//------------------------------// // Am I Evil? // Story: The Sharpest Tool // by Samey90 //------------------------------// Twilighy had a feeling of déjà vu when she was running through Ponyville for the second time that day. Near the Sugarcube Corner she met Pinkie Pie, her mane again puffy and curly. “Hi Twi!” she said, “Where are you running? May I run with you?” “Pinkie!” Twilight panted, “It’s important: have you seen Rarity, Sweetie Belle or Scootaloo today?” “Nope! That’s funny because I wanted to meet them today in Carousel Boutique, as Sweetie wanted to sing on one of parties, and when I went there, it was closed and there was no one there!” Pinkie chirped, “Then I saw Fluttershy flying really fast, almost as fast as Rainbow Dash, and… Twilight! Where are you going, silly filly?” *** The path between Sweet Apple Acres and Ponyville led near the edge of the Everfree Forest. Twilight was frantically searching through the bushes, looking for any sight of her friends. Soon, Pinkie joined her, jumping from one shrub to the other, as if she was playing hide-and-seek. “Rarity!” she called, “Where are you hiding? It’s not funny, scaring poor Twily like that!” “Pinkie…” she heard a raspy voice coming from under the nearby bush. “Twilight, help! I hear the voices calling my name!” “Pinkie, I have no time for your jokes! Rarity might be in danger…” “Twilight, come here!” Pinkie shouted. Her voice was now different: lower and with some alarming note. Twilight ran quickly to her, and looked under the bush next to which her friend was standing. Rarity was lying there, looking around half-consciously, her hair covered in blood. A splashes of mud were all over her coat and she was shivering visibly. “Rarity, what happened?” Twilight asked. “I…” a fit of cough interrupted her, “I have no idea… We were walking with Scootaloo, and she said that she had forgotten something from Sweet Apple Acres. We were waiting for her somewhere here…” Rarity sobbed, “She… she hit me… and took Sweetie… “ “Don’t worry, Rarity,” Twilight embraced her, “I’ll do everything to find them. Was Scootaloo behaving strange?” “Y-yes,” Rarity said, “It seemed as if she wanted to kill me and Sweetie on a spot, but something was stopping her… When Sweetie called her… She had some kind of a breakdown, I wanted to stop her, but she snapped and she kicked me… I don’t remember what happened later.” “Hey!” Pinkie shouted, “There’s a piece of paper on a tree! Just like in Slendermane, except this time it’s not night, and there’s no Slendermane behind me! Or maybe he is? Twilight, is Slendermane behind me?” “Cut it out, Pinkie, there’s no time for that!” Twilight darted to the tree Pinkie was watching, and took the card – it was a photo of Flitter and Cloudchaser, nailed to the trunk with a knife. On its back a short letter was written in a frantic, messy hoofwriting: Dear Twilight Sparkle, If you want to see the Miss of Drama’s little sister alive and with all body parts in the places they should be, come to the old barn in the north of Sweet Apple Acres alone. You have until sunset. Yours truly, The letter author’s name was obscured by a large blot. “What will we do now?” Pinkie asked. Twilight stood up, with a determined look on her face. “It’s simple: I’ll do what she says.” *** The northern part of Sweet Apple Acres was rarely visited even by Applejack. There was at least one-hundred year old barn there, paint coming off its worm-eaten walls. Twilight approached it carefully. There was nopony outside it, and it looked quite peaceful, surrounded by the old apple trees, hidden in their shadows. She took a deep breath and stepped inside. “Sweetie! Are you here?” she called anxiously. “Twilight?” In a magenta light from her horn she saw Sweetie Belle. She was bound to a wooden pillar, an expression of pure fear visible on her face, but at least she was unhurt. “Don’t worry, Sweetie, I’m going to get you out of here,” Twilight said, hoping that her plan would work. All she needed to do was to buy some time. “H-how is Rarity?” she asked, “Last time I saw her…” “She’s all right. She has some bruises and a cold after spending a night outside, but Pinkie took her to a doctor.” “How sweet…” a muffled voice called. A silhouette of a small pegasus emerged from the shadow, carrying a rusty axe in her mouth. “Sappy, as this kid would say…” Scootaloo smiled maliciously, standing between Twilight and Sweetie Belle, and putting an axe next to the unicorn filly. “Don’t think about using magic, I don’t think you want to hurt that filly… Unless what I’ve heard about you is true, and you really are like Starswirl the Bearded. I guess he just tortured this poor colt to death, hoping that strong physical pain would be able to break the bond between him and Charming Masquerade...” Twilight’s throat went dry. “What do you want to do?” “Really? You don’t know yet?” she took a bottle from under her wing, “It’s simple: you’ll drink it, and I’ll release Sweetie Belle. Then I’ll leave Scootaloo’s body. Maybe. I like it, even though it sometimes refuses to listen to me, it’s good to be sixteen again, especially after I spent last minutes of my life croaking like fucking roadkill in my own blood, piss and shit. It was rather traumatic, but for me it was, I’d say, only another brick in the wall. Your death, however, will be quick and clean.” Twilight looked at the bottle. “In case you want to know, it’s the same thing I poured into the well here, but this time it’ll be more concentrated. How are your friends by the way?” “Applejack got poisoned, but she’ll live,” Twilight didn’t know why she said that. “Damn earth ponies. How is it that I can’t kill any of you, no matter how I try? I’m really hoping the yellow pegasus drank it. Would she apologize to everypony for troubling them before passing away? Well, too bad you’ll never find out. Decide, you or these fillies.” “Wait,” Twilight said, feeling the panic building inside of her, “Out of scientific curiosity…” “Last time I heard that from you, I spent a year in a coma, and two years in a small room, unable to spread my injured wing. Do you want to watch me crush your friend’s sister’s skull with my hooves?” When she said that, her body suddenly twitched, and she almost lost her balance. Twilight took the opening – she fired a spell, which pinned Scootaloo to the wall, unable to move. She then focused some of her magic on a rope, untying Sweetie, who rushed to her. “Run,” Twilight whispered, “Find Pinkie and tell her to hurry.” Sweetie only nodded, and left the barn. “Come on, Sparkle, finish me off…” she prompted, grinning maniacally, “You took my freedom, my wing, my life, and my last chance to pay you back, frying Rainbow Dash’s little sister should be easy for you.” She twitched again, her expression changing for a moment to a pure fear. Then the creepy grin returned to her face. “Stupid filly,” she said, “She still tries to fight. Come on, rid the world of me. I’m ready to meet the maker, I’m looking forward to this. Kill me, I’m only a psycho, who doesn’t even have her own body. You defeated and mutilated me, and you’re not going to put me out of my misery? Who knows, maybe you’ll even be creative and follow Starswirl the Bearded? I’m used to dying, I’ve been dying every day for the last three years. My own sister told me she wished me dead. My body is already in the ground, so why are you waiting?” “Because I don’t want to be like you,” said Twilight firmly, “Killing and traumatising other ponies just because some guy cheated on your friends in college? You’re right Flitter, you’re a psycho,” she released her from her magic grasp. Scootaloo fell to the ground, staring at her from beneath her eyebrows. “So, what now?” she asked, “Will you let me go? Give me back to Scootaloo’s parents? ‘Hi, folks, here is your daughter, don’t worry, she might sometimes go out and kill somepony’?” “Does your offer still stand?” Twilight’s voice was calm, almost devoid of any emotion, when she was staring at the bottle of potion standing in the middle of the barn. “Yes. You’ll drink it, I’ll leave her, and we’ll end this conversation in Tartarus. This might be a quite interesting experience, don’t you think?” “Maybe,” Twilight levitated the bottle to her and opened it. She looked inside. A transparent fluid reflected the magenta glow of her horn, tempting her. “Stop!” somepony behind her shouted. She turned back to see two ponies’ silhouettes at the barn entrance. “I found her!” Pinkie said, “I was lucky, she was going to go to Cloudsdale.” “No shit, Twilight,” said Scootaloo slowly, shaking her head, “You brought my sister to this?” She lifted an axe, and made a few steps towards Twilight. Cloudchaser approached her carefully. “Flitter,” she said, her voice quiet and quivering, “You can stop this…” “Don’t tell me crap! I still remember how you told me that you wished I was dead! Are you happy now?” “Flitter…” “Of course you’re not happy! Who would be happy having an evil, bloodthirsty sister who can’t even die?” “No, it’s not that!” Cloudchaser snapped, “Flitter, for Celestia’s sake, what happened to you?” she lowered her voice again, “I don’t think you’re evil, sis. You just… I wish I’d seen that before it was too late. I could have helped you.” “Oh yeah, I’m almost starting to cry…” Scootaloo mockingly wiped her eyes. “Cloudchaser is right,” Twilight said, “You were controlling Scootaloo when she saved those foals from the fire. You are not evil, Flitter.” “Yeah, right after I made her set the airship on fire,” Scootaloo tried to smirk, but another twitch stopped her, “Besides, it was her idea… I just allowed her to do it.” “Why?” Cloudchaser asked. “I… I don’t know. That was an impulse,” a mocking happiness evaporated from Scootaloo’s voice, it now sounded empty, like after the airship crash. She fell onto her haunches, leaning closer to Cloudchaser. “You’re not a bad pony, sis,” Cloudchaser whispered, hugging Scootaloo, as if she was truly her sister, “You don’t have to hurt anypony anymore.” “B-but I… I saw them all. Cloud Counter, Rainstorm, Krissy, Parasol, Lightning Dust… They’re waiting for me. I don’t want to face them…” Scootaloo trembled, and embraced Cloudchaser like foals embrace their mother. “Don’t worry, they won’t hurt you. I… I think they’ll forgive you,” Cloudchaser tried to remain calm, but her voice faltered. “I don’t want to leave… but she rejects me, she grows stronger...” “Then let it go, sis,” Cloudchaser sobbed openly, sinking her face in Scootaloo’s coat. “We’ll meet again, sister,” Scootaloo said, “I promise. When this filly wakes up, tell her that I was sorry.” She closed her eyes, and a light blue magical aura appeared around her head. It departed from her, forming a spherical shape, before it disappeared with a flash of light. Scootaloo opened her eyes, finding herself in Cloudchaser’s tight embrace. She looked around to see Twilight and Pinkie staring at her with a mix of shock and interest on their faces. “Can anypony tell me what’s going on?” she asked before passing out once again.