Winona yipped and barked as Sweetie Belle joyously chased after her through the apple fields in the early afternoon sunshine. Mere feet away four adult ponies were having a picnic, while Apple Bloom attempted to climb a nearby tree:

"Maybe I shouldn't have let her have those extra cupcakes with lunch..." Rarity chuckled, as she watched the little filly zip across the road. "She's showing no sign of slowing down and we finished over half an hour ago!"

"What she doesn't get out of her system with Winona, Crusadin' will certainly get the rest out," replied Apple Jack.

Rarity laughed:

"She has big plans for today! She'll probably be quite dirty by the time the day is through."

"Hey, if she's dirty that means she had lots of fun!" Interjected Rainbow Dash.

"How true."

The posh Unicorn looked up at her small sister. The blaring sun was at its highest and brightest, making it difficult to see as well as she would like... Rarity did, however, know that Sweetie Belle was having the most wonderful time.

"I simply must get my sunglasses!" Rarity groused in frustration, going through her stylish saddlebag. "Don't tell me I forgot to pack them... ah, yes! There they are."

She pulled them out of her bag and set them neatly on her face, only to have one of the lenses pop out. She attempted to put it back in... only to have it fall out again. Rarity tried again and again, and ultimately sighed in frustration, ready to give up. Why was she only good using her hooves on fabrics and gems?

"Hey, I can fix that for you, Rarity," offered Rainbow Dash. "Happens to me all the time! Pairs are good as trashed if I lose one up high, though."

Knowing Rainbow's less than... fastidious methods of fixing things, Rarity reluctantly handed over her glasses:

"Alright. Do your worst, Rainbow Dash. I can't look!"

Rainbow looked at her for a second... she was frozen in an overly dramatic pose, as always. She opened her eyes and winked at the puzzled Pegasus. They both laughed as Rainbow went to work.

Distant buzzing could be heard... Barely perceptible, it sounded like nothing more than a small engine. With it's volume steadily increasing, it was still far off... and irrelevant.

Fluttershy tapped Rarity's shoulder:

"Uh, Rarity... Scootaloo's coming. Really fast!"

"Wonderful darling," Rarity said, distracted. "Dash, I think you might be doing that too ha-"

"Rarity, Sweetie Belle's too close to where she's going to stop. She's coming much too quickly!"

Annoyed by Fluttershy's instance, Rarity turned her head to first look at Sweetie Belle, and she could see she was still playing with Winona. Sweetie was on one side of the road, Winona on the other. She then saw Scootaloo's approach and was taken aback. She was moving unbelievably quickly, all the while being propelled by bumps to speeds fast as a two pony carriage. She saw that Sweetie had stopped safely out of the way and assumed she had seen or heard the rapid approach.

"See? She's fine!" Said Rarity reassuringly.

Just then... Rarity saw Sweetie take two steps into the road, just as Scootaloo hit a very large bump. She couldn't believe what she had just seen happen but had the focus to shout:

"Sweetie Bel-!!!"

An audible snap resonated through the orchard as the scooter crashed into Sweetie Belle, causing her to fall like a sack of potatoes. The rider was ejected across the way into a tree. The tiny scooter tumbled twenty feet against the grass and rocks of the field, until finally it snapped in twain and lay motionless by its rider. Rarity's jaw was agape -- she was positive the crash had killed both fillies instantly.

Everypony lay still for a moment. It was so quiet that even the gentle breeze was an unwelcome distraction.

"Sweetie Belle?" Finally said Rarity.

There was no response.

She got up from the blanket, her heart skipping a beat:

"Sweetie?"

Again... nothing. She approached the silent, tiny body of her sister.

Please be just unconscious, please just be unconscious, please just be unconscious...

She was feet from her sister now and could see the blood on the road.

"Sweetie Belle? ... Sweetie?"

The tiny unicorn stirred, turning slowly over to Rarity. Sickening wet crackles and crunches reached the older Unicorn's ears. Sweetie Belle, face bloody and eyes wide, looked Rarity directly in the eye:

"I'm going to die, aren't I?"

Rarity woke up screaming. When she realized where she was, it did little to calm her nerves. She glanced over at her alarm clock... it was nearing the time she'd normally be up anyway. She disabled the buzzer and slowly ambled out of bed.

It had been 5 months since Sweetie Belle died. Even after all this time, she still couldn't sleep and whenever she did manage to catch a few winks she had dreams about her dead little sister. Sometimes they were happy, but more often than not they weren't... and no matter how wonderful they were, when she woke up that's all they were... dreams.

She made her way to her bathroom and stared at the mare in the mirror. To her, she didn't look all that much different... maybe in need of a little sleep, but that could always be remedied by applying a dab of make-up in the right places. To her friends, however, she was definitely showing external signs of grief, and they were showing no signs of receding.

"Boy... you're lookin' awful skinny, Rarity!" Apple Jack once commented.

"Why thin is in, darling!" Rarity replied, deflecting her friends concerns completely.

"Rarity, I'm worried about you," said Twilight Sparkle more directly. "We haven't seen you out in town in ages!"

"Why, I've got far too many projects to keep me occupied lately, Twilight."

Rarity didn't see what she was doing as bad for her. She simply pulled from what she knew and distorted it to fit her needs. She did that with fabric all the time, and it made her happy. Or so she thought.

The Unicorn turned on her shower... ready to wash away the dreams and start a new, as she had done a hundred of times before.