Chapter 7
For Whom The Belle Tolls
Chapter 7
Rarity felt an unseen pressure lift from her chest. Though not knowing what Rainbow was going through was tearing her mind to pieces, finally telling somepony the cold hard truth gave her sort of a release. Applejack gave her a quizzical, disbelieving look. She knew it made sense, but she refused to believe. The unicorn was ready to share with her, but there was so much to tell, she waited for the orange mare to ask a specific question.
“But… how, that doesn’t make sense.”
“Rainbow is my fraternal twin. I love her because she’s my sister. And because she shares blood with me, she shares it with Sweetie Belle also. Nothing you have heard from me has been a lie.”
Applejack looked down the hall.
“No it’s not possible. Ah’ve known you since Ah was a filly. Rainbow moved here when we were teenagers, and even then, it was a few months before Ah ever talked to her.”
“Applejack, I understand that you find it hard to believe, but I swear to you it is the truth. I would never fib about something so serious.”
“If this is true, why haven’t you told anypony? Why would y’all keep something like that a secret?”
“Because I was afraid. I didn’t know what you all would think when you found out. And… what father would think.”
Applejack squinted again, and Rarity looked down, cringing at the flood of memories. With all that pain coupled with Rainbow’s scare pushed her over the edge, and she began to cry again. She closed her eyes and hung her head low. Her breath shook and her chest heaved. She jumped a little when she felt something resting upon her. She opened her tear filled eyes and looked up to Applejack, who rested a soft hoof on her shoulder. The farm pony didn’t smile, but her eyes were as warm, comforting, and homely, and Rarity knew that now that the truth was on the table, she would be willing to listen.
“Rarity, Ah still want to know. But we don’t have to talk about this right now. Today’s been really rough on everypony and-”
“No, I’m ready to talk. I’ve kept this secret so long, I have to start talking, or else it’ll eat away at me like a sickness. I fear it already has. If I don’t I’ll just silently fret about Rainbow. I love her so much Applejack. It terrifies me to see her like this. But… I haven’t been very fair to you. And I have a feeling I’m going to have a lot to explain, so I may as well start now."
“Rainbow and I were both born in Ponyville, in this very hospital. When our parents got the news that they would have twins they were overjoyed. Mother said they always talked about all their plans for us. When the day finally came and we came into the world, both of them were shocked to see a pegasus. As far back as my lineage can be traced, we are a purely unicorn family. Mother loved us both. But our father was… less than pleased. He has nothing against the other races, but he wanted to keep our bloodline pure. He never loved my twin. From the moment he laid eyes on Rainbow, he despised her. He started by ignoring her cries in the night, leaving her wailing until the morning came. It only got worse as she aged. With each passing year her resilience to punishment grew, and father could get away with more without… without killing her. When we were five, she broke a plate in the kitchen. Father beat her, and when he was finished he tossed her into the glass shards. I’ve never seen so much blood, not then, nor since. I thought that she would die that day. She was so young, and I felt awful for her. I loved her, but I was terrified. Father never raised a hoof to me, but I was so afraid he would, all I could do was watch.
“When she was even remotely disobedient, she would be thrown in the basement for twenty four hours, without food or water. I didn’t know why he was so cruel, it took me so long to realize he was in the wrong. But I still loved my sister, I would sneak her meals, and as much water as I could carry, in the middle of the night. That was the only time we could speak with each other, father hated it when I spoke to Rainbow, especially when I spoke to her as an equal. But I was her only friend, she loved me more than anypony she’d ever met. It was the only time when she would smile, and the horrified look would leave her eyes. She knew she could trust me, she knew I was safe. And I was kind to her, because I seemed to be the only pony with the capacity to do so. Mother held no disdain for her, but when father punished her, she never raised a hoof to help, she was even more scared than I. But she made up for it one day, when she gave her away.
“I don’t know what finally broke her, but one night she came into my room and asked for my help. She was trying to get Rainbow to follow her out of the basement, but she wouldn’t go. Rainbow knew she would be beaten if she left. But she trusted me, and I promised her she would be safe. We snuck her out in the middle of the night, and took her to the orphanage. Usually the foals left on the doorstep are newborns, but she was almost seven. She didn’t understand. Her life was miserable, but it was the life she knew. As my mother and I turned to walk away, Rainbow latched onto my leg, and begged me. She looked into my eyes, tears rolling down her face, and pleaded. Over and over she asked me not to go. But we did. I cried all night, I didn’t want to leave her. Several times, I thought about leaving, running back to my twin. Not to bring her back, but to leave with her. But when the sun rose in the morning, I was still in my own bed. Mother said she didn’t sleep all night either, she was worried about how father would react. But he was almost pleased. His home was free and pure. Nearly a year later Sweetie Belle was born. We all loved her, but it was only after a few years I realized; Father intended her to be a replacement. Sweetie was born to fill a place. It disgusts me still. But everything was peaceful. I was young, and with my father through with his fits of rage, I thought we could be a normal family. It went on for so long, I forced all of the awful things he did to the back of my mind, kept it sealed behind concrete walls. I almost forgot about my twin sister. Until she returned. She moved to Ponyville, and we collided in the marketplace. She looked familiar and she was a friendly enough pony that I decided to walk with her. It wasn’t until the next day I finally remembered her. I saw it in my dreams. The blood, her broken body laying starving in the basement. I left again to find Rainbow, but she found me first. We rejoiced we were reunited. I felt as though I’d found a missing piece of myself. We agreed to keep all of it under wraps from our friends. I hid her from my parents. They know she’s here of course, but as far as they know, I’ve never spoken with her. We celebrate out birthday’s a week apart, it would be a bit uncanny if we shared our birthdays. And recently, we’ve decided not to try as hard to hide it. We openly spent time together, trying to make up for years spent apart. But we still hide desperately from father. I don’t know what he would do if he found out.”
By the end of her tale Rarity was sobbing. All the memories she was still trying to force down were brought up full force as she relayed the tale to her friend. Applejack was aghast. Her mouth hung open, trying to get a word out, but couldn’t. The disbelief in her eyes was gone, much to the relief of the unicorn. It was hard to explain her past to her friend, and she knew the pony had no reason to believe her claims. Applejack stayed silent for a while but Rarity didn’t mind. Applejack still had a hoof on her shoulder. She knew she was there for her.
“Rarity… A’ve met your dad before. He never seemed like all that bad of a guy.”
“I know.” She sobbed. “He’s since put on a mask, and he wears it well. He never once regretted what he put her through, but worse still, it’s possible he may have forgotten. But ever since Sweetie Belle was born, he’s looked like a loving father. So many times I’ve wanted to take her away from him, knowing the monster that lies beneath… But, having Sweetie around usually makes him better. He doesn’t deserve the love she feels for him. I’ve told my sister about Rainbow, that she was my twin. I told her Rainbow had to leave our family. But I didn’t tell her why.”
“Ah, just can’t believe somepony could commit atrocities like that against such a young pony. Against Rainbow.”
“I know. Thinking back, I have no idea how she turned out as wonderful as she has. Her parents in Cloudsdale must have been very kind, and nurturing. I wish I could have known them, thanked them for saving my sister but they both fell ill and passed away before she move here. It’s been so long since I’ve heard my father raise his voice to anypony, some days I can almost believe maybe it never happened, maybe it was a terrible nightmare. But it wasn’t. I’ll never forget the pained look in her eyes when I left her. I lost her once Applejack. I don’t ever want to lose her again.”
The two mares fell wordless, the halls echoed with the sounds of Rarity’s sobs. Applejack shift and held her tightly. Applejack was such a warm, and sweet pony. But even she could do little to stop Rarity’s episode. She knew she just had to let it ride out. As Applejack held her, the door behind the opened. The brown stallion stepped out. Rarity stood up. Her heart hurt. Her head hurt. She hoped and prayed for good news from the doctor.
“H-How is she?”
“I’m afraid… she’s fallen into some sort of comatose state. We can’t wake her up.”
Rarity trembled, she felt as though she could vomit. How could this be? Just an hour ago they were talking. She was getting better. She buried her face in her hoves, feeling them soak with her tears. Applejack stepped up.
“And how long until she comes out of it?”
“We don’t know. She could wake up in a few hours or in a few years. She’s still stable though but just barely, I believe her body is trying to devote more energy into keeping her alive, so it stopped keeping her awake. I am truly sorry. We will continue to monitor her daily. You may re-enter if you still wish. If not I can let you out of the hospital.”
“No! No, I’d like to stay.” Leaving her dear sister now was the farthest thing from her mind. She turned to Applejack. She watched her expression, hoping so badly she would say yes. She needed somepony in there with her. Knowing the state Rainbow Dash was in, she wouldn’t be able to handle it on her own. The farm pony nodded her head slowly.
“Yeah. Course Ah’ll stay.”
The kind doctor opened up the door with a solemn look on his face.
As they stepped back into the room, Rarity was met with a fresh new wave of tears. Rainbow’s heart beat monitor remained unchanged, still slow and faint. On her face was an oxygen mask, her every breath audible. It broke even more than her heart to see her like this. It tore her down. Seeing that mask on her face made it so surreal. If Rainbow survived, she might still be in her coma. She might never speak to her sister again. She felt dizzy, she didn’t even notice she was falling. But the next thing she was aware of was Applejack, cradling her collapsed body on the ground. Rarity swung her forelegs up, wrapping the mare in a tight embrace. Applejack put her sister here, but she felt no harshness towards her friend. It only made her feel even worse. But now Applejack was her rock, somepony she could cling to, lest the turbulent river of her own emotions sweep her away, leaving her in a state not unlike that of her bedridden kin.
“Rarity, you need some sleep. I reckon you’ve been up about as long as me, and Ah’m ready to pass out.”
“I can’t” She moaned. “I’m so tired, and Rainbow… I have to stay up. I need to stay with her.”
“Don’t worry, Ah’ll stay awake, and keep an eye on her. But Ah need you to at least try to close your eyes.” Applejack said, in an almost motherly tone.
The orange mare picked her up and handled her gently. Rarity let herself be propped up on one of the chairs in the corner. Applejack slid in beside her in the same chair. The farm pony grabbed her hat and slid it back on over her golden mane. It was a little confining, but Applejacks body was warm, and comforting. Rarity let head fall on the orange mares shoulder, trying her best to stop the flow of tears. She felt disgusting, it had been more than a day since Rarity’s last shower, she probably looked a horrible mess. She closed her eyes. She tried not to focus on the past, but on what was happening right now. Applejack put two hooves around her, keeping her close. She was sad too, maybe just as sad as Rarity. But she would never let it show, not with anypony around. Rarity wished desperately for the capacity to comfort her. Applejack was the reason Rainbow’s life hung in the balance, but that fact hurt Applejack more than anypony. The most the unicorn could do for her was return the embrace. Rarity fell asleep to the loud beeps of Rainbow Dash’s heart monitor.
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"New update"
GIVE ME ANSWERS!!!!!!!!!!!
Okay, wow. This is horribly sad. Not horrible. Good story, good chapter, but wow.
Rarity's dad abusive?! But he's Canadian! :(
Overwrought
*gasp*
I like most of this, but the suddenly, a wall of exposition! really needs to be broken up a bit and interspersed with character interaction. It's just too much, and it's very, very "tell" rather than showing. It also completely broke the flow of the chapter and got me to start skimming instead of reading.
The final paragraph is also way too "tell"-y. It also probably needs to be split in two, where the feelings switch from looking inside Rarity's head to looking into Applejack's.
There's a lot of good stuff here! I just think there are problems, too.
MEMEMMEMEMEMEME
Holy wall of exposition.
You had a golden opportunity to really spice things up by showing, rather than telling, the abuse. With Rarity as the voice, you could have shown it from her viewpoint as a scared filly (flashback), and her conflicting desire to help Rainbow and not cross their father.
Still a good story nonetheless.
Also, please skip me in your random preview drawing. I'm perfectly content reading the general public release.
Still don't like the whole "sister" thing...
I think this is an excellent story. You really threw us for a loop for the first few chapters making us think that Rainbow and Rarity were in a relationship, and once the big reveal came I looked back at the dialogue and saw that it fit for both cases. The only complaint I have is that since we didn't know that yet chapter 6 seemed very hectic and the scene transitions were not apparent. You need to find something to break up the drama in this story, but other than those tiny flaws it's still very good and I look forward to you next chapter.
another awesome chapter
Wh-whaaaaa? THAT'S IT! HER DAD NEEDS TO PAY. GET ALL OF THE OVERPOWERED OC'S AND PUNISH HIM OR GIVE HIM TO GLADOS!
THROW HIM IN ONE OF WHEATLEY'S TESTS
this story is really good i love it!!!!!
This is a great story I can't wait for the next chapter!
mmmmmmmeeeeeeeeee
Ah HA! So that's what's been going on. This is a very interesting concept, and this story continues to please me greatly. Of course, I'm worried for Rainbow more than even, now. I'm also quite upset with that piece of moldy garbage who dares to call himself a father.
Just going to leave this here
I too probably would have broken that expository paragraph into one or more scenes myself, but hey, it still got that important bit of backstory information across efficiently, enough.