Fulfillment

by Amaranthine Thought

old Chapter 4

I found Sweetie again fairly soon the next morning. She was alone, and I think she was looking for me. When she saw me she headed over and I noticed her tension.

“Are you alright?” I asked, terrified for her.

“I’m O.K… Can we go somewhere private?”

I nodded, and the pair of us retreated into an alley.

“Last night… she acted weird.” Sweetie told me, looking around to make sure that we were alone.

“She was mad, really mad. You hurt her, and she is never hurt. She didn’t… she didn’t do anything to you, did she?”

“She ruined my room.” Sweetie told me, sighing. “Rarity, my sister, got really mad…”

That was better than I had feared, but it was still bad. “It’s going to be fine Sweetie, you can do it.” I said, “It’s going to get worse though.”

“She’s going to try and get to you more. Her time is running out, and she is going to start… turning invisible.”

Sweetie looked dismayed, and I quickly added, “But when she’s invisible, she always makes noise and can’t see where she’s stepping. She can trip on something or bump into something. You’ll hear or see that, and she can’t grab you when she’s invisible.”

“But… when she’s invisible… she can walk through walls.”

“… Gentle..? Can I really do this?” Sweetie asked me, her head held low and her voice uncertain.

“You can do this Sweetie. I… I believe in you.”

She grabbed onto me, and I resisted my first impulse to shove her away. She needed something to hold onto right then.

Then she let go and wiped at her eyes. “I think I’m going to need more lights.”

“Get some more, just recall; sudden.”

“Rarity won’t buy any more and I can’t get any myself.”

I made a choice. My reputation was worthless. There was no reason to keep myself in the good graces of anypony anymore.

“I’ll get you some.” I said. Sweetie thanked me, and we parted ways then, determining to meet again later on.

So I went and stole a whole bunch of flashlights, knocking the shop owner unconscious in the process. He saw me, but that didn’t matter. I had what I needed to help her.

---

“That was you? You were the thief? I… suppose I can see why you went that far…”

“That was just the start.”

---

I thought about stopping there, but I figured I would need more. I went and stole a lot of stuff. Things for Sweetie to spread over the floor to trip Emptiness, tiny glow sticks for her to see by, even a mattress for her to stuff under her bed so Emptiness couldn’t hide under it.

I… Really, half of the stuff was mostly useless, but I wanted to help. And if I’m being honest…

I got her a few gifts. A few things to… to cheer her up. One of the best was… was a necklace. She loved that thing.

I gave her another flashlight and another potion, in case she needed it. She drank it right there and told me that she felt ready.

Emptiness came to me before night fell. She wanted to know what I had done. I didn’t tell her.

She exploded with anger, and broke my leg. My… my left hind leg. I think she might have killed me if I hadn’t begged her not to…

She left me like that, crippled in the woods, as she went to go and play.

---

Sweetie was more prepared that night, but Emptiness still managed to surprise her. Moving faster, and getting to know how Sweetie would react to noises or the lack of noises.

It started with the usual peering through the door and window. And then trying to get into the room, Sweetie stopping her most of the time. And then she got worse.

The invisibility let her get very close without Sweetie seeing her, and let her get into the room to hide somewhere. It didn’t always work, but it worked often. And she broke the first flashlight.

She threw a rock at Sweetie, and Sweetie used the flashlight to defend herself. She only just got the second before Emptiness had her.

That was when the cat opened her door; you hadn’t shut it properly and nopony had noticed. Sweetie was confused and Emptiness became thoughtful. It was not a good thing when Emptiness thought.

Emptiness pretended to be you, and called “Sweetie!?” from downstairs. That was a tactic that worked often for her.

Sweetie didn’t move. And Emptiness grew upset again, and Sweetie discovered the last part of The Game.

The first was just fighting Emptiness. The second was fighting the lack of sleep.

The third was that Emptiness would try to destroy their spirit, and turn others against them.

---

“The… the dress, the card…” Rarity murmured in horror, moving a hoof to her mouth.

Gentle just nodded.

---

Sweetie had to endure Emptiness taunting her as she destroyed your creations and her things. Telling her everything she was doing, everything that she hoped that you were going to do to her when you woke up.

She couldn’t take it, and headed out with her flashlight ready. She had to stop her; Emptiness was going to destroy something irreplaceable.

She was threatening to rip apart a card. A rather important card.

She confronted her downstairs, and ran from her, Emptiness tossing things aside to try and get her. Sweetie was fast, and kept blinding her, but Emptiness had too many things to hide behind.

In the end, Emptiness broke that flashlight too, and Sweetie was trapped. She would have had her, but Emptiness was petty.

She stopped, and took the time to rip that card in half. She did so slowly and deliberately, and wasted her time. She let Sweetie live.

She left just as the sun rose, Sweetie sitting amongst the destroyed creation room. The card torn in half in front of her. I believe that is when you found her, wondering why the cat was making so much noise.

---

Rarity couldn’t respond. She was sobbing and Gentle simply stopped speaking to allow her to try and recover.

After a moment Gentle sighed.

“She didn't hate you, or even blame you.”

“I…”

“She knew that everything you did was because of Emptiness.”

“I hit…”

“She never even felt like she had to forgive you.”

“I hit my own sister…”

“It is what Emptiness liked to do. She breaks more than just a body. She is very good at blaming others for her destruction.”

“I hit her as hard as I could… I thought…”

“She never, ever blamed you for anything you did.”

“I thought that she was… denouncing our bond. I… I told her to go away. I didn’t want to see her again… I just… just kept… kept looking at the destruction and feeling… so angry with her…”

“She went to Twilight, and told her that she was having problems and stayed there.”

Rarity wiped at her eyes, her tears slowing but her regret almost tangible. “I know. Twilight told me. We had… a very bad argument over that. I said a few things I… I shouldn’t have.”

“… Have you two spoken since?”

“No. She never came, and I never left. You truly are opening my eyes Gentle. And I hurt you in my anger… I… I’m so sorry… Gentle?”

Rarity saw Gentle shudder at her words, the filly suddenly growing fearful of her. She looked away from Rarity, curling slightly as if to defend herself.

“Gentle, what’s wrong?” she asked, noticing that her concern was met with fear or even terror.

“It’s… it’s nothing. Nothing.”

“Let me continue.”

Comments

[Wolfren]

I saw the new chapter last night, and waited for the morning. chicken sound
I must say, this is progressing very interestingly... Still gonna wait for the morning to read 'em.