Hospital Wing
Next Morning

"No! Gah! Get away! Get away from me!"

"Twilight, calm down! It's okay; you're with me now. No pony's going to hurt you, I promise."

Twilight had wrapped herself in her hospital bed sheets, her body tightly contained underneath the blankets that were placed on top of her. The sheets had been tucked into the sides of the bed, which held Twilight down, preventing her from shooting out of bed. Princess Celestia, who had been Twilight since she had been put in on of the EHS' hospitals, put her hooves on Twilight's chest, trying to calm her breathing down. Twilight then looked up at Celestia and immediately embraced herself into a hug, allowing the tears which had been brewing in her eyes to pour out and drip down her face, later landing on the bed sheets. A nurse and doctor also rushed through a double set of doors from one side of the room and ran over to where Twilight was lying.

When she tried to get up, Twilight noticed that she was attached to some machines and couldn't move too far. There were wires that went into her front left leg and both her nostrils. She was wearing a hospital gown and underneath were stitching and large gashes that were still throbbing and red. Her wings were also wrapped up with wires and bandages and there were tiny stitches in places where the wing had split in two or dislocated itself. Twilight flapped her wings slightly, but that resulted in causing more pain to her body. There were supports holding her wings in place, but still, this was very unconformable to Twilight. She also noticed that around her neck was a supporter, which meant she couldn't move her head at all, but only use her eyes to look around.

"What the...? What happened to me?!"

Twilight looked back at Celestia, who waved a hoof at the nurse and doctor, ordering them to give her some privacy. After the ponies left, Celestia settled back down to Twilight's side and held onto her hoof.

"Twilight, listen to me very carefully. You and your friends were on Canterlot Bridge, along with a few other ponies. Cadance and her companion, Mystery, attacked us and killed two of your friends; Starlight Glimmer and Applejack. Cadance then tried to drag Mystery off of you when he strangled you with his own hooves, shockingly enough, but that resulted in both of them falling off the edge of the bridge. Mystery was hanged by a rope that caught him while he fell and Cadance fell all the way to the bottom and landed in a shallow part of the river. The fall killed her instantly; she wouldn't have felt any pain."

The tears pouring from Twilight's eyes were dirty and salty. They dripped down her face, ruining her princess makeup, and then slipping into her mouth. The scars on her face stung when she cried quietly; it was like torture to Twilight. All that she could remember from last night were the screams of her friends when they were killed. She could remember exactly seeing Applejack falling off the ledge and Cadance smacking against the ground at such force that certainly killed her.

"Cadance is... dead?"

Celestia nodded back. "I'm so sorry, Twilight. There was nothing I could do. Bringing the dead back to life is forbidden magic. It was best to leave her be in peace. Her body has been recovered from the water and most of her bones have been smashed, but other than that, she's still intact. She will be buried in the royal cemetery, somewhere I can stand and see her from a distance. As for your friends Starlight and Applejack, I will find them a place so that they can rest peacefully. Same with them, I'm afraid; Starlight had already died from strangulation and Applejack's body had consumed a huge amount of electrical magic, which, of course, conducted with the water that she fell into."

Twilight flinched at the thought of it. Celestia knew that she had said enough and decided to change the subject.

"Twilight, there are some friends here to see you, if that's okay? They may be slightly injured, but nothing too serious. I will leave you to have some time with them. If you need me, I'll just be outside."

After a nod from Twilight, Celestia turned away and made her way out of Twilight's room. The double-set of doors opened to allow Celestia to leave and then they remained open to allow Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie and Rarity, who all were clearly injured in one way or another. Rainbow Dash had her wings wrapped around her body, including a head bandage around her head, Fluttershy had stitches across her face, Pinkie Pie's back legs both had support poles down to keep them in place and Rarity was in a wheelchair, with her legs locked in place and bandages wrapped around them. Her eyes had thick red veins twisting and turning around like snakes inside. Rarity had her from arms held close to her chest and she bobbled her body up and down constantly.

"Is Rarity okay?" Twilight asked her friends. Fluttershy gulped before replying.

"She's in shock... ever since the incident. I think it'll be a while before she's able to walk again. Even talking's a challenge; give her something soft to hold."

Twilight used her magic, whilst struggling to hold its weight with very little strength, passed a stitched doll that her parents had given her as a "get-well-soon" gift over to Rarity, who shakily reached out a hoof clasped the doll, pulling it close into her chest. Fluttershy placed a blood-stained hoof on Rarity's shoulder, who in response flinched and continued to twitch her eyes at almost every sound and action. Rainbow Dash trotted over to Twilight's bed-table and saw a tiny glass of water with a straw in it, bobbing up and down as it floated softly inside it. She watched the straw for a moment, before turning her attention back to Twilight, trying not to appear rude towards her friends.

Lying her head back, Twilight pointed her eyes down, so that she could still see her visitors. She breathed in through her nose and out through her mouth loudly, and did so for the next thirty seconds or so. Each breath was painful and needed to use a lot of energy from her body, making Twilight feel weak, loose and floppy. Although, it did feel relaxing enough for Twilight to cope, as practically doing anything or moving any limb would cause pain to strike her body like an arrow going straight into her chest at full speed. The company of her friends was enough to make her get out of bed and walk on all four hooves. But realistically, that wasn't going to happen, at least for a very long time.

Rarity, the only pony who was in the same condition as Twilight was, continued bobbing up and down, now slowly, still clutching the doll. She didn't smile and continued humming quietly.

"Are you feeling... okay, Rarity?" Twilight asked quietly. Rarity looked up, pointing her crooked eyes back to her friends. They weren't glaring in anger though; only in fear and loneliness. Everypony looked back at Rarity and would occasionally stroke a hoof on her back or along her purple mane.

"She said that she was going to kill me..." Rarity whispered, crying silently, "...she said she was going to kill me, Twilight. I thought she loved you... I thought she loved all of us. Why would she want to kill us?" As she cried, tears dripped into her lap, but for the very first time, Rarity didn't flinch at getting stained or dirty. "She said she wanted to kill me. Why would Cadance say that?"

This was even a mystery that Twilight couldn't understand. It was starting to go through her head like a nightmare, except this nightmare actually happened to her and her friends. Cadance managed to get away with this all for years; killing criminals of Equestria and this was all behind Princess Celestia's back without anypony coming up and questioning on why this existed; a bridge to hang ponies. And for Cadance to be known as a princess who spreads love and peace across the Crystal Empire and practically the whole of Equestria, it was a shock to see her doing all of this.

"I think it's really that stallion's fault," Twilight replied, "perhaps he offered something that Cadance couldn't turn down. I don't actually know and I don't think we'll ever know the answer. After all, he was the one to drag ponies like Starlight to go over to Canterlot Bridge and attack them. You saw those bodies, right? They were attacked, they just didn't hang themselves or just jump into the river below. Mystery must have used some form of illegal magic to harm, torture and then kill them."

Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes, before groaning loudly.

"Of course it's Mystery's fault! He was the one who made Cadance build the bridge and then forced her to help him collect ponies and kill them. He brainwashed her until she couldn't stand against him any longer. Cadance thought that she was doing the right thing, without knowing who Mystery actually was. It wasn't until she attacked you, Twilight, that Cadance eventually stood up against him and then fell to her death into the water, while he got caught up in the ropes that were hanging from the bridge."

Twilight pulled the bed sheets closer to her chest and then lifted up her tiny mirror using her magic to have a look at the state of her mane. It was scruffy but clean. Obviously, the nurse ponies had cleaned her up while she was unconscious, before laying her in bed, and stitched up her wounds. She inspected her injuries before turning back to look at her friends again.

"Mystery was indeed hung."

Everypony turned to see Princess Celestia standing in the doorway. She had clearly decided that she wanted to come back in, after only being out for a few minutes.

"Sorry for interfering, my little ponies. I just wanted to clarify some things with you lot; yes, Mystery was hung by the ropes that held him back and yes, Cadance was indeed killed by the fall from the bridge. As it may seem upsetting, both will receive a proper burial and there will be a plaque made of gold placed on our side of the bridge. I have also made the decision to close the bridge for good and have the tiny cottage destroyed, but the bridge will stay, as a monument to remember those who were killed or committed suicide on it. This has come to a final decision, so nopony can campaign against this."

There was a long silence in the room. There was nothing to say. Twilight was especially quiet while listening to Celestia say everything that she had to say. She had no words remaining in her mouth; just the sound of gagging. Celestia then turned around and begun her way out.

"I will leave you all in peace now. I can't stay for too long, I'm afraid. Princess duties await me."

Celestia walked out and the nurses closed the doors behind her. The attention was later turned back to Twilight, who was still looking at her friends. It remained quiet for a while, until Spike, who had been standing mostly out of this all, walked over to Twilight and grabbed hold of her right hoof. Twilight looked at him and smiled back.

"At least you're here now, Twilight," Spike said, "we're so thankful that you're still alive and well. That's all we wish for."

Twilight allowed herself to cry; it was almost like a relief from it all. Crying never felt so good before, but at that moment in time, it did. She had her friends, she was happy and most of all, she was alive. But she now knew that she would never see her beloved Cadance ever again; she was gone for good, along with Mystery. All Twilight could do was hug her friends and bring them closer to her, so that she could never let them go ever again.

"We love you Twilight" Pinkie Pie said. Everypony agreed, including Spike.

"I love you too, guys. So much."

Canterlot Bridge

It was completely pitch black on the border of Canterlot. No light shone beyond the last building in the city, nor there was any colour but black. It was like walking around in a world of shadows. There was no life, except for the two guards that were patrolling at the very bottom of the gorge that split up Canterlot from the forest on the other side. The guards, who were unicorns, were trotting along, searching through the mud and swampy water that they were walking through.

The guards were ordered to collect the body of Princess Cadance and drag her out of the water. It was easier said than done, as the mud was thick and was easy to get stuck in. However, with great strength, the stallions eventually found what they were looking for after the first guard shone his horn at the body.

"There she is!" he said.

The two guards quickly trotted over to the still body and started to clean off the mud from Cadance's chest, face and mane, before they both used their horns to lift her out of the river. Just before they used their magic to help her out of the thick mud, Cadance's horn gave a little flicker of magic. The guards jumped back, throwing Cadance's body back into the water. Just soon after, Cadance's eyes slightly opened, revealing a pair of grey-coloured eyeballs. The second guard stepped back, before soon turning away and running off back to Canterlot, but the first still stood there in awe of what he was seeing.

"Sweet Celestia..."

The End?

Author's Note

So, yeah, I killed off a lot of characters:
Starlight Glimmer- Hanged
Applejack- Electrocuted
Cadance- Death from falling (yes, despite the last scene, she is indeed dead)