Unforgiven

"Rarity, could ya please shut yer yap and listen to me for a second!?"

"No Applejack. I've told you over and over again. I know how to take care of my little sister. I don't need your advice."

"Well she doesn't exactly seem very happy living with you. Do you remember what happened a while back, she even asked for me to be her sister! Applebloom always says that Sweetie Belle is always complainin' about ya."

"Oh here we go again, are you ever going to let that go Applejack! It was a long time ago. Before you give me tips on being a good sister, why don't you take a shower or something. You're always so filthy, you could make a pig look like a runway model!"

"Rarity, stop it please. All i'm askin' of ya is to be a little less neglectful to your sister. Every time she wants to play or do anythin', yer always too busy doin' somethin' else."

"She's my sister you uncouth pig. I will take care of her, you worry about yourself."

Rarity cocked her head and the other direction and stormed away. Applejack was left standing alone in the center of Ponyville. Every other pony had stopped what they were doing and were all staring at her. The yellow maned pony looked at the mud covering her hooves, due to her recently working on the farm. Tears began to swell out of the pony's eyes, she slowly walked towards Sweet Apple Acres, with her head slumped.

"Hmph, that filthy excuse for a pony thinks she can tell me how to raise my sister. Sweetie Belle is just fine."

The white coated unicorn opened the door to her house and greeted her sister.

"Hi Sweetie Belle."

She looked around, Sweetie Belle was nowhere to be found.

"She must be in her room. Let me go check on her before I go to bed."

Rarity walked to Sweetie Belle's roomed and slowly creaked the door open. She opened her mouth to speak, but she closed it as she saw Sweetie Belle. She was sitting down in the corner, with her head down low. There were small, sobbing noise coming from her.

"Stupid Rarity... She never wants to play with me. What kind of big sister has time to sit in the jewel store staring at rubies all day, but doesn't have time to play with me just for a little while."

A tear rolled out of Rarity's eye. She didn't realize how upset Sweetie Belle actually was. She had never actually expressed how she felt, normally she would just walk away when denied.

"I can't wait until Scootaloo is feeling better. Then I won't need Rarity to play with me anymore. Applebloom, Scootaloo and I can go back to crusading and I won't need her anymore. It doesn't matter though, I could get my cutie mark and Rarity wouldn't turn a blind eye."

Rarity stretched her hoof out and opened her mouth. She said nothing, instead she pulled her hoof back and closed her mouth. Tears rolled down the side of her face as she exited Sweetie Belle's room.

"I need to do something about this. Maybe Applejack was right. I need to think about this."

The next morning was bright and sunny, much like any other day in Ponyville. Rainbow Dash was sleeping on her favorite cloud and Twilight was locked up in her library studying. Pinkie Pie was on her way to Sugarcube Corner and Fluttershy was feeding all the woodland creatures breakfast. However, two ponies remained absent from the beautiful morning. Rarity had slipped out of Ponyville undetected early in the morning. She needed time away from everypony else to think. Applejack was at her farm, but instead of enjoying the weather, she sat in the barn, thinking.

"Is what Rarity said true? Does everypony else think I'm disgusting and dirty and they're just tryna be nice? No, they're my friends, they wouldn't think that. But Rarity is my friend, and she thinks that..."

Hundreds of questions flooded the earth pony's head. After thinking for a long time, Applebloom knocked on the door and slowly walked into her big sister's room.

"Applejack. Are you okay?"

Applejack could sense the caring tone in Applebloom's voice. When she tried, Applebloom was so sweet and kind. Instead of replying with a simply "Yea I'm ok." like Applejack normally would, she didn't respond it all.

"Applejack?"

"Get out Applebloom! Leave me alone."

The little filly didn't say another word. Instead she turned around and exited her sister's room. Normally Applejack would have felt bad for yelling at her sister, but she was too tired and upset about Rarity. She closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep.

Rarity stood silently, letting the wind of the mountain range mess up her mane. Normally she would never come to a place like this unless she was looking for gems. And she would never come alone, especially not after the diamond dog incident. But she didn't care.

Instead, the unicorn stood, unmoving, in the same spot where her horn had led her when she was a filly. This was the spot where she found the rock with all the gems in it that she used to  make the outfits for her school play. This was where she realized her true talent.

She had been thinking for hours about what Applejack said, and about what Sweetie Belle said last night. Rarity was an older sister, a role model to Sweetie Belle. But instead she chose to neglect her and instead, waste time doing other things that could be cancelled. Her sister was always out looking for her talent, and Rarity did nothing to help her. Applejack gave them their own clubhouse and always encouraged her sister. Rainbow Dash, who wasn't a sister to any of them, had done her best to help them quite a few times. And Rarity, had done nothing.

"Applejack was right. I need to change, my only fear is. Will Applejack forgive me for the things I said? And will Sweetie Belle forgive me for not being there for her? I hope so."

That night, Applejack was still in her room, she hadn't moved all day. Granny Smith, slowly stumbled into her room to say good night. However, when she saw Applejack sprawled across her bed, she merely frowned and left.

Big Macintosh then came up the stairs and walked into his little sisters room. He walked over to her, and simply ran his hoof through her mane slowly. Applejack didn't look up, instead she kept her head buried in her pillow. Applejack never really got upset, and when she did, it normally went away fast. But this was different, and Big Mac knew it. He kissed his sister on her forehead and left.

Applebloom walked down the hallway and peered into Applejack's room. She stood there for a minute, and then turned around and walked towards her room. For the first time in the entire day, Applejack stood up. She walked out of her room and slowly opened her mouth.

"Applebloom..."

The little filly turned around and looked into her sisters eyes.

"I'm sorry."

"Aww its ok Applejack. Ya didn't mean it. Besides, Rarity was mighty cruel to you the other day."

Applebloom ran up to her sister and gave her a hug. Applejack stood there and didn't mutter a word. She simply smiled. Applebloom loosened her grip on her sister and started to walk back to her room.

"G'nite Applejack."

"Good night Applebloom."

Applejack awoke in the middle of the night. She looked outside her window, she flinched as the thunder roared loudly.

"A thunder storm. Perfect." she said sarcastically.

Just then, a lightning bolt touched down on one of the trees on the farm. Flames sparked on it and the tree tumbled down, igniting three other trees on the way down.

"Oh sweet Celestia!"

Applejack ran downstairs and dashed out of the barn. She started grabbing buckets of water and filling them up with water. She ran back and forth from the trees, attempting to douse the flames.

Just as the fire seemed to be taken care of, lightning touched down again, igniting yet another tree. The tree collapsed, just inches away from Applejack.

"Oh dear, oh dear."

Applejack ran in the other direction. She didn't get very far as another tree began to fall in the same direction. Trees began to become engulfed in flames. The fire was spreading fast, and Applejack was closed off by the burning trees. She was trapped in the middle of circle of flaming apple trees. She looked around her, hoping to find an opening. Lightning touched down yet again striking another tree. Applejack looked into the distance. Half of an acre of her land was being incinerated. Another tree collapsed, this one landing the middle of the circle.

Applejack jumped out of the way as the tree landed merely inches from her face. It almost instantly was set ablaze from the other trees. She slowly backed away, and then she lunged forward. The back of her legs had touched one of the trees, leaving a long black burn mark. The flames began to rise and Applejack could barely see more than two feet in front of her. Her eyes slowly began to close, she was fainting from the heat. As she collapsed the last thing she heard was the faint yelling of Big Macintosh.

"Applejack! Are you ok! APPLEJACK!"

"Uhm, doctor. Is Applejack going to be ok?"

Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, and Twilight all stood in in front  of Applejack, who was laying down on her hospital bed.

"I'm afraid it's too soon to tell. Her injuries are very severe, we are doing the best we can."

Fluttershy squealed. Rainbow Dash slowly walked up to her friend. Her knees were shaking as she stood next to the charred pony. Applejack's mane had mostly faded from a bright yellow to a gray ash color. She had multiple cuts and burns on her face. Her right ear was torn slightly and she had a long scar running down the right side of her face.

"Applejack... please. Wake up."

Twilight put her hoof on Rainbow Dash's shoulder. Normally, the cyan Pegasus hated any kind of sympathy. But even someone as strong and stubborn as her need comfort at certain times.

"It'll be ok Rainbow Dash." Twilight muttered softly.

The four ponies exited the room. As they left, Applejack abruptly sat up. Her mouth opened and started to move, as if she was trying to say something. But no words left her lips. She thought to herself,

"Wait. Girls don't go!"

Applejack fell back into her bed and passed out again.

Rarity trotted up to the front door of her house. She was fully prepared to spend more time with Sweetie Belle and she was going to apologize to Applejack in the morning. But she was exhausted from the long journey back home and she walked towards her room. She peaked in Sweetie Belle's room. She saw a lump in her bed and she assumed she was already asleep.

"Oh I'll leave her be. I'll talk to her in the morning."

The next morning Rarity was eating breakfast in the kitchen. Normally she would expect Sweetie Belle to come down and get something to eat before she went out for the day.

"Sweetie Belle!" Rarity called out to her sister.

There was no response. Rarity went up to Sweetie Belle's room to check on her. She removed the covers from the bed, and instead of her sister, she found Sweetie Belle's stuffed animals piled up under the covers, and a note.

The unicorn picked up the note and began to read it, it was from Sweetie Belle...

Dear Rarity,

I'm sorry Rarity, but I can't stand being here with you anymore. I can tell I'm just a pest to you and that you don't want me here anymore. I thought it was just a small phase, but you left the other day with no warning and left only Twilight to come check on me a few times a day. Thanks a lot "Big Sister." I'm sorry I'm not the sister you wanted, so I've left Ponyville and I'm not coming back. I'm going to find a sister who cares about me. Please don't come looking for me, but you probably won't anyways.

From, your former sister

Sweetie Belle

Rarity began to cry. She had driven her sister away. She had to find her, now. If Sweetie Belle wondered too far, she could get lost forever and fall victim to wild creatures.

Rarity rushed out of her house to search for her sister.

Rainbow Dash walked into Ponyville hospital. Ever since Applejack's accident, she hasn't been in her normal mood. She hadn't been practicing her flying or doing much of anything except sleeping.

She entered Applejack's room.

"Applejack... Are you awake."

The earth pony didn't move. She continued to lay there, unmoving, with her eyes closed.

"Applejack. Applejack. APPLEJACK!"

The entire hospital went silent. A nurse entered the room and put her hoof on the cyan Pegasus's shoulder. Rainbow Dash began to cry and the nurse led her out of the room.

Applejack still couldn't move, but she thought to herself.

"Rainbow Dash, it'll be alright. Please, believe... just believe."

"Sweetie Belle!"

The little filly turned around and saw her big sister running towards her.

"Sweetie Belle please. Come home with me. I thought long and hard, and I really am going to change. We'll spend more time together I promise."

"Yea right. You always say things like that, you never mean it."

Sweetie Belle turned around and continued walking.

"Sweetie Belle please! Please give me one more chance."

"No Rarity, I can't take being ignored by my own sister. You don't love me anymore."

Those words hurt worse than anything else. Rarity literally felt her heart break. Sweetie Belle continued walked towards Manehattan.

"Wait, Sweetie Belle. Look at what you're leaving behind, even if you don't love me. Think about your friends, what will they do without you? Everypony will miss you."

Sweetie Belle stopped. She didn't turn around or say a word.

"I'm going back to Ponyville, if you want to come back, you are more than welcome to come back."

Rarity turned around and slowly walked back to her house. It was useless to try and force Sweetie Belle to come back. If she did, she could just run away again.

Rarity walked up to the front door of her house. As she reached for the door knob, she noticed Twilight Sparkle running up the road.

"Rarity!"

"What's wrong Twilight?"

"You don't know!? Applejack's in the hospital! She was nearly burned alive during the storm two nights ago! You weren't even here!"

"Oh dear Celestia. Come Twilight, let's go!"

Rarity burst through the front door of the hospital. She dashed through the hallways and found Applejack's room. She slowly walked in, she opened her mouth to speak, but closed it the next second. Rarity's eyes were fixated on the heart meter. She saw nothing but a flat red line, the room was silent. The only sound was the ringing noise of the heart meter. Applejack was dead......

"No, no. No no no no NO!"

Rarity collapsed to the floor and began bawling. Pinkie, Twilight, Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy then all entered the room. They looked at the heart meter and then at Applejack. They stood in horror as they looked at the dead body of there friend, and at Rarity who was hysterical at the moment. Rarity couldn't utter a single word, but she thought to herself,

"No, this can't be happening. I never got to say I'm sorry. The last thing I did was call her a filthy excuse for a pony, and now she's gone with that as her final memory of me. Applejack, I'm so sorry..."

The nurse walked in and her heart broke as she saw the 5 ponies all crying at the loss of their friend. She walked over to Applejack, and covered her face.

The funeral was held the next day. Everypony, even Princess Celestia, was in tears. When ponies were called up to say their goodbyes, Rainbow Dash was the first.

"Applejack, you were one of my best friends. You were always honest, kind and especially cool. You were great competition and you were so fun to be around. I'm sorry..."

Pinkie Pie was next. She walked up to the coffin, and simply began bawling. She didn't mutter a single word, she just stood there crying. After a few minutes she walked away and sat back down.

Fluttershy was next. Her voice was muffled, but with the dead silence everypony could understand her.

"Uhm. Applejack, you were always a great friend to me and everypony else. You never lied to any pony and...."

She couldn't think of anything else to say. She walked away from the coffin with her head held low, with tears falling from her eyes as she walked. Twilight was the next one to go up.

"Applejack, you were an amazing friend, a friend like not other. You were 1 in a million and no pony else will ever replace you." Twilight began to cry as she spoke.

"You taught me what friendship could mean, and I have so much to thank you for, and I never got the chance to."

Twilight walked away from the coffin and stood silent next to Princess Celestia. Rarity was next, but she didn't move from her chair. Instead she thought to herself,

"Applejack, I'm sorry. I know you'll never be able to know this, but from the deepest part of my heart, I am deeply and truly sorry."

Rarity went to bed that night feeling like a complete wreck. Sweetie Belle was gone, and Applejack was dead. She broke her promise to take care of Sweetie Belle, and she never got to apologize to Applejack. She slowly cried herself to sleep.

She opened her eyes. She awoke not in her bed, instead she felt herself on the cold hard ground. She looked around her, she was at Sweet Apple Acres. She noticed a bright light to the left of her. It looked like... a fire. Something was on fire! Rarity ran towards the fire. It was a circle of trees, they had all fallen down and had created a huge inferno. She looked closely and saw a pony trapped in the middle. It was Applejack. Rarity was about to charge in and save Applejack when she felt something grab her shoulder.

"It's ok sugarcube."

"WHAA! Applejack!?!"

Sure enough, Applejack was standing next to Rarity.

"B-b-but. You're dead, I mean, you're in there! Wh- What's going on here!?"

"Relax Rarity. This is just a dream. I'm here to talk to you."

Rarity was silent for a minute.

"Applejack. I, I'm so sorry."

"Save it. I know you didn't mean it. And I'm sorry too, I shouldn't have told you how to raise your sister."

"No, you were right. I've been terrible."

"Rarity. Look at me. You're my friend and I'll love you forever, even in death. Don't beat yourself up over this. My memory will live on forever, now go. You have to fix this."

Applejack winked at her friend and Rarity abruptly opened her eyes. She looked out the window to the left of her bed. It was morning. Rarity raced down to Sweetie Belle's room to see if she had came back. She walked through the door, but Sweetie Belle wasn't there.

Rarity began to cry. Just then, Rarity heard a noise from behind her. She turned around, and saw a small filly standing in the door way. It was Sweetie Belle. The filly ran up to her sister and gave her a big hug. Then, the two sisters looked into each others eyes. Rarity opened her mouth and began to speak.

"Come on Sweetie Belle, lets go play."