The colts and fillies of class A talked among themselves as they waited for Miss. Cheerilee to arrive for the morning class. Applebloom and Scootaloo were at Sweetie Belle’s desk near the back and discussed who next they could help with a cutie mark problem. “What about Silver Spoon, I don’t think she’s ever mentioned what her cutie mark meens?” Scootaloo asked.
“Her family are silversmiths,” Applebloom said. “So it’s kind of obvious.”
“Oh yeah, I think I remember her saying something about that.”
Sweetie Belle rested her head on one hoof, while the other traced out a quaver note with a practiced precision. She only half listened to her friends, far more content to just trice the music note for the hundredth time. She was pulled out of her musing when a yellow hoof waved in front of her face. “Sweetie Belle, ya there?” Applebloom asked.
Sweetie set her pencil down and looked to her friends. “Oh sorry, did you say something?”
“Yeah, ya have any idea’s on who we can help next?”
Sweetie Belle gave a halfhearted shrug. “I’m fine with whomever you guys pick, but I’m not sure who we could help next.”
“There’s got to be more we can help in our class.” Applebloom said. She gazed around the room looking for a potential pony in need when her eyes locked with a certain brown coated colt. The Colt’s eyes snapped to anywhere else, but Applebloom already had a devilish smile. “How about Button Mash?”
Sweetie Belle groaned and let her head hit the desk. “Anypony but him. I finally got him to stop sending me those ‘poems’ of his.”
Scootaloo held a hoof to her mouth to keep her snickering from drawing the attention of everypony in the class. “You mean you didn’t like his poems? What was that last one he sent you...oh yeah, ‘roses are red, violets are blue, your eyes look more amazing than the time I beat Super Pony Blaster 8 in a single night.’” Unable to hold back her laughter Scootaloo hit the ground rolling.
“Oh laugh it up.” Sweetie Belle grumbled.
Their conversation was cut short as Cheerilee entered the room. Even for foals everypony could tell she wasn’t her normal chipper self, and when she spoke she seemed to lack the energy. “Everypony take your seats.” Cheerilee stood at the front of the class and waited. When everypony was seated and all eyes were on her she said, “Does anypony know a colt by the name of Tender Taps?”
Slowly Applebloom and her friends raised a hoof, each of them held the same look of confusion. Cheerilee hung her head a bit, “Very well you three follow me, everypony else open your textbooks to page 38 and begin reading.” Cheerilee stepped to the door and motioned for the fillies to follow after. They walked in silence down the hall to Cheerilee’s office. Applebloom shot Scootaloo a questioning look, but only received a shrug in reply.
As they entered Cheerilee’s office she took a seat behind a desk with the three fillies taking a seat across from her. For a long moment Cheerilee didn’t speak; her eyes were filled with something the Crusaders had never seen before. “Girls, about Tender Taps—” Cheerilee began before being interrupted by an inpatient Scootaloo.
“Miss. Cheerilee, whatever Tender did we had no part in it.”
Cheerilee gave her a sad smile, “no you're not in trouble. There’s no easy way to say this. Tender Taps has been killed.”
The silence in the room was almost palpable, Sweetie Belle looked to her friends who’s coat seemed to have dulled a few shades. “W-what?” Applebloom asked, her ears not wanting to believe it. “How?”
“I suppose you're going to hear about this anyway.” Cheerilee said as she looked among the fillies. “Tender Taps was murdered.”
“MURDERED!” Scootaloo cried.
“There’s not a lot known right now, but rest assured that Princess Twilight is personally looking into this. They are going to find whoever did this.”
Applebloom wiped at her eyes, trying to see through the downpour of tears. “Why...how could somepony--” her words were caught in her throat as her grief consumed her.
Sweetie Belle rose from her chair and put a hoof around Applebloom, “It will be ok Applebloom.”
“How?” Applebloom shot back. “How can anything be ok?” Sweetie Belle didn’t answer.
“Girls, I think it would be best for you to take the day off, you shouldn’t be at school at a time like this.” Cheerilee said. Scootaloo nodded meekly with a faraway look in her eyes. She and Sweetie Belle helped Applebloom out of the room and down the hall. Cheerilee held her head in her hooves; a look of exhaustion overcoming her.
“Hey,” Scootaloo said, as they made their way from the school house. “Do you want to go to the clubhouse?” Applebloom tried to answer but only managed to let out a choking caugh. She settled for a nod.
“Sweetie Belle!” They turned back to the schoolhouse to find Button Mash racing toward them, his propeller spinning in the air. “Is something wrong? What happened?”
Sweetie Belle looked over to her friends, as if asking for permission. Applebloom’s crying seemed to have calm down some, but she barely recognized his presents. Scootaloo gave a quick, if annoyed, nod. At that moment Sweetie Belle was grateful to Rarity for the acting tips she had given her, or as Rarity called them dating tips. Her face was an unreadable mask, showing no emotion. “Tender Taps was murdered.”
Button Mash was quiet for a moment, as he rubbed his hoof. “Sorry to hear that. Do you need me to come with you, or help...or something?”
“No, we’ll be fine Button. You should just go back to class.” Sweetie said with a forced smile.
“Are you sure? I doubt Miss. Cheerilee would notice If I was gone.”
“Go back to class Button!” Sweetie snapped.
Button Mash recoiled as if the words had caused him physical pain. “Um, yeah, I’ll see you later then.” He turned and trotted back inside.
***
Twilight Sparkle felt tired, despite getting a full night sleep and a filling breakfast the last six hours had been the longest of her life. Most of her time had been spent at the crime scene, the poor colt’s own backyard no less, and reading over the reports from the coroner. But that was nothing next to having to console the grieving family.
Twilight was at the local jailhouse flipping through the reports, as she waited for the town sheriff and the captain of her newly formed guards to show up. When she had first moved to Ponyville the jailhouse was nothing more than a few small cells and a bunk for sheriff White Hat to sleep on. But with Ponyville’s recent population explosion, and Celestia insisting Twilight have her own guard force, the jailhouse was in the middle of renovations. The barracks addon was just large enough to house ten of her ‘Twilight Guard,’ but when construction was complete it would hold over fifty.
For months now Twilight had fought against the idea of having guards stationed in Ponyville, doing her best to hold on to the sleepy village image she had gotten when she first arrived. Now she could only wonder if those guards could have prevented this.
“Princess.” Twilight looked up from her reports to Sheriff White Hat, a green coated Earth Pony his white mane was hidden under his white stetson. He was flanked by a white pegasus in golden armor.
“Any new information?” Twilight asked as she rose to greet them.
White Hat removed his stetson and ran a hoof through his mane. “Oh, there’s information just none you're going to like.” —Twilight set back down and braced herself for the inevitable bad news— “Tender Taps often had other colts and fillies over to play, so we’re having a difficult time figuring out what evidence is from a potential suspect and what is from some random foal.”
“How long is it going to take to get it sorted out?” Twilight asked.
“I had to send most of it off to Canterlot, we just don’t have the room for it here. They said it could take anywhere from a week to a month before they can find a match for it all, but I told them to send us the names of any adult that comes in, though it’s going to take some time.”
Twilight could only give an inward sigh. She knew this wouldn’t be over quickly, but still it was no less frustrating. “And in the meantime we may as well have nothing. Sergeant Thunder Strike, how went the search for witnesses?”
Thunder Strike saluted and began his report, “Your Majesty, we have questioned everypony in the surrounding area, as well as those that are known to frequent the area. Unfortunately, no pony was seen coming or going from the house once Tender Taps made it home that day. As well, our mages could not find any trace of concealing magic.”
Twilight wasn’t too surprised by the lack of witnesses. Ponyville wasn’t like the larger cities, once the sun went down there were few ponies on the streets. But the lack of concealing magic stuck in Twilight's mind. Quickly, she flipped through her pile of reports until she found one she had read earlier that morning: Mrs. Taps report of the prior night. She claimed she was a light sleeper, yet didn’t hear any screaming. Twilight turned to the coroner report and read down to the cause of death: a puncture wound to the carotid artery resulting in exsanguination, essentially, he was stabbed in the neck and bled out.
“The fact there was no traces of concealing magic,” Twilight thought to herself. “Could mean the killer isn’t a unicorn, but the fact that the killer was able to get so close to Tender Taps without drawing attention suggest Tender may have known them.” Twilight drew herself away from her thoughts and addressed White Hat. “White Hat, make a list of everypony that could have gone to Tender Taps home last night, but only those that Tender wouldn’t have been afraid to approach.”
“That’s going to be a long list. You know as well as I how friendly ponies are here.” Said White Hat.
Twilight nodded in reply. “I do. But it’s all we have for right now, and we can narrow it down once the lab results start coming in. Sergeant Thunder Strike, I want you and the other guards out there patrolling, at the very least we can show the ponies of Ponyville that we are here to protect them.”
“Yes, your Majesty.”
Twilight glance over to a clock on the wall and sighed. “As for me, I have a meeting with the Mayer I need to be getting to.” Twilight was tired, but she knew rest wasn’t going to come anytime soon.
***
The CMC sat around their clubhouse not saying much of anything. Applebloom’s tears had dried up leaving her fur matted. Her back leaned against the corner wall as she held the only picture they had of Tender Taps. It was taken right after he earned his cutie mark: all four of them standing side by side smiling wide for the camera.
“This doesn’t make any sense!” Scootaloo cried. “Who would want to hurt Tender Taps. He never did anything to anypony.”
“A rival dance school maybe?” Sweetie Belle said, half-jokingly, but was silenced from a glare of Scootaloo’s.
“He invited me to a movie next weekend,” Applebloom said, not taking her eyes off the photo. “He said it was thanks for helpin’ him get his cutie mark.”
“He only invited you?” Scootaloo asked. Applebloom just nodded. Scootaloo could think of a dozen jokes to make about that, off the top of her head alone, yet now it seemed out of place to say.
“At least he got his cutie mark before the end,” Sweetie Belle muttered under her breath.
Appleblooms ears twitched in Sweetie Belle’s direction and her head snapped up. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Um, n-nothing,” Sweetie Belle quickly stammered out. “I’m just confused about all of this.”
Applebloom rose to her hooves and placed the picture on a table. She looked around the room at some of the other knick-knacks they had gotten after helping ponies. “We’ve helped a lot of ponies, even more since we got our cutie marks. We can’t help Tender Taps, not anymore, but we can help bring the pony who did this to justice. Are you with me crusaders?”
“Yeah, I’m with you!” Scootaloo called, a fire lit in her eyes.
“I don’t know if this is a good idea,” Sweetie said, drawing the gaze of the other two. “I want the killer to be brought to justice as well, but this sounds dangerous. Wouldn’t it be better to leave this to Twilight and the guards?”
Applebloom stepped over and pulled Sweetie Belle into a reassuring hug. “Ah know you’re confused right now. This is confusing for all of us, but we can’t just set around while Tender’s killer is doing Celestia knows what.” —She pulled back and looked Sweetie Belle in the eyes— “Besides we’re the Cutie Mark Crusaders, we’ve been through scarier things than this. Remember the time when we went into the Everfree Forest looking for Fluttershy’s chicken.”
Sweetie Belle couldn’t help but laugh at the memory. “Who would have thought we’d run into a cockatrice, or how about the time we tricked Babs with that float.”
“Or when we went looking for that wanted criminal in Appaloosa,” Scootaloo chimed in.
Sweetie Belle gave a sigh in defeat, it was clear they were both set on this. “Alright you win, but where do we start?”
“Ah have an idea where to start, but I’m not so sure if it’s a good idea.” Applebloom said, keeping both fillies in suspense. “Tender Taps’ room.”
***
The moon hung high over the town of Ponyville casting a bleak shadow, matching the mood of the town. The streets were empty with everypony locking themselves inside the safety of their homes and only a few guards roamed the streets, but the cloaked figure knew the town far better than the guards did.
The figure clung to the shadows, dashing from cover to cover as it neared it’s target: The Mighty Hoof Gym. It reached up and jiggled the handle, a smile creeped to its lips as the door opened. Ponyville was just too trusting. The figure made its way to the locker room, it’s cloak dragging behind it. It trotted between rolls of blue lockers as it read off the name plates, until it found the one it was looking for. The locker was padlocked but the figure was prepared for this. It pulled a set of lockpicks from it’s bag and carefully inserted them into the lock.
The figure didn’t understand why ponies found lockpicking so hard, at its core it was just a puzzle game. With a click the lock popped off. The figure quickly opened the door, rustling around until it found a large white bottle of powdered drink mix. The figure unscrewed the bottle before retrieving a plastic bag and poured the powdery contents inside. It tightened the lid back on the bottle and put it back how it was, before locking the door back. “This was a lot easier than last time,” The figure thought. “Tomorrow will definitely be eventful.”
***
Applebloom pace back and forth in the clubhouse, waiting for her friends to show up. They still had a little over an hour before school started, but with what she had in mind they would be cutting it close if they wanted to get to school on time. The clopping on wood announced the arrival of her friends; she turned to the door as it swung open.
“Finally,” Applebloom called, looking to Scootaloo. “What did you find out?”
Scootaloo took a seat on the floor as she answered, “Mr. and Mrs. Taps will be out of the house making funeral arrangements, and shouldn’t be back until late.”
“How did you find that out?” Sweetie Belle asked.
“You don’t want to know. But more importantly, my mom is freaking out over this and now she wants me home right after school ends.”
Sweetie Belle rubbed the back of her neck as she replied, “Rarity doesn’t want me out either, at least not until my parents get back into town.”
Applebloom would be lying if she said Applejack hadn’t said a similar thing to her, but luckily she had already accounted for that. “Don’t worry, with any luck we’ll be at school before anypony notices.”
“Are you sure breaking and entering is a good idea?” Sweetie Belle asked. “Seems kind of wrong considering who it is.”
“It’s not like we’re going to steal anything,” Scootaloo quickly defended. “Besides this is for a good cause.”
Applebloom trotted past both of them and out of the door, “Come on, we don’t have a lot of time.”
It took them less than fifteen minutes to get to the house, few ponies payed them much mind as they raced through the streets. Sweetie Belle peeked out of the bushes they had ducked into for cover, and looked around the developing residential area. The house was a simple one story building, set in a square with dozens around it, and unlike the older buildings of the rest of the town the houses here all had the same red shingled roof.
“The coast is clear,” Sweetie Belle said, ducking back down.
As one they burst from the bushes and galloped the few feet to the house, heading around the side and out of view. Applebloom ducked down below a window and gave Scootaloo a boost up. The window opened with little resistance, allowing the fillies to climb inside. The layout hadn’t changed much from the time they had been invited over: right after the play that had earned Tender Taps his cutie mark.
Applebloom led the way down the shadow covered hallways, not bothering to turn the lights on. Tender Taps’ room was at the end of the hall. The shadows clung to the door giving the room a far more ominous presents then it already had. Applebloom reached up and pushed the door open, enlisting a quiet squeak from the hinges. Posters of dancers decorated the wall, a bed was tucked away in a corner brushing up against the closet, and a desk set on the far side of that. “So, what are we looking for?” Scootaloo asked, as they trotted inside.
“Anything that might say why somepony would want to hurt Tender Taps, look for something suspicious.” Each of them took a corner of the room looking for anything that may stand out.
Sweetie Belle pulled the closet open and shifted through the hung shirts and scarfs, spotting nothing of worth she turned to close the door when her eyes catch a small box in the corner. Gingerly, she held the box in one hoof and removed the top with the other. Inside sitting on a stack of papers was a drawing of a cutie mark. The drawing was similar to Tender’s cutie mark, only off in a few spots. On the top of the page were the words printed in bold “Draw your future cutie mark.” Sweetie Belle remembered this assignment from her first year of school. She had taken her time back then drawing the perfect cutie mark, and she knew it was over the top, but still it was beautiful. Funny how some ponies cutie mark matched their drawings so closely. The rest of the box was other school work that Sweetie had little interest in. She closed the box and placed it back in the closet.
She glanced over to the others, Applebloom was checking under the bed, and Scootaloo was looking at something near the desk. Scootaloo kept glancing over her shoulder at Applebloom as she looked at something, but Sweetie Belle couldn’t make out what it was. “Did you find something Scootaloo?” Sweetie Belle asked.
Applebloom turned at the question and saw Scootaloo jerk around, one hoof hidden firmly behind her back. “What...oh, no nothing here.” Scootaloo said, trying to keep the suspicion from her voice, but failing miserably.
Applebloom and Sweetie Belle stepped closer. Applebloom raised an eyebrow and said, “Oh really, then what’s behind your back?”
“My back?” Scootaloo asked, as in an almost genuine question. She looked over to her hoof as only now realizing it was back there, “Oh that, my forehoof was feeling a bit sore so I’m doing some stretches that’s all.”
“Scootaloo!” Applebloom demanded, already tired of the game.
Scootaloo hung her head and brought a scrap of paper from around her back. “I found this in the desk drawer.”
Applebloom took the paper and read it over. It was clear what it was by the name alone: Gift ideas for Applebloom. The page was filled with every kind of gift idea one could think of, from chocolates and flowers to music, but all of them were crossed out for one reason or another. At the bottom of the page were the words ‘something apple related’.
Applebloom stepped over to the desk and set the page down. “There’s nothing here.” She whispered, turning to the door. “We should go before school starts.” The others said nothing and followed behind.
The crusaders neared town square as they headed for the school house. They weren’t in a hurry despite what little time they had left. Applebloom had been quiet since they left the house, leaving a gloomy cloud to hang her them.
Scootaloo shot Sweetie Belle a look, trying to get her to break the tension, but Sweetie Belle gave a frantic head shake in return. Scootaloo grumbled under her breath but spoke up nonetheless, “Look, I know we didn’t get the clue we were after, or any lead really, but we are going to find whoever is responsible.”
Applebloom nodded once before answering, “Yeah, ah know we will, but it’s just so frustrating.”
“Hey, what’s going on up there?” Sweetie Belle said, pointing toward the crowd of ponies gathering in front of the local gym. Curiosity spurring them on, they trotted to the nearest pony. Sweetie Belle poked a pale blue mare in the side, getting her attention. “Excuse me, but what happened here.”
The mare looked down on them with surprise. “What are fillies doing here? You shouldn’t be here at a time like this.”
“Did something happen?” Scootaloo asked.
The mare looked torn for a moment, but relented under the fillies pleading looks. “From what I hear, Bulk Biceps dropped dead earlier.”
The fillies stumbled back in shock “How!” They cried.
“Does it have anything to do with the murder?” Applebloom asked.
“Oh I hope not,” said the mare.
“Make way!” Every head in the crowd turned to the approaching guards, flanking around Twilight.
As the crowd parted to let Princess Twilight and her guards through Applebloom turned back to her friends and said. “Come on, let's follow them.” They nodded and tagged along behind the last guard, their small size making it easy for them to go unnoticed. The crusaders stopped once they got to the front of the crowd. Twilight stood a few feet away talking with the town sheriff, Mr. White Hat, but they couldn’t make out what they were saying.
Twilight turned back to the crowd, and called out, “Attention everypony, I am hereby issuing an 8:00 P.M. curfew, effective immediately. Please inform everypony to stay indoors unless absolutely necessary.”
A pony with a camera hanging from his neck pushed through the crowd as he yelled, “Does this have any connection to the murder from the other night?”
“We’re not ruling anything out,” Twilight informed, as a storm of questions erupted from the crowd. “I’m sorry but we are not taking questions at this time. Once we learn more there will be an official statement released, but in the meantime please be patient with us. Now we have work to do here, I think it would be best if everypony returns to their lives for now.”
The crowd was malcontent, but nevertheless they departed. The crusaders blended in with the crowd and trotted off to school. “Poor Bulk Biceps,” Scootaloo said. “Why him? He was just a big snowflake.”
“Ah don’t know, but we are going to find out. Let’s meet back at the clubhouse after dark.” Applebloom said, growing more determined with each step.
“But I’m sure Twilight will have guards out at night,” Sweetie Belle said.
“Yeah maybe, but those guards don’t know Ponyville like we do.
“Let’s see,” Scootaloo said. “Ignoring the curfew, sneaking out of the house, life threatening danger, and probably going to be grounded for the rest of our lives. Let's do this!”
“This can only end well,” Sweetie belle muttered with the shake of a head.
***
The sun hung low in the sky. Twilight watch the beautiful scenery from the perch in her bedroom. She glanced back to her bed and her body longing to just crawl into it, but her desk was filled with reports she had to go over. Reluctantly, she trotted over to her desk and set down, picking up the first report she let her eyes dance over the page. But just as she felt herself fall back into a rhythm a cry from the balcony broke her concentration. “Twilight!” Rainbow Dash yelled, bursting into the room. “Who did it, tell me!”
“Rainbow, slow down and talk to me,” Twilight said, jumping over to her enraged friend.
Rainbow took a few deep breaths, when she could speak without yelling she asked, “Tell me who killed Bulk Biceps.”
For a moment all Twilight could do was rub her forehead. “We don’t know who did it.”
“Then at least tell me how they did it. All I heard was that he passed out in the middle of a workout.” Rainbow asked, taking a seat on Twilight’s bed.
Twilight stepped over to her desk and picked up a report. “The best we can tell somepony spiked Bulk Biceps’ protein drink with a Nixlorara and Altrtox powder mix, which caused him to suffer a heart attack, resulting in death.”
“But that nix-whatever stuff as to be complicated to make, can’t you just arrest the ponies that know about that kind of stuff?”
Twilight sighed and set back in her chair. “That’s just it Rainbow, Nixlorara and Altrtox are found in many household cleaning supplies, and any pony with an elementary level chemistry book could find this information out. What I can’t understand is why somepony would target both Tender Tabs and Bulk Biceps. The fact that the killer took the time to deliberately poison Bulk Biceps but nopony else is enough to tell me this wasn’t random, but what do they have in common?”
“So it could be anypony then.” Rainbow said, falling back on the bed.
“Rainbow, the best thing you and the other girls can do is to keep the town calm. If a panic breaks out it wouldn’t help anypony.”
Rainbow rolled off the bed and trotted to the balcony. Her wings unfurled as she prepared to take off but stopped, without looking back she asked, “Promise me one thing, whoever did this you're going to find them.”
“I promise you, Rainbow, they won’t get away with this.”
***
Sweetie Belle trotted up the ramp of the clubhouse. Applebloom didn’t set a time to meet up, but she was sure she was the last, seeing how it was near midnight before Rarity went to bed. As she opened the door her suspicions were confirmed, but Applebloom and Scootaloo barely seem to notice her arrival. They were staring intensely at the back wall which had now been redecorated. The left half had a picture of Tender Taps with various newspaper clipping or just random drawings of him, while the right half had a similar setup only with a picture of Bulk Biceps. Each half was linked together with crisscrossing colored strings. The whole thing reminded Sweetie Belle of a scene from one of Rarity's detective novels.
“What is all of this?” Sweetie Belle asked, stepping over to her friends.
Applebloom looked back and smiled. “This,” She said with a wave of a hoof at the wall. “Is everything that Tender Taps and Bulk Biceps have in common, at least what me and Scoots could think of.”
“There as to be a reason the killer went after them, and I know we are close to figuring it out.” said Scootaloo.
Sweetie Belle stepped closer to the wall and read something off at random, “‘Neither likes broccoli’. Well that narrows it down.”
“It’s something,” Scootaloo defended
“Ah feel like the answer is just starin’ me in the face.” Said Applebloom.
Sweetie Belle just shrugged. “I don’t see it. Apart from us they have nothing in common.”
Both Applebloom and Scootaloo’s head snapped over. “What do you mean ‘Apart from us’?” Applebloom asked.
Sweetie Belle looked surprised. She had honestly assumed that both of them had known already, it seemed so obvious to her. “We helped both Tender Taps and Bulk Biceps with a cutie mark problem.”
Applebloom turned back to the wall, a look of realization overcoming her. “Of course.”
“But that doesn’t make any sense. Why would somepony go after the ones we’ve helped?” Sweetie Belle argued.
“We won’t know until we catch them,” Said Scootaloo. “But we haven't helped that many ponies in Ponyville.”
Applebloom’s ear twitched as she caught the last part. “Come to think of it, the only pony left in town that we’ve helped is—”
As if coming to the same conclusion they all shouted “Diamond Tiara!”
“We have to warn her.” Scootaloo cried, and looking as if she was ready to go running from the room.
Knock, knock.
They stopped at the sound of knocking on the door. They shared a confused look, as they tried to figure out who it could be when a voice on the other side called out, “Sweetie Belle, are you in there?”
Applebloom and Scootaloo both looked to Sweetie Belle “Tell me that’s not who I think it is?” Asked Applebloom.
As much as Sweetie Belle would like to say that, it wouldn’t make him go away. “You can come inside Button Mash,” She called out.
“What are you doing out here this late?” Scootaloo asked, as Button let himself inside.
Button Mash smiled dumbly at Sweetie Belle, as he answered, “I spotted Sweetie Belle running past my house and I got worried. Is everything ok?”
Sweetie Belle was telling her mind to smile, but all she could manage to do was glare at him. “I’m fine Button Mash, Thank you for worrying about me but we are in the middle of something right now.” Her gritted teeth made her words sound anything but sincere.
Button Mash didn’t seem to notice, or just didn't care. His smile grew wider, “Oh it was no problem at all.”
“Button, why don’t you head back home before your mom finds out you're gone.” Applebloom suggest.
Button Mash instinctively rubbed the back of his head as he gazed out into the night. “I guess I’ll just head home then...in the dark...all alone...by myself.”
A collective groan went through the room. Scootaloo was the first to speak up, “Button, if you’re afraid of the dark then how did you get here?”
“I, um, followed Sweetie Belle.”
Sweetie Belle stepped closer to her friends and whispered, “Listen, there’s no way we could warn Diamond Tiara tonight. Her house is locked up too tightly, but school is out tomorrow so we can just go over there then.” Applebloom and Scootaloo both nodded in agreement. Turning back to Button Mash Sweetie Belle continued, “Come on Button, I’ll walk you home.” She ignored the excited look on his face and trotted out the door.
The crusaders stood outside of Diamond Tiara’s two story mansion, or as Diamond Tiara like to call it the Diamond Palace. “Are you ready crusaders?” Asked Applebloom as they trotted up to the door.
“Yeah, we’re with you.” Came the replies.
Applebloom reached up and grabbed the large brass door knocker and gave it a few hard swings. Within moments the door swung open to reveal a semi-bolding Earth Pony in a tuxedo vest. He eyed them with a look of indifference and asked, “Can I help you?”
Applebloom cleared her throat and said, “We’re here to see Diamond Tiara.”
“I’m sorry but Mis. Tiara will not be available until after her 8:30 hooficure,” The Butler said, keeping the same tone of voice.
“But you don’t understand—” Applebloom tried to argue before being cut off by Sweetie Belle.
“Diamond Tiara is in danger, the killer is coming after her next!”
“WHAT!” The Butler cried, having lost all composure.
“Sweetie Belle!” Both Applebloom Scootaloo cried.
Sweetie Belle just shrugged. “What, it was faster this way.”
“Come inside,” Said the Butler ushering them in.
They were led into an oversized living room, bigger then all of the fillies’ bedrooms combined. They took a seat on a heavily embroidered couch. “So what now?” Scootaloo asked, as they watched servants trotting to and fro.
“Ah guess we wait,” said Applebloom.
“Randolph, I told you I was busy.” Filthy Rich sounded from the hallway. “What is this about?” There was a long pause. The crusaders leaned in closer to the hall, but could barely make out whispering, before Filthy Rich’s voice exploded, “DANGER!”
He rounded the corner, looking flustered. When his eyes fell on the fillies he stopped, took a deep breath, and spoke. “So I hear you have some information, would you mind telling me?”
Applebloom cleared her throat and began, “Well ya see it’s like this…” Applebloom explained about their investigation, and how they had figured out that Diamond Tiara was in danger, with Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo filling in whatever Applebloom missed. They did, however, leave out the parts about breaking and entering, and going out after curfew.
Filthy Rich smiled down at the fillies. “Thank you. I can’t tell you how much it means to me that you would come to help my little Diamond.”
Scootaloo had to bite her lip to keep herself from laughing at that name
“You must be thirsty,” Filthy continued, gesturing to a nearby servant. “Randolph, go find that sheriff and bring him here, oh, and tell him to assign some guards to Diamond Tiara.”
“Why would I need guards?” Everypony in the room turned to look at Diamond Tiara as she strolled into the room, a pink robe wrapped around her.
Filthy Rich looked slacked jawed. He fumbled for words, trying to find something to say to her.
Sweetie Belle could only roll her eyes at the display. “We think the killer will be coming after you next.” She blurted out. Everypony's’ eyes snapped to her with not the most pleasant of looks, but Sweetie Belle just shrugged. “What? It was faster this way.”
Diamond Tiara looked on the verge of a full nervous breakdown.
Applebloom face hoofed, “Just perfect.”
The next few hours went by in a blur for the crusaders. Sheriff White Hat and two other guards arrived not long after Randolph left. The crusaders went over everything they knew once more, and Sheriff White Hat eagerly jotted down notes, only interrupting them when he had a question.
Diamond Tiara set in a chair not far from the crusaders. She had calmed down some, but still visibly shaken, as she clung to her robe. When White Hat put away his notepad Diamond asked, “So is it true. Is the killer coming after me?”
“We don’t know that for sure,” White Hat said, in his more reassuring voice. “But just in case I’ll be leaving you in the company of these find gentlecolts here.” He motioned to the guards standing off to the side.
Filthy Rich trotted to Diamond’s side, “Don’t worry dear, your mother as gone to see that our Canterlot house is in order for our arrival. We will be leaving for it in the morning.”
Diamond Tiara gave a relieved smile, but quickly faded as she realized something. “What about tonight? What if the killer comes for me?”
“Don’t worry Diamond,” Scootaloo quickly said. “We can stay over to protect you.”
“You would really do that for me?”
Applebloom gave Diamond a smile only an apple could. “Of course we would, we’re friends after all.”
“And nothing will get to you while we’re guarding you,” Sweetie Belle quickly added. She glanced over to the guards who looked almost left out. “Oh, and the guards too, I guess.”
It was late into the evening and the fillies were in Diamond’s bedroom. Filthy Rich had errands to run but promised to inform the crusaders families that they would be staying over. They sat on Diamond’s bed that looked big enough to hold their entire class. “Hey Diamond, is your mansion in Canterlot as big as this one?” Scootaloo ask, doing her best to break the lingering silence.
“Are you kidding me,” said Diamond. “That’s the real mansion. This one’s only half the size of it.”
“Wow, what do you do with all that room anyway?” Sweetie Belle asked.
Diamond Tiara shrugged, “Dad’s always filling it with stuff from his oversea trips, and mom sometimes has party's over there.” The room fell back into an uncomfortable silence; Diamond Tiara looked like she was staring off into space, but after a moment she asked. “Is it because I use to bully ponies?
“What?”
“Is that why the killer is coming after me?”
“Of course not!” Applebloom cried. “Tender Taps and Bulk Biceps never bullied anypony. There’s no tellin’ why the killer is doing this, but one thing’s for sure it’s not your fault.” Diamond Tiara gave an appreciative smile.
“And you're safe here, so there’s nothing to worry about.” Scootaloo assured her.
Sweetie Belle looked around the room as she said, “Are you really safe here though?”
“What are you talkin’ about?” Applebloom asked, eyebrow raised in confusion.
“Well I was thinking, if I was the killer the first place I would look to fine you would be here. By now most of the town would know your family is going to Canterlot in the morning, so if the killer is going to come after you it would be tonight.”
“That’s right!” Diamond Tiara said, worry sinking into her voice. “What do we do?”
“I don’t think we need to worry. We should be fine as long as we stay up here.” Scootaloo said, trying to calm Diamond, but it seemed to do little as Sweetie Belle argued.
“Tender Taps was also safe in his home when he was killed.”
A small growl escaped Applebloom as she snapped at Sweetie Belle, “Then what do you suggest?”
“Simple,” Sweetie Belle said with a smile and explained. “While everypony thinks we are up here sleeping we will be somewhere safe, say the clubhouse for example.”
“That...could actually work,” Scootaloo said, looking far more surprised than Sweetie Belle liked. “But we should tell the Guards at least.”
“No, we can’t risk the wrong pony finding out, and it’s only until morning right.” Sweetie Belle said, looking over to Diamond Tiara.
Diamond Tiara gave a quick nod in agreement before saying. “I like this idea, the killer can’t get me if they don’t know where I am.”
***
“Thank you again for letting me do this,” Twilight said, as she trotted on to the second floor of Rarity’s boutique.
Rarity followed close behind Twilight down the hallway. “Think nothing of it dear, if it helps find the one responsible it will be worth it. But why would somepony be going after the ponies Sweetie Belle and her friends help?”
“I don’t know, but right now it’s the best lead we have. I’m just hoping there’s something in Sweetie Belle’s room that may tell us something.” Twilight said, as she opened the door to the room. The room was much like Rarity's, an overly large bed with a hanging canopy in the center, with a dresser and nightstand around it.
“Did you find anything in Applebloom’s or Scootaloo’s room?”
“Nothing of use,” Twilight answered as she poked through a dresser drawer. “Not unless you count Scootaloo’s unhealthy amount of Rainbow Dash photos.” Twilight pulled a small box out of the drawer. Setting it on top of the dresser she popped off the lid and peeked inside. It was filled with folded up letters, “What is this?’
“I can’t believe Sweetie Belle kept those.” Rarity said, picking up one of the letters. “These are poems from a colt in her class, Button Mash, I believe his name was. Sadly she shot him down, can you believe my little sister is already a heartbreaker.”
Twilight gave a smile as she continued to look around the room. She spotted a bookshelf on the far wall and trotted over. Most of the books were simple school books, Math, history, chemistry, and Science. But one of them stood out from the others; it was a book on pony anatomy, one Twilight recognized. “Rarity, didn’t you check this out from the Castle Library?”
“Oh yes, Sweetie asked me to get that for her. I thought it was too advanced for her, but she seemed persistent and I didn’t want to hold her from pursuing knowledge, is there a problem?”
“It’s just…no, I’m sure it’s nothing.” Twilight placed the book back. She trotted over to the nightstand where a book titles ‘Diary’ set out in the open. Curiosity, Twilight picked it up. It was held closed by a one bit lock that popped open with a simple spell; she turned to the last page and quickly read it over. It talked about a homework assignment she did with her friends. It was sweet, innocent, and nowhere near what a twelve year old filly would write about. “Rarity, do you ever read Sweetie Belle’s Diary?”
Rarity held a hoof to her chest in mock shock, “Twilight do you really think I would read my own sister's diary?” —Twilight raised her eyebrow in response— “I want it stated for the record that I only do it because I care, I’m not snooping.”
Twilight set the book back down and walked around the bed. “Before I became Celestia's apprentice my mother got me a diary of my own, and at first I wrote all of my thoughts inside it.” Twilight slowly tapped on the wall, as she made her way around the room. “But one day I discovered that my mother had been reading my diary, but by this point I had grown use to writing my thoughts down, so I couldn’t simply stop. If I tried hiding it that would have only made my mother more determined to find it.” Twilight’s hoof stopped at a hollow sound. With her magic she pulled at the paneling on the wall but found it slid away easily. “So I got a second diary and wrote my true thoughts in that one, while my mother was content to read from the fake one.”
Twilight retrieved the dairy from the small cubby in the wall. This one didn’t have a lock on it and resembled more of a notebook.
“I was sure I was careful, how did she find out.” Rarity questioned herself.
Twilight turned to a random page near the middle. On the left page on was a detailed picture of a quaver note with a blue ribbon wrapped around it, each side ending with a bell. The right page had the words ‘my perfect cutie mark.’ Twilight turned a few pages in and read the entry.
“Dear Diary,
I got my cutie mark today. It’s…not quite what I was expecting. It’s not elegant or simplistic like my design, It’s eye catching but not in a good way, and it’s not even about music. But that’s ok! I enjoy helping ponies, in fact, that’s how my friends and I got our cutie marks: By helping Diamond Tiara understand the meaning of her cutie mark. I think I’m just feeling some post cutie mark jitters, and in a few days I’ll forget all about my old design, no matter how elegant it was.”
Twilight noted that some of the words looked runny, like water had hit them while the ink was still wet. She turned to the last page but only found quavers, hundreds of them filling the pages.
“Twilight, what’s wrong? You look worried.” Rarity asked.
Banging on the front door of the boutique echoed through the house, as a voice shouted “Miss Rarity! Miss Rarity are you in there? Twilight and Rarity shared a look before both of them hastily made their way down stairs. Rarity opened the door to a frantic looking Filthy Rich. “Miss Rarity, please tell me Diamond Tiara is here.”
‘“What? No, she should be at your house, along with Sweetie Belle and her friends.” Rarity said, not hiding a hint of concern.
“I went to check on them before turning in for the night, but they were gone. None of the staff or the guards know where they went.”
“Ok listen,” Twilight called drawing everypony’s attention. “Both of you stay in your homes in case they show up. I’ll take the guard and search the town.”
“But Twilight!” Filthy Rich tried to argue, but Twilight’s horn was already lit and in the next moment she was gone in a burst of magic.
Twilight appeared in the castle library. Sergeant Thunder Strike and Spike were there apparently having a conversation, but was forgotten at Twilight's arrival. “Sergeant,” Twilight called trotting forward. “There are four fillies missing. Have your guards spread out and find them.”
“Who’s missing” Asked Spike.
“Applebloom, Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle, and Diamond Tiara.”
Thunder Strike gave a salute, “Understood your majesty!” He called before galloping from the room.
Spike ran over to a table to grabbed an envelope, “Twilight, I got the results from the lab like you asked. It’s everything they could run through the labs on such short notice.”
“Thank you Spike,” Twilight took the folder in her magic and removed a single sheet of paper inside. The page contained a list of names. Twilight scanned over each name, making sure to put each name with a face before moving on, a feat that took her mere seconds. But her eyes stopped as she hit a familiar name. “Oh Celestia!” The page slipped from her magic as she turned to Spike with wide eyes. “We have to fine Sweetie Belle now!”
***
The Crusaders and Diamond Tiara were laying out on bedrolls inside the Clubhouse. Applebloom and Sweetie Belle were on one side of the room, while Diamond Tiara and Scootaloo were on the other side. “Why have we never done this before?” Asked Scootaloo, digging through a bag of snacks they had brought with them.
Applebloom could only roll her eyes as she answered, “Applejack thinks we’ll catch a cold out here.”
“But we've been camping and never gotten sick,” Sweetie Belle argued.
“Try tellin’ that to her.”
“How long do you think it will be until Twilight finds who the killer is?” Diamond Tiara asked.
“I’m sure it won't be too long,” Applebloom said. “And it’s not like we’ve stopped looking. Once we know you're safe we’ll be right back on the case.”
Scootaloo pulled out chocolate bars from the bag and tossed one at everypony. “That’s right, so go do whatever it is that rich ponies do while we sort this out.”
Diamond Tiara picked up a chocolate bar and bit into it. The creamy texture brought a smile to her face. “Thanks. Hey I know I may have already said this, but I’m sorry for how I treated you in the past.”
Applebloom just waved her off, “There’s no need to bring up the past. It’s in the past for a reason, so let's just leave it there.”
A loud crash and a cry of pain echoed from outside. The fillies were on their hooves at once, each staring past the closed door to where the sound had come from. “Do you think that was your sister, Applebloom?” Scootaloo asked, not taking her eyes off the door.
Applebloom shook her head. “Can’t be, she sleeps like a log.”
Sweetie Belle took a hesitant step forward. “What are you doing?” Diamond Tiara asked.
“Stay here, I’m going to check it out.”
“That’s crazy! You—” Scootaloo tried arguing, but Sweetie Belle quickly shoved her hoove over her mouth, shushing her quiet.
“They may hear us. I’m only going to take a peek.” Not giving them a chance to argue Sweetie belle trotted over to the door and slowly creeped it open. She couldn’t see anything in the night, with her eyes still adjusting. She stepped out on to the ramp and closed the door behind her.
“Ah don’t like this,” Applebloom whispered. “She shouldn’t have gone alone.”
“Maybe we should go check on her?” Said Scootaloo.
Clop, clop, clop.
They watched and waited as the sound of hooves grew closer to the door. “Sweetie Belle, did you see anything?” Scootaloo called.
Clop, clop, clop.
The fillies couldn’t help but move closer to each other. The louder the hooves drew the farther away they stepped. The door creaked open, revealing a brown coated colt. “Button Mash! Why in the hay are you here!” Applebloom yelled. She would normally never use such language, but considering the scare he had just given them.
Button Mash didn’t have his signature propeller hat and only wore a gray saddlebag. He didn’t answer the question and instead trotted inside and closed the door behind him.
Diamond Tiara hid behind the crusaders, and did her best to stop her shaking hooves.
“Where’s Sweetie Belle?” Scootaloo asked.
Button Mash glanced back to the door, as he said, “She...fell down.”
“Fell down?”
Button Mash nodded, “Off the ramp, I think she hit a rock or something and got knocked out.” He motioned back to the door. “Go check for yourselves she’s at the bottom of the ramp.”
Scootaloo took a step to move around him, but stopped as Applebloom shot out her hoof. “Ya never did answer my question: What are you doing here?” Applebloom said, narrowing her eyes.
Button smiled but it only served to put everypony even more on edge. “I came to see Diamond Tiara.”
Scootaloo looked over at Diamond, who was sitting in a corner of the room. “I don’t think she wants to see you. In fact, I think it’s best if you just leave.”
“I can’t do that,” Button Mash said as a forehoof reached back into his saddlebag. “I came all the way here to give Diamond Tiara THIS!” He yanked his hoof from his bag in one swift motion, gripping tightly to a butcher knife.
“Oh Celestia!” Applebloom cried.
Diamond Tiara screamed at the sight of the knife, “Please don’t kill me! Please don’t kill me!” She begged.
“Button, Why? Why are you doing this!” Scootaloo yelled. Her shock quickly turned into anger.
In answer Button Mash looked at Diamond Tiara and said. “Do you remember that time when you called me a foal for wearing my propeller hat; I like that hat.”
Diamond Tiara was sobbing, trying to push herself even farther into the corner. “I’m sorry, I’m so sorry I was ever mean to you.”
“Applebloom, Scootaloo,” Button said, turning his attention back to them. “I’m not here for you, just walk away and you won't get hurt.”
Applebloom and Scootaloo shared a single look, but with just that one look they both understood how the other felt. Applebloom lowered herself into a fighting stance with her ears laid flat against her head. “If you want Diamond Tiara you’ll have to go through us!” Applebloom yelled.
“That’s right!” said Scootaloo, taking her own stance.
“Fine then!” And Button Mash lunged forward. He swung his knife out in an arc, almost clipping Scootaloo before she could stumble back. Applebloom jumped to the side and rammed herself into his shoulder, causing Button to stumble back. Pressing her luck Applebloom charged in once again, but was met with Button’s free hoof impacting her face.
Scootaloo flung herself at Button. She latched herself on the hoof still holding the knife, and bit down with all her might. Button howled in pain and dropped the knife. “GET OFF! GET OFF!” He screamed, as he tried to pry her off.
Applebloom took advantage of the distraction to get around them. She grabbed the trembling hoof of Diamond Tiara and spoke quickly. “Diamond we need to go now!” Diamond only nodded and followed. Applebloom stopped at the door and pointed out, “Go we’ll be right behind you.”
Turning back to the fight Applebloom charged forward with a cry, “Scootaloo, let go now!” On queue Scootaloo released her hold and rolled away just as Applebloom wheeled around and bucked Button square in the chest, sending him rolling to the ground. “Let’s get out of here!” Scootaloo nodded and galloped out of the clubhouse after Applebloom. It didn’t take them long to find Diamond Tiara, she was trying to untie the ropes binding Sweetie Belle’s hooves together at the base of the tree. “Sweetie Belle!” They cried, galloping to her side.
“What’s going on?” Sweetie Belle asked, as the last of her bindings were removed.
“Button Mash has gone crazy! He’s the killer.” Scootaloo said, helping Sweetie on her hooves.
“We have to go,” Applebloom said, keeping her eyes on the clubhouse door. “If we cut across the west orchard it will take us straight to my house.” They could already hear banging coming from the clubhouse.
“What are we waiting for let’s go!” cried Diamond Tiara.
The trees passed them in a blur. Their path was only just visible in the dim light from the moon, but it wasn’t enough to shake off the unsettling presence of the night. Applebloom was in the lead, her hooves dug into the ground and her breath was heavy in her ears. “Please slow down,” Diamond Tiara called. Not waiting for an answer she dropped to the ground as her hooves gave out under her.
“We can’t stop yet,” Applebloom said. “We’re not even half way out of the orchard yet.”
“I just...need to...catch my breath,” Diamond Tiara said in between gasp of air.
“SWEETIE BELLE! ARE YOU OUT HERE?” A cry echoed through the trees.
“He’s close, what do we do?” asked Scootaloo.
Sweetie Belle quickly looked around, surveying the area. “Over there,” She called, pointing with a hoof at a barn nearly blocked from view by the towering trees. “We can hide in there until he passes.”
“Doesn’t look like we have a lot of choice.” Said Applebloom. She put a hoof on Diamond’s back, “Come on just a little farther and you can rest.”
The barn door creaked open, it’s hinges sounding like thunder in the dead of night. The smell of moldy hay rushed up to meet them and the fillies had to cover their faces as they entered. “When was the last time your family cleaned this barn Applebloom?” Asked Scootaloo.
“Ah don’t think we even use this one anymore.”
Diamond laid down in the center of the room, not caring about the dirt. “I want to go home,” she whispered to herself. Applebloom and Scootaloo took a seat next to her, but said nothing.
“I’ll see if I can lock this door,” Sweetie Belle said.
“Good Idea, there may be a old padlock layin’ somewhere around here.” Applebloom said.
Sweetie Belle poked her head out of the door, but saw nothing but rolls of trees. She took a glance back at her friends; none of them were looking at her, so no one of saw when her horn lit. She pulled the door back tight before trotting back to the others, “I can’t find any locks, so we’ll just have to be quiet.”
The quiet never seemed so loud to the fillies. Every crack and moan of the old barn was like a new danger ready to jump out from the shadows. “Do you think it’s safe to leave now?” Diamond Tiara whispered.
The barn flung open. Button Mash smiled at them, a deranged look in his eyes. “Found...you,” he panted. The fillies sprang to their hooves. The crusaders took a protective stance around Diamond. “Just step aside and I won't have to hurt you!”
“Button, you don’t have to do this!” Scootaloo pleaded, but it fell on deaf ears.
“I’m done talking, move or I go through you!” Button growled at them. When they showed no signs of moving he charged. He swung his knife out, too far from them to hit anything, but the sight of a swinging knife was still enough to make them flinch back. With his free hoof he ran it along the ground, and flung dirt at the fillies.
Scootaloo cried out at her sudden blindness. She swung out randomly, but only hit air. Button easily avoided her strikes and delivered a punch of his own to the side of her head. She hit the ground with a moan of pain. Button wheeled around to look for his next target, but ran face first into Appleboom’s hoof. He stumbled back, the knife slipping from his hoof as he gripped his nose trying to stop the blood. “That hurts! It hurts!” He cried.
Scootaloo stumbled back to her hooves. She spotted the knife through a blurry haze, and dove for it. Dust filled the air as her body fell over it. She grabbed it in her hooves, holding tightly as she heard the cry.
“THAT’S MINE! GIVE IT BACK!” Button screeched. He threw himself on top of her, flailing his hooves like he had gone mad.
Applebloom spotted Sweetie Belle standing in front of Diamond Tiara at the far end of the barn. “Sweetie Belle, what are you doin’? We need help here.” Applebloom called.
Sweetie Belle’s eyes moved from Button Mash to her friends, “I...I can’t. I’m too scared.”
Applebloom gave a growl in frustration. “Fine, just look after Diamond.” She charged at Button, who seemed oblivious to her presence. “Get off of her!” In a swift motion she turned and bucked him in the side, sending him rolling to the ground.
Button cried out in a mix of pain and anger, as he slowly got back to his hooves. Tears were streaming down his face. “Stop doing that! It hurts!”
“Oh I’m so sorry,” Applebloom said, voice dripping with venom.
Button charged at them once more. He scooped up dirt as he ran and chunked it at them, but they had seen that trick once already. They brought a hoof up to shield their eyes, buying Button just enough time to close the gap. He rammed himself into Applebloom sending her toppling to the ground.
Scootaloo gripped the knife tightly in both hooves and swung it like a bat. Button’s eyes went wide as he saw the knife coming. He brought his hooves up to cover his face, just as the knife cut across his right forehoof. Button’s coat seemed to dull at the sight of the blood, and his hooves gave out under him. He covered the gash and tried to stop the bleeding, as he quietly whimpered to himself.
Scootaloo looked at the knife with disgust, and tossed it out of her sight. She and Applebloom stood over Button Mash, but despite what had happened they couldn’t feel anything but pity for the pathetic sight that set before them. Gaining a bit of courage Diamond Tiara timidly totted over.
“Why?” Applebloom asked, not needing to say more.
Button Mash looked up at them, tears still running down his face and matting his fur. “I...I had to.”
“What is that suppose to mean!”
“I...can’t say.”
Everypony's attention was locked on Button Mash so nopony noticed when Sweetie Belle picked up the knife, or how she stalked over to Diamond Tiara. Nopony noticed when Sweetie Belle raised the knife into the air, or when she brought it down.
A scream echoed into the night.
The knife fell from Sweetie Belle’s hoof, a blast mark still smoking on it. Twilight panted heavily “I made it in time.” Twilight’s entire guard force plus the sheriff trotted inside the barn.
The fillies spun around to look at Sweetie Belle, the fallen knife making it clear what happened. They looked at her with a mix of shock and betrayal. “Y-you don’t understand. This is not what it looks like I swear!” She defended
Button Mash’s tears only fell harder when he saw the guards trotting his way. “I’m so sorry!” He said in-between sobs. “I didn’t want to do it. It was all Sweetie Belle’s idea. She said she would love me if I did it.”
***
Sweetie Belle stepped closer to her friends and whispered, “Listen, there’s no way we could warn Diamond Tiara tonight, her house is locked up too tightly. But school is out tomorrow so we can just go over there then.” Applebloom and Scootaloo both nodded in agreement. Turning back to Button Mash Sweetie Belle continued, “Come on Button, I’ll walk you home.” She ignored the excited look on his face and trotted out the door.
They trotted down the lonely dirt road side by side, only the moon to light their path. “Afraid of the dark Button? Was that the best you could come up with?”
Button Mash gave a nonchalant shrug. “It worked, and now we can have that moonlit walk that you always hear about.”
Sweetie Belle stopped dead in her tracks. “What are you talking about?”
“Well...I just thought since we are going out now we should do more couple stuff.”
Sweetie Belle face hoofed, took a deep breath, and tried to speak without yelling. “We are not ‘going out.’ I told you not until you did what we agreed to.”
“Button looked at her in bewilderment. “But...but I did I killed—”
“There’s one more,” Sweetie Belle quickly interrupted “Diamond Tiara is the last one. After she is gone we can be together, understand.” Button nodded eagerly. “Tomorrow me and my friends are going to Diamond Tiara’s house, so I want you to follow us but don’t let anypony see you. I’ll figure something out and get her away from her house and alone.”
Button gave a quick nod, before asking. “Why Diamond Tiara? I thought she was your friend.”
“She is,” Sweetie Belle answered without pause. “But it can’t be helped”
“I don’t understand. What’s the point of all these killings?”
“You’ve killed two ponies and are only now questioning the reasons why.” Sweetie muttered. It was late and she wasn’t in the mood to explain all of this to him, but she knew she had to give him something to keep him compliant. “Tell me Button, what would you do if you got a cutie mark in gardening and had to work in a gardening shop for the rest of your life?”
Button wasn’t sure how that answered the question, but answered anyway. “Gardening is really boring, so I guess I would be bored all the time.”
Sweetie Belle trotted closer to Button with a predatory look on her face. “Would you spend the rest of your life in that boring shop, or would you try and get a new cutie mark, even if that meant burning the shop to the ground. I know I would.”
***
“They may hear us. I’m only going to take a peek.” Not giving them a chance to argue Sweetie belle trotted over to the door and slowly creeped it open. She couldn’t see anything in the night, with her eyes still adjusting. She stepped out onto the ramp and closed the door behind her.
She found Button Mash waiting at the bottom of the ramp. “What was that noise?” She said, no hint of amusement in her voice.
“I couldn’t see where I was going and fell off the ramp,” Button explained, rubbing his head.
“Of course you did, listen we don’t have a lot of time. Did you bring the ropes?” Button nodded and pulled them from his bag. “Good, now here’s the plan. Diamond Tiara is up in the clubhouse but you’re going to have to get past Applebloom and Scootaloo. Just threaten them with the knife and tell them to leave. If they refuse just knock them out, but don’t hurt them.”
“But they’ll know it’s me! Then what do we do?” Button asked, a bit worried about this plan.
“Don’t worry I’ve been working on my magic, so I’m sure I can erase their memories after this is over. Now just think of this as the final level in a game, and this is the boss fight.”
Button perked up at the analogy, and quickly began unraveling the rope.
“But after this I won’t have much use for you,” Sweetie Belle thought to herself.
***
“I never wanted to hurt anypony!” Button Mash’s cries continue to fill the room.
“I-it’s lies! All of it.” Sweetie Belle yelled, her voice failing to hide her building worry. Her eyes frantically darted from Twilight and her guards to Diamond Tiara and her friends. “You can’t possibly believe a crazy pony like him!”
“You were going to stab me.” Diamond Tiara said, more to herself.
“That’s enough Sweetie Belle, it’s over!” Twilight called, taking a step forward.
“IT’S NEVER OVER!” Frantically Sweetie Belle looked to Button. “Button, hurry up and kill them! KILL THEM ALL!”
Button Mash didn’t meet her eyes and just stared at the ground.
Applebloom stepped up to Sweetie Belle and before she could blink Applebloom’s hoof slammed into her face. “What did Tender Taps ever do to you!”
Sweetie Belle rubbed her cheeks and looked at Applebloom in shock, but her lips slowly turned into a smile and her smile turned into a cackling laugh. She through her head back and howled with madness. “Don’t you understand, once Diamond Tiara dies our cutie marks will become meaningless, and we’ll be able to find new cutie marks!” Sweetie held out a hoof towards Applebloom and Scootaloo. “It will be just like old times: The three of us searching for our true cutie marks.”
Scootaloo took a step back, a look of disgust on her face. Applebloom slapped Sweetie’s hoof away. When she spoke her voice sounded like a low growl. “You killed them…because you wanted… a new cutie mark!” With a cry Applebloom tackled Sweetie to the ground. She roll on top of her and back hoofed Sweetie as she yelled. “Friends…don’t…kill…friends…over…cutie marks!”
The Guards moved to separate the two but Twilight held up a hoof, signaling for them to stop.
“You took Tender Taps from me and you killed our friendship!”
“I did this for…us.” Sweetie Belle tried speaking through the blood and pain.
“No, you did this for yourself.” Applebloom rolled off of her and trotted to Scootaloo’s side.
“Sweetie Belle, ponies only get one cutie mark. No matter what you did you can never get a new cutie mark.” Twilight said. She turned to the guard next to her. “Place Button Mash and Sweetie Belle under arrest, and see that the fillies are escorted home.” With a salute the guards surrounded Button Mash and Sweetie Belle.
“You’re wrong! I know I can get another cutie mark, I just know it!” Sweetie cried as the guards placed her in hoofcuffs and a magic limiter on her horn. She was marched to the door but stopped a foot from Twilight, “How did you know we were here?”
“You forgot to dispel your orb of light over the barn.” Twilight explained. And Sweetie Belle laughed.
Twilight stayed behind after the others had left to take the fillies home. She spotted the knife still lying on the ground and picked it up in her magic. “I’ll take that for you, Princess.” White Hat said trotting to her side. He took the knife and dropped it into a plastic bag. “I guess it’s over now?”
Twilight just looked around at the old rickety barn, “Is something like this ever really over?” She shook her head as fatigue started to catch up with her. “I’m too tired for philosophical questions, tonight I’m just going to sleep.”
***
Leafs gently blew around three fillies that took their place at the newest grave stone to be added to the Ponyville cemetery. Applebloom looked from Scootaloo to Diamond Tiara, both of whom gave her a supportive smiles.
She looked down to the grave and spoke. “Hey Tender Taps, it’s been a long time. You’ll be happy to know that Sweetie Belle is gettin’ the help she needs. The doctors said she’s got somethin’ called Cutie Mark Rejection Disorder. I’m not sure what that is, but Applejack said it made her hate her cutie mark somthin’ fears. Ah know that doesn’t excuse what she did, but at least now we know why she was actin’ so crazy. Ah don’t think ah could ever forgive her for what she’s done…ah don’t think ah could stand to see her, but I won’t hate her. I know you wouldn’t want that.
We miss ya…ah miss ya, a lot. Some days ah find myself goin’ by the dance hall only to remember you’re not there. It’s gettin’ easier though, thanks to my friends, so you can rest easy knowin’ we’re gonna’ be ok here.” She looked to her friends and added. “Anything yawl want to add?”
Both fillies shook their heads. “I think that covers it.” Said Scootaloo.
“We should be going,” said Diamond Tiara, “If we’re late Silver Spoon is not going to show us how to smith silver.”
The fillies turned and headed out of the graveyard. “Hey do you think I can get Silver to make me silver shoes?” Asked Scootaloo.
“Trust me,” Diamond quickly informed. “They’re not worth it.”
And the laughter of three fillies filled the air of the glim graveyard.
