Scarlet was casually walking through Ponyville on her way home from her whetherpony job. Her normally flowing luscious sky blue mane and white coat were covered in rainwater. She knew Sapphire, Scarlet’s younger sister, would be home, but doing nothing but video games, as per usual. But she didn't mind. It was her sister and she loved her until the end. Scarlet would probably get home, get high and pass out.
The next day, Scarlet woke up in her bed and looked out the window. “Still raining out there. Good thing it’s Saturday, no work today.” Scarlet softly said to herself, then got dressed. Proceeding to the kitchen, finding nothing that looked good enough to take the time to cook.
“Sis! You’re awake! You wanna play some games with me?”
“No, Sapphire. You go ahead and play yourself.” Scarlet sniffled quietly as she sat on the living room couch.
“Are you alright, Sis?”
“Y-Yeah, just… Something else.”
“Really? I don’t like seeing you sad.” Sapphire sat next to Scarlet to comfort her.
“Seeing you always makes me happy, Sister.” Scarlet hugged Sapphire and gave her the joystick. “How about tomorrow we go and see mom and dad?” Scarlet asked her sister.
“Sure.”
The next morning, they slowly walked to the edge of Ponyville in the rain. There, they saw two stones with their parent’s names. 4 hours in the cold rain later.
“Big sis? L-Let’s go home… If we stay out here any longer, one of us will catch a cold…”
“Hah, I-I guess that might happen…” Scarlet messed up Sapphire’s hair and started their journey home.
The next morning Scarlet walked into work. “Hey boss.”
“Scarlet. Ponyville’s a small town. I-I heard what’s going on.” Her boss gave her a sympathetic look. “Go home and be with your sister. She’s all the family you have.” In that instant, Scarlet ran out the door and straight home. The only thing to do with Sapphire was watch her play video games, but it was way more fun with your sister.
“First Tuesday I got to sleep in in a while…” Scarlet mumbled to herself as she got dressed and walked out into the living room, immediately met with surprise as she saw her younger sister violently shaking on the living room floor in front of a giant ‘Game Over’ screen. “Oh my Celestia!” Shortly after, emergency ponies came and picked her up.
Nurse Redheart and Scarlet watched as Sapphire laid asleep in the Emergency Room. “Okay, it says here that you’re her emergency contact, so the diagnosis is a seizure.”
“She’s not going to like that.” Scarlet eyes started to water. “But I guess it doesn't matter, does it…?” She gazed over to the sound asleep Sapphire and back to Redheart.
“What do you mean, Ms. Scarlet?”
“My sister… She has an expanding tumor. She’ll be dead within 2 days. No amount of magic or medicine can help her. The tumor is too far in.” Redheart gasped. “I’m just trying to show her the time of her life before she goes, but she doesn't know about it… I was supposed to tell her about it myself, but I was a coward...”
“Look, it’s safe to take her home, just make sure she gets plenty of rest. But you should tell her about that. Everypony should know if they have a tumor and when it’s deadly. That’s what doctors are for.”
Later that night, Sapphire woke up on her bed and walked out into the living room to see Scarlet playing her game. “How the Hell do you even play this crap?”
“Better than you, I’ll say that much.” Sapphire took the joystick out of Scarlet’s hooves.
“Hey Sapphire…?” Scarlet looked over at her young sister’s smiling face.
“Yeah?”
“N-Nevermind…”
Next morning, Scarlet came out of her room to find Sapphire on the floor once again. This time, there seemed to be a blood stain under her. Scarlet quickly sprung into action, calling emergency ponies yet again.
Sapphire woke up in a hospital bed. Her older sister sat next to her, awaiting the moment she opened her eyes, and when it happened, Scarlet cried tears of joy, which quickly turned to tears of sadness. “Sapphire… There’s something I’ve been meaning to tell you.”
“What is it, big sis?”
“You… You don’t have much longer to live.”
“What are you talking about, Scarlet?” Sapphire gave her a confused look.
“You…” Scarlet couldn't finish, but only sniffled and looked at the ground.
“I What, Scarlet?”
“You have an expanding tumor. You’ll be dead by tomorrow, if not sooner...” Scarlet looked into Sapphire’s sad eyes and quietly cried. She smiled and took out a joystick out of a backpack and hooked up Sapphire’s video game console to the hospital TV. “If you’re going to die, you should die doing what you love.”
The rain was pouring that night, but in that hospital room were two ponies playing video games. “You sure you don’t want a turn, Scarlet?”
“No thanks, Sapphire. This is your night.”
“Look big sis!” Sapphire’s voice started to fade. “I got… A high - high score…” The room was suddenly filled with a loud, sustaining beeping sound. Doctors rushed in at the sight, pushing Scarlet away, trying to revive her young sister, but to no avail. She took her sister’s console and walked home in the dark rain.
Walking into her home without her little sister right there in the living room playing video games was so different… It was so empty. She hooked up the console and started playing it. “High Score: 8654699. This must have been the new high score she was talking about before she left. Weird, she doesn't go out much.” Scarlet started up the game, getting a ‘Game Over’ almost immediately.
Scarlet crawled into bed. But after 5 hours of trying to sleep, she just couldn't do it.
“Sapphire’s not home, so I don’t have to worry about waking her up. Maybe she’s at her friend’s house or something… I’m Hungry…” Scarlet went to get a snack, but saw the blood stain on the carpet from Sapphire’s seizure. “S-Sapphire?” Scarlet cried into her hooves. “I could have helped her…” She jumped onto the couch and sobbed.
2 weeks later, Scarlet walked in the rain to the edge of Ponyville. There she saw 3 gravestones. Her parents, and her sister that was far too young to be taken away. 4 hours later, Scarlet started talking to herself. “Big sis, if we stay out here any longer, one of us will catch a cold…” She mimicked Sapphire. “I guess that might happen…” She began walking back home.
Author's Note
To be completely honest, I wrote most of this at like 2 AM. It started as an action - filled thrilling story about a box with a bomb in it or something. I was kinda building the story as I was going with this.
