//------------------------------//
// Six. 
// Story: One by One 
// by DreamWings 
//------------------------------//

Captain McFly straightened his tie and smoothed the creases on his shirt. He had to look his best for a meeting like the one he was going to attend now. If even one bit of him was not presentable then he could not gain the admiration he would’ve liked from the ponies he was about to visit. This was such a prestigious moment in his career; he couldn’t afford to mess it up. Why, if this went well, he might finally be able to get a mare who would genuinely like to go on a date with him. He’d been asking them since he was a foal and got nowhere, but with this special event he would always have an anecdote that could help him get a very special somepony.  Who knows, maybe he could even charm the Princess herself.

With these thoughts in his mind he knocked placidly on the wooden door in front of him. A noisy bustle could be heard inside and two guards opened the door to the ruckus in the room. Ponies rushed to and fro throughout the bedroom, gathering all kinds of evidence they could find; hoofprints, jars, buttons, dust-bunnies and many more. Though to an average pony they wouldn’t be of help to the case whatsoever, and actually would not be any help to the police but they had to make sure they covered all bases. Just in case of any trouble.

Deputy Siren flicked through her notepad, asking the weeping stallion in front of her as many questions as possible. Yes, he had been with her the night before; yes she had been alive and not dead. No! Of course he had not killed her. The idea was ridiculous. The Captain burst into great big sobs as he remembered the groaning noise he had heard the night before coming from his beloved wife. Everypony said that alicorns could live forever; they had not said that this only applied if they were never killed. Shining Armour was wanted to have his beloved wife back with him again.

Siren flicked her eyes to the Captain as he walked up to her, brushing his comb-over to make it look like he had more hair than he truly did. It was not very becoming from Siren’s point of view; in fact it always made her grimace when the older colt attempted to be as ‘hip’ as the young ones. She wasn’t even sure he had any ‘hips’ left to speak of. Secretly she wanted to laugh at his appearance, but knew that would be rather harsh to do in front of the upset pony in front of her. She had to distract herself from looking at her boss; the only way she could think of was carrying on asking the poor stallion questions.

Shining Armour wiped his hoof over his eyes, trying to supress the tears that kept falling over his cheeks. His Cadence…His wonderful Cadence…had gone and he was never going to be able to see her again. A few days ago it was he that had the chance of dying but instead his wonderful mare had been taken instead. Tomorrow was supposed to be the day where he would leave to go and fight in the war brewing against the changelings. He had been so nervous about going, but knew that it was his duty to his Kingdom to fight… but now, he didn’t feel like fighting. He felt lost and scared with nowhere to go. Usually he would have called on his younger sister Twilight for a talk but she had been so busy recently, hardly anypony could get an audience with her, not even him. 

A cry came from the far corner, diverting Shining’s attention away from the bustling ponies in front of him. Poor little thing didn’t know what had happened.

“Do you mind?” he asked through his weeps before trotting up to a cot at the side of his grand bed. Deputy Siren began to follow him but her Captain pulled her back.

“Don’t,” he whispered to her “He’s a suspect in this murder.”

Siren shook her head, pushing the stallions hoof away from her shoulder and glaring at him.

“No, he’s the victim.” McFly watched in annoyance as the mare walked away from him and up to the white pony standing above the colt. She bent down and stared at the giggling foal underneath her. The little pony was so small, so innocent, Siren understood how sad the Father must have felt losing his wife just when he and she needed to be together to raise their foal. Siren herself lost her Mother when she was a new-born, and she knew how lonely it could get without having both parents with you growing up. However she also knew that the best thing for a grieving parent could be to spend time with their foal… Looking after her had been the only thing that had kept her Father going.

“Is it a mare or a colt?” she asked, startling the young soldier who hadn’t realised she had been stood there. He blushed and held out his hoof for the foal to suck on.

“She’s a little mare.” Siren noticed the look Shining Armour gave his offspring; he loved her, she could tell. She was the one thing he felt he had left, and that was the only thing that was going to keep him sane throughout this turmoil.

“Has she got a name?” The young Deputy proceeded with her tactic of talking about something other than the death of the Mother. Even if her boss did not think this was the correct way of gathering information, she knew that when ponies were at their calmest they would be more reliable with their answers.

“Sugar Plum, she’s called Sugar Plum. My little Sugar Plum fairy.” He reached his other hoof into the cot and stroked the dribbling foals purple mane. She looked just as beautiful as her Mother; just as sweet as he could remember his younger sister being when she was a foal. He couldn’t help but wish that Twilight could be here right now. But she wasn’t, and he had to deal with that. He sighed to himself, staring down at his little angel.

“I can’t stay here,” he muttered “I have to go and fight with my army.”

“It’s understandable if you don’t feel able to.” Siren peered towards the blue-maned stallion, her eyes as sincere as she could make them.

“No, I have to.” He stopped and stared at his daughter again, seeing in her what he had seen in his wife. “I have to stop the changelings coming through to make the Kingdom safe for my Sugar Plum.” He bent down into the cot and kissed the young filly on her cheek, a tear rolling down from his eyes. Siren didn’t feel comfortable being with him anymore; he wanted to spend some time alone with the family he had left. She did not want to intrude.

McFly was not best pleased with her, she seemed to completely dismiss any orders he had given her. He grumbled to himself. ‘It didn’t matter’ he thought, ‘this case is mine not hers, and the glory shall go to me too when I solve it’. He nodded, a smug smile crossing his face. Princess Cadence’s death may have been bad for her family but it was excellent for him; he could finally prove himself to be as great as he believed. It wouldn’t be long before he captured the criminal, then the Princesses would sit up and take notice of him. Not too many murders until his brilliant mind had solved the case.


Six.