If there was one thing that Rarity hated about this exact moment, it was that blasted stain on the ceiling.
Once candles had been properly placed throughout her home, Rarity and the other girls decided to take the conversation to the living room. They had relaxed once they got used to the darkness, laying on their sides as they chatted amongst themselves.
Rarity however was the only one who wasn't talking, looking up at the stain. She had remembered why the stain looked so familiar.
Under this lighting, it looked like a blood splatter.
"Rarity?" Surprisingly, it was Fluttershy who had spoken up, her soft voice breaking her out of her trance. "Are you okay? You look really... Sad."
Upon this revelation, the other girls looking over at her with concern. 'Well... No use trying to make some excuse now' Rarity thought to herself, as she cleared her throat.
"Girls... I'm sure you're all very curious as to why I asked you to be here today." She began, sitting up. "As I told Rainbow and Twilight before you got here, today is the day that I had done something so... horrible, that I wouldn't blame any of you if you were too never associate with me again."
The girls' looks of concern seemed to only deepen, as Rarity continued on.
"When I was a filly..."
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Scootaloo had slumped against the ground, wailing out in boredom. "I'm bored!" She yelled out.
"Me too." Agreed Sweetie Belle, laying next to her.
"Me three." Apple Bloom said, also laying down next to them.
They had heard the girls talking amongst each other down stairs, before things had gotten eerily quiet.
"Whaddya think they're talking about?" Asked Apple Bloom, furrowing her brow as she tried to listen.
"How should I know?" Answered Scootaloo, before suddenly getting a bright idea. "Hey, let's go find out!" She said, hopping up onto all four hooves and making for the door.
"Wait!" Sweetie called out, stopping her dead in her tracks. "Rarity told me to stay in my room..."
"Fine, then don't come." Offered Scootaloo, smirking as she used reverse psychology on her. "I'm sure they might be talking about some lost, ancient treasure and where to find it. Buuut if you're sister said to stay..."
Apple Bloom scowled at her for that. "Scootaloo, that's just plum stupid." She said, not one to mince words. "If they was talkin about some treasure, I'm sure they would've found a better time to talk about it. And if they really needed treasure, they'd probably just ask Rarity for some of her gems."
Sweetie Belle spoke up at that. "Rarity's gems are mostly worthless. That's why she uses them in her clothes." She pointed out. "The only gems actually worth any money would be diamonds, and she doesn't have any of those."
"Well, if you have any ideas on what they could be talking about, I'm all ears." Scootaloo said, still intent on going downstairs to eavesdrop.
Sweetie bit her lip, before sighing. "Rarity said that... she was confessing to her friends about some really big secret."
"See!? It could be where she keeps all her diamonds!" She stated, opening the door. "And when I get the treasure first, I'll be keeping them all to myself!"
"Hey, that's mean!" Apple Bloom said, chasing after her.
Sweetie Belle furrowed her brow, debating whether or not to join them in spying. Her own curiosity won out, as she ran out the door. "Hey, wait up!"
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
After repeating the story of punching Annie in the face (And waiting for the giggle fits between Rainbow and Applejack to die down), Rarity began. "Hitting Annie may have ended her abuse towards me, but it only made things worse once Dug and Kicker had gotten wind of it. They stepped up their efforts to torment me, saying such... Hurtful things. Not to mention the physical things they would do to me. I dread to say it, but they were smart, never doing enough damage to draw blood, or even bruise. Any time they were caught and punished, they would just make sure to play it safer next time."
The girls had listened to her story with an increasing amount of surprise and sadness, especially from Rainbow Dash, remembering her time as a filly and the bullying she had suffered from Hoops, Dumb-Bell, and Score.
"It had gotten to the point where I had dreaded going to school, the very thought of it putting in a depressed slump." Tears were forming in her eyes as she continued. "...I had even wanted to kill myself."
That had thrown Rainbow for a loop, looking to Rarity with wide eyes. As bad as those three meatheads were, they were never that horrible.
It was too much for Fluttershy to bear, suddenly getting up and nearly tackling her friend in a tight hug, tears streaming down her face. "I'm sorry!" She repeated over and over, hugging her friend like she was afraid of letting her go.
"F-Fluttershy..." Rarity, began giggling a bit but crying as well, hugging her just as close. "What are you apologizing for?" She said, rubbing her back as they cried together.
The other girls had all joined in the hug, crying but smiling warmly as they comforted her friend.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The three fillies had used the darkness to their advantage, silently watching over the girls from the stairwell.
Apple Bloom and Scootaloo looked to each other guiltily. "I-I don't think this is about treasure, Scoot." Said the yellow filly.
Scootaloo said nothing, as they both glanced over at Sweetie Belle. She was on the verge of crying, tears welling up in her eyes as she desperately wanted to join the group hug, telling her that she loved her.
Apple Bloom rubbed the back of her head, already regretting this.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Once they had all calmed down, Rarity informed them that she wasn't done with the story. They had all gone back to laying on the ground, watching Rarity continue.
"Anyway... Once it was clear that they were going to make my life a living hell, I had snuck away after school, just to be anywhere but there. I found this little creek by the Everfree forest. It was a beautiful little area, absolutely serene. It was there I would vent out all of my hate and anger on a nearby tree. Hitting it, kicking it, throwing rocks at it. That's when I discovered I was really good at throwing rocks."
Rainbow didn't know if the others could sense it, but she didn't like where this was going.
"I would throw those rocks with such power and precision that they'd cut large gashes into the tree. I was... It made school somewhat bearable to endure, over the months." She said, a small smile on her face as she thought back on the memories... before biting her lip. "Then, one day... They had followed me there."
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Please, I'm sorry!" She yelled out, tears streaming down her face as Dug and Kicker slowly approached her.
"I bet it felt good, didn't it?" Asked Kicker, wearing a sick smile. "To hit her like that?"
Rarity furrowed her brow, thinking back to the moment. She had to admit, she loved the feeling she had over her, looking down at her as she just laid there on the ground. For a brief moment, Rarity was scared that she might have killed her, but not as scared as she should have been.
She cut back to the two bullies, getting closer to her. She backed up against the tree that had so many gashes in the bark. "No, I hated it!" She lied, hoping that maybe they'd see reason. "I-I wish I could take it back!"
"Don't you lie to me, you rat!" Kicker retorted, as the both of them surrounded her making sure she couldn't get away.
"I-I'm not lying!" She pleaded, shutting her eyes and trying to wake up from this nightmare. "Just leave me alone, please..."
"You hurt our friend, you bucking rat!" Dug screamed, getting ready to pounce on her. "I'm gonna beat your face in!"
"No! PLEASE!" She desperately looked around for anything she could use to defend herself, noticing the rock that she liked to throw. She picked it up with her magic.
Dug leapt at her, and Rarity swung the rock as hard as she could against his head. He fell over without a sound, not even so much as a whisper as he landed on the grass with a thud.
Time seemed to slow down to a crawl, as both Rarity and Kicker looked over at Dug's motionless body. "...Dug? ...Buddy?" Kicker called out to him, scared at how quiet he was being.
Rarity was breathing slowly and methodically, unsure that what she just did was even real. She felt... she didn't know what she was feeling at the moment, as she watched Kicker approach Dug's body, shakily lowering his head to his barrel to hear a heartbeat.
"...No." Kicker suddenly said, sitting back up. "Dug, no, you can't be dead!"
'Dead? Dug was dead..?' Rarity thought to herself, looking at the slowly forming pool of blood, leaking out of the wound on the side of his head. Rarity suddenly figured out what she was feeling. The need to puke. And that she did, turning her head to the side and hurling.
"...YOU!" Kicker suddenly called out, tears falling from his eyes as he turned to Rarity, who was wiping the sick from her lips. "YOU KILLED DUG, YOU RAT!"
Rarity had just enough sense to dodge him as he leapt towards her, rolling to the side towards the creek. "Kicker, I didn't mean too!" She pleaded, the fact that she had killed him was threatening to make her throw up again.
Kicker was too far gone in sorrow and rage to see reason, charging at her again. Rarity picked up the rock, repeating the same motion, this time with less power to try and not kill him. However, it seemed fate had other ideas, as she was successful in only knocking him unconscious, but the speed and power behind his run hastened his downfall, as he slid right into the river, sinking to the bottom.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rarity hung her head in shame, having fully admitted her secret sin to her dearest friends.
"Rarity... you..?" Twilight couldn't even bring herself to finish her sentence.
Rarity couldn't look at her, as she sighed. "Yes, Twilight. When I was 8, when I was trying to defend myself... I had killed two of my classmates."
It was at this moment that a lightning strike illuminated the whole house.