The Aftermath (A WarAU)

During the battle for Equestria, Rarity had shown herself to be an unrelenting force on the field. She was ready to selflessly put herself between any civilian and the peril they were facing. As such, she lost so much of what she was in the aftermath, personally and physically. Yes, she went back to making dresses but she never wore them with pride, her reflection made her grimace if she caught sight of herself in the puddles of Ponyville (she no longer kept mirrors in the boutique). While she wasn’t one to judge people’s appearances if they were happy, she couldn’t bring herself to accept her face. Her dresses had dropped in quality too, now she was relying on her hooves and sewing machine. She’d had to go through a lot of therapy to train herself to live a magic-free life, but she caught herself expecting cups to lift without the assistance of her mouth. Had she not fallen when she did, allowing her horn to be crushed underfoot by an unknowing ally, her life wouldn’t have been irreparably changed. She hated the pitiful looks she got from the older mares and young foals who hadn’t fought, who didn’t understand that she sacrificed so little compared to others. She was thankful their gossip went unheard.

The cochlea implant had brought her hearing back, but nothing could take away the memories of the silence. The blast at the castle gate had been too close. She was thankful she wasn’t vaporized like the twenty-something guards, including Shining Armor and part of AppleJack. The sound of the blast had completely destroyed her hearing, at the time leaving only a whiny ringing before the silence took over. Never the less, she’d continued to fight, terrified and screaming the whole time. She screamed as she had her horn was shattered, she screamed while the castle crumbled and the war was won as the enemy was crushed under its weight. She only stopped when she saw Sweetie Belle in the hospital a few days later, where her wheezing screech came to an end. She didn’t speak for a long time, content in her silence. The implant made it better, Rarity did eventually speak again, especially when she saw Pinkie in Fluttershy’s cottage, she positively roared at the sight. However, from then on, she avoided conversation as best she could.
She was happy most of the time, despite the traumatic life changes she’d faced, but her therapy could only do so much. The loss of her loved ones was worse than anything her body could take. She poured all her energy into her work, becoming a reclusive hermit, using Sweetie Belle to fetch her needed items. Ironically, her facelessness only increased her dresses value and notoriety. They became highly prized collectors items, rarely worn and mainly displayed. Sweetie didn’t tell her sister that.