Rarity wiped her eyes and got up from her workbench. She didn't know what to do with Sweetie Belle now. She had insisted that she be allowed to kill somepony! Did her want to be just like Rarity really extend that far? The thought terrified her as she walked up the stairs. The worst part was that Rarity felt that she was the one responsible for this whole mess. Well, she was responsible for all of it. There were no doubts in Rarity's mind that if she wasn't a serial killer than this would never have happened. But she felt that her need to go comfort Sweetie Belle the moment after she had murdered the solicitor was what had potentially given Sweetie Belle her desire to kill Diamond Tiara. If Sweetie Belle hadn't experienced what it was like to have another pony's blood all over her, then maybe she would have never felt like this.
As Rarity went upstairs to take a bath, she mused that maybe it wasn't that day when Rarity had killed the solicitor; maybe Sweetie Belle was born with the killer instinct! On that matter though, was Rarity born with it or did that fateful day in the clearing turn her into one. She went back and forth on that. "Well Rarity, it has been a tough day, but now that it is over, I hope we can both move on and Sweetie Belle will not let this affect her," said Rarity.
"Well Rarity, I know that this is completely crazy, but what would be the harm of letting Sweetie Belle at least audit one of your kills? Then she would see how horrible it is and she would never want to have anything to do with it again."
"But you don't know that Rarity! What if she wants to do it more than ever? What if she goes out and tries it on her own! She could get caught! The punishment for murder is death, there is no wiggle room on that! If she did kill and get caught, would you take the blame for it?" Rarity thought about that question. She did feel responsible for how Sweetie Belle was acting right now, and if Sweetie Belle was caught trying to kill another pony, would Rarity take the blame for it?
"I...I don't know if I would Rarity. Even if I did admit my guilt, then both of us get executed. You know that I've done my research on this. The death penalty has been given to foals before. The youngest one was eight years old...which is just how old Sweetie Belle is. Both of us would die for it!"
"Then that is a choice that we must accept in that instance Rarity. You just have to make sure that it never comes to that."
"Agreed. It can never come to that."
When Rarity got out of the bathtub, it was night time. Time for a well-deserved sleep. Things would look better in the morning, they always did. When she exited the bathroom, she heard the door to Carousel Boutique shut. Curious, she went downstairs and saw that nopony was there. It seems that somepony had left her boutique. The only pony that could have done that was...Sweetie Belle!
Rarity ran down to her basement and threw open her workbench. To her horror, her meat cleaver was missing! With a yelp of shock, she bolted back upstairs and out the door. "Sweetie Belle!" she called out into the night. "Sweetie Belle, where are you!?" She ran back into her home. Maybe Sweetie Belle was still in her room and it was the wind that had opened and shut her door. The idea was foolish of course, but she had to hope.
Throwing the door to Sweetie Belle's room open, she saw what she feared the most: Sweetie Belle's bed was empty and her saddlebag, which was always hung on a bedpost, was missing too.
Rarity ran back downstairs and out the door. Where would Sweetie Belle have gone? Who would she go out to kill? Suddenly, it hit her: Diamond Tiara or Silver Spoon. She was going to go kill one of them! But which one was she going to go after first? Rarity knew where both fillies lived, but she knew that with the head start that Sweetie Belle had, Rarity only had time to go to the house of one of them before Sweetie Belle tried to kill the unlucky filly that she had chosen as her first victim.
Rarity tried to think like Sweetie Belle would in this instance. Would Sweetie Belle decide to go after the filly that had tormented her most first, or would she start smaller and go after Silver spoon first? She didn't have much more time to think about it. She decided to simply guess and hope that she would be right.
She ran towards Diamond Tiara's house. It was a large house on the outskirts of Ponyville as her father was very rich. Sweetie Belle would have a very hard time getting into that house without being spotted.
After 10 minutes of running, Diamond Tiara's house appeared on the horizon. With each step it came closer to the frantic unicorn, who hoped that she wasn't too late.
As she approached the house, she began searching wildly for her sister around the grounds. With each passing minute, Rarity became more and more sure that she had chosen wrong, that a young filly had died tonight because of her actions. Rarity knew that Silver Spoon's house was on the other side of Ponyville and that there was no way for her to get there in time to prevent Sweetie Belle from murdering the defenseless filly in her sleep. Rarity began to panic as she imagined what this would mean not just for Sweetie Belle, but for her entire family! If Sweetie Belle was caught then Rarity would also turn herself in leading to both of their deaths. Her parents would lose their jobs for sure. Nopony would want to buy items from a couple that had raised two murderers. Rarity decided that she just had to go home and wait for Sweetie Belle or the police.
However at that moment, Rarity saw a flash of white in the corner of her eye. She wheeled around just in time to see a small filly dart turn a corner to another side of the house. Rarity ran after it and to her relief, she saw Sweetie Belle sneaking around, looking for the best way into the house. "Sweetie Belle," hissed Rarity. "Come here at once!" Sweetie Belle gave a yelp of shock and turned around to see Rarity standing behind her.
"How did you find me!?" she said.
"Lucky guess. You must come home at once; I won't let you do this!" Sweetie Belle glared at her.
"You can't tell me what to do! I'm doing this whether you want me to or not!" she said stubbornly. Rarity bit her lip. What was she going to do? She had to make a decision and fast. Sweetie Belle was going to do this whether Rarity was okay with it or not. She sighed.
"Sweetie Belle if you come home with me now...I'll let you audit my next kill," she said in a defeated tone. Sweetie Belle's eyes widened with joy.
"Do you really mean it?" she said happily. Rarity mumbled angrily before saying,
"Yes, I do, but you must come home now!" she said. Sweetie Belle nodded and the two trekked back towards Carousel Boutique.
When they arrived, Rarity led Sweetie Belle into the kitchen and sat her down at the table. "Now Sweetie Belle, can you tell me what you did wrong tonight?" Sweetie Belle flattened her ears and looked away uncomfortably.
"Well, I broke into your basement, I took some of your stuff without permission I-"
"Despite the fact that that is all true, that is not what I am talking about." Sweetie Belle looked at Rarity confusedly.
'What do you mean?" she asked.
"Well, what do you think I mean?" replied Rarity.
"Uh, what I did wrong with the kill?" she said. Rarity nodded. Sweetie Belle looked contemplative for a moment. "Well, I don't know. I've never done this before."
"Precisely," said Rarity chidingly. "And as a result you almost definitely would have been caught. Do you know what they do to ponies who even try to kill another pony?" Sweetie Belle shook her head. "Attempted murder is life in prison without the possibility of parole. Successful murder is death. There is no wiggle room for either sentence."
"Even for fillies?" asked Sweetie Belle. Rarity nodded.
"Yes, even for fillies. The youngest filly ever to be executed was eight years old which, if you recall, is just how old you are. Celestia wouldn't care about your age."
"Oh," said Sweetie Belle.
"Now," said Rarity opening Sweetie Belle's saddle bag and dumping the meat cleaver onto the table. "Your first problem is that you picked the wrong weapon entirely. What were you planning to do with this anyway?"
"Well, I don't really know. I just grabbed the biggest knife that I could find. I guess I would have just cut her or something."
"Sweetie Belle, I use this knife to hack off limbs if I want to do it quickly. I do not use it for slicing ponies open. Aside from that, the second you started cutting her, not that you have the strength or magic to use it accurately, she would have started screaming her head off and you would have been caught in seconds." Sweetie Belle nodded.
"I guess so," she said.
"Also, do you even know the layout of Diamond Tiara's house? Do you know what room she sleeps in, what floor she is on, what is the quickest way to get to her room from the outside, how to get inside the house in the first place, where her parents sleep, or anything of that nature?" Sweetie Belle blushed in embarrassment and shook her head. Rarity nodded. "That's what I thought."
"I just wanted to be like you," said Sweetie Belle dejectedly.
"Sweetie Belle, even I don't kill ponies in their homes if I can avoid it."
"But you've done it before?" asked Sweetie Belle.
"Only twice and those were special circumstances. I never do it for a casual kill." Sweetie Belle nodded.
"I guess that makes sense."
The two sat in silence for a moment before Sweetie Belle spoke up again. "So, when are you going to do it next?" Rarity shrugged. Not for a while if she could help it unless absolutely necessary. Maybe with enough time, Sweetie Belle would forget all about this. "But I still get to help right?" she said.
"You can watch," she said.
"Pinkie Promise?" she said. Rarity froze for a moment. Curses, the one thing she hoped that she didn't say.
"Pinkie Promise," said Rarity, making the motions that went with the promise. Sweetie Belle smiled before getting up and hugging Rarity.
"You're the best big sister in the whole world!" she said. "But, I think it's time for me to go to bed. It's been a long...interesting day." Rarity gave a slight nod and a small smile before Sweetie Belle went up the stairs to her room. Sweetie Belle's words stayed with Rarity for a moment. She thought that Rarity was the best big sister in the whole world, but would she still think that when she was watching Rarity murder? Of course she wouldn't.
Rarity decided that she had better get to bed too and after taking a drink from the sink, she went up the stairs to her room. She passed Sweetie Belle's room and heard a strange noise coming from it. She opened the door a crack and peeked in.
Sweetie Belle was lying on top of the covers on her bed and curled up in a ball.
She was crying her eyes out.