Sunset waited patiently by the memorial stones, as Rarity, Pinkie, and Spike eventually came to join her, as they had for the past five years.
In the aftermath of what they called "The Devastation," Canterlot City, like every other city all over the world, had set up memorial stones, inscribed with the names of those who'd been lost to the dust. It was the best that anybody could think of, considering there hadn't been a single body to bury or cremate. It'd taken quite a while to get down every single name, especially considering that the vanished (Some part of Sunset desperately refused to think of them as the deceased, praying to whoever was listening that they might somehow return) had totaled exactly fifty percent of the population, but they'd done it.
If there was anything good to this never-ending nightmare, it was that the world hadn't descended into chaos, especially after half the world's leaders disappeared. The governments of the world had barely been able to avert a mass panic, even as people proclaimed it to be a sign of armageddon. Some people had flocked to churches, either to pray for forgiveness for whatever they'd done to deserve this, or to spout their own brand of preaching, claiming those lost had been the sinners, or in some cases, the raptured. It was terrifying to think about. Or rather it would've been, had Sunset not grown completely numb to the fear over the last few years.
She wasn't the religious type, but she didn't think that God had anything to do with this. She remembered, as though from another life, the day it had occurred, and she'd felt the wave of energy wash over her through her magic. Fluttershy, Twilight, Rainbow, and Applejack had felt it too, even as it consumed them. It had to be some sort of attack. At least, that's what Sunset told herself, as though it made some sort of difference.
It was even worse when she'd written to Princess Twilight in a panic. It turned out, whatever had done this to them had affected Equestria as well, disintegrating half of that world's ponies. The pony counterparts of Pinkie and Rarity were gone, along with Spike and Starlight. Sunset, who'd believed that nothing could affect her worse than it already had, had broken down upon the news the Princess Celestia, her old mentor, had disintegrated. Since then, she'd made several visits to Equestria, just to mourn her mother figure. But here, every year, on the anniversary of the tragedy, she always managed to make it to this place.
"Hey," came a voice. Sunset, Pinkie, Rarity, and Spike all turned, finding Adagio Dazzle walking down the path to meet them, wearing a thin black coat.
"Hey," Sunset replied simply, getting to her feet and hugging the former siren. There were no more words exchanged between the two. Neither of them had any words left to say.
Adagio took a second to walk up to the memorial stone, her hand gently grazing two names that'd been set right next to each other: Sonata Dusk and Aria Blaze. She didn't cry, but her grief seemed to run deeper than any tears could express. With a sigh, Adagio came and sat down next to the three former Rainbooms and their dog. Their eyes were focused on the four names of those who should've been sitting there alongside them.
For the next while, they simply sat there, looking at the names, allowing the memories to come. Nobody could've said how long it was. For all they knew, it might've been hours (in reality, it was just a few minutes). The silence was deafening as they waited, but nobody dared to break it.
Finally, Spike spoke up. "Does...does anyone want to say anything?" he ventured, his voice shaking with each syllable.
Sunset sighed quietly. "Spike, we've been over this," she replied. Indeed, they'd had the same conversation that was coming many times over the years.
"B-but how is this...?" Spike stuttered. "How can we remember them like this? We're just staring at the names like—"
"Like what?" Rarity snapped, angry. "Like they just vanished for no reason? Like we're only here because we got lucky? Because that's exactly what happened. There was no cause, no attack, nothing. They're never coming back and there's nothing we can do about it. So stop suggesting things that'll make me want to be with them even more."
The purple dog let loose a small whimper, and Sunset could tell Rarity immediately regretted what she'd said already. The fashionista started to mumble an apology, until she finally broke down and descended into sobbing. Adagio put a comforting arm around her, letting Rarity cry into her shoulder as she did so. Pinkie meekly reached out to do the same thing, but faltered, unable to make that leap. Sunset wasn't surprised. Pinkie hadn't thrown any parties in five years, and she barely even smiled anymore. It was like she was among the vanished, without actually being one.
Sunset looked up at the name Twilight Sparkle, as she felt her heart ache for what must've been the billionth time. She felt a painful wail welling up inside her chest, but fought desperately to keep it down, for reasons she couldn't have given had anybody asked. She just couldn't let it out, but it began to build up inside of her, like a balloon about to burst with too much air. She shut her eyes, frantically begging for it to stop, when she felt it.
The wind...changed.
Sunset couldn't describe it, but it felt like another wave was washing over her, like it had that day five years ago. This time, instead of the purple grimace she saw before, she instead saw a man with green skin and glasses, looking as though he was in pain. And there was no agony inflicted on her this time, just the sense of hope, as though this were a last-ditch effort to fix what was wrong. Sunset put a hand to her forehead, feeling how odd it was. Looking to the others, she could see that they, too, had felt the same thing. She was baffled.
Then the dust began to blow past them, gathering together. Sunset looked behind her to see ashes beginning to gather together, forming a cohesive shape. She couldn't tell what the dust was creating yet, but it looked humanoid. Color began to seep into the shape, and Sunset's heart skipped a few beats when she noticed that there was a strikingly familiar shade of purple in there. She held her breath as the dust finally finished forming, taking the shape of Twilight Sparkle.
Twilight immediately started gasping for air, as though she'd just breached a surface of water, taking in deep lungfuls of sweet oxygen. Her eyes were as wide as dinner plates, frantically darting from place to place, taking in her new surroundings. Then, they settled on the girls directly across from her.
"Sunset?" she breathed, as though afraid that what was in front of her wasn't real.
Sunset Shimmer, however, had no objections. She sprang from her seat, sprinting over to Twilight and throwing her arms around the girl, nearly knocking the wind out of her. Sunset's eyes were pouring, but for the first time in five years, it was from sheer happiness, not despair. She squeezed Twilight as hard as she possibly could, Rarity and Pinkie close behind. Pinkie's hair had sprung back into its pink poof once again. Spike couldn't jump up to hug his master, so he just threw his front legs around her ankle.
"Twilight...you're okay, you're okay, you're okay..." Sunset repeated, over and over again, trying to convince herself this wasn't just a desperate hallucination.
"Girl...can't breathe!" Twilight managed to squeak out beneath her three friends. Sunset, Pinkie, and Rarity all jumped back, letting Twilight have some air.
As they did, they noticed for the first time that dust was beginning to accumulate once again. Three more humanoid figures were beginning to take shape, and Sunset dared to dream. Her hopes were answered, as the ashes slowly reformed Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, and Applejack. Like Twilight, they all began gasping for air after they finished, breathing deeply and greedily, as they hadn't done in a very long time.
"Girls...girls!" Sunset shouted, rushing towards her friends and hugging each of them in turn. It was liberating, feeling the skin of people she'd thought gone forever beneath her fingers, hearing them gasp in surprise as she practically tackled each of them. Sunset felt the weight she'd carried on her back for the past five years float away, like a big, dark cloud, off into the distance, where it would never hamper her again.
They were too focused on their friends to see, but the Rainbooms weren't the only ones restored. All across the city, piles of dust began to gather together, reforming the bodies of those lost to the Devastation, leaving them the way they'd been the moment they'd disappeared. At first, there was confusion, but it was followed by the joy to be alive, taking in everything surround them, as though for the first time.
Adagio watched Sunset and her friends reunion with a growing sense of nervous hope, her heart hammering away in her chest. She didn't dare speak, afraid of breaking some kind of sacred trust. Then, she noticed two piles of ashes were beginning to coagulate near the group, and in no time at all, had reformed Aria and Sonata. Adagio leapt from her place, rushing over to hug her confused sisters.
"Wh-what the hell happened?" asked Rainbow, palpating every inch of her body with trepidation. "I remember disintegrating, but...holy shit, I think we died."
"So, this is the afterlife?" asked Applejack, rubbing her upper arms nervously. "Sunset? Rarity? Pinkie? Y'all didn't die too, did you?"
Rarity shook her head forcefully. "No...no, darling, you're back! You're all finally back!"
"We're okay?" whispered Fluttershy. "Oh, thank goodness."
Pinkie looked at the city they could see, becoming the first one to notice all the new people who'd suddenly appeared. She noticed the Dazzlings, still clomped together in a tight group hug by Adagio.
"Girls," she breathed. "I think everyone came back."
"Everyone?" said Twilight. "How many people...what happened? Was there another wave?"
"It doesn't matter," Sunset replied, hugging Twilight once again. "You're back. You're all okay."
She knew there'd need to be a massive, organized effort to clear up this, of course. Half the life on the planet had just sprang back into existence, and the governments of Earth would no doubt be thrown off by this. It would take time before things were fully back to normal.
All the girls who'd still been around when the wave hit knew something else as well. Whoever had caused this, wherever they were, knew that this miracle had come at a great cost. Sunset didn't doubt that, somewhere, a great battle had been fought just to restore what had been lost. But at the moment, to be alive, to be hugging her best friends, that was enough. Sunset said a silent thanks to whoever gave their lives to fix this, knowing it was due to them that her friends were alive.
Over by the memorial stones, in her bag, Sunset's journal to Princess Twilight began to buzz.