Chapters You, Who Killed the World
Sunset stood in front of the portal and felt the slight tingle of the swirling magic in front of her. She pulled the strap on her backpack tight against herself to make sure it was secure. A mental checklist passed through her head as she felt the weight of her bag tug at her fingers. She knew she checked everything three times to make sure it was all there, but the thought of missing something a world away still filled her with tinges of stress. She sighed as she thought of her friends, remembering how much time she spent debating whether her place was here or back in Equestria, how many tears she cried thinking of never seeing them again, and how many more at the thought of her parents and Celestia never seeing her again either. It was only for a few days, she told herself, she could spend time with her old loved ones and still keep her friends.
Sunset took a deep breath. The portal was only open for the next couple of days and after that she'd have to wait years before she might have the chance again. She took a step forward.
"You ain't thinking of leaving without sayin' goodbye, are ya?" She heard Applejack's voice say from behind her.
Sunset jumped and pulled her foot away. When she turned around, all of her friends were there, gazing at her with various expressions of disappointment and longing that Sunset had already gone out of her way to try and avoid. She winced as she looked over them and hoped they wouldn't be too upset. "Girls? What are you doing here on a weekend?"
"Come now, dear. You didn't think we'd forget when the portal opens, did you?" Rarity said.
"And what do you think you're doing leaving without telling us, huh?" Rainbow asked, crossing her arms and raising an eyebrow at Sunset.
Sunset couldn't look them in the eye and instead just gave them a sheepish smile. "Well... it's only opened over the weekend and I figured it wasn't that big of a deal..." None of them seemed too convinced as she gained the confidence to look back up at them.
"So how long do ya think you'll be gone?" Applejack asked, trying to hide the uncertainty in her voice.
Sunset cast a glance behind her towards the portal that was the Canterlot High statue, then gave her friends an assuring smile. "I don't think I'll be gone for that long, girls. I just... need to make a few things right, and hopefully talk with a few old friends."
"You don't think?" Rainbow asked. She took a step forward at Sunset, perplexed at her wording.
Sunset looked across her friends, all of which still looked worried. Their eyes wandered around with slight unease, all of them not wanting to meet eyes with Sunset. Sunset knew exactly what was on their minds. She'd thought about it a lot last night before she packed her bag.
"I know what you guys are thinking," Sunset said, rubbing her arm and trying to keep her smile, "about me coming back--"
"You've gotta promise us you will," Rainbow cut her off with an outburst. Rainbow winced when she realized how loud she was. "I mean, we all know you want to visit your parents and everything, but we just..." Rainbow trailed off, rubbing the back of her neck.
Rarity walked forward and put a comforting hand on Sunset's shoulder. The worry in Rarity's eyes betrayed the easy smile on her face. "I think what she's trying to say is that we're all just a little worried that you, well, might stay until the portal opens again, or... indefinitely."
Rarity looked back to her friends, who seemed to share the sentiment. Even Pinkie was looking a bit sad at the occasion. "We know how much you left behind in Equestria," Rarity continued, "and we want you to know that you'll always have a home here with us."
Rarity reached down and grabbed Sunsets hand, letting the little object fall from her fingers into Sunset's grasp. Sunset looked down into her open palm to see a little ornate locket on a silver chain. "But we completely understand if you don't return for a while, dear," Rarity said.
Sunset opened the locket. Inside there was a tiny picture they'd taken after a really fun day of hanging out together. The memories brought a smile to Sunset's face. The massive grins on their faces as they hugged around each other showed a time that was much happier than this one. "Rarity... you didn't have to--"
"Just a little something to remember us by, just in case you... well, you change your mind."
Pinkie couldn't take it anymore. She lunged towards Sunset, wrapping her in a massive hug as she burst into tears. "We're going to miss you so much! Please please please don't forget about us!" she said as her face spewed tears like a water fountain. The rest of the girls moved in around her, hugging Sunset as well.
Once Sunset got used to the immense pressure around her ribs, she returned the embrace to Pinkie and the rest of her friends. "There's no way I ever could," Sunset said as she squeezed her friends lovingly. "It should only be a few days..." Sunset could feel the tears starting to form on her own face.
"Don't be a stranger, now," Applejack said, her voice cracking.
"We'll always be here for you," Fluttershy said in a sad, quiet voice, hugging Sunset tighter as tears started to form on her cheeks.
"I promise, girls," Sunset said as they all let her go, "This is just something I need to do."
The sad smiles and tears on the girls' faces put a spike through Sunset's heart. Even Rainbow Dash was aggressively wiping her cheeks on her sleeve to try to hide her crying.
Rarity wiped her eyes and then gave Sunset an assuring smile of her own. "Go, darling, before this moment gets anymore sappy."
Sunset blinked a few tears of her own and gave the girls her most heartfelt smile. "Goodbye," she said, part of her hoping it wouldn't be the last. She turned around towards the portal. As she lifted the locket over her head and placed it on her neck, she couldn't help but have the sinking feeling that this was the last time she'd ever see them. She put her hand through the portal, then let herself fall forward, the sounds of her friends' sad goodbyes slowly fading into the sound of the magical connection between their worlds.
The distantly familiar feeling of being covered and fur and having a horn returned to Sunset as her body flowed through the portal. The sensation was overwhelming for a moment as the other half of her body made its way through.
As soon as her entire body was through, Sunset let out a cry as gravity pulled her towards the ground at least a dozen feet away. Sunset bounced off of the stone walls as she fell, sending her spinning at the floor. She hit the ground with a dull thud, the impact driving the air out of her lungs. Dust kicked up around her with the landing, making Sunset blink as the particles stung against her eyes. With a pained groan, Sunset rolled over off of her back, hoping nothing was broken. She rubbed the dust out of her eyes, looking up to see what just happened. As her eyes turned above her, she saw the glint of the mirror above her, but everything else was masked in a thick layer of darkness.
Sunset groaned and pulled herself up to her hooves. The awkwardness of being a pony again was compounded by the immediate soreness from landing so hard. Once her focus returned to her, she raised an eyebrow at the feeling of carpet beneath her hooves. Sunset closed her eyes and lit up her horn, the soft green glow illuminating the room around her as she remembered that old spell.
"What the..." Sunset whispered as her eyes scanned her surroundings. She'd fallen out of a hole into a... house. The hole above her held the shine of the portal's mirror, held in place by a few large chunks of broken marble stairwell, seemingly one hard jolt away from crashing into the home on top of her. It was well out of her reach now. Sunset narrowed her eyes to try and see what exactly she'd just fallen out of, but her horn wasn't bright enough. Outside the hole was a normal bedroom; there were pictures on the dresser of some pony and her family alongside trinkets and momentos, and the rotted fabric of a bed behind her. Everything was covered in a thick layer of dust, and rocks and rubble littered the carpet around her. It looked like a tornado had blown through, sending buildings on top of each other and dust and rubble everywhere.
Sunset didn't know what to think at first. She never had a full understanding of the inner workings of the portal, so her first thought was that it might've sent her into some other alternate universe. An alternate universe where everyone was still a pony, but definitely not Equestria. Sunset figured if anything she was going to have to go outside to find her way back into the portal. There was no way she could climb up that far on her own. She pushed open the chunks of remaining door in the frame and worked her way through the rest of the house.
Concern grew inside Sunset as she carefully stepped down the rotting wood of the stairs. Every third or so step had fallen through, and support beams and rubble were poking out of the dusty drywall. She wondered what the hell she just dropped into. This wasn't the Canterlot she'd left three years ago, and certinaly not the crystal kingdom she saw the year before. Canterlot was happy and vibrant and full of life, and as Sunset looked through the burned remains of the living room with all the broken family pictures and broken decorations, she could see nothing but the opposite. Sunset reasoned with herself that this was just some strange alternate world, and she just had to get back up to the portal somehow and try again going through it again.
The front door barely budged as Sunset's magic tried the knob. She looked out the windows to see if she might get out that way, but she could see nothing but black out of the broken panes. She tried the door again, putting as much force on it as her horn could manage. Sweat beaded on her forehead as she pushed. She could feel the wood cracking under the pressure. She finally threw her own weight at it with a soft grunt, pushing it off of its hinges. The weight behind the door made it fly backwards on top of Sunset. She quickly hopped out of the way as giant chunks of concrete and splinters of wood filled the room from the doorway. Sunset backpeddled away, trying to avoid the jagged pieces of rock and metal rolling towards her.
Once the pile had stopped moving, Sunset let out a sigh of relief as light poured through the open doorway. She climbed over the rubble, careful to avoid anything that might cut her and stepped into the fresh air outside.
Sunset stopped. She fell to her haunches, her mouth hanging open as her eyes adjusted to take in the world around her.
This was Canterlot. There was no mistaking the stained ivory towers piercing the sky in front of her. She had seen it all a million times. The golden crowns and the marble columns, the waterfall going down the mountain in the distance, all of it capped by a thin layer of snow. She was in the residential district of Canterlot, looking up at the castle as it clung to the mountain. Half of the towers had blown over and much of the city around her was in complete ruin. The once-bright colors of Equestria's capital had faded, leaving behind a dull collection of destruction.
Sunset's mouth hung open at the sight. Her mind desperately tried to reason that this was just some strange alternate universe the portal put her through as some sick joke. She looked behind her, seeing one of Canterlot Castle's towers broken off and laying on top of multiple houses, crushing most of them besides the one she'd just came out of; that one it just covered completely in rubble. There was no way she was going to get back to the portal by herself now.
"Hello?" Sunset asked the world.
It didn't answer. The silence made Sunset shiver. The snow around her didn't even make any noise as it fell from the sky, marking little white specs across Sunset and the saddlebags draped across her back. She got up off her haunches and walked across the brick streets, scanning for anything alive.
"Hello!" Sunset said, this time much louder. Not even the echo of her own voice would answer her as she walked.
The sky above her was a dull shade of dark gray, the only light coming from the sun at the very edge of the horizon. The sunset painted half of the clouds with orange, promising a clear sky somewhere far to the west, much farther than Sunset could see. The light was barely bright enough to illuminate the street in front of her, and the rest of the buildings casted dark shadows around her and the gaps in the rubble. Sunset gulped as the combination of the overbearing silence and encroaching darkness became more apparent with each step.
Things seemed to stand completely still around her. The sound of her hooves clacking on the brick streets was the only thing Sunset could hear for miles. The only thing that seemed to move was the snow. Sunset became anxious in the silence, feeling the stress build inside her as the seconds ticked by with nothing in the world bothering to move.
"Hello!" Sunset cried out, desperation in her voice. She let out a whine after another few seconds of silence. She hoped that something, anything would answer her. Sunset could feel panic building up inside her. The implications of this dead world edged into her thoughts, and she desperately tried to push them away. It was just some cosmic joke, she just had to find a way back and she could forget about everything, she thought. Sunset closed her eyes tightly, not wanting to look at the broken buildings around her.
A rock dropped somewhere around Sunset, making her gasp and snap towards the source. Her mood immediately lifted, knowing that something finally answered her call.
A demolished house shifted to her side, sending rocks clattering to the ground. Sunset watched it intently, hoping a pony might push their way through the rubble and finally greet her and tell her what was going on and how to get home.
She wasn't so lucky. More and more rocks fell to the ground until the entire house changed in shape. As dust poured off the new shape, Sunset could see the sun reflecting off of the crystalline features. The rubble separated, showing the long, spindly limbs attached to the massive chunk of gemstone. Eight glossy rubies shook away dust as they looked towards her.
Sunset's heart dropped. It was an azorach; a massive crystal spider that made anything in Equestria terrified to explore the caves of the Everfree.
Sunset shrieked as it took a step towards her. She reflexifly shot a bolt of pure energy out at it, but it simply bounced off the beasts reflective exoskeleton. After she watched the green bolt fly off into the sky, Sunset turned tail and ran as fast as her body could manage.
The monster let out a shrill cry and was quickly after her. It's razor-sharp legs dug massive holes in the brick pavement. Sunset's heart thundered in her chest as her body filled with adrenaline. The thought of being impaled by one of those limbs then eaten alive drove Sunset to run faster than she'd ever run in her life.
Sunset turned her head every few steps to send another bolt of energy at the azorach, hoping to slow it down. Every time she looked it got closer to her, and every bolt she sent just bounced off. Sunset cried out for help as loud as she could, making her body panic as it had to suck in another breath to feed her limbs.
Sunset felt her limbs burn from fatigue, telling that she couldn't do this forever. She desperately searched for some way to lose the massive azorach, since her magic just bounced off of it. Just as Sunset could feel a swipe of one of its limbs through her tail, she spotted a large building down another street. It was the local theater for the district, though just as rundown and desecrated as everything else.
Sunset made a sharp right turn onto the next street, causing the beast behind her to crash in a shower of concrete in dust into a nearby building. The azorach barely even noticed the slip as it crawled out of the hole it made and was right behind Sunset again. The harsh sound of it's legs cracking the road grew louder behind her, filling her body with more and more fear.
Sunset focused her magic on one of the door handles as she sprinted towards it. Without enough time to realize it was locked and change her path, Sunset lowered her head and closed her eyes tightly. Her horn pierced the glass door, sending little chunks of it across the dull, red carpet as it shattered. Sunset let out a cry as she stumbled into it, feeling it puncture her as it fell to the ground. She quickly got back up once she turned back and saw that the azorach wasn't slowing down.
Sunset leaped further into the main room just as the azorach crashed through the entrance, sending glass and concrete flying everywhere. Sunset ran into the first open door her eyes found, with the monster still right on her tail.
Sunset sprinted down the aisle of the theater, jumping over broken chairs and debris. The azorach squirmed its way through the doorway behind her, making the wall crack around it as it broke through after her.
Sunset looked back at the monster for a split second, just long enough to trip on a jagged piece of metal. She flipped a few times down the aisle until her head slammed into the stage, blurring her vision for a moment. When her senses returned, the azorach was right on top of her, a limb raised high above her to strike that final blow.
Sunset crossed her hooves over her head, letting out one final scream in anticipation of the searing pain of the crystal edge piercing her.
The pain never came. A thunderous crunch resounded in front of Sunset, and with it came a pitiful final cry from the azorach as hundreds of tiny chunks of crystal showered the theater. The beast collapsed onto Sunset, it's lifeless mouth settling onto her legs, thick, yellow fluid dripping out of its mouth and onto her fur.
Sunset scrambled away from the azorach and up onto the stage, her eyes darting around the scene to see what happened. Her breath was quick and ragged as she tried to regain her composure. Sunset had never been an athlete, so after something as rigorous as that she felt dizzy, and her lungs felt like they were on fire. She choked a few times as she gasped in the cold air, trying to stay conscious as the adrenaline in her body faded away.
At first Sunset couldn't believe her luck; some massive rock falling from the heavens and saving her life? There was no way that would happen again. That was until Sunset spotted the lengths of tattered rope wrapped around the boulder.
As her breath slowly normalized, Sunset brightened the room with her magic. She looked up to the ceiling, seeing more rope and steel haphazardly strapped to the rafters, along with several other large rocks precariously hanging around other sections of the theater. Sunset followed the ropes down until they disappeared behind the curtain.
"How the hell are you doing that?" A ragged voice asked.
Sunset jumped once her eyes landed on a pegasus walking up next to her. Once Sunset studied her for a moment, her eyes went wide.
"Rainbow Dash?" Sunset asked. There was no mistaking the collection of colors in her hair and those magenta eyes, as faded and sickly as they might've looked.
As soon as Sunset said her name, she stopped in place and adopted a confused expression, looking over Sunset a few times. "How the..." Rainbow asked, growing more perplexed by the second.
A different pony came forward. Sunset turned her eyes away from Rainbow to see the dull purple fur, ribs readily poking through on her sides, and above that was another pair of wings. Her once-beautiful purple eyes had turned gray, and her old, neatly trimmed hair was now long, unkempt, and tangled now. Despite all this, Sunset recongnized her immediatly and her jaw dropped at the sight.
"Sunset Shimmer?" Princess Twilight Sparkle asked.
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."
You, Who Killed the World
Sunset's eyes slowly fluttered open, bringing her world coming back into focus. She shifted her weight on the dirty sheets underneath her, trying to get a grasp on where she was. Once her vision cleared, the events of the last day came flooding back to her. She let out a low sigh of relief as she rubbed her neck with a hoof. Sunset lifted her head off the bed and looked around the dimly lit room until she found that familiar dingy purple coat, sitting on the other side of the bed reading a dusty book.
Sunset's heart sank when she noticed the dark circles under Twilight's eyes. "Twilight?" she spoke softly.
Twilight finally looked up from her book and gave Sunset a gentle smile. "Good morning. Did you sleep well?" she asked as she closed the book with one of her hooves and slid it to her side. Sunset looked up to Twilight's horn, then back down again.
"Are you alright?"
Twilight slowly rose, her limbs shaky against the mattress. She carefully crawled off the bed, taking each step onto the carpet as if she was inches from falling off the earth. "I'm fine. Why do you ask?" Twilight said, keeping her gentle smile the entire way.
"You look... tired. Do you think you should..." Sunset gulped, stopping herself as she remembered Rainbow's promise last night. Sunset felt a surge of guilt as she watched Twilight's lethargic movements across the room. As bad as the alternative might have been, Sunset still didn't feel good about making Twilight miserable for her own sake.
"It's okay, Sunset." Twilight lifted the latch off the wooden door with her mouth. "I don't sleep most nights anyway."
"Twilight..." Sunset said as she hopped off the bed. Sunset gave her a worried expression, but Twilight just brushed it off.
"It's nothing you need to worry about, Sunset. I'm fine, I promise." Around her gentle smile were tired eyes and filthy fur. Sunset didn't believe her at all. "Rainbow should have made something to eat. I'm sure you're starving after your little adventure yesterday," Twilight said, turning away from Sunset and down towards the hallway.
Sunset knew that wasn't going to go over well with Rainbow, which only brought back the mountain of questions that she wanted to ask last night. "Twilight, you said last night that you would tell me what happened. I... I need to know."
"Sunset, we should really--"
"Twilight! I can't take it just sitting here wondering! Celestia's room, the castle in pieces, Rainbow trying to..." Sunset gulped, rubbing a hoof across her throat at the thought of Rainbow wanting to cut it.
Twilight's gentle smile left her with a sigh, her expression quickly turning somber as she stared down the hallway. "We should go for a walk." Twilight's tone was filled with sorrow, striking Sunset's heart as soon as the words hit her ears. She ignored the nervous fluttering in her heart and followed Twilight close behind as she walked down the hall and into the servant's closet.
Rainbow Dash sat on a jar in one corner, drawing a stone across a sharpened piece of metal in her hooves. As soon as Sunset walked into the room they met eyes and Rainbow whispered "coward" under her breath as she glared at Sunset. Sunset shied away from her gaze, looking down to the stone tiles intently.
Twilight placed a hoof on the door to the outside, making Rainbow quickly change her expression, drop the metal in her hooves, and dart across the room, getting between her friend and the door. Sunset yelped and took a step away, her heart skiping a beat as she tried to get away from Rainbow, thinking she was her target.
"Twilight, what do you think you're doing?" Rainbow asked, gently nudging Twilight away from the door.
Twilight furrowed her brows. "I'm going for a walk with Sunset. Would you please--"
Rainbow held out her hoof and narrowed her eyes at Sunset over Twilight's shoulder. "Like hell you're going anywhere alone with her ."
Twilight glanced backwards at Sunset. "Would you mind teleporting us out of here?" she asked, her tone changing to gentle and sweet in an instant.
Rainbow grit her teeth and let out a growl. "Twilight you're making a mistake. Just let me kill her already." Sunset gasped and her heart began pounding again. She could hardly believe the playful, competitive Rainbow that she knew could have anything to do with the mare in front of her.
"You will do no such thing," Twilight said, her voice raising to an uncharacteristically high volume. "We're just going to walk around the castle for a while. Now please get out of the way, Rainbow Dash, or she could just teleport us out instead."
Rainbow let out another frustrated growl before moving out of the way. She stomped over to a pile beside the door, digging out another piece of metal and sliding it towards Twilight. "At least take this."
Twilight let the metal bump into her hoof and looked down at it as it spun on the concrete. It was sharpened on one end with the other being wrapped in cloth. "We will be fine inside the castle walls, Rainbow. No monster is going to--"
"It's not for them," Rainbow said, glaring maliciously at Sunset. "It's for her."
Sunset shrunk under her gaze. She'd gone through the brunt of the hate that the students at Canterlot High had given her after the Fall Formal, but none of that bullying could have ever prepared her for this. No one had ever looked at her with such hate in her entire life. She looked at every point in the room except for Rainbow, her thundering heart giving away the fear that was taking over her body.
Twilight slid the sharpened metal across the floor back towards Rainbow Dash, furrowing her brow at her again before opening the door and walking out. Sunset trotted close behind her, eager to get away from Rainbow's hateful gaze.
As they walked out into the dim sunlight, Sunset took a few deep breaths to try to calm her nerves. She still couldn't shake the thought of Rainbow whispering in her ear last night, and the overwhelming dread at the thought of never seeing her friends again.
"I'm sorry about Rainbow Dash. She can be a bit... difficult at times."
"A bit difficult!?" Sunset blurted out. Twilight winced at the volume, causing Sunset's expression to quickly shift away from disbelief. "Sorry... I'm just not used to someone wanting to... kill me," Sunset said, the last words feeling odd on her tongue.
Twilight sighed. Her gentle smile was nowhere to be found as they walked along the worn bricks of what used to be Canterlot Castle. "It's okay. I know this can be a lot to take in so quickly. I'm sure you have a lot of questions," Twilight said, the sadness still clear in her voice.
Sunset opened her mouth, but she couldn't think to say anything. There was so much to ask she didn't even know where to start. She looked over Twilight to the horizon and saw the sun in the exact same position it was yesterday. Snow poured down from the sky still, letting the early morning sunset reflect off the snowcapped rubble. Sunset closed her eyes tightly. She knew what that sunset meant. A few moments of silence passed as her heart pounded in her chest as she worked up the courage to ask.
"W-where is Princess Celestia?" Sunset asked. Part of her didn't want to hear the answer, but it was too late to take it back now.
"She..." Twilight sighed, staring at the stone bricks as they walked, "She died a long time ago. Her and Luna both."
The answer stabbed Sunset like a cold dagger directly to the heart. She held down the lump in her throat, just barely as they walked further along the castle wall. Sunset blinked the tears out of her eyes as she tried to absorb what she'd just heard. She tried to push away the thought of her dying without Sunset ever getting to apologize, ever getting to say goodbye, but it stuck in her mind more than any mistake she'd ever made before.
"It was quick... I think anyway," Twilight said, her voice monotonous, as if she was reading off a card that she presented a thousand times before.
Sunset grit her teeth, her mind trying to think of a question that might hurt a little less. She thought back to the cake pop Twilight wrapped in her hoof, the book she closed with her arm, and the door that she opened with her mouth. "Why... why aren't you using magic?"
"The magic in this world is gone, Sunset."
Sunset stopped in place and looked at Twilight with a bewildered expression. How could an entire world be completely devoid of magic? The shock of the statement pushed the idea of Princess Celestia out of her mind completely. The world seemed to stop again, the silence returning as everything just stood still. Just thinking about what Twilight just said was beyond absurd in Sunset's mind. "What? How is that even possible?" She thought back to her fight with Rainbow, and then again to Twilight's hoof. She had to be lying, Sunset thought, since she could still use it. "But what about me? I can still use magic just fine."
Twilight let a little smile cross her face. "It made me happy to see that glow again. It's something I haven't enjoyed for a long time."
"B-but, if I can still use it, then that means this world still has magic and you can too, right?"
Twilight's smile quickly left her. "I don't think so, Sunset, but it's a nice thought."
Sunset walked around to Twilight's front, putting a hoof on her shoulder. "Twilight, we can figure this out! The world doesn't have to be like this. I'm sure we can find a way--"
Twilight brought her hoof up to Sunset's mouth to stop her. She shook her head. "It's too late for that, Sunset. There's nothing to figure out anymore."
Sunset's jaw hung open in confusion. She looked desperately between Twilight's eyes for some sign this was just some stupid joke. There was no way this was the same Twilight that showed her the magic of friendship barely a year ago. "How can you say that? There could still be ponies out ther that need our help! We can still do something to--"
"Sunset. It's too late. Rainbow and I are the only ones left," Twilight said, looking straight into Sunset's eyes, that uncomfortably blank expression still on her face.
"How is that possible? It's only been a year, Twilight! You left the portal a year ago! There's no way everypony could just disappear in a year!" Sunset said, her voice exasperated and desperate. She continued to look between Twilight's eyes, frantically searching for some sign that none of this was possible.
"They didn't disappear, Sunset. And I left that portal at least ten years ago."
Sunset stammered at Twilight's response, trying to bring up some question that might make things okay, that might lead them to fixing this situation. She couldn't think of anything.
"Ever since the..." Twilight stopped herself, looking away from Sunset. "I think there may be a time disconnect between our two worlds after, well after what happened."
"What happened, Twilight? What could possibly do all of this?" Sunset said, her voice growing more troubled by the second. Twilight sighed and moved around her to the edge of the castle wall, settling down and resting her hooves on the stone railing. Her eyes were dead and empty, like a soldier that had seen one too many of his friends die before his eyes.
"I suppose it'll be easier if I just say everything at once..." Twilight took a deep breath and let it out slowly, seemingly biding time until she finally had to speak again. Sunset stared at her intently, not sure if she was entirely ready for what she had to say. She could barely comprehend what she'd already heard.. "I have no idea how long ago it was now. More than ten years. Less than twenty I think. It all started off benign at first: levitation required a little more effort, complex spells would exhaust even the toughest unicorns for most of the day, pegasi started sinking through clouds, and earth ponies couldn't get quite the same yield as their previous harvests."
Twilight looked up to the snow as it fell from the clouds. "It was strange, to say the least, but I didn't think it was anything that we couldn't handle. At first, Princess Celestia thought it was a monster she'd locked away long ago named Tirek: a powerful creature that could absorb pony magic to feed his own power and had the ability to do something like this. When we went to face him, he was still locked away within the depths of Tartarus. We suspected Discord as well, but when we sought him out, he was feeling the same effects as we were."
Twilight sighed, letting her words linger in the air for a few moments before starting again. "After three more weeks of trying to find out the cause, it only got worse, and we weren't getting any closer to fixing it." Twilight closed her eyes. "Soon, simple spells like teleportation were impossible, and trying to levitate something was like running a marathon. Pegasi couldn't live in the clouds anymore, and food was becoming scarce.
"I..." Twilight opened her eyes again and looked down to the ruin of Canterlot. "I had an idea about what it was, but I never told anypony."
Sunset blinked a few times, looking at Twilight with a perplexed expression. "What? Why wouldn't you tell anyone? Twilight, how could you just--"
"Because it wouldn't have mattered," Twilight said, just as monotonously as before.
Sunset took a step closer. "Why not? Ponies lost their homes and couldn't use magic and might've been starving! How wouldn't matter?"
Twilight turned to Sunset and looked her in the eye with the same blank expression. "They were starving. Thousands of them were dying." The way Twilight said it made Sunset back away. She couldn't fathom how anyone could just say that with no emotional inflection at all. She looked away from Sunset and turned her gaze back out at the horizon, letting the question hang in the air for a moment. Finally, she spoke up again. "After two months, Celestia and Luna could barely raise the sun and the moon anymore. Every day took more and more out of them both. In the end Luna stopped raising the moon at all, and had to help Celestia just to get the sun over the horizon for a few hours." Twilight took another deep breath, her eyes drifting to the ruins below. "I told them they needed to stop, at least for a little while so we could figure this out. Every day they looked worse; they wouldn't eat, they could hardly sleep. They kept trying every day until..." Twilight closed her eyes again, the only semblance of emotion that Sunset could read from her. "We found them on Luna's balcony. They died together at least."
Tears were forming at the edges of Sunset's vision again. "Why didn't you tell anyone about what you thought it was, Twilight?" Sunset waited a moment, but Twilight just kept looking out to the horizon. "Answer me!" she finally shouted out of frustration.
"Cadance and I took over in their place, trying to keep the ponies of Equestria calm. The night lasted for three days straight, so most ponies figured out what had happened on their own. We didn't even have time for a proper funeral before ponies began fighting over food," Twilight said, her blank expression and flat tone a stark contrast to the emotions that were flooding Sunset.
"I... I tried my best after that, but the girls and I could only do so much." Twilight let out a long sigh. "I'm sure you can imagine what happened over the next few years."
Twilight looked out to the horizon again one last time before getting up and walking back towards the last standing tower. Sunset sat there blinking for a moment before she ran in front of Twilight, her expression a mixture of sadness, disbelief, and anger.
"Twilight! What wouldn't you tell anyone? Why did this happen?!" Sunset shouted.
Twilight adopted her gentle smile yet again. "We should really get back, don't you think? It's rather cold out here, and I'm sure you're still hungry."
"Twilight!" Sunset shouted, this time much louder. "Why did this happen?! Why does Rainbow Dash want to kill me?!" She looked desperately between Twilight's eyes for an answer, but Twilight stood silently. Sunset grabbed Twilight's shoulders and shook her as she asked again. "Why, Twilight?"
Twilight looked away from Sunset, not wanting to meet her eye. "Sunset, I told you it doesn't matter anymore. Please, just come back with me, okay?"
"Twilight!" Sunset shouted. Her horn lit up as she grabbed Twilight's chin with her magic, forcing her to look Sunset in the eye. "Why did this happen?" Twilight let a twinge of fear through her expression as Sunset yelled at her. Sunset didn't care. She had to know. Sunset shook Twilight violently, her silence spreading panic through Sunset's body. "Tell me!"
Twilight gulped as she looked into Sunset's eyes. "When I came back through the portal from Canterlot High... the Element of Magic never came back with me."
Sunset dropped down to her haunches, her hooves falling from Twilight to the cold, stone bricks. Sunset's mouth hung open as tears flowed freely down her cheeks. "No..."
"Sunset..." Twilight tried to reach out to comfort Sunset, but she backed away from her.
"No, this isn't real! It can't be. It's just some alternate universe the portal must've mixed up. There's no way I could've..." Sunset looked up to Twilight, tears blurring the edge of her vision. Twilight looked away from her, not able to meet Sunset's gaze. "Twilight... please tell me I didn't..." Sunset said, her voice cracking as she waited desperately for Twilight to tell her something, anything. She didn't. Twilight looked at the stone walkway, completely silent.
Something integral inside Sunset broke in that moment as the reality of the world around her finally came crashing down. She stood there motionless, mouth agape, staring out into the distance at nothing as her entire world fell apart in front of her. Nothing but tears moved across her body. Not even the wind wanted to touch her now.
Twilight's expression turned to pity. She walked up towards Sunset, seeing the pain building up inside her."Sunset, please don't--"
"I did this..." Sunset said, her eyes unfocusing as tears blurred her vision even further. "This is my fault."
Twilight didn't say anything. Sunset knew she couldn't say anything. It was all her fault. She could never deny it. It was Twilight's turn to look Sunset in the eye as she looked away, Sunset's motionless shock quickly fading as sorrow filled her body. When the first sob broke through Sunset's expression Twilight took a step forward, wrapping Sunset up in a motherly embrace, shushing her softly as she rubbed her hoof through Sunset's hair. None of that helped as Sunset stained her dirty coat with a sudden torrent of tears.
"Celestia... my parents... all of my old friends... I..."
"Shhh," Twilight whispered. "Please don't cry, Sunset. There's enough suffering in the world already."
Sunset tore out of Twilight's embrace, a broken, bewildered look on her face. "Because of me! This is my fault, Twilight. I... I killed..." Sunset's voice cracked as she tried to get the last words out. She couldn't bring herself to say anymore. Her eyes darted around the destroyed castle and out to the ruins of Canterlot. Tears streamed down her cheeks as her sobs gripped her so hard she couldn't do anything else but cry. She shut her eyes tightly as she collapsed to the cold stone under her hooves, hoping she might wake up from this nightmare already.
She heard Twilight let out a soft sigh as she walked up and slipped her hoof under Sunset's neck. She wrapped her in another tight embrace, but didn't bother to say anything this time. She couldn't console her now. Sunset knew she wanted to tell her that it wasn't her fault, that everything would be okay, but she wouldn't lie to her like that. Sunset sat there in Twilight's hooves, just letting her sorrow spill across Twilight's coat.
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.
