Author's Note
I had been contemplating doing some edits to address a couple issues and slow the pace for a while now. While the beginning is mostly the same, the memories have had some upgrades.
Dark Sunset 2.0
It was a beautiful spring day in Canterlot City. The birds were singing as they tried teaching their babies to fly. The honey bees were buzzing about; going from flower to flower so that they could bring pollen back to the hive. Even the sky seemed cheerful. A stray cloud here and there as the sunbathed in the bright baby blue sky.
Sunset Shimmer walked past the freshly rebuilt Wondercolt statue as she reluctantly made her way toward the front doors of the school. It was such a shame to have to waste this day by sitting inside listening to teachers drone on about things she already knew.
She held the door open for a couple of her classmates before she continued to her locker. Something seemed a little off today besides the unusually perfect weather. Her classmates seemed to be ignoring her for some reason. There wasn't anything scandalous going on that she could recall nor was there any other possible reason for everyone to be acting this way.
Then she arrived at her locker.
There were notes and pictures all over the outside of it. Most of them praising how great a person she was. A few of the notes had wrinkled circles on them as if they were wet.
Okay… I wonder what's all this is for? she wondered. I'll ask the girls in a few minutes. Maybe they'll know what's going on.
She entered the combination on the lock and opened the locker. Sunset was buried under a wave of pictures and paper almost instantly as soon as it was opened.
Holy cow! That's a lot of fan mail, she thought as she grabbed her books and tried scooping everything up off the floor. She closed the locker and headed to the music room where she and her friends would always meet before classes would begin.
As she continued her trek to the music room, she began to get confused as she thought about the events so far today. There were a ton of notes, pictures, etc. taped to the outside of her locker and overflowing the inside of it, however, everyone she greeted completely ignored her as she walked down the hallway.
Perhaps I should go back and read a couple of the notes. That might shed some light on all this, Sunset thought as she paused in the middle of the hallway. No, I'm already running late as it is. I'll read some of them after our morning meeting.
As she approached the music room, a somber, almost sad melody could be heard coming from inside. Sure Fluttershy had written a couple slow songs but this one was different. Sunset and her friends had never played anything this depressing before. She grabbed the door handle and paused just as she began to pull the door open.
Is that Fluttershy crying? Sunset thought as she heard the sound of someone bawling.
Sure enough, as Sunset pulled the door open, she saw her pink haired friend sitting against the wall with her head buried in her hands, sobbing uncontrollably. Rarity sat next to her and attempted to cradle Fluttershy in her arms.
"I-I can't... *sniff* ...I can't believe she... *sniff* ...she left," Fluttershy said between sobs. "For... for good."
"I know, dear," Rarity said as she rubbed Fluttershy's back. "But hopefully she's doing better now than she was."
"What's wrong with Fluttershy?" Sunset asked the others with concern in her voice. Her question only floated through the air with no response. They, her best friends, didn't even look up at her.
Did I do something wrong? Sunset wondered as she stood in silence as the soft, slow, sad melody continued to play beside her. They've never acted this way toward me before.
She slowly made her way over to Applejack. Representing the Equestrian Element of Honesty, surely she would tell her what happened. She placed her left-hand Applejack's shoulder in an attempt to gain her attention, but to no avail.
"Was the scene as gruesome the Internet made it out to be, though?" Rainbow asked as she paused her strumming.
Fluttershy's sobbing turned into a loud wail at that point, confusing Sunset further.
“Great timing, Dash. Eventually, someone will be able to teach y'all the meaning of th’ word tact,” Applejack scolded.
“What? I was curious,” Rainbow shot back.
“But this still ain't the time to be asking about such things, Dashie. It's really, really, really hurtful ask something like that to someone that's crying like Shy Shy is,” Pinkie chimed in.
Sunset took in the scene for another couple minutes before noticing that the final member of the group was missing. It was odd because Twilight was never late for their pre-class meeting. Heck, Sunset couldn't ever remember anyone being later than herself.
"Um, where is Twilight?" asked Sunset as she continued to be ignored. "Nothing happened to her, did it?"
“But what do you think caused her to do that?” Pinkie Pie asked as she lightly tapped a slow beat on one of the snare drums.
“Personally Ah think it had a lot to do with what happened to Twilight,” said Applejack as she set her bass down. “They were like two apples on th’ same branch.”
What happened to Twilight? Sunset still wanted to know. I really hope nothing bad happened to her. I'd be devastated.
Suddenly, memories of the past few weeks began flooding into Sunset's mind.
”Are you sure you don't want me to drive?” Twilight asked before letting out a big yawn.
“Yes, Twilight. Look at you. You're barely able to walk because of how sleepy you are,” Sunset remarked as she slung Twilight's arm over her shoulder and helped her to the car.
“How was I supposed to know the movie was that boring?” Twilight asked sarcastically.
“We both thought it would be good,” Sunset said as she felt Twilight getting heavier. “Hey, wake up!”
“Huh? Oh yeah, sorry. The first couple movies in the series were *yawn* great and the fake review didn't help.”
“I can't argue with that.”
Sunset opened the passenger side door to help Twilight in.
“Sunset, I… *yawn* ...I really am… good to… Zzzz…”
“Good night, Twilight,” Sunset said with a soft giggle, gently kissing her on the forehead after buckling her seat belt. “Let's get you home so you can sleep somewhere comfortable.”
“Mmhmm… beddy-bye…” Twilight barely mumbled. Sunset couldn't help giggling at her before closing the door.
HOOOONK!
Sunset laid on the horn as a beat-up truck swerving back and forth crossed over the center line onto her side on the road. She turned the wheel to the left as hard as she could in an attempt to avoid the oncoming vehicle. The sudden movement shook Twilight awake in time to see what was going on.
“Sunset! Look out!” Twilight shouted as the headlights came nearer.
The events over the next couple minutes seemed to move in slow-motion.
Just as she thought her and Twilight had avoided the truck, a shower of glass flooded the interior of the car from the right-hand side. In a futile endeavor, Sunset did her best to keep control of the car before the driver's side slammed against a guardrail, rendering her unconscious.
A soft beeping filled Sunset's ears as her mind began to reboot. She couldn't move her head or her right arm and a slight panic began to seize her as she slowly opened her left eye as her right eye was swollen shut. Her vision was slightly blurry but she was able to make out a pink and yellow blob sitting next to her.
“Fluttershy? Is that you?” Sunset asked groggily as she began to fully regain consciousness.
“Sunset! Oh, thank goodness you're awake!” Fluttershy said excitedly.
"Where am I and why can't I move my head?" Sunset as she tried making sense of her surroundings. “And what's that beeping?”
"Yer in th' hospital, sugarcube," Applejack said with a noticeable sadness in her voice as she entered the room.
"What?! Why?" asked Sunset as she got a sinking feeling in her stomach.
“You don't remember?” Fluttershy asked softly.
Sunset thought for a moment before attempting to shake her head no.
"Darling, you... you and Twilight were hit by a drunk driver af-after your outing last night," Rarity choked out.
Try as she might, Sunset couldn't remember the accident, possibly because her brain blocking the memory to protect her psyche or possibly due to her concussion that she suffered. The only thing she could remember prior to waking up was helping Twilight back to the car after a boring two and a half hour movie about cars that change into robots. Then a thought suddenly hit her.
"Hey, how's Twilight doing?" Sunset asked shakily.
The others nervously looked at each other as if to decide who should answer her question.
"Girls, what happened to her? How badly did she get hurt?” Sunset begged frantically.
Everyone in the room looked to Applejack to break the tension hanging in the air. "Fine, Ah'll tell her." So she let out a big sigh and delivered the news. "Sunset... Ah don't know any other way to say this but, Twilight didn't make it. They said she was killed on impact. There weren't nothin' the paramedics could do for her. Ah'm so sorry.”
Sunset looked at Applejack in disbelief as her already blurred vision became got worse as tears flooded into her eye. Her friend, her love, had been taken from her...forever. The thought of Twilight being killed in an accident she couldn't remember sent a wave of guilt through her body.
“Darling, would you like a few moments alone?”
Sunset let out a near silent yes as she reached up with her left hand to wipe her left eye.
'Why her? Why couldn't it have been me?' she thought as the girls hugged her one by one before filing out of the room.
“Um, I’d like to stay here for a little bit,” said Fluttershy as she sat on the edge of the bed and gently held the broken girl as she wept. “If that's okay with you, Sunset.”
"It-it's fine."
Two days later Sunset was released from the hospital. The plastic neck brace that she had been wearing had been replaced by a foam one that could be removed for bathing and getting dressed. She had bandages around her chest to help with her broken ribs. Band-aids littered her face where the glass in the accident had hit her; stitches underneath a couple of them. Finally, her right arm was wrapped in a red and yellow cast supported by a blue sling.
“I get to be the first to sign Sunset's cast!” Pinkie shouted as she, Applejack, Rainbow Dash and Rarity waited outside of the hospital for Fluttershy to push Sunset through the door.
“I suppose you already have a marker to do that,” Rainbow said sarcastically.
“Sure do,” Pinkie boasted as she produced a Sharpie from out of nowhere.
“Y'all reckon she'll be ready for th’ funeral tomorrow?” Applejack asked, immediately changing the mood.
“Eeeeh...I don't know,” Rainbow said. “She's been acting kinda weird since we told her about the accident.”
“If she isn't, we shouldn't force it upon her, darling,” Rarity answered.
Just as Applejack was about to reply, Pinkie shot toward the building like a cannonball.
“Sunset!” Pinkie shouted with excitement. “I missed you so much because you were here in the hospital and not hanging out with us at school or at the sleepover we had last night because you were here and not at school or at my house and we missed you so much because it just wasn't the same without you because you couldn't go to the party.”
Just as Pinkie drew a deep breath to resume her rambling her mouth was covered by a light yellow hand. Pinkie was simultaneously being pulled away by Applejack due to Sunset wincing from the pain that Pinkie was unintentionally causing by hugging her.
“Oopsie, I'm really sorry, Sunny Bunny. I completely forgot you had some broken ribs,” Pinkie apologized.
Sunset accepted Pinkie’s apology but the focus in her head remained 'Why did it have to be Twilight?'
Rarity and Rainbow Dash helped Sunset into the waiting limousine to take her home. And that's when the trouble began.
Two weeks later, Sunset entered her apartment, her depression and feelings of guilt continued to spiral out of control. As she had done every day since returning home after the accident, she removed the foam neck brace, changed into her pajamas, picked up the same photo of her and Twilight, pulled it as tight as she could between her broken arm and ribs and wept uncontrollably. She hadn't taken an actual bath since that fateful day. Her hair was unkempt and matted. The only food she had eaten was a piece of toast every couple days.
"Why??" she shouted through her bawling. "It's not fair! I never got to tell you that I love you. I'm so sorry Twilight." She moved the photo back from her chest momentarily and gently kissed the picture of her purple-skinned friend before clutching it tightly against herself again. "I just wish this is was a bad dream..."
Sunset jumped slightly as her meltdown was interrupted by a light tapping on the door.
"Be... be right there!" shouted Sunset, trying to compose herself. She set the photo on the end table, wiped her face as best she could, put the neck brace back on and opened the door. "Fluttershy?"
"Hi, Sunset," Fluttershy said softly. "The others wanted me to check on you. You seem to be getting more distant the last couple days."
"I'm okay," Sunset lied as she led her friend inside. "I just miss her."
"We all do but the rest of us are worried sick about you. You haven't sat with us at lunch since you left the hospital. Your guitar hasn't moved in the music room. Heck, you even moved to the back corner of the classrooms."
"I'm sorry. I'm just trying to deal with this the best I can," Sunset said as they both sat down on the sofa.
There was an awkward pause between the two girls as Fluttershy reached out and took Sunset's left hand. "Sunset, you aren't thinking about-"
"No! I can't possibly do that," Sunset quickly denied.
"I'm just checking." Fluttershy looked at the photo on the end table and noticed something. So she scooted closer to Sunset and gently touched her forehead to Sunset's temple. "You've been crying, haven't you?"
"No. I just was rubbing my eyes from how sleepy I've been."
Fluttershy leaned back to look at her downtrodden friend. Her attention was immediately drawn to lines on Sunset's face and a slightly quivering lip. "Sunset, you have tear stains on your cheeks and on your favorite picture," Fluttershy said softly. "It's okay to cry. I do it all the time."
Sunset couldn't hold back anymore. Her emotions flooded out of her. She turned and held Fluttershy almost as tight as she was holding the photograph earlier. "I didn't get to say goodbye the way I wanted. She never knew how much I loved her. It's all my fault, Fluttershy," she cried into Fluttershy's shoulder. “I killed her.”
"Sunset, you didn't kill her. It was a tragic accident. You didn't know someone was going to hit your car that night."
"But it was my fault. I insisted on driving home that night. She would still be alive if I let her drive," Sunset continued.
"But then it might have been you that died," said Fluttershy, stroking Sunset's back while holding her head.
"But… but she would still be alive, Fluttershy. She would be alive..."
Fluttershy continued to hold her guilt-ridden friend as she cried into her shoulder. "Everything is going to be okay, Sunset. I promise. Okay?"
Sunset barely nodded as her crying slowly stopped over the course of the few minutes. At the same time, Sunset's body began to get limp, signaling to Fluttershy that her friend was crying herself to sleep. After she was sure that Sunset was asleep, Fluttershy used what little strength she had to gently shift Sunset to a laying position on the sofa. She covered her up with a light blanket and sent Rainbow Dash a text, asking her to go to her house and get her pajamas and a change of clothes and drop them off at Sunset's apartment. She knew that she was going to be in for a long night.
Over the course of the next month, Fluttershy had spent nearly every night at Sunset's apartment in an attempt to get her back to her former self the best she could. During this time frame, however, Sunset had learned how to put up a good front at school and when Fluttershy stayed over, but the days she was alone, she would still go into her post-accident routine of crying while clutching the photograph of her and Twilight. Until one night, she snapped.
"I can't take this any longer, Twilight," Sunset wept as she stared at the picture. "This pain is too great. It's time for us to be together again."
She walked to her desk, set the photo on top of it and looked through the drawers for her X-ACTO knife. Once she had the knife, she picked up the photo and slowly climbed into the loft and then laid on her bed, in tears, clutching the prized photo.
"I'm sorry girls. I love you like sisters but I have to do this... it's the only way I can think of to get rid of this pain inside me," she sobbed. "Maybe someday we'll be together again."
Sunset bit her bottom lip as hard as she could, gripped the razor-sharp knife in her right hand and slowly pulled it along the vein in her left arm before repeating the process on the other arm that she just had the cast removed from just a few days prior. Her blood pulsed out of the six-inch cuts at the same rhythm as her heartbeat. It covered her and the photo as she held it close to her heart for the final time.
"Goodbye," she whispered before closing her eyes one last time.
"Wait a minute... I'm dead?" Sunset said aloud as she suddenly noticed the long scars on her arms. “But how was I able to open the doors and my locker?”
She slowly turned around and left the music room, her face toward the floor. She returned to her locker to look at the notes and pictures that made up what she now realized was a memorial. She looked closer at a couple of the notes which read:
While you may have been mean in the past, your friendship has made us a family. Goodbye, Sunset.
Sunset, words cannot describe how you much you will be missed.
Always in our hearts.
While I'm sad you left, I hope you're finally at peace.
Then she looked at the photo in the center with tears in her eyes. It was a photo of all seven members of the Rainbooms. Sunset and Twilight were sitting in front of the others. Someone had drawn a heart around the two of them and underneath the heart wrote the following:
SS + TS: Together Forever
After a quick sniffle, she lightly placed her hand on the photo and whispered, “I love you, Twilight.”
“I know and I love you, too.”
BONUS CHAPTER: The Original Dark Sunset
It was a beautiful spring day in Canterlot City. The birds were singing as they tried teaching their babies to fly. The honey bees were buzzing about; going from flower to flower so that they could bring pollen back to the hive. The even the sky seemed cheerful. A stray cloud here and there as the sun bathed in the bright baby blue sky.
Sunset Shimmer walked past the Wondercolt statue as she reluctantly made her way toward the front doors of the school. It was such a shame to have to waste this day by sitting inside listening to teachers drone on about things she already knew.
She held the door open for a couple of her classmates before she continued to her locker. Something seemed a little off today besides the perfect weather. Her classmates seemed to be ignoring her for some reason. There wasn't anything scandalous going on that she could recall nor was there any other possible reason for everyone to be acting this way.
Then she arrived at her locker.
There were notes and pictures all over the outside of it. Most of them praising how great a person she was. A few of the notes had wrinkled circles on them as if they were wet.
What's all this for? she wondered. Maybe the girls will know what's going on.
She entered the combination on the lock and opened the locker. However as soon as it opened, Sunset was buried under a wave of pictures and paper.
That's a lot of fan mail, she thought as she grabbed her books and tried scooping everything up off the floor. She closed the locker and headed to the music room where she and her friends would always meet before classes would begin.
As she continued to walk down the hall, she started getting confused as she thought about the events of today. There were a ton of notes, pictures, etc. in and on her locker but yet everyone was completely ignoring her as she greeted everyone that she passed by.
Perhaps I should go back and read a couple of the notes. That might shed some light on all this, Sunset thought as she paused in the middle of the hallway. No, the girls are expecting me and I'm already running late as it is.
As she approached the music room, a somber, almost sad melody could be heard coming from inside. Sure Fluttershy had written a couple slow songs but it seemed odd to Sunset none of them had never written or played anything that depressing. She grabbed the door handle and paused just as she began to pull the door open.
Is that Fluttershy crying? Sunset thought.
Sure enough, as Sunset pulled the door open, she saw her pink haired friend sitting against the wall with her head buried in her hands, sobbing uncontrollably. Rarity sat next to her and attempted to cradle Fluttershy in her arms.
"I-I can't... *sniff* ...I can't believe she... *sniff* ...she left," Fluttershy said between sobs. "For... for good."
"I know, dear," Rarity said as she rubbed Fluttershy's back. "But hopefully she's doing better now than she was."
"What's wrong with Fluttershy?" Sunset asked the others. Her question only floated through the air with no response. They, her friends, didn't even look up at her.
Did I do something wrong? Sunset wondered as she stood in silence as the soft, slow, sad melody continued to play beside her. They've never acted this way toward me before.
She slowly made her way over to Applejack. Representing the Equestrian Element of Honesty, surely she would tell her what happened. She placed her left hand Applejack's right shoulder in an attempt to gain her attention, but to no avail.
"Was the scene as gruesome the Internet made it out to be, though?" Rainbow asked as she paused her strumming.
Fluttershy's sobbing turned into a loud wail at that point, confusing Sunset further.
Sunset took in the scene for another couple minutes before noticing that the final member of the group was missing. It was odd because Twilight was never late for their pre-class meeting. Heck, Sunset couldn't ever remember anyone being later than her.
"So where is Twilight?" asked Sunset as she continued to be ignored. "Nothing happened to her, did it?"
“But what do you think caused her to do that?” Pinkie Pie asked as she lightly tapped a slow beat on one of the snare drums.
“Personally Ah think it had a lot ta do with what happened ta Twilight,” said Applejack as she set her bass down. “They were like two apples on th’ same branch.”
What happened to Twilight? Sunset still wanted to know. I really hope nothing bad happened to her. I'd be devastated.
Suddenly, memories of the past few days began flooding into Sunset's mind.
”Are you sure you don't want me to drive?” Twilight asked before letting out a big yawn.
“Yes, Twilight. Look at you. You're barely able to walk because of how sleepy you are,” Sunset remarked as she slung Twilight's arm over her shoulder and helped her to the car.
“How was I supposed to know the movie was that boring?” Twilight asked sarcastically.
“Ugh… let's just get you home.”
“Wha-? What happened?” Sunset said groggily as she began to regain consciousness.
“Sunset! You're awake!” Fluttershy said excitedly.
"Um, yeah? Can someone please tell me what it the world is going on?" Sunset as her head tried making sense of her surroundings.
"Yer in th' hospital, sugarcube," Applejack said, a noticeable sadness in her voice.
"Why?" asked Sunset as she got a sinking feeling in her stomach.
"Darling, you... you were hit by... by a drunk driver after your date with Twilight," Rarity choked out.
Sunset couldn't remember the accident, possibly because her brain blocking the memory to protect her psyche. The only thing she could remember prior to waking up was helping Twilight back to the car after a boring two and a half hour movie about cars that change into robots.
"So how's Twilight doing?" Sunset asked shakily.
The others nervously looked at each other as if to decide who should answer her question.
"This isn't funny. What happened to her? Tell me. Please," Sunset begged frantically.
Applejack let out a big sigh and delivered the news. "Sunset... Twi-Twilight didn't make it. Ah'm so sorry."
Two weeks later, Sunset entered her apartment, her depression continuing to spiral out of control. As she had done every day since returning home after the accident, she removed the foam neck brace, changed into her pajamas, picked up the same photo of her and Twilight, pulled it as tight as she could between her broken arm and ribs and wept uncontrollably. She hadn't taken an actual bath since that fateful day. Her hair was unkempt and matted. The only food she had eaten was a couple pieces of toast every couple days.
"Why??" she shouted through her bawling. "I never told her that I love her. It's not fair! I'm so sorry Twilight." She moved the photo back from her chest momentarily and gently kissed her purple-skinned friend before clutching it tightly to herself again. "Please tell me this is a bad dream..."
Her most recent meltdown was interrupted by a light tapping on the door.
"Be... be right there!" shouted Sunset, trying to compose herself. She set the photo on the end table, wiped her face, put the neck brace back on and opened the door.
"Hi, Sunset," Fluttershy said softly. "The others wanted me to check on you. You seemed really distant the last couple days."
"I'm okay," Sunset lied as she let her friend inside. "I just miss her."
"We all do but we're worried about you. You haven't sat with us at lunch since you left the hospital. Your guitar hasn't moved in the music room. Heck, you even moved to the back corner of the classrooms."
"I'm sorry. I'm just trying to deal with this the best I can."
After looking at the photo on the end table, Fluttershy scooted closer, put her arm around Sunset and gently touched her forehead to Sunset's temple. "You've been crying, haven't you?"
"No. I just was rubbing my eyes from how sleepy I've been."
"Sunset, you have tear stains on your cheeks and on your favorite picture," Fluttershy whispered softly. "It's okay to cry. I do it all the time."
Sunset couldn't hold back anymore. Her emotions flooded out of her. She turned and held Fluttershy almost as tight as she was holding the photograph earlier. "I didn't get to say goodbye the way I wanted. She never knew how much I loved her. It's all my fault, Fluttershy," she cried into Fluttershy's shoulder.
"How is it your fault? You didn't know someone was going to hit your car that night."
"It was my fault. I insisted on driving home that night. She would still be alive if I let her drive," Sunset continued.
"But then it might have been you that died," said Fluttershy, stroking Sunset's back while holding her head.
"But she would still be alive, Fluttershy."
Fluttershy held her guilt-ridden friend as she just continued to cry into her own shoulder. "Everything is going to be okay, Sunset. I promise. Okay?"
Sunset barely nodded as her crying slowly stopped. A few minuted later Sunset went limp, signaling to Fluttershy that her friend had cried herself to sleep. She gently shifted Sunset's body so that she could be laid down on the couch. Fluttershy covered her up with a blanket and sent out a text to Rainbow Dash requesting that she could bring a change of clothes to Sunset's apartment for her.
Over the next month, Fluttershy stayed off and on at Sunset's place helping her get back to her former self the best she could. Sunset had learned how to put up a good front at school and around Fluttershy when she stayed over but the days she was alone, she still went into her post-accident routine of crying while clutching the photograph of her and Twilight.
"I can't take this any longer, Twilight," Sunset wept. "It's time for us to be together again."
She set the photo on the kitchen counter as she looked through the drawers for her hobby knife. Once she had found the knife, she picked up the photo and went into her bedroom where she laid on her bed, in tears, holding the photo.
"I'm sorry girls. I have to do this."
Sunset gripped the razor-sharp knife in her right hand and pulled it along the vein in her left arm before repeating the process on the other arm that she just had the cast removed from days earlier. Her blood pulsed out of the six-inch cuts at the same rhythm as her heartbeat. It covered her and the photo as she held it close to her heart for the final time.
"So I'm dead...?" Sunset said aloud to herself as she suddenly noticed the long scars on her arms.
She slowly turned around and left the music room. She returned to her locker to look at the notes and pictures that made up what she now realized was a memorial. She looked closer at a couple of the notes which read:
Sunset, words cannot describe how you much you will be missed.
Always in our hearts.
While I'm sad you left, I hope you're finally at peace.
Then she looked at the photo in the center with tears in her eyes. It was a photo of all seven members of the Rainbooms. Sunset and Twilight were sitting in front of the others. Someone had drawn a heart around the two of them and underneath the heart wrote the following:
SS + TS: Together Forever
