> Somepony's been murdered...
>  by SlicingShulk
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Somepony's been murdered
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Equestria, a wondrous world of understanding and love, a far cry from the greedy and chaotic world of the creatures called man, a paradise where friendship grows and flourishes a whole life long. But just because a friendship is strong doesn’t mean it cannot bend, and just because a life in Equestria is happy doesn’t mean that it cannot end. This is a story about one of those times, a story of friendship tested to its limit, a story about great sadness and great redemption and a story about mortality, and the absolution of how life must come to an end.

Our story begins on the last day of autumn, when a couple of mischievous fillies were making a gameplan for the snowy future ahead.

“I thought we tried snowboarding last year?” inquired a white unicorn with a purple and pink curly mane.

“No, we tried skiing last year” this voice came from an orange Pegasus with a wild and untamed fuschia mane.

“What makes you think that snowboarding will be better than skiing? If anything not having those pole things to balance yourself makes it seem more dangerous. I really think we should try something else this year Scootaloo”, said the white Unicorn.

“Like what Sweetie Belle?” said Scootaloo, curious as to what Sweetie Belle had in mind.

“Anything but snowboarding, don’t you remember what happened last year when we were skiing, you lost control, fell off a cliff and you were stuck in the woods for hours, we looked all over for you and you almost died of frostbite, it’s just”… Sweetie Belle looked to the ground and said meekly, “If I ever lost you or Apple Bloom I don’t know what I would do.”

Scootaloo looked at her friend in silence and she remembered her dislocated leg and the feeling of being trapped in that snowbank, calling for help until her throat felt hoarse. She quickly shook that awful memory aside and smiled meekly at her friend and said, “You know what, just forget it, I’m pretty sure we can do something else to get our cutie marks this winter”.

“It’s just that I’m tired of doing so much dangerous stuff just to get our cutie marks and after we get beaten to a pulp on you and Apple Bloom’s stupid ideas we get nothing to show for it. I was just thinking that we do something safe for once is all I’m saying”.

“All right, if it means that much to you, then we can get our cutie marks your way” Said Scootaloo, excited to hear her best friend’s suggestion.

“So here’s what I have in mind” said Sweetie Belle, holding up a poster for Scootaloo to see.

“Ice sculpting?” said Scootaloo as she rolled her eyes. “I’m sorry Sweetie Belle but I don’t think that neither I nor Apple Bloom would be, uh…” said Scootaloo straining to find the word to explain why she wouldn’t be a good ice sculptor, “gentle” enough to make something cool out of ice, said Scootaloo. 

“Hey you were the one that proposed that we should get our cutie marks by repairing Fluttershy’s septic tank” said Sweetie Belle, “and I protested like crazy for us not to do that”.

“It got fixed, didn’t it?”

“Getting it replaced isn’t fixing it, I had to take 5 baths to get the stench off my mane!”

“I told you that it wasn’t my idea to do that!”

“Well it certainly wasn’t my idea” said Sweetie Belle. Actually it was... she saw Fluttershy in trouble and she wanted to help but because of the events of that incident, she has suppressed a great deal of what actually happened. 

“All right, All right, Cutie Mark Crusaders Ice Sculptors, Yaaaaayyyyyyy” said Scootaloo half-heartedly, and without any sense of passion.

“Glad that’s settled” said Sweetie Belle as they approached Sweet Apple Acres, usually the farm was hustling and bustling with activity but because it was the last day of autumn, the work was winding down, the trees were already bare of leaves and there was nary an Apple to be seen on the trees, they could see their dear friend Apple Bloom fixing holes in the roof of the farmhouse that she lived in, her elder brother Big Macintosh was also there, sealing up the spaces between the shingles with roofing sealant to keep the warm air from escaping when winter finally starts.

They finished their work and got down from their roof just as the other two members of the Cutie Mark Crusaders had gotten to the doorstep.
“Howdy girls!” said Apple Bloom looking as chipper as ever.

“Hey Apple Bloom, me and Scootaloo were going to go crusading but instead we’re going to play in the leaves one last time before winter starts, tomorrow we’re going to get our cutie marks in Ice Sculpting!” said Sweetie Belle who was ecstatic to play in the leaves with her friends.

“It’s going to be a barrel of fun” said Scootaloo who was speaking in a way to make it very clear that she couldn’t give any less of a crap about Ice Sculpting.

“Ice sculpting, eh…” said Apple Bloom while she pondered it for a while. “I guess it could be fun, maybe”.

Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo always liked that about Apple Bloom, whenever the two of them were caught on opposing sides of an argument, Apple Bloom would meet them in the middle.

“But I can’t play with you guys, today… She looked left and right and then behind her and she whispered, “It’s Granny Smith’s birthday and we’re going to throw her a surprise party at Sugarcube Corner tonight”

“Really?” asked Scootaloo.

“That’s right”, came a voice from inside, it came from Apple Jack, Apple Bloom’s big sister, who always wore a Stetson and was never afraid to give anypony a piece of her mind. “We have to prepare for Granny’s party, and that means we got a whole mess of errands to do. Sorry girls, but we need all hooves on deck today.”

Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo were a little bummed out that they couldn’t play with Apple Bloom today but she had responsibilities to tend to and so they set out to leave but while they were leaving Apple Jack had a great idea and so she whispered something in Apple Bloom’s ear.

“That’s a great idea” said Apple Bloom to her sister, “I’ll tell the girls right away” and with that she hurried towards her friends.

Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo had just taken a single step off of the grounds when suddenly they heard a cry of “Girls, Wait!”

The two fillies turned and saw Apple Bloom who was running up towards them, she approached them a tad out of breath and she said “Listen, Apple Jack just got a great idea about how you can help us out!”

“Really, how?” said both of them in unison.

“Well, it Granny’s birthday and knowing how nosy she is, we don’t want her to spoil the surprise and so I was thinking that you should just take her with you into town and keep her busy until the party starts.” Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo didn’t know what to make of this request, on one hoof, watching a cranky old pony didn’t sound like fun at all but on the other hoof, they knew that Apple Bloom did many things to help them in the past and it would be rude to not return the favor. 

“Sure, Apple Bloom, we’d be glad to help you out” said Sweetie Belle while Scootaloo nodded.

“Great, I’ll tell Apple Jack and we’ll go get Granny, you two stay right there and we’ll be back in 10 minutes.” Apple Bloom then took off back to her house while Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo stood nervously outside of the grounds.

“Are you sure this is a good idea?” said Scootaloo.

“I think so, we’re doing Apple Bloom a favor, we’re just going to watch her granny for a little while, what could possibly go wrong?” asked Sweetie Belle who asked the question that should never ever be asked, because something did go wrong, something would go wrong in the absolute worst way possible.

“All right, girls here are some things ya’ll should know about Granny, her hips are really sensitive, so if she wants to stop and rest, then just let her, also she has a tendency of wandering off so keep your eyes peeled. Did you girls get that?”

“Got it, Apple Jack!” said Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo.

“Good than enjoy your walk, you three” said Apple Jack, trying to keep up the facade that she was keeping up.

“Now just a dern minute! Why am I stuck with these here fillies?!” said a clearly grouchy Granny Smith.

“Because you always said that you wanted to get to know Apple Bloom’s friends better”

“I did?” said Granny Smith, falling for the obvious lie that her granddaughter told her.

“Sure, as far as you know. Now run along and go have some fun” said Apple Jack. Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo turned around and was about to leave when suddenly Apple Jack remembered something.

“Girls, wait! I almost forgot” said Apple Jack as she pulled out a small medicine bottle full of liquid.

“What’s this?” said Sweetie Belle.

“It’s Granny’s medicine, she needs to take it at least once a day” Applejack said as Granny Smith grumbled under her breath. “Oh yeah, she hates her medication so the best way to give it to her is to make her think it’s something else”.

“I heard that!” said Granny Smith.

“And yet you keep falling for it” muttered Apple Jack. “Anyway, have a good walk girls, and we’ll come and get you when everything is ready” and with that said, the three ponies left Sweet Apple Acres and their looming destiny was about to unfold.

“I need a drink of water!”

“Stop going so fast, I want to see the scenery!”

“Hold on, I got a pebble stuck in my hoof!”

Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo were instantly regretting their decision to look after Granny Smith for Apple Bloom, she had been going off like this for almost an hour and despite Apple Jack’s alleged claim of “she always wanted to get to know Apple Bloom’s friends”, Granny Smith didn’t put in any effort to actually say something to them that wasn’t a complaint or a grouchy remark.

Scootaloo wasn’t even listening at this point, she was actually excited about going ice sculpting tomorrow, the sheer boredom and frustration of being Granny Smith’s chaperone had given her a fresh new perspective on how bored somepony can actually be and she couldn’t see hacking at a piece of ice to be any worse.

Sweetie Belle was questioning the practicality of her kind nature and was debating if she was too nice to people, the more Granny Smith shot her ramblings off, the more convinced she was that she should’ve said no to Apple Bloom’s request. In fact, Sweetie Belle should really learn to say no to requests from a friend more often, she could’ve been playing in the leaves right now but she just had to be an altruist.

“Stop girls, I need to rest!”

“Seriously? Said Scootaloo who facehooved so hard at this statement “We haven’t even walked for a minute and you want to rest again?!”

Sweetie Belle was also frustrated, Granny Smith had stopped to rest for the fifth time in the span of the last twenty minutes, this was getting ridiculous! She thought to herself, how is she still working on an apple farm if she gets tuckered out so easily?

Sweetie Belle sighed and relented to Granny Smith’s wishes and so she sat down on her flank and waited, Scootaloo was behind them a fair bit and so she briskly trotted to catch up to them but then her hoof got caught on something and she fell to the ground, Scootaloo squealed a bit as she fell on her face, while her back legs hung in the air and then dropped down to the ground along with the rest of her.

Sweetie Belle, feeling more alert after seeing Scootaloo hurt herself, rushed over to see what’s the matter.

“Scootaloo, are you okay?”

Scootallo got up and rubbed her stinging nose a little bit. “Yeah, I’m okay”, she turned around to see what it was that tripped her.

Scootaloo picked up a large shovel off of the ground, and with a look of confusion, wondered aloud and with great outrage “Who the heck was the schmuck who left this shovel here?!”

“Hey, no need to get all testy” the unicorn said as she used her magic to look at the object that tripped her friend, she observed it from multiple angles, all the while, swinging it violently in all directions as she was doing so. “Somebody probably just forgot about it, it’s not like they wanted to trip you on purpose… she trailed off for a little bit because while she was swinging the shovel around, she looked almost mystified at the gardening tool.

“Hey!” said Scootaloo, ducking the shovel that almost hit her in the face, “Give me that! You’re going to hit somepony!”

Scootaloo snatched the shovel out of the air, breaking Sweetie’s Belle’s daze and because Scootaloo was holding it to her face, she could see it more clearly, the wooden shaft of the shovel was beautifully crafted and carved, there were carvings of young foals playing through what appeared to be a meadow all along the handle of the shovel, it seems that whoever carved it put a lot of love and effort into making it.

Scootaloo stared in wonder at it, which piqued Sweetie Belle’s frustration, “Hey, I wasn’t finished looking at it, Scootaloo!”

“You almost hit me in the face! I’m not giving it back to you if you’re going to swing it around everywhere! What if you hit somepony?! You could seriously mess someone up with this thing” said Scootaloo, struggling to even hold up the large shovel.

“I’m not stupid Scootaloo, if I was stupid, I wouldn’t pay attention while I was skiing!” said Sweetie Belle as she gripped the shovel in her hooves.

Scootaloo was trying to pull the shovel out of Sweetie Belle’s grip, “I’m not stupid, I was distracted because Apple Bloom hit that tree! If she didn’t crash, then we would have been fine!”

The two fillies were fighting and arguing over the well-crafted shovel, neither of them noticing Granny Smith wandering off towards a darkened alley.

Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo were jerking the shovel back and forth in an attempt to claim it for themselves.

“Give me the Shovel!”

“Never!”

“It’s Mine!”

“Sweetie Belle, what are you even going to use a shovel for?! Your sister’s a fashion designer? And you hate dirt!”

“It doesn’t matter! I’m sure we can get a good price for it if Rarity sells it on E-Neigh! What are you going to use a shovel for?!”

“I’m sure I can find some use for it! And who the buck is going to buy a shovel off E-Neigh!?”

“I’m sure somepony can appreciate it!” said Sweetie Belle who almost wrenched it out of Scootaloo’s hooves.

“It’s my shovel!”

“No, it’s mine!”

“No, Mine!”

“NO!” said Sweetie Belle who had just coated the shovel in unicorn magic, “It’s MINE!” the shovel was finally ripped from Scootaloo’s grip and because Sweetie Belle was pulling so hard on it, the shovel flew from her hooves and went soaring upwards through the air.

“Now look what you did!” said Sweetie Belle to Scootaloo with her annoyance visible on her face.

“What?! You were the one who sent it flying!”

“I’m going to get the shovel back, let’s get Granny Smith and we’ll go get it!”

“You’re not the boss of me, I’ll get Granny Smith… but not because you told me to!” said Scootaloo, she turned to where Granny Smith was resting but the lime-green earth pony was nowhere to be seen.

Scootaloo looked around and couldn’t find her, “Sweetie Belle, Granny Smith is gone!” 

“What?!” said Sweetie Belle

“Ugh! While we were fighting over that stupid shovel, I guess she just wandered off!”

“Well Apple Jack will kill us if we lose Granny Smith! Let’s look for her!” and so the two fillies were about to begin their search when unbeknownst to them the shovel fell from the sky and landed in a dark alley with an audible THWAM!

“Wondering what had made that sound, they checked the alley to investigate and they found two things they were looking for and something they had never expected to see, they found the shovel on the ground covered in blood and Granny Smith laying there in a heap, a small gash from where the shovel hit her.

Granny Smith lay there, completely motionless, her eyes were shut tight and there was blood dripping from the gash in the side of her head. Sweetie Belle was alarmed at the sight of seeing so much blood and Scootaloo despite her tomcoltish nature was fighting back the urge to scream like a baby filly at the sight of Granny Smith in her disheveled state.

“Uh, G-g-g-granny S-smith?” said Sweetie Belle nervously, “Are you okay?” 

Granny Smith did not reply or move to Sweetie Belle’s inquiry.

“Granny Smith?!” said Sweetie Belle in a little louder tone.

Granny Smith remained unchanged.

Sweetie Belle was about to try again but Scootaloo pushed her aside and said, “Wait Sweetie Belle, I got this” she said confidently, trying her damnedest to hide her utter terror at Granny Smith’s predicament. Scootaloo breathed in and out, then she took a large gulp of air and screamed “WAKE UUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUPPPPPPPPPP!” as hard as she could, point blank, right in Granny Smith’s ear. Sweetie Belle had to cover her ears part way through Scootaloo’s shriek because it was so loud, but even Scootaloo’s yell was in vain, Granny Smith didn’t budge.

Elsewhere in town, a pink filly was relaxing in her bathtub and soaking in the hot water mixed with lavender scented bubbles, the filly let out a long sigh of satisfaction and said “Ah, now this is the life.” Her serene bath was interrupted by a loud yell that she wasn’t expecting, it made her jerk backwards and made her head go under without a breath, she unexpectedly swallowed some of her bathwater and then when she regained her balance, her head came out of the water and she was coughing and hacking at the sour taste of lavender and soap in her mouth. 

Diamond Tiara heard the last of Scootaloo’s yell and she instantly recognized the voice of the Pegasus filly that she couldn’t stand that had ruined her bath. “Grrrrrrrrrrrr……. Blank… Flanks….” She scowled as her eyes narrowed to razor sharp slits, she fetched her towel from the rack and got ready to dry herself off and those Crusaders had better be long gone she thought to herself because when she finds them she is going to give them a serious piece of her mind.

“Aaaaaaahhhhh, for Celestia’s sake, please wake up!” pleaded Sweetie Belle as she was shaking Granny Smith violently but like all of her tactics it had no effect.

Trying to think of what to do, Sweetie Belle responded with “Wait here! I’ll go get a bucket of water!”

While she was doing that Scootaloo was getting desperate, she wanted Granny Smith to be Okay, she knew that Apple Bloom and Apple Jack would be furious at them for this and she didn’t want Granny Smith to get seriously hurt because of them, before she knew what she was doing, she slapped Granny Smith in her face, “Wake up!” said Scootaloo as she started slapping her again, and again, her cries getting more and more desperate with every slap, “Wake up! Wake up! Wake up! Wake up!” she repeated almost in a daze as she continuously tried to slap her awake but all that came out of it were sore hooves, she winced a bit as she shook her right hoof, Granny’s face was as hard as a rock.
Sweetie Belle came back with a large bucket of water levitating next to her, she dumped the entire contents onto Granny Smith’s face but it didn’t do anything. 

Scootaloo was shaking like a leaf at this point, wondering how anypony could sleep through everything they have tried, she screamed in Sweetie Belle’s face “Why the Buck won’t she wake up!?” Scootaloo had tears in her eyes at this point and Sweetie Belle came to a grim conclusion.

“Scootaloo, I think... I think that… Granny Smith is…” she was trying to say it but she was too shocked to comprehend the situation. 

Scootaloo wasn’t stupid and she figured out what Sweetie Belle was trying to say… “What?! No, that’s… that’s silly, Sweetie Belle”, said Scootaloo as she was chuckling half-heartedly, “Granny Smith is as tough as a minotaur, there’s no way that she’s…”

Sweetie Belle cut her friend off, “No! I’m sure of it…” she said as she started to weep, “Granny Smith is DEAD! And… and… we killed her!”
“Oh my Celestia, we… we… we killed somepony!” Sweetie Belle crumpled to the ground and buried her head in her hooves, the weight of what they have done finally made clear to her.

Scootaloo was still doubting the truth, “No! You’re wrong! Granny Smith is fine! She’s still alive! She’s not dead and… and… and… we didn’t kill her!” said Scootaloo struggling to believe her own lie.

Sweetie Belle couldn’t let Scootaloo be delusional about this, she grabbed Scootaloo by the mane and put her face close to Granny Smith and said “Look at her! Does she look fine to you!?”

Scootaloo wanted to say yes but the wound on her head, the fact that she didn’t appear to be breathing, the bloodied shovel next to her, Scootaloo could deny it no longer, she touched Granny Smith’s hoof, it was so cold and limp, she really was dead and Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle knew that this was entirely their fault.

“Oh, Celestia…” said Scootaloo, the sight of a dead body made her gag slightly, almost ready to throw up. “Dear Celestia, what have we done? Sweetie Belle?! What should we do?!”

“I… I don’t know…” said Sweetie Belle.

“We have to tell somepony, we have to get help!”

Sweetie Belle’s eyes widened and she screamed “NO! We can’t! That is the one thing that we absolutely mustn’t do!” she squealed in panic.

“What? Why?”

“Don’t you know what happens when a pony is found guilty of murder in Equestria, Scootaloo?” said Sweetie Belle with a heavy and solemn voice, “If anypony is proven that they killed somepony else then… that pony will be…” Sweetie Belle’s voice trailed off in sadness and fear because she knew what happened to murderers in their land. 

“Will be what…?” said Scootaloo who regretted asking the question before she even got an answer.

Sweetie Belle took a deep breath and said “Anypony found guilty of murder will be… sentenced to death… there won’t be any jail and there won’t be any banishment, Princess Celestia and Princess Luna will combine their magic and hit the offender with a spell of ultimate punishment, and the murderer will be incinerated… slowly and completely… so they could experience the pain and agony that their victims felt, not even their bones or even their blood will remain once the spell is complete and then their souls will be sealed in Tartarus for eternity.”

Scootaloo eyes widened to their maximum size, she knew that Sweetie Belle wouldn’t joke about something like this and so she sheepishly asked her, “How do you know all this?” 

Sweetie Belle Responded with “Last month, I was reading a newspaper about Casey Annpony, she was a teacher from Whinnysota who killed two unicorn fillies during detention in her own classroom, she was found guilty of murder. I saw the trial on Court TV with Rarity! The trial ended with her being transferred to Canterlot for her execution, and the next day when the sun rose to its highest point in the sky, Celestia and Luna performed the spell of Ultimate Punishment and…” Sweetie Belle’s voice trailed off but she knew that she didn’t have to explain any further, she guessed that Scootaloo could figure out the rest on her own.

Scootaloo picked up the shovel and clutched it tightly in her hooves, she was crying and shaking, horrified by the thoughts racing in her mind, it was bad enough that the two fillies had killed somepony but now the two of them were in danger of death as well and worse than that, there was not going to be a pleasant afterlife in store for either of them. “What the buck should we do, Sweetie Belle?!” Scootaloo was hysterical at this point, “We’re going to die! I don’t want to go to Tartarus!” she said as she was weeping, just barely using the shovel to keep herself from falling to the ground, “I won’t go! You can’t make me! I won’t! Please, no!”

Scootaloo was swiftly slapped by Sweetie Belle “Snap out of it! We won’t get caught and we won’t go to Tartarus!”

“How are we going to do that!?”

“We have to get rid of the shovel and hide the body, and then we have to leave town for good.” Said Sweetie Belle.

“L-l-l-l-l-leave town?!” said Scootaloo, shocked and dismayed.

“We have to, even if the body is never found, Apple Bloom and Apple Jack know that we were the ones that were last with the victim, we have no alibis! We have to run away and start a new life, somewhere far away, where nopony from Ponyville can find us.”

“I don’t want to leave town!” said Scootaloo whose entire face was covered in sweat and tears, “I love Ponyville, all my friends are here, and I’ll never see Rainbow Dash again!”

“Don’t you think I want to stay here?” said Sweetie Belle who was crying harder than she had ever cried before, “What’s more important, Rainbow Dash or being alive!? If they find us then we’ll be thrown in Tartarus forever, and nopony will save us then! All we can do is run away, we’ll change our names and cut our manes, we’ll dye our coats, we’ll never be found!” Said Sweetie Belle who was struggling to stay strong for her friend, “You won’t be alone, we’ll always have each other at the very least, I’m not just doing this for me, Scootaloo, I’m doing this for you! I don’t want you to go to Tartarus! This is the only way…" she said somberly, "we have to hide the body, destroy the shovel and get on the next train to wherever, anywhere but here.”

Scootaloo was choking on her words for a moment and said “Okay, we’ll leave town, let’s find something to hide the body with.” She said all dejectedly.

They were about to search for something they could use when they were interrupted by a very unpleasant voice…

“What the holy buck do you blank flanks think you’re doing?!” Shrieked an irate Diamond Tiara. Sweetie Belle stared at her in horror while Scootaloo just froze up at hearing the voice, she didn’t look at Diamond Tiara, she was so petrified of being found as the murderer that she didn’t turn to look for fear of Diamond Tiara would recognize her face.

“WELL?!” said Diamond Tiara eyes burning with fury.

Sweetie Belle was doing her best to try and hide the body that was blocked from Diamond Tiara’s view, she was hoping that she was too mad to notice it. “Well, I… we… well… it… you see…”

Diamond Tiara didn’t want to hear it from the stammering unicorn, she turned to Scootaloo and gave her a sharp tap, “Hey blank flank, why were you screaming so loud?” 

Scootaloo stared ahead, motionless, with her back still turned to Diamond Tiara, Diamond Tiara was more livid, and behind her she heard a scraping noise, she turned her eyes to see Sweetie Belle dragging what appeared to be an elderly pony. 

Diamond Tiara’s anger was replaced with confusion and so she asked Sweetie Belle in a rather rude way, “What is that?! What happened?! What did you moronic blank flanks do?!”

Scootaloo was sweating coldly, she couldn’t let anypony else know about the body and as she looked at the shovel in her hooves, she knew that there was only one way for Diamond Tiara to keep quiet about what she saw.

Sweetie Belle was paralyzed, she can’t believe that they were going to get caught already, she was trying to think of a convincing lie when suddenly she heard a tomcoltish scream followed by a rough-sounding THWAM! As the shovel connected with the right side of Diamond Tiara’s face, she made a silly expression as she crumpled to the ground instantly, she must have been hit pretty hard because several of her teeth went flying.

To her shock, Sweetie Belle could see Scootaloo, holding the shovel, breathing heavily, with a look of anger and a glint in her eye that almost looked like satisfaction at the deed she has committed. 

Sweetie Belle couldn’t believe that Scootaloo hit Diamond Tiara on purpose with the very instrument of murder that had claimed the life of Granny Smith. “For buck’s sake Scootaloo! What were you thinking?” Do you want us to be executed for double murder?!” exclaimed Sweetie Belle.

“It was an accident, she panicked me! I didn’t mean to do it!” said Scootaloo “One moment I was looking at the shovel and the next moment… I… hit her.”

“Oh, great, now we need to dispose of two bodies!” said Sweetie Belle. Fortunately for them Diamond Tiara was still breathing, and she didn’t seem to be dying but her jaw was sticking out all funny, it might be dislocated or broken, one look at Diamond Tiara and they could tell that she needed medical help.

“We can deal with her later, look, I’ll go to the clubhouse and get our wagon.” Said Scootaloo, “You find something to cover the body and Diamond Tiara.”

Scootaloo ran off towards the direction of their clubhouse while Sweetie Belle started her search, she eventually settled on a large green sheet off a clothesline, it was slightly damp but it will do the job for what it’s meant to do.

Scootaloo returned 30 minutes later with the wagon in tow, “What took you so long?” said Sweetie Belle. 

“I was getting some supplies for the trip, and I was getting some things from our clubhouse considering we… won’t be coming back there.” Scootaloo took out a backpack and gave it to Sweetie Belle, it contained her raincoat, a picture of Rarity, some apples, juice boxes and a flashlight, as well as her sleeping bag. Scootaloo’s backpack had a wonderbolt’s figurine, her own sleeping bag, a canteen filled with cider that she stole from Apple Jack’s barn, her secret stash of chocolate and a picture of Rainbow Dash and another picture of a white coloured stallion with a rust coloured mane and a yellow Pegasus mare with an orange mane, it was a picture of Scootaloo’s parents.

The two fillies wrapped the unconscious Diamond Tiara and the body of Granny Smith in the sheet and were on a course to Ponyville Cemetery, to dispose of the body there and to destroy the shovel that got them into this mess.

“We can never come back here, can we?” said Scootaloo.

“Never again” said Sweetie Belle with her head hung low as the two fillies stopped to cry, their situation was critical, with Diamond Tiara as a witness, there was no way that they wouldn’t be found guilty. They had to run, to get as far away from Ponyville as possible, they would never see their friends or family ever again, they cried for Rarity, who would never see her little sister again, they cried for Rainbow Dash, whose fan club would need a new president, they cried for their parents, they cried for everypony else they loved and cherished but most importantly they cried for Apple Bloom, she was the one that would suffer the most because of this whole thing, not only did she lose her grandmother, but her two closest friends committed the deed. She would have nopony to comfort her in her time of need and she would have to look for her cutie mark on her own. She would never see either of her friends again and she would probably never forgive them either.

Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle made their way back to their school, there was a maintenance shed that they could use to hide Diamond Tiara until they got out of town, they tied her to the chair and gagged her mouth with a washcloth to stop the bleeding from her missing teeth. Finally they closed the door and left it unlocked, they knew that the janitor would come first thing in the morning and she would be fine until then.

They were making their way to Ponyville’s cemetery when suddenly they ran into another one of their bullies. 

It was Silver Spoon, the grey filly looked really confused, and slightly suspicious of the wagon that they were dragging. 

“Hey I don’t really want to do this, but have you two seen Diamond Tiara anywhere? We were going to have lunch together but she never showed up,” said the bespectacled earth pony.

“Uhhhhhhhhh,” said Scootaloo knowing that she couldn’t tell Silver Spoon where she is, “No I haven’t seen her, have you tried going to her house and looking for her there?” 

“I already looked and her dad said that she went out to deal with some noise problem or something like that.” “I assumed that she was mad at you guys and I was hoping you seen her.”

“Okay, that is just uncool…” said Scootaloo, “It’s bad enough to call us blank flanks but now you blame all of Ponyville’s problems entirely on us? Like we haven’t been profiled enough?!”

Silver Spoon sighed and then she noticed something that she hadn’t noticed before, somepony was missing…

“Aren’t there supposed to be three of you?” said Silver Spoon, “where’s that other blank flank you hang out with?” 

“Does it really matter, Silver Spoon? We’re kind of in a hurry here!” said Scootaloo trying to act as natural as possible.

“Yeah, we don’t have time for you today, we gotta go!” said Sweetie Belle.

Silver Spoon wasn’t really a good bully on her own, she usually just followed Diamond Tiara’s lead but she was used to the two fillies shaking in fear at the sight of her, curious as to what’s going on, she asked, “Where are you going?” 

“None of your flipping business!” said Scootaloo.

“And what is that?” she said with an inquisitive look as she gestured at the wagon with the body inside of it.

“Nothing… Absolutely nothing!” said Scootaloo.

“Come on” said Silver now feeling slightly annoyed, “there has to be something in there” she said as she tried to lift the cloth only for Sweetie Belle to slap her hoof away as hard as she could.

Silver Spoon squealed and sucked lightly at her bruised hoof which was stinging like a parasprite bite. “Why are you two so testy today?!” She said upset that Sweetie Belle struck her.

Sweetie Belle had a thought in her head, she never hated Silver Spoon that much but the stress was starting to take its toll on her, she was livid and furious and she wanted Silver Spoon to leave her alone so badly and so she decided to get rid of her, Diamond Tiara style!

“Let me ask you a question” said Sweetie Belle, her left eyebrow twitching madly as she was speaking, “Why the BUCK do you give a damn about what we’re doing?!”

“I… well… I thought you seen Diamond Tiara?” Said Silver Spoon who was a little intimidated by the sudden rise in anger at the unicorn who was the most submissive of the three fillies she bullied.

“We already told you we hadn’t seen her, why do you want to hang with her so badly anyway? What do you even see in her? All I see is a cackling little harpy that preys on innocent blank flanks!”

“Well… I thought…”

“Wow… what a surprise Scootaloo. Silver Spoon actually thinks! I thought that all this time she was a mindless little drone that did whatever her queen bee Diamond Tiara told her to do!” Scootaloo didn’t respond to what Sweetie Belle was saying to her, she was more shocked that Sweetie Belle was tearing into Silver Spoon, her mouth hung open and agape at the sight of Sweetie Belle acting like Diamond Tiara.

“Hey, I don’t have to take this from a blank flank!” said Silver Spoon in a weak attempt to fight off Sweetie Belle’s teasing.

“Oh, I’m a blank flank, am I? Well what even is your special talent?” Sweetie Belle said with a malicious snarl, “What is your talent that is so great that you feel you need to make fun of colts and fillies without them?”

“Well, my talent is…”

“Spit it out!”

“Uhhhhhhhhhhh….”

“I’m Waiting!”

”setting tables”

“Excuse me? What did you say, I didn’t quite catch that!” said Sweetie Belle as she edged closer to Silver Spoon and cutting off her path of retreat.

“Setting tables, okay, my special talent is setting tables.” Said Silver Spoon who was genuinely afraid at this point, “Just please don’t hurt me!”

Scootaloo was shocked at Sweetie Belle’s behaviour and Sweetie Belle’s face contorted into the biggest and most terrifyingly unsettling smile that anypony had ever witnessed. “Setting tables?” and as she said that she started to laugh, a giggle turning into a deafening guffaw, as she started to fold into her belly and pound her hoof into the ground, laughing almost maniacally at the revelation that she had discovered, she was laughing so hard, she spend several milliseconds choking and gasping for breath because she was laughing so hard at Silver Spoon and her talent.

“So just to make sure I got this right, you set tables, that is your purpose, setting tables?!”

“Uh… Yeah.”

Sweetie Belle put a hoof on Silver Spoon’s shoulder and smiled condescendingly as she said, “Silver Spoon… that is by the far the… STUPIDEST TALENT I HAVE EVER HEARD IN MY ENTIRE LIFE!”

Silver Spoon tried to say something but all that came out was “Whaaa?”

“I’m disappointed in you Silver Spoon, all this time, all this time your talent was for setting tables.” said Sweetie Belle who was drunk with the power of being a bully. “I expected more from you, you know the filly who’s all big and rich and thinks that she’s hot droppings!” said Sweetie Belle, her lips twisted into a merciless sneer.

Silver Spoon tried to say something but all that came out were whimpers and gasps.

Scootaloo wanted to interject but she too was shivering in fear at what Sweetie Belle has become, she knew that the best course of action was to leave Silver Spoon to her fate, she knew that she would gladly have Silver Spoon be a crying mess than have the two crusaders get sentenced to death but at the same time Scootaloo thought that Sweetie Belle was going way over the line with this, she wondered what Sweetie Belle was thinking and if she was truly mad at Silver Spoon…or maybe she was mad at herself for what happened to Granny Smith.

“Honestly, I was so scared of you… for three years… THREE… Mother… BUCKING… YEARS! I thought that you were like this because you were proud of your cutie mark and wanted to rub your greatness in everypony’s face! But now I see you for what you are, you’re nothing but a slimy little worm who’s ashamed of her talent!” Silver Spoon tried to argue but again no words were coming out. “You’re ashamed of your talent and so in a pathetic… and laughable… way to get over your own failures, you make fun of ponies without cutie marks to make yourself feel better! I wonder… did it ever bucking work!?” snapped Sweetie Belle.

Silver Spoon wanted to say something but all that came out were the words “I… well… I…”

“I asked you a question! Did it work?!”

“No…”

“Yeah that’s what I thought. You sicken me, setting tables, like that’s something a pony can be proud of!” Said Sweetie Belle rubbing salt into Silver Spoon’s embarrassment, “Your talent is a JOKE! Anypony can set a bucking table! I can probably do it better and quicker than you ever could! I have magic on my side, what do you have!? Is there even a way for a pony like you to make any bits by setting tables?!”

Silver Spoon was choking on her fear and managed to say “W-w-w-w-w-well, y-you s-s-see p-ponies like me are s-supposed to set the tables for f-f-fancy b-b-b-banquets and galas.”

“Oh is that so, and you actually think anypony will give a buck?! Because when I go to a gala I don’t think about the entertainment or the gourmet food, or the beautiful décor… I just think about how well the tables were set!” said Sweetie Belle shoving her sarcasm straight down Silver Spoon’s throat.

Silver Spoon was shedding tears and sweating at an alarming rate, she had no idea what was coming over Sweetie Belle but she didn’t like it, she felt trapped, Sweetie Belle was slightly shorter than she was but at this moment she felt several feet taller than she ever was before. Silver Spoon felt as though Sweetie Belle was about to beat her to a pulp. She could only shiver as Sweetie Belle continued to assault her with hateful and destructive words.

“Oh, is that all you’ve got, you miserable coward?!” jeered Sweetie Belle at Silver’s speechlessness “You know that fear you’re feeling? I don’t ever want you to forget that feeling because that is how I feel, how Scootaloo feels and how Apple Bloom feels every single BUCKING TIME THAT YOU MESS WITH US!” said Sweetie Belle as she advanced towards Silver Spoon, making her inch backward by crawling on her back as she tried futilely to put some space between herself and Sweetie Belle.

Silver Spoon backed into a wall as Sweetie Belle moved so close to her, their foreheads were touching, Silver Spoon could feel Sweetie Belle’s horn slightly poking into her skull as her grey eyes met Sweetie Belle’s green eyes, with a filly’s horn’s length between them.

Sweetie Belle used her quietest voice to strike the killing blow “If… I… EVER… hear the words “blank flank” in the same sentence coming out of your mouth… ONE TIME… I WILL BEAT YOU INTO A FINE… RED… PASTE! And that is not an empty threat! I’ll do it for real because nopony will give a single buck about the loss of a bucking table setter!” she said as she levitated the shovel and hurled it into the wall, millimeters from piercing Silver Spoon’s cheek. 

Sweetie Belle took the shovel out from the wall and walked away leaving Silver Spoon to sink even lower gasping in absolute fear at what just happened to her.

Silver Spoon stood up and said in a soft voice “I thought that… there would be more to my life…” She started to wail in pain as she ran for home, as fast as her hooves could take her.

“GOOD RIDDANCE TO BAD RUBBISH!” said Sweetie Belle still in a frenzy, she was breathing savagely and then her rage was released when she let out a fierce guttural cry.

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!! I AM SWEETIE BELLE!! DESTROYER OF EVIL!” she screamed as she raised her front hooves to the sky, Sweetie Belle relished on her victory over her bully, and she didn’t care about any of the consequences because at the time, she thought that she would never see Silver Spoon again, and it felt so good for both of her bullies to get what they deserved.

Scootaloo brought her down from her power trip “Sweet Mother of Celestia, what in the buck was that?! That was really awful! Silver Spoon’s a twerp but you didn’t need to mindbuck her like that! What the living hay is wrong with you?! The Sweetie Belle I know had too much self-esteem to sink to a bully’s level! What happened to that Sweetie Belle!?” said Scootaloo who had tears starting to form in her eyes.

Sweetie Belle turned and shot Scootaloo a venomous glare, Scootaloo didn’t flinch, she was in the right about this and she wasn’t backing down. Sweetie Belle thought about it for a minute, how she threatened to mash Silver into paste and how she basically insulted Silver Spoon’s ego into a beaten pulp. Realising the folly of her attack on Silver Spoon, Sweetie Belle looked down at the ground and started to cry, “Oh Celestia, what’s happening to me?!” 

Scootaloo didn’t have an answer to that but she knelt down and put her hoof on Sweetie Belle’s shoulder and said “If it makes you feel any better, I sort of felt the same way when I hit Diamond Tiara with the shovel.” 

Sweetie Belle sniffled a bit and her mood seemed a little better but instead of getting tearful sad, she was getting quiet sad. “I think I know what’s going on Scootaloo.”

“What?”

“I think because we did… that… to Granny Smith, our killer’s instincts are beginning to awaken. We can’t control ourselves anymore, what… what will we do… what if we lose control and we kill somepony else?! What if I lose control and I kill you or what if you lose control and you end up killing me!?” said Sweetie Belle looking down at the brick roads in a somber tone. 

Scootaloo didn’t have an easy answer for the conundrum swirling around in Sweetie Belle’s heart and she was afraid of that question as well, but Sweetie Belle was a murderer now, just like Scootaloo was and Scootaloo needed Sweetie Belle, the two of them were all they had now. Scootaloo had to say something to make her best friend smile. “Sweetie Belle, we’ve been friends for so long, longer than we even knew Apple Bloom” said Scootaloo. “I remember how I met you, I saved your life, you were choking in the cafeteria, do you remember that?!” 

Sweetie Belle grimaced at the recollection of almost choking to death but she said “Yes, I do remember that” said Sweetie Belle, a small smile forming on her face, she remembered how everypony thought she was playing some kind of joke or how everypony thought that she was being gross but Scootaloo knew what was happening to her and she was there to save her before she suffocated. “It was a good thing you knew the Heimlich maneuver wasn’t it?” said Sweetie Belle.

“It was…” said Scootaloo, reminiscing about the past. “Sweetie Belle, I saved your life before I even knew anything about you… and I know you so well and for so long… that I wouldn’t be able to end that same life I saved, even if I really wanted to... because I care about you… and I know that you wouldn’t be able to do it either because that isn’t you! What happened was an accident, it makes us criminals but… it doesn’t make us evil like them.” Said Scootaloo with a small smile on her face.

Sweetie Belle smiled blissfully and without a word, she embraced Scootaloo, touched to know that even though her life was ruined, she still had a friend to hold on to. “Thank you… Scootaloo”

“Anytime.” Said Scootaloo as she returned Sweetie Belle’s hug, they dusted themselves off and continued their trek to Ponyville Cemetery but they had barely taken a few steps when Scootaloo actually had a question in her mind, “Hey Sweetie Belle, you noticed that ever since this whole thing started we’ve been making a ton of noise, how come no large groups of ponies haven’t rushed over to us to see what’s going on?!” asked Scootaloo to Sweetie Belle.

Sweetie Belle opened her mouth as if to respond but instead she put her hoof to her chin, thought about for a minute and she said to Scootaloo, “Heck if I know, but at least we’re not getting caught so it’s a small miracle I guess.”

All of the townsponies were actually gathered around Vinyl and Spike, the latter of which had burned down a strange bush full of leaves, and the smoke made them for lack of a better expression “Pretty dang high.” 

“Scorpions everywhere!” said Spike scratching and clawing himself all over, occasionally taking a break to randomly spray the ground all over him with fire. “Ahhhhhh! Scorpions! Oh dear Celestia! They’re eating me so fast, I have a skeleton claw!” said Spike who was staring agape at his perfectly normal claw.

“Decepticons!” said Vinyl as she slammed the heads of two unicorns together, “Decepticons!” she kept shrieking as she was using her awesome strength to beat down anypony who got too close to her. 

“Uhhhhhhhhhh” said Octavia as she was nursing her black eye that she obtained from trying to restrain Vinyl, “What the BUCK is a Decepticon?!”

The two fillies continued on their way to the cemetery, the sky was getting a little bit cloudy, almost like it was going to rain in about two hours, they were almost there, in another 15 minutes or so, they would be there to dispose of the body and begin their new lives as fugitives. 

Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle were poised and ready, they were silent, vigilant and alert, after the incidents with Diamond Tiara and now Silver Spoon, they were ready for anypony who would get in their way, they were running simulations in their heads on how to dissuade anypony that would come across them on the way to the cemetery, from Pinkie Pie to Rarity to Rainbow Dash to Snips and Snails. They were prepared for anything!

At least that’s what they thought but unbeknownst to them, they were about to cross paths with the one pony that they did not want to see since they murdered Granny Smith.

“Hey girls, how are things going?” said a delightful and sweet voice from behind them.

Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle turned around and they saw a victim of the accident that they caused.

That victim was none other than Apple Bloom.

Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo cherished Apple Bloom, everything about her but this was the one time that her company was not appreciated.

Both of them were staring at her nervously, so much so that Apple Bloom herself was starting to make a confused expression, one of them had to say something so Sweetie Belle took a crack at it.

“Oh, uh… hey Apple Bloom, how are your errands coming along?” said Sweetie Belle.

“My errands are coming along great! I got all of this great stuff for the party” said Apple Bloom being as chipper as ever, while holding up a small bag. “So how are things with you two, did Granny Smith give you any trouble?”

“No, no trouble, none, no trouble… at all… everything is totally fine and 100% under control” said Scootaloo who was stammering and being awkward as all hell. “We’re fine Apple Bloom, why do you ask?”

“I’m asking because I don’t see Granny Smith with you.” The young earth pony said flatly. “Let me guess did she wander off again?”

“Uh, yeah, yes she did, we were fighting over… something, and when we turned around she was gone!” said Sweetie Belle who was hastily fabricating a semi-plausible lie.

“Oh, that’s terrible, where did you lose her?” said Apple Bloom.

“In a dark alley when she got hit by that bucking shovel” thought Scootaloo but she couldn’t say that to her so instead she said “Uh, we don’t remember.”

“Oh, ok then, so what were you two fighting about?” said Apple Bloom, who was interested in the argument that caused the separation.

“We were arguing over the shovel that killed her” thought Sweetie Belle but the words that came out “We don’t remember.”

“Uh, is there anything you do remember, before you lost Granny Smith?” said Apple Bloom who was concerned because she knew that her friends were only this vague when they did something terrible.

Sweetie Belle was trying to think of something, something that she could say about their day, something harmless that they could disclose about their ordeal, she thought about it and remembered all the stuff they’ve done, killing Granny Smith, giving Diamond Tiara a head injury, lashing out at Silver Spoon, finally she settled with “Scootaloo tripped over a… stick… and fell down!” she said sweating profusely and smiling like a psychopath.

“Yep, that’s me, heh heh… I’m such a klutz!” said Scootaloo who really didn’t want to remember tripping over the weapon that killed the grandmother of the filly they were talking to.

“Is that all?” said Apple Bloom who was starting to feel regret at leaving Granny Smith with these two… 

“Pretty much?” said Scootaloo, unsure of whether to agree or deny what Apple Bloom was saying.

“So… um… considering that you two lost her and everything, do you want me to help you out? I mean, I know where she usually goes when she wanders off, I still have errands to do but I would love to help you girls. Cutie Mark Crusaders stick together right?”

Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo felt saddened to be reminded of their creed and they felt guilty that they had to leave town and throw their lives away but one thing they were certain of was that Apple Bloom can’t come with them, not if they were going to get rid of the body.

“Oh, no, not at all, we’ll find her okay?” said Sweetie Belle.

Apple Bloom was really confused now… “Are you sure you don’t need my help, we can split up… three heads are better than two…”

“No, no, no, you get back to your errands and we’ll find her okay? Said Sweetie Belle.

“But I just think that…”

“We can find her by ourselves! We don't need you or your help! Why don't you just buck off and let the big fillies take care of this!” snapped Scootaloo who was desperate to keep Apple Bloom from getting mixed up in the crime they committed but as the words left her mouth, she regretted it instantly when she saw sadness start to emerge on Apple Bloom's face.

"Scootaloo, why did you squawk at me like that?" said a very hurt Apple Bloom... "I just want to help you girls out! Why are you being so mean?!"

Sweetie Belle felt awful that this has to happen and she felt awful as she said "We don't need your help! Who are you to think that you're our leader? We are perfectly capable of doing this and getting our cutie marks without you!" Sweetie Belle felt truly abhorrent for saying that but she said it so that Apple Bloom would leave them to their fate, even if she did assist them in getting rid of the body of her own grandmother, there was no way that she would let her friend live the life of a murderer's accomplice, all she wanted was for Apple Bloom to be innocent of their crime and Scootaloo felt the same way.

"Girls I... I'm... I want to..."

“We’ll find her!" said Scootaloo who cut her off because she didn't want to hear her sad voice anymore "We'll find her and… hey wait a minute, isn’t that her behind us?!” she said while sending Sweetie Belle a silent signal.

Apple Bloom turned around expecting to see Granny Smith but instead all she saw was thin air, she was confused but as she turned around, she saw Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle, many yards ahead of her fleeing into the horizon as quickly as their hooves could carry them.

“Wha?… Hey!… Girls?!…” said Apple Bloom, confused as to why the two greatest friends she had in the world were running from her like death itself was on their hooves. It saddened her and she wondered if she did something wrong, she considered going after them but they were too far away and they were moving too quickly for her to catch up. Apple Bloom sighed and went off to finish her errands all the while worrying about Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo and hoping that she or they could find Granny Smith.

Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle ran, they ran far away from the friend they cherished, and when they were sure that they lost her, both fillies were shaking with grief and then they started to cry out loud, this moment was heartbreaking for both of them, to them this would be the last time that they would ever see Apple Bloom and they left her on such bad terms, it broke both of their hearts that they had to do that to her and it broke them up even more that they killed Granny Smith, they volunteered to be Granny Smith’s escorts to help Apple Bloom but in the end, all they did was hurt her and give her misery, once she finds out the truth, she’ll be even more hurt and there was nothing that they could ever do to make things right with her either. So they shed tears for her and the friendship that she gave them, their regrets were all they could give to poor Apple Bloom.

Both of them just sat there on their haunches on that sloping path, embracing each other as they sobbed into each other’s coats while they were choking slightly on their tears. They were so hurt that they ruined Apple Bloom’s life, neither filly has ever cried so hard in their lives and neither of them has ever felt so ashamed of themselves for being so terrible to their fellow Crusader who they genuinely loved with all their hearts. 

As much as it pained them to lie to Apple Bloom, the two fillies had to do it to save themselves from death, it had hurt them to do it but it was the only thing that could keep them alive, although in the state they’re in, they may as well already be there and they may as well already be dead, because Equestria’s hell and a murderer’s firey fate can’t possibly be much worse than the anguish and pain that the fillies were feeling at that moment.

They cried there for almost an hour and a half and then the tears just stopped, the only thing keeping them from shutting down completely was their mission, and their hope for survival, so with heavy and aching hearts, they begrudgingly moved forward. 

After multiple encounters from the worst possible foals to run into in a situation like this, the two fillies had finally and at long last, made their way to Ponyville Cemetery, where they could finally and at long last, dispose of the body so it can never be found.

“We made it!” said Sweetie Belle, glad that they could finally get rid of the body that had caused them so much worry.

“Yeah, now let’s find a nice place to bury this sucker already and leave town!” said Scootaloo, anxious to get this over and done with so they could start their new lives.

The two girls looked around to try and find a spot to bury Granny Smith when they came across a pony who was sobbing near a large gravestone adorned with a cross. The pony was Trixie of all ponies, and she seemed rather upset, the two girls were enraptured in curiosity,

Trixie looked down at the grave, removed her hat and bowed, and said to the grave, “Trixie would never have been so Great and Powerful without you,” she sniffled as she started to sigh sadly. “Cutie Mark Conquistadores forever” she said with a sad smile. 

Once she got up and left the graveyard, the two girls couldn’t resist looking at the gravestone that Trixie was eyeing.

Here Lies Maple Syrup and Serenity
Tragically murdered by Casey Annpony
1996-2003

“Buck…” said Scootaloo, I guess you weren’t kidding about Casey Annpony, were you?” 

“I knew that she killed those fillies but I never knew that they were Trixie’s friends” said Sweetie Belle. “Besides that, did you hear what she said, Cutie Mark Conquistadores?” said Sweetie Belle “I didn’t know that there was another club like ours!”

“Wait, I thought you said that you read about this last month in the newspaper” said Scootaloo, “according to this, they died 12 years ago!”

“It was an old newspaper and Rarity showed me the Court TV tape at the library.”

“Oh, well… Okay then” said Scootaloo relieved that this oversight has been taken care of.

“Isn’t it sad though?” said Sweetie Belle, “This is what murder does to a pony. It leaves behind living friends, and relatives and causes so much pain, even after the killer is long gone.” She said with a dejected face.

Scootaloo felt awful reflecting on that, “Do you think we’re any better than Casey Annpony? She did some horrible things but we just hurt Apple Bloom, Apple Jack and Big Macintosh the exact same way that Casey Annpony hurt Trixie.” Said a depressed Scootaloo.

“Let’s not think about that Scootaloo.” Said Sweetie Belle who felt just as awful as Scootaloo, “We have a job to do… We have to get rid of the body and leave Ponyville forever.”

Scootaloo nodded solemnly, but she and Sweetie Belle would remember this moment they had in the graveyard and they developed something of an understanding for Trixie, they felt like they understood her a little better and why she has a hard time opening up to anypony.

After a good 15 minutes of searching they came to a grassy knoll where they could dispose of the evidence.

“Well, here we are.” Said Scootaloo.

“Yeah, we better start digging.” Said Sweetie Belle.

“Sweetie Belle levitated the bloody shovel and was about to dig into the earth with it when Scootaloo stopped her.

“Wait, shouldn’t we say some words for her on her behalf or something? I mean we killed her… she deserves that much.” Said Scootaloo.

“Well,” said Sweetie Belle, stopping to think. “What should we say about her? We didn’t really know her that well…”
“Yeah, but I feel like we should try.” Scootaloo said.

“Well…” said Sweetie Belle straining to think of something to say… “She was… uh… really great with farming… That’s something she does right? And… uh…” she said as she started to get back to thinking… “She was… a good businesspony… and I bet that she knew… things about… apples and which ones were like… good.”

“Which apples were good?” said Scootaloo. “Is that the best you can do? She’s dead because of us, and this is the eulogy she gets?”

“Hey I don’t hear you saying some words on her behalf!” said Sweetie Belle with a sharp tone.

“Ok… ok… she was really special, I didn’t know her all that well but I bet that she was a sweet and hardworking grandmother. I know that Apple Bloom loved her… and the fact that she would make us Apple fritters was awfully generous of her… and according to Apple Bloom, she don’t take no spit from nopony!” said Scootaloo paraphrasing Apple Bloom’s words with the best imitation of Apple Bloom that she could muster. “How was that?”

“You know that wasn’t too bad, Scootaloo, let me try again I think I got this. Ok…” she said as she took a deep breath. “Granny Smith worked hard for those she loved, she… cared so much about her family, and even though we hated her complaining, and even though everypony was treating her like a fossil because she was old, she never let it get her down. She was wise and even though she was rough around the edges, there might have been some kindness in her heart” Sweetie Belle had started to shed tears as she kept going. “She was there to care for Apple Bloom and her siblings when their parents died in that storm and even though she was killed by our hooves, her spirit will still live on in the fresh and beautiful fruits of Sweet Apple Acres, though her apple has fallen, her seeds will carry on her will.” Sweetie Belle said as her back legs gave out and made her fold into her knees. 

“Sweetie Belle… That was beautiful!” said Scootaloo, “I especially liked that part about the seeds. That was some nice symbolism there.” 

“You really mean it?” said Sweetie Belle.

“Sure I do!” said Scootaloo. “Quickly, we have to bury the body and get out of here!”

“Right” said Sweetie Belle.

Scootaloo was about to start digging and Sweetie Belle was about to uncover the body when they heard a very familiar voice.

“Hey Apple Jack! I found them!” said Rainbow Dash as she was descending from the sky.

Both fillies froze instantly, Scootaloo hid the shovel in the wagon while Sweetie Belle hastily covered the body, the two fillies couldn’t believe that their cover has been blown, “and by Rainbow Dash of all ponies!” thought Scootaloo, who was a bit upset that her own idol was going to be the one to lead them to their death sentence.

Rainbow Dash touched down with her cyan hooves touching the marble pathway in the cemetery as Apple Jack trotted up to her side, “Where the heck were you two fillies?! We’ve been looking all over for you?” said Apple Jack.

“Yeah squirt,” said Rainbow Dash obviously pointing to Scootaloo, “You were supposed to come back to Sweet Apple Acres and rendezvous with us almost an hour ago! And one more thing… uh… wait… actually why are you two even here in the cemetery?” asked Rainbow Dash who was a little bit suspicious of her #1 fan. 

She was also pretty suspicious of her other friend whose name she always heard from Rarity but never quite fully remembered. Squeaky something? That sounds about right, thought Rainbow trying to remember Sweetie Belle’s name but to no avail, it wasn’t that she didn’t like her, she found Scootaloo’s friends to be very charming but the lack of familiarity came from not really spending much time with or even interacting with her all that much.

“Never mind that… where the hay is Granny Smith?! Apple Bloom told us you lost her!” said a very upset Apple Jack.

“We already told Apple Bloom, we don’t know when we lost her, we were watching her one minute, we got into a small argument and then she was gone!” said Sweetie Belle trying to continue her lie.

“Look, I don’t blame ya’ll for what happened, Granny Smith does wander off from time to time, and I forgive the two of you.” Said Apple Jack.

“You… do?” said Scootaloo.

“Of course!” said Rainbow Dash, “accidents happen, after all, you don’t need to strain yourselves so hard. Look, You can just leave the search for Granny Smith to me! Never send a pair of fillies to do a pegasi’s job.” Said Rainbow Dash, excited to get started on her search.

“Well,” said Apple Jack who was noticing the skies getting darker, “We better mosey on out of here, it’s going to get awfully dark soon and I can’t have you two wandering around in the dark, so we’ll take you to Granny’s party.”

“What?! Why do we have to go to Granny’s party?” said Sweetie Belle.

“Well squ… er… sweepy… no that’s not right, skeevy…” said Rainbow Dash trying to remember her name “Uh… Rarity’s sister, Rarity felt bad about leaving you at home during a lot of the other parties she went to and she really wanted to spend time with you tonight. Also…” she said turning to Scootaloo with a smile “Nopony puts Scootaloo in the corner! I wouldn’t want my sweet little sister to miss a party!”

Ordinarily that would have made Scootaloo’s day along with the next two after that, she also appreciated the Dirty Dancing reference but Scootaloo had much more important things on her plate… such as the corpse and murder weapon that she has to get rid of.

“I’m sorry but I really want to sit this out…” said Scootaloo, devastated in herself for turning down a chance to party with Rainbow Dash.

“Sorry girls, but it’s gonna rain soon, and I can’t have you wandering through the dark all soaking wet, I can’t have you two catching cold!” said Apple Jack.

The two fillies tried to protest further but Rainbow Dash and Apple Jack’s decision was final, they were about to make their way down the hill when Apple Jack saw something that they hid in the clearing.

“What the hay is this?!” said Apple Jack about to lift the cloth containing the body of her dead grandmother.

She had just lifted the cover off of Granny Smith ever so slightly but Sweetie Belle used her magic to force the cover down so Apple Jack couldn’t lift it. 

“What the hay?! What was that all about!?” said an annoyed Apple Jack.

Scootaloo thought about it and came up with an idea. “It’s a… uh… a present… for Granny Smith! After we lost her, we decided to get her a present for her birthday and we were going to give it to her at the party.” She said with a worried expression on her face.

“Oh, so it’s a present?” said Rainbow Dash.

“Yeah, and it’s a secret and we want it to be a surprise! Okay, so no peeking!” said Sweetie Belle, frantic to keep the truth hidden and their lie maintained.

Apple Jack and Rainbow Dash exchanged puzzled looks but they didn’t have time for this, they needed to get the fillies to the party.

“Oh, all right,” she said as the first drops of rain started to fall on them. “Sweet Celestia, let’s hurry and get to the carriage! I’ll pull you all to the party myself!” said Apple Jack as she started to make her way down the hill. “Don’t forget to take your present with you!” she said to the fillies.

Rainbow Dash followed her down the hill as Scootaloo said to Sweetie Belle “What do we do now?!”

“I don’t know, but we’ll think of something, I promise we will.” Said Sweetie Belle as she made her way down the hill with the wagon full of evidence in tow.

The two fillies were nervous as they loaded the wagon with Granny Smith’s body into the Apple Family’s station wagon, they soon entered the carriage along with Rainbow Dash. Apple Jack was kept dry by the cloth awning in the front as the carriage trundled forward in the rain towards Sugar Cube Corner

They were just sitting there silent, twiddling their hooves and they were worried about the body in the back of the wagon, they didn’t dare look back there in fear that they bring attention to it. All they could hear was awkward silence and the rain pitter pattering on the roof of the carriage.

“I know it’s not your fault that you lost Granny, I told ya’ll that she wanders off, I’m sure we’ll find her very soon and we’ll bring her to the party.” Said Apple Jack thinking that the cause of their guilt was something much pettier than the actual source.

“Yeah” said Rainbow Dash, full of energy and excitement, “when we get to the party, I’ll go look for her right away!” Scootaloo said nothing which earned a look of puzzlement from her idol.

“Hey squirt, are you feeling all right?” asked Rainbow Dash “Hey, don’t be too upset about losing her, I’ll gladly find her, you shouldn’t feel too ashamed, she wanders off, and part of being a big sister is helping out when your little sis needs help right?”

Ordinarily Scootaloo would have been thrilled for Rainbow Dash to address her as her “little sister” not just once but twice in the same day but the current circumstances made this especially hard for her to keep a smile on her face. Rainbow Dash was very disturbed by their silences and she had an idea. 

“Hey everypony! I got this cool radio from Vinyl!” She said as she pulled out a small handheld radio from her bag. “Does anypony want a little bit of music while we make our way to Sugarcube Corner?”

“Uh, sure” said Sweetie Belle, her ears perking up, music has always calmed her nerves in the past and a little bit of it would help her out immensely right now. “I’d love to hear some music.”

Scootaloo agreed with Sweetie Belle by nodding her head, she could do with something to take her mind off of the murder that she and Sweetie Belle have committed and how to deal with the change in plans.

“Great!” said Rainbow Dash who could see the two fillies feeling better already, she turned her radio on, forgetting that the radio was set to her favourite metal station “GLOO.”

The song started out quiet and relaxing and both of the guilty fillies felt a small sense of calm rushing over them but that calm quickly turned into anguish when the hard, loud and thumping chorus reached their ears.

“MUUURRRRRRDDDDEEEEEERRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!!
CLIMB ABOARD THE MURDER TRAIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIINNNN!
MUUURRRRRRDDDDEEEEEERRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!!
CLIMB ABOARD THE MURDER TRAIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIINNNN!

Sweetie Belle sat there slackjawed and Scootaloo felt a sharp stinging pain in her chest as the song played, they felt a chilling reminder of the crime they have committed and Sweetie Belle was fighting back tears while Scootaloo struggled to keep herself from telling the truth.

AppleJack looked back and heard the death metal coming from Rainbow’s radio. “Rainbow Dash, there are fillies in this here carriage, play them somethin’ a little more kid-friendly!”

“Oh, sorry!” said Rainbow Dash as she changed the stations, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo breathed a sigh of relief knowing that that song would stop playing, a new song by the Mounties were playing as Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo were stoked to have a solitary instant where they can just forget about their sin and feel happiness one last time.

Fate did not give them that instant:

“Murder by Numbers
One Two Three
It’s as easy to learn
As your ABC’s”

“Murder
Murder
Murder by Numbers”

“Murder
Murder
Murder by Numbers”

“Now that is much better.” Said Applejack who approved of this song. She then started to bob her head a little bit to the beat and she turned to Rainbow Dash and said “This is a great song, who wrote it?”

“It’s “Murder by Numbers” and it was written by the Mounties, lots of foals love their work, I should know because Scootaloo got me hooked on them!” she smiled as she gestured to her sister figure. “Tell her how awesome this band is Squirt!”

Scootaloo did not respond, she only stared vacantly at Rainbow and Apple Jack as they looked at both fillies with worried expressions, they could tell that Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo weren’t acting like themselves.

Sweetie Belle felt the pit in the bottom of her stomach get tighter and tighter every time she heard the word Murder come from that song, she had been suffering the entire day, and she knew that she was going to live with and suffer this fate for the rest of her existence but did fate need to mock her for her plight? She thought to herself as she covered her face with her hooves.

Ordinarily Scootaloo loved the Mounties, they were her favourite Europonian rock band but this single was making her feel worse than the song about the Murder Train, at least the Murder Train song wasn’t performed by one of her favourite bands ever.

Scootaloo wanted to stop hearing that song by any means necessary and so she thought up a simple method of making Rainbow Dash change the station.

“Uh, Rainbow Dash, can you change the station? I actually sort of hate this song.” Scootaloo said sheepishly, feeling awful at faking hatred towards a song that was performed by a band that she cherished.

“What?! I thought you loved the Mounties?! Are you feeling all right kiddo?” said Rainbow Dash, baffled that Scootaloo would hate a song from a band that Scootaloo herself recommended to her.

“It’s not that I hate it per se, but I just played it so much that I’m starting to get a little sick of it.” Said Scootaloo with a slightly annoyed undertone to her voice, she didn’t want to waste time, favourite band or not, she wanted that song to stop.

“Oh, Okay… sure thing squirt!” said Rainbow Dash in shock and disbelief as she changed the station to something more Scootaloo’s speed.

Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo could finally relax and enjoy some much deserved solace from their troubles but they could’ve had that solace if the next song didn't go a little something like this:

“Somepony has been murdered
Somepony’s dead forever
Somepony left her family behind
A stain upon the ground
A killer yet to be found
Ashes to Ashes, gone forever
Somepony has been murdered
And the killer… will never get away
The killers will always pay
And they will feel the fury of the mare that they did slay

Somepony has been murdered
Somepony’s dead forever…”

“YOU HAVE GOT TO BE BUCKING KIDDING ME!” screamed Sweetie Belle at the top of her lungs, outraged at the radio and its insistence on making them feel even worse than they already do.

Scootaloo who was beyond unhinged, bit her right hoof and screamed into it as hard as she could and then she turned around and started to bang her head into the seat, hoping that it will knock her out so she wouldn’t have to listen to the surprisingly upbeat jazzy rock song that was torturing her worse than Diamond Tiara ever could.

“Rainbow Dash, please change the station, I don’t want to hear this bucking song!” said Sweetie Belle who was livid at this point.

“First off, I don’t do favours for fillies who swear like that,” said Rainbow Dash “And secondly this is my favourite Clash song and I want to hear it!” Rainbow Dash snidely turned the music up just to teach Sweetie Belle a lesson in being so rude.

The two fillies were being tortured by that song the entire way through and it got even worse when the hit Clash single “Somepony’s been murdered” was stuck on repeat due to a technical error at the station, they heard it for over a half-hour and by the time they arrived at Sugarcube corner, both fillies knew all the words to that song.

The carriage finally stopped at Sugarcube corner and Rainbow Dash finally turned off that horrible radio. Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo looked at Sugarcube Corner, the party of Granny Smith was about to begin and their day, which had turned into a night, was about to get even worse.

Apple Jack got inside and started to unload the gifts in the back, she was about to try and take the wagon but luckily Sweetie Belle stopped her. 

“Wait! Don’t touch it! It’s fragile! You don’t need to worry about it.” Said Sweetie Belle who was sweating up a storm.

“Yeah, we’re going to wrap it and take it inside, so don’t worry and just go enjoy the party!” said Scootaloo.

Apple Jack was slightly puzzled and a tad bit suspicious of the Crusaders and their gift that was being so tightly kept under wraps. A question entered her mind, “Why are these two fillies trying so hard to hide what their present is, when everypony at the party is going to see what it is when Granny unwraps it?” Apple Jack thought that but then again using logic she deduced that the two silly fillies wanted Granny Smith to be the first to find out what it is.

“Oh, all right if it means that much to you two then just go ahead and wrap it and come inside.” Said Applejack.

The two fillies breathed a sigh of relief, knowing that they could keep up their act just a bit longer, but they were still in a tense situation and they were far from out of the woods, they hadn’t hidden the body nor have they gotten rid of the murder weapon and so they could still be executed if they were caught sneaking a body out of a party, especially if Apple Jack and Rainbow Dash was expecting the body disguised as a present to be there. 

Scootaloo was kicking herself for coming up with the lie that the body was a present for their victim, they couldn’t put it with the rest of the presents because then they would have no opportunity to take it and dispose of it without arousing major suspicion.

“Well, I’m off to look for the guest of honour! Don’t start partying too hard okay Squirt?” said Rainbow Dash tussling Scootaloo’s mane “Because the party doesn’t start until the Dash hits the dancefloor!” Scootaloo could only smile meekly as she said “Good luck Rainbow Dash! I know you’ll find her!” Scootaloo hated herself for telling that lie because she knew full well that no matter how hard Rainbow Dash searched, Granny Smith wasn’t going to be found, if anything Rainbow Dash was flying away from what she was looking for. Rainbow Dash spread her wings, took off and flew away, disappearing into the night sky with a multi-chromatic trail following her into the hazy darkness.

Apple Jack silently went inside Sugarcube Corner, entering the brightly lit bakery and restaurant, they could hear Pinkie Pie greeting Apple Jack from the inside and Apple Jack making some sort of response, but she was speaking too quietly to understand exactly what was being said.

Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo knew it was now or never, they made their way to the back, to find a place to hide the body of the guest of honour.

As they were making their way to the back, a sharp gust of wind blew the sheet out from over Granny Smith’s cadaver.

“Oh no! The sheet!” said Sweetie Belle.

Scootaloo tried to jump out and catch it but she was a hair too late, she was able to touch it slightly before an updraft sent it sailing away, drifting into parts unknown as it disappeared from their sight.

The two fillies hurried even faster to the back entrance, the situation got even more desperate, they have nothing to cover the body with, no time to get something else and they are stuck in a crowded area, so their fates will rest on the hiding place that they find, just until they can regroup.

Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo entered through the back door, they were in the kitchen and it was a junction point in Sugarcube Corner that led to many rooms, the stairs led to the Cakes and their living quarters, and the rooms of their twins Pound and Pumpkin which is a terrible place to hide a body, another room led to the boiler room, which constantly needed fixing at all times so hiding the body there was a bad idea, there were two other rooms, the supply closet and the freezer.

Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle stopped for an instant to think, no matter which room they hid the body in, there was the off chance that one of the cakes would need something from either room and they would discover the body.

Scootaloo asked Sweetie Belle “Well?! Closet or Freezer?!”

Sweetie Belle thought about it, she looked left to the closet and then turned right to the freezer, her line of sight darted in between two rooms, both of them not a great place to hide a dead pony but it was all they had, she just threw caution to the wind and said “Freezer… hide her in the freezer!”

Scootaloo opened the surprisingly unlocked freezer and looked for something else she could use to cover the body in case the Cakes came snooping around, but to their utter distress, they once again found nothing they can use. Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo knew that leaving the body completely exposed was a bad idea but their only other option was for the body to be found and for them to taste the Spell of Ultimate Punishment.

The two crusaders had one last scheme just in case, they took Granny Smith out of their wagon and threw the wagon away in the dumpster outside, they couldn’t do the same with the shovel, it could be found if the body was discovered and it would be identified as the murder weapon and so they hid the shovel underneath the racks holding the frozen pastries, all they could do was hope for the best and pray that nopony goes into the freezer tonight.

The two ponies left the room and the party and their downfall was about to come to being.

“Hey girls.” Said a cheerful voice, the two fillies saw Pinkie Pie. The pink earth pony was smiling pleasantly at them, happy to see them at this party.

“Hey Pinkie” said the two fillies together.

“Are you ready to throw down and celebrate?!” said the pink mare bursting with energy as usual. “Apple Jack told me that Granny Smith’s hearing is going and so I gotta play my party music super duper loud or she won’t hear it, so I’m just warning you to cover your ears beforehand!”

Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo weren’t really listening, they were too nervous about the body being found, Pinkie was going on about something and the two of them just nodded and said yes to whatever the buck she was talking about.

“That sounds great Pinkie.” Said Scootaloo.

“Okey dokey lokey! Milkshakes it is!” said Pinkie. “I’m going to the freezer to get some ice cream, I’ll make some shakes in a jiffy!” 

Sweetie Belle gasped while Scootaloo quickly tried to make her stop “Wait! Pinkie Pie! We don’t want milkshakes!”

“What?! I thought you two loved milkshakes?” said a puzzled Pinkie, “You two come and get some with Apple Bloom almost every day”.

“Well…” said Sweetie Belle trying to come up with some sort of excuse for why they don’t want milkshakes. “This is a party, and we want something special and certainly something not cold… or something that you can get from the freezer! Something like…” she said as she looked through the glass casings “Cookies! Lots and Lots of Cookies!”

“Um, Ok, I guess” said Pinkie Pie, a little confused as to their sudden decision to change their minds, “Sure… you girls can have some cookies.” Pinkie Pie felt troubled as she thought deeper into this, nopony has ever turned down one of her famous milkshakes in quite a while, the last guy was lactose intolerant and had an excuse. These fillies loved her milkshakes. Pinkie Pie thought about it, “Didn’t they say something about the freezer?” she thought to herself but then she remembered that she was going to have fun at the party and her suspicion immediately died down.

She took out a large tray full of assorted cookies and motioned for the two ponies to take their pick.

Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle took their cookies and got back to the party, they each took a cautionary bite and breathed a sigh of relief, if Pinkie Pie wasn’t so energetic and simple-minded they would have been in some real danger.

The two fillies were brought up and out of their relief when Rarity arrived, she had something floating up alongside her, suspended in the air with her magic.

“Sister! How nice of you to show up for Granny Smith’s party!” said Rarity to Sweetie Belle.

“Oh, well thanks! What have you got there Rarity?”

“What this? It’s an ice sculpture of a swan,” she said as she revealed the dazzling shape of the ice sculpture that she had brought to the party. “It’s going to be put on display at that ice sculpting event you’re going to tomorrow and I got Mr. Cake’s permission to keep it in the freezer until tomorrow morning.” Said Rarity as she made her way to the back room with the sculpture.

Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo were dumbfounded, they couldn’t believe their awful luck. This time Scootaloo was the one to stop the body from being found. “Hey Rarity! Can you wait a second?!” 

“Whatever it is can it wait until I put the sculpture in the freezer?” Rarity inquired.

“No! Absolutely not!” screamed Sweetie Belle. 

Rarity was frozen in shock from Sweetie Belle’s sudden burst of screaming and she almost dropped the sculpture because it was so jarring. She quickly and elegantly regained her composure and asked “Sweetie Belle, what’s gotten into you?!” 

Scootaloo answered for her “You see, we don’t want you struggling with that thing, we can just put in the freezer for you.”

Rarity chuckled for a second and then replied with “That’s really sweet of you girls, but it’s not that heavy for me, I can do it myself, but I do appreciate the gesture.”

Sweetie Belle wasn’t going to get caught because of a stupid frozen swan, “Rarity I insist that we put the sculpture in for you, you go to the party right now and you socialize darn it! Me and Scootaloo can handle this!” said Sweetie Belle with maximum levels of assertion.

Rarity was confused at her sister’s rather aggressive desire to be helpful all of a sudden, she eyed the freezer door with a suspicious glance, was there something about the freezer that they didn’t want her to see? But on the other hand, Rarity was feeling awful peckish from hauling the sculpture over here and so she relented and let Sweetie Belle do the deed.

As Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle carried the sculpture into the freezer, they set the statue down in front of the body, hoping that it will obscure the sight of Granny Smith’s corpse should someone come inside… but the sculpture wasn’t big enough to obscure anypony’s line of sight from catching the sight of Granny Smith’s body. The two of them sighed and shut that freezer tight.

The guests were starting to pour in, the two fillies were starting to get even more nervous, if any of them ordered a milkshake than that would be the end of them, if the freezer was disturbed in anyway, than their death warrants have officially been signed.

The next guest was Twilight Sparkle, the alicorn princess entered through the door and said “Sorry I’m late, Spike had an episode… He was struggling with hallucinations and I had to convince him that he didn’t have scorpions on his body”.

“Oh, poor Spikey-wikey” said Rarity, “Is he doing all right?”

“I think so, the hallucinations are over, he was sleeping the last time I saw him.”

Rarity was thinking about Spike’s situation when Twilight asked her a question “Hey Rarity… Do you have any idea what a “Stormtrooper” is? Spike kept insisting I was one of them or something.”

“Isn’t that the name of Cloudsdale’s militia?” inquired Rarity.

“No Rarity, you’re thinking of Stormbreakers.” Said Twilight.

“Then no, can’t say that I have darling, it’s probably something that came to him while he was having his episode.”

Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo turned away from that conversation when they heard a small “thump” coming from the back room. Both of the fillies stopped in their tracks, Did they get caught already?

They didn’t hear a scream, a fainting sound, anything, the doors were still closed as they stared at the room, they waited a minute, no noise, two minutes, five minutes and nothing. 

“What was that?” said Scootaloo who was panicking as she whispered to Sweetie Belle “Did somepony disturb the body?”

“Maybe the ice sculpture fell on it?” said Sweetie Belle who was just as disturbed as Scootaloo was.

“Or maybe we’re just hearing things.” Said Scootaloo, “I hope this party doesn’t go on too long, we have to get rid of that body.”

Sweetie Belle nodded in approval, they couldn’t stop and enjoy the party, they had to be on high alert, they had to do anything to stop somepony from opening the freezer door and discovering the corpse of Granny Smith inside. They spent the next half hour standing around, listening in, ever vigilant for some sign that a guest wanted something from the freezer or wanted to check on the freezer.

Their recon was interrupted when Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle bumped into Twilight, “Oh, sorry about that…” said Scootaloo as she picked herself up off the floor.

“Don’t worry about it, Scootaloo, just be more careful next time.” Smiled Twilight.

“So how are you two fillies doing, have you come up with any ideas to get your cutie marks?” said Twilight trying to start a conversation.

“Oh! Well…” said Sweetie Belle, she was so caught up in her crisis that she forgot exactly what it was that she was going to do tomorrow to get her mark. “Uh… we were going to go…” Sweetie Belle strained her head, she was too worried about the body being found to remember.

Scootaloo tried to remember as well “Uh, I think it had something to do with ice?” she said to Sweetie Belle trying to use that to jog her memory.

“Oh, that sounds interesting, speaking of ice, I would like some for my sparkling water.” Said Twilight, “I’ll be in the freezer for a minute and hopefully by then you’ll remember.”

In one swift motion, Scootaloo ripped the glass of sparkling water out of Twilight’s magic without a single word and rushed to the freezer, opened the door, saw the ice swan which jogged her memory, put some ice into Twilight’s sparkling water and rushed back out, slammed the door and shoved it in Twilight’s face.

“Here’s your water, I put some ice in it for you and now I remember, it was ice sculpting wasn’t it Sweetie Belle!?” said Scootaloo talking as fast as her tongue would allow. 

“Yeah, we were going to get our cutie marks for ice sculpting, they’re going to be the most beautiful ice sculptures you have ever seen, is it hot in here? Well, thanks Twilight, we’re going to get some fresh air, see you later bye!” said Sweetie Belle talking just as fast.

With that the two crusaders bolted from Twilight’s sight and ran off to the door as fast as possible.

Twilight stared in shock, wondering if Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo got some kind of contact high from being around the crazy bush that messed Spike up. She also found the freezer to be suspicious but she was too focused on Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo’s antics to notice.

“Why the buck does everypony want to use the freezer!?” said Sweetie Belle, exasperated and sweating up a storm, “This is the third time that somepony almost found out everything.”

“Darn it!” said Scootaloo, frustrated and angry, “We should have hid the body in the closet!”

“Yeah, we should have hid it in the closet, we’ll never get out of the clear like this and even worse, now three ponies are getting suspicious of us!” said Sweetie Belle. 

“Yeah, Twilight, Rarity and Pinkie Pie” said Scootaloo, “Make that five, even Rainbow Dash and Apple Jack looked at us funny during the carriage ride.”

The two fillies went inside and continued their talk in secret “Look, here’s what we have to do, we have to take the body out of here now! While everypony is here at the party, we can find something else to cover the body and we can get rid of it even better in the middle of the night when everypony is asleep.” Said Scootaloo.

“That’s a stupid idea! We’ll get caught for sure!” said Sweetie Belle.

“Well we won’t get caught if we do this…”

Their conversation was interrupted by a slamming sound from the back, the two fillies stopped dead in their tracks and they turned around, only to see the freezer door was still shut. It was undisturbed but it sounded like somepony had opened the door and closed it.

Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo froze again, the jig might be up but more time passed and nothing happened. 

“Why does it keep doing that!?” said Scootaloo, incredulously.

“I don’t know, but we have to watch that door, we can’t let anypony find the body!” said Sweetie Belle.

Elsewhere Twilight was staring at the two fillies from across the room, they were usually so happy and filled with energy and life, and now here they are shivering like leaves and being all spastic, something about this is wrong thought Twilight as she eyed them, she needed some answers to what’s going on.

Twilight came up to Rarity and Pinkie Pie, who were talking about recent events and other things with Apple Jack, Twilight came up to them with a question.

“Hey, have you guys noticed something a bit strange about Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle?”

“My sister?!” said Rarity, “Why do you ask?”

“Well because they’ve been acting really weird when I was talking to them earlier, I told them that I was leaving to get some ice and they just took my drink from me and gave it back to me.”

“Hey, that reminds me of when I asked them for milkshakes, they said yes, and when I told them I was going to the freezer to get some ice cream, they just suddenly wanted cookies!” said Pinkie Pie, “How weird is that?” said Pinkie Pie noticing a tangential connection.

“Now that you mentioned it Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo were insistent that they take my ice sculpture to the freezer for me, in fact they seemed a little too adamant to do it for me…” pondered Rarity.

Apple Jack was taking this all in when a thought came to her too, “Actually, I found them in the cemetery a while back with Rainbow Dash. Hey Rarity, does Sweetie Belle know anypony that’s uh… no longer with us?”

“No, not to my knowledge, the only dead ponies I know are Great Grandmummy and Great Grandfather, and they passed before Sweetie Belle was born, not to mention that they were buried in Canterlot.” 

“I see,” said Apple Jack. “Well they were also reacting strongly to their gift that they brought for Granny Smith, they wouldn’t let anypony touch it or look at it, and come to think of it, has anypony seen them with their gift?”

All four mares thought about it until Pinkie broke the silence, “I’ve been keeping track of the presents for a while and I didn’t see Scootaloo or Sweetie Belle put a gift in the present pile.

“I wonder, is that what’s in the freezer?” said Twilight.

“Why the hay would they put their gift to Granny Smith in the freezer?” said Apple Jack.

“I don’t know but that would explain why they didn’t want anypony to go there.” Said Twilight.

“This is too weird, what are those fillies thinking?” said Pinkie Pie who stole a glance at the freaked out fillies who were eyeing everybody from the party at once.

“Maybe we should ask them what’s going on, they look pretty troubled.” Said Rarity.

The other three Elements of Harmony obliged and were about to make their way to the two fillies when Rainbow Dash entered Sugarcube Corner along with Apple Bloom and Fluttershy.

“We have a huge problem!” said Rainbow Dash, who was out of breath.

“What is it, Rainbow, what’s got up your boots?” said Apple Jack.

“The three of us looked everywhere but we couldn’t find Granny Smith!” said Rainbow Dash.

“WHAT!?” said all four mares in shock.

“That’s right, we looked everywhere, and I couldn’t find her, I searched all of Ponyville and I couldn’t find her anywhere!” said Rainbow Dash.

“Are you sure you didn’t just miss her?” said Twilight.

“No! I looked all over the place, I was flying up and down, screaming her name and I looked through every window in town… I found nothing!” said Rainbow Dash.

“You really didn’t find her?” said Rarity.

“Yes!” said Fluttershy. “Me and my animal friends searched the Everfree and we couldn’t find so much as a scent we could follow! I don’t know what happened, where did she go!?”

“I didn’t find her either, I searched all over Sweet Apple Acres, I didn’t see hide nor hair of Granny!” said Apple Bloom. “I even looked in the clubhouse, all I found there was that our wagon was missing and Scootaloo’s chocolate was gone.”

“What in tarnation?! Said Apple Jack, her mind was racing, she knew that Granny Smith had a tendency of wandering off but she would never wander outside of Ponyville’s borders. Apparently entrusting Granny Smith to the crusaders was a bad idea.

“What now?!” said Rainbow Dash.

“Well, all we can do is ask the last two fillies that saw her before she disappeared,” said Twilight to the worried group.

“You don’t mean… Scootaloo and Sweepy Belle?! Why?!” said Rainbow Dash.

“I think the two of them know more than they’re letting on…” said Twilight. “Come on girls, let’s go find the truth!”

The party was in full swing, it wasn’t even a quarter over and Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle wanted nothing more than to get the buck out of there. When they weren’t watching and observing the guests and staff, they were watching the clock and hoping that midnight will come and the party will be over but alas the clock still read 8:21 and for the two exhausted Crusaders, it was the longest 8:21 in their entire lives.

They were worried, stuck… in a very unfavourable situation, they had never been more alert than here on this day, but because they were so alert on everypony else, they didn’t notice the six mares and the other third of the Cutie Mark Crusaders sneaking up behind them.
“Girls” said Apple Jack trying to catch their attention.

“Aaaaaaaahhhhhhhh” said Sweetie Belle, intimidated at the large group before them.

“Hey…” said Scootaloo who was trying desperately not to lose her cool even further, “Um, is something the matter” she inquired hoping that nothing was the matter.

“Well, something’s been mighty suspicious with you two as of late, and we want some answers out of you two, that’s all.” Said Apple Jack.

Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo were calm and collected on the outside but on the inside they were screaming in their heads. “That sounds fair” said Sweetie Belle who knees were starting to shiver.

“So where exactly is Granny’s gift? You had it with you when you came here but Pinkie didn’t see you two drop it off.” Said Apple Jack.

“Well…” started Sweetie Belle, trying to think.

“…It’s one of those gifts where it’s obvious what it is if you look at it while it’s wrapped, you know what I’m saying? That’s why we didn’t put in the pile”. Said Scootaloo whose left eye was twitching fiercely.

“All right then, but what were you two doing in the cemetery?” said Rainbow Dash who had a look that clearly didn’t buy Scootaloo’s lie.

“That, well… we… were… paying respects to the many ponies who didn’t live to celebrate their birthdays.” Said Sweetie Belle.

“Why did you do that?” said Fluttershy. 

“And for that matter why was paying respects to strangers more important than looking for the mare that you lost?” piped in Rarity.

“I… uh… well… we’d thought that she wandered off to the cemetery so we looked for her there but then we felt sad for all the dead ponies who couldn’t celebrate their birthdays and we felt sorry for them?” said Scootaloo who told her weakest lie that she ever told to date.

“Uh-huh, yeah, so why then when you lost Granny Smith, your first thought wasn’t to get help?” asked Twilight.

“Why did you get Granny a present when you were separated from her instead of just looking for her?” said Fluttershy.

“Why did you two have a shovel with you?” said Pinkie Pie.

“Why did you put your gift to Granny Smith in the freezer?” asked Rainbow Dash.

“Why did you chase me away instead of letting me help you when I asked you girls to help me out?” asked Apple Bloom.

Overloaded by all the questions that they couldn’t answer and disconsolate as to how close they were coming to being found out, Scootaloo fought back with “Why the buck does this matter? We lost Granny Smith and we’re sorry! My Celestia, we feel awful about what happened, why do you guys have to rub it in our faces?!”

Sweetie Belle was shocked by Scootaloo’s outburst and so was everypony else, there was some awkward staring and finally Fluttershy came to a conclusion.

“Yeah, they are definitely hiding something” the custard colored mare said.

“I think that we should check that there freezer and see just what’s going on” said Apple Jack as the six mares made their way towards the freezer.

The fillies could basically hear Celestia and Luna focusing their horns to cast the fatal spell at that moment there. Both Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle knew that they would never let themselves go to Tartarus, this was their last chance, they had to stop this.

“NO!” said Scootaloo as she blocked the freezer with her body, “Please not that! Anything but that! I’ll do anything you say! Please! Please don’t open the freezer!” Scootaloo was begging on her knees and pleading now, she wanted to live.

Sweetie Belle started to block the freezer door as well, “Stay back!” she said as she levitated a bottle of cider and started swinging it in a semicircle, “None of you move any closer, I’ll take you all out! I will! I’ll do it! None of you come closer!”

The mane six were flabbergasted at this revelation, they were positively terrified and that made it all the more reason for them to know the truth.

“It doesn’t matter what you fillies do, we’re opening this door and that’s final!” said Twilight as she used magic to levitate them away from the door. Fluttershy grabbed the bottle as well, leaving them with no hope and no way out.

Rarity sighed and put her hoof on the handle, “Let’s get this over with so I can get back to the party.” She said with a dissatisfied tone.

Sweetie Belle was desperate, she knew that if her sister or anyone else opened the freezer door, they would find Granny Smith’s body, she was so scared, she knew that murderers in Equestria will be sentenced to death and she just wanted the fear to go away and so she did the only thing she had left that she can do to get out of this situation.

“Scootaloo killed her!” Sweetie Belle blurted out for all to hear while pointing at Scootaloo.

Scootaloo was shocked and appalled that her best friend would throw her under the bus in an attempt to save face. One thing Scootaloo knew was that if she was going down, Sweetie Belle was going with her.

“What?! You can’t pin this whole rap on me!” exclaimed Scootaloo.

“I tried to stop her, but she wouldn’t listen to me” said Sweetie Belle.

Scootaloo wasn’t about to let that comment go unchallenged, “I wouldn’t have thrown the shovel if you hadn’t wrenched it out of my hooves!”

Sweetie Belle retorted with “I wouldn’t have wrenched the shovel out of your hooves if you just let me look at it when I asked you!”

“You were swinging it all over the place! I wasn’t going to give it to you because you were going to hit somepony!”

“Well it’s too late for that isn’t it, Scootaloo? It’s your fault that she’s dead!”

Scootaloo wasn’t done, she still had another card to play “Hiding the body in the freezer was your idea!”

“At least I didn’t give Diamond Tiara a concussion!, You knocked out  eight of her teeth and when she gets out of that closet, she’s going to rip us to pieces!”

“At least I didn’t tear into Silver Spoon! I don’t care if setting tables is a stupid talent! It didn’t give you the right to attack her! And for the hundredth time, she panicked me! It was an accident, you mocked the crud out of her on purpose!

Sweetie Belle was livid now, she fought back with “She was being nosy! Would you rather she found the body?! I had to do what’s necessary because I don’t want to be sentenced to death and executed with lethal magic!”

Scootaloo remembering the consequence of murder, didn’t care anymore, Sweetie Belle can take all the heat for all she cared, as far as she was concerned this was entirely Sweetie Belle’s fault, and if she gets executed for her crime than so be it. Scootaloo attacked with “There wouldn’t be a body to find if you had listened to me when I said no!”

Sweetie flinched at the sudden truth and countered with “I don’t have to take this from an orphan!”

Scootaloo gritted her teeth at that low blow and screamed “I’m not an orphan!”

“You live in an orphanage!”

“Yeah, because my parents work there, they’re caretakers, that’s what they do! Stop calling me an orphan, I told you a hundred times why I live in the orphanage!”

“At least I have a real sister!”

“You leave Rainbow Dash out of this! So what, your sister is real and she doesn’t have any time for you!”

“Ugh! Well, I don’t paint my coat blue and dye my mane, and run around like an idiot screaming I’m Rainbow Dash! Seriously, you have a serious problem!"

Scootaloo, hurt that Sweetie Belle would stoop to revealing embarrassing secrets to win this argument, was fuming with rage, especially because Rainbow Dash was right there listening to the whole thing. Scootaloo wasn’t going to quit, Sweetie Belle had her own secret that she can exploit!

“Well, I don’t steal my sister’s swimsuits and preen in the mirror going I’m Kim Klopdashian, Mwah! Mwah!” Said Scootaloo blowing fake kisses while mimicking what Sweetie Belle did that one time she walked in on her strange habit. Sweetie Belle’s face went red and she stared at the ground all upset.

The other ponies at the party were staring dumbfounded at this argument because they had no idea where this argument was coming from or what the buck is going on. Twilight looked at Rainbow Dash and Rarity with a look that said “What the heck are they talking about” Both of them shrugged because they were just as confused as she was.

Sweetie Belle clammed up and stared with a very very upset frown, she had no comeback to that crack about Kim Klopdashian, and she had had enough of Scootaloo today, she just walked up to her and then to Scootaloo’s shock, she punched her in the stomach and hard. 

Scootaloo was clutching her gut and coughing and sputtering, after a few moments of that, she silently approached Sweetie Belle and decked her as hard as she could with her left hoof.

Sweetie Belle was sent sprawling on the floor, she got up and everypony saw a trickle of blood dripping from her right nostril, she wiped her face and tackled Scootaloo to the ground.

The two fillies were done arguing and their spat had turned into a full on fight, it seemed so long ago but that morning they were the closest of friends and now one simple accident had turned them against each other, but the fear and the guilt that they had in their hearts had made them lash out at each other. They didn’t know any better, Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle were just going through grief. They were so focused on hiding their crime that they never had time to settle the rampant emotions coursing through them and so they were taking out all their sadness, anger and fear entirely on each other. But more than anything they felt sorry, they felt sorry for Apple Bloom, who had lost her grandmother, Scootaloo felt sorry for Diamond Tiara, she hated her but not enough to slam her with a shovel. Sweetie Belle felt sorry as well, she hated Silver Spoon but not enough to insult her way of life. The two fillies continued fighting and years later when they looked back on that day, they knew why they were fighting but they had no idea what they were fighting for.

The two fillies turned into a lightning fast whirlwind of orange and white hooves with streaks of purple, amazingly it was Fluttershy who came to her senses first and realising what was happening, said to her friends, “We gotta stop this!”

Sweetie Belle had Scootaloo pinned to the ground and was about to slam her face with both hooves when she was enveloped in magic, Twilight lifted her off of Scootaloo while Pinkie Pie restrained her.

Scootaloo got up and was about to leap upwards and stick a final blow when she was caught in a rope by the tail and pulled towards AppleJack and Fluttershy who was holding her and stopping her from advancing on her opponent.

The two fillies struggled to get back to their fight, each one believing that the other was a heartless and indifferent murderer who somehow intentionally made the shovel fly and hit Granny Smith in the back of her head. No matter how they tried, the fillies couldn’t budge from their restraints and then Rainbow Dash, looking extremely confused asked the two fillies, “Girls, what in the hay is going on here?!”

Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle realised that their attempts to save themselves from their fate had only pushed them into a deeper hole and they realised they went too far, Scootaloo looked at Sweetie Belle regretfully, and Sweetie Belle mirrored the sentiment. The two fillies knew that they were both responsible for this mess and so they said in unison. “We killed Granny Smith!”

“WHAT?!” this word was said by everypony at once because no one expected them to say that, especially not at a crowded eating establishment full of strangers.

“Sister, what are you talking about?!” said Rarity, who was sweating like a pig, shocked that her little sister, who was still in elementary school, would commit a crime as foul as murder.

Rainbow Dash was also shaken, she knew Scootaloo inside and out and had no idea that she could be capable of ending another pony’s life.

“It was an accident! We didn’t mean to kill her, it just sort of happened!” said Scootaloo.

Sweetie Belle backed up her friend and gave her own testimony, “We were walking around with Granny Smith like we were supposed to and we were going to get our cutie marks in ice sculpting and we found this cool shovel on the ground and it was really well crafted and Scootaloo wouldn’t let me look at it and so we fought over it but it slipped out of our hooves and it…” Sweetie Belle voice cracked while trying to say this but tears came out of her eyes and all that came out was “Oh, Celestia… What have I done?” 

Scootaloo, seeing how her friend couldn’t explain this said, “The shovel flew and I guess it must have smacked her in the back of her head and when we found her she wasn’t breathing, and she wasn’t moving and we knew she was dead and then Diamond Tiara heard us freaking out and I was holding the shovel so when she was about to find the body, It panicked me and I hit her and she fell to the ground and so we tied her up and stuffed her in the maintenance shed at the school but then Silver Spoon was asking questions about where Diamond Tiara was and then I guess Sweetie Belle kind of lost it for a minute there and she was all like “What does your cutie mark mean anyway” and Silver Spoon said it was for setting tables and Sweetie Belle said that was a stupid talent and now that I think about it, it was a stupid talent! Anypony can set a table! And then she ran away crying and Apple Bloom was all like “Have you girls seen Granny Smith?” and…” Scootaloo was also in tears at this point and she wailed “What was I supposed to tell her? Oh yeah, she’s dead and we killed her! We’re going to take her body and bury it in the cemetery! Might as well make the best out of a bad situation and get our cutie marks in gravedigging! No! We couldn’t say that! We said that we lost her and that we were going to find her and so we went to the cemetery and we were about to start digging the hole but you guys found us and we had to take the body with us to the party and we had to listen to your radio and it wouldn’t stop playing songs about murdering and it made us feel awful and when we got there we had to hide her and so we hid her lifeless corpse in the freezer!”

Everypony stood there in total shock, Sweetie Belle was weeping in her hooves and Scootaloo was standing her ground with tears in her eyes, fighting to stay on her feet and doing everything she could to keep from melting down like Sweetie Belle did.

Twilight broke the silence and asked Scootaloo, “So.. you k-killed Granny Smith and you hid her body... Is all this true?”

Yes, yes it is, said Sweetie Belle who got up and stood by her friends side, but it was all my fault, I don’t care if I’m sentenced to death, just please don’t punish Scoots, it wasn’t her fault!

Scootaloo wasn’t about to let her friend suffer for her sin, “No, it was my fault, I deserve to die for what happened! I should have just gave Sweetie Belle the shovel! If I did that, then none of this would have happened!”

The two fillies turned to the Apple Family and said “We are so sorry, Apple Bloom”, they said to their friend, who stared at them sadly with a look of worry. “We’re so sorry”, the two of them crumpled to the floor, buried in their own regrets.

Apple Bloom could only look at her friends with confusion and also great sadness, she hoped that her friends weren’t serious but their tears could never lie to her. Apple Bloom didn’t know what to feel or what to do, she could only stare in shock at Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle feeling scared and something strange, something that felt like betrayal but it also felt like faith, she had faith that her friends didn’t commit the vile deed.

“Is… Is… Granny Smith really… dead?” said Apple Jack, the two guilty and broken fillies could hear a looming fear echoing in Apple Jack’s words, a fear fraught with worry and doubt.

“Yes, she is…” said Scootaloo, staring dejectedly at the ground, accepting that her time in Equestria was about to come to an end.

“Just open the door, get it over with…” said Sweetie Belle, who silently said goodbye to Rarity and Apple Bloom in her heart.

Apple Jack, with a hesitant heart, opened the freezer door, she entered the frozen tomb of her grandmother, she looked around and she found… absolutely nothing, no body and nothing to back up their wild statements, all she found was Rarity’s ice sculpture.

Confused at finding nothing and feeling some relief in what she found or in this case didn’t find, AppleJack asked her sister’s friends, “Is this ya’ll idea of a joke?”

Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo looked at each other carefully and saw that the body had mysteriously vanished from its hiding place, seeing that they could get out of the hole they dug themselves into, Sweetie Belle adjusted to their situation and she said “Uh… Yeah… A joke!”

Scootaloo laughed awkwardly trying to take advantage of this opportunity, “We were trying to get our cutie marks… for… Black humour!” She said, expertly finding a lie that sounds somewhat believable. “Yeah, that’s what that was, we got you!” You should have seen the looks on your faces!”

Everyone was amazed that the two fillies would have the gall to joke about murdering an elderly pony at said elderly pony’s own birthday party and they were too stunned for words until Pinkie Pie, with a look of puzzlement, started to burst out laughing “Oh! I get it! It’s funny because two fillies murdering an old pony is awful! That was quite a joke girls!

Uhhhhhhhhhhhh….. said Sweetie Belle, kind of freaked out at Pinkie’s reaction to their “joke”. “Thank you? We appreciate it right Scootaloo?”

Before Scootaloo could answer, she was interrupted by a sour and bitter voice: “What are you saying? That dern joke was awful! In my day, a joke was something that was funny and well thought out, and most of all appropriate!” Spat a voice that sounded a lot like…

Everypony turned around and saw a green earth pony with a white bun in her mane, covered in dirt, and flecks of ice from being in the freezer for so long, it was Granny Smith! And she was okay!? Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo saw her and they were shaking with disbelief and utter shock at what they were seeing. They saw her dead body crumpled on the ground, and yet there she was on her hooves, alive and in front of them. 

Scootaloo was completely baffled and she exclaimed “How… How the BUCK are you alive!?”

Sweetie Belle echoed her sentiment, “That’s right, we saw you die! We hit you with a shovel!

Granny Smith started to laugh and said “Girly, this isn’t the first time somepony had hit me with a shovel and it certainly won’t be the last either, if there’s one thing you should take from the Apple family it’s that our heads are made to take a beating and last”.

“But when we found you, you weren’t breathing and you weren’t moving or waking up” said Scootaloo, “How do you explain that?!”

Apple Bloom was thinking about this and then she started to giggle, “I got it, you didn’t give her her medication, did you?!

“What?”

“Her Medication, she needs it to stay awake, if she goes too long without it then she’ll pass out and go into a vegetative and death like state, and she won’t wake up for hours” said Apple Bloom.

Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle were speechless, they hadn’t even considered the possibility that Granny Smith was alive, the bloody shovel and the passed out pony kind of made it seem obvious that she was dead.

Apple Bloom went on and she rested her hooves on the shoulders of her fellow crusaders and she said “Listen girls, you could have avoided all this worrying if you talked to me about this from the beginning... you two should've trusted me... I understand exactly why you didn't but... I just want you to know that I would always help the two of you out no matter what, even if you really did commit murder.

"You really mean that?!" said Scootaloo.

"Of course I do!" said Apple Bloom with a smile on her face, Sweetie Belle looked at her with a sorrowful expression as she said "We're so sorry we were so cruel to you Apple Bloom, we thought we ruined your life..."

"I'll always forgive you." said Apple Bloom "And I don't blame you girls for what happened, I mean when I forgot to give Granny her medication the first time it happened, I reacted just like you guys, I really thought that she was dead too!"

“So did I” said AppleJack.

“Eeeyup!” Said Big Mac who had just happened to be listening in.

Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo were trying to process this information and finally Sweetie Belle stammered, “S-so Granny Smith is Alive?!”

Apple Bloom nodded. Scootaloo also had a question, “So, we never killed anypony?” she asked as her heart was filling was hope.

Apple Bloom nodded again.

Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle felt as though a huge weight was lifting from their hearts and their souls, it turns out that they weren’t murderers after all, they were just forgetful at giving the elderly pony the medication she needs to stay awake, and both of them could easily live with that, instead of being a murderer because they knew that nopony would get sentenced to death for nonlethal negligence at least in Equestria anyway, maybe some light police brutality in some obscure parts of Neighsia but not death.

Rarity also felt relief, she had had quite a scare, but she went up to her sister to comfort her because she knew that Sweetie Belle had endured a very stressful day.

“I’m glad everything worked out Sister, maybe this is a sign that you should never jump to conclusions… but I really think you shouldn’t steal my swimsuits and pretend to be Kim Klopdashian, she’s a shallow skank and you can do much better” said Rarity giving a brutally honest opinion.

Sweetie Belle covered her face in embarrassment and grimaced awkwardly while Scootaloo giggled a bit but then karma came for her as well.

“I’m proud of you Scoots, you were willing to sacrifice yourself for Sweetie Belle, I’m so proud of you little buddy, you just got like 20, no 25% cooler!” Said Rainbow Dash, hearing that come from her personal hero filled Scootaloo with pride and satisfaction but then Rainbow Dash meekly asked, “Um, is there something you need to talk to me about? Because making yourself look like me is pretty creepy, and I have like no idea what to think about that...” “That’s like almost as creepy as you being a killer.”

Scootaloo didn’t dignify that with a response and she now more than ever, wanted to fly away and get the buck out of there, she never cursed herself for being unable to fly any harder than this day, or since because her wings would later go through a massive growth spurt two weeks from now.

The two fillies could finally relax and just enjoy their party with Granny Smith and the two of them were quick to apologise for everything that they put the old mare through while she was passed out in their wagon, from attempting to bury her to stashing her in the freezer to scratching her head with that shovel. Granny Smith forgave all of it and so did everypony else and you know what, the most amazing thing happened… Granny Smith actually did get to know both of the fillies a lot better than she did this morning and they got to know her a bit better too, Scootaloo had a newfound respect for her, especially how she risked her life and waded through a flooded street to rescue Applejack’s future mother when she was Applejack’s age, and Sweetie Belle learned many fascinating things about the Apple Family and its proud history and even its darker history like the blood feud that the Apple Family had with the Blackberry Clan. The party was a smash success and everypony had a great time. While the cutie mark crusaders were a tight-knit and close group of friends, each with their own bonds to each other, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo really connected over the whole experience and they felt closer than ever despite all the bumps in the road that they shared but the whole experience taught them some good things, like how much their friendship really means to each of them and how much Apple Bloom means to them, and how far they were all willing to go to be there for each other. If nothing else, the stressful adventure brought all three of the fillies even closer together, and years later Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo would sit back and laugh at the whole thing, and Granny Smith would look back and laugh at it herself.

The End
> Super Happy Epilogue
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The next few months were filled with surprises. 

The first surprise came when the Cutie Mark Crusaders went Ice sculpting, their antics made the ice sculptures topple like Dominoes and with Scootaloo’s acrobatics and Apple Bloom’s building abilities, they were able to avert the disaster and get their cutie marks at long last. Apple Bloom got a hammer and a paintbrush cutie mark while Scootaloo got a cloud with a purple twister coming out of it, Scootaloo especially loved how similar it was to Rainbow Dash’s.

The next surprise came two days later when Diamond Tiara recovered from her run in with the shovel, apparently her meanness gland in her brain's emotional core was dangerously swollen and it was in danger of bursting and fatally damaging Diamond Tiara’s brain, the doctors and even Filthy Rich of all ponies commended Scootaloo for hitting her with a shovel because if her head wasn’t examined, they would have never have found the problem and she would have certainly died. With the operation a success, Diamond Tiara’s meanness gland was replaced with a much smaller and a much more stable meanness gland. She isn’t nearly as cruel as before, not nice per se but all around more pleasant and even a little bit happier as well, although her smile is a little bit messed up, considering how all her missing teeth were replaced by gold prosthetics.

Silver Spoon came up the day after Diamond Tiara’s recovery and gave Sweetie Belle a big hug, thanks to her blowing up in Silver Spoon’s face, she finally managed to confront her embarrassment of her special talent and she even managed to find a way to take pride in her ability to set tables, and she can even use her ability to set up a nice dinner for her new friends, and Sweetie Belle was shocked, because it was a pretty damn well set table they sat at.

Scootaloo had the aforementioned growth spurt in her wings a couple of weeks later and she is making great strides in her flying practice, she can now get herself off the ground and she can fly pretty well now and almost as fast as Rainbow Dash… landing gracefully without tripping and falling on her face? She’s still working on that…

Sweetie Belle got her cutie mark several days after the crusaders went ice sculpting, the fear of getting caught for murder made her own fears seem so inconsequential and so she finally faced her stage fright and sang for the winter festival’s contest and after her encore performance following the award ceremony, she found a brand new cutie mark of a silver bell wrapped in ribbons waiting for her.

Granny Smith would get hit by shovels 17 more times and 12 out of those 17 hits didn’t even make her flinch. She would be a stubborn old mule and she lived for so long that even Apple Bloom herself was old and ancient before she passed away peacefully in her sleep.

Spike made a vow never to use his fire to get rid of hedges outside of Twilight’s castle ever again, and to leave strange bushes alone, the downside is that he now has a crippling fear of scorpions but he was already afraid of them to begin with so it wasn’t a big loss.

Octavia never did find out what a Decepticon was, and frankly she didn’t want to know.

Vinyl Scratch’s overdose gave her the push she needed to finally quit smoking weed as she was apparently doing it long before the incident, she cleaned up, found the Creator and is now a pastor at Ponyville Church on top of her DJ job. She now makes religious hymns, which are performed using sick beats and her trademark wubs.

Lyra and Bonbon had nothing to do with this story and they wanted to stop by and tell everyone reading this that they said hi.

Derpy Hooves has overthrown Queen Chrysalis and is now the ruler of all Changelings, they have found out that muffins are much more sustaining than love and they have provided great business to Sugarcube Corner.

Using the money gathered up from the Changelings, Pinkie Pie and the Cakes were able to make some much needed renovations to Sugarcube Corner, and they finally got a lock for their freezer because they don’t want any more murderous fillies hiding bodies in their establishment. Pinkie Pie has since given up trying to convince the Cakes that Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle aren’t vicious killers.

Twilight Sparkle got herself a new radio and is a huge fan of GLOO, she listens to death metal through her headset in the middle of the night when she thinks that Spike is sleeping but if you asked her she would deny it like there’s no tomorrow.

Rarity started a lucrative deal with Ponyville’s insane asylum when she managed to make the world’s first designer straightjacket. She’s now making a killing selling her wares to prisons everywhere.

Apple Jack found a new medication that Granny Smith can take to stay awake, and it even comes in a pill form rather than liquid and even though Granny Smith still hates it, by crushing it up, Apple Jack can find lots of ways to trick Granny Smith into ingesting her medicine, and this time she can do it without Granny Smith even noticing which leads to no complaints and less headaches.

Apple Bloom met a small colt named Bucky at the Hearth’s Warming Eve party and they shared a kiss under the mistletoe, they went steady for a while and 12 years later they are now engaged to be married.

Discord eventually started Equestria’s hottest new game show. “The Thirst Games” where ponies are thrown into the desert and engage in a 75 mile hoofrace to get to the oasis first with some humorously diabolical traps set by the draconequus along the way to make the game interesting, it’s got some amazing ratings… and some amazing lawsuits.

Princess Celestia and Princess Luna discontinued the use of the Spell of Ultimate Punishment when they heard about Scootaloo’s and Sweetie Belle’s story through their letter and so now they punish murderers by forcing them to be contestants in Discord’s dangerous game show.

Maud Pie’s shovel was found by her sister and returned to her intact, she can finally use it to dig for rocks again. She was very upset about scraping the dried blood stains off of it though, sometimes she like everypony else wonders what is going through Pinkie Pie’s head.

Thanks to Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle’s helpful advice, Trixie finally sought therapy for the incident that happened 12 years ago. Now with a new sense of purpose, she goes around performing magic and giving helpful life lessons to troubled foals who need a voice to listen to them and a guiding hoof to get them through their pain.

SlicingShulk is still pretty damn stoked about the upcoming release of the upcoming Xenoblade Chronicles X, that game looks amazing.

Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash will return in Star Wars Episode 8 where they make a hilarious cameo.

The End (For real this time)