The only chapter

“How could this have happened?” asked Twilight in disbelief. Her eyes had a glance over to that what was to be seen.

“I, I do not know. Can anypony, inform me here a bit more? What has happened, what you did the last to her?” a stallion in a white doctor’s outfit asked to all that were present. He looked around the room though his glasses. His green rimmed eyes fell on Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, Applejack and Twilight with a series of light motions.

“Well, I, I teased her a little, w-when she said asked me to stand model, a-after that, I, I didn't speak to her again,” answered Rainbow while she began to tear up. Her eyes tore themselves away from the doctor and fell upon the bed in the room. The same one on which Twilight had been looking at first. The devastating sight laid within there.

“We last, last talked at the market when she bought some apples in the morning. After that, she said she would go back to the shop to work for the rest of the day,” replied Applejack who placed a hoof on Rainbow’s shoulder. With all the might in her body did she made an effort in the hope to comfort the dare devil.

“I, I didn't speak with her all day to be honest...” Fluttershy spoke up while she tried her best not to cry. Pinkie noticed that fact and guided her to the hallway outside of the room in a gentle manner. There she would try her best to comfort the shy mare. Pinkie closed the door behind her so that nopony could hear the both of them.

“As for myself," the unicorn started before a sigh left her, "I delivered her a couple books and when I gave them, she looked perfectly fine to me. I can not get my head around all of this.” Twilight turned her gaze back to the stallion for a moment. Only to have it go over to the bed again.

"Then, you aren't the only one who has that problem miss. This, is highly unusual even for a doctor like myself," the stallion spoke up in a voice that reflected his honesty. "I, thank the four of you for sharing this with me."

All of the sudden was there the voice of Pinkie that spoke up under a muffle. One that was created by the closed door. “No! Don’t go in there!” She was too late though. The door swung open wide and in the opening stood a filly for all to see. A small, white coated unicorn filly with purple, pink manes and the watery eyes. Everypony in the room gasped at her sight. Yet she continued to walk further in. She needed to be sure that the news she got, wasn’t real.

“I, I tried to stop her, but she got through me,” said Pinkie after she poked her head through the opening. After she had said that, she returned to comfort Fluttershy.

---

The filly herself looked at everypony that stood in the rounded bed room. The green rimmed eyes eventually locked themselves at the poster bed. A bed and sight that confirmed her worst fears, came true. “N-No... P-Please tell me, i-it is n-not true...” was all she could say with the cracks in her voice. Within a split second had her heart been broken just like that.

Twilight knew there was only one thing that she could possibly do for the filly. She walked up to her and hugged the little filly while she spoke her words in a very soft tone. “I am sorry you have to find it out this way, Sweetie...” The filly’s eye had begun to fill themselves with even more tears. She looked in disbelief at the mulberry coated unicorn. She didn’t want to believe it.

It was her innocent mind that played tricks with her. She wouldn't believe that it was the reality of the situation. “N-No! I will not believe it!" spoke Sweetie while tears rolled down her face. She broke the hug with Twilight abrupt. Without a second thought did she ran up to the bed and crawled in top of it. The doctor tried his best to prevent the worst thing from happening. But it was too late anyway. Even before he could have done anything had Sweetie pulled the blankets away. And that what was revealed below them was a unicorn mare. An ivory coated, unicorn mare whose forehooves laid peacefully over the chest. An ivory coated unicorn with a purple mane and tail. The mare who Sweetie always had seen as her sibling, her beloved sister.

---

For under the blankets was it revealed that the lifeless body of Rarity laid there. Ever so peaceful it laid there in the bed, she almost appeared to be asleep of some sort. Sweetie was unable to keep herself in check and she just nuzzled the face all over. But only to be met with the cold and harsh reality.

“Sis?” she asked while she kept nuzzling her cold face. “T-This isn't fun anymore! P-Please, wake up.” The tears that had been building up in her eyes for the longest of time had finally rolled down her cheeks. Sweetie didn't wanted to believe that her sister was gone. She couldn't believe it even. Sadness was tearing her apart, devastating both her mind and her heart.

“Sweetie...” Applejack answered after she left Rainbow in Twilight's care. She walked to the bed and spoke with a soft yet caring voice towards her. “Ah, Ah am sorry, but yar sister, has left us.” Sweetie only shed more tears and kept nuzzling the face in the hope she would be back.

The words of Applejack had little to no effect on her as Sweetie simply had blinders on her eyes. Blinders that created a tunnel vision for her, a vision in which she only saw Rarity. “Rarity! I know you can hear me, please, think about everypony! Think about me!” managed Sweetie to speak through her tears. Even though she rather didn't do it, Applejack just picked the filly up and pulled her away from her passed away sister. “No! Leave me with her!” Sweetie screamed before she began to struggle hard against the hold of the cowgirl. She wanted to get out of it and just be with her sister. Hoping that through some miracle she would return to them, to her.

“Excuse us everypony, but Ah need to talk for 'while with her,” were the last words spoken by Applejack before she brought the filly down the hallway. They walked passed a silent Pinkie and Fluttershy before entering the filly’s room. The door was closed and possibly even locked when the silence returned once more.

The doctor released a deep sigh while he removed his stethoscope from his neck and shook his head. “I tried my best for her, but it is over... I, I am truly sorry. My condolences to you all,” he said before he extended his hoof out towards Twilight.

Twilight –despite the fact she held Rainbow already– managed to shake his hoof. “Thank you doctor, you tried what you could,” she replied before she teared up as well. As the shake got broken, both of the forehooves wrapped themselves around Rainbow in order to comfort and cry on.

---

“I think it is best, we leave her like this for now. Until the funeral arrives,” he said and covered Rarity’s body with the blanket once more. He turned himself around and looked at the souls he could see. Rainbow and Twilight in the room whereas Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy sat against the door opening. "If everypony would be so kind to leave her, to rest,” he added with pain in his own heart.

Twilight nodded before she would wipe away her own tears. With all that was left inside of her body she guided the crying Rainbow out of the bedroom and signaled Pinkie to come as well. The pink mare helped Fluttershy up her hooves on her turn.

The unicorn walked over to Sweetie's room after she had assured Rainbow that she would return. The mare gave a knock on the door and waited for the response to come. “Who is it?” the cowgirl asked as she was still comforting Sweetie from it all.

“Applejack, it is me, Twilight. Can you come with us? We, have to go,” the mare spoke up gently at the closed door.

“Ah’ll be with you all in a minute,” replied Applejack before she stood up and placed Sweetie on her back.

“W-Where are we going?” the filly asked up in a confused manner.

“Somewhere else then here, Sweetie, remember what Ah said? Ya need to give it a place.” Applejack replied and Sweetie nodded to the words. But she couldn't help it to herself and held Applejack’s neck tightly as if she was clinging to something for her dear life. The cowgirl could understand the reaction all too well and walked out of the filly's bedroom and joined the other down stairs. There she would be waiting to hear the plan.

Yet Rainbow couldn't hold herself any longer. The sadness had become too much for her and she jumped into the air like it was nothing. Before anypony knew it had she flown through one of the windows and just flew as fast as she could home. While the tears continued to pour out of her eyes it was nearly impossible for her to see where she went. Eventually and through luck did she crashed in her home. To make it even better, she landed in her bedroom and fell right in her bed. The pegasus cried her eyes out before the words were screamed into the pillow. “Rarity! Why have you left us! What have we done to you?!”

---

Everypony else also just went home. There was nothing they could do on this matter anymore. That was with the exception of crying over the sad fact that it happened in the time that it did. Pinkie and Fluttershy went to her cottage where they would comfort one another as best as they could. Twilight went to her library on her own and Applejack walked with Sweetie on her back, back to the Acres.

Even though all of them were at the brink of depression, there was that one question on their mind. The fact of how it possibly could have happened to the unicorn. And all of the tears they would shed were tears for Rarity herself.

“Applejack, may I sleep in Apple Bloom’s room?” the young filly asked as they walked over the landroad with the farm falling into their eyes.

“Course ya may partner, as long as she's willing to share it with ya,” answered Applejack in an honest tone and with a small smile. It would be a couple minutes later that she opened the door to the house and entered it. The two were greeted by the warmth of the building and both were glad to be out of the cold. “Granny, Big Mac, Apple Bloom, Ah’m home and Ah have a guest with me,” the cowgirl spoke up to make her presence known.

Granny Smith, Big Macintosh and Apple Bloom all came into the living room with the same wondering look on their face. All five of them sat down in their respectable chairs and couches. As much as it was hurting Applejack to tell them, she had to tell the story about Rarity as she knew it.

Upon hearing the terrible news they all of them shed their tears and hugged each other tightly in the hope to find comfort. None of the family members could have possibly expected the fact that the unicorn of grace would leave the surface of their lands so quickly. And in the midst of the hug, was the little Sweetie Belle to be found. She was surrounded by the warmth of the family and only hoped that when she returned home, her own parents would do the same. Which they most likely would.

Twilight entered her library tree in the end. Only to be greeted by a happy Spike. Though the sad look on her face told him more than enough. He couldn't believe that it was the reality he had to live in from that day onward and he hugged her tightly.

Yet when they hugged one another, there were some tears left his eyes and rolled down his scaled face. Twilight tried to hold herself though in front of the dragon that was not only her assistant but also to be considered her son. With the passage of second she cried like a little foal as her world was devastated for the feelings. And in silence was begging for her friend to come back from the place she had gone to.

Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie tried to find comfort in each other as well within the cottage. Many of the little critters had been watching the two of them on the couch where they hugged and cried for hours to come. But deep in their minds, they all knew that nothing could possibly bring their friend back. Their minds knew it and spoke it to them. Their hearts didn't and spoke that as well to them.

---

A couple days had passed by and then the time was just there. The time for the funeral had fallen upon them. Everypony in Ponyville knew who had passed away, but the funeral was held in private to give the honors to her. Only Twilight, Spike, Applejack and her family, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash were invited to come as Sweetie and her parents organized it all. All of them wore something in the fashion of a funeral. Which meant that the color mostly seen was gray or black with a sad mood.

They all sat down on their chairs and tried not to cry as they looked at the maroon red coffin that stood above the hole dug underneath it. A stallion preacher stepped forward and spoke before the group from his little stage. “We have gathered here today, to pay our last respects to a wonderful mare, a mare who always stood ready for us, always willing to help. No matter what, she was there for us all when we needed her. You all know her, a lot better than I do, so I keep this short.”

Much to the surprise from everypony, did the preacher reach for something inside his toga and he pulled out a sealed letter. His eyes laid themselves upon the seal and he looked at a gem in the form of the mark of the mare. “This letter, is from miss Rarity herself,” he spoke up towards the crowd. “One found underneath her pillow when we removed her to, prepare her, for this.”

Everypony looked up at him and was even more surprised. All of the eyes, no matter how sad they were, all got focused upon him. Some of the eyes were wiped clean while the stallion dared to break the seal. He rolled the letter out before he cleared his throat. Some of the attendees were at the point of saying: get on with it but managed to contain themselves. And then finally he started to read the letter aloud for them all to hear.

"To my dearest family and friends,

With the greatest of pain in my heart am I saying this to you all. But through my whole life, I have been dealing with health issues. I never told anypony about this because I didn't want to concern them about me. Every year that I lived, my body gets weaker, my brain takes more and more emotional hits. There were points in my life where I thought about ending it myself by an mental overcharge. But then I thought about all of you. You all made me not do it. And for that, I thank you all so much. I thank you with all of my heart for that.

I tried my best to extent my life as far possible with my magic, not for myself, but for all of you. As of the time of this writing, I can not do it anymore. I have fought a losing battle for years and it is time to give up. I lived my life, as good as I could. But now, I must say goodbye, as the curtains drop for me, one last time.

Goodbye, everypony. I just hope, you can live on, as that privilege is never given to me.”

Everypony that heard the letter, couldn’t keep their tears together anymore and slowly they were released one pony at a time. Even the parents of Rarity let themselves go. Not even they did know something about the illnesses of their oldest daughter. Just so easily was their sweet daughter taken from them. The preacher laid the letter before him and looked at all of them. “Is there anypony, who want to say a couple words?” he spoke up in a polite tone towards them.

He waited for a couple minutes for anypony to come forward. But nopony came as they all know the same about Rarity, they knew who she was. And that what she represented in their lives. None had to ever tell them that anymore.

“If everypony who wants, please gather around the hole,” the preacher then asked politely. Sweetie was the very first one to stand up. In her right foreleg she held a white rose and walked towards the hole. Twilight soon followed her up together with Rainbow, Applejack, Apple Bloom and the parents. Each of them held a white rose while they looked at the coffin. The ones who didn't stand around it, sat by each other and comforted each other from one of the blackest days in the land. Or at least in their personal history.

All of them stood around the hole, it was the coffin that slowly descended into the grounds and Sweetie throw her rose behind it. The flower landed right in the middle of the coffin and she wiped away another stream of tears. The others followed her example and paid their final respects to the white unicorn mare in silence below the clouded sun.

“May the goddess of the sun and the goddess of the moon, look after her soul and safely guide her to the afterlife,” the preacher said with a teary voice of his own.

Everypony had one last look at the coffin and then left as it disappeared in the darkness of the ground. But Sweetie was the only one who stayed there long after everypony left. She didn't even dare to pull herself away from it. She wanted to be there for her sister, as she always had been there for her. Her green rimmed eyes look over at the hole before they went up to the tombstone. The new streams of tears were clearly visible while she read that what stood on the stone. Here lies Rarity Belle, beloved daughter and sister, may her soul rest in peace.

---

Applejack on the other end had promised herself to keep an eye out for the little filly. It was the least she could possibly do and was something that Rarity would have wanted and stood behind a tree. The cowgirl just waited for the filly to finally walk away. She didn't care how long it would be taken her. The mare had even peace with it if she had to stand there all of the upcoming night.

It was only after the sun was finally setting again that Sweetie indeed walked away. Applejack slowly started to walk next to her. Sweetie took notice of the cowgirl and looked at her with teary eyes in an asking manner. A look that asked the question of what she possibly could be doing next. Applejack returned the look with a confident one, one that spoke that the little filly would knew what she had to do.

Sweetie gave one last nod towards the cowgirl and then looked back one last time to the grave and sighed deeply. She knew that her sister was gone forever but also that she carried her forever in her thoughts. The filly turned her head over to the gates of the cemetery. There she saw how her parents had been waiting for her as well. Applejack smiled lightly to her and nodded towards the filly in a manner that she could go.

Which was the exact thing that Sweetie did. The little ball of white fur ran up to her parents and hugged the both of them as tight as she possibly could.

Everypony just had to accept the facts and live on, no matter how hard it was or how cruel it sounded. But one thing was for sure and was discovered in the night after the funeral itself. If one looked into the nightly skies and search for the most gorgeous star that shines upon the heavens, it was said that that star is the soul of the white unicorn mare who lived under the name of Rarity Belle.

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