//------------------------------// // Aftermath, Part I // Story: Forgotten: Mists of Bridlewood // by milesprower06 //------------------------------// Sunset Shimmer had had some wild parties with Pinkie Pie over the years at Canterlot High where she slept like a corpse, but nothing quite like this, where she felt herself slowly return to the waking world, and she felt the scrapes on several areas of her body. She let out a groan as she rubbed her eyes, and that brought blurry forms into her vision. "Sunset? Sunset, are you alright?" She heard a voice ask. It sounded familiar. Right now, she was just grateful that she didn't have a migraine with all the magic she had used. "S-Sunny? What happened?" Sunset asked, her vision still clearing. "You passed out right after Opaline vanished. Luckily, you hit enough tree branches on the way down that I was able to catch you before you hit the ground," Sunny told her. "How long have I been out?" The unicorn asked, beginning to slowly sit up, finding herself inside one of many of Bridlewood's hollowed out trees. "You've been sleeping quite soundly for just about two days now," she heard Alphabittle answer. "Something doesn't feel right," Sunset told them, swinging her legs over the edge of the bed. Alphabittle and Sunny exchanged glances. "Yeah, we know," Sunny replied. "We brought a mirror." With that, Alphabittle levitated over a full length mirror, and placed it directly in front of Sunset, and she saw the scrapes on her sides, a cut on her head, and her wings felt— "Yah!" Sunset yelped, nearly jumping off the bed she was on. She caught her breath as she leaned in to take a closer look at her reflection. Yup. There they were. A pair of wings that matched her amber coat perfectly. And they weren't glowing or on fire, either. To be absolutely sure, she turned her head away from her reflection to look at her back, as she slowly unfurled them, and then folded them back to her sides, and turned back to Sunny and Alphabittle absolutely stunned. "H... Hah... How...?" She asked, dumbfounded. Sunny shrugged. "You tell me. I caught you like that," Sunny answered. Sunset looked back at the pair of wings once again. "I mean... This is a good thing! ...Right...?" Alphabittle asked. Sunset took a deep breath, then another. "Alright, one step at a time. Alphabittle, is anypony hurt?" Sunset asked. "Tension headaches from a few who pushed themselves beyond their limits to keep the shield up as the last of the meteors fell, but beyond that, no serious injuries," Alphabittle told her. Sunset was stunned she didn't have one herself, and was wondering if her unexpected, newfound alicornhood was the reason for that. "What about Misty? Did you find her?" Sunset asked. Alphabittle nodded. "Found her on the northern outskirts of the village, curled up on the ground, clutching her head; one serious tension headache. She claimed she was trying to help keep the shield up. She's a few beds down, we've been keeping her comfortable while it runs its course," the stallion told her. Now Sunset recognized where she was; the village infirmary. Finally, she got up onto her hooves, pushing herself off the bed. "Where?" She asked. Alphabittle pointed down towards the end of the row of beds, where a curtain and canopy were set up, ostensibly to keep the bed and the surrounding area as dark as possible. Sunset silently walked down the center of the aisle of beds to where the curtain was. "We haven't let her out of our sight, and won't until you decide what to do," Alphabittle whispered. Sunset nodded, before getting the tip of her hoof on the divider, and stepped through. Misty laid there, shaking her back left hoof, with a cool damp cloth over her eyes, clearly in misery as she endured the incurable tension headaches that came with casting too much magic at once, completely draining one's magical reserves. "Misty?" She asked quietly. The mare quietly gasped. "M-Miss Shimmer? I'm... I'm so sorry... I..." "Shh," Sunset interrupted. "I'm going to give you all the time you need to recover, Misty. Once this passes, though, it's time for you to talk, understood?" Misty fell silent, but nodded, not moving the cool cloth from over her eyes. With that, Sunset stepped out from the curtain, returning Misty to near complete darkness, and walked towards the entrance with Alphabittle and Sunny. "We've been combing the outskirts of the village while you've been out. We found where she's made camp. We haven't touched anything, figured you should be the first to take a look at it, whenever you're ready. We marked it on a map for you," Sunny told her. "Thanks," Sunset replied as she came to the front door of the infirmary, and pushed it open. On the other side, surrounding the immediate area, were two dozen unicorns who had been waiting for any word of their teacher's condition. Their eyes widened when they saw the wings, and when half of them began to bow, the other half took on a look of confusion for a second or two, before they too began to kneel. Sunny saw Sunset's expression, and took a step back as she saw the unicorn's eye begin to twitch. "No, no, no!" Sunset snapped, the tips of her wings bristling in frustration. "None of that! No bowing, no reverence, and the first pony to call me 'Princess' will be writing lines until their hooves fall off!" Their teacher's brief tirade brought everypony out of their bows, and they were now confused and saddened that they had angered her. Sunset took another deep breath. "Alright, now," she began, in a much calmer tone, taking a moment to look at everypony present. "I understand that nopony was seriously hurt during the attack. All of you managed to create and maintain a shield of that size for nearly ten minutes. That... Is very, very impressive." There were signs of relief and pride across several of the gathered unicorns. "Because of your actions, and how well you all worked together on a moment's notice, your homes and loved ones are safe. You should all be proud of yourselves, because I certainly am," Sunset told them, getting some smiles on their faces. "Obviously this situation is a little more complicated now. We're going to allow Misty Brightdawn to recover comfortably in the infirmary, and after she does, she'll hopefully tell me how she's involved in all of this. I know because of my rather long nap in there, you've all probably taken a couple days off. Well, what's one more? Because that's what I'm going to need. Again, I'm very proud of all of you. Well done. I can't wait to see what you'll all be able to do weeks and months from now." As Sunset began to walk through the crowd, wings tightly tucked into her sides, Sunny could tell she was still a little worked up, and so silently followed her towards where she was very likely heading; her school.