Blood stained the wooden floor. This was becoming a regular occurrence lately in Ponyville sadly enough. Big Macintosh (or Mac as he was known around the station) had discovered the body first. He and his partner, Baritone, had been on night patrol only an hour earlier when Big Macintosh’s ears had picked up a very “disturbing” noise a few alleys from where they were. Curiosity and the need to do his job is what lead him to head down the alley. After a few steps in, the flashlight attached to his uniform pocket (which he had switched on before entering the alleyway) fell upon the leg of a pony. The leg seemed limp and not in the way that a pony’s leg looked when it was asleep (though a dark alley was probably not the best spot for a nap). No, this leg was lifeless and the red liquid that was forming around it. By now Baritone had approached from behind Big Macintosh.
“Oh my god,” were the only words Baritone could breathe upon seeing the sight.
“Eeyep,” replied Big Mac.
An hour had passed, and despite the full moon above illuminating the town with shadows, everypony in Ponyville had arrived. Reporters, detectives, concerned civilians, everypony. Reports attempted to push past the makeshift barricades put in place by the unicorn officers. Though lights were set up to illuminate the crime scene for better investigation, a curtain had been put in place around the permitter. This was done so to not leak crime scene evidence and having “explicit” photos taken. Numerous reporters shouted to get a view of the body and asked multiple questions. Suddenly a voice screamed from the middle.
“Out of the way! PVPD! Move aside!”
The unicorns and earth ponies stepped aside to clear a way as the pegasi looked downward to see who had called for order. Stepping forward past the perimeter were two ponies. One followed close behind the other. This one wore a brown jacket suit that went to her waist leaving her backside exposed and matching brown hat (the common but non-required outfit worn by detectives). Beneath the hat and the running down the back of her strong neck was her mane. Long, unruly and incredibly colored. Rainbow colored to be more accurate. Sticking out the sides of the suit was a pair of tiny wings and on the pony’s rear was an image of a cloud with a rainbow lightning bolt which stuck out on the cyan color that covered the rest of her body (save for the matching mane and tail).
The other pony that led the rainbow one could in the easiest terms be described as purple. The suit she wore was identical to the other’s except that her suit was black rather than brown. As well there were no holes for wings as she had none. Instead a horn protruded from the top of her head just above the bangs created by her mane. The horn was directly in front of the hat so the front rested against it. Upon the two arriving, Big Mac turned to look over at Baritone.
“Say, who’s the purple one,” he asked.
“You don’t know?” he replied, “That’s the up and coming detective. The one who served in the second Equestria war. She got one of the highest honors for her service.”
“Is she any good at being on the force?”
“Are you kidding!? She has never had an unsolved case and she has been promoted 3 times in the past 8 months.”
At this point, Big Macintosh no longer wondered about the detective’s capabilities. But one more question did remain.
“What’s her name?”
“Detective Twilight Sparkle.”
Twilight approached the curtain the curtain surrounding the crime scene. The horn on her head gave a small purple glow and the curtain lifted enough for her to pass through though not enough for the crowd to see. After entering, Twilight kept her magic going long enough so Rainbow Dash, her partner, could enter the enclosed area as well. The sight before them was quite horrendous to say the least.
A yellow pony lay in a pool of her own blood. Her pink mane fell wildly across her face, covering it entirely. There were several puncture wounds in the chest area which was most likely the cause of death. But what was most interesting about this scene was what was missing. The victim’s cutie mark on her rear had been cut out in a perfect circle.
“Dear god, this poor girl,” Twilight whispered.
“Wait a minute...I know who she is,” Rainbow Dash said.
“Who is it?”
“Her name is...was Fluttershy. She ran the local Animal Shelter.”
“Why in God’s name would anyone want to kill her?”
“There probably was no reason. This was probably a robbery gone wrong or something.”
“I think you will find you are incorrect with that theory,” came a voice from behind the two detectives.
Both ponies spun around to see Captain Luna approaching. Rainbow Dash and Twilight did a quick bow of their heads. It had become a sign of respect some time ago to give a bow when appearing before the captain of a police force. Twilight was not sure who had made this a rule but she found it fitting. Both detectives rose their heads again to make contact with the captain. Twilight had only seen the captain a few times before (she was new to the homicide division) so she gave a moment to survey Luna. She was an alicorn, a rare species among ponies, giving her both a longer than normal unicorn horn and larger wings. The captain’s body color was a dark blue, similar to that of the night sky. Which made sense since her mane and tail were a spectrum of the abyss of space and the cutie mark that decorated her rear was a quarter moon.
“What do you mean, Captain?” Rainbow Dash inquired.
“What I mean is that money was found on the victim. This could not have been a robbery.”
Luna then turned to look directly at Twilight. Twilight gave a slight gulp of intimidation.
“You’re the new rising detective, right?” Luna asked.
“Yes Captain! Detective Twilight Sparkle,” she replied proudly.
“Well take a look around. I want to see if you can catch something most here have passed over.
Twilight was surprised by this. Why would the Captain directly ask her to look for something at the crime scene? It must have been a test. The purple mare turned back around to view the body. Caution was exercised upon approaching it. Almost as if expecting it to suddenly come back to life as some demonic spawn. This did not happen and Twilight knew better than to believe such things. Using her hoof, Twilight nudged the body so it rolled over on to its backside. She grimaced a little at the sight. It was her first dead body after all.
It would be fair to say that Twilight did not know this “Fluttershy.” But it would not be fair to say she was not aware of her. The unicorn remembers passing by the Animal Shelter from time to time and seeing the cheerful and shy pegasus. There was no way anyone would want to hurt her for a good reason. There was no way someone killed her for something she did. It had to be for something she did not do.
Twilight examined the body further. Four puncture wounds caused by a knife, two on each side. Strategically placed, methodical and thought out. Two stabs on one side was probably what it took to kill her and then the other two were added because of the killer’s desire. Something else caught Twilight’s eye now. One of the wings. Half of it was missing. It could not have been viewed before because the body was lying on the side the injured wing was on. The cut was jagged and oddly shaped. Maybe she tried to get away and the killer did this to stop her. The fatal stabs were delivered after the amputation. The cutie mark must have been cut off after death. Precision of the that level would need a still body. Twilight explained her theory to Rainbow and Luna.
“The coroner said almost exactly the same thing you did,” Luna responded. “Anything else?”
Shoot! She had missed something. What could it be? Twilight examined the stabs, the cut wing and the missing cutie mark again. Nothing. What was she missing? The detective was about to give up and ask the Captain what it was. That’s when she saw it. Out of the corner of her eye, covered by the pink mane. A small cut in the neck. Twilight pushed away the mane and turned the head of the victim with her hoof. Allowing a better view. It was another cut delivered post humous. The initials “B.M.” were cut into her neck.
“The letters,” Twilight said as she left the body in its resting place to join with her partner and boss again. “What do they mean?”
Luna smiled and stamped her hooves in the ground (the right one then the left one) to show her approval of Twilight’s work.
“Excellent work detective. Those letters do not have much of a meaning at this point. At least not as someone’s real name. The only pony in Ponyville with those initials is Big Macintosh.”
“So why don’t we follow up on this guy?” Rainbow Dash inquired.
“Because, he was the officer that found the body.”
“Doesn’t mean he didn’t do it. He could have killed her and then ‘found’ the body later to try appear innocent.”
“He could not have because she had only been dead for a sixty seconds when he and his partner found her.”
“A unicorn would have done this anyway,” Twilight added to the conversation.
Rainbow Dash sighed and rolled her eyes. “And what makes you think that, kid?”
“The officer must have just missed the killer. Only a unicorn could be that precise in cutting out the cutie mark in that short a time.”
“I was thinking the same thing, detective,” Luna replied. “Now here is the interesting part. This is not the first time we have seen a body like this.”
Rainbow Dash looked at the ground grimily. Not making eye contact with either. Twilight looked over at her and then back at the captain.
“What do you mean, ma’am?”
“In the past two weeks there have been two other bodies like this one. Killed by stabbing, missing a cutie mark and have the initials ‘B.M.’ cut somewhere on the pony.”
“Are we dealing with a serial killer?”
“It’s beginning to look that way...”
***
Twenty pictures, three bodies, one killer. Twenty pictures spread across Twilight desk. A light would glow around Twilight’s horn and a picture would levitate. One at a time at her eye level. From what she could tell, Fluttershy had it the best among the three. The first victim was a mare, and she had no name. She had to become another Jane Doe since there was no way to identify her. Reports had said it was here first day in Ponyville after moving from Canterlot and was new to the town. Twilight remembered when she had been reassigned to the Ponyville division after completing her academy work in Canterlot. She knew how it felt to be in a new place and did not blame this girl for not telling anyone her name. As well she must not have had anyone back home (or at least who cared about her) since no one identified her based on the description released to the public there.
The second victim was one “Berry Punch.” All six bars testified that she had been to their bars that night. Meaning she was heavily intoxicated at the time of death (as the autopsy showed). The killer did not have to fight much to take her down. Though if the killer was a unicorn then he or she probably could stay out of the way of the actual crime in progress. Which Twilight concluded meant that there would be no physical evidence like blood or signs of struggle on the criminal.
“Whatcha got Sparkle?” Rainbow Dash asked.
Twilight jumped a little when she heard the question. The pictures had pulled her away from her surroundings and awareness. Creating a world within her mind in which she only focused on what she wanted to.
“Oh! Uh, hi Dash... Well, I’m guessing our killer most likely had problems with a female figure in his life.”
“Hence the victims all being female?”
“Right.”
“So we are looking for a pony who wishes mommy had been better to him in his childhood?”
“Well...I guess you could phrase it that way. You know any like that in Ponyville?”
***
Three pink butterflies. A yellow patch. The cutie mark hovered in the air. Cut in a perfect circle. Removed from the body of a dead pony. A blue light surrounded the piece of flank that had been removed the victim. The pony looked over it and smiled. It was raised to the wooden wall and nailed beside two other cutie marks cut out in perfect circles.