I trotted amongst the ponies in the crowded, rainy streets of Manehattan. Most walked beneath the shelter of their umbrellas to stay dry from this downpour, but not me.

I didn't mind a little water, how could I? Not when I was so close to solving this case. I stopped under a balcony, then levitated both a cigarette and lighter from my pockets. After placing the cigarette in my mouth, I then raised the lighter to it.

For a few brief seconds, only the sound of scraping flint could be heard within the drizzle, which was soon followed by a spark of ember. With the cigarette now lit, I took a long, hearty pull of it, my mind pondering on how all the pieces came together. Still in deep though, I continued to inhale, feeling my lungs growing warmer; when I finally exhaled, wafts of smoke to emerged from my mouth.

Suddenly, a familiar voice came from behind, blurring the connection I was so close to making.

"You seem oddly relaxed for a stallion in your predicament."

And there she was, my mysterious informant, the most attractive pegasus I've ever laid eyes on. She was still wearing that brown worn raincoat from when we last met. Oh how I wanted to tell her how horribly it clashed with her blue coat and long lavender mane tied in a bun, but who was I to judge another's fashion choices?

"Listen, Detective," she said with that alluring voice of hers, albeit a bit raspy. "I have very important information that you need to hear regarding your case."

"Oh?" I answered casually, pulling my head back in contained surprise. Turning sideways, I took one last pull of my cigarette, then flicked it in the gutter and watched as the rain water carried it into a storm drain. I was far from finished it, but I've been meaning to quit anyway.

"Yes," she replied before looking around, smiling nervously to any passing ponies she accidentally made eye contact with. "We can't talk here, though, they might be watching. Come, follow me."

She made into a nearby alley, but stopped in her tracks when she noticed that I remained where I was.

"Well?" she asked hastily, turning back to me. "Aren't you coming?"

"And why should I?" I said, patting my shoulder of non-existent dust. "I don't know the first thing about you. We've only met like, three other times; each under extenuating circumstances. Forgive me if I don't blindly follow you into a seedy-looking backstreet."

She just stood there, eyes focused on me, her lips pursed as if in thought. Finally, after a seconds of me meeting her gaze, she spoke.

"You're... You're just going to have to trust me."

"Heh," I scoffed in amusement, "give me one reason why I should."

She looked me straight in the eyes, and with one sentence, changed everything I thought I knew, rocked everything I believed to be fact in this case.

"Because I--"

Bookmarking my place, I laid my book down and let out a deep and drawn out sigh. It's almost like the universe waits until I'm fully immersed, just so it can snap me back to reality all the much harder.

Well...it might be someone looking for my services, and that means a chance for me to earn some caps.

"Give me a minute!" I shouted towards the door. Getting up from behind my desk, I made a quick scan of my office to make sure everything was tidy enough for my unknown guest.

The room was a small office, previously a hotel room, with plain wallpaper that was once pure white, but was now a dull yellow from nearly two centuries of neglected aging. The furniture consisted of a wooden desk near the back with two chairs (one for myself and one for any guests I'd have), a file cabinet tucked away in one of the corners, a bookcase proudly displaying what little of a book collection I had, and a couch near the entrance. Other than the doorway in, there were two other doors. One led to an even smaller room where I kept a bed, and the other was the restroom's. Hanging from above the center of the room was ceiling fan with a light that surprisingly still worked. What little natural light this room got during the day came in the form of horizontal, dull light piercing through the window blinds.

Noting that everything was as spick-and-span as it'd ever be, I walked across the room and started making my way towards the door, only to stop and inspect myself in the bathroom mirror.

Looking back at me was the usual sight: a malachite-green coated earth pony buck of average build with turquoise eyes and a short unkempt dark mane. At first glance, you might think that my mane and tail were black, but if I were to stand directly under a light, you'd see that they're really an extremely dark shade of green.

Thankfully, I was still wearing my normal attire, a white, long-sleeved collar shirt, and a dark gray business vest over it that had barely noticeable thin white vertical lines, all pressed and ironed from since morning. Also, running around my neck, as well as under my shirt's collar before ending under the vest, was a black tie. On my head rested a fedora, the same gray color as my vest and a black band spanning around its underwelt.

With that accounted for, I then leaned forward over the sink, raising a hoof to my face so I could inspect the old scar on the left side of my mouth. The scar ran vertically through my upper and lower lips, and had the same distinct, bright fleshy-pink color that everypony had beneath their fur. Personally, I kinda like the scar; I feel like it gives me the whole 'rugged wastelander' look. After splashing a bit of water on my face, then drying it with a towel, I took a step back and turned a bit to my side so I could get a look at my cutie mark. There, resting on my flank was the image of a magnifying glass with hoof prints running under it; one of said prints was seen through and enlarged by the glass.

Oh...that's a little too messy, I thought to myself before running a hoof through my mane, trying to get it into some form of order. Normally I wouldn't really care much about my appearance, but in my line of work, it's important for me to at least try to look professional.

I better hurry out now, whoever it is seems to be getting impatient. Best to not leave them waiting, as I wouldn't want them to storm off out of frustration.

After flashing myself one last look in the mirror, I stepped out of the bathroom, then unlocked the front with a subtle 'click'.

"Come on in," I said to my recipient, opening the door and letting it sway inwards as I walked back further into the office. I took my usual seat behind my desk, rested my elbows atop the wood, then pointed a hoof the one opposite of mine. "Please, take a seat."

"T-thank you," my guest answered somewhat warily as he stepped hoof over my office threshold.

With my caller approaching, I could see that he was an aged orange unicorn, wearing some sort of hide, wide brim hat atop his head. I couldn't help but smirk when I spotted the hole he made in his hat for his horn to go through. Looking at the uncovered parts of his mane, I noticed it was a graying red that matched his tail; he might be around his 50's.

Now seated, the aged stallion then proceeded to look around the office, then looked at me for a couple seconds with a confused look on his face.

"A-am I in the right office?" He asked with a deep, rough voice. "I was told this is where I would find him."

"That depends, sir." I said. "Who is it that you're looking for?"

"The detective!" The stallion exclaimed, almost jumping out of his seat. "Is he out!? Are you his assistant? I really have to see him!"

Well that caught me a bit off guard. 'Assistant'! Ah come on! What kind of assistant would dress like this? My outfit doesn't exactly scream 'assistant apparel'.

None the less, I put on my best 'I really didn't mind that comment just now' face and responded as politely as I could. "You're...looking at him."

The stallion's eyes widened in shock. "You? But you're...you're..."

"Young?" I finished for him.

My guest rested more easily in his chair. "Well...yeah." He lowered his head and started eyeing my hardwood floor. "I came all the way out here to Tenpony Tower, looking for a serious investigator to help me. Instead, I find a colt playing detective...and how old are you even, boy?"

Oh not this again. Nearly everypony who comes in here has this preconceived notion that I would look like some hardened, middle aged stallion with like...a kajillion scars from a lifetime of detective work! Can't they be glad that I have just the one?

"Twenty," was my response, "but that doesn't ma-"

The stallion started to get up, cutting me off mid speech. "I think I have made a mistake here."

Raising a hoof, I motioned for him to sit back down. "Sir, you came in here hoping to find someone who could help you with your problem." I pointed to the door. "You can go back through that door and look again for someone to help you. Heck, I hear there's a nice cheese shop somewhere in this building. Maybe it's run by someone twice my age, would you prefer their help? But you asked around for a detective and obviously your search lead you to me."

That seemed to have silenced him. Now to continue this over-used speech of mine that I could recite in my sleep from sheer repetition.

"I can assure you, I am highly recommended because I do very efficient work regardless of my age. Now, you can either leave here with no help to your problem, or you can sit there, shut up, tell me what your problem is, and maybe I might be able to help you."

The stallion stared at me with his mouth open and a bewildered expression on his face.

...Now he's just staring at me, is he going to say something or not?

Oh... I just realized my mistake, boy did I get caught up a little too much in the moment. I didn't even realize I was standing with my front hooves on the desk.

I sat back into my chair. "Y-you....can forget the 'shut up' part." I coughed into my hoof, trying to regain my composure. "Let's start with your name."

The stallion was silent for a moment before speaking.

"I guess you're right. And I am desperate." He took a slow breath to calm himself before continuing. "Folks call me Ol' Citrus."

Good, progress.

I closed my eyes and nodded "Ok, that's better. Now, tell me, what is it that you need from me?"

He looked away. "It's my daughter..."

"What about her?" I asked.

He looked straight at me, and I could clearly see the worry in his old eyes. "I think she's been kidnapped."

I raised an eyebrow. "You...think?"

"L-let me explain!" Citrus shouted, almost as he believed that doing so would chase away my doubt. He took a moment to get his thoughts in order, then spoke. "I'm the owner of a large brahmin ranch just a little west o' here." He pointed west...through one of my walls... "The family and I earn our trade from the brahmin, and it has made us very wealthy, but our true passion is our orange orchard." Citrus smiled a little as he pointed a hoof at his cutie mark of an orange sliced in half; it almost resembled a wheel.

"Hold on." I cocked my head as I looked at his cutie mark. "How do you have an orange orchard? I can't imagine being able to grow a thing with what little sunlight we get because of the cloud cover."

Citrus actually chuckled a bit before answering me.

"Oh I’m quite wealthy. Used some of that money to build myself and the family a greenhouse large enough to grow them." He almost seemed lost in his memories for a moment before quickly snapping back to the matter at hoof. "Anyway, my daughter, Tangerine. She loves the orchard, so much so that she decided to start her own and run a business with oranges as her main trade."

He continued his story as I made mental notes.

Slowly I got the gist of it.

Apparently the deal he made with his daughter was that he would provider her with a place to set up shop, and in exchange, it was to be in a settlement of his choosing. He settled on a place called Woodtrot. From what Citrus told me, he chose Woodtrot because it was the nearest to his ranch and was secure; he said the place was more than capable of defending itself if it were to be attacked by raiders.

"So what makes you think that she's been kidnapped?" I asked.

"Every couple of days, she would send the family a letter via a trade caravan that visits the ranch and Woodtrot. She would tell the family of her progress with her own orchard and her time there, but then...her letters just stopped coming."

"Maybe she's too busy with her own business?" I added.

"I thought that too at first. So I asked the same caravan to check up on her in Woodtrot"

I leaned in. "...And?"

Citrus suddenly looked crestfallen. "They didn't find her..."

"I see," I uttered, resting back in my chair, "this doesn't explain why you think that she's kidnapped."

"My daughter wouldn't make us worry like this; if she were to go off somewhere, she would have informed us." Using his magic, Citrus started fiddling with his hat. "It wasn't until the next day that I received this." Removing his hat, he pulled out a folded sheet of paper from it.

Citrus floated the paper over to me. Unfolding it, I began to read; the message was short and to the point.

I raised my eyes over the paper and looked at Ol' Citrus. "Did you?"

Without skipping a beat, he answered. "Of course...but I still didn't get my daughter back. That was two days ago, I'm not even sure if the sender ever had her to begin with..."

I lowered my eyes to the top of my desk, and started rubbing my chin with a hoof. "I think I'm starting to get the picture here."

Whoever it was that may have his daughter, they didn't send the ransom letter until after the caravan started asking around Woodtrot for Tangerine. It's possible that the one who sent the letter was probably somepony taking advantage of the fact that Citrus's daughter is missing.

"So..." I leaned back into my chair. "Why come to me? Surely with your caps, you could have hired hordes of mercs to look for your daughter."

"I could have, yes." A frown appeared on Citrus's muzzle. "But they would have drawn too much attention in their search. If somepony does have her, the presence of mercs might cause them to go to extreme lengths... possibly even...", his mouth quivered for a second, "...'disposing' her to cover their tracks."

Ok, I'm starting to get it now. "So you want to send one pony to look for her. Somepony who would be more subtle...me."

"Yes!" The old stallion lifted from his seat and clasped both his hooves over my desk, his old eyes on the verge of tears. "Please! If you're truly as good as I heard you are, then I beg you; please, please, find my daughter!"

I had to give this some thought. There was the possibility that Tangerine might be...well, I have to tell him. "If I accept your case, just be aware that there's a chance that she might not be alive..."

"I-I'm fully aware of that possibility..." He gritted his teeth. "If something has happened to her, then I'd like you to find those who are responsible, and tell me... I'll make sure that justice is delivered..."

The guy has the caps to hire hordes of mercenaries, the kind of 'justice' that he was referring to was blatantly obvious, but...a job is a job, and Goddesses knew that I could really use the caps.

"Very well," I said, "just know that I don't come cheap. I'm gonna have to be paid some of it up front," I shrugged, "for expenses."

Ol' Citrus nodded quickly. "Anything; money is no option when it comes to Tangerine." To seal the deal I offered my hoof to him, which he swiftly accepted with his own and shook with no hesitation. "Thank you! Thank you, bo--, I mean, Detective...uh. I'm sorry, I got so caught up that I never bothered to ask for your name."

Glad that he dropped the whole 'boy' thing, I happily answered him.

"Just call me P.I."

Tenpony Tower, (from what I could gather), used to be the Manehattan hub for the Ministry of Arcane Science before the bombs fell. Now, it's home to ponies who wish to live a luxurious life away from the harsh wastes just outside of this building. A good chunk of the ponies living here would often be described as...'snooty'. Thankfully, not all of them are; I learned to tolerate the unpleasant ones pretty quickly after recently becoming a citizen here a couple months ago.

Normally it would take either years of applying or an insane amount of caps for somepony to be accepted here. My citizenship however was under...special circumstances.

Before moving here, I lived in a place not that far from here called Friendship city. It was an ok place, though growing up there, I did find it a bit odd that a group of survivors one day looked at the Statue of Friendship and said to themselves 'Gee, you know what would be a great idea? Building a settlement inside that giant statue waaay out there over the water.'

Eh, who am I to criticize? The place is currently thriving and secure, so somepony made a good call. Living there was nice and all, but the clients I got there either didn't pay me enough, or didn't at all.

It wasn't until somepony from Tenpony and their filly visited that I got my lucky break. Well... it was lucky for me, unlucky for them. See, the day after they arrived, the foal went missing. Turns out that somepony...pause for the big shocker...took the filly and held her for ransom. (Oh, how history continues to repeat itself even to this day...) It was then that I offered my services when Friendship City security had failed to locate her.

It took a while, but I managed to find the filly in the lower levels of the city. She was being held by a Dash addict looking for a big score. After easily overpowering the addict, I then brought the filly back to her parent safe and unharmed. The parent was extremely grateful, and it was there when I learned that this pony had ALOT of pull in Tenpony when instead of being payed in caps, I was offered citizenship to the tower. Which, if it wasn't obvious by now, I graciously accepted.

Living in the tower has its advantages. For one, if a client were to come looking for me, I would automatically know they could afford my services. After all, if they could pay to enter the tower, then I know they are good for it. However, this place does have its downsides. For example, you'd have to contribute to the towers economy, meaning that all citizens are required to pay a lease for their businesses and homes. (Good thing I live in my office.)

Getting paid upfront was a Goddess send; normally when I ask that from my clients, they would turn me down. A part of me kinda hated taking advantage of Ol' Citrus like that, but I was kinda short on caps for needed supplies if I was to find his daughter.

The shopping floor in Tenpony had a wide selection of stores to choose from, and each one sold different goods and services; some of these were even exclusive to the tower itself. I mean, where else in the wasteland would you find an actual spa? But if I wanted my face covered in mud, I could do it for free. No, my destination was elsewhere, a store called 'Guns and Couches'.

The bell above the door chimed as I entered. Inside, the store was filled with a couple couches along the walls and showroom, and between some of them stood mannequins, each dressed in a different set of protective barding. At the back of the store, behind the counter, was a weapon rack with a wide assortment of weapons displayed; melee, ballistic, magical, and plasma weapons, this place always had something new each time I entered.

A voice rang out from the doorway leading into the back room. "You here for a couch!?"

I chuckled and leaned on the counter. "Sorry, Chesterfield. Already got the one."

"You know, P.I." Chesterfield said as he walked through the doorway and stood behind the counter. "You could've just humored me for once."

Chesterfield was one of the few Tenpony residents whose company I found pleasant. He was a brown coated unicorn with a tan mane, around my height and age, with a cutie mark that showed some sort of glossy looking tan couch with a diamond pattern and round arm ends.

"Hey, the only reason I even own one," I smiled, "is because I did just that."

"Hmm fair enough, so..." Chester clapped his hooves, "for what do I owe the pleasure?"

With a hoof, I tapped the top of his counter. "Got a job. Gonna need the usual; ammo, healing potions, and...it."

Quickly, Chester ducked behind the counter then reemerged moments later with a box.

Placing it on the counter, he opened it to reveal a black .45 semi automatic, magazine fed pistol that had etched lines of silver along the edges of the slide and mouth-bit. It was a beautiful weapon...my weapon.

I even gave it a name...Conversationalist.

I traced a hoof over it until Chesterfield yanked it away with his magic.

"Nuh-uh. You still haven't paid me for repairing it." He said as he hugged Conversationalist to his chest as if it were his baby. "You're an ok pony in my book, P.I., but I've put a lot of work getting this into working order, and I still have a business to run; it's been weeks since you dropped this off with me, and I still haven't seen any payment. Also, how did you even get brain matter stuck in the slide?"

I looked Chester in the eyes and quickly replied. "Me and a suspect were having a very civilized discussion using our bullets. At some point during our talk...I ran out of ammo."

Chester gave a mock chuckle. "Very funny, but you're still not getting this or any of the things you need until I get what you owe me." Waving his hoof, he tried to shoo me away. "I'm sure you're a tough pony, just avoid getting shot at."

I was anticipating this, so I planed a very civilized and sophisticated strategy. I coughed into my hoof to clear my throat, then took a deep breath before implementing it.

"OH COME OOOOOOOOOOOO--" I continued that note for a full minute until I slammed my head and front hooves on his counter, then made a sniffling noise. "--NNNnnn."

"Oh you big baby!" Cried Chesterfield. "Come back when you marry royalty or someth--"

He stopped mid sentence when I dropped a small sack just overflowing with caps on his counter. Still half laid on his counter, I tilted my head to look up at him then grinned. (Did I just hear something squee?)

Chester slid the sack over to himself and placed Conversationalist next to my head. "I wasn't invited to the wedding?"

"Sorry." I said as I pulled out a second sack full of caps from my saddlebags. "But to make it up to you, I have enough left over to purchase that other thing I've been wanting."

Chesterfield smiled as he eyed the caps.

I smiled as I stared at the item that I have been coveting for quite a while, still sitting in its display case.

A bit of haggling and one transaction later.

"You know," Chesterfield said as he placed the caps he earned after our deal in his store safe, "those two were here earlier asking for you again..."

After placing Conversationalist in my sidearm holster strapped to my right foreleg and putting my newly bought bit of merchandise into my saddlebags, my ears drooped as I turned back to him. "What did you tell them?"

"What you told me to say. That you," Chester made air quotes with his hooves, "'were away on business.'"

I relaxed and wiped my brow. "Whew...thanks for covering for me."

The store pony shrugged. "Think nothing of it." He then folded his hooves over the counter and leaned forward. "Who are they anyway, and why do they always ask for you when they visit? Do you owe those two or something?"

The bell above the door chimed once again as I opened it. "I guess you could say that..."

Chester slowly shook his head. "Meh, it's none of my business. I'll send your ammo and healing potions down to the security checkpoint. You should be able to pick them up when you leave the tower."

One of the Tenpony rules was that you could walk around with your weapon, but ammo was to be left with security at the front gate. One could retrieve them when exiting the tower.

I nodded in acknowledgment, then pulled the door closed behind myself, causing the bell above the door to ring once more.

After quickly heading back to my office to collect my brown duster coat, I entered Tenpony Tower's ornate marble lobby.

Even after the bombs, this place held a high standard of cleanliness, complete with an actual, pristine chandelier hanging from the ceiling. The lobby was once the station for the Celestia line that was integrated into the tower itself, several stories up.

Stepping outside the lobby, I walked through the heavily guarded security checkpoint, received my supplies, and walked past the decorated armored double doors. As they closed behind me, painted in red across the gates were the words 'NO ZOMBIES'. Probably insisted by some of the more 'unpleasant' residents who couldn't tell the difference between a regular ghoul and a feral...bigots.

A burly voice came from some distance behind me. "Are you the detective?"

Facing the direction the voice emanated from, I saw two heavily built earth ponies stallions strapped to a cart along the train rails.

I nodded. "Yeah, that's me."

One of them pointed to the back of the cart. "Mr. Citrus told us to take you to Wootrot as quickly as possible."

I hopped in the back, then addressed the stallions. "Alright fellas, I'm ready."

The two ponies glanced at one another and nodded in unison, then immediately took off in a full gallop down the Celestia line. I was unprepared for this as I nearly got whiplash.

It took a couple minutes, but I got used to the cart constantly rocking every which way. The trip was going to be a while so I took this opportunity to load up Conversationalist with a fresh magazine, took stock of healing potions, bandages, and several syringes of Med-X. Now that everything was accounted for, I opened up my saddlebag and rummaged around for the item I recently bought from Chesterfield that I've been wanting for a very long time.

Finding it, I pulled out a box. Lifting it's lid revealed what looked like a metal cuff that had a couple of buttons and a small screen.

What I had in my possession was an actual, never-before-worn PipBuck. I don't know how, nor do I care, but Chesterfield was able to find one still in its original box.

It was also a good thing Chester had the tools to unlock it before giving it to me.

I slapped it on my left foreleg, then locked it in place. After a satisfying click, the screen slowly lit up, then about ten seconds later, a compass flashed into my vision. Words could not describe the amount of glee I felt as I slowly turned my head and watched the compass change direction; looking at the two stallions caused two green dots to appear on it. I had heard of this, it was called an Eyes.Forward.Sparkle, or E.F.S for short, but this was only one of the many functions this PipBuck could do. This little wonder would monitor my health, keep track of my inventory, take notes, assist in terminal hacking, and even though I'm an earth pony, the PipBuck's magic would detect and activate something called S.A.T.S for me, if I wanted to use it. Stable-Tec.Arcane.Targeting.Spell or S.A.T.S, is a pre-programmed spell in the PipBuck that would assist me in combat. I wasn't exactly sure how, but I believed that I'd find out soon enough.

Oh, and I almost forgot its other neat feature! A couple button presses later and...

Laying on my back, I watched the cloud layer as I got caught up in wasteland recent events.

Footnote: Level Up

New Perk Added: Up Front-- When dealing with clients, you have a 10% chance of convincing them to pay you in advance. However, there is an equal chance that you might feel bad about it later.