WHO'S LAUGHING NOW?

FOUR HOURS LATER

The entire town of Ponyville was in a state of utter chaos.

Dozens of ponies were gathered in front of the general hospital, demanding to know more about the gruesome murder that had taken place in Carousel Boutique earlier that day. While the Mayor Mare was doing her best to calm down the mob, the townsfolk continued to ask various questions regarding the said incident and grew ever more impatient over time. These questions included the identity of the murderer, where he or she could have come from, and their exact motive behind committing this heinous crime.

However, the most unsettling thing about the murder was neither the giant pool of blood on the shop floor, nor the gauged eyes of the shop owner, nor the body of the victim apparently beaten to a pulp. Rather, it was the fact that there were bloody footprints going away from the crime scene, meaning that the murderer was still out there somewhere, quite possibly planning their next atrocious act. Therefore, the two things the townsfolk wanted to know the most were where exactly the murderer might have gone to and what crime could they be thinking about committing next.

With these questions burning in their minds, the mob was growing more anxious each minute as they continued to wait in front of the hospital for the statement of the critically injured witness. While they were hoping that this statement could shed some light on the identity and location of the murderer, they were still pretty uncertain about the fact that a crime like this was committed in a highly popular store (in broad daylight, no less) and whether or not their remaining heroes would be able to stop the murderer before he or she could kill some pony else.

Speaking of their remaining heroes, they were all currently inside one of the emergency rooms of the hospital, standing beside the bed in which their unconscious friend was lying. Her eyes were covered in bandages, the rest of her body was hooked up to several machines that were preventing her from dying of blood loss, and her friends were all silently sobbing while watching over her.

All of them were trying to cope with this situation in a different way. Pinkie Pie (with her usually poofy mane now deflated) was covering her eyes while also creating a pool of tears on the floor, Fluttershy was embracing her while shedding an equally large amount of tears, Twilight was somberly staring at Rarity's unconscious body, Applejack was somberly staring outside through a nearby window, and Rainbow Dash was pacing back and forth with a facial expression that was a mixture of sadness and rage.

Eventually, Applejack turned away from the window and whispered something to Twilight's ear. Twilight then responded with a nod and this prompted Applejack to leave the room before walking towards the other side of the hospital and going through the back exit. She knew very well that the front side of the building was flooding with scared and confused ponies, and that they would pester her with an endless barrage of questions about if they ever noticed her.

She had absolutely no time to deal with all this. She had to immediately rush back home and check up on how her little sister was coping with the loss one of her best friends.

With that in mind, she started making her way towards Sweet Apple Acres by sticking to the backstreets and making sure that she was out of the mob's view. Once she was a couple houses away from the hospital, she decided that caution was no longer necessary, as nearly the entirety of the town had joined the mob. Therefore, she started galloping towards the border that seperated Ponyville from her family's farm and increased her speed upon reaching there.

Then, nearly half a minute later, when she was less than a dozen feet away from her house, she heard a sound she least expected (and wanted) to hear at that moment.

Laughter.

She immediately stopped galloping and listened carefully to determine who could possibly making that sound at a time like this. A short while later, she became utterly shocked do discover that the voices belonged to Big Mac, Granny Smith, and another mare who sounded very familiar somehow. Unable to wait much longer to find out the answers, she resumed galloping towards her house and when she was right at the front door, she realized that the laughter was coming from the kitchen. Therefore, she immediately entered the house and though she could hear the faint sobbing of her sister from upstairs, she continued onward, no matter how much she wanted to go rush upstairs to comfort her.

However, upon reaching her destination, she came across one of the strangest scenes she has ever seen in her life.

Big Mac and Granny Smith were having afternoon tea with a unicorn mare who had not only a broken horn and a clown make-up on her face, but also a colorful formal attire and a brown leathery briefcase standing right next to her seat. After taking a few moments to process what was going on, she managed to say, "Wha... What in the hay is goin' on here? Who is this stranger?"

Upon hearing her questions, the unicorn turned her attention to Applejack and exclaimed with pure happiness, "Ah, Applejack! I was wondering when you were gonna show up! So wonderful to see you again! It's me, your old pal, Trixie."

In response, Applejack's eyes widened with shock and she let out a loud gasp before asking, "T-Trixie?! Is that really you? Why in the name of Celestia do you look like that? Also, what exactly do you think you're doin' in my house?"

Trixie responded by letting out a frustrated sigh and venting, "If I had a bit for every time I heard that question this week, I probably would've become even richer than the royal sisters by now. Seriously, every pony immediately loses their minds when they see someone dressed a little differently than they normally do. I mean, what has the society we're living in devolved into, am I right?

"Anyways, let's go back to your questions, AJ. After I left Ponyville, I thought really hard about that you had told me the last time we saw each other and eventually, I realized you were right all along. Losing my horn really was the best thing that could've happened to me, because it helped me find my true purpose in life: providing quality entertainment for audiences from all ages as a circus clown. Sure, the stunts I have to pull are a bit painful, but you do get used to the pain after a while and the benefit of making ponies smile is definitely worth the suffering."

"So, as a way to show my immense gratitude to you for opening up my eyes, I've decided to donate all the money I've gained from selling my wagon and all of the props I used for my magic shows. After all, I no longer need them as a clown and this fine establishment of yours does need as many bits as possible to keep producing easily the most delicous apples in the entirety of Equestria."

As Applejack tried to process everthing that had recently come out of Trixie's mouth, Granny Smith joyously interjected, "Darn tootin, miss! We kindly thank you for your generous donation and telling us all those stories about the fun adventures you had with your little brother. Celestia knows we can use some levity at this time. If you ever need a place to stay, you're more than welcome in the barn."

"Oh, you're way too kind, Granny Smith. There's really no need for that," Trixie replied. "The circus is my home now and, quite frankly, I've been away from it far longer than I should have. So, I'll just leave the money with you and take one more cup of your delicious tea before taking my leave. It was such a pleasure meeting you and I hope to see you again soon."

Right after finishing her sentence, she placed her briefcase on the table and walked towards the stove to pour herself another cup of tea. Meanwhile, a visibly curious Applejack proceeded to open the briefcase and became a bit surprised to learn that Trixie was indeed telling the truth: there really was a significant number of bits inside it.

While her brother and Granny Smith began to stare at them in great admiration, she turned her attention towards Trixie and inquired, "Wow... That is quite a sum you got there, Trixie. Are you sure you wanna donate this much to us?"

"Yes, absolutely," promptly answered Trixie as she continuously took sips from her tea. "It's the least I could do to thank you for enlightening me. Besides, money really isn't a problem. Not these days, anyway."

Though she was taken a bit aback by this statement, Applejack became even more shocked to see Trixie drinking an entire cup of hot boiling tea in only a handful of seconds. Witnessing this incredible feat made her blurt out, "Whoa, slow down! You're gonna burn your own tongue off by drinking this fast!"

"Oh, it's perfectly fine, AJ. Trust me," Trixie casually responded. "I'm a circus clown now, remember? I'm kinda used to intense pain at this point. In fact, this is nothing compared to all the crazy shenenigans I take part in on a daily basis. Anyway, I really should get going now. My next performance is all the way in Appleloosa tonight and my manager will surely kill me if I miss the train. Thanks again for the the tea and I hope my donation helps you out big time. See y'all soon!"

She quickly rushed towards the front door and waved the Apple family good-bye before heading out, with Big Mac and Granny Smith waving back in response. Applejack, meanwhile, did not wave back and instead, began to stare at Trixie with immense suspicion. Even though she was unable to sense any sort of lies in Trixie's words, she could smell something fishy about the reasoning behind her donation to the farm. Also, she seemed way too friendly with her and her family, considering everything that had happened the last time they saw each other, and her sudden appearance on the exact day a vicious murder had taken place in a town full of normally friendly ponies looked somewhat dubious.

With these thoughts circling in her mind, she went outside to ask Trixie a few more questions, while Big Mac helped Granny Smith carry the briefcase upstairs. Unfortunately, not one of them noticed the fact that the oven had been turned on and that there was a small rocket cooking inside it.

Trixie, meanwhile, was casually trotting through the apple orchard and heading back towards Ponyville while also admiring the beauty of the trees all around her. When she was only about half a mile away from the farmhouse, however, she heard the sound of some pony galloping towards her and immediately stopped upon hearing a familiar voice shout, "TRIXIE, WAIT UP! I'VE GOT A FEW MORE THINGS TO ASK YOU!"

The unicorn mare then turned around to see Applejack, with a fierce expression on her face, coming straight at her and stopping just a few feet away. In contrast, she once again smiled at the farm pony and asked, "What's up, AJ? Something on your mind?"

"Yeah, there is somethin' on my mind, alright," Applejack began. "How is it that you suddenly show up here all friendly like a few weeks after you fled here crying? Also, how strange is that you arrive on the exact same day as one of the ponies who called you out on your behavior the last time you were here got seriously injured in her own shop? Not to mention, her sister got killed in the same place and all this happened in broad daylight. Call me paranoid, but I can't help but feel there's a connection between all these events."

Right after she heard the end of that sentence, Trixie snickered a bit and then, bursted out laughing like a mad pony. This made Applejack slightly creeped out and she took a couple steps backwards while ask, "Um, what's so darn funny?"

Trixie responded by laughing for a few more seconds before calming down, wiping some tears from her eyes, and explaining, "Oh, AJ... I'm actually quite jealous of you right now. I tried stand-up comedy before becoming a clown and all I got were dead silence and boos from the audience. But you? You would've most certainly killed them with this theory alone. I mean, you seriously think I had something to do with that gruesome incident you mentioned simply because I got 'called out on my behavior'? What a petty reason to commit a crime like this!"

"Sooo... You had absolutely nothing to with that murder?" Applejack curiously inquired.

Trixie thought about that question for a handful of seconds before answering, "Well, not exactly."

She then started chuckling again, which caused Applejack to intensely glare at her and ask, "What's that supposed to mean? And why are you laughing for this time?"

"Because, this whole dilemma of ours actually reminds of a joke I once heard," Trixie revealed.

"What the heck are you talking about?!" Applejack suddenly shouted. "Tell me the joke!"

In response, Trixie's smile turned rather sinister and she slyly declared, "You wouldn't get it."

KA-BOOOOOOM!!!!!!

In a sudden flash of blinding light, the entire farmhouse exploded and sent both mares flying several feet away and both of them landed on the ground with a heavy thud. Applejack, despite the ringing in her ears and being injured from the shock wave created by the explosion, managed to rise back up with some struggle. However, upon doing so, she came accross the horrific image of her farmhouse being engulfed in gigantic flames and the implied notion that the ponies that mattered the most in her life were now gone forever.

As her eyes widened with immense shock and a river of tears started flowing from her eyes, she screamed at the burning structure, "No... NOOOOOO!!!!!!", before collapsing back on the ground and sobbing with great agony. A short while later, she heard the sound of someone's chuckling and hoof steps coming closer to her, and she looked behind to see Trixie with a sinister grin on her face and holding a rather sharp piece of wooden board covered in ash on one of her hooves walking directly towards her.

"Wha- What did you do?" she asked the clown in a tone full of despair.

Trixie let out a frustrated sigh and answered, "Come on, AJ! The answer is pretty freaking obvious! I blew the entire house and set the orchard on fire! The real question you should be asking is how I did all this. Well, there are several possible answers, actually. A gas leak coming in contact with a single spark... A few stacks of dynamite buried under the floorboards... or... A small rocket normally used in fireworks containing highly explosive elements being snuck inside an oven when no pony was looking. Yes, I think the third option sounds much more plausible than the others. After all, someone who worked at the packaging department of a chemical plant would know all about these ingredients, right?"

Upon hearing this revelation, Applejack's facial expression turned furious and she began to shout, "You scum! I'll- "

SCHLAAAAK!

Before she could finish her sentence, Trixie impaled her right in the back with the piece of wood. As the farm pony once again screamed in immense pain, she said, "Will you now? How refreshing to hear! Certainly not by the book. Speaking of which, looks like you won't be walking off the shelf any time soon. In fact, the idea of you walking anywhere seems remote. Then again, that's always the problem with softbacks."

She then started walking towards a nearby apple tree that was on fire (just like the rest of the orchard at that moment) and picked an apple that had not burned yet before placing it on her right pocket and heading back towards Applejack. Once she was standing right on top of her, she held Applejack's chin up with her left hoof and declared with a menacing tone, "It really is a shame you'll have to miss your friend's debut, AJ. Sadly, our venue wasn't made for the disabled in mind."

"Why... are you... doing this?" a now-crying Applejack asked.

"To prove a point", Trixie replied before holding her apple on her right hoof and adding, "Here's to crime."