You're Still the One I'm After (all these years)

chapter 10: the end of the beginning

A/N: here we are guys! i hope you enjoy the last chapter!! thank you ♥️

Seven Years Ago

When Rarity opens her eyes, it takes her a moment to recall why she wasn't in her own bed at home, and why she was curled up in Applejack's bed instead.

Then she remembered the night before, how the blonde invited her in, hours after the funeral. She expects to wake up warm, pressed up against her friend's body in the light of the early morning. It's nearly summertime, but in the warmth of the morning, Rarity feels unbelievably cold.

She reaches out only to feel the empty bed, and when her eyes flutter open, she's completely alone.

At first she doesn't think anything is wrong. Applejack got up early to do work on the farm most days so she'd probably be downstairs making everyone breakfast. That was the only explanation that made sense to her. Rarity didn't think- couldn't even fathom the possibility that..

"Applejack?" she calls out softly as she walks down the stairs of the Apple family residence.

Big Mac and Applebloom are sitting at the kitchen table talking amongst themselves when they heard her come down, giving Rarity a quizzical look before the younger girl speaks.

"We thought she was still sleepin'. Big Mac's been awake for a couple hours and he didn't see her come down." 

The older Apple sibling nods in agreement, and Rarity can't help the feeling of dread that immediately overcomes her. "Maybe she went out earlier than that," she suggests, even though the possibility was highly unlikely- but she needed something. Some sort of explanation to stop her from loosing her mind. "Our friends should be here soon anyways. We can go look for her."

And that's what they did.

[Rarity, 11:43am]: Applejack? Where are you?

[Rarity, 11:57am]: Please answer. I just want to know if you're alright.

[Rarity, 12:25pm]: Come back home. Please.

But the hours spent wandering around town, the text messages and calls, trying to figure out where Applejack had run off to was completely useless since the answer to all their questions was right under their noses the whole time.

Rarity headed back to Sweet Apple Acres, back to Applejack's bedroom. She doesn't quite know what compelled her to check the closet, but she does- and it's missing a decent amount of clothing, most of which were Applejack's most worn outfits.

They'd checked every inch of Parisville already with no trace of their friend.

It wasn't confirmed, but deep down Rarity already knew the answer.

Applejack was gone, and she wasn't coming back.

And Rarity thought she knew what heartbreak felt like, with all the guys in the past who had hurt and rejected her, all the nights spent crying over people who didn't seem to want her.. but it was nothing like this.

She didn't cry- couldn't cry.

But she shattered like glass.

All she felt was the tightening of her chest, her body feeling like it was physically being broken in half, like her ribs had collapsed, piercing her lungs- her heart.

Oh, how she wanted someone to rip out her heart in that very moment. Rip out the thing that she felt was killing her inside. But it wasn't just her heart that hurt, it was everything else as well.