Chapter Six
Dead in the Water
Post-Trial Part 2
I took a great heaving gulp of air, the effort like torture. My whole body blistered with pain, from what felt like burns all up and down most of my back and around every part of my face and arm. I was laying in some kind of bed, because it felt like I was covered in sheets, and my back was supported comfortably. A large bandage covered my eyes, preventing me from seeing, though I could at least tell there was light beyond them, so I wasn’t blind. I tried to open my mouth to speak, but all I managed to do was start up a coughing fit, each cough sizzling through my body like hundreds of needles poking my flesh. Using my one hand I fumbled around, trying to find something, only to suddenly have it gripped by another, causing me to let out a hoarse shriek.
“Easy, easy!” came a voice, an unfamiliar one, masculine, with just a touch of a Manehattan accent. “It’s all right, Sunset Shimmer. You’re safe.”
I opened my mouth and tried to force something out, finally managing a single word. “Who?”
“I’m Doctor Beating Heart, CMO of the H.E.M.S. Bucklyn. You’re among friends, Sunset.”
That’s good, I managed to think. The pain running through my body made thinking very hard. Or it was the drugs they were pumping in me. There was an IV in my hand. But, wait… I managed to spit out another word. “How?”
“That’s a question that I will have to answer for you, Sunset,” answered a different voice, this one also masculine, but deeper, lined with age and wisdom, and one I recognized, albeit distantly. “I doubt you remember meeting me anymore, but I am Starswirl the Bearded. Yes, the Starswirl of legend. Is she going to be able to hold a conversation, Doctor?”
“I’d recommend keeping it brief,” answered Heart, “but she can probably handle a little bit. She’ll need some fluids though. Sunset, I have a cup here, with a straw. I’m going to put it to your mouth, okay?”
With great difficulty I nodded my head, and parted my lips. The straw came at me a bit rougher than I would’ve liked, but I managed to close my mouth around it all the same. Suckling at it was even harder, but became easier as water filled my mouth, soothing my parched throat. I hadn’t realized how full of cotton my mouth felt till I started drinking. I kept at it till the Doctor took it away again, and whimpered.
“Sorry, Sunset, but you can’t drink too much too fast or you’ll get sick. We can’t risk that in your condition.”
“Okay,” I muttered, able to speak a bit more easily now that my throat wasn’t drier than the Saddle Arabian desert. “How’d I get here?”
There was a brief shuffling noise, presumably Starswirl sitting down. I felt a hand reach out to touch my shoulder. “When the transmission ceased soon after the Avenger entered this world, I became severely concerned. Princess Twilight had asked me to stay behind, and I had honored her wishes… to a point. But I still wanted to monitor the situation. So I journeyed back to Equestria’s Canterlot and came to this world’s Canterlot, so I could access our detector array directly. It’s what we used to find you. I was communing with Starlight Glimmer and Moondancer--they’re--”
“I know who they are,” I interrupted with some difficulty. “I remember everything.”
“Oh. Well, that simplifies matters. Does anyone else yet?” Starswirl asked.
“No.”
I heard him mutter a curse under his breath. “In any event, I was speaking with Starlight and Moondancer when we picked up an immense magical energy release, of a sort far more massive than any I could have imagined.”
“The nuke.”
His chair scraped against metal. “I’m not familiar with that term, but if you’re referring to the device Princess Twilight had taken with her, then yes, it was that. When I saw it, I feared the worst. I returned to Equestria post-haste, and made heavy use of my magic to teleport to Baltimare as quickly as possible. I commandeered the first ship I could to bring through a portal to this world, which turned out to be a ship of a similar design, albeit far smaller, than the Avenger. I believe the captain calls it a destroyer. We were fortuitous in that there was a portal that brought us very close to the wreckage of your plane.”
“But… open ocean, we were--”
He interrupted me. “Princess Twilight had remained conscious for long enough to enchant the wreckage so it didn’t sink. It was very quick thinking on her part, and likely saved all of your lives.”
My heart soared at the news. “Then, everyone… they’re okay…right?”
I could hear the smile in his voice as he replied, “Yes, Sunset. You’re all gravely injured, but you are alive. You were the first to regain consciousness, which is why I am speaking with you.”
“How… how long…”
He sighed. “At least a day, if not more.”
My whole body tensed as I tried to sit up, to reach out, to act. “No, we can’t stay here!”
“If you’re concerned about radiation,” Starswirl muttered, “we’ve taken proper precautions. There was little to no fallout from the blast, and we departed the area as soon as you were all aboard.”
“No!” I groaned, feeling a tickle in my throat before I unleashed another coughing fit. Starswirl held my shoulder tightly as I shook and trembled. “No, we… we have to go back to Equestria… The… Earth’s military, they’ll attack us.”
“We’ve stayed on Earth, Sunset,” Starswirl retorted in a lecturing tone, “because we don’t know what going through the portal will mean for your injuries. Transforming in your current states could kill you.”
God damn it you stupid old goat. I managed to choke out, “You don’t understand… have to risk it. They… might already know we’re here… satellites… have to leave now!”
“I’m going to have to agree with her assessment, Starswirl,” spoke a new voice, once I didn’t recognize. This one was higher pitched, feminine, though still lined with age. I hadn’t heard the footsteps of someone coming in, so perhaps they’d been standing there without my knowing it. “We’ve stayed here far too long. My crew didn’t undergo nearly as much two-leg training as the Avenger’s did, and they’ll be better off in a proper hospital.”
Desperately wishing I could rip the bandage off my eyes so I could see, I asked, “Who’re you?”
“Captain Honeydew. I’d say more, Miss Shimmer, but I have a ship to run. Starswirl, is that portal we used still there?”
I heard many rustling noises and the sound of someone pulling something metallic out of a bag and turning it around with a few squeaks. “Yes.”
“Good. We’ll head straight for it. It’s not far. You’ll open it when we get there. Understood?”
“As you wish, Captain,” Starswirl rumbled. Footfalls sounded, fading rapidly, before I heard the noise of someone sitting back down in a chair. “My apologies for that, Sunset. She is not the kindest mare I’ve ever met.”
“Look who’s talking.” Oh, I guess I do have some snark in me even now. Good for me.
That got a chuckle from him. “Yes, well, nevertheless. I have many questions for you, but any detailed explanation can wait. Just, tell me one thing: is Monoponi dead? Or did he escape?”
“She died with the ship,” I answered. Despite the way I’d reacted to Cozy at the last moment, when she begged to be taken with us… my heart was heavy. Just like with Adagio, the part of me that cared about Heather Heart wished there’d be something that could’ve been done to avoid it. But the rest of me took that part out back and had strong words with it, because Cozy didn’t deserve to live. She chose her fate, and no matter how much she begged or pleaded at the end... it was almost too good for her. Too… quick, in a way.
But then the last thing that I’d ever want to be is vindictive, to wish the sort of suffering upon another person that she’d inflicted on those she executed. Unlike Cozy, as much as I liked the Danganronpa games, I’d never, ever wanted to live them. And now that I had, the thought of perpetuating anything from it, anything at all, tasted so bad in my mouth I wanted to puke my guts out.
If I never investigated anything else for as long as I lived, it would be too soon.
“She, you say? So you found out the truth behind the mask,” Starswirl said with a rumble of intrigue.
“It was Cozy Glow,” I said. My throat ached, like it had dried back out. I hadn’t gotten nearly as much water as I would’ve wanted, and all the talking I’d already done was just on the edge of too much for me.
“Cozy Glow, you say? That is not what I would’ve expected. I suppose you will have quite the tale to tell.”
Rapid footfalls approached the room followed by another voice I didn’t recognize. “Sir? Mister Starswirl? The Captain needs you on the bridge.”
“So soon?” Starswirl sighed. “Very well. It seems you will be conscious for our journey through the portal, Sunset. Please, rest well. I will return when I am able.”
“Bye,” I murmured, and listened to the sound of his footsteps leaving. All that was left was the occasional beep of a heart monitor on me. That, and exhaustion. The little bit of moving around and talking I’d done had been like running a marathon. I turned my head over and closed my eyes, and without meaning to, I fell asleep.
I wasn’t aware of the transformation, or the journey back to Baltimare. The next thing I was aware of, I was propped up in bed as a pony, being wheeled on a gurney into a hospital room. It smelled better in there than it had on the ship. Less machine oil and more antiseptic. Apart from that it barely seemed any different. And though I had changed my form, the portal, sadly, had not bothered to restore any lost limbs or anything like that. I was still missing my left arm at the shoulder. Still just as injured.
At least it hadn’t made things worse.
I didn’t remember too much of the next few days after that. I passed in and out of consciousness many times, was spoken to by doctors, asked a few questions by Starswirl.
But after a week, there was finally some real progress to be had. The others, I was told, were awake, and ready to talk. More than that, I was ready to have my bandages taken off my eyes. It had taken some hefty healing magic to speed up the process of healing the flash blindness. I must’ve, at some point, looked at the flash without realizing it. Everything about the explosion was so hazy I’d never be sure.
But when they removed the bandages, and I opened my eyes, I managed to take in my surroundings, as well as my own condition. I laid in a hospital bed, a comfortable one, in my own private room. Apart from a few ponified attributes it looked almost identical to any hospital room I’d ever been in on Earth, though Earth tended not to have pink wallpaper in its hospitals. I was hooked up to several machines, including a heart monitor, blood pressure cuff, and an IV. The window, open to allow fresh air in, gave me a good look out at the bay, where I could see ships moving about, from freighters hauling fresh cargo to private fisherponies and sailors, and the occasional Equestrian navy ship.
My injuries were much more interesting. Setting aside the fact I was currently in a pony body, I’d been severely burned all over just about everything. The only reason I wasn’t a complete mummy of bandages was magical healing allowed for recovery from burns in a way that on Earth would require skin grafts. As it was, much of my body was still wrapped up, with only my face and upper torso exposed.
Oh, and I was still missing an arm. Healing magic couldn’t do anything about it. There was nothing to restore. They’d offered to provide me with a wooden prosthetic, but since I had no intention of staying in Equestria any longer than I absolutely had to, I’d declined. I’d have to find an Earth-based replacement. It wasn’t like affording it would be an issue, with Princess Twilight bankrolling me.
At least, I assumed she’d bankroll me. I’d be very surprised if she didn’t.
I also got to see my doctor for the first time. Because the Bucklyn was based out of Baltimare, Doctor Beating Heart had insisted on transferring temporarily to the hospital to watch over us. He was pretty handsome for a stallion too, with a paisley pink coat and a short-cropped mane of white with pink streaks, perfect to go along with his easy to listen to voice. He was also a lot nicer than some of the nurses, who, on occasion, seemed like they resented me because they had to watch over me instead of Princess Twilight.
“How’s that, Sunset? I have a pair of sunglasses here if you need them, if the light is too bright for you.”
I smiled up at him and shook my head. “No, I think I’m okay, but thanks. Just… still a bit blurry.”
“It’s going to be that way for a while, I’m afraid,” he acknowledged with a concerned frown. “There’s the slight chance you might require glasses to correct it, if it doesn’t go away with time.”
Laying my head back to prop against the pillow, I replied, “If that’s the worst I have to deal with from the damage to my eyes, I’ll take it.”
He smiled at me, and set the glasses hovering in his field down on a nearby table.”Well, are you ready to go see your friends now?”
“Yes, please,” I said.
With a flicker of his horn he took hold of the IV stand and the bed and rolled them both on out into the corridor. As we passed by other doctors and nurses I heard the occasional pages over the intercom, but saw little else other than moving ceiling tiles until we reached a much larger room, where the others were waiting for me. “I’ll leave you to it,” he said before walking away.
Like me, they were all laid up in bed, swaddled in bandages. None of them had manes or tails to speak of, save for Princess Twilight, whose ephemeral magic kept a small amount atop her head flowing away. Of course she took up the largest bed by far. Most of them still had bandages covering their eyes too, but they moved around as we came in, showing they could hear me.
“Hey everyone,” I said, feeling my heart skip a beat.
Applejack was the first to speak, her voice weak and cracking as she replied, “Howdy, Sunset.” She was the only one except for Twilight and myself without bandages over her eyes. The shining green orbs reflected a strong sense of relief, and more than a little pain. But then, we were all in a lot of pain. It was a given.
Rarity shifted her head my way, turning so much she accidentally caught her horn on the handlebars on the side. “Sunset, darling,” she murmured, her voice just as weak as Applejack’s. “It’s good to, ah, hear you.”
Scootaloo was the next to speak. She waved a forehoof to wave in my direction, though she didn’t quite move her head to point at the right place. “Sure is.”
“Mrgh,” Diamond Tiara moaned. Unlike the others, she didn’t move her limbs. I’d heard from the doctors that she’d suffered extra damage to her spine in the crash. She wasn’t paralyzed, not permanently thank goodness, but she’d need plenty of physical therapy before she could walk again. Unfortunately this also meant she was drugged up to the gills, even more than the rest of us. “Hi Sunshet.”
Hearing my name pronounced that way brought a chuckle to my lips. “It’s good to see you guys. Where’s Shining Armor?”
“I spoke with him earlier,” said Princess Twilight. She lit up her long, slender horn and floated a cup of water to her lips. “He didn’t want to intrude.”
No one mentioned Boysenberry. Though she survived the crash itself, her injuries proved too severe to save her, and she passed away a few days ago. Given we’d been caught by the edge of a nuclear explosion and been adrift for who knew how long before we were picked up, we were all damned lucky to be alive.
“That’s fair,” I replied with a slight nod. “He didn’t go through what we did.”
“No, he didn’t,” Rarity agreed with a sigh. Grunting, she tried to move her head away from the handlebars, only to gasp in pain when she banged her horn against them. “Oh, I’m sure this horn must be lovely, but at the moment it is such a pain.”
“Ah don’t blame you, Rarity,” Applejack said. Being the closest to the unicorn, she reached out with a forehoof and gently helped Rarity untangle herself. Then she glared at her own hoof. “Ah’m gonna be real happy when Ah got mah hands back. How y’all ponies get anythin’ done without ‘em, Ah don’t understand.”
“Eh, we make do,” I said, resisting the urge to shrug. “Hey, Princess, do you have an idea how long we might be stuck at this hospital before they let us go?”
Twilight shook her head. “I’m afraid not. I’ve made sure we’re receiving the best medical care Equestria has to offer, but… that’s about the best I can do. I don’t want you going back to Earth until you’re all healed.”
“You really still think we can hide what happened, huh?” Scootaloo interjected. She’d flipped over onto her side, so I could see her bandaged wings. They were much larger than the native Equestrian Scootaloo’s, which surprised me a little.
“Hide? No. Prolong the inevitable? I’m hoping.” Twilight took another sip of water, then set her cup down. “I’ve been using Starswirl to relay a lot of orders. We had the array at the observatory dismantled as quickly as we could before too much attention arrived, but some of the resources were confiscated. The police are… a little bit less cooperative without Detective Armor around.”
“Ashholes,” Tiara murmured. “Buncha jerks should listen to you.”
Twilight’s brow furrowed a moment, as if she tried to twitch the eyebrows that had been burnt off. “Chief Spitfire’s more than a little upset that I’m keeping you all here, especially Shining. She says it’s tantamount to holding you hostage. She doesn’t understand how severe your injuries are, no matter what I relay to her. I’m hoping that if you can pass along your own messages soon, she’ll relent a little.”
“Ah’ll be our families must be pressurin’ her somethin’ fierce to have an answer already,” Applejack murmured. “Ah know Granny and Big Mac would be.”
“Then the families of those who died still don’t know anything,” I said, glancing at Twilight to confirm that.
“No, not yet,” she replied. “Though I don’t know how much longer I can have Spitfire keep a lid on that. I’m trying to convince her to stick to the cover story, but… the media’s not making that easy.”
“The media?” Tiara groaned.
In response, Twilight floated an object I hadn’t noticed off of her table. To my surprise, it was a modern smartphone. When she saw me staring at it in wonder, she winked. “We learned a few new tricks in the search for you, like bringing stuff like this through unchanged. There’s a news report I want to show you all. Listen.”
Levitating the phone up where Applejack and I could easily see the screen, she hit play, and a news report began, one from one of the local outlets. A female newscaster I recognized said, “Turning to tonight’s top story, there is still no real word on what happened in the South Pacific one week ago. The Navy continues to be tight lipped on the matter, despite diverting two carrier groups to the area. The heightened state of alert of the AU’s military has caused nations the world over to follow suit, and there have been reports the Qilense have sent a fleet of their own to the area. Although the AUGS reported an unusual seismic disturbance in the South Pacific, they’ve also refused to comment on the situation. The Navy has, however, released a statement declaring the rumors of a disappearing ship that emerged in the first few days are entirely unfounded.”
“Well I’d certainly hope so,” commented the newscaster’s associate, a nondescript man in a suit with teeth far shinier than they had a right to be. He then faced the screen. “Moving on to more local news, the mysterious disappearance of sixteen locals continues to confound local police, now almost two months after they originally went missing. We spoke recently with one of the family members of the missing people, a professor at Canterlot University by the name of Night Light. He had this to say.”
The screen switched to show a face I recognized all too well as Twilight Sparkle’s father. I saw Princess Twilight stiffen dramatically when he began to speak. “I want to know what on God’s green earth is going on with my children. First Twilight went missing, and now Shining Armor as well?” Night Light scowled at the camera. “It’s been rough, very rough, going without knowing anything. For goodness’ sake, if they’re dead the least they could do is tell us already. This limbo is agonizing.”
He abruptly disappeared, replaced by the male newscaster. “We spoke with several other people related to the victims, all who echoed similar feelings. Shining Armor’s disappearance is of particular concern to the police, given he is the Head Detective for the Canterlot police department. When asked, however, Chief Spitfire declared ‘no comment.’”
“Well we can only hope wherever they are, they’re safe,” said the female newscaster. She opened her mouth to say more, but the video ended.
“Damn,” I muttered when it was over. Night Light’s words had brought a fresh wave of pain to my heart, along with a small amount of shame. With what I knew now, I was certain Cozy never would’ve allowed Twilight to survive, but I still felt responsible. I was still the one who pushed for the note-writer to be the blackened in Fluttershy’s case.
It probably won’t matter how many years pass; the killing game, and my decisions in it, will haunt me to my grave.
“Yeah. Damn,” Twilight echoed, her voice shaky. “I normally wouldn’t admit this to you without security clearance, but I trust you all, so I’m going to ask you to keep what I’m about to say next quiet, all right?”
“‘Course, Princess, Ah wouldn’t dream of betrayin’ your trust,” Applejack responded.
Twilight bowed her head and closed her eyes. “I asked King Thorax if he had some changelings who still practiced infiltration tactics. He did, so I sent one over to Earth, to try and smuggle her way into the Navy’s headquarters, on the east coast. She just sent me a report a little while ago.”
“What did she have to say?” Rarity wondered.
“Well, they’re fully aware there was a nuclear explosion. There was no hiding that,” Twilight answered. Her breath caught in her throat and she had to take another sip of water before she could continue. ”There’s nothing left of the cruise ship. Right now they’re convinced this was a terrorist attack, and they’ve got every intelligence agency that’ll cooperate looking into figuring out where the bomb was sourced from.”
“Wait a minute,” I interrupted, holding up a hoof. “Didn’t you tell us you had to use magic to make this bomb work? Have they noticed anything strange about the area?”
“If they have, it wasn’t in the information my infiltrator was able to get a hold of,” Twilight said. “But they did locate the wreckage of the Avenger, and are currently in the process of trying to investigate it with submersibles.”
“Oh that’s not good,” Scootaloo said with a wince. “They’re not going to, um, find any pony bodies, are they?”
I was very glad Scootaloo didn’t see the way Twilight reared back at that statement, or the sorrow that crossed her features. “N-no, everypony aboard had changed form upon coming through, just like I did. They’ll only find human bodies. But that’s not the problem. The real problem is the technology they’ll find. There won’t be a lot of it left, between the cruise missiles and the nuke, but there’ll be enough to know it didn’t come from any Earth navy. Especially if any of the magic-based tech survived.”
Rarity inclined her head towards the Princess, knocking her horn against the handlebars again. At least this time she didn’t get it stuck. “Are you certain it’s a good idea to keep us here then? If they realize the connection, it might make things worse.”
“I’m certain, Rarity,” answered the Princess in a tone that brokered no argument. “Human doctors would recognize your burns for what they are straight away, and they won’t be able to treat them as well. You’re all going to make a full recovery, but only if you stay here, where we can use magic to assist the healing process. Trust me, it’ll be a lot faster.”
“Well, Ah think we should at least get a chance to talk to our families, let ‘em know we’re okay,” Applejack said. “Ah think, given they knew we had magic before, they’d understand better than most.”
“I’ve been considering that,” Twilight said, nodding. “And if I can manage it in a way that won’t compromise things further, I’ll do it.”
“S’all Ah ask.”
“The truth is,” Twilight continued, her voice shaky, “I’m expecting that we won’t be able to hide Equestria’s existence for much longer, not after this incident. Cozy’s actions forced our hoof. All we can do is prepare for the consequences, and pray that Equestria will be ready, should negotiations break down.”
“Um, um,” Tiara mumbled, turning over in her bed. “Have… have you considered… reaching out to them first?”
“I’m probably going to have to,” Twilight answered. “If I don’t, it’s going to leave things on much shakier ground. That’s why I’ve started sending agents to Earth to gather information. I’m working on the best way to approach things that won’t cause a war. If there’s a war… Equestria will lose.”
“Ah sure hope there won’t be,” Applejack sighed, a frown appearing on her muzzle. “There ain’t no sense in our two worlds fightin’ when we should be workin’ together.”
Twilight reached out for another sip of water. “That’s another reason I’m keeping you all here actually. I’m hoping that I can, in some way, use you as ambassadors, of a sort.”
“Uh, no offense, Princess, but none of us are diplomats,” Scootaloo replied, doubt filling her voice.
At that, Twilight chuckled wryly. “No, no, I don’t mean in any official capacity. I mean in the sense of, you’re humans who’ve made friendships with Equestria, who’ve shown that magic can be a force for good, that friendship brings harmony. This would’ve been easier before.... Before all this happened. Don’t worry, I won’t be asking you to do much. I don’t want to disrupt your lives. You deserve peace, after what you’ve been through.”
“Well, I’m not going to speak for the others, but I’ll do what I can to help you, Twilight,” I said, smiling. “It’s the least I can do for the mare who saved my life.”
“Saved all our lives,” Rarity added.
For a moment, as I watched Twilight’s eyes dull with uncertainty and doubt, I was afraid we’d have another session of her apologizing for her part. But then it vanished, replaced by determination. “Thank you, Sunset, Rarity. I’ll appreciate whatever help you can contribute.”
“There’s something else I’m worried about though,” I brought up as a thought occurred to me. “Listen, Twilight, you missed some of what Cozy told us, but she had two different major corporations wrapped around her finger. More than that, she hypnotized a lot of people to get things done. She needed me for the memory spells, but the other mind magic? She did all that on her own.”
“I know, and I know what you’re going to say,” Twilight replied, her voice grim. “You’re going to point out that we have no idea how many people she had under her control, how many of them might be operating off of hidden instructions or leftover commands. It could be she had something in place, if she lost, ready to make things much worse for all of us. I’m aware of all of this. It’s being factored into my planning.”
“Ah didn’t think of that!” Applejack said with a shiver. “She never said nothin’ about it durin’ the trial, or afterwards.”
“Of course not,” Rarity snorted. “Why give us a hint of the trouble to come?”
Anxiety gnawed its way into my belly as I considered what Rarity just said. Was it possible that was why Cozy reached out to me at the last minute? Was she sincere in what she said after all? Did she regret what she’d done? Would she have told us?
There would never be a way to know. I put all that out of my mind. “How honest are you going to be with Earth’s governments?”
“You mean, about what happened?” Twilight let out a heavy sigh. “That’s the question of the ages, Sunset. If these were other nations on Equus, I would tell them everything. I would be honest about all the details, including my mistakes. The creatures on this world value honesty a great deal, even some of the craftier, sneakier ones. They’re willing to be understanding. But humans? I don’t know what they’d do if we were upfront about it. Working out what to tell them and what not to tell them is going to be one of the hardest parts about this process.”
“Ah could see some of those warhawks in Congress thinkin’ we oughta do some ‘police action’ to ‘protect our national interests’ if you tell ‘em about QGT and RECL,” Applejack sneered. “Them Congress folk only ever care about linin’ their pockets.”
“You could always go public with everything,” Scootaloo suggested with a laugh.
“What, you mean, just appear on national television?” Twilight said, her mouth crinkling upwards. “‘Hi, I’m Twilight Sparkle, I’m a pony Princess and we nuked one of your cruise ships because an evil filly took control of several corporations and used the ship to hold a killing game.’” Laughter escaped her, heavy guffaws. “I’m sure that’ll go down great.”
“Actually, that might be a good idea,” I said after a moment. “Not, not phrased the way you just put it, but that kind of open transparency might be the best way to act. It’d keep Earth’s government reactions in the public eye.”
“Mhmsh,” Diamond Tiara groaned, which after a moment she made clear was her seconding the notion by adding, “you should do that.”
Twilight frowned at that. “It might also result in a witch hunt that guarantees Earth invades. I was considering doing something like it before all of this occurred, but now… just imagine the fear mongering, Sunset. Imagine how scared some of those people will be. Magic is terrifying when you don’t understand it, and humans have one reaction they always use with something they don’t understand: they destroy it.”
“Aw, that’s startin’ to feel a bit uncharitable there, sugarcube,” Applejack objected with a note of irritation slipping into her voice. “It ain’t like we did that durin’ the killin’ game.”
“No, you didn’t,” Twilight allowed. “Even Sweetie Belle’s reaction was… understated. But that’s all of you. You’re open-minded. Not everyone is.”
Several moments of uncomfortable silence passed before Rarity let out a loud sigh through her teeth. “Well, whatever our mistakes, we’ll be sure to support you, Princess Twilight. After all, what are friends for?”
“I appreciate that, Rarity,” Twilight said, a smile gracing her muzzle now. “Because I know our lives aren’t going to be easy, moving forward from all of this. None of us will be the same.”
“No, we won’t,” I agreed. “We’ve… what we’ve been through has changed us, forever.”
“Speaking of change, Sunset,” Scootaloo interjected, “have you started figuring out how to restore our memories yet?”
“Uh, well, been a bit laid up in bed there, Scoots,” I said with a laugh, “but it’s been on my mind. When I’m awake, anyway. Been kind of in and out of it.”
“We all have,” Applejack said. “Ah don’t know what y’all ponies put in some of these drugs you give us, but hoo-wee it sure does knock a girl out somethin’ fierce.”
Twilight snickered. “That’s the idea.” She glanced over at me, then back to the others. “Sunset, I’m not sure it’s a good idea for you to try anything with their memories until we’re all better recovered anyway. It might be harder for you to use that magic on this side.”
“Oh trust me, Twilight, I wasn’t about to try it,” I said, moving a forehoof up to tap at my horn, which was just as swaddled in bandages as the rest of me. “I’m not about to try anything beyond basic telekinesis.”
“Good,” Twilight replied with a palpable sense of relief. “We can discuss the matter further when you’re more recovered. I think between the research I uncovered the first time we looked into the Memory Stone and your own inherent talents, it shouldn’t be too difficult to restore their memories.”
“And in the meantime y’all can just entertain us with more stories about what we got up to before all of this,” Applejack said.
A loud snore abruptly echoed through the room, causing us to all look at the source, which turned out to be Diamond Tiara. She’d collapsed against her pillows, one forehoof held up in the air and twitching every couple of moments.
“Poor Tiara,” Scootaloo said, her mouth turning down. “You… you are sure she’s going to walk again, right Princess?”
“I’m certain of it,” Twilight said, clearly not for the first time judging by the touch of frustration in her words. “Maybe if she’d stayed on Earth it would be in question, but not here. Earth is more advanced than us in a lot of ways, but magic lets us even the playing field.”
Rarity’s jaws spread wide in a massive yawn. “Oh goodness, excuse me, darlings. Perhaps Diamond Tiara has the right idea, getting some sleep.”
“Maybe you’re right,” Scootaloo said in agreement as she nestled into her bed.
“Least we can do it now, without worryin’ about what’s gonna happen next,” Applejack said. She gave me an uncertain frown before laying back and shutting her eyes. “Sure is a relief bein’ able to sleep without havin’ to worry Ah’m gonna get stabbed or somethin’.”
“I can call for the nurses to take you back to your rooms, if you want me to,” Twilight offered.
Rarity moved on her bed just enough to get comfortable. “If it’s all the same to you, Princess… I wouldn’t mind sleeping near my friends right now.”
“Same,” Scootaloo agreed.
“Ah hear that,” Applejack thirded.
“All right then.”
As the others all quickly drifted into slumber, I turned over in my bed so I could more easily meet Twilight’s eyes. “Twilight, I’m sorry if this is intruding, but… have you decided anything about funeral arrangements, for those who died?”
Twilight closed her mouth and bowed her head. “I… we’re going to bury Boysenberry with full military honors. It’s the least she deserves, for saving our lives at the end. The same with the crew of the Avenger. Even if we can’t retrieve their bodies… I’m going to do what I can for their families. A lot of the crew on that ship was young… far too young.” She pressed her lips together, a few tears dripping down her cheeks. “I wish things had gone a different way.”
“I think we all do, Twilight,” I said, reaching out with my forehoof, which was just close enough to pat her on the leg.
She flashed me a small, sad smile for just a moment before dropping it. “As for our friends… I haven’t decided yet. I still don’t even know what I’m going to tell my friends about all of this. They have a right to know that something happened to their alternates, but… I don’t want to cause the same levels of distrust in them that we saw among you.”
“No, no you don’t,” I said with a deep shiver running through my body, hard enough it caused me to squeeze my eyes shut momentarily from the pain. “I… you know in some ways it’s even worse now, having my memories back. At least when they were gone I didn’t know what I was missing.”
“I can’t imagine what that must be like for you, Sunset,” Twilight said quietly. “It was so hard watching you all. Seeing how you gave in to your fears, to Cozy’s manipulations, all while I could do nothing to stop it, it… I never want to go through that again. I don’t think I could take it a second time.”
I shook my head softly. “Me neither. I don’t know which of us had it worse between us, Twilight.”
“You did,” Twilight answered immediately. “I… being forced to watch is awful, but at least until I came to rescue you, my life was never in danger. You almost died, more than once.”
“God, don’t remind me,” I said, feeling my whole body shake from nerves. “I still can’t stand being in a dark room, you know, at least not alone. I’ve had them keep a light on for me in my hospital room, enough so I can see.”
“I know. I… I’ve been keeping an eye on you, since I woke up. I wanted to be sure you didn’t…”
My heart sank at the implication. “You wanted to be sure I didn’t what? Hurt myself? Why would I do that?”
“...because I’ve come close to it myself, in my thoughts, more than a few times since this all started,” Twilight admitted, her words like a splash of cold water across my face. “Not, not seriously. Not really. But I wasn’t almost murdered by the woman I loved.”
“Oh.” I turned over, and it took many minutes before I was able to form a response. “I forgave her, didn’t I?”
“You did, but we both know it’s not as simple as that,” Twilight pointed out. “Mental health doesn’t work that way. We’re all going to need therapy, and a lot of it. Now that we’re all awake again, I’ve been looking into sessions. Group sessions at first, till we’re comfortable talking with psychologists one on one.”
“Are you sure pony psychologists can handle our level of trauma?”
Twilight shook her head. “No. I’m not. But I wouldn’t have a clue who to ask in the human world that we could trust, and that carries with it other risks too. Even after you all go home, I might… I might ask you to keep seeing a psychologist here, where you can discuss everything freely.”
“That’s probably a good idea,” I admitted. “So long as they’re in Canterlot. I wouldn’t want to hop a train to Baltimare every week.”
“We’ll figure that out.”
I tucked myself further into my bed. “Well, whatever we do… I’m glad we’ll have the chance. It’s not going to be easy, but… at least we’re alive.”
“At least we’re alive,” Twilight repeated. “And we can look forward to better and brighter tomorrows.”
“So long as Cozy doesn’t pop up out of nowhere again,” I quipped.
Twilight paled momentarily before realizing the joke, her lips thinning. “Haha. Very funny.”
I smiled back momentarily, then my smile slipped away. "...it's not possible she escaped, is it?"
"No, it's not." Twilight glanced over at her table and lit her horn, floating a long piece of paper over to hold out in front of me, a large print out of numbers, symbols, and other data that made little sense to me. "I had Starswirl check the data our array recorded during the blast. Thoroughly. It took a substantial amount of analysis, but he managed to ID the magical signatures of various portals that were in the area at the time. None of them were anywhere near the ship. I've also had the military searching Equestria, just in case."
I sighed in relief and dropped my head to my pillow. "So she's dead then. We're sure of that."
"Definitely. Cozy Glow is not coming back." Sighing in exasperation, Twilight leaned back in her bed and shut her eyes. “I’m going to get some sleep. Sleep well, Sunset.”
“You too,” I murmured automatically.
As she drifted off, and I listened to the sounds of my friends slumbering away, my thoughts turned to the future. There was a great deal of uncertainty ahead. Our lives would never be the same, no matter what we tried to do. Going back to university, to a job… after what we’d been through, I wasn’t sure if I could manage those. After living through a killing game, the thought of sitting through university lectures or working for hours in a machine shop felt alien, like I didn’t belong there anymore. Like I couldn’t have a normal life.
But I’d have to try. I wasn’t about to give up on things now, not when we’d escaped. When we survived. Like I said to Twilight, at least we’re alive.
And when we’re alive, we always have a chance to keep going. To live on.