Somepony Else's Problem
The pageant was getting to an end. Sweetie Belle, who played Princess Platinum, finished singing The Heart Carol with the crowd and the rest of the cast and went backstage to take off her costume.
“That was... even better than when I played that role,” Rarity said, clapping her hooves.
“Eeyup,” Big Macintosh added, wrapping his hoof around Fluttershy. Babs, who was standing next to them, only rolled her eyes. She looked at Filthy Rich who was standing not far away from them; as he told Babs, Diamond Tiara didn’t want to come to a pageant – apparently she was afraid that it would trigger some kind of attack.
Babs sighed when Scootaloo joined her. For a few days between their travel from Canterlot and Hearth’s Warming Eve, she had a feeling that Scootaloo was watching her almost constantly. She also caught her once whispering about something with Apple Bloom. When they saw her, they immediately changed topic.
“That was awesome!” Archer shouted, appearing seemingly out of nowhere. Babs smirked seeing her. It seemed that she’d already put her hooves on a bottle of booze. She put her hoof on Babs’ back and laughed. Babs shook her head. Seriously, she was supposed to be a guard?
“Wait till we go back to the Sweet Apple Acres,” Apple Bloom said, walking to them, still in her Smart Cookie’s outfit. “We prepared a small party…”
“Well, Ah guess it’s not as small since Pinkie decided to help us…” Applejack shook her head.
“Cool!” Archer exclaimed and started to run to Sweet Apple Acres.
“Is she always like that?” Apple Bloom asked Scootaloo.
“Usually,” Scootaloo replied, watching her cousin falling face-first into the snow. “But you wouldn’t want to see her when she’s serious…”
They waited for Sweetie Belle to join them and trotted towards the farm. Sweetie looked around, furrowing her eyebrows. “Have any of you seen Button?” she asked.
“No, and I haven’t seen Rumble either,” Scootaloo replied. “I guess they went somewhere to get drunk. Possibly debauching my cousin…”
“She’s already debauched,” Sweetie Belle muttered. “Though she wasn’t always like that… I remember that she was friends with Sun Glimmer…”
“Well, it’s called ‘reaching puberty’ and it happened to all of us…” Scootaloo said. “Except Babs…” she finished, lowering her voice to a whisper.
“What d’ya want from her again?” Apple Bloom asked. “Since y’all came back from Canterlot, ya seem weird…”
“I just have a feeling…” Scootaloo muttered.
“Chill out, Scoots,” Sweetie Belle said. “It’s Hearth’s Warming Eve. I don’t know what you want from Babs. She’s kinda like Diamond – a bit lost.”
“Yeah, sure…” Scootaloo shook her head. They saw the lights of the Sweet Apple Acres shining brightly in the winter night. Rainbow Dash and Thunderlane were already there, circling above the farmhouse. Scootaloo joined them. The wind chilled her wings, but she didn’t care; she spotted Rumble talking with Button Mash between the apple trees and landed next to them.
“Hello, Scoots,” Button said. When he saw her, he jumped, startled and smiled sheepishly. “Rumble and I were just–”
“Later,” Rumble interrupted him. “It’s getting cold in here, don’t you think? We’d better go inside.”
Babs looked at the remains of a cake in front of her and sighed, rubbing her stomach. Next to her, Sweetie Belle and Archer were singing a drunk rendition of Fiddlesticks’ “Barn Door”. ‘Drunk’ was, however, mostly on Archer’s part. Sweetie Belle either was better in holding her liquor, or she was just able to sing well, despite her tipsiness. Babs, however, couldn’t take her eyes off Archer. For some reason, she had a feeling that she was only pretending to be drunk. A few times it seemed to her that she caught a glimpse of Archer throwing curious glances at everypony around.
There were lots of things worth looking at. It was past midnight, so almost everypony loosened up a bit. The only calm ones were Fluttershy, Big Macintosh, and Twilight, who was almost nodding off, even though she didn’t drink. Next to her, Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash were chatting loudly about things that made even Babs blush. There were definitely things she didn’t want to know about Thunderlane.
Speaking of him, he was now telling some very interesting story about being a Wonderbolt to everypony who wanted to listen, which in this case meant Rarity and Applejack. Babs wasn’t sure, however, if Applejack was paying attention to what he was saying – Caramel was sitting with them.
Looking for Scootaloo, Babs spotted Rumble and Button talking in the darkest corner of the room. She facehoofed mentally. No wonder Scootaloo became so annoying – her coltfriend definitely preferred the company of other stallions. An idea appeared in Babs’ mind. She remembered that when she was younger, she was even better in pretending to be drunker than she really was. Too bad, one of the ponies she managed to cheat that way died in unexplained circumstances a few days before, but Babs didn’t care about it. She stood up and trotted staggeringly to Rumble and Button. When she approached them, she wrapped her forelegs around their necks, smiling widely.
“Hello, faggots,” she said a bit louder than she usually talked, before lowering her voice to a theatrical whisper. “If ya two need some time alone, I can give ya a key to the barn…”
Rumble looked at Button, then turned to Babs. “Fuck off,” he muttered. “We’re just talking.”
“Talkin’, right…” Babs chuckled. “I know your talkin’...”
Suddenly she heard Apple Bloom clearing her throat behind her. “Ya’d better go to sleep, Babs,” she said. “Ya and Archer definitely had enough…”
“I had enough?” Babs asked, deciding to stay in her role. “Please, girl… I can drink much more than ya… Wanna see it?”
“No,” Apple Bloom replied coldly. “Could ya stop behavin’ like that? Ah sometimes think Scoots was right…”
“Oh, I forgot… Ya’re the responsible one…” Babs muttered. She realised that it wasn’t only a play. It wasn’t alcohol that caused her to say that; the cause definitely was deeper. “Ya don’t even go on dates ‘cause ya only care about the farm… And I? My own family rejected me…”
Apple Bloom sighed and pulled Babs away from Rumble and Button. “Ah’m sure they’ll change their minds,” she said. “If they see that you changed…”
Babs shook her head. “But did I change? D’ya think I changed, cuz?”
“Ya did,” Apple Bloom replied. She released Babs, seeing that she was able to walk on her own. “Ya’re wiser and Ah’m sure ya’ll never do that again…”
“Sure…” Babs muttered. They trotted out of the room. “Still, I’m nothin’ like Diamond Tiara…”
“Diamond is on meds,” Apple Bloom said. “Ya deal with everythin’ yourself.”
“Yeah… maybe.” Babs shrugged. “Goodnight, Apple Bloom… And sorry for that…”
She trotted upstairs and went to her room. She was about to throw herself on the bed, when she saw something moving behind the window. She took a knife from her nightstand, opened it, and went to the window. She pushed the knob and cold wind ruffled her mane. She had to blink, but she saw a silhouette of a pegasus landing on the windowsill.
“What the hell ya want?” Babs asked. “D’ya like watchin’ me sleep or what?”
“I just wanted to talk to you in private,” Scootaloo replied, closing the window and stepping into a circle of light. “Put that knife back, please.”
Babs wanted to say something snarky, but she put the knife on the nightstand and sat on her bed. “So, what d’ya want?”
“Did you kill that guy?” Scootaloo asked.
“W-what?” Babs shuddered visibly. “How can ya accuse me of that? I was with ya all the time! I don’t even know him!”
“You weren’t with us all the time,” Scootaloo said calmly. “You said something about the taxi…”
“Yeah, sure…” Babs muttered, glaring at Scootaloo angrily. “I went to Canterlot to kill a guy I don’t even know…”
“I don’t know why you wanted to kill him,” Scootaloo said. “But I’m sure you’ve heard about failure drill or Zebrican drill?”
“Yeah… So what?” Babs asked, sitting on her bed. “Lots of ponies were in the camp with me… Not to mention that half of the war novels mentions it…”
“But those ponies weren’t caught with a Souvenir from Manehattan hidden under their jackets…” Scootaloo replied.
“I can’t even shoot it!” Babs shouted. “I made a mistake… I shouldn’t have helped her hidin’ it…” She lowered her head. “Why are ya accusing me?”
Scootaloo sighed. “I worry about Apple Bloom,” she said. “I… I don’t want to believe that you did that… But if you did… What have you done with the gun? You tossed it into the sewer? Unless it falls on the head of that monster from Dr. Stable’s story, somepony will find it. Do you know what Apple Bloom will do when you’re caught again? This time it won’t be a boot camp, Babs.”
Babs was sitting in silence for a while. “Ya speak as if the boot camp was easy…” she said eventually.
“That’s not the point,” Scootaloo interrupted her. She approached Babs, watching her hooves and the knife lying on the nightstand carefully. “Listen Babs… Have you read the newspapers? There was a pregnant mare with that guy… She’s in the hospital now; they’re trying to save her baby.”
“So?” Babs asked. “Is it my baby? I’m sorry, Scoots, but I’m not in a mood to talk. I’ll think about it...”
“What’s here to think about?” Scootaloo asked. “You either did it or not.”
Babs yawned. “I’m tipsy and tired,” she said. “I’ll tell ya tomorrow… Honestly.”
“Yeah, sure…” Scootaloo muttered. She opened the window and flew away.
Babs was lying in the darkness for a few minutes, hoping that she wouldn’t come back. She tried to steady her breath, but something was botching her attempts to do so. Finally, she got up from her bed and took her knife. She opened a drawer and took a hoofband from it. She put it on her leg and hid the knife behind it. She looked out of the the window, but Scootaloo wasn’t around. The sounds of the party got quieter. Babs opened the door and, walking near the wall and avoiding the creaky boards, went to the stairs. Carefully checking if nopony was around, she trotted downstairs. She picked her jacket and left the house, galloping through the snowy orchard.
Diamond Tiara couldn’t sleep. She turned in her bed. The Hearth’s Warming Eve party was over; she lasted only to the moment when the servants announced that Silverspeed arrived. Before Filthy Rich went to greet her and came back to the table, Diamond Tiara was in her room.
“Why didn’t you want to meet my mom?” Silver Spoon asked. She was sitting next to Diamond Tiara’s bed, patting her mane. “Also, we didn’t stay for dessert.”
“I don’t want to see her and you know well why,” Diamond Tiara replied. “She will never forgive me…”
“You’ll never know if you don’t try,” Silver Spoon said. “Go to her and try to talk to her…”
“I don’t want to interrupt them,” Diamond Tiara muttered, sinking her face in a pillow. “Your mom and my dad are happy together… I think. I’m like a fifth wheel of a carriage...”
“That what you think… What she tells you…” Silver Spoon whispered into her ear, causing Diamond Tiara to shudder.
“She doesn’t speak to me anymore…” Diamond Tiara covered her head with a blanket.
“Are you sure?”
Diamond Tiara froze. She looked around. Silver Spoon was nowhere to be seen. Neither was Curtain Call, but Diamond Tiara knew that she was hiding somewhere there. The last words definitely weren’t said in Silver’s voice.
She tried to look for her pills, but then she realised that she left them in the kitchen. To retrieve them, she’d have to walk through the living room, where Filthy Rich and Silverspeed were talking. There were also servants… Diamond Tiara didn’t want to risk their lives.
She lay back on the bed, trying to calm down. Her muscles started to shiver; she couldn’t feel her hooves. She gritted her teeth, trying to focus, but something was still off; the room was spinning around her and her vision was blurring. She didn’t want to risk staying at home with all those ponies. She opened the window and pushed herself through it, thinking that it was much easier when she was nine.
She shuddered when her hooves touch the snow. Walking through the garden, she couldn’t get rid of an unpleasant thought that this was how it all started – from a walk in the middle of the night, ended with smashing Pipsqueak’s skull with a rock. The hole in the fence was still where it used to be. Diamond somehow managed to get through it and trotted down the street.
Her breath became more steady; her vision sharpened. The droning noise disappeared. Diamond Tiara, however, didn’t want to go back home. She decided to take a short walk first, making sure that she was okay. She wandered through the empty streets. The light in some of the houses was still on, despite the late hour.
Diamond Tiara turned into some side street, wondering if her friends were sleeping. Then she caught herself on thinking about them as “friends”.
“Merry Hearth’s Warming Eve!” somepony shouted in a raspy, alcohol-filled voice.
“For you too!” Diamond Tiara replied, seeing the dark silhouette of a pony emerging from the darkness.
Suddenly, a strong blow to the head caused her to collapse on the snow. Before she could get up, another kick almost rendered her unconscious. Her vision blurred again. Her ears were assaulted with white noise; she wanted to get up and show that pony what fate awaited for those who dared to attack her. However, she could only whimper, when the pony dragged her to a cellar door next to one of the houses.
“You don’t even know how happy I am to meet you…” She heard a voice she recognised as belonging to Cherry Berry; she was now opening the cellar door. “A Hearth’s Warming gift…”
Diamond Tiara wanted to scream, but a kick to the stomach had made her barely able to breathe. Cherry Berry kicked her again, pushing her down the stairs into some dark basement. Then she walked behind her.
“Now you’ll feel what Ruby and Berry felt…” Cherry Berry muttered, staggering slightly. She raised her hoof to punch Diamond, when somepony switched on the light in the basement.
Diamond Tiara blinked. The room was full of bags of sugar, boxes of candies, and some barrels and cases. Cherry Berry looked at the other set of stairs, allowing to enter the basement from inside of the house. Bon Bon was walking downstairs. She was wearing her pajamas and a nightcap.
“What the fuck are you doing in my basement, Cherry?” Bon Bon asked.
“Language, Bonnie…” Cherry Berry muttered. “We have a guest…”
Bon Bon stopped, seeing Diamond Tiara panting on the ground, her coat wet from the snow. Her eyes widened. “What have you done, idiot?!” she exclaimed. “Are you crazy?”
“Oh, come on…” Cherry Berry hit Diamond Tiara again and pinned her to the ground. “She killed your sister, remember?”
Bon Bon shuddered. She approached Cherry Berry, trying to pull her away from Diamond Tiara. “Killing her won’t bring Twist back,” she said. “I don’t think Twist would want that…”
“We don’t have to kill her…” said Cherry Berry, placing her hoof on Diamond Tiara’s neck. “How about blinding her and breaking her spine? We’d never have to worry about her anymore.”
Diamond Tiara closed her eyes, trying to hold back tears. She heard somepony’s hoofsteps and thought that Cherry Berry managed to convince Bon Bon. She started to shiver. Deep inside her head, Curtain Call opened her eyes and started to whisper something into her ear.
“Cherry, stop it!” Bon Bon shouted. Diamond heard a slap and Bon Bon’s surprised moan. Then she felt that Cherry Berry caught her with her hooves.
“I wonder how you’ll like the rest of your life… Hmm, maybe I should cut off your tongue too?” Cherry Berry forced Diamond Tiara’s mouth open. “Sitting alone in the darkness for the next sixty years…”
Suddenly, her voice changed into gurgling. Diamond Tiara felt that something warm and sticky sprayed on her face before Cherry Berry released her. She screamed, feeling a strange force taking over her body. She opened her eyes and darted forward, tackling Cherry Berry.
She didn’t care about the fact that Cherry Berry was now bleeding out from a large wound in her throat. All she wanted to do was to follow Curtain Call’s whispers; to beat, mangle, and kill. Her hooves were hitting Cherry Berry’s face, breaking bones, gouging her eyes, and changing it into unrecognisable pulp.
Babs picked up her knife and turned to Bon Bon, who was cowering on the ground, holding her face with her hooves – a split second after Babs slit Cherry’s throat, she kicked Bon Bon just in case. Now she stood above her, aiming the bloodied knife at her. “I should let Diamond kill ya,” she said. “Or maybe I should blind ya, deafen ya, break your spine, rip your tongue out, and cauterise your cunt? Ya’d still be alive… Unable to see or feel, but alive…”
“No! Please!” Bon Bon screamed, trying to crawl as far away from Babs as possible. “I didn’t want to hurt her!”
“Oh really?” Babs asked. “I haven’t heard you protesting too much… Though I almost got late to the party…”
Behind her, Diamond Tiara backpedalled from Cherry Berry’s mangled body and sat on the floor, shaken by dry heave.
“Please!” Bon Bon shouted, trying to hold Babs’ hooves. “I didn’t want that!”
Babs sighed. Then she delivered a powerful buck to Bon Bon’s stomach, knocking the wind out of her and causing her to throw up on the floor. She smirked and spat on her. “Consider this your lucky day, cunt…” she muttered and trotted to Diamond, who was staring at her hooves in disbelief.
“Bonnie?” they heard a voice from the upstairs.
“Shit…” Babs muttered and helped Diamond Tiara get up. “We need to get outta here…”
They ran out of the basement and galloped through the town, hiding in some dark nook. Babs took a hoofful of snow and started to wipe blood off of herself and Diamond Tiara. They still needed a bath, but at least the stains weren’t as visible as before.
“W-what happened?” Diamond Tiara asked, looking around groggily.
“We need to run away,” Babs said. “There should be a night train to Baltimare soon…”
“R-run away? Why?” Diamond Tiara asked. “She wanted to kill me…”
Babs hesitated. She thought about Scootaloo and the bloodied corpse on the basement floor. “Nopony would believe it was a self-defence…” she said. “We’re unharmed and she…” She paused, seeing that Diamond Tiara sobbed.
“D-did I kill her?”
Babs’ ears perked up. “Yes,” she said quickly. “I heard ya and I wanted to stop it, but ya were already attackin’ her…”
“No!” Diamond Tiara cried. “I didn’t want that…”
“Shh… We need to go to the station,” Babs said. “I won’t leave ya. If we’re lucky, they won’t call the guards till they find a better explanation than ‘we kidnapped Diamond Tiara and she got crazy’... That’s our chance. We’ll wash ourselves in the bathroom and get on the train… D’ya have any money?”
“Yes…” Diamond Tiara muttered. “But I have no meds…”
“Don’t worry, I’ll take care of ya…” Babs said. She gave Diamond Tiara her jacket to cover some of the blood stains that didn’t want to get off her coat. “Let’s go. We can’t stay here…”
Diamond Tiara followed her silently.
Stats
Page generated in 0.025 seconds
Total duration
936 users online
1,813,695 hits today, 2,139,894 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
I'm still a bit confused how Octavia's foal is in jeopardy, when the last chapter said the bullet grazed her flank. That's, nowhere near the foal. The flank is her rear, the foal would in the belly section, under her. Plus, it grazed her, as in, didn't go it but skimmed the surface. She'd just have a sore rear for a while, unless I'm misunderstanding something.
5046513
It's not the wound that is a threat, rather shock and trauma caused by the fact that she was wounded and Jet Set was killed next to her.
(Reads the end of the chapter.)
......... Well fuck.
Move over, Lightning Dust.
Two new Most Wanted ponies in Equestria are taking your place real soon...
Wait... The blood spatter was BEFORE Diamond got up and counterattacked so...
...Dammit, Babs. This'll come back to hit her so hard it'll make her wish she was Cherry Berry
5048367
Babs generally gathers bad karma since Manehattan Blues... Also, travelling with mentally unstable Diamond? Way to go...
5046917
Maybe she didn't say her last word yet...
DAMN!!!
5050010
Is it good "damn" or bad "damn"?
5050086 a surprised and good damn
Dammit babs *facehoofs*
you know.. I never liked Babs Seed.. not one bit..