"And how was school today, Vanilla?" Vanilla sighs and shows her a paper. Ice takes it and looks on the failed math test. Vanilla was always great in math, until the incident 6 months ago. "Vanilla ..."
"I'm sorry, Sis ..." Ice takes her in a hug. "I going to help you for the next test, okay?"
"R-Really? But what about-" She shakes her head and smiles. "Gear can wait, your my priority number one."
Vanilla smiles wide and hugs her back. "Best sister ever!"
They both chuckle. "I promise, I'm always there for you, Vanilla."
"And I'm always there for you, Ice." Then the bell rings. Ice walks to the door and opens it to see, who is there. It was Gear. "Uhm, hey Ice ..."
"You okay?" He nods and lifts his tail up, showing her a pair of beautiful flowers, that he holds with his tail. On it on a small paper standing *I love you, my beautiful Ice Cream*. Ice starts to blush heavily, before kissing him. That causes Gear to blush. "Urgh, really?"
Gear and Ice start to laugh. Vanilla rollswith her eyes. "Can we learn now, the next test is in two days already. About history."
"Sorry Gear, mayby during weekend." Gear smiles and nods. "No problem, Ice. Bye!"
He waves and walks away. "It's about how Equestria was made."
"Alright, let's get starting then." They walk both to the living room.
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"Happy birthday, Vanilla!" Vanilla smiles wide, when Ice walks in with a delicious looking vanilla cake. It has 8 candles on it, all glowing in different colors. "Woahh ..."
Ice takes the cake on the table, directly in front of Vanilla. "Make a wish!"
Vanilla closes her eyes, the blowing off the candles ... only to glow shortly after again. "Wha-?"
Ice falls on her back, laughing. "Not funny!"
Then a loud crash, the window breaks in pieces and a unicorn stallion jumps in, his horn glowing. "No wrong move, or I shoot!"
Short after a pegasi mare and a earth pony stallion jump in, looking trough everything. Vanilla shivers, jumping to Ice and hugging her tight, sniffing. Ice glares. "What you want from us?!"
"We just want money, that's all. We don't harm, until needed!" The pegasi finds a big sack with bits. "That are more then 200 bits!"
"Alright, take it and let's get moving, before those annoying guards get a sniff from this!" The pegasi flies out with the sack of bits, followed by the earth pony and then the unicorn. Ice just glares in shock, while Vanilla cries into her fur. Ice sighs. "I guess, you can forget the class trip to Canterlot ... I'm sorry, I know how you wanted to go there for a week with your class ..."
She sniffs but shakes her head. "I'm just glad, we are okay, that's most important ..."
"If he dared to even touch you, I had kicked him personally to the sun." She smiles a little. "Nopony can stop my sis."
"Hey ..." She looks up to Ice. "I try to talk to your teacher. And we will go to the guard office here. Mayby we can make it, that you still can go in three weeks."
"Thank you." She smiles wide and hugs her tight. "Your more then welcome."
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Vanilla walks in the direction of their house, when Ice runs to her and hugs her. Vanilla smiles wide. "The class trip was awesome! We did-"
But Ice puts a hoof on her muzzle. "I just came back from buying, when ... our house ... I'm so stupid, I forgot to-"
"What happened?" Ice sighs. "Our house is just a big mess of ashes ..."
"What?! Oh c-come on, why does stuff like that always happens to us!" Vanilla starts to cry, Ice can't hold back and starts crying with her. "I-I don't know!"
"W-Where are we living now?" Ice wishes some tears away. "Gear allows us to stay, until we find a new home. Be strong okay? No matter how bad the times are, so long we keep together, nothing will stop us. I promised, I'm always there for you and I keep my promises."
She feels her nuzzling on her neck. "I-I know, sis ..."
Vanilla smiles faintly, when coughing loud suddenly. "You okay?"
"Y-Yeah, just some coughing, it's fine." Ice nods and picks Vanilla on her back. "We better go then to Gear now. Hold on tight, the sister train is ready to start!" Vanilla chuckles, when Ice starts running, screaming *Choo-choo!* all the time.
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5 days later
"What?!" Ice sits in a waiting room in the hospital, the doctor looking nervous. "I-I'm sorry, really, but there is no therapy or medicine to stop it yet."
"I PROMISED HER!" The doctor gulps, his ears splaying back. "Miss, we-"
Ice jumps on the doctor, pulling him down on the ground, glaring with hate and fear to him. "You better heal her!"
Then she gets off the doctor and starts crying. "I-I promised her ..."
The doctor stands up slowly, sighing. "It's ... a really rare disease, that only appears on young ponies. Everypony has magic in them, some more, some less. Without them, they can't live. But there can be a genetical error in a ponies body cells. Imagine a room, a closed room full with ... let's say water. No way out of this room. That is a normal body cell. By her, the same room has a really, tiny hole, where slowly water drips out more and more. Until the room is nothing more then a room, without the water. The water is the magic and that drips out from her body cells. In my eyes, it's a wonder, it took over 8 years, until the effects started by her. Usually it already starts after 4-5 years, that they get sick."
Ice shivers, slowly looking to him. "H-How long ..."
"From what we saw, maximum a month left ..." Ice feels something in her body smashing into thousand pieces. She promised her to be always with her and now Vanilla has only a month left ...
"If it kinda help you, there is no real pain for the month. She can still do most things. When the time comes, she get slowly more sick, until feeling tired and then falling asleep ..." She sighs. "... falling asleep forever ..."
"Exactly ... I let you decide, if you prefer to tell her the truth or better keep her hidden, that she is going to die, to make her last month a good, happy one." Ice nods. "She should deserve a good end, I keep my muzzle shut."
"She can go now, here is some medicine. That should help to make her feel better and not sick all the time. There is no danger, that she can infect somepony with it, so she can still go out and all." Ice slowly stands up and nods. "Thank you, doc ..."
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23 years later
That's it ... I can't live anymore, I have nothing left, nothing to live for. It's over, I coming home ...
I take a step on the edge of the 50 floors high building. I see guards and ponies on the ground, trying to stop me, to calm me down. But there is nothing, no reason to stay in this rotten world.
I take my other forehoof on the edge, feeling sick beeing so high. I coming home, Vanilla.
I close my eyes and make a swung forward ...
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23 years earlier
"Urghhh, that tastes still gross!" Ice chuckles a little. "Hey, it keeps you fit, in a week, your back to awesomness!"
At least I wish it would be .....
"Glad I can stop taking this gross medicine soon, after suffering already 3 weeks from it!" Ice chuckles. "Weren't those 3 weeks not the best in your life? Like that big building in Manehattan, we were on it."
"Yeah, that was awesome! I swear, I saw our little village in the distance!" She grins wide and Ice ruffles her mane. "Indeed, it was. I'm glad you enjoyed the weeks. Afterall, what happened, I tought, something like that would cheer us up."
"It did, thank you sis." Vanilla hugs her and Ice hugs her back, sighing silently. "No problem."
"Having fun, huh?" Gear walks in, just coming back from buying. "I heard, ya lost your plushie, Vanilly?"
"Huh? Stop calling me that." She pouts. "But yeah, lost it few days ago."
"Great, then that's yours! I went to the guard station, they found it." He pulls out a pony plushie, but before he got it out, Vanilla catches it already. "YAAAAY!"
Vanilla cuddles it tight and runs around happily. "Thank you, thank you, thank you, Gear!"
"No problem!" We all start to laugh for minutes, before she hugs Gear. "Thank you, daddy!"
We all wince suddenly and Vanilla frowns. "S-Sorry ..."
She then runs back to Ice and hugs her tight. Ice and Gear looking nervous to each other.
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1 week later
"Urghh, I'm fine, no medicine anymore ..." Ice sighs. "Just today, okay? Then your *suffering* of medicine is over, promised."
At least one promise I wished, I could break ...
Vanilla sips it from the little spoon, shivering. "Urgh ..."
"I make my way to my parents then. See you ... two ... next week. I buyed already for a week, so no need to buy for ya all." Ice smiles and nods. "See you then."
Vanilla runs to him and hugs him. "I can show you my super secret cave then!"
Ice and Gear looking surprised. "Super secret cave?"
"Yeah, a empty little cave I found not far away! I show you later, Ice!" She chuckles. "Sure thing!"
The Vanilla smiles wide. "How about we sleep over the night there? This is sure awesome!"
"I don't knooow ..." She looks sadly. "Pwetty pweaseeeee!"
Ice chuckles and nods. "Alright. We can camp there, bringing food and stuff with us there, something to sleep on and your favourite book."
She just made the biggest smile in her life ... glad I can make her last day so happy ...
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"...And together, we knoooow ... nopony stops us foreeeveeerrrr! Forever togeeeetheeeer!"
They both chuckle, after finishing the song. "Alright, the marshmallows should be done now."
They pick the branches out of the campfire, eating the hot marshmallows on them. "Delicious!"
Ice smiles and kiss her forehead, what surprises Vanilla. "Huh? You okay, sis?"
She nods. "I'm fine. Tough I just needed to do that."
Vanilla chuckles. "Silly filly."
They keep eating, until they are filled with it. "Alright, want to read now?"
"Sure!" Ice and Vanilla stand up and walking inside the small cave. Vanilla lies down on her camping bed, while Ice picks up the book and sits next to her. "Once, long ago, there where two beautiful sisters ..."
Ice keeped reading for over 200 pages, before Vanilla yawns loud. "I feel tired, sis."
Ice winces, her heart crashes into pieces.
"... When the time comes, she get slowly more sick, until feeling tired and then falling asleep ..." She sighs. "... falling asleep forever ..."
Ice stares into the emptiness, until Vanilla shakes her. "Sis, you okay? You where like that for minutes ..."
"What? O-Oh, yeah, just, tought how, uh, Gear is doing." Vanilla smiles and let out another yawn. "Alright, let's sleep now, okay?"
Ice frowns, but nods. "Sure, sure ..."
Ice walks to her camp bed, when Vanilla grabs her tail, pulling Ice to her. "Can you sleep with me?"
"Of course!" She nuzzles Vanilla, before Vanilla lies down on her side. Ice sighs and puts the blanket slowly over Vanilla's body. She then lies down on her hooves next to Vanilla. "Good night, Vanilla ..."
She kiss her cheek, that causes Vanilla to smile a little. "I'm freezing, sis, can you hug me?"
Without a word, Ice lies down on her side and hugs her tight. "Of course ... I promised to be always there for you, Vanilla ..."
Her body get's colder ...
"Thank you ... best blanket ever. I'm always there for you too, sis." Ice hugs her tighter, tears rolling down her cheeks. "I know ... I know ..."
Colder and colder ...
"Good night, my big sis ..." More tears rolling down her cheeks. "G-Good n-night, my little sis ..."
Vanilla smiles, closing her eyes slowly, while Ice lays her head on Vanilla's chest.
Ba-dum, Ba-dum ... Ba-dum ...... Ba-dum ........... Ba-dum ............................
"I'm s-so sorry, I c-couldn't hold m-my promise, Vanilla ..." Ice burries her face on Vanilla's cold chest fur, crying out loud. Her whole body is shaking, crying for seconds ... minutes ... hours ... "I'm s-sorry ..."
She looks up trough a hole, where moonshine shines trough, looking into the clear night sky. "Y-You hear me? I-I'm sorry! I'M SORRYYY! SORRYYY! I couldn't hold my promise! My promise to be there for you! FORGIVE M-M-MEEEE!"
Ice hugs Vanilla's cold body tighter, crying loud, until her body falls asleep with no tears left to cry and no hope left in Ice's soul .......