The Se7en

Confliction ate at Rarity’s psyche with each step she took.

Gazing at the area around her, she was struck by the combination of natural beauty and isolation. A grassland-topped plateau stretched far in all directions, with no signs of activity to remind her of civilization. Nopony has been here in a long time, she thought to herself as she proceeded to the edge.

The juxtaposition of her environment fit well with her frame of mind. Still saddened at the loss of all her friends, she could not help but feel some solace in the thought that the fate the befell the others would not be hers or Fluttershy’s. Perhaps this picnic would be a stepping stone on the road to normalcy.

. . . .

Upon reaching the plateau’s edge, Rarity gazes at the scenery below. Majestic trees line a wide dirt path that clearly had been trod upon many times, but with no signs of recent activity showing. Looking down, she could see the rocky cliff upon which she currently resided. Turning to each side, she eyes a figure to her left, sitting on a blanket while observing the scenery herself. Glad to see a familiar face, she heads off to meet up with her friend.

As she gets close enough to initiate conversation, Rarity inspects the spread. A tablecloth lay on the ground nearby, with a tea kettle resting in its center and a cup-and-saucer set laid out at the near end. Off to the side rests a white square-shaped box tied up with an ornate purple bow. She glances back up at Fluttershy, noting the teacup in her hoof.

“Fluttershy, it’s good to see you,” Rarity starts. Fluttershy pays no heed, continuing to look over the cliff as she sips her tea. Rarity then takes another look around the area. “I daresay the views from up here are breathtaking. How long before the next ‘Running of the Leaves’?”

No response.

“So, uh … what’s in the box?” she asks sweetly. Again, no response from her friend.

Rarity looks around the area as another thought comes to mind. “Where are Sweetie Belle and the others? I thought they were joining us for this?”

Fluttershy takes another sip of tea, oblivious to her friend’s queries. A look of concern comes over Rarity’s face. “Fluttershy, dear, is everything all right?”

The pegasus responds as she continues to observe the scenery. “I admire you, Rarity.”

Rarity cocks her head. “I beg your pardon?”

“You and all the others … you all make it look so easy to get others to come to you. Most of the time, when I have tea parties or picnics, they’re with my animal friends.”

Rarity stumbles for a response to the non-sequitor. “Yes, well … that’s all well and good. We all have our ‘things’, of course.”

“They never judge, you know,” Fluttershy continues. “They just appreciate what you do for them and join in your feelings of happiness. They’ve always been a calming influence for me.”

“Of course, dearie. Look, I don’t wish to be forward, but I must ask again; where are the CMCs?”

Fluttershy continues her train of thought. “You know who else I’ve enjoyed tea with? Discord.”

Hearing that name causes a small shiver to run down Rarity’s back. “Fluttershy, dear, we all felt bad for what happened to—”

“He did all that for me, you know. Tried to be more normal, because everypony told him that’s what I’d want. Visiting him in his own dimension for the first time, I saw firsthoof everything he did to make me feel more at home … I watched him vanish before my very eyes, and there wasn’t a thing I could do to stop it.”

Rarity looks down in silence as her friend continues. “Oh, I tried things … a few mirrors here, some cushions and bookcases there … thinking that would create enough chaos to bring him back.” She chuckles as she takes another sip. “All for nothing, though. His last look to me, Rarity … in his eyes, I could see true sadness. He didn’t want to go … not like that.”

“Well, again, we were all truly sorry for your having to experience that.”

Fluttershy turns to Rarity as she maintains her calm voice. “He helped save Equestria. With no magic. He and Starlight and the others; he was as much a part of that as anyone … and there was so much more that he did for us. Secrets that he confided in me as he vanished. And when he went away, we did nothing for him. No remembrance. No honoring. No funeral. Nothing but … relief, from everypony else.”

“Well ‘relief’ is a bit strong, is it not?” Rarity responds. “And anyway, you can’t entirely blame us for our behavior; he wasn’t particularly nice to any of us. Except for you, of course.”

“There was good in him,” Fluttershy replies as she sets her cup down. “But I suppose it was easier for everypony to just focus on the bad parts. But who among us doesn’t have ‘bad parts’, Rarity? Which of us is truly without sin?”

“Surely we all have parts of us that …” Rarity stops as a cold possibility enters her mind. “Fluttershy … exactly what are you saying?”

“We all have our sins … even the bearers of the Element of Friendship,” Fluttershy continues, her voice becoming slightly louder. “I mean, take Pinkie Pie … how many cakes and pies did she ruin by taking large bites out of them, with no regard to the ponies around her? And not just in our company; she would devour pastries made for Princess Celestia, right in front of her no less. And there was no limit to her appetite. Pinkie was clearly associated with gluttony … but I guess you were never going to bring that up at her funeral, would you?”

“Fluttershy? …”

“And what about Rainbow Dash? Her idea of an ‘activity’ is taking a nap. Half the time we’d find her dozing away on some cloud somewhere. But we don’t consider her laziness when we remember her, do we? Or Applejack, and her insistence on doing everything her way … always prideful of her work and stature, always forced to accept help from others. And Twilight’s overwhelming thirst for knowledge, her infatuation for everything associated with the written word. And even Spike, with his obsession towards gems. That he would shake his own friends down for those sparkling rocks … I mean, no one is truly without sin … not even the bearers of the Elements.”

“Fluttershy, please,” Rarity pleads through watery eyes. “Tell me this wasn’t all …”

“It’s a lesson that all of Equestria needs to learn,” Fluttershy concludes with a dreamy smile. “Nopony is without sin … and our examples will live on in history, for countless generations.”

“You … you killed our friends???” Rarity shouts out in anguish. “How could you??? … For Celestia’s sake, you’re the element of kindness!”

“Oh but I was very kind. No pain, no suffering, no torment. Just a little pinprick for the poison to take effect … I learned a lot while spending time with Zecora these past few weeks. The passages I came across in some of her books … it’s surprising how many natural toxins exist that we’re oblivious to.”

“So … when my sister and I found Pinkie Pie …”

“An appropriate pose for an appropriate sin,” Fluttershy continues. “She didn’t suffer … no one suffered, though I did not expect that green dragon to ruin what I had planned for Spike; you were supposed to find him simply resting atop that hoard. But the others? All found as they lived … the lazy one, the one too stubborn to stop working, the one obsessed with knowledge. And soon, all will see those sordid sides of them.”

Holding back any further signs of emotions, Rarity shakes the tears from her eyes and calmly addresses the pegasus. “Fluttershy, dearie, you’re not … you’re not well. Let me take you to Canterlot; we can clear Starlight of any wrongdoing, and there are some wonderful hospitals that cater to those who are not well in a fashion such as this.”

Fluttershy quietly responds: “Oh, but we can’t go; we have to join the others. You see, I’ve always admired how you and Twilight … all the others, really … how you’re all able to face the world with no fears or anxiety. I wish I could have been more like that. So you see … envy is my sin. And that’s why I need you, Rarity.”

Rarity blinks. “You need me?”

“I need you to strike me down … I need you, Rarity, to embrace wrath one last time … and then all will be complete.”

“You associate me with wrath?” the unicorn asks incredulously.

“You can’t tell me you haven’t felt anger before,” Fluttershy calmly notes.

“Anger yes, but not wrath … I am not a murderer, Fluttershy!”

“But now is a perfect time to let go. Consider it, Rarity … I’m the one who took all our friends’ lives. I’m the one who deserves no less than the full force of white-hot rage and revenge. Let loose, Rarity.”

Rarity eyes her friend one last time, then closes her eyes. “I won’t do it, Fluttershy. This twisted game ends now. I need you to come with me … and if you refuse, I will have to send for others. But I won’t kill you.”

“Yes,” Fluttershy says with a frown. “I thought you would react that way. That’s why I had to take one final step.”
Rarity opens her eyes as Fluttershy tilts her head towards the box. Fluttershy then closes her eyes in anticipation.

“What’s in the box, Fluttershy?” Rarity asks with a hint of anxiety. The pegasus responds with a single word:

“Incentive.”

“Wha … what do you mean by that?” Rarity asks with greater urgency. “What’s in the box???”

Fluttershy says nothing, remaining motionless in place.

Rarity springs to the box, her horn lighting up as the bow is loosened and falls to the ground. The lid is flung from the top as the unicorn peers in … and recoils in horror at the sight of her sister curled up within, a sliver of dried blood running down her hindquarter.

“NO … HOW COULD YOU … SHE WAS …”

Rarity paces around the area in circles, her mind clouded by visions of herself and her sister in past times. She turns one final time to the motionless, emotionless Fluttershy, her own blue eyes giving way to blood-red dots. She lowers her head, screams and charges straight at her former friend.

Her horn pierces the pegasus’s neck, spraying crimson onto her face and mane as the momentum carries the two of them off the cliff. They follow a parabolic path through the air before crashing down upon the ground below, the two separating as Rarity’s neck snaps in two, her bones shattering upon impact.

The two lie motionless, separated by mere meters, each staining the green grass with pools of their own blood. For an hour, the sun and clouds pass overhead, the gentle breeze unable to disturb the scene.

From atop the plateau, the box begins to stir …