Silence: Sweetie Belle
I woke up inside in an unfamiliar place. I was surrounded by white walls and the noise of busy ponies rushing back and forth outside of the room. I tried to remember how I got here, but my mind was blank. I could not remember anything from the day before. I sat up, but something felt different. I felt...lighter. It was as if I had no more body. I got out of the bed and looked around. There were posters of sick ponies, skeletons of ponies, and big machines that made loud noises. I was inside a hospital room.
I looked over to the bed that I just got out of and saw that a pony was lying down in it. Strange, because I was just in that bed, but there was nopony in it with me. I walked closer to get a better view. My jaw dropped and my heart started racing. I didn’t see another pony, I saw me. My body was lying motionless on the bed, except for the steady raising and lowering of my chest, showing that I was still alive. I stuck out my hoof to try and brush up against her, I mean, my mane. Instead of feeling the same softness I usually feel, my hoof went straight through her head. I quickly pulled back in fear. I put my hoof back in, but it just went right through again.
I would pull my hoof back and try and touch it every time, expecting to feel my mane, but the same emptiness greeted me. As I was doing this, I heard a rumble of hooves hitting the ground. It sounded as if several ponies were running down the hallway.
“Where is she! Where is my precious little girl!”
Just then, my mother burst through the room, followed by my father. She let out a terrifying gasp and covered up her mouth with her hoof.
“Mom, Dad! Am I glad to see you!”
They ignored me and rushed straight for the bed. My mother had tears rolling down her face.
“Mom, I'm right here!”
Again, they ignored me, focusing on the other Sweetie Belle lying in the bed. I ran up to my mom and tried to turn her around to notice me.
“MOM!”
As did the time when I was alone, my hoof went straight through her. I started to cry. My own mother doesn’t even know I'm here.
“Mom, please! I'm right here, I'm okay! Mom!”
I shouted and shouted for my mom, but my voice never reached her. I shouted until my voice was sore, then I shouted some more. I kept going until the pain made me unable to speak any longer. I'm right next to my grieving mother, and I can't do a thing about it. I can't hug her. I can't speak to her. I can't do anything. All those times my mother was sad at home, I would try my best to make her feel better. Whether it being a big hug, or just talking it out with her, I would always try my hardest to make my mom happy again. I saw my mom turn my way, and for a second my heart filled with hope, but it emptied out just as quick as it was filled. She turned right past me and faced my father.
“Please, go tell Rarity.”
My father gave a little nod and raced out of the room. Rarity! How is she going to react to this. Will she be able to see me? I always thought that sisters shared the most sacred bond out of anyone, so maybe she will be able to notice me. I waited with my grieving mother, watching her pace back and forth, sometimes stopping to hug me. Even though I was watching from a distance, I felt the pressure and the warmth of the hug she gave. I sat next to my mother and looked into her eyes. The happy, carefree eyes that greeted me in the past were non-existent. Now, I was just staring into empty eyes.
After a while, my father came back into the room followed by Rarity. Her reaction was the exact same as my mothers reaction. One of fear. She ran to my side and hugged me, and like my mothers, I could feel her warmth. While she was hugging me, I tried to see if she could hear me.
“Rarity?”
No answer.
“Rarity, can you hear me?”
Still nothing, still hugging.
“Rarity, please say some something!”
Not a budge.
“Rarity, please!” My voice fell to a whisper. “I don't want to be alone.”
She held onto me for awhile, and I dreamed that she would never let go. Like all dreams, it came to an end. She slowly let go of me, like she was trying to keep me from waking up. She walked over to my mom, who at this point had fell fast asleep in the corner of the room. Rarity gently shook her until she opened her eyes.
“Go home, I'll stay here with Sweetie Belle.”
My mom got up, nudged my dad, and they both slowly walked out of the room. I ran up next to them.
“Bye mom. Bye dad. I love you guys!”
I might as well not have said anything, because that's what they heard. They just walked down the hall and out the exit. I walked back into the room and saw that Rarity had pulled a chair up next to my bed. She curled up and had fallen asleep. I got into my bed and watched her. She was so beautiful, I just wish I could tell her that myself. Before I knew it, I was asleep.
I wasn’t in my hospital bed anymore. I was near the Cutie Mark Crusaders clubhouse! I could hear some ponies playing inside, so I went to go take a peek inside. Sure enough, Applebloom and Scootaloo were having a meeting, and strange enough, I was there too. I started to freak out when I felt a gentle hoof rest on my shoulder. Needless to say this made me jump because I have not had interaction for quite some time. I turned around and saw the princess of the night herself staring down at me.
“Do not be alarmed, young one. This is a memory you are having in a dream. You can't hear them, and they can't hear you, nor can anyone else outside of your dreams.”
I looked up at her in awe. She was beautiful, and I was speechless.
“Come with me.”
She used some magic to lift me onto her back, and she flew down, right through the ground. Trees and flowers, long grassy fields and waterfalls started to form around me.
“This is the other realm. A place where ponies go when their time has come. You, however, still have time. The love your sister has for you is strong. Hope is still out there.”
She flew back up, right through the dream and I shot back into the hospital room, just as confused as I was when I left.
The days went on like this for awhile. My parents came, they dropped off flowers to replace the ones they brought the day before, they stayed for a few hours and left. Every night, I would see Luna in my dreams, but we made little contact. My mom looked weaker every time she came to visit me and her visits were shorter each day. Eventually, she just stopped coming. After a few days of not seeing my parents, I spoke for the first time in weeks, tears rolling down my face.
“Rarity, why did she abandon me?”
Silence.
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It has been weeks since I last saw my mother. I long for her tender embrace everyday, but I don't think I will ever feel it again. Rarity, however, has stayed with me everyday since she got here. I don't know what happened to the Carousel Boutique, but when my father tried to get her, she just looked at him with those dead eyes.
“Family comes before work. Always”
She has put her dream on hold just to spend time with a sister she can't even talk to. Her friends visit her every day. One at a time, they come in and spend some time with her, and it's at these times that I can see her glow again. Even if it's just a small glow, it's enough to make her happy, and that in turn is enough to put me at ease.
First, Rainbow Dash comes in. She talks about all of the good times I have had with Scootaloo and Applebloom, and this just reminds me that it will never happen again, but if it makes Rarity happy, I'm okay with it. I mean, what are sisters for? After Rainbow, Pinky came in. She always gave Rarity this tasty looking cupcake, and I longed to be able to taste again. Even though Pinky can get annoying at times, I will really miss her shenanigans.
After Pinky, Twilight came in. Rarity seemed to enjoy this time, and so did I. I loved listening to Twilight read the book. It was a time when I was fully at ease and forgot about the situation, even if it was just for a moment. She then talked about our magic lessons together. This was a little hard for me to listen too, because in this state, I have discovered that I can no longer use my magic. Applejack's visit was just as hard as Rainbow Dash's. They would remember all of the days we did special sister activities together. And yet again, they are all now distant memories never to be repeated again.
Fluttershy was the very last friend to visit, and it was also the simplest visit. She would come in, hug Rarity, and they would cry together. I would always sit right in front of them, looking at the tears they were shedding for me.
“Don't cry. I'm going to be fine.”
These words went through them like a soft breeze. I would say this to myself over and over again until Fluttershy left, but I never did get better. A few weeks later, when Rarity was sleeping, the doctor wheeled my body into a different room. I stayed with Rarity, but I could still feel all the machines and hear all of the loud noises. After a few hours, my body was wheeled back into the room, and I knew something was wrong. When the doctor came in the next day, he turned to Rarity.
“While you were asleep yesterday, we ran some tests. I have no easy way to say this. Her brain was permanently damaged in the accident. I'm afraid that she won't wake up. Now, it's still up to you if you want her on the machine, but we have some other patients that could really benefit from the use of this room.”
I was shocked. I couldn’t speak, I couldn’t move, my body was still. Of course, Rarity would say no, like she always did. I was staring at her head, and waiting for the subtle left and right movement she always made, but instead of shaking her head, she started to cry. Why was she crying. Her head slowly moved up and down.
“Rarity!”
I don't want to die. I knew it would happen and I thought I had accepted it, but it just seems so scary now.
“Rarity, please don't!”
My heart was racing and my vision was getting blurry. The doctor walked over to the machine that was keeping me alive. Time slowed down as he turned off the machine. I turned towards Rarity and jumped towards her.
“Rarity, I love you!”
My words went right through her, and so did my body, but instead of hitting the floor, I went right through it. I started to fall, darkness swirling around me. I saw the bottom of the hospital slowly shrink as I went farther and farther down. Pretty soon, the world went dark.
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My body hit the ground hard. I was in the field I saw in my dreams. There were so many ponies here, ponies I had never seen before. Some are old, some are young, and some don't even have their cutie marks yet. As I was looking around, I saw two familiar ponies walking towards me. I couldn't quite place where I remembered them from, but I knew for sure I knew them.
“Sweetie Belle! You looked shocked to see us! We're your grandparents! You will be staying with us for now.”
I followed them to a nice little cottage in the middle of a beautiful field. They led me into the cottage and showed me the bed. I was strangely tired, so I fell down and almost instantly fell asleep. This place felt so peaceful, like there were no troubles. It felt like home. I spent a few days like this. I would wake up and see my grandparents, explore a little bit outside, then go back to bed. Eventually, Princess Luna herself came to see me.
“You seem to have adjusted nicely to your new home. Above, in the world, your funeral has just ended, and Rarity is in pain. Your sister bond is a strong one, one of the strongest I have ever seen, so I am permitting you to send her one last message. But do it quick, there is not much time.”
I made sure to include everything, or almost everything, in the letter. I left out the parts of me being with her, because I knew that would not make her feel better. I told her everything that has happened since I was brought to this new world. As I knew this would be the last time I could talk to her, I ended it on a soft note.
“With great love, your biggest fan and loveable sister, Sweetie Belle.”