The sun shone through the window of a small apartment in Manehattan. Sweetie Belle who had just woken up from a deep sleep, reached out instinctively, expecting the touch of Apple Bloom, but the bed was empty. Sweetie Belle pushed herself upright with a sigh. Her gaze drifted around the unkept room for her partner, who was nowhere to be found.

Apple Bloom's constant presence had been somewhat of a lifeline for her these dark days. She provided her with emotional and financial stability when everything else around her seemed to be falling apart. As of right now, Apple Bloom was the only on working, and even extra shifts that that Sweetie Belle could keep lazing around the house.

The half-asleep mare stumbled out of bed and made her way to the kitchen, getting herself some water from the sink. She didn't even notice the table had been set, nor did she see her partner scarfing down breakfast at the end.

"Mornin', sweetheart," said Apple Bloom bloom through tired bites.

Sweetie Belle wasn't feeling all that into, yes forced a smile regardless.

"Ah made breakfast. Thought we could start the day off right."

Sweetie Belle didn't say anything. She simply nodded and headed for the bathroom instead to splash some cold water in her face. After, she looked up, her reflection staring back at her from the Dirty mirror. She struck by how much she resembled her sister. The same elegant features graced her face. Sweetie Belle's heart clenched.

"I'm sorry, Rarity—" she whispered, her voice trembling. "Gosh, I'm... I'm such a loser..."

Tears welled up in her eyes, blurring her vision.

"You always had a plan... You always knew how to make things right. I can't even take care of myself—"

On the other side of the bathroom door, Apple Bloom paused as she heard Sweetie Belle talking to herself. Concern and sadness filled her eyes as she listened to her girlfriend's anguish. She wanted to burst in and comfort her right now, but it was almost becoming an everyday recurrence for them.

"I'm falling apart, Rarity," she choked out. "I don't know how to go on without you. I don't know how to be... me, without you." As she spoke, something shifted in her mind. The reality of what she's crashed down on her. She was talking to a mirror, expecting comfort from a reflection that could never respond.

There was a knock at the door. After a few seconds of silence, it cracked open. Sweetie Belle saw Apple Bloom in the corner of her eye. Her presence was like a grounding force, and Sweetie Belle's frantic thoughts began to settle. She turned to face her with tears still streaming down her face.

"Sweetie," Apple Bloom said softly, moving closer, "You're not a loser..."

Sweetie Belle buried her face in Apple Bloom's shoulder. After she calmed back down to normal, Apple Bloom pulled away, wishing she could stay longer, but she knew she couldn't shirk her duties, even if it was for her.

"Ah don’t want to leave you, Sweetie Belle..." Apple Bloom said, "But Ah gotta go to work..."

"...I know..."

"...Think you'll be fine on your own for a bit?"

"I-I’ll be okay," Sweetie murmured while wiping the tears away.

With one last hug for reassurance, Apple Bloom made her way out the door and down the stairs. As the door closed softly behind Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle breathed in, trying to summon up the strength to face the rest of the day.

The night Rarity lost her life in a break-in had left a scar on Sweetie Belle's heart. A wound that never truly healed. She and Apple Bloom had clung to each other shortly after the aftermath, their shared grief drawing them into a relationship that never felt quite right. Recently, that bond had been fraying. The weight of Sweetie Belle's emotional instability bore heavily on them, manifesting in frequent arguments and misunderstandings between the two.

Today a drizzle fell from sky as Sweetie Belle knelt down under a rusty awning, a cigarette dangling from her lips. The unicorn exhaled a cloud of smoke, watching it dissipate into the afternoon air. Scootaloo was on her mind, as she so often was. Sweetie Belle never understood why Scootaloo had left them. Or in Sweetie's mind, abandoned like a pair of sick cats.

"Sweetie Belle, what're ya doin' out here?"

Sweetie turned to see Apple Bloom approaching, her eyes filled with concern. Sweetie Belle shrugged, flicking ash from her cigarette. "Just needed some to think... ...How was work?"

Apple Bloom frowned at the drug. "Where did you even get that," she demanded.

"Does it matter where I got it?"

"It matters to me!" Apple Bloom shot back, knowing full well where sweetie had gotten the money to buy that from. Sweetie wasn't, for all intensive purposes, the breadwinner of this fellowship. Apple Bloom was a few hushed curses away from whipping out her wallet right here to confirm, but she wasn't about to shame her companion in the middle of the sidewalk. That's what the apartment was for.

In a sudden motion, Sweetie threw it to the ground and stomped it out, grinding the smoldering remains into the the dampened concrete. "Fine! It taste gross anyway."

Apple Bloom stepped closer. "Look, ah know we’ve both been hurtin', Sweetie. But we can't keep goin' on like this."

Sweetie Belle looked into Apple Bloom’s eyes, seeing betrayal. "I don’t want to lose you too..."

Apple Bloom reached out, taking Sweetie Belle's hoof in hers.

"An' ya won't. That's why I got somethin' ah want ya to hear. Sweetie,” Apple Bloom began, her voice steady but tinged with uncertainty. "Ah’ve been lookin’ at apartments... In... In Ponyville."

Sweetie Belle blinked.

"Now ah know we moved to Manehattan to get away from it all, but... Ah’ve been thinkin’—"

Sweetie Belle shook her head. “B-but this place was supposed to be our fresh start."

They stood in silence for a moment, the sound of the rain drumming softly on the awning above.

“Ah understand, Sweetie. Ah do. But—"

“I appreciate what you're doing, Apple Bloom. I really do. But I’m not going back there.”

Apple Bloom nodded, her expression cold.

“Although, Scootaloo may be—” Sweetie Belle started, pressed her hooves together.

Apple Bloom clenched her jaw and rubbed her temples. "Ugh... Sweetie, can we please not talk about her right now? It's not fair to bring her up every time we have a disagreement."

Sweetie Belle tensed up, her eyes flashing with defiance. Clearly they've been through this song & dance before. "But she's part of this too, Apple Bloom! How can you just ignore that?"

Apple Bloom ran a hoof through her mane. "Consarnit! Ah'm not ignoring it, Sweetie! Ah just don't wanna to dwell on it! We've enough problems as it is, and rehashing the past ain't gonna help!"

"But she—," Sweetie Belle's voice cracking with emotion. "You stayed. You comforted me. I just don't get why she didn't."

Apple Bloom’s patience snapped, her frustration boiling over.

"Maybe she knew she couldn't handle it, Sweetie! Maybe she was scared or somethin', just like the rest of us were! —But at least she ain't off somewhere pretending to be something she's not!"

Sweetie Belle recoiled. "Wh-what's that supposed to mean?!"

Apple Bloom halted in her tracts upon realizing the words she just let out. “Sweetie Belle, a-ah didn’t mean it like that,” Apple Bloom said quickly, “Ah’m so sorry. Ah’m just so irritated with work right now. Ah didn’t mean it.”

Apple Bloom reached out, pulling Sweetie Belle into a gentle hug.

Sweetie Belle leaned into it, but the spark she felt before from Apple Bloom now tinged with doubt. Inside, she couldn’t shake the feeling that the crossed version of the mare she just witnessed was the real her scratching to get out. The one apologizing to her now, felt like a mask.

Author's Note

Kind of a short chapter today. Hopefully next one will be a longer(Twice as long at least)!