19. Chapter Two: "The Secret Ingredient is Not What You Expect" Part 8
Chapter Two
“The Secret Ingredient is Not What You Expect”
Part VIII
With the trial over, I waited to feel some sense of relief, or satisfaction. Some sense that I had successfully, once again, protected everyone else, by stopping the killer from beating us, from escaping this place.
Instead all I felt was a deep sense of dread and foreboding. A sense of regret, and loss… and fear for what was to come.
For Big Macintosh would not pass easily. And there was nothing I could do to stop it.
“Congratulations, my volunteers, you successfully beat the odds and sussed out the killer, once again,” Monohuman announced with a flourish of his baton. “Indeed the killer of Derpy, the Ultimate Klutz, was none other than Big Macintosh, the Ultimate Homebody!”
Big Macintosh’s sobbing grew louder at that pronouncement. “It’s true,” he groaned through his tears. “Ah did it. Ah killed her… Ah killed Miss Derpy. And Ah didn’t mean to… Ah so didn’t mean to…”
“Oh whatever, psychopath, you were still trying to murder Rarity for no fucking reason,” Sour Sweet said, sticking her tongue out at him. “And you hurt my wrist! What’d I ever do to you, asshole?”
“Hey, let’s take it easy on him, yeah?” Cheese Sandwich said, his eyes awash with tears of his own as he beheld Big Macintosh. “The guy’s clearly distraught… and he’s not trying to hide his guilt either.”
“No, he just made us figure out that he did it,” Juniper retorted with a roll of her eyes. “If he really felt guilty he’d have fessed up and saved us this waste of time.”
“Juniper, have you ever done anything illegal?” Cranky questioned, the look in his eyes very much like a stern grandfather. “Because I have. And I paid for it with two months in prison and six months community service. And that was for something small-time. Even then I was terrified out of my mind about what they’d do to me.”
Juniper scowled back over her glasses. “So what? He still murdered someone. Even if it wasn’t his original intention.”
“I dunno, I’m with Cheese and Cranky on this one,” Autumn said with a shrug. “I mean if you really think he’s such a bad guy that’s your thing but he’s been a sweet gentle giant this whole time so if he killed anyone he has to have a really really really good reason, he’d never just do it for the sake of doing it.”
“Ooooh…” Fluttershy moaned, working her fingers together. “I want to believe him, feel sorry for him, but… why was he trying to frame Rarity?”
“He was desperate.”
We all looked up at Rarity, whose face bore a complete lack of triumph, instead still showing the same fear and sorrow she’d displayed while being accused. “What do you mean, desperate?” I asked her.
“He needed to protect himself.” She kept her lips closed for another moment before a thick sigh escaped them, and she wiped at her eyes. “Because two days ago I figured out he’s one of the ponies.”
“What?!”
“He is?”
“What the hell?”
“How could you possibly know?”
The cacophony filling the courtroom at that proclamation triggered me into clapping my hands to my ears. Panic roiled through my body like a knocked over brazier fire consuming a thatched roof, hot and hurting and terrifying.
“Too loud,” I moaned. “Too loud…”
I don’t know how long it went on. It wasn’t until Monohuman pounded his baton demanding silence that I was able to calm myself long enough to become aware again, and by then, Rarity had launched into her explanation.
“It was two days ago, and Big Macintosh and I were having an argument…”
Rarity caught up with Big Macintosh just outside the pharmacy, “Excuse me, darling, Big Macintosh… may we talk?” she called out.
Big Macintosh, his hands firmly in his pockets, looked over his shoulder. “...alright, Ah guess. What can Ah do for you?”
Her smile turned sympathetic. “Oh, it’s not anything you can do for me… rather, I wanted to express how sorry I am for your loss with Pear Butter.”
He froze, and turned to face her, staring silently, but intently, his eyes boring into her skull.
Having not expected this reaction, Rarity swallowed nervously before continuing. “She was always so nice to me, whenever we spoke. She really was almost like a mother to me as well, in a way, and it hurts terribly to think she’s gone, and in such an awful, wasteful way. She was always so kind, and — ”
“Shut up!” Big Macintosh roared, his face turning purple with rage. He held up his fists, white-knuckled tight. “Shut yer damned mouth! Where do you get off talkin’ about my Momma like that? Ah can’t stand this phony sympathy!”
Each word punched through Rarity like a series of boxer blows, leaving her stunned. “I, I… I don’t understand. Big Macintosh, she — ”
“She ain’t never even met you!” Big Macintosh thundered, practically frothing at the mouth. “How dare you act like my Momma was a momma to you when you know damned well you ain’t never knew her before you came to this here place?”
Rarity, utterly flabbergasted, gawked open-mouthed at Big Macintosh for several moments before she said, “What is the matter with you? She was my mother-in-law! She welcomed me into her home like I’d been living there my whole life! How could you not remember? You were there when…”
She stopped talking very abruptly, frozen with her hands over her mouth, horror splashed across her face. “You weren’t there,” she finally muttered. “It wasn’t you.”
Big Macintosh’s muscles rippled with tension as he took a step closer to close the distance. “...yeah. Yeah it weren’t me. So what about it, huh? You gonna kill me for it?”
“What? Of course not!” Rarity protested immediately. ”I couldn’t! Even if that’s not how it is for you, to me you’re still family. I’ve become enough of an Apple to understand what that means.”
He did not relax, but he did not advance, either. He just regarded her, towering and strong. “Ah think we should stay away from each other from now on,” he said.
“Of course! Yes.” He turned to go, but her voice continued. “Ah, but wait a moment!”
He did turn back, darkly and slowly. She reached a hand into her purse, briefly clutching at a piece of paper before withdrawing her hand. “Tell me something. If you’re a pony, maybe you know something about the first killing game, the one Sunset Shimmer kept going on about.”
“And why would Ah tell you anythin’ about that?” he countered, his meaty fists raising up slowly, inch by inch. “What else you gonna try to get outta me?”
An unsettling growl wormed its way from Rarity’s mouth, “Listen to me, Big Macintosh. I am not your enemy. I’m not trying to hurt you. There’s just things I don’t know.”
“Yeah? Questions like how best to kill ponies?”
A screech clawed out of Rarity’s throat, and she raised a fist to brandish at him like a weapon. “No, you brute, about my sister!”
“And that’s when you and Derpy appeared, Wallflower,” Rarity concluded, her voice hushed and gloomy. “I never got a chance to apologize to Big Macintosh for figuring out his secret, and so he must have been desperate to keep me quiet.”
“Ah had no choice,” Big Macintosh said. The haunted gaze never left his eyes once. As he spoke, his voice lost much of its usual richness and timbre. “Ah couldn’t leave my life in your hands. See, Ah was scared ya’d try to hurt me, a-and Ah didn’t want you tellin’ anyone else about who Ah was. All that talk of family don’t mean nothin’ if you get desperate enough to get out of here.”
“It’s true!” Monohuman chimed in. “Puhuhuhu, if only you all knew! You could have killed him first and be safe and snug in your climate-controlled isolation room by now! You’d have saved the life of an innocent human, and he’s only going to be executed anyway! Oh well!”
“So then you really did tell Derpy to pretend like she overheard Rarity saying poison would kill you,” Juniper said, ignoring Monohuman.
“Eeyup,” he confirmed. Even his catchphrase lacked its typical zip. “Ah planted the seed of it, then Ah was settin’ up the trap in the museum. Ah wasn’t plannin’ on settin’ up a trap in the convenience store or the truck, cause Ah didn’t need to. All Ah’d need to do was pretend to almost get murdered, and that’d ruin any chance anyone would ever believe a word Rarity said about me bein’ a pony; at that point she’d be protestin’ too much. Mebbe if Ah was extra lucky someone might think she was a pony and kill her instead. Not that Ah was wishin’ death on her, but, well…”
“You were just trying to survive,” I finished for him.
He nodded appreciatively to me. “That’s right. Ah was. So Ah was all prepared. Ah had part of mah trap ready to go. Ah was all set up with the venom — “
“Question!” Autumn Blaze burst in, flashing Big Macintosh an apologetic grin. “Sorry, but, uh, I was just wondering, since we were never really sure during the trial, but did you get that venom from the museum or did you pick up a can from the store before we dumped it all or what exactly did you do?”
Big Macintosh glowered at her a moment before his expression softened again. “After we dumped out the venom, Ah went back and saw one can still in the cooler with the beers. Ah couldn’t stand leavin’ it there to tempt nobody. So Ah grabbed it and stored it in mah fridge in mah room soon as Ah had the chance.”
“Wait, why didn’t you just throw it away, if you were trying to keep it out of everyone else’s hands?” Shining inquired.
Big Macintosh took several moments to answer. “...cause Ah didn’t know if Ah wanted to use it somehow. Ah weren’t really plannin’ on it, just… seemed like a waste if Ah threw it away altogether. Ah was… afraid.”
Trixie’s snort ripped through the air. “Oh puhlease. Trixie doesn’t buy that for a second. You were always planning to kill sooner or later.”
“Shut your fool mouth, Trixie, ya ain’t got no idea what you’re talkin’ about,” Big Macintosh hissed.
“Seriously, Trixie, lay off the guy,” Cheese said, holding a hand behind his head as he glanced between them. “He obviously didn’t mean to kill Derpy, and he’s gonna be…” He gulped and shivered.
“Oh no, he is, isn’t it?” Zephyr murmured, clutching his head. “I don’t want to see something like that again!”
Fluttershy coughed for attention. “Zephyr Breeze, this is not about you,” she snapped, her eyes full of cold fury, which vanished in favor of sympathy as soon as she moved her gaze to Big Macintosh. “I believe you, Big Macintosh. I know you were trying to keep people safe at first. I… I don’t know how I feel about what you actually did, but… I think I can understand.”
“Understand?” Rarity blurted in disbelief. “Fluttershy, he killed Derpy! He could’ve killed Sour Sweet too, or even me! How can you possibly understand that?”
When Fluttershy looked at Rarity, I gasped for breath as my heart and lungs seemed to seize up, so frightening her expression was. “We all die someday, Rarity. Death is inevitable. I would think you would understand that by now.”
Rarity took a step back from her podium, her jaw fallen open and lip trembling. “Fluttershy… darling… what are you saying?”
Fluttershy shook her head, her pink locks scattering before she tucked them back into place. “It’s life, Rarity. Life and death are intertwined. I see it all the time in my veterinary work. And sometimes, lives are lost when no one means for it to happen.”
“She’s not wrong,” Shining added, making a fist and setting his chin atop it. “One of the most common causes of murder is a crime of passion. It happens in the moment. Tempers flare, blood rages, and people… lash out.”
“Okay, okay, forget all that shit for a second,” Sour Sweet said, throwing her good hand out for silence. “I still don’t get why Rarity not knowing Pear Butter meant you were a pony. Care to explain that?”
With a thick, heavy swallow, Big Macintosh replied, “Cause my momma… my momma in Equestria… she died along with my papa. Only the same accident that claimed them both in Equestria only killed my papa on this side of the mirror, so my momma survived this whole time.” He coughed into his fist. “Sides, the Rarity Ah know never married Applejack. Mah sister got married to Rainbow Dash.”
Rarity raised both eyebrows. “Rainbow Dash? Rainbow. Dash. She married Rainbow Dash.”
“Eeyup.”
“Why?!”
He opened his mouth to answer, only for Sour Sweet to break in again. “No one gives a flying fuck about Rainbow Dash. Back to the whole murder thing. How’d Derpy end up dead? If it was anyone else, I’d be skeptical about this ‘accident’ thing, but…”
“Nope,” Big Mac interrupted. He said nothing else.
“‘Nope?’” Sour Sweet echoed, raising an eyebrow.
“It.” Big Mac looked down at the floor, face wet. “It weren’t an accident. Ah didn’t plan it, Ah swear. But. It weren’t an accident.”
My mouth fell open as I tried to wrap my head around his confession. Judging by the heavy silence, no one else was having an easier time than me. ”Ah had the knife. She was right there. Right at the time it’d be easiest.” His voice was even, slow. It sounded like he was dead already. “Why’d she have to come in right at that moment?”
“I think I understand this, too,” Fluttershy said, sounding heartbroken. “You were so afraid.”
“It weren’t that,” he replied, staring down at the floor. “It was that motive. Ah left it in the museum. You saw.”
Fact #12: Motive Paper: “One of Monohuman’s motives, found in the museum. The beginning and end are illegible, but what is reads ‘...Belle had just long enough to scream one last time, desperately trying to stuff her intestines back into her abdominal cavity as she plumm…’”
“Wait wait wait,” Vignette said, waving her hand. “That was your motive? Why would you care so much about Sweetie Belle?”
“It ain’t Sweetie Belle. Sugar Belle’s mah mare back in Equestria. And if Monohuman harmed a single hair in her mane — “
“But that was one of my motives!” Rarity interrupted. “I had the same one! And… was it not about Sweetie Belle? I’ve never even heard of anyone named Sugar Belle!”
Monohuman laughed, ugly and vicious. “Sugar, Sweetie. Who can say? Lots of Belles! Maybe it was Blue or Jingle or Southern or Tinker!”
“But…” For the first time I had ever seen, Big Mac looked as if he was stuck for words. “But if it weren’t Sugar Belle, why did you give me…?”
“Oh, fuck,” Sour Sweet wailed. “Oh fuck everything.” I knew what she had realized. This was the trap. “Oh, Macintosh, you stupid, stupid, sad, pure-hearted idiot! How could you fall for that?!”
It was the cruelest thing. Human Big Mac didn’t know anyone named Sugar Belle. Only the pony would be affected by the motive. It just existed to draw him out. Fluttershy had been right. Looking around, Autumn had realized it, too.
“What?” Juniper barked, glaring at Sour Sweet. “Fall for?”
The voice that answered her was soft, gentle, and steely. “It’s nothing.” Fluttershy gripped her podium, looking at Big Mac as if her heart was breaking. “Big Macintosh is just in love, and someone very cruel took advantage of him for it. It’s not stupid, it’s tragic.”
“Hey!” Monohuman screeched, poking wildly with his cane at nothing. “I think you’re all ignoring the real tragedy here: the dead human?! Have you forgotten already who the real monster is that cruelly took advantage of a person in love?!”
Big Mac let out a gasping, pained grunt, which Monohuman regarded with satisfaction. “Let me just remind you, then!” The hologram shimmered smugly. “I, your good host, can show you all what happened directly!” Monohuman interrupted, knocking his baton on the ground. “Any protests? No? Good. Rolling security footage!”
Everyone’s attention was drawn to the screen that once again descended from the ceiling.
Big Macintosh puttered about the museum workspace, gathering together components. A large knife lay on one table next to the vial of rattlesnake venom. He set down the components he’d gathered and picked up the knife, then the vial, and dipped the knife firmly in, swishing it about and coating it thickly.
“Gotta keep it lookin’ real,” he muttered to himself.
The camera switched feeds to Derpy, looking just as haggard as she’d been that night at dinner, rushing through the darkened parking lot and into the museum, worry lines all over her face. Her fingers and hands kept clenching and unclenching as she ran, till she entered the back room.
“Big Macintosh! There you are. I’ve been looking for you!”
Big Macintosh whirled on his heels, the knife still in hand, venom gleaming on the blade. “M-Miss Derpy? W-what’re you doin’ here?”
Derpy’s eyes took in the blade and widened till they took up half her face, and she took a step back. “I… I was worried for you, after what you had me say this morning. Big Macintosh… are you… are you planning to… to kill?”
He trembled in place, his head beginning to shake, his eyes glancing back and forth between Derpy and the knife. Then his head stilled, and he shed a few tears. “Derpy, Ah…”
“Big Mac?” she murmured, shaking just as much as he was, did perhaps the stupidest thing she could have, and stepped forward, until she was close enough to embrace him. “Put the knife down, Big Mac. We can talk about this. I-I don’t know what you were going to do, but you don’t have to do it, okay?”
She wrapped her arms around him, and reached one hand for the wrist holding the knife. “Put it down,” she urged. “Put it down, and let’s talk.”
He shook like a leaf in her embrace, tears staining his cheeks as he stared down at her face looking up at his. For several long moments, he didn’t move, nor did she. Both simply kept looking into each other’s eyes.
And then his hardened, narrowing ever so slightly. “Ah wish you hadn’t come here, Derpy,” he said. “Ah’m sorry.”
She blinked. “What do you mean — hnng!”
She fell back from him, her eyes bugging out of their sockets, the knife sticking out of her chest. The handle vibrated as her breathing became labored, speeding up considerably. Her hands moved up to grab at it, to pull at it, but she couldn’t. She tripped on her heels and fell onto her butt. Moans of pain escaped her, but they were muffled, gurgling, as foam formed on her lips, followed by vomit. A huge amount escaped her onto the floor, splattering all over her clothes. After spilling the contents of her stomach she resorted to dry heaves.
Her whole body shaking all over the place, she managed to look up at Big Macintosh, and between the tears running down her reddened face, she managed just barely to whisper one word.
“Why?”
Then a final convulsion ran through her body, and she fell back, still and silent.
And Big Macintosh cried over her body. “Ah’m so sorry, Miss Derpy,” he wailed. “Ah… Ah need to make sure Sugar Belle’s okay. Ah can’t risk her bein’ hurt or worse by that Monohuman. Ah’m sorry.”
He rose, and, still staining himself with tears, went about cleaning up the place with soapy water, then enacted the rest of his plan. He used the mechanisms he was originally setting up for the museum in the convenience store, muttering to himself as he set up the cinder block, “Gotta make sure she don’t get more than hurt, can’t risk killin’ her.”
After that he rushed to set up the fake trap at the truck, positioning Derpy’s body just outside the door of the truck and shattering the window with the rebar before setting it in place. Then, having no time to grab the tarp, he rushed back to the museum and swiftly strung together the tripwires for his new, simple trap, and waited.
“Poor Muffins Ditzy ‘Derpy’ Do!” Monohuman cackled. “Dying so painfully for a simple misunderstanding!”
“You’re the one who gave him the motive!” Cranky snapped.
“Yes, but it’s not my fault he got the wrong Belle in mind, is it? These ponies, always jumping to conclusions.”
“...oh my goodness, then… then, that paper really was talking about Sweetie Belle!?” Rarity shouted. “What happened to her? Is she alright? Is she dead?”
“Wouldn’t you like to know?” Monohuman said, chortling under his breath. “But you’ll have to find out on your own. If you can.”
“Why you little… you monster!” Rarity raged, pounding her fists on her podium.
He bowed to her, doffing his top hat. “Guilty as charged, madam.” He rose again and tapped his baton on the ground. “But I think we’ve had enough stalling, enough post trial banter. It’s time to get on to the main event, what we’ve all been waiting for!”
Big Macintosh stiffened at his podium, and focused his gaze on me. “Miss Wallflower,” he said.
I met his gaze. “Yes, Big Mac?” I asked.
Monohuman sat up straight on his throne. “Now then, I’ve prepared a very special punishment for Big Macintosh, the Ultimate Homebody!”
“Can ya promise me somethin’?” His words emerged with a solemn tone. “Can Ah ask you to make sure mah Sugar Belle is safe, if ya get out of here? And tell her… tell her Ah’m sorry.”
Pain filled my soul as I squeezed my eyes shut and nodded. “Yeah. Yeah, I’ll do that for you, Big Mac. It’s the least I can do.”
He nodded in turn. “Thank you kindly, Miss Wallflower.”
“Let’s give it everything we’ve got! Iiiiiiiiit’s punishment time!”
A pedestal with a solitary red button arose in front of Monohuman. With a twirl and flourish of his baton he hovered it over the button and pressed it.
Manacles descended on chains from the ceiling, clasping around his wrists, legs, and neck. Before any of us could say or do anything, the chains yanked him away at supersonic speeds. He vanished into the walls.
And we all turned as one to the huge screen that lit up once more, knowing we were about to witness true horror once again.
GAME OVER
Big Mac has been found guilty.
Time for the punishment!
We watched, entirely transfixed as like Sunset before him, Big Mac’s chains dragged him through old abandoned mineshafts, slamming him against stalagmites and stalactites with equal abandon. Rips and tears appeared in his clothes and more than one bruise swelled up on his body, and still the chains carried him along.
Finally after what felt like hours the chains released him, and he fell a good ten feet onto what appeared to be a stage in the round, decorated with curtains and a single platform in the center with an empty sepulcher. A loud crack resounded through the speakers and he bellowed as he grabbed for his right ankle, broken when he landed.
“Big Macintoooooooooooosh~!”
He looked up at the sound of a sweet voice echoing all around him.
“Sugar Belle?” he called out, trying to stand up straight despite his broken ankle. He stumbled around, dragging his right foot while clutching the leg with one hand. “Sugar Belle, that you?”
“Big Macintoooooooosh… you abandoned me…”
Shadows danced around the outside of the stage, womanly figures I couldn’t make out.
“Nope,” he declared firmly, shaking his head. “Ah didn’t abandon you. Ah told you what Ah was doin’!”
“You abandoned me!” the voice shrieked at the top of its lungs.
From all directions, apples flew at Big Macintosh, of all shapes and varieties, pelting him like stones. The first one landed on his jaw, hard enough his head jerked, and he raised his arms to shield his face as the others rocketed through the air to hit him on his knees, his elbows, his hips and shoulders, as if deliberately focusing on his joints. One particularly large green variety hit his left wrist, and the gut-wrenching sound of shattering bone filled the air along with his screams.
“You betrayed me for a harlot!”
“No… no, Ah didn’t — aaaah!”
The shadows came closer, resolving more clearly into the same identical female shape repeated over and over again, hurling the apples at him at speeds comparable to that of a major league baseball pitcher. The bruises and contusions piled up, along with charred apples that split apart and spread bits and pieces of themselves over him, making him scream anew as they sizzled on his flesh. The boiling innards burned his skin, leaving welts and patches of red, in some cases wearing down almost to the muscle.
“You’re an adulterer and a murderer!”
“Please… stop… Ah didn’t… Ah love you, Sugar Belle…”
Finally becoming clear, the figures floated into view. Light purple skin, darker purple hair hanging down behind her back, wearing a baker’s outfit complete with white apron over her front.
And every single one with shining eyes that looked just like Monohuman’s.
“Well I don’t love you!” they all shrieked in unison as they pulled out fresh apples. But these were smaller, stuck with razor blades.
Big Macintosh’s screams rose in pitch and intensity as these more horrific projectiles tore through his body, ripping dozens of lacerations both minor and major all over him. Blood ran freely in rivulets, soaking his clothes. One razor caught him in the left eye and for a moment I thought he’d died then and there as he fell over.
The fake Sugar Belles vanished, and the lights faded till a single spotlight shone on the sepulcher in the middle. With a mighty creak the stone covering it fell over and crumbled onto the stage. A single body lay inside it.
Derpy. Still with eyes bugging out, the wound opened on her chest. Yet unlike before, her expression had been altered into a smile.
Despite his wounds, Big Macintosh managed to crawl to his feet and stumble over to her anyway. “Miss Derpy…”
He reached for her, embracing her body.
And behind him, a Sugar Belle suddenly reappeared, and both she and the fake Derpy raised signs that read, “NOPE!” in one hand while the other hand bore knives coated in venom, which they stabbed deep into his back, ripped out, and then stabbed again, over and over and over till he had a good dozen holes in his back.
Big Macintosh jerked, convulsed, then finally went quiet and still. The spotlight fell away, shrinking till it focused on a single Macintosh apple, coated in his blood.
As the screen switched off, the air rang silent. No screams, no sounds of vomiting or crying or any of the other reactions everyone had to Sunset’s death.
Instead, we found ourselves full of that unique, sickening, paralyzing emotion that threatened to rob us of any joy left in our lives.
Despair.
“God damn,” Sour Sweet murmured after a while. “He didn’t deserve that shit.”
“No, he didn’t,” Cranky agreed as he exhaled a disgusted sigh. “But he was a pony so Monohuman had to torture him.”
Fluttershy broke into soft tears. “It’s not right… it’s not right to kill someone like that.”
Cheese flopped onto his podium. “I feel like such a heel for voting for him.”
“But, we had to,” Juniper insisted as she tried to wipe her glasses clean, rendered almost impossible by how much she was shaking. “Monohuman would’ve killed us all if we hadn’t.”
“And it was his own fault anyhow,” Trixie insisted, albeit without her usual bombastic tone. “If he truly didn’t wish to murder Derpy he wouldn’t have.”
Shining shook his head and took his hat off, holding it to his chest. “You can’t think that way, Trixie. You’ve never been in a situation like he was. It was Derpy who — “
Autumn Blaze, in a rare show of anger, smashed her fists against her podium. “Shining Armor, don’t you dare blame Derpy for dying! It’s not her fault that Big Macintosh killed her anymore than it’s really his fault he fell prey to Monohuman’s motive. They were both innocent people who should be alive right now, not… not…” Her anger burnt out as she fell onto her podium, eyes full of tears. “No one should be dying… this was supposed to be about peace and cooperation…”
“Well it isn’t,” Sour Sweet said, her usual acerbity missing from her tone. Without it, she almost sounded pleasant, were it not for the subject matter. “We’re all pit against each other. We can’t trust each other anymore, not when Big Macintosh of all people turns out to be a killer.”
“But… Sunset told us not to hate the killers,” said Fluttershy, who’d begun to dry her tears, though her shirt was still covered in snot. “They’re just as much victims as everyone else.”
“Yes, keep telling yourself that, Fluttershy,” Vignette chimed in, every word coated in disdain for Fluttershy’s position. “I’m sure you’ll still be weeping when your hands are covered in blood here in a few days.” She leaned forward and leered at the shorter woman. “Tell me, have you already picked out your victim? Or are you waiting for the right motive? Because if I were you, I’d – “
“Shut my mouth before you say something you’ll truly regret!” Rarity shrieked, her hands lashing out with her fingers outstretched like claws, and only the distance between their podiums prevented her from physically attacking Vignette. “What is wrong with you?”
“Wrong? Rares, nothing’s wrong with me,” Vignette answered as she brushed a lock of hair back, her smile firmly in place. “I’m just admitting to the reality that some of us still haven’t quite understood yet. There’s no such thing as an innocent here. We’re all guilty. We were guilty from the moment we saw Pear Butter’s blood spilled across her desk. And if not then we certainly were guilty when we condemned Sunset to the flames. Blood is on your hands, on mine, on everyone’s here. And if you think for one second that you can trust anyone here… well, think again. I’m sure even Wally’s thought about murdering someone. Right, Wallywall?”
I hadn’t expected her to drag me into this, so instead of being ready with a witty retort, I gaped like a buffoon, unable to find any words.
“Hmph. Thought so. You see, Rares, it’s not a matter of innocence. It’s a matter of opportunity. If the right one comes up, we’ll all be killers. It’s as simple as that.”
“Speak for yourself, Vignette,” Rarity hissed as she jammed her hands back into her pockets. “Not all of us are as evil as you.”
“Oooh, you wound me, Rares,” Vignette said with a loud guffaw-like laugh.
“Ahem!”
Monohuman coughed for attention. “If you’re all done talking to each other, I have an announcement!”
Right on cue, the lights above his throne that I’d forgotten about once again shifted in color until one lit up in crimson red, with an absurdly happy tune playing. Little fireworks exploded in the hologram of the central display, and even Monohuman himself seemed to briefly shine with extra light.
“As you all discussed and that atrocious equine admitted, Big Macintosh was indeed from Equestria. Counting Sunset Shimmer, that’s two you’ve eliminated! Four to go, everyone. Now, really, I said this last time, but do try to start killing them off without offing humans in the process, hmm? As amusing as it is to watch you sacrifice yourselves and lure these ponies into the profession of murder, we are trying to eliminate the enemy, not ourselves.”
He looked around at us once finished, but no one spoke up. “What? No one’s going to give a heroic speech? No “We’re still going to fight you!” malarky? No attempts to defend Equestrians or anything else? I’m shocked. And a little appalled. You surely can’t be broken this soon. No, no, I’m sure you all just need some rest and relaxation. Well, you’ll be pleased to know I’ve prepared a fresh banquet for you, a celebration. Eat and enjoy. Now, off you go. Pip pip.”
In silence, we carried ourselves to the elevator, boarding it and riding it back all the way up to the surface. As we rode, all I could think about was what Vignette had said, about none of us being innocent anymore.
Maybe she was right. Especially when it came to me. I’d already condemned two people to execution. How many more would I condemn before this was all over? How many more people would die here?
What new horrors would await us? What new crimes would be perpetuated?
Just thinking about it all left my skin crawling, and a deep desire to isolate myself as I had before emerged.
But I also knew that would accomplish nothing. There’d be no point in it, not when all I’d do is harm myself. I’d done that song and dance before, and I wasn’t itching for an encore.
My eyes fell on Vignette again, so I studied her. And to my surprise, I noticed a tension to the way she carried herself. Her fingers fidgeted every so often, her eyes occasionally darting about, even as she maintained her smile.
Scared. She was scared, no, terrified underneath all her bravado. No wonder she spoke a big game. It was the only way she had to cope. How strange. Why had she let the mask slip in here? How could she keep it up all the time, but this elevator was somehow the exception?
Whatever the reason, my heart nearly broke for her. So before the elevator reached the surface, I closed the distance between her and me, and I took her hand in mine, giving it a gentle squeeze. Her head snapped up immediately to stare at me, her smile visibly shaking, but I smiled back. No words needed. Vignette was an asshole, but she was a scared asshole, and I understood that kind of fear.
As the elevator dumped us back out onto the surface and we wandered along the trail, I kept holding Vignette’s hand, at least till she finally pulled it away. I caught a few others glancing at us, mostly in disgust, though for some reason it made Zephyr of all people seem pensive.
Well they could think whatever they thought. There’d been nothing the slightest bit romantic about my holding Vignette’s hand. It was purely platonic.
We eventually reached the Mess Hall, and I feared what I’d see on the table. To my dismay, the entire table was loaded down with various dishes on one half, full of fritters and pies and jars of applesauce and plenty of other baked goods, all related to apples in one way or another.
The other half of the table was remarkably empty, save for several bottles of champagne, bread, and tray after tray of muffins.
I wanted to deny my appetite. I truly did. But unlike last time… my stomach growled with a ferocity that could not be ignored. None of us had had breakfast, after all. And so, like the rest, I found myself queuing up and ladling a plate full of food.
I sat down at a table with Vignette and Sour Sweet, and ate in silence. Every so often we looked up at each other, but with little to say, we turned back to our food every time.
“Excuse me, darling?”
I almost shot out of my chair before I recognized Rarity speaking. “Terribly sorry to bother you,” she continued, her words alarmingly reminiscent of the way she spoke to Big Macintosh. “But I needed to speak to you and Sour Sweet specifically.” Her eyes briefly met Vignette’s, and a sneer passed between them before she gazed at me again.
“Uh, alright,” I replied, setting my fork down. “Sour Sweet, care to join us?”
“Pfft, fine,” Sour Sweet muttered as she got out of her chair. The three of us moved over to a corner of the room. “Whaddya want?”
“Oh, I just wanted to apologize for how suspicious I made myself to you two,” she replied, her voice trembling. “I… I still cannot believe what all happened just because I figured out Big Macintosh was a pony. It’s my fault everything went the way it did…”
“What? No fuckin’ way it was,” Sour Sweet said with a shake of her head. She set her good hand on Rarity’s shoulder. “Look, I was pissed at you for most of the trial. I was convinced you’d killed Derpy and tried to kill me and we were all wasting time by not having Wallflower bring it up from the start.”
Rarity’s head drooped. “I… I understand, Sour Sweet. That would give almost anyone reason to hate.”
“Yeah, maybe,” Sour Sweet admitted. She then smiled, a genuine smile for once. “So listen, I apologize too, alright? I’m sorry I suspected you and shit. I know we’ve had our differences, but maybe… maybe we can be friends again?”
She stuck her good hand out, and after a moment of surprised blinking, Rarity took it and shook it firmly. “Apology accepted. I would love to be friends with you again, Sour Sweet.” She looked at me. “And you too, Wallflower… if you’ll have me.”
“I never stopped thinking of you as a friend, Rarity,” I said as I reached out with my arms for a hug.
She fell into them right away, and a small laugh escaped her as we held each other for a moment or two before she let go of me. “I’m glad to hear that,” she said, her voice shaking. “The last thing I’d want is to…to lose what friendship we have.” She briefly looked over her shoulder. “About you and Vignette, however…”
“She’s just a friend,” I said immediately. “She needed some extra reassurance. That’s all.”
“Of course, of course, I shouldn’t have asked,” Rarity said, shaking her head. “It wasn’t my business anyway.”
“Seriously though, don’t go blaming yourself for what Big Mac did, okay, Rarity?” Sour Sweet said. “It’s not your fault he freaked out and tried to frame you. It’s not your fault he killed Derpy. Someone was gonna snap sooner or later… and that guy always kept way too much buried.” At my incredulous look, she added, “What? Why the fuck do you think I’m always letting my temper out? It keeps me from really losing it.”
Rarity nodded. “That makes sense to me. Perhaps I need to sew more… it might be a healthier means of coping than, well… you know.” She tittered. “I dearly love Applejack, but writing letters to her is perhaps a bit much.”
“Oh!” I reached into my pocket and pulled the letter out, handing it over. “Sorry I took this from your room when I did.”
A wan smile crossed her face as she tucked it into her own bag. “No need to worry, Wallflower dear. I only ask you do not mess with my things again.”
“I promise.” I stuck my hands into my pockets. “Well… unless I’m…” I trailed off, feeling foolish for even voicing it.
Rarity caught on immediately. “In case you’re investigating my demise?” She let out another titter, but this one was much more strained. “Well, as much as I don’t wish to die… after what we’ve all seen today, I think we have to accept it as a strong possibility. So I suppose in that case, of course, investigate everything. I wouldn’t want my killer to get away, after all.”
“Right,” I said with a nod. I bit at my lip, trying to think of something else to say, when a thought suddenly struck me. “Rarity… I hope this isn’t prying, but… about Sweetie Belle.”
She stood up straight, all signs of levity vanishing, replaced by naked fear.”What about Sweetie Belle?” she all but snapped.
“W-well, it’s just,” I continued, despite feeling very much like a weak swimmer trapped in shark-infested waters, “We never got a real idea of what actually happened to her. Did… did your motive papers have more information about her? It might be important.”
Rarity opened her mouth to respond, then closed it again. “... I’m sorry,” she whispered.
Before I could say anything else, she ran off, disappearing out the exit towards the dormitories.
“Well so much for that,” Sour Sweet said with a shrug. She eyed me. “C’mon, let’s go finish our food. I’m still starving.”
With a morose nod I followed her and sat down. I could feel Vignette’s eyes boring into me once I sat, but other than a brief glance and nod I tried to ignore it.
I tried to ignore everything as I sat there, eating apple fritters and muffins, like it was a day at the faire.
I had to be numb.
Because the only other option was too painful to bear.
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R.I.P Derpy and Big MacIntosh.
I get that Vignette openly acting like a total b#&+$! is her way of coping, but if she doesn't rein it in a bit, she's liable to become one of the deceased.
So, another interlude, and then this story goes on hiatus for a while. Well, I'll be anxiously awaiting the day you will return to it.
Take care!
Well, that answers plenty of things and still leaves plenty of questions.
This revelation reminds me of Timber Spruce and how desperate he was to get out of the first killing game. If Wallflower learns of that then her mind really will explode.
Monohuman really is despicable, dolling out the motives in hopes of drawing out the ponies. Not to mention the feast at the end to deliberately rub salt in the wounds. It once again raises the question of what's really going on here.
Zephyr Breeze is another to keep an eye on going forward. He likely knows more than he's letting on.
A few relationships have strengthened but others are now strained. How this will turn out remains to be seen. Till then!
Assuming that “Monokuma” here is supposed to be “Monohuman”, unless the AI is has multiple personalities.
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Looks like two of those slipped through. Whoops. Fixed.
Ouch. This was painful. So Big Mac thought that the "Belle" in question was his wife "Sugar Belle" instead of Rarity's sister "Sweetie Belle". Of course Monohuman refuses to give any direct answers, essentially meaning Big Mac went through his plan and killed the wrong person for nothing.
This is a tragic nightmare. I don't know who is going to be next, but I have a bad feeling things are going to get worse before they get better.
I do like how Wallflower, Rarity, and Sour Sweet all came together in the end, but the question is how long will they be able to stay friends before the game tears them apart again?
Damn. Tragic ending...So who wants to make bets on who dies next?My money is on one of the guys.
Well it's true what they say about it being the last person you'd expect, as I did say with confidence that this character couldn't be the killer. I have a few end of chapter questions...
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To avoid any spoilers, I will avoid answering the first two questions for now, save for a simple, "you'll see."
As for the third question, This entire chapter acted as a form of callback to the first story's second chapter, and as such I wanted a title that was connected. In both cases, the titles serve as a subtle reference to the people involved. "What Lurks in the Depths," apart from being about the spear itself, was also about Sweetie's attitude, that kind of ugly, under the surface hatred that can flash up without warning. Meanwhile, the whole thing about secret ingredients was a roundabout way of referring to the fact that both the victim and killer in this were food-relate in some way. Muffins and apples respectively, as apple muffins aren't exactly a common type of muffin one runs into on a regular basis. Is it stretching a bit? Well, yes, it is, and in truth I struggled quite a bit with a title for this chapter. There were many chapter titles revolving around secrets and traps I rejected for numerous reasons, including the fact they were all too blatant and direct. This was an attempt to be subtle.
And arguably it still wasn't the best attempt, and is emblematic of the issues I had in trying to run this story and Star Trek: Phoenix at the same time. My apologies.
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You don't have anything to apologize for. I'm still loving this story and just so impressed by your persistence and imagination.
Poor Big Mac... Understandably worried for Sugar Belle's well being... Great chapter 2 overall. Always fantastic reading these. I will say the 6 pony identities had me keep questioning who the hell's the 6th? At this point, I legit already want to be in chapter 5 and 6. Btw, you can keep it hush hush, but I have a feeling you're going to have Vignette as victim for Chapter5?
The big, muscular guy never survives. Ever. Still, surprised we lost Big Mac as soon as we did. It's usually about Chapter 4 that we lose our strong men/women. R.I.P. to both Big Mac and Derpy, because like everyone in a killing game, they deserve better.