Cutie Marks At Last

Chapters

Another School Day
Preparing A Big Surprise
Time For Revenge
Same World, New Perspective
The Ultimate Choice

Another School Day

"So, girls, we've done just about EVERYTHING on our list... and still no cutie marks!" Apple Bloom threw the long list to the ground. A few foals running past stomped on the list, rendering it unreadable.

Scootaloo picked at her hooves. "I wish recess lasted longer so we could do more brainstorming... have we tried alligator wrestling?"

Sweetie Belle shook her head. "Rarity said if she ever caught me trying to wrestle alligators, I'd be banned from leaving the boutique for a month, not even for school."

"You do know she's lying, right?"

"Yeah, but Rarity can be so overprotective... not like Mom and Dad are any better, but still."

"Guys, FOCUS!" Apple Bloom stamped her hoof. "We need our cutie marks, and soon! I don' wanna be a blank flank forever!"

"Too bad you probably will be, loser!" The voice all foals had come to dread came from behind the group of fillies. Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon stepped forward, as if they needed to be closer to the ponies to maximize the bullying effect.

"Not this again..." Scootaloo groaned. Sweetie Belle bit her lip and looked at the other crusaders.

"Diamond Tiara, we aren't botherin' you! Why don't you go... stick your head in a hole, or somethin'? Go somewhere where you won't bother ponies!"

Sweetie Belle giggled. "Yeah! Like... um... where would that be?"

"I dunno. Maybe... the dump?" Scootaloo suggested.

"You mean back where they came from?" The crusaders all giggled.

"HEY! Shut UP, you big babies!" Diamond Tiara stamped her hoof. "You're just jealous that YOU don't have your marks yet!"

"Yeah, you KNOW we're better than you guys are!" Silver Spoon sneered at the fillies.

"No, you're not! We aren't mean old bullies like you!" Scootaloo sneered right back as she spoke.

Cherilee stuck her head out the school door. "Children! Recess is over now! Come inside!"

The two groups made faces at each other, then trotted inside obediently along with the others. As they took their seats, the tension still hung thick in the air, even though nopony besides the fillies involved could really tell. They didn't even have to look at each other; they all knew what was to come when class was over.

"Now, class, today we're going to study history." Cherilee's joyful announcement was met with disappointed groans from around the room. "Class, today we're learning about how kingdoms and royalty would get revenge on one another for wrongdoings and how they would punish subjects. Now, as I mentioned yesterday, this lesson will be a bit graphic. I trust you all remembered you permission slips." From some parts of the class, even louder groans were emitted. The rest of the class burst into cheering and trotted to the front of the class, waving slips of paper.

Sweetie Belle, Apple Bloom, and Scootaloo quickly met up with each other. "I've been so excited for this lesson! I forgot it was today! Good thing I had it signed the day we got it!" Sweetie Belle was beaming.

"Yeah! I bet it'll be awesome!" Scootaloo was every bit as excited.

Apple Bloom thought for a moment, then gasped in excitement. "Guys! I know this sounds crazy, but... what if we get our marks for revenge or something?"

Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo simply stared at each other for a moment. "Not very likely..."

"Yeah, I know." Apple Bloom sighed and trudged up as the line moved forward. Cherilee took their permission slips.

Cherilee looked over the slips. "All right... Featherweight, Sunny Daze, Cotton Cloudy, Lickety Split, Rumble, and Tootsie Flute, I'm afraid you cannot be here for today's lesson. Instead..." she passed out worksheets to the foals she had mentioned. "Go down to the printing room for the newspaper and work on the math worksheets I passed out. And don't touch any of the equipment."

The foals trudged out of the room, some grumbling. Cotton Cloudy seemed especially angry. "But I DID bring it, I really did! It couldn't have just disappeared..."

Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon exchanged looks. Diamond Tiara held up a slip of paper. Apple Bloom looked over and recognized it immediately: It was Cotton Cloudy's permission slip.

Apple Bloom threw little bits of paper at the other crusaders. and hissed, "Look!"

Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo saw the paper just before Diamond Tiara put it back in her desk. The crusaders all exchanged looks.

Cherilee started the lesson as soon as all the foals who didn't bring their slips to her had left the room. "Now, let's begin with some things a pony could do to get them in trouble. Take out a piece of paper and we'll list those things out."

Apple Bloom took out a piece of paper and wrote down everything Cherilee listed. "If you spoke badly against the ruler, which was only during a short period a long time ago; if you stole; if you killed somepony without a good reason, and the death wasn't thought of as an accident; even refusing to work for the ruler could get in you in trouble, depending on when you lived."

Apple Bloom's head was practically spinning. Diamond Tiara suddenly yelled, "Get to the good stuff!" The entire class laughed. Even Apple Bloom couldn't resist giggling a bit.

Cherilee rolled her eyes. "Diamond Tiara, if you don't keep quiet, you'll join some of the other students in the printing room. Would you like to go there instead?"

Diamond Tiara slunk down into her desk. "No, ma'am," she said, barely loud enough to hear.

"Very good. Now, get out another piece of paper, and we'll try to think of some other things that could get you in trouble." There were groans from all around the class. It seemed that everypony agreed with Diamond Tiara's train of thought.

After many more lists of how to get in trouble, Cherilee sighed and picked up a few different books, putting them on her desk. "Now, class, I'm about to read some passages from a book that describes many old methods of punishment. They're very, VERY graphic in some cases, so if you ever feel disgusted or sick, pick up one of the worksheets and go to the printing room."

"Oh, yeah right," Diamond Tiara muttered loud enough for the class to hear. Her remark was met by a few giggles.

Cherilee rolled her eyes. "Diamond Tiara, next time you do that, you're going to the printing room."

"Yes, ma'am..." Diamond Tiara sighed.

"Now, one method of punishment for speaking out against Princess Platinum- and let me remind you, children, this was very, VERY long ago, even before Celestia's reign- was that the accused pony would have their body stretched out, then their stomach torn open, emptied, filled with hot coals, and sewn back up."

There were some gasps, laughs, and even a few retching noises.

Apple Bloom thought for a moment. That sounded horrible. She waved her hoof in the air. "Ms. Cherilee?"

"Yes, Apple Bloom?"

"Did they kill the pony first, or were they alive during the punishment? 'Cause then that would probably really, REALLY hurt..."

"Well, no DUH!" Diamond Tiara rolled her eyes and laughed at Apple Bloom. "Your brain is as blank as your flank!"

Silver Spoon laughed just as hard. "I didn't even know she had a brain!"

Cherilee's voice was sharp. "Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon! Both of you can go to the printing room... NOW!"

The two fillies took the worksheets and trotted away, grumbling something about unfairness. Apple Bloom felt like it was now easier to concentrate on Cherilee's words.

Cherilee watched the girls go, then went back to the book. "Also, it says... ugh, I'm not sure if I even want to read this..."

Scootaloo put her hoof in the air. "I can read it for you, ma'am!"

"Well... alright..." Cherilee gave the book to Scootaloo and pointed to the passage she was supposed to read. "Don't be as graphic as the book..." She trotted back to her desk up front.

Scootaloo scanned the passage, then as if ignoring what the teacher had said, she read directly out of the book. "Whoa... 'If you offended Commander Hurricane, you were sentenced to have every one of your feathers plucked out, or if you were a unicorn, your horn slowly sawed off, or if an Earth pony, then your mane was plucked out strand by strand. Most who were punished were obviously pegasi, as subspecies didn't see the other subspecies as much back in those times.

" 'For a pegasus' punishment, it didn't end with your feathers being plucked from your wings, your wings were also sawn off, and you were dropped in some remote location, left to starve or die, and often they would purposely find a wild animal and unleash it on said pony, to make sure they die a violent and brutal death for speaking against their leader. Every now and then they checked the general are if the pony's dead carcass wasn't found, then they took the body, cut off the head, and posted it on columns as an example to all others. This was done to Earth ponies and Unicorns as well, although without the wing-cutting-off part.' Ms. Cherilee, are you SURE we're allowed to read this stuff?"

The entire class stared at Scootaloo blankly. Even Cherilee was stunned. "Er, Scootaloo, I don't think you quite heard me when I said not to be as graphic as the book."

Scootaloo blushed. "Oops..."

Preparing A Big Surprise

Finally the graphic lesson was over. So was the school day. Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo, and Apple Bloom all rushed out to meet each other and talk about what they had learned.

"That was really awesome! I can't believe that stuff actually happened!" Sweetie Belle was beaming as if she had gotten a little baby kitten.

"Yeah! You... probably shouldn't tell Rarity about it, though." Scootaloo shuffled her hooves.

Apple Bloom was about to say something when she was pushed into a mud puddle. Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon burst out laughing. "Watch it, you clumsy oaf!"

Apple Bloom lifted her face from the mud, then jumped up and started yelling. "Both of y'all are just cowards! It takes two of you to push one pony! No self-respectin' pony would EVER act like either of YOU meanies!"

Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon just cackled and trotted off. Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo rushed to Apple Bloom's side. "Apple Bloom, are you okay?"

"I'm fine! But they need to be taught a lesson! Like back in the really old times where..." Apple Bloom's voice trailed off. She didn't need to finish her sentence. The same idea had already sprouted and was growing quickly.

Sweetie Belle smiled. "C'mon, you guys, let's go to the clubhouse." The crusaders all galloped there. Sweetie Belle slammed the door behind everypony.

"So, what will we do to them first?" Apple Bloom was the first to start. All the crusaders knew what the subject topic would be.

"Well, we need to get some sort of torture chamber ready first, right? How about the old basement by the clubhouse?"

"Great idea, Scoots!" Sweetie Belle hoofbumped Scootaloo.

"Come on, let's go down there!" They all trotted to behind the clubhouse and down a little cellar door. It was a large room, with dusty grey walls, a rectangular table about as big as two full-grown ponies, a single light bulb hanging from the ceiling, and cobwebs everywhere. Apple Bloom began to dust away some of the cobwebs while Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle poked around the room.

"Well, I think we should get a plan or something..." Scootaloo's sentence trailed off as she began thinking. "We need to get them down here, first of all, but they probably won't come down just because they feel like it..."

"Leave that to me!" Apple Bloom smiled confidently. "I can find SOME way to get them down here!"

"Ooo! Ooo! Can I, um, gather some of the equipment we'll need? For, you know, revenge?" Sweetie Belle's eyes were sparkling.

"Okay! Now, what do I do?... Oh! I can find a way to spruce this place up, maybe?... Yeah! I'll do that! See you guys later!" Scootaloo galloped back up and away. Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle left, Apple Bloom heading for Sweet Apple Acres, Sweetie Belle heading for the hospital.

Sweetie Belle trotted into the hospital. The nurse at the desk looked down to her. "Can I help you, sweetie?"

"How did you know my name?" The confused look on the nurse's face immediately set Sweetie Belle straight. "Oops, never mind. Um, could I see the doctor's equipment for surgery? You know, like, scalpels? And knives?"

"Erm... well, the doctor could give you a little tour of what he uses... come with me." The nurse got up and trotted to a room where a doctor and a few nurses seemed to be preparing for surgery.

The doctor glanced at Sweetie Belle. "What do you need?"

"I want to see how you use your knives and stuff to cut ponies open. You know, for, um, surgery!"

"Er... okay, are you sure you want to? You could watch, we're doing a lung transplant for somepony, although the patient could very well die, and it's very gruesome..."

"Oh, I don't mind! I can handle it, definitely!"

"Well..." the doctor thought for a moment. "All right. Go wash your hooves, and we'll give you a mask to wear."

Sweetie Belle squealed in delight and went to wash her hooves. She washed them at least ten times, just to be sure. When she finally found her way back to the room, the patient was in the room, along with the donor lung.

"Did I miss anything?"

The doctor shook his head. "No, we're starting right now. Remember, if you need to, you can always leave."

"I don't think that'll be a problem." Sweetie Belle beamed and watched as they began their work.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sweetie Belle trotted to the basement of the clubhouse, carrying a surgical scalpel from the doctor, along with a warning to be very careful with it and use it only under adult supervision; a pair of scissors from Rarity and a stern warning on being VERY careful; a collection of knives from Pinkie Pie plus a few cupcakes, brownies, and pieces of cake for 'baking inspiration'; a hacksaw she had 'borrowed' from a carpenter.

The lights were off, so Sweetie Belle could barely make anything out. Apple Bloom was there already, holding a platter with some beautifully crafted caramel apples. Sweetie Belle licked her lips. "Wow, those look delicious!"

"It took me a while to think of something, but I finally got the idea after I read some books at Twilight's library about using potions and stuff! They were dusty ones, she said she didn't use 'em much since she rarely had any need to, but they're really interestin'!" Apple Bloom smiled and set the platter down.

Sweetie Belle nodded and looked around. "It's kinda dark in here... could we turn on the light?"

"Way ahead of you!" Scootaloo's voice came out of seemingly nowhere, but when the lone light bulb turned on, you could see that the table had some straps on it, perfect for holding somepony down by their limbs. Scootaloo sat atop it, grinning. "Whaddya think? With Sweetie's supplies here, I can finish getting the room ready, but this is what I've done so far!"

The room was less dusty and painted black, giving an eerie feel of nothingness. There was a small pushcart by the table with many aprons laid on it, some napkins, and a weird purple serum.

Sweetie Belle arranged her items on the pushcart and turned to Scootaloo."What's the purple stuff for?"

"Oh, Apple Bloom made that. It makes it so you can't feel anything. It's a... a... what did you say it was?"

"A numbing potion," Apple Bloom replied proudly.

Scootaloo nodded. "Yeah, that. So we need to come up with a method for what we're gonna do abo-"

The little door above opened. Rarity's voice was clearly heard. "Oh, my, girls, it's so dirty down there! Why, the whole room is black! It's positively disturbing! Sweetie Belle, it's time for dinner! Come on, now! And you'll need to take a bath! What IS all that stuff?..."

The crusaders scrambled to hide any incriminating evidence. Sweetie Belle trotted up, beaming. "Oh, it was nothing! What's for dinner?"

Rarity gasped in horror. "Oh, Sweetie Belle, I never noticed this, but you're bleeding! On your ear!" She swept her little sister into her hooves and cuddled her close. "Oh, you poor thing!"

Sweetie Belle realized she might have been standing too close during the lung surgery and groaned, struggling to get away. "Rarity, it's fine!"

"It's NOT fine! Did you hurt yourself with the scissors? Poor Sweetie Belle, are you sure you're not too badly hurt?"

"Rarity, this isn't even my blo- I mean, yes, I'm fine! It's... just a simple cut!" Sweetie Belle finally broke free and trotted off to Carousel Boutique.

Rarity followed. "What were you girls doing down there?"

"Crusader meeting. We wanted to fix that little place up, because, um, we liked it, and we hoped we could get room decorating cutie marks!"

"Oh, that's so nice! Well, I mean, I can see you haven't gotten them yet, but when you do, know that I'll be proud of you no matter what!"

Sweetie Belle smiled and nodded. Her mind became separated into two sides: one that told her to come clean to Rarity and hope she wouldn't mind, or keep it a secret between the crusaders.

In her mind, though, there was no doubt about getting revenge. The corruption had already grown far too much to ever go back.

Time For Revenge

It was the next day, the day revenge would be had. The school day came and went quickly. Scootaloo barely paid any attention.

"Class is dismissed. Remember to do your homework!" Cherilee began trotting out the door but the flood of foals rushing outside stopped her from moving.

Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle, and Apple Bloom met up. "Do you have the apples?"

"Eeyup." Apple Bloom trotted back inside and took the platter of caramel apples out from her desk.

Sweetie Belle looked at the platter longingly. "Can I try one?..."

Apple Bloom shook her head. "No! You can't!"

"Aw..." Sweetie Belle stared at the ground forlornly.

Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon trotted over, inspecting the caramel apples. "I want one."

"Me too," Silver Spoon chimed.

"You can't have one either!" Apple Bloom started galloping towards the clubhouse. Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo followed.

Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon seemed determined to get what they wanted. They galloped after the crusaders. Finally, the crusaders stopped. Apple Bloom turned around and held the plate out to them. "Fine. Have one."

"It's about time!" Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon each grabbed an apple and took a big bite.

Silver Spoon blinked a few times. "Uh... what'd you DO? These are..."

"DISGUSTING!" Diamond Tiara finished the sentence and fell down, unconscious.

Silver Spoon groaned in distress and tried to trot away, but fell down. "I'm going to tell my parents!"

A mischievous grin that bordered on the line of malicious spread across Apple Bloom's face. "After today, you might not be able to tell anypony anythin'!"

"That... that doesn't make... sense... ugh, my head..." Silver Spoon closed her eyes and slipped into a sound sleep.

"C'mon, girls, we gotta get them down into the... workshop!" Apple Bloom took Diamond Tiara by the mane and dragged her down to the basement. Scootaloo grabbed Silver Spoon by her braid and began to take her into the basement. Sweetie Belle merely followed them.

Scootaloo quickly learned that a sleeping pony is much heavier than she looks, and had a hard time getting her into the basement. Apple Bloom had already managed to strap Diamond Tiara down to the table. Sweetie Belle strained a bit, but using her horn, she lifted Silver Spoon onto the table and strapped her down. She beamed in delight. "Finally, my horn is working!"

"Lucky," Scootaloo muttered. She buzzed her wings, hoping to become airborne, but no luck. "So... how are we gonna... you know..."

"Let's pluck out their manes!" Sweetie Belle had been planning all night.

"Or we could just play it by ear. That'd be fun!"

Scootaloo nodded. "We'll play it by ear. Wake-up serum time!"

Apple Bloom grabbed the serum, opened Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon's mouths, then placed exactly five drops of the serum into their mouths. Diamond Tiara woke up first. It took a moment for her eyes to adjust to the light of the single light bulb. Her eyes stayed over to the pushcart. "What... what are you doing?!"

Silver Spoon woke up at the sound of her friend's shrill voice. "Huh? Ugh, those apples were horrible."

Sweetie Belle took a deep breath, then suddenly grabbed a big hooful of Diamond Tiara's mane. Scootaloo did the same to Silver Spoon. "Go!" At Apple Bloom's command, the two foals jerked back their hooves hard, tearing out the manes and pulling off bits of the scalps. Bloody spots covered the once pretty heads of the bullies.

Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon screamed in pain. While Silver Spoon began hyperventilating, Diamond Tiara began yelling at the Cutie Mark Crusaders. "What is WRONG with you brats?! I am SO telling!"

Apple Bloom shook her head. "Silly girls. You won't be able to tell!"

"And why not?!"

"Well..." Apple Bloom smiled at Sweetie Belle and made a cutting motion with her tongue sticking out. Sweetie Belle nodded, and, using her magic, she picked up the butcher knife and cut their tongues out. Silver Spoon's first, then Diamond Tiara's.

Blood filled the bullies' mouths and began to leak out. Sweetie Belle grinned and put the tools down. Scootaloo thought for a moment. "Can I do something?"

"Sure!" Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle watched as Scootaloo picked up the scalpel and carved something into Silver Spoon's right cheek. When she was done, the cut read 'BULLY'. She did the same to Diamond Tiara. Blood poured down their cheeks, making a mess on Scootaloo and the table. Tears filled their eyes, and they begged for mercy wordlessly.

"Look who's the crybabies now!" Scootaloo grinned wickedly, a type of maliciousness filling her eyes that most ponies would consider the mark of a madpony.

"Hm... one sec, you guys!" Apple Bloom trotted out, them went back in quickly. She grabbed one of the aprons and wiped some of the stray blood off, then went back outside.

Sweetie Belle looked at the sniveling foals, pondering what to do next. Then she got an idea. "Scootaloo, where'd you put the scalpel?"

Scootaloo hoofed her the scalpel. Sweetie Belle used her horn to trace a faint circle around Diamond Tiara's cutie mark, the repeated the motion, going in a little deeper each time until she was at least half an inch deep. At that point, she wiggled the scalpel under the skin and worked her may around until the cutie mark fell from Diamond Tiara's flank, a bloody, oozing gash in its place. The flesh was noticeable, and Sweetie Belle couldn't resist poking it, causing a yell of pain from Diamond Tiara. The blood poured down, causing a puddle of dark red on the floor. Scootaloo did the other side, then repeated with Silver Spoon. Soon she had two pairs of identical cutie marks, the badly beaten ones she tossed away carelessly, the other two she hung upon the wall.

Sweetie Belle smiled. "Good idea! We should do that if we ever do this again!"

"What do you mean by 'if'? I think we all know this will happen again." Scootaloo looked at the blood on her hooves and the crying fillies on the table before her. The streaks of saltwater running down their faces, mingling with blood, was more than enough to satisfy anypony's thirst for revenge. But Scootaloo had changed, and her bloodlust wasn't satisfied.

"I wonder where Apple Bloom is..." As if on cue, Apple Bloom threw open the door, tossed down a big sack, and slammed the cellar door shut.

"Hey, guys! I got some charcoal, and a lighter, and I thought we could..." A wide grin broke out. Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom exchanged glances and nodded.

Apple Bloom picked up a big butcher knife and slowly traced a line down Silver Spoon's stomach, just deep enough to break the skin and make her bleed. Sweetie Belle used her magic to open the bag of charcoal and used the lighter to heat it up, being careful not let it catch on fire. Soon the coals were white hot and just about to explode. Apple Bloom cut deeper, opening Silver Spoon's stomach wide open and spilling the contents open for all to see. Sweetie Belle put some of the hot coals into the cut. Silver Spoon almost fainted from the pain, but it only took one drop of the serum to keep her awake to feel the pain.

Sweetie Belle packed the coals in using her hooves, then began rearranging Silver Spoon's guts. Diamond Tiara watched, shocked, while Silver Spoon cried harder and tried to scream for help. Apple Bloom pushed Sweetie Belle aside, then, using a crude needle and thread, stitched the stomach back up. She didn't do a very good job, and Silver Spoon's coat was covered in blood. Some of her insides peeked out behind the stitches. Apple Bloom moved on to Diamond Tiara. "Let ME do it this time."

Apple Bloom traced the line down again, then worked her way deeper just a little bit at a time. "You've been meaner. So we're being meaner to you." Diamond Tiara just cried and tried to threaten them. Soon Diamond Tiara was split wide open, her guts out in all their glory. Apple Bloom packed the coals in and moved the guts around in a little pattern. She sewed her up, again doing a sloppy job so you could still see the gory insides. In fact, a small part of her intestine was peeking out.

Scootaloo couldn't resist. She grabbed the little intestine and pulled it out until she held the bloody thing in her hooves. Diamond Tiara's tears suddenly stopped flowing. Her breathing became short and shallow. Scootaloo shook her head. "Let's slit their throats now."

Sweetie Belle sighed and used her magic to slit their throats in one quick, clean motion. It was the most merciful thing they had done. As the blood poured down, the breathing of both fillies slowed, and one after the other, stopped.

The crusaders looked at the mess around them. The table and the dead victims were simply covered in blood, almost soaked completely. Scootaloo looked down at her hooves. They were splattered with blood, and so was her chest. In fact, all the crusaders were covered in blood. They began to clean themselves up, using the aprons they had forgotten to wear in the first place to clean the blood off. When they were done, Scootaloo did one final act. She picked up the butcher knife, cut the heads of their victims off, and hung them below the cutie mark carving. Silver Spoon's eyes were wide, frozen in disbelief and horror. Diamond Tiara's mouth was agape, but her eyes were clouded over.

Scootaloo sighed, satisfied with her work, then looked around the blood-drenched floor around her. She noticed something on her flank.

Could it be?

Scootaloo stood up. On both sides of her flank, there was a picture of a mahogany table with a helmet resting on it. The helmet looked just like Scootaloo's, except the normally white stripes were dark red. She gasped. "Girls! Look! No, wait, look at your OWN flanks!"

Apple Bloom looked at hers and saw a picture of a caramel apple, with the dark red bottom peeking out from the caramel layer. Some of the dark red was dripping off. Apple Bloom squealed in happiness.

Sweetie Belle looked at her flank and saw a pair of scissors snipping a light pink sheet of what seemed to be fabric. The line of the cut had red around the edges. She beamed in pure delight.

"We FINALLY have our cutie marks! We don't need to be Cutie Mark Crusaders anymore!" Apple Bloom danced around happily.

Scootaloo grinned. "What should we call ourselves now?"

"Uh... Oh! The Killer Cuties!" Sweetie Belle jumped up and down at the name she had come up with.

"Perfect! Today, we are..."

"THE KILLER CUTIES!" The girls yelled it simultaneously and hoofbumped.

Sweetie Belle looked at the beheaded corpses warily. "Now, about the bodies..."

Scootaloo jumped up. "I have an idea!" She trotted outside, temporarily blinded by the light, then began digging a big hole. Soon it was quite deep. Scootaloo took the bodies, threw them into the hole, and made short work of burying them. Soon the only evidence was the equipment, the bloody room, and the Killer Cuties' memories.

Their new lives of murder had began. It was amazing how bullying had changed their once pure minds.

Same World, New Perspective

Apple Bloom trotted to school, her mind swarming with thoughts. Would anypony notice Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon's disappearances? Would anypony think to blame them if it was noticed? Did Applejack REALLY think her cutie mark was ' amazin', just plain amazin'! '?

Snips and Snails happened to be walking by as she made her way into the schoolhouse, and Apple Bloom bumped into them on her way in. "Excuse me, guys," she said cheerfully.

Snips and Snails looked at her as if she were an alien. "Something seems... different about you." Snips seemed to be deep in thought as he spoke.

"Uh... new haircut?" Snails inspected Apple Bloom's mane.

Apple Bloom rolled her eyes, annoyed. "I got my cutie mark, ya dummies!" She showed them her no longer blank flank.

Snips and Snails stared for a moment. "Wow... hey, where's Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon?"

"Huh? Why should I know? I didn't know they didn't come." Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo greeted their friend.

"Maybe they had to stay home." Sweetie Belle winked at her friends.

"Yeah, they must've gotten... sick. They couldn't handle the lesson."

"But they were barely there for the lesson!" Snips' face became a mixture of confusion and suspicion.

"Uh, yeah, Miss Cherilee sent them to the printing room."

The Killer Cuties exchanged glances and went into the schoolroom as if they hadn't heard a thing. Snips and Snails followed, both clearly suspicious.

Sweetie Belle zapped the obnoxious colts with her magic, causing them to yelp and zip over to their desks before Sweetie Belle could hurt them again. Her voice became a low whisper that only Scootaloo and Apple Bloom could hear, and Apple Bloom had to strain to hear her words. "I think they might become a problem..."

"What's one colt, more or less?" The girls all exchanged glances again and didn't need to speak to know what their next move would be. The corruption had given them a new ability: they could understand each other without a single word being spoken or written.

Through the school day, each foal seemed to be paying attention, eyes glued to the teacher and occasionally a worksheet or a piece of paper they needed to write notes on. But in their heads, each one was coming up with a plan to share.

In Apple Bloom's mind, what they were going to do after school was obvious. But would that be the end of it, or would the murders continue? After all, who receives a special skill and then neglects it for the rest of their life? It'd be such a waste. The obvious idea was to share her talent with ponies. Ponies who provoked her would be the ones to see. No innocent ponies would see her doing her work. It was just something that should be obvious to anypony.

Now, how they would deal with Snips and Snails, that was a very interesting subject...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Apple Bloom trotted over to Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo. The foals all nodded. Apple Bloom trotted over to Snips and Snails. "Hey, you guys wanna try some caramel apples? They're homemade!"

"Uh, sure. Where can we get them? I want the biggest."

Snails shoved Snips. "No, I want the biggest one!"

"I get it because I asked first!"

"Guys, the apples are the same sizes! Now, come on!" She trotted out the door, Snips, Snails, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo following.

Soon they were at the clubhouse. Apple Bloom trotted into the basement and got out the caramel apples and brought them to the colts. Snips and Snails looked them over carefully, then grabbed one- different ones, thankfully. Snips grinned. "Mine's bigger!"

"Yeah, well mine's shinier!"

"Is not!"

"Is too!"

Apple Bloom facehoofed. "Guys, just eat it already!"

The colts took a bite, blinked, then fell to the ground snoring, one after the other.

Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle dragged them into the 'workshop', which was quite the effort because they colts weighed a lot more then they seemed to weigh.

Sweetie Belle used her magic to strap them onto the table and Apple Bloom put five drops of the serum into their mouths, being careful not to catch a whiff of their halitosis. The colts woke up as fast as they had fallen asleep. "W-where are we?!"

"Shush, or we'll cut your tongues out," Sweetie Belle cooed.

Apple Bloom stared at Sweetie Belle. "Did you just say what I think you said in the voice I think you just said it in?"

"Maybe."

"Come on, guys, let's get to work!" Scootaloo got a good grip on Snails' mane. Apple Bloom took Snips'. Sweetie Belle yelled, "Go!" and in a matter of moments, the manes were torn from their scalps, and the colts were howling in pain and watching the blood drip down from the tops of their heads.

"Please, don't hurt us!" Snails' words were barely audible over Snips' cries.

"Sorry, guys. Too late to go back now." Apple Bloom found the scalpel and thought for a moment. Then, with very precise strokes, she carved the word 'COWARD' onto Snails' cheek. The blood ran down his face. Salty tears got caught in the wound, making it more painful and causing Snails to cry more, sending more salt into his wounds, creating a vicious cycle of pain.

Apple Bloom smiled and carved the same thing into Snips' cheek. He did his best to not cry, but the pain made it nearly impossible. He held his breath and almost passed out. Apple Bloom, clearly annoyed, struck the side of his face with her hoof, snapping him back into consciousness. Snips whimpered pitifully, but Apple Bloom merely rolled her eyes and tossed to scalpel back onto the pushcart. Sweetie Belle looked at the colts carefully. Snips and Snails were about to faint from watching the blood run down each other's- and their own- cheeks.

Sweetie Belle made her voice quiet. "Girls, I think these guys won't be able to stay awake long enough, because of all the blood. I had no idea they were so sensitive about that kind of stuff."

Scootaloo nodded. "I have an idea." She got the big butcher knife from the cart.

Snips and Snails did their best not to cry. "W-what are you gonna d-do to us?" Snips was shaking.

Snails suddenly screamed a loud, girlish scream after seeing the heads and cutie marks of Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon on the wall. "You killed them!"

"Aw, be quiet," Scootaloo snarled. With one quick motion, she plunged the knife into Snails' eye, then the other. Soon all that was left were two bleeding holes with bits of flesh and tissue left behind. Blood covered Snails' face and he wailed in pain. Scootaloo quickly moved on to Snips before he could say anything, and soon both colts were blind, bleeding profusely, and petrified of what the seemingly innocent fillies would do next.

Sweetie Belle took the scalpel and carved their cutie marks off, flank by flank. She threw away the ragged ones, although this time all four cutie marks were nearly perfectly cut off. She pinned the cutie marks to the wall next to Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon's. The blood poured from their flanks and pooled on the floor. This time, it was an even bloodier mess: gouging out somepony's eyes is much gorier than merely cutting out their tongue.

Apple Bloom looked at the colts. "They didn't do much... should we just slit their throats now?"

"No, wait!" Scootaloo grinned, grabbed a knife with a serrated edge, and began to saw at Snips' horn. He screamed and began crying, the cries growing louder as the salt entered his wounds. Scootaloo moved onto Snails' and soon, she had to horns in her hooves. She tossed them to Sweetie Belle.

Sweetie Belle inspected them carefully. "Huh... weird. Look how soft it is on the inside!" She poked the bottom of it, then threw it into the corner.

Apple Bloom looked at the bloody mess that used to be a couple of colts. She reached for a small, slender knife, then began to cut away at Snips' chest. It opened to reveal his bloody guts, working overtime for the damage. Apple Bloom reached in, felt his ribcage, grabbed it, and pulled. Soon she had a bloody bone in her hoof. It wasn't much, but the crack that had accompanied it was ever so satisfying. She didn't bother sewing him back up, she merely moved on to Snails and repeated the bloody process.

The colts were weak, however, and they soon gave up the ghost afterwards. "Bo-ring. We didn't even slit their throats." Scootaloo sighed and poked around Snips' insides. "Hey, his heart is still beating a little!"

Apple Bloom looked at her bloody hooves, then at the pushcart with the fresh aprons. "Why do we always forget the aprons?"

Sweetie Belle shrugged and used her magic to grab an apron to clean herself off. "I guess we never really need them until the end, and then they're just napkins."

"But cheaper and easier to clean," Scootaloo added with a giggle.

Apple Bloom laughed and cleaned herself off. "Who'll bury them this time?"

"I'll do it." Scootaloo took the bodies, dragging them but being careful not to let the intestines spill, and began digging up the hole from yesterday. She held her muzzle as the stench of rotting flesh leaked out. "Yuck!" Scootaloo tossed the bodies in and finished digging the hole.

Apple Bloom held her own muzzle as Scootaloo came back into the cellar. "Phew, I could smell that all the way down here! I sure hope they didn't smell that down at the farm..."

Sweetie Belle made a retching noise and pretended to choke herself. "I wouldn't be surprised if Princess Celestia could smell it!"

The fillies all shared a laugh and went to cleaning the cellar up, this time a bit better than the last. Bloodstains remained on the table from being there so long and so much blood being there, but they could always blame it on juice if anypony came down here and came out alive.

But all the fillies knew that would never happen.

The Ultimate Choice

Days and weeks passed. One by one, a foal was noticed to have disappeared. First, Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon's faces were plastered around Ponyville in 'LOST' posters, with urgent messages from their parents and promising a huge reward. Next were Snips and Snails, with a notice that said they were prone to wandering around the Everfree Forest. An exchange student from Saddle Arabia named Amira was missing after two weeks of school at Miss Cherilee's school, last seen arguing with Sweetie Belle about what is 'normal'. She seemed to have been rather harsh with her words before Sweetie Belle galloped off, Amira hot on her trail and calling her a mere coward. Next was Sunny Daze, who had last been seen roller skating and 'accidentally' running over Apple Bloom. Lickety-Split began to bully Scootaloo, but in a matter of days he had disappeared.

The disappearances began to pile up. Eventually, ponies stopped asking who did it. Parents feared for their foals. Curfews were set by Mayor Mare. Anypony who might have had anything to do with any of the disappearances were interrogated harshly.

But the disappearances continued.

Sweetie Belle, Apple Bloom, and Scootaloo met up in the clubhouse. "Guys... I think ponies are starting to get suspicious. Of us." Apple Bloom's voice sounded a bit more nervous than usual.

Sweetie Belle stomped her hooves. "They're getting suspicious of all the foals who are still alive!"

Scootaloo sighed. "I think... maybe, just maybe, we could... come clean?..."

Sweetie Belle stared at Scootaloo blankly. "How could you even say that? If they find out we did it..."

"I know, I know. That's not quite what I meant by that. We could plead insanity and get off scot-free!"

Apple Bloom shook her head. "We'd all go to a mental hospital!"

Sweetie Belle suddenly squealed in delight and sparks shot from her hooves. "We could frame somepony!"

Apple Bloom and Scootaloo stared at Sweetie Belle, unsure if they should respond. "But... who would we frame?"

"Um... well... maybe I should think it over a bit more..."

"Probably. But, that IS a good idea... but we'd have to stop killing ponies!"

"Even when they bully us?"

Scootaloo sighed and bit her lip. "Guys, we've killed and hidden 14 different ponies... or was it 21? I'm starting to lose count. Either way, ponies will eventually figure out what's going on! We have to figure something out!"

Sparks shot from Sweetie Belle's horn again. "Guys, I just got the absolute most perfect idea EVER!"

Apple Bloom and Scootaloo leaned in close to hear Sweetie Belle's plan. They could already tell from the spark in her eyes that it was a good plan, but not something they could understand immediately.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

There was a knock on Cherilee's door. She trotted over and opened it, only to see a couple of guards with very angry looks on their faces and three of her students, Sweetie Belle, Apple Bloom, and Scootaloo.

"Um, how can I help you?" Cherilee did her best to act like she had some idea of what was happening.

"Yes, these foals said they witnessed you burying the bodies of their classmates after a horrific torture." The guard speaking, a grey pegasus, had his eyes narrowed dangerously. "Now, at first we weren't going to jump to any conclusions, but not only did the foals point out the place where you buried them and there were dead bodies, your hoofprints were found around the scene."

Cherilee gasped. "But... that's perfectly ridiculous! I never... honestly, girls, how could you even say something like that? I-it must've been an imposter!"

Sweetie Belle suddenly burst out crying. Apple Bloom whimpered and stayed close to her friends. Even Scootaloo seemed scared, which was surprising because in a situation like this she'd at least try to feign courage. But all of the Killer Cuties seemed deathly afraid of their schoolteacher. The other guard, a white Earth pony, stamped his hoof. "Ma'am, you have two choices: come peacefully or we'll have to take you by force."

Cherilee looked at the foals, then the guards, and sighed. A tear leaked from her eye. "I guess I'll go with..." The guards quickly put hoofcuffs on her. "Oh, my..."

The guards trotted off, practically dragging Cherilee with. The Killer Cuties watched for a few moments, then snuck into the house. Sweetie Belle went into Cherilee's bedroom. There was a box of jewelry that looked like it could've been worth quite a bit. Sweetie Belle took what she could tell was genuine gemstones and hid them in her mane. She then trotted around the room a bit more. It was medium sized, with a small bed, a few dressers, and some assorted decorative boxes on top of the dressers.

There was a loud yell from the other part of the house. "I found some bits!" Sweetie Belle galloped out of the room to see Scootaloo and Apple Bloom staring at a large pile of bits. "Wow... Miss Cherilee certainly made quite a bit of money!"

"Either that, or she never spent much!" Apple Bloom grabbed a hooful of bits and stashed them in her mane. Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle did the same. They all trotted out the door as fast as possible. A few bits fell out, but none of them noticed or cared.

They got to the train station and pulled out just enough bits for three tickets. Surprisingly enough, they were able to get their tickets and board the train with no incriminating questions asked.

Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo, and Apple Bloom sat down on one of the seats. Sweetie Belle looked out the window, watching ponies board the train. "Where are we going again?"

"Crystal Empire!" Apple Bloom beamed.

Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle stared at her like she was crazy. "You got the tickets to go THERE?!"

"No, I got a round trip ticket that goes all the way from the Crystal Empire to way down south, I forget the town, and back to Ponyville. I thought we could get off at the Crystal Empire!"

The train whistle blew, warning ponies that if they didn't get on soon, they'd miss their chance. "That wouldn't work. We'd be too... different. Remember how they were sparkly and we aren't?" Scootaloo waved her hoof dismissively. "I say we got to Trottingham!"

"Aw, do you think we'd see Pipsqueak again? It was too bad he and his parents moved away." Sweetie Belle smiled, remembering her classmate.

"Ugh, no, not Trottingham. What about... Manehatten? We could see Babs!"

"Uh... I don't think that'd be a good idea. She might not like the fact tat we've got our cutie marks now." Sweetie Belle sighed.

The train blew its whistle one last time and began to move, slowly at first, but gaining speed. Soon the train was chugging along smoothly.

"Well... we should wait a couple days before leaving the train. It's a three-week trip, so we should be pretty far from Ponyville after a few days." Apple Bloom looked around the train, wondering if she might see anypony she recognized.

Scootaloo nodded and began making faces at a random colt. He made faces back, until he started calling her names. It soon escalated into a fight that required two full-grown stallions and the colt's mother to stop. Needless to say, Scootaloo quickly stopped fighting when the angry mother was brought into the mix.

Sweetie Belle stared out the window, pondering how her life would flow at this point. "Guys?"

"Yeah?"

"Are we just gonna keep doing this until we die or get caught?"

Apple Bloom waved her hoof dismissively. "We won't get caught."

"Oh, yeah. I forgot plan B." Sweetie Belle sighed and kept staring. Soon her eyes closed, and she drifted into a dreamless slumber.

She awoke to find Scootaloo and Apple Bloom were poking her face. She waved her hoof at them wildly. "Quit it!"

Scootaloo laughed. "Sorry! We just wanted to see if you were alive."

"Also, we decided where we're going: Baltimare!" Apple Bloom beamed.

"Baltimare? How far away is that?"

"Four more days. Betcha can't wait, huh?" Sweetie Belle looked at her two best friends. An eerie smile crept across their face. "As long as they've got a school, I'm sure it'll be great!"