//------------------------------//
// The Creek 
// Story: A Shadow Hangs Overhead 
// by BronyWriter 
//------------------------------//


Five Years Later


"And there you go, Ms. Heartstrings. I've stitched up your comforter, as per your instructions." 

"Thank you, Rarity, and please, just call me Lyra."

"Very well. Have a good day, Lyra."

Rarity levitated the folded blanket over to the mint green unicorn across from her, and received a small bag of bits in return. The two nodded at each other, and Lyra left with her blanket floating over her head. 

"Ugh, now are you done, Rarity?"

Rarity smiled, and turned to the young filly who was sitting in a basket of cloth scraps, and batting one of the loose threads of fabric. "Yes, I'm done for right now, Sweetie Belle. You've been very patient. Thank you. I just needed to finish up that last job for Lyra. We can go see Apple Bloom now."

Sweetie Belle brightened and hopped out of the basket. "Yay! Apple Bloom!" 

Rarity walked over to a nearby chair, where her saddlebag rested, and put the bag of bits Lyra had given her inside, before slinging it over her shoulder, and leading her out of her home. 

Normally Rarity smiled when the warm spring air washed over her, but not today. Today was not a day to be happy; not truly, anyway. She could, and would, pretend for Sweetie Belle's sake, but there were other days to be happy. Not today. Still, watching Sweetie Belle bounce up and down as they made their way to Sweet Apple Acres brought a small, genuine smile to Rarity's face. Nothing brought that filly down. 

Within a few minutes, the familiar sight of Sweet Apple Acres came into view, and Sweetie Belle's already wide smile increased in size. She bounded a few steps ahead of her sister, then turned and pointed at the farm. "It's Sweet Apple Acres, Rarity! Apple Bloom is there!"

Rarity chuckled and nodded. "Yes indeed, Sweetie Belle. I'm sure she'll be very excited to see you too. Don't go running too far ahead though, okay?"

Sweetie Belle paused for a moment, and let Rarity catch up to her, but once her sister was by her side again, Sweetie Belle took off for the Acres. The two entered the farmlands, and Rarity smirked when she saw Applejack standing on the porch of her home, a grinning and bouncing Apple Bloom next to her. When Apple Bloom saw Sweetie Belle, Rarity heard her squeal, and saw her point at her sister, and Applejack nodded. Apple Bloom rushed towards Sweetie Belle, and by that point, not even her big sister's commands could have stopped Sweetie Belle from taking off. The two reached each other, and Apple Bloom wrapped Sweetie Belle in a tackle-hug. 

Rarity shook her head, still smirking, and walked over to Applejack, who had her own smirk on her face. 

"Good afternoon, Applejack, how are you?"

Applejack tipped her hat before throwing a foreleg around Rarity's shoulders. "Ah'm doin' mighty fine, Rarity. Been doin' a lot more of the work 'round here, which is nice fer Big Mac." Rarity nodded, and returned Applejack's hug. 

"That sounds nice." The two heard a squeal of delight come from their sisters, and they turned their heads to see the two giggling and doing some hoofshake or other. Rarity chuckled. "Inseparable."

"Have been since they laid eyes on each other, if ya remember." Applejack snorted. "AB didn't wanna leave once she saw Sweetie Belle."

The two fillies finished with their hoofshake and shot to their hooves to run up to their big sisters. "Can we go play in mah room, sis?" Apple Bloom asked. "Ah wanna show her mah new doll that Ah'm makin'!"  

Applejack chuckled and nodded. "You sure can, Apple Bloom. Just don't make too much noise, ya hear?" 

"We won't!" Apple Bloom promised before the two rushed inside the house faster than Applejack and Rarity could register what had just happened. 

Applejack rolled her eyes and opened the door to the house. "You wanna come inside and have a drink fer a few minutes?"

Rarity smiled and nodded. "Yes, I think that sounds lovely."

Applejack motioned for Rarity to go in first and followed once Rarity entered the house. Rarity gave a contented sigh when she looked around the farmhouse, relishing the fond memories she had of the place. She followed Applejack to the dining room, where she sat down as Applejack went to go get some refreshments. Within a few moments, Applejack returned with two bottles of apple cider, which she put on the table. Rarity thanked her and pulled hers closer to take a sip. 

"So, how's the clothing repair and tailorin' business goin'?" 

Rarity shrugged. "It goes. I still sometimes wish that I could design and sell fancy dresses to Canterlot big-shots, but, well, we both know why that's never going to happen. I just fixed up a comforter for Lyra Heartstrings, and I have a small order of foal's clothes to make for next week. I'm still making most of my income from finding and selling gems. I'm thinking of taking a few classes on how to polish and cut them properly so that they have a higher value when I sell them." 

"Good." Applejack took a sip from her drink. "Your new house workin' out okay? Settlin' in alright?"

"Yes, I think so." Rarity poked at her mane and clicked her tongue when she noticed that a few strands of it had come out of the band keeping it in its ponytail. She ignited her horn and took out the rubber band, letting it fall to her shoulders. "Sweetie Belle was sad to see me move out, but I have more room for things now. I have a nice basement to store the gems I find instead of my room, which is nice, and a workroom for my projects. I still have a few more repairs to do on the place, though."

"Well, just let me know, and Ah'll help ya out with anything that Ah can."

Rarity smiled, and began using her magic to put her mane back in its ponytail. "I might do that. I have a few loose odds and ends that you could be able to fix." 

"Be happy to." Applejack took a deep breath, and her smile feel.  A grimace took its place. "But Rarity, enough of the chit-chat, Ah think. How are ya holdin' up with... that?"

Rarity's own smile faded, and she put her foreleg on the table to rest her head on her hoof. "It's... still difficult, Applejack. Even eleven years later, the pain hasn't gone away."

"Probably because you keep goin' back, Rarity!" Applejack put a hoof on Rarity's shoulder. "You don't halfta do this, sugarcube. You do it every year, and every time Ah see ya again, yer a wreck."

"Yes, Applejack, yes I do have to do it." Rarity pushed Applejack's hoof off of her shoulder and closed her eyes. "I... I want to--"

"Yeah, Ah know, you want ta make it right, or honor them, or whatever, but Ah don't know if you really get what yer doin' to yerself, sugarcube." Applejack sighed. "You haven't forgiven yerself, have you? Eleven years later and you still hate yerself for it?"

Rarity opened her eyes and looked over to Applejack. She sighed and straightened up. "No, I wouldn't quite say that I hate myself. I wouldn't say that at all. I did something terrible, and because of that, I have to do this."

Applejack pursed her lips, but refrained from responding. After a few seconds of staring at Rarity, she clicked her tongue and looked towards the stairs. "Fine. Do it. Yer a grown mare who can make her own choices. Just... think about it is all. Ah'm worried about you every year."

Rarity gave Applejack a small smile, and leaned forward and wrapped her hooves around her shoulders. "I know, Applejack. Do know that I don't do this lightly. If I truly believed this was a bad idea, I wouldn't do that. Please believe me."

"Ah do, sugarcube." Rarity broke off the hug, and the two of them stood up. Applejack walked Rarity over to her door and opened it up for her. "You doin' the Sisterhooves Social with Sweetie Belle again this year?"

"I wouldn't miss it for the world. She'll be old enough to do the race with me soon."

"Yeah." Applejack took a quiet breath and scratched the back of her neck. "Yeah she will, Ah guess." 

"Take care, Applejack."

Applejack nodded. "You too."

With that, Rarity left Applejack's home in the direction of town, flinching slightly when she heard the door close shut behind her. She sighed and shook her head as she walked off of the farm's property. Applejack didn't understand. Applejack couldn't understand. It wasn't her burden to bear. She didn't carry the weight of the most horrific of sins with her. Rarity pushed Applejack out of her mind and went towards the vendor's area of town. 

The market bustled with ponies buying and selling goods, just like always, but Rarity had one stall in mind. She came to it every year, and would likely continue coming to it every year she could. She went halfway into the market until she found the stall she searched for. The proprietor looked up when she saw Rarity coming, and her smile faltered for a moment.

"Good afternoon, Roseluck," Rarity said as she stopped in front of the stall. "How are you?"

Roseluck tilted her head in a nod. "I'm good, Rarity. But... how are you?"

Rarity grimaced and flattened her ears. "Er..." She gently cleared her throat and motioned to the baskets of flowers. "Four white roses, please."

"Yeah," Roseluck muttered. "Coming up."

Roseluck gathered the flowers, and bunched them up with a rubber band. Rarity took them in her magic, and left them floating at her side. "How much?"

"No charge."

Rarity sighed. Just like last year. 

"Come now, Roseluck, darling, you run a business. I have to pay you something."

Roseluck held out her hoof and shook her head. "No, Rarity, that's okay. You do what you need to do. No charge for the roses."

"Roseluck, please." Rarity levitated the bit bag that Lyra had given her out of her saddlebag. "Please let me give you something."

"Two bits, then."

"Two bits." Rarity opened up the bit bag, and slid two bits from the bag onto the counter. Roseluck scooped the bits from the counter, and put them in her cash register. "Thank you very much, darling."

"Thank you." Roseluck's gaze trailed to the ground. "You have a good day, okay?"

"And to you as well."

With that finished, it was time. Rarity's stomach twisted itself into a knot, and she took a deep breath as she walked towards it. The one place that started it all. Rarity ignored all others as she neared it. Today was a day for nopony else. Applejack watched Sweetie Belle, so nopony else mattered. Today was a day for her. Rarity whimpered when she passed the schoolhouse, but forced herself to continue. She had to do this. Every year she had to do this. 

Somehow the journey went slowly, but was over in the blink of an eye. Before Rarity could register it completely, she found herself standing in her little clearing. The creek where she had spent so many afternoons and evenings hiding from the world, feeling safe. Now a place of taint and sorrow. The ground was littered with white roses, many of them laid out in lines of four where she had left them. Other bunches of flowers, not left by her, peppered the clearing, but they remained as unimportant to Rarity now as they had been in the past. 

Rarity took her saddlebag off of her back and put it at the foot of a nearby tree. Her lower jaw began quivering, but she took a deep breath and steadied herself. She had to hold it in. She couldn't break down now. She broke the rubber band around the four white roses, putting the broken band in her saddlebag, and spread the four roses out in mid-air. She looked over to the one on the far right, and gently touched the stem before speaking, her voice coming out as barely a whisper.

"Dug." She placed the rose on the ground next to the creek. "I... I'm s-sorry."

Rarity took another deep breath, and looked up to the roses. She touched the next one in line. 

"Kicker." She placed it next to the other one. "I'm sorry."

Looking back up, she touched the stem of the third rose. This time, despite her efforts, she could not prevent the two tears that streaked down her face, and when she spoke next, her voice was marred with a sob. 

"A-Annie." She placed it next to the other two. "I'm s-so-sorry."

She looked back up to the final rose, and a sob coursed through her body as two more tears streaked down her face. She shakily touched the stem of the fourth rose before opening her mouth to speak, but her voice came out as only a whimper, and she needed to take several deep breaths to steady herself. 

"Rarity." Rarity placed the rose next to the other three. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry! I'm sorry!"

Unable to hold it in any longer, Rarity's legs gave out, and she collapsed on the ground, her cries echoing through the creek. "I'm sorry! I didn't mean to! I wish I could take it back! I was just... I was just..." Rarity slammed her hoof on the ground. No, there were no excuses for what she had done. 

Before Rarity could say anything else, she felt a hoof gently touch her back. With a yip, Rarity shot to her haunches, and looked around the clearing to see who had touched her. Her eyes widened when they landed on the culprit. 

Sweetie Belle sat before her, her shoulders slumped, her ears flat, her head low, and her eyes sad. Rarity blinked once and brought a hoof up to her mouth, completely unable to formulate anything resembling worlds. 

"Don't be mad, Rarity," Sweetie Belle said quietly. "Me and Apple Bloom just heard Applejack and you talking, and I was curious. Apple Bloom helped me sneak out, and I followed you here." Sweetie Belle's head lowered even more. "Please don't be mad."

Rarity continued staring down at her sister, her mind unable to process what she saw. After a few more moments, it clicked that her sister sat in front of her, and she managed a few deep breaths. "How..." Rarity's voice cracked, and she had to take a deep breath. "How much did you see, Sweetie Belle?"

"I just got here," Sweetie Belle mumbled. "I just saw you when you fell down. You were saying you were sorry, but I don't know what for."

Rarity subtly nodded and managed a weak smile. She extended her forelegs, and Sweetie Belle leaned forward, allowing Rarity to scoop her up and hold her tightly. "Sweetie Belle," Rarity whispered. "My dearest sister." 

Sweetie Belle nuzzled Rarity's chest, and wrapped her forelegs around her. "If you're sad, I can help. You always want to make me feel better when I'm sad."

Rarity gave a half laugh/half sob and returned Sweetie Belle's nuzzle. "Very sweet of you, Sweetie Belle. Very sweet." Rarity began stroking Sweetie Belle's mane, and squeezed her tighter. "Sweetie Belle... what's... what's your first memory of me? What's your earliest memory... of big sister?"

Sweetie Belle frowned and looked up at Rarity. "My first memory of you?" Rarity nodded, and Sweetie Belle's frown turned thoughtful. "Uh... I..." Sweetie Belle leaned her head against Rarity's chest. "I remember... I remember a big white building. Yeah, a big white building. Mommy, Daddy, and me would always go there, and wait in an empty room for a little bit, and then you'd come out. You always had this green gown on, and this thingie on your horn. You never came home with us. There were always bigger ponies who would take you away." Sweetie Belle looked back up at Rarity, her eyes wide. "But you're home. Until you moved to your house a few months ago, you lived with me and Mommy and Daddy. I thought I might have dreamed that."

Rarity grimaced and shook her head. "No, Sweetie Belle. No, you didn't dream that. The big white building was called Ponyville Youth Psychiatric Care. It was a mental institution. When I was eight years old, I did something very, very bad here at this creek, and they took me there for six years until they told me that I was better and could go home with you and Mother and Father." 

"What..." Sweetie Belle lowered her head slightly. "What did you do?"

Rarity grimaced, and pulled Sweetie Belle in for a tight hug, and began stroking her mane. "Someday you may know, Sweetie Belle. For right now, I'd rather you not. Once you do know, you'll understand why. Just trust big sister on this."

"Okay." Sweetie Belle looked over to where the roses were, and pointed at them. "What are they?"

Rarity took a shaky breath, and another pair of tears streaked down her face. "W-well, when I come here, on the anniversary of the thing that I did, I lay four roses for the ponies who were affected most by what I did, as a way of.. apologizing to them. I know it's not much, it's not anything, really, but it's what I can do."

Sweetie Belle nodded, but didn't respond. She merely leaned her head into Rarity's chest, and let Rarity stroke her mane. The two sat in silence, Rarity, for the first time, finding comfort in the creek now that Sweetie Belle was with her. She nuzzled her sister again, and looked over to the roses. Innocence lost. But there was still innocence left in the world. Sweetie Belle remained so, even if she discovered part of Rarity's past. Rarity sighed and squeezed Sweetie Belle again. Maybe it was time to go home. 

All of a sudden, Rarity heard a tree branch snap, and she flinched back. Sweetie Belle stirred when she felt the violent movement, and she looked up at Rarity, a curious expression on her face. Rarity opened her mouth to speak, but she was cut off when a single word cut through the clearing. 

"You!"

Rarity snapped her head to look at the source of the voice, and she gasped when she saw who it was. There, mere feet away from her, a fallen bouquet of flowers beside her, stood...

Annie.