Loved, Until the Very End
"Where is she?" Princess Twilight Sparkle exclaimed as she burst through the hospital doors, approaching the nurse behind the desk.
"Who are you looking for, your majesty?" she asked back.
"Rarity! Which room is she in?"
"Uh, just give me a second..." The nurse looked at a long piece of paper. "Miss Rarity is in room F13. She's been waiting for you."
Earlier that day, Twilight was in Canterlot. She had received a letter informing her that Rarity was in the hospital, and that she should get there as soon as possible, which she did without a second thought.
Twilight came to a door labeled F-13, and she took a deep breath, before pushing the door open and walking in. She immediately looked over to the bed, and saw Rarity. Her husband, Time Turner, was sitting in a chair beside her. On the other side of the bed was a heart rate monitor, keeping a consistent flow of beeps.
She slowly approached them, her heart filling with sorrow, wishing she wouldn't have to do this.
"Hi..." she said, trying not to frown. "How you doing?"
"Hello, Twilight." Rarity said, her face forming a small, yet noticeable smile. "I'm not at my best right now."
"Thanks for coming, Twilight." Time Turner said, not looking away from Rarity. "It means a lot, to both of us."
"Of course, I wouldn't dare leave you when you need me the most."
Twilight passed Rarity a bouquet of flowers. "I got these for you. It's the least I could do."
"Mm, they're beautiful." Rarity said, taking the flowers. "Thank you." She placed them on the small table beside the bed.
Twilight sat down beside Time Turner. "Do they know what's wrong?"
"It's the same as the other four, Twilight." Rarity said with a slight smile. "It's my time."
"But I don't want you to go." Twilight said, beginning to cry. "You're the only friend I have left. I don't want you to die..."
"It's okay, Twilight." Rarity said, noticing her tears. "Everypony dies eventually, it's just part of life."
"I know, but... I don't know what I'll do without you. You're all I have."
"Nonsense." Rarity scoffed. "You're a princess, you have all of Equestria."
"But you five were special. You were my friends, and now you're all gone..."
Rarity took Twilight's hoof, and smiled. "Twilight, I'm telling you, you'll be fine."
"But I'll be so lonely." Twilight said, crying. "I can't make a lot of friends when I'm a princess."
"Celestia had to go through this as well. If she could do this, then you can."
"But she and Luna are retired now, and I haven't seen Cadence since my brother's funeral. There's no one left to help me."
Rarity lunged over slightly as she began coughing. She laid back down onto her pillow and took her husband's hoof. "I'm running out of time." she said with a sigh. She looked up into Time Turner's bright blue eyes. "I love you so much, Time Turner. You have such wonderful eyes."
"I love you too, Rarity." he replied with a sniffle, rubbing her hoof. "Until the very end."
Rarity lay back to face the roof again, deep in thought. "I had such a wonderful life." she said with a smile. "The only thing I wish I could change would be... A foal." Her smile faded.
Twilight thought back to many years ago, when Rarity and Time Turner decided that they wanted to have a foal. When the doctor told them Rarity was infertile, she was upset for days.
"I know, but we couldn't." Time Turner replied with a sigh. "But we still made the most of what we had, right?"
"Indeed..."
Twilight bit her lip as she held back her sobs. "I'm sorry I can't help, Rarity." she said, her tears running down her coat. "But I'm not allowed to use my powers to heal you."
"It's okay, Twilight." she said, coughing again. "Everypony knows that everypony dies, and none as much as an alicorn."
"But I need you."
"No, you don't."
Suddenly, Rarity began grunting in pain once again. She groaned and grasped her stomach, coughing in an awkward rhythm.
"Come on, Rarity." Time Turner said under his sobs, taking her hoof. "I love you, don't die, please."
"I'm sorry, Time Turner, but this is what happens, there's no point in denying it."
"Goodbye, my love..."
Rarity laid back down on the bed. She could tell she was on the brink of death.
"Rarity, I'm going to miss you..." Twilight said, tears streaming from her eyes. "If it weren't for you five, I would never have even became a princess."
"But if you had never became a princess, then we wouldn't be in this situation in the first place." She coughed weakly again.
"Well I want you to know, if I had to choose between being a princess or being here with you now, I would be here in a heartbeat." She forced a smile. "I don't want you to die without knowing that you are loved, and that I'll remember you for the rest of my life."
"Thank you, Twilight. That means a lot to me." She began to groan in pain. "I love you, both of you." she coughed. "And that I could never have asked for better friends, or husband."
Rarity slowly closed her eyes as the heart monitor struck a single, dead tone.
Many years later...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Twilight wiped away her tears as she looked at the five gravestones in front of her. Each one had a symbol on it; a balloon, a butterfly, an apple, a lightning bolt, and a diamond. Each placed in the order of their death.
Each one was overgrown with dull vegetation, the only colour visible was from the flowers which Twilight would continuously place on each one.
By now, each of her five friends were forgotten. Nopony knew who they were, and barely anypony even knew their names anymore. The graves were the only remaining evidence that they even existed at all, but no one cared. They weren't particularly special to anypony, anypony except her.
"I miss you." she said to them, crying. "I still remember when you all died. Pinkie Pie, you died on a Tuesday. Even on your deathbed you were still the same ecstatic, fun-loving pony you always were." She chuckled slightly, even though there was particularly nothing funny about it. "I don't know how I still remember that, that was five hundred years ago." She looked down at her own hooves. "And I still haven't forgotten you. Any of you."
"Princess Twilight?"
Twilight's thoughts were interrupted by a voice behind her. She turned around, and found the only living pony who she could still love. "Moonlight, my faithful student." she said with a smile. "How are you today?"
