After the initial shock wore off mid flight back to what now seemed to be her permanent home, Twilight felt herself under some immense metaphysical pressure that kept her from being as talkative as she normally would have been. Her presence as she returned home amidst the stares and inquisitive looks of bystanders were no longer explained calmly, for Twilight fought in an internal struggle with herself to resolve her feelings of her situation.

She had lost a dear friend, and could do little at the moment but hope that the police would do their job. As the authorities in this world, she trusted that they would deliver justice however was suitable, but she doubted that this would provide some recompense for the torment she went through.

She dabbled in her mind the ordeal the Benoit family went through, but she found the idea of what happened too horrifying to imagine and did her best to dissuade herself from this. For the rest of the week, the remaining wrestlers continued to practice and discuss matters in a more somber tone with acknowledgement to one of their own, but Twilight was absent in these for she remained in her room as she continued to mediate her own feelings.

Soon enough, the door to her room opened and came in the white suited figure of Theodore Long who saw the depressed Twilight lying on the floor.

“Hey there, you a’ight?”

Twilight looked at him and sighed. She knew the grand friendship she and Benoit shared, and so little needed to be said that she was indeed not alright.

Theodore Long went over to Twilight and rubbed the back of his neck nervously. “Look, I get ya, I know this whole Benoit thing has got you down. Just about everyone here respected him, he was a real great playa,” Theodore then quickly corrected himself. “I mean he was a real great man. Twilight, I wish you told me that you were going to visit him, because on Monday we held a memorial service for him and it would’ve been great for you to have been there. One of these fools should’ve told you about it.”

Twilight simply remained in place and acknowledged what he said silently.

“Listen, we’re going to have a few words of kindness from the people who missed out on Monday, so you gotta get up, alright? You were pretty close with him, so you gotta say something. You feel me, playa?”

Twilight nodded in agreement and Teddy respectfully left the room with no further intrusion. “A’ight, seeya Friday.”

That Friday night, before any of the major matches at Smackdown began, the few wrestlers who were not present at the prior memorial, especially Twilight, were gathered in the ring beside a table that only supported a solitary framed picture of the late Canadian Crippler. The fans themselves chattered only mildly as the greater majority of them remained quiet in continued respect for a fallen superstar.

One by one, each of the members said their piece before the last person handed the mic over to Twilight who accepted it in her hoof. She looked around and saw that everybody shared a similar sadness that deserved her input on the famed wrestler.

“This has been a very sad time for all of us. There’s not much I could say that hasn’t been said by everyone else, but even so we still barely know the man outside of who he was in the ring. Many of you know by now that he was a really great guy, and despite being a heel he was genuinely a good guy.”

The crowd agreed amongst themselves at this statement from their respected newcomer.

“And despite being one of the best wrestlers we all know, he told me that he was planning on quitting this sport and moving on to setting up a gymnasium to train new wrestlers. That’s right, he was going to retire. Though he may not be here anymore, and though his plans never will go through, we should all remember to show him the respect he deserves, even though he’s passed away, and to hope that one day the villain who attacked him and his family will be caught.”

“Well well well, too late for that. The sonovabitch is not only caught, but he was found dead at the crime scene and he’s burning in hell right this moment!”

An eruption roared from the crowd as snacks flew out of hands and shouts were thrown around at the sudden appearance of Stone Cold Steve Austin.

“You know who that loser was? You want to take a guess who killed Benoit and his family? Go on, take a friggin’ guess!”

Twilight grunted to herself and stomped her hoof on the mat. “Steve Austin, we are trying to respect Benoit! We can talk about this later!”

“Yeah, well this sonovabitch doesn’t deserve respect!” EVERYBODY was booing Austin at this point. “You know who killed them all? It was Chris Benoit himself!”

And then, silence. Absolute silence saved for the beating hearts and bated breaths of everyone in the room. Twilight was remarkably incredulous about this, and broke this stunning quiet. “What? What do you mean?”

“I mean it was Benoit, Twilight! It was him all along! Nobody knew! Not even his immediate family knew! Y’know, because they were friggin’ dead!”

“Austin,” Twilight said, standing as tall as she could. “You burst in here as we pay our respects, you steal the show for yourself, and now you’re telling everyone these lies? Austin, you will leave this place right now!”

Austin tipped his head back and got the most smug grin on his face that was ever worn. “What?”

“I said get out!”

“What?”

“No! No! We’re not doing this again. I’m serious! Get out of here before I throw you out!”

Several moments passed before “What?” from Austin.

Twilight lunged at Austin, caring not for any obstacle in her path be it the ropes or ring itself. She felt like she was going to absolutely tear him limb from limb for this remark, something she never thought she would succumb to. Had it not been for the combined might of three heavyweight wrestlers holding her back, she surely would have had little problem with this. But as it stood, she was stopped from this as a laughing Austin walked away.

Author's Note

You know what goes great for Valentines day? This.