“Will I see her?”

Sprout Cloverleaf thought as he sat where he usually sat for his lunch breaks. Today, he was having some hay fries he cooked up early this morning before he headed out for work. Microwaveable fries suck. So, he got up early to cook them in the oven.

However, the only thing he could think of was if Izzy Moonbow would pass by him. He made up his mind on what he was gonna do. He knew what he HAD to do.

He was going to apologize to her. He was gonna do what Vinny told him to do. Swallow his pride, be a man, and apologize.

However, so far, he didn’t have much luck. He kept his eyes on the crowd, hopefully to see her, while eating his hay fries. Sadly, he was coming up empty. He almost gave up, until he heard a voice humming and singing to herself.

“Radadadada, dodadodedo” Sang Izzy Moonbow, walking down the street. In a convenient way, she was headed right past him. Lost in her thoughts. Her happy little thoughts.

She probably didn’t even notice Sprout sitting on the bench right in front of her.

Sprout saw her coming. He knew this was his chance. He was gonna do it.

As she walked toward his left, Sprout suddenly started to think again. What if she doesn’t want to talk to him? What if she’s still hurt by his comment? What if she’s mad at him for the whole giant machine of doom? What if—

Be a man and apologize, Sprout

He heard his friend Vinny say to him.

Sprout made his decision right there.

As Izzy was walking past him on his right, still lost in thought, he called out to her.

“H-Hey Izzy!” He called out loud enough.

This caused Izzy to stop in her tracks and look at the source of who was calling her. She saw a very familiar pony, sitting down on the bench next to her. Smiling nervously.

Izzy looked confused. The last time she tried to talk with him, he told her to just talk behind his back for all he cared. He even said it in a rude way. Why would he be calling out to her?

She looked to her left and right in confusion. No way he was talking to her. Right?

“Yeah. I said hey to you, Izzy.” Sprout said, looking a bit embarrassed.

“Really?” She asked, kind of looking happy to see him.

“Yes. Can you sit down with me?” He patted the empty part of the bench.

“Why?” She asked, raising her eyebrow.

He rubbed the back of his head, kinda bashfully. “I wanna tell you something. Something important.” He said, not looking her in the eye.

Izzy stood there for a few moments before making her decision.

“Okay.” She said cheerfully, before taking her seat in the empty part of the bench.

If Sprout felt nervous now, he felt it crank up to a level 11. Had this been a few years ago, he would’ve tucked tail and ran away, hopefully in the comforting arms of his mother.

Now, he was just nervous about the reaction she’d give him. The unknown.

“So, what’d you wanna talk about?” She asked with a smile on her face. Though it went away when Sprout started to look uncomfortable.

“What’s wrong?” She asked, ACTUALLY looking concerned.

Sprout took a deep breath. This was it. He was gonna do it. He NEEDED to do it. He had to do it.

“I want to apologize.” He blurted out. He turned away in shame.

That caught Izzy off guard a little bit. “For what?” She asked.

Sprout fidgeted with his hooves for a little bit before continuing. He had never felt so out of his comfort zone.

“Everything. For trying to hurt you with that stupid giant machine of doom. For hurting your feelings two weeks ago. For being afraid of you and all unicorns and pegasi. For being stupid. For not apologizing sooner than I should’ve.” He said all that without looking at her. He did then look into her eyes when he said this next sentence.

“I’m sorry for being me. A worthless coward.” He said with a look of sadness in his eyes. That statement was absolutely true. He wanted to be somepony else so damn badly. He hated what he saw in the mirror everyday.

Izzy saw the look of regret in his eyes. The sadness. The self loathing. The depression. She knew Sprout meant every word he was saying. Whenever somepony meant something, she always just had this ability to just KNOW. To know whether or not they were telling the truth or not.

Sprout was absolutely being sincere here. But, she also saw the bad things he felt about himself in him as well.

If there was one thing Sprout needed, it was a friend.

She saw him look at his phone. “Well, I’ve got about five minutes left. I better get back to work. That’s what I wanted to say, Izzy. I’m sorry. I understand if you don’t wanna be friends with me. No pony does anyway. And I accept that.” He said, putting his hard hat back on.

“See you around.” Sprout said, looking ashamed, as he started to walk back to his mother’s factory.

He didn’t get five steps in until he felt something wrap around his entire body. In a split second, he thought he was gonna get slammed down to the ground. But, he then realized who it was.

The very unicorn he apologized to was hugging him.

“Ohhhhhhh, Sprouty.” She said cheerfully, as she tightened her hug. Even lifting him off the ground a little bit.

Sprout was surprised by the force of the hug she gave. He didn’t expect the mare to have this much strength. It was kinda crazy to say the least.

Now, however, he started to feel really uncomfortable. Not in an emotional way, but in a physical way. Meaning, she was crushing him in two with this bear hug.

“Izzy…..I can’t breath….please put me down.” He said as loud as he could, despite losing his breath.

Thankfully, Izzy heard him and put him down with a giggle. Sprout was able to catch his breath pretty quickly. He was about to say something, before she spoke first.

“Of course I forgive you, Sprouty. I mean, with an apology like that, I’d be a big jerk to NOT accept it.” She said.

Sprout was surprised. Izzy actually…forgives him?

“You mean…you don’t hate me?” He asked.

“Of course not. I can’t hate anypony who’s a friend of Sunny’s.” She said, almost reassuring him.

However, when Sprout heard her say Sunny’s name, he went back to feeling ashamed again. Of course, Izzy noticed it.

“I don’t think Sunny considers me a friend anymore, Izzy. Not since I destroyed her home. Can’t say I blame her.” He said.

She saw how down Sprout was. She just hated seeing somepony…ANYPONY looking down. Even if it is Sprout. She could tell he regrets everything he did. She could tell everything was still weighing heavily on his mind.

No matter who, she felt all ponies deserve a second chance. Yes, even Sprout Cloverleaf.

Suddenly, an idea popped in her head. A lightbulb so to speak.

“I know! What if I ASK Sunny how she feels about you?” She asked excitedly.

Sprout froze in surprise and horror. “WHAT?!” He exclaimed.

“I’ll ask Sunny how she feels about you. Then, I’ll tell you how she feels. That way, you’ll know.” She said, now turning around and running toward the lighthouse.

“No! Izzy, wait—“ Sprout tried calling her to stop her, but it was too late. She was already half way up the road.

“BYE NEW FRIEND! IT WAS NICE TALKING TO YOU!” She shouted while running away.

Sprout just groaned in defeat. He apologized to Izzy, but now the naive mare turns it around by asking Sunny how she feels about him? He thought he would win here. He thought he would get all this shit off his mind.

Now, he has to worry about what Izzy was gonna say to Sunny. She’d probably tell Izzy that she hates him and never wants to see him again. That she can’t forgive him for destroying her home.

That she hates him.

As if Sprout’s depression wasn’t bad enough, now if he ACTUALLY heard that, it would get worse.

He sighed sadly as he walked back to work.

Zipp woke up. She found herself still at her computer desk. She guessed she must’ve pulled an all nighter trying to find the victim’s name. And where she was from.

Or, did she?

She looked toward the window and saw it was still dark out. How long had she been asleep? It felt longer than that.

She got up from her desk to take a look outside. Obviously, no pony would be out at this hour. They’d be in bed by now.

Except for the pony she saw right through the window.

The pony was standing about 10 feet away from the Sheriff’s office. Her back was turned toward her though. So, she couldn’t get a good look at her face. So, she thought she’d check out what was going on.

Zipp opened the front doors and walked toward the pony.

“Hey, who’re you, and what’re you doing out this late at night? Shouldn’t you—“

She stopped dead in her tracks when she got a little closer to the mare. She couldn’t move. Her hooves felt glued to the ground. She found it difficult to speak with the fear she felt in her heart. She DID recognize this mare.

It was the Jane Doe on the beach. But how?! This mare was supposed to be dead. Her and Hitch found her body. With the injuries she suffered, there’s no WAY she survived. So, how is she standing here?

The mare still had her back turned to Zipp. She couldn’t see her face. And honestly, she was afraid to. She had never felt fear like this before. Hell, she never experienced fear like this at all.

Then, with enough courage, she finally found her voice. Problem is, what do you say to a supposed dead mare.

“What-What h-h-happened to you?” Zipp stuttered, trying to get the words out.

After she asked that, her nerves rose up by 10 as she saw the supposed dead mare turn around. Very slowly.

Zipp was now face to face with the Jane Doe on the beach. She looked normal. Nothing on her face. No bruises. No marks. No blood. Nothing.

However, what was scaring her, was the completely blank look on the mare’s face. No emotion. No expression. Just a dead stare. It looked like one of those mannequins you’d see at a department store.

Zipp gulped in fear and spoke to the supposed dead mare again.

“I-Is there…s-s-something y-you wanna t-t-tell me?” She asked her. No answer. Not even a blink. It’s like she was staring into Zipp’s soul.

Zipp was about to ask the mare something else, before she thought she heard something. Off in the distance.

Shink-Shink-Shink

Zipp looked around to see where that sound was coming from. She turned away from the mare for a split second. However, when she turned back, she felt a shockwave course through her body.

The mare was still there. Only now, she saw the swollen black eye. The bruises on her neck. On her face. The blood trickle near her mouth.

Zipp just stood there. Frozen in shock and fear. But, if that wasn’t bad enough, what happened next would undoubtedly traumatize her even more.

The dead mare opened her mouth, only for the chunk of fur and blood to fall out. It just lay there on the ground in front of her.

Zipp felt sick to her stomach. She felt like vomiting, but she couldn’t.

Then she heard that sound again. Only this time, she heard it getting closer.

Shink-Shink-Shink-Shink-Shink

As the sounds got louder and louder, Zipp figured out what it was now. And it frightened her to no end.

It was the sound of a knife. A very sharp one at that. At it was getting closer and closer to them.

Zipp still felt herself unable to move. She tried but it felt like something was holding her there against her will.

She looked back at the supposed dead mare again. Her mouth was still open after spitting out the contents in her mouth. And there was another reason it was open as well.

“Help me.”

Zipp swore she felt her blood go icy cold after hearing that. The supposed dead mare….spoke?

“Please, help me.” The supposed dead mare said again, in a monotone voice that had some pleading to it.

“W-What—?” Zipp tried to ask her. However, before she could finish, that loud sound was getting closer and closer and closer and closer.

Then she saw it.

There was a large, shadowy black figure coming up behind the supposed dead mare. She couldn’t see a face. She couldn’t see a body. She couldn’t see any hooves. All she could see…was a large, sharp knife. It’s as if this shadowy figure was the Grim Reaper itself.

As it got closer, Zipp looked at the mare again, and her fear raised even higher at what she saw now.

The mare’s expression changed. Her mouth was wide open. So wide it could break her mandible and jaw completely off. Her head tilted a little bit upwards. Her eyes widened. So wide, she could see the complete top part of her sclera. Her mouth was shivering a little bit. She even made a bit of a moaning sound. Like she was breathing in a huge breath of air.

Zipp felt like she was looking at a demon from hell.

Then, the shadowy figure put the knife toward the mare’s neck. Was it threatening her? Was it threatening Zipp?

She tried to move to help this poor mare. However, she still couldn’t. She was helpless…powerless to stop this black figure.

As Zipp still struggled to get free, she heard the most horrifying sound come from the mare.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!! The mare let out a blood curling, and somewhat demonic scream. It was so loud, Zipp had to cover her ears to avoid any damage.

She still heard the screams of the mare, as she was powerless to stop the black figure from pulling her away to Celestia knows where.

She could still hear her screams. They got louder and louder and…

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!” Zipp screamed in terror, her head shooting up.

She looked around at her surroundings. She was at her computer desk again. She looked toward the window. She saw it was bright and early morning. She got up from her desk and looked out the window to get a closer look.

She saw several ponies outside walking. She saw the flower mare, Dahlia. The town grumpard Posey. She saw several earth pony, unicorn and pegasi in the town of Maretime Bay.

So, what she just witnessed was a dream. A bad dream. A nightmare.

Zipp felt chills. Her body was sweating profusely. She felt paranoid that the dead mare was watching her. And every move she made.

What the hell was that? That thing that took the dead mare away in her nightmare?

All of a sudden Zipp remembered something: she didn’t need to call the victim a Jane Doe anymore. After a few hours of searching, she FINALLY was able to ID the victim. She couldn’t wait to tell Hitch the good news.

Speaking of Hitch, she heard a knock at the door. At first, for a split second, she felt a huge chill run down her spine. Was it the dead mare she saw in her dreams? Was she coming to ask her for help? To keep her safe from that shadowy figure with the large knife?

She shook her head, bringing herself back to reality. The mare was dead. Dead ponies don’t walk around and talk to living ponies.

It was just a dream. Nothing more, nothing less.

The door opened and in walked her little sister, Pipp Petals.

“Zipp! What the heck? You didn’t come home last night. You didn’t answer my calls or respond to my texts. I was worried about you.” She said, scolding her older sister.

Zipp looked confused for a moment and took a look at her phone. Low and behold, there were a few missed calls and missed texts from Pipp.

One of the texts said:

Zipp, where r u? We’re starting 2 get 😟 Please come back

Zipp gave an embarrassed look. She must’ve been so focused on finding the ID for the Jane Doe, she must’ve not been paying attention to her phone. Now she felt a little bad for worrying her sister that much.

Pipp still looked mad, but now she gave a look of concern for Zipp.

“Did you pull an all-nighter? Because, you look like you’ve been up all night.” She said, looking over her sweaty body and disheveled mane.

Zipp decided to tell a little white lie. Yes, she did pull an all-nighter, but the reason, probably, for her looking like this, was the nightmare she had. She didn’t want Pipp worrying about her even more. So, that’s what she did.

“Uh, yeah. I’ve just been up all night. Sorry if I worried you, Pipp. I should’ve responded to you.” She said, looking guilty.

Pipp just shook her head in disappointment at her. “So, did you find out who the mare is?” She asked.

Right before Zipp could answer, the front door opened again. This time, it WAS Hitch Trailblazer. With a cup of coffee in his hooves. He didn’t necessarily get hammered last night, but he did wake up with a slight headache. Keyword being slight.

“Morning, you two.” He said, kinda looking tired.

Zipp giggled. “You had too much last night, Sheriff?” She jokingly asked.

Hitch waited a couple seconds before answering, “You could say that.”

However, that wasn’t the truth. The reason he didn’t get much sleep last night is because of Tap Shot’s words to him about his ex-deputy, Sprout Cloverleaf. The questions she asked still buzzed around inside his head like an angry wasp. The more he thought about him, the more it made his head hurt.

“Oh!” Zipp said, getting his attention. “Good news, Hitch. I was able to ID the Victim. And you were right.”

Hitch looked surprised to hear that. She must’ve pulled an all-nighter, due to her determined look and disheveled mane. She worked her ass off last night.

Zipp took her paperwork she from her desk and brought it over to Hitch.

“I looked through both the databases of Trotville and Clopton. It took a little bit, but I was able to find THIS mare here. Positive ID of our victim.” Zipp showed him the photo.

The mare had a light yellow coat and a short dark purple mane. The photo looked about a few years old. So, in this photo, the mare looked to be about 19 or 20 years old.

No question about it. This mare was their victim.

“Lilac Summer.” Hitch said. He was glad he knew the mare’s name now.

“Yeah.” Zipp said, looking remorseful for her. “I was also able to find out a little bit about her too.”

She took the phone away for a quick second and then read off what was on her phone.

“She’s 23 years old. She lives in Clopton as a waitress at some restaurant called “Auntie Edna’s.”

Pipp interrupted with a question. “Clopton? Where’s that?”

“It’s on the South outer skirts of town. About 30 miles from here.” Hitch said.

Zipp nodded. “She did have a prior arrest for a shoplifting when she was 15, and then another one for vandalism when she was 18. Both times, it was settled, she didn’t serve any time.”

“What about family members? Friends? Lovers?” Hitch asked, taking a sip of his coffee.

Zipp shook her head. “Couldn’t find anything. Seems to me she was a runaway. Probably lived in a bad home.”

Hitch snorted in cynicism. “Well, that’s Clopton for ya. Not a good town to live in.”

Pipp suddenly thought of something. “Wait. If she’s from Clopton, why was she found here in Maretime Bay? Was she gonna move here?” She asked them.

“I didn’t here anything from anypony here.” Hitch answered with a shrug.

“Me either.” Zipp said. “Why would somepony from Clopton be found here in Maretime Bay dead? I don’t think anypony from town has even seen or heard of her.” She asked.

Hitch then thought of something pretty crazy.

“What if she was murdered in Clopton and then dumped here?” He asked.

Zipp gave Hitch a flat look. “That doesn’t sound logical. Like you said, Clopton is 30 miles away from Maretime Bay? Why would our killer lug a body for 30 miles? Killers don’t normally do that. They’d do it somewhere closer in town. It doesn’t make sense.” She told him, looking back at her phone at Lilac Summer.

“What if the killer wanted her to be found?” Pipp asked out of nowhere, catching Hitch and Zipp off guard. They didn’t think about that.

Hitch shook his head. “Why would our killer want to be found? He buried her on the beach. I doubt he would want to be found if he did that.” He said, kinda disappointing Pipp.

“Unless it’s something bigger.” Zipp said.

“It might be.” Said a voice coming through the front door again. The three of them looked and saw an older female earth pony, wearing a white lab coat. She was around her mid 30’s. Her light silver coat color only showed where her rump was, revealing a cutie mark of a mortuary. Her mane was black and short, tied and a bun. She had her clipboard on her back.

“Hey Charnelle. How are you?” Hitch asked. He had known her for a while now. Even if there weren’t a lot of murders that happened in Maretime Bay, she was still on call if there needed to be a DNA test done. She was the right mare needed for it.

“Other than spending time with our victim, I guess I’m okay.” She said.

“So, what did you find out about Lilac?” Zipp asked her, kind of getting close to her in anticipation. She really wanted to know about what happened to her.

Charnelle backed up a little bit in discomfort. Zipp was apparently in her bubble.

“Maybe you should let me and Zipp handle this here, Pipp.” Hitch told her.

“Yeah.” Zipp said. “Can you give us a minute with Charnelle please?” She asked. Pipp nodded and then walked away to a chair near the front door and went on her phone doing whatever it is she does.

Hitch and Zipp then urged Charnelle to go on.

“Well, the cause of death was, whoever did this, broke the mare’s neck.” She said, reading off her clipboard. Hitch and Zipp looked surprised.

“A-Are you sure?” Zipp asked. “What about the….the….” Zipp tried to say, but was having a hard time mentioning the mutilated marehood of Lilac Summer.

Hitch interrupted. “The mutilated private parts didn’t kill her?” He asked.

Charnelle shook her head. “My findings show that she was pinned up against something, like a counter near a sink, he has his hoof on her throat, and while he has her pinned there, he shoved his hoof where her throat was. Hard. Snapping her neck, and stopping brain wave activity. The poor mare never stood a chance.” She explained to them.

“So, what about the…you know..” Hitch asked, looking uncomfortable for Zipp’s sake.

Charnelle sighed. “He did that while he had her pinned against something. I could tell there was a lot of blood loss from her. Then he snapped her neck and finished her off.” She said.

Zipp got an angry look on her face. “The fucker tortured her before he killed her.” She said.

Now, Zipp was hell bent on finding the killer. No matter who it was or what it took. She’d get her guards from Zephyr Heights to pitch in if it needed to be that way.

“Not only that, the body was moved.” Charnelle randomly said.

That surprised Hitch and Zipp. “She was?” They both asked at the same time.

“Mmhmm.” Charnelle nodded. “Hard to say how long exactly, but I can tell she was moved a pretty long way. Kinda odd if I say so myself.”

So, Hitch was right. She was moved from Clopton to here. But why? Why would the killer want to bring his victim to Maretime Bay of all places?

“I looked through the database of Clopton. She’s from there. Are you telling me the killer lugged her body for 30 miles?” Zipp asked her.

“It would appear so. Yes.” She said.

They both were silent for a second, letting that sink in. This was getting more interesting by the minute.

“There’s something else I found too.” Charnelle said, taking a quick look at her clipboard.

“What’s that?” Zipp asked.

“A scar on her lower abdomen. Though, it wasn’t from the murder. It was from a C section about a little over a year ago.” She said.

Now Hitch and Zipp looked shocked to hear this. The mare was so young, and not only that, but she was…

“She had a baby?” Hitch asked.

Charnelle nodded sadly. “Look, I’m sorry to put more on your plate, but it appears her baby is missing as well.”

If the idea of Lilac being tortured before dying pissed Zipp off, hearing this just made her even madder than ever. And it didn’t go unnoticed by Hitch. He was wondering if this case might be getting to be too much for her. Though, he knew she’d deny it. Even if he was right.

“I also have some good and bad news. For you, Hitch.” Charnelle said.

“What is it?” Hitch asked.

“Good news, I was able to find a DNA match.” She said.

Zipp suddenly looked ecstatic. “You did?” She asked loudly and happily. Her voice was so loud, it startled Pipp a little bit, before she went back to her phone.

“Yes.” Charnelle said, backing away from Zipp again. “Granted, it’s only a partial match. So, you’d have to get a DNA test from the suspect in order for it to show if it’s a full on match. But, this is the good news.”

“It sure is.” Zipp said.

“So, what’s the bad news?” Hitch asked.

Suddenly, Charnelle looked sad, giving a sigh. “Are you sure you want me to tell you?” She asked him with a bit of sympathy in her tone.

Hitch looked surprised at this. So did Zipp. Why was she acting like this?

“What’s wrong?” Zipp asked.

“I just don’t know how you’ll react to it, Hitch. It’s gonna shock you.” She said.

“Who is it?” Hitch asked, showing her he meant business. Zipp did too.

Charnelle gave another sad sigh.

“Okay.” She said softly. She breathed through her nostrils before telling them the potential suspects name.

“Hitch, the partial match belongs to your ex-deputy, Sprout Cloverleaf.”

Author's Note

Well, here ya go. I actually wanted to try a dream sequence for this story. I’ve had it in my mind for a while now, and I picked the right call to use it.

Anyway, hope you guys like this chapter. If you do, comment, like, favorite and follow for future updates. Thank you all and goodnight everybody.

Note: I forgot to add the part about the baby missing from the description. Sorry bout that. Anyway, here ya go.