//------------------------------//
// Chapter 6 
// Story: Corruption is Magic: Art of the Mannequin 
// by Volcash 
//------------------------------//

Chapter 6

The following day, Sweetie Belle met with Applebloom and Scootaloo in their clubhouse for their monthly Cutie Mark Crusaders meeting. Applebloom and Scootaloo chatted furiously about various activities they could pursue that could possibly lead to their cutie marks, but Sweetie Belle just sat there silently, still trying to recover from her newly found emotional scars.
“Hey, Sweetie Belle,” Scootaloo called out. “Are you alright?”
“You’ve been awful quiet today,” Applebloom added.
“Yeah, I’m fine,” Sweetie Belle said. “Things have just been pretty rough lately.”
Scootaloo walked over to the ‘good idea spot’ and sat back down. “I’ve got it! We should totally try magic tricks! We’ll need a wand, a top hat, and a saw.”
Sweetie Belle sighed rather heavily. “I don’t know… I’m just not in the mood today.”
Applebloom was taken aback by her friend’s statement. “Not in the mood for finding your cutie mark?”
“What could possibly be wrong that could keep you from wanting to get your cutie mark?” Scootaloo added.
“Let’s just say I’ve seen a whole new side of my sister that I never knew existed.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Scootaloo asked.
Sweetie Belle caught herself before she could reveal any more information. “I… I’ve said too much already.” She rose to her hooves and headed for the door. “I’m sorry, girls. I-I gotta go.”
Applebloom turned to Scootaloo as soon as Sweetie Belle left. “We’re gonna go after her right?”
“Duh.”


Sweetie Belle came back to Carousel Boutique, and her friends filed in shortly after.
“Come on, Sweetie Belle,” Applebloom said. “Are you sure you don’t want to talk about whatever it is that’s bothering you?”
Sweetie Belle was startled by her friend’s sudden arrival. "You followed me home?!? You guys really shouldn't be here."
Applebloom raised an eyebrow. “We’ve been here plenty of times before, what makes today any different?”
“You’re just gonna have to trust me. It is a really bad idea for you to be here.”
“I know what’ll raise your spirits!” Scootaloo said. “Some good old fashioned crusading!” She looked up at Rarity’s sewing machine up on a high shelf. “Now that I think about it, I don’t think we’ve tried sewing yet.” The orange filly climbed on top of one of Rarity’s mannequins and reached for the large machine.
Scootaloo grasped the bulky sewing machine in her hooves, and tried to slide it off of the shelf. Her back hooves slid off of the slick plaster pony, and she plummeted to the floor, bringing the mannequin and the sewing machine with her.
The sewing machine crashed down on the mannequin, crushing its midsection, and revealing all of the former pony’s slimy and perfectly preserved organs. Scootaloo fell down shortly after landing in a pile of old dead intestines, lungs, and other vital organs. Her wings shot out as she drew in a deep breath, and was about to let out a shriek, but Sweetie Belle galloped over and put a hoof over Scootaloo’s mouth.
“Please, No! Don’t scream!” Sweetie Belle whispered desperately. “This is what I didn’t want to tell you. Rarity is foalnapping ponies and turning them into mannequins. That’s why I didn’t want you two around here. I didn’t want you to find out. Please, you can’t tell anypony! If Rarity so much as finds out that you know, she’ll kill you too! So please, for your own safety, just get as far away from here as possible, and keep quiet!”
Sweetie Belle removed her hoof from Scootaloo’s mouth, and the three fillies stood there in silence. Scootaloo stepped out of the bloody mass of mysterious pony organs without a word, still trying to process everything that her best friend just said. Sweetie Belle covered the smashed mannequin with a sheet of red fabric, and the Cutie Mark Crusaders made for the exit.


Rarity entered the room, halting their escape. “Hello girls. I heard a crash, are you three alright? Is anything… broken?”
“No,” her sister replied immediately. “N-n-no, Nothing’s broken. Scootaloo was just reaching for your sewing machine, and she d-d-dropped it.”
Rarity raised an eyebrow at the orange filly. “What are all of those red spots?”
Scootaloo looked down at the blood all over her coat. “Oh, this? Umm…” She tried frantically to come up with an explanation. “Well, let’s just say I don’t think I’ll be getting a cutie mark for painting any time soon.” The scared pegasus laughed nervously as she watched Rarity evaluate the validity of her excuse.
Applebloom continued towards the door, Scootaloo in tow. “Well, we’re just gonna get going.”
“Y-y-yeah…” Scootaloo added. “See you later Sweetie Belle.”
Rarity crossed in front of the two fillies, blocking their only exit. “But you just got here. You should at least stay for dinner.”
“I don’t know…” Applebloom looked over at Sweetie Belle, who looked absolutely petrified. Sweetie Belle nodded slowly.
“Please, I insist,” Rarity said.
Applebloom and Scootaloo looked at each other, and then back at murderous mare in front of them. “Alright.”
“Great. I’ll get started right away.” Rarity retired to the kitchen, and the three friends continued conversing nervously.
“Why in Equestria would you think we should stay?” Applebloom fumed. “Weren’t you just saying we should be as far away from here as possible?”
“You can’t act suspicious around Rarity,” Sweetie Belle replied. “If you seem too eager to leave, she’ll know something’s up. Just stay around for dinner, and we’ll come up with an excuse to get you two out of here.”


A few minutes later, the three traumatized fillies gathered around the dinner table, and Rarity emerged with a large bowl of salad, full of crisp green lettuce, juicy cherry tomatoes, and a few slices of hard-boiled eggs. She set the salad down on the table, and went back into the kitchen, coming back out with dressing, plates, and four glasses of sparkling apple cider. The white mare used her magic to give her sister and her friends a plateful of salad, and then gave herself some. Rarity paused for a moment before putting each of the glasses of cider in front of a particular spot on the table. She then grabbed herself a fork, and the four ponies started their awkward meal. Applebloom and Scootaloo sipped their cider, and Rarity tried to chat with the three fillies.
After a few minutes of Rarity’s unsuccessful attempts at starting conversation and Sweetie Belle’s friends slowly picking at their salads, Applebloom and Scootaloo got up to leave.
“Well, we’d better get going.” Scootaloo said as politely as possible. She wobbled for a moment, and put a hoof to her forehead. “Does anypony else feel really…dizzy all of a sudden?”
Applebloom mimicked the orange pegasus’s movements. “Yeah, and it sure don’t help that the room is...spinnin’ like this.”
Sweetie Belle glanced at her sister in disbelief. “No… You didn’t…”
Rarity looked away from Sweetie Belle and smiled. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.” Applebloom and Scootaloo stumbled towards the door, and then collapsed on the floor, unconscious.
“Oh my Celestia, you did!” Sweetie Belle screamed, voice cracking several times. “You put Hoofies in their drinks!”
“Of course I did,” Rarity said. “You didn’t honestly think I didn’t hear what the three of you said in the other room, did you? They know, and I can’t let them live. You’re lucky that Twilight convinced me to let you live.”
Sweetie Belle sniffled as waterfalls of hot tears poured down her cheeks. “Fine! If you want to kill my best friends, go right ahead! Just do me a favor… don’t send me a postcard from JAIL!!!” Sweetie Belle leapt from her chair and galloped full speed towards the door.
“Oh no you don’t,” Rarity’s horn lit up, and her magic aura formed around her sister’s tail. 
Sweetie Belle struggled to inch her way towards the door, towards freedom, and as far away from Rarity as possible. But alas, Rarity’s white magic aura tugged on her tail, making her lose her balance, falling rump first to the floor. 	Her tail dragged her backwards towards Rarity’s back room, and the door opened wide. Sweetie Belle glanced back at the gaping maw of Rarity’s shadowy murder chamber, and turned back around to scratch at the floor with her hooves. “Somepony, anypony! HEEEEEEELP!!!!”
Rarity lifted up Applebloom and Scootaloo, sending them into the back room with her magic, and dragged the kicking and screaming Sweetie Belle in with them. She bound and gagged the three of them with ribbons, and shut the door. Then she picked up the phone and dialed Twilight’s number, effortlessly tuning out her sister’s muffled screams.