I struggled to walk as I limped along, carrying Sunset Shimmer over my shoulder. The human world was in ruin. Buildings were destroyed, trees and other plants were on fire, and ash fallout was in the air, sky red with smoke and flame. Each step I made took seemingly forever. I could see Sunset’s house ahead. I tried to pick up the pace, but my legs suddenly gave out. I collapsed onto the asphalt. I rolled Sunset onto my back and crawled. I kept crawling until I reached the door. I reached up for the door, but I couldn’t reach. I saw Sunset’s hand reach out and turn the knob, and the door slid open. I crawled inside, and shut the door. Sunset Shimmer rolled off my back, and I rolled onto mine.
“Sunset,” I whispered.
“Braveheart,” Sunset whispered back.
“You OK?” I asked.
“Yeah,” Sunset said. She put her hand over my chest, and I put mine over hers.
“I love you, Braveheart,” Sunset whispered.
“I love you too, Sunset,” I whispered back. We both closed our eyes and passed out.
When I woke up, Sunset was walking out of the hall, clean clothes on. I tried to sit up, but it hurt too much to do so. Sunset Shimmer reached out a hand to help me up. I took it, and Sunset Shimmer helped me get up.
“Thanks,” I said. Sunset Shimmer nodded and limped into her kitchen. I walked into the bathroom and took a fresh set of clothes from my shoulder pack. I changed into the clean ones and put the dirty ones into my pack. I walked into Sunset’s kitchen and sat down, in pain.
“You OK?” Sunset asked.
“I’m fine,” I groaned. I had changed back to normal, and so had Sunset.
“Want a coffee?” Sunset asked.
“No thanks,” I said. “A milk works.” Sunset made herself a cup of coffee and poured me a glass of milk. She sat down at the table with me. I took a sip of my drink and sighed.
“So what now?” Sunset asked.
“I don’t know,” I murmured. “I suppose there’s no use for me to stay here.”
“Me neither,” Sunset said. “We both may as well go back to Equestria. How is it by the way?”
“Fine, I suppose,” I said. “Nothing’s really changed.”
“What about Celestia?” Sunset asked. “How’s she?” Hearing that name made me freeze. I hadn’t told Sunset about Celestia and Luna’s fate. I started to tear up.
“Braveheart?” Sunset asked. “Is something wrong?” I wiped the tears from my eyes and prepared to give Sunset the hard truth.
“Princess Celestia…she…” I tried to say. “…she’s…gone. She died.” Sunset Shimmer brought a hand to her mouth in shock.
“What?” she quietly gasped. “How?”
“After the Terminator came from the future, I was being held in Canterlot Castle for a time with Pip, my guide, who was also from the future,” I explained. “After my friends left the castle, the Terminator busted in and overloaded the lighting. Sparks caught fire to the carpets and banners, and the entire castle burned down. With the princesses in it. Pip and I managed to escape with the guards that the Terminator hadn’t killed, but Celestia and Luna didn’t make it. Celestia managed to send me one last letter. Here, read it for yourself.” I pulled out the letter from Celestia and gave it to Sunset. She opened it up and read it over. By the end of the letter, she was in tears, trying hard not to cry. She finally broke down. I embraced her and let her cry onto my shoulder. I knew that Celestia was her mentor before Twilight was, and that Celestia was important to her. When Sunset finally calmed down. I sat down with her in her living room.
“How could this happen?” Sunset choked.
“I would have stopped it if I could,” I said. “But when the sparks flew, I was trying to get Pip out of her chair and cuffs. Pip pulled me out of the castle, and then we drove off. To be honest, I was emotionally attached to Luna. She was the one who saved me from a young age. I’m really sorry.” Sunset hung her head, and I put my arm over her shoulder.
“I have no words,” Sunset said. We were silent for a time.
“You gonna be OK?” I asked.
“Yeah,” Sunset nodded. “I’ll be fine.” We stood up.
“Get your things,” I said. “We’re should leave as soon as we can.”
“All right,” Sunset Shimmer said.
“I’ll wait for you,” I said. Sunset Shimmer walked into her room, and I leaned against a wall to wait. Sunset came back out a few minutes later with her backpack. It didn’t seem too full. I stood up straight and walked out the door with Sunset Shimmer. She closed the door and we walked to CHS through the ash and rubble. When we reached CHS, the school was in ruin. We made our way toward the Wondercolts statue, and found it destroyed.
“Well, shit,” I groaned.
“Fantastic,” Sunset Shimmer said. “Now how’re we going to get to Equestria?”
“I don’t know,” I sighed. I heard a familiar hum. I drew my pistol and whipped toward the noise. Sunset Shimmer hid behind me.
“You hear it too?” she asked.
“Yep,” I whispered. I slowly walked toward a pile of rubble, which was emitting the noise. I grabbed a piece of rubble from the pile, gun at the ready, and lifted it up. On the ground were the Dazzlings’ amulets, intact and seemingly unharmed. I took a few good looks around, just to check for the Dazzlings. When I didn’t see them. I put away my gun and inspected the amulets. There were no scratches, cracks, or damage of any kind to them.
“How is that possible?” Sunset asked, confused. “That blast should have destroyed them. Why didn’t it?”
“I have no idea,” I said, just as confused. I picked up the amulets. They were still attached to their silk straps that went around the Dazzlings’ necks. I tore off the tattered straps and walked over to the busted portal. I took my mechanical hand and pressed it against the portal. My hand went right through it. Sunset Shimmer’s face lit up, and so did mine. I looked at the amulet shards, then back at the portal, then at Sunset Shimmer. I grinned wide at her, and she grinned back.
“Guess what, Braveheart?” Sunset asked, smiling.
“What?” I wondered, knowing the answer.
“We’re still going home,” Sunset nodded, knowing that I knew as well. Sunset Shimmer climbed onto a piece of rubble as I got to work. First, I had to find each piece of the portal. There were large reflective pieces buried in rubble, but they weren’t hard to find. I laid out all the pieces into place, but there were smaller parts that would take forever to find. I took one of the amulets and ground it up into dust. My mechanical arm did the job perfectly, yet the blast still didn’t. I was so confused, I just let it roll off. I sprinkled a bit of the amulet powder onto a crack in the portal, and the crack healed. But the healing took quite a bit of time for just an inch of split, so I knew this was going to take some time. But I didn’t care. I was going to get home with Sunset Shimmer, no matter how long it took.
