The Carousel Boutique had been closed for quite some time, obviously due to Discord’s passing, but Rarity still kept somehow overworking herself. It was heartbreaking if I'll be honest. I was still rather distraught and frustrated from the argument with Twilight, and I even considered avoiding contact with anypony else altogether... but I knew it would be nicer to listen to a pony with a generous hoof... than a pony with a hoof stuffed up her rear. I love Twilight... but damn.

By the time I entered the building, however, I was met with Rarity’s ecstatic movements and fluctuations… along with Sweetie Belle’s concerned and fearful expressions.

“Is she alright?” I mumbled to her, watching as Rarity used her magic to move everything around, writing notes saying ‘for sale’ and completely ignoring my presence.

Sweetie Belle shook her head, “She’s been like this for the past few days…”

“Alright, let me talk to her, go on to your room.” I ordered, and after she was finally gone, I spoke up again, “Rarity, you alright?”

“Oh! Darling, you mustn’t scare me like that. I am doing— perfect, absolutely perfect, 100% perfect. Yes, yes, of course, of course.” Her voice was highly pitched and rather quickly paced… and then it hit me. The dilated pupils, the dark circles under her eyes, and her rather malnourished body. I was about to speak up again when I noticed her nose was bleeding. I cleared my throat and she seemed to have known what I was implying instantly, groaning and wiping her nose rather aggressively.

“Stupid thing— hold on.” After she then wiped it away with a tissue, she looked back at me, “Alright! Is there anything I can help you with, darling? I’m on a rather tight schedule today and I—“

I interrupted her, “You’re on it again.”

“Pardon?”

“Don’t play dumb with me, Rarity. What’d I tell you about using that damn drug?”

“Like you know a thing or two about how it helps me!” She snapped, but quickly got out of it, “I… I’m sorry. I’ve been trying to stop it’s just— look I…” she sighed, sitting down on the ground, “I’ll stop using it. Tomorrow. Yes, tomorrow...”

“Yeah? Well… it ain’t that simple.” I sat beside her, “If it helps… you’ve been better than you were when— you know.”

“It’s just hard… losing him. Especially when everypony talks circles about how ‘Equestria is free from his chaos’… it’s not a joke alright? He’s dead. He— for Celestia’s sake, he... killed... himself. Have some sympathy. Is everypony here as heartless as a Changeling?”

“I know… I know I hear it too. They’re just— they didn’t know him like we did. I know for sure if it was somepony they loved, they wouldn’t find it funny either.”

“I’m sorry… this must be so hard for you. Losing Granny Smith and then on top of that—Discord? How do you even do it?”

“I... I don't know, but don’t worry ‘bout me, alright? Let me do the worryin’.”

“But you shouldn’t have to. You focus so much on everypony else, you’ll barely have any time to focus on yourself… you’re drowning yourself and you don’t even realize it… and you won’t until it’s too late.” Rarity sighed, “And maybe that’s what happened to Discord.”

“What do you mean?”

“Discord always focused on us… what we needed to learn, what we worried and relied on. Not once have I ever heard him say he needed help. It was always about us…” she shook her shoulders, “Maybe… maybe if he had just said something to us— anything at all— he’d still be with us.”

“Well, there’s no tellin’ what would’ve happened then. For all we know, he could’ve planned this whole thing out. I don’t think we’ll ever know what was going on in that head of his… or even how bad it had to’ve been for him to even consider that.”

“I loved him so much, Apple Jack… I can’t believe he’s gone.”

“Hey, look at me, Diamond.” The nickname rather instantly caught her attention, “We all loved him. He was our friend… our family. But he would want us to move on. It ain’t gonna be easy, I can tell you that already. But as long as I’m here? It’ll all be okay.”

“You’re a great friend, Apple Jack.”

Author's Note

If you cant tell I headcanon AJ having rather specific nicknames for some of the Mane 6.

I also just realized how short this is compared to the last one (my bad, I've been trying to keep them at around 1k but if I can get my point across even with just 700+ words then I'm happy)