Editing by: Wolfy Hige.

'Damn it.' Blue Sky was perched behind his heavy oak desk, on his black office chair. He had been sitting here for what seemed like hours, the clock on the wall now no more than a blur as his eyes tried to close all on their own. On his desk laid paperwork of past assignments, which the blue-coated, white-maned pegasus private detective had been trying to organize. Now though, he was more than happy to rest his eyes for just a second, organizing would come later. Just as he finally relented to sleep, he was slowly awoken from his napping by the soft coughs of a mare. The sleepy pegasus opened his eyes slowly, they already felt like his eyelids were glued together, and his lips were dry like the desert. Smacking his lips, he felt thick slime in his mouth that tasted of coffee. Breathing in the thick air of his office, and seeing faint yellow sunlight shining in through the chestnut curtains onto the old wooden floor,
he made out the image of a pretty rose-colored mare standing right in front of his desk.
She was looking at him with the most curious expression, her eyes looking him over, they went from the short, snow-white mane to the weary sea-blue face, the wrinkled brown jacket and the flower patterned shirt underneath.
This stallion looked like he had faced rough times lately and was down on his luck,
this was just the sort of pony she needed.

***

Blue Sky's eyes slowly made their ascent, sizing up the mare standing in his office from bottom to top. She was wearing white boots with red roses set in the side, an ice-blue dress adorned with golden threads running across the back and sides, a golden necklace around her feminine neck, it held a diamond set into platinum, the diamond reflected the soft light in the office beautifully. Her muzzle was perfectly shaped; she had a well groomed deep-rose coat, a light-pink mane which gave her muzzle a playful quality. She spoke with grace and formality, "Mister Blue Sky?" she asked, her light-blue eyes looking directly into the blue-gray eyes of the pony she was addressing.

"That's me, what do you want?" Blue Sky responded, his voice was coarse from years of drinking hard cider and more recently from lack of sleep, stress and depression. The posh mare was taken aback by his rude ways and gravelly voice, but she remained the spirit of formality.
"I would like to make use of your services, I have heard you are the stallion to speak to if somepony needs to be found, and you know how to keep what you know a secret, am I right?" she asked him, never letting her gaze wander from his eyes.

"True, and go on, what job needs doing?"

"I need you to find a relative of mine, he's said to be deceased but I have reason to believe he is in fact in hiding, you see, he owes me a rather large sum of money and I can't let him get away with theft, I want you to bring him back to me. If you accept my offer, you will receive 5000 bits upfront and 10,000 after I have my money."
She had heard much about this stallion's impressive work in the past, he had done much work for many of her friends, and they recommended him for his ability to keep a secret. But now though, it seems as if this blue pegasus was not doing too well for himself, if his clothing and tone were any indication. The mare found him to be a very intimidating stallion, and he would no doubt find her relative and bring him back without complications. Though she couldn't help but feel a sense of distrust, it was nagging her from the back of her mind, and she could not ignore it. She would have to make sure this pony wouldn't just run away with the 5000 bits, she needed to send somepony to keep him company, and she had just the pony to do this.

"Sure, I can bring back your debtor, I'll have this done quick and we can all go home happy," he replied, waving a hoof to show he found this job to be very easy. Surely this task was within his grasp, easy money to be had, and a ticket out of his bad-luck streak. This was in fact just the opportunity he needed to get back at the top, where he belonged.

"Then I will have my assistant bring over the money and a file tomorrow, in the file you will find everything there is to know about your target, I will give my assistant any further things you will need as she will be accompanying you on the job." The well-dressed mare took a precautionary step backwards as she saw the gruff stallion open his mouth, but was relieved to see him close it again. The white-maned stallion turned his eyes towards his desk, frowned and slowly licked his lips, and spoke; "okay, I will expect your assistant tomorrow then."

"You will not regret taking this opportunity Mister Sky, I bid you farewell," the rose-maned mare said. Blue Sky looked at her retreating form, lost in his own thoughts, he did no more than acknowledge her by nodding, still keeping the frown on his muzzle. When she finally left his office, and closed the heavy oak door, he let out a sigh. His eyelids were still heavy, and his mouth still slimy, his lips still dry, licking them did not make that any better. Slowly, he stood up from his chair, joints popping and creaking as he got to his hooves. He had sat on his chair for so long now his muscles ached when standing, but he ignored that, instead focusing his thoughts on the coffee machine standing on a table next to his desk, and the delicious aromatic heady black coffee he would soon be treating himself to. He flipped the switch on the side of the big black box, and ducked to grab a large white cup from under the little table. He placed it in the mouth of the machine, the water inside boiling now, and pressed a red button on the front of the machine. The machine sprung to life as beans in a reservoir inside it were being ground to a powder, that powder was being absorbed into boiling hot water, and came out of the machine in squirts and spurts, into the big white cup. The tired stallion had a look of pure greed in his eyes as he stared wantingly at the coffee cup being filled, hooves reaching out towards it, his precious, precious coffee.

It was finally done, the machine stopped rumbling, with one hoof Blue Sky hit the switch on the coffee maker, which was now completely shut down, and with the other grabbed his cup of delicious coffee. Taking a tentative first gulp, he found the coffee to be quite hot, the black liquid filling the inside of his muzzle with fire, nerve endings sending frantic pulses to his brain, hoping to convey the message that there was a fire going on here, and significant damage was being sustained. This stallion however had no problem ignoring pain, the burning succumbing to a numb tingling across his tongue, cheeks and throat. With half the coffee gone already, he took another big gulp and the remaining coffee sped down to his stomach, on its way to provide the slightly more awake stallion with a caffeine boost. Trotting over to the kitchen on the upstairs level, Sky's home, he got out of the office through the big oak door and took the narrow set of stairs to his left, arriving upstairs he took a right again to end up in his small tiled-floor kitchen, and put the empty cup in the sink. The kitchen itself was no more than the sink, an oven and a pair of cupboards and drawers, which were filled with a couple pots and pans, and cutlery of course. The walls were fashioned in beige wallpaper, a white ceiling and white floor, with a single lamp hanging in the center of the room.

Trotting back downstairs, he felt his stomach rumble, maybe it's a good time for food, he thought. He took his white scarf and brown hat from the coat rack by the door, and stepped outside into the crisp autumn air, the street his home was in was a barren wasteland of dilapidated apartments and boarded-up shops. It used to be a very good neighborhood, but it's changed really fast.

Setting off towards the local grocery store, Blue Sky locked his door and put the keys to his house in his coat pocket, and off he went...