//------------------------------// // 50 A moment of silence, for the fallen beauty // Story: Blood Curse Boutique // by Rarity Belle //------------------------------// Magnum was still pacing up and down the waiting room of the hospital whereas Twilight sat on the chair in silence. The librarian was just thinking about the facts as they were. At the same time she kept herself busy with mathematical problems and equations to solve. It was of course something to make sure she wouldn't fall in the madness and sadness herself for one of her friends. But it was only the question of how long she would be able to keep up the act for herself. How long she would be able to stand the fact that they had to bury one of her most beloved friends of time. “You think, she shall ever return, Twilight?” Magnum asked with a soft tone. He was out of everything. There was not a single thought left within his mind. Not even one that would have made him feel any better about the whole situation. He was growing more desperate, the more he had to wait for the results. “I wish I could tell you Magnum, but I don’t have any idea if she will ever return in a state that you can recognize her. I, spare you the details on what my mind is thinking about,” replied Twilight before she looked over to him. There was a deep sigh that followed her after the words. One thing was for certain though. Magnum wouldn't get his beloved, first born daughter back as he knew her. He gave it all up at that very point. Normally the stallion was always so optimistic about everything that could and probably would happened. But while the situation was revealed to his eyes, he could only weep about it. “Thanks for that,” he said to Twilight. His hooves began to tremble a little bit below him. The fact that he had been standing there for hours upon hours without a break had caused it. He had seen the moon and sun come and go on their turns. Magnum lowered his body in one of the chairs that sat close to Twilight and he closed his eyes under a sigh. Though things kept bugging him to no end. And one of the questions was aimed towards the other unicorn in the room. “Twilight, just why are you here?” he boldly asked. The stallion didn't even knew that he asked it out loud for he thought it was just spoken in his mind. The mulberry mare opened one of her eyes and she looked over to him with a confused gaze before she gave an answer to the question asked as honestly as she could. “I’m here for here for the same reason as you are. She might be your daughter, but she is one of my closest friend. We have been through so much together whether it be grand adventure or just coming over to one another. You as a parent hold her dear to you, but I hold her dear to me as a friend. The real question is going to be, why hadn't we informed others to come here as well? Your wife and Sweetie for example, Fluttershy and Applejack even.” She spared him the detail that it was her who pulled Rarity out of the fire in the first place. The answer that Magnum received was not something he had expected from her. Though he knew that she was right about the whole of the situation. He indeed cared a lot for his daughter, sometimes even more than for his very own life. Yet what baffled him the most was the question that she asked towards him. For that was something he never could have expected from her. “I think... to save them the horrible images of how she looked like,” he replied before a deep sigh was released through his nose. “To make them remember her as the wonderful and life filled mare that we all knew her as. Instead of a... of a,” he couldn't even finish the words that laid on his tongue. The stallion erupted in a new set of tears. His almost silent sobbing filled the waiting room they had been sitting in. He was broken down, devastated even. He had lost one of the most precious things in his life. Twilight couldn't help herself but to go over to him and just embrace him in a warm and tight hug. Even though the two of them had abandoned their hopes for the most part, there still was a small shimmer of something that showed them she was still alive. “Shh, shh. Remember her as she was yourself. Please, for the sake of your wife and daughter. Remember Rarity as the wonderful pony that she was. That wonderful mare who always stood ready whether it was day or night. That, is the true Rarity, Magnum and you know it,” she whispered into his ear. She even began to cradle him back and forth as if he was her own colt. In essence was he just a big colt who was broken down to his core. Magnum never truly grew up into a stallion and none seemed to be minding it. That was what made him so unique to the world. Or at least to the family. “T-Thanks Twilight. I, I have no idea what I would have done, what would have become of me really, if you weren't here with me.” “It’s alright Magnum, trust me, it’s alright,” she spoke in a soft tone. His tears fell upon her coat the more she comforted him. ~~~~                 The hours passed by as the two of them continued to just sit in their position as they did. They held one another close and used the other as their emotional support beam for when the news did finally was revealed to them. Of course they had heard the commotion of what happened down there. But what they didn't saw was that two stretchers were being removed from the basement and carried to another place. It was when the head of the hospital, the brown coated, suit wearing earth pony who lived under the name of Longlove, had entered the room that they both looked up to him. The stallion knew of course his own part of the truth. Though the very core was that Rarity was nowhere to be found in the building. He released a deep sigh through his nose and then spoke his words in a tone filled with sympathy for the father and friend. “With pain in my heart I have to bring this news towards the two if you. But it seems that your daughter, has left this realm. She, has passed away. My condolences to the both of you.” Upon the words spoken by him, the two were even more devastated yet they expected it to come down to that. The both of them nodded to his words while it was Magnum who gather the guts to speak up towards him. “T-Thank you, sir.” Despite the situation being grim for the two of them, Longlove gave them a smile which was supposed to settle the two of them a little bit. Then he made his departure. He was having another appointment he had to get to. One that was with a certain doctor. Twilight and Magnum turned their heads to one another and their eyes spoke the same words in their minds. That they were sorry for one another and their condolences. Yet they couldn't stay where they were. All of the sudden, after the news as told to them, the whole room just turned ice cold for their feeling. As if Death himself had entered the place to collect their souls on the spot. “I, I am sorry Magnum, but I must make my departure for the day. A-Again, I am sorry for it all,” Twilight stumbled out. She had no idea on how to react in such a situation. Neither of them truly did. In silence did the two of them went out of the waiting room. Though it was Twilight who already left without any other word from her body. Whereas Magnum picked up his coat and then set his hooves for his home. He was going to be the bringer of the terrible news for his family. ~~~~                 “Honey, where are you?” Magnum spoke up after he entered through the front door of the house. Even on his way back home he heard from mouth to mouth that the rumors were going strong. Both from the fire and her passing away. Though the cause of death was often to be considered the fires themselves rather than the hospital scene as a while. He didn't get any form of an answer to his first calling and tried it again. “Honey?” But again, no answer. Magnum blinked a couple times at the silence he got as the fears began to rise up within him. “They, they can’t know it already, now can they?” he mumbled to himself. Both of his ears twitched a little bit after they heard a small sniffing sound that came from the upper level of the building. Those sounds were more than enough for him to realize what happened. He hung his jacket on the hat stand before he made his way up the stairs. The unicorn stallion opened the door of his bedroom with a great care. Everything had pointed out that it originating from the room. With the door that opened under a soft screech of the hinges did his worst fears become true. “No,” was all he could say. He saw the sad sight before him. His eyes fell upon the twopony bed where his beloved Pearl laid down on. She was looking like a mess as she didn't seemed to have made herself presentable. She was cuddling his other daughter with love. Though the movements she made indicated that she was looking for comfort of her own. On the both of their cheek could the dried up streams of tears be seen. But new ones kept themselves building below their eyes. Without a word that left his mouth, the stallion made his way over to the bed and crawled up against them. As he had taken his position, Magnum stroked the mane of his wife and daughter gently in a single, repeating motion. And before them on the bed, laid an arcane letter which appeared to be written by nopony else but Twilight Sparkle. A letter which spoke about the unfortunate passing away of Rarity before he could even do it. She wanted to save him the pain of saying it, at least that was the kind heartened intention that Twilight had. ~~~~   None of the ponies spoke a word until minutes had turned into hours and the moon was shining bright above the night skies. The little Sweetie Belle was the one who broke the eerie silence with a voice that spoke utter sadness. “S-So Rary, doesn't c-come back, m-mommy?” “No my child, I am afraid she doesn't...” Pearl replied while tried to at her toughest. But the situation she found herself in made it literally impossible. “So you must have read it before, before I had the chance to tell you,” said Magnum with care.  His eyes kept themselves upon the mares and the letter. “Yes... yes we did. We got a second message and had our hopes high for everything, but it couldn't be that way,” the older mare spoke before she wiped her tears away. “Then, we should be expecting them to come by, all of them. If you need me, I will be downstairs. Waiting for them.” His tone was still filled with the greatest of sadness he had ever received in his life. Tears had made their return and way down his cheeks as with a great inner struggle he broke himself off  from the hold. Under a deep sigh Magnum made his way down the stairs again, doing what he said he would be doing. Sweetie and her mother kept laying in the bed for just a bit longer before the mare began to wipe away the tears of the filly. “C-Can’t show ourselves like we do, in front of visitors. Now can we?” she spoke with a faint smile on her face. The filly allowed her mother to clean her up a bit while staring into her eyes. The normally always so green rimmed eyes were then nothing more but a dull color. They were almost feeling empty and from some angles they almost had the appearance to be just gray. After Pearl had cleaned both the tears of her daughter and herself, she granted herself one last sniffle. After that did she stood up from her position. Without a word had she left the bed and held her hoof out to Sweetie in order to help her down from it. The filly took the hoof under a sigh and she jumped off from the bed, beginning on the way downstairs. ~~~~   Her father had already taken place in a chair as he was done with the setup of some tea and coffee for the expected guests. Strangely enough, he didn't even bother to smile to the mare and filly entering. Both Sweetie and Pearl took place on the sofa with mixed feelings about everything. The little unicorn snuggled up closely against her mother before she opened her mouth again. “C-Can I have some apple juice?” The stallion gave her a nod before he brought himself out of his chair. He made his way over to the kitchen with trembling hooves. In there he prepared the desired drink for his daughter. After the passage of a little minute he returned into the living room and gently gave the glass to Sweetie with the slightest of smiles on his face. The filly returned the smile just as faint before taking a sip from it. The two elder ponies closed their eyes a little bit as they still couldn't believe it that their oldest daughter had been taken away from her life in such a brutal manner. Neither Pearl nor Magnum spoke a word, but their minds were one with one another. All three of their ears suddenly perked themselves up and their head turned over to the door as a familiar knock did its turn on it. Sadly enough for them, it wasn't the one they had hoped for though. Magnum had sat down in his chair again before the knock did its turn. Thankfully he wasn't the most rotten stallion in town, he was quite the opposing in fact. Without a grumble stood Magnum back up. He found it is his duty to open the door which he did without a question. Though there was little in the world that could have hidden his sadness. On the other side were the five best friends of his oldest daughter. Each of them had the same look in their eyes. One that he carried as well. “Please, come in,” he spoke in a polite voice before he removed himself out of the opening. Each of the mares entered while they gave him a nod of respect. Even the normally so always hyperactive pink coated mare had managed to keep herself calm as her mane hung before her left eye. ~~~~   Twilight Sparkle, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Fluttershy in a shirt and last there was Pinkie Pie, all made their way over to the living room. They greeted the mother and the filly with a simple ‘evening’ before they all sat down on either a couch or a chair. The stallion made his way back and asked what each of them wanted to drink. Each of the mares answered the same, a simple cup of tea. Magnum gave a nod to their desires and he turned himself back to the kitchen. With the time he spent there, he prepared the cups and took a bit too much then his hooves could actually carry. But as he walked back into the living room with all the things in his hooves, there was another knock on the door. A knock that caused his eyes to shrink and he looked over to Pearl. “H-Honey, could you open up, g-got my hooves full here,” he said before he nudged his head between the mare and the front door. The eyes of Pearl turned their attention over to Twilight. Who knew what to do without a question asked. The mother did wanted to go herself but the snuggling of Sweetie prevented her from any movement. As quick as Twilight was on her hooves she reached for the front door of the small and humble home. She placed her hoof on the doorknob and turned it in order to open it. Where Twilight expected some unknown friends or relatives of the family to come in, her eyes had fallen upon the very rules of their land. Her eyes shrunk a little bit at the majestic feeling that the two beings her irradiated. Under the sounds of a loud gulp she managed to speak some words. “P-Princess Celestia, p-princess Luna,” she brought out. The princess of the sun gave her student a weak smile which went accompanied with a gentle nod. “Yes, my dear Twilight Sparkle, may we enter?” she asked in her usual kind voice. But the undertone was filled with the purest of sadness. “O-Of course, please come in,” the librarian spoke just before she made  way for the royals. The two sisters made their way passed her with a thankful smile on their faces. They entered the living room with the same words as the other five. Rarity’s father placed them before each of the friends after which he would prepare himself to get more. Twilight had made her return as well and she sat back down on her spot on the couch next to Rainbow. “Do the royals desire to drink something?” Magnum asked before he had almost disappeared in the kitchen again. Celestia turned her eyes over to the stallion with a gentle smile on her face. “Please Magnum, call my sister and myself by our names for tonight. And yes, some tea would be nice.” “Some tea for me as well please,” replied Luna. Her eyes were first set upon the stallion before they made a turn around the room to see just who did happen to be present. “So two more tea it will be.” Magnum quickly repeated and then he did disappear again into the kitchen. Sweetie Belle watched the crowd a bit scared for she wasn't used to the presence of the royals. The only time she had seen any of the princesses in reality was Luna on Nightmare Night. The little filly did the only thing her mind could come up with and that was snuggling even more up against her mother in order for comfort. Pearl wrapped her hoof around the filly while she gave her daughter a small kiss on the forehead. Luna herself couldn't help it but to allow a small giggle to leave her in response to the cute sight that played out before her. Magnum made his return into the living room and give both of the princesses their tea. He let his body to drop itself back in the chair once everypony had been served. Though when he sat down, tears began to collect below his eyes. Being the rough and tough stallion he always pretended to be, Magnum just wiped away the tears before his eyes went over the souls that were present. ~~~~   The silence was present from the second that Magnum had sat down in his chair. But their minds all thought of the same thing. After the passage of some time, it was the studious Twilight that found the very guts within her to speak some words. The guts to speak her words about the matter and one of her best friends she had ever had in her short lived life. “I think, I will be speaking for everypony in this room with my next words. Not only speaking for myself and my other friends, but also for both Celestia and Luna. We are all terribly sorry for your lose. Rarity was and still is, a great mare. Personally, I have seen very few ponies that could work so hard, yet find so much time to do daily things like spending time with friends and just be there for family. She was a strong pony without a single doubt on my mind. And one that in my eyes will never be forgotten. Times are probably going to be harsh but please, keep this in mind. We will always be standing ready for you,” she spoke in the direction of the family. The more she spoke, the more tears began to build themselves below her eyes. “Uhm... Twi, mind if Ah take it from here?” Applejack asked before she stood up. She placed a hoof on the near crying unicorn. Twilight nodded and she sat back down on the couch where she tried to keep her tears to herself. But some managed to escape her hold. Everypony looked up in a bit of a strange manner to her. Because for from the five, the cowgirl had the least in common with the fashionista and that fact was widely known to all of them. “Of, of course you may Applejack,” managed Twilight to bring out. She spoke them just after she sat down on her spot and before she tried to take a sip from her tea. The cowgirl gave her a weak smile before her attention turned to everypony else. “Ah have known Rarity from the day we first went to school, we both had our share of differences and never truly spoke to each other all that much. It was only after that event in the woods with ya, Twi, we finally gave each other the chance to speak. We had our differences and those did stay for the most part. But, on one thing Ah am as sure as water is rain, she was a good mare who was taken too soon out of our lives,” the farmer spoke up. She took off her hat and held it against her chest to pay respect. Her head hung itself low as her eyes closed themselves off from the world. Everypony could only nod to the words of the cowgirl for they were honest and true, much like she always was. The words that were spoken came from right out of both her heart and her mind as the cowgirl herself also had the greatest of troubles keeping her eyes dry from the saddened tears they all had. ~~~~   Celestia had taken sip from her own tea in silence. She levitated the cup back to the table in a gentle manner during the words of the cowgirl. Yet it was Luna who looked a bit wondered at what would happen. After Applejack had taken her seat again, it was the alicorn of the sun who stood up and did her own share of speaking in the form of a preach. A very well-meant one that was. “Ever since she was born, I have kept my eyes on your daughter. She was something quite unusual to my eyes, in the good manner of the word. Almost remarkable I dare to say. Rarity was almost like you, Twilight. For the years that came I kept thinking to myself she would give up on her dreams of becoming the mare she would eventually become.” There was a smile that grew on the face of Celestia before she continued on with her words. “I can quite honestly tell, that she truly was a rarity on this world. As my faithful student already spoke, there was an engine inside of her that drove her to complete tasks others would have seen as impossible. And I think that it is safe to say that the engine that powered her, was her loving heart. I know how hard the times to come are going to be, but allow me to finish my speaking with a saying. A saying that she once told me when I was in the need of comfort from a passed away friend ever so long ago.” All of the ponies hung on the lips of the princess. She cleared her throat and dug up the words from the deepest part of her mind. “As long as one soul remembers it, the one that passed away will never be truly gone.” The more the royal spoke her words, the harder it was for the other ponies to hold their tears together. And it was when she spoke the saying that nopony could keep their tears back anymore and all of them cried in silence. Their tears spoke more than words would ever be able to do. Some gave a nod as others sniffled deep. Though what was unknown to everypony was the fact that deep inside of Luna her body, there was a feeling of an unusual presence. The presence of a dark creature, a being that shouldn't be there to begin with was somewhere near them. With her heart burning weak inside of her body, Luna decided to not show anything of it to anypony. Instead she levitated her cup into the air. “To Rarity, the element of generosity, that she may find peace and rest in the great beyond,” she spoke up as she wiped her tears away with a hoof. At hearing of the spoken words, everypony looked up from their thoughts and they nodded in a manner of understanding. They all repeated the words spoken by the princess of the night and all of the cups raised themselves in the air. After that they held a moment of silence for the unicorn who had passed away in the fires. In the house of Magnum and Pearl had everypony slowly accepted the fact that Rarity was gone. They all found themselves talking about her life. What the wonderful unicorn had accomplished and what she could have done. While the mood seemed joyful it was the sad undertone which could still be heard in each of their voices and haunted through the house itself. ~~~~   Yet all the way over the plains and hills, up to the mountain and through the gates which marked Canterlot could the elements of harmony themselves be found. They rested on their usual place deep within the magical vault of the throne room of Canterlot Castle. Hidden away from every soul that wanted to do harm with them. At the moment the bearers spoke the toast, each of the necklaces and the tiara shone brightly. But the necklace shaped in the form of a diamond managed to release some of the dark magic it had been housing, sprouting it outward towards the others. It had been doing such acts for almost a year but nopony knew about it since the vault was always locked and the princesses had lost their touch with the elements. Yet the main reason why it wasn't discovered was because they weren't to be needed for a long time and most ponies prayed they wouldn't be anytime soon.