"I hope you rot 'detective'," The mare screamed behind her as she stormed out of a small building. It was bland and windowless, with no decorations apart from a small door. The fact that most ponies considered the door a decoration to the building spoke to how drab the place was. But the ponies inside were certainly quite colorful shown by a light brown Pegasus who ran out of the door, throwing a giant file which slammed into the mare's head, shoving her into the ground.

"There's all your stuff. Lord, am I glad to get rid of you! You were useless! So blind you couldn't find a bloody knife in the Royal Throne Room! Get out of here!"

The mare cursed, picking up the hefty file and galloped away, screaming curses that were clearly aimed at the smirking Pegasus.

A Unicorn cantered up behind him and sighed.

"That's the third one this week. You really need to stop doing these things."

"I can't offer critique on my own assistant now? What has the world come to?"

"You called her a boring, blind, terrible, disgrace of a detective who couldn't find a needle in a needle factory. Oh, I forgot. Then you looked at her findings and spat on them then ripped them to pieces and then threw them at her," He raised his eyebrow and poked him. "That isn't critique."

"They didn't offer anything! We knew it all already! Ponies are vanishing left and right and we are left in the dust every single time. I don't understand it," He growled.

"Now isn't the time to think about. You got a meeting with the Princess' today, remember?"

"Aw, damn it. I need an assistant too, or Celestia will give me another speech…I'll see you later! Clean up the office will you? The CI:7 can't work in a dump!" The Pegasus shook his blonde mane, and his piercing blue eyes scanned the skies before taking off.

"Damn you Façade! You make everything a mess in there!" The Unicorn called out angrily. Façade just laughed and flew towards the palace, scanning the ground for anything remotely interesting. He quickly found it in the form of a teenage dragon wandering the streets of Canterlot. His purple scales glowed magnificently in the bright sun, and his green spines stood up straight and proudly. "Well, well…I better check this out," He muttered, his previous sense of urgency forgotten as his curiosity took over. He floated down in front of the dragon and stuck out his hoofs, stopping the dragon in his tracks.

"Why hello there!"

Spike was having a bad day. After Twilight left him to unpack in the apartment, apologizing for leaving him but saying 'The invitation strictly called for me Spike and I can't bring a guest along! Think of the chaos!' He was left with nothing to do after unpacking the loads of books and materials that his friend had brought along. Tired of waiting for her, he left the apartment only to find nothing for the dragon to do in Canterlot. This being due to the lack of bits and only drawing odd glances that he could never escape. And now this odd Pegasus landed in front of him annoying him even further. This day could not possibly get any worse.

"What do you want," Spike grumbled. "I've got things to do."

"It seems so. That's why you've been walking around Canterlot aimlessly for a while." Façade commented, causing Spike's distrust to flare.

"What? How do you know that? Have you been watching me?"

He snorted and rolled his eyes. "Oh please, I would never stoop to stalking someone! How droll. No, there is a light coating of ash on your scales which means you've been to the east side of Canterlot, but you haven't coughed once since I've been talking to you so that means you didn't stay long. You smell distinctly of perfume which means you've been recently walking through the crowded streets of west side Canterlot for a bit. But you don't don any clothes nor do you seem to stick your head up everywhere you go, so you can't have been here too long. That means you've been up to nothing besides walking around!"

Spike's eyes twitched and he waited for a few moments before countering, falling into Façade's trap. "And what if I have a lot of business around all of Canterlot and you are impeding my ability to get to where I need to be?"

He smiled sweetly before launching into another explanation. "Also impossible for your hands are evenly coated with ash as the rest of your body. That means you can't have handled anything in the east side of Canterlot. The fact that you didn't do anything in the east side makes it obvious you aren't doing anything over here for nopony wastes time in Canterlot!...Well anypony that isn't any fun. Now, how was that," He asked curiously, smiling deviously at the taller dragon.

Spike was in shock. He was right and that made him quite interested in what he had to say. He was more observant than his OCD caretaker for goodness sake!

"Alright…you have my attention. What do you want?"

"I need an assistant! And by that distinct darkened area on the tip of your claws I'd assume you write a lot! Your eyes should be sharp and I bet since you scales shine quite well even underneath that coating of dust that you scrub them vigorously which means either you or someone you live with is a little OCD! Which means you'll be able to spot oddities in this perfectly normal city," He stuck out his hoof, wrapping it around Spike's arm and began to lead him towards the castle. "You'll love your new job! Better than the 8 who came before you for sure!"

"Whoa! I can't just go running off! I have things to do!"

"I thought we already established that you don't," He said exasperated.

"Well…"

"Fine, I have one more trick to show you." The Pegasus stopped and turned around, looking deep into Spike's eyes. In a moment he began to speak and Spike's world stopped.

The voice that flowed out of his mouth was one of a god that not even Celestia's voice could compare to. It was beyond his level of comprehension, the musical and magical voice that was directed towards him. He couldn't resist the single command that it spoke over and over. He needed to do this. It was his destiny. He must go to the Canterlot Palace with this Pegasus.

Façade looked over the dragon to make sure he was properly hypnotized and smiled. "Well excellent! My new assistant! My name's Façade! I'll learn yours once you snap out of it," he said with great humor as he walked along towards the palace with a drooling dragon wandering dragon after him.

This truly wasn't a good day for Spike.

He walked into the Throne Room, smiling brightly at the two princesses'. Only Celestia smiled back. "Hello princesses. You called?" He asked, with Spike slowly dragging his feet into the room.

"About twenty minutes ago..." Luna murmured before spotting Spike. She blinked and turned to Celestia. "Sister?"

"I'll get to it…So Façade…Why do you have Twilight Sparkle's dragon hypnotized and following you around?"

Façade laughed and poked Spike. "This is Twilight Sparkle's assistant? Makes sense! I was right about that OCD after all!" He cackled.

Celestia sighed and rubbed her muzzle. "Do you need him?"

"I would like to say so."

"Then I shall ask Twilight for her permission to borrow Spike for now. Now, is there anything new on the case? Have you figured anything out at all?"

Façade sighed and shook his head, his smile replaced with a grimace.

"No. I've not found a single thing. I can't find any evidence pointing to anything…But it would help if you started trusting me and gave me a first look at the scene. I can't find the small traces if the Royal Guard have stomp out every single piece!"

Luna growled and slammed her hoof on the throne. "Trust you? You've done nothing but demand more and more from us! And for what? Nothing. Ponies keep vanishing and ponies are starting to panic," Luna rose and began to approach Façade who stood his ground. "What are you doing that is keeping our ponies safe from harm?"

"Everything I can," He responded simply. "I took this job because I care for everypony. And I will capture this fiend in any way I can. But this pony is smart. He covers his tracks well. You must believe in me Princess Luna. Without your help I can't win this battle. I need your trust."

"What have you done to earn it?" She demanded.

"I volunteered for this job. I swore the oath didn't I? To serve the Throne whenever I am called upon. Here I am now."

Luna sighed and backed away from him as Celestia rose, walking to her sister's side. "We do trust you Façade. We are understandably distraught about the disappearances, but I have full faith you will be able to do something about them." Both Façade and Luna nodded their heads, with Spike still drooling next to Façade. "Now, we've received news that another pony has been kidnapped. Same thing as before. Mare, no children, married and young. A butler reported her missing after she didn't return to the home after three days. The husband is on a business trip in Baltimare. The Royal Guard has not been mobilized so you have a good 30 minutes before they arrive. We can't hold them too long before the public thinks we are getting slow. Go now, and please don't forget we are counting on you Façade."

"Of course Princess…So I can keep Spike?" A small smile returned as he waved his hoof in front of Spike jerking him awake.

"Where am I…Celestia? Luna!? What-"

"Relax Spike. We've just been assigned a job! Isn't that great?" Façade elbowed his new partner as he stared dumbstruck at the two sheepish princesses.

"Façade is a good pony. And you two are going to help Equestria. I wish you two the best of luck," Celestia said quickly before pushing them out of the throne room with magic. Spike's eyes twitched as Façade chuckled.

"Well, partner. Shall we get to the crime site?" Façade walked down towards the entrance with Spike following after him.

"Why in Celestia's name am I following you?"

"That my friend, I can't answer for you. Perhaps we will figure that out later. But for now we need to get to the crime scene quickly. You can fly right," He asked turning around as they exited the Palace.

"Sure. Learned a few months ago," Spike answered, unfolding his wings. They were tinted a shade of purple, and unfolded into a nice length. Façade nodded and unfolded his own wings. The two took off together and flew off. After a few moments Spike turned to Façade. "Where are we going?"

"Excellent question. I have no idea," He chuckled and scanned the region. "If I were to guess it would be where a good amount of ponies are gathered…Ah! That gigantic mansion!"

"Which one?"

"The horribly ugly pink one."

"…Ew."

"Indeed. Now let's go through the back. Don't want everypony thinking the mansion is open." Façade commented as he leaned forward, landing neatly in the backyard of the mansion. Spike landed next to him and both went forward towards the door. It was already slightly open. Façade and Spike looked at each other before Spike pushed it open.

"Odd…You'd think somepony would lock their back doors." Spike murmured as he walked in. Façade followed, looking at the doorway for a moment before nodding. He and Spike wandered around the large mansion, eyeing anything that looked odd or out of place. However it all looked pristine and perfectly in order with no evidence of a struggle or argument, as if the mare had simply walked out with the kidnapper. "Are all the crime scenes like this? It looked like she never existed…"

"Yes…But perhaps we will find more upstairs." He walked up stairs and scouted around until he found the missing mare's room. He found that it was unlocked, and opened the door, entering the room. It looked quite normal, with ugly pink walls and slightly messy pink sheets and a blue vase with a single rose on a nearby counter. He raised his eyebrow before Spike followed him inside. Spike caught on the moment he saw the room.

"The vase doesn't fit the color scheme of the room."

"Right Spike. This mare seemed obsessed with pink yet a blue vase sits before us. A gift then, from somepony who has never seen the room...She is married and young…Clever, little twit she was. She has a suitor."

"How can you tell from just a single vase?"

"It's not just the vase. The door in the back. She may have opened it when he came in the back and didn't close it completely. And look around the house. It looks like it has never even been lived in. Like she cleaned up the house so much to look like nothing has gone wrong."

"Could have been the butler," Spike commented. "The butler lived here for three days before he reported anything."

"Perfectly true Spike. But then why are the sheets here still messy? Unlikely the butler slept in here. Most likely the butler took three days off before getting worried." Façade hoofed the ground in thought and continued on. "It makes sense. All the other victims were young and married and most likely the kidnapper tricked them into thinking he was their suitor. Easy way to get into a girl's trust and the mare would make sure he would never be spotted. He probably took her out of the house on a date and that's when he took her!"

"Wow…you're like those ponies you read in the detective novels…" Spike whispered in a small amount of awe.

"Thank you Spike, I always enjoy compliments. However, this doesn't offer too much. She would have made sure nopony spots her with him and that neither of them would leave behind any evidence about where they were headed…" Façade frowned as he paced the carpet, before he spotted something odd. "Spike, is that a hoofprint?"

Spike looked over and nodded. "A large one. He was probably waiting for her to freshen up and stood here for a while. Rarity makes me do that all the time."

"But then…why is there a smaller hoofprint behind it? And a medium sized one next to it? And…a gryphon's foot there…" Façade murmured as he looked down.

"I think you are looking at it wrong Façade. That isn't possible; they would only be standing on one leg because those are the only set of prints around," Spike said scratching his head in confusion.

"No…I've been looking at hoofprints for a long time Spike. I'm not mistaken."

"But…that would mean…"

"Yes. This pony has different hooves…On each leg." Spike grew a little green and shivered as Discord flashed into his mind. But he was in stone…

"What are we dealing with here?" Spike whispered.

"Something I've never seen before." Façade replied quietly.