Unraveling

Chapters

The First Threads
A Sweet Couple
Bleed It Out
Out of Line
Luna Forsaken Night
Empty Eyes

The First Threads

Scootaloo gave a sigh as she rose from her bed and walked to the window. As she looked out, she noticed it was still hardly after midnight. With another sigh, she made her way to the mirror in her room. Part of it was broken, but enough was still intact to be used. She looked at herself and let out a slight snarl. Her feathers were matted, her mane was an absolute mess, and her eyes had thick, black rings around them.

"You pitiful fucking bitch," she spat at her reflection. With a moment to collect herself having passed, she went to fixing her mane and began fixing her feathers aright on her wings. She picked up a shard of glass, holding it carefully in her hands. She held it to her throat and looked to the mirror, giggling lightly. "There, see? Cute... I wonder how hard I have to press to break the skin."

She thought for a moment and pressed down on her neck slightly, slowly applying more and more pressure until she felt it pierce her skin. She stopped there, feeling the tinge of pain and blinking. She smiled slowly as she slowly, carefully eased up and dragged the shard along her throat just lightly enough not to cut her. She giggled at herself. "That was so silly. Wasn't it? You could've just killed yourself, you know? That would have been bad. Sweetie and AB would've missed you, Scoots. You know that."

She paused for a moment before looking down and idly running the shard over her body. She didn't like pain. It didn't feel good to her, but it was something she found herself being both victim to and cause of at once, well, often. "Why can't you quit doing it? You're already a mess, Scootaloo. Do you want them to leave you for being such a wreck? If you keep cutting yourself up, you're going to be even uglier!"

She paused and lifted the shard so it was a few inches from her muzzle, twirling it idly in her fingers. "But if you stop, then how will you know you're alive? It's not like you can just get in fights or anything. You can't just hurt other ponies. That would be rude, and Sweetie doesn't like rude ponies."

She closed her eyes and slowly brought the shard closer as she licked it over, only slightly wincing as it cuts her tongue a few times. After a few moments, and cuts, she pulls back and sets the shard down as she mulls the blood around in her mouth before swallowing it.

A hint of annoyance shows over her features. "Great. See what you did, you freak? Now you have to wait for it to quit bleeding. Are you that stupid?"

Her thoughts were interrupted as she heard a knock on the door. She groaned and quickly dressed herself, hiding under her typical dark red hoodie and dark, baggy jeans. Out of her recently spawned habit, she put on her fingerless gloves. She walked to the door, her demeanor instantly becoming bright and peppy, an act she'd become eerily good at putting on without even a single thought.

She opened the door to see somepony she hardly expected at this time of night, but her smile never faltered, even for a moment. "Heya Silver Spoon. What's got you out this way so late?"

The grey mare blinked and took a step back, by no means expecting such a greeting. Unexpected as it was, she quickly settled, as it meant at least this might go some way other than horribly wrong. "Funny you should ask." She let out a nervous giggle. "Um, I kinda need your help with something. You see, Diamond Tiara and I were out walking and we think that somepony like you might be nice to have around."

Though her mind was racing with questions, the pegasus gave a nod, still smiling. "Sure. Just give me a sec." Without waiting for a response, Scootaloo closed the door and grabbed her board. Before returning to the door, however, she noticed something she had been eyeing for some time now. It was a knife that she'd had well since the incident. Since then, however, she'd seen it quite differently. Those thoughts would have to wait for now, however.

She remembered the pony outside and absent-mindedly grabbed the knife before stowing it in her hoodie's pocket. She went to the door with her peppy smile and stepped out before locking the door with her keys and putting them in her jeans pocket. For a moment, her smile fell as she looked to the mare. "Let me just clarify one thing though."

Silver Spoon began to step back. "What would that be?"

"If this is something meant to hurt me or humiliate me, you're both going to wish you'd stayed in tonight." Her expression remained serious, the rings around her eyes showing to Silver Spoon that Scootaloo was definitely not in the mood for the old foalish things that usually happened.

"Oh, goodness, it's nothing like that, I assure you. Diamond is right over there, you see?" She motioned to the side, and sure enough, as Scootaloo followed with her eyes, she noticed the light pink earth pony. "We just feel we would be a bit safer with somepony that knew the streets."

Scootaloo smirked, her usual self coming back to light. "Yeah, and somepony who can handle herself. Let me guess, you two want an escort home now?"

This time Diamond spoke up, her tone softer than the typical arrogance she held. "Actually, yes. If you wouldn't mind, that is."

The pegasus chuckled and shrugged. "Just follow me and I'll have you back to the square in no time. Then you can lead the way back to your place."

The mares sighed in relief and smiled. Scootaloo set off down the street casually, the two earth ponies following close behind. "Thank you. I really hate that we got lost out here."

"It's not exactly tough, you know? These streets are pretty weird. You need to pay attention if you want to get anywhere." She paused for a moment. "By the way, why'd you two suddenly decide to ask me? More to the point, how'd you know where I live? It's not like we hang out or anything."

The pink mare was the one to respond. "Well, we actually asked somepony where you lived a few minutes ago. They'd told us you knew the roads better than most ponies here, so we figured it wouldn't hurt to try."

Scootaloo shrugged and turned down an alleyway, one she typically avoided when she wasn't in a hurry, but right now her mind was more focused on a strange taste in her mouth. She faintly remembered something about her mirror, but decided to simply ignore it for the time. She gathered the taste and spat it out against the wall to her left without much thought or care what it was.

A shriek from behind her caught her attention, bringing her to turn around, and finding herself looking at two very unnerved mares staring at the wall now to her right. "Is, i-is that, blood?!"

The pegasus followed their eyes to find that where she spat there was, indeed, a decent bit of blood mixed with her saliva. She suddenly recalled with full clarity the incident with the shard from her mirror. "Ugh! Are you serious?" She opened her mouth and pressed three fingers on her tongue, hardly noticing the slight sting of her wounds. She pulled them out and groaned almost with disgust. "My freakin' tongue is still bleeding? I knew that I cut it pretty bad, but come on."

The two earth ponies now stared at the pegasus with a mix of confusion and shock. This did not go unnoticed, and prompted Scootaloo to raise an eyebrow. "What? I cut the fuck outta my tongue a bit ago. Why is it such a big deal? I mean, it doesn't really hurt, and it's not like I'm in danger of bleeding out or anything." She paused for a moment when a thought crossed her mind and she facepalmed. "Oh, right, of course, where are my manners?" She looked up with a calm smile. "You two must have wanted a taste. I'm sorry I was so inconsiderate. Though, I'm not sure you could manage it without kissing me." She looked up in sincere thought as she gulped back a bit of the blood.

Silver Spoon wretched slightly at the thought, but Diamond Tiara could hardly keep from speaking up. "Wh-what in Equestria is wrong with you, Scootaloo?! Why would we want to taste your blood?"

Scootaloo was snapped form her thoughts and seemed almost apologetic. "Well, I kinda thought that may have been why you picked on us so much. Mean ponies like the taste of blood, don't they? I just wanted to be polite."

The two froze. They exchanged glances briefly as they realized that Scootaloo wasn't just trying to weird them out. This mare was very much serious. "Wh-what do you mean? Who likes the taste of blood? Isn't it gross?"

Scootaloo shrugged. "I don't know anypony personally, I just figured it made sense. As for being gross, I don't think so. I mean, I don't really like it, but it's not half bad really." She again raised her eyebrow, though only slightly. "You're both sure that you don't want to taste it? It just seems like you'd want to for some reason. I really don't want to seem rude. Sweetie doesn't like rude ponies, so I need to be polite. I don't mind letting you taste, really."

The two stared, almost entranced by the pure eeriness of the situation. Despite herself, Diamond Tiara's curiosity about much of this got the best of her, and she found herself easing closer to the orange pegasus. She was stopped, however, when the three mares heard the creaking of an old gutter. They all looked at each other and seemed to deem it best to continue about their way, as they silently did just that.

For some time, there was no sound except that of six hooves clacking against the ground at seemingly random pace between them all. Nearing the neighborhood of their destination, however, Scootaloo's free hand found its way into her hoodie pocket, and around something cold and, sharp? The pegasus blinked and gripped what she found to be a handle before pulling a knife from the pocket without much subtlety. She cocked her head a bit as she now followed the two mares by a few feet. She looked the blade over curiously before remembering grabbing it before leaving.

Though she was quite unsure why she had pocketed the knife, she tried to think it over, only remembering scarce pieces of her thoughts at the time of leaving, and only knowing that the two mares before her were there, and something else. The thought of using it and them. She looked at them. They'd started talking quietly since they'd taken the lead, and seemed only faintly aware of the pegasus's presence. That was when she felt something. Something in her head seemed to click as she heard a voice, her voice, speaking to her in her head. What she was quite unaware of was that she softly spoke with her own thoughts.

"You remembered that for a reason, Scoots. You know they deserve it. It doesn't have to take long, just one thrust and one swing. That's all it will take. Just do it."

"What?! No way, I can't do that. They were mean, sure, but I can't kill them."

"She's right, you know, if she kills them, then the entirety of Equestria will be looking for their killer. They are not victims she can afford."

"Wait, whoa, what? Who are you? You can't be me, I would never think like this, like that."

"Will you two hush? The poor thing is still barely hanging in there, aren't you, Scootaloo? Don't worry, they can't make you do anything."

After a moment more of the whispered conversation, Silver Spoon looked back to see what was going on and shrieked. "Dear Celestia! Why do you have a knife?!"

Diamond Tiara snapped her head back at this and felt a chill fill her being. "What the? What are you doing with that thing?"

Scootaloo shook her head, her thoughts interrupted. She looked to the mares before her and tilted her head in confusion at first, but soon remembered the knife in her hand. She lifted it and examined it for a moment, which didn't help the mares feel any more safe. "Ya know, I'm not sure. I've kinda been trying to remember for a little while now."

"Y-you're not going to try to use it, are you?"

Scootaloo blinked and looked at Silver Spoon as though she'd suddenly grown tusks. "Why would I do that? That would be so rude. I told you already, I can't be rude or Sweetie will get mad at me."

Silver Spoon and Diamond Tiara looked between each other and Diamond spoke up. "Well, uh, it looks like we're here, so, uh, you can head on back now, since it's late, you know?"

The pegasus looked around but quickly shrugged and smiled, stowing the knife. "Okay, well, just be nice and all. Have a good night." With that said, Scootaloo tossed her board to the ground and hopped on, skating off with a wave to the mares. As soon as the orange mare was out of sight, the earth ponies scrambled for the nearest of the two's home for the night.

Scootaloo pulled out her knife some time after leaving Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon, and was now looking it over, running one hand slowly over the blade as her muscle memory helped her rather effortlessly navigate the roads back home. She'd actually recently learned to make the trek by board, scooter, bike, and on hoof blindfolded. She knew the sounds, every bump and crack of the roads. It was instinct to follow the path home, any path home, and so she had little trouble putting her more conscious focus elsewhere.

Though she was rather occupied with the knife, she heard a noise, soft, but not one she recognized from her path. She looked up from her myriad thoughts concerning the tool just in time to notice a drunken stallion down the alleyway get shoved to the ground by a mare he failed to rob. The mare quickly took off down another street, leaving the drunkard to stumble around. This time something in Scootaloo's mind snapped entirely. She felt herself drift backwards, her body seemingly taking on a mind of its own.

She looked on as she felt herself crouch and her wings silently work the air as she quickly picked up speed. The only noise she made came from the light rattling of the wheels under her. She lifted her hood moments before the stallion looked over at her. She felt a chill as a voice spoke crisply in her mind. "Do it. Kill him. He's filth." Without even a moment to protest, or even truly comprehend the situation, she leapt from her board, her wings carrying her faster than she'd ever remembered going in her life. In what at first seemed to be only a glancing moment, she heard the beginning of a scream silenced before it had even finished forming. She then felt her hooves land perfectly on her board. Finally feeling herself regain control, she flared her wings and stopped quickly. She turned to see what had happened and her eyes shot wide open.

On the ground was a stallion, his throat sliced open and almost off as blood poured from the wound. Seconds, minutes, almost an hour faded by until a few light raindrops broke the pegasus from her daze. Her mind quickly fixed on one thing: Hide him. She rushed forward and gripped the stallion's leg as the slight drizzle became a light rain. As she found herself nearly sprinting with the corpse in tow, the rain quickly became something of a downpour. She was inexpressably relieved that nopony was out to see her, and if it were possible, she felt more relief still to see a sewer drain approaching. She looked around to make sure there were no eyes on her as she set down her board and hurriedly stuffed the body down the drain, hearing a muffled 'thump' as it landed on the concrete below.

Without another thought, the pegasus took to the air and hurried home. She threw open the door the moment it was unlocked, slamming it shut and locking it tight behind her. She nearly tore her clothes as she took them off. She rushed to her shower, getting the water as hot as she could handle before getting in. She panted, her mind still racing with thoughts, voices, so many things she couldn't see anything clearly. After a moment, she began to calm down, and she tried to collect her thoughts. As the gentle pulse of her showerhead sent waves of hot water over her form, she drifted into her inner conversations.

"Did, did I just, kill somepony?"

"Yeah, and it was amazing! Did you feel that rush?"

"I have to admit, it was quite easy."

"Whoa, no fucking way! I couldn't have! I, I'm not that kind of pony!"

"You are now, Scoots. You know the worst part about it?"

"The, the what?"

"What you did back there, was extremely rude."

"Rude... WH-what?! No! No! I'm not a rude pony! I'm not! I can't be! It's not rude if nopony wants them around, right? It can't be. Not if they never find him. Not if nopony cares. Right?"

"Calm down, Scootaloo. It wasn't rude, but it was exciting. Kind of. It was pretty quick. It was sort of hard to tell."

The pegasus stared as the conversation continued in her head. After some time, she blinked and reached to start cleaning up. "I, I have to know... Did I really enjoy it? Would I enjoy it again? No way. That's not right. I can't... maybe..." She thought it over as she slowly finished cleaning up and turned off the water. She stepped out and dried herself off before fixing her mane and looking at the mirror of her bathroom, the only one still perfectly intact in her entire house. "I'll mull it over. Right now, you need to try to sleep." With that, she promptly set off to her bedroom and laid down. As she closed her eyes, she felt something she hadn't in a long time. As she settled in, she felt sleep take her. For the first time in weeks, the first time since Rainbow Dash died, she slept.

Author's Note

This is admittedly a laughable attempt at starting this out, but I figured that having projects of many flavors going on might help me focus better. This way I should be able to write for at least something I've got going regardless of what genre I'm up to.

A Sweet Couple

As the sun begins to set on a new day, Scootaloo grumbles and finds she has lost the embrace of what she's longed after for weeks. She sighs and wakes up, going about her typical routine from rousing in darkness. She walks to her window, scared to think she only slept for possibly two or three hours, but her mouth gapes to find the moon telling her quite the opposite. "Did I just sleep in for a whole day?" Her tone expressed confusion rather than shock. She was more surprised that she'd finally had a mind to sleep so well, and she didn't exactly much care to have lost a whole day.

Again typical to her usual fashion, the pegasus next walked to her mirror, rather surprised to find a smile on her face. She blinked, she knew she wasn't smiling, she was still too tired, but the pony in her mirror was very obviously smiling. She shook her head a few times and looked again to see a perfect reflection of herself once more, expression, messed up mane, slightly matted feathers, nothing out of the usual, except that the rings on her eyes seemed a bit different, though she was positive that was just her mind or the light. She fixed herself up and lifted the shard of glass, as was routine, but as she lifted it to her throat, she watched her reflection and blinked. Did I hesitate? She blinked again, though now the pony in the mirror was copying her perfectly.

She looked herself over in the mirror and smiled softly. "See? Still cute... Wait, did I cut myself already?" She noticed the slight flow of blood from her reflection's neck near the edge of the glass shard. She then looked down as she touched her own neck to find nothing, no scratch, no blood. She looked back to the mirror and stared at her reflection for a moment. The mare in her mirror cocked her head and Scootaloo's eye went wide as she threw down the glass shard and leapt backwards, stumbling and landing on her haunches. She panted softly as she stared at the mirror. "Okay, you're just sleepy still. Just, let's leave the mirror alone for a little while."

The pegasus nodded to herself and stood, her gaze avoiding the mirror, as she got back in her bed. "Maybe I can just sleep until morning. I slept for a whole day, so it shouldn't be too hard, right?" She again nodded to herself before covering up and closing her eyes. She waited, still as stone, but soon her eyes opened and she groaned. "What they Hay? I slept. I finally slept. What happened?" She glared angrily at her ceiling, but soon sighed. "Well, at least I got some sleep. Now I just gotta wait out a little longer unti-" A knock came at her door again. She bolted upright and jumped from her bed, hurrying to get dressed, thankful to have more than one dark red hoodie and pair of dark jeans. She pulled on her gloves without even a thought before walking to the door.

Scootaloo unlocked the door, beaming her socially typical smile as she opened the gate to her home. She stopped, her smile falling slightly and her eyes wide. She was frozen for a moment before she lurched forward and pulled the white unicorn before her into a tight hug. "Oh my gosh, Sweetie! I've missed you so much!"

Sweetie Belle blushed but soon smiled and gave a slight giggle as she returned the hug, albeit not as strongly as the more athletic pegasus. "Well, I just got back from working up in Canterlot. The trains were having a few issues, so by the time I got here, the hotel wouldn't let me check in. I know it's kinda late, but you wouldn't mind me staying, would you?"

Scootaloo beamed, inside and out, with joy. "Of course you can stay here, Sweetie! Come on in." The two mares smiled as they both stepped inside, with Scootaloo shutting and locking her door back behind them. She turned on a light, hardly noticing the rather slight mess of the room around her. It wasn't too bad, really, the couch cushions were a bit off, and there was a small pile of soda cans off to the corner, but the only noticeable thing in the room would be that all of the three visible mirrors were broken, one of them shattered in multiple places. "Sorry about the mess. Wasn't really expecting company, ya know?"

Sweetie Belle giggled a bit and smiled still. "Let me guess, had a few wrestling matches against Bloom?" The unicorn giggled again leaned in to kiss Scootaloo's cheek, which, along with the other, promptly turned a light shade of red.

Sweetie Belle smiled and looked around the room once more. "So, do you have a guest room?"

Scootaloo blushed a bit worse at the question. "Oh, uh, not really, but I mean, we can share a bed, right? I mean, that's not weird, is it?"

The unicorn mare giggled. "Oh come on. I know you're still nervous about the whole dating thing, but we can share a bed for tonight, dear."

"Wait, what? When did we start dating?!" The pegasus's cheeks grew hot as they practically glowed crimson. She was far from against the idea, but she never remembered either of them asking the other out.

Sweetie Belle looked up in thought and shrugged. "I don't guess ever. Unless you're interested. I mean, with how much we hang out just us, we might as well. Plus, it'd give us a reason to flirt more." She blushed at her own words as she realized how she must've sounded. "I guess that sounds kind of full of myself, doesn't it?"

Scootaloo shook her head and smiled, still blushing herself. "What? No, I'd actually really like that. If you really are interested. Besides, I'm pretty sure we'd flirt anyways."

"Then it's settled." The unicorn smiled and pulled Scootaloo close as she gently pressed her lips to her friend's, or rather, to her now fillyfriend's. Scootaloo's eyes widened for a moment, but she very quickly wrapped Sweetie Belle in her arms and returned the kiss softly. The two stayed, lips locked, content in their contact, for a few minutes longer before they slowly broke away and headed off to the pegasus's bedroom with a smile.

The moment Scootaloo crossed the threshold to her room, however, something clicked in her head. She froze briefly, and soon the unicorn before her faded from her mind as she slipped into her typical routine for entering the room again. She undressed herself entirely, leaving her gloves on until the end, and walked to retrieve the shard she'd dropped earlier. Sweeite Belle reached the bed and fell back about the time Scootaloo began getting out of her clothes, and now sat up, her eyebrow rising at the naked mare that was idly twirling a broken piece of glass in her fingers.

"Uh, Scoots? What are you doing over there?"

Scootaloo quickly snapped out of her trance at her fillyfriend's voice. She turned and blinked, her eyes shifting between the unicorn and the glass shard in her hand. "I, I don't really know." She cocked her head slightly as she looked herself over. "Wait, how did I get undressed already?"

Sweetie Belle, figuring this was just like Scootaloo to pull a silly prank, burst out laughing. At first, the pegasus was very confused, but she soon found it hard to be anything but delighted around Sweetie Belle and walked to the bed before sitting beside the still laughing white mare. She lay beside her fillyfriend and kissed her cheek. "So, are you gonna get comfortable, or am I the only one?"

After a few moments of the unicorn catching her breath, she smiled to Scootaloo. "Well, I guess it wouldn't hurt to get out of this tight thing." She eased out of her clothes and laid on the bed to stretch. Before long, the mares found themselves snuggling contentedly into one another. After a few minutes, Sweetie Belle fell asleep, but Scootaloo groaned as she remained wide awake. Her mental conversations picked up once more.

"Why the buck can't I sleep? I'm here, with my favorite mare, against her, naked, warm and comfortable as can be. What am I missing?"

"Well, let's think about it. When did you last sleep?"

"Uh, duh, I just woke up, like, an hour ago from sleeping all day."

"Well, what is different?"

"Uh, I took a long warm shower before bed. Could that be it?"

"It's an idea, but you tried it before, and it didn't work until last night. So, try something else."

"Um, I, I don't know, really.."

"Oh stop ducking it already! The difference is that last night you killed somepony! In cold blood. That's the only difference!"

"What?! No, there has to be something else. Please. I can't stand not sleeping, but I can't kill anypony else either. That was an accident. I didn't want to kill him."

"Oh, but in that moment, you absolutely did. Shall we remind you exactly what you did?"

"... I'll humor you..."

"Very well. You saw the stallion try to rob an innocent mare, and you saw him stumble. You lowered yourself and extended your wings. You picked up as much speed as you could, and you leapt from your board. You propelled yourself with everything your wings could muster. He turned to see you, and as soon as he figured out what was happening, he tried to yell for help, but before he could much more than make a slight sound, you swung out and tore your knife through his throat. You didn't hesitate, you didn't flinch. It was rather marvelous, really."

Her mind was silent for a moment as it all sunk in and her memory returned all too vividly. It all stopped when her eyes shot open. She looked to the mare she was holding. Sweetie Belle had rolled over in her arms, and it wasn't hard for the pegasus to move away and get off the bed without stirring her.

Scootaloo wasn't quite sure what she was doing, but she needed to walk around. She needed to make sure she was awake. Her eyes locked onto the shard on her dresser and she hurried to it as quickly and quietly as she could. She looked around to find a place on her that she could hide or explain away easily. She made her choice and brought the shard firmly across her right shoulder, hissing at the sting and collapsing to her knees as she panted lightly. She took a moment to catch her breath before touching her arm, feeling the wound leaking her warm, crimson blood. She licked her fingers clean and looked around as she stood to her hooves. She noticed that things were just the same as before and sighed. This wasn't a dream, this was definitely real. She'd really ended a stallions life, killed him without hesitation, without any immediate regret beyond not wanting to get caught. But he deserved it. He would've hurt somepony if he'd lived. He was filth... It wasn't that bad either.

"Wait, what?" she whispered to herself. "No, no, no. I am not a killer. I don't like it, and it did NOT help me get to sleep. No way." She looked over to the sleeping mare in her bed and decided it better to go elsewhere. If she was going to talk to herself, the last thing she wanted was to pull such an innocent mare into something like this. She walked out of her room and headed through the hall before noticing something amiss. She looked down to double-check and sure enough, the door to her basement was not only unlocked, but it was slightly open, the lower corner of the door lightly resting on the upper corner of the frame on the floor. "What the hay?"

After climbing down the stairs and finding the light switch, Scootaloo looked around the cellar she swore was much smaller and much different last time she saw it. She noticed a few things standing out, though. Two things in the room covered in dark sheets. One was rather tall, but not all to wide. The other was much shorter, maybe as tall as the pegasus's waist. She walked over to the smaller one, picking up a sheet of paper. It was a note, and a fairly well written one at that. She looked around before looking back down and reading it:

Dear Scootaloo,

It has come to my attention that you haven't been a very nice mare as of late. Killing ponies? Now that isn't the Scootaloo I remember. Don't worry though, I'm not going to tell anypony. We wouldn't want you getting in trouble, now would we? If you'll look to the center of the room, you'll find a rather fearful mare, a prostitute that has robbed every stallion to hire her. I couldn't help but notice how peacefully you slept after the last one. I'd bet that if you killed again you could sleep even better. On the table, you'll find a few nice tools. Very good ones. I'm not telling you to kill her, Luna knows I can't make you. All I'm saying is, do what comes naturally, and try to make it clean, no point in wasting what can be put to use later, right?

~A Friend

Scootaloo felt her blood run cold as she set the sheet down. Somepony had seen her. They knew where she lived, they watched her sleep, they probably knew she had trouble sleeping too. They had a mare in her basement, and they, they expect her to... "Kill her." The pegasus gasped as the voice in her head finished what she herself didn't dare to. The noise prompted a small shuffle from the sheet on the taller object, no, on the pony, in the middle of the room. She looked over and took a few steps closer to it. She stopped only two steps short of the sheet. "You read the note, Scoots, she's a whore, and she's a thief."

"No, I can't. I can't do it."

"Don't you want to join your new fillyfriend in Luna's garden?"

This stopped her. She blinked as she realized what she'd just asked herself. After a moment, she again felt herself slip almost into the passenger seat of her own body, only much less so than before. She walked to the sheet over the table and removed it, looking the instruments over until she found something she liked. She lifted up a knife. The blade was gleaming silver. She reached out and lightly touched the edge. She blinked and pulled her finger away. She was bleeding, and hadn't even had time to apply any pressure to the edge. "Whoa..." She hefted the knife a little by its handle, finding it fairly evenly weighted. After a moment, she remembered the reason this was here.

Scootaloo turned to the still covered figure and walked over, grasping the sheet and pulling it off, revealing a light green mare, bare and bound stiff. She seemed to recoil as best she physically could at the sudden change in light, but when her eyes opened, they flew wide at the sight of Scootaloo. The pegasus had a far off stare, her face virtually free of expression as she raised her knife.

Scootaloo stopped. "Wait, what am I doing?" She blinked and recoiled after a second. "W-was I really about to do that?"

"Of course you were. This is your chance to find out. If you kill her and you don't sleep, then you know that killing didn't do anything. If you do it and you sleep, then..."

"Then nothing! I can't just kill ponies whenever I want to sleep! That's not right, that's, that's rude. Sweetie would hate me."

"Listen, foal. It's real simple. You want to sleep, so you help this mare sleep, you just make sure she never has to wake back up."

"S-so, it's really just, like, a trade? I help her to stay in Luna's garden forever, and I get to, like, escort her?"

"Of course. What else would you be doing? That's all death is. It's just a sleep you never wake up from, an eternal bliss. She doesn't need to wake back up to help anypony, so she's earned the rest. Hasn't she? Who would miss her?"

Scootaloo blinked and looked down to her knife, then back to the pony in front of her, the mare that just heard the entire conversation Scootaloo'd had with herself, and who was staring with wide, fearful eyes.

The pegasus took a deep breath and steeled her nerves as best she could, walking over to the mare and lifting the knife once more. "Okay, Scoots, you can do this. It's not that tough. You just put it to her throat, press down, and pull it across, and she's dead in seconds." The orange mare was so busy with her talking that she didn't notice the light hoof steps coming from the stairs. She lifted the blade to her victim's neck, touching the edge to her flesh and it immediately broke the skin, causing a small trickle of blood. Scootaloo took another deep breath, ignoring the attempted thrashing by the mare and focusing intensely on the task set forth for her.

"Now press down." She pressed the knife in slowly, the blade easily cutting into the mare's neck and making the blood flow more steadily. "There, see? Not so bad. One more step, and it'll all be done."

She took one more deep breath. "Now bring it across her throat. She's in pain right now, so just end it. Just slide it across and end it." She closed her eyes, tightened her grip on the handle, and tore the blade through the mare's neck.

Just like that, it was done, and within seconds, the mare, as a living pony, was no more. She was now simply a corpse, a few last squirts of blood flowing from her throat as her heart gave its last beats.

Scootaloo let out a soft sigh of relief. She hurriedly set down the knife and looked herself over, her relief inexpressible at finding she'd avoided getting any blood on her. As she thought it over, though, she shook her head and rushed over to the stairs, racing up them without a word before closing the door to the cellar and walking to her room, entirely unaware of the pony downstairs cleaning up the mess left behind.

"Tisk tisk tisk. She didn't even clean up. I'll have to get her around that somehow. I can't clean up everypony she kills, after all. I guess it's okay for now though. She did well enough. I can't use much in the throat anyways, so I've not lost anything. I'll just have to make this quick." The mare finished cleaning the blood and unstrapped the body before carrying it silently up and out of the cellar. She took a moment to look in on Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle, smiling to see them both fast asleep in each other's arms. "See, kid? You just needed a little push. Now things should fall right into place." The pony then made her way out and onto the street without a sound. After all, this pony had things to do.

Author's Note

So, I'm working with a new weaving method for my story, but I'm not sure I handled it as well as I should have. Any tips or critiques would be great.

Bleed It Out

One week later.

Scootaloo sighed as she sat and stared at herself in her broken mirror. No matter how much she hated to admit it, her thoughts seemed to be right. There seemed only one way for her to sleep, and doing it again was out of the question if she had anything to say about it. She'd taken two lives already, and that was two too many. "Why am I so fucked up? Why can't I just sleep?" She waited, hoping to somehow hear some answer, but not being all too surprised in not getting one. She wiped her eyes and looked to her bed. She blinked. In a motion fast enough to be a sharp reflex, she shot her hand out for her familiar shard and closed her eyes as she slid it across the bottom of her chest, just above her stomach.

She crumpled once more to her knees as she caught her breath. She wasn't stupid. She never cut very deep. She'd figured out how to make sure she always just broke the skin, and it was almost second nature now, something she couldn't quite say she was proud of, but something that had recently proved somewhat useful. Upon collecting herself, she looked back to her bed and sighed in relief to see the white unicorn once more, and now whole.

She shuddered silently at the vision that plagued her moments ago, the vision of the last mare she could turn to dead. This wasn't new to her. She'd seen it every night when she would look over. The visions had steadily grown more vivid and grotesque each time, but pain, her tether to reality, the drug she hated the sting of with all the venom she could muster, but just couldn't kick, would always pull her right back, back to see her closest friend sleeping soundly, safely, completely innocent and unaware of the dark world only a few meters away.

The pegasus sighed and reached for her gauze as quietly as she could, glancing to Sweetie Belle occasionally as she did. She wrapped a fresh bandage around her rather long cut. She was used to cutting shallow, but length was something she still needed to work on. After silently putting the gauze away, she found one of her dark red undershirts and slipped it on. She knew it must seem weird for her to always wear the exact same colors, but she didn't really have much choice if she didn't want this getting out.

Time got away from the pegasus, as soon she noticed the rays of Celestia's sun shining throughout her room and heard a slight groan from her bed. She looked over to see a white unicorn sitting up and wiping the sleep from her eyes. Sweetie Belle looked over and tilted her head, opening her mouth to speak, but yawning before she could. "What's wrong, Scoots? Why'd you get out of bed?" Upon waking up a bit further, and growing more aware of the world around her, she continued. "Did you get cold or something, dear?"

Scootaloo blushed a bit, but quickly pulled her mind from where it was as she remembered she was wearing an undershirt. She shook her head and managed a smile and a chuckle. "Oh, uh, yeah. Just a bit."

Sweetie simply giggled and smiled, though it was rather short lived as she noticed the shard still in Scootaloo's hand. "Um, what are you doing with that?" Her eyes widened. "And, wh-why is there blood on it?"

Scootaloo felt as though her heart had stopped cold in her chest. She dropped the piece of glass. "What are you talking about? Blood? You must be seeing things." Scootaloo scolded herself mentally as she realized just who she was lying to, and it showed that she hadn't much weight behind her words.

Sweetie stood and walked to the dresser, her fillyfriend frozen in place. "This shard of glass. I keep seeing it." She reached the dresser and stopped. The edges were darkened with dried blood that wasn't washed off well enough. One side glistened freely as the sunlight reflected off of fresh, bright red blood.

Before Scootaloo could even speak, the unicorn turned, her horn lighting up as she lifted the pegasus's shirt up. Unable to react in time, Scootaloo could only gasp sharply as she felt the article of cloth rise and expose her midriff, then her chest, then, it stopped. The fabric dropped back down and the orange mare looked to Sweetie Belle, whose eyes were wide, scared, worried, but for Scootaloo. "Sweetie, it's not what you think, I swear! I'm not suicidal. Just, please, let me try to explain."

Sweetie Belle gulped and took a deep breath as she tried to calm down. Soon she managed to ease up enough to speak. "O-okay. Explain." She managed nothing more as she had to try her best to hold her nerves.

Scootaloo could tell that her fillyfriend wasn't holding together too well and figured she would be better off just opening up about everything she could instead of making her wait while she came up with something else. She took a deep breath and looked somberly to the unicorn. "Just, come with me to the kitchen. This is gonna take a while." Sweetie was nervous at this, but figured that walking, even such a short way, would likely help calm her some. Scootaloo picked up the shard and walked into the kitchen, with Sweetie following her somewhat nervously.

Sweetie sat at the kitchen table and Scootaloo began recounting her experiences lately, her insomnia for weeks after hearing about Rainbow Dash's death, her run in with Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon, but mentioning her release to sleep as merely 'something she wasn't proud of' before sighing. She began recounting from there about the visions she'd been having, and how she'd been using pain, especially cutting herself, as something of a tether to reality, and the only thing that's kept her as sane as she's managed to remain.

The pegasus turned to the unicorn who sat patiently and attentively, and now looked to her with a mix of concern and pity, something Scootaloo did not need to know anypony felt for her right now. Before she could continue onto anything more, however, Sweetie spoke up. "So, this whole time, you've just been putting on? You've just been acting strong for everypony?"

Scootaloo was caught slightly off guard, but managed a nod.

Sweetie Belle stood and rushed to hug Scootaloo, holding back tears as she did. "Why didn't you tell me? I could've helped. I could've done something, said something. Anything but leave you to deal with this all alone."

Scootaloo froze for a moment, but soon returned the hug tightly as something welled up inside of her. She felt every daunting emotion from the past weeks rushing to the surface, every moment of rage, depression, guilt, loathing, everything. Just as she felt she was about to cry, it stopped, peaked behind her eyes and unmoving. Sweetie Belle had pulled away, and Scootaloo's natural cold exterior fought back the tears as her comfort left her. She felt something in her heart and her mind tear. Before she could even figure out what it was, she heard Sweetie Belle speak, but couldn't understand a word. Within seconds, she was gone, out the door and off to somewhere, somewhere Scootaloo might know if she had been able to listen.

After a few moments, the pegasus dropped to her knees and slammed her fist onto the floor as whatever she felt before faded into anger and resentment of herself. She'd had somepony to be close to, somepony she could trust and turn to, that she could hold and know was real, and now she was gone. Knowing what had just happened, she would probably never come back.

"DAMNIT! Why did you have to screw this up you fucking whoarse?! You could have just cut your shoulder and said you fell. You could have told her something else. You could have..." Her train of thought faded as she choked back tears of her own volition now. She forced herself to her hooves and stumbled into her bedroom where she threw herself onto her bed and lay, hoping rather desperately to somehow find sleep, only to be constantly greeted by one recurring thought: You can't, because you haven't killed.

After a few hours of trying in vain to sleep, the pegasus awoke with a start at the sound of knocking on her door. Unable to summon her energy beyond getting up, she walked, bare, to the door and opened it only to find nopony there, as well as Luna's moon in the sky, the position giving that the time was maybe seven o'clock. She sighed and shut the door before turning back into her house, where she noticed a slightly familliar oddity.

Celestia's sun was nearing high noon as Sweetie Belle finally found her way back to the Boutique, rushing inside and searching for her sister. "Rarity!"

"I'm sorry Sweetie Belle, but I'm just a tad busy at the moment."

"Please, I need help with something. Scoots needs help."

A silence filled the boutique, followed shortly by light shuffling and soon after by hoofsteps. Rarity emerged from her new private room with her mane somewhat out of order. "Oh my, did things finally settle in on the poor thing?"

Sweetie Belle rushed over and hugged her sister. "No, worse. It hit her from day one and she's just been getting worse. She can't sleep unless she does something she only mentioned she wasn't proud of, which she's only done twice, and she has these crazy hallucinations and she stops them by cutting herself up. Rarity, she's losing it and I don't know what to do."

The fashion mare looked at her younger sibling with a hint of confusion and apprehension. "Sweetie Belle, darling, please tell me you didn't just run out of her house."

The unicorn frowned and looked away. "I, I told her I was going to see if somepony could help, but she didn't exactly seem to hear me, now that I think back."

Rarity grabbed her sister's arms and pulled her back enough for them to look at each other eye to eye. "Sweetie, the last thing anypony should do when a friend is having trouble like that is leave them alone. I know she said she isn't suicidal, I hope she isn't, but you can't simply trust her to stay that way, not when she has so many things on her shoulders."

Sweetie Belle's eyes teared up. "W-wait, so, I, I might've just-"

"Sweetie, look at me. I really don't think Scootaloo is the kind to take her own life. I'm sure if she were, she already would have. No, come to think of it, from what you've told me, she seems quite desperate to remember that she is, in fact, alive. The problem is that ponies like that tend to go one of two ways. I'm afraid one of them is going to happen, and I think you need to be prepared if you want to help her." Rarity gave a sigh as she softened her gaze. "Now, under normal circumstances, I would never permit the use of what I'm going to show you, at the very least not for these purposes, but I don't think you'll be able to do too much more than make sure she stays out of trouble."

The younger mare was very much sure that she didn't like where this was going, but she gave a nod as she gulped. "I, I just want to help her. I'll do whatever I can. It's the least I owe her after thinking she was okay for so long."

Rarity gave a nod and hugged Sweetie Belle tightly for a moment before stepping back. "Okay, now I'm going to show you a few things, and a new spell I picked up from, well, from experiences I'd much prefer to leave in the past for now. Are you ready?"

Sweetie wiped her eyes and gave a resolute nod. "I'm ready. Whatever it takes to help her."

Scootaloo flew down the stairs, landing with a loud clack on the concrete floor. She noticed the sheet in the center of the room again, but the table was uncovered. She wasn't sure why, but she once more walked over to the table, again finding a note:

Dear Scootaloo,

I know your life must be tough, what with you losing Sweetie Belle and all. Don't worry though. Things tend to work out in the end. Besides, you need to forgive yourself. It's not your fault you're on your way to becoming an unhinged sociopath. How about you just take the sheet off the mare over there and do what comes naturally?

~A Friend

This note was much shorter, and hit the pegasus much harder. It immediately brought her earlier anger to a boil. She didn't even have any reason to kill this pony, but she knew that she was done with all of this. She walked to the object in the center of the room, every part of her mind agreed that she was done being a pawn and that this pony would have to be set free. She gripped the sheet and ripped it away. The sight she saw froze her, she could feel the very blood in her veins drop from boiling to ice in an instant as she looked at the pegasus before her. She recognized the eyes, the mane, the coat, even the scratch. As she gazed with her violet eyes at the mare, she found them gazing back in utter horror.

The pony before her was, by all measure of appearance, her. The same orange coat, the same deep purple mane, the same light violet eyes, even her cutiemark, all perfect to the last detail, as if she were gazing into a mirror. The chill that took hold of her so quickly was steadily thawing and heating up again as she felt every ounce of her self-loathing seeming to focus on this doppleganger, this unfortunate look-alike, and she was finally about to let out every bit of it.

Scootaloo walked to the table, looking over the instruments. She picked up the knife from before and stalked over to the mare. "You fucking bitch! Guess what? It's about fucking time you got what was coming to you." The pegasus gripped her victim's left breast and slit it open, following suit with her right, the bound mare unable to make even a sound through the enchanted gag. Scootaloo tore the mammary tissues from her victim without hesitation or remorse before slicing off the skin left. She then reached for an instrument she'd managed to hear about from her hospital visits. It was a special instrument, a short, somewhat thin rod used to cauterize wounds and lesions. She turned it on and it almost instantly sparked to life, quickly reaching its usable temperatures.

Scootaloo walked over and traced the wand over every bleeding part of the mare's chest, singing her and ceasing the bleeding. Had Scootaloo looked into her eyes, she would have seen how much pain this was causing the mare, but she hardly cared. She wanted it to hurt the mare, to hurt HER, and she knew that no pain would truly be worthy of forgiveness. As such, she told herself that this was as terrible a pain as possible, and almost smiled in knowing that she was suffering. After ensuring the blood halted, she picked up a saw and once more approached the mare.

"You don't deserve these fucking wings." With that statement, Scootaloo set the saw in place, glad to see the contraption was made to perfectly extend a pegasus wing, with a slit in the back to fit a saw at the joint to the back. She couldn't help but smile as she sawed away at the appendage, rather quickly getting through it before she once more used the wand to cease the bleeding. She then walked to the other side and put the saw in place, only this time taking it slower, taking time to ensure the pain caused was quite thoroughly experienced. Upon making it through the second wing, she cauterized the wound and turned off the device before setting it on its tray, one she assumed was made specifically for the device to prevent fire, and luckily assumed correctly. She put the saw down and grabbed a new knife, one that could easily be called a dagger.

The pegasus walked back to the mare one last time and looked her in the eyes, seeing tears and suffering quite apparent in them. She allowed herself a rather grand smile before stepping close and running the blade over the mare's stomach, seeing it effortlessly slice through the skin even with so little pressure. She looked up and whispered into the mare's ear. "And now, after wanting it for so long, you finally get your ride to Luna's Garden, don't you, freak?!" Without another moment's hesitation, and in spite of the sound of her front door opening upstairs, Scootaloo began to wildly drive the dagger into the mare over and over, giving a grunt of frustration with each thrust as she slowly released her built up rage.

After a good minute of stabbing, Scootaloo finally stopped, pulling out the dagger one last time and setting it on the table. She let out a sigh of relief and looked up to notice a fairly shocked Sweetie Belle. Before she even had time to react properly, Sweetie was already rushing towards the body and using her magic to undo the bindings. "Scoots, you don't have to explain." She looked over and noticed what seemed like a disposal bin. "Just get this body in the bin and let me handle the rest."

Unsure of what else she could do, and suddenly reminded that she needed to make sure she didn't get caught after all of this, Scootaloo hurried over in time to catch the bloodied corpse. She carried it to the bin and dumped it inside as Sweetie focused her magic on the tools and blood. Scootaloo rushed back over to the stand and worked the wings out of their bonds before dropping them into the bin as well. By the time she turned back around, Sweetie Belle already made her way over and grabbed her arm, pulling her up the stairs and into the main part of the house.

Without wasting a second, Sweetie Belle helped Scootaloo into the bathroom and undressed herself before removing the bandages over the pegasus's cut from earlier. Sweetie shut the door and set Scootaloo onto the floor gently as she started letting the water for the shower warm up. "Scoots, are you hurt? You didn't cut yourself any more, did you?"

Finally having had time to let events settle in, Scootaloo brushed her curiosities aside and decided to focus on the fact that Sweetie Belle was with her once more. "Yeah, I mean, no. No, I'm fine. I didn't hurt myself, but-"

"But nothing." Sweetie Belle took a moment to breathe and calm down before walking over and kneeling by Scootaloo. "Look, you're like this more or less because I didn't think you could be affected this badly by everything. I should have been there and I wasn't. Now I am, and we're going to work through this one step at a time. Okay?"

Scootaloo's eyes widened. She wasn't sure what to say, but then her normal mind wasn't exactly in control again just yet. She blinked a few times before looking to the shower and down at her blood-dampened fur. Sweetie took the initiative and helped her fillyfriend to her hooves and into the shower before joining her. "Just relax. I'll get you cleaned up, and then we can try to sleep. I think I know what that thing you meant is, and if so, I really want you to sleep well."

Scootaloo leaned in and hugged the unicorn, her emotions from earlier finally overtaking her and spilling out as she cried, and cried. Sweetie wasn't expecting this, but knew now that it was best to let her let everything out. She remembered the new trick her sister had taught her and her horn lit up as she carefully scrubbed the blood from Scootaloo, and what little bit transferred over from herself, the entire time never letting go of the crying pegasus.

"Have I ever told you how amazing a job you do?"

"Why of course, you mention, not to mention show it, every time we speak. By the way, why in Equestria would anypony want to have such a garish and unruly coat?"

"Well, I can't let anypony recognize me. Besides, it's just temporary. Once we can let her know about everything, we can go back to normal for us and just use a spell of something."

"Well, now we have Sweetie in on this too. Not that she seemed to mind all too much, but it makes me rethink this whole issue. Are you positive Scootaloo is the mare you seem to think she is?"

"Look, the mare is a killer, plain and simple. She knows she gets a rush from it, and she knows it's her only ticket to dreamland. Now with Sweetie not being a stumbling block to work against, the rest should be easy."

"Are you positive you still want to wait the full period for the next one?"

"Actually, no. I think we can set her up with a few trips to the Garden between now and the next big one. Plenty of worthless junkies we can't put to much use for her to butcher."

"Darling, you are simply dreadful."

"And you love it. Now let's get back so I can repay you properly."

"Oh, my."

Author's Note

Rush edited. Sorry. Please let me know where I mucked it up. Actually, let me know anywhere I mucked up anything. I really want this story to be well done.

Out of Line

Three days later...

Scootaloo took a deep breath as she tried her best to relax. Unfortunately, even with Sweetie Belle's rather capable hands carefully kneading the muscles of her neck and shoulders, sleep just seemed too far away for her. To top things off, there was still one question she couldn't edge out of her mind, even now. "Hey, Sweetie?"

Sweetie didn't stop as she responded. She smiled softly and spoke in a very gentle tone. "Yes, dear? Is this helping any?"

"Well, it's relaxing, that's for sure. Why didn't you ever tell me you were so good a--" Scootaloo stopped. She shook her head slightly and refocused on the question she felt she needed to ask. "Never mind that. I need to ask something that's been really bugging me for a while. That's okay, right?"

"Of course, Scoots. Want me to stop for a minute?"

Scootaloo thought for a moment before she responded. "It might be a good idea, you know, so we can look at each other and everything."

Sweetie Belle smiled and eased up before stopping her massage and letting her fillyfriend sit up. "Okay, so what's on your mind?"

"It's, it's the whole, you know, not sleeping thing, and the deal with, well, with what you walked in to see..." She let her voice trail off as she felt that she could maybe avoid the memory easier if she didn't admit to it, maybe it would just go away if she never said it. She knew in the back of her mind that she was just fooling herself, but it wasn't exactly hard right now.

Sweetie Belle picked up on what she meant rather quickly, and her smile quickly sank. "You mean, what happened a few days ago, don't you?" Sweetie tried her best to choose her words well, even lately, Scootaloo was often fairly outspoken, and if she didn't say something, she typically had her reasons.

Scootaloo gave a nod. "Why, why did you do what you did? You told me it was because you wanted to help me. Because you wanted to fix things, but... I thought you didn't help rude ponies. I thought you hated them."

Sweetie Belle quickly pulled the pegasus into a tight hug, holding her fillyfriend close. "Scoots, you are not a rude pony. You tried to stay strong for everypony else when you took it all the worst of us all."

Scootaloo hugged Sweetie Belle tightly, but stayed quiet for a time. When she spoke again there was something off about her tone. "You know, if there was one thing I wish I could do, I wish I could go back and tell her how much I loved and cared about her. How thankful I was for everything she did for me. I think if I could do that, I might could finally sleep. Not just for one night after... that... but actually sleep, just lay down and close my eyes when I got tired, and just sleep."

Sweetie couldn't tell what was so different about her fillyfriend's voice, but she knew without a doubt what those words meant. She didn't say a word, simply holding the orange mare against her for a while. The two were comforted in the embrace, and both lost track of time entirely, the only thing pulling them back into the real world being a knock at the door. Instantly, Scootaloo shot up, throwing her fillyfriend more than a bit off balance, though thankfully not enough to make her fall.

Scootaloo rushed to the door, yanking it open upon reaching it, only to find nopony, and nothing, waiting for her on the other side. She was confused, until she remembered what had happened before. With more than slight apprehension, she closed the door and turned around to see Sweetie Belle, and moments later, what she'd figured she would see, the door to the cellar, once more barely open. She looked to Sweetie Belle, who'd seemed to have already noticed it, and looked to the pegasus very nervously.

"I, uh, I guess I should at least get down there, huh?"

Sweetie Belle didn't speak, merely settling for a reluctant nod.

"Are you sure you should have put the note like that? We don't want to mess this up. If she sees that nickname, she might-"

"Look, I know her, okay? The nickname is supposed to throw her off, make her question things. Otherwise she'd get too okay in the head for the next one. If she isn't haunted by something, she might decide she can turn back."

"I see where you're going with this, but do you really think it's a good idea? What if it drives her off the deep end?"

"Look, I figured of anypony around here, you would have at least found something on it before we even started this. Come on, you're smart enough to get psychology."

"... Well, I have found something. Unfortunately, the studies were somewhat inconclusive in many cases."

"Yeah, cause they had to do their stuff under rules and restrictions. We don't. Now just take a deep breath. I've got this under control, remember?"

"I guess you're right. I'll try to calm down."

"Here, I know this is stressful, so how about a good back rub? Maybe we can get Spike to fix us some tea?"

"Yeah, yeah that sounds pretty good right now."

"Perfect, besides, you love where the back rubs lead. Don't worry though, I'll actually let you finish your tea this time."

A giggle. "Oh, you."

"Hey, Spike, c'mere."

Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle made their way down into the cellar only to find the usual things, at least for Scootaloo: A sheet covering what she knew was a pony strapped down and awaiting their untimely death, and the table, again uncovered. There was only one difference this time. There was a pony by the table, seemingly standing at attention. The two mares froze at seeing the pony. As they looked on, they noticed it was most likely a stallion, as well as that he wore a mask that seemed to be something between the crude nature of a ski mask, and the much more professional, not to mention slightly disturbing design of a gimp mask. He stood stone still as he looked to the mares, and decided to speak up when it appeared they would not.

"Miss Scootaloo, Miss Sweetie Belle. I was designated your assistant for this one. Don't worry, I'm here on highly strict orders, and I've been trained in execution, clean-up, and stealth as to ensure I am of use to you, and to ensure I am not caught by eyes that needn't see me."

Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo remained speechless as they simply stared at what they'd now confirmed to be a stallion. After a moment, he cleared his throat. "Excuse me, but I'm not allowed to get to work until the note is read, and I'm not allowed to read it for you, Miss Scootaloo. So, if you would be so kind as to politely allow me to get on with my task, that would be much welcome."

Scootaloo's eyes widened and she rushed over to the table before any protest could be put up from her or her fillyfriend. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I'm polite. I am, really." She reached for the note, but looked to the stallion. "Should, should I read it aloud, so you know when I'm done?" Throughout this rather short response, Sweetie Belle's jaw had dropped in astonishment. As she processed it, one thing began to race through her mind, the exact word where she saw her fillyfriend begin to react.

"You needn't read it aloud, I wasn't allowed to read it because it is meant for your eyes alone, Miss. Simply let me know when you've read it."

Scootaloo gave a nod as she looked down to the note:

Scootaloo, I think we can be a bit more casual now, don't you? Of course you do, I mean you've only handled killing two ponies for me, and I've helped you not get caught the first time you killed. You didn't think it was just a coincidence that a previously clear sky suddenly started pouring down rain, did you? Look, the stallion beside you is a friend, but a shoddy one. He's good enough at getting into places, but he's horrible at his exits. Now you just tell him he's got the go, and let him work. He knows how to handle the kill and the clean up. There are three tools under the table meant for you. Use one of them to end him before he can leave. We can't have sloppy friends in this business, can we? Anyways, I trust you to get this done and done right, so just do whichever one feels more natural, Squirt.

~A Friend

The pegasus stood, shaking, as her mind raced. After a moment, something clicked, and something snapped. She stood straight, a new demeanor taking her over as she set the note down. She looked to the stallion with an expression that seemed to demand authority, one that made the stallion's eyes glint a bit of fear. Sweetie Belle had decided to take a seat on the stairs as Scootaloo had started the note, and with the sudden change in the pegasus, she was more than a little glad she had.

Scootaloo spoke with a tone Sweetie hadn't heard in years, a tone that overflowed with the confidence of a younger, happier Scootaloo. One who still had her big sister.

"I don't know your name, so don't use mine. Got it? Now, I've read it, and you may begin. I have something to handle in the meantime. You can handle the kill and clean-up?"

The stallion nodded and cleared his throat. "Yes ma'am. I'll get to it." With only enough to show he'd heard his signal, he went to his orders, picking up a knife and walking to the covered figure. Upon removing the sheet, a magenta unicorn was revealed, with a strange ring of ancient characters on the base of her horn. The stallion seemed to recoil slightly, but quickly made his way back to the table and retrieved a bone saw. He walked back to the unicorn and began to carefully saw through her horn, meeting only a little resistance with the saw being made and enchanted to handle just such a job.

As he began his work, Scootaloo went to hers. She knelt quietly and looked under the table to find a box. She opened it to find within it three items, a pouch with a skull and crossbones embroidered on the side, a very specially crafted dagger that seemed to have been made to be as elegant and beautiful as it was meant to be deadly, and a butcher's knife. It took the orange mare only a moment to pick the dagger. She grabbed it and removed it from the box before closing it silently. She looked over to find the stallion well into his work, and nearing completion. While she had the time, she looked to the knife and hefted it a little, finding it to be perfectly balanced, though a bit on the heavy side. She didn't mind. It might be better a little heavier. As she heard him finishing up, she stowed the knife in a small towel on the table.

The horn clinked as it landed on the floor. Sweetie Belle had long turned and walked away from the scene, now sitting near the top of the stairs, unable to see what happened below, and rather glad for it. The sound of the horn clinking to the floor made her shudder. "Why am I doing this? Why don't I just stop it?"

"You know why, Sweetie. You screwed her up like this. It's your fault. You love her and you owe her whatever help you can lend, even if you can't stomach watching what she does."

"But--"

"No but's, you care about her, right?"

"Yes."

"And you want to help her, right?"

"Yes, of course I do."

"Then you can sit through it. You can put your discomfort aside for her. It's the least you can do."

Sweetie Belle sighed and nodded to herself. She knew it wouldn't be easy, but she had to stay strong now. Scootaloo needed somepony to lean on, and right now, that was her.

As the stallion finished cleaning up all the blood, he deposited the horn into a special container before unstrapping the body and hefting it up. As he turned towards the bin, Scootaloo picked up the knife. As he set off towards the bin, she silently followed and closed the distanced just before reaching the bin. The stallion leaned over and dropped the corpse inside. Scootaloo took her chance. The pegasus quickly plunged the knife into the masked stallion's throat, holding him over the bin as she pulled the blade out, all of the blood from his wound either finding its way into the bin or onto Scootaloo's hand and dagger. After the bleeding ceased, Scootaloo gave the small heave necessary to force the stallion's corpse into the bin over his own victim.

Scootaloo panted softly as her mind slowly eased back to her norm. As it did, her eyes widened. She finally realized just what she'd done. She shook her head almost violently before looking into the bin once more. She rushed to the stairs. As she ascended, she only barely noticed Sweetie Belle moving out of the way in her peripheral vision. She rushed into her room and dropped the knife onto her dresser before picking up the shard she'd become so familiar with. She quickly pressed it to her shoulder and slid it across, groaning aloud as her blood slowly spilled down her arm. She dropped again to her knees as she caught her breath.

Upon finally recovering, she stood. She held her wound as she walked by Sweetie Belle and down into the cellar. Upon not seeing the stallion standing anywhere, she rushed as fast as her hooves and wings would take her to the bin. She looked in and froze. She hadn't dreamed it. She'd really just killed a stallion after giving him the order to kill somepony else, somepony that could have been innocent, as innocent as--

No! Nopony is as innocent as her. Nopony is as sweet, as kind as Sweetie.

She took a few breaths and looked at the first victim. She finally noticed it was a stallion, and one she'd actually remembered seeing in the alleys a few times. As the memories resurfaced, she grimaced and growled. "Served you right you fucking creep." Her tone dripped with venom as she spoke, though the only one to hear it was the white unicorn who'd walked over during Scootaloo's thoughts.

"Scootaloo? Why'd you cut yourself again?"

The pegasus turned quickly to Sweetie, her expression softening from one of contempt for the stallion, to one of apology. "I, I just wanted it to be a dream. I didn't want to know that I'd just killed him. I didn't want it to have really happened. I'm sorry."

Sweetie's horn lit up and Scootaloo felt a slight sting on her arm before she noticed that it was no longer bleeding. She looked at it and blinked. She then looked to Sweetie Belle just before the unicorn pulled her into a tight hug. "Don't apologize. You had to do it, right? Let's just get you cleaned up, love. Come on."

After a moment more in embrace, and a few spent in a kiss, the mares got to their hooves and walked out of the cellar, closing the door behind them. They then made their way to the bathroom to clean up. If there was one thing they knew from the event, it was that at least the two could finally settle to sleep together again. They cleaned up entirely unaware of the figures taking the corpses from the cellar.

Author's Note

I know it's a bit short, and I apologize, but I couldn't see myself combining this chapter with another. It feels like it's a decent standing chapter, so I hope that it doesn't disappoint too badly. Again, please let me know where I've goofed. I don't mind hearing where I did well, too, but that's not too important to me right now. Hope you enjoy.

Luna Forsaken Night

Scootaloo awoke with a slight yawn as she stretched. She cocked her head slightly at noticing what seemed like the first rays of the day flowing in through her window. It wasn't all too jarring, though, as she remembered how little she'd slept lately and figured that waking up to the rising sun still meant she'd slept, and that meant something. With that cleared from her mind she reached over to hug her fillyfriend, only to touch her bed.

As she realized she was alone, her new instincts had taken her over and she rushed to her mirror, but her shard was nowhere to be found. She searched for it frantically before noticing something else out of the ordinary, and quickly found out why she couldn't find her shard. The shard she'd grown so used to was no longer a shard, as her mirror was whole once more, perfectly in tact.

Something yet more alarming caught her eye, rather, both her eyes, as she could hardly help but notice they were back to normal, not for her lately, but for any normal pony. The rings of black were entirely gone. They weren't alone in the disappearing act, as a quick look and feel of her body told her that all the scratches and scars she'd caused herself were gone. The fur on her throat that was usually shorter than the rest from the shard was also normal, untouched, though slightly matted, as was the rest of her fur, her mane, and her feathers.

The pegasus shook her head. Sure enough, even then, she was normal, not just the normal she'd grown used to, but truly normal. She was her old self once more.

After taking a few moments to let it sink in, she walked to her closet to find her old clothes in it, a bunch of light, graphic T-shirts, a number of baggy shorts, a few pair of jeans, some ripped from her occasional crashes.

She picked out a blue T-shirt with a DJ PON-3 logo and an artistic rendering of a white unicorn with an electric blue, two-tone mane and deep violet sunglasses. After sliding into a bra and the shirt, she found an old pair of colt shorts and slid them on before taking out what were her favorite pair of jeans before she had to get rid of them in favor of darker colors.

She reached for her gloves, but froze when she couldn't find them. She glanced around for a while before shaking them from her head, writing them off as only her connection to that horrid world, to that insane dream; at the very least, she tried to do so, and managed to leave the thought mostly muted in the back of her mind.

She walked into the main section of her house. The cans were cleaned up, the couch was a bit messier from having been used more recently. The mirrors everywhere were perfectly intact, just like before Dash died.

Dash! Wait, if that was all a dream, then maybe, maybe she's still alive!

Without another though, the pegasus grabbed her keys and her board. As she grabbed her board, part of her mind told her it felt odd, but she chalked it up to just being unaccustomed to touching it without her gloves after so long. She then headed out of her house and skated quickly out of her neighborhood and into the main of Ponyville, her eyes scanning the sky, hardly noticing how swiftly everything passed her by.

Upon reaching the center of the town, she hopped off her board. She facepalmed as she realized she'd not cleaned herself up any and went to fix her feathers, only to find they were already in order, now perfectly cleaned and straightened. She reached up to find her mane was also in it's usual style. She briefly considered that she didn't remember fixing either, but her concentration was broken as a soft voice pierced the air.

"Scootaloo!" A white unicorn mare rushed over and hugged the orange pegasus tightly, a gesture which Scootaloo made no hesitation to return. It was then that a second voice sounded, one she never thought she'd hear again.

"Hey squirt, bout time you got here." Scootaloo's eyes shot wide open. Before her was Rainbow Dash, dressed in her typical tanktop and shorts. She was giving her usual smirk as she opened her arms. "You gonna hug me too or what, sis?"

Scootaloo didn't need anything more, Sweetie stepped to the side just in time to avoid getting knocked over as the orange pegasus rushed over and hugged the cyan mare tightly, waiting for the slightly messy, coarse fur of her big sister pressing against her once more. She felt the warmth as her arms neared, but as she was wrapped in the hug, she could hardly help but notice something drastically off. Dash, the Rainbow Dash, has fur as soft and fine as silk.

The orange pegasus froze in place as her eyes widened, her mind racing. "D-d-d-dash?"

"Yeah, Scoots?"

"Why is your fur so different?"

"What do you mean? How is it different?"

Scootaloo pulled away almost violently. "Your fur isn't normal. It's too soft. It's too fine it's, it's not your fucking fur!" The pegasus was distraught, and her voiced carried it loud and clear.

"Whoa, whoa, Scootaloo, chill."

Sweetie Belle stepped forward and wrapped the pegasus in a hug. As soon as she did, Scootaloo noticed the exact same feel of the fur against her. Sweetie's fur was exactly the same as Rainbow Dashes, down to the last palpable detail. As the fact settled, Scootaloo tore herself away from the mare, backing away from the two. "No, no, no, no, no, no! This isn't happening. This, this can't be a dream. This was too perfect! Please, please just stop!"

The world around the pegasus grew dark as she felt as though she were slung back. She stopped suddenly, her head swimming momentarily before clearing up to see she was in her living room, the couch ripped, the mirrors bashed and bloodied, random splatters of blood painting the walls. She looked around and shook bolted towards her bedroom and straight to her dresser, only to find the mirror still intact and her shard nowhere.

She looked around for something to use before rushing into the kitchen, searching for a knife, a fork, anything, only to find nothing she could use. She ran to the mirrors and tried desperately to remove a shard form the broken mirrors, only to find no give at all, as though there was something between her and the glass she'd hoped to set her free.

Scootaloo heard a whisper, then a soft giggle. Soon she heard a few echoing laughs, and before long, she'd dropped to the floor and covered her ears trying to escape the thunderous laughter from everywhere. She squirmed and twitched as she gripped her mane.

"Make it stop! S-sweetie! Please! Make it stop! I, I don't care how, just make it stop!" She sobbed openly as she screamed out. "Sweetie! Just make it stop!"

After what felt like hours, the pegasus felt something she'd never expected. She felt a sting in her right shoulder followed by a warmth slowly flowing over it. The laughter quickly faded and her vision suddenly flickered black, then white. After a moment, she shot up in her bed, panting, covered in sweat. Within moments of waking, she felt a brief sting on her shoulder, followed by the soft coat from her dreams holding her. At first, the pegasus began to pull away, but as everything registered once more, she quickly pulled her fillyfriend into a tight hug.

"Scootaloo, are you okay? I'm so sorry, but I didn't know what else to do. I panicked."

Scootaloo held Sweetie Belle tightly still as she slowly steadied her breath. "Sweetie, please, don't ever apologize for that." She choked back tears as best she could. "Please, don't apologize. You, you have no idea how terrible that was." She tried to continue, but her tears finally overcame her and she clutched the mare tighter as she wept.

Sweetie Belle wasn't quite used to this new side of Scootaloo, but she wasn't about to let that get to her. She held the pegasus in her arms, letting the orange mare let out her emotions, and tell of her nightmare.

After Scootaloo calmed down and finished telling about her dream, Sweetie Belle slowly pulled from the embrace before walking with the orange mare to fix some tea. After a short chat and both finishing their tea, the two shared a brief kiss before returning to bed.

“Are you sure you’re okay now, Scoots? You can tell me if you’re not, you know?”

“Y-yeah. I’m fine. I mean, it’s not like it matters. I’m not getting back to sleep. We both know that.” Scootaloo let out a sigh as she fell back onto her pillow.

Sweetie Belle frowned and lay beside her, giving her a kiss on the cheek. “Do you want me to try and stay up with you?”

Scootaloo pulled her fillyfriend close. “No, Sweetie. You need your sleep. I’ll be fine. I promise.”

Sweetie Belle gave a slight nod before huddling closer to the pegasus and closing her eye, only to be interrupted immediately by another knock at the door.

She sighed and looked to Scootaloo, knowing what the knock meant, but was surprised to notice her asleep. The unicorn carefully pulled away and looked towards the window to see that a good few hours had already passed.

Sweetie Belle blinked and heard the knock again. She cocked her head and figured it couldn’t have been the same as normal if there was another knock. With that, she decided she would let Scootaloo get whatever sleep she could and got up to answer the door.

Within seconds of opening the door, Sweetie Belle saw a flash of white before there was only darkness. All idea of time was lost as the darkness faded slightly. Sweetie Belle tried to move, but found herself restrained at her limbs. She then tried to cast a spell, only to be met by a numbness at the base of her horn. After a moment, she noticed a sheet, a very thick one, at that. It wasn’t much longer before she noticed that it didn’t seem to be falling right over her.

That was when it hit her: her horn was gone, she was strapped down, and covered up. Then the slightly unsteady clack of hooves against concrete brought her realization to full: she was in the cellar, and Scootaloo was supposed to kill her.

Almost on cue, she heard the voice of her fillyfriend mumbling as though reading the typical note. There was a pause before she heard a few slow hoofsteps, and another, more brief pause, before the sheet was pulled from her to reveal Scootaloo, staring blankly at her. She tried to speak up, but a magical gag kept her silent, just like the others. She tried to thrash against her bonds, but they held her firmly in place.

Scootaloo blinked, but her expression stayed blank for some time. After a while, though, she pulled out a knife and slowly, deliberately, moved it towards Sweetie Belle’s throat. Sweetie Belle’s eyes widened as pure fear took over her entire countenance, her whole self. Then, she heard Scootaloo speak.

“They told me you were against me, Sweetie. They told me all about how you were just using me. You betrayed me, Sweetie. I loved you, and you betrayed me.”

Sweetie Belle began crying, desperately trying to say “No” to tell her fillyfriend that she would never turn on her, that she would never use Scootaloo, that she loved her, but the gag prevented even a single sound from escaping her mouth. All she could do was watch as her fillyfriend drew the knife closer and closer to her throat, and the last moments of her life ticked away, soon to be gone at the hands of the mare she loved.

Sweetie Belle felt no pain, she felt no sting, instead, she felt two arms fiercely wrapped around her. After a moment, the world began to fade back in, and she saw she was still in their bed, and that Scootaloo was awake, and holding her tightly, as well as stroking her mane.

“Oh my gosh, Sweetie. Are you okay?!”

Sweetie Belle took a deep breath and a few moments to let her mind catch up with what had just happened. It didn’t take long before she buried her face into the crook of her fillyfriend’s neck, returning the embrace as tightly as she could. It wasn’t long after this that the roles from before switched, Sweetie Belle now sobbing and telling about her nightmare.

After Sweetie Belle calmed down, the two noticed sunlight coming in through the window. It didn’t take much for either to agree that they could both use some time out and about. With that in mind, the two got up and went about cleaning up and getting dressed before walking out, entirely unaware of the shadow coming from the bedroom window.

Author's Note

I realize that Solace was entirely too abrupt. Instead of a prequel, I'm editing and extending Unraveling! Also, for any who enjoyed this chapter, please thank Chromegas_Flare as he was a major help in the process of this chapter. He really helped me work through my ideas and refine what I had. Also, I apologize for the first half of this being the same as Solace. I liked the chapter, but I needed to fix it. This story is now likely far from over, so I hope you don't mind sticking around for the ride.

Empty Eyes

Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle sat in the living room, settling down after dinner. Despite the now returned rings around Scootaloo’s eyes, both mares managed a warm smile as they snuggled together on the couch.Their happy times were good as gone, however, when they heard one of the last sounds either of them wanted to, a knock on the door.

The two sighed and looked to one another for a moment before getting up and walking to the door. Scootaloo took a deep breath, preparing for the final sign that seemed to dictate her allowance to sleep, as well as her payment for the privilege. What she saw once the door was open, however, surprised her, quite pleasantly.

“T-twilight?”

The alicorn opposite Scootaloo giggled lightly and smiled. “Were you expecting somepony else, Scootaloo?”

“N-no! I mean, uh, yeah, I mean, kinda, um, it’s complicated,” she stammered out.

“What she means is that we weren’t really expecting anypony. Sorry, she hasn’t been sleeping well, Princess,” Sweetie explained.

Twilight, strangely unfazed by the strange act, sighed with a soft smile. “You two don’t have to call me that, you know? I just wanted to come check up on you both while I had some free time.”

Scootaloo blinked and paused for a moment before letting out a nervous chuckle. “Oh, uh, yeah. Come on in, Prin—er, Twilight?”

Twilight nodded and stepped inside, Scootaloo closing the door behind her. “Well, you’ve certainly got a very…” As Twilight looked around, she noticed the busted mirrors, but only let a small pause slow her. “... comfortable looking home. Are you two living together now?”

Sweetie Belle blushed slightly and giggled. Scootaloo simply smiled as she responded, “Heh, yeah. I guess we are. So, uh, what did you wanna do?”

Twilight looked around for a moment before speaking. “How about we just sit and talk over tea? Maybe some chamomile?”

Scootaloo gave a half-smile as she and Sweetie Belle led their new guest into the kitchen. “Sure, but I’ve already tried just about everything. No medications, though. Apparently my family has a bad history of obsession and addiction. Don’t wanna chance too much, ya know?”

Twilight nodded, walking to the seat facing towards the doorway out of the kitchen. “Well, is it okay if I sit here?”

“Sure, sit wherever ya like. Sweetie’s real good with measuring out the tea and all.” Sweetie Belle gave another small giggle to that, happy to see Scootaloo seeming to enjoy herself, and to have someone else in their life, if only for a short time.

Scootaloo took a seat more or less opposite of Twilight as Sweetie Belle set the kettle on the stove, finishing up before taking a seat beside Scootaloo.

“I’d like to start by apologizing for taking so long to come by. I really wanted to check up on you after, you know… But I’ve had to keep things up around here lately. I mean, I know you two were very close.”

Scootaloo shrugged after a moment. “It’s cool, I guess. I mean, you’re a princess and all now, even if you don’t like being called one, so it’s not like I expect you to be checking up on everypony in Ponyville every day. Besides, Sweetie’s been a lot of help with everything lately. I don’t really trust myself with the… sharper things, while I’m so sleep deprived.”

Twilight nodded slightly, looking to Sweetie Belle for her reaction and finding the mare smiling as usual. “Still, you were her sister. Somepony should have made sure you were okay from the start.”

Scootaloo managed a slight smile, but said nothing. Sweetie Belle wasted little time moving closer and holding her fillyfriend close. It took a minute, but Twilight seemed to understand the impact of her words. “Oh, I’m so sorry. Is that why— O-oh… Um, I suppose we should move on to the other reason I’m here then, shall we?”

The two mares across from her were still and silent for a moment, but both soon gave a nod. Twilight looked past the mares for a moment before nodding, then looking back to them. “Well, I’m here because I’ve been meaning to speak with you both on—” Twilight was cut off with a knock at the door, a sound that sent Scootaloo out of her chair. In under a second, anxiety, surprise, and even fear painted on her face.

Twilight gave the mare an odd look. “Are you okay, Scootaloo? Was that the pony you were expecting?”

“No! I mean, I’m not expecting anypony, I’m just—”

“She’s just a bit on edge, I’m sure, Twilight. You would be too if you hadn’t slept in over a week.”

Twilight’s expression fell at that, quickly. “You’re right. I’m sorry sleep is such a problem, Scootaloo. I really wish I could help.” The knock came again, the same pattern, but easily much louder. “I also really think somepony should answer that.”

Scootaloo nodded and sighed as she walked to the door and stopped. Sweetie made her way to Scootaloo’s side, but this went unnoticed. The only thing on her mind was one thought Please, please, please be Diamond Tiara. Be anypony, I don’t care, just don’t be an empty doorway. Scootaloo took another breath before opening the door, just in time for Twilight to reach her other side.

The doorway was empty.

Sweetie turned to Scootaloo. She seemed like she wanted to speak, but even Twilight could tell from her eyes that she was heavily conflicted. She didn’t get the chance, however, as Scootaloo sighed. She stayed still for a moment, but soon straightened up, her face strangely serious as she whipped around and went straight for the door to her cellar. Twilight and Sweetie followed her, wordlessly.

By the time the other two made it down, Scootaloo was already reading the letter on the table—the usual body in the room was still covered. Once Twilight reached the bottom of the stairs, Scootaloo set the letter down and pulled the dagger from her hoodie pocket, holding it firmly as she walked over and nearly tore the sheet away.

Upon seeing the soon-to-be-victim still unconscious, she turned to Twilight, dagger raised and pointed at the princess, a fire in the young pegasus’s eyes. “You think just because I’m sleep deprived that I’m fucking blind? Do you think I’m fucking stupid or something, Princess?”

Two sets of eyes were on Scootaloo after that, both as wide as they could be. “Wait, what? What are you talki—”

Scootaloo nearly lunged forward, her wings half-raised and her tone now fierce. “Don’t you dare try that innocent shit with me! I saw how you acted. Scootaloo may not have, but I sure as fuck did. Now you listen here. I’m gonna fucking do this, you’re going to give me answers, and nopony is going to hear a damned word. Are. We. Clear?”

Sweetie Belle slowly stepped closer. “S-scootaloo, pl—”

Scootaloo’s wings flared for a moment before she had Sweetie Belle by the collar of her shirt, the tip of the dagger pressed dangerously against the unicorn’s throat. “Scootaloo isn’t here right now, Belle. Now both of you just let me do this, and that pony over there is the only one that loses any blood tonight, deal?”

Sweetie Belle stared for a moment before giving a slight nod. Scootaloo let her go and stepped towards her victim. Sweetie rushed to Twilight, holding onto her tightly. Scootaloo looked at the now very much awake pony strapped before her. Without a word or a moment’s hesitation, she slashed the blade across the stallion’s abdomen.

As his guts began to spill, she flipped the dagger in her hand, her thumb near the pommel, and used both hands to force the blade into the stallion’s heart. She paused for a moment before yanking the dagger free and flicking the gore from it.

She then walked to Twilight, her expression still the same as before. “Now, here’s a question, Princess: What just happened?”

Twilight, for the moment entirely oblivious to her magic or any of the other advantages she had over the mare before her, hesitated before managing an answer. “You just killed that stallion.”

“Good. Now, why?”

“Excuse me?”

“Why did I kill that stallion? No, first, how did I? What happened to him?”

“You gutted him and stabbed his heart.”

“Now, why did he die like that? Why did I do it?”

“I don’t know what you’re—”

Scootaloo slammed the blade of the dagger into the wooden rail of the staircase. “You know what I’m talking about! He died because somepony put him down here. Somepony you saw put him down here. That somepony left me a letter telling me that I would have to do this in front of you, and you know what? I didn’t even fucking need it this time. I’m sick of being stuck awake.”

Twilight stared for a moment, a moment too long, into Scootaloo’s eyes. The fire was still there and still strong, but even in spite of it, there was an eerie emptiness to them. She stepped back, and it was over. “Okay, okay. I know. Just calm down, please? How about you rest, then we’ll go and—”

“I’m staying right here until they come to clean up.” Scootaloo pulled the dagger free and walked to the table, taking a seat on it. “If they’re waiting on some signal from you, give it to them. Just because I killed doesn’t mean I’m on some time limit. I can stay awake all fucking night, and all tomorrow night too.”

Twilight seemed ready to say something, but stopped. She petted Sweetie Belle’s head and departed up the stairs. Sweetie Belle looked to Scootaloo—not saying anything, not stepping closer, just looking; and Scootaloo looked back, doing the same.

It wasn’t long before two sets of hooves sounded upstairs, neither in any apparent rush. A few steps later, Scootaloo noticed Twilight, followed by a figure in a black hoodie and black pants, the hood pulled up and only showed a light blue muzzle.

Scootaloo stood, knife in hand, and stepped towards the middle of the room, waiting as the two found their way to the bottom of the stairs. The pony in black stepped forward, as did Scootaloo. “Take the hood off.”

“Scootaloo, please, just—”

“I want to see who’s been putting me through this. You owe me that fucking much!”

Twilight started to respond, but went quiet when the hooded pony held up a hand. She pulled the hood down, exposing a sky-blue coat, powerful magenta eyes, and a rainbow mane. Scootaloo remained silent for a time, staring at her very much alive big sister. The silence was soon broken with a single word. “Why?”

“Look, Squirt, I—”

“Don’t call me that,” Scootaloo muttered while slowly shaking her head. “You lost that privilege when you made me sit through your fucking funeral!” She gripped the knife tighter, her voice shaking as her eyes began to water. “I’ve lost weeks of sleep over that! I thought it was my fault. I thought I’d never get to see you again. I hated myself for not saying what I should have.”

Rainbow Dash flinched, but stayed in place. Could her expression drop more, it would have. She took a slow, careful step forward. “Scootaloo, please, just put the knife down, okay? Just put it down and we’ll show you what’s going on.”

Scootaloo’s breathing was unsteady as she tightened her grip around the handle. Rainbow Dash hesitated before taking another, less sure step forward. She leapt back as Scootaloo yelled out, throwing the knife to the floor. She fell to her knees, burying her face in her hands as she took in deep, quivering breaths—muffled sobs escaping from her covered visage.

Rainbow Dash started to rush towards the younger pegasus, but stopped herself. She instead eased herself closer before kneeling by her little sister. She carefully reached out, gingerly wrapping her arms around Scootaloo. When Scootaloo didn’t pull away, Rainbow pulled her closer, wrapping her sister in her wings.

“Just get it out of you, Scootaloo. Just let it out.” She softly stroked Scootaloo’s mane, holding the mare close as she cried in her arms.

Still off near the steps, Twilight stared at the scene before her. She felt more than a simple pang of guilt as she witnessed the current events in front of her. It took the princess a few moments more to notice that Sweetie Belle had made her way over and was now holding her fillyfriend and her sister.

Save for the muffled sound of Scootaloo slowly but steadily calming her breathing, the next few minutes went by in all-but-complete silence. Once it seemed the mare had collected herself, Rainbow Dash slowly pulled back. Sweetie Belle, however, stayed for a while longer.

Rainbow Dash looked to Twilight. A moment passed before the alicorn gave a nod and took a step towards the couple on the floor. Twilight cleared her throat softly, catching the attention of Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo.

“I suppose we should get on our way then, shouldn’t we?” she asked.

Scootaloo wiped her face clean and nodded. Sweetie Belle gave her fillyfriend one last hug before helping her to her hooves. Without further conversing or question, the four mares made their way upstairs and out of the house, Twilight and Rainbow Dash both mentally noting to have somepony pick up the new corpse and clean the floor.

The walk was shorter than either Scootaloo or Sweetie Belle expected, although, to be fair, neither expected it to end at the Golden Oak Library. They could speculate all they wanted, but as Twilight and Rainbow Dash entered, they felt they might get answers faster by simply following them.

Twilight led the group down a hallway in the back of the main room. It lead down and into her lab quickly. The alicorn was obviously not at the intended destination, however, as she walked to a portion of the far wall, pressing a plate in. No sooner had she done so, that the wall nearby glowed before fading away to reveal yet another staircase.

Now feeling more unnerved than before, Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle followed Twilight and Rainbow Dash down. The stairs seemed to go on forever, but the group finally reached the bottom. Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle were momentarily speechless as they took in the massive room around them.

The silence was quickly broken by a familiar voice. “Might I ask why they are here early?”

Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle turned to the voice to find the towering presence of Princess Luna before them. They remained without words for the time, though it was not as if they were being spoken to.

Twilight wasted little time turning to the royal sister and responding, “We didn’t really have a lot of choices, Princess. She caught on before going after the victim. She said she would have waited until somepony came to get the body.”

Luna gave a slight nod before casting a glance at the two younger mares who had still yet to speak since arriving. She looked them over for a moment before nodding once more to herself and turning. “Then come with me, Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle,” said she with wave of her hand as she made her way to a fairly small throne a few meters away.

After a short hesitation, Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle followed Luna across the room. Luna took a seat on her throne and looked between the mares before her.

“I suppose you wish to know about the events put before you as of late?” questioned Luna.

Scootaloo stepped forward. “Yes, Princess Luna. What’s going on? Why have you been getting me to kill ponies?”

Luna remained silent for a moment. When she spoke, her voice was softer, but still held an air of authority. “You have my sincerest apologies for not requesting your service beforehand. This is a matter most important, and I wished to handle it as quietly as possible. When the situations presented to me, gave me a chance to work things into motion faster, I overlooked most reason to not take such a chance.”

Scootaloo remained quiet, but it was apparent from her expression that she was not taking that alone for an answer. Luna exhaled softly.

“I believe that, if any here have earned the right to know the situation, then it would be you. You have followed orders in the blind hope of relief, and you have suffered through something that you did not ask for. I believe a more pertinent question to you is, why Rainbow Dash is not dead, despite the very official funeral that was held.

“That would be nice,” Scootaloo remarked.

“To avoid telling you too much too early, I will say simply that Rainbow Dash’s death was a scapegoat of sorts through which we all managed to avoid a rather heinous disaster. The body in the coffin was made to look as accurately like Rainbow Dash as possible. It was a task entrusted to Rarity.” Luna paused for a brief moment. “Please know, Scootaloo, that Sweetie Belle was never, at any point, aware of this.”

The pegasus peered over at her fillyfriend and nodded.

“Now, if you wish to know more at this moment, I shall tell you. If not, simply say so. We have some time, and you may rest on what you have learned, if you so please.”

Scootaloo took a few deep breaths before looking back to Luna.

“I still don’t know why you did all of that to me. I want answers.”

Luna gave a nod and stood, walking to a nearby bookcase and thumbing through the visible covers. Her silence as she did so was more than slightly irritating to Scootaloo, and Sweetie Belle could see it plainly. Sweetie Belle pulled her fillyfriend close, which seemed to at least keep the pegasus from saying anything she may have regretted.

Luna seemed to find what she was looking for, as she soon pulled a book out, lightly brushing off the little dust that accumulated on it before turning to the younger ponies. The Princess of the Night walked towards the couple as she spoke. “To be brief on the matter of your main concern, I need your help.”

The two mares before her sported almost matching expressions of confusion. Luna had expected as much and presented the book she’d taken from the shelf only moments prior.

Scootaloo took the rather hefty, aged-looking tome in her hands. There was no title and, in fact, nothing at all upon the dark grey cover. The couple looked up to Luna, who had adopted a somewhat more solemn expression.

“What do you know of shadow ponies, Scootaloo?”

Author's Note

Hey, sorry it took so long! Unraveling is finally finished, and not just badly like my last attempt. :twilightsheepish: Well, I know I should've put the AU tag on earlier, like, when Shadow Changeling was more or less linked to this, but, yeah... Anyways, I hope you all enjoyed. :scootangel: