It was just another beautiful morning like any other in Equestria, and the sun shined brightly over Rarity's boutique. Some of Rarity's mannequins were still in disorder after she had just finished working with them. Sweetie Belle had only just finished making a drawing of her and her sister. After she drew the finishing line, she put the crayon down, picked up the drawing with her mouth, and turned towards her older sister while holding it. "Well, sis? What do you think?"
Rarity's heart filled up with joy as she saw the drawing her younger sister had made for her. She replied in a warm tone. "Aww, Sweetie Belle, this drawing is simply adorable! I love you so much, little sis!" The drawing in Sweetie Belle's mouth radiated with a dim, blue light, and the paper left her mouth right afterwards.
"Hi hi," happy to hear such kind words from her sibling, Sweetie Belle giggled. "I love you too, big sis!"
Rarity pulled the drawing closer to herself with her magic, and inspected it before saying. "Oh, this is going on the fridge for sure!" Rarity suddenly widened her eyes and gasped. "No! Even better! I'll put it next to my mannequins, it will just shine like no other!" Having said that, Rarity guided the drawing through the air and hung it on the wall, right next to her pony shaped mannequins which were still standing in slight disorder. One of them wasn't even standing at all. The young filly smiled, knowing that her older sister enjoyed her work of art, but the two did not get to enjoy the pleasant moment for long. A sudden knock on the door caught both of them off guard.
"Hmm? Now who could that be?" filled with curiosity, Rarity asked out loud. "Another customer, perhaps?" Rarity walked over to the door and greeted the guest with her usual ladylike tone, "Hello! Welcome to Carousel Boutique! Where each garment is shique, unique, and magnifique!"
Not seeing anything unusual in the boutique owner's way of greeting her, the visitor did not seem bothered by anything, and kept on standing in a proud pose, with her eyes closed and her head held up high. It was an earth pony mare that looked like no less of a stranger to fashion than Rarity herself. Her fur was of a cerulean color, and her mane was blonde. She wore a scarf with white and yellow stripes around her neck, as well as a white collar with a sapphire in the middle, but that wasn't the only gem decorating her appearance, two bright rubies were also sparkling from the golden bracelets around her front hooves. Her tone was as sophisticated, as were her clothes. "Why, hello there! You're Rarity, right?" she spoke up, and pointed her hoof at her conversation partner as she called her by her name.
"Why, yes I am," Rarity proudly confirmed. "How may i help you?"
"Well, darling, I read in ClotheHorse magazine that you are an upcoming designer, and I must say, I am simply astonished with all the work you've been putting out!" the mare seemed quite fond of Rarity and her line of work, and her kind words left the young fashionista charmed.
"Why, thank you, mam!"
"You see, honey," the mare continued from where she left off. "I am a well known fashion promoter from Canterlot, and after seeing your article samples, I simply had to come down and meet you face to face!"
Rarity seemed surprised. "Fashion promoter? Canterlot?" A thought just occurred to Rarity, and it left her twice as surprised. "Wait! Does that mean you're..." She got interrupted before she could finish.
"Oh, I am sorry! How rude of me. The name is Crystal Annora, darling," the proud mare from Canterlot formally introduced herself.
Utterly surprised, Rarity let out a loud and long gasp. After having nearly lost her breath from excitement, she tried to put the two words together. "C...C-c-c-c...Crystal Annora!?" the name clearly seemed familiar to her. "Oh my gosh! I am such a huge fan!"
"Thanks, I get that a lot," Crystal Annora laughed. "Anyways, honey, I want to personally ask you to make me 6 unique designs for a new line I plan to present to Fancy Pants. I guarantee that you’ll shine all over Equestria!" she put an emphasis on the last 3 words to better catch Rarity's interest.
Excited about this amazing opportunity, Rarity didn't hesitate to accept, "Oh, of course, Miss Annora! I'd be honored!"
"Oh, please, call me Crystal."
"Oh, yes, ahem, Miss Crystal." Rarity giggled. She felt like a young filly in front of the famous fashion promoter that she looked upon as her idol.
"Excellent," while Rarity's tone changed after each sentence, this high standing pony remained calm and professional at all times. "With that said, you have 3 days to complete all 6 designs."
"Come again?" Rarity asked, uncertain of the words she had just heard.
"You see, Fancy Pants is scheduled to showcase these design samples from all over Equestria for his next big party which is next week," after politely explaining, she switched to a slightly more sympathetic tone, "So I hope it’s not too much trouble for you."
"Oh...um...eh..." although still rather unsure, Rarity knew that this simply wasn't one of those situations where no would be a viable answer, "Yes, of course! You can count on me!"
"Splendid," just like that, having happily received Rarity's word of approval, she turned around and left. "Well, See you later, miss Rarity."
"Thank you, Miss Crystal." Rarity didn't seem too bothered about the way her guest just suddenly left. "Bye bye!" she waved to the leaving mare and closed the door to her boutique. Her excitement was hard to hide. She walked back to the young filly that had heard the whole conversation. "Oh, Sweetie Belle, did you hear that?"
"Yes! Congratulations, sis!" Sweetie Belle was happy for her older sister, but also slightly worried. "But how are you gonna make 6 different designs in only 3 days? You ran out of high quality material with your last customer."
Rarity gasped loudly after being reminded of how serious the situation really was. "You’re right! Hmm, how am I gonna make this happen?" Rarity didn't ponder on this question for long. "Oh! I know," having thought of something, she spoke to her sister again, in a quieter and more sincere tone, "Sweetie Belle, mind doing me a favor?
"What is it?"
"If I remember correctly, you’ve been learning how to do magic from Twilight, right?" Rarity asked, and continued without even waiting for a reply, "Well, I need you to be a dear and go out and search for some more gems out by the Rock Farm. Here’s a book with instructions on how to perform a gem finding spell," after the stream of words stopped pouring from her mouth, Rarity used her magic to hand a book to Sweetie, who, in turn, picked it up from her with her own magic.
"No problem. I'll make myself useful." Sweetie Belle seemed more than glad to help out, she agreed without hesitation.
"Thank you, Sweetie," Rarity was happy to hear that her sister was willing to aid her. "Oh, and take Spike with you, he can help you dig up the gems. Just be sure not to let him eat them all again," Rarity laughed.
Sweetie Belle also giggled as she began to walk towards the door. "Sure thing."
After the young, white filly had left the boutique, Rarity was left with her hooves full. There was no time to waste, so she decided to get to it. "Hmm, I should start drawing the blueprints right away."
Working hard and hardly working
A new day had just dawned. The roosters began their morning song, and the first light of dawn shined over Carousel Boutique. A quiet snoring sound could be heard inside the walls of the building, as it's owner was taking a nap while leaning on a table with a few blue pages lying on it. The scribbles on the pages didn't look like anything even remotely close to clothing designs, but rather like something a young foal would be drawing while being insanely bored during a lesson in school.
"Huh? Wh-what?" the snoring stopped, and a short yawn took it's place. "What a dream," the tired, and quiet voice suddenly got much louder, and the partially opened eyes fully opened themselves right away as well. "Huh? Wait! What time is it? Is it morning already? Did I fall asleep?" the voice got louder with each sentence, eventually turning into a loud gasp, full of surprise. "Oh Celestia, I haven't done anything yet, and I only have 2 days left!" the voice started sounding hysterical. "Oh my gosh, oh my gosh!" Rarity put her hooves over her eyes. "What am I gonna do?" a moment of despair took over Rarity. It seemed as though she was about to cry, and she probably would have if she had not been interrupted.
"Rarity? What's wrong?"
"Oh Sweetie Belle." Rarity replied in a tone full of misery. "I fell asleep while trying to work, and I haven't gotten anything done!" she started crying right in front of her younger sister. "Woe is me!"
"Rarity, calm down! I'm sure you'll figure something out. If it’ll help you out, I can go out and find some more gems if you want." Sweetie Belle tried to cheer her sister up, and convince her that all will be well. "I’ve got a better grasp of that spell now, and I think I can find a bigger amount than I did yesterday."
"Oh, yes, that would be great! Thank you!" Rarity was very happy to hear that, but her tone still had a touch of hysteria to it.
"Just try not to stress yourself too much, sis. Okay?" Sweetie Belle walked off, leaving her older sister by herself again. The young filly sounded more confident than her stressed out sibling, who took the time to figure out what to do next.
"Hmm, I still don’t have much material left. What should I do?" Rarity asked herself, and replied to herself after a few short seconds. "Hmm, well I could put something together from the cut fabric I have left. Only thing I’d have to do is tie it all together." Having regained her lost confidence, Rarity was about ready to get to work, if not for yet another unexpected guest.
The unlocked door opened, and a familiar face appeared from it. "Hey Rarity. How's it hanging?"
No surprises this time, Rarity was glad to see her friend visiting her, and greeted her back right away. "Oh Rainbow dash! Hi! What brings you here?"
Without any further formalities, Rainbow dash decided to jump straight to the point. "Well, look. I know that you know that I hate dresses, but I’m hoping to go to the Wonderbolt Charity Luncheon in Cloudsdale in a few days. Think you can put something together for me, please? Something nice, yet awesome at the same time?"
No matter how much she may have wanted it, Rarity knew that she was already low on time as it was. She replied in a sad voice. "Oh, I'm terribly sorry, Rainbow, but I’m in the middle of filling a very big order. I have 6 dresses to make in only 2 days," Rarity explained.
Rainbow Dash didn't seem too disappointed. On the contrary, she understood her quite well. "Oh, I see. Do you need any help?"
"Oh, yes. I would appreciate that actually." Rarity was glad to hear such a polite response. She needed all the help she could get, so she pointed her friend towards a chest of unsorted clothing lying around in a nearby corner. "Can you search for some good looking fabric lying anywhere in here?"
"Sure!" Rainbow Dash agreed and walked towards the black chest by the wall.
Rarity took a closer look at some of her notes while the other pony in the room tried to find anything of use in the nearby trunk, but something soon caught the eye of the fashionista. She looked upon the blue pegasus with the multi-colored mane, with an unsettling gaze. Rainbow Dash didn't find anything noteworthy in the black chest, so she proceeded to keep looking in a pile of cloth a few steps away. Rarity's eyes followed her across the room. She looked at her even more closely as she stopped to sort through the pile of cloth. "Oh my...her...her fur is so...divine..." Rarity whispered to herself after a short while.
"What was that?" Rainbow Dash had heard her friend whispering something, but couldn't make out a word she said.
"Oh, uh...nothing, Rainbow," Rarity got a bit carried away and didn't expect Rainbow Dash to hear her. "I was just, uh...thinking to myself." She let out a short, slight nervous sounding laugh.
"Um...okay then." Curious, but not too bothered by Rarity's weird attitude, Rainbow Dash resumed with the sorting. Without her noticing, Rarity quietly walked closer towards her and started expecting her fur again. Although unbothered until now, the pegasus jumped to protest as her friend started rubbing her hoof against her backside "Hey! What are you doing!?"
"Oh, sorry, Rainbow. I just, uh...I...really like your...fur?" Stuttering on nearly every word, and holding long pauses everywhere, not to mention that her answer sounded more like a question.
It's no wonder Rainbow Dash got a bit suspicious of Rarity's behavior. "Huh?"
"Uh...I mean...uuh..." Rarity was having slight difficulties figuring out a way to explain herself. Luckily for her, another one of her friends just arrived and interrupted the awkward situation.
"Oh, there you are, Rainbow. I've been looking everywhere for you."
"Oh, hey Twilight," Rainbow Dash greeted her friend right back. "What's up?"
Twilight immediately explained her reason for finding her, "Pinkie Pie needs your help with transporting a large cake to town hall for Mayor Mare's birthday. Think you can give her some extra muscle?"
"Sure thing! Tell her I'll be right there," without thinking, Rainbow Dash agreed, and apologized to her other friend for having to leave so soon, "Sorry, Rarity. Gotta dash."
"Uhh...yes, of course...but...can you come back once you're done?" Something was clearly bothering Rarity. A thought that wouldn't let her rest, or even talk in her ordinary tone.
Oddly enough, Rainbow Dash didn't notice anything peculiar. "No problem! Anything for a friend. See you later!" After promising to come back for one friend, she ran off to help the other.
The ghost was clear, and Rarity could finally be alone with whatever bizarre thoughts had been eating away at her mind. She walked up to the black chest that her rainbow maned friend had been inspecting earlier. As patiently as she may have been sorting through all the scraps of cloth in it, she failed to notice quite a surprising feature that was hiding itself in one of the corners of the chest. As Rarity herself moved away a piece of unusable fabric, the object became visible and clear. It was a knife with a black handle, and a stain of blood on the blade. What was it doing hiding in the trunk, where did the blood stain come from, and for what purpose could a fashionista like her could possibly be keeping such a thing...those were all questions left unanswered.
Not long after Rainbow Dash had left Rarity's home, the door opened itself, and the familiar face returned to greet her friend again. "Hey Rarity! I'm back," If Rarity seemed a bit on the edge before she got left alone, then it was nothing compared to the way she looked right now. She was sitting on the floor, next to the tipped over mannequin, her front hooves were wrapped around her back hooves while she was rocking back and forth, and her eyes were wide open, not moving, and focused on a single spot on the floor. Her friend couldn't help but feel worried about her. "Rarity, are you okay?"
After hearing a friendly voice, Rarity sort of just snapped out of it and woke up. "Oh rainbow dash! There you are! I’ve been waiting for you." After greeting her back, Rarity's tone changed dramatically, and she started shouting at Rainbow Dash, "What kind of friend are you for not coming back sooner?!
Not exactly the way Rainbow Dash expected to be greeted upon her arrival. Rarity's irritating tone made her mad, so she yelled back at her. "Woah, woah! Jeez, Rarity, relax! I’m here now aren’t I?"
"Uhm...yes, of course. Sorry about that. I just got a tad impatient," Rarity apologized, but her tone didn't really make it sound like she felt sorry. "Let’s keep searching for that fabric, shall we?" she suggested without waiting to see if Rainbow had forgiven her for her harsh words earlier.
"Uhh...yeah, sure," not too pleased, and still a bit confused, Rainbow Dash agreed to help out again. Even though Rarity's words suggested that they would both be searching for the needed materials, the pegasus was the only pony who moved, leaving the other one sitting just as she was until now. Rarity's eyes followed her friend across the room, she stared at her with a crazed, almost sadistic look, right before shifting her eyes to something that was on the ground right next to her, hidden from Rainbow's sight by the fallen mannequin. It was the same bloody knife that Rarity had prepared before Rainbow's arrival. Rainbow Dash didn't notice a thing and just kept talking while sorting through the scattered clothes. "You know, Rarity, it’s a shame you couldn’t help Pinkie with the cake as well. I mean, you should’ve seen it. It was huge! Hehe, who knew the Mayor would have such a sweet tooth?"
"Yeah...sweet tooth..." Rarity repeated the few words she heard from Rainbow's last sentence, and let out a short, fake laugh. She got so carried away by whatever sinister thought she had in mind that she didn't even heard what her friend said.
"Jeez, Rarity, you ever thought of cleaning this place up? Or is this part of that organized chaos you told me about?" Rainbow Dash talked on, but Rarity ignored her words just as before, she just kept staring at the knife. The time for staring and secretly plotting was at an end, for Rarity had just picked up the deadly tool. "Uuh...you okay, Rarity? You seem rather quiet to..." before she could finish her sentence, she felt her friend wrap her hooves around her, and the cold touch of something metallic sink into her stomach. A loud scream echoed through the building, right before the unsuspecting victim lost consciousness. "Gaaaah!"
***
No pony heard the loud scream, so there was none who could come to help. Before long, the stabbed pony found herself strapped to a rack of what looked like it used to be a bed. The knife was still lodged into her stomach, and blood surrounded it around the wound. As Rarity used her magic to pull the knife out of her, Rainbow Dash woke up coughing, and feeling completely dazed. "R-Rarity?" she called out the name of the white unicorn standing by the edge of her bed and looking at her with an unsettling smile.
"Oh Rainbow Dash, I'm so glad you are awake. I hope you don't mind me asking, but," still holding on to it with her magic, Rarity revealed the same knife which she had just used to stab her friend. "Can I sample some of you fur?"
Rainbow Dash was still dazed, and utterly confused, but another feeling slowly began to join the two, and it was fear. "Wh-what are you talking about? W-what's happening?"
"Well, since we couldn't find any fabric lying around, I think the next possible option would be to use your own fur for one of the designs. I figured you wouldn’t mind since you’re always loyal to your friends," Rarity calmly explained, as if unaware of what she was really doing. She smiled wickedly, and readied the knife. "Am I right?"
"Wh-what!? M-m-my fur!? Are you insane!? That's totally messed up, Rarity!" Rainbow Dash screamed and struggled to break free from her chains, while Rarity calmly talked as if the pony in front of her was just another piece of cloth that she was so used to working with.
"Don't be so stubborn, Dash. Don't you know that...sharing..." Rarity said, and moved the knife closer to the pegasus that was now screaming with her full voice. "is..." she spoke on, and carved a long line across Rainbow's stomach. "caring..." she said another word, and carved another long line that crossed paths with the last one.
"Rarity...what are you doing?..." her friend cried out in pain.
"I'm so sorry, Rainbow Dash, but I only have 2 days for this order. Since we couldn’t find anything, I’ll just have to make a new type of fabric," Rarity ignored the desperate cries of her suffering friend, and kept on talking. She even switched to a more subtle tone. "It’ll be the highest quality material I have ever used," Rarity let out a quiet laugh of insanity, right before repeatedly stabbing her friend in the stomach, near the already existing wounds.
"Rarity! Please!..." Rainbow's cries went on as unheard. She coughed a few times, and let out another cry, "Stop..."
No longer in a calm voice, Rarity seemed to be losing her patience. She seemed displeased with her unfortunate friend. "You don’t understand, Rainbow Dash! I must make these dresses perfectly. I must make sure these are to Fancy Pants’ liking. I must!"
Rainbow Dash kept sobbing loudly, and whispering words with her last breath, "Please...please..."
Again, Rainbow Dash felt like talking to a wall. "And I’m afraid..." Not having bothered with pulling the knife out of Rainbow's stomach after the last stabbing, Rarity used her magic to grab an even more fearsome tool - a firefighters axe. "There is only one way I can get as much material as possible," there was no mercy in her eyes as she lifted the axe up. Rarity was determined to finish the job, and Rainbow's last whispers didn't even make her hold back for a split second.
"Rarity...please...don't..." Begging for mercy from a pony she considered a close friend of hers...Those were the last words of the poor, unsuspecting soul that had arrived to her friend's home with the best of wishes, and ended up having her head chopped off as a reward.
Blood came pouring out of the fresh, fatal wound, but the maniac that dealt the blow wasn't even slightly bothered with the blood that was filling up the room, and was slowly flowing towards her hooves. Rarity just laughed at the sight, it was a quiet, hysterical laugh, worthy of one wearing a straight jacket.
***
Rarity cleaned up the mess fast enough, and, before long, she was already holding the cerulean colored fabric in her blood-soaked hooves. "Okay, one down, and only five to go," happy about her foul achievement, Rarity smiled and kept speaking out loud, "You know, light blue really is a fantastic color for a dress, I must admit."
It wasn't long before some pony came looking for Rainbow Dash, even though that pony hadn't the slightest clue of what had happened to her. The door to the boutique opened itself once more, and the pony looking for her deceased friend was none other than the same one that had already found her here earlier today. "Rarity, have you seen Rainbow Dash? Apparently she needs help transporting another cake to Sweet Apple Acres. Turns out it's also Big Mac's birthday today as well. Go figure..." Twilight laughed quietly, but her seemingly cheerful mood instantly turned into a wide eyed shock after she noticed Rarity standing there with her hooves all covered in blood. She panicked and gasped loudly. "Oh my gosh, Rarity! Are you okay? What happened to you?"
Rarity seemed surprised and a bit confused at the same time. It seemed as though she had gotten carried away, and had completely forgotten about the blood. "What ever do you mean?" she asked in a calm tone.
"You have blood all over you!" the concerned pony shouted.
"Oh, this? Don't you worry about that, Twilight. Everything's fine," Rarity explained, and used her magic to shut the door behind Twilight right afterwards, leaving her rather frightened.
"Huh?" Twilight looked back at the door behind her. "Rarity, what's going on here? And where did you get all that blue fabric? Rainbow told me you ran out of material."
"Rainbow Dash?" Rarity asked and rubbed her chin. "Oh, right! I was mistaken, Twilight. She actually found me some extra material. She's such a helpful pony." Despite Rarity's peaceful tone, Twilight still couldn't help but feel worried.
"But where is she?" Twilight asked, but the answer she got didn't make her feel any better...
"Right there, darling," Rarity politely answered, and pointed towards a sight that was painful to witness. It was a mannequin, but it was unlike any other one in Carousel Boutique. It looked exactly like the loyal, rainbow-maned pegasus they all knew and loved. The mannequin might not have had her wings, but it had her cutie mark...But the mannequin was, by far, not the most disturbing part of the picture...It was the pony shaped skeleton lying in a pool of blood next to it, that was so eye-catching. It even still had raw, freshly skinned flesh trapped between it's bones and still dripping with blood. "I didn’t really need her cutie mark for this design, so I just left it right there by her corpse."
The horrid sight, along with Rarity's statement, stole Twilight's breath away, and left her battling with half a dozen feeling inside her - confusion, sadness, curiosity, disgust, fear, and the little thought at the back of her brain, that still made her hope that this was either a bad dream, or a horrible joke gone wrong. "Wh...what?"
The sadistic smile slowly found it's way back to Rarity's face as she began eyeballing her friend. "Oh my, Twilight. Don’t you look elegant today...Mind helping me out?"
Having regained her voice, Twilight shouted at her crazed friend, "Not until you explain what happened here, Rarity!" But the loud, furious shouting soon got replaced with an even louder scream of agony.
Of all the things to expect, a knife flying in out of nowhere and stabbing her not far below the neck, was the last thing Twilight could have seen coming. After doing just that, Rarity magically pulled her friend close enough to feel her stressful breathing. "You're about to find out, my dear friend," Rarity lifted her victim, and held her up in a steady position with her magic. Another loud scream was heard as she drove the knife down across Twilight's stomach. "Uggh, Twilight! Hold still!" Rarity shouted, and sliced another line all across Twilight's body, forming a smooth x mark together with the last cut. As Twilight screamed in pain, and struggled to break free of the magical hold, Rarity only licked her lips in quiet satisfaction of the sight before her, and silently planned about how would she put Twilight's fur to use as soon as the deed is done.
"Rarity!..." Twilight desperately yelled at her friend and looked upon her with sad eyes, right before letting loose her final scream, as Rarity sunk the knife deep into her neck.
***
Like a chain reaction, Rainbow's friends started noticing her disappearance one after another. As Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy stood near a giant, four-story cake, Pinkie Pie had just about lost her patience from waiting. She grunted and stomped her hoof on the ground. "Where is Rainbow Dash? I can’t carry Big Mac’s cake by myself, and we’re already 10 minutes late for his party!"
"Don't worry, Pinkie," Fluttershy calmed her friend. "Umm...i can try and help...if you don't mind, that is." Ready to give it her best, Fluttershy grabbed the plate under the massive cake and tried to lift it up. Sadly, the plate didn't even budge, and Fluttershy only ended up hurting herself. "Oww..."
"I appreciate the help, Fluttershy, but, no offence, I need somepony with a little more muscle," Pinkie explained as politely as she could, she didn't want to hurt her friend's feelings.
Embarrassed about her performance, Fluttershy apologized, "I'm sorry..."
"It’s ok. Let’s go find Dashie. Maybe she’s at Rarity’s place." Tired of waiting, the two ponies began to make their way towards Rarity's boutique.
"Oh, i hope she's okay."
"Oh don’t be silly, Fluttershy. Rarity’s one of our best friends. It’s not like she’s gonna kill Dashie or anything." Pinkie Pie always had a knack of saying the craziest things...Sadly, a lot of the times, the crazy stuff she usually said ended up coming true...
Before long, the two ponies were already at their destination, and Pinkie Pie began violently knocking at Rarity's door. "Rarity!"
"Uh...i don't think she's home right now," a quiet voice made Pinkie stop pointlessly bashing the door, but it didn't stop her from entering.
"Well, lets go find out!" Pinkie Pie opened the door and happily began skipping towards the center of the room, and Fluttershy slowly followed her. "Rarity?" Pinkie Pie sniffed the tainted air around her, still unaware of what was causing the stench. "Eww! What is that smell?"
"Oh! There she is!" Fluttershy noticed Rarity working on one of her mannequins in the corner of the room, and directed Pinkie's attention towards her as well.
"Hey Rarity!" Pinkie greeted her friend. "Umm, why does it stink in here?"
Rarity was so incessantly working on something that she had failed to hear her friends knocking on the door, as well as notice them entering...up until now. "Oh! Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, how nice of you to drop by," the host greeted her guests back. "Mind if i show you some new designs i've been working on?"
"Well, Rarity, we actually..."
"Excellent!" Pinkie Pie barely even got to begin her sentence before getting interrupted, let alone finish it. "I just came up with the ideas today." Rarity brought forth a simple piece of pony clothing of a blue color. "For this one, I went with a light blue shade that speaks - Bring it on, punk! I can handle anything you throw at me!" Rarity tried to make herself sound like Rainbow Dash while demonstrating the cloth, and switched to the tone of another one of her friends as she presented a similar dress, only of a different color, "Oh, and this purple one says - I’m the whole package: Smart, Cute & Tough." After she had finished imitating her friends, she asked, "So, what do you think?"
Clearly not too impressed, Fluttershy tried to answer as politely as possible, while Pinkie Pie just stood by and watched, "Oh...uhm...they look...uh...lovely, Rarity."
"Oh, thank you so much!" Overjoyed to hear the kind words, Rarity put the dresses aside. "They're for this big order i need to finish in 2 days." Rarity seemed to have come up with something. She gasped loudly before continuing, "I know. You two can help me out with the rest of them. What do you say?"
"Sorry, Rarity. We'd love to, but we're already running late to Big Mac's birthday party," Pinkie Pie politely declined. "Speaking of which, have you seen Dashie? We need her help transporting his cake to Sweet Apple Acres."
"Oh yes, yes i have. She's over there," Rarity pointed towards the mannequin with Rainbow's cutie mark on it's backside.
"What? That mannequin?" Pinkie Pie laughed. "That looks just like her!"
Fluttershy also joined in on the laugh. "It even has her cutie mark on it." Oddly enough, not one of them noticed the pony skeleton lying next to the mannequin.
Rarity lifted Pinkie Pie up with her magic, and slammed the door behind the guests. "Woah!" Pinkie Pie didn't seem to mind getting pulled, she even laughed when Rarity cuffed all 4 of her hoofs, making her unable to move. "Hey! Ha ha ha! That tickles! Aha ha ha ha ha!" Pinkie Pie treated this as a joke. Little did she know, that Rarity was dead serious when she revealed the same tool she had used to sever Rainbow's head from her body earlier. "Oooh! Hey, is this a game?"
"You could say that..." Rarity played along. Pinkie's fooling around helped Rarity's true intentions remain concealed until the very moment that they simply couldn't be hidden, no matter what perspective you look at them from.
"Ooh! I love games! Oh, oh i know! is it a roleplaying game where you are the bad pony with the axe, and I’m the good pony that screams for help like this!?" Pinkie Pie acted like a victim in need of help, and screamed, "Aaah aaah aah aah ah! Somepony heeelp!"
Pinkie's acting even made Fluttershy laugh. "That's pretty funny, Pinkie."
Still clueless, Pinkie Pie just kept on smiling and laughing, but that quickly turned into screams of agony and cries from pain after Rarity swung the axe downwards, plunging it right into her chest.
Fluttershy gasped from the shocking sight she had just witnessed. "Pinkie Pie!" Pinkie Pie couldn't answer, she just kept on shaking from the pain.
"Im sorry, darling, but..." Rarity readied the axe for another blow. "Game's over." More cries followed after the axe sunk into Pinkie's flesh another time.
"Rarity, what are you doing!?" Fluttershy could only helplessly stand by, watching Rarity deal a series of blows to the already badly injured pony, and listen to the sad cries of her dying friend. "Stop it, Rarity!" Fluttershy's shouts were of no use. After a few more blows, Pinkie Pie finally succumbed to her wounds. As blood came pouring out of her chest and dripping onto the floor, a single tear also dropped from her eye, taking her last breath with it. Fluttershy trembled in fear, her body was too numb to say anything, let alone move. She stood shaking, first still looking at her deceased friend, and then turning her attention to the one that did this to her.
Rarity grabbed Pinkie's tail, and seemed quite pleased as she felt the warm, fluffy, cotton candy shaped material on her hooves. "Oh my word, Pinkie! Your fluffy, pink fur will be an excellent material for my collection." Rarity rubbed her chin, although satisfied so far, she still felt like something was missing. "But i can't help but think i need something a little more...natural. Something…yellow…Like Celestia’s majestic sunrise emulated into one glorious dress." Rarity already knew just what she needed...Or more like - who she needed. As she regained her former crazy, blood-thirsty look, she pointed her axe towards the one still standing pony in the room, aside from herself. "Oh Fluttershy?"
"No..Rarity!...What's gotten into you?" Fluttershy quickly turned around and ran for the door. Unfortunately, she didn't get far. Rarity used her magic to grab her by one of her back hooves, thus making her trip and fall.
"I must have your fur, darling. I must!" Rarity already had half of the materials she needed to fulfill her order, and she wasn't about to stop here.
"Somepony help!" There wasn't a soul nearby that could hear the screams of the gentle pegasus, and rush over to help. Come to think of it, not many could have helped her even if they did hear her. Rarity held the deadly tool at the ready, and made her way closer to her friend on the ground. Without a second glance, she swung the axe down towards Fluttershy, landing it at the lower part of her back. Fluttershy cried and called for help another time. There was no answer, so, unable to stand up, she began to crawl towards the exit. Her weeping continued as the axe sliced her in the back two more times, slowly nearing her shoulders.
Because Fluttershy wouldn't stop crawling forward, Rarity couldn't finish the job the way she intended to, so she decided to end her suffering. "Hmm...Looks like I’ll have to do this the easy way, since you won’t stay still!" She lifted her friend up from the ground with her magic.
"Rar...ity..." With her very last breath, Fluttershy whispered the name of her friend, and her executioner. One moment her head was looking forward, right at Rarity, the other, backwards, at the door from which she had arrived just minutes ago...but as her head turned, her body did not. Seeing no further need to hold her, Rarity released her friend, and her lifeless body fell to the ground, and blood came pouring out of the open wound at the back of her neck, left by a single bone that had snapped and pierced the skin at the moment Rarity twisted her head...One who would never even hurt a fly, killed by one of her closest friends...Such was the tragic fate of yet another victim of fashion.
***
It seemed like guests would just keep arriving and the boutique, one after another, but this time, the pony arriving was no guest. It was the same young filly that left to find some gems for her older sister earlier that day, and had just returned with a bucket of them. She didn't even know that Rarity's friends came to visit her while she wasn't there, but she was soon about to find out that they also never left. "Rarity, I'm back!" Sweetie Belle sniffed the air and covered her nose. "Eww, what is that smell? Did i accidentally burn lunch again?" Sweetie Belle gazed inside, and gasped from seeing the slightly disturbing sight. Her older sister was simply sitting in the middle of the room and rocking her head back and forth. Her mane was out of shape, it was unlike her to not keep it neat and tidy at all times. "Rarity! Are you okay? What happened?" she cried out and ran closer to her demented sister.
"Oh Sweetie, you finally came back!" Rarity was happy to see her younger sister again, and acted as if there was nothing out of place in the current situation. "Did you bring the gems?"
"Uh...Yeah, I did. Although Spike couldn't help himself, and ate a couple of them..." Sweetie Belle explained. "but what's up with your..."
Rarity hushed her younger sibling by placing her hoof in front of her mouth before she could finish her sentence. "Oh don't worry about me, Sweetie. I'm just working hard to fill Crystal Annora's order." Rarity laughed quietly, with a tone that would have been enough to tingle the spines of a few ponies. "Oh! Never mind me." Rarity switched the subject. "Would you please be a dear and fetch Applejack for me, please? I simply must have some of her fur!"
Rarity's statement made no sense to Sweetie. "Wait, huh?"
"Ah!" Rarity realized that she had gotten a bit carried away, and tried to find a way to exit the awkward situation. "Oh, I mean, uh...I uh...I made a new dress for her, and I, uh...want to give it to her!" She laughed again, sounding a bit nervous this time.
Sweetie Belle wasn't too convinced with that explanation. "But I though Applejack didn't like dresses. And I thought you were low on time for anything else."
"Oh don't worry, Sweetie Belle. I always make time for my friends. Just go fetch Applejack for me," she stuck to the same lie she came up with before. "Just go!" her tone grew more impatient. "Go!" she yelled at her younger sister again. "Goo!" Rarity screamed in her full voice, and tossed the young filly out of the window.
After getting back up on her hooves, Sweetie Belle rubbed her chin and wondered, "Hmm...Something seems...a little weird with sis..." She made nothing of it in the end, and decided to do just as told, "Oh well." She walked off to find her farm pony friend.
Meanwhile, Rarity took the spare time to sharpen her knife before Applejack's arrival. Two new mannequins had just joined her collection, as well as two more unique sets of fabric, and she was downright determined to add two more...
***
The door to the boutique opened itself for what might just be the last time that day, and through it came the last remaining close friend of the crazed fashionista. "Hello? Rarity?" Applejack arrived, and greeted the pony that called her with a greet that sounded more like a question. "Sweetie Belle told me to come coz you had something for me." She quietly laughed about the situation. "Look, i appreciate the generous offer, but...you do know i'm not too fond of dresses, right?" It was no surprise that the next sight left the guest with a bad feeling in her gut. Seeing Rarity the way she was left the rest of her friends worried as well, and she only kept on changing her image for the worst with each friend downed. "...Rarity?"
Applejack said out the name of the insane looking pony that had grabbed her back hooves with her front hooves, and was rocking back and forth while laughing hysterically and talking to herself. "Only one day left...one day left..." Her voice alone was enough to make most ponies think about leaving right away. Additionally, her eyes kept shifting to random directions every second, and her head kept shaking as she spoke, "Where is that Applejack?" She turned her head to the front, still unaware that she wasn't the only soul within the building.
"I'm right here...Uh...are you okay, sugarcube?" the farm pony asked a question with a seemingly obvious answer...There most certainly was something off about the pony in front of her.
"Applejack!" Rarity shouted from the joy of seeing the friend whose arrival she had been so eagerly awaiting. "So nice to see your lovely fur." She started eyeballing her friend with an expression that could easily give second thoughts to most ponies.
"My fur?..." Applejack repeated, unsure of what her friend meant with that statement.
"Yes! Your fur!" Rarity shouted back, and threw her hooves up in the air from excitement. Applejack only noticed the bloody knife on the table the moment Rarity magically lifted it up and pointed it towards her. "Come closer, Applejack."
"Woah! Rarity, what are you doing?" Rarity's actions left Applejack scared, and slowly backing up towards the door. "What's with the knife!?"
"Isn't it obvious, darling? I need you help," Rarity politely explained, in a manner that suggested that everything is as it should be.
As expected, that kind of response didn't satisfy the one that asked the question. "That doesn't answer my question!" Applejack shouted out and stomped her hoof. "What in the hay has got...Auugh!" Her agonizing scream filled the room as she got magically lifted up into the air by the knife that Rarity drove through her lower jaw, before she could even finish shouting. "Raugh...R-Rarity?..." dazed from the sudden blow, Applejack whispered, and aimlessly struggled through the air, uncertain of what had just happened.
"I must have it!" Rarity shouted, and laughed louder than ever before. Her laugh was wicked and hysterical at the same time. She removed the knife from her friend's jaw, allowing her to fall to the ground.
"Rarity..." Applejack coughed, and blood kept dripping from the hole in her lower jaw. "What are you doing?" she asked, and looked upon her friend with sad eyes.
Ignoring the pain in her friend's eyes, Rarity just laughed again. "Collecting high quality material for a new client of mine," Rarity explained, and even demonstrated some of the fabric she had made from the fur she had carved off of one of her friends. "And you're the perfect sample, my dear," she pointed at the bleeding pony with the orange coat.
"Rarity...how could you..." Applejack coughed. The wound in her jaw made it difficult for her to talk. "do this?..."
"Oh come now, AJ. Everypony else has given me a helping hoof. And aren’t you supposed to be the most dependable of ponies?" Rarity laughed again, in the same tone as before.
Applejack's eyes widened, and her jaw dropped. She took a closer look at her surrounding, and saw all of the things that Rarity had put up for display. She didn't even try to hide any of them, they were all there. Four mannequins with the cutie marks of her dead friends on their backsides, and the rotting pile of flesh trapped inside the ribs of the empty carcasses of the same ponies, which was also the cause for the horrid stench. "Rarity..." Applejack coughed a few more times. "W-wake up! Don’t you see what you’re doing? You’re killing all your..." Another single cough split the sentence in to two parts. Her coughs seemed to be getting more and more painful with each one. "friends!" Applejack kept desperately shouting at her friend, still hoping to knock some sense in to her...but her efforts were all in vain.
"A true true friend helps a friend in deed, Applejack!" Rarity shouted, and switched the knife for a far more effective killing tool - the already infamous firefighter's axe. "Don't you know that?" She pointed the axe towards the pony on the ground.
Right as Rarity was readying her killing tool for the final blow, a familiar face entered the door...Sweetie Belle's timing couldn't have been worse. "Hey Rarity! I sent for Applejack like you asked. Has she arrived ye..." She noticed the same friend she had spoken to just moments ago, and gasped loudly. Seeing her in that state made her wish she had not seen her at all.
Still drawing breath, after a few more coughs, Applejack used her dying breath to warn the young filly to run, "Sweetie Belle, run!" At that moment, the axe carried itself downwards, delivering a blow that would have proven fatal if it had just a little bit more force put into it. Rarity sunk the sharp edge of the knife into the back of Applejack's neck. Applejack moaned in pain, but as Rarity pulled the axe out of her neck to ready it for a repeated blow to the same area, she had just enough time to scream one last time, "Save yourseeelf!"
Sweetie Belle screamed in terror after witnessing the sight that just crossed her eyes. Up until this day, she had never even seen a drop of blood in her entire life...and, just like that, the first time she had to see blood, she also had to see a far more gruesome sight...Decapitation. Applejack's head left her neck while she was still shouting, and it landed on the floor with both her eyes and mouth still wide open. Sweetie Belle was the only one that hadn't heard Rarity's murderous laugh before, but she heard it now, more clearly than ever. "Finally, I have all the material I need!"
"Rarity...What did you just do?" with tears already lining up at the bottom of her eyes, Sweetie Belle nearly cried out the question to which she didn't really want to hear the answer to.
Too focused on her own problems, Rarity completely ignored her younger sister's cries, and just kept talking and laughing out loud, "He he he he...I knew I was the element of generosity, but who knew all of my friends could be just as generous as I am! He he he he! With all of their fur I collected, I have enough material to fill Crystal Annora’s order with one day left to spare!"
"Rarity...I...Wha...How could you do this?" Sweetie Belle burst into tears. She covered her eyes and started sobbing loudly.
"Oh, don't be so sad, Sweetie," Rarity calmed her younger sister. "Once i give these to Crystal, I'll make sure that both of us shine all across Equestria!" Sweetie Belle didn't care for shinning across Equestria, and she didn't find a single word of comfort in the words of her older sister. She just kept on crying as Rarity talked on. "And it's all thanks to you and my best friends. He he he he he he..." Rarity's eyes got wider as she laughed, but the apple's in them grew smaller...She was utterly mad.
"I...I can't believe you would do such a thing! I-I-I'm calling the guards!" Sweetie Belle stopped crying, and suddenly turned angry. She turned around and was about to run out the door, but before she could do that, Rarity slammed the door shut with her magic, and pulled Sweetie Belle towards her.
"What!?" Rarity violently shouted, and began counting the fabric she had gathered so far. "One...two...three...four, five...Only five!? I'm missing one!" Rarity screamed and threw her hooves up in the air. All of a sudden, she felt like everything was lost, and all that she had striven for had ended up being all for naught. But then she turned her eyes towards the frightened filly standing by the wall.
Sweetie Belle gasped loudly when she saw her sister looking at her with eyes like that...She already knew what that look meant for her. "Oh no!"
Rarity's right eye began to twitch as she laughed her maniacal laugh again. "Oh Sweetie Belle...Mind doing me one more simple favor?" Rarity's sadistic tone spoke of ill intentions.
"No! I won't! You're a monster!" Sweetie Belle protested and yelled.
"Come here, Sweetie..." Rarity used her magic to pick up the knife again. This time pointing it her own sibling.
"No!" Sweetie Belle screamed and ran for the door, but the door was sealed shut. "Somepony, help!" she shouted out, but there was no answer.
Rarity was at the end of her patience, she furiously yelled at her younger sister, and pulled her towards her with her magic. "Come here now!"
"Eeeh!" Sweetie Belle cried out. Rarity's magic tied her with her back to the wall. Tears rained down her cheeks as Sweetie Belle begged her own beloved sister for mercy. "Rarity...please...Stop! Don't kill me!"
Rarity struggled with herself, she began violently shaking her head and shifting the knife back, forth and sideways as she slowly screamed out one word after another, ending her sentence with yet another maniacal laugh, "But...I need...one...moore...slice...of fur! Aha ha ha ha ha ha!"
"Rarity...please...stop! I love you!" Although ineffective until now, Sweetie's screams finally seemed to have struck a cord in Rarity's mind.
"Wh...what? I...I...What am i doing?" For a moment, it seemed like Rarity was coming back to her senses. She looked at her own two hooves as she asked herself the self-judgmental question.
"R...Rarity?" Sweetie Belle called out her name, in hopes that they would be heard by the sister she knew and loved, instead of the obsessed monster that had just murdered five of her own friends.
"H...How could i have been so blind?" Rarity asked herself again, and lowered the knife.
"S...Sis? Are you okay?" Sweetie Belle asked, still concerned about her sister.
"Why did i not see this sooner?" Rarity asked, and looked at her own hooves again. "How did i not see that my own fur can be used as a high quality material!?" Rarity threw her hooves up in the air, overjoyed about her sudden discovery.
"Wait, what!?" Sweetie Belle asked, surprised and confused about what her sister had just said.
The knife had already found it's way back into Rarity's magical hold. "What better way to stun the masses, then showing off my own," Rarity furiously shouted out the last word, and sliced a horizontal line across the area just below her neck. "flesh and blood," she shouted out, and sliced herself again, this time with a small cut on her right hoof "sweat and tears," and another one on her left one. "the very being of my creative genius! Aha ha ha ha ha ha!"
Sweetie Belle gasped after seeing Rarity hurting herself like this. She may have been out of the danger zone herself, but her sister switching the target to herself, didn't make her feel any better. "Rarity! What are you doing!?"
"Not now Sweetie!" Rarity shouted out violently, and pointed the knife towards the frightened filly, right before slicing herself another time, on the back this time. "Mamma’s preparing her one, and possibly only chance to shine as bright as Luna’s moonrise!" Rarity's wicked, maniacal laughing could be heard without stop that day, but it seemed like there would only be one soul left to live and tell about it afterwards.
"Rarity!" Sweetie Belle started crying again, and covered her eyes with her hooves. She simply couldn't stand and watch as her own sister slowly kills herself. "Stop!"
"I can't believe i didn't realize this sooner!" Rarity threw the knife away, and replaced it with her other killing instrument. "I will shine for sure!" Rarity readied the axe for a blow. This tool had seen enough blood today, and now it was pointing at the one responsible for the vile deeds.
"Rarity, snap out of it! Please!" Sweetie Belle kept crying, but removed her hooves from her eyes for a brief moment, only to see her sister plunge the axe into her own back without even budging or showing a single sign of feeling pain. "This is madness!"
"Madness?" Rarity repeated. "This...is..." Rarity moved the axe with each word, and it was now in a good position for delivering another blow. "Fashion!" she screamed out, and the axe brought down swift justice as Rarity swung it right at her own neck. Her overused maniacal laugh echoed across her boutique for the last time, right before she got dizzy from blood loss, and fell to the ground. Sweetie Belle watched her shaking and coughing in agony, as a pool of blood began forming under her hooves.
Sweetie Belle ran over to her sister that had only short seconds left to live, and whispered, "Sis?..."
Sweetie Belle held her sister's head in her hooves, and sadly looked upon her. Rarity coughed quietly, and placed her hoof on Sweetie's shoulder as she whispered her final words to her, "I...I...just wanted to..." Rarity's hoof slipped down to the ground, and she closed her eyes, never to open them again. "shine..."
"Rarity! No!" Sweetie didn't let her hooves off of her sister. At this point, she had forgotten about the sins she had committed, and was ready to forgive her for everything, all for just one last chance to see her sister the way she once was. Her cries filled the halls of Carousel Boutique, and it was about the only thing that could be heard there for the next few hours.
