//------------------------------// // The Time Has Come // Story: How is it in Manehatten, Sister? // by Jazz //------------------------------// As soon as Rarity heard the news, she took the first train to Ponyville she could get. A fire? At the boutique? And what was Sweetie belle doing there anyways? She was supposed to be staying with Twilight Sparkle in... Oh Celestia. Rarity trotted in the Saint Blue's Hospital where Sweetie Belle was staying. "Let me see her!" Rarity shouted out at a nurse. "Shh... It's okay. Sweetie Belle is doing... okay, but the doctors are still doing some testing. She should be ready for visitors is about an hour and a half or so. I am Nurse Gold Heart. Are you her sister, Rarity?" the nurse questioned. Rarity nodded. "Ms. Rarity, there is somepony I would like you to meet. Ms. Paintbrush?" A hefty brown mare stood up, and smiled at Rarity. After the two shook hooves and introduced eachother, the nurse stepped in again. "Ms. Paintbrush here saved your sister. There was an accident at a place called..." The nurse leafed through her papers on her clipboard she levitated. "The Carousel Boutique. There was a fire, and..." Nurse Gold Heart frowned, and gave Rarity a sour face. "We think it was a suicide." You could practically feel the sorrow and grief radiating from Rarity. As a lady, she didn't weep in public, but she couldn't help shed a few tears. "Now, Ms. Rarity, we aren't sure on anything yet. We just... we just assumed. There were strange green flames coming from the building, and we found this. It's sort of burnt, but we found it next to- Ms. Paintbrush, perhaps you would care to explain?" "When I went in to get your sister, I saw her sitting in a room, surrounded by flames. Due to her magika levels, it appears that she tried to shield herself from her fire. Anyways, she was holding onto a piece of paper, but threw it into the fire. We could hear distant screams coming from the boutique. There were gemstones glues onto it, but those were tore off, all but two. Here," Paintbrush said, hoofing her the picture. Rarity saw the crayon wax used on the construction paper, two loose sapphires on the paper. As she looked at the melted faces and distorted bodies. Suddenly, a doctor came out. "Ms. Rarity, please follow me," he said. Due to the lack of expression in his voice, Rarity was uncertain about the fate that befell both her and her dear sister, Sweetie Belle. There were many possibilities, but Rarity saw the optimistic point of view. Perhaps Sweetie belle had woken up early. Yes, that future was the better. When the two ponies got to the front of a wooden door with a glass box shaped window and golden name tag saying: "Patient 152", the doctor opened the bronze doorknob with an ocean blue aura. As he opened the door, Rarity grew nervous, but she kept a straight face on. She walked into the room, and hurried to her sister. Rarity sat down, and looked at her limp, cold sister. But there was another adjective that was missing. Dead "I'm sorry, Ms. Rarity. We did everything we could." Rarity swallowed a deep, big gulp. She picked up her lifeless sister's hoof and held it close to her chest. Slow breaths were the only sounds that came from the room. The doctor left the room, and once the two sisters were together, Rarity wept. Mascara and various other makeups came running off of Rarity's face. Her once white coat was a mixture of black and red. Her sister- dead. Those three words shook Rarity's world from a once happy place to a life that would forevermore be filled with sorrow and pain. It got so bad, in that small hospital room, Rarity blamed herself for Sweetie Belle's death. She bent down to Sweetie Belle's white and dark gray from the fire ear, brushed the purple and pink hairs out of her face, and whispered real softly, "I'm sorry, Sweetie Belle. You didn't deserve this Hell. If it were anypony, it would be me. I love you, Sweetie Belle." Rarity wasn't really a pony of prayer, especially when she was in grief. She called it out on being silly, or unreal. But today was special. Not a birthday special, but a deathday special. The mare picked up her sister's hoof, and laid it on the limp body it belonged to. With her now free hooves, she closed them, bowed her head, and prayed. Dear Celestia, The Oh Holy Being, I pray to you this prayer I offer, Watch over Sweetie Belle, my dear sister. Take her to your Heaven, neverminding her sins. I love her oh so much, please Dear Celestia. Tell her I love her. Tell her I'm sorry. After her prayer, Rarity spent the night next to her dead sister. She still couldn't believe her sister, a) was dead, and b) killed herself. It was unthinkable to Rarity, and anyone who thought it, was... well, had demonic and demented thoughts in their mind. Why did this happen? How did this happen? Did Rarity cause Sweetie Belle to do this? A thought came to Rarity- Sweetie Belle's friends must have noticed something unusual about Sweetie Belle. The next morning, Rarity got up and kissed her sister on the forehead. Although she didn't want to leave her sister's side and it pained her to do so, Rarity had to get to the bottom of what happened to Sweetie Belle. Rarity left the room, glancing at her sister's lifeless corpse one last time before leaving the hospital. First, she went to Sweet Apple Acres, told Applejack what had happened, at went to go tell Applebloom. She knocked on the door to Applebloom's room. "Come in!" Rarity entered the room to find Applebloom playing with some dolls on her green carpet. Green was such a hideous color, but Rarity neverminded that for now. "Um, Applebloom, dear? May I speak to you for a moment?" Rarity asked, receiving a nod from Applebloom. "Have a seat next to me," she said, sitting down on the green bed (seriously, how much green did this filly need?). Apple bloom gave a crooked look, but did as told. "This is hard for me to say, dear, but... Sweetie Belle..." Rarity chocked on her tears, feeling a lump in her throat. "Yesterday, I received a call from Saint Blue's Hospital informing me that Sweetie Belle got caught in a fire, which... which we think she caused herself." Grief struck Applebloom like lightning. "What?! Is- is she okay?! I gotta see her!" It was so upsetting for Applebloom that her accent disappeared. In a flash, Applebloom's expression changed from worry- to guilt. "N-no... Ya'll go on ahead- I'll let Scootaloo know what happened. Thanks for... comin', ah guess." Rarity left. Applebloom sobbed in her room. The guilt was far too heavy for such a little filly. "I... I can't believe it- I killed Sweetie Belle..." Applebloom took out her journal. It was a simple leather journal with a little button with an apple on it. Guilt is not a winged creature she wrote. It does not fly away. Today, on the seventh of November, I realized that I killed my best friend. Applebloom put her journal away, and went to Scootaloo's little home. When Scootaloo came out, she looked at her friend, who's coat was wet and filled with tears. "We killed Sweetie Belle."