To Cure a Broken Heart

Canterlot Express — 0 miles from Canterlot

Flash nudged Sunset, who groaned and mumbled incoherently in her sleep. “Come on… I think you’ll want to see this.”

“What?” Sunset whined, wiping her eyes as she sat up in the seat. “What is it?” As her eyes opened, her eyes landed on the smokey and old, worn-down skyscrapers. Some of them were half-destroyed, others were missing or surprisingly upright. “The city…” Sunset mumbled.

“You made it.”

Applejack smiled at the two of them, “The Mall is five minutes from here. Only issue is we’ll have to walk, but I think our biggest concern is seeing if they’re still there.” Applejack left the vehicle, causing Flash to follow thereafter.

Sunset hopped out, grabbing her bag before looking back up at the city skyline again. “I can’t believe it… do you think…?” Sunset trailed off. If Celestia wasn’t here…

“You’ll find her. I know it.” Flash reassured her.

“You really think so?”

“I know so.”

“Alright, lovebirds. Let’s get going. We’re still running short on time here.” Applejack reminded the two of them, watching as they scrambled to follow her.

As the group continued through the debris and piled up vehicles on the expressway, the absence of the infected was both astounding and eerily terrifying. The streets seemed to pave the same tense environment, as the only signs of the infection were dead bodies lining the streets.

“Where do you think they all went?” Flash mumbled as they then walked through the old run-down alleyways of the city. “Sunset?” Flash turned around, but Sunset was gone. “Sunset?!” Flash ran around the corner, only to see Sunset in a chokehold by Rainbow Dash herself. “Rainbow…” Flash raised his hands defensively, not wanting to get Sunset shot.

Applejack ran around the corner as well, immediately aiming her weapon at her, “Let her go, Rainbow Dash.”

“Not until you give me what is owed.”

“Rainbow Dash, this is crazy and you know it!”

“Wanting to avenge my fucking sister is crazy!?” Rainbow Dash’s voice echoed through the alleyway. “I know damn well if it was Applebloom, you’d do the same thing. Why can’t you be on my side for once?”

“If I was in your shoes, hell, maybe I would. But Rainbow Dash, honestly, I also know she wouldn’t want me to spend the rest of my life trying to kill someone for a simple mistake.”

“A simple mistake killed my sister!”

“I never wanted to be your enemy, Rainbow Dash, you know that.”

Flash’s eyes watered as he kept his hands raised, “This is my fault, Rainbow Dash. Not hers… and definitely not Sunset’s. You want me? That’s fine… shoot me if you wish but please… leave them out of this.”

Rainbow Dash aimed her gun at Flash, “Give me one good reason not to kill you right now… one fucking reason.”

“You have every right to want to kill me, Rainbow Dash. So I-I don’t have one.”

“I do.” Sunset said, “You don’t want to actually shoot him. Otherwise you’d have put a bullet in him already.”

Rainbow Dash’s grip on Sunset tightened, her aim still locked on Flash before she finally let her go, sobbing and falling to her knees. “Fuck…”

Applejack was quick to come to her aid as Flash moved to grab Sunset and pull her from the chaos. Applejack knelt down, rubbing the tears off of her cheeks and hushing her. “Come on, Dashie… we can do this together… work together. Like old times.”

Flash was trying to comfort Sunset when he noticed something behind Rainbow Dash and Applejack. “Hey—hey we have to get out of here.” As the infected began charging towards them, he moved to help Rainbow Dash up, “Now!”

Sunset ran down the alleyway with Applejack and Flash following close behind, but someone else decided to slow down a bit. As Rainbow Dash came to a halt, looking back at the feral people running towards her, Flash moved to try to pull Rainbow Dash to safety. Applejack ran past Sunset as well, screaming for Rainbow Dash to come along.

When Rainbow Dash snapped out of it, Applejack dragged her by the arm towards the gate in the far side of the alleyway. Sunset ran with Flash, but as she looked back, something caught her eye.

While the infected swarmed the entryway of the alley, becoming one conjoined mass of death, a larger creature jumped into view. Its clouded eyes darted around before meeting Sunset’s, snarling as it entered a more aggressive stance.

Sunset paused in her trace, her eyes scanning the creature repeatedly.

No.

No.

No.

It isn’t true.

I refuse to believe it.

It was Discord. The lion… the monster… the creature. It was all him.

Her eyes were wide and full of unshed tears, her once friend now turned into a monstrous replacement. Feral. Infected. Her best friend. Dead. As the tears finally did fall, Flash had grabbed her arm and pulled her along.

As he finally threw her past the gate, Flash paused.

“Flash, come on!” Applejack yelled, but he hesitated.

Although it was all going by so quickly, it felt like slow motion to Sunset. Flash closed the gate, but left himself on the other side.

“Flash? Flash what are you— Flash!” Sunset grabbed at the handle, but Flash had locked it already. “Flash!”

“Doing one good deed in my life.” Flash replied. “Maybe if there’s an afterlife in this hellhole, I can tell Scootaloo how sorry and selfish I was.”

“Flash! No, please!” Sunset screamed.

“I’ll buy you all some time. I just wish I could’ve taken you on that date before everything went to shit.” Flash laughed, trying to make a joke out of it. “You probably wouldn’t have gone anyways. Tell Celestia I said hey.”

Sunset banged her hands on the gate as Flash stepped back, screaming and sobbing for him to come back. But as Discord caught up, tackling and attacking him, Sunset was yanked by Applejack, who desperately tried to pull her along as they ran towards The Canterlot Mall.

When the three reached the checkpoint, the military aimed their weapons till they realized they were survivors. After ushering them in, gunshots clouded their hearing.

“The Military is still here…?” Rainbow Dash mumbled, causing Applejack to shrug before holding tighter onto Sunset, allowing her to sob against her chest.

“Maybe they weren’t evacuating after all…”