> Carnage & Murder Crew
>  by Kaidan
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> 1. Old Winona
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	
“There is no greater sorrow than to recall a happy time when miserable.” ― Dante Alighieri



* * * * *



Apple Bloom climbed on top of a bale of hay. A stall in the barn had been cleared out for this, and she wanted to get a better view as Winona gave birth. With Fluttershy and Applejack assisting, she couldn’t tell what was really going. There were loud yelps, and hushed whispers.

When she finally got in a good position, Apple Bloom saw four pink puppies that appeared to not have much hair. They were still wet, laying in a patch of hay next to their mother, each one twitching and crawling to be closer to the warmth of Winona's belly.

With a soft yelp, a fifth puppy began to come out. Apple Bloom could see Fluttershy help it along and gently cradle it. The pegasus had a towel in her hooves and set the puppy next to the others once it was clean.

“She’s done, right?” Applejack whispered.

“Yeah, but I’ll need to rub her belly to help the bleeding stop,” Fluttershy answered.

“Wait, what’s that?” Apple Bloom asked. She saw what looked like another puppy coming out.

“Oh, looks like she’s having six. No wonder her pregnancy was so hard, older dogs with larger litters can get sick easier,” Fluttershy explained.

Applejack nodded. “Would explain her behavior.”

“Why’s he so small?” Apple Bloom inquired.

“Ain’t ya still got chores to do? We’ll let you see ‘em when we’re done.”

Apple Bloom huffed and sat down so she could cross her forelegs. Winona seemed to have fallen asleep from the effort of childbirth. In truth, she hadn’t done her chores and had no plans to; she found the endless farm work stupid, and didn’t see why she had to work on a farm just because her name had the word ‘apple’ in it. As long as her cutie mark was something other than a red fruit she ought to be fine.

“This runt doesn’t look too healthy,” Fluttershy said. “I’m not sure. . . um, Apple Bloom, can you leave me and Applejack to talk about something?”

“Why? I want to see them now.”

Applejack shot her sister a glance and lifted up her Stetson to lock eyes with her. “Ah want ya to go practice yer speech and writin’ homework.”

“But I—”

“No buts, now get.”

Apple Bloom turned around and jumped off the hay bale, walking around the corner of the small stable. She remained close enough to eavesdrop, having already copied the homework from Sweetie Belle.

“Applejack, I can take the runt home and make sure he passes painlessly. I doubt he’ll live a week,” Fluttershy said.

“Ah can’t ask ya to do that, Fluttershy. And what about Winona? Ya told me this’d be her last litter,” Applejack replied.

“I’m so sorry, she’s eighteen. I didn’t think she could even get pregnant at that age, I’ve never seen it before—she hasn’t stopped bleeding and the tear is pretty bad.”

“Ya head on home now and tell Pinkie we got five puppies for anypony that’d like one. I’ll take care of these two.”

Fluttershy sighed. “I—thank you, Applejack. I’ve never enjoyed euthanizing a sick animal. Do you need any of my herbs?”

“No, I’ll put ‘em down and bury them like my father taught me—”

Apple Bloom burst out from behind the corner. “What!? You’re gonna kill Winona and a baby puppy!”

“Dammit! Ah told ya to go in the house, sis. This ain’t for young eyes to see!” Applejack towered over her sister and frowned.

“It isn’t fair!”

“Life isn’t fair, and if ya want to talk about it we will. This is the way of things; all animals have a time when their life is just too painful to go on.”

Apple Bloom took a step forward, now an inch from her sister’s nose. “So you’re gonna kill Winona!”

“Look at her!” she snapped. 

Applejack stepped aside and her sister walked forward. Winona was laying on her side, her back side slick with fluid from the birth. Her chest barely rose with her breathes and her muzzle and belly seemed far too pale.

“B-but, maybe she won’t die,” Apple Bloom whimpered.

“I’m so sorry.” Fluttershy walked over and put a wing over her. “She tore her perineum, and I think she also broke her hip. Between infection and trying to set a bone. . . I know it’s hard to say goodbye. We can’t let her last memories be of suffering for a month. She had eighteen years of joy with you two. I’m sure if she could talk, she’d thank us.”

“Why, Fluttershy?” Apple Bloom started crying and had to sit down to ease her quaking legs.

“If I could save her, I would.”

“Then let’s get Twilight to save her!”

Applejack gestured for Fluttershy to step back, so she could hug her sister. “Listen, old age ain’t somethin’ you can magic away and fix. It didn’t work to save Pa, or Ma after she gave birth, and it won’t work for Winona.”

“Then I. . . I want to keep the runt. I want to make him grow up healthy,” Apple Bloom explained.

“He’s called a runt ‘cuz he ain’t fully developed. Ya can’t save everypony,” Applejack replied.

“What about me?” Apple Bloom stood back up defiantly, moving to stand over the runt. “Would you have killed me too for being a runt? When Ma gave birth to me and died—”

“Don’t you dare go there,” Applejack said. Tears began welling up in the corners of her eyes. “Ah’d never fer a second thought of lettin’ anypony hurt my little sis. Ain’t yer f-fault one bit what happened to Ma.”

The two sisters embraced and sat there. Applejack ran a hoof along her sister’s back, calming her. Fluttershy waited for a few minutes while Apple Bloom cried in her sister’s mane. “I can get formula or another dog to nurse her. I’ll help Apple Bloom with the runt.”

“Please, Applejack. I-if you have to do t-that to Winona, let me try and s-save her puppy.” Apple Bloom looked up into her sister's eyes which had become puffy, waiting until she nodded. 

“Take her to the house, sis,” Applejack said.

She got up and took a clean towel, wrapping the runt up to keep it warm. Apple Bloom carried it in her mouth and walked out of the barn towards their home. She could feel it squirming in the blanket, and even a small paw pushing against her muzzle.

Apple Bloom flinched as she heard a yelp and something snap. She took off running to the safety of her bedroom, with her own little sis to take care of now.



	

Apple Bloom picked the stick up in her mouth and flung it across the orchard. Lucky ran through the grass to fetch it.

It had been nearly six months since she took the runt under her wing—so to speak. With a dedication she hadn’t shown her school work or chores, she cared night and day for her. Applejack would often scold Apple Bloom for her irresponsibility, and encourage her to quit telling lies and excuses for why she only did the things she wanted to do.

Yet none of it mattered, because Apple Bloom had done one thing right: she had saved Lucky. She may be a blank flank, and she might ignore her chores, but she had impressed Fluttershy with how well she raised her puppy. Lucky had reached a healthy weight, and her fur coat even shimmered a lovely golden-brown that put Winona’s to shame.

Lucky ran back with the stick in her mouth. Apple Bloom rolled over in the grass and let her jump on her belly, then held Lucky down and nuzzled her. The two played and horsed around as if they were truly sisters. Many of the ponies in town suspected Apple Bloom would get a cutie mark related to dogs; they had become so inseparable.

Once the puppy was done licking at her muzzle, it jumped down. Apple Bloom got up and picked up the stick. Lucky ran out into the grass and turned back, waiting for her to throw it. She decided to really put her back into it, taking a couple steps back and getting ready to let it fly.

She spun as she threw, flicking the stick into the air where it got caught in the breeze and sailed across the orchard. It fell just short of the nearest apple trees next to the well. Apple Bloom watched as Lucky chased it, then jumped up onto the old well.

“Lucky, no!” Apple Bloom screamed. Lucky turned to look at her and a paw slipped, sending her falling down the well. 

She sprinted there as fast as her hooves could carry her. Already she could hear yelping from the bottom of the dry well. “Lucky!” she screamed.

Apple Bloom looked around in a panic. There were no ropes or buckets—only a few rotting boards that were supposed to be covering the top of the well. She had to find a way to help Lucky, and she had to find it now.

Her salvation flew across the sky until lazily settling down on a cloud. Apple Bloom ran below it and shouted. “Rainbow! Come down, I need your help!”

Dash peaked a head over the cloud. “What’s up?”

“It’s Lucky! She fell down a well!” Apple Bloom kept fidgeting, having run just far enough away from the well that she couldn’t hear her puppy. “Come on!”

Hopping off the cloud, Dash flew down and landed next to Apple Bloom. “Quick, show me where she’s at. I’ll save her for you!”

They ran towards the well together and could hear the dog barking, crying out for help. Rainbow flung the rotting boards off the top of the well and peered inside. “How deep is this?”

“I don’t know, but it’s really old. Grandpa built it.”

“Alright, if I’m not right back up, you go get Applejack immediately, understand?”

“Yes! Please hurry!”

Dash nodded and started to crawl down the well, gauging its size. She couldn’t fully spread her wings, but could still flap them if she kept her primaries tucked in. There was a gentle updraft coming from the well from the underground water source it had once been attached to.

She took the plunge, falling for several feet into the darkness and fighting her instinct to panic. Rainbow began flapping and caught the draft in her feathers, hovering down slowly. She steadied herself against the sides of the well with her hooves, growing farther and farther away from the light at the top of the well.

The yelping was getting louder, and Dash felt a hoof hit a stone. Her other hooves soon landed on damp sand and sank a few inches. The bottom of the well was too dark to see, but she could clearly hear Lucky. Dash felt out with her feathers and brushed across the puppy, then scooped it up in her forelegs.

As Dash started to fly her way out, she struggled to balance flapping her wings, holding Lucky, and riding the gentle updraft. After a few suspenseful minutes she had made it out of the well without destroying any primaries or dropping the puppy.

“Dash, are ya alright? Apple Bloom came ta me in a right fit!” Applejack said.

She looked over and smiled, before Dash set Lucky down in the grass. “Of course I am. Was I gone that long?”

Apple Bloom had tears staining her cheeks and she nodded. “I waited a couple minutes but I was so scared you got hurt too!”

Dash stepped back as Apple Bloom rushed forward to hold Lucky. “Easy there, he’s in bad shape. I’ll go get Fluttershy.”

Applejack put a hoof out to stop her. “Ah’m afraid that’s not necessary, look.”

Lucky was licking Apple Bloom’s nose, and moving her front paws. However, her back paws and tail were motionless. “What do you mean, sis? Why isn’t she moving?”

Rainbow gasped as she put two and two together, and saw Applejack moving up to comfort her sister. “Apple Bloom, look here.” She pointed down at a lump in her back. “She—ah’m so sorry, she broke her spine. There’s nothing we can do.”

“What? No, she’s just scared.” Apple Bloom nuzzled Lucky. “It’s okay, little sis. Show AJ you can move—please, be okay.” She began to cry as clear memories of Winona’s passing resurfaced. The clearest memory was that final yelp, before Winona was granted the peaceful slumber she had needed so badly.

“Dash, give us a few minutes then go get Scootaloo and Sweetie. Ah’ll have ta. . . take care of this,” Applejack said.

She nodded silently before flying off towards town.



	

Sweetie couldn’t believe Rarity was doing this again. “You said you’d take me to see Cats in Canterlot!” She stomped a hoof on the ground.

Rarity glanced up from her sewing machine. “I’m sorry, Sweetie. You know I can’t afford to get behind on my work. I’ve given away too many free dresses, and the yearly income tax is due soon! And that’s not to mention rent on that new Boutique I plan to open in Canterlot.”

Sweetie walked around the sewing machine and knocked over one of the mannequins with a dress on it. “They’re just stupid dresses! I’m your sister and you never spend time with me!”

“Stop that at once!” Rarity had little patience of late, preferring to ignore her sister. It was no surprise to Sweetie when a measuring stick levitated off the ground and smacked her flank. “You never behave and interfere with my work then wonder why we can’t make trips to Canterlot? Why don’t you go sleepover with Apple Bloom if you’re going to be difficult again?”

Sweetie moaned and marched towards her room. “Don’t bother, if you don’t want to spend time with me I can go get ignored by Mom and Dad instead.”

“Alright, Sweetie, have fun.” Rarity went back to sewing, not even registering what her sister had said.

She went upstairs, stopping in Rarity’s inspiration room. Sweetie found the small bolt of golden fabric that her sister had recently made. The shining gold thread took Rarity a day or two to weave into a custom fabric. Sweetie had once used it to make the Cutie Mark Crusaders new capes. Now she would use it again to make even bigger, flashier capes, as the old ones had worn out.

Sweetie was getting good with her sewing, and after a couple hours had turned two days of hard work by Rarity into four new capes. She didn’t know when, or if, she’d see Babs again. If she did, then she’d have a new cape for her anyway.

With her door closed, Sweetie went to the mirror and looked at her reflection. “Oh, darling, I’m so sorry I missed your school play! Today was your birthday? I’ll make it up to you! Oh dear, Mom and Dad are going out of town for a month and leaving you with me?!” She slammed a hoof against the mirror, causing it to crack slightly. “I hate you Rarity!”

It took her a few minutes to calm down. She packed her saddlebags, tucking the scraps of golden cloth in it to dispose of discretely, and walked quietly to the front door of the store. 

Rarity had left her sewing machine unattended to go to the restroom. Grinning mischievously, Sweetie used the levitation she had been practicing so hard with. She took hold of the thread and tangled it around the bobbin holder. When it began to sew and spun, it would tangle up and stop the machine. Sweetie threaded it back into place and made it look as if nothing was amiss. She smiled widely because it could take up to an hour to fix once it jammed.

Sweetie closed the machine and hurried to the door, nearly getting hit in the face as it opened.

A stallion stepped through the door, dressed in expensive clothing. “Oh, you must be Rarity’s daughter. I’m Hoity Toity.” The stallion smiled.

“Oh, hi.” She flashed an insincere smile.

“I have a message for Rarity, is she here?” he asked.

“No, want me to take a message?” Sweetie inquired.

He knelt down. “Sure, how could I refuse such a stunningly beautiful filly? Tell her that the deadline for my order of 30 dresses needs to be moved up by two weeks—to this Friday. It is critical for my fashion show in Canterlot, diplomats from all over the world will be in town that weekend. Let her know I’ll double the payment for the rush order.”

“Of course! I’ll go write her a note just in case, and then tell her when I see her later.” Sweetie smiled and felt herself blush slightly. Hoity Toity had taken more time to compliment her in one conversation then Rarity did in a week.

“Thank you! This will save me so much time. I must head over to talk to the local caterer Pinkie, and then see if Miss Dash can still handle the weather and finish the show with a rainboom.” Hoity Toity reached out and shook her hoof. “You have a good day, little filly.”

He left and Sweetie closed the door behind him. “Who was that?” Rarity asked.

When she turned around Sweetie saw that her sister had just walked out from the restroom. “Hi, sis, it was just Dash. She was looking for Pinkie Pie.”

“Oh, well she’s not here,” Rarity said.

“I know, I told him—her. Well, I’m off to see Apple Bloom anyway. I’ll see you tomorrow morning.”

“Okay, darling, have fun.”

Sweetie opened the door and left. She had barely made it ten yards before Dash swooped down. “Hey, Sweetie. Thank Celestia you’re here.”

“Dash? What do you want?” she asked.

“Apple Bloom’s dog Lucky is. . . very sick, and Applejack asked me to find you and Scootaloo. If you two could come cheer her up, have a crusade or sleep over, that’d be great.”

“Of course. I was just headed there actually,” Sweetie explained. “Let’s make sure she’s okay.”

“Great, let’s find—” The front door opened and Dash looked over at it.

“Sweetie,” Rarity interrupted, “were you using my sewing machine?”

She turned around and rolled her eyes. “Of course not, I hate your frilly dresses.”

Rarity sighed. “All right then, darling. I have to get back to work. The sooner I finish this order for Photo Finish, the sooner I can start on the thirty dresses that Hoity Toity wants in two and a half weeks.”

She smiled widely at her sister. “Good luck with that.”

“Thanks.” Rarity turned around and went back inside to start working.



	

“Sis, she ain’t comin’ back from this.”

Apple Bloom felt Lucky’s tongue lapping up her tears, which only made her cry harder. “It’s not fair! She’s just a baby, Twilight has to fix her! She’s so young and I love her—she can’t die!”

“Ah wish magic could fix a broken spine, but it can’t. Take a few minutes and say goodbye, then ya just run along to the clubhouse and let your sis take care of Lucky.”

It took a few minutes to sink in while the two lay there. Apple Bloom poked Lucky’s flank and she didn’t respond, her legs still motionless. Lucky almost seemed to smile, and even began to pant like she normally would. She kept trying to drag herself forward to nuzzle into her owner’s mane, yet her back half was too badly mangled for her to move.

The sun had nearly set, and Applejack had seen Dash bring the other crusaders over to the club house. “Apple Bloom, it’s time. Go be with yer friends and ah’ll see to it she doesn’t suffer anymore.”

Apple Bloom looked up at her sister, having dried off her tears. “No. This is my—responsibility.”

“Apple Bloom, ah ain’t gonna let—”

“No! You always tell me I have to be responsible, so let me! You’re not the one that made her fall down a well and I won’t let you lay a hoof on her!” She stood up and snorted out her nose, glaring at Applejack.

“You’re absolutely sure?” It broke her heart enough to know Lucky was going to die. Applejack worried what it could do to Apple Bloom, yet at the same time wanted her sister to have the opportunity to grieve and bury her pet as she saw fit.

“Yes, it has to be me. I have to know she isn’t in anymore pain.”

“Want me to show you how?”

Apple Bloom whimpered. “N-no. I’ll just—get a big enough rock, I. . . don’t watch. Don’t tell t-them I had to do it. I w-want to do it alone, to have one last s-special moment with her.”

Applejack nodded. “Be strong, sis.” She turned and walked back towards the house. Tears started to flow from her cheeks as she thought about Winona, who had been with her since she was a filly. It was the right thing to do for the owner, and not some stranger, to be there to ease a beloved pet’s passing.

Once Apple Bloom was done, Applejack would have a long talk with her. The rock might be messy, but learning to accept death as a part of life was a lesson her sister had to learn. They’d already lost one pet and their parents. Soon Granny would follow, and Applejack had to know Apple Bloom would be ready when one day her and Mac died too.

Lucky began to bark softly and beg for attention. Apple Bloom pet her and noticed some bruising around her ribs and stomach. She carefully cradled Lucky in one foreleg and hobbled over to the nearest tree, where she could bury her.

A suitable rock was nearby and she pried it out of the ground and carried it over to Lucky. Apple Bloom leaned in closer and kissed her on the muzzle. Lucky responded by licking at her nose.

“I love you so much, Lucky. I wish there was another way—I failed you. Sis was right, I’m just an irresponsible little filly. I’m a worthless blank flank, but at least these six months with you I felt special. You were everything I could have h-hoped for a-and m-more.” Her tears began to flow again as she reached for the stone.

Lucky was watching her and whimpering softly in pain. Whether she knew this was the end or not, the puppy put on a brave face. She continued to pant with her tongue lolling out of her mouth, licking at Apple Bloom when she’d move a leg close enough. If this was to be her end, she’d face it with dignity.

Apple Bloom lifted the rock up, her forelegs trembling. She wasn’t sure if she could actually go through with it, if she could actually let go of Lucky. As if to answer her question, Lucky gave her one last bark as if she weren’t injured at all to remember her by. Apple Bloom closed her mouth and laid her head down expectantly.

Her vision was blurred by tears and Apple Bloom tried to blink them away. She felt an impulse to do it now, to get it over, and slammed the rock down.

There was a loud yelp, and she felt a claw scratch against her foreleg. Apple Bloom wiped her tears from her face and saw the rock next to Lucky. Her blow hadn’t been hard or clean enough to kill her instantly. The soft dirt absorbed some of the impact, and she now had a gash over her ear, and was writhing about in pain.

“Sorry! I’m so sorry!” Apple Bloom tried to nuzzle her and make it better, but Lucky began to growl. When she tried to brush the dirt out of Lucky’s eyes, she bit her hoof. 

She knew she had to try again, and get it right this time. Apple Bloom quickly lifted the rock, dropping it on Lucky’s chest. She swore under her breath and picked the stone back up, ignoring Lucky’s cries of pain. Apple Bloom slammed it down on her head, hard enough to cause an even louder squeal.

Her tears were blinding her vision again. Lucky was still whimpering and twitching, so she continued to blindly bring the rock down on her head. Five, six, seven. Apple Bloom pounded away as if it were a nail and hammer, and with each hit her sorrow grew tenfold. Lucky’s cries of pain finally faded.

She would never be able to replace Lucky.













> 2. Just Like You
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	
“The devil is not as black as he is painted.” ― Dante Alighieri



* * * * *



“Babs!” the principle shouted.

The filly got out of the chair in front of the office and walked through the door. Babs went to the chair in front of his desk and climbed onto it, before leaning backwards and crossing her forelegs. She flicked her tail to an indecent position, making the principle grimace.

“‘Sup old man?” Babs asked.

“Babs, please. You know what is ‘up’. Furthermore, that’s Mr. Pencil to you,” he stated.

“Alright, Mr. Pencil.”

He sighed and leaned over to look more closely at her. “Taffy says you’re bullying her again. She said you’ve taken her lunch money for over a month, and threatened to—” he cleared his throat, “—’fuck her up’ if she snitched.”

“Hah! You know they bully me. I had to go to Ponyville to cool off, remember? I’m the victim here. She’s just mad because I keep askin’ her to give me back all the money they stole from me.”

Golden Pencil opened up the large folder in front of him. It contained Babs’ permanent record. He glanced down through the summary of her history at the school.




- Delinquency
- Truancy
- Fights - III
- Arson - I
- Theft - II
. . .




“Look, frankly you’ve got a long list of minor offenses. Usually, you’re stopped before doing something you’d regret, and you always have a well-thought out excuse how it isn’t your fault. Do you want to know what I think?”

“I really don’t,” Babs spat.

“I think that black eye wasn’t from Taffy like you said it was. I think the reason you picked a fight today over lunch money, the reason you punched her today was to cover up the real source of that black eye.”

Babs was about to insult his mother but froze, wondering if he could read her that easily. Indeed, it had not been Taffy that gave her this black eye.



	

Babs wasn’t looking forward to heading home later that day. School passed quickly and soon she had no choice but to head back to the place she was given a black eye: her home. The door shut behind her as she entered the house.

 Babs went to her room, laid on her bed, and started reading her book. The sparsely decorated room had little more than a dresser, desk, and bed. When her father didn’t come home it meant he’d passed out at the bar, or gone home with another mare. Somehow he hadn’t drowned in vomit yet. When he did come home, he made his frustration known.

The front door slammed shut, causing Babs’ wall to vibrate. Her father was home now, and like almost every night, he would be drunk. At this point he’d either go have rough sex with her mother, or come beat Babs. She wasn’t a fool—Babs knew exactly what her father was, and where she fit in the grand scheme of things.

And she did not accept it. Babs was better than him, smarter, destined for bigger and better things. Babs was also shorter, much weaker, and would soon hit puberty. What would her father do when Babs went into heat, and her odor permeated throughout the house?

She did not want to find out.

The door to her room flew open, and Babs jumped off the bed and crawled under it. The effort was as futile as always. Once her father had dragged her out from under the bed, Babs surrendered. She didn’t raise her hoof in defense as he smacked her jaw. Her mind retreated and shielded itself with a well-practiced numbness to emotion. 

Pain, joy, anger, sorrow, peace—they were all meaningless to Babs, who struggled to understand why she couldn’t feel them, why she had to fake them around other ponies.

Her father hit her harder than normal, and the stench of his inebriation nearly made Babs vomit. Her jaw was so sore she wondered if she would be able to speak tomorrow morning.

“S-stop! Come to b-bed h-honey!” Mother said.

“Shfuckin’ whorshe! Shoe’ll get yurs!” Father slurred.

“I w-won’t let y-you hurt h-her! The principle—he s-saw that s-shiner you g-gave her! He’ll c-call the c-cops if s-she shows up to s-s-school like that tomorrow!”

Father lowered his raised hoof to the ground and turned around slowly, nearly falling over while trying to keep his balance. “Shu called thish copsh on me?”

“N-no!”

He took a few uneasy steps towards her. “Shue called the copsh!”

“H-honey, c-calm down—”

A siren sounded outside in the distance, slowly growing louder. In Manehatten, they used carts with sirens to ensure they could cut through the bustle of city life and reach crime scenes quickly.

“Shu did!” Father reared up to slam his hooves on her, losing his balance and toppling to the floor. While he got back to his feet, Mother just stood in the doorway, frozen and mortified.

Babs took the opportunity to get up and walk over to her mother. She squeezed herself between her mom and the dresser. The sirens were so loud now, and the red lights had lit up her room as they spun around.

“Mom didn’t call the cops. I did,” Babs said.



	

Scootaloo tugged on the string and tied it into a knot. Her tail was now covered in fake rainbow hair. With her prismatic wig on, Scootaloo had become an orange Rainbow Dash. She ran downstairs, passing by her parents.

“Off to the fan club?” Roseluck asked.

“Yeah, Mom. But first, Dash promised to show me a few new moves,” Scootaloo explained.

“Be safe, darling,” Nimbus added.

“Okay, Dad, I won’t do anything Dash wouldn’t do. Bye!”

She rushed outside and was about to hop on her scooter when Scootaloo remembered what Dash had told her: “You need to practice proper flying technique. No more scooter until our lessons are done. Fly low, even if you’re just flapping and walking, you need to learn to flap slowly.”

Scootaloo left the scooter and went to the edge of her yard. She climbed onto the fence and looked around, imagining that the dirt road was now lava. Her wings unfurled and beat slowly in the air. Nothing to it, Scootaloo. Let’s be awesome!

With a large flap, she took to the air and flew to the nearest bench, fifty feet away. She was only a few meters off the ground, but for Scootaloo it was as different as night was from day. Soon, Dash would let Scootaloo fly from even greater heights.

After landing on the bench, Scootaloo glanced at a nearby bed of daisies. She didn’t see the owner of the garden anywhere, so Scootaloo ate several of them quickly. Big Mac was walking by and shot her an accusing glance, to which she smiled innocently. With another flap she soared towards a fencepost further down the road.

Scootaloo tried to land on it, but her hoof slipped and she tumbled into the grass. It hadn’t hurt her wings, so after dusting some loose blades of grass off she climbed on the fence to start over. Okay, so the grass is totally not lava, just the dirt!

Just as she leapt into the air to fly to the fountain in town square, Dash landed with a thud in front of her. Scootaloo’s wings folded in from the shock, and she landed in the dirt on her muzzle.

Whelp, I guess I lose. She got to her hooves and spit some of the dirt out of her mouth. “Dash! I was flying like you said, you totally made me fall though.”

“Sorry, Squirt. So how was your sleepover with Apple Bloom?” Dash asked.

“Boring, but I think she feels better. I was really sad about her dog, and she just seemed distant. But we’re not here to talk about that, I want to be just like you and I need to learn how to fly higher and do some stunts!”

Rainbow chuckled and mussed up Scootaloo’s hair. “Alright. Why don’t you walk with me towards the field we use to practice.”

“Uh, sure.” She slid up against Dash as they walked, staying close enough that their sides brushed against each other with every step.

“I told everypony in class today about that stunt you did for me, the Buccaneer Blaze. I told them you’d teach it to me and I’d do a private stunt show.”

“That’s great, what did your friends say?”

Scootaloo frowned. “Well, most of them were excited but Diamond Tiara said I’d always be a flightless chicken.” What she didn’t mention was how her and Silver Spoon would put glue on Scootaloo’s chair in class. If she forgot to double-check her chair in the morning, her feathers would get stuck to it.

She had lost several of her primaries this week from Diamond’s pranks. Cheerilee had promised to suspend Diamond and Silver for a week if it happened one more time. In response they had backed off, for now.

“Squirt, I wanted to talk to you about something important.” Dash gestured at a park bench that was slowly approaching. Once they reached it they both took a seat. “You remember my application to the Wonderbolts?”

“Of course! You did that crazy Sonic Rainboom in a thunder storm. My hair was frizzy for weeks!”

Dash smiled and put a wing around her, pulling her in close. “You don’t know how much I’ll miss having such a great fan.”

Scootaloo’s mind screeched to a halt, and she pushed herself away. “Miss? Why would you miss me? Are you leaving me?”

“No! I got accepted to the Wonderbolts, that’s great news! It means I have to spend most of my time training in Cloudsdale, though. I might only be able to visit Ponyville on weekends, or even once a month, but I’m not leaving you!”

Emotions started to well up inside Scootaloo. Part of her knew Dash wouldn’t leave, and yet Dash was going to leave. Everypony always left Scootaloo. “Y-you are gonna a-abandon me like my mother. Please, you can’t do it! I’ll move in with you, in Cloudsdale!”

Dash held Scootaloo against her side, letting the filly cry gently into her fur. Rose had warned her that this would happen. “Listen, Squirt, you’re my sister and I love you more then you know. I will never abandon you like your mother. If she hadn’t put you up for adoption at birth, you wouldn’t have two wonderful adoptive parents, and you’d never have met me. You should be happy.”

Scootaloo dug her hooves under Dash’s ribs, holding onto her tightly. “B-but y-your still l-leaving, I w-won’t s-see you.”

“Hey, I promise I’ll visit every chance I can, and give you free tickets to every single show. And while I’m gone, you’ll have the Cutie Mark Crusaders. They’re your friends too, and they will never abandon you either.”

She was slowly calming down as she listened to Dash’s heartbeat. Her warmth and soft fur, her confidence and loyalty—Scootaloo often wished with all her heart that Dash had been the one to adopt her. She was perfect, and Scootaloo couldn’t imagine life without her.

“P-Pinkie promise?” Scootaloo asked.

“Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye,” Dash replied. “Now, you ready for some flying?”

Scootaloo thought about it for a moment. “No, I feel kinda sleepy. Can I take a quick nap? Will you be here when I wake up?”

“Sure, Squirt, I’ll let you take a little nap here with me until the sun sets.”

She edged herself closer to Dash, watching as her fake wig and Dash’s real rainbow mane mixed together. Scootaloo nuzzled under her wing, causing her to wrap the wing tightly around her.

Scootaloo felt happy, safe, and as if nothing in the world could go wrong. She fell asleep in the warm embrace of the stunt pony who had promised to keep Scootaloo under her wing.



	

“What?” Babs’ mother said. She looked down at her daughter. “H-honey, you c-called the cops? You shouldn’t h-have! You’ll m-make him m-mad.”

“Mad? It’sh too latesh for mad, I’m shfuckin’ pished!” He swung a hoof, slamming it against his wife’s skull. She managed to stay on her feet, slamming against the wall, and sobbing softly as her ears rang.

There was a pounding at the front door. “Manehatten police, open up!”

“Babs,” her mother whimpered. “A-apologize to d-daddy.”

“No, Mother. You’re pathetic. I’ll never be weak like you.” Babs reached underneath her dresser, gripping something. “I’m just like Father, and I never want to see either of you again.” She reached up to her mother’s neck with a knife in hoof, slicing it open in one clean stroke.

Mother fell to the floor, clutching her neck in shock, as warm fluid spilled out. Babs tossed the knife down and backed up, being sure not to get the spreading pool of blood on her hooves.

Her father was still standing there in a drunken stupor as the pieces slowly clicked together in his brain. His beloved wife, his property had been taken to him by his bitch of a daughter.

Yet instead of anger, her father felt grief for the first time in years. This had been his fault. I’m just like father. The words echoed in his ears. He stumbled forward and slipped in the blood, wrapping his hooves around his wife.

She was still gurgling on the blood, and her husband held a hoof against her neck. He couldn’t stop the flow of the blood no matter how hard he tried. She looked at him, uttering one final word as her eyes glossed over.

“Babs.”

There was a loud cracking noise as the police rammed the front door open. Splinters of wood scattered across the living room and they rushed in, night sticks drawn and ready.

The first police pony skidded to a halt when he reached the door to the bedroom, his eyes drawn to the crimson tide seeping through the doorway. A stallion lay in a puddle of blood beside his wife, a knife not two feet away. He could smell the liquor from here, then noticed the filly in the corner of the room.

Babs had curled up in the far corner, putting on her best act. “D-don’t l-let d-daddy kill m-me too!” she wailed. As she began to cry she curled up tighter until her muscles trembled as if in fear.

“Whasht? No, she killsh her!” he slurred. He tried to stand up but was too drunk to do so on the slippery floor. In seconds he had tumbled towards the officer.

“Freeze!” The police pony yelled, his wits finally returning to him. “You’re under arrest!”

Several more ponies rushed in, forcing him back from his wife. He struggled and flailed wildly, and it took several ponies to get him into hoof cuffs. By the time it was done, the crime scene was trampled and the police were just as covered in blood.

Babs peaked out from the spot she had chosen in the far corner, her eyes locking with those of her father. She smirked as her father started gagging while two ponies buried hooves into his back to keep him pinned.

I win, she mouthed.

> 3. Lost in the Woods
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------



“Midway upon the journey of our life, I found myself within a forest dark, for the straightforward pathway had been lost.” ― Dante Alighieri



* * * * *


Everypony in town had come to Dash’s going-away party, save for one. Apple Bloom had chosen to stay in her room while Pinkie threw a party in the large barn next door. She sulked around her room for a while, trying to put her conflicted feelings for Lucky to rest.

A part of her was depressed and wanted to stay in the bed all day. She had lost her best friend just over a week ago. Another part of her was at peace, content to know her suffering had ended relatively quickly.

Yet there was another part that had her troubled now. She went to the window and looked out towards the tree where she had buried Lucky. The movement of a squirrel caught her eye in the tree. She watched it run around gathering acorns—clueless as to where the squirrel got them on an apple farm—and the same thought that had been troubling her returned.

Something had felt wrong when she killed Lucky. Apple Bloom had enjoyed easing Lucky’s suffering, but not in a way she felt comfortable with. She headed downstairs and out the back door, grabbing a bit of rope and heading towards the tree with Lucky buried beneath it.



	

Within the barn, Rarity stood amongst her friends holding a quiet conversation, while Pinkie was passing out cake. “Hoity Toity wanted me to move the deadline up, and I had no idea! I really could have used the bits and now I’m short for my income tax and property tax. Ugh, I hate this time of year.”

Applejack adjusted her stetson and raised an eyebrow. “How much do ya need?”

“I couldn’t possibly—”

Dash interrupted her. “Oh no, you don’t. You help us out all the time, so you’re gonna tell us, and we will spot you the bits.”

Rarity blushed. “Well, if you insist. . . I’m short eight hundred bits.”

“Whoa nelly, why didn’t ya let us know ya were havin’ a hard time this year?” Applejack asked.

“I got a little carried away at the Summer Sun Celebration. I’ve had more customers this month, but that’s because of all the cities I visited giving out samples. Once I open my new store in Canterlot, I know I’ll make back ten-fold what I lost giving out this year,” she explained.

“Well, I can split a room with one of the Wonderbolts. I’ll get you four hundred after the party,” Dash offered.

“And ah’ll match the other four hundred. Ah reckon we better move cider season up as much as possible, though.” Applejack looked at her mug, containing apple cider from their private reserve.

“I can’t possibly thank you two enough! You must let me make you some new dresses for the Gala this year,” Rarity stated.

“No way! This is how you got in debt. Look, take a little time and do something nice for yourself and Sweetie.” Dash looked at Applejack. “Back me up here.”

“Ah reckon ya had better wait until after the Canterlot store opens before being so generous. We all appreciate it, but ah wouldn’t feel right knowin’ you’re in debt.”

Rarity smiled and grabbed Rainbow and Applejack, hugging them tightly. “Oh, thank you.”

Sweetie watched from her seat on a hay bale in the corner of the room. “Bleh, look at her, Scootaloo.”

“Yeah, I’ll sure miss her when she is gone,” she replied.

“No, not Dash, Rarity!”

Scootaloo turned to look at Sweetie and saw her brow wrinkled up in anger. “Hey, Sweetie, you two having problems again?”

“We never stopped. She never has time for me! All she cares about is being generous to other ponies. We don’t go to the spa anymore, no plays, no lunch at the cafe. The only time she pays attention to me is when I do something wrong.”

“I’m sorry. I am glad Dash has time for me—”

Sweetie rolled her eyes. “Ugh. Always with Dash. When are you gonna grow up?”

“Huh?” Scootaloo struggled to form a reply. “I, uh—”

“Sorry, Scootaloo, I’m just upset. My parents are going on a vacation for their anniversary. I’m stuck here with Rarity for a whole month.”

“It’s okay. I guess I’ll have plenty of time to hang out with you and Apple Bloom. You two aren’t gonna leave also? We’ll have plenty of time to crusade?”

“Yeah, sure. Do you know where Apple Bloom is?” Sweetie looked around once more to see if she was at the party yet. “She hasn’t shown up all night.”

“No clue. Maybe she’s still sad about her dog.”

Dash walked over and looked at Scootaloo. “Hey, Squirt, sorry to interrupt. Your mom told me you’ve been having a hard time with me leaving.”

“Yeah, there’s no way I’ll learn to fly like you after you’re gone.”

“Well, I sent a letter and got our practice schedule. I have good news, I’ll be back this weekend to give you another lesson!”

Scootaloo’s face lit up. “Really? That’d be awesome!”

“Hey, my middle name is ‘Awesome’! I told you I wouldn’t abandon you, Squirt. I’ll bring you two season passes to our airshow while I’m at it. Come here.” Dash stretched her forelegs out and sat down.

She jumped forward and hugged Dash, oblivious to the jealous stare from Sweetie.



	

“I miss her so much. She slept on the bed with me every single night. Do ya know what that’s like?” Apple Bloom asked.

She was leaning against a tree, talking to a squirrel that was on the ground next to her. Wrapped around the squirrel’s neck was noose made of a thick rope, and Apple Bloom held the other end of it in her hooves. The squirrel was scratching at the rope, but was not making any progress in cutting through it.

“Ya don’t know what it’s like. Do ya have kids?” She looked down at the squirrel who seemed to understand and nodded, tears coming from its eyes. “I’m sorry then, but killing ya isn’t even the worst part.”

Apple Bloom tightened the rope another millimeter, watching as the squirrel’s face turned red from the blood getting trapped in its head. The squirrel struggled and kicked around a little, even trying to run away before the short rope stopped it.

She used a hoof to pin it to the ground by its belly, tightening the rope again. “The worst part is after I killed Lucky I realized. . . I enjoyed it.” Apple Bloom burst out in tears and sobbed loudly. “I’m a m-monster! It was so horrible and scary. . . But that rush, holding the rock. . .”

The squirrel’s face was starting to turn blue and it was gasping for breath, barely able to get any of the air to its lungs. It tried to make a noise or whimper, but the rope prevented its pleas from being voiced.

“Why? Why does it feel good?” Apple Bloom looked at the critter, watching as it went limp, giving up on its struggles. It stared at her, having admitted defeat. Once she had wiped the tears from her face, she pushed her hoof into its belly hard, causing him to squirm in pain. “I d-don’t understand it, but I like this!”

It scratched against her hoof with its small paws.

“You’re pathetic, weak. Because killing you is a mercy it feels. . . right. I have all the power. Not like some stupid alicorn whose magic can’t even save a single puppy!”

Apple Bloom yanked the rope, tightening it completely around the squirrel’s neck. Both of its eyes bulged out, and sensing its inevitable demise it thrashed about in a final attempt to live. The rope continued to tighten, and she pushed her hoof into his abdomen hard. Bones began to pop and then break, before the rope itself snapped the squirrel’s spine.

The rope fell to the ground and she stared at the lifeless corpse which stared back at her with two glassy eyes. Her breathing was rapid as she enjoyed the endorphin rush and feeling of power. After it had passed, Apple Bloom pushed the squirrel into a shallow grave and filled it with dirt.

She walked back towards the house, a confusing mixture of joy and sorrow causing her to cry softly. Apple Bloom knew it was wrong to kidnap and kill animals from Fluttershy’s cottage, yet it was the only thing that came close to making her feel as good as she had around Lucky. 

Amidst all the emotions she was dealing with, one question still burned unanswered: How could I be sad to kill Lucky, yet miss the feeling of the rock in my hooves?



	

“Babs, have you decided what you’d like to do?” asked the social worker. Penny had been assigned to deal with the filly after her father had killed her mother. It broke Penny’s heart to see a filly so devastated that it had distanced itself from emotion, often preferring to stare off into the distance.

“Yeah, I ain’t goin’ to foster care. I’ll accept Applejack’s offer to let me live on her farm,” Babs answered. Luckily, she had made it clear she would not allow any of her father’s relatives to become her legal guardian. The mother’s side of the family seemed uninterested in the filly, making her plan to move out to Sweet Apple Acres that much easier to achieve.

“Are you sure? Once Applejack signs for custody of you, there’s no coming back to Manehatten.”

“I’m sure.” She sat motionless in her chair, wishing the annoying mare would shut up already. It had already been two long weeks of pretending to care that her mother was dead. After trying crying and sorrow, Babs had found it easier to act distant. Penny said it was perfectly normal to grieve, believing her to be in denial, and that it would pass.

“Well, we only have one more matter of business, and you know it is why we have brought you here today. Are you certain you want to be there to witness the punishment?” She leaned forward and put a hoof on Babs’ shoulder.

“Yeah, I’m sure.” She resisted the urge to swat her hoof away and moaned. So far everything had gone according to her plan. Babs wondered if after this final act, if she would finally feel happy, at peace, or if she’d just feel nothing again.

Babs hopped down from the chair and followed Penny out of the room. The walk to the viewing room was somber. Inside sat relatives from both her mother and father’s sides of the family. Luna herself had been sent as a representative of the throne. The princess sat to the side and glanced over at Babs.

The two locked eyes and Luna seemed able to pierce into her soul with her gaze. Babs wondered if her act could fool a princess, but quickly pushed the thought from her mind.

Her seat was at the right end of the front row, and thankfully far from the imposing alicorn. Babs climbed atop the seat and saw a sterile white room on the other side of the glass, with a flat padded table.

As she sat there, her ears swiveled and Babs could hear ponies whispering about her and her father. 

“I heard he was covered nose to hoof in her blood. . . Poor daughter, Babs. Saw the whole thing.”

“Examiners found bruises all over her and her mother!”

“. . . quickest trial and sentencing I’ve ever heard of. Such a tragic case for your son. . .”

A stallion was escorted into the room wearing a muzzle to silence him, and requiring several guards to drag him. He had been adamant about his innocence to the point that the prosecution used it against him. Sober for the first time in years, he begged for his life and tried to prove his daughter was the real monster.

Luna shook her head in shame as she watched him fight the guards. Murders of passion were commonplace, yet she had not seen so much blood at a crime scene since the revolts leading up to the fall of Nightmare Moon. The death penalty was one that could only come from the throne: with or without trial. Having been the first murder in Manehatten in two years, Luna had personally sat in during the trial.

Once he was strapped down, Luna excused herself through a door and appeared in the room a few seconds later. Babs watched as she walked over and stood next to her father. “Clear the room.”

The guards complied, clearing out yet remaining ready in case Luna needed their aid. She would hear his final words, along with those viewing, then carry out the sentence.

“Brussel Sprout, you have been found guilty of first degree murder, spousal abuse, child abuse, assault and battery, and resisting arrest. What you have done is unfathomable, even to me. Yet you are given this chance for last words regardless. Do not waste them,” Luna instructed. She unsnapped the muzzle and lifted it off his mouth.

Brussel coughed and looked towards the glass. “Is she watching?”

Luna sighed heavily. “Are those your last words?”

“No wait! Luna, I swear it wasn’t me, it was Babs! I was drunk and I beat them, but she pulled the knife on my wife! I’m inno—” Luna slammed the muzzle back into the place harder than was necessary, tightening the strap.

She leaned forward so those few observing couldn’t hear. “You are pathetic, lying about your crime and begging me to put a filly in your place on this slab. I only regret you did not commit this act during my reign. We had ponies like you drawn and quartered for their crimes.”

Luna stood up and saw Brussel crying and thrashing his head around. She went down to his foreleg which had been strapped down tightly so it wouldn’t move. Luna levitated a needle into the vein in the crook of his foreleg.

Babs watched in fascination as a small tube was attached to the needle and a medicine was pushed through it, into his veins.

“Can’t believe he’s still pleading innocent. What a monster!” a nearby pony whispered.

“Look at poor Babs, she’s too shocked to even move or cry.”

As her father stopped moving, Babs leaned forward slightly. A second vial of medicine had been injected, followed by a third. Luna set them down on the nearby table and walked to the door.

Luna reached out with her magic to verify his heart at stopped, then turned off the lights. She took a deep breath and stepped outside.

Everypony around Babs got up and started filing out. She continued to stare into the darkness, feeling a weight lifted off her. She had expected some joy or relief at his passing.

“Young Babs Seed, are you alright?” Luna asked.

“Yeah, I’m fine.”

The princess knelt down next to her. “I want you to know, should you ever need anything, all you need to do is call for me while dreaming. Whether it is a nightmare, or you simply desire to dream of your mother.”

Babs shrugged her shoulders. “Okay.”

Luna stood up and put a hoof on the filly’s shoulder. “Applejack is a good pony, they’ll take care of you. I also agree with the judge, and we are expunging your juvenile record. With your father gone we believe you will not act out or bully others. Please, Babs, start over in Ponyville and make the most of your life. It’s what your mother would have wanted.”

She nodded, getting tired of yet another condolence speech. Babs shook her shoulder to get rid of Luna’s hoof, then climbed out of the chair. “When does my train leave?”

“I gave Penny a ticket good for any time. You need only pack and move out of the foster home, then you can take a train to Ponyville.”

“Thanks. He deserved to die.”

Babs walked out of the room and Luna found herself heartbroken to see such a young filly lose her innocence. Childhood was supposed to be a time of fun and friendship, not death and sorrow.



	

Scootaloo walked to her bed as if it was a death sentence. Dash had only been gone a few hours, and tomorrow she had school. It would be six long days without once seeing her idol flying through the skies of Ponyville.

Rose waited for her to climb into bed, then pulled her covers up. “Are you going to be okay, honey?”

“Yeah, mom. I just never thought she’d leave. I love you and dad, but she was just different, you know? Like a sister and hero and best friend. I wanted her to take me under her wing for so long and now she is gone.”

“She isn’t gone, Scootaloo. She’ll be back to visit as often as she can. Dash will be busy and yet she’ll still do it every chance she gets. Do you know why?”

“Because I asked her?”

Rose chuckled and sat on the bed. “No, silly, it’s because she loves you. Just like your dad and I do. Just like your friends do. I know how much it hurts to say goodbye to somepony, but we’re all here for you, and Dash isn’t gone forever. She just found a new job.”

“It still hurts just as much. Is there something wrong with me?”

“Scootaloo, don’t you ever think that for one second. You’re a perfect, athletic little filly. Maybe your birth mother couldn’t see that, but the whole town of Ponyville does. I know how hard this is for you. Let me help you fall asleep. Roll over.”

“Okay, mom.” Scootaloo rolled onto her belly, and felt her rainbow wig being put on by Rose. She smiled, and then felt her mother’s hoof rubbing her back. Scootaloo’s wings fluttered open as her back was massaged.

Rose had learned from her husband how to give a good massage to a pegasus. As she sat there and worked all the tension out of Scootaloo’s back, she heard a soft snoring. After a final minute of watching over her angel, Rose pulled the covers up. Gently getting off the bed, she turned the light off and closed the door behind her.

> 4. Turning Point
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	
“Remember tonight... for it is the beginning of always.” ― Dante Alighieri



* * * * *


Sweetie grunted in frustration as she used her magic to take the ace bandage off of Mr. Cake’s leg. He had come to the hospital with a sprained ankle. As part of her school’s job fair, Sweetie had chosen to volunteer there. She hoped to earn a cutie mark in medicine, where she could use her intelligence to become a doctor and help ponies.

Yet there were many tasks she was deemed unable to practice or even learn, and Sweetie had ended up changing bed sheets and tending to minor injuries. It was so dull that she often lost focus and did simple tasks wrong, causing the nurses to give her a hard time.

“Sorry, let me try that again,” Sweetie said.

“Don’t worry, I think you’re doing great,” Mr. Cake replied.

Sweetie focused and started at the hoof, winding the bandage around his ankle and up his leg. She wanted it to be perfect, without a single crease. Perhaps then they’d let her do something cooler like draw blood, or watch from behind the special one-way glass during surgery.

After several spirals around his leg, she pinned it in place. “There, that looks good!” She picked at it a little more. “Go ahead and stand up and try it.”

Mr. Cake got up and took a few steps. It hurt much less now that it had the extra support. “Thanks, Sweetie.”

“You're welcome!” She smiled and watched him trot out into the waiting room and head home.

Sweetie was feeling good about herself, until she walked out towards the break room to write down a few notes in her journal. She was halfway there when Nurse Redheart caught her.

“Sweetie, dear, can I have a word with you?” she said.

With a loud moan, Sweetie turned around. “Yeah, what’d I do wrong this time?”

Redheart smiled and walked closer so she could talk soft enough other ponies wouldn’t overhear. “I’m not trying to pick on you, just helping you learn about medicine.”

“Okay.”

She gestured towards the room. “You need to use a larger bandage and layer it twice, not three times. You also forgot to document it on his chart, and you didn’t clean up the room.”

“What? You told me I can’t write on their charts!” Sweetie’s voice cracked.

“Yes, but you can if I tell you to.”

“Ugh, fine, then why am I still doing all the boring stuff? I’ve memorized every bone in the body. I’ve read books on everything from sutures to drawing blood! When I volunteered here I wasn’t expecting to be taking out the trash!”

Redheart knelt down. “Sweetie, these are all important parts of the job. It isn’t all about being a fancy doctor, or using a defibrillator to restart somepony’s heart. Look, I really like you and I know you’re smart enough to be a great nurse or doctor. However, your attitude this week had been rather well. . . rude. If you don’t behave, I’ll have to fail you on your class project.”

“What?!” Sweetie glanced at her in anger, a few sparks escaping her horn, betraying her charged emotions. “You’d fail me? But I really think I could get a cutie mark in medicine! You guys just keep making me do stuff that’s beneath even an Earth pony!”

She gasped, taking a step back. “Sweetie Belle! I will not have that kind of language in my hospital!”

Sweetie took a couple deep breaths, a plan already forming in her head. “You’re right. Sorry, I’ve just been trying for so long to get a cutie mark, and now all the nurses hate me.” She began to sniffle, letting her eyes water up.

“Look.” Redheart resumed her place, kneeling to be at Sweetie’s eye level. “Don’t worry about the other nurses or doctors. They’re just jealous of you, okay? I want you to just take the next couple days off and just relax. Don’t worry, I won’t fail you for making mistakes, only if you speak ill of the staff again. Go play with your friends, and when you feel better I’ll teach you how to do a cast.”

“Okay.” Sweetie faked a smile and hugged her. “Thanks. I just want to finish my last thirty minutes today so I can say bye to Derpy and see how her wing is doing.”

“That sounds good. Thanks for understanding,” she replied.

She waited for Redheart to leave, then headed down the hallway in a separate direction. “Kicking me off the job, always treating me like a filly. . . Every book I’ve read says ninety percent of fillies and colts have a cutie mark by this age! I’m tired of waiting, it’s time to get even with those nurses and show them that I can be helpful.”

Sweetie glanced around, then used her magic to key in the code she had stolen to enter the medication room. She had studied the common prescriptions, and knew which patients belonged to which nurses. It would be easy to make a few benign “exchanges” to embarrass them all. Everypony makes mistakes, maybe when they realized that they would stop picking on her.

She closed the door quietly and went over to the medication cart. Opening the drawers she began to carefully peel open the small single-dose packages on some of the meds. She swapped some of the tylenol for viagra. Then she switched out the chewable aspirin with nitroglycerin. Using her magic, she was able to reseal the packages.

Sweetie looked over at the locker the class three medications were in. She bit her lip, knowing it was a tad riskier, but smiled when she saw the keys to it sitting on the table.

So much for keeping the narcotics in a double-locked case.

She opened up the narcotics locker, finding a few tablets of valium to switch out with some motrin. There were a few more meds she swapped, before deciding to quit while she was ahead. This would surely cause quite the uproar. Sweetie would come to the rescue, identifying the symptoms of the patients and helping the doctors cure them all. She’d have to get a cutie mark for sure!

Sweetie shut the lockbox, put the keys back, and closed the medication cart. She looked at the clock. In just over fifteen minutes the nurses would come to pass out the evening dose of medications with dinner. She hurried out of the room and went to visit Derpy until the fireworks started.



	

Babs Seed sighed in relief as the train pulled into Ponyville’s train station. She’d never been one to get excited, yet there was something about this town that lifted her spirits. There was no such thing as abusive fathers here. In fact, her three closest friends had wound up coming from this town. Scootaloo, Sweetie, and Apple Bloom accepted Babs, even when she treated them all poorly.

She had never made many friends. Most ponies avoided her, having heard of her reputation, and her habits had nearly led her to become friends with the local bullies. Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon had seemed like good ponies, before their whining and constant narcissism started to sicken her. Even though her list of friends sported few names, she was better off leaving those two off of it.

Applejack and Apple Bloom were waiting at the train station. They were smiling, yet Babs could see something was off with her friend. Her smile seemed forced, and as a filly who spent most of her life lying to others and reading their facial expressions, she knew it. Babs walked to the door of her cabin and put her saddlebags on. She took a deep breath, then put on her best smile.

Trotting quickly to the door, she jumped off the train and went over to her older cousin, and now sole-guardian. “Heya guys, how’s it goin’?”

“Great, ah’m so glad y’all chose to come live with us after that terrible business in Manehatten,” Applejack said.

“Yeah, the Cutie Mark Crusaders are back together!” Apple Bloom said. She strained herself to sound cheery, and it seemed to be fooling Applejack.

“My sis hasn’t stopped talkin’ about how great it is to have ya back,” Applejack explained.

“Well, I’m glad to be here with ponies that love me,” Babs answered. “Can we head to the farm? It was a long train ride.”

“Of course!” Applejack turned around and started walking away. Apple Bloom and Babs followed at a distance. “Why, Pinkie’s already got a whole surprise party planned for ya. Oops, well, ah guess it ain’t much of a surprise now. Ah reckon with you bein’ plum tuckered out, it’s only fair you know what she’s got in store for ya.”

“Hey, Bloom, you okay?” Babs asked.

“Huh? Yeah, of course.” She continued to smile, but her gaze remained on the ground.

“I, uh. . . heard about your puppy in a letter from your sis, before I came down here. It sounds terrible, but I’ve never had a pet so I don’t really know.”

“Yeah.”

Babs bit her lip in frustration. She could read Apple Bloom like a book, yet couldn’t understand emotion well enough to know what the proper reply is. Usually ponies would say stuff like “sorry for your loss”, but that seemed rather hollow to Babs. Until she had more to go on, she’d just keep an eye on Apple Bloom.

“Well, if I can cheer you up just tell me how. We’re sisters now, so I’m not gonna let anything bad happen to you.”

“Thanks, that’s really nice.” Apple Bloom looked Babs in the eye and smiled. “I mean, it’s so great to have you here and have a new sis’. I just have had a lot on my mind.”

Babs nodded, having made some progress. Hopefully, she would be able to become closer friends with Apple Bloom and put her history behind her. The lawyer in Manehatten had expunged Babs’ juvenile record, believing it was Babs’ best chance at getting a clean start. While Babs had no ambitions of being a good little filly, it was important now more than ever to act like it and make sure that other ponies believed she was one. There was no better way to blend in than to be one of the Cutie Mark Crusaders.

“—a room with Apple Bloom, but ah did get ya separate beds. Now ah know there’s the time difference, so we won’t be wakin’ ya up at six ‘til next week. You’ll have to do chores and pull your weight, though—”

Babs interrupted Applejack, whispering softly to Apple Bloom. “She’s been talking the whole time?”

“Yeah, I just ignore her. She loves to be a good big sister. Took her nearly an hour to explain to me what ‘first base’ is.”

“You mean kissin’?” Babs asked.

“I hadn’t heard of it before.” Apple Bloom chuckled. “The look on her face was priceless though when I told her Featherweight invited me to home base.”

Babs laughed and shook her head. “You’re something else. It’s too bad nopony in Manehatten was this cool, or I might have had a few friends there.”

“I’m sure you had some friends.”

She thought back to a pegasus named Swift. He had a crush on Babs, often willingly giving up his lunch money to her. Perhaps he had been her friend, and Babs just hadn’t realized it.

“I guess so.”

They continued walking towards the farm as Applejack explained, in great detail, what Babs’ life on the farm would be like.



	

“Well, I hope that wing gets better soon, Ms. Derpy,” Sweetie said.

“Oh, I’m sure it will! You’re much nicer than the nurses around here. Honestly, a sweet little filly who checks on me every day and changes the bandages to scratch those itches on my wing? I feel like you’re spoiling me,” Derpy explained.

“You’ve always treated me like an adult, you know? I hate when people see me and say ‘oh there’s a little kid, isn’t she cute? Let’s give her something fun for little kids to do!’ I’m sixteen, I’m practically an adult! I’ve read every single book Twilight’s let me check out. She says I’m smarter than most of the adults she knows!”

Derpy reached out of her bed and lifted Sweetie’s chin up. “Now, Sweetie, don’t let them get you down. People will always treat you different. They see what they want to see. Most want to see me as a clutz because of my lazy eye, and they want to see you as a little child. However, we both know we’re more than that. We can’t let others define who we are in life.”

Sweetie nodded. “Thanks, you always know just how to cheer me up.”

There was a loud knock on the door and a nurse came in, carrying a medicine cup and some water in her levitation. Sweetie realized Derpy must need some tylenol for her wing pain.

“Hello, Derpy. I brought your medicine, let me help you take it,” the nurse said.

“No thanks, Sweetie here can do it,” Derpy said. “She’s my personal nurse.”

Sweetie was still staring intently at the medicine cup. “Huh? Oh yeah,” she laughed. “I’ve got it!” She grabbed the medicine cup in her magic and floated it towards Derpy. She then deliberately tripped, dropping the pills onto the floor where they clattered against the wall.

“Ugh, Sweetie, you’re such a clutz,” the nurse said.

“Sorry,” Sweetie responded.

“It’s okay, I’m not really feeling like I need any more painkillers. Thank you anyway,” Derpy said.

“Whatever,” the nurse replied. She shook her head and left the room.

After she was gone, Derpy looked over at Sweetie. “What’s wrong? You did that on purpose.”

“What? No I didn’t!” Sweetie furrowed her brow.

“Come now, we both know you’re not that clumsy. Is something going on between you and that nurse?”

Sweetie sighed. “I trust you, Derpy. They’ve been treating me bad, like I’ve been telling you, but look at this.” She levitated up one of the pills. “Tylenol is blue on one side, and red on the other. This one is blue on both sides.” She flipped the pill over. “She was going to give you the wrong medicine.”

Derpy’s eyes went wide in shock. “Wow, and you knew all that just from looking? Why didn’t you tell her?”

She glanced at the floor and flicked the pill in the trash. “They never listen, they just tell me I’m wrong and they know better because they have a degree and I’m just a filly.”

Derpy was about to reply when the overhead speaker came on. “Doctor Stable to the ER. Doctor Stable to the ER.”

“What’s that?” Derpy asked.

“I don’t know, but I’ll go check.” She turned away from Derpy and smirked. Right now, the patients would be experiencing strange but non-lethal side effects, and the nurses would get knocked down a peg.

Sweetie hurried out into the ER. The first patient she came across was an elderly stallion who had come in with some chest pain. They figured it was just sore muscles in his ribcage, also known as costochondritis. His nurse had probably given him tylenol for it, which was actually viagra. Sure enough, he was pitching a large tent under his bedsheet.

She chuckled softly, then noticed the crash cart had been pulled out. She gulped, trotting into the room and getting lost in the crowd of nurses and orderlies. His blood pressure had tanked to sixty over forty, causing him to pass out. Sweetie recalled viagra dilates all the blood vessels. She knew a little epinephrine to constrict the vessels would have him right as rain.

On the other side of the room was a patient that had been diagnosed with congestive heart failure. Instead of his baby aspirin, he’d been given nitroglycerin and had similarly crashed, with a very low blood pressure.

Shit, maybe this wasn’t such a good idea, Sweetie thought. She could still help them out, however. 

Sweetie ran up to the first patient, pushing her way through the crowd. “Look, he has an erection! I bet he got the wrong medicine!”

“Hush, filly, get out of here,” a nurse barked. One of the orderlies spun Sweetie around with his foreleg and pushed her away.

“But I’m trying to help! You gave him the wrong medicine!” She was ignored and moved over to the other patient. She pushed her way to the head of the second patient’s bed. “He has fluid overload,” Sweetie shouted. “We need to give him some diuretics and vasoconstrictors!”

The orderlies laughed and the head nurse turned to her. “You’re not a doctor, get lost. This is no time for your help.”

Nurse Redheart walked up, gently scooping Sweetie up with her magic and carrying her out of the room. She set her down outside. “Sweetie, I know you want to help. I’m impressed at how much you’ve memorized, but unfortunately for legal reasons we can’t let you help with this. Twilight just checked in for a neck ache, why don’t you go check on her?”

“But I know how to fix this!” Sweetie pleaded.

“So do I, but nurses and especially fillies are not allowed to prescribe medications.”

“But you can give cardiac meds in a code blu—”

“Code Blue Code Blue, Emergency Room, first floor, room four and five! Code Blue, Emergency Room, first floor, room four and five!”

“Sweetie, I have work to do. If you come back in the trauma bay, I’m failing you,” Redheart said. She turned and ran back into the room to help the two ponies that had received the wrong meds.

The waiting room wasn’t far away, and Sweetie went out to it, muttering under her breath. “This wasn’t supposed to happen. I thought I picked the perfect medicines to switch! And now when I try to save the day, they don’t even care! I bet nopony would even notice if I killed myself. Rarity would probably have Pinkie throw her a party, and Mom and Dad are so busy with ‘work’ I bet they wouldn’t notice for weeks!”

Sweetie felt sparks of magic flying out of her horn, as was common among adolescent fillies when they became emotional. “This is so bucking stupid!” she screamed. Now that she was in the waiting room, there were a few townsponies and a receptionist looking at her. “Can’t you all see how smart I am?! I just want to help and find my special talent!”

She stomped her hoof, spotting Twilight in the triage room, talking to a confused orderly. Twilight was laughing giddily and levitating various medical tools around the room.

“You all hate me and nobody even cares about me! I’m sick of it!” Sweetie screamed.

Twilight glanced over at Sweetie, sensing the growing magic in the air. She dropped the stethoscope and otoscope she was floating around. “Oh, this is gonna be good!” She stumbled out of her chair, laughing, and crawled to the doorway to watch.

Sweetie’s hairs were standing on-end and loose objects—pens, bits, magazines—were starting to float off the floor. She was having a classical magic overload, the kind of overload another unicorn could easily stop.

Unfortunately, the only unicorn who could help had just been given motrin in the triage room, and Sweetie had swapped the motrin for valium.

“It’s not fair!” Sweetie screamed. She stomped her hoof down, only this time it did more than clop against the tile. Her horn erupted in a wave of magic, expanding in all directions at once.

The floor tiles cracked and splintered, while the overhead lights exploded. The chairs, magazines, and nearby ponies were blown back as if by a strong gust of wind. There was a deafening screech as the electric grid throughout the building shut down, plunging the hospital into darkness.

Sweetie collapsed from exhaustion, crying softly on the tile floor.

“Again! Again!” Twilight laughed and slammed a hoof on the ground. “That was awesome!”

The orderly was trying to help Twilight stand up, not realizing he’d just drugged the mare. The town’s ponies were slowly getting up, and leaving.

Sweetie glanced around, her vision blurred from the tears. She began to realize what had happened, that her magic had overloaded. Despite her obvious despair, nopony came to help her, and her role model Twilight was laughing at her. 

Just when she thought it couldn’t get any worse, Sweetie finally got a break. She heard wings flapping, and was scooped up by two grey arms. She looked up, seeing that Derpy had come to check on her when the power had gone out. Sweetie nuzzled into her chest, sobbing, as the pegasus ignored the pain in her wing to give Sweetie the attention she so desperately needed.



	

Scootaloo was tired and sweaty from constantly doing the same flying drills over and over. It had been a week since Dash had left town, and she knew Babs was moving in with Apple Bloom today, and that the welcome party started in thirty minutes. Scootaloo was excited to show everypony her flying, and spent every single day this week working on it. 

She'd been doing sprints, wing-ups, and hovering drills until she was seeing stars, but she could definitely tell her flying was improving. The pegasus was able to fly further and a little higher, and she had taken to flying from rooftop to rooftop, imagining herself as the mysterious hero Mare-Do-Well. Except, in Scootaloo's version of past events, it was Dash who was the mysterious caped crusader.

“The nefarious Dr. Evil had to have hidden Spitfire and Dash on one of these rooftops. I have to save them!” Scootaloo smiled, then jumped off the roof, flying across town square. She started to lose altitude because she was flapping her wings too fast. Focusing on smooth, even down strokes, she managed to gain altitude just in time to land on the far roof.

“Dash isn’t here either. . . I’ll have to fly to Sweet Apple Acres!” Scootaloo continued to fly from roof to roof, hearing a few ponies cheer her on from the ground. She missed Dash, but the town’s ponies had been really nice to her since Dash left. Still, there was no substitute for Dash. Scootaloo felt lost without her, and really looked forward to the CMC getting together. She was going to suggest a sleepover.

When Scootaloo reached the edge of town, she stretched her sore wings. It was a couple hundred yards to the apple orchard, and she had never flown that far without a break. Scootaloo knew that Dash believed in her, so she lowered herself and prepared to jump.

“You think you can tie up Dash and Spitfire, and hide them across a giant chasm? Well, I’m going to fly across and save them, Dr. Evil!” 

Scootaloo jumped off the roof, catching a small updraft and gliding into the distance. She focused on her technique, realizing she must be almost halfway there by now. Her wings were aching, the small muscles not used to this level of exertion. Still, she grit her teeth and continued on. Dash told her that the only way for muscles to grow was to push your limits.

She worked through the pain and exhaustion, gaining enough altitude to fly over the apple trees in the orchard. Thought she was only twenty feet up, for her it felt like two thousand feet. 

By the time she landed outside the Apple family barn, her back muscles were beginning to cramp in protest. She stretched her wings a little before folding them up and heading inside. Scootaloo’s face sported a smile that stretched from ear to ear, instantly drawing the attention of Pinkie Pie.

“That’s the spirit, Scootaloo! I just love seeing such happy ponies.” Pinkie pulled out a cupcake with cyan blue frosting.

“Thanks, Pinkie, but I’m on a diet to help my wings grow,” Scootaloo explained.

“I know, silly filly, this cupcake has two servings of protein powder in it, from lentil beans and other legumes!”

“Oh wow, thanks!” Scootaloo took the cupcake and bit into it, expecting it to taste a bit like a salad. Instead, she tasted the familiar sugar substitute that was often put in diet sodas. For a protein based cupcake, it was actually really good.

“Well, you better get ready to jump out and surprise Babs.”

Scootaloo looked around and saw everypony ducking behind a bale of hay. “Oh, of course.” She walked around looking for Sweetie. Fluttershy was behind a bale of hay with Gummy and Angel. 

She recalled how Dash had asked her to look after Tank while she was gone. Scootaloo understood a turtle couldn’t live in Cloudsdale, and had happily agreed to it. She knew Dash would be disappointed to find out Scootaloo wasn’t taking Tank to Pinkie’s parties.

Behind another bale of hay sat Twilight, giggling softly. She seemed more happy and relaxed than normal, a fact Rarity had noticed. She sat next to Twilight with an eyebrow raised, trying to figure out why she seemed so talkative.

At last, Scootaloo found Sweetie behind a bale of hay in the corner. “Hey, how’s it going?”

“Pfft, the usual.”

“What’s wrong?” Scootaloo asked.

Sweetie glared at her. “I don’t want to talk about it.”

“Shh, here they come everypony!” Pinkie shouted. 

Scootaloo decided to ask about Sweetie’s mood later. She crouched down until the barn doors opened up. Pinkie fired her party cannon, spreading confetti throughout the air. “Surprise!” everypony shouted.

Babs, Apple Bloom, and Applejack stood in the doorway. Of the three, Babs was the only one who didn’t look surprised. She smiled and trotted into the room.

“Thanks, Pinkie,” Babs said.

“Aww, I thought I had you for sure this time,” Pinkie stated.

“Applejack told me about the party.” Babs smirked.

“Aww, AJ! You know how much I wanted to surprise Babs!”

“Sorry, Pinkie, it just slipped out. Besides, the filly’s mighty tired,” Applejack replied.

Babs and Apple Bloom walked over to their friends. Scootaloo was excited to have the whole gang back together and jumped out, hugging Babs. “It’s so great to see you!”

She bit back her witty remark, pleased that somepony was actually excited to see her—Even if said pony was currently hugging her and buzzing like a gnat. “Thanks, Scootaloo.”

“This job fair week sucks,” Scootaloo explained. “I haven’t had any time to hang out or go crusading, and they wouldn’t let me intern for the weather team until I can fly better.”

“Aren’t you having fun as a florist?” Apple Bloom asked.

“Yeah. . .” She sighed, thinking back to how she had helped her mother Rose out at the store this week. “Flowers are great and all, but I really wanted to learn to bust clouds.”

“You think you have it bad?” Sweetie said. “I got kicked out of the hospital for having a ‘magical overload’! I tried everything I could to get them to treat me like an adult, and prove I knew what I was doing! And after all that, it was Derpy and not my parents or Rarity that took the time to make me feel better.”

“Perhaps you should act like an adult, and not a whiny foal, then you’ll be treated like an adult. As for your pet chicken here, I’m sure she’ll fly one day if you build a big enough slingshot,” Diamond Tiara said.

“Who invited you two here?” Babs asked. She glared at Diamond and Silver Spoon, who seemed oblivious to the hatred in her eyes.

“It’s a welcoming party, duh. We thought you deserved another chance to make the right choice of who your friends are.”

“I’m fine with my choice.”

“Really?” Diamond glanced over to Silver, who still stood by her side. “Well maybe you haven’t heard. Apple Bloom killed her puppy, Scootaloo is such a bad flier that Dash abandoned her, and Sweetie caused ponies to die at the hospital!”

“That’s not true!” Sweetie shouted, stomping her hoof. A couple sparks escaped her horn, causing her to flinch in pain. It was still highly sensitive from the discharge earlier. “The backup generators came on.”

Babs took a step forward to stand between Sweetie and Diamond. “You two, get lost now before I do something you’ll regret.”

“Pfft, what a mindless brute. Come on, Diamond,” Silver said. “My mother should be done with dinner by now.”

“Goodbye, blank flanks,” Diamond taunted.

As they walked away, Babs fought to keep her expression neutral. The two reminded her of her father and mother. One, always bullying others for personal amusement, and the other, blindly following. It had taught Babs that if you want something, you have to take it. Otherwise, everything you value will be taken from you.

“I can’t believe you three are still letting her bully you,” Babs said.

“Well, we’ve tried everything. Cheerilee will suspend them for a day sometimes, but mostly the adults say they’re just fillies being fillies,” Scootaloo explained.

“Well I don’t care for it. You are my friends and nopony messes with me or my friends.” Babs looked behind her. “Hey, where’d Apple Bloom go?” Babs asked.

“I didn’t see her leave,” Sweetie stated. “Should we go find her?”

“Nah, you two stay and enjoy the party. I’ll find her and bring her back.” Babs smiled, then snuck out of the barn.



	

Apple Bloom spun around, bucking the apple tree. A dozen apples fell off from the force. She was getting stronger every month, and apple bucking proved a good way to reduce stress. It also helped to imagine the tree was Diamond Tiara.

She spun around and bucked it again, causing a squirrel to fall from the branches and land on the ground. It shook its head, dazed, and Apple Bloom poked it with her hoof. “Hey, you okay?”

The squirrel saw who it was, and promptly bit her leg just above the hoof. It turned to run, and Apple Bloom slammed her hoof down against its tail. “That wasn’t very nice!”

She saw the squirrel spin around to bite her again. With her other hoof, she smacked it in the head and pinned it to the ground. “What’s your problem?!”

The squirrel started wiggling around under her hooves, squeaking and pleading for her to let go.

“Are you—crying? What do you think I’m going to do? Kill—” Apple Bloom paused at the revelation. “Kill you? You’ve been spying on me?”

The squirrel shook its head no. It made some squeaks that might pass as speech to Fluttershy, but Apple Bloom possessed no such talent.

“I’ve got enough going on around here without you nosy fucking critters spying on me!” She pushed her left forehoof down into the squirrel’s neck, causing it to choke as its air was cut off. “Do you think I enjoy doing this? Do you think this makes me happy?!”

The squirrel’s mouth opened and closed wordlessly a few times. Its eyes were beginning to bulge out. No sooner had the squirrel gone limp, Apple Bloom let go and began to cry.

She sat down, feeling guilty at how good that made her feel. Deep down, she wished she was strong enough to beat up Diamond, to feel that same power over her tormentor as Apple Bloom felt over these squirrels.

Yet her sister’s long talks had ingrained in her a sense of right and wrong. Apple Bloom knew nothing she could do would bring Lucky back, and that no amount of dead squirrels, however enjoyable, would change things.

“S-sorry, squirrel. I’m sorry. I’m a bad pony,” Apple Bloom explained. “I just—”

“You have nothing to be sorry about,” Babs said. 

Apple Bloom spun around in shock, her eyes wide. Babs was standing next to the tree, staring at her and the dead squirrel. “It’s not what you think!”

“Oh, it’s exactly what I think, but I’m proud of you.”

“Please don’t—wait, what?” Apple Bloom said.

Babs smiled, nodding at the squirrel. “It’s just a worthless squirrel. Besides, it felt good, didn’t it?”

“Yes, but—”

“No buts. Tell me what it feels like,” Babs said.

Apple Bloom sat there, slightly unnerved by how calm Babs was. “Applejack says it’s wrong to hurt ponies, or animals.”

“Applejack isn’t here, is she? Besides, I’ve seen how Diamond treats you. I bet you were imagining the squirrel was her. Tell me how it felt.”

She gulped, wondering if somehow Babs actually knew her darkest thoughts. “It was—only a few squirrels so far! I feel kinda nervous at first, you know? Maybe the squirrel will get away, and Fluttershy would find out. I don’t want to get in trouble, but it feels good!”

“Would it surprise you to know I’ve never felt ‘good’ in my life?”

“Of course you have! You always are smiling and having fun around me. Don’t let what your father did in Manehatten ruin your life,” Apple Bloom pleaded.

“It’s a lie. I could care less about him, or Diamond, or that squirrel. My father taught me a valuable lesson. I could either take what I want like he did, or be taken by others like my mother was. I thought after what I did in Manehatten I’d feel something. Instead I feel the same—there was no rush, no thrill, just a calculated plan.”

Apple Bloom glanced around nervously. “What are you talking about?”

“The thrill of the kill, what’s it feel like? I’m getting tired of this touchy feely crap so speed it up.”

She nodded, then glanced at the squirrel. “It um. . . there’s adrenaline and anger and I get so worked up. I realize I am in control, I have all the power. It feels wonderful, like I’m invincible, and nothing can go wrong. Then the squirrel looks at me, and I can see it in its eyes. It gives up hope, it knows it is powerless, then it begs. It begs me because it knows I am in full control. Last, I look in its eyes as it stops moving, and its life fades away and I feel. . . better. Like a huge weight is lifted off my chest. But after that I feel guilty. I shouldn’t feel good for hurting things!”

Babs was nodding her head and smirking. “You have to do whatever it takes to be happy. Don’t let anyone take that from you or tell you it’s wrong.”

“So, you’re not gonna tell on me?” Apple Bloom asked.

“No, I don’t see anything wrong here. However, I have a feeling this rabbit may feel different.” Babs leaned over, picking up a white rabbit in her teeth and flinging it towards Apple Bloom. “You know him?”

Apple Bloom instantly recognized the rabbit before her. “Angel?!”

Angel looked up at her, his cheeks stained by tears. He squealed and started to drag himself over to her using his arms.

“I caught him spying on you while you killed that squirrel. He tried to run back to the party too. He belongs to that pony that can talk to animals, right?” Babs asked.

“Yeah, but we can’t hurt Angel!” Apple Bloom stated.

“Too late. I had to break his legs to keep him from running off and ratting you out.”

She reached down, rolling Angel onto his back. He weakly protested, and Apple Bloom saw his two hind legs. They were swollen and had turned purple where Babs had snapped the bones.

“No, we have to take him back. Fluttershy will understand!”

“Yes, she will. She’ll understand you’ve been killing squirrels, and I broke his legs,” Babs said.

“This is different, I can’t—”

“You can, and you will. If you don’t, I’ll just kill him and blame it all on you. I’d really hate to do that, but it hasn’t stopped me before.”

Apple Bloom gasped and looked at Babs in horror. “You can’t be serious, that’s horrible!” 

“Got a problem with it? We can go tell Applejack how you’re spending your free time. Who would she believe, the filly murdering Fluttershy’s animals or a traumatized victim of child abuse?”

She could tell by Babs’ expression this wasn’t a joke. Babs was always calm and collected, always calculating. “No—I just. . . please, I don’t want anything else to go wrong in my life. You’re my sister now, can’t we be happy?”

“Yes, we can. I’d never hurt you as long as you’re my sister. We have to stick together because the adults don’t understand what it’s like for us.”

“Promise?” Apple Bloom wiped a tear from her cheek.

“Of course I promise! We’re sisters now, and sisters stick together. I promise you that you’ll never have a reason to cry again if you stick with me.”

She looked down at Angel. “It’s okay, I’ll make it fast.”

Angel’s eyes went wide and he rolled himself back over, moaning from the pain. He started to drag himself away from Apple Bloom.

“It’s okay. You’ll feel better, I promise,” Babs said.

Apple Bloom reached down, pinning Angel to his belly against the ground. Angel weakly squirmed and tried to wiggle out from under her body weight. Apple Bloom glanced up at Babs.

“Look at him! Weak, pathetic, powerless to stop you. You are in control and you have all the power. He can’t bully you or hurt you, he’s so scared he can’t even beg!” Babs walked a few steps closer to them to get a better view. “He’s worthless, like so many animals and even ponies! I bet you’d love to have Diamond under your hoof like that.”

“But I—I’d never hurt a pony,” Apple Bloom said.

“You’re not hurting a pony, you’re hurting a rabbit and imagining it’s Diamond. Go ahead, tell Diamond here how you really feel.”

Apple Bloom rolled Angel onto his back, keeping her hoof pushed against his belly. He looked at her in horror, clawing at her hooves. “A-Ang—I mean, Diamond, I hate you! You’re a bully and it’s bad enough you pick on me, but Scootaloo and Sweetie too! They’re such nice fillies and you. . . you’re a spoiled brat!”

Angel was crying, looking up at her. He clasped his hands together, gesturing a silent prayer.

“You’re evil and I hate you!” Apple Bloom grabbed Angel’s head and twisted it, yanking him off the ground. There was a snapping sound as his spine was severed, and his body went limp.

Apple Bloom was grinning ear to ear, and dropped his limp corpse to the ground. Babs watched in silence, feeling an odd warmth inside herself. She caught her own smile forming and for a brief moment could have sworn she felt something. Happiness? Adrenaline? Babs thought. Whatever it is, I liked it.

Babs continued to watch, enjoying every moment that she lived out through Apple Bloom. She waited quietly until Apple Bloom had finished burying Angel and the squirrel. As she brushed the dirt off her hooves, Babs went over and hugged her.

“I’m proud of you, sis. Nopony is going to bully us anymore, or tell us what we do is wrong,” Babs stated.

Apple Bloom sniffled, her joyful adrenaline giving way to a familiar guilt. Yet today the guilt was much less than usual, because she had a new sister who understood her, and accepted her for who she was. She hugged Babs back tighter.

“Thank you, sis.”












> 5. Accessories
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	
“The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is that good ponies should do nothing.” ― Edmund Burke



* * * * *


Inside Cheerilee’s schoolhouse, most of the students were waiting for school to start. A few of them were still outside, however, enjoying their last few minutes of freedom. Sweetie Belle was at her desk, trying to help a confused Scootaloo and indifferent Babs with their math homework. Apple Bloom had already finished her homework, having been left little choice by her sister, and had chosen to stay outside until class started.

Across the room was Dinky, who tried to open up her juice box with magic. The cardboard tore in half, and the juice splattered out onto the floor.

“Sorry, I just don’t know what went wrong!” Dinky said, then giggled. “I guess my magic isn’t that good yet.”

“It’s no problem, Dinky,” Cheerilee said. She glanced at the apple juice soaking into her clean wood floor. If she didn’t clean it up soon, there’d be a large stain in the wood. She took pride in how well-maintained her small school house was. “I’ll go grab some rags and cleaner.”

“I’ll help! I bet I can use magic to get the cleaner down for you!”

Cheerilee pictured a bottle of the disinfectant bursting open as the young unicorn tried to get it down from the shelf, splattering in her eyes. “Thanks, Dinky, but you should practice your levitation on. . .” She glanced around and spotted a stress ball on her desk. “This. In fact, you can keep it until you’ve mastered levitation.”

“Wow, thanks Ms. Cheerilee! Mom was right. You’re the nicest pony in Ponyville!”

Cheerilee chuckled and left the classroom. She was sure that such an honor rested with Fluttershy alone, but wasn’t about to turn down a compliment. She opened the janitor’s closet and turned on the light, realizing it might have been a good idea to have Dinky help. The bottle of disinfectant she needed was on the top shelf, next to a small open window that ventilated the room.

Cheerilee got the small step-stool out and climbed up to reach the bottle of wood cleaner. She hadn’t believed Filly Mays when the salespony told her that apple oil cleaned wood three times better than citrus oils. At some point, she’d have to share this revelation with Applejack.

“I can’t believe they let uncultured swine like you attend school with us civilized ponies,” Diamond stated.

Cheerilee’s ears perked up and she glanced out the window. Since it was six feet off the ground, she couldn’t see the fillies, but if history had taught her anything, it was that the CMC and Diamond Tiara were at it again.

“Perhaps we should leave her alone today, Diamond,” Silver said.

She was about to climb down, and head outside to break things up. However, the fact Diamond sounded like she was about to back down had piqued her curiosity. Might the filly finally have grown up a little?

“You’re right, Silver. I don’t want her to choke me to death like she does to her animals,” Diamond started. “First Winona, then Lucky, and then Angel! Why, I think the apple family just loves strangling innocent animals,” she said.

Cheerilee had heard enough, already dropping the bottle and leaping off the step stool. The filly rivalry had been bad lately, and Diamond had just crossed the line. Please don’t do anything stupid, Apple Bloom. I’ll have to expel you both if you give her another black eye.

“That’s not true!” Apple Bloom shouted, standing a few inches from Diamond’s muzzle.

“For a pony that claims not to be violent, you’re being awfully aggressive! Does Fluttershy know you kill her little animals for fun?”

“Diamond Tiara!” Cheerilee said loudly. It wasn’t yelling, but the stern tone of voice made all three fillies lower their ears and slouch down. Their teacher wasn’t one to get angry often, but when she did, no filly dared disobey. “Silver Spoon! How dare you say something so cruel to Apple Bloom!”

“But—”

“No buts, Diamond! Fluttershy is devastated that Angel ran away. For you to accuse Apple Bloom of being a cold blooded killer—Why I don’t even know where to start! Applejack had to euthanize their dog, not Apple Bloom!”

“What do you care? They’re just stupid animals anyway,” Diamond said.

“Have you ever had a pet? You’ve been picking on the Crusaders for months and I’m tired of it. Each time something bad happens to one of them, you have to rub it in and make them feel insignificant so that you feel better about yourself. Well, you know what? You’re not welcome in my school anymore. Diamond and Silver, go home and tell your parents you’ve been expelled,” Cheerilee ordered.

“You can’t do this! My dad will evict you from the school and your house!” Diamond accused.

“Try me.”

Cheerilee stood there for a moment, waiting impatiently for the two fillies to leave. “Ugh, whatever. Come on, Silver, I always wanted to go to private school anyway,” Diamond said.

She trotted off, followed by her friend. Once they were out of range to hear, Cheerilee turned to Apple Bloom. “I’m sorry about that, those two have been on the borderline of expulsion for a while. Are you okay?”

Apple Bloom wiped a foreleg across her eyes and sniffled. “Yeah, but I don’t want you to get evicted. They’re right, I’m just a stupid blank flank that ki—”

Cheerilee stopped her from speaking with her hoof. “Apple Bloom, don’t you ever think you’re anything less than a wonderful, sweet filly. Now, class is starting and I think you’ll have a much happier day now that those two spoiled fillies are gone, don’t you?”

She smiled and shrugged. “Yeah, I guess so.” Apple Bloom gave her teacher a quick hug. “Thanks.”



	

The school day had passed quickly for everypony without the two rich-kids there to point out each of the CMC’s flaws. There was one pony for whom the day hadn’t passed so quickly.

Babs had heard at lunch what transpired between Apple Bloom and Diamond Tiara. She knew the truth behind the jabs, and how deeply it must have hurt her cousin. Angel and Lucky really were dead at Apple Bloom’s hooves, and yet it made her happy. They were only animals, nothing like the ponies Babs had gotten rid of to improve her life.

This lead her to one conclusion: Diamond and Silver would be back for revenge. She had learned their fathers, Sterling Silver and Filthy Rich, were the two richest ponies in town. Filthy owned the largest grocery store and about half the leases in town. If he wanted to, he could evict most ponies in town from their homes, whereas Sterling had strong political connections with several noble families. Neither stallion was one to be trifled with.

From the sounds of it, either family could afford to send their daughters to a nice school in Canterlot. However, that wasn’t how nobility worked. Babs had seen enough of them in Manehatten to know how this worked. Filthy and Sterling would be angry at Diamond and Silver, true, but far more upset that their ‘little angels’ had been expelled. It was a stain on their family name.

By the time class got out, Babs already had the perfect plan to turn the tables when they came for their revenge on Apple Bloom.

“Hey, Bloom,” Babs said.

“Yeah, what’s up?” she asked.

“I got something I need to talk to you about.” She looked around, making it obvious she didn’t want to be overheard. “You know the shortcut to the farm that runs through the corner of the Everfree? Meet me there in twenty minutes.”

“Okay, I’ll go tell Sweetie and—”

“No, we need to talk and they don’t need to know.” Babs waited for her meaning to sink in.

Realizing it was likely about her recent extracurricular activities with small woodland animals, her eyes went wide. “Oh! That, well uh yeah, I’ll be there, alone.”

“Go ahead, I’ll tell the others to meet us at the farm.” Babs didn’t wait for a response, turning and walking over to Sweetie and Scootaloo.

“Hey, Babs! You excited for that creative writing assignment?” Sweetie asked.

“Uh, not really. What are you two doing tonight?”

“I’ve got free time, I was gonna meet Apple Bloom at the clubhouse and go crusading,” Scootaloo said.

“Me too.” Sweetie levitated her saddlebags onto her back, wincing slightly as her horn was still a bit sore from the accident at the hospital.

“Oh, well you see, Apple Bloom and I sorta got behind on our chores and we can’t hang out tonight,” Babs said.

“Aww.” Scootaloo stretched her wings out and gave them a couple flaps, lifting herself into the air. “Well, guess I’ll have to go practice my stunts to impress Dash when she comes back!”

“Scootaloo! No flying in the classroom,” Cheerilee said.

“Oops, sorry!” She landed and smiled at her teacher.

Babs looked at the clock. “Well, gotta run!” She had a special present to give Apple Bloom, and didn’t want to be late.

After Babs had left, Sweetie turned to her friend. “Hey, Scoots, Apple Bloom said earlier she had finished all her chores yesterday.”

“Huh? But Babs says they didn’t.”

“Well they can’t both be right.”

Scootaloo bit her lip and thought about it for a moment. “Hmm, well Diamond did really get under her skin today. I want to go see Apple Bloom and make sure she’s okay, and if she has chores we’ll just walk back to town.”

“Sounds good. Come on, I know a shortcut!”



	

The first settlers in Ponyville were the Apple family. They had built a small path through the forest to a small stream for their livestock. Years later when the town proper sprang up, it was on the other side of this patch of Everfree, near the river.

As such, this patch of forest stood in-between the farm and the center of town. Apple Bloom knew the shortcut was relatively safe, as the predators lived deeper in the forest. She also knew the road that looped around the southern edge of the forest continued up to Fluttershy’s cottage. As far as forests where magic ran wild, this slice of the deep woods was about as safe as could be.

It still didn’t dispel the stigma surrounding the forest, though. Black tree bark, unnatural weather, and thorny bushes were everywhere. The trail was well-beaten, having had some stones scattered haphazardly by the first settlers, when they created the shortcut. It was perhaps a couple hundred yards, saving ten minutes from walking around the forest.

Applejack had told her not to use it, considering it an unnecessary risk. Now that she was out here alone, looking for Babs, she was beginning to think her sister was correct. It was quiet, and Babs was nowhere in sight. 

The hair on the back of her neck stood up, and Apple Bloom turned around. Diamond and Silver were walking down the trail towards her. Could Babs have set me up?

“Well, if it isn’t the blank flank who got us expelled,” Diamond said. “Do you know what my father did to me when he found out?”

“Pfft, like I care,” Apple Bloom replied. “You’re rotten to the core, and I ain’t got time for you.”

“He took my allowance, and said he’s gonna send me to live with my aunt in Canterlot! I liked it in this town, I was special. In Canterlot all the nobles will look down on me, as if I were a street urchin like you or Scootaloo!” Diamond spat.

“I’ve had about enough of this, insult me if you want but leave my friends out of this.” Apple Bloom twisted her neck, causing the joints to pop. “Well then, I doubt this was a social visit.”

Silver smiled, looking around to make sure the coast is clear. “You’ve screwed things up for us again. We’re going to teach you some manners the only way you’ll understand.”

The old Apple Bloom would have run, or begged them to stop. However, the new Apple Bloom was sick and tired of these two spoiled brats. If some black eyes would get them to leave her alone, then she’d gladly buck the smiles off their faces.

“Good. I’ve wanted to kick your flanks since we met.” She smirked, displaying as much bravado as she could.

“Silver, hold her down while I kick her,” Diamond said. The two split up and started to circle her.

“I’m proud of you two. I thought you were all talk and spoiled rich fillies, but you should have brought back up.” Apple Bloom dove forward at Silver, knocking her back onto the ground. They rolled over through the dirt before she could get a good grip, and Silver was able to get back up.

Diamond had run forward and kicked Apple Bloom in the side as she stood up. She put her weight on her front legs and kicked out behind her, connecting with Diamond and knocking her backwards.

Silver took the opportunity to land a blow to Apple Bloom’s neck, causing her to yelp in pain. Before she could turn on Silver, she felt Diamond tackle her side and knock her back to the ground.

As Apple Bloom tried to catch her breath, she heard a sickening crack. It sounded like branches snapping, only a bit more muffled and wet. Looking to her side, she saw Babs standing over Silver’s body.

The filly lay limp on the ground, blood pouring from her mouth, nose, and ears. Her neck had a lump in it, and it was clear she wouldn’t be getting back up on her own. Diamond screamed in anger and slammed her hoof down on Apple Bloom’s eye.

Before she could react to the sharp pain in her face, she felt Diamond get knocked off of her. There were several thuds as Babs hit her in the chest, thoroughly knocking the wind out of her. 

Diamond curled up in a ball whimpering. She was gasping for air and couldn’t stand as her stunned diaphragm tried to recover.

“You okay, Bloom?” Babs asked.

“Yeah, how’d you know they’d follow me?” she inquired.

“Lucky guess, figured if they did I could give you an early birthday present.”

Apple Bloom stood up and looked around. “I’m uh—I don’t understand. Looks like we beat them, they won’t bother us anymore. Besides, Silver looks pretty bad.”

“Oh, Bloom, you’re still thinking like one of the good little fillies that rich ponies like these walk all over. You’re not a doormat; you’re an Apple. The only way to shut these two up for good is to kill them.”

Diamond shrieked, not having enough air to scream properly. She sounded like she was choking as she sobbed and cried, trying to say something.

“Babs! They’re ponies, not animals. I can’t do to them what I did to Angel or Lucky!” She looked at Silver who still seemed out cold, then walked over towards Diamond. “Come on, let me take a look.”

She began to mutter. “S-sorry—didn’t know w-was joking! D-don’t kill m-me.”

“Come on, Bloom. Look at Silver, she’s already dead. We either kill Diamond Tiara, or we go to juvenile hall for assault and battery. And that’s if her rich parents don’t sue your family and take everything they’re worth.”

“N-no, w-won’t—I’ll forget t-this ever happened!” Diamond mumbled.

“What, like how you forgot about Lucky? Or forgot about how Scootaloo can’t fly? You’ve always treated me like crap, Diamond. I think. . . Babs is right.”

Diamond glanced between the two of us, her pupils dilating wide as their words sunk in.

“I got rid of the others, we’ll kill her and bury them. You’ll feel good, I promise,” Babs said.

Apple Bloom felt the familiar conflicting emotions—the same she felt each time she killed an animal: anxiety, excitement, guilt, and joy. In that moment she stopped thinking of Diamond as a pony, and started thinking of her as a sick animal. A vile, foul-mouthed, spoiled filly who needed to be put down. No—she didn’t deserve to be put down like Lucky. She had to suffer for being such an insufferable asshole.

“Help!” Diamond screamed, having regained her breath. She quickly inhaled, ready to scream again, when Apple Bloom’s hoof slammed down on her mouth.

There was a cracking sound as her jaw snapped in half. Several teeth fell out, and her next scream was muffled by gurgling blood.

“Shut up!” Apple Bloom felt the adrenaline coursing through her veins. Her heart was beating quickly and she felt overjoyed at the power she now held. “So this is how you felt? Picking on us all the time? I think I understand now!”

She reared up on her hind legs and then slammed both hooves down into her ribs, causing several to snap. Diamond squealed in pain and started to cry harder. She began muttering, attempting to speak.

“What’s that?” Apple Bloom leaned in close to hear her words.

“S-s—sorry,” Diamond only managed the one word before coughing in agony.

“Don’t be. You asked me how it felt when I killed Lucky and Angel?” Apple Bloom lifted her head to make sure Diamond was making eye contact. “It. Felt. Incredible.”

She rolled Diamond onto her back and sat down on her chest. After placing both hooves on Diamond’s neck, Apple Bloom began to push down slowly.

Diamond struggled, but each attempt to free herself caused her jaw and ribs to experience searing hot pain. Her hooves flailed weakly against Apple Bloom’s forelegs. With her attacker sitting on her broken chest, Diamond couldn’t have breathed even if her neck wasn’t being squeezed shut.

Apple Bloom was grinning ear to ear, wondering why she hadn’t done this sooner. Diamond’s mouth flailed uselessly as she began to choke on hew own blood. Her face was turning red and her eyes slowly started to bulge out, sending a stream of tears down her cheeks.

Diamond could feel her lungs burning and her heart racing. There was a crushing pain as she felt her heart suddenly slow down, then stop completely. She opened her mouth as if to tell Apple Bloom that she was killing her, but was quickly losing sensation in her body. The world started getting darker as she lost her vision, and then her consciousness.

Babs stood by and watched the gleeful expression on Apple Bloom’s face as Diamond died. She had felt no joy like this killing her mother, or watching her father die. Yet the amount of joy it was clearly giving Apple Bloom proved that this was the perfect gift to give her favorite cousin.

Once her eyes had gone wide and glossy, Apple Bloom removed her hooves from her neck. The filly didn’t look threatening now. In fact, she looked more pathetic than anypony she had ever seen. Diamond was now laying in a puddle of her own urine, blood soaked into the fur on her face, and staring straight up into the forest canopy.

“You look happy,” Babs said. “I guess a pony is a lot more fun than some dumb squirrel.”

“Yeah. . .” Apple Bloom felt the adrenaline wearing off and was slowly realizing what she had done. “How? Do we explain this?” She began to panic, not sure what to do with the bodies.

“Don’t worry, I’m the pony with a plan. I’ll take care of this. We just need to di—”

A scream cut through the air, interrupting Babs. The two turned and saw Scootaloo and Sweetie, petrified in fear. The pegasus’ wings had even frozen open, her mouth trembling as she searched for the words to express her horror. Sweetie’s wide eyes and rapid breathing betrayed how mortified she was.

“Fuck,” Babs muttered.

Sweetie was first to recover. “Apple Bloom! What happened?”

“I—it—self-defense!” Apple Bloom stuttered.

“We killed them. They had it coming.” Babs walked towards them slowly, never breaking eye contact. “And if you breathe one. Single. Word. I’ll kill you. And if I don’t get to you in time, Apple Bloom and I will tell them you helped.”

“Apple Bloom wouldn’t do that to us, you’re crazy!” Scootaloo shouted.

“B-but—I don’t want to go to j-jail or lose the f-farm. . . AJ will be so disappointed,” Apple Bloom said, still staring at her bloody hooves.

“What are you trying to say?” Sweetie asked. She began to walk over to comfort her, before Babs stepped in her way.

“Sweetie, Babs is right. If you tell anypony, I’ll tell them you helped,” Apple Bloom replied.

“I thought you were our friend!” she replied.

“I am, and I don’t want any of us to go to jail! That’s why. . . we can never talk of this. If one of us goes down, we all go down.”

“Apple Bloom, listen to yourself!” Sweetie pleaded. “I hated them too but this is too far. What’s next, you going to tell me to lure Rarity out here? Where does it end? You just killed two ponies!”

Babs tore a large piece of bark off a nearby tree and tossed it at Sweetie Belle. “Help us dig their grave, or so help me I’ll snap that horn clean off that head of yours.”

“I won’t let you!” Scootaloo said. She got off her scooter and stepped in front of Babs.

“What are you gonna do? Run to Rainbow Dash for help? ‘Please, Dash, I helped murder two fillies! protect me!’” Babs stepped forward and punched her in the chest. “No! Scootaloo, she’ll never talk to you again if she finds out about this. Dash will abandon you. Rose will put you back up for adoption, but nopony will adopt a murderer.”

Scootaloo slumped to the ground as the words sunk in. “Y-you’re right. . .” She began to tremble, petrified by the thought that not only would she be thrown in prison, but that both Dash and her mother would abandon her.

It was perfectly quiet as Babs and Sweetie started digging off to the side of the trail. They had to go closer to the treeline to get away from the mossy, broken cobblestone still scattered around the trail.

Apple Bloom joined them shortly after, recovered from what she had done but still not sure what to say to her friends. Luckily the ground wasn’t too hard for them to make quick progress on the graves.

Off to their side sat Scootaloo, staring deep into the forest as tears ran down her face. She wasn’t sure if she was more scared that her friends were now murderers, or the mere thought of being abandoned again.

“We’re still friends, right, Sweetie?” Apple Bloom asked.

“I don’t know. . .” Sweetie sighed, using her magic to scoop out another large mound of dirt. “I mean, even if it was self-defense you killed them. . .I guess I can see your point, however. If anypony finds out about this, it’ll get bad for all of us and our families.”

“So you won’t tell?” Apple Bloom climbed out of the grave, which seemed plenty deep now for two fillies.

“Yeah, and I guess we can still hang out or ponies will get suspicious. I just. . . I need some time,” Sweetie said.

“Well, you can take it after we’re done here,” Babs stated bluntly. “Don’t get me wrong, the CMC needs to stick together. You’re the only friends I have; the only ones I want.”

Sweetie just nodded, not wanting to talk to the pony she held responsible for this whole mess. Just the fact Babs could say it so coldly and detached had sent a chill down her spine. It was as if Babs truly hadn’t noticed what had just happened, or perhaps she just didn’t care.

Babs dragged Diamond over by a leg and watched her body twitch as it was pulled across the bumpy ground. The blood got smeared around the trail, though luckily she had stopped bleeding. Diamond fell into the grave, landed on her stomach with a dull thud, and her legs splayed open like a discarded rag doll. 

Silver was next to be dragged over to the hole. Blood was still flowing out of her nose and large bruises were forming behind her ears. When Silver fell into the grave, she landed on her back. Babs went to the trail and started to kick dirt over the patches of blood on the ground.

The ponies began to fill the hole back up with dirt. Apple Bloom seemed to be getting past her shock, giggling softly to herself as she remembered the rush brought on by the act committed mere minutes ago.

“Apple Bloom, look!” Sweetie pointed down at Silver, whose chest was rising and falling.

“I thought she was dead,” Babs said. She hurried over to take a look. Diamond had been covered and Silver’s lower half was below the dirt now. Her chest was definitely moving. “Well, we can fix that easy enough.”

“No! Maybe I can save her,” Sweetie said. “We don’t have to kill her!”

She jumped into the now-shallow hole and began to examine Silver’s head. There was blood coming from the ears, nose, and mouth. Sweetie recognized an impact that hard likely gave her brain damage. She also noticed the lump in Silver’s neck, and touched it softly.

Silver moaned in pain, and slowly opened her eyes. “Wh—where am I? Why can’t I feel my legs?”

“You’ll be fine, you got in a. . . fight,” Sweetie said.

There were a pair of saddlebags over near Scootaloo, and it gave Babs an idea. She walked over, ignoring the conversation behind her. “Helmet, now.” Babs reached into Sweetie’s bag and pulled out a small sewing kit. It had Rarity’s cutie mark and was given to Sweetie as a gift.

There was a clank as Scootaloo dropped the helmet on the ground. “Take it.”

“Thanks.” She walked back over towards the grave.

“Why is it so cold? Sweetie, where is Diamond? Daddy said she was a bad influence. . .” Silver continued to mumble, occasionally forming a coherent sentence. 

“There’s nothing we can do for her,” Babs stated. She tossed the small sewing kit into the grave. Babs then looked down at Silver and smiled. “Sorry, Silver, but it’s time to die.”

Silver looked around, paralyzed both literally and in fear. “I—what?—Help!”

Her scream startled everypony except Babs, who slammed the helmet down over her muzzle. She then started kicking more dirt into the grave.

“Stop—”

“Shut up! I said we’re in this together, and now if they find the bodies they find your stuff and they’ll know it was you and Scootaloo!” Babs threatened.

Sweetie glared daggers at her. “Fine!”

Apple Bloom and Babs finished filling the grave up with dirt. They could still hear Silver sobbing as they covered the helmet with dirt. It would provide her just enough oxygen to die in fear and agony. The thought made Apple Bloom’s grin a little wider.

After they had patted everything down, Apple Bloom turned to Babs. “What next?”

“Well, the four of us go Crusading at the clubhouse. When anypony asks, we went straight there from school without taking a shortcut,” Babs stated. “Understood?”

“Yes,” Apple Bloom answered.

“Ahuh,” Sweetie muttered. “Whatever you say.”

“Scootaloo?” Babs walked over to her. “What are you gonna tell your precious mommy?”

“I uh. . .” She wiped her face with a foreleg. “I was Crusading with you gals at the farm.”

“Good. Scootaloo, sorry if I scared you. You’re a friend and I want you to know that the CMC will never abandon you. You’ll always be my friend.”

“Really?” For the first time she took her gaze off the forest to look at Babs.

“Yes.” She smiled, proud of how easily she’d fooled Scootaloo. “Your friendship means the world to me—to all of us. You have to keep this secret so you can have us, Dash, and your mother. If anyone found out. . . you’d lose us all.”

“Come on, we better get going before it gets late enough for Applejack to notice we didn’t come straight home,” Apple Bloom said.

Babs nodded and helped Scootaloo up, and headed towards the farm. As they walked away, Sweetie came up to Apple Bloom. “Hey, are you sure you’re okay with this?” Sweetie asked.

“Yeah, I mean at first I wasn’t sure. It was true, you know. They thought they were just pushing my buttons, but I really did have to put down Lucky. Then, I took my anger out on a squirrel one day, then another, and another. . . Then, Angel. It makes the pain go away, Sweetie.”

“You killed Angel? I heard Fluttershy’s been looking all over town, and even sent Dash into the forest looking for him!”

“He saw me killing squirrels and he can talk to Fluttershy. I had to. You’re one of my best friends, please don’t hate me.”

“I don’t hate you, but I don’t approve of this either. If you—” Sweetie hesitated, fearing the answer. It was a question she had to ask. “You said you had no choice, then you said you enjoyed it. Why do you look guilty now?”

Apple Bloom sighed, glancing at the ground. “That’s just it, Sweetie. I feel guilty because I enjoyed it so much.”













> 6. Breaking Bad - Part 1
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

        
“Not doing anything is doing something and choosing to look away is a passive but no less mortal sin.” ― Bill Maher

        
        
* * * * *

        
        Sweetie Belle crumpled up another piece of paper and threw it into the trash can next to her desk. She had been trying to finish up her homework assignment before school. Last night she had barely gotten any sleep as the deaths of Diamond and Silver still weighed on her mind.
        
        In addition to her woes, Opalesence was in one of her moods lately and had been meowing all morning for attention. It had started some time around four in the morning, and Sweetie had locked Opal out of her room. The cat then began clawing at the door, until Sweetie finally let her in, only for her to continue meowing.
        
        Now, as she struggled with the last of her homework, Opal had climbed up onto the desk and meowed as she laid down on Sweetie’s homework.
        
        “Damn it, Opal, go away!” she shouted. Sweetie raised her foreleg and batted the cat off the desk, sending her tumbling to the floor.
        
        Opal got back up and let out a wounded meow, though it was only her pride that had been injured in the fall. Still, it was enough to convince Sweetie that she shouldn’t have hit the cat.
        
        “I’m sorry, Opal.” Sweetie reached down to pet her, only to get clawed by the cat. “Ow!” Sweetie tried to fling her waste basket at the cat, but Opalesence had already run out of the room.
        
        She groaned and slumped her head on the desk. This would be the first time she had not completed a homework assignment. Her good grades had been the one thing in her life she could be proud of. Cheerilee always complimented her hard work, unlike her sister Rarity who seemed to never notice Sweetie until she got in trouble.
        
        The soft sound of hoofsteps reached her ears as Rarity walked into the room. “Sweetie, are you okay?”
        
        “Yeah, your dumb cat scratched me when I tried to pet her.”
        
        “Oh, my, that doesn’t sound like her at all. Maybe I should take her to Fluttershy to see if she is sick.”
        
        “Or to euthanize her,” Sweetie mumbled under her breath.
        
        “Hmm?” Rarity took a step closer and looked at the math homework scattered on her desk. “Is something wrong? You didn’t finish your math.”
        
        “Hey Sweetie, ready for school?” Babs walked into the room, followed by Apple Bloom.
        
        “Girls! Don’t you knock?” Rarity spun around to face them, and straightened out her mane. “You nearly gave me a heart attack, sneaking up on me like that.”
        
        “Oh, there’s no need to worry, ah don’t think we’re that scary.” Apple Bloom picked up the waste basket near the door and tossed it on her back. She was able to balance it there while walking over to the desk, and set it down for Sweetie. “Come on, let’s get to school.”
        
        “Yeah, let’s go.” Sweetie tossed her school supplies in her saddle bag and followed the two fillies out the door to her room.
        
        “Hmm,” Rarity said to herself, “she looks like she didn’t get any sleep. I hope it wasn’t something I did…”
        
        Babs opened the front door for the others, then closed it behind them. “Sweetie, your foreleg is bleeding.”
        
        She stopped and held up her leg, then rubbed it under her saddlebag. “Ugh, it was that stupid cat. It’s always pestering me, you’d think Rarity never fed or pet it.”
        
        “And ya don’t look like ya slept much,” Apple Bloom said.
        
        “Yeah, well it’s not like you gals slept much either after… our ‘crusade’ last night.” Sweetie felt herself shiver slightly as she recalled the look of terror on the dying ponies.
        
        Babs stopped on the side of the road for a minute, smiling widely. “Crusading, huh? That’s a good code word to use. I just hope Scootaloo doesn’t say something stupid.”
        
        Sweetie came to a halt and turned to face Babs. “Give Scootaloo a little credit, we’re not stupid… we’re not gonna say anything after the way you threatened us.”
        
        “Hey, that wasn’t a threat.” Babs took a step forward to get an inch from Sweetie’s face, “it was a promise.”
        
        “Girls!” Apple Bloom pushed Babs back, knowing she was the one most likely to start a fight in the middle of a busy street. “Come on, we’ve got to pick up Scootaloo and get to school.”
        
        “Yeah.” Babs walked ahead of the others towards Scootaloo’s house.
        
        Apple Bloom gave Sweetie a quick hug. “Hey, you’ll be fine. You said Opal scratched ya?”
        
        “Yeah, it’s usually a pretty stupid cat but I’m not in the mood anymore for her to keep me up at night and beg for treats. I wish I could get her to pester Rarity for a change.”
        
        “Oh, well I know what’ll cheer you up. I’ll come over to your house after school and we’ll hang out, like old times.”
        
        Sweetie smiled. “Thanks, I’d like that.”
        
        They caught up with Babs, who was waiting at the front door of Scootaloo’s house. The door was open, and Scootaloo’s mom was calling upstairs to get her daughter’s attention. “She should be right down girls, she was throwing up last night but she seemed fine this morning. I’d let her stay home but there is… some adult stuff I need to take care of today with the Mayor.”
        
        Babs nodded, and looked up the stairs. “Hey, Scootaloo, we’re waitin on you!”
        
        “Coming!” Scootaloo walked down to the front door, keeping her eyes on the ground, the walls, and anywhere else that wasn’t Babs. “Yeah, I’m good now, let’s go…”
        
        “You let Miss Cheerilee know if you feel sick again, honey, and I’ll come pick you up.”
        
        “Thanks, Mom,” Scootaloo said. The door closed behind her, leaving her outside with her friends. “Sup.”
        
        “Throwing up? Really?” Babs asked, shaking her head and frowning.
        
        “Come on, it’s not like you two got much sleep last night either,” Sweetie said.
        
        “Oh?” Babs turned to face her, and grinned ear to ear. “I slept like a baby, and the way Apple Bloom tells it, she’s never felt better.”
        
        Sweetie looked at her friends, noting the expressions on each. Apple Bloom did look pretty happy, and Babs went back to her normal poker face. Scootaloo looked like she was ready to vomit again. “Let’s just get to school and take it easy. I get the feeling this is going to be a long day.”
        
        “Why, is somepony missing?” Apple Bloom chuckled and walked off towards the school house. “Ah heard Applejack talking to Filthy Rich last night about—”
        
        “Hush, you don’t get to gloat in public,” Babs barked.
        
        “Sorry, ah’m still gettin’ used to it.”
        
        


        
        The playground was a little quieter this morning. There were two ponies absent that would normally be causing trouble and bullying the others. By the time all the fillies and colts had taken their seats, there was no doubt which two ponies were missing.
        
        Most of the kids didn’t think twice of Diamond and Silver being absent. Their parents often pulled them out of class for expensive shopping trips or vacations.
        
        “Good morning, class. Before we get started today I need to ask you a question.” Cheerilee smiled and stepped in front of the class, giving them each a comforting look. “I’m glad to see you all here this morning. Filthy and Sterling would like to know if anypony has seen Diamond and Silver. They didn’t come home last night, and are out looking for them today. Do any of you have any questions, or have any of you seen them?”
        
        The class began to chat in hushed whispers to each other. The most popular thing being said was they must have run away from home. Rumble was explaining to Featherweight his theory that they had been eaten by Manticores, while Featherweight countered by saying aliens had abducted them.
        
        “Settle down, class. It wasn’t aliens, or anything of the sort. I’m sure they just had a sleepover and forgot to ask their parents first.” Cheerilee looked around, gauging everypony’s reactions.
        
        Babs put on a concerned frown as she was looked at, then sighed once Cherilee was looking away. 
        
        “Well, class will continue as normal then. Your parents will be here to pick you up after school, once they’re done helping the Rich’s and Spoon’s look for their daughters.”
        
        Most of the students  were already giggling about how they must have been playing some prank or off kissing some rich colt. Class continued as if nothing else was wrong, until the late afternoon. Featherweight and a few other students had begun to discuss how they could help out.
        
        “I’m sure we can help look for them if they haven’t gotten home yet. I bet my dad will go with us,” Featherweight said.
        
        “I could ask my brother, if they are missing I bet there is a reward to find them,” Rumble stated.
        
        Babs looked over at them. “They’re rich, they probably paid the entire royal guard to help search.”
        
        “It’d be best if you all went home and let us adults handle this,” Cheerilee suggested. She looked at the clock, and noticed there were only a few minutes left in class. “I’m sure it’s nothing, just make sure to go straight home if your parents didn’t come to pick you up. For all we know they already found them.”
        
        Apple Bloom smirked, and whispered to Babs “I doubt that.”
        
        The bell rang and the four crusaders walked out of the classroom and onto the playground. Cheerilee was out there watching over her students as they headed home, checking to make sure they were all okay.
        
        “Headed home together?” Cheerilee asked.
        
        “Yeah,” Babs said. “We’re all heading to the farm.”
        
        “Take care, girls.”
        
        They all nodded their heads and smiled as they walked down the road. Almost immediately, Scootaloo began to slow down and lag behind the others. She still couldn’t get past the shock of what had happened, but knew that her friends were counting on her. If she let the secret slip she’d lose her friends, family, and Rainbow Dash. Scootaloo wouldn’t let that happen, even if she was up all night again crying and vomiting.
        
        “Hey, you alright?” Apple Bloom asked.
        
        “Huh?” Scootaloo looked up at her. “Oh, yeah. I just don’t want to play today, I need a nap.”
        
        “Want some company while you walk home?”
        
        “Nah, it’s not far anyway. I’ll just walk along the tree line and be there in two minutes.”
        
        “Alright. Hey, Babs, I promised to stop by Sweetie’s house, you don’t mind heading back to the farm alone, do you?”
        
        Babs laughed. “Nah, I’ve got a feeling I’ll be fine. Just remember what we talked about.”
        
        


        
        








> 7. Breaking Bad - Part 2 Sweetie
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	        
        
“In the presence of the moon nobody sees the stars” ― Amit Kalantri

        
        
* * * * *


Sweetie and Apple Bloom reached Carousel boutique and barely made it through the front door when Rarity popped out from behind the front door. “Oh, Sweetie, I’m glad you’re okay. Listen, I’ve got to go meet up with some of the towns ponies who are concerned about Diamond and Silver. I see you brought Apple Bloom with you which is wonderful, from now on I’d appreciate if you continue to walk home with a friend.”

Rarity started to push her way past the two fillies to get out the door, and Sweetie stopped her. “If Apple Bloom walks me home, who will walk her home?”

“Oh, I’m sure you’ll figure something out darling, I’ll talk to you tonight about the new rules of the house for your stay here while mom and dad are out of town.” Rarity smiled to the two fillies.

“What? New rules!”

“You didn’t do anything wrong, but I’m sure if somepony had paid more attention to their daughter, she wouldn’t have gone missing. Honestly, I can’t fathom what is going through Diamond’s mind right now. Now, take care!” Without giving the fillies a chance to respond, Rarity trotted off towards town hall.

Sweetie closed the door and sighed, “I guess I’m making my own dinner tonight, and taking care of that stupid cat…”

Apple Bloom started to walk with her towards Sweetie’s room. “You mentioned the cat earlier, I thought it was Rarity’s cat?”

“Yeah, but Rarity has had less and less time for it, so now whenever I have to come over the cat is all over me for attention since it can’t get any from Rarity.” She opened the door to her room and went in, setting her saddlebags down at her desk. “It’s annoying and pathetic is what it is… if she doesn’t have time for the cat she should get rid of it.”

“So, why don’t you do something about it?” Apple Bloom asked. “I mean, it’d probably be something stupid like trying to feed it chocolate, when you could just take care of it once and for all.”

Sweetie looked around to make sure they were alone before coming face to face with her friend. “I’m not killing that stupid worthless cat! And I’m not happy about what happened either.”

Apple Bloom nodded dismissively, Babs had explained to her last night she’d react this way. “You and I aren’t different, you’re just passive whereas I finally figured out it’s so much easier to just do something. When I heard my sis talking to Rarity about her missing the shipment to Hoity Toity that was you wasn’t it? Did it feel good just to wait two weeks to upset her? And what happens when Hoity tells her he left a message with you? You’ll get caught.”

She bit her lip and huffed, “What then, so I should have killed Hoity instead?”

“Oh, I doubt you’d overcome a full grown stallion, can’t really do anything about that and it was cute and all… but some annoying little cat? You could grip it in your magic and it’d be dead in less than a minute. Then you could practice some of that fancy medicine you love so much on it, like stitching cuts closed and stuff.”

Sweetie shook her head and went back to her desk, levitating the books out she’d need to get started on her homework. “I don’t particularly like what you’re getting at, and even if I was curious what the inside of a pony looked like I wouldn’t just go kill one to cut it open.”

Apple Bloom came over and sat on a nearby stool that was on the side of the desk. “Oh, I am not saying you are… but how long until Opal is back in here pestering you? And what better way to get even with Rarity and teach her a lesson than to get rid of her cat? She can’t trace it to you, and trust me, you’ll feel better.”

The homework for today was already laid out on the desk and Sweetie had levitated a pen to start working on it, though she couldn’t focus. Her mind was full of images of Diamond and Silver, not to mention Winona, Lucky, and Angel. “This is getting out of hoof Apple Bloom.”

“So, what’s one more cat? You’re part of it whether you like it or not and I’ll help ya take care of that annoying critter.”

There was a meowing sound and Sweetie looked down to see Opal coming out from under her bed and beginning to weave in and out of the legs of the chair she sat in. She wanted some attention from the fillies and stopped to give a long stretch, not realizing that they were talking about her up until now.

Sweetie stifled a moan of disappointment, “I’ve known you years Apple Bloom you’re my best friend… if I did it, you have to promise me no more ponies get hurt.”

Apple Bloom smiled, “Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye. Besides, that was self-defense… I only ever hurt animals.” She looked down to Opalescence, who seemed to notice the predatory look in her eyes and backed up under the chair. The two continued to start at each other, neither breaking eye contact.

“I’m not sure but you’re my friend and you said it’d make me feel better…” She said a silent prayer to Celestia she wouldn’t regret this as she got off the chair and looked under it at Opal, who promptly hissed at her and Apple Bloom.

Sweetie’s horn lit up and she noticed the pain of the magical overload from earlier had faded, and in its place her magic seemed more stable than it had before. With little effort she was able to wrap an invisible string around Opal’s throat and pulled it tight.

Opal could feel something thin and tight circle her neck and cinch it like a vice, immediately trying to howl and run under the bed. Her claws scratched at the wooden floor and she began to bend and flex in ways no pony could. The panicked cat went so far as to start rolling around before finally calming down as she clawed at her own neck, expecting some physical and tangible string to be there blocking her airway.

“See? They’re animals, they’re not even pony. Barely intelligent, we let them be our pets,  we want the companionship…” Apple Bloom paused as she looked at Opal, feeling a sense of pride inside of her. “Opal is supposed to make you feel better when your sister ignores you, to comfort you at night, like… like Lucky did. You’re too good for her.”

Sweetie’s eyes narrowed as she focused her magic, not used to using it for this long and focused into such a small area. “I… I think you’re right. Opal, you’ve annoyed me, but Rarity ignores me too! It’s not my fault she’s a horrible sister! So why are you always in here bugging me?!”

Opal struggled to breathe, and much to her detriment, was able to get a little air which kept her alive to suffer a little longer. She’d stopped flailing wildly and instead was pinned to the ground on her back by her neck. She looked up to Sweetie and Apple Bloom, and pointed to the open door.

“Heh, Rarity won’t be back for you Opal.” Apple Bloom went over and closed the door anyway, before coming back and kneeling down next to her. “See how her face is turning red, eyes watering?” She pointed with a hoof for Sweetie to see. “Opal doesn’t have long left. She’ll start to struggle again soon, before surrendering to you and begging to live… and then dying.”

Sweetie knelt down next to Opal and bit her lip as she tightened the magic collaring her neck. “It’s okay Opal, it’ll be over soon… I… I don’t enjoy this… or do I? Rarity does have to be taught a lesson.” She smiled slightly, “Besides, Apple Bloom here killed Lucky and Angel, I’m sure she’d have killed you if I hadn’t Opal. Yes, I think this is a mercy…”

Opal looked between the two of them, realizing at this point there was no more doubt of their intentions. She managed a weak hiss as she began to claw and twisted the lower half of her body so her claws could dig into the wood and try to get traction. She used up the last of her air gouging her claws into the floor, leaving several deep marks. Though she knew her life was over, Opal had enough loyalty left in her for Rarity to die hoping her absence, and the claw marks, would be noticed. Maybe through Opal’s death, she’d be able to get Sweetie the help she needed. And with her final ounce of strength depleted, Opalescence went limp, never to annoy the Belle family again.


* * * * *


Apple Bloom and Sweetie walked down the trail towards the forest. On their backs were their saddle bags from school, though if one looked closely Sweetie’s was lopsided where a small cat had been stuffed into it.

“I guess it does feel kind of liberating…” Sweetie mused to herself.

“Exactly.” Bloom was still picturing in her mind the way Opal had panicked right up until the end. It was a blind panic, legs flailing every direction until she died. “I wasn’t sure how to explain it but I think you understand now. You’re my friend and I was worried if I did it for you, you’d never understand me.”

She nodded and sighed, looking around. “Well, I guess I can understand objectively an animal’s life isn’t worth that of a ponies. You did what you had to, and I don’t understand why you enjoy it… but I know you’re a good pony. As for her, I’m still not sure… but I won’t tell anypony. You’ve been there for me more than Rarity ever was.”

Bloom saw something in the distance and looked up, noticing Dash flying down in a Wonderbolts costume towards them. “Looks like we’ve got company.”

Dash landed nearby and trotted over to them, “Hey Crusaders! I was hoping to find Scootaloo, have you seen her?”

Sweetie smiled, “Hi Dash! Oh, she was headed home last I saw her.”

“I was just at her house, she hasn’t made it home yet… and Roseluck told me about Diamond and Silver going missing. I figured Scootaloo was with you but if she’s out there alone looking for those two… I don’t know what I’d do if something happened to her.” Dash looked around and began to shift uneasily.

Bloom wouldn’t say it, but it was clear that the adults were starting to assume the worst. What they didn’t realize yet was that the worst was true. Two fillies were dead, and the last thing Apple Bloom needed was Dash zooming around in a panic looking for Scootaloo. “Babs was with her, I’m sure she’s fine. Maybe they headed to the club house?”

“But she said she was going home,” Sweetie corrected.

Apple Bloom shot her a nasty look, “Crusader business I guess! I’m just trying to tell Dash there’s no need to panic”

Sweetie smiled, “oh right! I almost forgot.” She opened up one of her saddle bags, causing Bloom to tense, before pulling out the gold cloth of Rarity’s that had been fashioned into a new cape. “We have to give Babs her new cape, Scootaloo’s probably cleaning up the clubhouse.”

Dash sighed and her tense muscles relaxed, causing her to seem a couple inches shorter. “Whew, thanks girls. If anypony hurt Scootaloo, I’d kill them.”

“Hurt Scootaloo?” Apple Bloom asked.

“I… uh… mean, if Scootaloo went missing, I wouldn’t stop until I found her. Diamond and Silver are just… running away from home or something.”

“You’re really bad at this,” Sweetie observed. “The two fillies of the richest families in Ponyville don’t simply vanish, I wish for once the adults would be honest with us for a change.”

Dash tilted her head and looked at her, before looking around to see if anypony else was watching. “I guess you’re right, I’ve never been good at being subtle anyway…” She walked up closer to the girls, who had been at a stop in the middle of the path since she landed. “Look, when a pony goes missing if they’re not found in the first twenty-four hours, then it’s a like ninety-percent chance they’re dead or never found.”

Sweetie regretted her comment as she started to over-analyze her reactions. She knew exactly where Diamond was, and now she had no idea what to say. Should I offer condolences? Say I’m sure she’s okay?

Apple Bloom had more practice and gave a nonchalant reply. “Oh, you better get searching then. Which part of town did you volunteer for?”

Dash looked back to the orange filly. “The Everfree, not many ponies brave enough to explore for them there. After all, if they were foolish enough to go into the Everfree we’re probably just going to find tufts of hair and bone… promise me you two will stay out of the forest.”

Sweetie laughed nervously, drawing attention to herself. “Oh, I mean we’d have to be pretty dense to go poking around the Everfree alone.”

“Alright then, you two take care of yourselves. Oh, and tell Rarity hi for me.” Dash gave them a salute with her wingtips and took off, vanishing in a flash towards the Apple family farm.

Apple Bloom resumed walking towards the forest, “Come on, we’ve got some crusading to do.”

Sweetie looked at the lump in her saddle bag. To an onlooker it looked like a book or two had been shoved in sideways, but to a guilty conscience, it looked like the most poorly disguised hiding place possible. “Yeah, sooner we bury this the better. Where are we going to go anyway? I doubt the grown ups are going to appreciate us wandering into the Everfree right now.”

“Hmm, you’re right, but the shortcut shouldn’t be too bad we can just say we wanted to save some time and promise not to go again.” She stopped as she crossed the line that separated Ponyville from the Everfree. The bright green grass slowly faded and withered, replaced by a darker brown dirt. Small weeds and brambles lined either side of the path. “Besides, it’s not like your idea to bury her in Rarity’s garden was any better. Too many neighbors around.”

She quickened her pace as they hurried into the forest together. “Yeah, but I mean everypony knows this shortcut they just don’t use it, wouldn’t it make more sense to find a more secret place to do this stuff?”

“Well, what do you have in mind?” 

Sweetie paused, the clearing they’d buried Diamond in only a hundred or so yards away. “Well, there is a spell that might be handy…” She lit up her horn and tried to use the gem finding spell Rarity loved so much. Sweetie wasn’t as well-versed in the spell, and knew it usually resulted in helping her sense which direction rocks were in. While she knew rocks weren’t useful, a large enough cluster of rocks usually meant a cave.

Apple Bloom watched and then followed Sweetie down a narrow offshoot deeper into the forest. “You know what you’re doing, right?”

She continued silently until they couldn’t see the path behind them, before turning next to a small stream, and approaching an outcropping of rocks. “Here, this can be where you and Babs take care of your business. The last thing I want is somepony finding the trail of bodies you’re leaving behind you and getting us all grounded.”

Apple Bloom chuckled, “Oh we’re long past grounded at this point but thanks. I’m glad I can trust you Sweetie… but what do you think of Scootaloo?”

Sweetie poked her head inside the cave, looking around. It was just big enough for an adult to crouch and crawl inside, which made it easy for a filly to enter. “Scootaloo? What do you mean?”

“Babs said she’s gonna snitch, and I’m worried what Babs could do to her,” Apple Bloom admitted.

“What? Scootaloo is our friend! She didn’t ask you two to drag her into it, but… well, I know Scootaloo and she wouldn’t do anything to hurt her friends! She’s terrified we’d leave her.”

“Whew, yeah that’s what Babs said too. We can use that against her,” Bloom stated.

Sweetie frowned, lacing her words with some venom. “Listen to you, you’re starting to sound like her! Look, you’re my friend Apple Bloom… but Babs… there’s something wrong with her. And mark my words, she’ll be the end of us if we let her do whatever she wants all the time!”

“Hey!” Apple Bloom put her hoof out to try and calm her down. “You haven’t heard the things her dad would do to her… she’s just, different because of all the bad stuff that happened. She’s an apple, and in the apple family we can always count on each other.”

“Promise me you won’t put Babs before Scootaloo and me.” Sweetie stared right at her, not looking away.

“What? Fine!” Apple Bloom sighed. “You’re all my friends, and she’s my sister, I’m not going to put any of you ahead of the others. Besides, you’re in this too now, we all are. You killed Opal, and Scootaloo…”

“What?” Sweetie raised her voice. “Scootaloo what?” 

Sighing, she admitted the plan. “Babs wanted to be alone with Scootaloo, we needed a little extra leverage…”

“If you hurt her, I’ll…” Sweetie took a step forward towards Bloom.

“Hey! No, it’s just… well, if something happened to Tank, Scootaloo would have to hide this all from Rainbow Dash. We’re just trying to make sure she’s not the weak link!”

“I can’t believe this!” Sweetie shouted. She used her magic to open her saddlebag and dumped the corpse of Opal into the damp dirt. “You can bury her, I’m going to make sure Scootaloo is okay!”

Apple Bloom sighed, finding a flat rock nearby that was a good size to be used as a shovel. “Oh sure, leave me alone in the middle of the forest, real mature Sweetie.”

With a frustrated huff, Sweetie continued down the narrow path towards the trail leaving her friend to bury the body.








> 8. Breaking Bad - Part 3 Scootaloo
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	

“I don’t believe in fate or destiny. I believe in various degrees of hatred, paranoia, and abandonment. However much of that gets heaped upon you doesn’t matter—it’s only a matter of how much you can take and what it does to you..” ― Henry Rollins



* * * * *


Scootaloo started to head towards her house after Apple Bloom and Sweetie had left. She didn’t get far before Babs trotted up behind her. “Hey Scootaloo.”

“Oh, hey…” She looked around for anypony else she could make an excuse to go talk to. “Uh, I thought you were headed to the farm.”

“Oh I am, I just wanted to walk you home, figured we could have a little talk.” Babs walked alongside her as they headed into town. “You know, about you getting sick. I don’t want my best friend feeling sick now do I?”

Scootaloo relaxed a little bit. At times, Babs seemed a little off, but Scootaloo had learned long ago to be more trusting. Her therapist had told her to try not to focus on the worst case scenarios. A part of Scootaloo felt like Babs was playing her, that Babs and everypony else was just tolerating her until they got a chance to abandon her. Scootaloo pushed such thoughts to the back of her mind, like the therapist had trained her.

“Thanks Babs, it means a lot you consider me your friend!” Scootaloo smiled.

Babs nodded, giving a large but fake smile. “You want to tell me why you were throwing up?” The two turned at a fork in the road and began to head towards the shortcut through the forest.

“Oh, it’s nothing I swear! I was just eating dinner and we had celery and it was crunchy… and I couldn’t get the sound of that crunch as you hit Silver out of my head… and next thing I know I was throwing up,” Scootaloo explained. ‘I… I’m horrified at what happened but I don’t know what to do.”

“Oh, so you think we should come clean?” Babs taunted.

“Yes… I mean, no… we can’t… nopony will ever accept us if we do and I’m afraid…” Scootaloo sighed as she began to feel queasy again. “I always ask myself, what would Dash do, and… and Dash would tell somepony, she’d never have let you do that.”

Biting her lip she resisted the urge to smack some sense into Scootaloo, literally. She knew from the moment things had gone south Scootaloo was the weak link, but her plan was in motion. “Hey, Dash would be loyal to her friends before anything else, right?”

“I guess so…” Scootaloo hurried up her pace a little, eager to reach home that much faster.

“You’re petsitting Dash’s turtle right?” Babs asked.

“It’s a tortoise,” Scootaloo corrected. “And yeah, I am.”

Babs rolled her eyes, already exhausted by the pegasus. “Yeah whatever, look I need you to do something for me—wait, isn’t that one of the kids from school?”

Scootaloo looked up and saw Featherweight walking into the shortcut that lead from town to the Apple farm. “Yeah, that’s Featherweight.”

 “Let’s postpone visiting your home and make sure he makes it through the shortcut safely.”

She gasped, eyes wide. “You’re gonna kill him!”

Babs snarled and smacked Scootaloo in the head with her hoof, below an ear. “No you idiot!” She looked around afterwards, hoping nopony was around to notice. “I’m…” She bit her lip as she lied. “Sorry. Look, if he accidentally finds your riding helmet and two dead bodies, you’re fucked. I’m just looking out for you Scootaloo.”

“Oh Celestia!” Scootaloo rubbed the sore imprint on the side of her head and look at the forest path. “We need to go stop him!”

“You know what, Scootaloo, from now on I do the decision making okay? If we stop him it’d look suspicious. We just need to follow him and make sure he doesn’t see anything. Got it?”

Scootaloo nodded, “Yeah… I guess…”

Babs nudged her and pointed forward. “Come on then, get going.”


* * * * *


Sometimes just being around somepony was enough to make you hate them. Maybe it was the way they talk, their attitude, or just something about their look. The more time Babs spent walking through the forest shortcut listening to Scootaloo go on about Dash, the more she hated her.

“—will let me go visit her apartment in Cloudsdale on spring break, I hope she says yes!” Scootaloo ended. 

“Keep it down.” Babs looked ahead, Featherweight was still far enough ahead not to hear them, and every so often a bush or tree would obstruct their view. Babs noticed him stop ahead and immediately knew where they were.

Scootaloo screeched to a halt when Babs grabbed her saddlebag. “Listen, featherbrain, you go on ahead and check on Featherweight. I’m going to go around, off the trail, and cut him off ahead if he saw anything.”

“What? I’m sure he doesn’t know anything,” Scootaloo replied.

“Look, he stopped at the clearing is all, if he did see something one of us needs to stop him from turning you in, or are you chicken?”

She paused for a moment with conflicting emotions. Babs’ attitude had changed, taking on a tinge of the bullying that Scootaloo was used to getting from Diamond Tiara. After a moment she shook it from her head, “What? Yeah I’ll go see what he’s up to!”

Scootaloo continued forward alone, lost in thought about Babs. She’d only known Babs for a week or two combined, while she’d known the other Crusaders for years. Babs definitely had a bit of a scary edge to her, and had bullied her in the past, but Scootaloo knew Babs wouldn’t do anything that would get them caught. So she decided for now to ignore the harsh remarks.

When she got to the clearing, Featherweight’s hooves were covered in dirt. He was pawing at a helmet that had stuck out of the dirt enough to be seen. It was bright orange, and when he pulled the helmet out of the dirt, Featherweight froze in horror.

Beneath his hooves was Silver Spoon’s head, the helmet had wound up being just enough to give away her tomb’s location. With the solid orange color and purple racing stripe, Featherweight knew immediately whose it was.

Scootaloo came into the clearing, stepping on a branch and causing it to snap. She saw the helmet and part of Silver’s mane in the hole in the ground. “Oh my gosh! I can explain!” Scootaloo shouted.

Featherweight screamed like a school filly as he leapt in the air, turning to see the murderer whose helmet he held in his hooves. “S-Scootaloo... “ He started backing up.

She trotted forward, “Look you can’t tell anypony, but I swear I didn’t do it! It was Babs and Apple Bloom!”

He continued backward, dropping the helmet and spreading his wings out. “S-stay back m-monster!”

“No, you’re not letting me explain, it was self-defense—” 

Featherweight turned and flew down the path towards the Apple farm, the opposite direction of Scootaloo. This left the filly no choice but to take off after him, trying to stop him so she could explain before he blew everything.

Scootaloo wasn’t a great flier, but luckily Featherweight had a growth spurt and his long skinny legs weren’t helping him stay aerodynamic. It took a lot of effort, but Scootaloo finally caught up to him and did something she’d only heard about once. She bit down on one of his wings as she tried to wrap her forearms around him.

The two went tumbling into the dirt and rolling before skidding to a stop. There had been another snapping sound and Scootaloo felt a wave of nausea. As she stood up and checked her wings she was relieved to find that it at least hadn’t been her wing that broke.

Featherweight, given his lanky frame and thinner bones, had broken the primary bone in his left wing and wouldn’t be going anywhere face.

“Featherweight, please let me explain!” Scootaloo ran over to him and stood over him.

“No! Stay back murderer! Help!” Featherweight screamed, and looked towards the farm. He had just barely made it out of the forest.

“Stop! It’s not what you think, I swear it was Babs!” Scootaloo sighed and looked at his wing, “I should make a splint or something you’re hurt.”

“Help!” He looked around again, and rolled over to get to his hooves. If he couldn’t fly, he would at least make a run for it.

“I said—”

A loud crunch interrupted Scootaloo as a filly ran in, pivoted, and bucked him in the side. Babs glared at Scootaloo, murder in her eyes, as Featherweight hit a nearby tree and fell down wheezing.

“I fucking knew it!” Babs yelled, advancing towards Scootaloo.

She was frozen in horror for a moment, before her wings began to buzz nervously. Scootaloo turned to make a run for it, when the filly leapt forward and pounced on her. “Gah!”

Babs knocked Scootaloo over and stood on top of her, using her hooves to pin and damage Scootaloo’s feathers. “Pathetic, worthless, backstabbing cu—what am I going to do with you?” She took a moment to slow down her breathing as her mind raced to piece together a new plan. Babs was cold, calculating, and logical. Even this catastrophe had to have a solution that would prevent her and Apple Bloom from being caught.

“I-I’m… I’m sorry! He thought I killed them, I just wanted to explain!” Scootaloo said as she squirmed. “Please, I didn’t know what to do!”

“Oh you knew exactly what you wanted to do this whole time, run to Dash and turn us in huh?” Babs barked. “I thought having you kill Tank to prove your loyalty would be enough… but no, you’re going to rat us out the second out back is turned. You want to be the hero don’t you?”

Scootaloo gulped and began to cry and felt the urge to urinate. “P-please don’t h-hurt me…”

“You’re pathetic and worthless and if it were up to me I’d snap your neck right now, and stop pretending you’re my friend. Apple Bloom is my friend. You and Sweetie are… part of a package deal I didn’t sign up for.”

She was sobbing now as Babs loomed over her. “I w-won’t do it a-again!”

“I’ve got it.” Babs relaxed and took a step back, offering a friendly smile as if nothing had happened whatsoever. “You’ll kill Featherweight, or I’ll kill you.”

Scootaloo was relieved Babs had gotten off of her until she heard the ultimatum. The urge to vomit was back and her heart was racing. “What?! I can’t… Dash… Dash will save me…” She looked around for her idol.

“Don’t be naive, Luna-damn it you’re lucky I like my sister.” She gestured over to Featherweight. “Look, I knocked the wind out of him. He didn’t get a look at me. If you do nothing, he’ll wake up and all he’ll know is that he found where you murdered Silver. He’ll know that you had a helper, and that you were going to  kill him next.”

Babs began to circle around Scootaloo. “I was worried you’d take us all down… but now, the only pony going to get in trouble is you. Dash will leave you, Roseluck will leave you, Apple Bloom and Sweetie will leave you… and me?”

She circled in closer to Scootaloo, brushing against her side as the trembling filly stood up. “Oh I won’t leave you, Scootaloo. I’ll wait for you, until the day they let you out of whatever jail they throw you in. And do you know what I’ll do when you get out as punishment for causing me this hassle?”

Scootaloo shook her head and offered a weak “no.”

“I’ll strangle you to death with my own two hooves, maybe I’ll even pin it on Sweetie for fun… but one thing is damn certain, if you don’t kill Featherweight  right fucking now your life is over.”

The trickle of tears going down Scootaloo’s face became a torrent as she walked over to Featherweight, who was struggling and failing to stand up. He’d taken a strong enough blow to the ribs that several were probably broken. She was able to easily roll him from his side to his back and stand over him.

Featherweight looked up at the filly he assumed murdered twice already, and began bawling and sobbing uncontrollably.

Scootaloo felt snot running down her nose as she cried, putting a hoof on his throat. She knew this was wrong, it violated everything she believed in, but she knew she didn’t have a choice. She thought that maybe, since Babs was threatening her, it’d be easier. However, as Scootaloo looked down into Featherweight’s eyes she couldn’t bring herself to put any weight on his throat.

The two stood there staring at each other while Babs quietly fumed, upset at how pathetic the pegasus was. She had planned things out so perfectly but now she’d have to go back to the drawing board, and figure out how to do damage control on the whole mess for months.

Unaware of her audience, Scootaloo continued to stand over the colt, her tears landing on his dirty fur.  She told herself that Featherweight was already as good as dead with Babs here. She told herself that everypony would abandon her if she didn’t kill him and they found out. Scootaloo even lied to herself and tried to convince herself Dash would do the same thing if they traded places.

Featherweight began to say something, and Scootaloo eased her hoof off of him. “You d-don’t have to…”

“I… I do have to…” Scootaloo stuttered. “Sorry, I’m so sorry! Sorry! Sorry!” She slowly pushed down with both hooves on his throat. Scootaloo could feel his pulse as she slowly closed off the arteries with her body weight. She broke eye contact with Featherweight, she couldn’t bear to watch, and looked over at Babs who was standing nearby with a rock in her hoof.

Babs had a wide grin on her face as she watched Scootaloo drain the life out of him.

Scootaloo continued to apologize the entire time, until Featherweight passed out and stopped struggling. She instantly leapt into the nearby bushes and vomited.

Babs came over to check on Featherweight, noticing the vein on his neck still pulsing softly. She recognized that Scootaloo had basically choked him out and rendered him unconscious, but not killed him. Featherweight began to stir, managing to focus enough to open his eyes momentarily and speak to nopony in particular. “I-I… won’t tell… anypony.”

A loud cracking sound like a wet branch being snapped interrupted the vomiting as Babs made sure Featherweight was dead using the rock in her hooves.

“Luna, I hate when they say that. I should start a list or something,” Babs said to herself as she stood beside him. She turned to Scootaloo, “Just making sure you had killed him since you’re a fuck up, now we don’t have all day to clean this up.”

“I… I…” Scootaloo alternated between looking at her vomit and the pool of blood next to Featherweight.

“Yeah I’m gonna have to clean that up to.” She said pointing to the vomit, then she walked over and grabbed Scootaloo by the neck and pulled her face within an inch of hers. “And if I even think you’re getting soft again, I’m killing that damn turtle of Dash’s. You’re not screwing this up for me!”

She nodded in a panic, and Scootaloo quickly made a few feeble attempts to pick up the rock without getting the pink brain matter on her hooves. Finally she lifted it and struggled to fly it deeper into the forest.


* * * * *


Scootaloo was a mess, even after Babs had found her a small stream in the forest to wash up. The sun was about to set too, somepony would surely realize her and Babs were missing if they weren’t back soon.

Babs just watched impatiently, having done most of the work herself. All the evidence of Featherweight was hidden, but she still had to double back for Silver Spoon. Many scenarios were playing through in her head, most of which were about the most practical and foolproof solution of killing Scootaloo off. Still, a part of her didn’t want to do that to Apple Bloom, and another part rationalized the fewer murders the better.

Scootaloo had gotten out of the river and done her best to wring water out of her fur and hair when she heard a familiar voice, the last one she wanted to hear right now.

“Scootaloo?! What the hay are you doing out here?” Dash landed next to her, already taking a deep breath to continue chewing her out when she saw the state of the filly. “What in the name of Celestia happened to you?”

“I…” Scootaloo began to cry, glancing over to Babs for some sort of help. Unfortunately, Babs had already slipped into the bushes to hide and watch from a safe distance.

Dash followed her gaze and saw nothing but some hoofprints in the dirt. “Did you come out here alone?”

She couldn’t do much more than nod. The hit she’d taken in the head from Babs earlier had developed into a bruise. There were some scratches on her forelegs, and even after rinsing in the river her mane and tail were a matted mess.

“What were you thinking? Did somepony hurt you?”

Scootaloo opened and closed her mouth a few times before just jumping against Dash and hugging her tight, crying into her fur.

“Shh, it’s okay squirt, you’re safe now.” Dash scooped her up and flew off towards town.

Babs stepped out from the bushes and sighed, standing on the fresh grave. “This just isn’t my day.” She sighed and walked back onto the trail and back to where Silver had been buried, continuing to talk to herself. “I’m lucky Dash didn’t see this mess.”

When she got to the hole she kicked the helmet over next to it and looked down inside, seeing two eyes staring back at her. “Oh you’re fucking kidding me!”

Babs put the helmet over Silver’s face, trying to remember how she’d set it the first time. Somehow, the pathetic gray filly in the hole was still alive. Babs pulled the helmet out of the hole. “One of the holes in the helmet must have landed just right to let the dirt fall through and let you breathe, huh?’

Silver managed a feeble nod as her paralyzed body lay buried in the dirt. The only thing she could move was her head and aside from the crippling fear, she had spent most of her time trying to nudge the helmet out far enough for somepony to see and rescue her.

“Well, your little plan almost worked, but I killed Featherweight and this time I’ll make sure to kill you too.” She smiled and stood over Silver. “I’m quite frankly amazed you survived at all… you would not believe the mess your deaths have caused.”

She whispered something, her voice hoarse and her body on the verge of failure.

“What was that?” Babs leaned over until her ear was next to Silver’s mouth.

“I forgive you,” she said, barely audible.

“Huh, that’s odd.” Babs stood back up. “I can’t say I relate… to the fear, or wanting to forgive me. Sometimes I wonder what it’d be like to be afraid for the first time in my life…” Babs looked down with disdain. “But ponies like you remind me that to be afraid is to be weak, and easy to manipulate. Emotion is a weakness, you needed to bully to feel good about yourself and look where it got you? Dead in a pit and trying to forgive your murderer? Pathetic.”

Silver croaked out one word, “water.”

Babs nodded, “Hmm, an interesting last request but I suppose there’s one last lesson I can teach you before I kill you. I told Apple Bloom this one, there are two kinds of ponies in Equestria. There are those that take what they want, and those that have what they want taken from them, more or less.”

She turned around so her ass was above the hole in the ground, and looked back at Silver. “Now, I’m a pony who takes what I want and what I want right now is to take a piss, so by all means, have a drink.”

Silver stared up in horror as Babs began to urinate on her face, unable to move or scream as the small hole began to fill up.

Babs paid little attention as she finished urinating on Silver, and filled the hole with dirt as if she were just relieving herself behind a random bush in the forest. Once she was finished and patted the dirt down, there was no doubt Silver was dead this time.

With the orange helmet in her hooves and no place left to bury it, she shrugged and chucked it deeper into the forest.