//------------------------------//
// Epilogue 
// Story: When We Break 
// by CommissarAJ 
//------------------------------//

Numb.

There was no other word to describe how Twilight felt at that moment, sitting on a couch in a darkened room with nothing but silence and her thoughts. The conversations with the police had been long and draining, but at least it was finally over with. They had been polite and professional, and despite their repeated assurances that this case appeared ‘open and shut’, she couldn’t help shake the feeling that none of them cared.

After all, Tempest and King were just a bunch of criminals: who cared what happened to them?

A knock from the door, followed by a sudden intrusion of light, drew Twilight’s attention. It was Sunset Shimmer along with the rest of her friends.

“We came as soon as we heard,” Sunset said. Everyone gathered around the couch, with Sunset taking a seat next to Twilight. “How are you holding up?”

Twilight didn’t answer, and instead just let her gaze sink back to the small newspaper-wrapped box that sat in her lap. Her bloodied fingerprints were still visible on it. She wished she had an answer because she struggled to make sense of everything.

“What’s that?” Rainbow Dash asked as she peered from her vantage point behind the couch.

With an expressionless gaze, Twilight answered, “A gift.”

“Aren’t you going to open it?” Sunset asked, though it was more of a gentle encouragement than an actual question.

“I don’t know. She gave this to me just before—” She stopped herself, and closed her eyes to take a slow, deep breath. “I’m sorry. It’s just… it feels like if I open it now, then it’s final, and there’s no going back.”

It sounded absurd in her head: like some kind of fantasy that only a little child would indulge in. Maybe she was still just a child, scrambling for comfort after a run-in with the cold and uncaring brutality of the real world. One-by-one, though, each of her friends reached out and laid a hand upon her. The simple act was enough to remind her that she needn’t be afraid.

“I think she’d want you to open it now,” Sunset reassured her.

Slowly, Twilight peeled back the wrapping paper and then opened the box. Inside was a coffee mug, but not just any mug. She recognized it as the Crystal Prep school mug that Tempest had in her apartment: the same one that had been destroyed when it got thrown across the room during their argument. Now, though, it had been made whole again, held together by an intricate web of golden strands.

“Wow, this is incredible,” Twilight murmured under her breath.

“She worked on that all week in art class,” Sunset said. She gave a quiet chuckle under her breath as she recalled the sight of Tempest toiling away with gold-stained fingers. “Even made me promise not to tell anyone: said she’d break my kneecaps if I did.”

Examining the mug in more detail, something caught Twilight’s attention. “Hey, there’s something in here.”

She pulled a small piece of paper from inside the mug, and unfolded it for everyone to see, revealing a simple, hand-written message:

‘I’m not broken anymore.’

A new wave of emotion crashed into Twilight, and she turned and buried her face into Sunset’s shoulder. Her friend’s arms closed in around her, and she was soon being rocked gently back and forth.

“It’ll be okay,” Sunset whispered. “We’re all here for you, and we’ll be here for as long as you need.”

Twilight sniffled as she clung to her friend’s shirt. “I… I should’ve done something,” she whimpered. “I could’ve stopped them if I had just—”

“Don’t, Twilight.” The firmness in Sunset’s voice took everyone by surprise, but it had the desired effect. “If you get caught up obsessing over every ‘what if’ scenario, you’re just digging yourself a deeper and deeper hole. You’ll drive yourself insane. Trust me, I’ve been down that road before.”

“What should I do then?”

Sunset gave a bittersweet smile. “You accept what’s happened, and if it comes to it, you break.”

It was hard to accept something that hurt so much, but the more rational part of Twilight’s mind knew that her friend was right. She could spend the rest of her life replaying that moment in the alley, and it wouldn’t change a thing; nothing could change what had happened. It wasn’t going to do her any favours, and it certainly wasn’t what Tempest would want. If anything, Tempest would’ve given her a kick in the rear for moping around.

“You’re right,” Twilight muttered out after a prolonged silence. “No matter what, I’ll make it through this: because I have friends like you girls with me.”

They all gathered together for a collective embrace, which would’ve lasted longer if not for the intrusion of a high-pitched burst of static.

“Could Twilight Sparkle please report to PACU room number five. Twilight Sparkle to PACU five, please.”

Her eyes perked up at the sound of the overhead announcement. Without even a word, she burst out from her friends’ embrace and hurried out the door, stumbling into the hall of the Canterlot City hospital. Squinting from the sudden bright, fluorescent hallway lights, it took her a moment to find what she was looking for: a sign marked ‘PACU’ that directed her down the corridor. She followed the sign’s instructions, rushing down the hall as fast as she could without breaking into a sprint. After weaving past doctors, nurses, and several gurneys being pushed along the halls, she arrived at her destination.

A glass divider kept her out in the hallway, but the curtain was open just enough for her to see inside the room.

She could see her; she could see her friend.

“Tempest,” she murmured under her breath.

“You’re Miss Sparkle, I presume?” A voice spoke up, drawing Twilight’s attention to the nearby door. A man in blue surgical scrubs, no doubt a doctor, had just stepped out of the room.

Twilight nodded, anxious for answers, but constrained by manners. “What’s the prognosis? Is Tempest going to be okay?”

“Well, we were able to stop the hemorrhaging, but she lost a lot of blood in the process. There is a risk of hypoxic brain injury, but we won’t know if there’s any long-term effects until she’s awake.”


Twilight recognized the medical jargon instantly: it meant that Tempest lost so much blood from her injuries, there was a risk that there hadn’t been enough left in her to maintain the flow of oxygen to her brain. The blood transfusions from the hospital would prevent any further problems, but the question was whether they had been fast enough to prevent long-term damage.

“Can… can I go in, at least?”

The doctor nodded with a gentle, reassuring smile. “You may. The anesthesia might take some time to wear off.”

Before Twilight could go any further, the rest of her friends finally caught up with her. Their curiosity didn’t need to be verbalized, as they could deduce the answers from the look on their friend’s face. One by one, the girls filed into the small hospital room and gathered around the bed. Tempest appeared to be still sedated, silent and motionless save for the occasional wheeze in her breath.

Pulling up a chair, Twilight sat down at the bedside, and then reached out to take her slumbering friend’s hand. Though no longer panicked, a feeling of unrest still sat in the pit of her stomach, though the longer she held onto her friend, the better she felt.

“Is she going to be okay?” Sunset murmured under her breath.

“I know she will,” Twilight said with a slow nod and a hopeful smile. “She’s the strongest person I know; it doesn’t matter what the world throws at her, she never gives up, and neither will I.” Whether it took all day and all night, she was determined to stay at the bedside until her friend awoke. She wanted to be the first person Tempest saw. “I won’t let you be abandoned,” she whispered under her breath.

When Sunset noticed the faint flicker of movement in Tempest’s eyelids, she couldn’t help but let out an excited, “Hey! I think she’s waking up!”

Sure enough, a quiet, incoherent murmur escaped from the unconscious teenager’s lips. Her eyelids fluttered, struggling to pry open and reveal glazed-over eyes.

“Uh… hrmmm… wh…”

Twilight and her friends gathered around the bed, hovering over Tempest as her eyes began to regain focus and the light of life returned to her gaze.

“Tempest?” a cautious Twilight whispered. “Do you… remember who I am?”

Though it seemed like an odd thing to ask, Twilight couldn’t help but think back to what the doctor had told her: that the injuries could have long-term effects. If Tempest’s memory held, though, then the risk was far less.

Twilight held her breath as she waited, watching her friend’s eyes closely as they scanned over her features. Slowly, though, a tired smile curled upon Tempest’s features.

“Course I remember you,” she murmured. “Could you at least remember my name, though?”

“Oh, right. Sorry, Fizzlepop.” Twilight sniffled before she wiped a few loose tears from her eyes. She didn’t want to cry in front of her friends, regardless of how relieved she felt.

“Hey, Twilight?”

“What is it?”

“Thank you.” Tempest let out a weary but contented sigh as her eyes drifted shut again. “I think for the first time since that day… I’m glad I survived.”



END