If someone told me a few months ago that I'd be spending my time investigating a missing person case on the behest of a talking horse, I would have punched them in the face and then check for drugs.
But now here I am, on my way to talk with the mother of a mare who supposedly went missing.
"Your Highness, we have reached the town of Sire's Hollow, We'll start the landing now," One of the three guards accompanying me on this little side-mission said before the carriage started to descend.
Because of course the carriages in this world are enchanted to be carried by Pegasus.
I'm not even going to question the concept of using people as horsepower for the moving of carriages.
After a slow descent in altitude, the door to my carriage opens and I step outside.
"You," I point at an orange guard, "Carry my bags, and you," I point to a different guard, "Write down everything that the mare will be saying even before she opens the door, I Want everything written down, even if it's just her wondering whether her cake is ready, Am I understood?"
The two guards quickly nod, one entering the carriage and grabbing my bags, and the other taking out a notebook and a pen.
The third guard stays at the carriage, making sure we're able to leave at any moment.
Sire's Hollow was a rather small town, with just over one-thousand residents, It also happens to be the home of one Starshine Campfire, a sickly mare who is worried for her daughter.
When she sent out the posters for her daughter, she expected the police to arrive and question her in a few weeks, maybe even a month if they were having a busy schedule.
She did not expect somepony to answer her posters less than a week after she published them.
And she definitely didn't expect Princess Celestia's Nephew to be the one to do so.
But that was how she found herself, Slowly limping to her living room so the Prince could question her about her daughter.
"Before I start asking questions in regards to the investigation, I have to ask if you are okay, ma'am?" He asked as he noticed her pale look and sickly figure.
"It's nothing serious," She told him with a gentle smile, lying to him without missing a beat, "It's just age catching up to me," Her smile wavered but she carried on, slowly sitting on one of the chairs in the living room, Prince Blueblood sitting in front of her.
"I am telling you now, Ma'am, We will find your daughter," He told her as he moved his blonde hair off his forehead and looked her in the eyes.
"Now, I will be asking some questions," He said, and Starshine nodded, "I want you to answer all of them truthfully and to the best of your ability, am I understood," Starshine nodded once again, and the Prince began asking his question.
Leaving Starshine's home, I couldn't help but frown.
"Sir, Is leaving her like that a good Idea?" The guard I had carrying my bags asked, Worry plastered on his face as he thought back to the sickly mare.
"Her health is none of our concerns, Guard, It is her choice to seek medical attention, we can not force it upon her," I tell him and start walking to a different part of the town, intent on speaking with the father of the supposed "Victim"
"But your Highness, she is not well!" The guard with the notes yelled, forcing me to turn and address her.
"Do not raise your voice at me," I tell her, my voice the picture example of calm, Her Red feathers quivering in fear as her eyes met mine.
"I am your Prince," I tell her, taking a few steps forward, "Your Job is to protect me, Protect my Aunt, Protect my cousin," Each word was emphasized with a single step forward, "And most importantly, Protect the crown," My face was now only centimeters from hers.
The Orange Guard carrying my bags looked unsure of what to do, so I ignored him and brought my full attention to the Red Pegasus.
"Let me make something clear to you, Cherry Pop," Her shaking seemed to intensify when I used her name.
Some of the staff and guards might think me stupid for never using the correct name when addressing them.
Those same people are dumb.
I remember the name of every person who works for me, Be it Captain Shining Armor, Raven Inkwell, Princess Cadence who I have yet to formally interact with, Chef Flour Cap who I burdened with the task of making Quill Egg Mayo, and even the three guards that were placed with the duty of my protection.
"That mare, Is not your job, her health is not your job," I continue to tell her, "You may feel bad for her, You may pity her, You may even complain about how unfair the world is to make illnesses get as bad as they can, and I would allow you to do so, Sometimes I might even encourage it. But unless my life is in immediate danger, you do not raise your voice at me," I looked her in the eyes and asked her.
"Am I Understood?"
She swallowed her saliva and nodded her head before giving me a quick salute and a "Sir Yes Sir!"
I backed off and nodded at her, "Good," And then turned to the Orange Pegasus, "The Same goes for you Flash Sentry,"
He quickly nodded and saluted as well.
"Good, now let's find the father of this scenario."
When I reached the building where one Firelight worked from, I didn't expect much.
He was the head of the Sire's Hollow Preservation Society, so I expected his office to look like an old archive, I remembered when I spent a summer working in an Archive for one of the Navy Bases I was stationed at, It was filled with old boxes and even older documents, dating back to the founding of that naval base approximately 80 years prior.
And just as I expected, his office looked just like an Archive would, dusty books and boxes of documents lined the interior, The door and windows of the building must have also been part of his Preservation job, seeing as how they looked like they might just crumble into dust.
But I was not here because of his job, I'm here because he's the father of the victim.
"Mister Firelight," I called into the building as I waited outside the doorway, "I am here to ask you some questions in regards to the whereabouts of your daughter,"
And Just as I said those words, I heard a voice call back, "Just a moment!"
What followed soon were the sounds of hooves quickly clopping off the tiled floor of the old building, followed closely by a Purple Unicorn with Aquamarine hair, wearing a red vest over a cream-colored shirt and tie.
But what stood out about the older gentleman were the dark circles and wrinkles around his eyes, making him look older than he actually was.
"You know where my Starlight is?" He asked, and I made sure that Cherry Pop wrote everything down.
The discussion that followed would in most other cases be considered a waste of time, seeing as everything he told me I already knew.
Everything other than one little detail, that is.
"You're telling me that she kept in touch by sending you letters on a monthly basis?" I asked the stallion to repeat what he said, my brow furrowing in confusion.
"Yes!" He cried, wiping snot off his muzzle with a handkerchief, "And it's been months since her last letter, We thought that the next letter got lost, so we waited another month, and then another, but nothing came! Oooh my baby!" He cried, and I sighed in exasperation.
"Could you perhaps let us see the last note you got from her?" I asked.
Stationed on top of a roof on the other side of the small town, hidden under a camouflaging spell, Princess Luna spied on Prince Blueblood through the pair of binoculars she borrowed from the empty desk of Captain Metal Shield.
She saw the stallion he was questioning crying as he gave him a note, she saw Blueblood massage his forehead as he read what was written, she saw one of the guards writing down what was being said between the two, and the second guard was standing outside, making sure nobody will interrupt them.
Although it seemed like Blueblood got enough information out of the Unicorn, he soon left and started walking back to the carriage that he rode in, but not before buying a glass of lemonade from a stall being run by a pair of fillies, who seemed amazed at having a real-life prince drinking from their stand.
He then returned to the carriage and flew off in a different direction than Canterlot.
And so Princess Luna, still camouflaged, flew after him, intent to make sure her new friend was still doing fine.
"Good Evening, I need you to get at least ten guards, a construction expert, an engineer, and a doctor that specializes in magic and hexes," The Sheriff of the Flamefall County Police department blinked when he saw the Blonde Unicorn sitting on his chair, behind his desk, ordering him what to do while looking out the window.
"May I ask why you need all of those people," The Sheriff asked, before adding a "Your Highness?"
Prince Blueblood turned his chair away from the window looking at the sunset, now facing the sheriff with the setting sun illuminating his back.
"There's an illegal town built a few klicks north of here, and It's run by a powerful Unicorn." The Prince told him, "And I also need you to bring an Arrest Warrant for one Starlight Glimmer," He smiled down at him.
The Sheriff gulped before turning and leaving his office, already shouting orders to his precinct to get ready for what might be the biggest case they got involved with in years.