Whiskey Lullaby

by Smitty91


Chapter 5

Applejack chuckled as Rainbow Dash let out a groan. She looked behind at the cyan blue Pegasus, whose back was resting against hers. “Ate too much, didn't you?”

“Yeah,” Rainbow Dash replied. “Definitely not the best idea.” Her eyes met Applejack's. “Forty-seven muffins. You definitely win. Here,” she held up the last muffin, “you can have this one.”

“Thanks.” She snatched up the muffin and popped it in her mouth.

“Make that forty-eight. I stopped after only four.”

Applejack chuckled once again. “Ah s'pose Ah never told ya Ah had the appetite of a full-grown stallion, huh?”

“No, you never did.”

“Ah guess I didn't win fairly, then, did Ah?”

Rainbow Dash shrugged one shoulder. “I suppose not.” Her eyes shot open and she rolled over onto her bloated stomach to glare at Applejack. “You knew you were going to win all along, didn't you?”

“S'pose Ah did.”

“Ugh! You cheated!” She pointed an angry hoof at Applejack's nose.

Applejack smirked. “Doesn't feel too good, now, does it?”

Rainbow Dash's expression softened and she stared down at the floor. “No, it doesn't.”

“Glad to hear it, sugarcube.” She patted Rainbow Dash's head. “Ah've had fun, but ya got to leave now. Ah've still got some chores that need to be done around the house.” She pressed her head against Rainbow Dash's back and began pushing her towards the door. They stopped upon reaching the entrance and Applejack waved her away. “So, go on. Shoo!”

“Oh, all right. I'm going. Maybe the flight home will give me a chance to lose this extra poundage.”

“Or rather, don't. I kind of like it.”

Rainbow Dash gave her own an odd look. “Um . . . okay. . . . See ya, Applejack!” She took off with Applejack waving goodbye to her on her porch.

***

Twilight sat at her reading table, flipping through the pages of Spike's diary back and forth, back and forth. She groaned and sat up straight. This position wasn't doing her back or neck any favors. She would need to go for reading in bed. The pillows could serve as support for her upper back and neck, at least until they got eased off.

She let out a soft moan as she enveloped herself in the warmth of her bedsheets. She had to admit that reading in bed, while it did make her drowsy, was a lot better than sitting at the reading table. It was more comfortable, more relaxing, which meant less stress on her neck and back. Propping the book up with her lgs, she used her pillow to levitate her head. She sighed in contentment as she turned a page in Spike's diary. Maybe if she was lucky, she'd find something that would clue her in as to why he'd killed himself. Even if she didn't find anything of the like, it would still be fun to read about what he'd written in his diary, even though a part of her felt bad for having done so in the first part.

When she thought about it, she supposed that the others were right. What right did she have to invade his personal privacy, in spite of the fact that he was dead? She didn't have any right to do so, despite that, as Applejack had said, she was practically his mother.

She figured that it made sense to start from the beginning. She turned the pages until she was at the very first entry that he'd written in his journal. She smiled as she recalled that she'd gotten the journal as a birthday present for him one year, something that he had just perceived as just another book. She'd explained to him that he could write in it whenever he wasn't talking to her about something. She hadn't expected him to actually write anything in it. After all, he hadn't written anything unless she ordered him to.

She wasn't surprised at all that most of his entries were about his crush on Rarity, though she was surprised to find that he had written quite a large quantity of entries on Rarity's sister, Sweetie Belle. She blushed at the thought of him secretly having a crush on her. She couldn't deny the fact that the two of them made an adorable couple. She remembered the two of them dancing together at Shining and Cadence's wedding, and how cute the two of them looked.

She wasn't sure how long she spent reading the journal. She was startled to find the sun rising when she finally closed the book. She let out a yawn and stretched. Time to get some rest.

***

Rarity let out a bored sigh, staring out the window at the residents of Ponyville going about their business throughout the town square. She had no orders to do. She hated days like this. She didn't know what to do with herself on days in which she had no work to do. Fashion was her life and a day without it was tedious and boring. While she would have loved to spend the day with Sweetie Belle, she was out with her Crusader friends on another one of their wild and crazy adventures.

She looked across the room at her bookshelf. There were plenty of books that she hadn't read yet. She recalled that she'd borrowed them from Twilight a few weeks back and she had yet to read them. Since Twilight freely lent them to her friends and other residents of Ponyville, there was no return date. This was good for Rainbow Dash since she had a tendency to not return the books that she borrowed. She would have liked to sit down and read a good book or two, but with how depressed she was, she wouldn't be able to concentrate on what she was reading.

During times like these, she found her escape in her beverages. She sat down on her bed once she'd reached her bedroom. Reaching underneath the bed, she pulled out a six-pack of bottled cider. Her own private stash. Since Sweetie Belle wasn't allowed to be in her room unless permitted, there was no risk of her little sister finding her secret stash. As long as Sweetie Belle stayed out of her room, her secret love of alcoholic beverages was safe.

She took the pack downstairs to the kitchen. Why not enjoy something to eat while she did her drinking? Maybe some buttered rolls. So what if they were fattening and would cause her to bloat? At this point, she didn't really care.

While the rolls were in the oven baking, she busied herself with enjoying her drink. She glanced out the kitchen, watching customers come and go at Sugarcube Corner. She took another swig of the cider, stumbling backward and falling down on her rump. She giggled to herself. “Whoops,” she mumbled, getting up. She winced as the alcohol burned her throat and made her eyes water. She took a few deep breaths. Ah, that was better. By now, she had gotten used to the side effects of alcohol on her body and had figured out how to overcome them.

She once again stumbled backwards, running into the cabinet that held the good dishes. Shattered glass and china fell to the floor. She simply cackled at this. It felt good to laugh. It was no wonder Pinkie Pie was going around trying to make everypony smile. Laughing was helping her at the moment, greatly in fact. “I should probably sit down,” she decided. She set the remaining five bottles of cider on the kitchen table and pulled out a chair with her magic, hopping up and sitting down. She fiddled with the half-empty bottle of cider with her hooves, the liquid audibly sloshing within. She took another swig, licking her lips afterwards.

Four bottles of cider later, she was starting to have trouble keeping her eyes open. Continually, her eyes drooped, only for her to snap them back open almost instantly. She let out a yawn. What did she suddenly feel so tired? She supposed that she shoudln't have been surprised about this. Lately, it seemed that she was tired all the time, and then when she would go to bed at night, she couldn't get to sleep. What was wrong with her? Even Sweetie Belle had noticed how tired she was when she would make stupid mistakes like pouring orange juice instead of milk into her cereal. She smiled to herself, recalling how her little sister would ask her constantly if she was all right. The two of them had grown so much in their relationship that nopony would ever think that at one time they were bitter enemies.

She let out another yawn and finally gave in. Her head fell and she allowed sleep to take her over.

***

“Rarity, I'm home,” Sweetie Belle called, stepping in the Boutique. When she received no response, she called, “Rarity?!” She strained her ears to see if she could hear her sister's response. Maybe she was busy working and couldn't hear her. She was about to call out again when something foul hit her nostrils. Was that smoke she smelled? She took another whiff of the air just to make sure. Her eyes widened at the realization that it was indeed smoke that she was smelling.

She allowed her nose to lead her to the source of the smoke–the kitchen. Opening up the door, she saw her sister seated at the kitchen table, passed out. Meanwhile, the stove was on fire. The room itself was so full of smoke that it was hard to see and trying to see properly did nothing but water her eyes. She coughed and held her breath, trying her best not to inhale the smoke. As Cheerilee had taught her, she stayed low to the floor. She crawled across the room to where Rarity was. She would never be able to carry Rarity out of the burning inferno by herself. The most she could do was drag her out. Thankfully, the kitchen wasn't on the second story, so there was no need to worry about the stairs.

Gently, she took Rarity by the scruff of her neck and began dragging her to the door. The fire was stationed mostly at the stove, but it was spreading, and quickly. If she wanted to get out alive, she needed to get her rear end in gear and run as fast as possible. She wasn't about to attempt to heave Rarity onto her back and carry her out that way. Her bigger sister was more than twice her weight. She'd never be able to get out without breaking her back. But dragging her was tedious and she maybe wouldn't get out without the flames reaching the door before she did. She let out a groan of frustration. What in Equestria was she supposed to do?! She could do nothing but pray for a miracle.

She jumped, the door suddenly bursting open as a team of firefighters rushed in and began fighting the flames with a hose. One of them grabbed Rarity and Sweetie Belle herself and took off towards the front door. It happened so fast that Sweetie Belle was having trouble figuring out exactly what had happened.

Within minutes, the fire had been taken care of and Sweetie Belle was using an oxygen mask to help with her breathing. Despite that she had only been in the room for a relatively short period of time, the toxins from the smoke and flames still could have physically damaged her. She didn't realize how much she appreciated fresh, clean air until she was within the hellish room. She looked over where some doctors were attempting to revive Rarity.

She was worried about her big sister. She didn't know how long Rarity had been in the room with the fire. Worst yet, she didn't know whether or not her sister was even alive. She hadn't exactly bothered to check if Rarity had been breathing. The only thing that she'd known was that her sister was unconscious in the middle of a fire and that she needed to get her sister out of the room and outside alive.

She was still in the dark as to how the fire department knew about the fire. Since Sugarcube Corner was within the proximity of the Carousel Boutique, she figured that the Cakes must have discovered the fire and sent Pinkie to alert the fire department. That was the only conclusion that she could draw, although she supposed that the fire had attracted the attention of other residents of Ponyville and they had banded together to save the Boutique.

Once she got her breathing under control, she set the oxygen mask aside and walked over to her sister. It came as no surprise to her that Apple Bloom, Scootaloo, and the rest of Rarity's friends had come to see if Rarity was all right. Thankfully, they made a path for her as she came forward. She bent forward until she and Rarity were nose to nose, studying her. She couldn't be sure, but she couldn't have been the only one holding her breath, waiting, hoping, praying that Rarity would show some sign of life, even something as small as a tail twitch.

A collective sigh of relief escaped the group when Rarity's eyes fluttered open, though her eyes looked bloodshot. Sweetie Belle dismissed this as nothing more than lack of sleep and enveloped her sister in a bear hug. Though weary, Rarity reached down and affectionately petted her little sister's mane. Before she could get a word out, an oxygen mask was slapped onto her muzzle. She was about to argue before she realized that her throat felt as if she'd eaten a whole bag of ash. They could have warned her at least, but nonetheless, she was grateful for the fresh oxygen.

“Are you all right, miss?” a stallion asked, putting a hoof on her back.

She nodded her head. There was no point in trying to talk. With the oxygen mask over her mouth, she doubted that anypony would be able to understand her. She closed her eyes and allowed her breathing to get back to normal.

The group said their goodbyres and went their separate ways, leaving Rarity, Sweetie Belle, and the paramedics alone.

Sweetie Belle let out a sigh of relief, giving her sister yet another tight hug. “I'm so glad you're all right.”

Rarity pushed her away and glared down at her. “What in Equestria were you thinking, barging in the room like that?”

Sweetie Belle frowned. “I couldn't just leave you in there to die. What was I supposed to do, wait for the fire department to get here?”

Rarity sighed and pulled Sweetie Belle, smiling when her little sister snuggled against her chest. She resumed petting Sweetie's mane. “I'm just glad that you're all right.” She frowned and let out a dejected sigh. “So much for the rolls.”

“Is that what caused the fire?” Sweetie Belle looked up at her big sister.

Rarity nodded. “I suppose so. I think what happened was I fell asleep.” She shook her head. “I'm not sure how, though.”

“Maybe you haven't been getting enough sleep. You've been complaining that you're tired lately.”

“Have I?” She looked down at her little sister.

“You have. Maybe there's a spell you can use to induce sleeping.”

“Hmm.” She tapped her chin. “Perhaps some warm milk would do the trick.” She smiled. “I remember how much I loved it when I was your age.” She turned to look over at their home. “I just hope the kitchen hasn't been permanently destroyed. If we're lucky, we'll just need to replace the stove.”

“You seem to be obsessed with Spike lately too,” Sweetie Belle pointed out, “more so than Twilight.”

Rarity eyed her little sister and raised an eyebrow. “How do you mean?”

“You talk about him in your sleep. Do you dream about him?”

Rarity nodded. “Most of the time, yes. I wonder if Twilight dreams about him as well.”

“I'm sure she does.”

“We should go back inside now.” She watched the paramedics walk off and led Sweetie Belle back inside the Boutique.

***

Sweetie Belle cringed visibly upon tasting the warm milk. “Ugh! This tastes worse than regular milk!” She glanced up at her older sister. “How do you drink this stuff?”

“With a little bit of honey, of course,” Rarity replied, adding a few spoonfuls of the stuff to her glass and stirring it. She looked back at her little sister. “Would you care to try some?”

“Anything if it makes the milk taste better.” She extended her glass with her magic and watched Rarity drop in a few spoonfuls of honey and stir it around with her own magic. She took a small sip this time around and smiled to herself. “Mm! Much better!”

“I thought so.” She took a drink of her own warm, sweetened milk, licking her lips afterward. “It's an acquired taste, really. You get used to the taste after a while.”

Sweetie Belle said nothing to this, instead opting to take another drink from her glass. She wobbled back and forth, the warm, sweet milk beginning to take effect on her. “Mm. Getting sleepy . . .”

Rarity smiled. “Good to know.” Another swig of milk was consumed. “Mmm! I'm starting to get sleepy myself. . . .” She wobbled herself, leaning against Sweetie Belle, causing them both to stumble and fall to the floor. She smiled at Sweetie Belle and the two of them shared a laugh.

Shortly after their drinks were finished off, the two found themselves having a hard time getting up the stairs without stumbling and bumping into each other. They laughed it off. They eventually reached Sweetie Belle's room. Rarity tucked her in and kissed her good night before venturing off to her own room. Hopefully, tonight would be a better night than the previous nights. As long as Spike was in her dreams, any night was a good one.