Chapter XXXVIII: What Doesn’t Kill You, Wounds You For Life
Applejack just stared at her, uncomprehending. Then a small smile stretched across her lips. A small, worried laugh escaped her. “You look lovely.” she said, pulling up a chair to sit next to Rarity. “Ah am glad to see that you are alright.” She certainly didn’t look ‘alright’. The heart on her chest stood out more now that her fur was washed. It was the same story for the three scars that ran across the left side of her face, jumping over her eye socket. Without the cloak on, Lightning could see scars across her arms and stomach.
Rarity smiled. “I feel better then alright. I feel better than I have in a long time.” she returned Applejack’s smile, then looked down at the hoof that was on her own. Applejack’s left hoof. Her eyes widened when she saw the bracelet. “Oh darling, that’s amazing! Who is it? When did it happen?” she looked Applejack up and down, then she noticed the small bulge in her stomach. Her eyes lit up. “And is that what I think it is?”
Applejack blushed. “Yes, yes it is.” She walked over to the side of the room, where Lightning was standing. She pulled him over, even though he was resisting. She made him stand next to the bed. “This is my husband, Lightning Storm.”
Rarity looked him up and down. He felt that she knew what made a good husband, and she was going to tell him so. But instead, her face lit up. “This is fantastic! I’m so sorry that I missed it.” she looked worried. “Who was your designer? What colors did you use?”
Lightning looked at Applejack, mouthing, “Is she always like this?” Applejack nodded, and Lightning sighed. Applejack snorted.
“We can discus that later, it’s about you right now.” she pulled the others closer to the bed. Rarity looked nervous. Rainbow Dash flew over head, a slight breeze landing on Rarity. They were coming closer. She was feeling closed in, trapped. Her breathing started to accelerate, she was hyperventilating. She closed her eyes, her heartbeat pounding, pounding in her ears. She pressed her hooves against her ears, trying to block out the sound. Applejack looked at Twilight scared. She reached out to touch Rarity. Just a small touch on her front leg.
Rarity’s eyes flashed open, the sanity gone. With a snarl, she struck out at Applejack. “I’LL KILL YOU!!” she yelled, her voice loud and deep. “I’LL CUT YOUR THROAT OUT!!” She jumped out of the bed, teeth bared, lashing out at Rainbow Dash. With a yell of, “WHAT THE HELL!?” she surged out of reach. Rarity turned her attention to Fluttershy, who was cowering under a table. She started to advance, when a purple aura surrounded her. She was thrown back against the wall, then fell into her bed. Leather straps appeared, tying her legs down.
She snarled and struggled, pulling at her bonds. But either they were to strong, or Twilight’s magic was strengthening them. Finally, the snarling stopped, and the light came back to her eyes. She looked around the scared faces, and worried expressions. Lightning was pulling Applejack to her hooves, a death stare focused on Rarity. She blinked several times, then realized what happened.
“Oh dear Celestia!! I’m so sorry!” her eyes were panicked. “I didn’t mean it!” She turned away from them, her voice trembling. Applejack looked at Twilight, her eyes full of pity.
“Isn’t there anything we can do?” she asked. Twilight nodded, walking over to a cabinet on the wall. She pulled out a vial and a syringe. She pulled out some of the liquid, holding the syringe out in front of her.
She walked over to Rarity, still keeping her magic on her. She made her looked at her, peering into her eyes. Then she used her magic and pulled Rarity’s left front leg out. Still holding her other limbs down, she pressed the syringe against her skin. The reaction was immediate. Rarity shrieked, her eyes rolling back up into her head. She thrashed twisted, but the magic bonds kept her in place. She pushed the plunger down and pulled the needle out, galloping back a few steps. Rarity’s breathing started to slow down, and her eyes returned to their correct position.
Rarity sat up in the bed, holding her head. She looked at Twilight, who looked nervous, biting her bottom lip. “How do you feel?” she asked.
“Better, much better.” Rarity answered. “What did you do?”
“That was a type of drug that suppresses your anger emotion. It will wear off in a couple hours.” Twilight responded. Rarity nodded, turning back to Applejack.
“I’m so, so sorry.” she said, her eyes overflowing with emotion. “I didn’t mean to, or want to, do that.”
“Ah could never hate you, Sugarcube.” she said, her voice filled with sadness. “But there is one thing Ah, and the others, would like to know.” she took a deep breath. “How did this happen?”
Rarity’s eyes dropped, along with her head. She shook her head, lower lip trembling. Applejack saw this and backpedalled immediately. “Well, if you don’t want to you don’t have to.”
Rarity shook her head again. “No, it will be good if I tell you.” She looked at Twilight who nodded.
“Her mental health will probably be benefited by that. She needs some sort of closure.”
Rarity nodded, then took a deep, trembling breath. “OK.” she said, looking for the words. “I guess it started when we were attacked. Bunker 31 was just a simple Bunker. About four hundred ponies were sent there. Mostly we were just farmers or dexterous laborers like me.” she said, her eyes far away.
“We didn’t have many fighters. Or many guns for that matter. It was a peaceful Bunker. The citizens lived life as best as they could, which meant they tried to live their old lives. I was still a dressmaker. I made dresses for weddings and...and...funerals.” she sniffed, then smiled. “I guess it’s kind of ironic. Me making funeral dresses for ponies how would never get to use them.”
“Anyway, it was about three years ago. I was making a special order. The Director’s daughter was getting married, so I was making her dress. I can still remember it.” she said wistfully. “White silk with light yellow Forsythia flowers around the bottom to match her eyes. I had just finished it, and was packing it up for delivery, when They attacked.”
“It started out as just an explosion, and I thought that bombs were dropping again. The P.A. system told us to go to the bottom layer. But we didn’t make it there.” Her eyes started to fog over. Lightning understood why. Death Hunters were attacking, and they had no way of defending themselves.
“I found Sweetie Belle, and we hid in our room, trying to get away from the mass of panic.” Rarity said, her voice starting to sound strained. “Then, we heard the door break down. We....they flooded into the Bunker. They killed almost everypony immediately, those were the lucky ones. The ones they didn’t kill, they....did things to them.” Tears started to fall from her eyes, her fur absorbing them.
“I put Sweetie Belle in the closet in my room. I told her to stay there and not make a sound, even if they got me.” she sniffed, looking around at them all. Applejack was crying as well, Rainbow Dash was staring, aghast. Twilight felt that she should not have told Rarity to tell the story. But Fluttershy was the worst. She had her hooves pressed against her ears, trying to block out the story, but the tears streaming down her face showed that it was not working. Lightning could only listen. He knew the stories of the Death Hunters, but he had never talked to one. He wanted to listen, no matter what she said.
“I turned to find something to protect myself with, even though I knew it was useless. Then......then they found me.” she said, openly crying now. “They didn’t kill me, and I didn’t know why. They just knocked me out. When I woke up, they had me chained. I didn’t know what they were going to do.....” She let out a trembling breath. “I would have preferred to die, I would have preferred any of the other things they did in the Bunker. But what they did was so much worse.”
“They brought in Sweetie Belle, and I have to give her credit, she wasn’t crying. She was more worried about me. They stuck her down in front of me. They made us talk, for about an hour. The whole time, we both knew what was going to happen, and we were just trying to prolong it.” The fur on her face was soaked with tears, and they continued to flow down her muzzle.
“Then, they started to advance....and I turned away. I didn’t want to see what was going to happen. But a couple of them grabbed me. They turned my head around, forced me to watch. They forced me to watch as...as...as they...” She broke down, tears falling onto the heart in the center on her chest. She cried for almost five minutes. The whole time, no pony said anything. Finally, Rarity brought in a raged breath.
“The last sane thought I have, was staring down at her broken, bleeding body. Staring and knowing, that I failed to protect her. That I failed my own sister. After that, all I have is....is dark....and hate...” she closed her eyes, tears still falling through the closed lids. Twilight looked anxious. She pointed at the door, and everyone nodded. Quietly, they left the room, leaving the broken pony behind.
When they were in the other room, Twilight just looked at them. No pony had any words for what they had just heard. The silence was deafening, only the sobs coming from the other room could be heard. Finally, Lightning broke the silence.
He cleared his throat, a burning feeling was there from holding back tears. “Ummm...I still don’t understand. How could that, as disgusting and terrible as it was, turn her into one of them?”
Twilight just shook her head. “I don’t know. This is completely new territory. We will have to study--”
“I think I know.”
They all turned at the sound of the voice. Cora was walking towards them, wet patches under her eyes showed that she had been crying. “I think I know.” she repeated. Twilight looked confused.
“Were you listening?” she asked, a sharp tone in her voice. Cora nodded.
“I know, it was violating privacy. But I couldn’t help myself. I needed to hear how it happened.” She hook her head, remembering what Rarity had said. Twilight sighed.
“Well, tell us what you think.”
Cora took a deep breath. “The brain is fragile, impossibly fragile for what it does. It only listens and sees what it wants to. When it sees something it does not comprehend, it forgets it, or shoves it aside. But what happens when it is sees something that it cannot comprehend, and is forced to accept what it just saw?” She looked at Twilight, who just shrugged.
“I think you all just saw what happens. She was forced to accept something that was impossible to comprehend. Her mind broke, and she had no choice, but to become what she had just seen.”
Silence as the information sunk in. Silence as varied expressions molded themselves onto each of the ponies expressions. Fear, disgust, hate, anxiety, among others. Each pony just stared at each other. They didn’t want to believe, but that was the only explanation.
Fluttershy ran past Cora, tears still streaming. Applejack had stopped crying, but her lower lip was trembling. Lightning pulled her towards him, and she latched on, burying her face in his mane. Cora took a step back, her eyes downcast.
“I’m sorry for what you, and Rarity, have suffered. I hope that she gets better.” she turned and walked back down the hall, wiping a tear away.
Lightning felt Applejack start to sob again. He stroked her mane, rubbed her back. He tried whatever he could to comfort her. But she was beyond comfort. He pulled her off his shoulder, making her looking into his eyes.
“I promise, I will protect you. I will never let that happen to you.” he vowed, pulling her back against him, feeling her heartbeat. “I will always be there for you.”
The sobs continued to bleed through the closed door, as the broken pony poured her soul out, with no pony to return it to her.