Fulfillment

by Amaranthine Thought

Chapter 8

When the knock came, Rarity paused her work, and got up to answer the door. She needed a little break anyway; her work was proving quite difficult. She hadn’t ever made anything like it, after all.

She hoped that the knocker wasn’t a friend. Their relations had been… stressed, as of late. Some more so than others. Things were rather… complicated, but Rarity was never short nor cross, no matter how heated things got. After all:

It was all her fault anyway. But hindsight was perfect; she’d made the mistakes, and now her only real option was to accept them and try to make sure they didn’t permanently damage her friendships. Or public figure.

Surely time would see this turmoil pass by, Rarity hoped, taking a moment to check herself in the mirror. A touch frazzled; likely the frustrations over work, she guessed, smoothing them over with a quick hoof.

But what rewarding work it was.

Another knock had her hurry a little, and she opened the door to hesitate, and then look down. Looking back up at her was a small white filly with a short purple mane. A bandage was wrapped around her head, the center of the forehead a little dark, her left hind leg supported with a small splint.

“…Hi.” She told Rarity, smiling up at her.

“…Hello.” Rarity responded.

“…Can I come in?”

“If you want to.” Rarity said, moving back inside herself. Gentle followed her, and kicked the door shut herself.

“I never finished the story.” Gentle said.

“No, you didn’t.” Rarity acknowledged, watching as Gentle moved to the couch, to then struggle to get up. After a moment, she stopped, and looked over at Rarity.

“…Can you get me up, please?” she asked.

Rarity nodded, and with great care, levitated the filly up onto the couch. Gentle smiled at her again, and then asked, “Can I have a drink?”

Rarity just nodded, and left for a moment before returning.

With one cup, that she gave to Gentle.

Gentle giggled as she took it. “Rarity!” she said, taking a sip.

“What?” Rarity asked, giving no indication of anything odd as she took a seat on the couch herself.

“…You don’t have to act like that anymore.”

“I have no idea what you mean.”

Gentle chuckled again, finishing the drink. She set it aside, and then got off the couch, Rarity watching. “…I want to show you the end.” Gentle told her. “I can tell you the rest while we walk there.”

“Do you want me to come?”

“Rarity!”

“I’m coming, Gentle, I’m coming.”

---

Emptiness took Sweetie back with her after she took her horn. Sweetie had impressed her, and Emptiness always did that with unicorns that impressed her. She was… she said she was proud of Sweetie, but lamented that she was just a child with a little horn; too little to be placed on Emptiness’ head.

Sweetie was still alive when Emptiness brought her back, and I did everything I could to try and keep her that way while Emptiness talked about the ‘great battle’ the two had had. I was so, so mad at her, but I couldn’t do anything against her. I was always helpless against her.

She controlled me, and I knew it. I shook in rage, knowing that she would soon tell me to leave with her, and hating how she didn’t say anything as I used potion to try and heal Sweetie. She was letting me do it, and I knew she was letting me do it, and I hated her for it.

Because Sweetie had impressed her, Emptiness took some time to sort her horns; she had way too many to wear all of them, and because Sweetie’s horn was small, she needed to select a new set to wear so she could also wear Sweetie’s horn. I don’t know how she decided what looked good, but she seemed to always know, even if every way just made her look horrible.

It was as she did that and I cared for Sweetie that Diamond stirred. I thought she couldn’t anymore, since she was,

---

“Please don’t.”

“Alright.”

---

I thought Diamond had died sometime the last night. But she started… moving and making noise and her eyes focused again.

She, uh… She was having a real hard time speaking at all. “Sw, swa, swe,” stuff like that, until she finally managed to say “Sweetie.” Then she focused on me.

“H, hel, help m, me, me s, st, stand.”

Since Sweetie didn’t seem to be dying right then and Diamond was… well, not dead, I went to her and helped her up. It wasn’t easy since… it was hard to get her standing again, but I was curious.

Then she sort of nodded at me and went towards Emptiness. And then she grabbed Sweetie’s horn, and threw it at us. Emptiness noticed, frowned, but Diamond… grabbed her, stopped her.

I’d watched Emptiness attach her stolen horns countless times; I knew what I had to do. I grabbed Sweetie’s horn, splashed potion on her head, stuck it back where it belonged, and really hoped it would work the same way it did with Emptiness.

And it did. Sweetie groaned, woke back up, her horn back on her.

“Sweetie, Sweetie, you have to get up, now.” I told her, looking to see Emptiness… fighting with Diamond. Diamond was losing.

“Gentle…?”

“Sweetie, get up!” I told her, trying to get her to her hooves, but Sweetie seemed really dazed and weak. I turned and saw Emptiness kill Diamond, and shake her off. “You, you have to run, right now!”

“I can’t run.” Sweetie said, startling me. I looked at her, and saw her look tired.

“Correct.” Emptiness said. “You can’t escape.”

“Sweetie,”

“If I run, she won’t stop.” Sweetie interrupted. “It has to end now, before anypony else suffers like I did; like you did.”

“Your horn is mine.”

“H, how…?” I weakly asked her, stunned, but Sweetie didn’t tell me.

“It’s time for this to end.” Sweetie said, taking a breath, and then she turned to face Emptiness. Her horn started to glow, and she stepped towards Emptiness, and Emptiness stood still, watching.

“You know your fate.” Emptiness said, but she seemed uncertain, confused as Sweetie approached her.

“Your hunt is only for one thing.” Sweetie said. “And it’s not horns; it’s magic. You’ve always wanted your own magic. And you think you can steal it from others by taking their horns, but it doesn’t work like that.”

Emptiness’ eyes grew wide for a moment, but then she glared. “What, what do you know!” she yelled, and for the first time ever, I heard her sound uncertain, doubtful. “Holding yourself over me with your precious magic, telling me that my hunt is in vain!”

“Well it is.” Sweetie said, her horn slowly growing brighter. “You could take every unicorn’s horn, and drink all the blood you spill, and you’ll never know it. You’ll never know the magic inside of you, because magic stolen can’t be your magic.”

Emptiness looked truly insane then. Yet, despite the look of madness, she held still as Sweetie talked to her. But then that look changed to surprise, and then shock as Sweetie finished, her horn glowing really bright:

“But magic given can be. And you will know the magic inside of you.”

“Because I’m giving you mine.”

And Sweetie touched Emptiness with her horn.

Everything went white; a blinding, brilliant white.

When I could see again, I saw Sweetie, surrounded by the white, her eyes closed in peace and calm. And I saw… I saw her like she used to be. Emptiness… Emptiness wasn’t always black.

She was looking at me. She was crying, but her eyes were sane. Normal. I hadn’t seen those eyes, her real eyes, since before Emptiness took me. I couldn’t say anything, and she didn’t say anything. If she had… it would only have made it worse. She turned and walked away into the brilliance without a word.

Then Sweetie opened her eyes, and looked around and yelled, “Diamond! Diamond, this way, this way!”

Sweetie seemed to reach out, and pulled Diamond to her. She was sobbing, rubbing at her eyes, but she was normal; like she used to be.

Sweetie hugged her, and told her, “It’s alright, it’s over. No more pain, no more pain.” When she let go, Diamond looked at her, and Sweetie encouraged her, “That way, go that way; I’ll be with you soon.” and Diamond walked into the white too.

“The rest of you too! Come on!” Sweetie yelled, and the ghosts rushed to join her. Laughing and yelling in joy and they ran into the light. And once they were gone, Sweetie looked around, and yelled, “Gentle! Gentle, can you hear me? Are you there?”

“…S, Sweetie?” I asked, my eyes teary. I… I knew what was happening, even if I’d never seen it before.

Despite that I’d spoken softly, Sweetie heard me. “Gentle, that’s good. Listen to me; I need you to do some things for me.”

“S, Sweetie, what, what’s going on?” I asked.

“…It’s over Gentle. It’s done.”

“Can… can you stay?”

“…No. I can’t. Listen, Gentle; things are over, but they’re not ended, not yet. It won’t be ended until everything is buried; all the horns, Emptiness… and me and Diamond.”

“I,”

“You have to tell Rarity everything! Tell her about Emptiness, and what really happened, and everything you know! Tell her the truth of last week, and that Emptiness is gone forever. And that… that I’m not going to come back.”

“…I will, Sweetie.” I promised her.

“And tell her that I don’t hate her! That I never hated her, and I was never mad at her! That I love her as much as I always have; don’t let her think otherwise, please!”

“I, I will!”

Sweetie nodded, and sighed in relief. Then I saw two of her:

One turned and walked into the white too, and the other fell, and collapsed on the ground.

Then the white was gone, and I was alone. Diamond and Sweetie were lying on the ground, unmoving.

Emptiness was lying on the ground, unmoving.

I didn’t know what to do. I was alone for the first time in hundreds of years.

I spent two weeks hiding in the forest, fearing having to go back into town. I felt vulnerable and afraid of everything. It took a lot of time for me to build the confidence to finally go and knock on your door, and do what Sweetie asked me to.

I should have done it the day Sweetie took Emptiness away.

---

Gentle finished as she led Rarity through the Everfree, and she said the last as the two came upon a small clearing in the wood.

It was just as Gentle described. Despite two weeks having passed, the scene was silent, and nothing seemed amiss; as if this came to an end moments ago, instead of weeks.

Rarity went to Sweetie, and looked down at her still form. She almost seemed to be sleeping. So did Diamond; even the monstrous Emptiness.

Illuminated by sunlight, the two filles seemed innocent and at peace, but Emptiness was a terrible thing. The same sunlight revealed gashes in her, revealing that she was black inside and out alike, her fur and hair a tangled, matted mess. The only color she had were the many horns on her body; so obviously out of place that they only worsened her appearance rather than aiding in any way.

They seemed loose, many fallen around the horn hunter.

Rarity ignored her though, focusing on Sweetie. Gentle slowly walked to stand next to her, and looked up into the unicorn’s sad face.

“…She’s truly gone.” Rarity said after a moment.

“…She saved us.” Gentle whispered.

Tears appeared in Rarity’s eyes, a hoof going to ever so gently run through the filly’s mane. “…You were a true hero, Sweetie. For a week, you fought, for a week, you suffered so very much, just to keep me and so many others safe…”

“I, I won’t let this end quietly.” Rarity said, lifting her head to the sky. “You aren’t going to be buried in the woods in secret. This story, your story, will be heard by everypony; your sacrifice will not be forgotten.”

“I’m going to make your memorial the greatest thing I can.” She said, crying as she looked back at Sweetie. “I’ll get you a statue, a glass window, maybe even a star. Nothing, nothing too great for, for my tiny heroine.”

“I’m just so sorry that it had to end like this.” She finished, whispering, head lowered as tear dripped down.

For just a moment, that silent moment, Rarity might have heard something. Sort of like somepony screamed as loud as they could to try and be heard, their voice distant, weak, just on the edge of hearing:

I love you Rarity!

Rarity smiled, even in her tears. “I love you too Sweetie.” She murmured, brushing at Sweetie’s mane. “I’m going to miss you.”

Gentle leaned against Rarity, and Rarity looked, to see the filly looking sad as well. Carefully, she sat down, and even more carefully, she put a hoof around Gentle, who wiggled a little closer to her. They stayed that way for a time, each with their own thoughts, in that silent glade.

The nightmare was at long last over.

And all that was left was to bring its remains to light.