//------------------------------//
// You Are My Baby and I Will Love You Forever 
// Story: The Word is Fear 
// by BronyWriter 
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Sweetie Belle's eyes fluttered open. 

It was still dark, a quick glance at the alarm clock showed it was not yet three in the morning, but something had awoken her. Some noise that she had heard, almost like... something was in her house. It wasn't the sound of her house settling, it sounded more like hoofsteps treading across the carpet. A soft pitter patter. 

She sat up in bed, and held back a gasp. A dark shadow was in her room, pacing back and forth as if extremely agitated. In fact, the shadow let out a singular sob. It was because of the sob that Sweetie Belle knew who was in her room. 

"Blossom?"

The shadow stopped pacing and turned to face her. It stared at her silently for a moment before speaking. "Hi Momma."

Sweetie Belle inhaled and flicked the light on. Blossom had disguised herself to make her coat a dark blue, but once the light was turned on, she shifted back to her normal white. She managed a small, weak smile that held no joy at all. If anything, Sweetie Belle could have sworn that it was meant to be comforting. "I'm a bad mare, Momma," she whispered. 

Sweetie Belle let out a sob of her own and extended her forelegs. Her wayward daughter whimpered and placed herself in her mother's embrace. Sweetie Belle stroked her daughter's mane as tears streamed down her face. "You're not a bad mare, Blossom. You've just done bad things because you were scared."

"But I killed them, Momma! I killed Dr. Brain and those other four ponies at the prison when I left. I... I killed four guards, Mr. Snips, Mr. Snails, and Ms. Spoon tonight so that I could come see you." Blossom tearfully looked up at her mother. "I'm a serial killer, Momma, just like Aunt Rarity."

Sweetie Belle began audibly sobbing and Blossom leaned her head into her mother's chest. So the two ponies, mother and daughter sobbed together; one out of pure sorrow and the other out of regret and self-loathing. 

Eventually there were no more tears to shed, but the embrace did not end. Blossom wiped her eyes with her hoof and nuzzled her mother's tear soaked chest. "Momma, I'm gonna go to Canterlot to see Princess Celestia tomorrow. Before I do, can I sleep in your bed tonight?" She whimpered. "I'm scared."

"Yes," said Sweetie Belle with a sniffle. "Just like when you were a filly."

Blossom stood up and walked over to the other side of the bed and laid down upon it. Sweetie Belle nuzzled up closer to her daughter and wrapped a foreleg around her. She nuzzled her daughter's mane. "Goodnight, Blossom. Always know that Mommy loves you."

"I love you too, Momma," Blossom whispered. "I'm sorry that I'm such a bad mare. I didn't want to do it. I love you, Momma." Blossom had to hold back more sobs as she felt her mother's warm breath on her neck. It was such a comforting feeling, like her mother would always be there for her. The breathing was there. It was there...

And then it was gone. 

Blossom's tears began anew as she slipped out of her mother's lifeless grasp. She shakily walked over to her mother's bedside table and slipped an empty syringe into her saddlebag. It was quick, painless. Her mother hadn't even felt the needle go in.

Blossom turned her head up and saw her mother's body, lying on the bed just where she had snuggled up next to her daughter for the last time. Blossom began blinking rapidly as the realization of what she had just done hit her in full and she collapsed onto the floor. "M-Momma?" Blossom dragged herself over to the bed and pulled herself on top of it. No, the body was still there, it was still just as empty as it had been when she had looked a second ago. "Momma... I...."

Slowly Blossom wrapped her forelegs around her mother's body and held her close, cradling her just like she had when Blossom was a filly. "Momma, I'm sorry. I just thought that..." The tears fell thick and fast from Blossom's eyes, dripping onto Sweetie Belle's mane. Blossom wiped the tears from the mane and gently moved Sweetie Belle's head. "Momma, I... I think I c-c-can f-fix t-this if you wake up. I d-didn't th-think that it would... I d-d-didn't."

Sweetie Belle remained motionless. Her body was as limp as a marionette that had just gotten its strings cut. She was gone, but Blossom continued to shake her. "Momma, p-please wake up! I... I didn't mean to do th-that to you, Momma. I..." 

Blossom threw her head back and screamed. Her elongated screams pierced the night, shattering the relative tranquility that had been the norm before. Then, as quickly as she had begun she stopped. She closed her mouth and stood up, gently moving her mother's body back onto the bed. Her eyes and expression were blank as she laid her mother flat on the bed and folded her forelegs over her chest. She levitated a nearby hairbrush towards her and gently combed Sweetie Belle's mane until it was just as beautiful as it was in life. With that finished, she pulled the blanket over her, tucking her into bed. 

Blossom used her magic to smooth out any crinkles in the comforter, then leaned in and gently kissed her mother on her forehead. "Goodnight, Mommy," she whispered. 

Blossom straightened up and turned off the light. She levitated her saddlebag over her shoulder and slowly trudged out of the room. The broken mare turned her head back for one last look, then she walked through the door, shutting it behind her. 

She slowly walked down the steps of Carousel Boutique, hardly able to think. She had just murdered her own mother. She was dead; gone forever and it was all her fault. 

"It's always been all my fault," Blossom muttered to herself. "Everything that has h-happened to my mom has been my fault!" 

With a snarl of rage, Blossom tore the saddlebag from her shoulder and slammed it on the ground. She ran down to the main floor and began slamming her hooves on the ground, screaming once again. "BLOSSOM YOU STUPID BITCH! YOU ARE THE MOST EVIL MARE IN EQUESTRIA!!" She screamed in agony and threw her saddlebag against the opposite wall. The strap keeping it close broke and the contents came tumbling out, including a large butcher knife. 

Blossom levitated the knife over to her and hooked her foreleg over it. "I HATE YOU! I HATE YOU YOU...YOU" With another scream Blossom began dragging the sharp edge of the knife across her face. She didn't care about the physical pain, she didn't care that the blood was dripping into her eyes. It wasn't penitence enough for what she had just done. 

Suddenly, the door to Carousel Boutique burst open and two plainclothes guards ran inside. Both stopped and gasped at the sight of Blossom's bloody face.

With a snarl of rage and pain, Blossom leaped forwards and tackled one of them to the ground, driving the knife through his skull before either of them could react. The second one fared no better, and Blossom drove the knife through his leg at the knee joint. He fell to the ground, screaming in agony. Blossom tore the knife out and stabbed him through his left hoof until she felt the tip touch the carpet below her. 

With one more scream, Blossom stumbled onto her hooves and ran into the night.