Five Years Later

Rarity awoke to the sound of birds chirping and the wonderful smell of grass pancakes being made on the stove. The fragrant aroma helped wake her up as she imagined the tasty delights to come. She got out of her bed and stretched, spending a few moments to style her mane in her favorite style. It was being particularly difficult this morning as she had slept on it wrong and she had to actually pick up her curling iron, something she only used for hair emergencies, to get it to curl right. After a few minutes of what she would dramatically describe as combat with her hair, she finally managed to get it the way that it was supposed to be.

She harrumphed at her hair but stopped for a brief moment to admire her cutie mark. She had received it only a few weeks after taking care of those nasty little children five years ago. As such, she did not think it was mere coincidence that she had three gems on her flank. Three gems, three little foals, dead from her first murders. She giggled at the thought of her first kills. Oh how young and foolish she had been back then, it was still a surprise to her that she hadn't been caught. Why, if the rainstorm hadn't come long to wash her creek clean of any taint then she would almost certainly have been found out. No, she was much more careful these days.

She sighed happily as she reached under her bed for her special box. It was nothing special on the outside, just a small box carved from an oak tree. Any outsider would wonder what the significance was. As a matter of fact, the contents would be a mystery to any snoopers too. Rarity used her magic to lift the lid and inside was a simple rock. She placed the box down and gently, no, lovingly lifted the rock out of its resting place with her magic. She walked over to the center of her room, there was always a clear spot for her as she kept her room spotless at all times. Not much had changed in the last five years in terms of her cleanliness. If anything, thanks to her...secret activities, she was much more of clean freak than she was when she had made her first kill at the age of eight.

However, Rarity was 13 now and had certainly gotten better at her craft. She raised the rock into the air and swung it down as hard as she could. It hit only air this time, but she would never forget the moments in time when the rock had connected with pony skulls. Giggling again, she put the rock on the floor next to her. She summoned the box closer and sat down. This was a ritual she had done many times and she always loved it. She was a big believer in taking pride of ones work and the records of her work were the dearest things in the world to her. She took the second item out of the box; it was a piece of wood that fit perfectly into the bottom of the box. She pulled it out and examined it happily. It was a perfectly carved square of wood with obvious exceptions; the square had 26 gash marks in it. 26 gash marks, 26 ponies. Never once in her entire life had she regretted her actions. Oh sure they were objectively terrible to society, but not to her. To her it was just something that needed to be done, society's laws be cursed. She ran her hoof over the rock and the piece of wood, both wonderful reminders of the atrocities that she had committed.

The box itself was special to her too. Both it and the piece of wood were carved from a fallen tree from her creek. The creek itself was still as beautiful as ever for her. It was her place to be alone with her thoughts. It was how she kept herself so thoughtful and organized. Everypony should have a spot like that.

She remembered the fallout of the deaths she had caused. The entire town of Ponyville was frantic trying to search for the three missing foals. To Rarity's surprise, Cheerilee and her teacher were both just as upset about the disappearances as the rest of the town. Rarity was inwardly hurt by this a little as she felt that she had just done them both a great service and they didn't appreciate it at all! No matter though, they never actually did find the bodies, or all of them at least. Somepony had the bright idea to check the outskirts of The Everfree Forest and sure enough, bits and pieces of the missing colts were found. The whole town was in mourning after that. Rarity was annoyed by how they could all miss such vile little ponies, but she put on her mask of grief just the same.

At the funeral, the parents of Annie had wept beyond measure. Rarity had found this to be a silly display and felt no pity for them. It was their fault for raising such a beastly little filly. Her parents had moved away after that, not being able to bear being in Ponyville after the death of their daughter. At least, thought Rarity as she gazed at the fourth and fifth scratch marks on her counter, that's what the town thought.

Her endeavors had prompted a lot of research on pony serial killers throughout the ages of Equestria. Not counting herself obviously, there had been a grand total of 46 recorded pony serial killers. Most of them had been small time killers, caught after their first three or four kills and always for some silly little mistake like not cleaning up properly. Ponies could be so messy sometimes and for these particular ponies it was a fatal mistake, one Rarity would never make. Rarity had been delighted to know that, should she ever be discovered, she would easily rank as the deadliest. 26 kills in only five years were numbers that not even The Canterlot Killer had managed. The Canterlot Killer was a serial killer from 500 years ago and currently ranked as the worst serial killer in Equestrian history. Princess Celestia herself had performed the execution. At this point though, 22 kills in eight years were almost childish numbers to Rarity. He had been foolish though, he had an M.O. that was traceable, and it led to his ultimate downfall. Rarity had no such use for theatrics as the only thing she actually cared about was body count.

A knock on her door brought her out of her daydreaming of times past as her mother called from the other end. "Rarity, breakfast is ready!"

"Coming!" said Rarity in a sing-song voice. She placed the counter and the rock back in her box and locked it before placing it in its usual spot under her bed. She knew her parents would never find it as they knew to never go in her room. She walked down the stairs of the house humming a merry tune. She was glad to have an upstairs room now. When she had gotten her cutie mark and found the stash of gems in the rock, another thing she thought was no coincidence thanks to her experience a few weeks prior, her and her parents were able to afford a lovely house in the main Ponyville area. It had been a house that was only available because a grieving couple had recently 'moved out'. Rarity laughed at the irony of it all. She sat down at the table where her mother and father were happily gazing into each other's eyes. Each plate had a stack of grass pancakes on it and Rarity was eager to dig in.

She sat down and addressed her parents. "Good morning Mother, good morning Father, how are things with you this fine morning?" she said, using her magic to begin cutting her pancakes.

"Actually, before you dig in to this breakfast your father cooked, we have something very important to talk to you about." Rarity cocked her head curiously.

"Why Mother, whatever is the matter?" she said, half beginning to dread the answer.

"You're going to have a new little brother or sister Rarity," said her Father. Rarity's jaw dropped. There would be a new baby foal in the family? She would be getting a new sibling?

"I...I don't even know what to say Mother!" said Rarity.

"You Mother's due in five months. Are you surprised?"

"Am I ever!" said Rarity.

"Uh...are you happy?" asked Rarity's Mother nervously. Rarity only had to think of the answer for a brief moment.

"Am I ever!" she said. She jumped up into the air with a squeal of delight and hugged her mother. "Oh this is so wonderful, I can't wait to find out if it's a colt of a filly!"

"Based on the statistics...probably filly," said her father under his breath. Rarity paid no heed to the comment and instead went over and hugged him too.

"I'm sure we'll all be very happy either way," she said. She sat back down and began eating her pancakes. As she ate, she realized just how perfect life was for her. She had loving parents, her gem finding spell meant that she was financially secure for life, her clothes making skills were getting better each day and she was already in a position to buy up an old building in town for the business she was already planning to create, no one in Equestria suspected that she was the deadliest serial killer in history and now, she had a new brother or sister coming.

Rarity was in the waiting room at the hospital, hoping for the best. Her mother had been wheeled in to the E.R and was going to the delivery room a while ago and was getting ready to have the new baby. Rarity could only sit in the waiting room and count the seconds until someone came to get her but she was beginning to get restless, she had been sitting here for hours. She surveyed the spotless waiting room to see if there was maybe a fashion magazine in there that she could read while she waited. She always was trying to keep up with the latest fashion trends in Canterlot, the fashion capital of the world. Her eyes landed on a stack of magazines lying on a table a few chairs away and she trotted over to them and started searching for one she hadn't read yet. She groaned in frustration after a few seconds of searching, nothing new was in the stack. One of them was so old that the fashion trends it had advertized had gone out of style. Taffeta capes indeed. Rarity laughed at the silliness of it. She did find one that she had enjoyed earlier in the week about an up-and-coming designer named Hoity Toity. Rarity was always eager to get news on him as he was well on his way to becoming the most influential designer in Canterlot, a title that Rarity dreamed that she would one day hold. She picked the magazine up and began leafing through it again. However, before she could engross herself in the magazine entirely, she heard the most unbecoming voice behind her.

"Well howdy do there miss, you here waitin' on someone?" Rarity glanced behind her and saw an orange pony with long blonde hair that she kept tied back. She had three apples as a cutie mark and seemed to be about Rarity's age.

"Well, considering I am in a hospital waiting room, I think one can reasonably think the answer is yes," she said, a little more coldly than she intended but the other pony didn't seem to notice.

"I thought so, the name is Applejack," she said as she extended a hoof in greeting. Rarity saw that there was a lot of dirt under her hooves. Applejack clearly wasn't very clean but Rarity didn't want to be too rude.

"Oh yes, how do you do? My name is Rarity." She said stiffly. She shook Applejack's hoof briefly.

"Well it's a pleasure to meet you Rarity. What's goin' on with you?" she asked. Rarity already disliked Applejack. Not because she was dirty, although there was that too, but she was just so...loud and pushy. Rarity made a mental note to remember Applejack for...later events.

"Well, my mother is in the delivery room giving birth to my new brother or sister."

"Well congratulations!" said Applejack who seized Rarity's hoof once more and began shaking it vigorously. Rarity managed a smile that was closer to a grimace and pulled her hoof out of Applejack's grip.

"Yes thank you Applejack, and what are you doing here exactly?" she asked. Immediately, all of the happiness and vigor left Applejack's face. Rarity guessed that she was clearly acting overly happy to compensate for the bad feelings she was really feeling.

"Well, my Ma and Pa were just in a carriage accident. They were crossing the street and somepony didn't secure their carriage right. It rolled down the hill here it was positioned and..." Applejack began shedding tears now. "It hit them both. The docs around here are doing their best to patch them up." Rarity put on the mask of sorrow that she had become so adept at wearing during tragedies.

"Oh my goodness, that's horrible. Are they going to be alright?" Applejack merely shrugged.

"That's the worst part, not knowin'," she said.

"I'm sure they'll both be no worse for wear in no time at all," said Rarity. Applejack gave a small smile and wiped away her tears.

"That's mighty kind of ya to say Rarity, mighty kind indeed." Applejack's tears started anew and she threw her hooves over Rarity's shoulders and pulled her into a bear hug. "I'm so scared for them." Rarity immediately stiffened up at this but she still put a small bit of effort into putting her hoof on Applejack's shoulder as a sort of awkward return hug.

"I'm sure it will be fine," she said in her best attempt at a soothing voice.

"Thanks," said Applejack who continued to cry into Rarity's shoulders for a few more minutes. After a short while, Applejack managed to regain control and broke off the hug. "I...I'm sorry for dumpin' on you like that, I hardly know you and here I am tellin' you my worst problems."

'It's no trouble," said Rarity who believed that it was trouble for sure. "This awful thing is happening and you want to let it out." Before Applejack responded a doctor came through the door to the waiting room.

"Which one of you is Rarity?" he asked, surveying the two ponies. Rarity bolted up, eager to be away from this sad mess of a pony.

"I am sir!" she said perhaps a little too fast but Applejack didn't notice. He beckoned for Rarity to follow him.

"Your mother and your new baby sister are doing just fine. You can go see them now; they're in room 12, just down the hall."

"S...sister?" asked Rarity, a smile of joy spreading across her face. The doctor returned the smile.

"Yes indeed, congratulations Rarity, you have a new baby sister." Rarity jumped up and gave a shout of joy before bolting down to room 12. She burst through the doors and saw her mother holding a tiny bundle with her father's front legs wrapped over her mother's shoulders. Rarity rushed over to her mother's side and saw the tiny filly in her arms. She was the same shade of white that Rarity herself was and she had the most darling pink and purple mane complete with a tiny horn on top of her head.

"Isn't she just the most precious thing you've ever seen?" asked her mother. Rarity's eyes filled with tears of joy.

"Yes, yes she is!" said Rarity. Her mother extended her front legs and handed the newborn over to Rarity. Rarity gingerly sat on the floor and cradled her new sister. She looked up at her parents. "What's her name?"

"Well, we haven't thought of a name yet. We were hoping for a little bit of input from you," said her father.

"Well, she's just a little sweetie isn't she?" said Rarity. "I think that should be a part of her name don't you think?" At that exact moment, a bell began to ring in the distance from the Ponyville Tower signifying that it was 9:00 at night. "Bell...Belle? How about Sweetie Belle?" asked Rarity who looked expectantly up at her parents. Both of them smiled back at her.

"I think that's a wonderful name," said her mother. A doctor beside them nodded and went off to go make the birth certificate.

"Yes, Sweetie Belle," said Rarity softly. "My baby sister Sweetie Belle." Rarity relished this perfect moment in time and she almost wished it could go on forever. Once the doctor came back, he insisted that the newborn and her mother get some rest. Her father was allowed to stay with the two of them but the rules didn't allow for Rarity. She assured her parents that she would be fine at home alone. Celestia knows she had been alone on plenty of occasions before when her parents were working. She gave her parents one final hug for the night, kissed Sweetie Belle's forehead and exited the room.

She skipped happily from the room. She had a baby sister. She was about to give another squeal of joy when she remembered that she was in a hospital. Squeals of joy weren't very ladylike anyway. She passed by one of the rooms and heard crying coming from inside. Crying that sounded vaguely familiar. She stopped in her tracks and looked at the door, room 6. She looked at the door and saw that it was slightly open and debated with herself for a moment. "It's wrong to snoop like that Rarity," she said to herself. She began walking away before turning back with an eager grin. "Oh, but it's so much fun Rarity," she said. She opened the door slightly and glanced in.

When she saw what was inside, she immediately regretted her decision to snoop around. She saw Applejack inside, her hooves wrapped around a sorrowful looking doctor, the same one who had gotten her to tell her that her sister had been born, weeping openly. Behind the two of them were two beds with two ponies covered in a sheet on them. On a bedside table was a worn down cowboy hat. The doctor was muttering something to Applejack, trying to get her at least a little calm. After a few minutes of this, Applejack managed to gain a little control and she broke away from the doctor. She walked over to the bed on the right and kissed the head of the pony underneath. "G...goodnight Ma," she said before walking over to the other bed. She repeated the action "Goodnight Pa, I'll see you two...l...later then," she said, barely keeping it together. A few more tears flowed from her eyes and she began walking towards the door. Rarity was about to move but saw that Applejack had stopped. Applejack walked over to the bedside table and grabbed the cowboy hat off of the table and placed it on her head. She turned towards the doctor. "Thanks for everythin' doc. I know you did all ya could."

Rarity almost felt sorry for Applejack. She had seen this of course, her victims' families would act this way whenever their love ones would disappear. But for the first time, Rarity was actually moved by the unadulterated sorrow she saw. She moved away from the door and thought about what her next move would be. Rarity almost saw it as a kindness to Applejack, to end her life now. Her parents had clearly meant a lot to her and Rarity could think of no better way to ease Applejack's sorrow then by reuniting them.

As she walked down the halls of the hospital trying to find an exit so she could plan for her attack on Applejack, she heard her name being called. She turned to see Applejack standing behind her. "Oh, hello Applejack."

"HI...how's your mother?" she asked, clearly trying not to break down again in front of this pony she hardly knew.

"Oh yes, she's fine as is my new baby sister...I heard about your parents," she said. it surprised Rarity that she had genuine sorrow Applejack. For whatever reason, Applejack's loss did make Rarity feel sorry for her which merely gave her the resolve to do her part in easing the pain.

"Yeah...I know this is too much to ask seein' as how I hardly know you and all, but would you mind walkin' me home tonight? I...I gotta talk to someone right now or I'll go nuts," she said. Rarity grinned inwardly at the opportunity that Applejack had just presented her. She knew just the spot to do it if she could just get Applejack there.

"Why of course darling. You go ahead and talk about whatever you need to and I'll listen." Applejack thanked Rarity and the two began walking towards Applejack's house. Applejack talked about her parents the whole time. She talked about her favorite memories with them, how she hoped they were in a better place, and how she hoped they were proud of her. All the while, Rarity was leading Applejack to a spot in the woods where she often took victims for their final moments. Applejack was so wrapped up in everything that had happened to her that she didn't even notice. She just continued to blindly followed Rarity's lead.

Applejack continued to talk about her parents and Rarity chimed in with a comforting word every now and again but her mind was really on how close they were to their destination. As they neared the spot, Rarity picked up a rock with her magic to use. Rocks were always messier than Rarity liked, but she hadn't had time to prepare anything else so it would just have to do. Applejack didn't even notice that she was being led to her death; she just stared at the ground and kept talking. Rarity brought the rock closer, moving it in position for the kill. At that moment, something Applejack said actually made it into Rarity's ears. "I just don't know how my baby sister is goin' to grow up without parents." Rarity immediately lost focus and dropped the rock.

"So sorry, did you say 'baby sister?'" asked Rarity. Applejack nodded.

"Yeah, her name's Apple Bloom. She was only born a couple of months ago." Rarity immediately went into think mode. How in Equestria could she, a new sister herself, actually leave a young filly without a sister of her own to look up to? The idea was suddenly horrifying to her. No, Apple Bloom deserved to have a sister to grow up with even if she couldn't have parents. Rarity immediately lost all will to kill Applejack.

"Oh my goodness, I think we may have taken a wrong turn somewhere. How do I get to your house again?" Her question brought Applejack out of her misery for a second as she confusedly looked around.

"Whoa, how did we get all the way over here? I'll lead ya in the right direction, I guess we just lost our way for a bit there," she said.

It had been a few weeks since Sweetie Belle's birth. Rarity had walked Applejack home and talking to Rarity seemed to do Applejack a lot of good. Applejack had no idea how close she had come to death herself that night. Sweetie Belle and her mother had been discharged from the hospital a few days after that and both of them were doing absolutely fine.

On this particular day, both of Rarity's parents were gone for the day, Rarity's father had work and Rarity's mother had matters to attend to with work as well regarding maternity leave and things of that nature. As such, it was just Rarity and Sweetie Belle in the house today. Rarity was in Sweetie Belle's room, laying her down for her nap. To Rarity's delight, Sweetie Belle was a very happy little filly, if a bit stubborn sometimes but even in her stubborn moments, Rarity loved her all the same.

As she watched Sweetie Belle's tiny form breathe in and out, she heard a knock on the door. Rarity froze and looked down at Sweetie Belle, expecting the noise to have woken her up. However, to her relief, Sweetie Belle slept through the intruding noise.

Rarity trotted down the stairs and opened the door to find a pony that she had never met before. He was dressed in a cheap suit and had a suitcase slung on his back, he was clearly selling something despite the 'no solicitors' sign on the door of the house. Why in Equestria did nopony notice them? The solicitor smiled at Rarity when she opened the door. "Well good afternoon miss, may I have just a moment of your time? I'm with the Phillydelphia Valley Corporation and we're looking for a few ponies here in Ponyville to do a survey for our company regarding business prices and customer satisfaction. Would you mind it if I asked you a few questions?"

"Oh, no thank you I am not interested," said Rarity, trying to close the door.

"It would just take few moments miss."

"I said..."

"Only a few moments and you will receive a 20 bit gift card for our business," pushed the solicitor. Rarity inwardly gritted her teeth but she was struck by an urge she had not had in a long time. She adopted a sweeter attitude.

"Well, I suppose it's okay, if it really will just take a moment. Would you like to come in? I have some tea on the stove." The solicitor smiled.

"Why that sounds very lovely miss...?"

"Oh, Annie, my name is Annie."

"Well, Annie, it is a pleasure to make your acquaintance," he said as Rarity led him into the house.

"Likewise, now if you'll excuse me, I must go check on the tea."

"Take your time." Rarity nodded and went into the kitchen. She opened up a drawer and pulled out a large kitchen knife. Rarity kept them sharp for occasions like this. Since ponies couldn't hold knives in a regular way, they had been modified so that they stuck to the hooves of the pony holding them for as long as they were using it. Rarity trotted out of the room and back to where the intruder was. She saw him looking at photos on the mantelpiece. When he heard Rarity come in, he turned around with a smile and started talking. "Is that your new sister in the picture on the far right? I must say that she is..." at that exact moment Rarity raised the knife and stuck it directly in the solicitor's neck. He dropped to the floor immediately and clutched at the large gash in his throat. Rarity pulled out the knife and began stabbing him repeatedly. She felt the knife sink in deeper with each stab. She felt tendons being severed, muscle being tenderized, metal scraping against bone, and the unmistakable feeling of blood flowing around her. It was an experience she had not had in months. She hadn't killed since she found out that Sweetie Belle was on the way.

"When. I. Say. That. I. Am. NOT INTERESTED. I. Mean. GO AWAY!" she said, each word incurring another stab wound. As she pulled the knife out after the last word, she heard a faint noise upstairs that was beginning to grow louder. Rarity dropped the knife and realized that the noise was a crying Sweetie Belle! "Oh my goodness, Sweetie Belle!" She started to run up the stairs when she screeched to a halt and turned back to the solicitor. He was long gone and was leaving quite the bloody mess. Rarity rationalized that he wasn't going anywhere and that her sister needed her attention right now.

She ran up the stairs and into Sweetie Belle's room. She picked up her crying sister and hugged her tight, humming a lullaby in order to try to calm her down. "Hush now, quiet now, it's time to lay your sleepy head. Hush now, quiet now it's time to go to bed." As she sang, Sweetie Belle calmed down and stopped crying. Rarity sighed in relief that her sister had calmed down until she looked down at herself. Both she and Sweetie Belle were covered in blood. Rarity held back a shriek of terror. It took her a moment to realize that it was the blood of the solicitor and not Sweetie Belle. For a brief terrifying moment, Rarity had imagined that she had...no, she didn't want to even think about that.

She pulled Sweetie Belle into a tight hug and began sobbing. "Oh Sweetie Belle, I promise I will never, ever hurt you. Do you hear me? Big sister will never, ever hurt you!"