Cutie Marks At Last

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.