She's too young to understand
Sugar Sweets sat on the red shag carpet. A small twilight doll in hoof. In front of her a small, plastic replica of the Castle of Friendship. Other previously used toys scattered around the small room. Dolls of the other friendship elements; in the corner, a small table with components for a tea party.
"What'cha got there, sweetie?" The stallion with the two red hooves asks her. He hops off of the bench next to the windowed door and walks over to her.
"It's.... Ummmm." She studies it for a while before finally answering. "Twilight! Right?" She looks over to him quizzically.
"Right." He answers, smiling. Sugar watches his goldy-yellow ear twitch, disturbing his silver mane.
"You don't like her much, do you?" Sugar asks, making it the stallion's turn to look at her questioningly.
"What makes you say that?"
"I dunno..." She looks around the room at the scattered toys and dolls. Locating the object she's after and keeping her eyes on them, she stands up and quickly trots over to them. Scooping the dolls up with a hoof and pinning them to her chest, she hobbles back over to the odd colored stallion.
"What are you doing?"
"You'll see!" She giggles, dropping them to the floor. Setting them up, the stallion watches as she places Twilight on the far left, followed by Fluttershy, Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, then Rainbow Dash.
"Okey Mr. Red! Who's the one you like the most? I know you don't like her..." She says, picking up Twilight and chucking her towards the miniature castle.
"Did you just call me 'Mr. Red?" He asks, stifling a laugh.
"Yeah!"
"Why?"
"Why? You silly. Your hoofses are red!" She giggles, pointing at his hooves. He looks and frowns.
"Hey! I worked hard for these!" He says, stomping one of the red hooves ineffectively on the carpet.
"What did you do?" She asks, a hint of scepticism in her voice.
"What did I do?" He playfully scoffs. "I saved somepony."
"Oooh!" She gasps, obviously intrigued. "Tell me!"
"I dunno... It's kinda boring..." He sighs dramatically.
"You lier! I think it's cool! I wish I could save somepony! So tell me!"
"Nah."
"C'mon!" She whines, hopping up and down.
"Fine!" He caves."Fine! Fine. I'll tell you." The stallion falls to his flank and looks at her.
"There was this stallion, I'm not allowed to tell you his name, who was doing bad things. Things that could hurt himself and others if he continued to do them. And I found out about this. So what my boss did was sent me on somewhat of adventure. I had to go and help him. Save him from hurting himself or others. Now the hard part, the reason it was an adventure, was because I had to track him down, i-"
"You had to play detective!" Sugar interjects. Causing Mr.Red to laugh.
"Yes. I had to play detective. The things I had to detect were where he got his things, who he knew. That eventually lead me to where he was. When I got there, he was in danger. Passed out under his blankets on his bed. So I saved him, made sure he was alive and got him to a hospital. My boss stained my hooves red, showing I saved somepony." He finishes, smile beaming. Sugar giggles, looking up to him.
"But you're the only one with it!" .
"Well, that's because who i saved was the tenth pony I've managed to save. Most others retire before they save that many ponies."
Soon after Mr.Red finishes talking, the hollow, metallic sound of the door unlocking is heard by both of them. In stepping a Chestnut brown mare.
Mane blood red.
Seeing this mare's main, Sugar screams.
"Get out of here!" Red shouts, jumping up from his sitting position. He runs over and pushes the mare out of the room, slamming the door shut. He then slowly walks over to the crying filly.
"Sugar Sweets? You ok?" He asks cautiously. She looks up at him with teary eyes.
"Y-yes. Her mane made me think of a bad dream." Sugar admits.
Red sits next to Sugar.
"If you talk about it, I can help you learn to fight it off." Red hooves tells her, making her smile somewhat. She then turns her head back to the lined up dolls, repositioning the Rainbow Dash that fell over.
"Pick your mostest liked." She points the the lineup. Red stands up and repositions himself so that he's in front of the choices.
"Hmmm. It's a hard choice." He pantomimes scratching his chin.
"No it's not!" She giggles.
"Alright, well... I'd say....." He looks through acting like he's having a hard time choosing. When, in fact, he knows definitively who he likes.
"Just choose!!" She playfully shouts, hopping up and down again.
"This one." He picks, settling Sugar down. Picking up the Applejack doll and placing it on his head.
"Why's she up there?" She asks, pointing.
"She asked to be up here. She couldn't see the rest of the room being so small." Red jokes.
"No she didn't! She's just a doll!" Sugar laughs. Making Red nod.
"Yuh huh! She said: Silvuh, cood yeh put meh on yah head? Ah can't see down here." He jokes, having the worst attempt at a southern accent. Sugar picked up on that, but didn't care.
"Your names Silver?"
"Yeah." Red replies, sticking his muzzle in the air.
"That's silly, it's not as good as Red." She giggled.
"H-hey! T-"
Silver's cut off the the sound of the door unlocking and opening. A skinny, grey and black stallion steps through.
"Hey, Silver. W-"
"His name is Mr.Red!" Sugar exclaims. The grey stallion smiles.
"Alright. Mr.Red. Andreah needs to talk to you." He informs Red.
Red gets up and walks over to the door.
"Uh. Mr.Red." the grey stallion pulls his attention. "Why is the element of honesty on your head?"
"Woops." Realizing he forgot to return it, Red picks up the doll with his magic and floats it over to Sugar.
"Sugar, I've got to go. I'll be back later, okay?" Red informs her.
"Okay! See ya later Mr.Red!"
"Ya needed me, 'Dreah?" Silver asks. The red maned mare turns around and nods.
"Yes!"
"Well, make it quick. I've got to get her to the Foster home."
"I'm not allowing that little filly to go into the system!" She shouts, making the approaching grey stallion flatten his ears.
"What's going on?"
"Oh, hi Qwick." Andreah responds.
"She's the daughter of the victims of the homicide we're working on." Silver informs him.
"Is she okay?" Quick asks. Andreah shakes her head.
"No. Yesterday, the day before Heartwarming Eve. She thought her parents were sleeping in..."
--_--_--_--_--_--_--
Sugar Sweets wakes up, it's Sunday. That means it's Heartwarming service. Every year Sugar gets to help the pastor with the music. With her favorite drum!
Hopping out of bed and exciting her room, she recognizes the rhythimic pitter patter of rain.
"Oh no. Rain" she whispers to herself. Knowing that of the rain is bad enough her parents won't go to church.
Slowly making it down the hallway, being to dark to see and her not tall enough to reach the light switch yet.
Sugar makes it to the door of her parent's room. She knocks her own way. By placing the bottom of her hoof on the door, then fastly flattening her hoof, it causes a hollow knock sound.
After receiving to reply, she does it again. Zip.
She hops up attempting to reach the door nob, but hitting the door, pushing it open.
' Mom and Dad always close their door. She thinks, venturing further.
"Mom?" She squeeks. "Dad?"
Again, no response. Remembering the light on the nightstand, she feels around for it. Finding the nightstandwith a bump.
Reaching up and finding the little cord hanging from the light, she tugs it. The room floods with light.
Revealing the blood soaked sheets. Her parents bodies underneath.
-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-
"She fell asleep next to her dead parents. The pastor at the church found it odd for them not showing up without notifying her. She went to check up on them. Found the bodies. Sugar woke up here, same room. Never left it for anything accept bathroom. Told me a while ago that she's not leaving without her parents. She says she's waiting right there." Silver finishes. Qwick gives an acknowledging and empithetic nod.
"It's rough." Silver agrees. "That's why she freaked out when she saw your mane 'Dreah. She thinks that was a bad dream."
"How did you calm her down?" Andreah asks.
"I just brought up something she asked earlier. Answered it, and she was literally jumping with joy again." Silver responds.
"Oh."
"Please! Silver. Find some distant relative or somepony, anypony she's related to. Get her a proper home." Andreah pleads.
"I'll do my best." Silver nods.
"Alright. Chief Note wants me to do a necropsy on the parents. See ya later." Qwick days, walking away.
"I need to help him. Thank you." Andreah gives Silver a quick peck on the muzzle then bolts after him.
The telltale sound of the door unlocking rings into the room. Smiling with an evil plan, Sugar sprints towards the bean bags in the corner and dives into them. Shuffling around until she's confident she's hidden.
"Well well. Looks like we've got a missing filly in here." Mr.Red's voice travels through the room. Sugar puts her hooves on her mouth to prevent herself from giggling.
Red looks around for her. In the miniature castle, under things; knowing full well on where she is. The bean bags are the only place where she could hide completely.
"Now where did that little filly go?" He shouts playfully, slowly and quietly walking over to her.
Placing his forehooves on the stacked bean bags, he yanks them apart.
"There you are!" She shouts. Sugar screams and falls onto her back laughing.
"Mr.Red! You found me!" She giggles. Red smiles.
"I did! I'm surprised. You where hidden really well." He jokes. "Now c'mon. We got to get going."
"No! I'm not leaving this room! Mom and Dad told me if I'm lost to stay where I am. And not to go off with strangers." She protests, jumping into a bean bag, emphasizing her point.
"I'm not a stranger, am I? I know you. You know me." He tries to reason.
"I know you. But Mom and Dad don't. So I can not go with you." She sticks her snout in the air.
"What if I take you to your grandma's?"
"Do mom and Dad know I'll be at Grandma's?"
Red stays silent.
"I stay here until Mom or Dad get here." She reiterates.
Red turns around and leaves the room.
The guard turns the key in the grey, iron door. Pushing hard, he swings it open.
The old, tan mare walks through and looks around the door.
"Where's my grandfilly?" She calls into the room, causing the bean bags to fly away from each other.
"Grandma!" Sugar sweets screams happily, running over and hugging the old mare, getting a facefull of white mane.
After a couple of minutes of hugging, the old mare let's Sugar run off and play again.
"Does she know?" The mare asks Silver. He shakes his head.
"Ok." She turns back over to Sugar. "Alright sweetie, it's time to go home."
"No! Tomorrow's Heartwarming and if I run off from here they won't find me and we'll miss it. We can't miss it!" She shouts. Her grandmother sighs sadly. Silver taps the mare on the shoulder. She looks at him and he motions for her to follow him.
"Has she been like that?" The old mare asks Silver.
"Yeah." He looks to the door of the room where the filly is. "I've tried multiple times to get her to leave. She just keeps refusing." He sighs sadly, hanging his head.
"I'm afraid she's too young to understand." The mare looks at the door as well. "Her parents are never coming home again."
