"Sweetie Belle, we need tuh talk."
"Sure, Applejack. What about?" she replied, holding Lester tighter and closer to herself.
"It's about this whole thing with Lester. Now, ah don't know all that much about your relationship with him other than what yer friends told me, but ah can see that he really was a special pet tuh you."
"He sure is! We're going to be best friends forever and ever!" she said gleefully as she swung Lester around while still keeping him in her loving embrace.
The difficulty was growing more relentless with trying to get through to Sweetie Belle, but Applejack was steadfast in her assertion of the truth, and was not about to give up on the filly yet.
"Look, Sweetie Belle, I know Lester was yer friend and all, and you cared for him a lot, but yah just can' pretend that he's still here when in reality he's not."
"What are you talking about? Lester's right here!" she held Lester up to Applejack's face, inadvertently causing discomfort in Applejack for putting Lester in her personal space, but Applejack promptly pushed Lester away from her face.
"Ah know it's hard for you tuh believe that he's gone, but lyin' like this isn't good for yah."
"Nopony's lying about anything!" Sweetie shouted back crossly. "The only pony lying here is you! You're just like Apple Bloom and Scootaloo! Lying to me about Lester to keep me from spending time with him anymore! Well I won't let it happen again!" Sweetie held up Lester with her left leg and turned away from her friends, walking away soon after.
"Sweetie, stop! We weren't lying before!"
"Yeah! And none of us are lyin' now!"
"None of us except you for lying to yourself!"
Sweetie Belle continued walking, appearing unfazed by their words.
"And now you're tryin' to run away from your problem! Well yah can't run away forever! That's why yah have to face this problem now! If yah don't, then you'll just live the rest of your life unhappy and without a real friend in the world!"
Sweetie Belle halted, though still facing away from the others. Her friends remained unsure of if she was truly listening to their statements or not, but continued speaking their minds regardless.
"We know this must hurt for you to hear, and it hurts for us to say it."
"And we don't like making you sad, Sweetie Belle."
"But we wouldn't be doin' it unless we really cared about yah!"
The others couldn't see it, but Sweetie Belle was indeed hearing their words—every single one of them. With every word spoken by each of the ponies, the tears welled up even greater in the filly's eyes, pushing out and flowing down her face. Though feelings of sadness were rampant in Sweetie Belle, there was also the presence of anger and heartache, shown by the fierce clenching of her teeth. But, even the unbridled emotions going rampant in her mind, Sweetie Belle persisted in keeping her true feelings inside and not muttering even a single word to anypony at all. Because of this lingering of silence, the others persisted in their endeavors to persuade the filly to see what was right.
"Sweetie Belle, please say somethin'!"
"Don't stay quiet! We only want to help you!"
"We know yah don't want tuh listen tuh us, but what we've all been sayin' is the honest-tuh-good truth! Happiness isn't somethin' that should be faked just because what's true is too hard tuh take!"
"You need to be happy for real!"
"And you never will with what yer doin' now!"
The ponies waited to see if they would get a response this time, and at first, the filly's silence had lingered—until at last she spoke, "...you can say all the mean things you want, and try to lie to me as best you can...but you'll never, ever tear me and Lester apart!" she shouted in a rage, stunning her friends and Applejack. "We'll always be friends! Always and forever, no matter who doesn't want us to be together! Isn't that right, Lester?" Sweetie smiled as she looked back at Lester's still, limp body.. "Yeah! That's right! We will be!" the forcefully happy filly replied, after which she laughed gleefully, though still shedding her tears all the while. Her eyes were locked on Lester as she continued to laugh—until something inside her stirred. Sweetie's laughter had changed: it was becoming abnormal in tone, and much more nervous than it should normally sound. She continued this mousy laughter for several seconds longer, until she stopped completely. She bit down on her lower as it quivered, unable to hold back the repressed feelings that were forced inside of her now coming to the surface. her hold on Lester weakened slightly, his body gradually slipping through her hooves and slowly plumping down upon the grassy earth. Sweetie shut her eyes forcefully, desiring not to set her gaze upon what was once her vivified and adoring pet companion. She had been denying it for so long, and was struggling to do so now; the conflict raging inside her had dampened considerably, and the awful truth she so desperately had fought against had been winning the fight—and just became the victor.
Sweetie Belle pulled back her hooves from Lester, his body slumping over to the side. She wheezed in and out uncontrollably, until the turbulent dolefulness reached its breaking point, begetting the torrent of tears from this heartbroken filly.
Sweetie bawled wildly, in a state never felt by her before. She collapsed onto the ground, her tears now soaking into the soil; tears infused with the heartache of a desolate soul robbed of a piece of her heart, leaving a gaping crevice that could never be filled by any type or amount of sentiment in this world.
These feelings of misery weren't only being felt in Sweetie belle, as both Apple Bloom and Scootaloo had their own share of the pain in themselves. This exhibition of torment reminded the fillies of exactly why it was they did not wish to inform Sweetie Belle of her pet's passing. Though they had already done it once, this time it was far worse, as anger and denial was infinitely easier to endure than anguish and despair—at least, for those not containing said feelings.
Applejack placed her hoof on Apple Bloom's shoulder. "Ah know it was hard, and it's probably even harder to watch Sweetie Belle be so sad, but remember that yah still did the right thing here."
"Yeah, I guess so..."
"Yeah..."
"But now Sweetie Belle is gonna need you more than ever to get through a hard time like this. And it's better if you both do it without mah helpin' this time, since it'll mean more if ya'll say what's in your own hearts rather than mine," Apple Bloom and Scootaloo both nodded in agreement, and turned their attention back to the still sobbing filly. Before a word could be outputted by either of Sweetie's friends, the forlorn filly spoke out first herself, sniffing every so often.
"When...when I looked at Lester after you first told me...I just knewsomething was wrong...but I loved him so much, I just couldn't imagine my life without him anymore...I couldn't believe he was really gone..." she glanced over at Lester. "I thought...I thought that...if I kept playing with him like normal...eventually he would open his eyes..and everything..would be okay..." Sweetie produced a few short bursts of sobbing. "But he's really gone...gone...gone..." she repeated softer each time until turning to a state of gentler weeping.
"Sweetie Belle..." Apple Bloom reached out to her lugubrious friend.
Before any solace could be given, Sweetie Belle reverted to her immoderate bawling, and without giving any regard to her consoling friend, sprinted away from them as her unruly squalling furthered.
"Sweetie Belle! Wait!"
"Come back!"
But their efforts were in vain. Sweetie Belle sustained her steadfast pace as she hastened out of the field, crying uncontrollably all the while until she was out of sight and out of earshot. Naturally, the filly's friends were devastated by all this. They were truly at the lowest they've ever been, hooves down. Their feelings of dejection were in such lofty magnitudes that they simply slumped down on their bottoms lacking the drive to follow and show their commiseration to their dear, downcast companion. it was not long that they remained in this state, as Applejack spoke up regarding the next course of action.
"Ah know that was hard for you two, and yer obviously feelin' downright awful about it now, but Sweetie Belle is goin' tuh need all the help she can get right now, and nopony's better fer doin' that than you two, since ya'll are her closest friends. So, you'd best be gettin' after her bufore she gets any worse than is already."
"But, what about you?"
"Ah'm gonna go and gather a few ponies. If you two can't get her feelin' better, then Sweetie'll need all the help she can get," Applejack trots off towards the center of Ponyville to enact her objective. After watching her go, Apple Bloom and Scootaloo both nodded to one another, and took off themselves after their woebegone friend with the high ambitions to alleviate the filly from the state they unintentionally placed her in.