//------------------------------// // The Storm Before the Calm. // Story: The End Rewritten // by Frozen Feathers //------------------------------// Sunset Shimmer trotted happily along the streets of Ponyville. The sunshine glinted merrily in her golden fur and mane as she happily bobbed her head to some imaginary tune. Nearby songbirds joined in occasiona.ly, spreading and altering the tune amongst themselves. Nothing more than a simple four tones, given life again and again, made the morning feel holy. Joy itself ran through her veins like ichor, so unlike the sluggish venom that had once been there. All at once, the world came crashing down upon her. The memory of what she had almost done. She stopped abruptly on the far side of a bridge heading out of the Ponyville Centre, breaths freezing in her lungs. The memories came slowly, invading her peaceful mind like a void growth. Pills caressed in a... a hand. The word floated to her hazily. Another image demanded her attention before she could give too much attention to that . Fluorescent lights, harsh and bitter slotted into images of her friends, each in different stages of grieving. A solid month of her life lost to ceramic walls and doctors appointments. Nothing more than pills and prescriptions were promised to her. A flicker of boxes, stacked against a wall, drew her gaze. Seven shadows stretched across the concrete before the portal; one staged against the rest. "INCOMING!" The shout snapped Sunset out of her pondering and without thinking, she dropped to the dusty street and covered her head with her hooves. A moment later cool wind blew over the fur of her back and a loud thud, followed by an equally loud oof! from in front of her. After taking a moment to assess her surroundings, Sunset stood and darted for the crater before her, still leaking enough dirt into the wind to block her vision. Sunset thought back briefly to her days with Celestia and a spell floated back to her. She allowed her magic to float outwards, carried on the winds, before ever so gently drawing them back. The wind shifted with the flow of her magic, and suddenly she could see again. "Rainbow Dash!?" She cried, spotting a familiar head of hair and dashing forwards. The sky blue lump shifted and expanded, revealing a cocky, if not a bit banged up, looking mare. The mare in question stood and stretched, the feathers of her wings catching the sunlight in a way that made Sunset's breath catch. Heat flooded her cheeks as magenta eyes met her own and flames met fire. "The one and only!" Rainbow preened, wincing slightly as she attempted to put weight on her hind left ankle to strike a dramatic pose. Recovering quickly, she rounded on Sunset with concern burning in her gaze. "I am so sorry! Are you okay? I don't see any blood and you're not screaming so I'm assuming you're okay!" Her ears were splayed backwards as she anxiously sniffed around Sunset's form, assuring herself she hadn't accidently harmed anyone. Little did she know, every brush and nuzzle built up heat within Sunset's coat, forcing a bright vermillion blush as she dotingly checked out the unicorn. A gentle glide of her feathers across Sunset's cutie mark had her flaring into action, hopping back and legs splaying out in a dominant stance. Sunset took a moment to thank the gods for muscle memory in her pony form before snarling. "What the hell was that!?" she shouted, the wildfire she felt before shifting to anger. Her cheeks were only red from the indignation, of course! Another hiss escaped her throat at the stunned pegasus, who looked so very much like her old friend. "You could have seriously hurt me! Or yourself!" She expected shouting back, an anger and bitterness to match her own. Instead she was shocked to watch Rainbow sit hard on the ground, gaze fixed to the dirt and ears splayed back. The last thing she'd expected was a genuine apology. "You're right, I'm very sorry." Rainbow stood again, drawing close but not quite touching her. "Are you feeling okay? Nothing's hurt?" She questioned, again appearing genuine in her remorse. Sunset swallowed her pride, and spoke the truth. "Physically, I'm perfectly fine. However, you shouldn't be so reckless!" She scolded. Rainbows ears splayed back even further, yet her wings began to flutter upon hearing she was unharmed. "Great! Agsin, I'm so sorry for crashing into you like that but I also reallyhavetogetbacktoworkthanksbye!" Her words blended together in a way that reminded you of Pinkie Pie before she darted off again, leaving Sunset with a flutter of dead leaves against her hooves and a pounding in her chest. One she hadn't felt in a long, long, time. One so familiar, she'd almost call it... "H A T E!" She screamed, heat moving through her natural ley lines and taking the forms of bursts of fire around her. "I hate people who act like that!" she pummeled her hooves into a small patch of grass, slowly scorching it away. "How dare somebody just sweep in and cause these emotions and not take accountability for them!? LEARN HOW TO BE A PERSON BEFORE SWEEPING ME INTO YOUR MESS!" She felt older, viler anger trail for her from beyond the portal as she spoke the words. Tears formed in the corners of her eyes, and from that alone she knew she wasn't feeling anger purely towards Rainbow as her shout tore from her. In its place was a jagged, gaping black hole she wasn't even near ready to explore. The numbness spread through her as she gingerly lifted her gaze... and met that of a young foal across the street, teary eyed and startled from her outburst. It began to cry before she could attempt damage control. "WHAT IN CELESTIA IS A PERSON!?"