"That was really brave of you, Rarity," Twilight said, smiling at her. "I don't know if I could have done it."
"I truth, I'm not sure how I managed it myself," Rarity replied, leaning her head on Pinkie's shoulder. "I thought for sure that something would happen. I was scared that I'd get onto that podium and they'd attack me. To those who agree with Annie, I'm a murderess who got away with it. That can't make them happy."
"Yeah, speaking of Annie, what are you going to do about her?" Rainbow Dash asked. "I mean, if she did something like that to you before, what's to stop her from doing it again?"
"If it comes down to that, then I'll react to whatever she does, but nothing else. She's not worth going after." Rarity shook her head sadly and stood up to begin walking out of the palace. "She's a sad mare. I know I played a large part in that, and I do, of course, wonder what she would have become if I hadn't done what I did that day, but at the same time, she made her own choices. One of those choices is hanging on to the pain of that day. I will forever regret what I did, but I cannot control how she deals with it. I can only control how I handle it." A wry smile crossed Rarity's face. "Even if that took me roughly ten years to figure out."
"So you don't want to make sure she can't hurt you again?" Rainbow said.
"If anything I feel sorry for her," Rarity said. "It may sound cheesy, but she needs ponies to lean on when times get hard. I don't know how I would have gotten through this without Pinkie and Applejack. If she's still stewing like this, then she either doesn't have ponies to help her, or she's shut out all of the ones that would. I can hardly be angry at something like that."
"Mighty big of ya, Rarity," Applejack said. "Ah think yer gonna be okay."
"I should hope so. I've been working rather hard at it," Rarity said with a wink. "But for now, let's not talk about this, shall we? You said there's a marvelous doughnut place around here, Twilight? I think it would be a tragedy for us to come all the way out here and not sample some fine Canterlot cuisine."
* * * *
"And that will be twelve bits. Would you like for me to bag these up for you?"
Rarity smiled at Carrot Top and nodded. "That would be lovely, darling, thank you."
"No problem." Carrot Top put the two dozen carrots into a paper bag which she then slid over to Rarity. "I hope you enjoy."
"Oh don't be so modest, darling," Rarity said, taking the carrots and putting them in her bag. "I've never been disappointed with anything that comes from your farm."
"You're too kind, Rarity." Carrot Top's smile turned sympathetic, and she put a hoof on Rarity's leg. "And... I've been meaning to say this to you, but that was a very brave thing you did last week. Talking to the reporters like that after she said all of those things is something I'm not sure I could have done."
Rarity pulled Carrot Top into a hug. "Thank you ever so much, darling. It means a lot for a dear friend to say that."
"And most of Equestria agrees with me, too," Carrot Top said, pulling away from the hug. "I know you don't read the newspapers, but all of the ones I've looked at are on your side." She smirked and rolled her eyes. "It doesn't hurt that Princess Celestia herself backed you up, nor that you're an Element Bearer."
Rarity's smile morphed into a slight grimace, but she changed it back to a smile before Carrot Top could notice. "Yes, but I don't want any accomplishment or connections that I have to influence ponies' decisions about me. I want them to accept me as Rarity. Not because Princess Celestia said so."
"Makes sense to me."
"I suppose Princess Celestia felt the need to speak up, if for no other reason than to ensure the nation isn't divided by our two stories." Rarity shrugged. "Regardless, it is as you said: I don't read the papers, and I have no reason to now. Thank you for the carrots, my dear. I'm positive that they'll be most delightful."
"You're very welcome, Rarity," Carrot Top said, pulling Rarity into one last quick hug. "Come back anytime!"
"I certainly will."
After checking to see that the carrots were secure in her bag, Rarity walked away from the stand, looking down at her shopping list to see what else she needed. A quick perusal revealed that she had everything she went out for. Time to return home. Her parents would have likely dropped Sweetie Belle off at her house by that point. Best to not leave her alone for too long.
Rarity stuffed the list back in a small pocket of her bag and made the trip back to her house. Everypony she passed along the way smiled and waved at her. One or two even complimented her on her bravery. She returned those compliments with a friendly simile and nod. The novelty of her actions would wear off soon enough. No need to make a big fuss over it.
Rarity reached her home and went in, setting her bag down next to the door. She'd deal with the groceries in a moment.
"Sweetie Belle? Are you here?" she called out, poking her head into her sewing room to see if her sister had decided to do some exploring. "I brought groceries, so I can make whatever you want for dinner, okay?"
Hearing no response, Rarity shrugged and went back to her bag. Sweetie Belle must not have been dropped off yet, or she'd been roped into playing with Apple Bloom. No harm either way. She walked into the kitchen intending to begin putting her groceries away.
Just as she entered the kitchen, her magic fizzled out from the shock of the scene before her, causing her bag to fall to the floor. Rarity screamed as she saw Sweetie Belle. Tears were running down her face, and Rarity could already see a hoof-shaped bruise on the side of her head, at the top of which was a small cut. Holding her by the neck with a knife to her throat was none other than Annie.
"Rarity," Sweetie Belle whimpered, blood running down the side of her head from the cut.
"Shh little one," Annie said, pressing the tip of the knife to Sweetie Belle's throat. "This is between your sister and me."
"Yes it is," Rarity said, taking a shaky step forward. "You don't need to do this, Annie. I'll give you whatever you want; just let Sweetie Belle go!"
"Oh, I will, I will, as soon as I got what I came for," Annie said, running the flat of the knife through Sweetie Belle's mane.
"Fine, then do what you came here to do and let her go!" Rarity snarled. "You're here to kill me, isn't that right? Go on, then. Let her go and we'll settle all accounts today." Rarity's face hardened into a glare. "She was not there in the woods with me that day. She has nothing to do with this!"
"Maybe," Annie said softly. "Maybe it would be poetic justice to take something you care about away, just like you did to me. Poetic justice is the only kind you'll be getting, it seems, since Princess Celestia refuses to pass down actual justice."
"Is this really what you want? To become everything you accuse me of being?" Rarity took a small step back. "Well then you've gotten what you want, haven't you? I'm scared, Annie! I'm scared of you, worse than I was when we were classmates! Sweetie Belle is scared of you! You have all of the power in this scenario! Every bit of power that you imagined that you'd have when you dreamt this plan up is yours!" Rarity took a deep breath to calm herself. "And how does it feel? Does it feel good?"
Annie's smile faltered slightly. "It..." She flicked an ear and slowly began moving the knife away from Sweetie Belle. "I don't..." Annie growled and pressed the knife back against Sweetie Belle's throat. "This isn't the kind of power that you thought you had! I'm doling out justice that's over ten years overdue! How I'm feeling now is irrelevant! You did what you did specifically for the power feeling!"
"Do you really believe that?" Rarity said quietly. "Do you really believe that I've been lying all these years about my feelings of regret?"
"Everything that as come out of your mouth since it happened has been a lie," Annie growled. "Regret? You just regret that you got caught! Then you hold that stupid press conference and everypony in the nation, somehow Princess Celestia included, believes it! Well I don't believe it! I've read about other ponies like you, you know. The Canterlot Killer? He was so charismatic he could charm the gems away from a dragon if he wanted to. The Butcher of Baltimare? Family mare. Beloved by everypony in her community. And you. You're so good at this repentance thing you've got Princess Celestia herself fooled. Princess Celestia..." Annie tapped Sweetie Belle with the knife. "And this little runt right here."
"Annie, I will let this all go if you drop her right now, I swear it!" Rarity said, stomping a hoof on the floor. "I'll let you hit me on the head with a rock! I'll recommit myself to an institution! Just don't hurt my sister!"
"Do you know what happened that day? I mean the details?" Annie said, whispering in Sweetie Belle's ear. "She hit my friend Kicker with the rock over and over again. You should have seen the inequine look on your sister's face. She knew what she was doing, and she loved it."
"Kill me, Annie!" Rarity wailed, angry, frustrated tears falling from her eyes as Sweetie Belle began sobbing harder. "If you let her go I won't fight back!"
"Do you know what it was like to see that?" Annie's smile faded another inch, and she shuddered imperceptively. "I just... do you even...?" Annie groaned and violently shook her head. "You sister is evil, do you know that? If you don't believe me, then let's ask her." Annie looked back up to Rarity and placed the blade of the knife right on Sweetie Belle's throat. "Tell her all about it, Rarity."
"I..." Rarity let out a sob. "Annie for Celestia's sake, don't hurt her!"
"I won't if you tell the truth. The first step is admitting it to your sister here." Annie gave Rarity a condescending smile. "In fact, I've just realized something: you actually believe what you're saying. I'm not sure how or why, but you do. It kind of makes me pity you a little. But if you realize the truth, we can start to work with that." She pressed the knife deeper into Sweetie Belle's throat, drawing a thin line of blood. "What is the truth, Rarity?"
"I... I..." Rarity sobbed again and bowed her head. "I-it's all true. Everything this mare has said about me is true. I am an evil pony. I did enjoy murdering my classmates."
"Be honest, Rarity. Neither of them were self-defense, were they?"
"N-no, they weren't," Rarity said through gritted teeth. "I've been lying this entire time. I j-just don't want to be punished anymore."
Sweetie Belle's sobs increased in volume as a triumphant smile crossed Annie's face. "Good. You've admitted it to yourself and her. Maybe admitting it to the public would be a good next step? I'd hate to see what happens if you fall back into this delusion." Annie brought the knife away from Sweetie Belle's throat and began running the tip of the knife over Sweetie Belle's cheek, drawing more blood. "Otherwise somepony could get--"
Before Annie could finish her thought, Rarity ignited her horn and tore Sweetie Belle out of Annie's forelegs and moved her outside of the kitchen before tackling Annie. Annie flew back into the lower kitchen cabinets, slamming her head against one of the doors and dropping the knife.
"Run, Sweetie Belle!" Rarity shouted, pinning Annie to the floor. "Run and get help!"
Rarity heard the sound of Sweetie Belle running out of the boutique, and pinned Annie's foreleg down as she tried to reach for the knife again.
"Is this what you wanted?" Rarity snarled, glaring at her tormentor with a fiery intensity. "You can do whatever you want to me. You can say whatever you want about me, but you will not hurt my sister!"
"And now we're here," Annie said, her face split into a grin. Despite that, Rarity could see traces of fear in her eyes. "You can finish it."
"I can. We're alone, and I've overpowered you. I can do whatever I want to you and I won't see a moment of jail time because of what you did to my sister. There are no cameras, no witnesses, and nopony to hold me accountable. As I said, I could slit your throat right here and stab you a dozen times, but everypony would see it as self-defense." Rarity slowly eased up pressure on Annie's head and leg. "But I'm not the pony you think I am. I'm not going to hurt a hair on your head. Not today, not tomorrow, not any day from now until the end of all things. You have nothing to fear from me. Nopony does." Rarity moved off of Annie completely and sat beside her, resting her head on one of the cabinets. She felt rather drained all of a sudden.
"Just go, Annie. Get out of my life. I have made every effort to exclude myself from yours because I know that you want that and it's the best thing for bo--"
Rarity's world exploded into pain, and she fell to the floor with a scream. She grasped at her side where most of the pain came from, and her eyes widened when she saw Annie's knife stuck there up to the hilt. Rarity began hyperventilating and pressed down on the wound to try to stop the bleeding.
"Annie..." Rarity whimpered, looking over to her attacker. Annie sat beside her, tears pouring from her eyes.
"I... I..." Annie brought her hooves up to her mouth and began breathing rapidly.
"Does it feel how you thought it would?" Rarity whispered, too woozy to even glare at her. "Has justice been served?"
Annie slowly got to her hooves and began backing out of the kitchen, her eyes never leaving Rarity.
"H-help," Annie squeaked. "Help. Help." Annie ran out of the room towards the front door. "Help! Help! She's hurt! Help me!"
Rarity tried to move, but hissed in pain as she felt the knife move. She just kept putting pressure on the wound. She knew it was only a matter of time unless help arrived quickly.
The door to her boutique burst open, and two paramedics rushed to Rarity's side. They were followed by two police officers, one of whom had Sweetie Belle on her back, and the other of whom was with Annie, who was pointing at Rarity and sobbing hard enough that all she could do was repeat the word "help".
"Just hang on, Rarity, you're going to be fine. It doesn't look like it hit anything vital," one of the paramedics said. "We're gonna get you to the hospital, okay?"
Two more paramedics came in, levitating a stretcher between them. A fifth took possession of Sweetie Belle and began seeing to her cuts as the paramedics lifted Rarity onto the stretcher, one using her magic to hold Rarity's wound closed. As Rarity was taken by Sweetie Belle, she weakly reached a hoof out to her sister, briefly touching Sweetie Belle's outstretched hoof before losing consciousness.