The True Meaning of Generosity
The level of excitement at the Ponyville Gazebo was as high as it had been in several months, soon after the wedding of Matilda and Cranky Doodle Donkey. Pinkie Pie had thrown the Mayor a surprise birthday party there, and nearly every resident of Ponyville was in attendance. Ponies of all ages conversed, ate cake and other party refreshments, and overall had a delightful time. The pink party pony walked around the room, checking to see how everypony was doing. She didn’t receive a single negative comment. However, as she paced around the room several times, she couldn’t help but notice that one of her best friends didn’t seem to be there. She grew very worried after about a half an hour.
Pinkie Pie found her friends talking amongst themselves over by the punch bowl. When she felt they had finished talking about a certain topic, she jumped in. “Has anypony seen Rarity?” she asked, “Or, for that matter, Sweetie Belle?”
Twilight, Spike, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and Fluttershy all looked at each other. They each had a concerned look on their faces. “I haven’t seen them at all today,” Twilight said.
“Neither have I,” Spike added.
“I wonder what’s taking them so long,” Fluttershy remarked.
Rainbow Dash chuckled. “Heh, maybe Rarity’s still trying to figure out what the two of them should wear!” she said, laughing.
“I highly doubt that, Rainbow,” Applejack replied, “Usually she knows what to wear in advance. That is, if she’s gon’ be wearin’ anything.” The farm pony then turned to face the rest of her friends. “And I gotta believe Sweetie Belle would’ve bailed on her already if she tried to dress her up for somethin’ like this. This event isn’t all that formal, anyway.”
“You’re probably right, Applejack,” Twilight continued.
“You know, we probably shouldn’t worry, girls,” Pinkie Pie jumped in, “You all know Rarity. Sometimes she can be, as she calls it,” the party pony said as she flipped her mane to one side and batted her eyelashes in the most glamorous way she thought possible, “Fashionably late,” she said in a tone similar to Rarity’s.
“Pinkie’s right,” Spike said, “We should just focus on having a good time! I, for one, don’t want to let all of her efforts to go to waste.”
“Me neither,” Fluttershy added.
“Then come on!” Pinkie said cheerfully, “This party’s just getting started!”
…
At around 5:00 in the evening, everypony began to disperse from the gazebo. There wasn’t a frown anywhere to be seen, except for a few certain ponies. Rarity and Sweetie Belle never showed up. Pinkie Pie and her friends, along with Apple Bloom and Scootaloo, were the last ones to leave, as they had stayed an additional half hour to help clean everything up. Once that was done, instead of everypony going to their respective homes, Twilight had suggested they all go to the Carousel Boutique and see if everything was alright. By this time, they had all grown increasingly concerned. Rarity wasn’t one to miss a celebration, and the fact that Sweetie Belle wasn’t there either was definitely a cause for concern. As the group of friends reached the front door of the boutique, they saw the “Closed” sign hanging in the front door. There were no lights on in the building. “I wonder where they are?” Twilight asked, breaking the silence.
“Do you think they left town and forgot to tell us?” Spike asked.
“I’m pretty sure they would’ve left a note for us if that was the case,” Applejack brought up, “And I ain’t seein’ any note anywhere ‘round here.”
“Surely we would have heard from Sweetie Belle at school or at the clubhouse if she was going anywhere,” said Scootaloo.
“And she didn’t tell us nothin’,” Apple Bloom added.
“Why would she do something like this?” Rainbow Dash spoke in a slightly annoyed tone.
“Yeah, why?” Pinkie Pie added.
“Maybe she had a good reason,” Fluttershy said.
“Oh,” came a voice out of nowhere. It sounded very sad, and it also sounded like a particular unicorn mare that they all cared about. “You’re all here…” The group turned around. There was Rarity, along with her mom and Sweetie Belle. They each looked very distraught. “Mother,” the white unicorn continued, “I think you should go home. I’ll go ahead and tell everypony.”
“Alright, Rarity,” replied Rarity’s mom in a forlorn tone. She seemed to be on the verge of tears.
“Sweetie Belle,” Rarity continued, “Here. Take this key and go inside,” she said as she levitated her sister the key to the boutique with her magic, “I’ll be inside in a few minutes.” Sweetie Belle didn’t reply. She took the key in her own magic and made her way through the small group toward the front door. She walked straight past her fellow Cutie Mark Crusaders without saying a word. She then levitated the key into the lock, turned it, and went inside, closing the door behind her. “You two may want to follow her,” Rarity said to Apple Bloom and Scootaloo. The two of them went inside the boutique.
Meanwhile, the rest of the group turned back to face Rarity. She was about to cry. “Rarity,” Twilight began in a soft tone, “What’s going on?”
“Why weren’t you at the party?” Pinkie Pie said in a slightly high volume.
Rarity was just beginning to cry as she spoke. “Hhhh…Well, I couldn’t come because...hnffff…my father’s…” she paused for several seconds while she continued to sob, “My father’s in the hospital…”
All her friends gasped in unison. “Oh dear,” Applejack said in a sorrowful tone.
“What happened?” asked Fluttershy.
“He’s…hnffff…he’s…HHHH...he’s gone into kidney failure!” she blurted out in one of her most dramatic tones, one that her friends hadn’t heard since the time she was upset about the outcome of the fashion show she held just before the first time they had gone to the Grand Galloping Gala, the one that Hoity Toity hated so much.
Rarity continued to cry madly after breaking the news to her friends. They all gasped again. “Whoa…shoot…” Rainbow Dash said in a raspy tone.
“I’m so sorry, Rarity…” Spike said as he walked up to Rarity and comforted her with a hug. She hugged the baby dragon back as she continued sobbing above him. The rest of the group soon turned the whole thing into a group hug. A few of the others began to shed tears of their own.
After about half a minute, the friends broke the embrace, and Applejack was the first to speak. “How bad is it?” she asked, “How is he?”
“Well,” Rarity continued, ceasing most of her crying, “I suppose I was a slight bit overdramatic. He’s not in any immediate danger at the moment, just as long as he sticks to a strict dialysis schedule."
“What’s that?” Spike asked. Twilight then whispered in his ear, explaining the process. The dragon shivered in disgust upon hearing it.
“Anyway, he’s just been put on the transplant list, but who knows how long that will last?” Rarity continued as a pool of tears began welling up in her eyes, “I mean…hnffff…by the time they get him a new kidney…hhhh…it could…HHHH…it could be too late!” She was back to full on crying.
At this point, everypony else had reengaged the group hug. “Rarity,” Twilight said softly, “All you can do right now is stay strong and hope for the best.”
Rarity sniffled again as she wiped some of her tears away. “You’re right, Twilight,” she continued, “I should also be happy that it isn’t as serious as I thought it was…hnffff…and that he’s still here with us.”
“Good job, Rarity,” Fluttershy spoke comfortingly as she and the others continued embracing their friend.
…
A week had passed, and Rarity and her mom were at the hospital, while Sweetie Belle was out with her friends. At the moment, Rarity’s dad was in dialysis. Unfortunately, his condition hadn’t gotten any better. In fact, it had worsened. Now he was under 24/7 observation by the doctors, and he had dialysis every single day. Now was the time where he really needed a transplant. “Mother,” Rarity began, “Do you know how many more ponies are ahead of father on the transplant list?”
“I don’t know, Rarity,” she replied, “The doctor said he doesn’t give patients that information until a kidney’s become available for them.”
“Oh…” Rarity replied.
“I’ve already gotten myself tested, and I’m not a good enough match. If I was, I think your dad and I would already be in surgery.”
“Darn it.”
“I know, Rarity,” Rarity’s mom said in a comforting tone.
“Why is this happening?” Rarity continued, this time showing a hint of anger in her tone.
“I don’t know, Rarity. These things just happen sometimes.”
“But, I always saw them as happening to other ponies, not somepony in our family.” Rarity was on the verge of crying once again. “I…HHHH…I just don’t want to lose my father!”
“Neither do I, Rarity, neither do I,” Rarity’s mom said softly as she drew her daughter into an embrace.
…
Rarity lay in her bed. Her room was completely dark. She had her eye mask on, but she was far from asleep. She was so worried about her dad that it had prevented her from getting a proper night’s rest the past several nights. The unicorn took her mask off and climbed out of bed. She figured some warm milk would help her fall asleep. Once she made it to the ground floor, she looked over at one of her loungers. Something wasn’t right. She lit a nearby candle with her magic and the room was then illuminated enough for her to see what, or for this matter, who was there. “Sweetie Belle?” she asked in surprise. Her sister was wide awake as well.
“Hey, Rarity,” the white filly said softly.
“Could you not sleep either?”
“No. I’m just so worried about dad.”
“I know, Sweetie. So am I. Anyway, I’m going to get myself some warm milk. I think you should have some, too.”
“Okay,” Sweetie Belle finished as Rarity went into the kitchen. About 5 minutes later, she came out, levitating two mugs of warm milk. She placed them on a small table in front of the lounger. Rarity immediately took a few sips while Sweetie Belle sat up and took one gulp. The filly then set her mug down and turned to face her sister. “Rarity?” she began to ask softly, “Is dad gonna, well, you know, be okay?”
Rarity immediately brought a foreleg around her sister. “Sweetie Belle,” she began, “I wish I could give you a clear-cut answer, but the truth is I don’t know. The best case scenario is that we find a donor rather quickly and he’ll be fine, but the worst case scenario is, well…” No other words were needed. They both knew what would happen in that situation.
Sweetie Belle soon began to cry. “hhhh…Rarity,” she began, “I wish this wasn’t happening!”
Rarity hugged her sister tightly. Sweetie Belle was crying into Rarity’s chest at this point. “I know, Sweetie Belle,” Rarity said, soothingly, “I also wish this wasn’t happening.” Rarity then began to shed a few tears of her own. For the next 15 minutes, the two sisters just sat there, comforting each other and gradually drinking their mugs of warm milk. At some point, Rarity could her steady breathing coming from her sister. She looked down. Sweetie Belle was definitely asleep. For the first time that night, Rarity smiled. She soon finished her mug of milk, blew out the candle she had lit earlier, and then took Sweetie Belle in her magic. She took her upstairs and to her room, laying her on her bed and tucking her in. Rarity then left Sweetie Belle alone and went to her own room. She closed the door, climbed into bed, and put her eye mask on. After a few minutes, she was asleep.
…
The next morning, Rarity was awoken by a ray of sunlight beaming directly on her eye mask. It was very hot. She took it off and laid it on her bedside table. She was then nearly blinded by another light, but she immediately knew this one was reflecting off of something. Covering her eyes somewhat, she got out of her bed and trotted toward where she thought where the reflection was coming from. She then moved to a spot where the reflection wasn’t hurting her eyes. Once there, she moved closer. It was a small, cubic glass enclosure that contained a golden necklace on a stand. But it wasn’t just any necklace. It was the necklace that once bore the element of generosity. Rarity stared at it for a good minute as the morning sunlight continued to beam down on it. During that time, the stress from the past week came back to the front of her mind. Then, without warning, those two seemingly distant factors came together, and Rarity had a revelation. She then said to herself, “I know what I must do.”
…
Rarity’s mom gave her husband a kiss as he was once again taken to dialysis. A few minutes later, Rarity came into the room. “Mother,” she began, “I have an idea.”
“What’s that, honey?” Rarity’s mom asked.
“Well, I’ve thought about it for only a short time, but I’m willing to be my father’s donor. I’m going to get tested.”
“Rarity!” her mom exclaimed, “No! We could never ask for anything that big from our own daughter!”
“But what if this is father’s only option? What if another donor isn’t found in time?”
“Rarity, please. We’re not going to put you through something like this. You don’t need to worry about giving your dad one of your kidneys.”
“But, mother!”
“No! You’re not going to be your dad’s donor! I don’t want you to even bother being tested! Now, I’m going home to get some books. You should go home as well. Goodbye.” At that moment, Rarity’s mom walked out of the room. Rarity was at a loss for words. True, she understood why her mom didn’t feel comfortable having her be the donor, but the fact that she didn’t want her to even be tested took her by complete surprise. Though she had complete respect for her mother, she didn’t want to listen to her.
Rarity soon peeked out of the room. She saw Nurse Redheart walking her way, and she stopped her. “Excuse me, nurse,” she said, “Can you get my father’s doctor? I’d like to have something done.”
…
Twilight and her friends were sitting in their respective seats in the throne room of her castle. Most of them were reading, but Pinkie Pie and Spike were sharing a large bowl of gems. They all looked towards the door as they heard hoofsteps. It was Rarity. To everypony’s surprise, she was actually smiling, something they hadn’t seen from their friend in quite some time. However, despite her grin, her entire facial expression showed anxiety and nervousness. “Well, now, look who’s here!” Applejack said in excitement.
“Look who’s finally smiling!” Pinkie Pie added.
“Thank you, girls,” Rarity replied, “But, I’m not really 100% happy. The first reason I’m sure is quite obvious, but there’s also something else.”
“What’s that, Rarity?” Twilight asked.
“Well, I did something that my mother didn’t want me to do.”
“What did you do?” asked Fluttershy.
“I…I got tested to see if I was a suitable donor for my father. My mother was insistent that I not get tested because she didn’t feel like she could ask for something that enormous from her own daughter, but I feel that my father doesn’t have much more time, so I ignored her and got tested, anyway. I told the doctor not to tell my mother about it.” Rarity’s grin had long vanished at this point.
“Wow,” Rainbow Dash began, “That’s pretty big, Rarity.”
“Do you know if you’re a match?” Spike asked.
“Not yet,” Rarity replied, “But I’m actually dreading just hearing the results. What’s my mother going to say? She’ll be so angry!”
“Do you know why she didn’t want you to get tested?” Fluttershy asked.
“I can see why she wouldn’t want me as the donor, but no, I don’t know what compelled her to not want me to get tested. I mean, isn’t that a bit over the top?” All her friends nodded. “Regardless, my father’s in dire need of a kidney and I did what I felt needed to be done. I’m no longer under my mother’s control. I can do what I want.”
“You’re right, Rarity,” said Twilight. “And you know, I don’t think you need to worry. I think everything’s going to be just fine. Plus, I think both you AND your dad would benefit from this. That is, if you end up giving him a kidney.”
“Well, we won’t know for sure until it actually happens, but thank you, Twilight. However, how would I benefit from this?”
“I’m going to leave that for you to figure out,” the alicorn finished. Rarity was a bit surprised at the response, but brushed it off quickly as she decided to stay positive and be happy about her decision.
…
Rarity’s dad groaned before falling asleep for another nap. He was not well. His condition had worsened slightly. And yet, there was still no news from his doctor on where he was on the transplant list. His wife sat on a chair next to his bed. This whole ordeal had brought her more grief than she could have ever imagined. She looked at the door for no apparent reason and saw Rarity and Sweetie Belle walking in. This was the first time Rarity had visited the hospital ever since she had done what her mother said not to do. Though she was proud of getting herself tested, she feared the results being read in front of her mother while she was there. At the same time, today was like any other day, and Rarity knew she owed her ailing father a visit. Sweetie Belle didn’t visit her father very often while he was in the hospital. There were a variety of reasons for that. One was being busy with schoolwork or her friends, and another was her not wanting to physically see her father in such a state. It crushed her.
Rarity’s mom smiled slightly as she saw her two daughters enter the room. “Well, look who’s here!” she said excitedly, but softly.
“Hello, mother,” Rarity replied, “How is he?”
Rarity’s mom grew noticeably unwell. “I think we should step outside,” she replied quietly. The three ponies went outside.
“Mom,” Sweetie Belle began, a high amount of anxiety evident in her tone, “Is everything alright?”
Her mom didn’t immediately reply. She didn’t know what to say. This made Sweetie Belle grow extremely worried. “He…he’s not well,” she finally said on the verge of tears.
Rarity looked down at Sweetie Belle, their distraught gazes meeting. Sweetie Belle was starting to hyperventilate. She had never been this nervous about anything in her life. Rarity pulled her sister close. “Sweetie Belle,” she began, softly, “Don’t panic. Everything’s going to be fine.” The indigo-maned unicorn immediately grew worried that she may have potentially just lied to her sister.
All of a sudden, the three ponies heard a voice that seemed to come out of nowhere. “Rarity!” It was her dad’s doctor. “There you are! I was hoping I’d find you!” The stallion was looking quite happy.
“Oh, hello,” Rarity replied, “What’s this abou…” she paused upon realizing the only possible reason for her dad’s doctor to want to see her. Her entire body stiffened in anxiety.
“I have good news!” he announced excitedly, “You’re a perfect match! You can give your father one of your kidneys!”
Rarity’s mom grew wide-eyed upon hearing the news. Then, in a split second, she grew noticeably livid. She turned to Rarity. “You got yourself tested?!?” she asked angrily as her husband’s doctor backed away slightly.
Rarity knew all along that this was the reaction she would receive from her mother. Still, she didn’t care what she had to say. Her facial expression grew very stern. “Yes, mother,” she said with a hint of pride, “I did.”
“And after I specifically told you not to?!?”
“That doesn’t mean a thing, mother! I’m not living under your rules, and I haven’t been for the past several years! My father is in dire need of a transplant and I did what I felt was right! You have absolutely no reason to be angry at me!”
“Oh my gosh, do you not have any respect for your family?!?”
“Ugh! Mother, I can’t believe I’m hearing all of this coming out of your mouth!” During this time, Sweetie Belle grew very scared. She backed up somewhat and sat against the wall. On top of all the anxiety she was already feeling, seeing her mother and sister having an intense argument like this only added to the negativity. It was starting to reach levels of trauma for the young filly. She began to cry as Rarity continued venting out her anger and disbelief. “Who says this is even your decision?!? You’re not the one who’s fighting for their life right at this moment! All I’m trying to do is show a little bit of generosity, and here you are acting as if I’m crazy!”
“Rarity, I don’t care! I’m only gonna say this one more time! You are NOT gonna be your father’s donor! You’re my daughter and I’m not gonna put you through something like this!”
Rarity scrunched up her face in anger before continuing. “Fine! I won’t! But don’t come crying to me when my father’s perished because they couldn’t find a suitable donor in time, and that the closest one was right here in front of you this whole time!!!!!!!!!” she screamed in the loudest and most angry tone she could ever remember speaking in. She then turned around and ran down the hallway to the stairs. All that was left was a crying Sweetie Belle, a slightly frightened doctor, and a mare who was crushed on so many levels. Rarity’s mom looked around. The only sound she could hear was her youngest daughter crying in fear and anxiety. At this point, she didn’t know what to do.
…
Rainbow Dash was quietly napping on a cloud on the edge of downtown Ponyville. She was dreaming about the Wonderbolts when she was suddenly awoken by a wailing pony. She looked down and saw Rarity crying frantically and running toward her home. The cyan pegasus immediately spread her wings and flew as fast as she could to Twilight’s castle, where the rest of her friends were. Once she told them what she saw, the entire group made a mad dash to the Carousel Boutique. Without thinking, Rainbow Dash opened the door and everypony made their way inside. They could hear Rarity crying all the way upstairs. Everypony eventually found themselves at the door to her bedroom. Gently, Twilight eased the door open and peeked inside. She could see Rarity sobbing into her pillow. “Rarity?” she asked. There was no response. The alicorn knocked on the door. “Rarity,” she said, a tad bit louder this time. The white unicorn then ceased her crying for several seconds and looked up. “Rarity," Twilight continued softly, "What happened? Is everything alright?"
“HHHH…Oh, Twilight,” Rarity said, beginning to cry again, “It was horrible! hnffff…Well, actually, it’s not all THAT horrible. I found out that…hnffff…I’m a perfect match for being my father’s donor, but the worst part…HHHH…was when my mother became absolutely infuriated with me! I won’t go into detail of what we said…hnffff…but in the end, I told her that my father wasn’t getting my kidney and that she shouldn’t be upset at me if he dies before another donor is found.”
Rarity laid her head back on her pillow as her friends stared wide-eyed at her. They couldn’t believe that all of that had just happened. It didn’t seem normal. Applejack walked up to the side of Rarity’s bed and laid a hoof on her. “Rarity,” she began, “Deep down, do ya’ still wanna give your dad one of your kidneys?”
Rarity turned her head to face her orange friend. The others wanted to hear Rarity’s answer, so they moved closer. “Yes,” the white unicorn continued, “I do. I really do. I just wish my mother wasn’t making such a big deal of it.”
At that moment, the door to the bedroom opened, and everyone turned to face it upon hearing it open. In walked Sweetie Belle. “Rarity,” she began, “We need you to come back to the hospital.”
“For what?!?” Rarity began, “So mother can just keep yelling at me for being generous?!?”
“No, it’s about something else.” As she finished, everyone grew very worried. They figured she was giving them some devastating news. Sweetie Belle was quick to notice everyone’s facial expressions and went on to tell them, “Don’t worry, he’s still alive.” Everyone breathed a sigh of relief. “Rarity,” the filly continued, a sad look on her face, “Please come back. Mom wants to tell you something.”
…
The two sisters made their way to their father’s hospital room. As they approached, their mom stepped out of the room. She looked forlorn. “Oh, good, you’re back,” she began, sounding somewhat relieved. “Sweetie Belle, go inside with your dad, would you, please?” she asked.
“Alright,” Sweetie Belle replied. She went into the room while Rarity just stood there. Rarity was still annoyed with her mother and didn’t want to speak to her.
“Rarity,” her mom began, “Before you get angry with me again, I just wanna say I’m sorry. I’m sorry for all the times I’ve yelled at you or gotten mad at you throughout this whole ordeal. The truth is, well, if you’re wondering why I never wanted you to even get tested, it was because of something your grandma did with me when I was a filly. Whenever there was something she didn’t want me to do, she would have me stay away from anything that was involved with the thing she was worried about. For example, if there was a sport that I wanted to try out for, but she didn’t think it was good for me, she wouldn’t let me try out, plus she would make me get rid of anything related to that sport that I already had.” At this moment, Rarity began to understand what her mother was telling her, and her anger slowly died away. “Of course, all that rubbed off on me, but I’ve been able to keep it under control, which is why you’ve probably never seen me act that way. In this case, I think the mere thought of having my own daughter be an organ donor for my husband was something I hoped would never even come up, and when it did, everything just came back to me all at once. You see what I mean?”
For the first time that day, Rarity smiled. “Yes, mother,” she began, “I understand. I had no idea that these feelings and actions were hidden inside you all this time.”
“And I thought I was strong enough to keep them hidden from you. Anyway, the reason I had Sweetie Belle go back and get you was because, well…” she began to cry, “After you left…hhhh…the doctor came and told me…hnffff… he thinks…HHHH…your dad has…” she paused before mustering the courage to break the news to her daughter, “2 days left…HHHH” Rarity nearly fainted upon hearing the news. “Come on…hnffff…I need you to come inside the room.” Rarity did as she was told, and her mom followed her in. Rarity’s heart dropped upon seeing her dad in such a state. She walked up to the side of his bed.
Then, in a very weak tone, Rarity’s dad said, “Rarity, I hoped I’d never have to ask you a question like this, but…” he paused for a few seconds, “May I please have one of your kidneys?”
Rarity placed a hoof on his shoulder and smiled at him. “Of course you can, father,” she said, calmly, “I’d do anything to make sure you live as long of a life as you want. And, one other thing,” she said as she turned to face her mother, wanting her to listen to her, “I don’t want you to think of this as taking something major from your daughter. I want you to think of this as your daughter willingly giving her father another chance at life. Generosity has been in my blood ever since I began representing the element of it, and now I’m just doing my part in continuing to show it any way I can.” Everypony in the room smiled, and they all hugged Rarity upon realizing that this whole ordeal may actually have a happy ending.
…
Rarity could faintly hear multiple voices. She was slowly and steadily opening her eyes. She could see many colors. Purple, yellow, blue, pink, orange, white, a small hint of green, and even a rainbow. She opened her eyes to find her mother, Sweetie Belle, Spike, and all her other friends standing around her. Then it all came back to her. She had just had surgery. She felt something rather odd and unfamiliar on her lower left back. After a few seconds, she knew exactly what it was. “There she is!” Pinkie Pie began in a tone that she normally used while watching over the Cake twins.
“Hey there, sleepyhead!” Rainbow Dash said.
Rarity moaned quietly. “Mmmm…hello, everypony.” She was still slightly out of it. She then turned to her mom. “Where’s my father?” she asked.
Rarity’s mom opened the curtain behind her. “He’s right here!” she said, excitedly. The stallion slowly turned his head to face his daughter. He smiled. Rarity smiled back. “Rarity,” continued her mom, “Thank you for being so generous. I’m so relieved that everything turned out okay.” She hugged her daughter.
“It was nothing, mother,” Rarity replied, “Like I said, it’s in my blood now.” All her mom could do was smile.
“Hey, Rarity,” Twilight jumped in, “I wanna talk to you about that for a little bit.”
“About generosity?” Rarity asked.
“Yep.”
“Why? I mean, wasn’t this just another simple act of generosity?”
“Nope. This was far beyond that.”
“How?”
“Well, have you ever thought about something called sacrifice?”
Rarity grew slightly perplexed. “Hmmm…I can’t say I have.”
“Well, all the acts of generosity I’ve seen you commit were fairly simple. Remember when you brought us to Manehattan? You gave our bellhop a more-than-modest tip, plus you lent a stallion on that boat your scarf. Here, you gave your father a part of your body. This actually affects you negatively, while what you did in Manehattan were things you could easily get by with doing. Do you get what I’m saying?”
Rarity went into thought for several seconds. She then remembered one thing Twilight had told her before the surgery. “Hold on,” she began, “Twilight, I thought you said I would…” She paused as the pieces of the puzzle came together. “Wait, you’re right. Although this will have a negative effect on me, I’m benefitting from it because I learned a valuable lesson in generosity.”
“Sacrifice, you mean,” Twilight mentioned abruptly.
“Right. Sacrifice.” Rarity paused for a few seconds. “Oh my, I can’t believe I wasn’t aware of this sooner. I probably would have upped my game to a level close to this whole scenario by now.”
“I don’t think that would’ve been necessary, Rarity,” Applejack said, “Not everypony understands generosity as well as you do right now.”
“Plus,” Fluttershy jumped in, “I think any act of generosity, whether big or small, will be adored by anypony who’s fortunate enough to receive your gift.”
“Yeah, Rarity!” Spike said, “Just keep doing what you’re doing!”
“But don’t forget what you’ve learned today,” Twilight finished.
“Trust me, I won’t,” Rarity replied.
Sweetie Belle carefully climbed up onto Rarity’s bed. “Thanks again for doing this, Rarity," the filly said, "You saved dad’s life!” She hugged her, and Rarity hugged back.
Everypony standing around them went, “Awww…” almost in unison.
Less than a week later, Rarity’s dad was out of the hospital, and his body had not made any attempt in rejecting his daughter’s kidney. Though he’d have to take anti-rejection medicine for the rest of his life, he felt like the luckiest stallion in all of Equestria after being generously given a second chance at life. Rarity, on the other hand, felt better than she could ever remember. She had a scar, but decided not to get rid of it with magic or anything else. She felt it symbolized the day her view on generosity changed forever. It was going to stay with her for all eternity, as it reminded her of the true meaning of generosity.
THE END
Author's Note
I'd like to give an enormous amount of credit to Dr. Wolf. He was the one who originally came up with the idea of having sacrifice being related to the element of generosity. This story would not exist if he hadn't made that video. Thanks, Doc!