Twilight Sparkle looked out across the apple orchard, its trees bearing gorgeous red fruit. While Applejack no longer lived on her family’s land there were plenty of workers who tended to the apple orchard.
Not much of Applejack was seen after Mr. Rich died. Apparently the stallion had thought highly enough of the farm mare to put her in charge of his inheritance until his daughter Diamond Tiara was of legal age.
This was what bothered Twilight. Applejack seemed to be just as reclusive as when she had lost her family in the fire, only now she lived in a mansion where it was difficult to find her.
“Applejack please come back to us.” Twilight said as she left the mountain top and returned to her crystal castle.
Diamond Tiara slowly opened the door and walked into the room with today’s newspaper on her back. Since Applejack had taken over her father’s business Tiara had been trying her best not to invoke her new mother’s wrath.
“Thank ya Diamond Tiara.” Applejack said taking the newspaper from the little filly.
Previously Applejack had thought of killing Diamond Tiara for all the trouble she had caused Apple Bloom back when the little filly was still alive. All Applejack had to do was slowly poison Tiara and eventually all of Mr. Rich’s money would belong to her.
However, Diamond Tiara had been very helpful as of late that Applejack wasn’t sure she was ready to kill her yet. Perhaps the little filly could still be somewhat useful.
Applejack looked at the newspaper and read the headline: “Famous Magician on Tour. Coming to Ponyville SOON! Come and see the Broad Star Carnival!”
Curious Applejack continued to read the newspaper. According to the paper Trixie would be coming to Ponyville for Nightmare Night and she would be bringing a special carnival for all the fillies and colts.
Applejack remembered years ago when Trixie had hogtied her with her own rope in such an event. She also remembered the time Trixie had come to Ponyville with the Alicorn amulet and had forced Applejack to pound apples for an apple sauce facial at feather point. And then to make matters worse Trixie had demanded that Applejack grow apples without peels.
Now Trixie was returning to Ponyville. Perhaps this would be a good time to have some sweet revenge. While Applejack was fairly sure that Trixie had nothing to do with the death of her family the thought of avenging herself sounded wonderful.
“Ah really should try to find a hobby after all of this.” Applejack spoke quietly to herself, “Maybe I should try to take up paintin'.”
Applejack looked over at her calendar. It appeared that her schedule would be open tomorrow.
Trixie stood looking at the cart. She was looking forward to her return to Ponyville. Sure Trixie had made some mistakes in the past but hopefully they will have forgiven her after this amount of time. While Trixie knew her intentions were good she also knew that there would be some who wouldn’t believe this. Yet this wasn’t really what bothered her.
For the past few months while Trixie had been on tour a strange pony disguised as a clown had been stalking her. While Trixie never had a good view of the figure she could tell that the pony was wearing a mask in addition to the clown costume.
At first all the stalker did was watch Trixie from a distance, in fact she had hardly noticed the clown pony and thought little to nothing of it. However, as time went on the stalker began moving closer and closer. Even when Trixie and the carnival went to another town the clown continued to follow her. Then one day Trixie found a letter on the steps of her cart. The letter read:
“Dear Trixie,
It has been a long time since you hurt me but that is okay, I haven’t forgotten. When the time comes and the moment is right I will make you pay for what you did to me and those I love. You will regret the day you ever messed with me!
Sincerely,
-The Clown
p.s. Who’s great and powerful now?”
After finding this letter Trixie had started feeling paranoid. While it had been easy for Trixie to spot that clown outfit in a crowd who was to say that the stalker would wear that outfit when he or she finally decided to attack her?
Trixie had tried going to the police with the matter but they told her there was nothing they could do. All Trixie could do was stew in her paranoia and wait until the clown did anything that she could bring to the authorities. From that point on Trixie always slept with a gun under her pillow.
However, even that didn’t stop the nightmares Trixie had to deal with. Late at night she would have horrible drops of being lost in the woods late at night with that hideous clown chasing her. Despite running as fast as she could, the clown just keep following her at its slow steady pace.
Applejack walked down the road towards the Broad Star Carnival. According to the newspaper a portion of the carnivals funding went to various charity groups like Fillies for Heart and the Grant a Wish Foundation.
Applejack had determined that it would be unwise to try to plan revenge without knowing details about the future scene of the crime or her victim. She brought Diamond Tiara along as a means to disguise her intentions and perhaps give her a more personable appearance.
As Applejack neared the carnival she saw many families surrounding the gates waiting to get in. Applejack had hoped it had been early enough in the carnivals development that there wouldn’t be such a crowd.
“Well, that is a shame.” Diamond Tiara spoke, “Are we going to have to buy a ticket?”
“Ah suppose so.” Applejack answered.
Thus the two ponies waited in line until they were able to buy their tickets and went inside. Once inside Applejack took Diamond Tiara aside to talk to her.
“Now Tiara there is somethin' I need to do.” Applejack spoke giving the filly some money, “Here is some money so go have some fun. Just don’t spend it all in one place now ya hear?”
Diamond Tiara examined the amount of money Applejack had given her and smiled when she realized it was forty bits.
“Alright.” Diamond Tiara said walking away into the carnival.
Ponies pointed at Applejack and began to mumble among themselves but Applejack heeded them no mind. It made sense that they would gossip about Applejack since she had been holding herself up in the mansion of a dead stallion for a while now. Let them have their gossip, it didn’t matter to her.
After asking for directions from a pale faced mime Applejack eventually found her way to Trixie’s trailer. The trailer looked exactly the same as it did when Trixie had first visited Ponyville years ago. Applejack knocked on the door to the trailer.
“Sorry the show isn’t for another hour.” Somepony spoke from the other side of the door.
“Hey Trixie, I want to talk to you.” Applejack said.
Trixie opened the door and looked outside with cautious eyes. Seeing Applejack the magician furrowed her eyes.
“Um… Hello?” Trixie spoke, “My apologies while I know we have met I can’t seem to remember your name.”
“The name’s Applejack.”
There was a moment of silence before Trixie spoke, “Yes, that’s right. You are one of Twilight's friends.”
Applejack nodded.
“So what is it you wanted to talk to me about?”
“Ah thought we might want to talk about setting aside our differences.” Applejack lied through her teeth, “Perhaps we could even arrange a partnership.”
“I suppose we can do that.” Trixie said stepping out of her dark trailer, “what did you have in mind?”
“Well, recently ah have become the owner of Rich’s Barnyard Bargains and I thought perhaps my company could fund your carnival,” Applejack replied, “in exchange you could put up a few advertisements up fer Barnyard Bargains.”
“And why would you want this carnival to advertise your company.”
“Seein' as yer carnival takes you to various places it would be a great means of spreadin' advertising. Plus I reckon some extra money fer charity wouldn’t bother ya.”
Trixie contemplated the idea before saying, “I will think about it.”
“Very well.” Applejack said holding out a hoof to shake. Trixie seemed to shrink back in response to the outstretched hoof.
Behind Applejack hiding behind a trailer fifteen yards away was the stalker. The clown looked at Trixie from behind the trailer, a large grin stretching across his mask. Trixie blinked and the clown disappeared from sight.
“Is somethin' wrong?”
“N… No, I guess not.” Trixie said shaking the outstretched hoof.
“Good. I will come back in a few days to discuss the deal.” Applejack said before walking away.
As Applejack walked through the crowds she began to overhear the rumors.
“Have you heard about the stalker?” One mare asked.
“Stalker?”
“Yes, it seems that Trixie believes that somepony is stalking her.”
That wasn’t good. If Trixie believed that she was being stalked chances were that she would be prepared if Applejack tried to exact her revenge. Applejack knew it was unwise to attack a wary unicorn.
On the other hoof it could make the situation much easier. It would be wise if Applejack could use the situation to her advantage. Perhaps the stalker would take up enough of Trixie’s attention for Applejack to kill her. All Applejack had to do was make sure that the stalker was removed as well. Otherwise there was a potential witness to Applejack’s crimes.
After meeting up with Diamond Tiara the two ponies went on a few rides, ate some cotton candy and watched a few acts before returning home.
Twilight looked over the case reports but something about these just didn’t feel right.
The first case was the fire that took the lives of the Flim Flam brothers, which the authorities had reported as an accident. Yet, something didn’t feel right. The Flim Flam brothers were smart so you would think they would be smart enough not to light a match in a house with a gas leak. Surely they would have smelled the gas and tried to leave.
Then there was Mr. Rich who had been found dead out near the Everfree forest. According to the authorities he had been eaten by animals; however it didn’t make any sense. Why was Filthy Rich near the Everfree Forest? To make matters more bizarre the forensics team had managed to find a trance of honey on Mr. Rich’s body. Where had it come from?
Everything just seemed off. Despite the two cases looking like they had nothing in common Twilight’s intuition made her feel as if they were connected. There was just a piece of the puzzle missing and if Twilight could find it she would have the solution.
“What could the missing clue be?”
Tired from her late performance Trixie returned to her trailer. While the routine had been exhausting Trixie was just glad that the ponies who were watching enjoyed the act. She was also relieved when there was no sign of the clown among the crowd.
She was pleased up until she turned the corner and saw the clown standing in front of her trailer.
“Hello,” a muffled voice spoke over the wind, “Are you ready to die?”
The clown narrowly dodged a bolt of energy Trixie threw at it before she ran. She needed to get out of the carnival as fast as she could. Trixie tried for the trailer exit but found the gate to be chained shut. She would need to find another way out.
Suddenly all the lights in the carnival came to life and that horrifying voice spoke over the microphone, “Come on out Trixie. Its time for us to have some fun!”
Looking around the park Trixie realized that the lights made her a sitting duck. She would have to find some place to hide from the psychopath. She was standing in front of the mirror maze entrance when she heard the clown’s laughter.
Trixie ran as fast as she could through the maze of mirrors. She could hear the psychopathic clown chasing her. The clown’s squeaky shoes made awkward noises with every footfall as he pursued his target.
“Damn it!” Trixie cursed. Her gun wasn’t of much use under her pillow now.
Looking behind her Trixie could see that the clown was chasing her with determination. Trixie launched a few energy bolts at her pursuer but the clown managed to dodge all her attacks.
Turning around Trixie went to grinding halt before she slammed her face into a mirror. It was a dead end. She was trapped.
The clown moved slowly towards Trixie. His shoes squeaking loudly as he came closer. The clown stopped moving once he was ten feet away from her. There he just stood starring at her with the awful grinning clown mask.
“Look if you want to kill me how about you just get it over with!” Trixie yelled.
“Quit stalling.” The clown spoke, “I know you have a spell up your sleeve.”
Trixie’s ear twitched in response to the clown’s voice. The clown’s voice sounded familiar but Trixie couldn’t trace where she had heard it from.
“Very well then!” Trixie growled as she used her magic to hurl a lightning bolt at the clown. The clown didn’t flitch but instead pulled a rubber tarp out from behind his back and used it to absorb the spell. Then the clown pulled out a vial containing some strange watery substance and threw it over Trixie’s head. The vial broke and the liquid fell from above covering Trixie in the strange liquid.
“Looks like you missed!”
Instinctively Trixie tried to use her magic against the clown and was shocked when nothing happened.
“What?”
“Now that you magic is out of the way it will be much easier for me to have my revenge!” The clown laughed.
“What is this stuff?” Trixie asked still trying to channel her magic through her horn. It wasn’t working.
“It is just a little brew I got from a local zebra.” The clown replied, “Had to steal it when she wasn’t looking but I would say it was worth it.”
Trixie tried again to cast a spell but all her horn did was sizzle.
“Who are you?” Trixie growled.
Slowly the clown pulled off his mask to reveal the face of a yellow stallion underneath. Trixie managed to recognize the stallion’s face despite his sunken features.
“Mr. Cake? Why are you doing this?” Trixie asked in shock.
“Don’t you remember Trixie when you used your Alicorn amulet and took over Ponyville.” Mr. Cake spoke, “When you forced my family and me to make a throne for you out of sweets! Because of you Pound Cake had developed a fear of chairs that took months to cure!”
“Look I know what I did was wrong!” Trixie replied, “But you must understand that I wasn’t myself then. It was the Alicorn amulet that made me do all those mean things.”
“Yeah, right!” Mr. Cake retaliated, “You just sound like one of those ponies I heard on the news the other day that killed a few ponies and claimed that Nightmare Moon made them do it!”
“I still don’t see why you are so upset thought,” Trixie spoke, “Twilight was able to reverse all the harm I did when she took the amulet from me. Why are you so upset with me over something that happened a few years ago?”
Lots of things had happened that had affected Mr. Cake. About a year ago his daughter Pumpkin Cake had come down ill. At first they had just thought that it was a cold. However as time went on Pumpkin Cake’s symptoms didn’t improve. She continued to have fevers; she didn’t feel hungry and her coat continued grow paler.
Around this time the Cake’s assistant Pinkie Pie had left Sugarcube Corner and had joined up with Cheese Sandwich in order to make amusement parks and entertain other ponies around Equestria. As a result work seemed to increase in the Cake’s establishment.
Finally after a long time of seeing Pumpkin Cake not improving the cakes decided to take the little filly to the doctor. After performing some test the doctor had to tell the Cakes the horrible news. That there little Pumpkin Cake had a form of cancer known as Chronic Myelogenous Leukemia. Numerous tests and therapies were performed but in the end there was nothing they could do to save Pumpkin Cake.
The funeral wasn’t very big. Being so young Pumpkin Cake never had a chance to make any friends in school. Pinkie Pie managed to find some time off to come and see the Cakes for the funeral and was able to stay for a few weeks. Mrs. Cake was very strong that first week been after Pinkie left to return to work Mrs. Cake slowly began to crumple. She blamed herself for not calling for the doctor earlier and Mrs. Cake became more traumatized when she learned about the disease that had killed her daughter and that it could have been stopped if it had been addressed earlier.
Also depressed at the loss of a child Carrot Cake began to resort to drinking large amounts of hard cider from the bottle. He became so drunk that he didn’t notice the terrible shape his wife was in. As time went on Mrs. Cup Cake’s depression grew worse until she too was hospitalized.
“I’m so sorry honey. I am so sorry that I can’t stay here with you.”
Those were the last words Mrs. Cake had spoken to him before she passed away. Due to his new drinking habit it was determined by the local authorities that Mr. Cake wasn’t fit to take care of his son anymore. Thankfully Pinkie Pie was able to manage the system and adopted Pound Cake.
Enraged at what had happened Carrot Cake sought out someone to blame for all his problems. Eventually he concluded that it must have been Trixie’s fault that perhaps her magic those years ago in Ponyville had caused the cancer that had killed Pumpkin Cake. He had heard rumors that sometimes magic could cause such ailments in young foals.
“You took everything I cared about away from me!” Mr. Cake yelled as tears fell from his eyes.
The angry stallion lunged at Trixie holding the axe. Trixie merely closed her eyes and waited for the end. The sound of shattered glass ringed throughout the room as glass fragments fell to the floor. When nothing happened Trixie opened her eyes to see Mr. Cake on the ground with a large shard of glass in his neck and a mare in a dark outfit standing over him.
Trixie’s savior was wearing a full-bodied outfit similar to something you would see in one of those Spy-Pony movies for a stealth mission. From the angle the figure was standing Trixie couldn’t make out any of her features aside from the fact that she was a mare.
“Who… who are you?” Trixie asked the newcomer, “Show yourself!”
The figure turned around to face Trixie and pulled off her mask revealing herself to be Applejack.
“Applejack you… you saved me!”
“Of course,” Applejack replied, “after all ah am invested in yer survival.”
Trixie turned to look at Mr. Cake’s body, “What do you suppose will happen to him?”
With her back to Applejack Trixie didn’t notice Applejack putting her mask back on.
“Well, I reckon the police will probably report that he was killed in a struggle,” Applejack spoke, “that both he and his victim died together.”
“What?”
Suddenly a large piecing pain shuddered through Trixie’s shoulder. Trixie screamed as Applejack pushed the large shard of broken glass into her flesh. Crimson blood stained the mirror’s surface as it went further inside the struggling mare.
Trixie coughed up blood as she struggled to stand. She was losing a lot of blood fast.
“You’re a strong one,” Applejack said, “It is a shame ya have t' die.”
Applejack grabbed Trixie by the shoulders and slammed the unicorn face first into another mirror. Despite having pieces of glass in her face Trixie continued to struggle.
“What are…” Trixie tried to speak through her damaged face as she fell onto her back.
“Just die already!” Applejack barked as she grabbed another piece of a broken mirror and thrust it under Trixie’s chin.
The piece of glass went up through Trixie’s lower jaw, through her mouth and passed through the bottom of her skull ended her life. Of course it took the body a little while to realize this so it shuddered and shook splattering blood from the open wounds before quivering to a stop.
With Trixie dead Applejack cleaned off her suit and walked away. Once Applejack returned to the mansion she would throw the outfit into the incinerator and all the evidence of her being involved with Trixie’s death would be gone.
“Sorry I just don’t like sharin' my victims.” Applejack said looking down at Mr. Cake's corpse before walking away.
Twilight examined the folder containing the information on last night’s crime.
Earlier this morning Trixie’s body and that of Mr. Cake had been found in the mirror maze. Some little filly had been walking through the maze when she came across the two bodies and had screamed so loudly to alert the attention of the security guards in the area.
Once the bodies had been found the maze had been marked off by the police for an investigation. Later that day Twilight was alerted of what had happened and had been presented with the evidence the police had currently discovered.
According to the evidence Mr. Cake had attempted to attack Trixie in the mirror maze. The two of them struggled and broke some mirrors. Eventually Trixie was victorious in beating Mr. Cake but suffered enough blood lose due to her injuries that she had fallen to the ground and had managed to impale her head on a shard of glass.
A few weeks ago Trixie had called the police telling them that she was being stalked by a clown and judging by the outfit, makeup and mask Mr. Cake was wearing it had probably been him. The police believed that the Trixie had died accidentally after she had tried to defend herself against Mr. Cake. However, that didn’t seem to make much sense to Twilight especially when she observed the confused look on Trixie’s dead face.
There was a knock at the door. Normally Spike would have answered it but earlier the little dragon had gone out to grab some lunch.
“Who is it?” Twilight asked as she put the folder down and walked towards the door.
“Princess I have some more evidence for you to examine.” One of the police officers said from the other side of the door.
Twilight opened the door and took package from the stallion.
“Thank you officer.”
After closing the door Twilight set the package down on the table. Twilight opened the box to discover that it contained a book. Opening the book to the first page Twilight discovered that the book belonged to Trixie.
“Looks like a journal.” Twilight said as she flipped through the pages.
The first page identified Trixie as the owner of the journal and the pages that followed told of the events she had gone through after her last visit to Ponyville.
After leaving Ponyville Trixie had gone on a journey to refine herself. While she had tried to learn new magic Trixie had also tried to be a kinder individual. As a result Trixie had made new friends and had become a member of the Broad Stars Carnival.
As Twilight read on she started finding some entries discussing Trixie’s stalker.
“I keep seeing that clown in the crowd. Why is he stalking me! WHY IS HE DOING THIS?”
After reading a few more of these entries Twilight eventually came across something that chilled her heart to the core.
“Today Applejack came to my trailer with an offer to support the carnival in exchange for some advertising. At first I wasn’t sure I could trust her but then I saw the clown behind her. Perhaps I can trust her.”
“That’s… that’s it!” Twilight said walking over to the chalk board, “I found the connection.”
All the victims were connected by one individual. It was Applejack.
The Flim Flam brothers had previously caused the Apple Family trouble before years later trying to help Applejack repair the farm after her family’s tragic death.
After Mr. Rich’s death it had been Applejack who had inherited the stallion’s commercial empire.
And finally Applejack had meet Trixie the day before the magician’s death.
Tears leaked from Twilight’s eyes. While Twilight was pleased with her discovery the idea that one of her closest friends could be responsible for five murders made her upset.
“Why Applejack? Why did you do this?”
