//------------------------------// // Chapter 5: Aftermath // Story: Not Everyone's a Hero // by Rainwalker12 //------------------------------// Chapter 5: Aftermath The rain poured down into the streets, and thunder boomed overhead as a bicycle desperately zoomed across the road. Its rider was already rather drenched, but the motive driving her to pedal so hard outweighed the want to stay dry. Foggy is dying. Sunset was still rather shocked at that fact. While she was-used to be- a manipulative demon who wanted to conquer her homeland and enslave her school, she never wanted anyone to die. That was more Foggy’s lane, although she knew he had some delusion of justice mixed in. Sunset still remembered the burning, cleansing light that had purified her. It had hurt, a lot actually, but now she had a strange mix of both peace and sorrow deep within her. She’d emerged from the crater that the light had caused, tears dripping down her face, and deeply expressed her apologies to Twilight and her friends. But after a moment or two, the realization hit her. Foggy had been literally shot- and she had just left him to die! Who knew if he was even still alive?! The thought made her hands tremble as they gripped the handlebars of the bike, her knuckles white. He’d told her the location, and the apartment complex was only about ten minutes from the high school, so she’d grabbed Rainbow’s bike, the owner of which had been rather suspicious, before quickly explaining and dashing off. AJ was supposedly driving by later in her truck, but she would have to have Mac bring it over first. As she rode into the storm, Sunset let her mind mull over what she knew of Foggy Horizons. Sadly, the old Sunset had not taken too much of an interest in him, simply capitalizing off of his desperation to get back to Equestria to get him to do her dirty work. They’d been somewhat partners, both of them needing each other to succeed, but in the end, it was Sunset who’s plan came to fruition first. She knew he was a criminal from Equus who wanted revenge for his family, notably his younger brother, and hated dragons. Sunset hasn’t asked him too much about his history in Equus, but she presumed that dragons did something to his family. He apparently lived with an old man, but he hadn’t mentioned him in too much detail. Foggy worked at a pizza restaurant and was oddly friends with Scootaloo, one of the freshmen at CHS. He was a bit gruff, dirty, and rather rude, but deep down Sunset thought he was just… misguided. Sure, defending a killer was a horrible thing, but ponies weren’t supposed to be killers at all. Their brains weren’t designed to support hate and anger, and too much would cause a ‘break’ of sorts. Guilt and trauma were mostly unheard of in Equestria, and its main threat didn’t come from its own inhabitants. At least, Equestrian ponies weren’t killers. There were ponies who lived outside the borders in other countries and their own pony nations. After all, what were the odds that Equestria was the only place where ponies lived as a majority? Those ponies weren’t brought up with the safety of a nation guarded and led by two goddesses, and thus life was harder. Humans were different, too. As Sunset had seen in her two and a half years in their realm, humans could hate. Canterlot High School was not a happy place to be, the main reason being Sunset and Foggy’s regime. But outside of their influence, there were fights most days, arguments, and crime in this world was an actual problem. Nevertheless, ponies weren’t designed for hate. On occasion, they were corrupted, like Sunset and supposedly Nightmare Moon was; for Sunset, she had found the mirror and it had whispered promises of grandeur, of power, of alicornhood until she had dared to question Celestia. She regretted the break between herself and her mentor, but it was too soon to go back and fix what had been broken. But the fact that Foggy was so willing to take revenge, to kill… that was worrying. Maybe it was just his upbringing or something that happened long ago. Or maybe it was something else? Shaking off those darker thoughts, Sunset turned back to the task at hand. She was thoroughly soaked, and her legs were tired from furiously pedaling across the slick road, but she forced herself to keep moving. After all, someone’s life was on the line! She removed one hand from the handlebars to clutch a small, warm bundle in the pocket of her leather jacket, something which she hoped would help Foggy. If he was still alive, that was. Finally, after what seemed like a year of pedaling, she swerved the bike into the parking lot of the apartments, nearly smashing into a pole, before coming to a quick halt and leaping off. She immediately spotted the alley he had mentioned, and dashed over to it, grabbing the brick edge with one hand and using it to turn herself on the slick concrete. The rain was really coming down now, turning the world into a haze as visibility dropped further. And there he was. Foggy was lying on his back, a good two-thirds of his body sheltered underneath a tarp, seemingly used to cover a fire exit when not in use. One grey hand poked out of his worn hoodie to clutch the blanket to his body, hidden from view. He wasn’t moving-why wasn’t he moving? Sunset dropped to her knees next to him, hastily pulling the tarp off of him. She forced herself to peel the remnants of the blood-drenched hoodie and shirt off of his cold, cold figure to see the extent of the damage he had sustained. Overall it was less than she expected. She wasn’t a medical professional by any means, but he said he’d been shot twice for Celestia’s sake! There was a lot of blood, but it seemed that one of the wounds, the one to his shoulder, was relatively benign. The majority of the blood was from the gut wound, placed just below where his pants started (something she blushed at, despite the circumstance), which she faintly remembered from a science unit would lead to a long, painful death by infection if not treated within a certain time limit. Actually, most mortal wounds needed treatment within the ‘golden minutes’, of which she was sure had long passed. Realizing she didn’t even know if he was still alive, Sunset leaned down further and pressed two cold fingers on the side of his throat, where the pulse could normally be found. His skin was damp and cold there, her fingers squishing into the soft flesh where the neck and head met. She focused for a moment and paused her examinations of the rest of him to concentrate solely on finding a pulse. Thump…Thump… Sunset sat back with a sigh of relief. The pulse was weak, but at least he was alive. That meant he could be saved, albeit with almost definite consequences. She didn’t know exactly what the potion would do to him, as it was designed for pony biology, but it would probably at least do something minor. She tore the bundle clutched between her jacket and her stomach from its hiding place, and began to quickly open the small, ornate brown box, the lid popping open to unveil a small glass vial with a deep red liquid sloshing around inside. Back in Equestria, Sunset had been fascinated by potions. They were just so versatile, and useful! Need to see in the dark? Brew a Nightengale potion! Forgot to sleep because you were studying so much? Easy, a quick sip of a Rejuvenator potion would fix that! Everything had a price, though; usually, healing potions required a lot of sleep after consumption as the body adjusted to the accelerated healing. Despite this, Sunset found that keeping a Mana potion on hand during the more draining magical experiments was always handy. Potions were also divided into tiers; the first tier was the least powerful but the simplest to make, while tier four usually took days of preparation but could produce extraordinary results. The Tier III Regeneration potion once hidden in the bundle was one of two she’d packed in the emergency bundle she’d brought on her journey to the human world. The other one had been in her school locker back when she’d first begun to rise to power; this was before she got all of her blackmail, back when all she had was Foggy to enforce her threats. Someone, she still wasn’t sure who (but the signs pointed to Rainbow Dash!) had managed to get into the vent system that connected all the lockers and poured white paint on all her stuff. The staff had found the mess before Sunset did, and they told her they had to throw away everything, including the vial. Anyway, she’d saved the potion just in case she really needed it before she got back to Equestria, and it was a good thing she did. Wasting no more time, Sunset uncorked the vial and lifted it with shaky hands to Foggy’s cold lips. Using one hand, she gently pried open his mouth, his jaw giving no resistance. The other hand oh-so-slowly tipped the first few drops of the potion into his mouth. As each drop passed his slack lips, she carefully massaged his throat, inducing a swallow here and there so the potion actually entered his system as he couldn’t exactly consciously swallow at the moment. As the potion dripped down his throat, a faint hissing sound filled the air. Thin lines of steam rose off Foggy’s bare chest as the skin around the injuries began to bubble. Still unconscious, Foggy shuddered as the two holes in his body slowly started to knit themselves together. Skin reformed where it had been lost, grey flesh filled the crevices in his body that the gun had torn, and ever so slowly his breath steadied. Sunset let out a deep woosh of a breath, nearly collapsing onto Foggy’s chest with sheer exhaustion. The day had been pretty awful for her, to be frank. Sure, she realized she had done wrong and wanted to fix that, but it wasn’t every day that one learned they’d ruined countless lives to achieve a goal that had taken them years to accomplish, only to be beaten by a group of girls and then possibly befriended by those same girls. Oh yeah, and learning that your best friend had nearly died. So all in all, it could have gone better. At least she had a chance to make things right now with the girls. Foggy, thought? Hopefully, he wouldn’t let their years of collaboration fade just like that, but she had been pretty horrible to him in that last call. Maybe they could work something out? As the rain poured down harder around her and Foggy’s limp form, Sunset rested her head on Foggy’s chest and let the now-steady thump, thump of his heart calm her. His body felt so thin beneath her; muscle had built, but she could feel his ribs prominently. Why was he so thin? Come to think of it, she never really saw him eat much at school. The screeching of tires filled the air as a car pulled up near where her bike lay. A faint click of a car door opening met Sunset’s ears as she blearily looked up, shivering and hunched over Foggy, to see a familiar red truck. “Sunset! Where are ya? We brought that first aid kit that ya wanted!” Applejack’s voice sounded, and in a moment the blonde-haired girl came into view, clad in a raincoat and clutching a white box and a few umbrellas. When she saw Sunset in her soaked jacket and Foggy unconscious, she immediately rushed over, checking Foggy’s pulse and heartbeat. “S’okay, he’s alive.” Sunset murmured, unstrapping one of the umbrellas and opening it, a rather welcome reprieve from the rain. At this, some of the tension left Applejack and she sat back for a second, letting Sunset drape a thick blanket from the first aid kit over Foggy’s prone form. “We need to get him inside and warm. Applejack, I know you probably hate us and don’t want anything to do with us, but please. I… I can’t just let him die out here.” Applejack reluctantly nodded. “Yer right, ah won’t let anyone die if ah can help it. Now, let’s get him into the car and we’ll drive back to Sweet Apple Acres, sound good?” Sunset frantically nodded, slipping her arms beneath Foggy as AJ grabbed his legs, and the two lifted him up, which was a bit easier than she expected. Again, why was he so light? Amidst the downpour, the duo carried Foggy to the truck, where they laid him down in the back. AJ hopped in the front to drive after sticking Rainbow’s bike in the bed of the truck, while Sunset sat in the back with Foggy, resting his head in her lap. His long, dull gold hair spilled onto her soaked pants as the engine started and the car vibrated softly. The car slowly pulled out of its parking spot, and Sunset let out a breath of relief as they left the grim alley behind. As they drove the silence became deafening, so Applejack broke it after a few minutes. “So Sunset, how did this happen in the first place?” Sunset gulped. “W-Well you see… he was going to steal from someone, I think. He’s always been a bit more street-smart than me, and we needed to bribe students to vote for me, so I asked him to get the money for me somehow, and I guess the only way he could was to rob someone. It obviously didn’t go well, if whatever happened to him is any indication. H-He called me a little while ago and told me he’d been shot, and well…” Sunset trailed off. Applejack twisted in her seat and looked at Sunset sharply for a moment before turning back to the road. “And what, Shimmer? Ah already don’t really trust you, but Twilight told us to take a chance on ya. Whatever it is, I’m sure you’re sorry for it and you can do what ya can to fix it.” Sunset steadied herself with a deep breath. “Well, I left him to die. I told him that he’d just get in my way back in Equestria, and I just hung up on him.” The car was quiet for a second. Then, “Ah admit that was pretty rotten. But ya did save ‘im, and ah’m sure that’ll count for somethin’. And look at ya, you’re in shock! You ain’t a killer, Sunset, and whatever you did in the past is simply that. It’s in the past, and what matters most is what you do in the future. Okay, sugarcube?” Sunset wiped away the tears threatening to blur her vision. “O-Okay, AJ.” Nobody had ever said anything so sincere and kind to her since she came to this world. Foggy had been gruff, and while she knew they had somewhat of a bond, she always feared he might betray her and they rarely hung out when they weren’t working on a plan. Maybe having friends wouldn’t be so bad after all? ---------- The car arrived at Sweet Apple Acres as rain was still pouring down. They rushed inside, Foggy being brought in over AJ’s shoulder in a fireman’s carry. The other girls were all waiting there, but none save for Fluttershy seemed very interested in Foggy, and she only because of her instinctive desire to help those hurt. The two walked off to set him down in a cot in the barn. The girls all crowded around Sunset as she walked in, hair and clothes plastered to her body, and all of them broke into questions. “Where did you go?” “Are you going to try and take over the school again?” “Oh dear, whatever happened to your jacket? Is that blood?!” “Do you want some apple pie? It’s fresh from the oven!” Sunset shook her head, overwhelmed. “One at a time girls! Okay, I’ll just answer them in order. I went to find Foggy, who I left when he got hurt. Not my best move, but I’ll do what I can to make amends. I’m not trying to pull anything or take over the school; I know it’s a lot to ask of you, but please trust me. I was a terrible, terrible person before you girls saved me and I want to fix that. Uh, yes, it’s blood, but it’s Foggy’s. He should be all fixed up now, though. And yes, pie sounds great! I haven’t eaten since before the dance.” The girls took a moment to digest her answers, and a brief silence hung in the air before Rainbow piped up. “Why should we trust anything you say? You ruined our relationships with each other!” Rarity stepped forward and laid a hand on Rainbow’s shoulder. “Dear, Twilight asked us to give Sunset a chance, and I think she deserves it.” The rest of the girls chimed in with assent, and Sunset’s shoulders sagged with relief. “Thanks, girls. You won’t regret this!” A warm feeling blossomed in her chest, and a grin began to creep up her face. Pinkie darted up to Sunset and wrapped an arm across her shoulder. “Good ol’ Principal Celestia told us you could start on cleaning up the school tomorrow, so tonight we can par-tay!” Sunset stifled a laugh. “What for?” “Well, it’s a Yay-We-Have-A-New-Friend-Who’s-Not-A-Demon party, silly! Classic stuff, it’s a staple of every friendship.” Pinkie giggled, letting go of Sunset and bouncing over to her bag to take out amounts of party supplies that shouldn’t have been able to fit in there. “If you say so, Pinkie.” Rainbow deadpanned, before turning to face Sunset. “Shimmer, I don’t fully trust you but if Twilight thinks we should give you a chance, then who am I to argue?” She stuck out a hand, and Sunset gratefully shook it. Rainbow grinned at her, which was reciprocated with a small smile from Sunset. This might just end up to be fun! ---------- Fire curling against a green landscape. Once great trees burning with orange flame. Wooden houses and shacks lighting the sky with the inferno. A colt, staring in terror at the sky through one eye, where what seemed to be a god to him at the time wheeled in the cloudless sky. Shouts and screams of ponies everywhere dying, burning, running as the flames grew higher, roaring hungrily as they consumed everything in their path. The colt watched in shock as a Pegasus launched itself into the air, its wings beating furiously as it tried to escape from the inferno. The colt remembered her; she was a nice mare, and ran the apothecary he and his father had sold rare herbs from the depths of the Glade to. Her eyes wide with terror, she made good distance before a dark shadow in the night appeared behind her. The colt wanted to scream, to tell her to watch out, but before even a gasp had escaped his lips a burst of fire lit the dark sky, and the only remnant of the nice mare was a limp shape falling, falling, falling to the flames below. A roar of triumph lit the air, and the colt shuddered, turning away from where the monster lurked and dashed off to hide behind a somehow untouched cart. He hunkered down beneath the cart, curling into a ball when he felt hidden enough. One hoof gently rubbed his eye, where the scorching pain had only intensified since he had been burned. His other hoof patted the satchel on his back- not even his, just another orphan, without that which owned it. Just like him, without his parents. As he stroked the worn fiber, he felt an object inside the satchel. Slowly turning it over, he dumped out the contents. There were a few mundane objects; a small sack of bits, a charred apple, a quill, and a vial of ink. But there was also something else. A dark orb, seemingly made of black stone, sat before him on the dusty ground. As he examined it, he seemed to hear… whispers? Whispers just eluding his ears, so that he could feel their presence but not understand what they were trying to say. He looked closer, and his eyes caught a faint glimpse of runes as they shimmered in the firelight. Entranced despite his situation, the colt reached out with a shaky hoof and prodded the sphere. A sudden chill wracked his body, which was strange because fire consumed everything around him. The orb began to glow with a dark light, somehow drawing in the shadows of the cart into it, sucking in all the darkness and exuding it as a strange mixture of light and dark. All of a sudden, the colt felt a strange pressure on his mind. It felt like a knife was stabbing into his skull; except… it felt deeper, on a more mental level. He groaned and clutched his head, writhing in agony as the pressure increased. His brain felt full to the brim, and it almost felt like something was pushing into his mind itself, forcing his brain aside to make room. He let out a whine as the pressure reached a peak, and in a flash it faded. The colt collapsed, expecting to feel exhausted, but it felt as if the pain had never been there. Of course, his eye still felt excruciatingly painful, but his head itself felt rather untouched. He glanced up to look at the orb, only to find that it had vanished. And yet, the whispers only grew louder. And now… now, he could understand them. They whispered of power untold, promises of great wealth and untold magic that would be at his command. But beneath them all, a single voice, deep and slow, rang out. “Child, what is it that you want?” The colt whimpered, scared and hurt. His hoof massaged his eye as he curled deeper into a ball, trying to escape the loud beats of wings as they grew closer and closer. The ground shook and dust was shaken up, clouding the air as the monster landed outside the cart. A low growl filled the silence as the colt clutched the satchel to his chest. “I just-I just want to see mommy and daddy again.” He whispered to the voice, not knowing if he spoke aloud or just in his head. The voice turned triumphant. “Then let the eternal power of the Abyss flow through you, and you shall bring them back to this world.” With a loud sucking sound the colt vanished, just in time as fire flooded the cart, blackening and burning until there was nothing left. Not even a trace of Dusky, and as fire consumed the rest of the village, it was like he had never even existed. ---------- Foggy sat up in the cot, sweat pouring down his face, before realizing he was not beneath a cart, waiting to die.. Wait, where the hell am I? He looked around, and the snorting of pigs caught his attention. He seemed to be in a barn, lying on a small cot in the corner. He relaxed for a second as he realized he wasn’t in any immediate danger, lying back on the cot. Let’s see, how did I get here? The last thing I remember was… Sunset. Foggy gritted his teeth, savagely shaking his teeth as he remembered. She left me out to die. I’m going to have a very long talk with her about that when I find her, different world be damned.. As if realizing his brush with death, Foggy’s hands rushed to his shoulder and abdomen, feeling for a moment to find his wounds, and finding none. Wait… what?! I know for sure I got shot twice. Where did the holes go? Deciding to get answers somewhere, Foggy swung his feet to the side of the cot and heaved himself up, his legs unsteady after sleeping for so long. At least he got to sleep on an actual mattress for once, instead of his car’s seats. Finding a pair of sunglasses in his pocket, he quickly donned them before heading out. Foggy hobbled his way to the door, regaining his balance by the time he stepped into the lush grass outside. His feet, still clothed in his worn shoes, squished in the mud as he made his way to the large house surrounded by apple trees, So, Sweet Apple Acres. That means either Applejack or one of her silly ‘friends’ brought me here. Sunset probably passed through the portal, so I need to find out exactly what happened and make a plan. When he reached the house’s door, he knocked twice and waited. After a moment, it opened, and Foggy was greeted by the sight of Apple Bloom. “Oh, are you looking for Scootaloo? She’s not here right now, sorry.” Apple Bloom had at first been apprehensive of him, but Scoots had explained that they were cousins, which was a total lie, but she had come to simply be neutral in her attitude toward him. Foggy huffed. “No, I’m here for your sister. Could you tell her to come to the door?” Actually, now that he thought about it, he probably should check in with Scoots. She might not know what went down last night. Apple Bloom nodded and left, closing the door behind her. While he waited, Foggy searched his pockets for his phone, thankfully finding it still here, and gave Scootaloo a quick text telling her he got caught up in something and that he was sorry he couldn’t check in beforehand. She had a key to the car, so she was probably fine. A quick ‘“it’s fine” was the reply, and Foggy put away his phone just as the door opened again, this time with Applejack standing in its frame. “So you’re awake.” She muttered as she glared at him through narrowed eyes. “I assume ya want to talk to Sunset?” “She’s here?” Foggy gaped in shock. That means… her plan had failed? All their work, gone to nothing. At least he could still give her a piece of his mind. “Yeah, c’mon in. And don’t touch anything, I know how much of a creep you can be.” Applejack closed the door behind him as he entered the house, still eyeing him suspiciously. “Relax, I’m not here to rob you. I just… is Sunset really here? She failed?” Foggy asked, following AJ deeper into the house and up a staircase. “Yep, she’s here alright. We stopped her after she became a demon, an’ now we’re tryin’ to be friends with her.” “A demon?! Damn, that Element really must have worked wonders. Anyway, what happened? I know for a fact I should be at least bandaged right now, and my body is unmarked!” Foggy’s voice rose, but a sharp look from Applejack quieted him again. “Well, ah think Sunset can explain it better than ah can. Here we are!” She stopped before an unmarked wooden door, and knocked twice. “We were havin’ a bit of a party last night, and most of the girls stayed here for the night.” The door opened and Sunset stood before them, her hair frizzy and eyes blinking blearily at them. “Hm? What is it-oh.” “‘Oh’ is right, Shimmer.” Foggy growled out, clenching his fists. “Um, Applejack, do you mind if we could have a bit of privacy to… discuss some things?” Sunset requested, opening her door further. AJ narrowed her eyes at Foggy. “Alright, but if ya need anything just holler.” She walked off down the hall, and Foggy stepped into the room, closing the door behind him. “Foggy-” Sunset started, but Foggy cut her off. “Save it, Shimmer. Tell me what happened last night.” Foggy ordered, and Sunset nodded. “Well, Twilight got elected to be the Princess of the Fall Formal, so I had to use Snips and Snails to steal her dog Spike, and we used him as leverage for the crown. We fought back and forth for it, but I eventually got it and used it. It’s kind of hazy, but I know I turned into a she-demon and tried enslaving most of the school, and Snips and Snails got turned into demons too. I’m not sure how all that happened, but it did, and the girls had to defeat me. They used some pony power, and I turned back into me, and now I just feel… sad, I guess. I don’t feel like I want to enslave anyone or conquer Equestria or anything like that. I have to fix what I did, and I’d like to start with you.” Sunset finished, and Foggy stood silent for a moment, taking it all in. “Sunset, I literally almost died last night because of you. And now you want me to just forgive you, like it never happened? I don’t know how it worked in Equestria, but in the Glades we didn’t just forgive. This is… I need to think. I need-” “What’s all the noise about, Sunset?” A raspy voice sounded from the door as it opened, and Foggy turned to see Rainbow Dash yawning and rubbing her eyes. She froze when she saw him. “Sunset, this guy bothering you? Girls, get down here!” Rainbow called out, before advancing on Foggy. “What, you want to fight? I’m not going to go down as easy as I did last time.” Foggy moved into a defensive stance, and Rainbow raised a fist before Sunset leapt between them. “Please, don’t fight. Not here. Rainbow, Foggy and I were just… talking. Yeah, we were just talking. What happened before the portal closed was-” “Wait.” Foggy’s blood chilled. He’d- He had totally forgotten about the portal. “Are you telling me that the portal, my one chance of getting back, is closed?! For the next two and a half years?” Sunset shakily nodded, and Foggy groaned. “Do you have any idea of how long I’ve waited? It’s been five years, Sunset. Five. Years. Five years of waiting, planning, scheming, and doing awful things just to get home, and now you’re telling me that you messed it up? Oh, I am so going to get you-” Foggy was cut off by Rainbow’s fist flying into his jaw. He reeled back, and turned on her. “Oh, you want a beatdown too? I’ll gladly give you one; I’ve got nothing to lose now!” He roared, jumping at her. He was stopped, however, by a flash of orange and a pair of arms wrapping around his shoulders, yanking him back. “Hol’ on there, partner, no fightin’ in this house!” Applejack grunted as she heaved him away, surprisingly rather easily. Foggy struggled for a moment before reluctantly falling limp. “Fine, fine. But this isn’t over, Shimmer. You just cost me my retribution for my brother.” Foggy huffed, before spinning around and storming off, down the hall and to the door. When he reached the door and yanked it open, a hand fell on his shoulder. “Where do you think you’re going?” Rainbow accused. “We won’t let you get anywhere near Sunset, you creep!” “Stop talking like I’m the bad guy here! Justice needs to be served, and nobody else is going to do it!” Foggy retorted, shaking off her hand and slamming the door as he left the house. He stormed down the dirt road, shoving his hands in his pockets. I need to get out. I need time to think. I-I can’t breathe here. There’s only one place I can go to relax and find what I’m looking for. Everfree National Park, here I come.