Broken: Sunset's Return

I stepped through that portal to change what I was. But I changed me mind at a late response. It was a swirling mess leading me home. Pulling me further through dimensional doorways to my past. I hadn't thought back to when I had to tell myself that my past isn't my today. I screamed all the way through the vortex that I dared not to touch in the past.

When my eyes opened there was only darkness. A jolt went through my soul, a fear response now felt in my deepest cores. I looked around desperately for a way to find light. I spun my head round the darkened room, a sliver of sunlight shot through the ash coated window. Wait, ashes were covering the window? What happened here? Where did everybody go?!

I used my hooves to make purchase with a chunk of something spiky, and hurled it through the remains of the large window, presumably in an attic of sorts. I let the light wash over my face as the broken glass splintered into shards. I shielded my eyes from the sun's bright glow.

When I'd adjusted I looked out to see nothing but abandoned homes and shops, all coated in this ash. There were unmanned clouds moving on their own. What the hell happened? I looked down to see a sheer drop to the ground. I hadn't used my magic in almost a decade,so I couldn't rely on it's probability to keep me from splattering on the floor. I looked throughout the room. It indeed seemed like an attic. I skimmed for flashlights or lighters.

When I came across a lighter it had a mark of a 6 point star on it. I ignored it, and began hunted for an exit route. I looked through a couple boxes for whatever reason I could come up with. But there was nothing of use to me in them. Just old photos of mares I'd never met. There was Princess Twilight with them. Was this her castle?

I tripped as I walked through the attic, looking at what I tripped over was an ash coated hatch. I opened it to see a hallway. That's when my heart fell. There was ash, but amid the mess. Blood was dried into it. Staining the ash it had hit. I jumped down, and saw the corpse of a small dragon. Blood dried around a deep slice in his neck. I covered my mouth. Spike?

I ran past his body, and looked for Twilight. When I rounded a corner I slammed into a filly. She had a red mane and a pale yellow coat. She was accompanied by a zebra with gold hoops on her hooves and neck, and another filly with a pink and white mane. The trio looked at me as if I were an alien. The zebra spoke to me.

"What do you seek, in the endless bleak?" Her voice was calming and sensible.

"I'm looking for Princess Twilight. Have you seen her?" I prayed that they'd have a location I could look for her within. But the fillies exchanged unhappy glances and the zebra looked concerned for me.

"The princess you need, had been a victim of a deed. She went to solve Harmony's truth, and brought the end of our sleuth. She has died and the world has cried!" She said in her unusual rhyming.

"Y'all don't know bout her death?"

How is that even possible?"

They had broken my ability to comprehend the situation. Twilight is dead? How many ponies are dead? Are the other elements alive?

"What happened to her?" I asked in horror. Tears in the corners of my eyes. The mare who had brought back my common sense is dead?

"She tried to understand the harmony and tried to control it's magic. When the smoke cleared round her. She was dead. Blood pouring from her mouth. Suddenly the world was getting devastated by ashes swarming through. Her element was destroyed and the others fell with her." The pink and white maned filly explained.

"Kindness, Laughter, Honesty, Loyalty, and Generosity. They fell in that order." She shuddered after saying 'Honesty'.

"So, she's dead? And the world's falling apart? We need to fix this!" I shouted but they just looked at me with barely any confidence.

"Celestia couldn't fix nor did Luna mix. The crystals failed and their holder's last words were mailed." The zebra spoke once again. I couldn't believe this had happened. I lost it. Dropped to the floor crying with the unrelenting pain of knowing Twilight was dead. I felt connected to her in a really deep way, but now she was gone.

They coaxed me back to my senses, and got me to my hooves. Only now we began to make introductions, making the worst return to my home world possible. I looked at the trio. Applebloom, the red maned filly. Diamond Tiara, the pink and white maned filly. Zecora, the zebra. They were nice, and offered me shelter at the ruins of Sweet Apple Acres. According to Applebloom the farm fell apart after Applejack and Big Macintosh died. I didn't ask how seeing that it must've been a touchy subject for her.

Diamond said her family also passed away and Zecora had taken a mothering role on her and Applebloom. She spoke of a duo of fillies named Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo. I again, didn't push too much on the subject. Seeing that it might cause problems and I needed to rely on them to keep me safe in their destroyed homeland.

We walked along a trail, pausing at the sound of collapse. A large chunk of the castle, the section housing the mirror. Collapsed to the ashes below. I said to myself that I wouldn't go back. Now I can't go back. It's gone, the portal is gone. No turning back now. I trotted to catch up with my now confirmed group. We chatted like the world hadn't ended. Like we were just a friend circle trotting to a party or to a home where we'd throw our own little sleepover.

I felt like a weight on my shoulders had been replaced with a newer more confusing weight. One that told me to defend this new group, and find more ponies to join us in our temporary safe haven.