Applejack leaned back in her chair at the dinner table and scanned her family. They had previously been discussing Blossom and how she seemed to have disappeared again, and it worried her. Big Mac and Apple Bloom were similarly worried, but Apple Seed seemed strangely quiet. The farmpony was no idiot and knew when something was wrong with her niece, but hadn't pressed her on the issue during the conversation. However, she knew that having gotten no answers from her siblings meant that it was time to see what Apple Seed knew.
She leaned forward again and looked her niece in the eyes. "Apple Seed, y'all have been real quiet tonight. Is there somethin' that you'd like ta tell us?"
Apple Seed flinched back, obviously surprised at having been addressed about it as her aunt hadn't included her thus far. She shifted her gaze between her aunt, uncle, and mother, all of whom were giving her their undivided attention. The young mare forced a weak smile on her face. "W-Why would y'all think a thing like that?"
Applejack frowned. "Because we've been talkin' about where Blossom might be right now and you haven't said one word about it. You don't even seem particularly worried."
"Ah am worried!" Apple Seed insisted. "It's just..." Apple Seed bit her lip and flattened her ears as she looked away, further solidifying in Applejack's mind that Apple Seed knew exactly where Blossom was.
"Apple Seed," she said sharply, "where is Blossom?"
Apple Seed opened her mouth, but just as she did the group heard a knock on the door. Apple Seed breathed a small sigh of relief that the pressure had been taken off of her for the time being as Apple Bloom had gotten up from her chair to answer the door. The youngest Apple sibling opened the door and gasped when she saw who was on the other side. "Sweetie Belle!" she cried.
Instantly the other three were on their hooves and rushing to meet the recently released mare. Apple Bloom had already wrapped her in a crushing hug and was crying tears of joy. "They let ya go!" she said happily.
Sweetie Belle gave a small smile and returned the hug. "Yes, they let me go."
"Well that's just wonderful!" Applejack cried. "What happened?"
At Applejack's question, Sweetie Belle's small smile faded away and she burst into tears, something that startled the three elder Apples. "Sweetie Belle, what's wrong?" Apple Bloom questioned. "Yer free now, you and Blossom can be together again!"
At the sound of her daughter's name Sweetie Belle only cried harder. Applejack rushed over to the distraught mare and wrapped her in a giant hug as well. "Shh, it’s okay, sugar cube, we'll find Blossom and then you two can be happy together like before."
"No!" Sweetie Belle wailed. "B-Blossom's gonna die!"
"Now don't be talkin' like that," Applejack scolded. "Ah know that none of us know where she is right now, but we'll find her and get her back to ya Ah promise!"
"She's in Canterlot," Sweetie Belle sobbed. "She gave herself up for me, she took my place!"
The four Apples fell silent at Sweetie Belle's words, none really sure of how to handle what Sweetie Belle had told them. All save one. The corners of Apple Seed's mouth were turned up in a small smile and she almost looked relieved. Her expression didn't escape Sweetie Belle's notice and the mare's sorrowful expression hardened into a glare filled with maternal rage. "You," she growled, "you killed her."
Apple Seed's eyes widened and she took an uneasy step back. "Ah... Ah didn't kill her, Ah just told her ta do the right thing!"
"That wasn't your place!" Sweetie Belle snarled. "What happened after their deaths was our choice, not yours!" Sweetie Belle pushed Apple Bloom and Applejack away and stood up. "She's gonna die now and it's all your fault!"
S-She killed them!" Apple Seed replied, tears now rolling down her face. "She betrayed you when she let ya take the fall for her! You didn't do nothin' wrong!"
"That was my decision!" Sweetie Belle snarled. "I had only just gotten her, I was not going to see her put down like I saw my sister put down, and now I have to because of you!"
"Sweetie Belle, did Blossom kill Fire Ruby and Golden Necklace?" Applejack asked quietly. "Were you innocent the whole time?"
"Yes!" Apple Seed insisted. "Blossom told me that she had killed them, a-and she betrayed you!"
"They were going to kill her!" Sweetie Belle screeched.
"They didn't kill you," Apple Seed whimpered as she backed against the wall. "Ah just thought that--"
"Yeah, well you thought wrong!" Sweetie Belle said angrily. "Now they're gonna kill her, a..." Sweetie Belle's eyes filled with tears again and she collapsed onto her haunches. "And it's your fault. I was okay where I was, and she's very sick. She needs help, not the needle."
The four Apples watched in silence for a moment as Sweetie Belle continued crying on the floor. It was Applejack who broke the silence and put a hoof on Sweetie Belle's shoulder. "We need ta go ta Canterlot, then," she muttered. "If you can make the princesses see it yer way, Blossom can get better and she doesn't hafta die."
"Ah'll make sure her pa and sister know," Applejack said. "They can meet us there."
Sweetie Belle whimpered and slowly pushed herself to her hooves. Applejack was right, they needed to go to Canterlot to beg for Blossom's life.
* * * *
Blossom sat in the corner of her cell in the palace, shivering from fear more than the drafty conditions. She had not had her horned removed... yet, but the guards had put a nullifier ring on it to prevent her from using any spells. Of course, it wasn't as though she would want to escape. If she did they would hunt her down, probably to the ends of the planet. She was a murderer, after all.
She sighed sadly and looked up at the small bed in the cell where, sure enough, Rarity was lounging. The gash on her head was gone, but so was her smug demeanor. In fact, she looked strangely contemplative. Blossom scoffed quietly and shook her head. "I thought that you'd leave me alone once I was in here," she muttered. "I can't kill for you anymore. My horn is blocked and I'm chained to a wall in a dungeon, there's no way I'm getting out of here."
Rarity sighed. "No, I suppose not," she mumbled. "I'm still unsure of why you would thrust this upon yourself, though. I mean, you are literally built to be Equestria's greatest serial killer. If I had your powers I would never have been caught by anypony, why would you throw all of that away?"
"Because I'm not a murderer," Blossom said quietly. "I never wanted to hurt anypony."
"But I know you felt that feeling that I did," said Rarity as she sat up in the bed. "I know that you know how wonderful it was and how powerful you felt!"
Blossom shook her head. "I didn't feel powerful. I didn't feel like I could do anything. I actually felt like I wasn't in control of myself and that really scared me, Aunt Rarity. I didn't like that feeling."
"But you followed it anyway," Rarity pointed out. "You bashed their brains in with a rock and they stopped bothering you, and everypony else, forever!"
"And look where I've ended up!" Blossom cried as she motioned around the cell. "I'm about to die for what I did! That..." A single sob escaped Blossom's throat. "That makes me afraid, Aunt Rarity, I'm really scared."
Blossom blinked once and when she opened her eyes, Rarity wasn't on the bed anymore. She was standing in front of her with a kind, but sad, smile on her face. She sat down next to Blossom, and wrapped her in a hug. The warmth and love behind the hug told Blossom beyond a shadow of a doubt that this was not the Rarity that had tormented her waking life. "So was I when my time came," Rarity said soothingly. "I won't pretend that I left this world with my head held high and courage in my heart, because I didn't." Rarity gently nuzzled Blossom's head and began stroking her mane. "Blossom, you are a better, braver pony than I ever was, or could ever hope to be. If this is your end, I know that you have the strength to be brave when your time comes."
"But I'm scared, Aunt Rarity," Blossom whimpered. "I'm scared that I'm going to Tartarus."
"Oh Blossom," Rarity whispered, "Tartarus is for evil ponies like me, not scared ponies who did bad things because of that fear. If I'm right about what kind of mare you are, you will see paradise."
"I lived a lie for ten years!" Blossom retorted. "I let my mom suffer in my place while I went free. How is that not evil?"
"You accepted a sacrifice that your mother made for you," Rarity explained. "Was it the right thing to do? I suppose not; but you were just a scared filly who didn't know what to do."
"I still am," said Blossom quietly. "I don't want to die, but there is still that part of me that does."
Rarity frowned and cocked her head slightly. "What do you mean, darling?" she questioned.
Blossom sighed and leaned her head against Rarity's chest. "Aunt Rarity, I... I'm tired. I'm just tired of all of this. I'm tired of being afraid, I'm tired of living in your shadow, I'm tired of that sick part of my brain continuously telling me to murder ponies, I'm tired of the princesses, and I’m tired of making ponies sad..." Blossom lifted a hoof to wipe away tears that had formed. "After everything that's happened over the past few months, dying would be like going to sleep after a long, bad day. If I'm in prison for the rest of my life, it's going to be Tartarus for me anyway. I couldn't stand day after day of therapy, of my mind telling me to kill my therapist or anypony else who come within my reach, I couldn't stand not being to see the sunlight anymore."
"You would still be able to see your family," Rarity pointed out.
"Behind bars? In a small room under constant surveillance?" Blossom shook her head. "Every time they'd see me they'd just be sad. It'd remind both of us of what we used to have. On one hoof I have a life of misery, sorrow, and the constant stress that I'm going to hurt somepony. On the other, I die in a way that's just like going to sleep after a long day. When I think about it that way..." Blossom looked up to see that Rarity had gone and she was alone in her cell once again. A small smile formed on her face and she began walking over to the comfort of the bed.
"Dying doesn't really sound all that bad, now does it?"