//------------------------------// // III - Outside Looking In // Story: Last Light // by Scampy //------------------------------// A girl and an alicorn sat in silence, surrounded by an ethereal plane of starlight. “Can I ask you something?” Sunset finally spoke. “You do not need my permission to speak, Sunset Shimmer,” Luna replied. “Oh, uhm... Okay, well, you said you’ve been watching me, right?” “I have.” “For how long?” “Not long after your brief return to Equestria. I had hoped that I may assist Twilight in recovering that which you stole,” Luna said. “Afterwards, however, I could not simply look away.” “Look away?” Sunset’s voice raised slightly. “I don’t get it. You spent all that time observing, and for what? If you really cared about what happened to me, why didn’t you tell Twilight? Or Celestia?” Luna raised an eyebrow. “Why didn’t you?” Sunset groaned. “Y’know, you’re pretty sassy for a princess.” “I am no princess here, Sunset Shimmer.” “Fine, whatever.” Silence loomed for several minutes. Sunset glanced over at Luna, unsure what to make of the situation. The sister of her former mentor, a mentor Sunset had scorned and abandoned, had taken her to some starry dreamscape to—what exactly? Talk about life? Or perhaps the lack of it? Sunset sighed and ran her fingers over her arms once more. She still marveled at how smooth they were. There was no scar tissue to catch on the inside of the gown she now wore, which was yet another oddly familiar thing. The garment was white as snow and stretched down to her ankles, and it was unbelievably comfortable. Sunset felt as though she were a child again, with Celestia’s wing draped over her. “I still don’t understand why you’re here,” Sunset finally spoke up. “Seems like it’s a little late to start teaching me the value of life.” “There is no value inherent to anything,” Luna said. “Not even life. Not unless we make it so.” “Well that’s a little disheartening,” Sunset said. Luna nodded. “Quite. And yet I have found that there is a certain liberty to it as well. We each must choose to matter to ourselves.” Sunset rolled her eyes as she curled her legs to her chest. “You make it sound so easy.” “That is not my intention. There is no challenge more difficult than learning to love oneself,” Luna said, her voice softening as she sat down beside Sunset. “And yet it is one I have learned to handle all the same.” “Good for you,” Sunset said under her breath. “Thank you,” Luna replied. “Nnnngh... This isn’t helping, y’know.” “I cannot truly help you, my child,” Luna said. “I can only hope to guide you towards your own answers. However, you must find them yourself. “What’s that supposed to mean?” Sunset asked. “Cryptic metaphors aren’t as effective for teaching self-worth as you seem to think. No matter how you look at it, my life meant nothing to the grand scheme of things.” “Does the moon matter, Sunset Shimmer?” Luna asked. Sunset did a double-take. “Uhm, what? Of course it matters, Moon Princess.” Luna looked back at her. “I told you, I am not a Princess here.” “Yeah, yeah, I get it. Royal jurisdictions or whatever.” Sunset waved a hand. “You know what I mean.” “Very well,” Luna said. “The moon matters. It is a rock. A lifeless body of dust and craters. There is nothing there.” “And?” “How is it that something so empty can matter more than you, a living being?” Sunset thought for a moment. “Because, y’know... It controls tides, causes eclipses, lights the night sky. People notice the moon.” “People noticed you, did they not?” “It’s not the same!” Sunset huffed. “The moon has impact on people’s lives!” “As did you,” Luna said. “You made them cry. You made them laugh. You made them smile. Those feelings are as tangible as any lunar shadow, perhaps even more so.” “And?” “There is more to this world than what can be directly observed. The moon only matters because we believe that it does.” Luna gave Sunset a light smile. “You matter because others believe so, too.” Sunset looked away, her long hair shielding her face from Luna’s gaze. “You’re greatly overestimating how much people cared about me. I gave up the right to be loved a long time ago.” “And how is that?” Luna asked. “I told you before. I was horrible. I treated everyone like dirt and made their lives miserable, so much so that by the time I tried to change, they had no trust left for me to earn. Even if I was too stupid to understand that at the time.” Sunset’s eyes peeked out from behind her curtain of hair. “If you don’t believe me, just ask your sister.” “That is not my question to ask.” Sunset lowered her head. “It doesn’t matter anyway,” she said. “Celestia hates me. They all hate me.” “Do they?” Luna asked. “You speak with such certainty about the hearts and minds of others, Sunset Shimmer. They are as fallible as you.” Sunset stifled a laugh. “Tell me about it.” “Still, I will not pretend their actions were justified. You did not deserve the suffering forced upon you.” Sunset raised an eyebrow. “That doesn’t make any sense. How can you question if they hate me, then turn around and admit they treated me like a monster?” “Because they acted on emotion, and emotions are fleeting things, as you well know,” Luna said. “Foolish as they were in their reasoning and behavior, they are now more concerned for your health and happiness than you seem to be. Does that make you as foolish as them?” “What’s that supposed to mean?” Sunset asked. Luna didn’t answer. Instead she stood, and her horn began to glow. Before her, a dim spark flickered to life and began to grow in intensity, until all Sunset saw was its blinding glow, forcing her to hold her arms up to shield her eyes. “Luna, what the—!” The light vanished, and Sunset heard a crack, then the world was still. She now stood on a sidewalk, and as she lowered her arms, she realized they were transparent. Before her, Princess Luna was transparent as well. The alicorn gestured for Sunset to turn around. Sunset was greeted by a horrifying sight. A crumpled, seemingly lifeless human form lay on the pavement in front of her, dressed in a tattered hoodie and blood-stained jeans. The girl’s body was twisted at an awkward angle, like a doll thrown carelessly across the room, and one of her hoodie’s sleeves was loosely rolled up to the elbow, revealing dozens of scars. When Sunset saw the girl’s face, she felt ill. The girl’s mouth hung open slightly, with a thin line of blood trailing from the corner of her lips. Beneath tangled locks of red and yellow hair, blue eyes stared up into nothing with an almost bored expression. Only then did Sunset hear the screams.