//------------------------------// // Mental Screaming // Story: Where'd you go? // by sonaria //------------------------------// Once Applejack had walked off and into her house, Rarity had found herself alone in the cold. Her crying had become a little more intense as the realization started sinking in. She's gone. She hadn't lingered any longer, what would be the point in that? And began walking back down the dirt road. The walk seemed colder and longer than it first had barely 20 minutes ago. The sting of rejection lingered but wasn't as a fierce as it first had been. She had expected to be rejected, it was a long shot to think any feelings would be returned. What she didn't expect was for Applejack to consider their friendship over. Her long trek home was automatic and rather quiet--aside from a sniffle here and there. Her racing mind didn't slow as her tears did. Instead, her wandering mind nearly distracted her from the rejection. Now she worried more about whether or not Applejack still considered her a friend. And if not, how would it effect their friend group? What if the others thought less of her for liking girls? Would Applejack even tell them? What would they do at school Monday? Ignore and avoid each other? What about at lunch? They all shared lunch they all sat together. Each thought made regret sink into her heart a little further. Sure the rejection hurt, but not only was she rejected, her friend almost made it clear that she didn't want to be friends anymore. Losing her completely wasn't anywhere as a possibility. Applejack was level-headed, Applejack was loyal, why did she react so harshly? Against her will, her thoughts persisted all the way home. She was relieved to find that Sweetie Belle still hadn't returned home from Scootaloo's house. Dealing with her little sister was the last thing she wanted to do. All she wanted to was to be alone. She wanted to be alone until she felt better. Until her country friend had calmed down. After greeting Opal briefly and making her way to her room, she glanced at herself in the full length mirror and pitied her appearance for a moment. She considered leaving the ruined make up on and just going straight to bed, but ended up removing it anyway. The fashionista laid curled up in her bed still unable to get her mind to stop. Something in her didn't want to sleep because she knew she would have to wake up feeling no better than she did now. But the rest of her wanted to sleep and get a small break from her thoughts. Her crying was a periodic thing that stopped and started again for hours until she finally slipped into a restless sleep. Unfortunately, Sunday had flown by at a terribly slow pace. It was spent locked in her room 'working on a new line of clothes' as she told her family. Really all she did was lay in her bed unsure of what to do. She considered texting AJ to talk things out, but instead decided against it. It felt like the day had gone by so slow, but before she knew it, it was Monday morning. The group met at the wondercolt statue, as they did every morning to talk before their classes start. All girls chatted happily among themselves, seemingly unaware of the tension between two friends. Applejack contributed to the conversation but was somewhat tense and hardly acknowledged Rarity. Rarity hid her heartache well and, though slightly distant, her friends didn't notice anything out of the ordinary. Each class was attended physically and her school routine was followed. Third period was drifting by at an ungodly pace. The indigo haired girl tried hard doing what she could to focus on her work, but she often found herself checking the clock. Her failed attempts to stay busy only made each minute pass by slower. Either she was glancing to the clock, or worrying over what would happen at lunch. Their morning had gone by without a problem, surely lunch would too. Finally, the bell signalling lunch rang and the students all filed into the soon to be bustling hallways. Rarity grabbed her tray and sat between Sunset Shimmer and Fluttershy , Rainbow Dash sat directly in front of her with Pinkie Pie to her right and Applejack to her left. The group all carried out individual conversations, save for two. Sunset, usually sat rather quiet, intently listening to her friends stories, laughing with them, or adding her input to various topics. Today was no different. She sat quietly and looked between her friends. Applejack and Rainbow Dash seemed to be arguing over a new game that had just come out, Pinkie Pie talked away to Fluttershy, who just listened and giggled with her friend, and Rarity was ..talking to no one? Her head rested in one hand and she poked around in her lunch with a complete lack of interest for the rest of the group. "So, Rarity," Sunset started slowly when she noticed how distant the fashionista was being, "how was your weekend?" A twinge of pain shot through her chest and she gave the briefest glance at AJ; Sunset's eyes followed the glance, "Oh, it was lovely," she finally answered with a small smile, trying to keep any sarcasm out of her voice. Sunset's eyes fell back to Rarity then cocked a brow as she gave a knowing smirk, "Yeah? You two finally happened huh?" she chuckled. Finally happened? You two? "I'm sorry, dear, I'm not sure I understand," the fashionista asked with confusion and a tint of worry. It was clear that Sunset knew about the feelings the fashionista had for the farm girl, and it made her feel some better knowing she didn't care that she felt that way for girls. Her eyebrows furrowed. What was confusing is that Sunset acted like she had been waiting for them to get together. Sunset's face lost its smirk, and switched to a slight grimace as she mentally cursed herself about making such a big assumption from such a tiny glance. It didn't make sense anyway, considering how distant Rarity was, and how tense AJ had been. The two barely talked today, let alone to each other. . . . . . Click. Sunset slapped her hand to her face when it finally clicked. How did she not notice sooner? Something did happen between the two friends, and it really didn't take a genius to figure out what that was. And Sunset might have just made her friend feel worse about it. "What did happen between you and AJ?" She wasn't trying to pry. She was really just letting Rarity that if she needed to or wanted to she could talk to her. Me and AJ.. Rarity stayed silent while her thoughts trailed off and she started thinking about the events that took place. The harshness in Applejack's voice, the way she made sure to avoid her stare, the way she just walked off. Her eyes closed when she felt tears start to build. Even if she felt like talking about it, she didn't want to talk about it in the school's cafeteria. Or while Applejack was around. Sunset stayed silent waiting for Rarity to respond but she never did. It wasn't just Sunset waiting quietly anymore, the rest of the table had noticed their friend's distress and all watched with worry. Except Applejack, who had started picking at her salad not wanting to look in the same direction as her friends. "Um.. Rarity?" a timid voice asked. Rarity snapped from her thoughts when she felt a hand placed on her shoulder. "Is everything all right?" Rarity looked up to meet her friends' eyes looking at her--save for a certain green pair that were suddenly fixated on a salad. Her head shook no before she could even register the question. Her eyes closed, and she mentally screamed at herself. Now her friends would press on the subject relentlessly in front of Applejack no less. They meant well, but they had a tendency to pry into each other's lives on occasion. They had the right to this time, it could affect all of them in a way. Still though, any other time would be way better than in the lunch room. "What's going on?" The girls stared at her with worry and waited expectantly for her to speak, again, save for a blonde that remained awkwardly quiet, glancing to the indigo haired girl periodically. She opened her mouth as if to speak, but no noise came. She glanced to the blonde once more, their glances met and they held each other's gaze briefly before AJ looked away again. Rarity nervously took a bite of her salad trying to find anything to say. Luckily, she didn't have to. Before anymore questions could be asked, the bell rang and she was the first to leave the table. --- Only then when she sat at her desk did she realize how bad that must have looked.