You, Who Killed the World

Sunset sat on the edge of Celestia's bed, her front hooves hanging off the side. She stared into the dirty, dusty carpet underneath her, her mind filled with the vicious thoughts that Twilight put in her yesterday. There was a bowl of some strange green liquid sitting beneath her hooves on the floor that she hadn't touched. Despite the low rumble in her stomach, she wasn't hungry. It had been at least a day since Twilight managed to drag her back here, broken and sobbing. Sunset felt the still-damp patches of fur across her cheeks. She didn't think she could cry anymore, and she knew it wasn't going to do anything anyway. She could cry an ocean and it wouldn't bring a single pony back from what she did. Sunset just kept staring at the carpet in front of her.

Twilight had left her a few hours ago. She tried to stay with Sunset through the night, but every so often she closed her eyes tightly and walked out, not able to bear the sound of her constant sobbing. Sunset didn't know what else to do. There was no combination of words that could make this right to either of the ponies still alive; Rainbow's attitude towards her made that abundantly clear. Every time Twilight left her she waited for Rainbow to finally come in and make good on her promise. Sunset knew she deserved it now, even if the thought still scared her.

"Sunset?" a timid voice asked. Twilight slowly opened the door and looked at her like a mother checking on her child. "How are you doing?"

Sunset didn't answer. She just kept staring at the carpet, her breath tired and ragged from spending the whole night sobbing. Twilight walked up to her and fell to her haunches beside the bed. She ran her hoof through Sunset's hair gently. "Please talk to me, Sunset."

Sunset didn't say anything. She laid there, motionless. Twilight's soft expression faltered as she looked over Sunset's downtrodden expression. Sunset knew she didn't deserve her pity. She didn't even deserve to share the same room with her. "I never should have told you..." Twilight said, her voice full of remorse.

"Why not?" Sunset asked, her parched throat barely letting out the weak response.

"That's not a burden you should have to bear. It hurts to see you like this."

Sunset jerked herself away from Twilight's hoof, clenching her teeth as a flurry of emotions passed through. "Don't you get it? This is all my fault. I don't deserve to..." Sunset thought she was done crying, but that familiar wetness welled up at the edges of her vision again.

"It doesn't matter whose fault it was, Sunset. You could blame Celestia for not being more patient with you, you could blame me for not securing the crown better that night... you could even blame Luna for forcing us to bring the elements back in the first place."

Sunset clenched her teeth again. She didn't want to hear it. "Shut up, Twilight." Twilight's hoof stopped in Sunset's mane for a moment, the words shocking her. "You know damn well who caused all this," Sunset said as she closed her eyes tightly, the first tear rolling down her cheek.

"Sunset, please don't cry anymore," Twilight said, her voice weak. Sunset ignored her pleas, letting another few tears roll down her cheeks as the thoughts of everything she killed came rushing back to her.

"Why..." Sunset swallowed, her harsh tone quickly faltering. "Why didn't you let Rainbow Dash kill me..."

Twilight sighed and brought her hoof back. "Do you want to die, Sunset?"

Sunset let the question hang in the air for a moment. She thought about her friends beyond the portal, how she wanted to be with them again and see them smile at her, how worried they were that she would never actually come back again the day she left. She missed the feeling of having someone care for her like they did. She wanted desperately to feel that again, even if she knew she never deserved it.

"No..." Sunset let out, her voice weak.

"I don't want you to die either. I don't care what you did," Twilight said, moving her hooves around Sunset's neck to wrap her in a hug. "Your life is precious, Sunset. You have people who still care about you... I still care about you."

Sunset grimaced at Twilight's embrace. She wished she would just yell at her or something. Her affection after everything Sunset had taken from her only made her feel worse. "Why?"

"Because friendship is the only magic we have left; there's nothing you could do to change that."

Sunset closed her eyes. She didn't know how Twilight couldn't hate her, but deep down she was glad she didn't. The immense pain of her thoughts still weighed heavy on her mind, but on a more primal level the hug took her mind off of it, at least a little bit. Sunset wrapped her hooves around Twilight as well, not caring about the dirt and grime they passed over along her fur, the warmth of somepony else was all she wanted anyway. Despite the small comfort, Sunset still couldn't help the torrent of thoughts going through her head. Nothing could erase that now.

"I brought you some water," Twilight said, letting go of Sunset and lifting up a little bowl filled with it. Sunset looked at it tentatively as Twilight set it down between her hooves.

Twilight let a frown cross over her face as she saw Sunset just staring at it. "Letting yourself die isn't going to change anything, Sunset. Please drink it," she begged.

Sunset closed her eyes. She knew she was right, but she still didn't think she deserved this kindness from her, especially if they had so little. Her dry throat screamed at her to drink it, so she listened. Once the first drops passed her lips, her body took over, frantically drinking the rest of it as fast as it could, since she hadn't had anything else to drink in a day and a half. She coughed as the last bit went down, the speed of her gulps passing up her need to breathe.

"That's better, isn't it?" Twilight smiled at her.

Sunset set the bowl down, settling back into the sheets below her. She used her magic to set the bowl on the ground by the other one and traced her hoof along the sheets, remembering who they belonged to, and whose hooves her blood was on. Twilight furrowed her brow as she noticed Sunset's expression turn.

"Please stop it."

Sunset didn't even hear her. Twilight scrunched her nose at the sight, then quickly made her way over to Sunset's saddlebags. She dug her nose into one, rooting around in it until she finally found what she was looking for. Sunset didn't even bother to look at her.

Once she found what she was looking for, Twilight walked back over to Sunset, throwing the object between her hooves.

It was the locket Rarity gave her. That familiar picture of her in the middle of a massive hug with her friends was open to the world, and almost brought a tiny smile to Sunset's face. Almost.

"Keep going for them, Sunset. I know you want to see them again." Sunset took the locket in her hooves, staring deeply into the picture. "I want you to see them again," Twilight said.

Sunset kept staring. If only they knew what a monster the girl in their arms was. "I can't."

"Yes you can, Sunset."

"How?" Sunset just kept staring at the picture, wishing things had been different, wishing that she could be in a world where she could still have a normal relationship with them. "I've destroyed more lives than any one thing in either of our worlds, Twilight. How could I ever face them again? How could they ever forgive me?"

"I know they'll still love you," Twilight said gently, a worried expression on her face as she looked to Sunset.

"How could you possibly know that?" Sunset said, her voice cracking as she looked incredulously at Twilight.

"I just do, Sunset. I'm the Princess of Friendship, remember?" she said, offering a weak smile.

Sunset looked away.

"You should eat something. Let's go to the fire so we can warm your soup up," Twilight motioned for Sunset to follow, but she didn't. She just laid there on the bed, motionless again.

"I'll drag you by your mane if I have to," Twilight said softly with a tiny smile. Sunset still didn't move. She hid her face under her mane, just hoping Twilight would leave.

Twilight didn't. She walked back across the room, taking Sunset's hoof over her shoulder in an attempt to playfully drag her off the bed. Sunset's heart dropped as she felt the abysmally weak pull of the entirety of Twilight's muscles. She lifted her head, seeing her emaciated body once again; her skin looked frail and weak, every limb was starved of its former muscle, and her ribs poked through her fur out from under her wings. Sunset easily slipped her hoof from Twilight's grasp. It was like wrestling with a child.

"I'll... I'll go, Twilight."

Twilight panted from the tiny amount of exertion. "G-good."

Sunset followed her into the other room, bringing both bowls close behind her with her magic. Once they walked through the doorway into the servant's closet, the change in temperature made Sunset shiver almost immediately. Despite the fire roaring on one corner of the room, the entire place was freezing. Sunset thought it might have something to do with the broken ceiling above them, and the large metal pipe above the fire as well. If she moved far enough away from the fire she could actually see her own breath. Twilight quickly closed the door behind them.

"Just set it on that shelf," Twilight said, nodding towards the metal grate nailed into the wall above the fire. Sunset did as she was told, eliciting an angry glare from Rainbow Dash, who was tending to a large pot hanging over the flame.

"We don't have enough food for her," Rainbow muttered under her breath.

"Then we'll just have to find some more," Twilight said, walking over to a corner by the fire and absentmindedly picking up a book off a nearby table.

"Twilight, we talked about this..." Rainbow said, her voice turning stern. "We're going to have to ration even more than last winter at the rate we're getting food. I can barely keep up with feeding two of us, and you really want to drag her in here too?" Rainbow said, as if Sunset was just some stray animal that Twilight had brought into their house.

Sunset opened her mouth to say something, but even she couldn't defend herself now. She knew she didn't deserve their food. She didn't even deserve to stay here.

"We'll find a way, Rainbow," Twilight said softly, not bothering to look up from her book.

"We're going to starve if we don't ki--" Rainbow stopped, letting a grimace cross her face as Twilight looked up from her book at her. "Kick her out."

"I'm not leaving her out there alone, Rainbow Dash. If she goes, I go," Twilight said, giving Rainbow a stern glare before looking back down at her book.

Rainbow let out a frustrated grunt. "Would you listen to yourself, Twilight? Are you really going to give up everything we've done to survive this long for some pony who should be laying in a ditch with her throat cut?" Rainbow said, motioning over to Sunset without looking at her.

Sunset closed her eyes and let out a tiny whine as Rainbow's volume raised. She felt cowardly for not wanting to die. Now that she knew the truth, she thought Rainbow was completely justified in her position, but she couldn't help but still be scared of her. As frightened as she was of ever being able to face her friends, the last thing she wanted was to die without ever seeing them again.

"Rainbow Dash! I'm not going to sit here and let you keep threatening her!" Twilight said. She slammed her book shut and put it back on the table beside her, looking at Rainbow like she didn't even know her anymore.

"You know what she did, Twilight. All of our friends, the Princesses, your parents! We watched millions starve in the streets of Canterlot and you're just going to invite her into our house and let her eat our food like she's some honored guest?!" Rainbow said, her temper quickly faltering. Every couple of words she'd look towards Sunset, that same hateful gaze in her eyes.

"And you'd rather just kill her like her life means nothing? She lost ponies too, Rainbow," Twilight said, narrowing her eyes at Rainbow.

"She killed them, Twilight. She didn't lose shit," Rainbow said, turning her back on Twilight. "She took everything from us, and I'm not going to let her take you too."

Twilight let out her own little sigh of frustration in her soft tone. "She isn't going to take anything I don't give her. She doesn't deserve to die, Rainbow."

Rainbow spun around, rage clear on her face now. "Like fucking hell she doesn't!"

Sunset didn't even realize she'd started crying again. She felt so pathetic as she just sat there and watched the two of them discuss the ending of her life. She looked to Twilight, wondering how she could be so sweet to her after all she'd taken out of her life. "Why are you defending me, Twilight?" Sunset said in her cracking voice.

That made Rainbow stop for a moment, her rage faltering as she looked over at Sunset. Twilight blinked a few times, her mouth hanging slightly open in surprise. "I-I told you, Sunset: your life is precious. You still have people who care for you. You can't give up on them."

"You had ponies that cared for you too, Twilight," Rainbow said, anger still clear in her voice. "If you let her manipulate you, you're throwing away everything they died for."

Twilight stood up, her soft expression finally fading completely as she looked to Rainbow with her own anger in her eyes. "You really think Rarity would've killed her? That Pinkie Pie could cut her throat? That Fluttershy would throw her out in the snow to face all the beasts out there on her own? She's my friend just like they were, Rainbow."

Rainbow let out another frustrated grunt and looked away. "She's a monster, Twilight," Rainbow said through clenched teeth. Sunset winced at that word again.

Twilight's hard expression was a stark contrast from her usual soft demeanor. "The only monster here is you, Rainbow Dash."

Rainbow's own anger faltered as those words hit her. Her eyes went wide and she stiffened up, the rage in her eyes quickly giving way to hurt. "Twi... you know I'm only doing this for us."

"You only want to do it for you, Rainbow." Rainbow stammered for a moment until Twilight finally stood up and walked over to Sunset. "I want you to apologize to her."

"What?!" Rainbow almost shouted.

"If all you want to do is kill her, Rainbow, then we're going to have to find somewhere else to live, away from you."

"Wait, Twi, you can't--"

"If I can't trust you around one of my friends, how could I ever trust you, Rainbow Dash?"

Rainbow's eyes turned to pleading. She looked to Twilight desperately, trying to offer her a friendly smile. "Twi, you know you can trust me. I'm the element of loyalty, remember? I would die for you..."

"And I'd die for her," Twilight said, her voice stern as she sat beside Sunset.

Sunset blinked in confusion for a few moments. She opened her mouth to ask Twilight why, but Twilight raised a hoof to stop her.

Rainbow tensed her muscles as frustration filled her yet again. "Twilight, she's--"

"She's no threat to us, Rainbow. Now apologize, or we're going to leave."

Rainbow clenched her teeth as she looked into Sunset's eyes. The hate in her gaze struck Sunset's heart with fear. The Rainbow Dash in her world would hardly even think about apologizing. Her heart beat faster and faster at the thought of what Rainbow might do next.

"I mean it," Twilight said, sharpening her gaze at Rainbow.

Rainbow looked over to Sunset, studying her for a moment. The two locked eyes, making Sunset freeze like prey in the sights of a predator. She couldn't look away as she searched Rainbow for some sign that she would give in, that she might actually give up her desire to kill her. As Sunset looked into her eyes, she thought that, just for a second, she could see some compassion in her eyes.

Rainbow's expression hardened again. "I'll never apologize to her."

Rainbow slid her wing out to a nearby chunk of metal as she lunged forward, wrapping it in her feathers. In an instant she had knocked Sunset to the ground on her back, and was on top of her, the knife clutched in her feathers held high above her head, ready to strike down on Sunset's exposed neck. Sunset clenched her forehooves up to her head, trying to shield herself from the impending strike.

Before Rainbow could ever make contact, Sunset's hooves were pushed out of the way of her face and she could feel a mass of gritty fur laying over the top of her. The chunk of metal bounced off Sunset's chest before clattering to the ground beside her. She looked over Twilight to see Rainbow frozen in place, her wing poised to attack over her head, but her face looking to Twilight's with fear in her eyes.

"Sunset, grab your saddlebags, please. We're leaving," Twilight said. She gently pushed Rainbow back off of the two, and Rainbow didn't bother putting up any resistance. Twilight helped Sunset up off her back with as much as her feeble strength would allow. Sunset blinked a few times, her heart thundering in her chest. "Go on, we've got a long way to go," Twilight said with a soft smile.

Sunset dumbly nodded to her and focused her magic into the other room, levitating her saddlebags all the way through the hallway and onto her back. She was too scared now to do anything other than listen to Twilgiht. Twilight placed a reassuring hoof on Sunset's shoulder, making sure to give her a motherly smile before she motioned for them to go out the door. "It'll be okay," Twilight said, the sudden panting of her breath becoming more apparent.

Rainbow shot in front of them like a lightning bolt, blocking the door again. "No! I won't let you leave, Twilight."

Twilight tried to push Rainbow out of the way, but she held fast. "We're going whether you like it or not," she said softly around a few pants. She pushed hard against her friend, but Rainbow was much stronger than her. After a few more seconds of exertion, Twilight dropped down to the floor. She turned her neck to look at Sunset, but her body was wobbly and her eyes were half-lidded.

"Sunset..." she said, just before she fell backward into Sunset's hooves.

Rainbow was quick to shove Sunset out of the way, making the saddlebags clatter to the floor as she crashed into the wall behind her. "Twilight! Twilight talk to me," Rainbow said, shaking her in her hooves. Twilight fell limply in her hooves, slacking through her grip until Rainbow finally let her slide to the floor. She looked desperately at her friend, running a hoof across her chest as she searched for signs of life.

Rainbow turned to Sunset, who was slowly getting up and rubbing her head with a hoof. "You..." she said, her voice turning malicious again. Rainbow gritted her teeth and picked up the metal knife with her wingtip again. "If you never showed up this never would have happened..."

Sunset gasped as she saw Twilight lying there unconscious on the floor. Her mind went back to the words Rainbow spoke to her that night in the hallway. This was it; Twilight was finally asleep. Sunset backed away from the encroaching Rainbow Dash until her hind legs hit the concrete wall.

"She'll understand when she wakes up," Rainbow said in a low, angry tone. "The world will be better off without you."

Rainbow lunged through the air at her, the knife wrapped in her feathers, ready to swipe across her. Sunset's instincts took over, and her horn lit up with magic, wrapping Rainbow in a bright green glow that jerked her to a stop mid-air. Sunset caught the knife as it fell out of Rainbow's grasp as well, and floated it in front of Rainbow.

"No..." Sunset closed her eyes. "Not like this," she said. She thought of her friends, and what Twilight said about them. She had to get back to them. She had to at least see their faces again, hear their voices. She had to feel their embrace, and at least get the chance to say goodbye. As much as she knew she deserved it, Sunset couldn't die here.

Sunset opened her eyes to see Rainbow struggling in her magical grasp, aimlessly flailing in the air as her hooves desperately clawed at her throat. Sunset realized how tightly she was holding around her neck, but she couldn't let her go, not when she knew what the alternative was. Sunset grimaced as she watched Rainbow Dash thrash uselessly in the air. Her wings beat furiously, knocking things over around the room with strong gusts of wind, but Sunset's magic was stronger. Rainbow wasn't going anywhere.

Sunset closed her eyes tightly. She couldn't watch this. As much as she knew this mare hated her, it was still Rainbow Dash. She didn't want to see her suffer for any longer than she had to for her sake. Sunset levitated the knife up beneath Rainbow's chin, eliciting a frightened yelp from her. Sunset's magical grasp on the knife faltered for a moment. She told herself she had to do this; Rainbow Dash was going to kill her otherwise. There was no other way. She'd make it quick. She didn't have to suffer.

Sunset gripped the metal harder, pressing the knife tightly to Rainbow's throat. She clenched her teeth and thought of her friends. This was for them. If she didn't Rainbow would never let her leave here. She had to see her friends at least one last time. It was only one more to add to the pile...

Sunset let the knife clatter onto the ground, followed quickly by Rainbow Dash. Her body hit the ground with a dull thud, sprawling out onto the tiles as she choked and slowly lost consciousness.

She couldn't do it. Sunset let the tears flow yet again. There was no way she could take someone else's life. She couldn't even believe she'd come that close to trying. She choked down a sob as she watched Rainbow struggle for air in the wake of such a tight magical grasp around her throat.

"Not... a threat, huh?" Rainbow said between gasps, holding her throat tightly as she slowly lost her strength.

"I'm so sorry..." Sunset said. She looked down at her hooves, watching her tears drip off her face into the dirty tile below. Sunset knew what this meant: Rainbow was going to kill her. Even faced with the reality that she'd never see her friends again, Sunset just couldn't take another life. She couldn't live with herself with another death on her conscience, even if it meant that she'd have to die.

Rainbow finally stopped struggling and fell limp onto the cold stone floor, leaving Sunset alone to see what she'd done to the two of them.