Return to Bittersweet Apple Acres

Present day

My door alarm breaks me from my daze of a past I wish I could relive, and prevent myself from getting to the point of where I currently lay on a brick of a mattress and cinder block of a pillow. Those were the best days of my life; carefree, happy, and just enjoying life in general.

Days I wish I could go back to and hit a reset button to prevent myself from ever coming up with that idea for Nightmare Night. The idea that led us all to that foundation that night, into the dimension that Bittersweet Applejack called home.

My biggest regret in life.

Sarah joining me at lunch that day was the best thing that ever could've happened to me, because it gave me another chance to be normal again. I could smile, laugh, talk, and, in Henry's case, help other ponies to give them the same opportunity I was given.

After Henry had told his story, we all had made sure to keep him safe, until he could finally stand against Callie on his own. After one month, he finally told that bitch where to shove it, and Callie no longer became a problem to any of us.

We were a team! We stood strong against anything the world threw at us, and we truly thought that we were invincible together!

Then that demon and her brother shattered that all to pieces. One by one we fell like flies, and, while I survived that night, I truly still feel like I never made it out. I constantly hear the screams of my friends, feel like I'm being watched, and that bloodsoaked mare's laughter permeates my mind like a skipping record.

They say there's no such thing as the boogeypony.

No such thing as ghosts.

No such thing as demons or poltergeists.

They are wrong, because the same one haunts my dreams every night.

It'll never stop, even if I manage to fulfill my promise to Henry. I understand why Crimson Flash said he never escaped now, because I live as if I'm still wandering that labyrinth.

It's only eleven hours from the moment that changed my life one year ago, and, as every second passes, the dread and paranoia of Applejack watching me from the shadows grows more powerful. It's a weight that makes me feel like I'm being suffocated, but I know I can't give into the growing pressure.

Tonight, I'm going to end it all. The Apple family's reign, my suffering and guilt, and the lies that Princess Flare has fed everypony ever since she first wore the crown of her mother and aunt.

It ends tonight!

"Bloom, hooves out!" a voice commands me.

I look up and see that it's just one of the many guards. They have come to shackle me and escort me to lunch, and, even though I was tempted to give them a good hoof to their muzzle, I just complied, playing dumb.

"Y-yes…sir," I reply frighteningly, pretending to act hopeless to avoid suspicion.

Sassy was the only pony I could act normal around, because she knew I was really innocent, and was put here in an attempt to keep the horrid truths of the past out of the public's ears.

Flare thought she could just silence me. That I would just follow along and become a zombie like everypony else.

She may be a royal, but she's just as vulnerable as anypony else. Putting me here was her greatest mistake, because I've had a lot of time to think and plot how I'd get back at her for putting me in this prison.

Tonight, I will either show Ponyville the truth that has been hidden from them for two decades, or I will die trying.

I don't plan on coming back here, and will kill myself instead. I know the risks, and I have accepted them. When I leave this place tonight, I will either be dead by morning or clean of the false accusations I have been convicted of.

My hooves are shackled, and after ten minutes, I am in a line of zombified ponies with a plastic rectangular plate in my hooves. I play along, appearing mindless and deranged as I meet the server of my disgusting meal, and they scoop it onto my cheap kitchenware.

I am provided a juice box, and once I meet my seat, my shackles on my front legs are removed, while my back leg shackles are locked to the table to assure I'd be going nowhere.

"Here's the keys," the guard alerts to my attendee across from me. "Keep your distance, her stench might knock you out."

"I'm fine, I assure you," my attendee replies.

The guard takes their leave, and, once they're out of sight, I break my fake facade of an insane and braindead patient.

Upon eyeing my fellow friend across the table, I smile. Sassy had met up just as we'd planned a week prior.

"Glad to see you're okay, Flora," Sassy greets. "You really scared me this morning! I thought you were dying on me!"

I sigh before responding, knowing that Sassy isn't kidding around.

"I'm sorry, Sassy," I apologize. "It literally came out of nowhere."

Sassy gives me her own sigh.

"Are you sure about tonight? Considering what you just said, I'm worried that you may not be ready to do all of this."

I nod, understanding Sassy's concern, but I can't let this unrelenting trauma stop me from accomplishing tonight's events.

"I can't give into these clear obstacles trying to sway me, Sassy," I assure her strictly. "I refuse to stay here another fucking night. I'm not a criminal, and I'm going to prove it. Nothing is going to stop me."

Sassy nods in understanding, knowing I'm deadset on my objective.

"You haven't changed since I met you one year ago," Sassy said sweetly. "Even back then you were set on the same goal. Back when I knew I had met a survivor of that dreaded massacre."

One year earlier

Sassy smothered out the cherry of her cigarette, blowing the fumes of the toxic habit she'd been trying to kick into the atmosphere. She was currently on lunch break for the job she had learned to dread, having been in the field of pretending to cure lost and mentally disturbed patients for three years.

She had gobbled down her sandwich and chocolate milk, having skipped breakfast and her morning coffee before heading off to work, and, due to her mood having grown worse at the sight of her daily patients, she'd given into her craving for just one cigarette.

She hated herself for giving in so easily, but she'd get over it, swearing to herself that this was the last one. A promise she knew would be hard to keep as she reached into her pocket and pulled out a stick of her mint-flavored gum, sticking it into her mouth and chewing it.

It was her coping mechanism, as much as a cloak for the odor of her nasty habit, even though she knew her fellow colleagues could still smell the cigarette's odor. She didn't really care; she didn't really have any friends here, and she'd been judged before, so glaring eyes and offended ponies at her habit were static to her.

She turned back to the entrance of the Canterlot Hill Ward, and returned back to her torturous occupation that barely managed to keep a roof over her head. As she walked to the elevator to go to the third floor, she eyed the many patients just standing in the corridor as if they were frozen in place.

It was a disturbing sight, seeing she knew that these ponies were perfectly sane prior to being purposely fed concoctions that drove them to insanity. This place was a literal torture chamber for innocent ponies who had been led here out of false accusations, and had been doomed to a very slow and painful descent into pure and unadulterated insanity.

Sassy knew this, because she wasn't an idiot. In her three years there, she had seen ponies change from their admission to eventual comatose state in less than a year.

On day one, they'd be talking and be able to answer even the simplest of questions that anypony should know, then after one week they wouldn't be able to answer those questions anymore. It only got worse from there forward; they'd start to lose weight and grow horribly illl with the same symptoms as every admitted patient.

It started with loss of appetite, not being able to keep down any food or liquids, then it would escalate to weight loss and excessive vomiting. She'd tried to convince the director of the facility several times that the patients needed to be transferred to a more advanced hospital, but he'd always argue that they were a hospital that could handle it.

So, the horror would continue, up until they would either become so ill that they'd pass away, or even worse, reach a point where they became braindead and lost in a state of limbo. They could move and were alive, but they were trapped in a vessel that couldn't fight back or say anything.

Sassy prayed for them to pass away to escape their lifeless existence, but the majority still remain, wandering the halls and trapped in a lifeless shell. She wanted so badly to put this institution in a grave so deep that it couldn't escape, but the issue was that she couldn't prove anything.

Yes, she has seen ponies die and become zombies, but she had no proof that the medication being fed to these ponies was the actual cause. Not to mention that the system was twisted and corrupt due to Princess Flare's rule.

Sassy had been young when the Apple Family Massacre had finally reached its end, but, despite every bit of that twisted matriarch's attempts to remove any existence of that decade of murder and genocide, she knew it was real just from one encounter.

Sassy's mother had been a nurse of the Canterlot Hospital during the period stitching the wounds that the Apple's had left on the entirety of ponykind; before Princess Flare had even been instated as the new ruler. Nopony of Canterlot had ever known of the massacre until the horrid truth was given by Crimson Flash.

The princesses' deaths had been covered up as they had been summoned to attend a mission with the once-known Mane Six. This "mission" had been a trap, and somehow, the princesses' had been detained and eventually killed by the Apple family.

It was never thought that they were missing, seeing the princesses' trusted the Mane Six, so suspicion of foul play was never even a factor. Most assumed the mission as just being a "longer than anticipated" case, and considering that letters were sent with Celestia's hoofwriting to assure the mission being just as said case, nopony went looking.

Then came the day that Crimson Flash would escape and spill the truth to ponies of a small town. Nopony had believed him, up until the Apple Family members were found dead, and the most disturbing event in Equestrian history became known to everypony of Equestria.

It had been a year after the massive cleanup of the massacre when Sassy had seen Crimson for the first and only time during a visit to the hospital. She had planned to have lunch with her mom that day, and had met up with her while she was finishing up with Crimson.

Sassy's mother had been his nurse at the time, and, to say the least, when Sassy saw Crimson that day, it was a sight she'd never forget.

He had been sitting on the edge of his bed with his prosthetic hooves in his lap, and he had been covered in bandages that were stained with blood. His face had been adorned with an oxygen mask, his mane had been shaven for surgeries, and, on the skin that she could see, were an array of bruises, deep lacerations, and the thing that burned that encounter into her mind, a brand on his flank that spelled "AF" out.

The sight had perplexed and somewhat saddened her, and had caused her to cry. She had known nothing of her mother's patients, but the sight of Crimson was enough to tell the story of what had happened to him.

Aside from the brands on his flanks, the other thing she had remembered the most was his eyes. They had been half-shut, bloodshot, swollen, and the sclera was a sick hue of yellow, rather than white.

He was lifeless; lost; broken beyond repair.

It was the sight that led her here, hoping to heal ponies like Crimson, but once the decree of the abolishment of anything to do with the massacre was given by Princess Flare, the relief from the massacre had seemed to disappear, and ponies had started to disappear again.

Sassy had been too young to realize what was happening, but upon her mother quitting her job, she had known something was amiss. It wouldn't be until she got older that she'd learn that the abolishment decree had involved ponies as well, meaning the ponies who weren't smart enough to get out or cheat the system to avoid death were executed.

That's why her mother had quit and gotten them away from Ponyville and Canterlot for a short while, up until things finally calmed down. Regardless of the risks, Sassy had even more of a reason to become a nurse, but, little did she know that stopping ponies from being killed was far from easy.

She couldn't just not give the patients their medication; in her first years, she was required to have a secondary assistant for safety concerns with unstable patients, so she couldn't stop the corruption until she was trusted enough to be able to handle patients alone.

So, she had no choice but to watch ponies be fed poison and see them slowly transform into a zombie. Now, it was her third year as a nurse, and she's managed to slip the medication from patients mouths without any suspicion, but she still had no plan as to how she was going to hang this place and Princess Flare.

So, she just continued to step carefully, waiting for her opportunity to strike.

The ding of the elevator knocked her out of her thoughts, having arrived at the third floor and the doors opening to a long hall and the main desk she ran just off to her left.

She found her way to her workstation, taking a seat and grabbing some files off to the side of her keyboard. On the front of the folder was just a number and sticky pad with the words "approach with caution" on it, to which she ignored and just opened the file.

On the first page was the main information and a picture of her newly-assigned patient. Strangely though, there appeared to be no name listed, and she knew very well that coughing the name out of a patient was no easy task. She noted that task in her memory as she continued to examine the file furthermore.

The age of her new patient was what really made her stop and ponder, wondering how a teenager not even out of school had ended up in this hell.

"Hmm, she seems very young to have even wound up in this place," she said to herself in her mind, moving further down to the cause of the sentencing, and once she saw it, her curiosity spiked even higher like the goosebumps rising on her flesh.

Murder of four.

"Age sixteen, Ponyville resident, accused of murder. Seems like I've got my hooves full with this one. Guess I'd better go give her a welcome to this dungeon."

She got up and started for the assigned room of her new patient, not expecting anything different from her many other patients. She saw this as just another head to the guillotine kind of thing, looking twice at the file for the proper room number to be sure.

Once she was sure, she returned to her job, finding the assigned room rather quickly. The director, Dr. Redcross, was there to greet her upon her arrival, his demeanor the usual and features of a dark blue tuxedo, slick black mane, and thick black beard on point.

"Great timing, Heartstone," he greeted. "She just got settled into her new home, and is ready for you."

Sassy didn't give him anything, following her usual protocol.

"Good. I'll proceed once you provide me what I need."

Redcross nodded, turning to a meal trolley behind him and grabbing a metal tray from atop it. Once he turned back to Sassy, Sassy saw her needed tools on the tray; a mini cup with the poisonous medication, a sealed bottle of water, a syringe, capsules for the blood she was going to draw, a tourniquet, tape, a sealed alcohol swab, and bandaids.

Sassy took the tray from him, and awaited him to open the door. After entering a four-digit code and hearing the alarm to confirm that the door was unlocked, Redcross opened the door just a hair, speaking some words to her before full entry.

"9808. Remember it," he ordered. "Also, watch yourself. This girl may appear innocent, but she's a murderer of four."

"Understood sir," she confirmed, to which Redcross opened the door fully and granted Sassy full entry into the room.

Sassy obliged and walked forward into the dark room, flipping on the light switch to make her job easier.

Her new patient had her head down upon her approach, her curly locks unkempt and messy. Hearing the door creak to just slightly ajar, Sassy began her usual procedure with new arrivals. She started by setting the tray to the side on the provided sink and making her usual introduction.

"Hello, I'm your nurse, Nurse Heartstone," she greeted. "What's your name?"

The mare didn't even flinch, remaining silent and refusing to give her any sort of answer. Sassy had been here before, and, instead of persisting the issue more, she just accepted what she'd been given.

Sometimes it was best to not force answers out of new patients, given they were still adapting to their new prison and needed time to come around. Therefore, Sassy just moved along to her next task of her usual routine with newcomers.

"I'm here to do the usual routine we do with every new patient, starting with a blood draw. So, if you could hold out one of your hooves, I'll be out of your mane as quickly as I possibly can."

Her patient listened, extending one of her free hooves, her head still down and demeanor the same.

"That was surprisingly easy…

Sassy continued with the procedure, tying the tourniquet around their hoof, following with opening the alcohol swab's packet and dousing the area she planned to stick the syringe into. Next, she prepped the syringe, removing the cap and steadying her patient's hoof with her other free hoof.

"Okay, you're going to feel a quick pinch," Sassy instructed, moving the needle into place. "One, two, three, pinch!"

Sassy pushed the needle through the tough flesh, finding the vein and starting to draw the blood. Attaching a capsule to the end of the syringe tube, her patient's blood started to fill the tube at the usual pace. Sassy continued the procedure in the eerie silence, replacing the tubes once another was full.

Upon the third tube being removed, Sassy removed the syringe from the incision point along with the tourniquet, and dressed the area with a bandaid. She collected the tubes, sealing them then setting them aside on the tray. Now done with the blood drawing, she turned to grab the medication and bottle of water, but a sudden disturbance in the silent ambience of the room made her stop.

"You're not like them," the voice spoke in a low rasp.

"Excuse me?" Sassy responded, her curiosity piqued.

"You're different. You're not like the others," the now-confirmed voice of her patient spoke again. "You care. You don't use force or cruelty against me."

Sassy decided to just play along, not letting her guard down in this potential ploy to make her another victim of this mare's murderous nature.

"Let's just say that I don't look at patients like toys and actually know they still are living creatures, despite their mental health having led them to insanity," she commented, speaking in her best friendly voice.

She was honestly terrified, knowing that this mare had ended four lives out of some reason that she'd probably never know or understand, but she couldn't act weak around dangerous patients, otherwise she'd become a prime target.

"I'll treat you with respect as long as you do the same," Sassy enforced. "That's rule zero if you ever plan to get along with me."

Silence followed, so Sassy proceeded with giving Jane Doe her medicine, grabbing the cup and bottle of water from the tray.

"Alright, I need you to look at me, so I can give you your medicine," Sassy instructed.

Her patient followed, raising her head slowly and moving her messy curls from her face to give proper eye-to-eye contact.

Upon one gaze at her patient, Sassy's heart jumped, and she gasped in shock; it was like a mirror image of that day she saw Crimson.

Her eyes were the same yellow hue and were puffy and swollen. She held the same blank and lost expression and composure, and appeared non-existent, as if she were trapped and scared of something beyond her current prison cell.

Just like Crimson had been that day.

This realization had caused her to pause, her mind flashing between Crimson and her current patient's similarities in demeanor and composure. It was as if she'd traveled back in time, and, only until she gained her footing again, did she feel as if this girl were not a murderer.

"Are you okay, nurse?" Jane Doe asked with concern.

"I-I'm fine," Sassy assured. "Let's get back to the procedure."

She did so, handing her patient the mini cup and instructing her to take the medication. After the deed was done, Sassy took back the cup and bottled water and sat them on the tray. That would normally be the time for her to leave the room, but her realization compelled her to stay a little longer and talk more.

"I have one more question for you, and I want you to be honest with me," Sassy instructed.

"You know I didn't do it, don't you?" Jane Doe responded, to which Sassy shivered at.

"Did you?" Sassy questioned.

A short pause followed.

"I didn't kill anypony, but you wouldn't believe me if I told you who really did it. Nopony believes me."

This mare's reply wasn't like the many other patients who had actually killed ponies to end up here, and Sassy could tell that she wasn't lying. She didn't immediately assume it though, digging a little more into her patient's conviction.

"And why doesn't anypony believe you?" Sassy pushed, already knowing what the answer had to be to match her assumptions.

"Because it's literally unbelievable," Jane Doe replied.

Bingo.

That was the answer Sassy was looking for, so she dug harder.

"What if I told you that I had a reason to believe you, but only if it's that reason will I believe you?"

Her patient winced at the reply, feeling as if a ray of hope had just appeared in her neverending darkness, knowing she had to be careful how to word her next response.

"Let me ask you a question first, nurse. That'll determine whether or not I'll even consider being labeled what the others have called me again."

Sassy wasn't sure where this was going, but she literally had nothing else to do except drool on her keyboard for another four hours, so she nodded.

"Do you believe in ghosts?" her patient questioned.

Now, that was definitely not what Sassy was expecting, and now understood why her patient had worded her response the way she had. This was a question with mixed answers, and her true opinion was that she didn't believe in ghosts.

She decided to be honest with her and shook her head as an answer.

"Well, then we're done here," Jane Doe finished, pointing her hoof towards the exit.

Sassy nodded, moving to the last step of the introduction process; the part that she kept behind the backs of the facility. She reached into her pocket and pulled out a pill, handing it to her patient.

"This is to get the medication I gave you out of your system," she explained. "Everytime we meet, I want you to hide the pills under your tongue, then spit them in the toilet and flush them down after I leave."

"Why?" Jane Doe asked with concern. "What's wrong with it?"

"It's what causes everypony here to either die or turn into a vegetable, and I'm trying my best to save these ponies from their horrible fate. Trust me, take the pill I just gave you, and in about thirty minutes, when you start to feel sick, listen to your body and vomit that poison out of your system."

Jane's face went pale, immediately sticking the pill Sassy had provided her into her mouth and swallowing it with a single gulp.

Sassy smiled, grabbing the tray and turning to the exit.

"I'll be back to give you your dinner around 4 pm, so just sit tight and everything will be fine," Sassy assured, but, before leaving, she decided to try her first request one more time.

Their relationship as nurse and patient had changed since her first try, so maybe Jane Doe would be more open.

"May I ask what to call you? Your file didn't state your name, so it would be nice to know."

"Flora," Flora answered simply, shifting to a position where she was laying on her bed.

"Flora. That's a pretty name. I'll be sure to remember it," Sassy finished, walking out and shutting the light off.

Once the door was sealed and locked, Sassy was once again met with Redcross.

"Took you long enough," he complained, clearly irritated at his time being used up.

Sassy just rolled her eyes, not even acknowledging his complaining.

"I prefer to get to know my patients' well, considering they're going to be seeing me every day for the rest of their life," she explained.

"Hmph. That's not the way I'd treat a pony who took another's life," he scoffed. "Murderers deserve no respect and only the electric chair in my eyes, and she's no exception."

"Well, the judge has spoken, sir," she answered, hoping to shut him up. "Therefore, she's stuck here, and none of us can do anything about it. So, it's best to just get used to her, because she definitely won't be the last."

"No promises, Heartstone, but I can certainly try. By the way, did you manage to get her name? Upon her arrest, she refused to give us anything, thus why her name wasn't on file."

"Flora. That's all I got."

"Fitting name for a murderer. Make sure to document that in the database before you leave tonight. After all, just like you said, she's going to be here for the rest of her life, so best we get to know our newest criminal."

Sassy nodded as an answer.

"I'd best get back to the office, seeing this bitch really messed up my schedule today," he claimed.

"Your schedule of harassing patients and messing around with the female guards. Fucking asshole."

He finally left Sassy to her work, and with no further interest, Sassy started back to her desk to document Flora's name, and read her file. It was something she did with every patient she would be caring for for the rest of her days working here, up until the day she had enough evidence to bury this place.

It was her way of getting to know her patients more intimately, and Flora had definitely piqued her interest. She didn't know why, but nothing screamed 'I'm a murderer of four" about Flora. She seemed less a killer and more a foal that had lost its parents, and, given she had patients who were actual murderers, none of the tell-tale signs of a murderous pony stuck out in her first encounter with Flora.

She complied for the most part, and didn't treat Sassy like their own personal victim or bitch. Those were not the usual actions of a murderer of four ponies; it was the exact opposite.

Four lives was a high number, and if Flora had killed four ponies, she would be more cruel and playful in demeanor, not silent and cooperative like a well-raised abd disciplined child.

Truthfully, Sassy actually thought Flora had been sent here falsely, and that whoever had actually committed the murders was still out there. But then the last question Flora had asked crossed her mind again

"Do you believe in ghosts?"

How did ghosts existing have anything to do with a case of four murders? That truly was what burned her curiosity the most, and as she began to read, the mystery grew even more stranger.

A high school mare's friends disappear on Nightmare Night.

Teenage mare finds her mother dead next morning.

Claims that she is being watched and led to kill somepony.

Says that the demonic spirit of "Bittersweet Applej-

She froze instantly.

The connection to Crimson and the realization upon Flora's appearance being near exact.

This was no coincidence, and now she could see the connection with that last question.

Demonic spirits? Even Sassy wasn't sure if she could believe that, but the connection to that day she saw Crimson made her believe that it could actually be true.

She noted that as she read onward, and when she got to the court record, that's when things got interesting.

Princess Flare had been requested and accused of by Flora as the actual murderer of one of the victims. Not only that, but the other three victims in the case were never found, and no evidence was provided to prove Flora as the killer. Yet, in the end, she was charged with their murders without any evidence or link to their deaths.

Something about the case was just off completely, and Sassy could see the clear fraudulence inbetween the lines. Either this was one of the most fixed murder cases in Equestrian Law history or the law had changed at some point regarding murder cases.

The latter didn't make sense, seeing Flora didn't seem to have a murderous bone in her body based off of her first impression in their meet. Not to mention that serious factors in a murder case were missing in the record; a motive, evidence, proof of Flora being mentally ill.

Princess Flare being involved was the thing that Sassy noted the most, seeing why the hell would Flora request and accuse Princess Flare if she didn't have no reason? Based off of what Sassy knew of her matriarch's history, murder wasn't far from being something she was capable of.

Had Flora been framed by her own ruler?

If so, why?

Then it hit her; the abolishment decree was linked to the Apple Family Massacre, and Flora had mentioned Applejack, the main Apple family member responsible for the murders, in her case.

Now, the lingering factor of ghosts existing was becoming all the more possible, and Sassy couldn't deny it.

Had Flora's friends been killed by a dead serial killer, and the other victim had been killed by Princess Flare to frame Flora to keep her mouth shut about the Apple Family Massacre?

It seemed literally unbelievable, and that was how Flora had described it. Less to say, Sassy had much to ask Flora come their next encounter in a few hours. Usually, in a case like this, Sassy would be craving a cigarette again, but she wasn't craving anything to do with her nasty habit.

The only thing she was craving in that moment was getting to the bottom of the most intriguing case with a patient she'd ever seen.

Four hours later

Sassy's stomach grumbled for its daily intake of produce as she grabbed her dinner from the Employee Lounge's provided fridge. It was nothing special, just a sealed plastic container that contained the leftover four-cheese lasagna she had made herself last night, its delectable smell of its four layers of tomato sauce, cottage cheese, noodles, and an array of cheeses permeating her nostrils.

She put it into the provided microwave that was long past its need-for-a-cleaning date and set the timer for a long five minutes. Once the sound of four extended beeps met her ears, she carefully removed her steaming meal from the confined space of the filthy machine and took a seat at the round cheap lounge table.

Using a provided fork, she stabbed into the food and pleased her unrest gut that had been nagging her for the past hour. While the meal was hot, the satisfaction of the array of flavors purged the fact that her tongue had been mildly burned.

It wasn't her first rodeo, so she didn't pay it any mind and just continued to gorge herself like a gluttonous queen. Halfway through her meal, her peace and isolation had been purged by the two ponies she couldn't stand the most in her occupation.

Redcross and his bitch mare.

Her name, at least here, was Nurse Rose, and she was the definition of a mix of a prostitute and nuisance. She constantly was kissing Redcross's flank and more, and constantly flaunted her shit that nopony besides Redcross wanted to see.

She was just everything that Sassy couldn't stand and was enough for her to not even bother sticking around for. She took her partially cooled Tupperware container and left those two to do whatever the hell they were up to, and started back to her desk; the last place she wanted to be during her last break of the day.

However, right as she was in sight of her workstation, she stopped and pondered on a thought. She hadn't forgotten about her most interesting patient she'd ever been assigned, and, while she wasn't supposed to start delivering dinner to her patients' for another thirty minutes, she was thinking about taking this opportunity to dig deeper into the mystery that was currently plaguing her mind.

Redcross clearly was busy with his own "business," so she saw this as the opening she needed.

"If Redcross wants to mess around, then I guess I should be able to do the same."

She'd made up her mind, starting for Flora's room. Once she'd reached the room, she entered the code, and moved quickly into the room once the metal bars holding the door shut had released their embrace with the adjacent two-holes that held them tightly in place.

It was dark upon entrance, causing Sassy to flip the lightswitch and purge the room with a blinding flash. Once her eyes adjusted, she found Flora in the same position as when she had left her before.

She was awake, her eyes reflecting the light of the room like a pair of circular mirrors, and that relieved Sassy somewhat, not wanting to startle Flora awake.

"Hello again, Flora," Sassy greeted kindly.

Flora responded upon recognizing the voice, sitting up and sifting her tangled golden locks from her face.

"Greetings nurse," Flora replied, her voice still a rasp, but there was a sign of happiness in her tone.

Sassy smiled, feeling proud that she had managed a connection with Flora. A positive one that made a bridge of trust between them.

"Are you hungry?" Sassy asked, holding out her leftover food as an offering.

Flora backed away at the assumption of the offering being a serving of whatever they served here.

"Don't worry, it's my cooking," Sassy assured.

"But aren't you hungry too?" Flora answered. "I don't want you to go hungry over me."

"It's fine. I've ate a good portion of it, so my hunger is satisfied for now."

Flora continued to hesitate.

"Won't you get in trouble? What if somepony walks in?"

"Don't worry, nopony is going to interrupt us. Besides, someone as young as you needs proper protein."

Slowly, Flora reached out and took the container from Sassy, settling the plastic kitchenware into her lap and taking a bite. Upon one taste of the food, Flora expressed a look of satisfaction, this meal having been her first taste of real food in a long while.

She shoveled the remainder of the delicious serving down like a stray animal who hadn't ate in weeks, and upon finishing, handed the container and plastic fork back to Sassy.

"That's the best thing I've had in forever!" Flora expressed, her demeanor having shifted completely.

"I'm happy to hear," Sassy replied. "It's my mother's recipe."

"Thank you so much, but why would you give some of your food to me?"

Sassy moved some of her mane from her face, then took in a deep breath.

"Because you're not a criminal, and don't deserve the treatment this place provides."

Flora's attention was caught, and she was in complete shock at the words Sassy had just spoken.

"I thought you didn't believe in ghosts, nurse?" Flora reflected.

"Initially I didn't, but I read your file, and you've given me reason to believe you. After all, the connection between the Apple Family Massacre and what I saw in my past can't just be coincidental."

Flora was shocked. Her attention was full, and her curiosity had been sparked enough to keep listening.

"Long ago, when I was just a filly, my mother worked for Canterlot Hospital, and she had been assigned to the only known survivor of that horrifying massacre; Crimson Flash. I had wanted to surprise her with a visit and spend lunchtime with her one day, but when I walked into the room she was currently working in, I had caught the sight of Crimson.

It's hard to explain, but upon seeing him, I had become overwhelmed with dread and sorrow to the point that I had started to cry. It was as if I'd seen something that nopony should have ever witnessed, and ever since that day, I've never forgotten the sight of him; a lifeless and exhausted creature that was only wishing for death."

"Okay, but how does this apply to me? I'm not Crimson," Flora questioned.

"You're right, but upon seeing you for the first time earlier, I saw Crimson. You appeared the same, acted the same, and now, it seems to be because of the same reason."

Flora couldn't believe what she was hearing, flashes of her night in that labyrinth of nightmares and traumatizing imagery playing before her eyes.

It was as if she'd found an angel in her suffocating void of misery and hopelessness.

"You actually believe me…

Sassy nodded, noticing that Flora had unknowingly begun to cry, so she took the liberty of wiping away her tears like a caring mother or friend.

"However, I can't truly believe you, until you tell me what the court records didn't," Sassy explained. "There's missing pieces to this unfinished puzzle that is labeling you as a murderer of four ponies, and I need you to fill those spaces."

"I didn't murder anypony! I was wronged by the court system and that demon!" Flora pleaded.

"Then tell me the truth, Flora. Who really killed all of those ponies?"

Flora took a deep breath to calm herself down, letting it out slowly and calmly. Once she knew she was ready, she finally spoke.

"There's three murderers. The first is the infamous serial killer, Bittersweet Applejack, the second is her brother Big Macintosh, and the last is the one responsible that any of this ever happened in the first place."

"Who is the pony responsible, Flora?" Sassy asked.

"Our ruler, Princess Flare…