Segment 2 Chapter 8
Scootaloo had woken up earlier than she had in her entire life. She had already packed her small saddlebag of all her earthly possessions. It was easy she had so few. The young filly was eager to begin her new life with her hero and that life would start today! She gingerly crawled over the sleeping Applebloom and Sweetie Belle. She paused momentarily and smirked down at the black eye the white filly still wore. Sweetie would never trouble her again; it was like a new lease on life. It would be just her and Rainbow Dash forever. Sweetie would stay here and become some glorified goon for Applejack. She would probably have a violent death, or at least Scoots could hope.
She lingered for a moment above the filly and then eased out of the bed. Her saddlebag was carefully tucked behind the toy box. She tugged it free and quickly made her way into the hallway.
The pegasus didn’t notice when Sweetie Belle’s good eye opened and turned to regard her, a small smirk growing on the unicorn’s face. Goodbye, Scoot. it's about time.
Scoots walked on the tips of her hooves down to the main level of the farmhouse. She poked her head around corners and made sure the coast was clear before moving into a new hall. Despite the darkness, the filly wanted to be as careful as she could be. She didn’t want to get caught, not that she really thought anypony would mind if she were to disappear. She made her way towards the stairs that led down to the cellar level. She hoped Dash was awake so they could get on the road as quickly as possible. The farm was a bad dream that she wanted to forget, the sooner the better.
Scoots played out in her mind what it would be like to live alone with Dash. They would wake up and Dash would fix her breakfast. They would eat and talk and laugh and then Dash would walk her to school. She hadn’t been to school in a long time and, even though it had been tough for the filly, she had enjoyed it. Dash would train and become a weather pony and would head to work, making sure to be back to pick Scoots up from school. They would go home and Dash would teach her amazing tricks in the evenings. They would have dinner and then cuddle together and read stories until it was bedtime. It would be like those few memories she had of her parents—the good ones, when her mom and dad still loved her, before they abandoned her to Ponyville’s streets. This would be different. Dash would love her forever and Scoots would love her back.
The filly was so deep in thought that she barely heard the stair near the top of the cellar stairway let out a moan. Scoots had always been careful of that step when she was stealing food for Dash, having long ago discovered it would betray her to whoever was nearby.
Quickly the pegasus ducked into a doorway that led into the kitchen. This entrance had no door and so she simply hopped into the room, dissolving into the blackness and standing as still as she could. Was it Dash coming to wake her up? It had to be! Nopony else went into the cellar.
She was about to step back into the hallway but something stopped her, some deep down fear. She held her breath and watched what had to be Applejack quietly slip by the doorframe. Scoots waited in confusion until the figure had enough time to clear the hallway. What was she doing in the cellar? Was she beating up Dash some more? Why did she have to be so mean to Rainbow? Hadn’t she had her fill of violence towards Scoot’s hero? Scootaloo breathed again and a cold chill ran through her. She needed to get downstairs and check on her only friend. She had to see what Applejack had done to her.
Scootaloo scampered out of the kitchen and down the steps, minding the squeaky one near the top, and down onto the concrete foundation of the cellar level. She could see Dash’s light was on and she galloped the last few yards, turning the knob and opening the door, needing to see what AJ had done to Dash this time.
Shortly after Scootaloo entered, from the cellar came a soft crying and moaning. It was as if somepony’s hopes had died. Full of pain, anguish, and unimaginable sorrow, the sobs and shrieks of loss were the death rattle of the young pegasus’ dreams. Life was unfair and this was the worst torment it could have planned for the young filly. For a very long time, the pathetic sound would fill resonate through the cellar hallway.
***
Applejack had business to attend to. She had skipped breakfast and simply gone into her office to begin planning out the day. Pinkie Pie had to be dealt with and, once somepony discovered Rainbow, they would have to bury her … Applejack willed her walls up. She just had to keep focused. There was still so much to do. She had to be the leader.
JackSlap and Big Mac had come into her office shortly after she had taken her seat behind her sturdy desk. They had come in to talk about the information they had gotten the night before. Something had to be done. JackSlap had been talking, but AJ was lost in thought. She had been remembering the first time she had seen Dashie …
“Uhhh … right, boss?” JackSlap questioned, his voice telling that he thought he had made some sort of stupid mistake in his cognitive functions when AJ didn’t answer him right away. It happened fairly often and the green pony had really been trying to cut down the number of instances that Applejack had to call him an idiot.
“Yeah … that’s right,” Applejack answered, but had no idea to what she had just agreed. She focused her energy back to the conversation, but she noted JackSlap’s demeanor change when she lifted her head up.
“Boss, you okay? You look pretty bad.” The enforcer had never seen his boss in such a state before. Her eyes were bright red and she almost looked like she had been … crying? JackSlap knew what crying looked like. His victims did it a lot between slaps to the face. He liked to watch mares cry the most. It usually turned him on, but on Applejack it scared him. The boss was the toughest pony he had ever met. If something was bothering her that badly it spelled disaster.
“Jack, just shut the buck up. Do Ah tell ya yer face looks like a pile of gryphon crap? Ah was up all night figurin’ what we’d do with Pinkie Pie. We move today,” Applejack growled at her enforcer.
JackSlap looked to Big Macintosh for support, but only got an angry glare. Mac didn’t appreciate the purple-maned leg breaker pointing out his sister’s rough state. Mac had noticed it already, but wasn’t about to point it out. AJ was tough; she wouldn’t like having a fault discussed by the likes of JackSlap. Jack looked away and changed the subject.
“Good. If we’re going to be doing away with those two at the bakery, can I rape the pink one? She’s way too happy for her own good and I want to see her break before we kill her. I want to watch the joy drain out of her eyes.” The grin he sprouted was disgusting. Jackslap was a filthy fellow, but he was a valuable enforcer. He took great pleasure in harming others and he used all the tools he could to break a pony. He didn’t get as much sexual pleasure from forcefully taking a mare, as sick satisfaction. He liked to watch their souls deaden before he killed their bodies.
Applejack sighed and lowered her head a little, her hat covering her eyes again. “Maybe, Jack. Ah don’t know exactly what we should do about Pinkie yet.”
“What?” Big Macintosh sounded surprised. It wasn’t often he spoke, but he had clearly taken some issue with Applejack’s lack of decision on the matter. “AJ, we have ta kill’em. This can’t be forgiven. If they get away with this, the whole town’ll turn against us.”
Applejack growled and stood up angrily, shutting her brother’s rising temper down before it started. AJ’s teeth clenched and she looked on edge, as if she might do more than yell. “Do you think Ah don’t KNOW THAT? Ah know what’ll happen, Mac! We do this my way! Whatever Ah decide is the best course a’ action!”
“Boss, we know you’re in charge, but…”
“But what, JackSlap? Do ya want ta get yerself in a heap more trouble than ya can dig out of?”
“No, boss, I just meant…”
“Shut yer mouth! Ah’m plannin’ this! We’re takin’ a small group. Us three and Twilight, that’s it.”
“AJ, are ya sure we should bring that unicowern with us? Ain’t we been tryin’ to keep her from findin’ out about—”
“Yes, but Ah’m finished with that, Mac. Ah want her with us. She’s useful and good with magic. Ah want to break her inta what we do. She’s got a lot of good morals. We’re gonna use that ta our advantage. If she’s part of what we do, we can control her with it. She ain’t likely to turn herself in, is she?” Applejack had been planning this for a while. She had been trying to discover a way to get Twilight in on the Family’s business. For a while, she had respected the unicorn’s innocence, but as times were getting harder she wanted a wise advisor. If she could turn Twilight to the family or even just control her, she could use that big, powerful brain of hers. Twilight had been very close with Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy, and AJ needed to discover if Twi had been working with them all along.
“Boss … she is friends with them two. What if she was working with them?” JackSlap, feeling uncomfortable, didn’t want to upset Applejack any more than she already was. Whatever was going on in her mind was making her more dangerous than normal, but he had to point out Twilight’s possible connections to their enemies.
“We’ll find that out tonight, JackSlap. If she won’t help us, we'll blow her brains out and burn her body. Ah don’t want to get the attention of the Princess, but we have ta find out whose side Twilight is on. We cain’t afford any more surprises.” AJ was short and curt with her two most loyal stallions. Her business mind was taking over again, driving away other, distracting thoughts. “Tonight we’ll deal with all the wild cards in this poker game. We’ll see who is on whose side and be done with it. After tonight, the Trotters will lose their ability ta sell those drugs and start dyin' again.”
Big Macintosh nodded proudly to JackSlap. AJ had a plan. She always had a plan. She looked tired and stressed out beyond belief, but her mind was still working well. Mac hoped this would all end tonight. AJ needed rest.
“So … uh, Boss. About the pink earth pony? Can I knock her down a few pegs or …”
The door suddenly swung open, the distraught Scootaloo stepping into the room. She looked as if her world had collapsed. Her face was wet with tears and her expression was of the gravest disappointment or sorrow. Her eyes were red from hours of weeping and her voice was barely able to push through the lump in her throat. “Rainbow Dash is dead!”
Applejack had been preparing for when somepony came to her to announce they had found Dash’s body. It made sense that Scootaloo would find Dash. Applejack looked to the filly who had barged in and then to her enforcers, a mildly shocked look on her face. The look quickly turned to a smirk, however, as she remarked, “Dash is dead? Good. One less pony we have to worry about, dumb dyke.”
Big Mac and JackSlap smirked at Applejack’s crude, unfeeling crack and looked back to the filly who only stood there, an evil glare on her face.
“Damn, boss. You must have really messed her up if she died last night. I didn’t think you hit her that hard,” JackSlap took pride in his words, appreciating his boss’ effectiveness and brutality.
“She probably overdosed, Jack. Ah doubt she could ever stop snortin’ sweets. She was weak and useless. She was probably stoned out of her gourd last night. Ya'll heard how bucked up she sounded. All delusional, ya remember?” Applejack put on a grin that reveled in the misery of others. She looked condescending about Dash’s demise as she callously responded to the filly's despair.
Scootaloo stood quietly, pouring her glare right through Applejack. AJ had killed Rainbow; she knew it. Why else would she be downstairs so early in the morning? She had probably forced Rainbow to snort the sweets Scoot had found next to her body. There was no way she had done them on her own volition; Rainbow had stopped using them. Rainbow had gotten clean and the contents of that bag wouldn’t have been enough to overdose the mare. Something foul had gone down in the cellar and Scoots was certain Applejack had committed the deed. She stood, waiting. She had some things she needed to say to Applejack.
“All right, go dig a hole for her. We’ll haul her useless ass out of the cellar and bury her in a little while. There’s things we have ta do today, but she can inconvenience us one more time.”
Big Mac and JackSlap turned and walked towards the exit of the room, walking right by the upset filly. They were almost out when Applejack called after them.
“Dig the hole in the family orchard and make a marker for her, Mac.” Applejack stated, much of the sting lost from her words.
Big Mac looked back with a strange look. JackSlap spoke Mac’s question, “The orchard? Isn’t that reserved for family burials?”
Applejack’s eyes were clearly visible again, red and full of ire at being questioned. She stood up from her desk and slammed her hooves down on the thick, dark wood with a loud no-nonsense crash. “Do it!”
“Y-yes, boss. Sorry, boss.” JackSlap stammered out and quickly exited the office, Big Macintosh following, but with an unhappy expression on his face as he shut the door, leaving Applejack and the filly alone.
For a moment, the pair just looked at each other. AJ knew she had made Scootaloo angry with her callous words, but the pegasus looked unnaturally agitated and simply stared holes into her. Applejack glowered back with an equally heated expression and asked, “What do ya want, Scootaloo?”
The filly was burning with rage and her teeth clenched, her fear of Applejack sponged away by her hatred for the mare. “You killed Rainbow Dash. I saw you leaving the cellar this morning!”
A sudden chill ran through Applejack’s spine. The guilty thought that she caused Dash’s death welled inside of her, but she forced the emotions back down. She grunted and forced words over the painful lump in her throat, as she responded in an angry tone, “What in tarnation are ya talkin' about? Ah wasn’t down there. Ah didn’t kill Dash.”
“I SAW YOU! Dash wouldn’t have overdosed! She was clean! You poisoned some sweets and gave it to her, didn’t you? You were always so mean to her! Why? Why did you kill her? WHY?” Scootaloo shouted at Applejack, tears poured down her cheeks and she bared her teeth.
“You shut up, Scootaloo! You do NOT talk ta me that way. Ah took care of yer worthless hide after yer parents orphaned ya. Ah gave ya a place ta live and fed ya, ya ungrateful bitch!” Applejack just wanted to be left alone. She walked around her desk intending to usher the filly out. She didn’t need the orange filly filling her head up with more guilt. She didn’t want to think about that right now.
“We were going to leave! We were leaving today, Applejack! Why couldn’t you just let us leave? Why’d you have to kill her? I loved her … I’ll never forgive you for this. I HATE YOU! MURDERER!” Scootaloo pushed her emotions out vocally. She wanted to run away, but had nowhere to go. She wanted to hurt Applejack, kill her even for taking Dash away.
Wanting to end the conversation immediately, Applejack galloped the short distance to the filly, ending the run with a hard right hoof into Scootaloo’s eye, causing the filly to cry out and fall to her back. She was stout for her age, but a full-sized pony as tough as Applejack easily dominated her.
“Shut up! SHUT UP!” Applejack straddled Scootaloo, blocking her legs from motion and lowered her head to get eye to stinging eye with the filly. “You listen well, Scootaloo. Ya'll are goin’ ta be quiet and leave me alone or yer goin’ ta join her in the hole bein’ dug fer her. If you say one more buckin' word, Ah am going to stomp on ya until yer nothin’ but applesauce. Do ya understand me?” AJ had enough of the filly’s accusations.
Scootaloo’s eye stung sharply from the vicious blow she had received and her heart leapt to her throat. She stared up fearfully of the big orange mare. It was her eyes. Applejack’s eyes were deranged and murderous. Scoots could tell she was stretched to the breaking point and was honestly surprised that AJ gave her a warning at all. She was certain her death had come under Applejack’s hooves.
As Scootaloo stared into Applejack's eyes, however, she saw something in them that she couldn't comprehend. Something … secret that AJ was guarding. Dash had seemed so happy the week before .... Scootaloo found herself distracted from her fear for the moment, trying to piece together the puzzle.
Scootaloo was startled when Applejack suddenly stepped off of her. Her heart pounded in her chest and her legs felt numb. Scoot's fear of Applejack came back to the forefront of her mind. The odd, deranged and … almost sad look in Applejack's eyes made Scoots want to cry. She just wanted to run away and hide forever. She didn’t know where she could go, but she didn’t want to stay on the farm any longer.
“Leave me alone, Scootaloo. Ah don’t want ta see ya anymore today. Git!”
Scoots hopped to her hooves and quickly escaped the office of that crazy mare. She ran out of the house, just wanting to be free of the place.
Applejack stood in her office alone, tears dripping from her cheeks. There was a reason she had sacrificed those feelings of friendship so long ago. They hurt her. Connections and relationships with other ponies could hurt her. She lay on the floor and tried to calm herself. Twilight had started these feelings in her again. Pinkie, Shy, and Rarity had helped develop them at Applebloom’s party, and Dash had freed them from the cage of her heart. Now Applejack had lost her lover and was going to twist Twilight’s innocence and kill her friends. The magic of friendship? If friendship had magic, it was the strongest form of torment to exist. It was a curse, a weakness, and Applejack felt its power to the fullest extent. She wished for the monster inside herself to take away the pain and guilt. She knew it had the ability to do so. It would, she knew. It would return and take control again, but first it would let her suffer a while longer. It would make her regret having those soft feelings.
***
Twilight was shocked to learn about Rainbow Dash’s death. She hadn't known how to respond when Applejack had come to her to tell her they were going to be burying the pegasus later that day. Dash had been so much better lately, so Twilight had thought. She had really pulled herself up from the sickness by all appearances. Twilight hugged Applejack and expressed her sympathy, she knew the two mares had been good friends. Twilight’s shoulder had been moist when Applejack had released their hug. She wished there was something she could do to help the country mare. She hated knowing her friend was hurting. She talked briefly with Applejack and, to her surprise, the cow-mare had asked Twilight accompany her on a business trip to Ponyville after Dash’s funeral. She found it admirable that the earth pony could continue business after such a sad event.
Twilight missed Spike, but had thrown herself headlong into her studies. She consulted her notes and used complex theories on emotional study to try to render some sort of workable magic based off a pony’s connection to others. She had been working nearly non-stop since Spike had returned to Canterlot. She studied all the way up until Applejack returned in the evening to inform her that they were burying Dash.
Twilight stood next to AJ, who had a stern look about her. The orchard was beautiful in the evening and the light cascaded through the trees and lit stripes of orange across the grassy forest floor. There were quite a few ponies, but Twilight didn’t see Rarity, Pinkie Pie, or Fluttershy. In fact, she didn’t see any ponies that were from Ponyville itself. The whole group was comprised of the workers on the farm. Twilight supposed the rushed burial had caused that. She still believed Applejack to hold to traditions and burying a pony shortly after their death must have been part of that tradition. She assumed a doctor had been called when they discovered Dash’s body, but didn’t know for sure, not wanting to press her friend too hard for information. It really was a different world here with these country pony folk.
The graveyard inside the orchard was not formed in lines of plots as a normal graveyard, but seemed to be interspersed between the living apple trees in an unknown pattern. In some places, there were a couple of plots together indicating married couples, but most were to and fro.
A group surrounded the grave that had been dug roughly six feet deep and everypony kept quiet in the face of the event. Many of the Apples she only barely knew seemed sad and a few even cried, but the majority looked relatively neutral about the ordeal. She supposed many of them had prepared themselves for the inevitable. It just seemed so odd that Dash’s death would occur after such a boon to her health. Twilight had seen her teaching Scootaloo on almost a daily basis. Sickness could be a funny thing, the unicorn thought. It wasn’t the first time she had heard of a sudden rebound of health only to be snatched away shortly after. She looked around once more, noting that Sweetie Belle and Applebloom were sitting close together with down expressions, but, to Twilight's surprise, Scootaloo wasn’t anywhere to be found.
Twilight was about to ask Applejack about the filly when a few of the stronger Apples carried a hastily constructed pine box through the group. They rested it momentarily and somepony from the crowd said a few words—very few, in fact. It surprised Twilight again; funerals in Canterlot were, well, a big deal. They had professionals give eulogies and praise the life of the departed, but this was nothing like that. A few words were said and the pallbearers lowered the casket into the hole, after which they immediately took up shovels and began filling in the grave. With that, many of the ponies in attendance started wandering back to the farm.
JackSlap and Big Macintosh stood away from the group, whispering to one another. The green pony looked to his bigger counterpart and made a sour face. “What a waste of time, Mac. Bucking addict didn’t mean nothing to anypony and the boss gives her a place in the orchard? Gives her a nice little funeral and a stone with her name on it? She acted like she was just gonna dump her in a hole and be done with it.”
“Eeyup.” Big Mac was a little aggravated by the situation and didn’t feel like talking. The orchard had always been reserved for family members. He didn’t understand why his sister would want Rainbow Dash interred in this sacred place. He knew they had once been very good friends, so maybe that was why—some sort of respect for their old friendship. Their relationship over the past few years sure hadn’t been friendly, though. He pondered the question. The funeral was quick but still far better than he had expected. They had been instructed to put together an actual funeral complete with a casket, even if it was simply rough cut pine boards nailed together; a stone, which actually looked well made, with her name and dates on it; and a small gathering of ponies. Applejack was being awfully soft about Rainbow Dash. Big Mac silently wondered if there was any truth to what the multicolored mare had said the night before. Did she and Applejack have some sort of relationship they kept hidden from the rest of the family? Mac had no proof and doubted he ever would now, but he watched his sister closely and with a questioning look.
“Boss looked bad this morning, Mac. There’s something wrong with her. We better deal with the Trotters soon or she’s gonna crack.” JackSlap sounded worried but judgmental, drawing a not so friendly look from Macintosh. “I’m just saying, Mac. She didn’t act like this when Cloud Kicker was her opponent.”
“AJ knows what she is doin’. Leave her alone. In fact, shut up.” Mac didn’t want to hear anything ill about his sister, but he was secretly in agreement. Applejack seemed to be less capable lately. Mac hoped she would snap out of whatever it was that had her so shaken. Hopefully, after they dealt with Pinkie, things would settle down.
Twilight Sparkle sat next to Applejack after the other ponies dispersed, the pallbearers turned gravediggers dumping shovel after shovel full of dirt into the hole, forever covering Rainbow Dash. Twilight hugged Applejack again and got a sigh in return. Twi didn’t know what to say; she wasn’t a very social pony by nature and the subject of death was out of her limited knowledge of conversation. She just tried to be there. She wanted Applejack to know she had a friend in her.
Applejack looked grimly at Twilight and nodded. “We gotta go, Twi. Ah got business ta take care of. It’s not gonna be a fun bit of business and Ah think yer not gonna be ready for it. Before we go, Ah just want ya to know that Ah think of ya as my friend. Ah want ya ta be part of us—part of the Family.” The cow-mare emphasized the last word, with a grim look in her eyes.
Twilight smiled a little and nodded. “You are my very good friend, Applejack. I’m thrilled you want me to be there with you and you feel so strongly for me. This is the kind of bond that makes friendship worth studying.”
Applejack chuckled gently, just under her breath. “We’ll see, Twi.”
Applejack looked over to her brother and JackSlap and motioned with her head. It was time to head to Ponyville. It was time to deal with Pinkie and the Trotters. She led the group, unsure of how this deal was going to go down, but knowing that Twilight was either going to have to change or be one more victim at the scene.
The sun had just dipped below the horizon and the first blue shades of night were sprouting from the shadows as the ponies made the dirt path that led to Ponyville.
***
Sweetie Belle had stayed through the whole boring ceremony of Rainbow Dash’s funeral. It was boring and she only attended to provide comfort for Applebloom, who was saddened, and to enjoy the broken heart and spirit of Scootaloo. When Scoots didn’t show up, Sweetie had been agitated. She had plans for that little Pegasus, plans that would make up for her black eye and sore face.
Sweetie hoped that Scootaloo hadn’t run away. That thought had crept into her mind. She may have simply given up after Dash’s premature demise—an amusing thought—and ran away. Sweetie’s bitter vision hadn’t been completed yet, however, and she meant to completely break Scoot’s spirits. She would learn not to stand up to her betters. She would learn her place this time for sure.
The funeral, if you could call the dinky little service a funeral, ended and Applebloom wanted to go back to the farmhouse to sleep. She didn’t feel like playing and Sweetie happily walked her friend back to her room. The unicorn used her magic to help make the filly comfortable and then stepped back into the early night to watch Dash’s grave for Scootaloo. She hoped Scoots would show up. She hadn’t come up with this plan to not use it against her enemy. She tromped lightly through the orchard and came to the plot of land that had several scattered plots for deceased ponies. She slid behind a particularly large marker as she heard a whimpering noise.
It was Scootaloo; it had to be. A deliciously evil chuckle came from deep within Sweetie and she poked her green little eyes around the tombstone. Sure enough, Scoots sat before the stone marker of Rainbow Dash’s grave and sobbed. The misery in the pegasus almost fed Sweetie Belle. It was better than she had imagined and she savored the moment for a short while, eagerly drinking up Scootaloo’s pain and sorrow. After a while, she decided it was time to put her scheme into action. It was time to act the part of the concerned friend.
Scootaloo rubbed her eyes with her hooves and looked down at the name on the burial mound: Rainbow Dash, her only true friend. The only pony that cared about her well-being lay deep under the marker. Scoot wasn’t sure what to do. Her plans had crumbled before her and she didn’t like the idea of remaining on the farm with Applejack. Scoot had accused her of murdering Dash and wasn’t convinced she hadn’t, despite the odd, almost pained look in her eyes. Scoot knew AJ could be devious and calling her a murderer probably wasn’t the smartest idea she had ever had.
However, even if Applejack didn’t bring any repercussions from their earlier talk, Scootaloo didn’t think she had a future at Sweet Apple Acres. She wasn’t sure if she wanted that kind of future anymore, anyway. She hoped something bad would happen to Applejack and, in her anger and despair, she wished she could be the one to do it to her. But, Dash had taught her better than to think that way. Then she had been murdered … and there was no doubt about that. Dash wouldn’t have killed herself and she couldn’t have overdosed on the Sweets Scoots had found. There simply couldn’t have been enough there to send a one-time pro of sweets abuse to her grave.
Scoots let her tears fall onto the freshly piled soil of Dash’s place of rest and she felt crushed. She felt truly alone in the world. She was friendless and without a role model again. She wanted to die. It wouldn’t be all that bad; at least she wouldn’t hurt anymore. She would be out of this world of terror and heartbreak. Maybe Dash would be there and they could be together in the afterlife. It wasn’t a bad idea. She lay down on the dirt and nuzzled her cheek into it, wishing she could feel Dash’s warm shoulder under her head. The filly longed to listen to her heart beating and her lungs taking in and expelling air. She didn’t expect to hear the voice of her nemesis.
“Scoot … I’m sorry. I know she meant a lot to you,” Sweetie’s voice was full of remorse and regret. It brimmed with apology and tenderness. Scoot couldn’t believe what she had heard. She lifted her head up, rubbed the tears from her eyes, careful with the one AJ had struck earlier, and tilted to look at the white unicorn filly.
Sweetie Belle looked demure and soft, her head hanging low before her, her good eye begging forgiveness. “I … I wish I could help you, Scoot. I know you hate me, and I’m sorry. I’ve been so mean to you. I just … I just wish I could do something to help you.” In her mind, the unicorn applauded herself. She was really hamming up the reproachful sadness routine she had cooked up. Scoot was an idiot, but she might not buy it. She would have to continue to sound submissive and hurt.
“What are you doing here, Sweetie? Shouldn’t you be happy about this? Don’t pretend you want to be friends.” Scootaloo was in no mood to deal with Sweetie, but she hadn’t expected her to sound so sad. Scoot wanted a friend right now and part of her wanted to hug her one-time friend if, for nothing else, the comfort of a living being, but she didn’t trust her.
“I know you think I’m terrible. I … Twilight made me think about things. I don’t want to be here anymore, Scootaloo. I don’t want this life and I know you don’t either. I just want to be friends again. I miss being your friend. I don’t even care about my black eye. I deserved it for treating you so badly.” Nice and easy, be careful not to spook her, the pegasus thought to herself. Scootaloo might be dumb as a stump, but she had instincts, as Sweetie Belle knew all too well. She would have to fool the pegasus on a deeper level.
Scootaloo sighed and turned to Sweetie Belle. The pegasus knew she looked helpless and weak. If Sweetie wanted to hurt her, now was the time. And, at the moment, she welcomed it. If she didn’t survive it, it might be better. “If you're just screwing with me, Sweetie, drop it. I don’t want to deal with it anymore. If you want to use your magic to crush my head with a rock, I’ll hold still. I don’t want to be around anymore.”
The offer was tempting to Sweetie Belle. She had been dreaming of such things the last few nights, but Scootaloo’s pain wasn’t over yet. She didn’t want it to end that bluntly. She wanted the pegasus to survive for a while longer. She wanted to grind her in the dirt and make her really hate living. What she was feeling now was just sorrow and loss. Sweetie wanted to make her truly feel alone. She wanted to hurt her far more deeply than losing her closest friend.
Sweetie stepped towards Scootaloo, moving right up in front of the sitting pegasus and wrapped her in a big hug. Sweetie pulled the filly close to her and nuzzled into her neck gently. She had to seem as honest as possible about rekindling their friendship. “I’m sorry, Scootaloo.”
Scootaloo couldn’t resist any longer. This day had been the worst in her whole life and she was emotionally crippled. She wrapped her hooves around the unicorn and hugged her back, enjoying the touch of another pony. She cried softly into Sweetie’s shoulder and sobbed, “I’m sorry I hurt you, Sweetie Belle. I want to be friends again, too.”
She wasn’t sorry enough. Soon she would really be sorry. Sweetie smiled to herself, her grin one of victory. The idiot was weak right now and had fallen for her ruse. She was putty in her hooves. Her revenge would soon be complete.
***
Scootaloo didn’t feel much like seeing whatever it was Sweetie wanted to show her. She just wanted to go to bed and hide under the blankets. Scoot wasn’t happy, but at least she and Sweetie were getting along better. She slowly walked after Sweetie Belle, following her into the farmhouse of Sweet Apple Acres.
“I promise you’ll feel better, Scootaloo. I know you’re sad. I think this may cheer you up a little. It’s a secret that Applejack showed me the other day. It’s really neat.” Sweetie giggled on the inside; Scoots was falling behind, but had been willing to see what Sweetie wanted to show her. She should have trusted her instincts; they were much stronger than that useless brain rattling around in her pegasus head.
“Nothing can make me feel better, Sweetie. Just let me go to bed. I’ll look at it tomorrow.” Scootaloo’s eyes were puffy and red, but she had stopped crying; her body had cried itself out for one day and left her weary and drained. She just wanted to fall asleep.
“It’s on the way and Applejack isn’t here right now. She’ll probably be at home all day tomorrow. She was upset about Rainbow Dash. I know she was.” Sweetie knew for a fact that Applejack had been upset about Rainbow Dash. That bitch deserved to hurt a lot more than that. She may have made Sweetie a real Family member for what she had done to Spike, but it hadn’t been fair to lie to her like that. Spike’s death still bothered Sweetie, but at least she had toughened up significantly because of it. She didn’t think she could ever let Twilight find out the truth, but she was dealing with it. She was safe now; she was an Apple. If she had been forced to give up her innocence, it was a fair deal. Her parents would likely have been disappointed in her, but they were dead, weren’t they? Dead ponies didn’t matter anymore.
“Okay … ” Scoots let out a deep sigh and slowly climbed the stairs that led up to the second level of the farmhouse. “Applejack killed Rainbow, Sweetie. She says she didn’t, but I saw her leave the cellar just before I found Dash.”
“Really? Oh … well I caught her crying today. I think they were marefriends. That’s what she kept saying. She didn’t know I could hear her.” That much was true; Sweetie had discovered a lot about Applejack that morning, in fact ...
Scootaloo paused and looked up at the unicorn. “Really? Why wouldn’t Dash tell me about that?” She looked hurt, but she had looked hurt all day, so it was impossible to tell if that knowledge was bothering her or not.
“I don’t know, Scoots. That’s just what I heard her saying. You might be right. Maybe she did… you know… kill her. Applejack isn’t the most trustworthy pony.” Sweetie’s mood darkened for a moment. Applejack was evil. Sweetie may have to live with her, but she didn’t think she’d ever forgive her. She shook the memory of Spike from her mind and looked back down to Scootaloo, just making the top of the stairs. She smiled softly to the pegasus and led her to Applejack’s office door.
She waited for the moping filly to catch up and, for a moment, doubted her actions. Wasn’t she deceiving Scootaloo just as Applejack had deceived her? No … this was different. Scootaloo was a brute. Scootaloo had almost killed Sweetie and her face still hadn’t healed. She would just throw that stupid thought out of her head. Scootaloo deserved whatever she got and more. That pain that ran from her horn to her chin? Yeah, thanks for doing that Scootaloo, Sweetie thought, scornfully. Thanks for holding me down and beating me unconscious. Thanks for the eye that still isn’t open after a week and keeps me awake at night because it hurts when it touches my pillow. “Come on, in here,” she sweetly beckoned.
Scootaloo watched as Sweetie slipped into Applejack’s office and she looked around to make sure the coast was clear before slipping inside as well. It was dark inside and Scoot’s eye stung as Sweetie’s horn lit up, illuminating the room in shaky magical light.
Sweetie slipped behind Applejack’s desk and tried the drawer. Luckily, it hadn’t been locked back from the other day and the unicorn carefully pulled it open, rummaging through the contents until she came out with a key. She turned and grinned to Scootaloo. “Have you ever wondered what was behind this door?” The filly indicated with her head the door that was directly behind the desk.
Scootaloo looked at it. She had heard rumors of a trophy room. She idly wondered if this door was its entrance. She really didn’t feel adventurous. She had lost her idol today, but she also knew Sweetie was trying to be a friend again for the first time in months. Scoots nodded gently, not really excited.
Sweetie used the key to the door and killed her magic, barely opening the door widely enough to wriggle into the room. She reached out for Scootaloo and helped guide her forward. Sweetie couldn’t help but chuckle as the larger filly squeezed inside and she pulled the door nearly closed. This was perfect. Scootaloo was going to love this!
Rummaging for the light switch for a moment, Sweetie’s heart skipped a beat in anticipation. This was going to teach that pegasus not to hurt her. This was what she deserved. She deserved to know the truth about Applejack! Her hoof found the switch and pushed it to the on position, bright light spewing from the ceiling lamp.
Scootaloo jumped at first as the stretched faces of many dead ponies looked down at her from ponnequin heads. She nearly gagged at the sight and she panted hard, her body suddenly breathless from the shock. “Why … why would this cheer me up? This … this is … I thought it was a story. I didn’t think it was real.”
“It’s very special, Scoots. This is where all of Applejack’s enemies are kept. This is what happens when a pony crosses Applejack. Look at them all. Leaders of former gangs, double crossers, and all kinds of others.”
“Why show me this? I don’t want to see this.” Scoot felt scared in this room. It was a room designed to horrify and it was doing a good job. She was surrounded by pieces of ponies! She knew Applejack was sick, but she had never believed the rumors of this room.
“There’s a couple you need to see, Scootaloo. Look up there.” Sweetie pointed with her hoof and grinned sadistically. This was it. This was what she had led her to see. She watched as the memories rushed back into Scoot’s mind and the horror stretched her face into a twisted expression of mind-numbing terror.
Scootaloo wanted to scream, but she couldn’t. Her chest hurt and her legs went numb. She begged her eyelids to close and shut out the image they were bringing to her mind, but she was locked in fright. Hanging near the top shelf, the removed faces of Scootaloo’s parents stared blankly down at the filly. Her mind cracked and she realized the awful truth. Applejack had murdered her parents and stripped their bodies of their faces. They hadn’t abandoned her. They had been murdered!
Scootaloo’s body finally snapped from its stance and she ran. She had to be free of that place. Her mind reeled in nightmarish hell. She screamed as she broke free of the farmhouse and streaked into the night. Her wings opened and she leapt with all of her strength, pushing the air beneath her as Dash had taught and took to the sky. He heart beat rapidly in her chest and she cried tearlessly. Her mind was ripping apart at the terrible sight to which she had been subjected. Sweetie had planned it; she had to have. She could no longer stay in that place. She couldn’t live in the same house as the detached flesh of her parents.
Sweetie fell to her back laughing in the trophy room. She looked up at the dislocated face of the dead and shrieked in laughter. Her revenge was complete. Scootaloo was gone. Scootaloo had been shown the wonderful truth about her parents. Scootaloo knew real pain and it filled the white unicorn with perverse glory and joy. She held her sides and laughed until tears streamed from her good eye and a thin line of blood poured from her wounded black eye.