//------------------------------// // Betrayal // Story: Ruin // by RB_ //------------------------------// “What do you mean,‘because of me’?”Sunset asked. Her eyes were narrowed. “S-Sunset!” Starlight stammered. “When did you—” “Just now. Answer the question.” Starlight’s eyes were wide with fear. “Please… please just forget what you heard.” “How am I supposed to do that!?” Sunset said. “You just admitted it was your fault that Equestria is the way it is. I can’t let that slide without knowing why.” “I—I don’t want—” Sunset stepped forwards and grabbed Starlight by the collar, pulling her to her feet. “No. You’re going to tell me what you know right now,” Sunset said. “Before I get angry.” Starlight’s breaths were quick and short. Panic consumed her features. Sunset didn’t care. “I… before I became Twilight’s student, I was her enemy,” Starlight said. “I tried to get revenge on her by traveling through time and destroying her friendships! I created a bunch of alternate timelines, and one of them…” Starlight swallowed. “One of them was a wasteland choked with dust.” Sunset’s mind reeled. She released the other girl’s collar; Starlight took a few steps back. “I don’t know if I’m responsible for what happened to our Equestria,” Starlight said. “But… it’s too similar to ignore.” “You didn’t think to tell us this?” Sunset said. “I’m sorry… I thought if I told you… if I told anyone… then you’d all turn against me...” “Well, you’re not wrong!” Sunset said, and Starlight flinched. “How am I supposed to trust you now? What else are you hiding!?” “Nothing!” Starlight said. Sunset took a step back. One hand went to the side of her head. “Celestia, Starlight, do you have any idea what this means?” Sunset said. “Princess Twilight could be dead because of you!” “Do you think I don’t know that!?” Starlight shouted back. “I’ve been living with this since we first saw what was on the other side of the portal!” “I don’t want to hear it!” Sunset said. “I… you… Agh!” She looked up at the treetops. She wasn’t even sure what to say anymore. They lapsed into an uneasy silence. “I’m sorry,” Starlight said at last, sounding small. “I really am.” “Sorry’s not going to bring back Equestria. It’s not going to bring back Princess Twilight.” Starlight’s gaze fell. “I know that.” Sunset ran a hand through her hair. She exhaled. “Don’t bother coming to the tent tomorrow,” she said. “Or ever.” Starlight’s head snapped up. “But… you need me—” “We don’t need a liar,” Sunset said. Tears welled up in Starlight’s eyes. “But—” “Get out of here, Starlight,” Sunset said, her voice now dangerously calm. “You don’t deserve to be here.” Starlight sniffed. “Okay,” she said, quietly. She walked away, out of the grove.  Sunset didn’t watch her leave. The night passed slowly for Starlight Glimmer. After her run-in with Sunset at her mentor’s grave, Starlight had wandered the halls of CHS for hours. She’d continued wandering until long after the rest of the pony—siders had gone to bed.  Her mind had gone blank. Her secret, the secret she’d been keeping for so long, was now out. She’d been responsible for what had happened to Equestria. Twilight’s death was her fault. She was sure of these things, now. Before, she’d done her best not to think about them, done her best to push aside those feelings so she could try and make things right. Now, they consumed her. So she wandered, aimlessly, like a ghost through the halls. She wandered until her legs began to hurt. Continued to wander, despite that. Eventually, she ended up back at the gym. She was tired, emotionally and physically. So she slowly opened the door and snuck in. Stepped carefully between ponies in sleeping bags and ponies under blankets. Soon, she reached her own spot. She unzipped the bag slowly, climbed in carefully to not make any noise. It was a long time before she managed to get to sleep. “Geez, Starlight, you look awful,” Rainbow Dash commented. Starlight didn’t say anything. It was morning, now. Light streamed in through the gym’s high windows.  “Did something happen?” Fluttershy asked her. “…Yeah,” Starlight said. “Something kind of did.” “Well, spill it!” Rainbow said. “Is it something to do with Equestria?” Rarity asked. “No,” Starlight said. “Well, yes… kind of. I…” She sighed. “We’re having issues with the portal,” Starlight said. “It might not be safe to keep opening it anymore.” “What!?” Rainbow said, drawing back. “Seriously?” Starlight nodded. “Twilight’s working on it, but we’re not really sure what we can do.” “Well, with Twilight working on it, and your magical expertise, I’m sure you can come up with something,” Rarity  said. She put her hand on Starlight’s shoulder. “Right?” Starlight grimaced. “About that… I don’t think I’m welcome to help anymore.” “What do you mean?” Applejack asked. “Don’t they need you?” “No, it’s… Starlight stared at the ground. She tried to muster up her courage, but it wasn’t enough. It would never be enough. But still… She exhaled. Looked up. “I… have something to tell you all.” “Starlight’s taking a while,” Twilight said. “She won’t be coming.” They were in the tent, Twilight at her desk and Sunset in a chair on the other side of the room. “Huh?” Twilight said. “Why not?” “Does it matter?” Sunset said, her arms crossed. “…I guess not,” Twilight said, then muttered under her breath: “Maybe it’s better this way.” “Huh?” “Nothing.” Twilight went back to working on the thing on her desk, a hot soldering iron in one hand. The tent lapsed into silence. Sunset was left trapped with her own thoughts once again. A few hours passed. “Alright,” Twilight said. “It’s done.” Sunset stood up and walked over to her. “You finished your spark generator? I thought you said that would take a few more days?” “I was up all night working on it,” Twilight admitted. “All night?” Sunset said. “Did you not go home yesterday?” “No,” Twilight said. “I told my parents I was staying over at your place.” “That’s… unlike you.” “It doesn’t matter,” Twilight said, a little too quickly. “What’s important is that it’s done.” Sunset cast her gaze over the machine on twilight’s bench. Cables ran from the Can-Openers capacitor bank to the collection of assorted technology that surrounded the elements. Electrodes ran from the surface of each stone orb to nondescript black boxes and exposed circuit boards, all wired together with precision. “What’s that in the middle?” Sunset asked. What she was referring to was a small, black, circular chip that sat in the center of the circle of Elements, connected by wires to each of them. A starburst pattern pulsed excitedly on its surface. “Don’t worry about it,” Twilight said. “That answer kind of makes me want to worry about it,” Sunset shot back. Twilight only grimaced. She checked her computer screen. “Alright,” she said. “There’s enough energy in the capacitors. Are you ready?” “Absolutely,” Sunset said. Twilight picked up a dead-man’s switch that was wired into the rest of the contraption. She hesitated. “Sunset?” “Yeah?” “Please save me.” Sunset blinked. “Save…?” Twilight threw the switch. A hum filled the air. Electricity crackled. “What do you mean, save—” The capacitors discharged. The Elements began to glow, each a different colour. They lifted into the air, still tethered by wires to the ring of technology that surrounded them. Something else lifted into the air, too: the chip in the center of the ring. Multicolour magic began to flow from the Elements, down the wires and into the chip. It rose higher, until it was above the ring of stone orbs. The air in the tent began to swirl, stirred up by the strange ritual. “Twilight, what’s going on!?” Sunset said, shouting over the noise. “What is that thing!?” “I’m sorry, Sunset!” Twilight shouted back. “It was the only guaranteed way to get you back to Equestria!” The energy from the Elements continued to flow into the chip. Then, abruptly, the flow stopped. The glow surrounding each stone orb winked out, one by one, and each one fell in turn back down to the table, some of them rolling off and onto the floor of the tent as if discarded.  Only the chip remained in the air. It began to spin, faster and faster, as a dark violet aura surrounded it.  Then, with a crack like thunder, lightning in the same colour jumped from the chip to Twilight’s forehead. Twilight began to scream. She clutched her head in her hands. The electricity did not stop, did not abate; it only intensified. Sunset leaped forwards, tried to grab Twilight, but a strange force repelled her, and she fell backwards onto the ground. She watched from there with frightened eyes. Twilight’s body wrenched back, her gaze turned towards the top of the tent, still screaming. Magic crackled across her entire body, and she was lifted into the air. Her skin darkened. Her clothes began to change, morphing into a familliar costume unlike anything the girl would ever wear. Her hair freed itself from its ponytail and turned upwards. Flames burst from her eyes, and a glowing horn erupted from her skull. A pair of raven wings sprouted from her back, extending themselves to their full length. The lightning stopped. The chip fell back to Twilight’s desk, cracked in half. Its purpose was no more; the demon it had contained was now free. The being who had once been Twilight Sparkle began to laugh. Sunset stared at her. This was a creature she recognized. One she thought had already been put to rest. “Midnight… Sparkle…?”