Please stop being sick, Golden.
Substitute Princess Detective Marble Fountain walked into her and Golden's room, taking a puff on her bubble pipe, examining the dark area. There was barely any light, just a little coming from the window, which was blocked by the curtain she had pulled over it. She slowly approached Golden in the bed.
"Tell me, princess Golden Glow, why are you feeling sick?" Marble inquired in a tone akin to the old noir movie detectives.
Golden groaned, "Please don't talk to me, sound is making my headache worse..."
Marble exited the room, obviously Golden was in no state to answer questions. She would have to look elsewhere. Authority Figure, perhaps? No, she dared not stoop to the level of that filthy politician. She instead went to the maids' quarters. She approached the small maid who Golden had to apologize to, as she would be the most likely to talk. She puffed more bubbles and looked at her.
"Do you sleep lightly?" Asked Marble.
The maid looked at her, "I think you got the lines out of order..."
"Oh, right. Sorry. Take two! Hello, I'm Marble Fountain. We've met before, but I don't remember ever catching your name." Marble eyed the maid.
The maid looked back at Marble, "I'm Blooming Orchid. Is there anything I can help you with, substitute princess?"
"Golden isn't the only sick resident in the palace, and I'm trying to get to the bottom of it." Marble specified.
Orchid thought back, "Well, last night I heard a lot of loud clanking and hoofsteps."
"Do you sleep lightly?" Asked Marble.
Orchid looked at Marble, "I'm a maid, we're trained to sleep lightly. We all heard it. I'm surprised you didn't. Were you tired?"
"Sleeping lightly was never my strong suit in training." The mare spoke.
Marble walked out of the maids' quarters. She would surely find no more important information. Unlike in recent crime based media, Marble was not stupid. Clanking could only mean one thing. Marble would be taking a trip to the knights' quarters.
Once she arrived, she was greeted by... well, nopony really noticed her standing there. They all seemed preoccupied with chatting to each other to notice that the substitute princess was standing there looking expectant. She cleared her throat and a paladin turned his head, looking at Marble. He got up from where he sat and approached the mare.
He inquired, "Is there something you need, miss?"
"Yes, I'm trying to figure out why ponies are sick today, and I have been lead to believe that the knights might have something to do with it." Said Marble.
The paladin looked away, "I'm not gonna say I don't know, cause that'd be a lie. Though if you think I'm telling you, you're sorely mistaken. Yeah, there's something that goes on. Princess Golden Glow and Senator Authority Figure weren't careful, and so now they don't feel good. The same went for a few other knights. I'm still not telling you what it is that happened."
Marble walked out, annoyed. If a paladin, one of the more trustworthy of the knights wouldn't tell her what happened, she knew none of the knights would. She didn't kntwhat else to do. She would have to go and ask Authority Figure. The mare trotted angrily down the corridors, taking turns when needed until she reached the door of her enemy. Reluctantly, Marble raised a hoof and knocked on the door. She heard groaning coming from inside before a miserable looking senator opened the door.
"You look awful right now..." Marble observed.
The stallion rubbed his head, "Why thank you. I appreciate that you're noticing my looks. Now what do you want?"
"That wasn't a compliment..." She stated.
The stallion looked at her, "Can't exactly hurl an insult back."
"Okay, do you know why you and other ponies are sick today?" Inquired the substitute princess.
He rubbed his head, "Honestly, I don't remember. I know there's certainly a reason for it, and I know it's my fault that I'm in my current state, but I don't remember what the reason is."
"What do you want me to do?" She asked.
He made eye contact, "I honestly want you to forgive me. On my first day, I did something that-"
"Not about that!" Marble snapped, interrupting him.
Authority recoiled, "O-of course... the doctor might know what ailment is going around and what could've caused it. I suggest you ask him."
"Okay, now get in bed. A sick politician is useless." She advised.
The mare turned and started to head to the infirmary as the door to the stallion's room closed. While she wasn't fond of the senator, he was still typically a good source of information... typically. She had never heard of him being so useless before, and it angered her. She was even further from forgiving that wicked stallion than she had been before. He was obviously perverted, and he wasn't genuinely apologetic. Marble was convinced that she would never forgive him.
She finally reached the infirmary, still full of sick knights. The doctor was standing at the chemical table, writing something down. She waited patiently for the stallion to record data. She knew how important medical science was to the kingdom and dared not interrupt it. She looked at the knights, who appeared to be feeling better than they were at this point. Marble glanced at the doctor who was now draining medical tubes.
The doctor finally spoke up, "What might you need, substitute princess?"
"I'm wondering why ponies are sick today and hoped you could give me some insight." She said.
The stallion cleared his throat, "Do you promise not to let it get out?"
"Fine, yeah. I promise I won't tell anypony the reason." She spoke.
He cleared his throat again, "They got drunk last night. They feel sick, but they're just hung over. Does that satisfy your curiosity?"
"Seriously?" She asked.
The doctor nodded, "Yes, seriously."
"Why did you have to... Come on!" She complained.
He looked confused, "Miss?"
"You just gave away what I was supposed to find out at the end of the next chapter! You cut my mini-series short!" She glared.
The doctor recoiled, "I could take it back..."
"It's no use. I decided to waste my mini-series on a detective type feel on a mystery the audience already knew the reveal to... so much for having a good mini-series." Marble shook her head.
He put a hoof on her shoulder, "Don't be disappointed. Being a main character is overrated, anyway. You have to make it a point to have internal dialogue and the audience knows your thoughts, and it's just a pain."
"You know what? You're right. I don't need anymore being the main character. I like not having others know my exact thoughts. It's honestly a lot more pleasant and comfortable." She said.
With that, Marble relinquished the weight of the story, giving it back to Golden, who still felt awful and wasn't ready to do anything yet.