She'd heard once, from a distant, religious relative, that when someone you loved died, a new star would be shining in the skies for them. Maybe if it were true, she'd feel a little better about herself, but Twilight Sparkle was a woman of science, and she knew there weren't any new stars out that night.
Not for a lack of looking, though.
So instead, she sat in a chair, eyes glazed and tear streaks fixed to her cheeks, letting the night sky drift over her balcony. She remembered, vividly, the day they'd decorated it. She'd been happy with just the chairs, a table and her telescope, but...
It had been her suggestion to add the fairy lights which now hung from the lattices creating a kind of shelter over a sofa. Twilight had made sure to nurture the growth of her roof garden, and so in the summer it made for a great space to sit and watch the city drive by. Then when it went dark, you moved to the spot she sat in now to watch the stars.
"I'm sorry, Sunset, please.."
Her voice was so weak, so, broken.
It had been a week.
"Just, if you can h- hear me, Sunset, please come back."
A sniff, and Twilight lifted the bottle to her lips again. She wasn't normally a drinker, but this wasn't normal.
"I need you."
But she knew Sunset Shimmer would never hear her again.
Twilight felt her heart beating at a rate that was almost certainly unhealthy as she fought against the device on her hands. She still didn't know how this person had managed to get a hold of magic, or why they were fighting them, but she knew, if she could just get her old magic locator working...
"Twilight! You gotta move!"
"Not yet, Sunset! I'm almost done!"
It was true, she only needed to reset the circuit and tighten the connection, and then she should...
"Twilight!"
"I'm... almost..."
The screwdriver in her hand slipped as she finished tightening the housing holding the cable connections, and her eyes lit up as the device flared to life, instantly locking to the being they were fighting.
Then she felt hands, warm, familiar hands pushing her away. Sunset was pushing her, Sunset was...
A bright blue beam twirled through the air where Twilight had been standing but a moment earlier, and time seemed to slow.
A crystal shield appeared, Rarity's attempt at blocking foiled by the fact she'd misjudged where the beam was. Pinkie Pie's teleportation-esque abilities wouldn't be fast enough, even if she could move two people at once. Applejack and Fluttershy were too far to do something, which left only Rainbow Dash.
Where was Rainbow Dash?
Her eyes flicked over the field until they came to a rest on Fluttershy, who was cradling an unconscious, but clearly breathing Rainbow in her arms. That meant there was nothing she could do.
Twilight was forced to watch in slow motion as the beam tore into Sunset's chest, and the girl stumbled back a step, eyes glazing and clouding as she looked over to Twilight. All she got to see on Sunset's face was a look of shock, anguish, pain, terror, sadness, and a love for Twilight that she had never seen Sunset hold before. Sunset's legs were the first to give out, and the fire-haired girl sank to her knees.
Twilight felt but didn't hear the scream from her throat as her magic began working on overdrive, practically throwing the activated amulet at the being, knowing it would absorb all the magic they had. She didn't care, and she was reaching for Sunset, her magic laying the girl gently onto her back.
"APPLEJACK!"
The orange farmgirl turned towards Twilight, and quickly she was by her side, magic working desperately to try and heal Sunset's wounds. But it wasn't doing anything, and Twilight knew instantly that Applejack needed Sunset's help to heal a wound of this kind. But Sunset's hand grabbed weakly at Twilight's as she whimpered.
"T- Twi? Are you... there? It's s- so dark, so c- cold-"
"Sunset, Sunset please, don't close your eyes, don't go to sleep, don't, don't, don-"
Twilight felt Pinkie's hand on her shoulder.
"LET GO OF ME!"
"T- Twi?"
The voice, her voice, was even weaker.
"Twi, I- I don't want, I don't want to die. I want to-"
"Sunset, no, honey, no, keep talking, you're not gonna-"
"I- I c, can't th, thin, think a- an, any-"
"You're not gonna die. You'll be okay, I promise, I-"
"I, I, Twilight, I-"
"Sunset?!"
"I lo- love y- you, I, I, al, always, h- have, I, Twi-"
"Sunset, please, don't leave me!"
"I- I'm sc, s, scared, Twi, so-"
"Sunset, NO! I love you, I love you too, please, don't leave me! I can't do this without you!"
Sunset's trembling arm lifted until her hand rested on Twilight's cheek.
"I, I'm- I'm go, gonna, m, miss y- you."
Those were the last words Sunset ever spoke, as the breath that left her body with a sob was the last she'd ever taken.
And now Twilight was alone.
One Week later, and life had no meaning. No purpose, no light, no spark, no enjoyment, no good, just all bad.
"I'm so sorry, Sunset, please come back."
"Please."
Fresh sobs shook her body, and Twilight made up her mind, reaching down to grab a small packet from the ground before tipping the pills into her hand.
This many sleeping pills would put her into a slumber she'd never wake up from.
But maybe this slumber would have Sunset, and it would be okay.
She downed the pills before grabbing the beer from the floor, or, maybe, it was the whiskey, and tipping it down her throat.
"Sunset, I'm, I'm coming, can you hear me? I'm coming, just, just wait for me..."
She was only faintly aware of a slamming door as her eyes began to drift shut, faintly aware of her friends screaming as they found her on the balcony.
But her eyes drifted shut, and they didn't open again. The stars glittered as Applejack and Rarity, and then the ambulance crew, tried desperately to wake up Twilight, but she couldn't, and wouldn't have if she'd had the choice.
For Sunset Shimmer was in her dreams, and it made her happy.
Author's Note
[Note copied from Archive]
okay so I absolutely just wrote this in an hour and while it started as just a desire to write something my ideas went dark quick and so we ended up with this. Broke my own heart bc jfc no one can be happy anymore, huh?
Anyway, sorry I haven't uploaded the next part of Dying Rays yet, work has been kicking my ass but I hope to pick it up again next week. Hopefully throw some happier one shots in too.
Okay thanks for reading, don't forget to look at some of my other works, my recommendation for angst is Broken Promises, for Fluff, Waiting On a call that would never come (although it starts angst anyway)
GOODNIGHT I LOVE YOU ALL AND DON'T FORGET TO SLEEEEEEPPPP