“So while Rainbow Dash, Spitfire, and I go out to find help… I want you in charge.” Sunset ordered as she grabbed the fire axe from Flash.

“Me?”

“Yes. You. I’d put someone else in charge but you’re not afraid to make decisions that… may seem too harsh to others.” Sunset looked down as she remembered how she defended Bon Bon, who turned out to be infected.

“Listen… there’s no other way that situation could have gone. Regardless she’d…”

Sunset nodded, “I know. I know I couldn’t have done anything, but I feel like I could’ve tried.”

Flash sighed, deciding to change the topic, “So what’s the plan for you guys then?”

“The library is the closest place we can enter from the outside. It’s a staff-only door, but Spitfire says she has the key—for some reason. If not, I guess we always have this.” Sunset glanced at the axe in her hands. “Point is, Miss Cheerilee should be in there. I don’t know if this has spread any further than here, but maybe she’s okay.”

“I hope she is.” Flash mumbled before sighing and hugging her. Sunset stiffened slightly, shocked by the sudden action. “Stay safe.”

“Right—of course.” Sunset finally squirmed out from his grasp, “Thanks.” She fiddled with her hair till Rainbow Dash spoke up.

“Are we going or what?” Rainbow Dash pried the window open while Applejack and Spitfire held the ladder still.

“Yeah, I’m coming.” Sunset jumped past the multitude of bleachers to reach the ladder, and as Rainbow Dash hopped down, she bowed and motioned to the ladder.

“Ladies first.”

Sunset scoffed before climbing up, moving her legs over the edge before glancing back at the group. “Stay safe. All of you. We’ll be back soon.” Sunset then slid down the rope they had thrown down earlier, and as her shoes dropped onto the grass, she sighed. The breeze moved through the trees, the birds sang, and for a split second it seemed like what happened earlier was just a fever dream.

When Rainbow Dash and Spitfire dropped down, Rainbow Dash gulped. “Wow… it looks like nothing’s even changed.” Sunset glanced over, her eyes darting between the two before she inhaled sharply.

“We have to find Miss Cheerilee…” Sunset urged, moving forward on the outskirts of school grounds and towards the library.

“Do you think she’ll actually be there? Maybe she fled with the other teachers.” Rainbow Dash suggested.

“I don’t know, but we have to try to find someone… anyone.”

“Couldn’t we just call 911 and wait for help?” Spitfire interjected.

“Anytime we’ve tried it goes straight to dial… Phone lines must be down, or something.” Sunset shrugged as she made her way to the staff-only door, motioning to Spitfire to hand her the keys.

Rainbow Dash glanced at the telephone poles near the street, which seemed to look fine. “Are you sure? They look fine to me.”

“Let’s just focus on this first, then we’ll worry about the phones.” Sunset finally unlocked the door, “Alright, we’re in. We should stick together. Who knows if those things are in here too.” Sunset nudged the door open, revealing the seemingly untouched library, but that only gave it a more eerie feeling.

“Miss Cheerilee?” Sunset called out, albeit quietly. As they moved past the aisles of bookshelves, their shoes muffled by the carpet, they huddled together and held their weapons tight to their chests.

“Miss Cheerilee!” Rainbow Dash yelled, causing Sunset to drop her axe and immediately muffle her. A groan caught their attention, and as Sunset kept her hands pressed on Rainbow Dash’s mouth, she glanced at the figure walking into view.

“Miss Cheerilee..!” Sunset let her go, grabbing the axe and moving towards her, “We—we need your help! Something’s happened and we— we…” Sunset stopped for a second as Miss Cheerilee seemed to struggle to walk.

Spitfire stepped forward, holding the plastic ruler she had sharpened into a make-shift dagger. “That’s not Miss Cheerilee.”

“What? It obviously is.” Rainbow Dash motioned to her, “She’s just…” as she turned around, Rainbow Dash immediately took back her statement, “Nope. That’s not her.” Rainbow Dash quickly held up her baseball bat, ready to smack the shit out of her if need be.

But as Miss Cheerilee charged, Sunset used her axe to stop her—only for the steel to nearly split her head in two. Sunset gasped, holding herself still as she suddenly went limp—taking the axe with her as she fell to the ground.

Sunset gasped, hyperventilating as she glanced down at the teacher she used to respect. “I just killed someone…” she mumbled.

“Something.” Spitfire corrected, “It wasn’t her anymore.”

“Oh my god, I killed someone.” she continued to mumble, but as Spitfire tried to interject, Rainbow Dash stopped her.

“Sunset… Sunset, it's okay.” she tried to comfort her, rubbing her back before moving to wipe the blood that sprayed on her face. “Sunset…”

She squirmed away from her, stepping over her body before walking off. Sunset had no clue where she was going, but she wasn’t about to stand there and look down at a defiled corpse.

Rainbow Dash and Spitfire tried to yell at her to stop, but as she swung the doors open and entered the hallway, they quieted down.

Sunset’s eyes watered as she walked down the hall, her eyes glued to the floor that used to be a pristine white, but was now coated in half dried and half fresh blood. She ignored the screaming calls of the infected, but as someone suddenly yanked her into a classroom, she snapped out of it.

Her mouth was covered. She squirmed and yelped, and as the door shut behind her, she wiggled herself out of the stranger’s grasp. She turned around, albeit a bit too quickly as she had immediately fallen to the ground, only to see Principal Celestia scrambling to help her up.

“Sunset Shimmer—! Oh my god, I’m so happy to see you. Are you okay? Did anyone hurt you?” she examined her body for any bite marks or scratches, but as she looked back up at her, she saw her terrified expression. “Sunset—”

Principal Celestia flinched as Sunset abruptly hugged her, gasping as tears streamed down her cheeks. After a second, she began to sob, leaving Celestia to try to comfort her.

“I killed someone, Celestia.” she sobbed. “I killed Miss Cheerilee.”

“Shh… shh, it’s okay. It’s okay. I got you.” Celestia hushed her, rubbing her back and mumbling soothing phrases to try to calm her.

“Are you mad at me?” Sunset desperately asked. It seemed like a stupid question, but Sunset could barely think straight to begin with.

“No, no. I could never be mad at you. You did what you had to… It’s okay.” Celestia began to cry as well, “I.. I know—I know you would never do that—if you could have…” Sunset’s tears began to falter as she glanced up at Celestia, watching her former Principal sob right before her eyes.

And then she saw it. In the back of the room lay a body. And as soon as she saw it, she recognized the figure. Vice Principal Luna… her sister.

She had to kill her sister.

Author's Note

I made a very harsh decision in this chapter and it's a decision I'm not exactly proud of, but like I said: drama.