//------------------------------// // Opalesence // Story: Cutie Mark Cleansers // by Duke of Canterlot //------------------------------// Sweetie Belle was conflicted. She watched as Apple Bloom, one of her best friends, cracked Angel's neck like it was nothing. She understood what Apple Bloom was trying to do. Apple Bloom truly believed she was making the world a better place through her actions, and perhaps the world would become a better place as a result... Sweetie Belle didn't know any better herself. Apple Bloom was the smart one. She was the one who was destined to do great things. However, this all felt wrong.. Sweetie Belle never liked Snails too much and found Angel to be a jerk.. most ponies probably felt the same way about them - but most ponies wouldn't want to see them dead. Sweetie Belle felt stuck. A part of her wanted to turn Apple Bloom in to the police for her crimes, but another part of her wanted to see Apple Bloom succeed in her endeavors. This would lead to the deaths of their worst enemies: Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon. Apple Bloom was stronger and smarter than either of those two brats.. it would be an easy kill. Sweetie's sister, Rarity, must have noticed that Sweetie was deep in nervous thought. "Sweetie Belle", asked Rarity, "is everything alright?" "Umm.. yea... I guess... I'm assuming you heard about how Snails went missing.." "I did", responded Rarity, "it's most dreadful. Snails doesn't seem particularly bright.. but why would any pony want to commit foul play on him?" "I don't know. That's a mystery." "A lot of bad omens recently", mused Rarity, "Angel Bunny has gone missing too." Sweetie Belle had to fake shock. "Oh no!!", squeaked Sweetie, "maybe Angel got lost." "Fluttershy is devastated. I personally think Angel was taking advantage of Fluttershy's kindness.. but Fluttershy adores the little bunny. I hope Angel is found soon or Fluttershy will probably never be the same." Fluttershy will probably never be the same? Uh oh... Apple Bloom, what did you do? Oh no, thought Sweetie Belle, what did we do? Sweetie played a role in Angel's murder with that stupid stun spell.. Angel would have hopped away if it wasn't for that. Sweetie Belle began to cry. "Awww", cooed Rarity, "Sweetie Belle, I promise you things will only get better from here." If she only knew... "Oh and Sweetie Belle, I need you to catsit for me. I have an important fashion convention to go to." "Not a problem. How long will it be?" "A whole day." "What", squeaked Sweetie Belle. "Yes Sweetie", said Rarity, "this convention is in Canterlot." "Well, Rarity.. to be honest, it was kinda last minute..." "Spike usually takes care of Opal while I'm away, but he's on the search team." Search team? Oh shit... that should have been expected though. Apple Bloom probably covered her tracks real well.. but she couldn't cover Sweetie Belle's sense of guilt. "Ooh, I want to be on the search team! Maybe Spike can take care of..." "Can you breathe fire?" "No", responded Sweetie Belle sadly. "And so it is", cheered Rarity, "you will be babysitting Opalesence.. she loves you, right?" "Eh...", Sweetie Belle slowly approached Opal and put her hoof over Opal's fur.. Opal noticed this. She responded by swiping Sweetie Belle and running away. "I might be dead if I spend too much time with that cat..." "Oh", giggled Rarity, "taking care of Opal isn't too hard. You just need to make sure she doesn't run away." "Can we replace Opal with Apple Bloom's dog, Winona? She's more fun." "Dogs... ugh", gagged Rarity, "well.. I must be off. There is going to be a fine audience and this could be a real big thing for me." "How so?" "My designs could enter the Canterlot Royal Collection! I just hope that everypony in Canterlot likes them." "You'll do great, sis." "I appreciate your support, Sweetie Belle", said Rarity, "hopefully, Opal doesn't give you much trouble." "Err", said Sweetie Belle, "you said it wouldn't be a big deal." Rarity giggled and rushed out with her collection of dresses. The day started off quite uneventfully for Scootaloo. She couldn't get the idea of how Apple Bloom snapped the little shit's neck... what scared Scootaloo the most was how much she enjoyed it. Angel was relentless in making fun of Scootaloo's disability. Angel also cracked little jokes about Apple Bloom's dead parents. He was an insensitive waste of space. The world was better off without him, even if Fluttershy couldn't see it. Scootaloo's biological mom was a doctor and her stepmom was a lawyer, so they were usually very busy... it was a Saturday, but one that was too busy for her moms to spend time with her. It was better than living with her deadbeat alcoholic dad... ugh... he was on her list. Scootaloo was used to it. Her moms trusted her a lot. Scootaloo was allowed to stay home alone without a problem for years. If it wasn't for the fact that Sweet Apple Acres had a lot of land, the CMC would probably be spending most of their time at Scootaloo's house. Scootaloo was surprised when she heard a knock. She shuddered. Was it the police? Were they were going to ask her questions? Scootaloo recited to herself, "I am sorry to hear about the disappearance of Snails and Angel, but I don't know anything about it that can help you." Scootaloo walked slowly to the door. It was only Apple Bloom. "Hey, Scoots", said Apple Bloom with a smile, "beautiful day, huh?" "It sure is", responded Scootaloo, "so what sort of fun adventures do we have planned for today?" "Hmmm...", thought Apple Bloom, "let's go visit Sweetie Belle! Her parents said she is at Carousel Boutique." "Let's go visit Sweetie Belle!" "Definitely. We are the Cutie Mark Cleansers after all." Scootaloo chuckled awkwardly and said, "I don't know if I'll ever get used to that." "It's alright, sugarcube, ah'm not so used to it either... sounds kind of nice, right?" "Yea, it does.. last night still felt kind of weird to me." "Ah hope I didn't upset you." "That's the strange part", responded Scootaloo, "I enjoyed it... you know.. seeing that little bunny get what he deserves." "There ya go! It's about time we go around bringing justice to the world. The world ain't' just at all... by its own means, it leads good ponies, like my ma and pa, to be slaughtered by timberwolves and bad ponies, like Diamond Tiara, to live happy and long lives. Where was the world when... well, enough talk about that, let's go see Sweetie Belle!" Scootaloo knew that Apple Bloom was heartbroken over the untimely death of her parents... it must have changed the little filly forever. Scootaloo didn't know Apple Bloom prior to her parents' passing, however, Scootaloo figured that her parents dying led to Apple Bloom's dark obsession with death. But... Scootaloo wondered... she could probably be just as cruel and sadistic as her friend. Apple Bloom and Scootaloo arrived at Carousel Boutique. Apple Bloom hoped that Sweetie Belle would be even half as receptive as Scootaloo.. however, Apple Bloom doubted it. Sweetie was too delicate and sensitive. She would probably never grow to appreciate the cause... Apple Bloom would probably need to use fear to keep Sweetie Belle from using her squeaky voice to tell the truth. But perhaps, Apple Bloom was wrong... it doesn't happen often, but she had been wrong in the past. Apple Bloom knocked on the door confidently, "Sweetie Belle, it's your friends!" "Coming in a minute", squeaked Sweetie Belle. A few minutes passed. Scootaloo was getting antsy and whispered to Apple Bloom, "What if she doesn't want to be our friend anymore?" "Sweetie Belle isn't exactly known for being prompt", responded Apple Bloom calmly. "That's true." The door opened. "Sorry girls", said Sweetie Belle, "I've been stuck taking care of the cat today." "I hate that fluffball", groaned Apple Bloom. "Me too", added Scootaloo. "Why don't you go out and play with us and leave that thing alone", asked Apple Bloom. "Rarity would kill me", responded Sweetie Belle. "Not with me on your side", said Apple Bloom extending a hoof to Sweetie Belle. "No killing sisters though, right", asked Sweetie Belle. "Of course", laughed Apple Bloom, "I have some pretty strict qualifications on who shouldn't be among the living.. you know that." "All too well, I guess', responded Sweetie Belle softly. Opalesence approached the CMC and growled at them. "Ungrateful bitch", muttered Scootaloo. "Hey", cheered Apple Bloom, "ah got an idea, why don't we go out and take Opal with us?" "Wait a second", squeaked Sweetie Belle, "you're not gonna do what I'm thinking you're gonna do." "I dunno", responded Apple Bloom, "but accidents happen once in a while." Both Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle laughed. Sweetie Belle walked over to Opal and whispered, "I love you, Opal..", but Opal scratched Sweetie's face so hard that it drew blood. Sweetie Belle began to cry. "Band-aids", said Apple Bloom, "you gotta have some band-aids around." "In the bathroom", sniffled Sweetie Belle. "Let's get them for Sweetie Belle", cheered Scootaloo. The two fillies rushed into the bathroom and got a Band-Aid to cover the cut on Sweetie's face. "What a stupid cat", chuckled Apple Bloom, "c'mon let's go play." Opal darted the other way. "Cats are sooooo dumb", said Apple Bloom, "watch this!" Apple Bloom picked up Opal's toy mouse and ran away with it. Opal chased after Apple Bloom. "Well', shrugged Scootaloo, "I guess somepony got Opal out of the house." Sweetie Belle darted after Apple Bloom and shouted, "You can't!!". Scootaloo grabbed Sweetie Belle and put her front hoof on Sweetie Belle's mouth and whispered, "Not so loud, Sweetie Belle. Make a scene and you'll attract attention to us and we will become the Cutie Mark Prisoners." Sweetie Belle sighed. Apple Bloom ran faster than she ever ran in her life with the toy mouse. Opal was going to fall right into her trap.. this was priceless and too funny. The young earth pony knew where she was heading: Ponyville Gorge. Ponyville Gorge was over four hundred feet up and the ground in the middle was hard and rocky, easy for a pony to meet his or her death....even easier for a cat. Apple Bloom ran to the gorge and Opal ran right after her. Apple Bloom noticed that neither Scootaloo nor Sweetie Belle followed.. both she and Opal were probably running far too fast for the two of them to catch up. Opal was ferocious. She looked like she was ready to kill Apple Bloom. Apple Bloom smiled. A killer versus a killer. It was too easy. "Hey, kitty kitty", cooed Apple Bloom, "you want your little toy? Well, come and get it." Opal must have noticed the gorge since she didn't chase after Apple Bloom anymore. Apple Bloom threw the toy mouse to Opal. Opal took it and began playing with it. It was all part of Apple Bloom's plan. She went behind Opal and began lightly stroking the cat's fur. Opal yowled, turned around, and opened up Apple Bloom's bow and caused a few hairs on her mane to be pulled out. Apple Bloom jumped on Opal and continued on with the fight. She could see from her peripheral vision that Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo caught up. Opal got Apple Bloom pinned down and was prepping her claws to scratch the filly. However, in a split second, Apple Bloom jumped up and pushed Opal down the gorge. Apple Bloom could hear a loud yowl and nothing else. It was too far down for Apple Bloom to hear Opal cracking onto the sharp ground. "Oh hi girls", said Apple Bloom nonchalantly, "I got into a fight with Rarity's cat. I better go down and see if she's dead." Sweetie Belle shyly smiled. Apple Bloom smiled back... yes, Sweetie Belle may not want to admit it, but she hated Opal and was definitely happy that the cat was likely gone from her life forever. Apple Bloom threw the toy mouse down the gorge and then climbed down herself. It was a long but relatively safe trek downward. Apple Bloom was exhausted, but it was all part of a good day's work. She jumped down to the ground and saw that Opal landed right on a giant spike-shaped rock. Opal's body was ruptured by the sharp rock, which now had an eerily red shade to it. Apple Bloom groaned. She was hoping that she could bring the cat's dead body home... but the scratches all over Apple Bloom's face and body and the deep scratch Opal gave Sweetie Belle were probably enough cause to show that Opal had gone beserk and ran off to meet her own death. Apple Bloom appealed to the cat's bitchy instincts and won. "Serves you right", said Apple Bloom softly. Apple Bloom began her climb up. Opal was dead. Apple Bloom was pleased to see that Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo were still there. "Is she...", began Scootaloo. Apple Bloom nodded. "Oh no", gulped Sweetie Belle, "what do we tell Rarity?" "You and I were both attacked by Opal. She went crazy and ran off somewhere. The evidence is quite clear. That cat did hurt us... we are just not going to tell your sister that we hurt the cat." "You're bleeding, Apple Bloom.. real bad...and your bow, it's been ripped....", said Sweetie Belle with concern "Makes the story more plausible, but... owww...let's say we go get some band-aids and relax. Today was an interesting day." Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo nodded and followed Apple Bloom.. who knows where they will follow her next?