They’re gone…
This time it happened at the chem lab. AJ, Rarity, and I were doing some kind of experiment, I can't remember what. Been hard to focus on much of anything these days; having your best friends erased from reality doesn’t help your concentration
I remember AJ asking me to pass her a beaker of acid or whatever. I turned to grab it when my headache returned with a vengeance. I mean it. It felt like someone had put my head in a vice and given it a few good turns. I dropped the beaker and fell to my knees, clutching my head. I wanted to die.
When it finally, mercifully faded, I picked myself up, eyes watering, head reeling. The classroom was empty. All of the students, the teacher, Aj, and Rarity. All gone.
Something broke inside of me. I tore out of the classroom and tore through the school, dashing from classroom to classroom, asking if anyone had seen Aj or Rarity. Looked in every classroom, every closet, every forgotten nook, and cranny, not so much looking as fleeing from reality.
Reality caught up. I collapsed in the middle of the hallway. Defeated.
I heard footsteps. I looked up to see Fluttershy running towards me, a concerned look on her face. It was too much. I hugged her like a drowning man clutching a life preserver. Tried to tell her what was wrong, but all that came out was a blubbering, incomprehensible mess.
Don’t know how long we sat there. Minutes, hours, who knows. All the while, Shy just sat there and held me, her shirt sponging up my tears as she stroked back, telling me that “everything was going to be okay…” over and over again.
For that short eternity, I actually believed it.