Author's Note

Hi there; it's me, Fireflower here once more with an electric feel ready with a new chapter of War Orphans' Wishes on the way: suffice to say, the past chapter from before were by far a somber note for you all and it will only be a taste of what's to come afterwards as I write them all them at my fingertips.

As usual, My Little Pony, or rather Friendship Is Magic, including its settings and characters belong to ––– you know what? Fk it; you've made it this far so there's no use in me repeating what I had said before in the disclaimers, especially after what y'all had gone through.

However, let me just also say that, with many thanks aside, I hope you can be able to stomach this chapter now even more than the others before it and still have the strength to continue onward in staying tuned though the passing times: a special guest's going to be joining one of our fateful protagonists in the chapter below; but, it will only be for a brief moment anyway as we all go on and float onward there.

Mute

An absolute absence of light currently dominated the rather colorless environment as the otherwise blackened void had already served as an endless source of scarcity and obscurity altogether. Whatever terrain that was within the darkness wasn’t solid like the earthly plane; of course, air itself wasn’t the only thing that existed either, even when they came in the form of gentle breezes that had whispered taboo noises. Nevertheless, it was far from a desolate wasteland that had defined the area; then again, it wouldn’t mean that such a place in question thereof is sustainable for something so simple as growth.

Basically, all that resided within the very void was at least one living being, a bright skinned female already lying supine upon itself as the cold wind blowing across her skin. Locks of curly hair were found upon her head in a grave state of chaos and disarray, already running past the nape of the neck as they were separated into two different colors: purple and pink. The inhabitant in question had on a simplistic attire matching her hair: a solid purple dress that had barely reached past the kneecaps and a pair of pink socks upon her very feet.

Calmly residing still, she remained where she was, even as the wind and waves moved her to and fro; then, with little warning whatsoever, both of her eyelids flew opened to reveal a pair of jade orbs within. The otherwise golden silence that had surrounded the inhabitant were instantaneously replaced with the startled yet wordless gasps from the owner’s mouth, interspersed with the chorus of splashing. Undoubtedly, she couldn’t help but struggle to stay upward, even though that there was nothing in sight to guide her on a certain path that could take her away from the ambiguous location thereof.

“Don’t stop, Sweetie Belle; she’ll be gaining up on you soon…!” a loud voice was heard throughout the vast and infinite space, piercing the ears of the lone inhabitant as she struggled to find the source of such words only to find that loneliness was still all around her to this very moment.

Effortlessly, she couldn’t help but move about within the very surface, barely able to pick a course to set upon before starting to take heed of what was said to her as a result of such desperation. Sweetie Belle instantly remained conscious of her attire pulled down by the weight of the compound beneath her as she swam onward within, her strife barely beginning while moving around. Realizing this, the inhabitant had called out into the darkened abyss beyond for dire need of such assistance, only to find neither anyone would answer to it nor were the words strong enough to escape. Battling against the unknown all throughout the way, she had nonetheless resumed her endeavor anyway, remembering what had already been said not too long ago while still unable to choose a set path.

Frantically moving forearms in a series of strokes, Sweetie Belle had swam onward to hear laughter in the air: it was initially faint for the most part yet it wasn’t as far away like she’d thought. As a matter of fact, despite the splashing that the swimmer had made in the process, she couldn’t help but listen closely as the leitmotif soon morphed into frantic cackling, increasing in tempo slowly. The sound in particular that she was now paying attention to had gain more volume as well, almost to the point in where it’d seemed to be gaining up on her despite the desperate struggle thereof. Even though that Sweetie Belle was all alone, the newfound chorus of laughter assaulting both of her ears proved to be very exacerbating to be found within the vast unknown place that she was already in. Definitive drones were even more piercing than the enormous ripples of water that the very swimmer had made as she desperately wished for the sounds all around to just go away and leave her be.

Gallantly, she kept on going and refused to let the cackles get the best of her; however, they weren’t the only thing that were being heard: cutting into the sinister aria was another voice calling out from the darkness, “what’s the matter, little girl; are you really that afraid of me so much…?”

“Hurry, Sweetie Belle…!” the primary voice called out to the listener’s name, “don’t listen to that fiend; get away from him…!”

In the midst of thought, Sweetie Belle started to think about the source of such voices but remained wary of her current situation thereof. Not wanting to even risk a simple function ceasing in the sea of darkness within the void, the frantic inhabitant kept on going about her way. Greatly influenced by the rather peculiar voices already invading her ears, she’d just kept swimming onward and made waves in her path. Reality still sank into Sweetie Belle despite her struggles against the liquid she was already submerged into, not wanting to stop in any way. Efforts overall to stop the sole inhabitant from her continuing on did nothing but drive even bigger ripples into the very surface altogether. She kept at it anyway, silently hypothesizing that her sudden inaction would trigger a rather unpleasant surprise in some other form or fashion. Sweetie Belle pondered on the identities of such voices as if she wanted to call out to the most recent one and yet no words came out of her.

“Just keep going, Sweetie Belle; don’t let her catch up to you no matter what…!” another voice had echoed, not like the others at first but similar in nature nevertheless: while reminiscent of the secondary voice, it was frantic like the first.

Keeping the recent addition in mind, the individual in tow heeded the latest addition with utter determination upon herself. Intensely pushing herself onward was maximizing the dwindling input that she’d possessed within both of these arms. Sweetie Belle swam anyway with the simple words of long before barely leaving her mind as she’d moved further onward. Suddenly, the swimmer soon started to slow down as the strength that resided deep inside her limb had finally dissipated.

Laborious breathing escaped from her the minute she’d stopped in place, filled to the brim with exhaustion and devoid of love or joy; of course, this would serve to have a rather startling reaction as another voice spoke to her, sharing the same quality as the predecessor but otherwise different, “there you are, my dear sister…!”

Monumentally scared out of the straight and narrow path once taken, Sweetie Belle slowly turned to face the source of such spoken words; however, the moment that she did, both eyes couldn’t believe what they’d seen: it was another female. Both of them had possessed such certain common traits between the two: a bright complexion upon their skin, a set of long flowing hair on their heads, and some cool color shades circling around their pupils. Still, they also had some differences amongst themselves here and there, something that the stagnant swimmer was able to take notice upon this recent discovery that was instantaneously made here and there.

Not a second went by for Sweetie Belle as she studied the style of the sudden female that appeared before her all too quickly. For starters, the other female had worn some solid dark purple adorned across the tresses with but a few curls along the very way. Secondly, there was also a great difference in height between the two females: Sweetie Belle was outmatched by a few feet thereof. Third of all, the taller visitor wore a white long–sleeved blouse that was already stained with many tiny patches of red and brown. While the swimmer was made aware of the dark gray skirt around the waistline, the wearer was also barefoot and hovered on above. Sweetie Belle started to look upon the tall visitor in both of the eyes only to find nothing but darkness in and of itself within them.

“Oh no…” one of the voices whispered again but none of the females present ever spoke out, not even towards each other, “my baby…”

“Please forgive for leaving you be: I never knew that something so horrible like this would even happen to you, Sweetie Belle…!” the tall visitor had wept, still standing over nearby the titular inhabitant.

Quizzically, the swimmer was able to notice a drop of orange landing upon the surface and provided color to the otherwise darkened environment. Under a single minute thereof, Sweetie Belle then watched as the void all around her had glowed, bringing light that was once almost nonexistent. Its lack of balance in regards to identity thereof was instantaneously replaced with shades and hues crying out loud with such a solid vision so soon. The only thing that remained unchanged were the presence of the two females that came about in the very area now rife with heat and light altogether.

Roused by the sudden change, the swimmer was starting to feel her face contort to a diminutive grin; however, she’d felt her ears standing on endwise as one of the voices from before speak immediately, “don’t even think about touching her, Sweetie Belle; that’s not your sister Rarity at all…! This monster only took the form of her just to lull you in a false sense of security here, just like before: long ago, your sister’s heart gave in to despair after the war had come to our doorstep. With the last vestige of a peaceful life torn asunder by even the most brutal of exploiters galore, you and Rarity were the only ones that survive the horrors brought upon your loving family: of them, she felt the most heartbroken and attempted to do the unthinkable. Capitalizing on your pain and sorrow alongside hers, a ghoul took your sister’s place and had tried to drown you in a lake under the delusion that your misery would subside in a watery tomb.”

“Sweetie Belle, look inside yourself; it’s true that these brutes have destroyed our home and killed our mother and father but everything will be okay again…” Rarity’s visage said as she started to kneel towards the titular swimmer, “it’s all over now; we can be free again, just like the old days: we can go buy a small house up in Canterlot and forget the horrid war. Of course, it won’t just be the two of us; we can still make new friends while keeping in touch with our old ones: you’ll be able see Apple Bloom and Scootaloo while I’ll be able to see Twilight, Fluttershy, Rainbow, and Pinkie. I can see to it that none of those terrible things will never repeat themselves again; no one will ever suffer in the same fashion as we’d experienced years ago ever again.”

“That monster is lying to you; don’t trust her…!” the recent voice warned as the two females remained still in the newly colored void.

Uncertainty had now dominated the environment that they were in as both of them remained stagnant in their current positions thereof. The timid swimmer was still keeping her head and shoulders above the liquid surface while watching the recent visitor so carefully. In the brief minutes that they’d spent making eye contact with another, Sweetie Belle soon found both of Rarity’s eyes oozing with orange.

Voltages of life surging within the swimmer had helped her find the strength to give out a reply; yet, as before, not even a single word would come out of the mouth in the very slightest whatsoever.

Within seconds, the visitor’s visage spoke again, “what’s wrong, Sweetie Belle; do you not trust me, your dearest elder sister Rarity…?”

Xenon entered and exited the aforementioned individual’s nostrils as she stared at her sister’s form in silence. Intuition was regaining ground deep within as the swimmer recalled the other voices that had spoken to her.

“You don’t need to trust her…” the tertiary voice repeated onward to Sweetie Belle, “she has become a bad influence: this ghoul try to drown you once and with the image of your sister no less…”

Zoning out and about wasn’t something that the two females had planned on doing altogether, given their current situation thereof. Even though there was nothing in sight at first other than the orange hereon out, the purpose of this chance encounter wasn’t in vain. Reasons for such were without being meaningless in the very least, despite the voices around themselves being so discouraging. Only the swimmer herself had the power to put an end to this encounter in space but not the words to express her reply like before.

“You’re not serious considering the thought of believing them, are you Sweetie Belle; I mean who are you willing to believe: an otherworldly trio of some other personas long gone or your sister who’s alive and well in the real world…?” Rarity’s visage cooed as she outstretched a hand towards Sweetie Belle at once.

Xenogenic voices buzzed into the swimmer’s ears as she’d eyed the one hand in front of her very carefully: of them, the primary voice struck a chord with the former all at once, “your sister is alive but not here; this figure before you isn’t the same as Rarity herself: even her eyes were more innocent like before…”

“Why should you consider listening to them, Sweetie Belle…?” the tall visitor had asked, staring into the jade orb that belonged to the owner in front, “haven’t I been a good sister to you ever since you were little…?”

“Venture carefully: there’s almost no telling what she’ll do to the likes of you, especially considering that she’s already taking your sister’s form…” the tertiary voice had warned Sweetie Belle.

Understanding the gravity of the situation thereof, the swimmer took the time to back away all at once; this made the environment warm up a shade. Now this had made Rarity’s visage trade in her warm gentle smile for a cool rough frown, complete with a full deluge emerging out the eyes. Instantaneously, the orange tinted liquid had slowly turned into blood, startling the otherwise silent Sweetie Belle who wasn’t even stained at all. This had made the tall visitor angry at the swimmer whom retreated from the tender gesture with the hand not too long ago so easily in the very least.

Then, with little warning whatsoever, Rarity’s visage started to take a rather long deep breath; soon, she began to open her mouth to to speak out to Sweetie Belle all too easily in due time, “now I get it: after all that has happened from the moment our parents were slain to that very time, you still don’t trust me in the very least. It seems that memories of these brutes have done to us in that war have clouded your thoughts about me so easily that you were willing to listen to them over me of all people to this very day. Even though that I mourned for your loss as well as mine, you have found no reason to trust me again; this pains me to have such a feeling bored inside by my own sister no less. Nevertheless, it won’t stop us from having to finish what had been already started not too long ago: we’ll reunite with our dear mom and dad once more, this time without anyone stopping us like before.”

“Sweetie Belle, get away…!” the first voice yelled into the aforementioned swimmer’s ears, “this is what we’ve been warning you about…!”

“Resistance is futile; no more will we have to suffer and the hands of such brutes who damaged us by slaying all we held dear…!” the tall visitor bellowed as she jumped at Sweetie Belle with little warning.

Quickly seizing ahold of the neckline, the swimmer started struggling against her sister’s visage as the tertiary voice had shouted loudly at once, “you can do it; we believe in you, Sweetie Belle…!”

“Pity, I was expecting less of a fight from you like before but once I’m done, you’ll be able to say hi to our parents once again…!” Rarity’s visage chuckled as her sister’s pupils shrunk greatly.

Only the sights and sounds reverberated throughout the recently colored void as the exhibition of strife was unanimous instantaneously. No one was coming to put an end to the tortuous ordeal that was taking place all at once; not a single thing, externally or otherwise, was going to stand in the way of it either. In spite of Sweetie Belle’s desperate attempts to regain control of the situation, her sister’s visage was having none of it.

Now it has seemed that the swimmer’s vision was started to constricted, slipping slowly but surely into the darkness that now reminded her of she had recently seen; even so, her mouth opened up to squeak out, “Ra–ri–ty…!”

“Must you beg for your worthless life at a time like this…?” the eponymous visage growled, taking on a more ghastly appearance than before, “I bet that bastard should’ve ended you so I wouldn’t have to suffer…!”

“LET HER GO ALREADY…!” another voice had quickly bellowed at the two, but the recent command fell on deaf ears.

Keeping onto to a sliver of willpower deep within, Sweetie Belle started to cry, her remaining vision tinted with crimson over Rarity’s visage now baring fangs and dementia, the latter laughing wildly, “it’s too late: a few seconds from now, it won’t matter to the both of us; they will be happy to see you again, just like the old days when we’re still one big happy family…!”

Just as though it’d seems that the swimmer would succumb to the pain, her sister’s visage changed from delirium to disbelief as the orange oozing from her sockets had widen about. Effortlessly, Sweetie Belle felt the immense pressure upon her throat dissipating almost instantly as her vision came back from the encroaching darkness that once threatened her quickly no less. The once frenzied joy that was already plastered upon the tall visitor’s face not too long ago was slowly replaced with a timid melancholy as she stared at the struggling swimmer all at once.

“Is– is– is some– thing wrong…?” Sweetie Belle wheezed as she looked upon Rarity’s visage, the latter now hiding away the shock and sorrow that was now besieging the owner’s hands at once, “Ra–ri–ty…?”

“How about it: you can speak again, can’t you…?” the aforementioned visitor slowly squeaked before weeping about all so easily.

Gaining back control over breathing, the swimmer edged carefully towards her sister’s position and answered, “what about you…?”

“Finally, you can speak again…!” Rarity’s visage sobbed with a hint of joy, slowly evolving into a faint laughter unlike the one from before, “my goodness, the sky’s full of stars; my prayers have been answers: it’s a miracle from Elysium…!”

“Eh…” Sweetie Belle muttered in confusion as a reply to her sister’s structureless statement so soon.

During the rather sudden change of events thereof, the laugh emitted from Rarity’s visage grew loud as she’d shouted, “MY SISTER IS BACK…!”

Cacophony reemerged from the cacheable visitor whose eyes became flooded with a large deluge of orange in a much higher pressure. At that point, the swimmer started to shrink back from her sister’s visage as the laughter grew louder and more disjointed already. Then, without any warning whatsoever, Rarity’s visage disintegrated, her spectral form scattering into such tiny innumerable pieces.

At long long, Sweetie Belle was alone just like before albeit with a rather different approach to what had befallen her. Calamities that had once threaten the swimmer went away as she’d stood still in the newly colored void all around. That alone didn’t change the fact that she’d buried her face with both hands, covering up the fear and sorrow deep within.