of the planning of the wedding. Now, eventually the real Cadenza showed up, revealing the Cadenza that was attempting to marry Shining Armor was a fake. Then, when Chrysalis revealed herself, her Changeling army invaded Canterlot, terrorizing the many folk of Canterlot. I'm pretty sure some ponies might have died during the attack. It was a small number, I think only about 4 or 5 who died. The rest of them were injured. Some minor, some major. Thankfully, Cadence and Shining beat Chrysalis, saved everypony, and were married in a great ceremony.

So, maybe it could be possible that somepony has been invading Canterlot, and abducting these royal guards at night. However, I also have to think, with Princess Luna having guards of her own, she must have guards on night watch after the day royal guards had gone home. So, if somepony DID abduct these ponies at night, they must have been a master of infiltration and stealth. Sneaking past the guards without them even noticing a thing. They, also, must know the layout of the castle very well. When the guards are in their positions, some blind spots, how they move around, and they're schedule when they come in and when they leave. It kinda reminds me of.......HIM........No. Don't think about him now. You have a job to do.

However, there's also some other questions I have regarding this case. Questions like: Why are guards being abducted? If it's somepony who wants something like money, wouldn't they abduct somepony of higher importance? Ponies like Shining Armor's daughter Princess Flurry Heart? Or Twilight's assistant Spike? Why would they abduct a royal guard who doesn't really have that much importance to Canterlot or any other place in Equestria, other than guarding a royal castle or the royal princesses? It just doesn't make sense to me.

Also, if they are abducting royal guards, what is it they want with them? What is the purpose of this? Is it to send a personal message to Shining Armor? Or even Celestia or Luna?

All this was on my mind as I was walking back home to my apartment. I had two objectives I needed to do: Talk with Meadow Blossom and study over these documents. I knew I had a lot of work to do.

******************************************************************

*Shining Armor's Point of View*

Once I left Twily's castle, I made my way over to the castle in Canterlot. I knew I was going to ask Silver Star some questions about Platinum Shine. It actually feels kinda cool working with a known detective like Night Mist. I remember I used to read mystery novels back when I was in middle and high school. I mostly loved the Moon Light Mystery book series. I remember almost binge reading every Moon Light Mystery story, until Mom told me to go out and do something. And, of course, you don't want to mess with Mom. She's crazy.

Anyway, I made my way to the castle, greeted Princess Celestia, and went to Silver Star's position, which was on the 2nd floor on the South Side of the castle. I found him standing by himself near a ledge that saw the entire south portion of the perimeter of the castle. When he saw me, he saluted me.

"At ease, Silver Star." I said to him.

"Sir, yes sir." He said to me with a straight look on his face.

"I'm actually not here for business. It's for something else. So you don't have to say "sir, yes sir" all the time, okay?" I told him.

"Sir, ye---I mean, okay Captain, what can I do for you?" He said dropping his straight expression.

"I need you to tell me everything you know about Platinum Shine." I told him. After I said that, his regular expression turned to a depressing one. It looked like he was still bummed out over Platinum's disappearance.

"Why do you wish to know that Captain?" He asked me.

"I'm working with a detective named Night Mist. Princess Celestia was the one who gave him the case. And me, my sister and her friends are working with him. He told me to come here and ask you a couple questions about Platinum, then report to him ASAP." I explained to him in detail.

He then sighed a huge sigh. He looked like this was going to be hard to talk about.

"Okay Captain. I'll answer any question you got." He said to me.

I then used my magic to create a piece of paper that I could write down every detail he gives me. I'm gonna need it when I report to Night Mist.

"So, how close are you to Platinum?"

"Oh, we've been best friends since middle School. We both met during the first day of our first year of middle School. We both loved comics, wrestling, mystery movies, rock n roll music, and royal guards. In fact, we both knew what we wanted to be when we would graduate high school: a royal guard for Princess Celestia. We both worked our asses off to become a royal guard. And it all payed off." He said with a sad smile on his face. So, these two have been friends for years. I can tell, he must be going through a lot.

"Can you tell me anything about Platinum's personal life. Like, is he married? Does he have kids?" I asked him.

"Well, he actually is married to a mare named Cloud Crusher. Those two were high school sweethearts. They've been married for about a year already. I was actually his best stallion." He said with a small smile on his face, remembering that day.

"How close are you to Cloud Crusher?" I asked him next. This could be another lead on this case. After all, this is his wife we're talking about. And, me being married myself, I know that my wife probably knows me better than anypony. So this pony must know even more information than Platinum.

"We're pretty close. I mean I'm the one who introduced her to him back when we were sophomores in high school. After that, they became a great couple." He told me.

"So they're marriage is going great then?"

"Yes. Those two have a great relationship. He talks about her a lot when we are on shift together. He loves that mare more than life itself." He answered me. I could tell everything he was saying, he meant it. It kinda made me sad for Platinum Shine and Cloud Crusher. They seemed to be as happily married as me and Cadence are.

"Well, since you know Platinum better than anypony, did you notice anything off about him before he disappeared?" I asked him.

"Well, not a whole lot, but there was one thing that was off. Other than that, he was usually his normal self." He answered me.

"What was that one thing?"

"It was the day before he disappeared. He told me he was going to work with Bronze Shield and Steel Bar. It was on the top floor of the castle. And, I thought, that it was Princess Celestia who made the change. I didn't ask a lot of questions about it. But it was weird, because normally Princess Celestia would announce it to us face to face. But, I figured, that because she is Princess Celestia, she has to be extremely busy with a lot of meetings, interviews, grand openings, and a lot of other stuff. What, also, was weird was that I didn't see him leave the castle grounds. I just thought maybe he left early, or took a different route home. So, I just went along with it. Well, the next day is when I found out something was up." He said.

****Flashback******

Silver Star was at his position in the castle. It seemed like a regular, normal day, when Princess Celestia came around the corner. As she came, Silver Star bowed to her in respect.

"Good morning Silver Star. How's everything going with your shift today?" She asked him sweetly.

"It's going very well, your highness. Although with the recent position change you made a couple days ago, I've been working a lot harder than usual." He said to her with his straight expression most guards have.

Princess Celestia raised her eyebrow. "Position change? I never asked for a position change." She said looking suspicious. Silver also was looking a little suspicious as well.

"Well, yesterday my friend Platinum Shine said, along with his new position mates, Steel Bar and Bronze Shield, are now working in the top floor of the castle grounds, your majesty." He told her. He looked like he was starting to get a little scared now.

"Did Shining Armor know anything about this?" She asked, now looking a little concerned. This was getting a little odd for her. How can a message be sent around the castle without her knowing.

"Well, he and I thought you told Captain Shining Armor, and that he must have put the word out to every guard here. So, we thought it was already a done deal. He went to the top floor yesterday with Bronze and Steel. I've been doing my position by myself for three whole days now." He said. As he explained himself to Celestia, he now felt extremely stupid for being so naive. He should have known something was up when the message wasn't realyed to him.

"We don't have positions on the top floor. It's just an empty room." Celestia told him.

"What? Are you serious?" Silver asked her looking more scared than ever.

Now Celestia was looking very scared and concerned. She did not know about a change in positions around the castle. She had been busy with meetings from all across Equestria. She had about 3 meetings a day, for three days. She never looked into the royal guards' positions, because that was the job of Shining Armor.

She then got a serious, determined look on her face as she looked at Silver Star.

"Let me take a look at the top floor for a second." She said as she teleported to the top floor of the castle.

When Celestia teleported to the top floor of the castle, she noticed no pony was there. No Steel Bar. No Platinum Shine. And No Bronze Shield. She looked all around the top floor, but no traces of them anywhere. This was starting to get a little scary. She also felt a chill run down her spine. She just felt that something BAD happened up here. She didn't know what, but something just wasn't right. She then teleported back down to Silver.

"They aren't up there Silver?" She told him looking nervous.

"WHAT? WHAT DO YOU MEAN?" Silver asked now looking terrified out of his mind.

"THEY AREN'T UP THERE! DID YOU SAY YOU DIDN'T SEE THEM LEAVE?" Celestia said now sounding almost extremely hysterical.

Silver was looking scared as hell. He was having the all powerful ruler of Equestria baring over him. He replied nervously "Y-yes. I didn't see them leave." He answered.

Celestia looked concerned about this situation. The guards just disappeared without a trace. Something was seriously not right here.

"I think something has happened to them. They disappeared last night." She told him.

"What do we do?" Silver asked her wanting to help out as best as he can.

"I'm going to contact the Elements of Harmony. I want you to contact Captain Shining Armor and let him know about what has happened." She said sounding intensely scared.

"Yes your majesty." Silver said as he bowed to Celestia, who the teleported away from the area to go and contact Twilight Sparkle and her friends.

*************End Flashback**************

"And then I contacted you, and here we are now." Silver said looking as depressed as ever.

I was shocked when he heard this story. I couldn't believe somepony tricked me and Celestia into not knowing about a fake position change. I had no idea that happened. And how could I not know that happened. Somepony snuck right under our nose and got us. And I'm partly to blame for this.

"Somepony put in a fake position change? How the hell did they do that?" I asked him.

"I don't know. For some reason, they changed there positions, and what happened happened." He said looking scared as hell. I couldn't blame him. He didn't know what happened.

"So, did you talk to any of the guards' other partners after they disappeared? Did they say the same thing?" I asked him.

"Yeah, they said they didn't know either. It's just like me. They didn't know the change was fake. And I didn't either. And now I feel like an idiot for falling for this. It's my fault. I'm sorry that I let this happen Captain. If you wish to fire me for my incompetence, I'll accept it." He said looking like he might let a couple tears.

I put my hoof on his shoulder to comfort him. He blames himself for this. I, along with a lot of other ponies know, it wasn't his fault. There's no way he could have predicted this could happen. If anything, I should have predicted this to happen. I'm the one to blame.

"Hey, don't blame yourself. It isn't your fault. It's mine. I'm the captain. I should have known this could have happened. So don't worry, I won't fire you. Your all good." I told him while smiling.

He then smiled at me. "Thank you Captain. I feel a little bit better." He said to me.

I took my hoof off his shoulder and said "Thanks for the info Silver. You've been a big help. I'll deliver this info to Night Mist, and we'll get them back in no time. I promise." I said as I saluted him. He then saluted me.

"Thank you Sir." He said to me.

He went back to his position as I left to go to Night Mist's apartment to give him the information I had just gotten. I wonder how Twily's doing. I hope she is getting good information from Picture Frame.

******1319 S Leland Street-Twilight Sparkle's Point of View*******

Me and Spike made it to Steel Bar and Picture Frame's house. It looked like a pretty decent house. Kinda small, but looked like a pretty nice place. Sometimes, when I look at houses, it makes me miss the library. Even though the castle is great, I still miss living there.

Anyway, me and Spike went up to the front door and knocked. We waited a couple seconds before a young unicorn stallion answered the door. He looked to be about 24 years old. He had a light brown coat with a reddish brown mane. He was wearing a yellow button down casual shirt. He also had a picture frame for a cutie mark. Hence why that's his name.

As soon as he saw me, he got all nervous and bowed to me. I guess I can understand somepony freaking out when they saw royalty like me and Princess Celestia. But, when somepony bows before me, I just find it kind of annoying. I may be a princess, but I'm still just a regular mare. At least, I feel like one.

"Princess Twilight Sparkle! It is an honor to meet you in person. What can I do for you? Frame a picture you want? I'll gladly do it for you." He said while looking all nervous. He also had a bit of a girlish voice. It was kind of cute.

"At ease Mr. Picture Frame." I said to try and calm him down. It didn't work.

"You know my name? Oh, this is incredible." He said getting all estatic. He must be a fan of me. Not that there's anything wrong that. I love all my fans.

"Yes. And the reason I know is because of the dissapearance of your Colt friend, Steel Bar." I told him. As soon as I said that, he immediately stopped with the excitement and had a look of shock on his face.

"Does that mean you found him? Is he okay? Please tell me he's okay." He said looking worried. I can't say I blame him for being worried. If my Colt friend was missing, I'd be just as worried as this guy.

"We haven't found him yet, but I'm working with Detective Night Mist for this case. I need to ask you some questions about Steel Bar so I can give this information to him. Can you do that for me?" I asked him.

He did look sad that Steel hasn't been found yet. "Yes, absolutely your highness. Please come inside." He said as he guided me in.

"Thank you Picture Frame. And please, just call me Twilight." I said as I followed him in to his home. As me and Spike walked in, we got a good look at the place. It looked a pretty nice and cozy place to live in.

"Nice place you got here." Spike said.

"Thank you Great and Honorable, Spike the Brave and Glorious." He said to him with a smile.

"Aw, just call me Spike." He said.

Me and Spike sat down in the living room. We sat on the couch that was there in front of an HD TV. I need to get me one of those. Then, Picture sat down in the chair next to the couch. He took a deep breath.

"Do you want anything to drink?" He asked us.

"No thanks I'm good." Spike said.

"I'm also good. Now, I'm going to ask about Steel Bar. Do you think your ready?" I asked him.

"Yes. I'll do my best." He answered me. As he answered, he looked very worried. I could tell he was scared out of his mind for Steel Bar. They must be a really good couple. Not to mention cute as well. I then popped out my notepad with my magic to write everything down. I'll need it to give to Night Mist.

"How long have you and Steel Bar been together, and when did you first meet?" I asked him. He blushed a little bit. I could tell he was a bit embarrassed that he was about to tell this story.

"Well, heh heh heh, it's kinda funny you should ask. It was one night about, hmmmmm, 3 years ago. We were both at a coffee shop. I was with my sister Light Flash. We were just going to get a quick coffee together. Well, this guy came in. He was about 20 years old. He looked very handsome. He had just gotten signed as a royal guard. He was with his captain, I think his name was Shining Armor. Well, he then went to the bathroom." He cleared his throat and then continued.

"Light tells me she saw me eyeing him. She tells me to go talk to him after he got out. Oh, and she knew I was gay already. Heck, she knew for years. And, of course, me not being the most socially active pony, I was freaking out and telling her no. Well, a minute later, I get called up to get my coffee. I go up. Get it." Then he blushed again in embarrassment. This must have been the good part.

"Well, clumsy me, I bumped into Steel and got my coffee all over my shirt. We both apologise to each other. He gets some napkins and trys to help me get the stains out. Well, then we looked into each other's eyes, and notice how stupid we both are being. I introduce myself, then he does. Well, my sister offers to get me a new shirt at home. Then she leaves, leaving me alone with Steel. He offers to stay and keep me company. Well, even though I'm pretty much scared outta my mind, I accept. So, for about 30 minutes we sat and talked. Getting to know each other. He was so sweet, charming, very shy. I was surprised by that. Him being a buff royal guard, and was so shy. I liked that. Well, then my sister comes back with a shirt. I go to the bathroom and put it on. Well, then we both have to leave. But before that, he gives me his phone number. Then I give him his. After that, we went on a couple dates, or hangouts as he called them. Then, on another one of those "hangouts", I slip up to him, that I'm gay and I have a huge crush on him. And I thought that he was going to reject me. Guess what happened?" He asked me looking kinda sassy.

"What?" I ask, mimicking his sass.

"He kissed me. He told me he was gay too. And that he's had a crush on me, ever since he met me at the coffee shop. That night, we officially became a couple. And we've been a couple for 3 years. Going on 4 in just 2 months from now." He told me with a shy smile on his face.

"That was a quite a little love story. I'm very happy for you." I told him. Those two must have a great relationship together. And it seems that Picture Frame must really be in love with Steel Bar.

"Oh, thank you. You know, we actually just moved in here together about 4 months ago." He told me. Okay that was something interesting.

"Okay. So, during this time living here, did you notice anything off about Steel? Like, did he act differently than usual?" I asked him. Then he had his head down in sadness.

"No, not until the day before------" He then got a little choked up. He looked a little emotional talking about this. Spike then went over to the counter area in his home, where a tissue box was held. He grabbed it, and then gave it to Picture. He smiled and thanked Spike.

"Not until the day before he disappeared. He told me he was working a new position with two guards named Bronze Shield and Platinum Shine. They were going to be working on the top floor of the castle. And he took his job very serious. So, he never asked questions about a position change. He just accepted it and moved on. Well, he told me that he got it from a form that was in his mailbox at work. Well, from what I heard, Princess Celestia would always announce something to everypony before it went into effect." He said to me as he dried his eyes of his tears.

That was true. Whenever Princess Celestia would want something changed, she would tell everypony in the castle. That is strange. Why would a position change for royal guards be any different?

"So, that was strange. Well, he left to go to work, and told me he loved me. Well, his shift would end at about 5 pm. Well, that time came around, and he didn't come back yet. I waited a couple hours, and he still didn't come back. I was getting worried. But, then I thought maybe he had some extra work to do, and would come home at night. So I went to bed. Woke up the next morning to some pony at my door, telling me------" He got choked up again. He was apparently very struck by what happened to Steel Bar. I'd be too if I was in his position.

He dabbed his eyes, which now had tears in them. I got up from my seat, sat next to him, and hugged him. This guy needed it after everything he's went through.

"He tells me, that Steel, along with Bronze and Platinum, disappeared from the castle last night." He said as he let out more tears of sadness with a couple jobs mixed in. I hugged him tighter. I just wanted to hug all the sadness out if him. Although, I knew it was impossible to do that. He misses the love of his life, and is worried he may either never be found, or, if he is found, he would be found dead. I didn't want to think that he might be dead, but it still could be a possibility.

My hugging must have helped somehow, because he continued to talk to me. I could tell that, even though he's in a weak state right now, this is a strong stallion. Not in muscle, but in heart.

"I'm just so worried about him. I just want to him to come home." He told me with sadness in his voice.

I wanted to spend more time with him to let him know that he's not alone, but I needed to hurry up and get back to Night Mist's apartment. So I'm going to wrap this up. Poor guy. I feel so bad for him.

"Now, before I go, I just want to ask two more questions: 1. Do you have anything that could be, somewhat, of a clue to his dissapearance? And 2. Do you have an idea about anypony who would want to hurt Steel Bar?" I asked him. I hope he does.

He looked a little concerned before he answered me. "Well, I don't have a clue for the dissapearance, but there is somepony who I think might be involved." He said, now looking a little angry.

"Who is it?" I asked him.

"Gear Shift!" He said looking even more angry. Apparently he did not like this guy. Maybe this could be a potential suspect.

"Who's Gear Shift?" I asked him looking curious.

"He's also a royal guard. Him and Steel HATE each other. And I hate him too." He told me.

"Why's that? Did he do something wrong?" I asked.

"If you wanna call him being a homophobic asshole, and calling Steel a fag constantly, then yes." He answered me.

Now this was something.

"Did those two ever get into a fight?" I asked.

"Only once. He got to Steel. Steel may have hit first, but Gear pushed him. And Shining Armor suspended both of them for 3 months without pay. And I guess that pissed off Gear. He's only a royal guard for money, and nothing else. Steel is because he really does love it. He always wanted to be one when he was a Colt he told me." He told me.

"Do you think Gear is the one who did it?" I asked him.

He was silent for a quick second. "I don't know. He might have done it." He answered.

I think that was enough for now. I gotta get these notes back to Night Mist. I hope Shining and him got some good enough information.

"I think that's all for now. Thank you Picture Frame. You've been a big help." I told him as I turned to go the front door.

"Your welcome. Please find him. I miss him." He said looking sad.

I looked back to him and said "Picture Frame, I promise I will find Steel Bar and bring him home to you. You have my word." I told him confidently.

He smiled and said "Thank you for everything Twilight."

"No problem." I said as I left out the door.

I knew now I needed to take this as serious as possible. I made a promise to bring Steel Bar back. And I will keep my promise. Even if it means I lose something in the end.

*********Ponyville Pines Apartment Complex--Night Mist's POV***************

I finally made it back to my apartment. I thought a lot of things on my way back here. But right now, my objective was to interview Meadow Blossom. She had to have had some answers regarding Bronze Shield.

I went up to her apartment door, which was number 54, and I knocked. I waited a couple minutes before somepony answered the door. Now I thought it was going to be a fully grown mare who would answer the door. Instead, it was a little filly who looked to be about 8 years old. She had an orange coat with a light brown mane. She didn't have a cutie mark yet. But that's to be expected. She's just a kid. And when she looked at me, she looked a little intimidated by me. Like she was scared of me. Can't say I blame her. I can come across as a very scary looking stallion. Iknow I'm kind of a freak. I mean I hung out with freaks before I got into law enforcement. I guess when you hang with freaks, you become one yourself. That's the biggest regret I have in life. When I was apart of....those guys. I regret it everyday of my life.

But, this wasn't Meadow Blossom, right? Cause if it is, then I'm gonna have a problem with Bronze Shield.

After a couple seconds of awkward silence, I spoke to her in my usual straight faced expression. "Hello little filly, what's your name?" I asked her.

She looked very nervous as she was talking to me. "I-I-I-I'm Orchid Breeze." She stammered. I was relieved. Now, I didn't have to catch two suspects. But if this wasn't Meadow Blossom, then where is she? Is she still here? Maybe she was this filly's mother.

"That's a nice name. Tell me, Orchid, is your mother home?" I asked her trying to sound nice.

She stammered as she said "Yes. Do you need to talk to her?"

"Yes I do actually. Could you go get her for me?" I asked her

She nodded and went into a random room in her apartment. I heard her call her mother. She must have been doing something. I just hope I didn't catch her at a bad time.

Finally, she came back into the room with a grown up mare. She looked to be about 24 or 25 years old. She had an orange coat like Orchid did and had a darker brown mane. She had a cutie mark of a bag of groceries. This mare must have been a bagger at a super market or something. She looked a little confused and surprised to see me.

"This is the man that wanted to see you Mommy." The filly told her. I was right. This was the filly's mother. And if Meadow Blossom was in a relationship with Bronze Shield, then this must be his daughter as well.

"Okay, well why don't you go to your room and play, while me and this man talk for a bit." She told her.

Orchid smiled and said "Okay Mommy." She said as she went off into the other room. Now, me and the mare were alone, ready for me to ask questions.

"Are you Meadow Blossom?" I asked her.

"Yes. Why do you ask? And why are you here?" She asked me.

"I'm Detective Night Mist. I'm investigating the dissapearance of three royal guards. I heard one of them is your boyfriend Bronze Shield." I told her.

Her expression didn't change. She still had a straight look on her face. Either she was trying to be strong, or, and this is what I'm afraid of, she didn't really care.

"I'll answer any question you want detective. Anything to bring him back to me and Orchid." She said.

"You know, not that it's any of my business, but you look really young to be a mother of an eight year old Miss Blossom." I told her.

She looked a little embarrassed when I said that. She sheepisly rubbed her Ieg with her hoof as she spoke to me. "Me and Bronze had her when I was 16 and when he was about to turn 17. I know it wasn't right for us to have sex at an early age, but it just happened. Please don't judge me."

It didn't matter to me if she was a young mother or not, as long as she cares for, loves, and raises her child in a good way, that's all that matters.

"Don't worry. I'm not here to judge. I'm just here to ask some questions about Bronze Shield." I told her as I levitated out my note pad.

"Of course. Come take a seat Mr. Night Mist." She said guiding me over to a chair to sit down and talk with her.

I had my pen and notepad, and now I was ready to interview her. I just hope I get some good info to find out what happened here. Let's just do it and see.

"So, how long have you and Bronze been together?" I asked her.

"Me and Bronze actually have been a thing ever since middle school. We went to a dance together, had a great time, and after that we started dating. Then we went to high school. Things were great the first two years. Then, during our junior year, one night we met up to just hang out. Well, one thing led to another, and......we wound up having having sex. Then not to long after, I found out I was pregnant with Orchid. I told him. And I thought, kinda like those stupid teen drama films, that he was going to bail on me." She told me as I was writing everything down.

"And, because you two are living together, I take it he didn't abandon you?" I asked her even though I already knew the answer.

"No he didn't. And my parents were so angry at me and him. And his parents weren't to happy either. They wanted us to break up and get an abortion. But, he never abandoned me. He was there all the time for me. He even was there when Orchid was born. Happiest day of our life. And, just for the record detective, me and him never got help from either of our parents. They were the ones who abandoned us. It's because of their ego getting the better of them. We have been raising Orchid by ourselves ever since she was three. After she was born, we lived with his Bronze's uncle Gold Medal. He was the guy who helped raise Orchid with us. He's a good man detective." She said. When she was telling me about her's and Bronze's parents, she sounded spiteful. Frankly, who could blame her? I know what it's like to be abandoned by family. Mine did it to me..................

"Okay, so when did you move to Ponyville with Bronze and Orchid, and when did Bronze become a royal guard?" I asked her.

"Well, that's actually funny detective. Gold Medal, Bronze's uncle, when he was living with us, he offered Bronze a chance to be a royal guard, because he also was a royal guard. He was about to retire soon. So, he thought, if Bronze really wanted to support me and Orchid, maybe he should become a royal guard. And, because of everything Gold did for me and Bronze, he accepted. And he trained him hard and fair. And, ultimately, Bronze did get a spot on the royal guards. That I also thank Shining Armor for. He gave him a huge opportunity. And him and I are so thankful for that." She said to me with a warm hearted smile on her face. I could tell this mare was very thankful for a lot of things that she had been helped with. She had good ponies in her life.

"So, has Bronze ever talked about work when he's at home? Has he ever talked about other guards he doesn't like? Or he thinks that are suspicious?" I asked her. She did look a little annoyed when I asked this.

"He's only talked about one guard. His name is Gear Shift. He works in the same area with Bronze, but they don't work together." She told me.

Gear Shift, huh? This could potentially be a pony of interest for this case. After I'm done studying the documents, I'm gonna have to talk with this Gear Shift. First, I'll need some info on him.

"You mentioned this Gear Shift. Do you know him personally?" I asked her. She then looked a little angry when I mentioned his name. Is this guy really that bad?

"Hell yeah I know him personally. One day, we took a tour of the castle. Me and Orchid. It was just a fun little look around of the castle. Well, Orchid went to the bathroom. And, while I was waiting for her, this guy fucking hit on me, very creepy like I may add, and walked pass me like nothing happened. I reported it to Shining Armor. The guy denied everything he did to me. He acted like I was fucking crazy. You know I'm not, right detective?" She said. She looked incredibly serious when she told me this. Usually, I can tell when somepony is serious or not. And I knew, this mare was telling the truth.

"No, I do believe you ma'am. But, I have to know, if he made you uncomfortable, what happened to him? Did he get fired, suspended, anything?" I asked her.

"He only got suspended for a week without pay. He also got suspended earlier, like 6 months later, because I heard he got into a fight with some other guard named Steel Bar." She told me.

"How did you hear about the fight, and why did this fight happen?" I asked her. This was starting to get good.

"Bronze told me about the fight. As far as how it happened, well Steel Bar is gay. And, I guess Gear is a homophobe. So, from what he told me, Gear called him a fag, Steel took offense to it, and they got into it. They both got suspended, which is bullshit if you ask me. Gear should have been fired." She said looking pretty pissed off. I agree with her. This guy sounds like a dangerous individual.

"Have Bronze and Gear ever had any interactions with each other?" I asked her.

"They did almost get into a fight that time when he hit on me. Thankfully, Captain Shining Armor was there to settle everything down. But, other than that, they haven't had much interaction." She answered.

"Okay, now here's my last question: did Bronze say anything to you before he dissapeared that you thought maybe something might be up?" I asked her.

She had an inquisitive look on her face. "The only thing that was weird was that he got a new position to the top floor of the castle without Princess Celestia saying it to everypony. That was weird, because she always announces new things around the castle to everypony in a big meeting. This time though, she didn't. That's all I can say detective." She told me.

Now that did sound strange. I can imagine Princess Celestia announcing new positions for guards to everypony in the castle so they would immidiately know about the changes. Did somepony fake a position change in Celestia's name? Could be possible. Now I need to look over the documents. My time with Meadow is over.

"Thank you Meadow Blossom. You've been a big help." I told her.

"No problem detective. And hey, get that piece of shit Gear Shift for me okay? And please find Bronze alive. If he's, you know, I don't......" She trailed off looking like she was about to get emotional.

I put my hoof on her shoulder as I spoke to her. "Meadow Blossom, I give you my word I will bring Bronze Shield back home to you alive. I promise."

She smiled and said "Thank you Mr. Night Mist."

I nodded my head and walked out the door. As I left, I went back to my apartment, which was not to far from hers. I went inside and sat at my desk. I put out all the documents and looked over the positions. They all seemed pretty standard. Two or three guards at the North, South, East, and West ends of the castle corridors, in front of the castle, in the back, in the main halls, the usual stuff. I kept looking over, until I saw the top portion of the castle. There were no guards positioned at the top. It was basically just an empty room.

That really hit me. If this was an empty room, why would guards need to be here? Why would they need to guard something that didn't need guarding? It seemed to me like this was a set up. Somepony put in a fake position change to the top floor of the castle, got three guards up there, and, somehow didn't make a sound, and abducted them from the castle with out anypony noticing. I've seen this kind of infiltration before. Could it be.....him?........I don't know. I hoped I'd never see those bastards faces again. Maybe it could be them. I know them better than anypony.

I needed a break. I made myself some dinner to try and relax my brain a little bit. As I did, I kept thinking about the possibility of the culprits being those guys. My former "family" so to speak.

"What the hell could they want with royal guards?" I asked myself out loud.

I knew one of these days I'd eventually come across them again. Only, this time it's on different sides of the law. I just didn't think it could possibly be when I first moved to Ponyville. Now, I can't automatically label them as suspects without evidence or proof, but I still had that thought I the back of my mind.

I ate my dinner and then sat in my chair. I had a feeling Twilight Sparkle and Shining Armor would have gotten their information by now. So I expected them to come over here with it once they got it right away. So I'm just gonna wait for them. In the meantime, I'm gonna take a little nap. I'm gonna need all the energy I can to solve this case. I just hope I it ends with everypony being okay. I hope to Celestia everything turns out okay in the end. I then fell asleep, awaiting for another day of solving this case to begin.

Part 6: A Potential Suspect ; Demons from the Past

Where am I?

What is the place?

What's going on?

I see a burning house. I see three ponies standing there. With sick twisted smiles on their face. And they are looking at me. Why me? What do they want? They turn and walk away into the fire. What is happening?

Wait. This looks..... familiar. Like I've been here before. Like I know exactly what's gonna happen. Something BAD. Something that will change my life forever.

I approach the burning house. Even though the fire is burning hot, I feel a cold chill run down my spine. I move quickly through the smoke and ash. I keep my face covered, so I won't inhale anything. I have a feeling something terrible has happened here. Like this fire happened for a reason. There wasn't no electrical shortage or somepony forgot to turn off the stove top. No. Something was wrong. And I had to find out what it was.

All of a sudden, I hear a blood curling scream. A scream with a voice I recognize. Somepony I know better than anypony. As soon as I hear that, I move even quicker. I have to find that voice and save whoever it is.

I look through every part of the building, but I can't find where that scream came from. I better hurry and find the voice soon. This fire is getting out of control. Who knows what'll happen if I don't find it.

I see a lot of things in the building that I know for sure I've seen before. Pictures of ponies that look familiar. Pictures of events me and these ponies have done before. Some that look like good times, and some that I look at and I say "That was a mistake."

As I'm running through this building, I see a wall that has a message on it. A message that is written in red. And from the color of it, it looks like blood red. Why would there be a message on a wall in a burning house? I read the message and it says:

DID YOU REALLY THINK YOU WERE OUR FRIEND?

Why would this message say that? Is it directed towards me? I'm starting to feel nervous. Something sinister is happening.

I turn away from the message, and now, for some reason, the fire stops, and now I'm in a room that I also recognize. It feels like I lived here once before. Why does this place look so familiar? Is it some kind of illusion? And, if it is, what does it mean? Is it trying to tell me something?

Then I hear somepony behind me. I turn around, and it's the three ponies I saw earlier. They now have blank stares on their faces. They have weapons in their hooves. Then, the biggest one, who has a dark purplish coat with a pitch black mane approaches me. I know I have seen this stallion before. Like, I've know him all my life. Like I once thought of him as the father I always wanted. What is he gonna do? What does he want with me?

"Sorry kid, but you shouldn't have said no." I hear him say in a dark and demonic voice. He along with the other two guys swing at me with their weapons. I'm about to feel the first strike when.......

***********************************************************

"GUUUHH!" I wake up. I was breathing heavily and sweating. It was all just a nightmare. I look around and I'm still in my apartment in Ponyville.

It's been a while since I've had that dream. I haven't had that dream for about 5 years. So why did I have it now? Was my dream trying to tell me something? Or was I just going crazy?

I still do have memories of that night. Memories that I've tried to black out. But, I guess you can't ever block memories no matter how hard you try. The thing I remember most is I knew from that moment on how the world truly works. Meaning that there was no friendship in this world. Only enemies and betrayal.

During my reminiscing of the past, I heard a knock at my door and a voice I knew.

"Detective Night Mist? Are you there? We have some information for you. Your really gonna want to take a look at this." It was Twilight Sparkle who was speaking at my door. Then I heard another voice that I recognized instantly.

"I have some info too. This is gonna blow your mind." It was Shining Armor.

I got up out of my chair and went to go open the door to let them in.

I opened the door and saw them, along with Spike on Twilight's back, standing there with smiles on their faces that instantly turned to looks of confusion.

"Hey are you all right Night Mist? You don't look so good." Twilight said to me looking all concerned.

"Yeah, you look like crap." Shining said with a joking smile. Twilight shot a glare at her brother, which said to not insult me like that. But I didn't care. I don't take a lot of shit personally. Unless I felt it was personal, then I'd get pissed.

"I'm fine, I just woke up from a nap. Come on in." I said as I invited them into my apartment room.

They followed me into my apartment. My place was a pretty average looking apartment. Not too big, not too small. Had a bathroom with a shower. A TV that was pretty standard size. A bed that, while not the most comfy, was good enough too sleep in without waking up with bed sores. Some furniture, a couple chairs and 2 sofas. The basic stuff you have when your living in an apartment.

"Nice place you got here." Shining Armor told me with a smile on his face.

"Thank you. It's not much, but enough." I said to him.

They sat down on one of my sofas, which this one was brown and leathery. As they sat down, they must have noticed I was sweating a little bit. I mean I did just wake up from a nightmare. Most of the time when you have a nightmare, you wake up cold and feeling chills. It's just normal. So Twilight, being the supposed good hearted mare that she is, decided to ask me if something was wrong.

"Night Mist, your sweating a lot. Did you wake up from a nightmare?"

I didn't know she could catch on so quickly. She's even smarter than I thought she was. I guess she isn't Princess Celestia's student for nothing. She also would probably know if I'm lying or not. Might as well just say yes, but then tell just a little white lie.

"Yes. I did." I answered straight forward. She looked really concerned for me now. Maybe I should have just lied.

"Do you wanna talk about it?" She asked.

"No I don't. So what have you guys got?" I answered. I know it was kinda rude of me to say it like that, but I just want to get this information now so I can catch the fucker who kidnapped those guards.

I guess my answer really didn't please Shining Armor and Spike all that much, because they looked pissed at me. They had every right to.

"Hey what's the big deal? She just cares about you. I mean you are her friend you know." Shining said to me looking cross as hell.

"Shining." Twilight attempted to calm her big brother down. He said that word again. Friend. Me and Twilight are NOT friends. Neither are her other friends either. Might as well tell him that. I know I can kick this guy's ass.

"I'm afraid your wrong on that last bit Shining Armor. Me and Twilight are not friends. We are just partners in this case. I'm not friends with her, you, or the other Elements of Harmony. The only reason I'm working with you guys, is because Princess Celestia told me too." I answered him with a Stern look on my face. He didn't look happy when I said that. And neither did Twilight. She actually looked kind of upset. Did she really think of me as a friend?

....................

No. She couldn't have. I won't buy it. Not after what happened. I don't ever want to go through what happened to me ever again. Then Spike, who had a cross look on his face along with his arms crossed at his chest spoke next.

"Just because you don't think of us as friends, doesn't mean you can be rude to us." He told me. Now I better watch what I say. I mean this kids a dragon. And he can breath fire.

"I'm just being honest. Isn't that what ponies want with each other?" I asked.

He was about to speak until Twilight levitated him over to her and a not so happy looking Shining Armor. She had a somewhat dissapointing look on her face as she spoke to me.

"I'm sorry if I felt like I was getting in your business Night Mist. I was only trying to help. I never meant any harm." She said to me. When she said that, it sounded like she only said it to stop an argument from happening. She didn't want me fighting with her brother or her assistant.

They both looked at her with WTF looks on their faces. They couldn't believe she would apologise when, and I guess I'm being honest with myself, she was in the right and I was in the wrong. I know. I can admit when I'm in the wrong. I guess I may as well apologise as well.

"No, I'm sorry Princess Twilight. I shouldn't have snapped at you. It's just I'm a very private pony. I'm not exactly a guy who talks about my feeling very much. I hope you can respect that. All of you." I said referring to Shining Armor and Spike also. They didn't smile, but judging from their serious looks, they at least understood. And I always like that.

"Well, if you ever do feel like it one day, you can talk to me. I can help." She said with a smile on her face.

"I'll keep that in mind. Now, Shining Armor, Twilight Sparkle, and Spike. What have you gotten from Silver Star and Picture Frame?" I asked them.

They looked at each other, nodded, and then proceeded to tell me everything about what they learned. From the fact that somepony put in a fake position change for the royal guards to the top of the castle, to nopony knowing, even Princess Celestia herself, about said position change, and most of all this Gear Shift fellow. So he's a homophobe who got into a fight with Steel Bar, resulting in him getting suspended without pay. Also, from Meadow Blossom, he creeped on her, resulting in a one week suspension. Apparently, this guy was somepony that felt suspicious.

"That's what we have for you Night Mist. Now, we'd like to hear what you have. What have you got from the documents?" Twilight asked me.

I levitated the documents to my small table in the middle of my room.

"Well, according to these documents, there are four total positions with multiple positions on the inside of that total one. North, East, South, and West. Each position has two guards on that duty. There also is guards at the front entrance of the building." I told them while pointing to the positions with a pencil I picked up.

"Yeah, we want to make sure that every part of the building is secure." Shining Armor said.

"Well, here's where something strange comes in." I said to him. He had a confused look on his face.

"If there are guards at the front entrance, there is no way an enemy could have gotten into the building to abduct the guards without anypony noticing. Also, with all the positions around the castle, there had to have been some pony who noticed something." I said to them. They were starting to look a little intrigued.

"I also have a feeling that if somepony invaded the castle and abducted these guards, it wasn't somepony like Tirek, Crysalis, or Nightmare Moon. No offense Shining Armor, but they could have easily gotten past the guards without a sweat. I can tell you train these guards very well. However, with ponies like the ones I just mentioned, an ordinary royal guard would be taken down in a split second. They wouldn't need to sneak into the castle. So it must be a regular pony like all of us here. Overall, I think that, as heavily guarded as the castle is, there must be a couple blind spots." I said.

"What do you mean?" Shining asked.

"This didn't happen for no reason. However these guards dissapeared is still up for debate, but if these guards dissapeared without anypony noticing, it must mean somepony knew the layout of the castle and snuck into the castle grounds via a blind spot, which they also knew in order to get around the guards." I said. Shining and Twilight looked a little surprised at what I just said. I guess they never thought about that before.

"There's also something else. Twilight, you mentioned a name. A Gear Shift. Correct?" I asked her. She got her serious look on her face as she spoke to me.

"Yes. Picture Frame told me him and Steel Bar didn't like each other, and that they got into a fight after Gear called him a fag. And, Shining, you suspended both of them for three months, right?" She asked her brother. He nodded.

"Yeah. I know Gear started it, but I had to teach Steel that he shouldn't be the one to start fights. Even if he has every right to." Shining explained to me and Twilight. I spoke next.

"Did you ever have any bad experiences with Gear Shift Shining?"

"Oh I don't think so. This guy, when it came to royalty like Cadence or Celestia or Luna or even me, always just sucked up to us. He just kissed our asses. He always made sure he had a job with us so he could make great money. I could tell he didn't really care about protecting the castle. He just was in it for the money." He told me looking annoyed. Sounds like this guy is a greedy SOB. Like he'll do anything for money. Maybe, because of the suspension he got, he wasn't to happy with not getting payed. Could be a good lead.

"Well now, this Gear Shift fellow could be a good lead. I'm going to need to ask him a few questions. You don't mind do you Shining Armor?" I asked him. Even though I asked, I still would do it if he said no. It's my job after all.

"No. Not at all. Do you think he's a suspect in this case?" He asked me.

"Well, yes. And I'll tell you why. Shining, do all of your guards know the entire layout of the castle? Meaning the North, East, South, and West sides? And everything around them?" I asked.

"Yeah. Before they become guards, they have to study the entire layout of the castle. They're expected to know each and every position and what's around it." He told me.

"And Gear Shift also knew about it as well?"

"Right. Even though I don't like him personally, I will say that he actually is a pretty smart pony."

"So the reason I think he might be a suspect is because if somepony invaded the castle without anypony knowing, they had to have gotten information from somepony on the inside. And judging from what Meadow Blossom and Picture Frame said, he must be a pretty arrogant pony who thinks he's better than everypony. And if he gets in trouble or humiliated, he has to be somepony who will want to get payback on them. He hates losing basically. So, overall Shining, I think you have a mole in your crew of royal guards. And I think he might be the mole." I told Shining.

He looked like he was starting to get it. "So maybe he gave somepony the layout of the castle, they studied it, and knew where the blind spots were to invade the castle grounds without anypony noticing." He said looking like he solve the biggest mystery of all time and was really happy about it. Twilight spoke next, who looks just as excited as her brother did.

"And maybe he wrote some fake position change to get Steel Bar and the other two up there to be abducted. Because he wanted payback for Steel getting him suspended. It makes sense. We can nail him with this." She said. I had to stop her. It couldn't be that simple. There has to be more to this.

"Woah Twilight, hold on. We can prove he knew the layout of the castle like all of them do, and we have proof that he has had problems with royal guards before, but we can't soley blame him for the dissapearance of the guards." I told her. She had a cross look on her face when she looked at me.

"I know that, but he's involved in this. He's a step closer for us to finding them." She said.

"Well, we have to interrogate him first. Get some answers out of him. Maybe he'll give us a name." I said to her.

"Your right. Shining , do you know where Gear Shift lives?" She asked her brother.

He nodded his head and said "Yeah, he lives in some house around here. I think it's a couple blocks from here. 1901 Harmony Rd is the address. And he's actually off today. So there's a good chance he's there." He sad to us.

"Well, what are we waiting for? Let's catch this guy." Spike said looking all heroic. I laughed a little under my breath. It was adorable seeing somepony so small acting courageous.

We all left my apartment and headed out to Gear Shift's address. I hope the guy is there. However, something in my gut was telling me there was something more to this case. Something bigger.

Part 1: Introductions

You know what they say? Family and friends are everything. Everypony always says "Always stick with family" or "Friends are forever". They say you should always look out for your family, as they also should look out for you. They say your friends always have your back, as you should them. They say a lot of things that many deem as full of wisdom. Full of inspiration.

Well, sorry to be a bit of a negative guy, but I say sometimes FUCK FRIENDS AND FAMILY. Because, and this may be a bitter pill to swallow, but sometimes friends and family can fuck you over worse than your enemies can. Because they will feed off of the fact that they're family. They will take that undying love and loyalty and trust, and they will betray you and leave you feeling heartbroken and angry at the world. They will, honestly, make your life a living hell.

So that's why, I've always been a bit of a loner. Because I found out the truth the hard way. The way that makes you learn in a bad way. But you still learn nonetheless. But I'll just leave it at that, because the more I talk about this, the more I get pissed off, and I don't think anyone wants to see me pissed off. It's not a pretty sight to see.

Well, I guess I should introduce myself to you guys. My name is Night Mist. I'm 25 years old. I'm a unicorn stallion, with a dark grey coat, a pitch black mane that is neatly clean cut, and a cutie mark with a magnifying glass with a question mark on it. I'm well-built, about 6'6, and weigh about 253 lbs.

I have been a detective for about 4 years now. I did work on the force for about 3 years. However, because of how much I grew so fast in the ranks, I was given an opportunity to become a private detective, and I accepted. Now, I didn't mind working on the force. Far from it actually. I learned so much in that quick amount of time. The reason I left the force was, well let's just say I've always had a bit of trust issues when it comes to partners. I always have preferred to work alone. I mean after all there is a saying: If you want something done right, you gotta do it yourself. So that's why now I work alone.

No your probably wondering what I'm doing right now. Well, for some strange reason, I got contacted by Princess Celestia.

YES. That Princess Celestia.

I have no idea as to why she would call me. Maybe she has a huge case for me. I mean, with somepony as powerful as her, this has got to be huge. Like, end of the world huge.

However, the reason I have doubts of it being a huge case, although I'm still hoping for it to be so, is because she has the Elements of Harmony working with her. These ponies who defeated Nightmare Moon, Discord, whom they also reformed from what I heard, Chrysalis, and reformed the entire changelings but not her, Tirek, the Pony of Shadows, while also bringing back the legendary Starswirl the Bearded, and saved Equestria from Tempest Shadow and the Storm King. Oh and they reformed Tempest from what I heard. So these ponies are pretty big deals. So why would she request my assistance? It just feels weird to me.

Not to mention, saving the whole world isn't my job. My job is to keep the streets safe for all ponies from criminals. Criminals that include murderers, rapists, foal molesters, extortionists, drug dealers, prostitutes, and many, many more. My job is to get a case, question some ponies who know things about the suspect, find clues to get the bastard, eventually catch said bastard, charge him, book him, get him in jail, close the case, and then do it all over again.

That's how it is with me. I guess I'm probably moving to Ponyville now. Could be nice to have a change of scenery.

If you didn't know, the city of Michneighgan was my original town to keep the streets safe. I worked cases night and day to keep the streets safe for everypony. However, it's kinda hard to keep a town safe, when there is death, rape, and every other crime around the corner just waiting to happen. It was rough for me. I worked many cases. Sometimes multiple cases. Meaning, that I would work 2 or 3 cases at the same time. And when I did work those cases, there would be times where I went a night or two without sleep. Hell, I think there was one time I didn't sleep for 3 days. Almost drove me crazy. Keyword: ALMOST.

Well now, since I got transferred to Ponyville, these two new ponies, who are on the force, by the names of Notepad and Spycam have officially taken the reigns of keeping the city of Michneighgan safe for everypony. How I feel sorry for those two. I don't think they'll last. I could be wrong, and if I am I'll admit it. But, for now, they've got a big fucking challenge ahead of them.

So, after a long 4 hours of traveling via carriage, I finally made it to Ponyville. I was going to get settled in, go see what Princess Celestia wanted, and then, eventually get a case to work on. I thanked the guy who gave me a ride here, got my baggage, which required me getting a cart to carry all of my stuff, thankfully I only had to make two trips, payed the guy his money, and then we went our separate ways.

I moved in to an apartment complex called Ponyville Pines. Really original name, huh? I'm in Apartment #32. However, after I officially got settled in, which normally would take long for anypony, but luckily I'm a unicorn with pretty great strength, so I managed to move all my furniture, desks, tables, and many other objects that most ponies would view as heavy very easily, I, for some reason, went outside to take a look at the Ponyville folk. It seemed pretty nice. For now. I had a feeling someday, something bad was going to happen. And I'd be there to pick up the pieces. It's my job.

Then, as I turned around, I noticed a pink pony standing in front of me. She had a pink coat, with a dark pink mane and tail that was all frizzy. And she had party balloons as a cutie mark. I knew who this mare was. Not personally, but from what I heard in the papers. She looked pretty excited to see me. For what, I don't know.

"I've never seen you in town before. Did you just move here?" She asked me.

"Yes. Yes I have." I said to her as I went up to my door, locked it, and walked away from her to go and see what Princess Celestia wanted. However, as I walked away, she started following me.

"So my name's Pinkie Pie. What's yours?" She asked me nicely.

"Night Mist, and I already know your name." I said to her bluntly.

She gasped hugely, which kinda surprised me a little bit. She then got close to my face, literally eye to eye.

"Are you psychic? How did you know that?" She asked me very intensely.

"No, I'm a detective. And I know you because of the fact that your an Element of Harmony along side Princess Twilight Sparkle, Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy, and Rainbow Dash. I've read about you all in the papers." I answered her honestly.

"Woah, your a detective. But I don't see your fedora, or trench coat, or eyeing everything with a magnifying glass, or even your assistant who always asks unimportant questions. Where are they?" She asked.

"Well, the reason I don't have a fedora is because I think they look ridiculous. Also, I do have a trench coat, but I don't need it right now. Plus, detectives don't eye everything they see. That's just in the movies. Where they stereotype detectives like me. Are you trying to stereotype me, Pinkie Pie?" I asked her looking not amused.

"N-n-No, of course not. I would never do anything to offend a friend." She said to me.

Friend. There was that word again. She thought we were friends, even though we just met and barely know anything about, outside of our names and what we do in our life. Was this mare trying to mess with me? Why would she offer to be friends, even though she doesn't know that much about me? It's gotta be a trick. I'm not falling for it again.

"When were we friends, we just met?" I asked her.

"When anypony comes to town, I instantly want to be they're friend to let them feel welcome here in Ponyville. And you are my newest friend. So come on Misty, give me a smile." She said as she put her hooves to my lips, and stretched them up to form a smile. She let go, and I dropped back to my straight expression. I was getting a little tired of this mare already. She annoys me by asking me questions, stereotypes me with detectives in movies, pretending to want to be my friend, and now she just touched me. She put her hooves on me. That's it.

"Okay Pinkie Pie, a couple of things. First, DON'T EVER TOUCH ME AGAIN."I said to her in a clear loud voice. Not loud for every pony to hear, but loud enough to be commanding. And when I said that she looked really scared. Like she just saw something out of a horror movie.

"Second, don't call me Misty. I'm a guy. Misty is a girls name. My name is Night Mist, and I would like to be called that." I said to her in a voice that was a little less loud, but had an effect to it. She still looked scared hearing this from me.

"Third, we are not friends. I don't need friends. I don't want friends. I do not consider you a friend. So get that thought out of your mind of us being friends, cause it ain't happening." I told her with brutal honesty. This mare needed to know that I prefer to be alone. Maybe I was rude, but sometimes that's just the way it is. At this point, this mare was on the verge of tears.

"Fourthly, and lastly, you wanted to know why I don't have a partner. It's because I prefer to be alone. I'm okay, frankly, with being a loner. So, do me a favor, and don't bug me. Got it?" I asked her. She nodded, with some visible tears in her eyes, and galloped away to a location that I didn't really care about. Those were probably fake tears to make me feel sorry for her. But that wasn't gonna happen.

"Alright, now that that is taken of, time for me to go to Canterlot to meet up with Celestia. Wonder what she wants?" I asked myself.

I also took a look back, and noticed that same pink pony was still running away. However, as she was running, other ponies went after her to check on her. See if she's okay. Was she really that popular? Those tears must have been real. I must have hurt her feelings pretty bad to make her cry.

Did she really want to be my friend?

............

............

............

No. Remember what happened last time you thought somepony was your friend. Look what happened.

I'll probably get over this later. Just ignore it, like you've ignored all these other feelings you've had over the years. Eventually, you'll get over it. That's what I learned a long time ago.

So I went over to the train station, bought a ticket to Canterlot, and rode the train over to the residence of Princess Celestia and Luna. The two royal sisters.

However, as I was sitting in the train, I still couldn't help but think back to Pinkie Pie. My heart and mind had this strange feeling of wanting to go back and apologize to her and accept her offer to be her friend.

Why am I feeling this way? Don't you remember what they did to you? How they-*Growl* I don't really want to get into that right now. The past is in the past. You can't do anything about it. So why bother?

I sat in my seat and decided now was as good a time as any to enjoy a little nap. Maybe some sleep will calm my nerves down. Might give me a clear head for the meeting. So that's what I did. I took a little snoozer, until I would eventually reach my destination in Canterlot.

Meeting Princess Celestia is gonna be a big deal. Or at least I hope it's gonna be.

Tomorrow is going to be....interesting.