Rarity's POV

My youthful, victim of a sister lied on the hospital bed before me. I felt so worthlessly helpless watching her breathe in and out. How could a living, and obviously breathing, pony be so withdrawn from life? I can't believe that this is so realistic. My sister: dying. I've always felt horrible for the ponies losing their family members, and I've never been able to imagine it. It's never seemed possible before, almost like there was a wall up keeping me from getting a preview of this agony. My baby sister shouldn't be going before me. I glanced at the young foals sleeping alongside their mother, and although I can't remember the first thing about them, I felt a twinge in my heart for them. The pain of losing a sister is one thing, but losing the only pony in the world to care for you is a completely different scenario.

All the petty fights Sweetie and I start to flush through my mind, as if the dam holding them in their place was broken alongside my heart. The fights about a ridiculous garnish on a plate, to the selfish way I treated my only sister when she just wanted to make memories with. The few moments we had of her as a filly are all gone now. It's as if Celestia tells foals to come into the world and make sure they spend enough time to clutch onto everypony they love and stay close making memories every step of the way, but I pushed her away. I suppose I must have assumed the years were longer, or there were more of them, because my little sister was born, and here she lies in front of me: dying.

I begin to recall a few things about her budding relationship with Shadow. She was always so jubilant and glowing with excitement to tell me all about the cute colt she was "crushing on." I recognize the look in her eyes as they appear when I close my eyes. Happy, sweet, innocent Sweetie Belle was falling in love. The feelings go reeling like rapids through my body at the memory alone. There was finally a colt trying to change Sweetie Belle, or rather, make her change prevalent to me. I started to see the mare, in lieu of the giggling filly that I'd always expected to see running through my design studio. I have to admit, I was relieved she wasn't ruining anything in my studio, however: I always glanced over my shoulder just wishing I could have her scurry through one last time. I missed my sister, and while she was living in my home, she stayed in her room. She was preoccupied with her own activities, and uninterested in my designs. My sister had grown, and Shadow was whom I decided to fight, substituting of course for the truth.

Now I try to remember the trigger of the relationship, or perhaps the trigger for the chaos in the relationship. My mind is blanker than the priceless silky cotton used on the most expensive wedding dresses in Equestria. Oh, weddings: I remember when those were Sweetie's dream. She wanted her cutie mark in being a bride, and when I tried to explain that she couldn't be a bride as a talent, she corrected me. She told me that if Mrs. Cake could be married to Mr. Cake, divorce him to marry another stallion, and then remarry Mr. Cake: she could be a professional bride as well. It may have not been the most intellectual logic, but coming from Sweetie Belle I found it fairly amusing. I did long so much to design the perfect wedding gown for her one day. I settled for that breathtaking prom dress that would have outshined any mare: but not Sweetie Belle. She wore that gown with the most elegance and grace I'd ever seen from her. The prom: where she went with Shadow for their first actual date.

This can't be possible. As tears begin to penetrate my eyes, I grasp my sister's hoof. She came to me a month or so after the prom: pregnant. The pregnancy led to the twins, and those twins led to the most chaotic time period of my life. Not only were they perfect: they were my chance to not take the chaos for granted. Those young ladies were my "one last time" to see Sweetie Belle scurry around my studio. Those twins were the perfection my life was missing, and no matter what the trouble they brought: they were my brand new everything.

"S-Sweetie Belle…" my weakened voice began. I couldn't even begin to control my emotions as I lunged for an embrace. My unconscious sister was still alive, and I felt her heartbeat. I can't welcome the thought of her death in my mind, but even if it is to come: she's alive right now. Now is not the time to cast aside the moments and take them for granted, like I recall doing all of our lives. Right now Sweetie Belle needs a loving and caring sister. Minnie and Pearl's eyes began opening and I couldn't let them be frightened by my tears. They needed hope, and they didn't need to be afraid right now.

"R-Rarity?" a familiar voice asked. I turned and saw Apple Jack entering the room cautiously. She was carrying a tray of what smelled like garbage, but I assume it was sweet potato and apple casserole.

"I remember," I admitted, hanging my head down. "I remember my sister's foals, and I remember everything leading up to them. Including the horrible mistakes I've made as a sister."

"Rarity," Apple Jack started. "Calm down, okay? We're gonna get her feelin' better and we're sure gonna make sure these girls leave this hospital with a mother."

"O-Ow," I heard from a resource behind me. Apple Jack and I exchanged glances and quickly looked to Sweetie.

"Sweetie Belle!" squealed I, hugging her tightly.

"R-Rarity, what's going on?" her shaken voice asked. "Everything hurts so badly…"

"Just rest and relax darling, alright? Your body is fighting for its life and that's what it needs from you: rest."

"I'm dying?" she asked. The glossy look in her eyes made me have to turn my head.

"Of course not Sweetie Belle," I assured. "You'll be out of this hospital before you know it. However, if you want to get there you need to rest. The more quickly you heal, the smoother the transition will be."

"Rarity…I'm not sure if you're telling me the truth…" she frowned. "I've never felt like this before…it's like my whole world is foggy and it's getting harder to breathe."

"Just hang in there darling, alright? I'll take the beauty queens to the next room and then we can have a talk, alright?" I suggested. With a weak smile, Sweetie nodded.

"Wait Rarity," she gasped. "Did you just-"

"You didn't think my mind would do me such an injustice as forgetting the most beautiful foals in the world, did you?" The grateful look on her face made my hope glisten brightly in my heart. My little sister was going to be ok. I wouldn't let her be anything else.

Apple Bloom's POV

"I don't understand! Why won't you eat for momma?" I asked my little boy. He'd been crying the whole darned day!

"When are ya gonna shut that kid of yours up?" asked my angry brother.

"Hey! Leave my baby boy alone, ok?" I snapped. "He's just teething is all," I explained.

"I don't care if his head's falling off: I don't wanna hear him."

"Big Mac," I sighed. "If ya ain't ever allowed ta leave the house again, can you at least pretend ta care about your only nephew? He's gonna be livin' here until I move out, and who knows when that will be?" I saw a little bit of a tear form in my strong brother's eye, and it really scared me. He looked like he wanted to snap at me, except he held it in for whatever reason.

"Ya know I just wanted justice…I just wanted what was best for ya," he admitted. We stood for a minute in complete quiet. "It was never supposed ta turn out tha way it did, and I'm still not sure how I ended up a murderer. I went there thinkin' about your life starting, and with a baby ya didn't need ta be havin'."

"Big Mac I really don't wanna hear about this, okay?"

"No, it ain't ok Apple Bloom!" His voice boomed in my ears, scaring both me and my son. "I really love ya, and I hardly remember a thing that happened that day. When it's your family you just don't worry about anything else. I was thinking about you, and that's all I could see, or hear, or even think about. When I finally broke through all that awful thinking, I had killed. I tried ta explain ta Celestia and she let me go. She told me that I wasn't allowed ta ever leave this house again, and it's gonna be my prison. Prison just wasn't fit for my punishment because…"

"B-because why Big Mac?" I can't believe I'm having this conversation with my brother.

"I wasn't tha murderer…" he confessed. "I mean, I was, but my thoughts gave me the rage to open my mind up ta Discord, and he took over from there." We stared at each other for a long time, not knowing what to say.

"S-so it wasn't your fault? You didn't kill him! You shouldn't have ta stay here forever if it ain't even your fault!" Tears were rolling down my face now too. Big Mac had to look away from me, and I stomped my hoof for his attention.

"Apple Bloom, I let it happen. I didn't have ta go lookin' for revenge. I may not have gone ta kill anypony, but I wanted revenge." I'd never seen this glare in his eyes before.

"Big Mac…please just stop taking out your anger on Little Mac!" I begged.

"Takin' my anger out on him!? He's the reason I'm angry! He ruined your life, stuck you in the mud, and for what? A spawn?" my brother grunted. "I want him ta go to a foster home, an orphanage, some place where he ain't your problem anymore! It ain't your fault you had him, so he ain't yours ta raise!"

"Big Mac, listen. This ain't never gonna get easier for me without a change in you. I love my son, whether you understand that or not, and until you change your attitude towards me AND him: we can't have a good relationship."

"Then I guess one of us better move out," he suggested. I looked and looked for the sarcasm, but I couldn't find it. He was serious, and we both knew he couldn't move. Big Mac was throwing me out.

Rarity's POV

Sweetie Belle sat weakly up in her hospital bed, and we haven't spoken in hours. She looks like she's lost her ability, but I know she hasn't. The poor thing's thoughts must be speeding through her mind a mile a minute, but she doesn't look like she's very upset. She looks absent and foreign to Equestria.

"Rarity," Sweetie Bell began. "Please, come here. I need you to do me a really big favor…" I stepped closer to my unsteady sister and grabbed onto her hoof.

"Darling, anything you need: I will do with pride."

"Do you see those papers on the desk?" asked Sweetie. "Pick them up and bring them over here, so we can read them together."

"It's…these are adoption papers."

"Rarity, please, listen to me," Sweetie pleaded. She used her strength to sit up and meet me face to face. "I know the doctors are saying I'm getting better, but I know my own body. I don't feel alive anymore, and I honestly don't feel like I'm going to leave this hospital alive."

"Sweetie Belle, please," I began.

"No, Rarity. I need you to listen: they need you. You remember them again, and now you and I are the last two ponies left to raise them. Mom and dad don't want anything to do with them, and Shadow obviously can't. I need somepony who is familiar, loving, and will keep them safe. They need you Rarity."

"No, Sweetie Belle, they need you! They need their mother!"

"I know, but when I'm gone-"

"You won't be gone Sweetie Belle, I assure you: you will be perfectly fine, alright?"

"Rarity," her teary voice pleaded. "I could drop dead any second, and I don't want to leave Equestria worried about my babies."

"You're looking to me for liberation?" I asked. She nodded silently, tears swelling in her eyes. I picked up a pen and began signing my name. I whimpered and closed my eyes tightly. Alright Rarity, you can do this. You're not signing your sister to death, you're simply giving her peace of mind. Once you sign this nothing will change. Your signature will not alter the future in any way shape or form.

"Rarity, you have no idea what this means to me…and what it means to your nieces." Sweetie Belle wrapped around me like a warm blanket and I held onto her with all of my might.

"I'd do anything for you darling," I assured. "Anything at all."

Twilight's POV

"Well that was a very interesting turn of events," sighed Shining. We entered the train to transport us to the hospital, and Cadence followed behind.

"Can we just pretend that nothing ever happened?" Cadence inquired. After a long day helping Celestia fire half the royal guards for anarchy, and then replace them just as quickly, I agree with Cadence. Celestia and Luna leave the kingdom to Cadence and Shining for one day, and half the Royal guard betrays all of Equestria! What kind of kingdom am I princess of?

"I could really go for a hot fudge sundae right now," my brother sighed. He lay down in his chair and the train began moving. I walked back towards the kitchen, and the only thing I could find were some crumbly looking chocolate chip cookies: my brother's least favorite dessert in the world. Today just wasn't his day.

"So why are we going to the hospital again?" asked Cadence with a yawn.

"One of my best friend's sister is dying," I admitted. "You remember Sweetie Belle don't you? She was the flower filly in your wedding."

"Sweetie Belle is dying?" asked Cadence appalled. "How in the world is that happening?"

"She's been struggling with an eating disorder for a while," I explained, not wanting to go into details. "It has finally taken its toll."

"That's so terrible, Twilight," she sadly reacted. Shining sat up and looked at me with caring eyes.

"Twili, is she dying like: never coming out of the hospital to see the light of day, or like she needs a long time to recover?" My silence said everything that needed to be said. Cadence and Shining exchanged looks.

"I need to be there for Rarity, because she's not very stable herself," I informed.

"Well we'll be here for her too," Shining assured. "Poor Rarity…and I thought my day was going bad."

"It's not just Sweetie that's in danger either. Sweetie Belle's poor foals are going to be left without a mother if Sweetie doesn't make it," I pointed out. That thought hurt, and I can't even imagine what Rarity would feel if the thought crossed her mind.

"I feel really bad…" Shining admitted. "Is there anything I could do to-"

"Shining, what could you do?" asked my realistic sister in law.

"I'm not sure…" he admitted. "However, Rarity is a friend of ours too, isn't she? We need to stick together in tough times: that's what friendship is."

"He's right Cadence, and that means, for right now you need friends there for you. Rarity will have plenty of friends around, but you had a long day and you really are in no position to be worried about other ponies, alright?" Before he had the chance to argue, the train stopped. Cadence agreed with me and began walking off the train to go back to the castle, while Shining sat in his seat. "Shining-"

"Don't tell me….I'll go home with her, but just make sure she knows I care, alright?"

"I promise Shining, just, clear your head, alright?"

Sweetie Belle's POV

Rarity and the twins were getting along again, and I'd never been so relieved to have such a sweet family moment. With all the pain in my stomach, it's really liberating to witness a glimpse of normalcy: even if it was only in a hospital. I grinned at my sister while she tickled the twins. The relief of her memory returning was greater than I imagined. Especially with my condition worsening so much, I'm very glad she's gotten some sense back in her head.

"Sweetie Belle?" asked Rarity. "You have a little visitor…" Stepping aside, she let Scootaloo enter my hospital room, and my slow heart rate snowballed out of control. "Sweetie Belle darling, I'll make her leave if you'd like me to."

"No, no I want to talk to her…please…alone." The room got cautiously quieter, and although Rarity left, I heard her find a place outside to keep surveillance.

"H-how are you feeling?" asked Scootaloo.

"I'm dying, Scootaloo. How do you think I'm doing?" I retaliated.

"I came because I didn't want you to die without me saying goodbye…" she admitted. "I did know it was this bad…but I didn't want to believe it."

"Well, now that you know it's ineluctable, how are you going to conduct the rest of our time together?" I fed her a bowl of the toughest love I could pour, without any milk.

"Sweetie Belle, I know we've not talked much lately, but I've been going through a lot."

"I know, Scootaloo, I've heard all about your partying problems and addictions, alright?" Her eyes bugged out of her head and I rolled mine. "Don't act so surprised. Equestria knows what you've done, and you know what? I shouldn't feel sorry for you. You made your own mistakes and you picked your own fate. The only way you can change what you've done is to change the way you handle yourself. Go to rehab: change your fate." I demanded. We stared at one another, more vehement than angry.

"Just because you're dying doesn't mean you can tell me what to do,"

"No, but: because I'm dying I realize what's important. I'm just trying to share it with you."

"I don't need your help!" shouted the denial-ridden Pegasus.

"That sounds like an addict to me," I shrugged. Her anger became more prevalent and she began to grit her teeth. "So getting angry at your dying friend's dying wish is your response? That sounds like a similar trait to addiction: doesn't it?"

"Sweetie, why would you ask me to go to rehab? You're dying! I should be the least of your concern!"

"You're right," I agreed. "Also, if I was selfish like you, I'm sure I wouldn't think twice about it, but think about it this way. This time tomorrow I might be dead and gone; but you'll still have an addiction: an addiction with no motivation or incentive to pull you out of the depths. Now, do you understand?" Instead of speaking, she cowardly ran out of the room, and I guess it was better that way. At least, it would have been if she hadn't left the door open for me to witness what came next: my sister standing at the door with a familiar face. A face I never thought I'd see again, even if I'd lived years from now. Shadow was standing there, arguing, red in the face, and ferociously staring down my older sister.

"S-Sweetie Belle," he whispered the moment he saw me. He left my sister's side, slamming the door practically on her hooves in an attempt to keep us confined. "We don't have much time so listen," he began. "I love you Sweetie Belle. I love you and I broke out of jail for you, for us." His delusional smile made me question more than his sanity. Did he really think coming to the hospital would stop me from dying?

"Shadow…we've been over…for a very long time," I reminded.

"That's the beauty of it Sweetie: we can get back together. That can give you the strength to go on!" he suggested. I felt the consternation, of someone coming in the room, going through Shadow's mind a million miles a moment.

"Shadow, please, think straight. You know I'm dying."

"DON'T say things like that!" The bark in his voice was a shocking pivot to his warmhearted façade he'd held when he walked in. He covered his mouth with his hoof and closed his eyes. "Shadow didn't mean that…" he whispered. He seemed to have lost every ounce of sanity he had in prison. "Shadow loves his pretty perfect little marshmallow…" he smiled. That smile was, without a doubt, indescribably eerie. I heard myself whimper in fear.

"Thank Celestia!" cheered my sister, standing at the newly opened door. A nurse had unlocked the emotion-torturing fortress Shadow trapped us inside.

"Stay away Rarity!" threatened Shadow with a hiss. Startled, but still headstrong to protect me, Rarity charged past him and shielded the two of us with magic. "Do you think I'll let it the mother of my foals be exiled in a hospital, rotting, when she could be honeymooning with me in Los Pegasus?" he asked with a deranged grin.

"She'll be staying here until she's well, and when she's better she'll be living with ME!" scowled my sister.

"Oh, alright Rarity," scoffed Shadow. "Since we all know you're the supreme ruler of our lives, why don't you tell me what else I need to do? Do I need to bend down and kiss your hooves? What do you want from me?" asked the infuriated psychopath.

"I want you to not exist! I want you to be a figment in some horrible dream in the pits of my imagination! I want you to have never come around, be created, or return!" she scowled. "But, most of all, I want you to release my sister from your clutches and never sniff around my nieces again. I wish you were deceased. I wish you were brutally mutilated."

"Rarity!" scolded me.

"No, no, she's right Sweetie Belle…so I guess I better give her what everypony's been waiting for, eh?" chuckled Shadow. We both watched him in wonder and curiosity as he walked closer to the door, but right before he made it to the knob; he turned around and looked right into my eyes. "I love you Sweetie Belle," he practically whispered. With that: he skewered himself in-between the door and his knife. The few seconds of silence that followed, were too mortifying to take.

Rarity's POV

Sweetie Belle hasn't woken since her fainting spell. Shadow's act of terrorism traumatized her to a state where she refuses to awake with any treatment. How could something like this occur in a hospital of all places? I brought here to be safe, and to get better! My nieces weren't allowed in the room for safety reasons, and I left them in the waiting room beside Twilight. Ponies around this aperture of Discord were always complaining. One Pegasus came in complaining of a broken wing, a unicorn came in complaining about a toothache- which is a job for Colgate, not nurse Redheart- and yet another pony came in asking if his hoof looked "weird." I would prefer it if my sister's hoof looked absolutely outlandish compared to what's happening right now! If the poor dear can't wake up, she cannot eat, and that IV can only help someone in such terrible condition for so long. If she stays on an IV much longer: not only will she have a drop in weight loss, her stomach will even further lose its ability to digest and she'll never make it out of this wretched establishment! Why didn't I just take Shadow in the hallway and stab him myself!? Sweetie never would have seen and I would have gotten the pleasure of destroying him in lieu of steeling for watching him die.

"Rarity," a nurse softly said. "We need to discuss the options."

"Options?" asked I. "What could you possibly be talking about?"

"Well, you know your sister won't be waking up any time soon, if at all, and if she were to wake up, she still wouldn't survive the week. Right now: Sweetie is suffering. We need to know if you want to be selfish and let her continue, or do what's best for her and let us take the IV out, and unplug life support."

"How dare you?" was all I could manage to ask. "How could you think keeping my sister ALIVE- for her foals, and her family, and her SELF- would be "selfish? She's my sister! She's eighteen years old, and she's not going to get older if she dies. What kind of life is eighteen years?"

"It's the same span of life she'll get either way, but one way lets you live in denial just a bit more," she explained.

"Denial of what?!" demanded I. "I know my sister's death is inevitable, and I know I'm going to have to sit here and watch it, but I believe in magic, and miracles, and I believe that this can't happen! Something has to change! This can't be the end! Not of her!" I sobbed.

"We need your decision within the hour, and if you intend to keep your sister alive: start apologizing now," the nurse frowned. Her glare of disappointment was almost a mirrored reflection of my inner conscience's. I knew she was right, and I was all-too-aware that this was it. I couldn't say the words, and I couldn't stomach to stay in the room. This is the day that all my fears were really lived.

"Goodbye, Sweetie Belle," I began. "I hope you don't hate me for this: but I cannot watch you suffer anymore." With that sentence, I was gone. I darted from the room as quickly as I could, and I couldn't look back. I felt as if I was attempting to outrun a bomb, but with all the despair and mixed emotions of words not even in vocabulary: I was relieved. My sister was finally free.

Author's Note

:D This starts where chapter 18 left off! :D I hope people enjoy this. I couldn't write this ending with Sweetie Belle living, because I feel like it was something that Rarity's character needed, but I tried to add a bit more justice and care into it. Also, I hated the plot twist with Trixie and whatnot so I kind of tried to phase it out but still mentioned it just so people wouldn't think I was being incompetent XD Either way: I apologize.