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Curtain Rise!
Act VI: In the Dark of the Night
Sweetie Belle almost hoped her way to school, her heat was filled with such joy. Her friends had all gotten their Cutie Marks, and in two days she would confess her feelings to Spike in song. The young filly's positive feelings were increased when Scootaloo, Applebloom, Dinky, and Button Mash all said they could come for a sleep over at the CMC clubhouse. Her joy allowed the school day to just fly by at light-speed. Unfortunately, Sweetie's joy all but vanished the moment the group of friends exited the school house.
"MY SCOOTER!" Scootaloo screamed in anguish. She ran to it as fast as she could and hugged it as if it were a wounded pet. The orange Pegasus sobbed harder than she ever had. Sweetie Belle and Applebloom ran to her side and hugged her, trying to comfort her.
"Oh no, please don't cry Scoots," Sweetie Belle said softly.
"Yeah, Ah'm sure Ah can use mah special talent to fix it!" Applebloom said.
"Who could've done something so horrible?" Dinky said in a horrified voice.
"I don't know," Button Mash said as he titled his head and looked at the smashed scooter, "But it looks like somepony took a sledgehammer to it."
He was right. The handle bars were knocked off, the wheels were knocked off, and the board that made that body was broken in half.
Scootaloo wiped her tears and sniffed. "You really think you can fix it, Applebloom?"
Applebloom smiled as looked at her Cutie Mark. "Ah know Ah can!"
Applebloom was right. After getting another piece of wood to replace the smashed part, Applebloom was easily able to fix the axels, wheels, and handle bars. In one short hour, Scootaloo's scooter was as good as new.
"Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!" Scootaloo cheered while hugging Applebloom tightly.
"No problem, Scoots," Applebloom replied.
"But wait! What if whoever smashed it smashes it again!" Button Mash gasped.
The five ponies all gained a nervous look on their faces.
"You're right," Scootaloo said darkly, "I just wish I could get my hooves on whoever did this. . ."
"But there weren't any clues!" Applebloom said, "There wasn't any hair or anything at the crime scene, and you can get a sledgehammer anywhere, so that doesn't limit the suspects at all! Heck, it may not even have been a sledgehammer!"
"Well," Sweetie Belle said in a low voice, "I'm sure we'll find them soon. Something inside me just says that we will. And when we do, I'll have a special song just for them. . ."
"I'll make Twilight look lucky compared to whoever did this to Scootaloo. . ."
"Um. . ." Dinky said nervously, "Can we stop talking all mean and angry and scary like this."
Applebloom nodded, "Ya know, maybe we should just focus on having that fun sleepover tonight and leave solving this crime for tomorrow."
"Good idea," Scootaloo said as she hit her hooves together, "It'll give me time to think of things to do to whoever did this."
"Leave the justice to me, Scoots. . ." Sweetie Belle thought.
In contrast to the sad and angering moment, the sleep over was a absolutely wonderful. After eating a bunch of sugary snacks brought by Spike, they went to the next logical step.
"Pillow fight!" Scootaloo shouted before throwing a pillow at Button Mash's head. The colt retaliated by throwing the pillow back at her, but she dodged it, and the pillow ended up hitting Spike. He laughed and threw two pillows back. One of them hit Sweetie Belle, who laughed and said, "Oh, it's on!"
Sweetie Belle heaved pillow after pillow at the boys as Scootaloo dived for cover. Applebloom and Dinky snuck behind Sweetie Belle quietly.
"Attack!" Applebloom shouted as she and Dinky gleefully attacked Sweetie Belle with pillows.
The friendly pillow fight went on and on for a few minutes, until it was interrupted by a knock on the clubhouse door. Everyone dropped what their pillows as the looked to the door. Spike quickly went to the door and opened it. It was Silver Spoon.
Hey! No party crashers or bullies allowed!" Scootaloo said sourly.
Silver Spoon seemed to buckle under Scootaloo's shouting. She looked very nervous and a bit her lower lip. She them gulped down a lump in her throat, then she said, "I heard you were having a sleep over here, and, well, I have to tell you all something."
"Why did you wait until now?" Applebloom asked.
"It's. . .something secret. . ." Silver Spoon said as she nervously fiddled with her glasses.
"Well, what is it?" Sweetie Belle asked.
Silver Spoon just stared at the ground. Everyone stared at her, waiting for a response. Scootaloo got impatient and walked towards her. "Look, either spit it out or get out and leave us a-."
Scootaloo was shocked stiff when she got close to Silver Spoon. Tears were dripping from the grey Earth Filly's eyes.
Applebloom noticed the tear as well. "What's wrong, Silv-"
"DIAMOND TIARA SMASHED THE SCOOTER!" Silver Spoon suddenly wailed out.
Everyone was silent at that revelation. They could only silently look at Silver Spoon in shock. The filly was full on crying now, heaving with every sob.
"I - I - I tried to stop her! I really did! But she wouldn't listen to reason! It was just so. . .scary! She had this horrible look in her eyes and this awful smile! Oh, Celestia!" Silver Spoon fell to her knees and bowed her head, crying even harder.
"Alright, everyone's in the school. Let's make our move. I've got my sledgehammer. You got yours?"
"We can't do this, Diamond! We just can't!"
"What do you mean, we can't?! Those losers think they can find their Special Talents and think they have worth? I don't think so!"
"But this is wrong!"
"Wrong?! I don't care about right and wrong! All I care about is making those Cutie Mark Crusaders and anyone who associates with them suffer!"
"Look, I understand teasing Blank Flanks. They really have no purpose or value. But smashing someone's property?"
"Of course! How can Scootaloo use her Special Talent without a scooter! That'll show her how pathetic her talent is!"
"No. No, no, no, I can't do this!"
"I should've known you'd chicken out! That's why I didn't let you in on my Gabby Gums plan! Well I don't need you here either! I'll do it myself!"
"NO!"
BANG! CRACK! SMASH!
Silver Spoon managed to control her sobbing enough to talk again, "It was so awful. . . I just felt. . .empty. . .seeing my only friend do something so terrible. She said that if I told on her, I'd be her next victim. Then she walked into the school smiling like nothing happened. I guess I just looked empty, and everyone was so excited about all your new Cutie Marks that no one noticed me."
Silver Spoon took off her glasses and wiped the tears off of them, and said, "I always thought Diamond Tiara bullied you cause of your Blank Flanks, but after today, I finally realize that it wasn't about that. It was because she wanted to feel superior to everyone else. You were always happy and had friends and families., but Diamond Tiara wanted you to be as miserable and cruel as she was. And then she used Gabby Gums to make everyone in Ponyville miserable, and then she did this, and then. . . ."
Silver Spoon moaned and sobbed loudly, "Oh, how could I have been friends with such a monster!" She was struck with surprise when Scootaloo leaned in to hug her. "Wha-?!"
"Hey, turn off the waterworks," Scootaloo said with a smile, "Applebloom fixed up my scooter."
Applebloom nodded and said, "And you came and told us the truth. That's shows us you're not like Diamond Tiara."
Silver Spoon sniffed and closed her eyes. "Please. Forgive me. I'm sorry for bullying all of you. I should've never even thought that anypony is worthless. I'm really sorry, please. . ."
"Keep your chin up, Silver Spoon!" Sweetie Belle said cheerfully.
Silver Spoon opened her eyes and looked up.
"We all know that you were always following Diamond Tiara!" Sweetie Belle said.
"Hey, yeah, that's right!" Button Mash said, "She was like some evil puppet master from the Humgolian Wizard Underground."
Everyone stared at Button Mash for a moment, then Dinky broke the silence and said, "I'll be your friend, Silver Spoon."
"Darn tootin'!" Applebloom said, "Ya just made a mistake, Silver. Ah kinda figured you weren't all bad after ya were the first clap for Granny Smith on Family Appreciation Day!"
"So. . .you all forgive me?" Silver Spoon asked in surprise.
Spike pointed at the puddle of tears around her and said, "Well, I don't think you could fake all of this!"
The whole group shared a laugh as they welcomed Silver Spoon into the tree house. Soon they were all settled in on pillows and drinking mugs of hot chocolate.
"So, Diamond Tiara was the only pony who ever wanted to be friends with you?" Scootaloo asked with shock.
Silver Spoon nodded sadly, "Yeah. Everypony else thought I was a snob and a spoiled brat because my family had more money. So, Diamond Tiara and I just drifted together, and it'd been that way ever since."
THUMP!
Everyone turned to see Sweetie Belle up on her hooves, and angry look in her eye.
"I don't believe it. . ." she said, "She used your friendship to control you!"
"Huh?" Silver Spoon said nervously.
"You felt that you had to go along with all of her bullying, or else you'd loose your only friend," Sweetie Belle explained.
Silver's eyes widened, "Yeah. . .that's true!"
Sweetie Belle paced angrily around the club house, voicing her anger, "It's almost scary what that filly has done. She's been bullying all of us just because she wanted to make others miserable, openly insulted the Apple Family, use that Gabby Gums column to make all of Ponyville miserable, framed us for that crime and blackmailed us into keeping silent, turned Applebloom's cousin into a bully, and now she's sunk to a whole new low by destroying Scootaloo's scooter."
Dinky shuddered and huddled against Spike and Button Mash. "She's a monster! A monster!" the little unicorn filly squeaked out in fear.
Sweetie Belle nodded, "I know. We all know. And something's gotta be done about her."
"Ah say we tell Applejack!" Applebloom said.
"No," Sweetie Belle replied coldly.
"Huh?" Applebloom replied, "But you were the one who kept saying-."
"This isn't like what happened with Babs," Sweetie Belle said, "Babs was just a misguided bully, Diamond Tiara is on Queen Chrysalis' level. Being grounded isn't gonna stop her. She's never gonna stop. She's got too much hate and evil in her. You've all seen what she's capable of. What she's done. The grown ups will never do what needs to be done. Besides, Applebloom, you destroyed- I mean fixed the evidence."
Applebloom blinked and blushed. "Heh-heh. . .Oops."
Sweetie Belle smiled, "It's okay. It's actually better this way. It shows we can handle our own problems. And I know just how to do it. It's something a little more potent. . ."
Sweetie Belle then went to the door and checked to make sure no one was around. Then she went to all the windows and pulled the shades down. Now the only light came from the lanterns inside. Sweetie Belle stepped to the center of the room as the five ponies and dragon stood around her.
"I have a secret. . ." she said. She looked at her Cutie Mark and continued, "My Cutie Mark isn't just for plain singing. My singing is magic. It can. . .make things happen. . ." Sweetie Belle looked up at her friends, "Remember that song I sang to Princess Celestia?"
Everyone nodded, but Scootaloo spoke up, "Yeah! It made her realize how insane Twilight really was."
Applebloom gasped, "Of course! Your singing revealed the truth to Celestia!"
Sweetie Belle nodded, "Yeah, but I also think that my singing can tap into fate and destiny, and bring good ponies good fortune."
"Like that song you sang when we got our Cutie Marks!" Dinky cheered.
"Yep," Sweetie Belle said with a smile, "But, my songs can also make the bad ponies who always get away with things finally get what they deserve."
The unicorn filly's words slowly sunk into the minds of the ponies around her. Slowly, Sweetie Belle's devious smile spread to them as well.
Deep below Canterlot Castle, Princess Luna was pacing around with a scowl on her face. Ever since Twilight had discovered these caves during Cadence and Shinning Armor's wedding, Luna had often taken refuge in them for some time to think in privacy and solitude. Nearby were her two bat-winged Pegasi body guards, who watched her carefully. They were slightly concerned about her recent stormy disposition, especially after she had put them to sleep back at the mental hospital. Luna continued to pace around the cavern for a while, then she turned and began speaking darkly.
"Now, my dark purpose will be fulfilled, and this wayward siren will -- DIE!"
The guards flinched as lightning flashed within the cavern, lighting it up dramatically and making Luna look more menacing. Luna wasn't done yet either.
In the dark of the night I was tossing and turning
And the nightmare I had was as bad as can be--
It scared me out of my wits--
Poor Twilight falling to bits!
Then I opened my eyes and the nightmare was...real!!
She was once the most powerful mare in Equestria!
"Ooh, ahh, oooh!" the guards sang.
When those ponies betrayed her they made a mistake!
"Ooh, ah, ooh!"
My curse will make all of them pay!
That girl will not get away!
Little Sweetie, beware, for Luna's awake!
"In the dark of the night, vengeance will find her," the guards sang, "In the dark of the night, just before dawn!"
Revenge will be sweet
When the curse is complete!
"In the dark of the night."
"She'll be gone!" Luna shouted.
Sweetie Belle marched around the clubhouse as her five friends stepped behind her. Spike, however, was standing in the corner.
"Uh. . .everypony? Listen, I. . ." Spike said nervously.
The white filly smiled as her horn began glowing again as she sang out strongly.
I can feel that my powers are certainly growing.
Perfect for judging that filly from Hell.
As the pieces fall into place
I'll see her crawl into place!
Oh, Diamond Tiara, your grace,
Farewell!
"In the dark of the night, terror will strike her!" the other five young ponies sang.
"Terror's the least I can do!" Sweetie Belle boasted.
"In the dark of the night, justice will brew."
"Ooh, ooh, oooh!" Applebloom, Silver Spoon, and Dinky added.
Soon she will feel
that her nightmares are real.
"In the dark of the night."
"She'll be through!" Sweetie Belle sang.
Luna flew through the sky high over Canterlot, with her two guards flying behind her. They sang out strongly.
In the dark of the night, vengeance will find her.
"Find her!" one guard sang deeply.
Scootaloo, Applebloom, Silverspoon, and Dinky danced around Sweetie Belle as they sang.
In the dark of the night, terror comes true.
"Doom her!" Button Mash sang while making his voice as deep as he could.
Luna stopped in midflight and hovered there as she looked in the direction of Ponyville and sang out to it.
My dear, here's a sign--
It's the end of the line!
"In the dark of the night..." Luna's guards sang.
"In the dark of the night..." Sweetie Belle's friends sang.
Sweetie Belle threw open the shade and stuck her head out the window and gazed at the moon. She stretched out her right hoof and sang to it.
Nightmare Forces, obey your master!
Let your power shine!
Find her now, yes, fly ever faster!
"In the dark of the night," the young ponies sang.
"In the dark of the night." the guards sang.
"In the dark of the night!"
"She'll be mine!" both Luna and Sweetie Belle shouted to the heavens.
Spike could only stare with a worried expression on his face as he watched the ponies cheer and shout as they gathered around Sweetie Belle excitedly.
Curtian!