//------------------------------//
// Case of the missing brother 
// Story: The cases of Mystery Mare 
// by Mystery Mare42 
//------------------------------//

It was another day in my office. It was early in the afternoon and I was going through some of my files while I took a break from trying to solve the mystery of the paper puzzle pieces I been finding. It seemed like I would never solve it. I peaked my head up hearing the sound of a familiar voice. “Ms. Mare! Ms. Mare!” It was an assistant of mine a blue pegasus with a red, white and blue mane. Her name is Miss Bluegrass Tune and the last time we spoke was when she helped me solve the case of the jade dragon.  

“Yes Miss Bluegrass Tune?" I asked after she ran into my office. 

“My brother gone missin'!”

"May I have a description and his name? " I asked as I got ready to type on my typewriter

“His name is True Blue. He has a dark blue coat with a red white and blue tail and mane like mine and dark blue eyes” She said.

I nodded and I typed it all out. "When was the last time you saw him?"

“I last time I saw him was at 8:30pm. He said that he would be back from the game by 11:30pm. I waited til then, but he didn't show up. I assumed he was late or the game was in overtime. By 2am, he still wasn't home, but the game had ended. So, I flew to his friends' houses to see if he was there, but none of them had seen him last night. His marefriend saw him going to the navy yard. I checked there, but he wasn't there and one of the ships were gone which was the CCS Canterlot (CV-11). We don't know where he or the ship has gone. We assume he's on that ship somewhere overseas.”

"Does he have any enemies? " I asked. She replied no that question, as I finished typing I looked at her. "Thank you for bringing this case to me, I'll take it on. Would you like to assist me with it?" 

“Being his twin sister, I must assist.” 

"Are you close with him?"

“Yes.” She answered. 

I nodded. "I have a brother as well, he is older than me but we don't get along that much." I get up from my desk. "Let us go search for your brother Miss Bluegrass." She nodded and I grabbed my saddle bags from upstairs, stopped into the kitchen to make sure Nancy’s food bowls were filled  and went to the door. She follows me. "I suggest we head to the navy yard to see if we can find any clues. " As we walked I continued to ask questions wanting to get as much information as possible. "Do you think there would be a reason why your brother would be on a boat?"

“Not at this time”
"Would there be any reason for him to be on a boat at anytime of year?" 

“Him and I are in the Navy”

I nodded. "I see"

“My ship is still there” She said referring to the port. 

"So are you two not on the same ship?"

“No. We had to be on separate ships since we were scared that we both would die on the same attack” She tells me as we kept walking, we were headed to the navy base in Baltimare so we needed to head to the train station first. 

I nodded. "That seems like a good reason." She nodded as we got on the train station, I took the liberty in buying the tickets and within several minutes we were on the train. We spent the trainride in silence as we were lost in our own thoughts.  I understood how Miss Bluegrass would be worried about her brother. There was a time when I felt the same way towards my own, my brother’s job involves investigation, undercover work, and much stealth. He has as many enemies as I do. I wouldn’t be surprised if I found him dead one day. Many ponies have asked me in the past why I hate my brother, the reason would be because of something he did long ago and it’s something I would rather not talk about. The train arrives in Baltimare and we get off and walk for several minutes, it was a clear day with a slight breeze. "Are we close to the navy yard?"

“Yes. My ship is on deck 20.” She told me. 

I nodded. "What deck is your brothers?"

“12” 

That number surprised me, I suspected that maybe their decks would have been more closer. "Alright then lets head there"

“12 or 20?”

"12" I said and she lead the way once we got to the Navy yard. I look around to get the layout of the place. When we get to deck 12 I pulled out my magnifying glass and look around for any clues. 

“See anything? “ She asked me as she looks in the water.

"Not currently Miss Bluegrass" I keep looking.

“Okay. I'll get my ship ready in case we need it.

"Great idea." I replied as she left, for the next fifteen minutes I searched the deck and found nothing. Not even a piece of trash.  I look over seeing my client has returned. 

“I got the ship ready to go.” She said.

"That is great to hear but  I do not know at this time if we will be needing it" I said to her and watch as she looks over the horizon. "See anything?"

“No.” She answered. I nodded as she keeps looking. I look around still trying to find more clues.

“See anything?” Miss Bluegrass asks.

I shook my head sadly. "No, I see no clues. I am sorry miss Bluegrass." A minute later she said. 

“I see something, at 1 o'clock.” 

I go over to her looking at when she pointed out. It looked like a grey ship  but saying  anything else about it I had no clue. Ships all look the same to me. "What is it Miss Bluegrasstune?"

“Looks like a destroyer” She said to me. 

"Does it look familiar to you?" I asked.

“Sorta” 

I nodded. "How does it look familiar is it like your brother's ship?" I was thinking that maybe it could be his ship since I had no clue what kind of ship he had. If it was his ship them things will be over swiftly then. 

She shook her head. “No, his is much bigger. I recognize the ship because it's in my ship class”

I started pacing as I was thinking. "hm..what could have happened.." I muttered. Miss Bluegrass was looking around, probably looking to see if she could see anything that could be connected to her brother True that I probably missed. I look over to her stopping my pacing."I am currently stumped."

“Same” She nods agreeing with me.

"What do suggest we do?"

“We'll have to search.” 
I nod. "Indeed we do."

“We should get on the ship now”

"Then lets get on it Miss Bluegrass." She nods and I follow her to her ship. We go up the ramp and head to the bridge. I look around as we leave port. "So where will we be heading?"        

“Baltimare” She answered.             

I almost started laughing hearing her say that since Baltimare is where we were currently "I thought that was where we were already?"            

Miss Bluegrass facehoofed. “Sorry, I mean Hoofington. I'm very fatigued.”            

I nodded. "That is quite alright ma'am I understand that completely."

“So where in hoofington will we be headed." I asked also wondering why she chose to head there. 

“The coastal region.” She yawns. “Were a good 400 miles away.”


After she yawns I decided to ask her if she wanted to go rest. She has been worried alot and I know when I’m worried I sometimes can’t sleep."Do you want to rest?" She asks me.            

"You go  ahead and rest. You're no good to me if you pass out from lack of sleep. " I said with a small smile            

“Okay. “ She said and dropped one of the anchors. “If anything happens, wake me up.”            

"I will.” I replied and she went into the captain's cabin to sleep. While she was doing that I     pulled out a book and begun reading it. As I was reading my mind wandered to about her brother. I wondered where he could be now, if he was okay, and where would he be going without telling his sister.  I look outside seeing that it was getting dark by now and that I have been out of Ponyville for hours. I hopped Nancy had enough food to eat while I was gone, I yawned and fell asleep for a few hours. I was up before Miss Bluegrass got up and I just read for a few minutes before she came out yawning. "Hello Miss Bluegrass, sleep well?"

“Yeah.” She nods as she sleepily walks over to me. 

I nodded. "Good then"

“Anything happen?”

I shook my head. "Not at all"

“What time is it?” She asks me.

I look out the window taking note that the sun has not risen yet. “Some time before sunrise.” I pull out my pocket watch from my bag. “ Around 6:00”  I put it away after checking the time. "When we get to hoofington what do you suppose we do."

“First, see if his ship is there.” She answered. 

I nodded. "And if it is?"

“We search the city.” She replied and sighed.

I looked at her and put a reassuring hoof on her shoulder. "We will find him. I know we will." I smiled as she nods, the sun begins to rise and Miss Bluegrass releases the anchor and puts the ship at half-speed. I watch her control the ship as she asks me a question.

“Ever been on a naval warship?”

I  shook my head. "No I haven't." 

“So this is your first?” She said.

"Yes it is. My brother I know for a fact been on a few of theses before. " I remember one time during the holidays he spoke about it. 

“Which type?” 

"I believe an aircraft carrier. He couldn't tell me much about it." I shrugged, it was the life of my brother to only tell me half the story while the other half is classified. 

“Nice” She said.

"I guess" I look out the window."How long till we arrive?"

“About a hour.” She answered. I nodded as she was staring at something. 

"What are you staring at?" I asked. 

“The main gun.”Miss Bluegrass answered and sits back down.I look over to the window and see a ship in the distance, I wondered if it was her brother’s ship.

She pulls out her binoculars and looks at the ship. “It's a destroyer from Hoofington. That means were close.”            

"That's good" I nodded. 

She nods as we turn towards Hoofington Harbor. “I don't see any aircraft carriers.”

"So your brother's ship isn't here." I said. She shook her head no as I nod.  We were silent for a moment and heard the radio sound as there was an announcement. 

"Attention all ships, we have a blazing ship 15 miles west of Hoofington, all ships respond!"

I look at Miss Bluegrass wondering if it the ship could be her brother She goes full speed to the radioed location and I look around, when we get to the location we see two ships in flames, one was an aircraft carrier and I couldn’t recognize the other. Miss Bluegrass looked shocked. “Oh my…”            

"How did that happen?" I said watching the flames dance on the ship.             

“I don't kn- wait, is that him?” She points at a pony that looks like her.            

I look at the pony on the ship and look at her seeing the resemblance easily. "I believe so." I watch as the pony on the ship had gotten into a lifeboat  and it moves toward our ship and she pulls it up. Once it was up I see the blue stallion True with the red white and blue mane like Miss Bluegrass.  “Hello.” I said to him.

“Hi.” He replied.

Miss Bluegrass hugs him tightly. “True! What happened?” 

“A bomb unexpectedly exploded, starting a chain reaction.” Mr. True said.

"Why did you not tell your sister where you were heading in the first place, she was very worried about you." I asked.

“Secret mission, which blew up in our faces...literally.” He replied. 

I nodded. "Secret mission, that makes sense then. My older brother been on several"

“I know him.” He said.

"You know Cryptic? Do you work for E.D.F?" I said surprised. The E.D.F. stands for the Equestria Defense Force, they go on all sorts of missions where they gather intelligence and such. Most of the missions are classified and nopony really knows about the Defense Force as it is all hush hush, I met several agents over my time as a detective. The last agent I saw was a stallion going by the name of Flash during my case in Appleloosa.         

“Yes. I have worked with him once.” Mr. True nods.            

I rolled my eyes. "I'm guessing it was a classified operation."            

“Yeah.”    He responded.         

"Figured. Always is. Well I take it this mystery is now solved." I said.            

“Yep.” The siblings replied smiling.             

I smiled. "Alright. Back to Baltimare then and I'll take the next train back to my office."            

Miss Bluegrass nods as the ship sets course for Baltimare. The two siblings chatted during the ride home and I just read one of my books quietly. When we arrived back to Baltimare I bid the two a farewell and headed to the station to catch the train home.  I turn thinking I heard a noise, it sounded familiar in a sense like it was from out of this world. When I look around I see nothing except for two  pieces of paper.  “Not another one.” I pick it up and see the red ink and knew it was like the others I had.  When I get back home I definitely need a vacation so that I could relax and to try to put these pieces together.  I knew that I would keep finding these for awhile but I couldn’t help but wonder what puzzle these would lead me to.