Chapter 16
⋆.:･ﾟ .: ⋆*･ﾟ: .⋆
Applejack
I sat on that bench waiting for Rarity for a long time. The only thing keeping me company was my thoughts.
I was impatient. Finally, things had started working out and she wasn't even here.
There was no way she was this slow to meet up with me. Even when she hated me, she always met up with me at this exact spot. At this exact time.
At first, I felt anger. Had I meant nothing to her? She probably planned to leave me once it all worked out. I mean, that was fine, two could play at that game.
My emotions quickly turned into worry once I realized the possibility that she could be hurt. If life was normal, that meant that we were no longer connected by loops. Supposedly, after fixing everything, that had also broken one of the things the kept us together. Maybe something happened to her.
Flustered, I got up from the bench quickly, making my way to her house. The way this was going, I was definitely going to be late for school. I needed to see all my old friends.
I had ruined their lives in the previous loops. Pinkie's personality had completely changed and I felt as if it was my fault. Back at the mall, she was a different person. Her hair straight - she had no color, no emotion. She looked wrong with her blue eyes completely dull. Those eyes were meant to smile.
The guilt ate me away. Every time I was to think about it, my stomach would give off a vicious twist, and sometimes it felt like all the air was sucked out of me. I needed to see my friends as soon as I could. I needed to see their faces in reassurement that they were fine, so I'd also feel okay.
But Rarity was first. She was always first.
I continued down the path, and by the time I neared her neighborhood, I was running. My lungs gasped for air, my shoes pounded heavily against the sidewalk.
When I saw Twilight walking down her driveway talking to someone on the phone was when I came to an abrupt stop. Unfortunately, my breathing was so heavy at the moment that I was barely able to make out what she was saying. In order to not look completely suspicious since I stood in the middle of the sidewalk a few houses away, I grabbed my phone and pretended to text someone on it. Luckily, she was too panicked to notice me.
"Breakup" and "Twilight" were the only words I was able to make out. And it made sense, Twilight was supposed to break up with Rarity this morning.
It took a minute until I could finally hear full-length sentences out of her. She stood at the front of Rarity's house, on the sidewalk, staring out.
"Sunset, I don't know. I feel like I made a bad choice. I don't love her anymore, but straight up saying it to her face made me feel terrible." Twilight dug her teeth in her lips, waiting for a response which I couldn't hear.
This isn't right...
"She's in there right now crying because of me. I'll let Shy know what happened, but I can't help but worry that she'll do something."
This caught me off guard. She's crying? She'll do something? I didn't know how the amends went with Twilight but this didn't sound like Rarity. Rarity wouldn't be crying now, especially after everything. I doubt she'd actually pay any attention to the Twilight segment of her morning anymore.
"I'm standing on her driveway right now. I can't even leave it, I feel way too guilty. I left her there. Should I have comforted her something or-"
And that's when it hit me.
We fixed everything. It all reset, it was all back to normal.
Including our original lives.
"Thank you," I could hear Twilight say, her voice much softer than before.
The Rarity I knew was gone. If we had fixed the loops, there was no going back to how things were before.
I wasn't ever going to see her again.
"Thank you Sunset. I'll head there for you. I love you," I heard Twilight say, but it all sounded blurred.
As soon as I realized that Rarity was gone, it felt like a boulder had fallen on me. I couldn't breathe. Dizzily, I sat down on the curb on the sidewalk, trying to regain my composure.
Everything that Rarity and I had done had been erased. I was the only one who remained with these memories.
It hurt. It hurt like hell. Over the course of our relationship, she went from hating me to kissing me. And I loved her. The fact that none of that happened here, fucking hurt.
I was supposed to see the smile she'd make when we'd find out we got out of the loops together. We were supposed to do more once it was all normal. Over the course of everything, I made up scenarios in my head, and they were so close to coming true.
I looked back at Rarity's house, and it felt like an even heavier boulder had fallen on me. I didn't have time to mourn over some silly memories she and I went through.
The Rarity here, was going to kill herself by the end of today.
And I was the only one who could save her.
I continued to sit on the curb, my heart beating a million times a second. How was I supposed to save someone from suicide, who doesn't even know me?
Rarity
As I watched Applejack walk ahead of me, it felt like my heart dropped. I meant nothing to her?
Earlier, I had grown impatient with waiting for Applejack, so I made my way to her farm. That was when I caught her walking down the sidewalk. She had a school bag in her hand and she looked angry. I didn't care though, the overwhelming joy carried me as I yelled her name.
"Applejack!" She turned towards me, raising an eyebrow. I continued walking towards her, this only resulted in her uncomfortably taking a few steps back. "Thank God I found you. I thought I lost you."
"Who are you...?"
"Why weren't you at the park darling? I was waiting for you and I was really worried something happened to you."
"Is this some kind of prank that Rainbow is pulling on me? Did she send you out here because she thought it'd be funny?"
I paused, many thoughts consuming my mind. It took a few seconds before I could whisper out the words, "You don't remember me...?"
She didn't take my saddened facial expression for anything. "Listen sugar cube, I don't have time for this right now. Please — just get out of my face."
She started to walk away, I stood there shocked. Before she could completely disappear from my view, I called after her. "Do I really mean nothing to you?"
She sighed, annoyed. "If I say yes, will you leave me alone?"
I didn't respond, my mind wasn't accepting anything she said. Without even waiting for a response from me, she walked off to her school.
My hand fell on a tree that was next to me for stability. This was all too much, I felt like I was going to faint.
I'd rather have Applejack disappear for good than for her to remain here without our memories.
Was that selfish of me to think? I didn't know, and I couldn't really put any thought into it because of the anxiety attack that was emerging. A hurricane of thoughts flooded my mind, making my heartbeat increase.
I stood, my head against the tree. My hands shook as I struggled to my breathing steady. Applejack had taught me how to live life, she taught me how to be happy.
And without her, I wasn't sure I'd want to go on.
I needed her beside me, we'd been through too much for her to suddenly be torn apart from me. She was the light in the darkness of this evil world.
My eyes suddenly welled with tears as I turned from the tree, sitting down against it. I buried my head in my knees, sobbing.
Each sob tore my stomach apart. I struggled to breathe, a mix of tears and snot ran down my face. My eyes burned, I knew I had ruined the makeup that I spent so long putting together. I could feel the people's judgmental eyes as a few walked by me, but I couldn't seem to find the energy to care.
It took minutes until I shed all the tears I could, I simply sat there completely numb. I was so invested in getting out of the loops with Applejack, that I never put in that much thought into what I would do without her. Every time I felt like I was finally content, something had to happen. The universe was ripping me apart, only to see if I could get up again. I hated it.
No sound came out of me, the only thing I was able to do was listen. I closed my eyes, leaning my head against the tree.
I could hear the birds singing their songs. Each seemed happy as if they were home - they all had a place. I could hear the soft wind breeze against me, the sounds of the distant wind chimes. From afar, I could hear the occasional noise of a car pass by.
I could also feel.
I felt the sun's rays pouring against my skin, giving me warmth. I could feel the tree I leaned against, the bark made my back itch. The grass beneath me was still moist from the rainfall from the previous day.
I opened my eyes, letting the serenity wash over me. I was still sad - undeniably, achingly sad. But I needed to take a minute to think.
The Applejack here was going to die soon.
Applejack had saved me from death before. She had saved me countless times, whether it be physically or mentally. This was my one chance to repay her.
So, that's exactly what I was going to do. I was going to save Applejack from dying, no matter what.
I wasn't sure what I was feeling, but it sure wasn't confidence.
一
[ flashback; applejack ]
We made our way down the sidewalk back to the farm. We were going there to find clues on how to find my mom, we were sure Granny Smith had some information.
Rarity had been mostly silent the whole way. It wasn't right for her to be so quiet. Before I mentioned Manehattan, she was booming with conversation.
"Hey," I suddenly said. "Are you alright?"
"Yeah, it- don't worry about it," she weakly said. We both crossed a street, carefully looking both ways. Even though we never said it loud, we despised roads with a passion. Anything could happen on them.
Every time I walked across a road, I remembered my first death as it it were happening again. The flashing light, the sheer panic coursing through me. Although I felt no pain when it hit me, the thought of Dash watching me die in front of her haunted me. I was always afraid that someone else would have to watch me die again. No human being should have to witness another's death like that.
The memory of my first death triggered the thought of Rarity's first death. A few questions ran through my mind, and I desperately wanted an answer to them.
"I hate to pry on the past, sugar cube, but this could give us some clues on how we could both get out of this." She looked up at me, awaiting my next words.
I heaved a sigh. "Rarity... what exactly happened that day on your first death?"
She paused for a second. "Darling, I already told you. Twilight broke up with me, I took those pills and-" She stopped, not wanting to finish the sentence.
"What happened between that though?" I asked. I could tell my voice was coming off too strong from her expression. "After Twilight broke up with you, what exactly did you do?" I questioned, softening my tone.
"Uhm well," she spoke, looking up at the clear blue sky. "I believe I arrived at school late. Fluttershy," she stopped once she said her name.
The death before, we had discovered that her best friend had died when she was a baby. Rarity had said no words of it ever since we met up at the park today, but I could tell it was bothering her. She drew in a sharp breath, thinking of words to continue her sentence.
"My best friend tried everything to cheer me up. I skipped class after about an hour and walked back home. The memories are kinda fuzzy, but I got ahold of alcohol, and that was when it went downhill. I wandered around neighborhoods, going down every random street I could find. At one point, I hopped onto a bus which took me to Canterlot High. On the bus ride, I took the pills, and the rest is history."
I didn't know what to respond. She instead took charge of the conversation. "What about you? What exactly happened on your first death?"
With a silent shudder after remembering it all again, I began to speak. "Uhh well, after I saw you hop out of the bus, I was supposed to hang out at Dash's after school. We raced, then a car hit me. And that's all I remember."
As we walked down the sidewalk, I let the image of her death sink in, in an attempt to forget about mine. A small energy of anger coursed through me. If they had been so worried of what Rarity could do, why didn't they do more? When Rarity skipped all her classes, Fluttershy had to notice. Twilight should have kept a closer eye on her. If anyone did anything different that day, she might have not died.
I could have done something. When she ran out of that bus, I could've helped her. Instead I ran off with Dash, completely ignoring her.
"Do you ever think about what would've happen if we actually died?" Rarity suddenly asked. "Like, what would everyone's reactions be when they hear you got hit by a car?"
I shivered at the thought. Granny Smith would lose it. Applebloom relied on me for almost everything, she wouldn't take it well. All of my friends who cared a ton about me would lose it. After an event like that, the school wouldn't be the same.
"They deserve better," I finally say. "They ain't deserve to hear that I died so violently. It would break all of them."
Rarity thought for a moment. "You're right."
We walked the rest of the trip to the farm in silence.
[ scene takes place chapter 9, it's not shown in the actual chapter ]
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— World Count : 2835
— First published : March 27, 2021
— Final version released : June 30, 2021
An explanation:
Just because a few readers were hella confused on what happened.
The loops started out by Applejack and Rarity dying at the same time. At the moment, there is no explanation on why their deaths are connected. Rarity ended her life, and at that exact moment, Applejack's also ended.
Right after they both died, they woke up in their rooms to repeat the day.
They were stuck in a time loop.
They found each other, and they both agreed to help one another.
Now, here's the part where most people stumbled on.
They fixed this all by doing something they feared. Applejack made amends with her father, Rarity did the same with Twilight. And when they did this, they were sent back to their original worlds.
Everything is back to normal. Everyone who disappeared is back, the universe around them isn't collapsing anymore.
In the beginning of the story, the original Applejack and Rarity didn't know each other. When they died that last time, they didn't return with each other. Everything is back to normal.
It's as if everything they went through together was one long dream. It didn't happen in their original lives.
Think of this as a rerun of the first chapter of this story.
In Applejack's world, Rarity is still going to kill herself. In Rarity's world, Applejack is still going to get run over by a car.
They're now faced with a new task. They have to save each other.
Please comment if you have any questions and I'll answer them all ):