Requiem for a Belle

by theNDinspector

How Sweet the Sound

“ACHOO!!!”

Rarity was in the midst of putting some of her father’s trophies and memorabilia into boxes. Normally it wouldn’t have been a big deal for her, except these items were completely covered in dust. No matter how carefully she moved them—even using her magic—the dust always got disturbed and became a severe irritation to her eyes and nose.

“Father, don’t you ever dust these things?” Rarity asked while rubbing her itchy eyes.

“I guess I haven’t,” her father replied. “Besides, I’ll probably just get rid of these, they’re not really the best moments I’ve had in my life.”

“You mean that I have been working on this for the better part of an hour—risking getting dirty and suffering from allergies—JUST SO THAT YOU CAN THROW THEM AWAY?!” Rarity yelled, followed by another sneeze.

“Don’t worry about it, dear,” Rarity’s mother said, coming in with a tissue for her daughter. “He’s always saying that, but he never actually does it. Anyways, how is Sweetie Belle doing?”

“Better, I suppose,” Rarity said after blowing her nose with much satisfaction. “She’s no longer sick, but she is still very angry about not being told about…your divorce earlier. I tried to talk to her about it, but she won’t open up. Then she went for a walk to clear her mind. I haven’t seen her all afternoon.”

“I knew we should have told her earlier,” Rarity’s father said.

“No, you said we should wait until we actually decided to get a divorce before telling her!” Rarity’s mother angrily accused.

“Only because you said that she deserved a normal foalhood!” Rarity’s father snapped back.

“To which you agreed to!” Rarity’s mother stated, pointing a hoof at the stallion.

“Mother, Father; STOP IT!” Rarity yelled, stomping her fore hooves on the ground. “Arguing about it is not going to change what happened!”

Rarity glared at her parents, looking positively menacing. However, the moment was unceremoniously ended by another sneezing fit due to the box she had knocked over in her outburst.

Knock knock knock

“Don’t worry, I’ll get it,” Rarity’s mother said, leaving her soon-to-be ex-husband and her violently sneezing daughter in the room.

As she made her way to the door, Mrs. Belle tried to make herself look a little more presentable—not that anypony would have really cared. Then she opened the door and words completely left her.

“Sweetie Belle?” She gaped at the sight of her daughter. “Come in…you know, you don’t have to knock.”

Sweetie Belle didn’t say anything as she walked past her mother. She also didn’t look at her either.

Is she still mad? Mrs. Belle thought.

“Is Dad home?” Sweetie Belle asked, noticing the boxes all around the house.

There was no anger in her voice, nor any sign of resentment. Instead, Sweetie Belle sounded…tired. There was also some sadness in the air.

“Yes,” her mother replied. “Your sister is here too. She has been helping him pack some of his things away all evening.”

Sweetie Belle was quiet for a moment. She still didn’t know what to do exactly. Finally, she looked into her mother’s face. There was a look of worry on it, yet it was still lovely—even if her mother never thought so.

“Can we talk?” Sweetie Belle finally asked. “All of us?”

“Sure,” her mother said. “I’ll go and get them. Why don’t you sit down?”

Mrs. Belle sat Sweetie Belle down on the couch in the living room. She then left to go get everypony else. Soon they all walked in—her father actually not wearing his ugly shirt for once. And then there was Rarity: her mane disheveled, eyes puffy and red, and a tissue desperately trying to wipe away the snot from her runny nose.

Wow, she looks worse than me! Sweetie Belle thought.

“Don’t mind me, I’m just irritated by Dad’s dusty junk,” Rarity said in a nasally voice followed by another fit of sneezing.

“You should go wash your face, darling,” Mrs. Belle said. “It should help, but come right back.”

“Okay,” Rarity said and then headed for the bathroom.

“So how are you feeling Sweetie?” Mr. Belle asked.

“Better,” Sweetie Belle finally said, but she still couldn’t look him in the eye.

An awkward silence filled the room. Nopony quite knew what to say; especially since they hadn’t left on good terms during their last meeting.

Oh, why does this have to be so hard? Sweetie Belle complained to herself.

Rarity came back. She was a little damp now, but definitely a lot better than she did a moment ago—even though her eyes were still red. Somehow, her presence only added to the awkwardness and Sweetie Belle’s inner turmoil.

Finally, Sweetie Belle couldn’t take it anymore and started to try and say something.

“I…uh…I just wanted to say…um…Aaargh!” she started before taking a deep breath and looking at the ponies in the room. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry for everything I did.”

She looked at her sister, “Rarity, I’m sorry for being mad at you; even after everything that you’ve done for me.”

Sweetie Belle then looked at her parents, her feeling of guilt rising ever higher.

“I’m sorry for saying that you didn’t love us,” she sobbed. “I’ve been selfish. I felt useless after failing my fans and getting sick, but I forgot the ponies that were the most important to me. I felt…abandoned…like I was being lied to all my life. But I realize that it was dumb. You’ve done so many things for me…I…I’m sorry.”

Sweetie Belle started crying once again. It surprised her that she still had any tears left after all the crying she had been doing earlier that day—let alone the past week. All the other ponies in the room watched as the youngest unicorn completely broke down—none of them really knew what to do. Strangely enough, her father was the one to break the silence.

“We’ve all done things we regret, Sweetie Belle,” Mr. Belle said. “I know that I’ve had my fair share of disappointments and failures.”

He paused for a moment; searching for the words he wanted to say. “I’ll tell you one thing I’ll never regret though—you. You and your sister.

“Rarity,” Mr. Belle continued, looking at his other daughter. “I told you earlier that those trophies were not the best moments in my life. That’s because they aren’t. You and Sweetie Belle are. You two are the greatest and most wonderful mares that I have had the privilege of raising and to be called your father. You are the lights in my life and have given me purpose; along with your dear mother.”

He looked towards the pink unicorn in the room. “While I do regret that we will no longer be a part of each other’s lives like we once were, I do not regret meeting her; nor the time which we spent together these many years. Together, we have accomplished many things—the greatest of which is you two.”

“I agree,” Mrs. Belle added, tears running down her face. “And while things will change now for all of us, one thing that won’t change is that we will always be here for you. Now matter how far away you may be, or what may happen, we will always love you.”

Sweetie Belle sat there for a moment. She was at a loss for words from her parents declarations. She felt as though a large burden had just been taken from her aching body and that a warm sensation was enveloping her; lifting her up.

“I love you too,” she said with a smile creeping onto her face.

“As do I,” Rarity said, with even more tears in her eyes now.

Without prompting, the four unicorns found themselves contently in each other’s forelegs. All in a loving and quiet embrace for what might be the last time. Sweetie Belle would always cherish her father’s words, her mother’s love and her sister’s support. While her family may be broken, it was still her family; and nothing would ever change that.

Author's Note:

Well, here we are at the end. I hope you found this as a satisfactory conclusion.

I would like to thank Alaborn again for supporting me on expanding on his/her story "Selfishness and Generosity." Once again, this is my interpretation of events following that open-ended story, and Alaborn is still free to do whatever he/she sees fit with it. I'd also like to thank Alaborn for being one of my inspirations to start writing stories about "My Little Pony" on this site.

As always, I'd like to hear your thoughts, so please leave them in the comments bellow.

Comments

[theNDinspector]

5831778 Thank you for the feedback. I'll admit, I've never had much experience with divorces other than one of my grandparents when I was younger and an aunt, but it didn't affect me all that much on a personal level. I hope things get better for you and your dad someday, but I imagine that could be a lot to ask for.

[TheNightstriker]

That was a really great story! I enjoyed reading every word.