Sunset Rises

Elsewhere, in the Crystal Palace armory, we find a strong and sturdy unicorn stallion with a white coat and a dark blue mane and tail, both of which had a light blue stripe sharpening his ceremonial sword while wearing welding goggles. He was clad in a special suit of Imperial Guard armor, minus the helmet of course, for he was not only leader of the Imperial Guard, but he was also the Prince Consort of the Crystal Empire, Shining Armor, husband of Princess Cadence, and elder brother of the newly minted Princess Twilight Sparkle.

As Shining Armor continued to sharpen his sword, Princess Cadence entered the room, tears running down her face. "Shining Armor," she whispered, her voice a little hoarse after all the crying she'd been doing.

Shining Armor pulled his goggles off of his eyes, which were a light shade of blue, and smiled at his wife. "Hey, Cadence-" he began to say, before he saw the look on his wife's face. "Cadence? What's wrong?"

"It-it's Twilight... she's been... murdered," said Cadence.

With those words, Shining Armor's world came crashing down. The LSBFF he'd always been there to cheer up when she'd been down, and the pony who had saved his wedding and prevented the takeover of Equestria time and time again, and who, in all honesty was a far greater soldier than he was... had been taken away from him forever.

"Who did it? Who killed my little sister?" said Shining Armor, an anger in his voice that scared Cadence just a little.

"Shining, are you okay?" asked Cadence.

"No, I'm not okay! Who could POSSIBLY be okay after finding out his little sister, who he'd promised to never let anything happen to, has been killed?!" yelled Shining Armor, tears welling up in his eyes as he bellowed like a wounded mule. "NOW TELL ME WHO KILLED HER!"

"Shining, you're scaring me!" said Cadence.

At this, Shining Armor stopped yelling and looked at his wife. His beautiful, darling, loving wife, with whom he'd been in love since high school, back when he'd been nothing but a big nerd... and realized that she was all he really had left now that Twilight was gone. "Cadence, I'm sorry about scaring you like that..." he said with a sigh as he sat down on a nearby workbench. "I just... can't believe little Twily is gone. My little sister is dead. Please, Cadence, I beg of you, tell me who killed her," said Shining Armor, his voice barely audible with the huge lump in his throat.

Cadence looked at Shining Armor. It tore her up inside to see him like this. Part of her was worried about how he would take to learning who his sister's killer was... but, she knew it had to be done, and that there really was no way out of it.

"Her name is Sunset Shimmer," Cadence said with a shaky but clear voice.

Inside Shining Armor's mind, that name bounced around in his mind, and with it, anger so strong, so potent that it was almost like poison.

Sunset Shimmer... Sunset Shimmer... Sunset Shimmer...

"Where is this Sunset Shimmer now?" asked Shining Armor, pure hatred in his voice.

"It's... complicated," said Cadence.

"What's so Faust-damn complicated about telling me where the son of a bitch who killed my sister is?" snarled Shining Armor.

"It's complicated because she's in another dimension," said Cadence.

"What?"

Cadence began to explain to Shining Armor everything that Spike had told her and the others. Once Cadence had finished her story, Shining Armor looked deeply into his wife's purple eyes, his mind racing, before he got up, put his goggles back on, and resumed sharpening his sword.

"Shining? What are you doing?" asked Cadence, a little worried.

"Well, from the sounds of it, we've only got another thirty moons before that mirror opens again, and all Tartarus breaks loose. We need to be prepared for the storm that's coming," explained Shining Armor.

Cadence understood what Shining Armor meant and got up. Just before she left the armory, however, she looked over her shoulder. "Shining, just promise me one thing," she said.

"Anything, my love."

"Don't forget that I'm always there for you when you need me."

And with that, Princess Cadence left the armory while her husband continued sharpening his sword.

...

As the night progressed and the first inklings of Celestia's sun began to appear, Shining Armor did more than merely sharpen his weapon. He practiced his combat abilities, both physical and magical, and practiced his weapons skills, before he finally took a breather, every ounce of him spent.

He was exhausted and sweaty, but not in the least bit sleepy. He had all those night watch shift back when he was still climbing the ranks of the Canterlot Royal Guard to thank for that. But, no matter what he did, it did nothing to ease his pain.

I promise you, Twilight… I promise that the bitch who took you from me will pay... I’ll make sure of it, Shining thought to himself as he practiced a little longer on the dummy, reducing it to nothing more than scattered bits and pieces of cloth and hay. Shining Armor made a mental note to himself to have some new ones made both for him and his soldiers. They were going to need all the training they could get within these next thirty moons, or else they, the Crystal Empire, and all of Equestria would suffer Twilight's fate.

Now that he thought about it, what were they going to do for her funeral? It was sure to be a media circus, as not only was an ALICORN PRINCESS actually killed, but there was also an impending threat to Equestria, and they had no way to truly stop it.

Well, there IS the Crystal Heart, but we can't just automatically assume that it'll stop that twisted nag. After all, Sunset Shimmer has the Element of Magic, Shining Armor thought to himself as he made his way towards the living quarters of the Crystal Palace, entering his room, and flopping down on his bed next to Cadence. As he gazed at the crystal ceiling of the Master Bedroom of the Crystal Palace, his mind kept racing with thoughts about avenging his sister, and punish the monster who had stolen her from him, his wife, and his parents. As much as Shining Armor tried to shove these thoughts from his mind, all they did was push back, keeping him awake. By the time finally fell asleep, the sun had nearly broken the horizon.

...

Rain poured from the skies in torrents. Nearly all of Ponyville, Twilight's family, and, of course, all of her friends, were gathered to say their final farewells to Princess Twilight. In respect for Twilight's friends and family, the media was strictly prohibited from attending the funeral by Celestia's orders... but, that didn't stop them from hovering outside the cemetery gates, trying their best to snap a picture or get a word from the attendees.

Everyone, of course, wore black for the occasion, but out of everyone, only two ponies truly stood out. Pinkie Pie, her bright and bubbly nature now replaced with a more subdued one, as evidenced by her sleek mane and tail in place of her usual bushy style. The second was Princess Celestia, her elegant black dress and horseshoes clashing magnificently with her regal stature as she took to the stage that had been constructed.

"Fillies and gentlecolts... today, we are here to celebrate the life of one very special unicorn, who ascended to become an alicorn princess... only to be taken from us in such a cruel fashion," said Celestia, a glistening tear on her cheek as she began her speech, pausing a moment before she could find her voice. "Twilight Sparkle was... like a daughter to me. I remember the day I met her, the day of her entrance examination... she seemed so happy, so full of life, so eager to learn new things… I could use so many words but they would never be able to truly convey how wonderful she is…. except maybe stubborn. Once she was sure of something she set to it…. and perhaps loyal as well….. I-I’m sorry… forgive me.” Celestia said as she ran off the stage, tears falling behind her, along with Pinkie Pie and Luna.

Fluttershy, swallowing her pride and with as much courage as she could muster, took the stage. "H-Hi... I'm Fluttershy," murmured Fluttershy, her knees shaking from both fear and sadness. "T-Twilight... was... one of my... best... friends... and... I MISS HER SO MUCH!!!" she wailed at the top of her lungs, causing several ponies attending the funeral to jump, and in the case of a unicorn on the other side of the gate with a green mane and tail wearing clown make-up and a purple suit, giggle for some strange reason.

Mere moments later, Fluttershy passed out from both her stage fright and sadness. The rest of the funeral, compared to the beginning, however, was really quite uneventful. Except, for when it came to Luna's turn to speak.

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If the waterworks weren't already running before Luna started singing this song, they certainly were now. Finally,  it was time for the three-volley salute.

"H-honor... guard... aim... f-fire!" choked Shining Armor before he and his soldiers fired a blast of magical energy. Two more swiftly followed, thus concluding the funeral.

As everypony filed out, only one pony remained behind, gazing at the magnificent headstone they'd made for Twilight: Shining Armor. As he thought back to all of the wonderful times he and his baby sister had had together, he fell to his knees.

"One day, that son of a bitch will pay for what she did to you Twilight... I'll make her pay... I swear on both your grave and my honor Sunset Shimmer will pay."