Chapter 18
⋆.:･ﾟ .: ⋆*･ﾟ: .⋆
Rarity
One wrong move.
One wrong move was all it took for someone's life to end.
If I made one wrong move in saving Applejack, there was a chance she would never wake up again.
The thought of her death left me breathless. It felt as if I was empty without her. Even though she was a completely different person from who I grew to love, I needed her to live.
Even if it wasn't for me. Even if it was for Dash. Even if she resented every move I made, she needed to live. I was ready to sacrifice everything just for her.
After quickly re-doing my makeup, I made my way to Canterlot High. I sat on the stairs, hoping that no one would realize I was on their school grounds without even attending it myself.
In my head, I went through ways I could prevent her death. Causing a car crash to prevent a car crash didn't seem like the most ideal thing.
My head was pounding too hard for me to think clearly. Every single thing I tried to imagine felt impossible to do.
I could distract her. That thought was immediately dismissed, from our encounter in the morning, she had no reason to trust me. In fact, if I approached her, that might not change anything. She'd probably run away which could cause her to run into the car.
So I had to wing it.
I wished Applejack had told me more about her death. The road she died on, the car that killed her - anything.
The only thing I had memorized was that after she saw me hop off that bus, she raced with Dash. And then a car hit her.
I played with the ends of my hair nervously, panic rising within me. I'm the only one who can do this.
I sat there for a while, watching the street in front of me. The traffic of all different types of cars snaked up the hill. Each was bathed in their own smoke they were emitting into the air.
When you look at cars, you only see machines. You don't see the people driving them, forcing them to go at certain speeds and directions. You only see the cars they hide in, masking their personality.
Anybody going down this street could be the reason someone's life were to end. All it took was one wrong move.
My phone rang, which nearly gave me a heart attack. After the sudden noise, I had to take a few deep breaths before looking at the screen. The fear of death had me so paranoid, I forgot what it was like to live.
Looking at the phone, my eyes widened as I saw Twilight's name. Crystal Prep. I was so focused on saving Applejack that everyone at my school had completely slipped my mind.
Fluttershy, I thought. This was my chance to apologize. After a few moments of hesitation, I answered the call, lifting the device to my ear.
"Hey," I said, which came out weaker than I had intended to.
"Rarity finallyyy, I've been trying to get ahold of you for the longest time." Her relieved voice suddenly turned into anger. "Where have you been?! You're late for class and you weren't even there this morning at your house."
"Twilight, I can't really explain what's going on right now. I promise I'll say more about the matter later, but not at this moment."
"Rarity. Are you okay?" she demanded.
"I'm okay. I think. Uhm, darling, is Fluttershy there?"
This question seemed to only drive Twilight over the edge more. "Are you crazy?! I'm sneaking my phone in the bathroom to check on you, no!"
I knew already that this was no use. Twilight was already worried and agitated. If I were to contact Shy, I needed to do so myself.
"I'm sorry I made you worry about me," I apologized. "Please rest assured that I'm alright."
"Good. We need to talk about everything soon, alright?"
"Alright."
"I love you," she said, which came out completely forced, making me cringe. Before I could think of a response, she hung up.
I wasted no time on my 'soon-to-be-ex', as I needed to call Fluttershy. The last memory I had of her was the news that she had died as a baby.
I could finally talk to her again. And give a real apology to her. The loops made me realize how badly I've treated her, she deserved something truly sincere. Taking a deep breath, I pulled up the app I normally texted Shy on.
I stared at my keyboard, watching my cursor blink as I struggled to find the words I desperately needed to say. I took a deep breath before settling on something.
hey shy, can we talk? i miss you a ton.
It wasn't good enough. Why was I struggling with sending one text when I had so much I needed to say to her? It took a minute of me just rereading those words over and over again before I sent the message.
I looked at the time in the corner of my phone, which was followed by me carefully placing the object on the concrete next to me. I had three hours left until school ended for AJ.
While I had already convinced myself I'd do anything to save her, I wasn't too keen on sitting on the same spot for 3 hours.
Three hours was a ton of time. The ride to Crystal Prep was only about twenty minutes, I could make it there and back and still have enough time to save AJ.
But something could happen to me on the way. Was I really willing to take that risk?
Grabbing my phone, I searched up 'bus times'. After a few minutes of searching for the official website, and inputting my location, I got an answer. The bus was arriving in five minutes.
My phone suddenly vibrated, notifying me of a text. It was from Shy.
The thought of her fragile turquoise eyes met my mind. How they used to break every time I said something to her.
Before everything, I never paid attention to her. I used her for everything, I constantly put her down for everything. I acted as if I was the only person who had problems.
And then the universe took her away in the loops. She died as a baby. She never got to experience a real-life because of me. The guilt was slowly chipping away at me, and I needed to do something before I was just an empty husk.
With that in mind, I quickly wrote back to her. Without any hesitation, I stood up from my seat and made my way to the bus stop.
✧
As I stepped off the bus, my eyes immediately met Crystal Prep. Lucky for me, Shy's break period was only in a few more minutes, so all I had to do was wait.
I walked up the long row of stairs, nervous. I had planned out exactly what I'd do so I wouldn't miss the bus back to Canterlot.
It was straightforward. I would talk to Shy during her break, then quickly head back.
I opened the doors of Crystal Prep, the fancy smell of rich perfume filling my lungs. It had felt so long since I had walked these halls - and to be completely honest, I didn't feel right here.
It might've been because I had grown so accustomed to Applejack. Now everywhere I went, I didn't feel right without her. But for some reason, the sense of feeling lost was stronger here.
I didn't let the emotion linger in me for long. Within seconds I was rushing down the hallway, making my way to where Shy's class was.
"After Fluttershy was born, she got this terrible sickness."
I sighed through my teeth, not wanting to remember. I attempted to focus on the end of the hallway. It felt so far.
"She'd cry for hours on end, and we didn't know what to do."
Memories of the timid girl filled my mind. How even though she couldn't find a way to express it, she cared about everyone deeply. I treated her like shit. Every day, I'd rant about something new, never letting her talk about herself. I ghosted her multiple times. It was only about me.
And yet, she stayed with me the whole time.
"And one day, the crying stopped."
Brushing away the thoughts of loneliness and replacing them with confidence, I stood next to her classroom. I looked up at a clock that hung on the wall across from me.
As if on cue, the bell rang. The door swung open and I moved out of everyone's way, waiting for Shy's familiar pastel pink hair.
And at last, there she was.
She left the classroom last, her long hair pooling down her shoulders. Without hesitation, I ran forward and wrapped my arms around her.
"Rarity!" she spoke, her voice filled with surprise.
I let go of the hug, and she continued. "Twilight has been really worried about you. I can't believe you were serious about coming here."
"I'm here to apologize."
"What? To Twilight?"
"To you.
"You don't-"
The teacher from the classroom Shy was leaving suddenly appeared behind her. He gave us a look and started walking off towards the direction of the staff room.
Taking the opportunity, I signaled Shy to follow me into the empty classroom.
"Shy," I started to say. Silence filled the room as I struggled to speak. "I'm sorry. For everything. The past few months, I've treated you like you were nothing."
"Rarity, you don't have to apologize..."
"I don't know what's going to happen later, but I just wanted to say this now, in case I never get the chance again.
You're my best friend, and you mean the world to me. I know a few sentences doesn't do anything. But, I feel like I've left you to rot. I've ditched you multiple times, all I've been were constant rants. I've only thought of myself through it all and you deserve a better friend. Darling, if there's anything I can to do make it up to you, please let me know."
Shy didn't know what to say. She stood in front of me - knowing her, many thoughts were pulsing through her mind. Finally, she took a deep breath to say something.
"You don't need to feel sorry. I know you've been through a lot. I just wanted to be there for you," she finally said.
My phone suddenly rang in my hand, notifying me that the bus was Canterlot was arriving soon. Lifting it so I could see the screen, I sighed at the notification.
"I have to go," I said. "If I can, I'll be back and explain more."
Shy's face was suddenly filled with concern. "What's going on? You're making me worried..."
"Don't worry," I replied, walking towards the door. "I'll explain more soon, I promise."
✧
She's going to die soon.
She's going to die soon.
She's going to die soon.
These thoughts stained my mind like poison.
I still didn't have a plan, which made me feel sick. Someone's life was in my hands, and I had no idea how I was supposed to save them.
I looked around at the people walking down the sidewalk in front of the school. Despite the school still in session, the sidewalk was filled with a variety of different people.
Some were in groups, talking amongst each other. Some were alone, lost in thought. Each of them has experienced different things in life.
While they might look different from afar, they were just as clueless as I once was. Presumably, none of them experienced death. Any of one of them could see their life flash before their eyes at any moment.
It takes decades to build a perfect life and only a few seconds for it to end.
Which was exactly why I needed to be the reason why someone got to wake up the next morning.
She's going to die soon.
She's going to die soon.
She's going to die soon.
I was sitting on the same stairs as I was before I left for Crystal Prep. I was too panicked to pick up my phone and check the time, but from just the overall tone of the place, I knew school was ending soon.
She's going to die soon.
She's going to die soon.
God, my mind was worse than all the images I had seen during the loops. I had faced death so many times, any small movement would cause me to have a heart attack.
As if it was planned, the bell rang, making me jump in fear. Within seconds, the front doors of the school swung open and tons of people ran out. I quickly moved out of their way in fear of getting tackled.
"Doublemint, wait!" one guy with sonic the hedgehog-styled blue hair called out.
A hideous-looking guy with multicolored greenish pinkish hair started running down the stairs. Within seconds, he tripped over something, resulting in him landing face-first onto the concrete stairs.
Sonic boy ran after him, almost falling down the stairs himself. Instead of helping 'Doublemint' up, he simply just laughed. When Doublemint soon regained the energy to lift himself, he only replied to him with a grunt.
"I told you to stop eating Doublemint gum during class. I don't care if the brand is the same as your name, I swear, it impacts your motor skills."
"His motor skills were already shit. Asshat!" someone who was walking by shouted at the both of them.
A guy with weird green hair walked over to the both of them, wrapping his arm around sonic boy. He leaned forward, planting a kiss on his cheek.
I was too distracted to pay that much more attention to them. I was much more focused on finding one specific blonde-haired girl. While I waited for her I found one other familiar face.
She was the one at the mall. With the pink straight hair, who looked completely dead inside. Her blue dull eyes haunted my mind, sending shivers down my spine. I remembered Applejack's exact expression upon seeing someone she viewed as her best friend someone else. That mall trip definitely changed my perspective on Pinkie. Seeing her happily skip down the stairs made me feel much better.
As soon as Pinkie's figure disappeared, the one I had been waiting for finally met my view. She stood there, next to a smaller rainbow-haired girl.
She's going to die soon.
She's going to die soon.
My heart started to race at the point where I thought I was going to throw up. I leaned against the wall, attempting to take a breather. I knew I didn't have time for that, the girl who only stood a few feet away from me was dying in a few minutes.
It took me a while to realize they were staring at the Crystal Prep bus. This was the same one I was on this first original day. Where she and I first made eye contact, and I ran off with my arm covering my eyes.
When the bus drove off, Dash and AJ started walking off. Having no clue where they were going, I decided to follow. I didn't have any energy to do some action and make it look less suspicious that I was following both of them.
My brain wasn't working clearly. I just needed to save her.
They talked a bit, I couldn't tell what about. Unfortunately, Dash had taken a glance back to see me. She gave me a weird look and turned back to AJ. With me completely flustered and following the couple, I didn't blame her for what she did next.
"Race you!" Dash suddenly challenged, taking off.
"Hey, that ain't fair!" Applejack called after her. Seeing them both bolt away, my eyes widened. Her death was caused by a car running into her during a race. I had no choice but to run after.
She's going to die soon.
My heart pounded in my chest as I attempted to catch up to them. I gasped for air, my vision was blurred and I could barely see anything.
I looked up, the only thing being in focus was her blonde hair. And the road just ahead of her.
She's going to die soon.
As everything suddenly slid in place, I sprinted forward. I used every single bone in my body, every breath I could strain in - everything I had - to catch up with her.
One wrong move.
One wrong move was all it took for someone's life to end.
If I made one wrong move in saving Applejack, there was a chance she would never wake up again.
The thought of her death left me breathless. It felt as if I was empty without her. Even though she was a completely different person from who I grew to love, I needed her to live.
Even if it wasn't for me. Even if it was for Dash. Even if she resented every move I made, she needed to live. I was ready to sacrifice everything just for her.
Before she could even react to me being next to her, I threw her back onto the sidewalk. She gave me an angered expression which was quickly replaced by worry as I felt a bright light blind my eyesight.
And instead of Applejack being hit, it was me who took her place.
— World Count : 2976
— First published : June 23, 2021
— Final version released : June 23, 2021
[ no revisions were made to this chapter since published ]