"WHAT?!?"
"It can't be. It just can't..."
"I'm sorry, Miss Rarity, Miss Applejack, but that seems to be the case. There is a chance that I could be wrong, but it's highly unlikely. You better go and tell her. There is no getting around it."
"There's nothing you can do?!"
"I'm afraid not, Miss Dash."
The CMC stood with their ears up against the door of the doctor's office.
"Yaddaya think they're talk'n about?" Applebloom whispered.
"Whatever it is," Scootaloo answered, "It can't be good."
The door opened. The three fillies stepped back and watched their older siblings and mentors step out from the gloom.
The three mares wore a forlorn look on each of their faces, and hung their heads with disappointment.
"What happened?" Sweetie Belle asked her older sister as she, her friends and their siblings exited the medical clinic. "What did Nurse Redheart say?"
"N-nothing..." The white unicorn lied, hoping to save her sister and their friends from the inevitable sadness for at least a little while. "Everything is... *sniffle*... just... fine..."
"It doesn't seem that way." Applebloom stated, walking up next to Rarity and looking at her. "It seems like you're crying."
"Crying?" Rarity repeated, wiping her tears and giving the filly a fake smile. "I'm not crying, there's just... something in my eye!"
The older unicorn quickly picked up her younger sister with her blue magical aura and placed her onto her back. "We're going now."
"Oh, but Rarity..."
"No! We are leaving!"
Sweetie Belle looked back and gave her friends a small wave. "I guess I'll see you tomorrow." She said. "Bye!"
Applejack and Rainbow Dash watched sadly as their unicorn friend left.
"We had better get going too, Applebloom." The orange earth pony said, walking off in the direction of her home at Sweet Apple Acres.
Scootaloo hung her head. "I guess I'll be walking home. By myself. Again."
Rainbow Dash trotted up beside her. "Actually," She said, "I need to tell you something."
Scootaloo's eyes lit up. "Really?"
"Yeah." Rainbow replied, rubbing the back of her head with a hoof. "But, we need to be at my house."
Scootaloo's excited expression was soon replaced with worry. "It's something bad, isn't it?"
Rainbow Dash couldn't bring herself to look the filly in the eyes. "J-just come with me, Squirt."
And as the two walked off into the sunset, Rainbow's heart was filled with guilt. She didn't want to have to tell the little Pegasus about this, but it had to be done. It had to be...
Applebloom could just feel the tension in the air. Applejack was pacing up and down the room nonstop. She had to speak up.
"So... What did da nurse say?"
Applejack seemed taken aback by her sister's question.
"What? N-no, she didn't say anything! Nothing at all! Ha ha, nope, noth'n wrong with ya, or any of ya friends! It's not like one of ya is go'n ta die, or someth'n."
Her voice trailed off at the end, and she hung her head with a sigh.
Applebloom was shocked. "One of us is going ta DIE?!"
Applejack sighed. Being the representative of the Element of Honesty made it rather difficult to lie. She had no other choice, but to tell the truth.
"...Yes."
"WHAT?!"
Sweetie Belle didn't want to hear this. She didn't want to believe that it was true. But she did hear it, and she did believe.
"I-I'm so sorry!" Rarity sobbed. "I-I can't change it, if I could've I would've, but I can't!"
Sweetie Belle sat down on her haunches. "One of us... is going to die... and there's nothing we can do?"
Rarity didn't answer. She had her face buried into her pillow and was sobbing uncontrollably.
"NO! Rainbow Dash, you're lying, tell me you're lying!"
Rainbow was in tears.
"I'm sorry, but it's the truth!"
Scootaloo wasn't listening. And she made it very clear by covering her ears and yelling "I'M NOT LISTENING" at the top of her lungs over and over again. Although this was just about as effective as mining diamonds with a feather, because she soon just broke down into a sobbing heap on the cloudy floor.
She soon felt a hoof on her shoulder. Pulling herself together, she sat up and faced her mentor.
"At l-least t-tell me wh-who it is!"
Rainbow sighed. "You see squirt..."
"It's not you." Applejack assured her sister. "Unfortunately..."
"... Sweetie Belle..." Rarity moaned. "I-I'm sorry, but..."
"You see, the pony is..." Rainbow was practically choking.
"It's... It's..." Applejack could barely bring herself to say the words.
"It's... you." Rarity whispered.
Sweetie Belle's jaw dropped.
"It's... me... It can't be... can it?