Chapter XVII: True Friends Help One Move Bodies

Sunset Shimmer believed strongly that no one should ever have to endure the pain she felt as she woke.  There were no drugs to carry her through the worst of it, no deep recess she could use to hide it.  Every ache was hers alone.  She knew her knee was beyond salvage, that it would have to be replaced.  Her lungs felt burnt as though from inhaling hot smoke, her heart was pounding as her head ached in rhythm with the rush of blood.

She tried to work herself into a sitting position, but the pain increased and forced her to remain on her back.  A groan escaped her lips.  The concrete floor was not comfortable, but at least it was cool against her overheated body.

"Welcome back, Sparky."  Ace's visage appeared in her line of sight.  "I was starting to think you had gotten lost somewhere inside yourself."

"No, I found myself.  What are you doing here?"

Sunset felt Ace's magick touch her.  "You've surpassed Midnight now.  As for what I'm doing here ... we found them."

"How bad was it?"

"Everyone that had been in Great Hall escaped, but they were surrounded by those cancerous, Abyss-touched spirits.  They couldn't create an Iris to escape and had to fight.  Between that and everything else, we're only counting sixty-three survivors."

"Out of?"

"One hundred seventeen."

Sunset's despair took a keen edge.  She had control over her emotions at last, but that did not stop the fear of discovering her friends were lost.  She did not want to ask; so long as she did not ask, they were Schrödinger's cat.  The moment Ace confirmed one way or another, Sunset would have no choice but to accept the outcome.

She closed her eyes and drew a deep breath to steady herself before asking, "My friends?"

"Your cabal-mates and the Trois Fleurs are alive.  Jade and Amber were badly wounded, but they'll recover.  The rest were a little banged up, but they're physically okay.  I'll let them tell you about it."

"I'm so glad to hear that."  She wiped a few happy tears from her eyes and tried again to sit up.  Despite the pain, she could prop herself on her elbows.  "Could you help me stand?  I have something I need to do."

"I'll do you one better."

Ace placed an arm under her legs and across her back before lifting her from the floor.  Sunset watched her figure, but she was not an anorexic model and worried he would overexert himself.  He may not have been as muscled as Clash, but he was showing no strain in carrying her weight.

"You're stronger than you look."

"You're lighter than you look," Ace replied with a slight grin.

"Hey, now, didn't anyone ever warn you about saying crap like that to a girl?"  She put her arms about Ace's neck as they went down the stairs.  Perhaps some of the more romantically minded of her friends would have felt embarrassed to be carried by and hold someone as she was, but Sunset felt only gratitude for his help.  Piggy-back may have been a little more normal, though it would have been far more painful.  She giggled as the moment brought forth the memory of a conversation.  "You know, Button Mash told me that the Japanese call this 'princess-style.'  I always did want to be a princess."

"Yeah?  Well, with the way Night Star chases you about, you could very well be hers."

"Sparky, Princess-Consort of Night Star.  The title's a little long for me, but I guess I could get used to it."

They reached the lower level.  The stairs terminated in a hall that emptied into the main floor.  With most of the equipment gone, it was rather open.  As soon as they passed into the warehouse floor, Sunset could see the waiting group.  As Ace had said, her friends were alive.  Lily was nowhere in sight, but she was likely going to stay with Rose and Daisy until they recovered.  Button Mash had an arm in a sling, but his was the only visible injury aside from a few scrapes and nicks.  Trixie and Lemon Zest were covered in grime.  They all bore the haunted aspects of those who had seen too much, but they each broke into grins when they saw their leader.  Ace lowered Sunset, letting her use his shoulders to support herself.

Sweetie Belle broke from the group to dash across the open floor.  She knew better than to use one of her tackle-hugs, but she still gave Sunset a gentle embrace.  "You're okay!  You have no idea how worried we were."

"That goes double here.  We'll catch up soon, but first I need to know what the situation looks like.  Did the Banishers get away?"

"After you got rid of that Gulmoth, your Created allies were able to catch them," Ace replied.  "The Banishers used too much Mana in the first battle.  They surrendered quickly."

"Pinkie was able to put them to sleep," Sweetie Belle added.  "One of them had some internal bleeding from when the Gulmoth grabbed him, but they didn't notice in time.  The other seven are tied up and still sleeping.  We've been waiting for you before we did anything else with them."

"Good.  Let's get this over with."

Sweetie Belle released Sunset and took a step back.  It was the first opportunity Sunset had to get a good look at her best friend.  Despite the joyous glint in her eye, a few tears that were not happiness rested at the corners.  The brilliant green irises were surrounded by red lines, puffy cheeks indicating that she had been crying.  Ace should have told her about Pixie, but she did not show the despair of losing a child that Sunset had expected.

"What happened?" she asked.

"Those spirits were terrible.  When we got into the Shadow, they were all around us.  I don't think anyone expected we were going to make it out, but we weren't going down without a fight."  Sweetie Belle shivered.  "Even with all the magick we had, it-it was was awful.  They kept breaking through our barriers, and they k-killed so many of us."

When Sweetie Belle could no longer continue, Lemon Zest continued, "We were running out Mana for our shields and thought we were done for when the Councillors and Lightning Rider finally found us.  Your fellow Arrows and all those Uratha cut a path for us and covered our retreat."

"Karen and Spike were there with all of my friends, and they all worked together to get us out."  The few tears that had been hanging at the edges of Sweetie Belle's eyes started to fall.  "It was awful!  They fought harder than anyone to get us out, but they...."

She could no longer speak as she grasped Sunset and sobbed into her shoulder.  With one arm still holding Ace for support, she wrapped the other about her friend and offered what limited comfort her hug could provide.

"They paid the price," Button continued.  "Even when they were surrounded and overwhelmed, they refused to stop protecting us until they were sure we'd be able to escape.  They were covering our backs with the Arrows and the Uratha.  Not one of them got out."

"Oh, Sweetie Belle."  Sunset pulled her other arm from Ace's shoulders to add to the hug.  Sunset glanced at Twilight over Sweetie Belle's shoulder.  "Spike?"

"He's okay.  Bob, a shadow person, threw him and Karen to me during the retreat.  They're at the sanctum to watch over Rarity and the kids."

"How many Arrows are left?" she asked Ace.

"Just you and a few others that we carried out because they were already too badly wounded," he replied.  "Flawless Sword wouldn't withdraw until every non-Arrow was safe, and your peers stayed with him.  The Uratha tried to protect them, but there were just too many spirits."

"Did the Hierarch make it?  What about Clash and Lightning Rider?"

"The Hierarch wanted to stand with the Arrows and Orchid's friends, but Solar Helm and I pushed him through the Iris.  Lightning Rider ordered a retreat once we were out and covered his people.  The wounds from those spirits resist all magick.  He'll survive, but he'll be a while in the hospital.  Clash is fine except for a few new scars."

The rest of the accounting would come later.  Sunset ended her enquiries to focus on holding Sweetie Belle until her friend had gone through her latest round of tears.  The lack of reference to Pixie made her think Sweetie Belle and Button did not yet know.  Even if she would be the hardest loss to vocalise, Sunset had expected some mention.  She felt some irritation that Ace had allowed them to believe both of their daughters were waiting for them.  As upset as she was, Sunset decided not to berate him for it yet.  She wanted to be there for her friends, to help carry them through their loss so they would not go down the dark path she nearly had.  To do that, she needed to break the news.

The moment of contemplation allowed her to notice a particular absence.

"Where's Midnight?"

"That's ... complicated."  Ace shook his head.  "After she was sure the Banishers wouldn't be a problem, she absorbed what Mana she could and left me a note before doing something reckless and dangerous."

The pit of worry that had closed upon learning her friends were alive suddenly reopened.  "What did she do?"

"Midnight earned her way to Master of both Time and Fate so she could save Pixie."

"What happened to Pixie?"  Sweetie Belle's voice was already ragged from her previous emotional outburst, which only lent a greater threat to the hard edge of worry.

"Is she hurt?"  Button looked ready to flay someone.

Ace held up his hands to forestall their rising concern.  "Calm down, guys.  She's fine now, and she'll never even notice the difference.  Midnight went back to before the Banishers destroyed her school and called in a bomb threat, then she faked hundreds of life signs ... somehow ... and let them destroy an empty building."

"Multiple-Arcana Mastery in one day?"

Ace smiled with a bit of pride for just a moment, but it faded quickly as he explained, "She had to use Making to give those kids time and futures, but she didn't have Mind to overwrite all those memories of their deaths.  Because of that, she invoked what I'm guessing was at least a fifth-degree Paradox and then contained it."

Every gathered Mage and Button gasped.  Several of them started to ask questions, but Ace held up a hand to quiet them.

"She'll survive.  She's at the hospital, and they're keeping her sedated for now.  I'll let you know when she's able to have visitors."

The Created and Pinkie had been listening quietly without interrupting their talk, but one of them stepped forward to ask, "Don't you have magick to heal your bodies?"

"Paradox can't be healed with magick, Awakened or otherwise.  My sister's in for a long recovery just like any regular Mortal."

The Created reached into a bag at his side and extracted one of the green cranes.  He presented it to Ace.

"I've heard that some people believe folding one thousand of these will heal anything.  I didn't detect any magick when I made them, but maybe it's a different type.  Please give this to her as a gift from all of us."

"Thank you," Ace said as he accepted the present.  "From me and from Midnight."

"Should we bring in the other guests?" Pinkie asked.

"Yeah, I think they've waited long enough," Ace replied.

She darted into another room, a small foreman's office at the corner of the floor.  Sunset did not bother to ask, knowing she would get an answer as soon as Pinkie returned.  It was not a long wait.  She emerged with Bon Bon and Lyra.

Whatever had been hiding Bon Bon from magick had faded, but that was not the most noticeable change to the two women.  Lyra's soul, which had once been dull and buried in the Lie, was now bright and shining with magick.

"I didn't know she was one of us," Trixie said.

"She wasn't."  Sunset nodded to Lyra.  "What happened?"

"I'm not sure.  One minute, I was watching that monster come out of that tear in reality, the next I was in a place full of thorns.  There were these faerie-like things around, but it wasn't as happy as I thought.  They didn't let me go until I wrote a new song and played it for them."

Trixie was nearly bouncing in glee as she said, "You're a Witch, too.  On the Acanthus Path, not like the generic Mortal idea of 'witches.'  I can't wait to hear the music you'll create with your magick."

Lyra's eyes could have been spinning and it would not have surprised Sunset.  "Calm down, Star Dust.  We'll get her settled once we take care of everything else. How about you, Sweetie Drops?  Are you okay?"

"Yeah.  I thought this one was in a coma for a while, but she woke up.  My superiors probably aren't going to be happy to find out I have a witch-"  She stopped for a moment.  "Sorry, a Mage for a roommate, not that I really care what they think anymore."  She moved closer until she could whisper in Sunset's ear.  "I know you hate me, and that you're mad at Lyra for what she did, but please make sure you guys treat her well, okay?"

"We'll need to talk later, but for now just don't worry about her.  I'm not going to hurt Lyra or you, and I shouldn't have considered it in the first place."

Bon Bon went back to hug Lyra.  "We're going to wait outside for now, but they'll be teaching you what you need to know later, okay?"

"Sure.  See you later, guys."

"What should we do with these guys?" one of the Created asked, gesturing at the Banishers.

"Pinkie, wake them.  I want to ask a few questions."

"Okie-dokie-lokie."  Her reply was hesitant, but she complied.  "It'll take a little bit."

Sunset reached for her weapon to find it was missing.  "I need a gun."

"What are you planning to do?"  There was concern in Sweetie Belle's voice.

"Someone give me a gun.  Now."

As she looked at the captured Banishers, she felt rage seeping into her.  It was not easy to control, but she forced a tight leash on it.  The urge to cut them into pieces with a hacksaw or to pull their spleens with barbed wire would not vanish, but Sunset was confident she would not give herself to the violent impulses.

Ace pulled his own and passed it to her silently.  She continued to lean against him for physical support.  They watched as the Banishers woke, shaking the sleep from their eyes and the cobwebs from their brains.  When they saw the Created forming a loose ring about them and Sunset holding a gun with a blank face, they began struggling against their bindings made of twisted metal.

"Don't bother," Sunset said.  "The Created are really strong.  You're not going to break out of steel pipes.  We're all here for a while and we're going to talk."

Based on the battle, Pinkie Pie and the Created were reasonably certain which one of them was the leader.  They had positioned her somewhat removed from the others.  It was to her that Sunset addressed her question.

"Why?"

A defiant look in her eye, she replied, "We carry out God's Will on this world.  All servants of the Devil will fall before Him in time."

"So you think your god told you kill us?"

"As the Lord commanded in the early days of Israel, we will burn all the witches."

"And you intend to do this with witchcraft?"

"God gave us the Devil's tools to use against his followers.  It burns, but the rewards to come are worth the torment in this life."

With a shake of her head, Sunset replied, "Did you believe this strongly in your god before you Awakened or after?"

The leader would not reply, so she asked the question to the others.  One of them said, "I had doubted God's existence until I saw Hell.  I was burnt in the fires, poked by the demonic legion, until the Lord showed His Mercy to me and allowed me to leave there and have a second chance at life."

"How do you think your god speaks to you?"

"Through whatever means He chooses.  Most of His Revelations come from His Holy Word, but He sometimes speaks in other ways if we listen carefully."

"Does it bother you that your god told you to destroy a primary school?  You butchered hundreds of children."

"We were pursuing the Devilspawn."

"The what?"

The leader spoke again, her voice hard.  "The unholy offspring of the Devil and one of his followers."

Sweetie Belle's attempt to respond required both Twilight and Lemon Zest to hold her.  Sunset had never heard that kind of language from her friend's mouth and made a mental note to pay closer attention to her own.  She waited for Sweetie Belle to calm before continuing.

"How did you know about her?"

"We saw it.  The Lord guided our eyes and we perceived the hellfire in its soul, just like what is in that one."  She nodded toward Button Mash.  "They must be purged.  It is God's Will."

"If you somehow got out of those pipes holding you, what would you do?"

"I would burn you witches in God's Holy Flame."

Sunset closed her eyes for a moment and took a few steadying breaths.

"I'm sorry your Awakening left you in pain, but I'll release you."

She leveled the gun and pulled the trigger.  The retort was immediately followed by a bullet hole appearing between the woman's eyes.  Her body slumped to the ground.

"She'll be buried in an unmarked grave."

"Why did you kill her?"  Sweetie Belle was trying to pull the gun from Sunset's hand, but her fingers were too weak to get the leverage needed.  Sunset had enabled the safety, expecting such a reaction.

"Sweetie Belle, look at me."  She met the young mother's eyes.  "I know what I'm doing.  If you can't handle it, go outside."

Her friend released her hand, not moving except to fall back.  Her eyes were wide and filled with tears.  "Sunset?"

Pinkie placed a hand on Sweetie Belle's shoulder.  "She'll be fine.  Please, come back here with me."

Sunset ignored them, turning her attention back to the other Banishers.  "Someone answer me:  Even if 'devilspawn' exist, how could it ever justify murdering hundreds of children to get one?  What if you were wrong?"

At first, none of them replied.  Finally, one of the men spoke.  "As a great man once said, 'Kill them all.  God will know His own.'"

"Did any of you ever stop to think about what you've been doing?  First you destroyed a residential building and killed tens of innocent people, several families that had done nothing to deserve death, then you targeted hundreds of children.  I'm reiterating this point for a reason because I really hope at least one of you is not a monster."

"The only monsters in this room are the Devil's servants and his spawn," another of the women replied.

"So killing innocent people is fine, since they'll go to Heaven, huh?"

None of the Banishers said anything.  Sunset tried to detect some guilt or doubt in any of them and could find nothing.  Powerful conviction, a little fear, everything pointed to them being ready to die.  Sunset obliged them, all six remaining Banishers meeting the same end as their leader.

"Sunset."  Sweetie Belle was crying, her face pale.  "How could you turn into a killer?"

"Sometimes there's no other choice.  I believe in what the Adamantine Arrow teaches and that violence, especially to take another's life, should never be the first answer.  They had their opportunity to redeem themselves and chose not to take it.  Let the Interfectors handle the enemies we can contain, but I'll make sure those we can't will be stopped."

"What makes you qualified to handle that?" Ace asked.

"Because I can.  I nearly lost myself to bloodlust, but I pulled myself back with Midnight's help.  I am capable of being an executioner, and I will be one so that no one else will have to be."

He nodded.  "Very well."

Sunset turned to her cabal.  Each of them showed concern, but they did not recoil from her gaze.

"I don't expect you guys to understand.  Make your own decisions."

Sweetie Belle could no longer restrain herself.  She grabbed Sunset in a tight hug that dragged them both to the floor.

"Please don't become a murderer, Sunset.  I don't want to lose you."

Twilight pulled Sweetie Belle from Sunset's neck.  "She's not.  She's offering to be an executioner."

"It's the same thing."

"No, it's not.  Both kill, but one does it because there's something wrong with them and they enjoy it.  The other does it because it has to be done.  Sunset, you're ... what, a sociopath? a psychopath?"

"I'm not sure.  Something like that."

Twilight nodded.  "I'll admit I'm not comfortable with it, but you're one of my best friends.  I know that you wouldn't put yourself into danger like that unless you knew you could handle it, and I know you would never hurt anyone if you had any other choice."

"Heroes have to kill monsters," Button Mash added.  "Games play it down, since they're just bits of code.  In real life, someone still has to be responsible for real death when there's no other answer.  You're one of our heroes, Sunset."

"To be honest, I suppose my feelings could be summed up as 'better you than me,'" Trixie said.  "Still, we fought rather viciously in the Shadow compared to what you did just now."

Lemon Zest knelt to join the others.  "It was easy to pretend that nothing bad would ever happen, but that wasn't true.  We killed spirits to survive.  It feels different, but I agree with Trixie."

Though she appreciated their acceptance, Sunset wanted to hear Sweetie Belle's thoughts.  That she was still allowing Sunset to hold her was positive.

"Sweetie Belle, I'm sorry you had to see that.  I hope you'll never have to deal with something like this again.  I'm doing this because I can, I swear it to you.  Even if you don't want me around you or Pixie or Violet again, I can be happy knowing you and the rest of our friends will never have to deal with it.  This is going to happen again, and I'll be there.  Can you accept that?"

Sniffling a bit first, Sweetie Belle replied, "Back before you took me home with you, when things were at their worst, I used to be really mad at my family all the time.  Sometimes, I would think about ... doing things to them.  When Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon started bullying me and my friends, it got worse.  I'd have dreams about the horrible things I could do to them.  I never even really considered it, though.  Something kept me from being able to go that far, even when I was sure I'd have to lose my baby.

"It scares me that someone can do this, Sunset.  I know what I would've become if I'd done something like this."

She hugged Sunset again, though she was careful not to squeeze her neck as she had previously.

"But I trust you, too.  Even though I'm scared for you, I'm not scared of you.  You're a kind, gentle person and a wonderful friend.  Don't ever leave us, okay?"

Even after seeing a side of her that Sunset had always hidden and denied, despite having to help her move the bodies she had created, they were still her friends.  For the first time in her life, Sunset Shimmer felt some peace with herself.

End Part III