The Cutie Mark Crusaders' Last Gig
Chapter 1 - Their Last Real Gig
Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom sat in their clubhouse playing a song with their instruments. The song had been written just a few hours earlier by Sweetie Belle and while Sweetie clearly enjoyed playing it, Apple Bloom looked less content and Scootaloo was downright annoyed.
Sweetie Belle was playing rhythm guitar and singing, Apple Bloom was playing lead guitar and Scootaloo was on the drums.
Suddenly, Scootaloo unexpectedly broke out into a loud, fast drum solo.
“Scootaloo, what are you doing?!” Sweetie Belle demanded as she swung around to face her.
“Spicing up this song a bit” Scootaloo grinned. “It’s way too slow and quiet”.
“Well, that’s the way songs should be played” Sweetie Belle responded. “We don’t want to make our listeners go deaf”.
“Or ourselves, for that matter” added Apple Bloom. “But Scootaloo has a point. This song you wrote is a bit too slow-paced, Sweetie Belle”.
Sweetie Belle looked slightly offended.
“I wrote this song so it would have enough vigour, but not too much vigour”.
“Well your vigour measuring cup must be broken” Scootaloo grinned.
“I have a brain to do that, not a vigour measuring cup. Those don’t even exist, you idiot” Sweetie Belle retorted.
Scootaloo shrugged.
“Different name, same level of brokenness” Scootaloo said casually.
“This is me giving a fuck” Sweetie Belle responded.
She started playing her guitar as Scootaloo started talking to her.
“We need to play heavier, grungier, louder music, or we’ll bore our listeners to deaf!” Scootaloo demanded.
Sweetie Belle continued playing, completely ignoring Scootaloo.
“Sweetie Belle, your soft rock style of music sucks” Scootaloo said matter-of-factly, and speaking a lot louder.
Sweetie Belle noticed Scootaloo was speaking louder, so in response she started playing louder.
“Hey, are you even listening to me?!” Scootaloo screeched.
Apple Bloom looked concerned.
“Calm down, everypony” she said.
Applejack suddenly strolled in through the open doorway.
“Would you gals mind turning them instruments down a bit?” she asked.
Sweetie Belle stopped playing
“Sorry” Sweetie Belle said sheepishly.
“Don’t worry about it. But you know, you gals are pretty good. ‘Cept for that racket just then…Anyway, you should go out n’ play a gig somewhere”.
“We’ve already thought about that” Apple Bloom nodded. “But we can’t get a gig anywhere”.
Applejack thought for a moment, then looked like she’d had a brainwave.
“Well shucks, gals, I just remembered something. My friend owns a bar downtown and I owe him a favor. He needs someone to play some music down there this Thursday, so how would you girls feel about that?”
“Cutie Mark Crusader huddle” Apple Bloom said.
The three fillies huddled together.
“What do you think?” Apple Bloom asked the other two.
“I say we do it” Sweetie Belle smiled.
“I don’t know. Sounds like a crappy first gig…” Scootaloo said skeptically.
Apple Bloom shrugged.
“We’ve gotta start somewhere”.
“I don’t know. I just think we’d look kinda lame, playing in the middle of a bar”.
“Yeah, but we need to get our name out there somehow, don’t you think?” Sweetie Belle told her.
Scootaloo sighed.
“Yeah, I guess you’re right…alright, let’s do it”.
“So that’s a yes?” Applejack smiled.
The trio turned back to face Applejack.
“It sure is” Apple Bloom smiled.
Applejack grinned from ear to ear.
“Great, Now I won’t be able to make it there to see you, but let me know how it goes” she smiled.
The following Thursday night, about 7pm…
“Come on girls, let’s hurry” Apple Bloom said excitedly.
“Yeah, we’re coming. Do you know how hard it is to carry all these drums” Scootaloo grunted as she carried her drums on her back.
Sweetie Belle ambled down the road in between them, carrying her guitar and microphone over her back.
“I think we should play the song I wrote last week, ‘Mareway to Heaven’” Sweetie Belle suggested.
Scootaloo gagged.
“That song is way too slow. Come on, we don’t wanna put everypony in the bar to sleep. I say we play my song, ‘Soaring Over the Sea of Blood’”.
Sweetie Belle looked a bit disturbed.
“I only had to hear 30 seconds of you playing that to know that it’s going to scare away everypony in the bar” Sweetie Belle said.
“No it won’t. I played it for Rainbow Dash yesterday on my drums yesterday, and she said it sounded awesome” Scootaloo said proudly.
“Well I played ‘Mareway to Heaven’ to Rarity yesterday, and she said it sounded absolutely divine, word for word”.
“What about my song, ‘Sweet Child O’ Mane’?” Apple Bloom suggested.
“That song’s a bit too loud for me” Sweetie Belle said.
“I thought that song was pretty good, but at the same time it’s not thrashy enough. We need to play more thrash metal, more screamo” Scootaloo said.
“Definitely not” Sweetie Belle said, shaking her head.
“Oh, for Celestias sake. Sweetie Belle, why can’t you be cool for once?” Scootaloo grunted.
“I don’t want to scream into my brand new microphone and risk breaking it. And I don’t wanna scare everypony away”.
“Look, what if we play all 3?” Apple Bloom suggested. “We’ll play Sweetie Belles soft rock first, then we’ll play my normal rock second, and Scootaloos thrash metal and screamo can go last”.
“Last? Really?” Scootaloo said, curling up her nose in disgust.
“It means you get the finale. And besides, Sweeties Belles soft rock might appeal to some of the bar-goers. My rock’ll make ‘em wanna stay, then your thrash metal will either make them leave or stay and headbang. And if they leave, well fuck ‘em”.
“What makes you think they’d leave?” Scootaloo asked skeptically.
“Well, do you really think anypony’s going to want to hear you screaming your lungs out into a microphone while we play music that’s over 1 million decibels?”
“No, but I have rhythm. I don’t just play randomly; I do play specific notes. I just play them really fast, as opposed to you to who play a lot slower” Scootaloo said in defence.
“Well, I think Apple Blooms idea is good” Sweetie Belle said.
“Thank you” Apple Bloom smiled.
After another few minutes of walking, the 3 fillies arrived at the bar. There were about 30 ponies inside, all drinking. It didn’t take the trio long to find Raymond, who was the bar owner and a friend of Applejacks.
“Just set up on the stage up there” he said, pointing to a stage in the corner.
“When should we start playing?” Scootaloo asked.
“Whenever you’re ready” Raymond smiled. “And by the way, I know a bar probably isn’t the best environment for 3 young fillies. But most of the ponies here are good people so you’ll be ok”.
The trio climbed up onto the stage and got their respective instruments ready. A pony who worked in the bar came up on stage.
“Attention everypony, we’ve finally gotten a band in here. Hope you enjoy it” he said, before stepping off of the stage.
There was a small applause as Sweetie Belle stepped up to her microphone stand.
“Hellooooooooo Ponyville!” she screeched into it.
Almost nopony bothered looking. But nonetheless, Sweetie Belle started playing a melodic scale before playing a riff from her song ‘Manelight Sonata’.
Apple Bloom played a quiescent, palm-muted chorus in the background while Scootaloo gently played the drums, looking like she was bored.
A few ponies started looking over, but mostly because they thought the trio looked kind of cute with their instruments.
Next, they played Apple Blooms’ ‘2 Minutes to Marenight’. This got the attention of a few more ponies, who seemed to enjoy the surprising sense of melody the band had, as well as Sweetie Belles ability to play a wide range of guitar soloes across varying styles of music.
When they finished, they received a small cheer and an applause.
“What’s your band called?” somepony called out.
The 3 fillies looked shocked. None of them had thought of a band-name. They all huddled together to discuss it.
“We should just call ourselves the Cutie Mark Crusaders” Sweetie Belle said.
“Nah, that’s the name we’ve always gone by. What about something more creative, like Maregadeth, or Iron Mareden?” Apple Bloom suggested.
“What about #66B032 Day?” Scootaloo grinned.
“Nah, none of the readers of this fan-fic will get the reference, until they go to Google” Apple Bloom.
“Alright, what about Marester of Puppets?” Scootaloo suggested.
“I think most of the readers will know that’s a play on words on a song, not a band” Apple Bloom said, putting her hoof to her face.
“What about Maretallica?” Sweetie Belle suggested.
“Good idea, little mare” Apple Bloom grinned, intending that to rhyme.
They let each other go and Sweetie Belle went back to her microphone.
“We are…Maretallica!” she said into it.
Everypony in the audience started murmuring, then a few ponies applauded.
“Alright, it’s my turn” Scootaloo grinned.
She started playing a furious drum solo. Sweetie Belle felt anxious, feeling that it would drive the whole crowd away, but surprisingly only nopony left. The crowd seemed to like the fast paced drum playing.
Apple Bloom matched it with a grungy, palm-muted riff, while Sweetie Belle reluctantly started playing a rock solo.
The crowd enjoyed it, and Scootaloo relished the moment.
They played a mixture of their three styles of music for about two hours, gradually feeling more and more excited. But as the night grew nearer, the ponies in the crowd started to change, and became nastier.
After a short break, they went back up on stage. It was about 9:15pm, but they still wanted to keep playing. They all felt pumped up, but agreed they’d go home at 9:30.
“One, two, three, four” Scootaloo shouted.
The three of them all started playing. But they all forgot the plan this time and inevitably all started playing the style of music they preferred.
Scootaloo began playing an incredibly fast and heavy drum solo, while Apple Bloom played a relatively fast-paced guitar riff and Sweetie Belle quietly and softly strummed her guitar. Saying they had rhythm would be as wrong as saying Pinkie Pie needs to be more active.
“The hell is this?!” somepony shouted out.
A few ponies booed, but the trio shrugged it off and continued playing.
“When I was a filly…” Sweetie Belle sang into her microphone.
“You still are!” somepony rudely shouted out.
“I was always so silly. But then I met a nice stallion…and love is what I then fell in”.
Sweetie Belle was singing a love song she’d written a few weeks earlier, but the crowd didn’t seem to enjoy it.
Somepony threw a half eaten hotdog at the stage, almost hitting Apple Bloom.
“I had that feeling for so long…it always felt like it was so wrong…but when I saw him in the night…after that it all just seemed so right…” Sweetie Belle quietly sang.
The booing grew louder, and a few ponies even started emulating the pony who threw a hotdog on the stage by throwing whatever they could get their hooves on. And unfortunately, the bar served most of their drinks in glass bottles.
Scootaloo dived under her drum set as a barrage of glass beer bottles were thrown at her, but she was too late. One hit her in the head and she almost went unconscious as the glass smashed over her face.
Sweetie Belle backed off of the stage and jumped outside as beer bottles were thrown at her. A wooden chair just about hit her as she went through the door at the back of the stage.
Apple Bloom dropped her guitar and raced to Scootaloos aid. She pulled Scootaloos limp body out from behind the drum set, and as soon as everyone could see that she was almost unconscious, a lot of them cruelly laughed.
“You’re all heartless bastards!” Apple Bloom screamed at the crowd of drunks, struggling to prevent a flood of tears from escaping her eyes.
A table got thrown onto the stage as Apple Bloom dragged Scootaloo out through the same door Sweetie Belle backed out of. Sweetie Belle stood just on the other side of it, in a dark alleyway.
“Those gutless assholes! Throwing beer bottles at fillies!” Sweetie Belle shouted.
“What happened…?” Scootaloo said weakly.
Blood dripped down her face, staining her pure, orange fur and softly dripping down onto the concrete beneath her.
“I think Scootaloo might have a concussion” Apple Bloom said anxiously. “You take her to the hospital, and I’ll go back in and grab our equipment”.
Sweetie Belle nodded and put Scootaloo over her back before setting off towards the hospital.
Apple Bloom took a deep breath, then walked back into the bar. Fortunately, almost everypony had calmed down, but there were still a few people yelling. Apple Bloom started grabbing the bands equipment, when suddenly a young stallion approached her.
“Here, let me help you” he said warmly.
He grabbed Scootaloos drum set and Sweeties Belles’ guitar and put them over his back, then beckoned Apple Bloom to follow him. He walked out of the doorway Apple Bloom had just walked in through, as Apple Bloom her guitar and Sweetie Belles’ microphone on her back.
He led her to his cart and loaded them into the back of it.
“Thank you so much” Apple Bloom said gratefully.
“Don’t mention it. Now hop in and I’ll drop you home” he said.
She climbed into his cart as he began pulling it along.
“Actually, can you take me to the hospital instead? I wanna meet my friends there” Apple Bloom said nervously.
“Sure” the stallion said. “By the way, my name’s Bert”.
“Nice to meet you, Bert. I’m Apple Bloom” Apple Bloom smiled.
Bert began walking quicker.
“So, I suppose your parents never told you the number one rule with strangers” he grinned slyly.
“What do you mean?” Apple Bloom asked, feeling confused.
Meanwhile…
Sweetie Belle jogged to the hospital with Scootaloo over her back. Scootaloo was getting blood all over her mane, but she didn’t care. She just wanted her friend to get fixed up, even if she did get on her nerves sometimes.
She reached the hospital eventually and raced in through the doorway.
“My friend needs help!” she said anxiously as she ran to the reception desk.
The receptionist nodded and two ponies came out and put Scootaloo on a gurney before taking her into one of the emergency rooms.
Sweetie Belle followed them, but felt squeamish when she saw a nurse take a pair of tweezers and start pulling shards of glass out of Scootaloos face. The nurse then injected local anesthesia into Scootaloos cheek, before stitching up her wounds.
Sweetie Belle sat nearby feeling sorry for Scootaloo.
“Right, she should be ok now” the nurse explained.
Sweetie Belle awoke from her daydream.
“Sorry, what?” she asked.
“Your friend. She’ll be ok now” the nurse repeated. “I’ve put over 20 stitches in her face and she has a minor concussion so we’ll keep her here overnight, but other than that she’ll be fine. Now, how did this happen?”
“Well, you see, we were playing music on a stage in a bar…” Sweetie Belle began.
“In a bar?” the nurse asked skeptically.
“My friends’ older sister said her friend, who was the bar owner, needed somepony to play music there. And my friends and I needed a gig. So, we decided to play there”.
“Ok, so what happened next?”
“We played on stage and at first everypony was really nice, but as the hours went by, everypony got more and more drunk. We decided to play a few more songs because we felt pumped up, but then they started booing us. We carried on playing, then they bottled us! So the three of us left”.
The nurse nodded.
“Where’s your third friend?”
“She went back in to grab our instruments and take them home while I took Scootaloo here”.
“Was there nopony who could help you? Not even to take you here?”
Sweetie Belle shook her head uncertainly.
“I didn’t wanna go back in. I think Apple Bloom was pretty brave for doing that”.
“Who do you live with?” the nurse asked.
“My older sister, Rarity”.
“I’ll ring her and explain to her what’s happened”.
The nurse left the room as Sweetie Belle approached Scootaloo, who lay on a hospital bed.
“Hey” Sweetie Belle half-smiled. “You ok?”
“What happened at the bar?” Scootaloo asked.
“We got bottled and you got hit in the head” Sweetie Belle explained.
Scootaloo looked puzzled.
“Really…? Oh wait, I think I remember”.
Sweetie Belle sat on the edge of the bed.
“I never expected anything like that to happen” Sweetie Belle sighed.
After about fifteen minutes, Rarity suddenly raced into the room.
“Sweetie Belle, are you ok?!” she screeched with tears in her eyes.
“Yeah, I’m fine. Scootaloo’s the one who needs help”.
Rarity looked over at Scootaloos limp body and looked disturbed at all the bandages across her face.
“Oh my Celestia!” she gasped. “How is she?”
“She’s stable” a nurse explained while walking in. “But she’ll need to stay overnight because she has a minor concussion”.
Rarity nodded sadly.
“Why were you girls playing at a bar?” Rarity asked Sweetie Belle as the nurse tended to Scootaloo.
“Applejack told us that her friend who owned the bar needed a band to play there and nopony else would do it, so we did” Sweetie Belle explained. “Everypony was nice at first, but then they got drunk and nasty. They just bottled us completely out of nowhere”.
Rarity looked deeply shocked.
“Typical Applejack” she tutted. “Sending fillies to a bar to play music”.
“It was ok” Sweetie Belle said defensively. “I mean, almost everypony in Ponyville is really nice”.
“Yes, except the uncouth ones who get drunk at bars and hurl bottles at fillies” Rarity responded.
She turned to the nurse, who was asking Scootaloo how her vision was.
“Would it be better if we left?” Rarity asked her.
“Yeah, it’d probably best if this little filly got some rest. No sleep, of course. But she does need to rest”.
Rarity nodded.
“Let’s go home, Sweetie Belle. We’ll come back and visit Scootaloo in the morning”.
Rarity walked out of the doorway. Sweetie Belle reluctantly followed her.
She remembered how she’d been so enthusiastic to do the gig at the bar, and how Scootaloo decided against it. If she hadn’t resisted, Scootaloo wouldn’t have been hospitalized that night.
Sweetie Belle felt like all the terrible events that night were all her fault. Tears dripped from her eyes and stained her pure white fur as she followed Rarity out of the hospital. The guilt she felt was like a swirling torrent of misery and despair, eradicating every positive emotion throughout Sweetie Belles mind, leaving only anguish and depression. The anxiety she felt was like an unrelenting storm of pain that nopony should have to endure. The mixture of anxiety and depression coursed through her veins and constricted her body like an anaconda.
It made her feel so small. So weak. So feeble. Knowing that it was her fault this had happened to her friend was a thought she could not rid. She couldn’t run from these feelings, nor could she hide. All she could do was cry, which she already was. All through that night, her eyes burst like a dam every time she imagined Scootaloo lying in hospital. Her sheets became soaked with her tears when she came to the realization that when her stitches were removed, she’d be left with multiple scars all across her face. And it was her fault. If she hadn’t been so enthusiastic and sidled with Scootaloos prior view on the gig, this could have been avoided.
However, I the author, can say that Apple Bloom had the worst ordeal that night out of the 3 fillies.
Back with Apple Bloom…
“So, your parents never told you the number one rule with strangers?”
“Um, I don’t know?” Apple Bloom said, feeling increasingly confused.
“Doesn’t matter” he said dismissively. “It’s just an interesting thing. Apple Bloom, I saw your performance at the bar. You played expertly and looked beautiful with your guitar”.
“Uhh, thank you Bert” Apple Bloom smiled awkwardly.
Bert licked his lips.
“Apple Bloom…would it matter if you arrived home a few minutes later than planned? I just realised there’s something wrong with my cart. Could you help me with it?”
“Oh. Sure” Apple Bloom said.
“Can you check if there’s a toolbox in the back there?”
Apple Bloom looked around her, then spotted a small toolbox under a pile of junk.
“Yeah, it’s right here” she answered.
“Great” Bert said.
He took a deep breath, then did something unexpected. He suddenly ran off of the side of the road down a bank. Apple Bloom screamed as the cart skidded down the side of it. Bert however, looked calm.
When it stopped skidding, Apple Bloom was terrified and disturbed. Bert climbed into the back of the cart next to Apple Bloom and grabbed her.
“I lied” were his first words. “My cart is fine. But thanks for reminding me that my toolbox was there”.
Apple Bloom was confused and shocked, but couldn’t speak.
“What did I first ask you?” he said.
She was in shock and didn’t say a word.
“What’s the number one rule with strangers?”
Apple Bloom still couldn’t bring forth any words.
“Never get in a cart with one” he said angrily.
His mood suddenly changed.
“You beautiful, little filly”.
The events that followed were something Apple Bloom would never forget. Bert grabbed her mane and forced her to bend over the back seat before sticking his penis up her flank. She screeched loudly, but Bert grabbed a power-drill and put it to her head.
“Scream and this’ll go right through your head” he said.
She grunted in pain as he raped her vigorously. After a few minutes, he spun her around and rammed his penis right down her throat, almost breaking her jaw with how forcefully he did it. Tears streamed out of her eyes, but he grabbed a pair of pliers.
With them, he grabbed her clitoris and squeezed it tightly, before jerking it down and ripping it slightly. Despite having a penis in her mouth, Apple Bloom still managed a quiet scream; the kind of scream that unmistakably said she was in excruciating pain. But it wasn’t over.
He ripped off her entire clitoris and shoved it up her flank. Apple Blooms’ eyes widened as she screamed in pain.
“You like that?” Bert grinned nastily.
More tears streamed out of Apple Blooms’ eyes. Bert took his penis out and then did something even sicker. He put the end of the power-drill to her head, then put his flank over her mouth and started defecating.
His feces landed in her mouth, but before she could spit them out he made an angry remark.
“Swallow, bitch!” he yelled in her face.
She didn’t know what to do, so Bert pressed the trigger on the power-drill and put it directly next to her head.
She reluctantly swallowed his feces, and the remains dripped from her lips as she started to gag. She puked all over the back of the cart.
“Lick it up!” Bert demanded.
Apple Bloom started panicking, but very reluctantly did what he said, knowing she could very easily die. She got down and licked it up while Bert repeatedly smacked his penis against her head and face.
When she’d licked up most of it, he grabbed her again and started raping her vagina as hard as he could. His face went red as he pulled his head back and went as hard as he could, and he inevitably ripped her hymen to pieces with his penis.
He took a saw and, while he still had his penis in her, cut off her nipples and forced her to eat them.
He then carried on raping her, occasionally switching to raping her flank. In the end, he got down and drank the blood that dribbled from Apple Blooms’ devastated vulva and vagina, and from where her clitoris used to be.
He urinated all over her face, then ejaculated in her flank.
“Get the fuck out of my cart, you little whore” he said acidly.
Bert shoved her out of his cart and began pulling it back up the bank. Apple Bloom sat down and did nothing but cry. For three hours.
She felt horrified and disturbed, as well as physically sick.
The wind whistled through the trees around her as she nursed her wounds and vomited and coughed a few times. She couldn’t get her head around what had just happened. How could somepony do that?
She stood up and walked past some trees onto a big rock. She looked down over the side of it. It was a 400 metre drop into the ocean, dotted with sharp rocks.
I think you can guess what she did.
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.