Sweet Apple Acres
Sweetie Belle slowly walked down the street towards Sweet Apple Acres, her head held low to the ground.
The display of trust and understanding that the ponies of Ponyville had displayed at the memorial for both Sweetie Belle and her family was...well, it was unlike anything that Sweetie Belle had ever experienced before. She expected hatred, she expected distrust and fear from the town and she had received it in spades. The whole town had hated her, and they didn't trust her at all because of what Rarity had done!
At least, that's what she thought, anyway.
She still wasn't entirely sure that she could trust her own memory on what had happened at the memorial service. Had most of the town come up to her to say that they didn't hate her or blame her for Rarity's murders? No, surely they were like Diamond Tiara for the most part; they hated her just as much as they hated Rarity.
But if that was the case, why did over half of the town tell her otherwise? Why did they support her?
That wasn't to say that the entire town suddenly changed their minds about her. A decent portion of the crowd still saw her as just as much of a monster as Rarity was. Even after the outpouring of support, there were still a lot of ponies that shot her angry glares and even shot her a few harsh words when the service broke up. Sweetie Belle knew without a doubt that they would try to make her life miserable in the coming years. She wondered if they would ever truly come to accept her again. Still, she knew that she had protectors.
She walked through the gate to Apple Bloom's farm, hoping to see her friends there. As loving as they all were, very few of Rarity's friends had actually shown up to the memorial. Twilight was there obviously, but Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, and Applejack had merely sat in Applejack's barn, talking amongst themselves until the memorial was over. Only Rainbow Dash had shown up to the memorial as well, although she had watched the ceremony from the clouds.
Sweetie Belle sighed and walked past the rows of apple trees towards the barn. She stopped to examine one for a brief moment and she saw that it was highly dented at the base. It had even begun splintering in some places. She walked over to the tree and ran her hoof over the dent. It was unmistakably Applejack's hoofwork as the hoofmarks were simply too small to have come from Big Macintosh.
Sweetie Belle shook her head sadly and walked back towards the barn. She was unsurprised to see rows and rows of dented trees on the way to the barn. She knew that Applejack immersed herself in her work when she was feeling down and the sheer amount of emotional pain that the farmer pony was feeling right now... well, clearly this was how it was coming out.
She walked up to the barn to see it the barn door open slightly. She pushed it open a bit more and walked inside. Applejack had set up a pair of large tables around which she, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, Twilight, Apple Bloom, and Scootaloo sat. They all looked up when she walked in and gave her small nods of greeting. She walked up to a chair and sat down between Twilight and Apple Bloom.
"How was it?" asked Pinkie Pie. Sweetie Belle wanted to respond to her, but she was still too scared of her. This Pinkie Pie was still the one that she had come across in Sugarcube Corner. She obviously hadn't been coping any better.
Sweetie Belle took a deep breath and shrugged. "I still don't know," she said as she stared down at the table.
Apple Bloom cocked her head. "What d'ya mean?" she questioned.
Sweetie Belle began idly examining a stain mark on the table in front of her. "Well... they let ponies give speeches if they wanted to about who they were there for and I tried to give one about Rarity," she began.
Applejack nodded grimly. "Ah take it that didn't go too well," she guessed.
Sweetie Belle nodded. "I expected them to come on the stage to hurt me right when I started talking. Nopony was there to help me, nopony stood up for me." She turned to Twilight. "Not even you."
Twilight frowned. "Is that what you think?"
The first hints of a glare appeared on Sweetie Belle's face. "You didn't say anything to stop them!" she accused.
"I...I didn't know what to say," said Twilight, hanging her head in shame. "I was worried that if I spoke up it would make things worse. Rarity and I were close after all."
Sweetie Belle's expression hardened. "So you were just going to let them hurt me?" she growled.
Twilight's vigorously shook her head. "Sweetie Belle, the second the crowd acted up I put a protection spell on you that Celestia herself would have difficulty breaking."
"And I was in the clouds ready to smash anypony that came near you," Rainbow Dash piped up.
"But you didn't," said Sweetie Belle bitterly. "Derpy helped me faster than you two did."
Twilight's face hardened and she returned Sweetie Belle's glare. "Yeah, well next time we're at a memorial service for the victims of one of our serial killer friends and they start to pick on her sister we'll know exactly what to do then, won't we?" snapped Twilight.
Sweetie Belle's glare faded to a more nervous expression and she flinched back. "Twilight--"
Twilight waved a hoof and continued her rant. "You do know that I'm suffering as much as you are, right? You do know that I felt as helpless as you did right there, right? You know that I was as scared as you were at that moment? That I didn't know what was going to happen, what I was supposed to do, what I was supposed to say?! I was scared Sweetie Belle, I was really, really scared, okay?!"
The whole room was dead silent, each wondering what to say to that. Twilight began silently crying and she gently placed a hoof on Sweetie belle's shoulder. "I know I failed you Sweetie Belle," said Twilight sadly. "You really needed me right there and I wasn't there. I just stayed in the background, hoping that I wouldn't have to interfere. But I know that I should have interfered in the very beginning, I'm sorry."
Sweetie Belle nodded and went back to staring at the table. Silence ruled the barn once more for a few moments before Applejack spoke up. "What do ya mean, 'Derpy came to help me'?" she asked.
Sweetie Belle looked up and her eyes began filling with tears. "A filly came up to me to tell the crowd to stop. June Star was her name, she was Scarlet Tomato's sister," said Sweetie Belle. Twilight gave a small gasp that Sweetie Belle ignored. "She...she came up to me and told me that it wasn't my fault and that she didn't blame me for what Rarity did. Her mom was one of the ponies that does so she walked towards me to make June Star go away but Derpy stopped her. "
Sweetie Belle began openly crying now. "Then a bunch of ponies came up to me and they told me that they didn't blame me and that they didn't think that it was my fault at all. They supported me!"
"So what's wrong with that?" asked Applejack. "That sounds mighty wonderful!"
"But I don't deserve it!" wailed Sweetie Belle. "I could have stopped Rarity if I had just paid more attention, I could have stopped her after you cleansed her with the Elements! I could have done more!" She stared at the ground now and silent tears fell from her face. "I could have done more. I could have stopped it."
Applejack walked over to Sweetie Belle and placed a hoof on her shoulder. "No, sugar cube, if anypony could have done more it's us," she said. "We were the ones who hit her with the Elements and we all saw how that turned out."
"Would you have turned her in if you could go back? Would you have Princess Celestia kill her to save the ponies she hurt after you tried to help her?" asked Sweetie Belle.
Applejack remained silent for a few moments before her head slowly went up and down. "Yeah... Ah think Ah would have," she admitted. "But Ah think Ah'd also regret it for the rest of my life."
"But you'll regret not doing it forever too?"
Applejack nodded once more. "There's no easy answer for that." She sighed. "There's no good outcome."
Sweetie Belle turned to Rainbow Dash. "What would you have done?" You're the Element of Loyalty after all; would you have told Princess Celestia?"
Rainbow Dash actually let out a small growl at the question. "Don't ever ask me that again," she said sharply. Sweetie Belle flinched back and Rainbow gave a pained sigh. "I don't want to have to think about it. I don't want to have that many lives depend on me so please just don't ask me that."
"Sorry," mumbled Sweetie Belle. Rainbow Dash merely gave her a nod. Sweetie Belle looked over at Scootaloo who seemed to have been avoiding her gaze the entire time. Sweetie Belle couldn't have that. She needed to have all of her friends with her. Despite the support from a lot of the town, a lot of it still hated her beyond belief. She took a deep breath.
"Scootaloo," she said quietly. Scootaloo's head snapped up and she made eye contact with Sweetie Belle. "Do you still hate me, Scootaloo?"
Scootaloo looked back down at the table, saying nothing. However, it was obvious that she was still deep in thought. Rainbow Dash scooted over closer to her had put a comforting hoof on her shoulder. Scootaloo looked up at her and Rainbow gave her an encouraging grin and a nod. Scootaloo looked back at Sweetie Belle and sighed. "No, I guess I don't hate you," she muttered. "I just...I just..." Scootaloo growled in frustration and put her head in her hooves. "I don't even know."
"No one expects ya to know what to do, sugar cube," said Applejack.
Scootaloo's gaze trailed back up to Sweetie Belle. "I mean, your sister killed my parents and dropped me off at an orphanage, what the heck am I supposed to think about that?"
Sweetie Belle looked at Scootaloo sadly. "I guess...I guess I don't really blame you for being mad," she said. "My sister--"
"Stole my life from me!" finished Scootaloo bitterly.
Rainbow Dash gently put a hoof on the orange pegasus' shoulder. "Scoots, no need for that," she chided.
"But she did!" said Scootaloo, looking desperately up at Rainbow Dash. "I don't have parents anymore! I don't have anypony to take care of me! Do you know how many nights I had to wander the streets, wondering when my next meal was going to be?"
"Yeah Scoots, I do," said Rainbow Dash. "I know but I can't imagine how hard it must have been for you. But don't blame Sweetie Belle for that! She was hardly your age when it happened."
Scootaloo opened her mouth to say something, but she closed it again and looked back down at the table.
The group stared silently at the depressed orange filly before Rainbow Dash cleared her throat. "I...uh...I was gonna save this for later but I think I need to do it now." She began leafing through her saddlebag, which was slung over a chair, for a few moments before she pulled out a few sheets of paper.
"What are those?" Fluttershy questioned as she tried to get a look at the papers.
Rainbow Dash wordlessly put them on the table in front of Scootaloo who silently examined them. After a few second, her eyes widened and she looked back up at Rainbow Dash. "These are adoption forms," she said quietly.
Rainbow Dash nodded. "Yeah uh... I mean, if you want me to, the offer's on the table."
Scootaloo's eyes began to fill with tears. "You wanna be my mommy?" she whispered.
Rainbow Dash uneasily scratched her back of her head. "Well, uh, more like your big sister, ya know? But yeah, I guess if you want to look at it that way," said Rainbow Dash. Scootaloo's eyes widened even more and before Rainbow could do anything, Scootaloo wrapped her in a hug and sobbed into her shoulder. Rainbow uneasily returned the hug. "Uh, does that mean you want me to?" said Rainbow Dash. Scootaloo nodded and the group gave happy sighs.
"Well that's just dandy, RD," said Applejack as she took Rainbow's hoof and began shaking it.
Rainbow gave her a small smile and a weak chuckle, "Thanks AJ," she said. "Thanks."
Scootaloo looked up from her hug with her new big sister and looked directly at Sweetie Belle. She got up and walked over to her fellow Crusader before wrapping her in a big hug too. Sweetie Belle sat in shock for a few moments before she relaxed and returned the hug. "It still hurts," said Scootaloo. "And I think it will forever, but I guess I don't have to blame you for something that you didn't know about."
"You guess?" said Sweetie Belle, pulling away from the hug with a small smirk.
Scootaloo laughed nervously and nodded. "Yeah well, you know what I mean," said Scootaloo.
"I sure do," said Sweetie Belle. "Cutie Mark Crusaders Family forever?" Scootaloo high-hooved her before Apple Bloom walked over and the three started a large group-hug. The four other ponies in the room all smiled fondly at the Crusaders. They knew that life would be okay for them.
However, there was one mare in the room that didn't smile at the display. Indeed, she still had a blank stare on her face. Applejack looked over and frowned. "You okay, Pinks?" she asked.
Pinkie Pie shook her head. "Call me Pinkamena," she growled.
Rainbow Dash's eyes widened and she flattened her ears. "Uh-oh," she whispered.
Fluttershy frowned and cocked her head. "What do you mean, 'Pinkamena'?" she asked.
"Just what I said, Pinkamena," Pinkie Pie snapped. "It's the name I was born with."
Twilight and Applejack exchanged an uneasy glance. "Uh... okay, but what's wrong then?" asked Twilight.
Pinkamena growled and slammed her front hooves onto the table. "What do you think is wrong?!" shrieked Pinkamena. "Rarity is dead! She was executed for being a serial killer! I trusted her and she lost that trust the moment she told me what kind of a monster she was!" She slammed her hoof on the table again. "That's what's wrong!"
The other four looked at each other sadly. "Pinkie Pie--"
"MY name is PINKAMENA!" screeched the pink mare.
"No it ain't!" said Applejack angrily. "Yer Pinkie Pie. You've always been Pinkie Pie and ya always will be!" Pinkamena gave Applejack a menacing growl, causing Applejack to flinch back a bit but she remained steady in her resolve. "Now look sugar cube, that all happened to all of us too! Ah was arrested in the middle of the night the same as you were. Ah was forced to watch a pony Ah loved like kin die in front of me the same as you! Ah haven't been takin' it like you have!"
"Well lucky you then," said Pinkamena bitterly. "But I've seen the apple trees out there. How many of them do you think you can save?"
Applejack faltered for a moment before she steadied her resolve once more. "Ah ain't sayin' that what happened hasn't left scars on me," she said. "We'll all suffer from the effects of what happened for the rest of our lives, but Ah ain't gonna let it rule my life!"
"We've all gone through it, Pinkie Pie," said Twilight. "Princess Celestia disowned me because of what happened, believe me, I know what you're going through." Pinkamena looked angrily around the table, hoping that... well; she didn't know what she was hoping.
"Ya need to let go of the pain as best ya can sugar cube," said Applejack.
"I'm trying!" she shrieked. "Don't you think that I would erase all of the pain and betrayal in a second if I could!? Don't you think that I would erase every memory of Rarity if I could so I could stop all of this!?"
"Come on, Pinks, you wouldn't erase every memory of Rarity if you could. None of us would!" said Rainbow Dash.
"Why not?" retorted Pinkamena. "Thinking of the good memories only makes the bad memories worse!"
"Only if you let them!" Fluttershy insisted.
Pinkamena turned her piercing glare to the yellow pegasus. "Well how am I supposed to stop them?!"
"By lettin' go and movin' on," said Applejack simply.
Pinkamena shot her an icy death glare that would have turned a cockatrice to stone. "I Don't. Know. HOW!" she screamed. "How am I supposed to just forget and move on? How am I supposed to just ignore what happened? How am I supposed to just get over it, it's impossible!"
"We did it," Twilight pointed out.
Pinkamena let loose a joyless cackle. "Don't make me laugh!"
"Deal," mumbled Rainbow Dash.
"You haven't forgotten, you haven't moved on. You replay that horrible day in your head over and over again just like I do! You dream about her final moments and you feel betrayed, just like I do! You wish you could have seen the signs and stopped her from murdering everypony, just like I do!"
The four looked at each other quizzically. Twilight leaned her head closer to Pinkamena. "Pinkie Pie... do you blame yourself for her death?"
"Of course," she snapped. "Don't you? Don't you wish that you had seen the signs? If we had just paid better attention than none of this would have happened!"
Twilight took a deep breath and closed her eyes sadly. "Oh, Pinkie Pie," she whispered.
"None of us are to blame for what she did, sugar cube," said Applejack.
"Oh yeah, then why did Celestia disown Twilight?" retorted Pinkamena. "Why punish an innocent pony like that?"
"Because I am a little guilty," Twilight admitted softly. "I did know what she was doing."
Pinkamena's eyes widened and she had to take a second to process the unicorn's words before they narrowed once more. "You what?" Pinkamena growled, venom dripping from every syllable.
"Girls, go outside and play for a little while," said Rainbow Dash, shooing the Crusaders out of the barn. The three knew better than to argue and they rushed out of the barn leaving four very frightened mares with one pony out for blood.
"You KNEW what she was doing?!"
Twilight held up her hooves defensively. "Pinkie Pie, let me explain..."
Pinkamena stood up from her chair and began menacingly approaching Twilight. "You could have stopped her and you did NOTHING?!" Pinkamena screeched.
Twilight stood up and backed up a bit. "I didn't do nothing, Pinkie Pie! Why do you think we hit her with the Elements?!"
Pinkamena stopped advancing and looked at Twilight curiously. "Huh?"
"I didn't want her to die when I found out," said Twilight desperately. "So I had Princess Luna hit her with the Elements of Harmony! We hoped that it would cure her and it did for a while! For a while there, she was the Rarity that we always thought that she was!"
"But it didn't work!" Pinkamena snapped.
"How was I supposed to know that it wouldn't?" said Twilight desperately. "It freed Princess Luna didn't it?" Pinkie Pie didn't advance any closer to Twilight, but she didn't lose her glare. Twilight sighed. "Pinkie Pie... what would you have done?"
Pinkamena didn't respond. She merely stared at Twilight, unblinking. Twilight didn't know what was going on in her head at the best of times and now... well, now she almost feared for her life.
"P...Pinkie Pie?" she said nervously. "What are you thinking?" Pinkamena continued her gaze for a few more moments before she let out a small whimper. "Pinkie..." Pinkamena sat down and leaned her back against the barn wall and began loudly wailing. Her tears came out by the gallons and it was the type of crying that the group expected from Pinkie Pie.
"Pinkie Pie?" whispered Fluttershy nervously as she slowly walked over to the sobbing pony. Pinkie Pie looked up at her yellow friend and pulled her into a tight hug. Twilight was relieved to see that some of her pink brightness had returned.
"I don't wanna forget her," she said pathetically.
Applejack smiled warmly at Pinkie Pie and joined in the hug. "None of us do sugar cube," said Applejack. "We all want to remember the Rarity that the Elements chose to wield them."
Pinkie Pie shifted her head to look at her farmer friend. "But how can I forget what she did?" asked Pinkie Pie.
"You can't," said Rainbow Dash. "But you can do your best to move on."
"Ah ain't sayin' that it'll be easy or even fast, but we have to try. If we let this rule our life then, well, what good is livin' it?" Pinkie Pie whimpered and buried her head in Fluttershy's shoulder. The other ponies gathered around and hugged Pinkie Pie tight.
Unbeknownst to the group, the Crusaders had poked their heads back into the barn and had seen most of the events that had transpired. When the five had begun hugging, they moved away from the barn and began walking towards their clubhouse. "Do ya think she'll go back to bein' Pinkie Pie?" asked Apple Bloom.
Sweetie Belle nodded. "I think so," she said. "I think she is already kinda back to the Pinkie Pie we know."
"Do you think she'll totally get better?" asked Scootaloo.
Sweetie Belle shook her head. "No, I don't think any of us will. I know that I sure wont," she admitted.
"But we'll always be here to help each other, right?" said Apple Bloom. "I mean, what's family for anyways?" Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo smiled at the term and Apple Bloom looked at them confusedly. "What, ain't we sisters?"
"Of course we are," said Scootaloo. "How can we not be?"
"Whatever we need to get through we'll get through together," said Sweetie Belle. "We are the Cutie Mark Crusaders after all!" She looked over at Scootaloo. "Right?"
Scootaloo gave a small smile and nod as the trio entered the clubhouse.
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Bravo good chap! I wish I could give you more praise for these two great stories, but it would start to lose meaning after a while. I would also run out of adjectives for the praise I would like to give anyway. Don't get me wrong, still a great chapter, I just don't want to overuse the "amazing"s and the "spectacular"s, so, I'll just say what I normally do, keep on writing!
I think that should be Sweetie Belle.
But awesome story thus far!
1347253 Oh yeah, good point. Did you read the original?
1347267 Yup, a fantastically brutal, yet sad story!
1347294 Thank you!
1347299 No problem, it's really hard to blend those two things together well, and I won't even attempt it, as I'd fail, since I'm more of the romantic, adventurous type anyways. See what I did there?
1358328 Well if you recall, the 'forget' spell completely backfired. I wanted to show that there were no easy solutions for getting out of what she did, even if she thought that they were. Was it a tad DEM? Maybe, but it didn't work in the end.
Eqd didn't want to take TSLOR because of the heavy gore, but I haven't tried with Sweetie Belle. I don't know if they take sequels if they won't take the original but I haven't tried. I'd want to run it by a few editors first before I would try to submit it.
All that to say, I'm so glad that you loved this story! I know that the gore of the original (particularly chapters 6, 7, and 8) turns some people off (I've had a few people stop reading after 7) but if you liked that it was merely a part of the story rather than the reason behind it, then thanks! I hope you like what I have planned for Sweetie Belle.
1360480 It's because of Cupcakes that they have a no heavy gore rule. Still though, I agree that it is a bit ridiculous (although some chapters of mine do have some serious gore in them).
This really isn't an EqD sort of story, IMO, either of them. It's the kind of thing people should find when browsing the Grimdark tag at 3am, or searching the site for "serial killer." A hidden gem, as it were. Now, if it were to hit the Featured box, that would be another thing.
This story is too intimately tied to TSLOR to be worth reading without having read the first, and that's what will keep it off EqD. That doesn't negate the fact that it's a gut-wrenchingly real-feel story that is well worth reading, for those that have the stomach. Sorta like watching Dexter, or lately, The Mentalist.
Found an error that kinda stuck out at me...
Think the actual number is four, unless there was a mare I didn't know about hiding in the rafters lol
(Please forgive the extra text before the error in the quot. Copying text on a droid ain't all that accurate)
IT'S SO BEAUTIFUL!
Good story so far. Only a few mistakes that you keep doing, though. You keep making spaces in between the quatarion marks and the beginning of the dialogue. You also seem to forget ending quoation marks altogether as well.
I'm rereading this, and found a small mistake in Chapter 5.
""Come on, Pinks, you wouldn't erase every memory of Rarity if you could. !one of us would," said Rainbow Dash."
Derp.
I shed happy tears!
Then I shed sad tears!
Then I shed happy tears!
You are a magnificient genius and I bow before your literary prowess!
NO. Stay the fuck away from my heartstrings, you strange magic man, with your wonderful stories and compelling character twists. I give no shits.
sfcitizen.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/how-about-no-bear.jpg
STOP MESSING WITH DAMN EMOTIONS
All right, fine. You want them? Here, take them. Take all of my emotions. Every last feel. You have proven that you want to shatter every emotion I have by throwing these chapters at them. Congratulations.
I kinda saw that chapter coming and wasn't necessarily surprised by any plot points. That being said, you still managed to put me on the verge of tears several times. I only restrained myself because it's the middle of the day and there are (ugh) people around
This chapter is a testament to your writing skill and your mastery of syntax!
DON'T STOP 
How am I jut supposed to forget about it and move on?!
Something's wrong with that......
When Pinkie had her outburst I was like t.qkme.me/3q32hh.jpg
But then she started crying then I was like t.qkme.me/3q32hh.jpg
When she got pink again I was like t.qkme.me/3q32hh.jpg
I'll escort myself out now
Um how do you add something to read later
3842124
You may have already gotten an answer somewhere else, but it's the clock in the top left corner. When you click it it will turn blue and the story will be added to read later.
Did I just see a reference?
im crying
Cross my heart hope to fly stick a cupcake in my eye
3551028
my brothers in the room but I don't care if he sees me crying
but then again he is absorbed in the world of video games, laptops, headphones and TV...
3551028
or you could cry your eyes out then when they stare at you tell them to read the story
Here! Just take them, you thief! Not like I`ll need those feels!
Luckily I don't have a heart, so I can't have any feels
Wonderful
You know what would have been terrible? If Sweetie Belle had gotten her cutie mark while finishing Rarity's lullabye. That probably would have killed me.
The silence of the night was shattered by a earth-shaking "D'AWWWWWWWW!!!" as I reached the adoption part.
4788348 I smiled through the whole chapter. Not because of the feels, but because I was eating ice cream. I am now frowning, because I ate the ice cream and it is gone now.
6285089 You know, there's something wrong with you
YOU DIDNT SHARE THE ICE CREAM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Everytime I see these rarity emoticons they make me sad
6764477 so this:
makes you do this 
and a little 
YAY! SCOOTS ADOPTION!
Understatement; she means OH MOTHER OF SHIT!
6764477
I'm feelin a lil devious today sooo