//------------------------------// // Aftermath // Story: Ruin // by RB_ //------------------------------// Act 2: Rot Sunset did not stumble on her way back through the portal. She was too focused on the bundle in her arms. “Sunset!” Twilight said. She was standing off to the side of the portal; it looked like she’d been pacing. “Thank goodness you’re back. I was getting worried—” Twilight stopped. “What’s… what’s wrong? Why did you take your suit off?” Sunset said nothing. Just laid the bundle of plastic and Tyvek down on the ground and pulled off her mask. “Sunset…?” “Where’s Starlight?” Sunset asked. Her voice was flat. Emotionless. Her eyes, now revealed, were bloodshot. “She went with the others to the hospital,” Twilight said. “Is Rarity okay?” “I don’t know.” Sunset squeezed her eyes shut and let out a long breath. When she opened them again, she looked… tired. “Let me get you a chair,” Twilight said. She grabbed the one from her desk, dragged it over. Sunset practically collapsed into it. Fatigue took over. Her ankles hurt. So did her chest. “So, um…” Twilight said after a moment. “What happened? Why did you go back?” Sunset said nothing. Just raised one arm and pointed at the bundle of her suit. Twilight looked at it. Her brow furrowed. “What?” “Inside there,” Sunset said, her voice weary. “It’s…” She lacked the words to explain. Twilight stepped over to it. “Inside…?” She squatted down. “Be careful with it.” Twilight began to unwrap the bundle. “Are these… bones?” Sunset nodded. “Whose…” Twilight swallowed. “Whose bones are these, Sunset?” Sunset didn’t answer. “Sunset?” “Twilight’s,” she said. “The other… the other Twilight’s.” Twilight’s eyes grew wide. “You… you can’t…” “I found the other journal,” Sunset said. “There are only three other ponies in Equestria with horns and wings, and only one of them owned that journal. It’s her.” Twilight looked up at Sunset. “But… but how?” “I don’t know.” “We, we have to… to…” She seemed to be out of words. To be honest, so was Sunset. That had been a person, once. A person they’d both known. “I think I’m going to be sick,” Twilight said. Her hands were shaking. “Go,” Sunset said. “I’ll… I’ll think of something.” Twilight fled. Sunset just sat, staring at the bundle. She’d already screamed. She’d already cried. Now, there was nothing left. She felt hollow. Eventually, she looked up. Blinked a few times. Let out a breath she didn’t know she’d been holding. Sitting here wasn’t doing any good. She knew that. Better to do… to do something. Anything. Her eyes fell on Twilight’s desk. On the microphone. On weary feet, Sunset stood. There was something that needed to be done. Twilight hadn’t made it to the school. She hadn’t even made it to the steps before she’d tripped and vomited. Now, she was sitting, her knees against her chest. She felt cold, even under the summer sun. Her thoughts raced, too fast to decipher. A hand settled on her shoulder. “You alright?” Sunset asked. Twilight swallowed. “No,” she croaked out. She turned her head. Noted dully that Sunset was carrying the microphone she’d borrowed from the front office. The observation helped to ground her, just enough to bring her awareness back to earth.  Sunset offered her a hand, which Twilight took. Sunset hoisted her to her feet; it took Twilight a moment to catch her balance. “Come on,” Sunset said. “We need to go.” “Where?” Twilight asked. They began to move forward, towards the school. “The main office.” “Why?” Sunset held up the microphone. “Because we need to tell everypony.” Sunset’s finger depressed the button on the microphone. Outside the office, the announcement speakers chimed. “Attention everypony. This is Sunset Shimmer.” Her voice echoed throughout the school. “I have…” Sunset swallowed. “I have something to tell you all.” She was silent for a moment, trying to think of what to say. She closed her eyes, sucked in a breath. “Twilight—Princess Twilight Sparkle… is dead.” She paused. “I’m sure you have lots of questions. So do we. For now, just… try to stay strong.” Sunset released the button. She covered her face with her hands, breathed out. Twilight stood off to the side. She felt like she should say something. Anything, to break that awful silence. For the life of her, she couldn’t think what. “I just don’t understand it,” Applejack was saying. “By the end there, I just felt so…” “Weak?” Fluttershy suggested. “Yeah,” Applejack said. “Weak.” They were in Canterlot General Hospital, room 228. Light streamed in from the sole window in the room, across the vinyl tile floor, reaching up and onto the bed against the wall. It was occupied, at the moment, by a pale-skinned girl with long purple hair. Her eyes lay closed, but her breathing was steady. She wasn’t alone, of course. Her friends were there; Rainbow, Applejack, Pinkie and Fluttershy. In fact, the little hospital room was feeling a little crowded. And sitting beside Rarity, on a stool, hands in her lap, was Starlight Glimmer. “I felt it too,” Rainbow said. “It was like all my energy was just… gone.” “But it was slow,” Applejack said. “Like molasses. Just a slow…” She seemed to be searching for her next word. “And I couldn’t feel anything in my fingers,” Pinkie said. “I was all numb.” Applejack nodded. Rainbow and Fluttershy looked at each other. “Just your fingers?” Rainbow said. “I couldn’t feel— “Everypony,” Starlight said, interrupting. “Come here. She’s waking up.” The others looked at each other, then in turn they gathered around Rarity’s bed. The girl herself’s eyes fluttered open; they looked around, confused. “Where…?” she said, then coughed. “Oh dear.” “Here,” Fluttershy said, offering her a plastic cup of water. Rarity slowly sat up and brought it to her lips. “Where are we?” she tried again, successfully this time. “The local hospital,” Starlight said. “Twilight called you an ambulance.” Rarity looked confused, for a moment. “The hospital…?” “You collapsed, remember?” Pinkie said. “Sunset had to carry you back.” Rarity blinked. Her memory seemed to return. “Oh, goodness… is everypony else alright?” “We’re just fine,” Applejack said. “You should be worryin’ about yourself right now.” “And Sunset?” Rarity asked. “Where is she? And the other Twilight?” “Twilight stayed behind,” Starlight volunteered. “I don’t know what happened to Sunset. I think she went back through the portal.” “You said she carried me back?” Starlight nodded. Rarity smiled, weakly. “Then I suppose I’ll have to think of some way to thank her.” “Thank who?” Everyone looked up. Sunset was standing in the doorway, Twilight behind her. Their faces were… “Darlings, you look absolutely dreadful!” Rarity said. “Whatever’s the matter?” “Later,” Sunset replied. She walked over to the bed, knelt down. Twilight followed her, but stood back a ways. “How are you doing?” “I’m feeling much better,” Rarity said. “Honestly, I’m not sure what came over me. One minute I was fine, the next…” “We were comparing notes,” Applejack said, cutting in. “It looks like all of us were feeling somethin’ by the end, there. But it was a slow thing.” “Like molasses!” Pinkie added. “Yeah. Like that.” “When did it start?” Sunset asked. “Not long after we came through the portal, for me,” Rarity said. “When my fingers started to go numb.” “For Fluttershy and me, it took a while,” Rainbow offered. “And for Applejack and Pinkie—” “We didn’t start feeling anything until after you told us to head back,” Applejack finished. “Or, uh, not feelin’ anything. And we all felt mighty weak by the time we got to the mirror.” It was Starlight who stated the obvious. “It’s their race.” “Hm?” “Rarity’s a unicorn,” Starlight said. “She was affected first. Fluttershy and Rainbow are both pegasi. And Applejack and Pinkie—” “Are earth ponies,” Sunset finished. “And they were affected last.” The ponies nodded. “But you were all human at the time,” Sunset said, stating the other obvious fact. “Why would…?” The question was implied, but no one had an answer. The room lapsed into silence. “Anyway,” Sunset said. “I texted Rarity—our Rarity—and asked her to come here. When you’re feeling up to it, Rarity, you can switch places with her, and that should solve the problem of you not being supposed to exist in this world.” “Well, that’s good,” Rarity said. “I do hate to impose…” “I don’t think Rarity would have forgiven me if I didn’t let her help out when her doppelganger needed her the most.” “A fair point,” Rarity said. “I wouldn’t, either.” No one said anything for a few moments. “Twilight, darling,” Rarity said, finally. “You’ve been awful quiet. Is something the matter?” Sunset and Twilight looked at each other. “Actually, we…” Twilight said. Her hands began to shake. “We…” “I found Twilight,” Sunset said, standing up. “Your Twilight.” Everyone began to speak at once. Starlight blinked. They’d found Twilight? Then… It was like a weight had lifted off her shoulders. She’d been a unicorn, back in Equestria, but in that moment she felt like she could take off and soar into the sky like a pegasus. But then she saw the expressions on Sunset and Twilight’s faces, and the weight came crashing back down. “Where is she?” she asked, speaking loudly, and the tone in her voice made everyone quiet down. Sunset closed her eyes. Grimaced. “Sunset?” Starlight said, her voice cracking. “Where is Twilight?” A pause. “She’s dead.”  Two words. Only two words, but they brought a deadly silence to the room. Then: “What!?” Rainbow Dash lunged towards Sunset, reached out and grabbed her collar before anyone could even think to stop her. “What did you say?” she hissed, bringing Sunset’s face close to her own. “She’s dead, Rainbow Dash.” “You’re lying.” “I swear to Celestia, she’s—” Rainbow clenched her teeth. “If you say that one more time I swear to Celestia I’ll break your jaw!” “Rainbow!” A pair of orange arms wrapped around Rainbow’s shoulders and hauled her backwards. Her hand released Sunset’s collar. “Lemme go, Applejack!” “Just calm down,” Applejack said. She turned her gaze towards Sunset. “You’re sure? Absolutely, no doubt about it, one-hundred percent sure?” Sunset nodded. “No no no no no,” Starlight stammered, “you, you must be making a mistake, there’s no way—” “I found her corpse, Starlight.” Fluttershy fell to her knees.  There was more talking, but Starlight didn’t hear it. The world seemed to grow… fuzzy, indistinct, and their voices faded into white noise. Twilight Sparkle was dead. Twilight Sparkle was dead. Twilight Sparkle was dead. The words repeated themselves over and over again in her mind. Twilight Sparkle was dead. And then: This is all your fault. When she returned to reality, Sunset was explaining what had happened, and Applejack had released Rainbow. Pinkie looked like she was about to cry. Fluttershy was already crying, little quiet sobs, over and over. “Bones?” Applejack was saying, a hand over her mouth. “She was just…” “Just bones,” Sunset said. “H-how is that possible?” Rarity asked. Sunset grit her teeth. “I don’t know,” she said. “It’s not the first time we’ve found something like this.” She explained about the bird. “It’s like the flesh, the feathers just… rotted away,” she said. “Why didn’t you tell us?” Rainbow asked. There was still anger in her voice. “Is that what was happening to Rarity? To the rest of us!?” “I don’t know!” “Of course you don’t!” Rainbow shouted. “You don’t know a Celestia-damn thing!” “Everybody calm down!” Starlight wasn’t sure what had made her speak. Or stand, so quickly that the stool she’d been sitting on clattered to the floor. She swallowed. It was only then that she noticed that Rainbow, too, was crying. “This isn’t Sunset’s fault,” she said. “Don’t take it out on her.” Rainbow looked away. Starlight looked at Sunset, at Twilight, who was standing meekly in the corner of the room. “Maybe it’d be best if you just… left us alone for a while,” she said. Sunset bit her lip—but nodded. “Okay,” she said. “If that’s what you want. Come on, Twilight. Oh, and Rarity?” “Yes?” “I’m sorry.” “It’s not your fault, darling,” Rarity said. “You didn’t know.” “Yeah,” Sunset replied. “I didn’t.” “I’ll see you tomorrow, Twilight.” “Okay.” Sunset pulled the door to her apartment closed. She stood there, for a moment, hand on the doorknob. Then, she turned around, put her back to the door, and slid to the floor, her head turned towards the ceiling and her eyes closed. She sat there, for a minute, just breathing. Eventually, however, she opened her eyes. From her bag, she retrieved two books; the journals, each emblazoned with a different sun. She held them, staring blankly at one, then the other. After an eternity, she laid hers on the floor. Her fingers played with the corner of Twilight’s journal. She went to open it— —and then, grimacing, she laid it, too, on the ground next to her, pulled her knees up to her face and began, at last, to cry.