The silence of the foals

Luster, Ursa and the other three unicorns from team three, were trotting down Fairsteed Avenue. They were heading west. They had left the Fillydelphia Ponice Department a few minutes ago. Ursa was in the head, leading the group, with Luster and the other three behind.

They had passed by the Eastern Stable Penitentiary and then three blocks. When they were four blocks away from the ponice station, they turned right, heading north, getting off the avenue onto one of the armstreets.

After advancing for a block of that street, they stopped in the corner of the sidewalk.

Luster, just like the others, was sweating and panting. Ursa looked at her. “Commissar, dis block to de left hoof…”, she said, raising a forehoof and pointing to the block that followed. “... Dis is my neighborhood’s block”.

Luster, who was next to Ursa, nodded. “Alright, just take us to the house of those with light blue coats”. She swept the streets with her eyes. At that time, they were the only ones on the streets in that residential area.

“Understood, commissar”. Ursa advanced and the group followed. They kept moving north. They crossed the street perpendicular to the one connected to the avenue.
Luster, at some point, looked west and saw the Veterans Retirement Home from afar.

When they reached the middle of the blockstreet, they stopped. They turned their bodies towards the house on their left. “This is the house”, Ursa said.

The building had an orange tile roof and light blue walls. It had a plain paved frontyard. Nopony besides them was on sight.

Luster stepped forward from the group, she turned her head and looked at them behind. “Wait here, understood?”

“Understood”, Ursa and the other three ponice officers said in unison.

“Great”. Luster looked forward towards the house. She inhaled and advanced. She got inside the property by putting her hooves on its concrete floor. She was heading to the wooden door a few legs away. She rushed her pace and, in a few seconds, found herself in front of the door.

She gulped. She raised a forehoof and knocked. The next seconds went silent. She lowered her hoof and waited.

Then, clops coming from the other side of the wood could be heard. Somepony turned the knob. The door before Luster was opened.

Luster stepped back. There was a pony in front of her. It was a light blue coated pegasus with a light gray mane and blue eyes. He was old and his forehead and muzzle had many wrinkles. Also, he was tall enough that his withers reached Luster's shoulders.

They looked at each other. In silence. For a few seconds.

Luster cleared her throat. “Good afternoon, sire”.

The old pegasus narrowed his eyes, scanning Luster’s tall body from head to hoof. He looked at her horn and then at her wings.

He opened his eyes wide. “An alicorn?!” He slightly smiled “Well, good afternoon for you too, princess”.

Luster chuckled, raising a forehoof and shaking it. “Oh, of course!” She smirked and lowered her hoof. “I tend to forget these formalities are still current in these modern times! But no…” She shook her head. “I’m not a princess. Not exactly. I’m the commissar, leader of the Stable Oversight. My name’s Luster Dawn. What’s yours?”

The old pegasus smiled even widely. “My name’s Silverhead. Silverhead Pot. It’s a pleasure to meet you, commissar”. He raised a forehoof and offered it to Luster.

Luster looked at his hoof. “Uhh… Oh!” She raised her forehoof too. They shook hooves. Then, they both lowered their hooves. Silverhead had his eyes locked with Luster’s. His eyes went further from Luster to the group of ponies waiting on the sidewalk. “Hello there!” He waved at Ursa and the other three.

They only stared back.

“Sire…” Luster softly pawed the floor with a forehoof. “Are you the only one in the house right now?” Her eyes explored what she could see of the interior from the opened door.

Silverhead looked back at Luster. He nodded. “Yea, commissar”. With his hindhoof, he pushed the door wide open. Luster’s eyes rushed to examine more of the interior. “My wife’s visiting her friends at de ole’s and my son is at work. You came with dose ponice officers I suppose?”

Luster nodded. “Indeed, mister Pot”. She lowered her muzzle and sighed. “We need to search your house” She turned her head and looked behind at Ursa and the other three. Luster raised a forehoof and waved. “Hey, come over here!” She shouted.

Ursa and three unicorns, who were wearing their blue and yellow legbands on their left forelegs, approached Luster and Silverhead.

Luster looked at Ursa as she approached them. “I need you to search the house while I have a talk with mister Pot, alright?”

“Yea, commissar”. Ursa exchanged glances with the other three ponice officers. “Come on”. She and the others moved forward towards the door.

Silverhead, looking down, moved away from the door to the frontyard.

Ursa’s team three entered the house one by one.

Luster was in front of Silverhead. They had moved further away from the door. In the background, coming from the open door, clops inside the house could be heard. “Sire, look…” She gestured with a hoof. He, crestfallen, looked up at her. “We are looking for a male unicorn; light blue coat; brown mane and eyes. Does this description fit any of your relatives or somepony you know?” She said.

Silverhead spreaded one of his wings, and with the tip of it, he rubbed his muzzle. “Well, if you must know, let me say dat my son has a mane just light gray as mine”. With the tip of his wing again he scratched his ear. “Also, none of my relatives alive are unicorns. Well, dat’s as far as I know”. He folded his wing back to normal.

“I understand nopony in your family matches the description, sire”. She looked down and inhaled. “Still, don’t you know anypony with those traits?”

Silverhead looked up at the bright blue sky. His eyes stopped at the only cloud in sight. “Well, dere was dis young colt, in his twenties perhaps. I saw him about two years ago. Here, in town. I remember him well because I dought he was kin of mine.” He looked down back at Luster. She was staring at him in his eyes.

“Tell me more, please, sire”, Luster asked. For a second she looked at the open door of the house. She could see somepony approaching the threshold. It was the members of team three. They crossed the doorframe one by one. Ursa was the last to leave the inside of the house. When she got out, she looked at Luster. “The place appears to be clear, commissar”.

Silverhead closed his eyes and nodded.

Luster raised a forehoof and pointed to the street. “You can go and wait for me on the sidewalk. Please”.

Ursa nodded and exchanged glances with the other three unicorns. “Let’s go”.

Ursa and the others moved away from Luster and Silverhead. They headed to the street.

Silverhead opened his eyes and looked at Luster. “Like I was saying, commissar, dere was a stallion. His mane wasn’t brown but blond. And his eyes were blue or green, can’t really tell now. What I’m sure is dat he was a light blue coated unicorn”.

Luster nodded. She was tapping the floor with a hindhoof. “Where did you see or meet this stallion, sire? At the sewer entrance perhaps?”

Silverhead shook his head. “No, dat day I was heading to pay my taxes. At de city stall, of course. I even approached him and asked him if he wasn’t my lost nephew”.

Luster opened his eyes wide. She stepped forward towards Silverhead. “At the city stall you say? What did he reply?” Their eyes were locked with each other.

“Well, uh, he kind of freaked out and said he was waiting for his aunt or moder to get off de office. I left him alone after dat. Haven’t seen him since den”.

Luster narrowed her eyes. She stepped back. Her breathing slowed down. She stopped tapping the floor. “So he was waiting for a relative, by the City Stall?”

Silverhead nodded. He cleared his throat. “Dat’s right. Like I said, dat was two years ago”. He looked down, raised a forehoof and rubbed his jaw. “I dink dat was before…, no, wait, Marey Muzzle Bailey was already mayoress…, Uh, yeah, dat stallion was her nephew”.

Luster’s jaw dropped. “I beg your pardon? Did you just say the Fillydelphian is the mayoress’s nephew?!”

Silverhead frowned. “Well I don’t know if he was from Fillydelphia. Like I said, I’ve never seen him again. But he had someding to do wid de mayoress. I suppose”.

Luster closed her eyes and sighed. She spreaded both of her wings and with their tips she massaged her temples. “Alright, that’s good to know”. She opened her eyes and folded back her wings. “Thanks a lot for your time, sire. I know trespassing without a warrant is forbidden by Equestrian Constitution. My apologies. Now, I’ve got to go” She turned towards the street and started to walk.

“I don’t mind, commissar. Farewell!” Silverhead said. He raised a forehoof and waved. Then, he turned towards the house and walked to the door. He crossed the threshold and closed the door behind him.

Luster approached Ursa and the other three. They all were on the sidewalk. “We’ve got to go to the City Stall. I really need to see the mayoress. Let’s go”.

“Understood, commissar”, Ursa said.

The five of them started to walk, heading south down the street that connected to Fairsteed Avenue. That time, there was no rush.