//------------------------------// // Chapter 9 // Story: For Whom The Belle Tolls // by Darksonickiller //------------------------------// For Whom The Belle Tolls Chapter 9 Rarity read the eulogy. It seemed only right. None of the five friends exactly clamoured to be the one to read it, but Rarity thought it should be her responsibility, and none of the other mares contested. All of them had a part in writing it though. That as well, seemed only right. Rainbow was an important part in the lives of all her friends, so of course each of them had something to say. They wrote of her bravery, her tenacity, her beauty. They wrote of her nature and never ending loyalty to her friends. And Rarity wrote of the love she felt for her twin sister, and how losing her was the worst experience of her life.   The funeral was beautiful. They pegasi kept the sky clear for miles, the sky was bright. The service was held outside. Rainbow Dash never liked being cooped up indoors for too long. It was a small service. Rainbow’s closest friends, Scootaloo, Apple Bloom, and of course her two sisters. The princesses also came, remaining silent and respectful, simply offering their condolences.The rest of the ponies sat down, resting their haunches upon the soft green grass. Rainbow would be buried in Ponyville, but her funeral was held outside of town, in a small clearing. It was warm and peaceful. Rainbow’s body lay in her casket, made of oak, elegantly carved and inlaid with jewels of varying colours. Sweetie Belle sobbed, making a valiant effort to remain as silent as she could while her sister stood up and spoke. Three weeks had passed since the day Rainbow’s heart stopped beating, but from what Applejack had seen, the little filly hadn’t stopped crying since. She didn’t envy Sweetie, but at least she had the courage to cry for Dash. Applejack had kept her eyes dry refusing to let her emotions out. She knew the day she finally started crying, she wouldn’t be able to stop. So, she held back, out of fear. And she couldn’t think of a worse way to disrespect Rainbow Dash’s memory. Scootaloo cried nearly as much as the unicorn filly, but they sat far from each other. They could hardly look each other in the eye since Rainbow passed on. Apple Bloom was trying her best to keep the group together, holding on her fellow crusaders like glue. Applejacks little sister spent more time with the little pegasus though, seeing as how she didn’t have many ponies to lean on, now that Dash was gone. At least Sweetie Belle still had a sister.   Applejack stared forward again, to Rarity, who stood before the crowd, just ahead of the large casket, and tried desperately to keep her voice steady as she read. Applejack couldn’t listen though. She had read the thing more than a hundred times, but what did it matter? What could a piece of paper do sooth everypony’s suffering? How could their words bring back Rainbow? Applejack knew the profound love they all felt for the pegasus, she didn’t need Rarity to stand before her and remind her.   She looked to her side again. Nearly all her friends were dabbing at their eyes. Fluttershy sobbed silently, taking herself far away from all the other ponies, but still close enough to hear the words the white unicorn was reciting. The princesses were solemn, standing tall and regal. Aside from herself and the royalty, the only other pony who kept their eyes dry was Twilight. But the farm pony knew she had already let out her emotions. The night Rainbow passed, the entire town had awoken to the purple alicorn’s fits of rage. Applejack saw it for herself, while she wandered the streets, still unwilling to go back home. The windows of Golden Oak’s flashed with magenta light, the sounds of breaking glass, dull thuds of books being tossed throughout the building, and Twilight’s own screams of anguish could be heard throughout Ponyville.   When Applejack approached the door to the library, Pinkie Pie and Rarity already stood there, as well as Spike, watching the scene from the windows, their faces bathed in the light of Twilights aura. Applejack joined them, peering through the glass panes at her friend.  It took a moment for her eyes to adjust to the brightness. Twilight was standing in the center of her library, where a table and a horse head statue once stood, both now lay broken in the corner. Her purple horn wasn’t only covered in the aura, it seemed almost ablaze, with sparks firing out, most of them tumbling onto her mane. Books and Twilights own possessions alike were flying all around her in a torrent. Sometimes she would separate a large group of the objects she held suspended and sent them crashing into the wall.   She was sobbing uncontrollably, and every time her head moved she cried out in strain and agony. Applejack was horrified by what she saw, and tried to rush in to help her. But the instant the door opened, Twilight turned on her, her horn lowered dangerously. “GET OUT!” She screamed in a voice that hardly seemed her own. Applejack felt herself get tossed like a ragdoll by an invisible force, and she heard the door slam shut as she landed upon the ground. Applejack returned to her friends, all of whom were crying. The best they could do was assure the townsponies that everything was alright, and keep them away from the library. After a few hours, Twilight’s energy finally seemed to fail her and she collapsed to the floor without warning, along with all the objects she had still been holding, much of which landed atop her crumpled body. Since that day, Twilight had also refrained from letting her emotions show. As Applejack looked to her friend, Twilight looked almost tense, as though she was getting ready to jump. Her eyes were fixed and focussed on Rarity, and after a moment, Applejack figured it out. She was expecting Rarity to break down, to fold under her emotions and cry. Twilight was getting ready to come to the unicorns aid when that happened. As prudent an action that seemed, the farm pony felt almost disappointed in her friend. Applejack knew Rarity was strong. She was crying, but she would see the eulogy through to the end. She and the alabaster unicorn may have been at ends, but there wasn’t a pony Applejack knew as well as her. Well, except for Rainbow Dash. Rarity hadn’t spoken a single word to her since the day Rainbow died. And as much as she tried to ignore it, she wished more than anything that the grieving unicorn would speak to her for just a moment, and just outright tell her how she felt. Applejack couldn’t tell what Rarity saw when she looked into her eyes. There were so many emotions she could feel them radiate from her. She was angry, grieving, unsure. She had said before that she didn’t hate her, that she wasn’t angry. But that was when Rainbow seemed to be getting better, when they thought things would eventually go back to normal.   Now, Applejack didn’t know if the unicorn hated her. She very well might, and Applejack wouldn’t have blamed her in the slightest, but the uncertainty just added to the already endless ocean of pain in which she seemed to float. She had taken away Rarity’s sister, after she had endured so much torture and separation. She had killed her. The orange mare’s eyes saw past Rarity, and gazed upon the coffin which held one of her best friends. Rainbow Dash lay in there, prepared for her burial. After today, she would never again look upon the pegasus. All that would remain of her would be photographs. And a tombstone. She stopped thinking, let her mind go white, and tried to refocus. Her eyes had begun to water. She wasn’t ready to let herself go yet. Though it appeared Rarity was. Applejack tuned into the eulogy just as the white unicorn finished. “Goodbye Rainbow. I love you.” The words were soft as a whisper and shaky as an autumn leaf. She turned and rested a hoof upon her twin’s coffin. And yet again she let herself sink to the ground. The white mare hadn’t fainted this time, instead she simply lacked the will to stand, as she lay upon the soft green grass, and cried out. Everypony got up on their hooves, even Applejack. She had been selfish enough for that day, and inside she knew, she needed contact, even if she didn’t want to admit it. They all rushed to Rarity, and held her close, all wrapping their forelegs tightly around each other. Applejack felt the hooves of Fluttershy, Sweetie Belle and the Belle's mother on her back, while she held Pinkie and Rarity in her own embrace. In that moment she fought the hardest she had yet to keep her tears in.   Several minutes later, they finally separated.  They knew it was time to finish. They all looked to each other.   “Who’s going to go first?” Twilight asked. “I’d like to.” Fluttershy said, now calm. The others nodded in agreement and backed away from the coffin, leaving the yellow pegasus to speak her piece. They were much too far away to hear what she said, but eventually she fell into ragged unhindered sobs, and Twilight had to come to carry her away. It made the most technical sense for their mother to go next. She simply stood there like a statue, She was devastated having lost one of her dear children, her mouth once or twice attempting to form words, before she finally walked away without saying a thing. She only think of how horrible her daughter's life must have been and how her foalhood was stolen from her by her abusive farther who didn't bother to show up deciding to stay home and watch the hoofball game instead. That thought alone brought even more tears to the already endless stream running down her cheeks and was enough for her to decide right then and there that that despicable stallion wasn't getting any love for a long time. Twilight was next, then Pinkie Pie, as one by one, each pony approached the casket alone to say their goodbyes. Applejack didn’t want walk up, she hardly saw the point in it. What words could she possibly say to make things right? What words could she possibly say to soothe the ache in her own heart? She watched Scootaloo stand before the coffin, and for a moment, Applejack thought she might lose her composure. She was so small, standing before such a large casket, speaking her last words to the mare she was closest to. She rested her small hooves on the ornate casket, raising herself on her hind legs to look upon the blue mare. To the shock of every pony, she cried the least as she spoke. Just as all who approached before, nopony could hear exactly what she was saying, but from the way she did it, it was almost like she was telling a story, informing Rainbow about her day, as she had done so many times before. One line Applejack caught more than once from the little pegasus was “Remember when…”   She stayed up the longest. After Scootaloo came down, the only ponies remaining who hadn’t spoken were Applejack and the two sisters of the deceased. Applejack planned on sitting it out, sinking into her chair, her head hung low. But the others stared at her, their eyes boring holes into her. Applejack held strong, remaining rooted to her chair unwilling to break. Until she felt something press against her knee. She lifted her head slowly, and her stare met with Sweetie Belle. The white filly was resting a gentle hoof upon Applejack’s legs, looking up at her with pleading eyes, rimmed with red from so many tears. They held each other’s gaze for a long while, until Applejack finally cracked. She had stolen this filly’s sister away from her. She had an endless road of repayment ahead of her, and it may as well start with something as simple as some final words, to the pony who had been so influential to her.   The farm pony stood up with a huff. Sweetie Belle’s face remained unchanged, but deep in her eyes, Applejack could spot something close to gratitude. Her hooves felt as though they were weighted with lead as she carried herself closer and closer to the pony she had cared so much about. The pony she had killed. She still felt the eyes of her friends upon her, and her guilt continued to burden her, growing heavier with each step. Finally she passed by Rarity, again seeing a subtle hint of gratitude buried beneath a mountain of suffering. Why was she grateful? Applejack felt selfish. She made her way past the alabaster mare, and found herself before Rainbows casket.   There she was. The epicenter of athleticism and energy, lying utterly still. Applejack was thankful she hadn’t eaten yet that day, as her stomach churned and boiled to stare upon her. Her legs began to shake, her stiff upper lip began to tremble, but she held firm still. She still refused to break further, refused to let her sadness show in such a light. She took a deep breath. Before her lay Rainbow Dash, one of the ponies she cared for most in this world. She was gone now, and Applejack had to say something. She placed the situation in the simplest terms she could to avoid scaring herself.   “Rainbow, I’m… sorry.” The words sat there lamely, almost echoing in the silence. That was it? That was all she could offer her best friend? That she was sorry? She tried to find something else to say, something important, something meaningful. She tried to sum up everything she felt, everything Dash had been to her every year of her life. But all she found was ‘I’m sorry’. She saw something move out of the corner of her eye, but it was too blurry to tell what. She blinked, and there beside the casket gleamed a lone drop of moisture. She reached up, and as her hoof pressed to her cheek, she felt the wet tracks of moisture running down her face. She started to shake, the dam finally breaking, but behind it wasn’t sadness. Behind it was anger. She’d killed Rainbow. She’d killed one of the most important- no, she’d killed family, and all she had to offer was ‘I’m sorry.’ Was she really that pathetic? She didn’t deserve to be here, she didn’t deserve to be among Rainbow’s friends. She was running, away from the casket. She thought there were voices, but she couldn’t hear them, she couldn’t listen. They were Rainbow’s friends, they hadn’t killed her. She had to get away, she didn’t deserve to be here. They were going to stop her, hold her, try and tell her she didn’t do anything wrong. But she knew better, she was a murderer. Something grabbed at her, but she bucked and threw it off. She couldn’t let them catch her. She couldn’t let them forgive her. She didn’t deserve to be forgiven. She ran, and ran, and ran. She ran until her legs burned, and her face stung. She barely felt the welts across her face where the branches had struck her. She didn’t recognize the dark and gnarled trees around her. She didn’t remember how long she’d been running. All she knew, was that she was alone. Alone. This was what she deserved. She sat down, her legs finally giving out beneath her. There was nothing left in her. There was just the emptiness, and the tears running down her face, until even those were gone. In the end there was just the forest and the silence. Hours passed. Sometimes the bushes would rustle. Maybe it was her- maybe it was Rainbow’s friends, looking for her. Maybe it was timberwolves, skulking about their territory. Either would have been just as welcome. No, that wasn’t true. She would have preferred the timberwolves. There would have been a justice to it. She didn’t deserve to be brought back to town, told it wasn’t her fault. Told that they all still loved her. She deserved to die, slowly and painfully, just like Rainbow. Her eyes wandered around the clearing, pausing when a bush rustled. It occurred to her that she should call out. She was never the self pitying type, and now wasn’t the time to start. If something needed to be done, she’d as well be done with it. “Hey! Hey yall good fer nuthin varmints! Ya stupid stinkin stacks of splinters! Remember me?” She scooped up a rock with her hoof, and hurled it out into the bushes. “Yes, Applejack, we remember you.” From the bushes emerged the last face Applejack wanted to see. Her sapphire eyes brimmed with tears, a wan smile offered to her former friend. “Fluttershy realized you might be hiding from us-” “No!” Applejack turned to run, but Rarity’s magic caught her around the hoof. If it had been Twilight, she could have lifted Applejack clean off the ground, but the best Rarity could do was trip her for a step. It was enough. The next thing Applejack knew, Rarity’s hooves were wrapped around her, trying desperately to hold on. “Applejack! Please! It-” she stopped short as Applejack nearly threw her off. Instead, she grit her teeth as Applejack tried harder and harder to dislodge her grip. Years of rodeo experience pitted themselves against Rarity’s refusal to lose another friend. On and on the battle went, until finally, Applejack slipped and fell to the earth, her legs as numb as her heart. Slowly, Rarity peeled herself off. She looked destroyed. Her hair hung limp and ragged from her head, broken branches and leaves snarled into its shredded waves. Dirt smeared her coat, and a few shallow scratches ran along her sides from where the underbrush has scored her. But her eyes were clear as they locked with Applejack’s. “No,” she said, “not you too.” Applejack finally opened the flood gates, her body was racked with power sobs as Rarity hugged her and cried along with her.