Town of Ponyville

by Reeve

Day 9

Day 9

The serial killer is gone, but it would seem we were sorely mistaken in our beliefs that things would calm down around here. When I got up this morning, I was content to believe that today would be fairly subdued, I’d help bury the bodies and spend time with Fluttershy, a quiet day to de-acclimatise from all the stress of the last week. Instead however I was greeted by the sounds of screams, upon investigating I found that Shining Armour had been murdered in his house last night.

I wanted to scream with fury, just when I thought things were going to be alright, somepony goes and does this. Of course I offered to help organise another town meeting, turns out yesterdays wasn’t the last after all. There it was left to me to inform everypony that Shining Armour had been shot in his house last night, and from there we had to figure out who was responsible. Of course there were some panicked ponies who were afraid it was the serial killer still alive, that Trixie had just been a decoy.

I was quick to remain everyone that Trixie had stabbed her victims very specifically, whereas this killer used a gun. I almost wished I hadn’t said those exact words, because it might not have resulted in somepony replying with ‘just like Cheerilee did to Rarity?’. I didn’t blame her for what she did to Rarity, it was the act of a desperate mare, and in the end she was right in her actions, Rarity had been a threat which had only been removed by Cheerilee’s quick and decisive actions.

But once one pony had brought up Cheerilee, the evidence began flooding in. Ponies claiming they saw her out and about late last night, ponies who pointed out that she killed Rarity with no solid proof, ponies who theorised that she lost her mind over the guilt. She objected to all this, she said she had never left her house last night, but when Applejack asked what she did with the gun she used to kill Rarity, she reluctantly admitted to still having it back at her house.

It wasn’t long before the town was ganging up on her; my heart absolutely broke when Scootaloo broke from the crowd to stand protectively in front of her. I never would have realised the two were related, but Scootaloo shouted the crowd down fiercely, furious tears streaming down her face. When the first murmurs of hanging began, that’s when I put my hoof down. I had had enough of this mob mentality, it could have been a necessity during the serial killers killing spree, but now that that was behind us we should deal with accused criminals more justly.

I felt like I had gotten through to some of them with my reasoning, but anything I thought I had accomplished was crushed when Applejack stepped in. She reminded everypony that I was an outsider and I didn’t know the first thing about Ponyville or its citizens, she spewed a load of nonsense that lynching criminals had served the town well during the last week and that they would be wise to continue it in order to deter any future murders.

And the fools ate it all up! Applejack, that scoundrel, proposed executing a mother for a crime in which there was no strong evidence of her having committed, and everypony just went along with it. Applejack called for Cheerilee to be brought to the stand and offered her a chance to speak in her defence. Cheerilee looked terrified as she was dragged up; Scootaloo had to be restrained by a couple of stallions. She insisted that she never left her home all night, that was watching over Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle, Rarity’s younger sister.

She explained that she only stole three bullets along with the gun, and that if she was allowed she could produce two bullets that had not been fired. Applejack however argued that there was no way to tell if she hadn’t stolen four bullets and was now lying, she also brought up the point about how Cheerilee killed Rarity with no real evidence of her guilt in Rainbow Dash’s death. I was really shocked when she remained silent on that, but when Sweetie Belle interrupted I understood why she was so desperate to protect her source.

Sweetie Belle told everypony that she was the one who had told Cheerilee about what her sister had done, she tried to continue explain but Cheerilee interrupted her, explaining that Sweetie Belle found Rarity’s spell books. I don’t know if anypony else noticed the lie, but Cheerilee was obviously still hiding something for Sweetie Belles sake. Whatever she was hiding might have doomed her, as ponies remained sceptical about the whole thing, wondering why Sweetie Belle didn’t just go to the authorities with that information, why she only trusted her old teacher with it.

Applejack called a vote, naturally I made it clear that I voted innocent, I wasn’t the only one either, many ponies voted along with me including Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle and about a dozen others. But far more voted with Applejack, declaring her guilty. I couldn’t believe it, it was insane to execute a pony without proper trial during the last week, but desperate times had called for desperate measures, this was quite simply unjust and immoral.

With the votes counted Applejack was the one to sentence her to death, acting like she was the Mayor already. Scootaloo broke free of her captives, she was absolutely savage in her attempt to get to Cheerilee, but about half a dozen ponies tackled her and pinned her in place. I think it was her screams of emotional agony that triggered my reaction, but something exploded inside me, something animalistic.

I had seen other unicorns do magic, but I had never known the first thing about it. I saw foals able to do basic telekinesis while I couldn’t even shoot sparks from my horn, but my anger at the injustice of what was happening brought it forth. The initial explosion sent several ponies flying from the square, the rest I barely remember as I was in a blind rage. I just kept throwing pony after pony aside in my desperate attempt to reach Cheerilee and rescue her. I remembering being so close when I felt something crack the back of my skull, my legs gave out and my vision clouded over.

I never saw her die; I don’t think I would have been able to handle it. I woke up back in the flat, Fluttershy was there with me. I asked her what happened, if Cheerilee was alright, but the look in her eyes told me everything I needed to know. I didn’t stay long, Fluttershy was naturally more worried about the pain I might have been in rather than the pain she was clearly in after forcing herself all the way in from her cottage.

I couldn’t stay though, I needed to… I don’t really know, I just knew I couldn’t stay put. It was getting late in the afternoon by that point, I had awoken just in time to help with the last of the burials. Hardly anypony spoke to me, most didn’t even look at me, opting to go somewhere else if I came near them. Maybe they were afraid of me, not that they needed to be, after I woke up I lost any ability to cast spells. I wanted to find Scootaloo, but nopony could tell me where she was, apparently she flew off after Cheerilee had died.

Apparently the officers from Canterlot had also come and gone while I was passed out, I don’t know who relayed to them that they’re weren’t required, I wonder if they were annoyed at coming all this way for nothing. With nothing else to do I volunteered to help with the burying of the bodies, but there was only one that needed any attention, Trixie. I was instructed to take her outside the town and bury her somewhere obscure, she wasn’t to get a headstone and I was not to tell anypony where I buried her. I decided to take her to the place where Soarin and Thunderlane had first found me, Fluttershy had shown me it a while back in the hopes it might trigger my memories.

Speaking of which, something very peculiar occurred, or ‘didn’t’ occur to be more precise. The itching has completely stopped, it was definitely still happening on and off this morning before the trial; anytime my thoughts swayed to Trixie or the ponies she had killed. But as I was burying her, and even now, I feel nothing. Instead my head just feels constantly light, and have this odd feeling. I think it might have happened because I got hit in the head again, maybe it triggered something. If it did it certainly wasn’t my memories, I still don’t…

Or, I don’t think that…

I…

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Diary of Spike

Wednesday 16th November

I must say it’s good to be home, even if my apartment is cramped and the heating’s broke. I’m just glad to have seen the last of Ponyville, the Cakes were nice, even gave me some sapphire cupcakes for the train ride back. I did receive a call from my superiors, apparently the team sent down to Ponyville to deal with Shining Armour arrived in time to learn that he was dead and his killer had been hanged.

So much for things being back to normal down there, maybe that is normal for them. My superior asked me to write a report on what I observed while in Ponyville, particularly all the regulations and laws they disobeyed. This diary should help with that, because I’m already starting to block my experiences down there from my memory. I did actually get a chance to examine that list we found in the library, and my suspicions were correct.

All the dates and locations match up with unsolved murder cases all across Equestria, some I found no record of and I think they might refer to bodies that were never discovered or reported. What’s more, in every case they were stabbed in almost the exact same way, the earliest cases were definitely more sloppy. It certainly seems that Trixie was perfecting her technique, but this does raise one more question.

Not a single one of these murders occurred in Ponyville, Trixie was clearly very careful to carry out her killings far away from her home. So then why did she suddenly start killing ponies in her own town, and not just one but five? She was being so careful for so long, why go on a reckless killing spree now? I’ll have another look into it tomorrow, but now I’ve got to focus on this report. I imagine Ponyville will be examined by the highest authorities for all the crap they pulled this week, Applejack won’t know what hit her.

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Diary of Applejack

Wednesday 16th November

It turns out… I made the wrong decision.

So I killed Shining Armour last night, put a bullet straight through his chest, stood over him and watched him bleed out slowly. Once the deed was done, there was no going back, I had to pin the act on somepony else, somepony who had already admitted to stealing a gun and using it to kill another. All I had to do was pay a few visits before the body was discovered, pass a few bits, call in a few favours, then when the time came… speak a few lies.

I knew what would happen if I went through with it, and still I did. I let Cheerilee take the fall for my crime, it was necessary; I had to show everypony that I had power over them, over their lives. It might have saved the Family, but it destroyed my real family. Applebloom knows now, I figure Scootaloo was the one to tell her, but she knows everything. She confronted me not long ago, it crushed me to see her in tears and to know I was responsible for them.

She demanded to know the truth, she begged me to say it wasn’t so, but when I couldn’t lie to her anymore she… she said I was a monster. She turned her back on me and she ran. Everything I feared came to pass; I’ve lost Applebloom the same way I lost Rainbow Dash. Suddenly saving the family, saving generations of tradition and work doesn’t seem all that important. Suddenly sitting here in this fancy office, in my comfortable chair with my expensive whiskey… all feels meaningless.

I made my choice, I couldn’t let go of my hatred, I couldn’t let go of my obsession, I couldn’t let go of the past… now I’ve lost the last thing that really mattered to me. I tried to run after her, but these legs aren’t what they used to be. Funny, I used to be able to run with the best of them back when I mostly worked the farm, back when working for the Family was just a side thing, back when Rainbow was still here. I spend so much time now sitting behind a desk, dolling out the honest work to others. I look in the mirror and I barely remember the pony I used to be, I don’t see Applejack the farmer, now all I see is Applejack the Matriarch.

No… Applejack the monster!

There’re no questions left in my mind, Rainbow Dash was right, Applebloom is right… I am a monster. I allowed an innocent pony to die today in my place, even as her adopted daughter watched. But how many other innocent ponies have died by my hoof or by my order? How many lives have I destroyed just so we could stay on top? The worst part is I genuinely can’t remember, I know it’s so many that I’ve lost track. But hay, the Family is safe, the Family is secure. After our little spectacle today, I’m sure we’ll remain strong for many years to come.

Whoop dee fucking doo!

This Family wasn’t worth saving; it wasn’t worth losing my true family over. I don’t even know what to do now; I don’t think I’m capable of making good decisions anymore. Applebloom won’t stay, wherever she is now she’s probably already preparing to leave Ponyville, just like Rainbow Dash did all those years ago. I could stay; ride this ship until the day I die like Granny did. Or I could go…

Just go, leave it all behind. All my memories, all my crimes, all my regrets, I would go and they wouldn’t follow me. I imagine there would be a lot of celebrating once I’m gone, finally the oppressor would be gone and the town of Ponyville would be free. Maybe I would pay for my crimes down the line, without the protection of the Family I would be vulnerable to the many ponies who have been made to suffer because of me.

Or maybe I could… go. As in, leave, exit, depart…

Just end it!

Once and for all…

This whiskey really is expensive.

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Diary of Applebloom

Wednesday 16th November

I just can’t believe it, everything I’ve ever lived for, everything I’ve dreamed of and aspired to…

Scootaloo… Scootaloo told me everything. I tried to comfort her after what they… after what Applejack did to Cheerilee. She was my friend, I wanted her to know I was there for her, but she turned to face me and…

It was awful, the things she said, I cried and cried and begged her to stop talking, to take it all back, but she kept on going. She told me how she had been secretly working alongside Rainbow Dash, about how it was their mission to bring down the Family. She told me they were monsters, they were criminals and killers. I told her she was wrong, I told her she didn’t know what she was talking about.

She told me about the things they did, the things they do… awful things. She told me about the ponies they’d hurt, the ponies they’d pushed and bullied. Good ponies, ponies I knew and cared about. She told me Applejack, my own sister was a murderer. I couldn’t take it, I tried to run away but she pushed me to the ground, she held me there and made me listen to every terrible thing the Family had done since she started working with Rainbow Dash and even long before that.

I didn’t want to believe her, I truly didn’t… but deep down in my heart, I knew it was all true.

When I finally escaped I ran home, I went to Applejack. I told her I knew everything, and begged her to tell me it was all a lie, that the Family wasn’t the horrible things I’d been told it was. She didn’t even try to lie to me…

I couldn’t believe it, my own sister, the only real family I had left, she was… a monster.

I ran and ran. I ran until I couldn’t run anymore. It felt like a knife had been driven right into my heart. When I finally stopped running, I was at Cheerilee’s house. I stood there for the longest time, trying to bring myself to knock on the door. When finally I lost all my strength and I turned away, the door opened, Scootaloo was standing right there, her look was so cold. She just said ‘I’ve been waiting for ages for you to knock and now you’re going to leave, some friend you are’.

I was so confused, but her look melted and she was my friend again, inviting me to come in. When I got in I found Sweetie Belle already there, it was just the three of us, all alone. I tried to tell Scootaloo I was sorry but she wouldn’t let me, she told me she never blamed me for what my sister did. I kind of broke down again after that, but this time I had my friends to hold on to.

We stayed like that for the longest time, curled up on the floor in each other’s hooves, crying softly. Finally it was Scootaloo who broke the silence, she said we should leave. I thought she meant leave the house… she did not mean leave the house.

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Diary of Scootaloo

Wednesday 16th November

Cheerilee is gone… my mother is gone.

I never knew my birth mother; she died when I was only a few months old. I was told she was ill, but I don’t believe that. For the first several years of my life I was raised by my… my old man, it was a dark time. He didn’t work except for the occasional job for the Family, so we never had a lot of money. What money we did have was mostly spent on drink, oh yes, he was a heavy drinker, and a violent one too.

That’s why I don’t believe my mother died of illness, because I’d seen what her husband had been capable of… I’d been the target of it many times growing up. I wasn’t much better off outside of home; I was picked on a lot at school. I barely knew Applebloom at the time and Sweetie Belle was home schooled for a long time before she moved into our class, so at the time I didn’t really have any friends. The only one who stuck up for me was my teacher, Cheerilee.

I was never very smart, I struggled a lot in school, but she always took the time to help me, even giving me afterschool classes. I particularly enjoyed those because it meant less time at home. When she learned I had no money to buy lunch with, she would always bring in extra and we’d share it. I never had it in me to tell her I didn’t have breakfast or dinner either. When she noticed the cuts and bruises, I told her the other kids were bullying me, while that was true they weren’t the ones responsible for the injuries.

Cheerilee made the bullying stop, although the injuries kept on appearing. When she learned I didn’t have any friends she approached Applebloom who mostly just hung out with Twist and asked her to spend time with me. At the time I was difficult to be around, I didn’t like the idea of somepony being my friend out of pity, but I eventually put my pride aside and allowed myself to get close to Applebloom. She was my first real friend and we’ve been friends ever since, it was the main reason I could never have disowned her today even if I did blame her for what happened.

It was a cold night when I finally couldn’t take anymore, I ran away from home into the horrible pissy weather and ran straight to Cheerilee’s home, to the only pony I trusted enough to keep me safe. I told her everything, about my troubles at home, about how the only real food I got in the day was the lunch she gave me, about how sometimes I sleep under the bed if I’d known he was drinking because I’d be so scared.

When he came barging into the house, ready to drag me back home by my tail, Cheerilee stood between the pair of us. He was twice her size and yet she didn’t even flinch as he bore down upon her. It was a horrible fight; Cheerilee came out of it much worse, but she still gave it everything she had. It was only when she smashed a ship-in-a-bottle across his head that he finally got the message and left. She later told me that the bottle had been the last present she ever received from her father, I felt so guilty but she never regretted breaking it to protect me.

The guards were called in and they took him away, I never saw him again. I was going to be taken into foster care, but Cheerilee insisted that she would look after me. It was a lengthy process, but eventually we were living together, a real family at last. Sweetie Belle transferred to the school not long after and quickly became friends with me and Applebloom. When I was struggling to fly, she asked Rainbow Dash to teach me; from there we became really close until one day she told me I was pretty much a sister to her.

I really had a great life for the longest time… but now it’s all gone, it ended when they kicked that stool from beneath Cheerilee and let her hang.

I don’t blame Applebloom, I may have lost my head with her, but I will never blame her for what her sister did. She was my first friend, she’s a part of that family I built, and I will never cast her aside. It’s strange, the sisters of my two best friends destroyed my life, and yet I still love both of them, they’re all I have now, it’s more important now than ever before that we stick together. That’s why I suggested leaving Ponyville together. Applebloom has decided to cut ties with her family, there’s nothing left for any of us here.

It was Sweetie Belle who said we could stay at her place in Canterlot, she said there was no reason she couldn’t go back a week early. So that seems to be it, we’re packing our bags tomorrow morning and hopping on the first train to Canterlot. We’re leaving everything behind but each other. None of us can sleep; the other two are just sitting in the living room, just thinking to themselves by the looks of it. I’m just walking about the house in between writing this down, it’s going to feel weird leaving it behind, it was my home for the best years of my life.

No, it was a house. My home was wherever Cheerilee was, but she’s gone; now my home is wherever I go as long as Applebloom and Sweetie Belle are with me. I miss her so much already, all these years she’s been the only mother I even knew, I always wanted nothing more than to call her ‘mum’ to her face, but… I could never find the strength to get the word out, now I never will.

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Diary of Sweetie Belle

Wednesday 16th November

Things were supposed to be finished; we were supposed to have won. Rarity was gone, Trixie was gone, why did the killing have to continue?

Now Cheerilee is gone to, executed for a crime she didn’t commit. A small part of me feels like I should be happy, that she got what she deserved for killing Rarity… but I don’t, I just can’t. One of the stupid reasons they used to justify pinning the blame on her was that she never had any evidence for going after Rarity. She could have told them all the truth, but she stayed silent, even though it could have cost her life she refused to reveal my secret.

I knew then that I had to come clean, I had to do something, but even as I tried she still stopped me, still lied on my behalf. It was so terrible, Scootaloo was screaming and crying, it took several ponies to hold her down. That new mare, the one who was helping Rainbow Dash and Spike tried to stop them, it was an impressive if slightly scary attempt, I really thought she was going to make it before they…

One pony restrained me although I hadn’t tried to fight back, I was so afraid that I couldn’t bring myself to act like Scootaloo or the mare had. As Cheerilee dropped and the noose tightened, I began screaming up to her, if I couldn’t stop it I could at least let her know that I forgave her before she went. I don’t know that she head me though, I think I left it too late.

Scootaloo flew off and I was unable to follow her, I decided to wait back at Cheerilee’s house for her to return, although I didn’t know if I was still welcome to stay. It was getting late when Scootaloo finally got back, she was in a terrible state, but I could see she was more angry than anything else. We waited there for what felt like the longest time, even though I had been on the same end as her I had no clue what to say in order to comfort her.

After a while Scootaloo got up and began waiting by the door, as if she were expecting somepony. Eventually she opened the door to reveal Applebloom about to leave, the way she spoke to her… I wonder what happened between them. Whatever it was it didn’t seem to have any lasting damage as the pair quickly made up. We spent a long time just lying with each other, crying over all the ponies we’d lost.

It was only when Scootaloo suggested that we leave did we stop. I had been thinking it myself, I was only staying at Cheerilee’s house under her invite, but now she was gone. I didn’t know if Scootaloo would inherit the house, just like I would probably inherit Rarity’s shop. If that were the case would I still stay, would she even stay? I always had my place up in Canterlot to go back to, but the idea of leaving the girls behind again, knowing they had nowhere else to go…

So when Scootaloo proposed the idea, I suggested we all go stay at my place, at least for a while until things became clearer. I had already been planning to head back early before Cheerilee allowed me to stay here; it seemed that was still going to be the case. We agreed to pack our stuff tomorrow morning and hop on the earliest train out of here. It would be strange leaving this place behind, perhaps for good, we’d all lived here our whole lives, but I knew it would be for the best, we needed a fresh start.

I don’t know what I’ll do with Rarity’s shop; I could probably sell it to one of her associates in Canterlot, Fancy Pants or one of his friends. I remember when our parents first passed away, Rarity gave me the majority of the inheritance to help towards my education, but I guess it will all be mine now. Who would have thought that you could become so rich from losing your entire family?