Ten Years Later
"And every Nightmare Night, The Ponyville Butcher rises from the grave, seeking little foals who come to close to her house. Her purple mane and tail hang like twisted curtains, waiting to ensnare anypony that she deems unworthy to live! Her cutie mark is a skull with blood dripping down her flank and her eyes are black and lifeless and If she catches you, she takes you down to her basement and straps you to her table. Hanging on the walls are the skins all of the other foals that were foolish enough to come too close to her home and once you are on the table, she takes her jagged knife and slowly begins slicing into your skin, tearing it off piece by piece!"
Three foals, two colts and a filly, sat around the Ponyville memorial, telling each other ghost stories. It was Nightmare Night and all manner of hideous creatures were out and about, searching for candy from their kindly neighbors. These particular foals had filled up their bags of candy and had decided to take a break near the memorial before going home. The eldest had decided to tell the other two The Legend of the Ponyville Butcher and it was going quite well for him. The other two looked scared out of their minds.
"Once she's done tearing off your skin, she takes a rusty hacksaw and cuts open your stomach so she can eat your inner organs because she thinks it'll grant her eternal youth and beauty!"
"Nu-uh!" said the filly who had finally worked up the courage to speak up. "My mommy said that she was just a sad lady who did angry things! She didn't eat foals!"
"Well my daddy said that the royal guards found the remains of a mother and her filly in the basement and that their eyes had been eaten and their hearts cut out too!" said the other colt knowledgeably.
"Will you two cut it out?" snapped the lead colt. "You're messing up my story! I was just about to get to the best part!"
"But you're telling lies!" the other colt accused. "And my mommy said that The Ponyville Butcher will come get you if you tell lies!"
"She will?" asked the filly. "I thought that they executed her!"
"Oh that's what they thought," said the lead colt with a smirk. "But I heard that she switched faces with another mare that was executed in her place!"
"How can you switch faces with another mare?" asked the other colt. "I haven't ever heard of magic that can do that!"
"She was well versed in black magic," said the lead colt ominously. "That's why even Princess Celestia is too scared to go get her."
"But if she didn't die then how does she rise from the grave every Nightmare Night?" asked the filly.
The lead colt opened his mouth to respond, but he promptly shut it once more and a contemplative look crossed his face. "Uh... I dunno."
"I think you made the stuff about black magic up!" said the other colt triumphantly.
"Nu-uh!" the lead colt insisted. "She did black magic! I have a friend who has a friend whose daddy told him so!"
"But she was executed, right?" asked the filly. The lead colt rolled his eyes and grumbled a bit.
"Okay, so maybe she didn't switch faces with another mare, but she still did lotsa black magic! If you go to her house she'll get you!"
"But her sister lives there," the filly pointed out. "I've heard that she's a perfectly nice mare that never harmed anypony!"
"You really believe that?" the lead colt scoffed. "She's in cahoots with her dead sister, I'm sure of it. If you go by her house on Nightmare Night then they get you!"
A sly look crossed the other colt's face. "Oh really? Then I triple-mare dare you to go to her house."
"What?"
"The Ponyville Butcher's house, I triple-mare dare you to walk up to it and ring the doorbell." The grin widened. "Or are you too chicken?"
"I'm not chicken!" the lead colt insisted. "I've been near that old place dozens of times; it's not a big deal."
"Well then go do it," said the filly eagerly. "Go ring the doorbell!"
Realizing that he was trapped, triple-mare dares are not something that one can simply ignore, the lead colt stood up and tried his best to make a brave, yet casual, face. "I will!"
The three foals immediately began walking towards the home of the Ponyville Butcher: Carousel Boutique. Everypony in town knew what had happened there, it had only been just over ten years since Rarity's execution, but on the whole they generally ignored it. In fact, ever since her sister Sweetie Belle had begun to live there, they began working up the nerve to be around the house again. However, most ponies in town still didn't have the nerve to actually go inside. Not after...that happened. However, every Nightmare Night the house became the stuff of legends and dark tales. Whispers echoed through the night about the horrors that had taken place in Rarity's basement as the townsponies quietly gossiped about Rarity the unicorn and her murderous urges and the simple house became the place where nightmares formed.
That was the basis of the journey of the three foals towards Carousel Boutique. The lead foal most certainly didn't want to go ring the doorbell of the house, who did? Not on Nightmare Night. Never on Nightmare Night.
However, the lead colt found himself slowly trekking towards the house in question as his eager friends walked behind him, curious as to whether or not he would actually complete the dare.
Within a few minutes, the looming building that was Carousel Boutique appeared in front of the three mischievous foals. It had been decorated for Nightmare Night, just as it was every year, with cheap paper decorations that were far more silly than actually scary. The sister always made an effort to make the house look as non-threatening as possible, not that it ever worked. The house was always scary on Nightmare Night.
The lead colt looked back towards his friends who gave him eager nods of encouragement. This would be good, they could already tell. The lead colt gulped nervously and slowly began walking up towards the door. The cold wind blew and a a nearby streetlamp flickered ever so slightly which only increased the ever-growing feeling of dread in the colt.
"She's not gonna eat me," whispered the colt to himself. "She's not gonna eat me."
The colt managed to reach the door after a few more moments and he looked up at the doorbell. It seemed to him to be miles in the air and he wondered if he could even reach it. Looking back at his friends he saw them give encouraging nods once more and she raised his hoof up high, hoping that he couldn't reach the doorbell and that this stupid dare would be over so they could get back to eating candy and telling stories that didn't put his life at risk.
However, he noticed that he was more than capable of reaching the doorbell and he gently placed a hoof on it and pushed the button.
Immediately a pleasant chime filled the colt's ears as the doorbell went off. It reminded him vaguely of a song that his mother enjoyed playing every now and again but--
At that moment the door swung open and Tartarus in Equestria was revealed. For there, standing before the young colt in all of her twisted glory was The Ponyville Butcher. True to the legends her mane hung from her head like twisted curtains. They seemed to be faded slightly but that merely added to the terror. The legends were also true about her cutie mark which was indeed a skull. However it was her eyes that frightened the colt the most. They were the most blank and lifeless eyes that he had ever seen and it seemed to him that they were staring into his very soul, hoping that it could catch him so that she could eat it.
The colt gave a loud shriek of fear and bolted away from the nightmarish creature before him. He tripped over a large bowl and he was sent tumbling. However, he wasn't down for long as sheer terror motivated him to stand back up and run back to the safety of...wherever the butcher wasn't. The colt ran back towards his equally terrified friends, shrieking the entire time.
"SHE'S GONNA EAT ME!" screeched the terrified colt and with a scream of terror, the three foals grabbed their fallen bags of candy and ran into the night.
The Ponyville Butcher stared after them, watching them flee with a satisfied expression. She shook her head and used her magic to put the bowl back in its proper spot as well as put the large amount of spilled candy back into its proper spot.
'The Ponyville Butcher sighed and took off her wig and fake cutie mark revealing the tired form of Sweetie Belle. She shook her head once more, although there was a hint of sorrow in the movement this time, before she used her magic to grab a piece of candy, nopony ever took any from her house anyway but she put it out every year just in case, and walked back into her house.
The years had been a mixed bag for Sweetie Belle since the execution of her sister. She had been allowed to stay in Ponyville while her parents moved away to their jobs in Hoofington. The big deciding factor had been Twilight making a plea to Celestia to get the bank to unlock Rarity's money so Sweetie Belle could support herself. Her parents had left for Hoofington a month after the memorial.
Sweetie Belle sat down in her kitchen and opened up her Three Maresketeers bar and slowly nibbled on it as she reminisced.
She had gotten her cutie mark only a few months after her parents had moved away. Surprisingly enough she actually managed to find it while she was crusading with Apple Bloom and Scootaloo. She had felt an overwhelming urge to sing when the Crusaders had finished trying out to be Cutie Mark Crusaders Ice Sculptors and had, once again, failed miserably. She had noticed that a chunk of ice resembled a failed set piece from their failed concert. She began singing the Crusaders theme song and in a few moments, a large crowd had gathered around to hear her sing. Their encouragement caused her to keep going and a few seconds after she had finished the song, her cutie mark appeared. It was a simple thing; just a silver bell with a matching eighth note but it meant the world to her.
Apple Bloom and Scootaloo had gotten their marks only a few months later. A storm blew through Ponyville one day and Apple Bloom had helped repair the damage which earned her her mark. Scootaloo got hers while doing tricks on her scooter to the amusement of a crowd of ponies that had gathered. It seemed that Scootaloo was destined to perform tricks from that moment on. A Wonderbolts poster that was hanging in Sweetie Belle's room signed by both Scootaloo and Rainbow Dash confirmed that particular idea.
However, there had been hard times too. A fair portion of the town still didn't trust that she wouldn't turn out to be a psychopath like her sister had and that made life incredibly difficult for Sweetie Belle. Rarity's money meant that she didn't have to work if she didn't want to, but she still tried to hold down jobs. She was currently working as a waitress at a local restaurant but she suspected that she would have to move jobs again. The ponies of the town who hated her always refused to give the places where she worked their business.
Then there were the Nightmare Nights. Ah yes, the Nightmare Nights.
Nightmare Night had always been Sweetie Belle's favorite holiday before Rarity died. She had many fond memories of trick r treating, with Rarity by her side every step of the way, until her bag was full and she was so tired that she couldn't walk anymore. Rarity would always carry her back to her home before gently taking off whatever costume Sweetie Belle wore and tucking her into her nice warm bed before singing her to sleep. In an odd way, Nightmare Night was one of the most comforting nights, the one night of the year where she felt most loved and secure. Now though, now she dreaded every second of the wretched holiday.
Nightmare Night had always been a night to demonize things. It was a night where all of the worst things came out to prey on the fears and weaknesses of Equestria and a lot of ponies took it seriously. Based on that, how would Rarity's legacy not be dragged through the mud even more during the one holiday where demons and ghosts roam free?
Every year it was the same thing: a group of foals would come up to her house and doorbell-ditch her. Or at least, when she was lucky that was all that happened to her. It wasn't unusual for her house to get egged or even for crude pictures of Rarity killing other ponies to be drawn all over her house. Every year she would wake up after Nightmare Night and take her bowl of candy that she had set out for the foals inside, still just as full as it was when she left it out, before she got to work repairing the damage that the pranksters played on her that year.
Well, this year she had decided to get them back a little for their cruelty.
She finished her candy bar and tossed the wrapper into the trash. She casually glanced at the clock and saw that it was only 8:15 which meant that the worst pranks on her house were yet to come. She groaned and put her head in her hooves. She sighed and idly began playing with her Rarity wig. She had made it herself only a few weeks ago to scare any foals who came up to her house with the intent of pranking her.
At that moment, she heard a loud knock on her door followed by three rapid rings of her doorbell. She frowned and curiously stood up. She walked towards her door and looked through the peephole. Standing on the other side of her door were two mares and an extremely angry stallion. She groaned but opened the door nonetheless.
"Can I help you?" she asked. The stallion, a rather ill-tempered fellow by the name of Barley Brewer, glared at Sweetie Belle as if hoping that his mere look would kill her on the spot.
"Yeah, you can!" he said angrily. "You can help me by telling me why you did that to my son!" Sweetie Belle sighed and looked at the two mares.
"I take it you're here for the same reason?" she asked. The two mares nodded and Sweetie Belle nodded as well before she turned her attention back to Barley Brewer. "I thought I made it clear that I wouldn't tolerate pranksters this year Mr. Brewer."
"So you decided to scare the living daylights out of them by making them think that your butcher of a sister was coming to get them!?" growled Barley Brewer. Sweetie Belle flinched, she still hadn't gotten used to the townsponies calling her sister a butcher, but she recovered and frowned.
"I thought I brought it up during the annual town Nightmare Night planning meeting that I would take drastic measures to deter anypony who wanted to prank me this year," said Sweetie Belle irately. "You know that it costs me hundreds of bits to repair the damage to my house and frankly I'm sick of it."
The stallion continued to glare at her.
"Can we come in?" he asked. "There are some things that I would like to say to you that I don't want the public to overhear." Sweetie Belle frowned but she nodded and led the three ponies into her kitchen. Sweetie Belle noticed that Barley Brewer was a little disoriented. Great, he had been drinking.
"So what do you want to say?" she asked.
"I want to tell you that I think you're a blight on this whole town!" said Barley Brewer. "They should have locked you up after they put your sister down so that we civilized ponies wouldn't have to deal with this." He pointed to the discarded wig that was lying on the table. Sweetie Belle glared at him.
"Is that all you have to say?" she asked angrily. "You just want to tell me the same nonsense that I've been hearing from half the town for the past ten years?"
"I ain't finished!" said Barley Brewer angrily. "I--"
"You know that nothing you're gonna say is going to surprise me in the least," said Sweetie Belle. "I've heard it all before and I'll hear it some more for the rest of my life. Right now though I want you to take your sorry drunken flank and exit my house before I do more than just scare your little brat with a fake wig! If I had any sense at all I would have slammed the door right in your face the minute I opened it!"
Barley Brewer's eyes narrowed and he walked up close to Sweetie Belle and brought his face in close.
"I--" he began.
"I don't want to hear it," said Sweetie Belle. "Get. Out. Of. My. House!"
The two glared at each other for a moment before Barley Brewer turned around. Sweetie Belle gave a satisfied smirk that this drunken fool seemed to have given up. However, the grin soon faded when Barley Brewer suddenly bucked her directly in the face, sending her flying backwards. She hit her counter with such force that the wind was knocked out of her. She heard the mares scream as Barely Brewer walked up to Sweetie Belle with a mad glint in his eye. Sweetie Belle gasped and opened up the nearest drawer, hoping that she would find something that could defend her against this drunk.
"Stay away from me!" she said. "Get out of my house!"
"Nopony talks to me or about my son like that!" said Barley Brewer angrily. Sweetie Belle focused on the contents of the drawer and found the perfect weapon. Just as Barley Brewer reached her, Sweetie Belle pulled a large bread knife out of the drawer and swung it at his face. Barley Brewer howled in pain as the jagged end of the knife sliced his left cheek open. He stumbled backwards, clutching at the large gash would on the side of his head.
Sweetie Belle's eyes widened and she dropped the knife.
"Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry!" she said as she gingerly stood up. "Here, I have a first-aid kit around, let me help you--"
Sweetie Belle was flung back once more as Barley Brewer's hoof connected with the side of her head.
"I knew it!" he said as he regained his balance. "I knew that you were a psycho, just like your butcher of a sister!"
"No!" said Sweetie Belle desperately. "I was just--"
"They'll lock you up forever for this," said Barley Brewer angrily as he ran towards the door, followed by the mares. "They should have never let you near civilization!"
"No!" said Sweetie Belle who was struggling to get up but it was too late. The three of them had already run out into the night.
Sweetie Belle sat up as blood began dripping from her muzzle. That had escalated extremely quickly. She looked over to see the fallen bread knife and her eyes widened in horror when she saw the crimson stain upon the blade that was dripping on the floor. She had attacked another pony with a knife! She gave a small whimper and continued staring at the knife. Was she a psychopath after all!? Of course, the attack had clearly been self-defense, but that was how Rarity had gotten started too!
She slowly stood up and grabbed the knife with her magic before she cleaned it off in the sink and returned it to its normal spot in the drawer. She then sat down at her table and once more put her head in her hooves. For the first time in ten years, she had attacked and injured another pony.
"What have I done!?" she whimpered sadly. "I didn't need to slice his face open!"
At that moment Sweetie Belle heard the sound of what seemed to be three ponies entering her house. What now!? She looked up to see three police officers entering the kitchen, each with a grim look on their face.
"Are you Sweetie Belle?" the lead one asked. Sweetie Belle dejectedly nodded. She knew what was coming. "You are under arrest for the assault with a deadly weapon of one Barley Brewer." Sweetie Belle silently stood up and allowed herself to be hoofcuffed and escorted out of her home.