You, Who Killed the World

"What?!" Rainbow said as soon as Twilight said her name. Her voice was harsh and dripped with malice. Rainbow raised the spear under her wing towards Sunset and narrowed her eyes at her.

Sunset took a step backward as Rainbow leaped into the air towards her. In an instant Rainbow slammed her into the wooden stage, driving the air out of her lungs. Rainbow pinned her down, pointing the jagged metal spear directly at her neck.

"I've been waiting for this for a long time," Rainbow said. She looked Sunset directly in the eye with her teeth bared. Sunset couldn't see any of the friend that made her promise to come back in there. All she saw was hate.

Sunset winced and tried to jerk out of Rainbow's grasp, but it was no use. She felt Rainbow jerk towards her, and waited for that jagged metal's sting.

"No!" Twilight yelled. Instead of the cold slash of the blade, Sunset felt a tangle of limbs on top of her, followed by a pained shriek.

"Twilight!" Rainbow said as she jumped off Sunset, her tone turning more concerned. When Sunset opened her eyes she saw the bright red of fresh blood staining the dirty wooden floors. Rainbow's spear had clattered to the floor, bits of purple fur and blood dripping off of it. Twilight held her left hoof close. Sunset could see a nasty gash tearing through her matted fur.

"What do you think you're doing?" Twilight asked, surprisingly gently for someone wincing in pain. "We haven't seen anypony else in two years and you try to kill her?"

"Two years...?" Sunset whispered to herself. It had only been a year since Twilight had left the human world. Sunset's mind filled with questions, but she kept her mouth shut and focused her attention on Twilight's wound. Sunset trotted over to Twilight, raising a hoof towards her. "Are you alright?"

Rainbow shoved Sunset away, sending her onto her back again. "Get away from her," Rainbow said, her tone dripping with malice. Her tone and demeanor changed immediately as she looked towards Twilight. Her face softened and she looked at her friend with actual empathy. "Twi, are you okay? It's not too bad is it?"

Twilight glared at Rainbow for a moment before wincing again at the pain, a few drops of blood landing onto the floor. "I'll be fine. It's just a little cut."

Twilight held the hoof out in front of her. It was more than just a little cut; Twilight's hoof was almost entirely covered in blood. Rainbow had definitely taken a chunk out of her.

"Don't worry, I'll get something to wrap it up. You're going to be fine, everything's going to be fine," Rainbow said, her tone seeming almost desperate as she flipped open the saddlebags on Twilight's back to fish something out. Rainbow pulled out a dirty rag that looked better suited in a mechanics back pocket.

Sunset stepped forward. She knew she had something in her own saddlebags that would be much better suited. "Wait, I can--"

Quicker than Sunset could even register, Rainbow sweeped the spear off the floor and into her wing, pointing it straight at Sunset's neck again. "Shut up. I'll deal with you later."

Sunset narrowed her eyes at Rainbow, looking between her and the bloodsoaked spear. Remembering her innate advantage as a unicorn, Sunset grabbed the spear in her magic, easily slipping it out of Rainbow's grasp and pointing it back at her. Rainbow's harsh expression faltered for a moment as she watched her spear turn back towards her, but quickly hunched down into a fighting stance, ready to take Sunset on. The two glared at each other for a few tense seconds, until Twilight let out a tiny whine of pain.

Rainbow let out a grunt of frustration and turned back towards Twilight, forgetting about Sunset completely. She used her hooves, wings, and mouth to tie the rag around Twilight's wing as tightly as she could. "There, all better. Once we get back to the castle you can get some rest and be better in a week," Rainbow said, sounding like she was trying to convince herself just as much as Twilight.

Sunset stepped forward again, looking at the blood dripping around the rag with concern. "You should really--"

Rainbow snapped towards her again, making Sunset bring the spear up to bear instinctively. "Don't you dare touch her," Rainbow said.

"Rainbow, we should go. It's going to get dark soon," Twilight said. Twilight looked towards Sunset, offering her a gentle smile. "And I'm sure our guest has had a long day.

Rainbow's eye twitched. "She is NOT coming back with us," she said sternly.

"Then I'm sure we'll get along fine in the theater without you," Twilight shot back.

Rainbow let out another frustrated grunt, then turned away from them both. "Fine." Rainbow pulled out a pouch from one of Twilight's saddlebags, then flew onto the corpse of the azorach without a word and began digging into the broken chunk of its body.

Sunset sat and watched as the disgusting sounds of innards squishing and the smell of dead bug filled the theater, not even noticing as Twilight limped over to her.

"It's nice to see you again," Twilight said in a soft tone. She gave Sunset a gentle smile, a little life shining through her gray eyes.

"Twilight..." Sunset looked down at the wound still dripping blood around the rag. "You need stitches, and a bandage..." Sunset dropped the spear in her magical grasp and pulled out a scarf from her saddlebags. "Here, we can wrap it with--"

"No," Twilight said, holding her good hoof out to stop it. "Not yet. We can change it when we get back." Twilight looked up at Sunset's horn. "You wouldn't happen to know any healing spells, would you?"

"Oh, sure." Sunset had never studied healing magic in any form of depth, but being Celestia's student she had cursory knowledge of every brand of magic. Sunset searched her memory for the spell for a moment, since it had been years since she'd even learned it, and couldn't actually remember ever trying it. She wrapped Twilight's hoof in her light green glow, trying to focus her energy onto the wound. Twilight let out a soft sigh as the magic enveloped her foreleg for a moment.

"Is that better?" Sunset asked, her horn's light fading.

"Thank you..." Twilight said softly. She let out a sigh of relief and tested her hoof against the floor. Sunset couldn't see anymore blood spill out from underneath the rag.

"Twilight... what happened here?"

Rainbow hopped down from the azorach, her pouch full of something foul smelling and stained in yellow blood. "Let's go," she said. Rainbow took a tenative look towards her spear on the stage floor, then gave Sunset a scowl before turning towards the exit.

"We should get going. It's not safe to stay out here after dark," Twilight said. She limped down off the stage, motioning for Sunset to follow. Sunset opened her mouth a few times, thinking of what questions she wanted answered, but nothing came out.

Sunset looked down to the floor and saw her locket laying on the wood, the necklace broken in the fight. She levitated the locket and all of the chain into her saddlebag, grabbed Rainbow's spear, then followed the girls out.

The long walk back up to the castle was a quiet one as the snow fell around them. Rainbow Dash occasionally looked back to check on Twilight's limp, then cast a tentative glance towards Sunset to narrow her eyes at the spear she'd settled between the straps of her saddlebag. Feeling the sting of the fresh scrape against her neck, there was no way Sunset was giving it back to her.

Sunset had to stop as they arrived at the castle. Her breath caught in her throat at the sight of the dilapidated ruins. The once proud structure stood in so many pieces, the marble and stone that held strong for thousands of years now littered the brick pavement, and the collection of sky scraping towers that dotted the location had been reduced to just two that were still standing... barely. Twilight and Rainbow flapped their wings up to the wall, with Sunset teleporting close behind. They all made their way across the wall to one of the few sections of the castle that hadn't caved in. It was Celestia's old wing. She'd walked through it a thousand times, so there was no way she could forget it.

Rainbow stopped as they came to a huge wooden door in the structure. She turned to Sunset, a harsh glare pointed at her.

"Give me my spear," she said, her voice laced with bridled rage.

Sunset took a step back from her, her horn lighting up around the wooden handle as her heartbeat quickened at the threat. "I'm not goin--"

"Now!" Rainbow shouted, taking another step towards her. Both Twilight and Sunset jumped as the shout echoed through the dead city. Sunset slipped the spear out of the straps and beared it towards Rainbow. As hard as she tried to meet Rainbow's ferocity, Sunset knew her face gave away her fear like an open book.

"Rainbow Dash. Leave her alone," Twilight said, limping between the two. Rainbow's face immediately softened at Twilight's stern tone.

"Twilight. You really need to get some rest. We've been out there all day, and your wound needs time to heal." Rainbow gave Twilight a gentle smile... well as gentle as her hardened face could manage. "Just go up to the bedroom, okay? I shouldn't be long," Rainbow said. Sunset couldn't believe the way Rainbow talked to Twilight, as if she wasn't trying to convince her to leave so she could kill Sunset.

"I'm not going anywhere without her, Rainbow, and I'm definitely not going to just sit back and watch you two kill each other," Twilight said, her soft, quiet voice barely raising in volume.

"I'm not letting that monster in our house, Twilight. End of discussion," Rainbow said, narrowing her eyes over Twilight at Sunset.

The word stung as it hit Sunset's ear. Her thumping heart slowed as the thoughts of her torment at the hands of all the students she'd hurt returned. She still held the spear tightly in her magic, determined not to be caught off guard.

Twilight turned her back on Rainbow. "Then we'll just have to find somewhere else without you."

"Wait!" Rainbow grabbed Twilight's tail, her face suddenly overcome with fear and desperation. Twilight jerked back and Rainbow let her tail go, pulling her hoof back slowly as if she almost just broke a prized vase. "She can come in, Twilight. Just stay here, okay?"

Twilight looked towards Sunset with a soft smile, nodding her head towards the door. Sunset slowly followed her inside, making sure to give Rainbow a wide berth, and not daring to take her eyes away from her. Rainbow glared at her with every step she took, all the way until she shut the door behind all three of them.

The room was a mess of candles and books on one side, and scraps of metal and salvage on the other. In one corner there were dozens of jars, cans, and sacks that emanated a variety of odd smells that seeped into every corner of the room. Sunset remembered this room; it was the servants' closet. That meant that Celestia's bedroom was just a few doors over. Twilight walked over the various bits of metal, wood, and cloth that littered the messy room and stepped through another doorway. Not wanting to be alone with Rainbow, Sunset followed her close behind.

Sunset gulped as she looked around the dark hallway. Behind her was a pile of rubble blocking off the hall, but on the other end, the door to Celestia's chambers was wide open. Sunset followed Twilight into her old teacher's room, the implications of its emptiness sinking in. Sunset's heart dropped as she looked around. Just like the other one, this room was filled with even more books, most of them stacked around the once-extravagant bed that sat at the edge of one wall. The majestic sparkle of the golden sheets was long gone, but despite the dirt and grime, it still looked somewhat soft. Soft sunlight peered through the wooden boards that were nailed to the doors of Celestia's balcony, providing a little light into the messy room.

"Twilight... what happened?" Sunset said in a shaky voice. She looked over at Celestia's mirror, her golden crown sitting in front of it.

"It's been a long day, Sunset. Don't you think we should get some rest?" Twilight said gently. She crawled up onto the bed, nursing her injured hoof as she settled into the sheets.

"What... what happened to the world, Twilight? Why is everything..." Sunset said, turning towards Twilight. She could feel the panic building up inside her again as she searched for some comfort in Twilight's eyes, but she wouldn't look at her.

"How are your friends? I'd love to hear how they're doing after all these years," Twilight said, peering at the sunlight as it peeked through the boards.

"Twilight!" Sunset said, fear edging into her voice. Twilight finally sighed and looked over at her.

"I'll tell you everything tomorrow, Sunset. I promise. But for tonight... could you at least indulge me in a little smalltalk? It's been so long since I've had someone other than Rainbow to talk to, and as you might imagine she isn't the best conversation partner," Twilight said, a sweet, reassuring smile on her face. Her tone was quiet, but still friendly, completely disregarding Sunset's building fear.

Sunset closed her eyes, taking a few deep breaths to try and calm herself. "S-sure..."

Sunset climbed onto the bed beside Twilight, the soft sheets helping to clam her nerves somewhat. As she settled beside Twilight, she still couldn't help but let the possibilities race through her mind. Twilight ignored the obvious stress in Sunset's complexion.

"So how are your friends doing after all these years?"

Sunset's mouth hung open in confusion for a moment. "Twilight... it's been less than a year since you left."

"Oh..." Twilight looked away for a moment in thought before her soft smile returned. "Well how are you doing with your friends anyway?"

Questions filled Sunset's mind at the implications behind Twilight's words. This was no alternate universe. She couldn't fool herself into thinking it anymore. The stress behind them gripped her until she couldn't hold them back any longer. Sunset's breathing quickened, and her eyes looked to Twilight, desperate for answers. "Twilight, how many years are you talking about? Where is Celestia and everyone else? Why is Canterlot in ruins? Why does Rainbow Dash want to ki--"

Twilight raised her good hoof up to Sunset's mouth, stopping her mid-sentence. "Sunset please, calm down," Twilight said softly. "It's going to be okay. I'll tell you everything you want to know tomorrow, okay? But for tonight, we should just rest." Twilight sighed, then dropped her hoof back to the sheets, adopting her gentle smile again. "So, your frien--"

"How can you say it's going to be okay?!" Sunset said, her voice gradually raising with each word. "I was almost killed by a monster that shouldn't exist outside the Everfree! Rainbow Dash tried to kill me! Everything is a big pile of rubble and Celestia--"

Twilight lunged forward, wrapping both of her hooves around Sunset's neck. Twilight nuzzled into her tightly, like a child that didn't want to let her mother go.

"Sunset please stop," Twilight said through Sunset's mane, her gentle voice cracking. "Please don't say anything else about this world. I just can't tonight. I promise I'll try in the morning, but please... not tonight."

Twilight's sudden desperate tone struck against Sunset's heart, making a lump form in her throat. Sunset could feel Twilight's coarse, dirty hair against her and smell the grime in her frayed mane as it fell in front of her face. Sunset tentatively wrapped a hoof around Twilight, the shock of her outburst still on her face.

Sunset cleared her throat. "M-my friends are doing great. After the Fall Formal, Pinkie threw me a you're-not-evil-anymore-so-let's-be-friends party, and now we hang out almost every day. It's like... It's like they don't even remember all the awful things I did to them... and they're, um, they're doing fine, Twilight," Sunset said, feeling herself choke up as well.

"That's wonderful to hear, Sunset. I'm so happy everything worked out in the end," Twilight whispered.

Sunset looked over her side at her saddlebags, using her magic to pull out the locket that Rarity had given her. "They actually gave me this right before I left."

Twilight scooted away from Sunset, blinking a few tears out of her eyes, but still holding her gentle smile as Sunset floated the locket over to her. Once Sunset set it in the sheets, Twilight used her hooves to open it. Twilight moved her head back and forth as she tried to get a good look at it. Sunset gave her dull eyes a nervous glance. The encroaching gray on her otherwise purple irises wasn't very reassuring. Her gentle smile grew even wider as she looked down and finally saw the picture of Sunset and her friends.

"You look so beautiful with a smile on your face, Sunset," Twilight whispered. "It makes me happy to see that things worked out so well for you."

Sunset tried to smile with her, but Twilight was so transfixed on the picture in the locket that Sunset couldn't help but find it a bit odd. "Oh! I brought something else." Sunset floated out a little, brightly colored box. She hesitated for a moment as she looked at the box, thinking about what she brought it for.

"They're cake pops. Little bits of cake around hardenend icing. I don't remember ever seeing them here so I thought it would be something special to let all of my..." Sunset paused as she opened the box and looked down at the contents. They all had little faces that looked like who she wanted them to go to; one for Celestia, Twilight, her parents, and then one that looked like her.

"Did Pinkie make them?" Twilight asked as she looked over them.

"N-no, I did. I found the recipe on the internet and did everything myself. I wanted them to be special, you know?" Sunset grabbed the Twilight one in her magic, floating it over to her. "Here, this one is for you," Sunset said, trying to keep on a friendly smile.

Twilight wrapped her hoof around the stick, giving it a quick once over with a gentle smile. "It's cute," she said. "Do you mind if I...?"

"Oh, of course not. That's what I made them for."

Twilight leaned forward and opened her mouth wide, biting off the entire cake pop in one go. Sunset raised both her eyebrows in surprise while Twilight let out a moan of pleasure as she chewed through it.

"That's the most amazing thing I've had in years..." Twilight said in a low tone, her mouth full of cake.

Sunset gave her a weak smile. "I'm... I'm glad you liked it."

A moment of silence hung in the air as Twilight slowly chewed her treat. Sunset looked her over again, pursing her lips at the various scars and scratches dotting the skin under her matted fur. She centered on the wound on her leg, her face turning to worry as she spotted another bit of blood seeping out from under the rag.

"Twilight, we should probably dress that wound in something... cleaner."

Twilight stopped her chewing and looked down for a moment. She looked back to Sunset, waving her off. "It's nothing to worry about, Sunset. I'm sure your magic did the trick."

Sunset hopped off the bed, moving over to where she floated her saddlebags. "Better safe than sorry, right? I have just the thing."

Twilight sighed and looked off towards the boarded up windows, laying her head down against her undamaged forehoof as she continued chewing. "If you insist," she said softly.

Sunset stopped over her saddlebags, lifting the latch on one of them to pull out a scarf she'd brought with her. She hated to ruin such a pretty piece of fabric, but she was more concerned with Twilight getting an infection than buying another scarf. Just as she lifted it out, however, she noticed something out of the corner of her eye.

The spear she'd set by her bags was missing.

Sunset's hair was yanked towards the open door, making her gasp at the sudden pain. Her head twisted awkwardly, the rest of her body skidding along the carpet to follow it. Once she stopped her eyes centered on Rainbow Dash, with a lock of her mane clenched in her hoof, and the spear under her wing pointed right at her neck.

"As soon as she goes to sleep, I'm going to kill you," Rainbow Dash whispered to her, the hate in her eyes striking fear in Sunset's heart. Sunset's mouth hung open as she looked up into Rainbow's malicious gaze. She was way too afraid to say anything, especially with that jagged metal spear pressed against her throat.

"Rainbow Dash, what are you doing?" Twilight asked, her voice stern and her volume considerably higher than normal.

Rainbow let go of Sunset's hair, and Sunset took a step back, almost falling over herself to get away from Rainbow.

"Nothing, Twilight. We just ran into each other," Rainbow said, her tone lightening as she looked towards her friend. Her eyes snapped back to Sunset, her expression hardening yet again. "Meet me outside if you want to put up a fight, otherwise I'm more than happy to slit your throat in here," Rainbow said, in a harsh whisper just quiet enough that Twilight couldn't hear it. She turned back to Twilight, her scowl disappearing yet again. "I'm gonna make us something to eat for tomorrow, Twi. You get some rest, okay?"

Twilight didn't say anything. Sunset watched Rainbow walk away until she shut the door to the servants' room behind her. Sunset let out a breath she didn't realize she was holding and held her hoof up to her chest, her heart pounding madly from the fear.

"Sunset? Would you come sit next to me again, please?" Twilight asked gently, as if Sunset was a schoolfilly.

"Y-yeah..." Sunset finally managed to choke out, her breathing still erratic as she watched the hallway. She hesitantly crawled back onto the bed, forgetting about the scarf laying across the floor completely. She settled into the bed, still casting the occasional scared glances towards the hallway.

"You can close the door now, okay?" Twilight said as she shifted around the sheets until she was right between her and the door. Sunset nodded at her timidly as her horn lit up with magic, shutting the large wooden doors into the room and latching them shut.

Sunset gulped, and looked up to Twilight next to her like a scared child. "Tw- Twilight, Rainbow Dash... she--"

"Shhh," Twilight said, raising a hoof up over Sunset's head, then stroking it through her soft mane. "I know. Get some rest, okay? Everything will be alright."

"No, it won't," Sunset said, panic edging at her voice as she looked over Twilight's purple fur at the door again. "Didn't you hear her? Rainbow Dash said she--"

"I know," Twilight said, her face turning somber. Twilight looked over Sunset's body, seeing her chest rise and fall more rapidly with each passing second. She draped one of her wings over Sunset, shushing her again with a sweet tone.

"Twilight..." Sunset said at just above a whisper. Her name hung in the air for a moment as Sunset looked up to her, the edges of her vision blurring with tears at the thought of never being able to see her friends again. "...Please don't go to sleep."

"I won't, Sunset." Twilight continued stroking Sunset's hair until she finally laid her head down into the sheets. After the long while it took for Sunset too finally relax, Twilight leaned down, placing her forehead against Sunset gently. She closed her eyes and whispered to her, "I won't."