The Cutie Mark Crusaders' Last Gig

1 week later…

The news of what had happened to Apple Bloom had reached Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo. The sick bucker who did it was caught the next day, because a witness walking along the street saw Apple Bloom in Berts cart, and Bert was a known pedophile and rapist. He was immediately sentenced to life in prison, but everypony knew that even though the punishment was fitting, Ponyville had just lost a gorgeous, delightful, young filly who would remain in the hearts of every citizen of Ponyville for years and years to come.
The two fillies, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo, sat in their clubhouse with their instruments, slowly playing music, but mostly thinking about Apple Bloom.
When Applejack heard what had happened, she went into a deep depression from which she may not emerge for some time. Big Mac attempted suicide but stopped himself with a gun to his head, realising it wasn’t what Apple Bloom would have wanted.

Rarity walked in suddenly.

“Hi girls” she said grimly.
The duo looked up and feebly greeted her.
“Look…I’ve been listening to your music, and I think you’re both extremely good”.
“Doesn’t matter without Apple Bloom” Sweetie Belle said grimly.

Scootaloo had scars all across her face, but she knew it was nothing compared to what Apple Bloom had suffered.

“I got you a record deal” Rarity said, trying to cheer the two fillies up.
“What?” Scootaloo said, lifting her head.
“I showed your music to a record producer. He wants to record an album with you two, and I can be your manager. What do you say?”

This cheered the fillies up quite a lot, but they still felt extremely glum.

“I don’t know…” Sweetie Belle said. “We’re still mourning over Apple Bloom”.

Scootaloo looked uncertain, but then lifted her head.

“It’s what Apple Bloom would have wanted. If she were looking down on us from Pony heaven right now, I bet she’d be screaming “Do it!” So, I’m in”.
“I understand that you two are still mourning, but I just thought your music sounded absolutely divine. And so does the record producer, Rasmaressen” Rarity explained.
“We’ll do it” Sweetie Belle said. “In honor of Apple Bloom”.

Rarity nodded.

“That’s the spirit. I’ll give you two more time to mourn, of course, but there’s one last thing”.
“What’s that?” Scootaloo asked.
“Well, I listened to your music and as I said earlier, it sounded divine. But Scootaloo, I disagree with your style of music”.

Scootaloo looked confused.

“What?”
“I think we should only play Sweetie Belles type of music. It’s less trashy and has a lot less screaming”.
“It’s not trashy, it’s thrashy!” Scootaloo said. “Is this because she’s your sister?!”
“Of course not” Rarity said. “I just don’t like heavier styles of metal. But Sweetie Belle plays a splendid blend of rock and classical”.

Scootaloo looked offended.
Sweetie Belle shrugged and grinned awkwardly.

“Well, she is the band manager”.

1 year later...

A full year passed by since that day. Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo recorded their debut album with a producer named Flemming Rasmaressen, called Clothes Selling is my Business…and Business is Good! After Rarity’s boutique. It sold over 7000 copies within it’s first three months of being released in Ponyville alone, and another 5500 copies were sold in Cloudsdale.

It’s most popular song, Enter Sandmane, ranked at #1 on the list of top songs in Equestria and stayed there for 2 and a half months.

Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo, along with Rarity, made tens of thousands of bits from record and merchandise sales, and even toured across Equestria later in the year, playing a total of 17 separate performances.
However, the entire time, Scootaloos’ anger boiled inside her. She was enraged at how her style of music had been shunned by Rarity and that Sweetie Belle was ok with it.
She wanted revenge.

One day, while back in Ponyville, shortly after their tour and beginning production of their second album The Maretallica Experience ft. Pinkie Pie, Scootaloo was plotting her revenge.

She decided the best way to get her satisfaction would be to play a nasty prank on Rarity, then laugh in her face.
She went to the front of her house and installed a punching glove with a lead weight inside of it into her doorbell buzzer, so that when you pressed the doorbell, the punching glove would shoot out and hit you in the face.
When she was done installing it, she turned around and looked at the sea, which her house overlooked. She sat down on the edge of her balcony next to her door and smiled.

“This is a nice life, but I can’t wait to see Rarity’s reaction”.
She rang Rarity on her cellphone. It rang a few times but eventually Rarity picked up.
“Hello, Rarity speaking” she said when she answered.
“Hey, it’s Scootaloo. Listen, can you come by my place? I’ve got something I wanna show you”.
“Oh, ok” Rarity said cheerfully.
“Great. See you soon” Scootaloo said, trying not to smirk.

She hung up and laughed a bit, then went inside and waited for Rarity. She watched television, and a show came on that was about hairless creatures that walked on two legs instead of four, some of which had white skin and some had black and the hairless creatures were intelligent but at the same time greedy.
Suddenly, the doorbell rang. Scootaloo burst out laughing and raced to the door. She opened it and raced outside, expecting to see Rarity holding her face and shouting in pain.
But, there was nopony there.
“What the?” Scootaloo said.

She looked around, but Rarity was nowhere to be seen. She looked around the balcony carefully.
“Maybe she managed to dodge it and now she’s hiding somewhere, waiting to jump out and scare me” the filly thought to herself.

She looked behind some large plants growing on the balcony. Rarity was a clean freak, so it was unlikely she’d go climb in between some plants and risk getting her mane dirty. As Scootaloo half expected, she wasn’t in there.
She walked down the wooden stairs leading down from the balcony onto her large front yard. Walking around the corner, looking in every direction, hoping to see Rarity, she eventually found her. But not in the way she’d hoped to.
Rarity lay on the grass just beneath the balcony. Her body was lifeless and her head was bent at an odd angle to her body.
“Rarity!” Scootaloo screamed out.

She raced to her aid, but when she got closer she saw that her neck had been split open, and it was clear that she’d landed on her head. She had blood all over her nose, indicating that the punching glove had hit her.
She must have been hit by it, then stumbled back and fell off the balcony.

Scootaloo started freaking out, and it took her a moment to bring herself to accept the fact that Rarity was clearly dead. It seemed like her still open eyes were staring into her soul, judging her, demanding to know why she’d just killed her.
Her breathing became fast and filled with anxiety. She felt a feeling of dread, but she was still finding it difficult to come to terms with the fact that she’d just killed Rarity.

She brushed her hooves through her mane and attempted to calm herself down, but it was a futile effort. Her breathing was becoming faster by the minute as she started to realise the gravity of this situation.
Then she thought of Sweetie Belle. She’d be devastated. How would she tell her? How would she tell her that she’d just killed her sister?

She went back upstairs and sat down in the middle of her living room, laying in the middle of the floor.
“That was just meant to be a prank” she said to herself guiltily. “A nasty prank. But just a prank. What if I get arrested for murder…?”
She shot up.

“What if I get arrested for murder?!?” she gasped anxiously.
She hadn’t even thought of that. What if she did get arrested? How would the other ponies in juvenile prison treat her?
She couldn’t let that happen. Not now. Not ever.

She went to her bedroom and started grabbing her favorite possessions, then threw them into a suitcase.
“Maybe I’m making too big of a deal out of this” she said to herself as she zipped up her suitcase.
But then she thought of the fact that she’d just committed murder. Third degree murder, at least.

She decided she’d need to flee Ponyville and go lay low somewhere else for a while. It was sad, because she was just starting to become a successful musician around Ponyville. But then again, she didn’t like the thought of prison.
She slowly wandered out of her house, locking the front door behind her, before beginning her descent down the stairs. Could she even bring herself to see Raritys body again as she turned the corner at the end of the steps?

She grimaced when she stepped around the corner and saw a few flies swarming around her neck. She stopped herself from gagging and realised she’d have to dispose of the body. But how?

Her legs felt like jelly as she approached Raritys body. Her body was lifeless, but her eyes told a different story. Like her spirit wanted to know why she’d done such a thing to her.

The filly broke down into tears right next to her body. Half of her wanted to come clean and accept her punishment by going to jail, but her more malevolent side wanted to dump her body somewhere and flee Ponyville and keep under the radar for at least a few years. But how would she get by? Nopony would hire a murderer, so she’d have to start a completely new life. But how would she go about doing that? She could get a fake I.D., but what if she got caught using it? What if someone in her new life recognized her? What if they called the police?

These thoughts buzzed around in her head like a swarm of angry bees, making her feel nauseous.
She decided that perhaps the best thing would be to dispose of Raritys body, then leave Ponyville.
She stood up and wiped her tears away. She went to her garage and grabbed a hacksaw, then used it to saw off Raritys legs and head so that her body would be unrecognizable, then she lit a fire in her fireplace and threw Raritys sawed-off body parts in it.

She then dragged Raritys body through her yard. Her eyes constantly darted in every direction, watching for anypony that might see her with a dead body. She lived in a secluded area, but still she felt anxious with fear and dread.
She dragged her body out through her garden, then dragged it across the road as fast as she could. A lake was just beyond the road, with small wooden boats dotted around the edge for anypony to use as they wished for sailing around the lake.
She lifted Raritys body onto one of these boats, then climbed in herself and sailed out to the middle of the lake.
The lake was surprisingly quiescent, with nopony in sight. It was like she was alone in the world; just her and Raritys body.
She gulped as she paddled out a little farther and then stopped. She took a deep breath and lifted Raritys body onto the edge of the boat.

“I’m really sorry, Rarity” she said, her eyes flooding with tears. “I really, truly am”.

She was about to give her body a push when suddenly, she heard a loud whoosh of air above her.
She looked up and to her utmost fear and shock, Rainbow Dash was doing figure eights in the air above her.

“Hey, Scootaloo” she said happily.

Scootaloo got in the way of Raritys body, trying to make sure Rainbow Dash couldn’t see it.

“Oh, hey Rainbow Dash” she said, trying to keep her anxiety from creeping into her tone.
“How’s my favorite little filly?” Rainbow Dash beamed as she stopped doing figure eights and looked down at Scootaloo.
But when she saw the filly, she seemed somewhat shocked.
“Scootaloo, you look like a mess!” she gasped.

Scootaloo did her best to cover up Raritys body. She made herself look like she was just relaxing against the side of the boat.

“Oh. I do? Yeah, I’ve just been stressed with my new album” she lied. “You know how it is with Pinkie Pie. Blabber blabber blabber”.

Rainbow Dash laughed.
“I can understand that. You wanna chill out?”
“Uhhh…no, I kind of want to be alone right now?” Scootaloo explained nervously.
“Oh. Is something wrong?” Rainbow Dash asked, feeling concerned.
“Umm…no…I just want to be alone…” she said.

Rainbow Dash suddenly looked confused.

“Scootaloo, why is there blood trickling down your arm?”

Scootaloo almost screamed. She reluctantly looked down at her arm and to her horror, blood slowly dripped down it.
Rainbow Dash swooped down to help her, but then recoiled in horror.

“Scootaloo...! What…?!”

The Pegasus was speechless when she saw the body.
Scootaloo collapsed on the bottom of the boat in tears.

“I didn’t mean to kill her!” she screamed.

Rainbow Dash landed on the boat and gagged, but managed to bring herself to inspect the body.

“Is this…is this Rarity?!” she gasped in a horrified tone.

Scootaloo anxiously nodded.
Rainbow Dash started breathing heavily and anxiously.

“What happened?! Why is she dead?!?”

Scootaloo hastily explained what had happened to Rarity, and Rainbow Dash was completely horrified.

“I just meant it to be a prank!” Scootaloo cried. “It was just meant to be a prank! She was being a bitch and I wanted to get back at her”.

Rainbow Dash sighed.

“Look, we’re gonna have to come clean” she told the filly.

Scootaloo looked terrified.

“No!!” No, we can’t!”
“It’s the best thing we can do” Rainbow Dash said reluctantly. “The forensics team will find her eventually, and if you admit it then you’ll get off a bit easier”.

Scootaloo almost gagged with anxiety. She felt nauseous, and now she might be facing a prison sentence.
“Go home, ring Sweetie Belle and tell her. Then go down to the police station and hand yourself in” Rainbow Dash told her.
Scootaloo gulped. She didn’t want to, but Rainbow Dash was her idol and she always had good advice. After all, she was loyal and would never say anything to lead anypony astray.

She waved goodbye to Rainbow Dash before sailing back to the shoreline. She dragged Raritys body back onto her property and left it in her shed, then she went inside to ring Sweetie Belle.

She stood in front of the phone and hesitated. She knew that it was probably the best option, in the long run. But it would be the most difficult phone call anypony could ever make.

She took a deep breath, then picked up the receiver and dialed Sweetie Belles number. As the phone rang, each ‘brrng’ was like a nail drilling into her heart, making her feel queezy with anxiety.
Inevitably, Sweetie Belle picked up after about eight ‘brrngs’.

“Hello, Sweetie Belle speaking” she said politely.
“Uhh, hi Sweetie Belle” Scootaloo said slowly and nervously.
“Oh hi Scootaloo!” Sweetie Belle said cheerfully. “What’s up?”
“Uhh, something terrible has just happened…” Scootaloo said in a grim manner.
“What’s that?” Sweetie Belle asked.
“Well, you see…”

Scootaloo wasn’t sure how to say it. Then she decided that it would probably be best to tell her in person.

“Could you come over to my house? It’s something I should tell you in person, not over the phone”.
“Oh, ok. Sure” Sweetie Belle said.
“See you soon” Scootaloo said nervously, then hung up.

She collapsed down on her couch and waited for Sweetie Belle to arrive. She couldn’t stop herself from crying again; her eyes were like a pair of damns that had just burst. After about fifteen minutes, there was a knock at the door.
Scootaloo got up and sighed when she saw that the cushion on her couch was soaked in tears.
She opened the door and was surprised to see that it was starting to rain. But that didn’t matter at the moment.

“Come in” Scootaloo said.

Sweetie Belle stepped inside and sat down on one of the chairs in Scootaloos living room.

“Jeez, that rain out there just came out of nowhere” Sweetie Belle said.

Scootaloo sat down next to her and ignored Sweetie Belles remark.

“Sweetie Belle…I am so sorry…”
“For what?” Sweetie Belle asked, feeling deeply confused.

Scootaloo gulped.

“Sweetie Belle…I played a prank on your sister, Rarity. I hooked up a boxing glove with a lead weight inside to my door bell, so that when you pressed it, the boxing glove would come out and hit you in the face. However…”
She paused, and Sweetie Belle looked shocked.

“That’s not a prank. That’s just mean” Sweetie Belle gasped. “Why would you do that?”
“Because she kept favoring your style of music over mine” Scootaloo said, tears dripping from her eyes. “So I played this prank on her and…and…it got her killed”.

Sweetie Belle looked disbelieving.

“Wha…what?” she gasped.
“Rarity fell off of my balcony and landed head first on my lawn. She’s…she’s dead. And I’m responsible for her death”.

Sweetie Belles face drastically turned from disbelieving to grim to depressed.

“No…no, that can’t be…!” Sweetie Belle gasped.
“I’m so sorry” Scootaloo cried.

Sweetie Belle sprang up off the chair.

“You killed my sister!!” she shrieked.
She grabbed Scootaloos mane and threw her to the floor. Scootaloo screamed as Sweetie Belle stomped on her belly.
She sprang up and groaned.

“What are you doing?” Scootaloo demanded.
“You bucking killed my sister!!!” Sweetie Belle screamed.

Sweetie Belle jumped at Scootaloo and attacked her. The two wrestled on the floor, hitting each other with their hooves. Sweetie Belle was going insane, trying to hurt Scootaloo as much as possible, while Scootaloo tried to defend herself from this surprise attack.

Scootaloo jumped up and ran for the door, but Sweetie Belle grabbed a chair and broke it over her back. Scootaloo shouted in agony as she collapsed to the floor. Sweetie Belle towered over her menacingly, but before she could do anything more, Scootaloo grabbed a lamp and broke it over Sweetie Belles face.

Sweetie Belle screamed and fell back as shards of plastic and glass pierced her face. Scootaloo jumped up and ran for the door, but Sweetie Belle was determined to hurt, maybe even kill the pony who had killed her sister. She desperately wanted to get retribution.

She ran at Scootaloo and tackled her. The two went sprawling across the floor and collapsed on a wooden table, breaking it in half. They both got splinters all through their skin but neither of them cared.

Scootaloo realised that the longer this went on, the more it seemed that she was fighting for her life.
She got up, but again, Sweetie Belle charged at her. But this time, Sweetie Belle tackled her right into a window!
The two smashed right through it and landed in Scootaloos garden beneath where the window used to just be. They both landed in a pile of glass and Scootaloo got a deep cut in both of her forelegs, while Sweetie Belle badly injured one of her back-legs.

Scootaloos wounds on her forelegs bled profusely, but she realised she had to fight back or she might actually die!
She got up, as did Sweetie Belle, and screamed as she hit Sweetie Belles face with her hoof as hard as she could. Sweetie Belle was too angry to be phased that much though and retaliated with about five punches to Scootaloos head and neck.
Scootaloo fell back. She just didn’t want to fight, so she turned and galloped across her lawn as fast as she could, despite the pain she felt. Sweetie Belle was hot in pursuit though and followed her, rapidly beginning to catch up with her. It was like her badly back-leg didn't matter.
Scootaloo was panting heavily with fear as she burst through her front garden onto the road in front. She looked around, unsure which way to go.

Then she turned around and saw Sweetie Belle sprinting across the garden towards her.

“Sweetie Belle, stop! Please!” Scootaloo begged. “Look at us. We’re both hurt badly!”

Sweetie Belle ignored her and ran full-on at Scootaloo. Scootaloo got into a fighting stance and tried to look as confident as possible, although inside she was full of fear. She hated fighting and this was like a nightmare to her.

Sweetie Belle ran at her with full force, but Scootaloo put her hoof up and hit Sweetie Belles nose, almost breaking it.
Blood flowed out of Sweetie Belles nose as she tackled Scootaloo to the ground. The rain started to get heavier as the two wrestled in the middle of the road; Sweetie Belle fighting for retribution, and Scootaloo fighting for her life.
Eventually, Sweetie Belle got on top of Scootaloo and repeatedly hit her face with her hooves. She broke Scootaloos nose and gouged out one of her eyes with her bare hooves. Scootaloo screamed in excruciating pain, but Sweetie Belle headbutted her face as hard as she could before grabbing her head with both hooves and smashing it into the concrete road.

She stood up and Scootaloo went half unconscious. Sweetie Belles mane was drenched with rainwater and her face covered in blood, which poured out from her nose as she towered over the defenseless filly. She panted heavily, while Scootaloo weakly lifted her hooves over her face, in some kind of attempt to defend herself.

“Are you going to kill me?” Scootaloo said meekly as she lay in a puddle, made of a mixture of water and blood seeping from large wounds in her legs, head and face.

Sweetie Belle looked down at Scootaloo with contempt.

“Scootaloo, do you remember that gig we did a year ago at that bar? Do you remember how I carried you to the hospital? You were seriously hurt and I could’ve just left you with your concussion and deeply bleeding face. But no. I gave you help. You could have died that night. So in a way, I gave you life”.

There was a pause. They were both drenched in rainwater and they were both injured badly. Especially Scootaloo.
Scootaloo looked up at Sweetie Belle, feeling terrified.

“But now, I’m taking it away”.
She stomped on Scootaloos head as hard as she could. Scootaloo made a grunting noise as Sweetie Belle pressed her hoof down, making Scootaloos head crunch against the concrete.

She stomped on her head a few times, while Scootaloo made gurgling noises that were painful to listen to. But after a few moments, the gurgling faded away.
She was dead.

Sweetie Belle stood over her, staring at her body. She turned and slowly walked down the road, realising that both her friends and her sister were now dead. She walked in a straight line down the middle of the road; the rain the only reason you couldn’t see the tears dripping from her eyes.