//------------------------------//
// Chapter 2 
// Story: Culmination Of Actions Past 
// by NotanImportantPony 
//------------------------------//

	Far above Canterlot High, far above the Earth, far into space at the center of the galaxy the sun shone bright and true, dispersing its life giving light throughout it’s galaxy. As it’s light wove unseen past asteroids and planets, past satellites and clouds, it fell upon the tear streaked face of a father in mourning. In his world he used to love the sun and the sights it would bring to him each day. But now, now it left him with a sick and twisted feeling every time he woke up with its rays effortlessly caressing his face, indifferent to his plight. Now, he hated it.

And being so close to such a perfect copy made his heart want to furiously wrench itself from his chest. Because every time she spoke he remembered, he remembered that he was the only one left. His son, Shining Armor, Prince of the Crystal Empire had locked and barricaded himself in his room to suffer in a spiral of grief that led ever downwards. Twilight Velvet’s heart gave out unable to cope with everything that was falling down around them. Luna... Poor poor Luna, she was locked in absolute denial, she kept telling every pony that Twilight and Celestia were alive, that it was just a feeling she had; that it was true. She had to be restrained and kept to her quarters because of her outbursts, they hurt everypony and re-opened old wounds, she was mocked and told off, she cried and raved but she went to her rooms... It was funny and sad really, because the truth is what the masses believe, and they believed that --after 2 weeks of searching and no signs of life-- Celestia and Twilight were dead.

The fact that his son had locked himself away because he was denied access to the scene and the fact that his wife, Cadance had disappeared leaving only a note that Shining could read had broken the once proud stallion. And the worst part was that Night Light was dying too. He was losing hope, he was losing faith. And yet there he was, being comforted and cared for by the very image of the woman who had led Twilight to her death. And she was crying.





And the same sun that had touched Night Light’s face tried to touch upon the faces of eight other mourning people. It couldn’t. It couldn’t bring warmth and joy to those who needed it because it could not shine through the cold, hard stone of CHS.

Together they cried, whether it could be seen or not, they were all crying.

        Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Twilight, and Sunset all huddled together and released a river of tears. Luna stood leaning against a wall of lockers as she watched the girls grieve. She was no stranger to grief and pain after having spent several years in the armed forces, but she meant what she said, dealing with things like death and delivering the news never got any easier. For her at least.

        Luna did feel sad though, but not a soul crushing grief like what Sunset was going through. But she had to know, she had to make sure she was right. Luna turned to Steelhorn,

        “ Captain, what happened? How did the Princesses die?”

        Steelhorn was silent for a minute,  Luna got the distinct impression that he did not want to answer her. But ever so slowly he uncrossed his arms, pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed, then recited,

        “Two and a-half weeks ago, Princess Twilight left to go to her lab which was based in the Castle of the Two Sisters deep in the Everfree Forest. She declined help from the Princesses and her father who is-was a leading expert in magical studies. But a couple of days later, Princess Celestia received a letter from Princess Twilight requesting help, she did not specify what type of help. As the afternoon approached, Princesses Luna and Cadance reportedly felt some disturbance from where Twilight’s lab was, they went to fly there but as they met in Ponyville, a magical field, larger and more comprehensive than anything either one of them had ever seen erupted from the location of Twilight’s lab. By the time Princess Luna and Cadance recovered from the initial shock they couldn’t even get in the forest.

“Some sort of super potent magical radiation field was coming from the ruins and had spread throughout the Everfree Forest and the surrounding areas. Nothing survived. Experts spent a whole week looking at the area but there was nothing they could do. At that point, the forest and the land around it was labeled a ‘dead zone’. Nopony was allowed in, nopony was allowed out. The radiation sapped the magical and physical strength of any who entered it’s field and it was found that those who had been in the radiation field could contaminate others. As a result a quarantine was put in place around Ponyville and the Everfree Forest until a solution could be achieved. Last I heard, doctors were beginning preliminary tests to see if they could rid organic beings of this ‘radiation sickness’.

“As of three days ago, it was determined that Princess Celestia and Princess Twilight would’ve died as a result of the catastrophic failure of one of Princess Twilight’s science experiments.

“ The only thing that Princess Twilight told anypony was that she going to attempt to recreate something she had read about during her time here. Other than that, she didn’t tell anypony what it was, she kept it a secret. The conclusion that our analysts made was that Twilight messed up and called for Princess Celestia to help fix it. We can only hope that their deaths were quick and painless.”

Throughout Steelhorn’s recitation, Luna did not look at him, she had her eyes locked on Sunset who was darting around, looking for something. By the time Steelhorn had finished, Sunset had her magical journal in hand and was muttering something under her breath while scribbling in the journal.

Luna knew how that was going to end. She’d seen it before, she didn’t interfere. It was better if she didn’t interfere right now.

Shaking her head and lifting it from Fluttershy’s ear, Applejack stood up and walked towards Luna with a conflicted expression.

“Lu-Vice Prin-” 

Luna held up her hand and shook her head.

“-Applejack... It’s Luna.” Applejack paused and nodded.

“O-Okay-” She took a breath “-Did they feel any pain?”

Luna was silent for a second as she nodded and Applejack grimly smiled.

        Turning, Applejack gave a small thankful wave to Luna,

        “Thanks for bein’ honest Luna. I needed that.”

        Applejack walked down the hall, turned away from the lockers then sunk back against them and slid to the ground, the sunlight was now in her face. She pulled her legs up and her arms hugged them. She rested her head on her knees and closed her eyes, tears coursing down her already soaked cheeks.

        Rainbow Dash was across the hall from Applejack. She was one of the few that could even come close to matching the volume of water pouring from Sunset’s eyes. But now, now she was silent and sulking, her mind trying to make sense of the world around her.

        Sliding down next to Rainbow Dash was Pinkie Pie. There was no smile on her face nor tears in her eyes, her formerly fluffy bubblegum pink hair was flat and covered her curled up form like a blanket holding her together. She was shaking like a leaf in an autumn breeze.

        But a few feet in front of Luna was a problem, Fluttershy and Rarity were together, balling their eyes out, Rarity’s makeup ran down her face and onto Fluttershy's dress but neither of them cared. Neither of them cared as they vented their grief through cries and sobs and hugs and choked reassurances to each other. But across from them, curled up in the same chair that she had sat down in, was Twilight.

        A recent addition to the wondercolts, Twilight was a genius and that was a problem. She over thought many simple problems and tasks and made a big deal out of them. But this news, this news was no small problem. She had died. She had died in a different world. How was the poor girl going to reason with that. If the other Twilight died, it was only a matter of time before she did too. But she didn’t want to die! She couldn’t die, she had so much to live for, she was supposed to go to college, get her PHD’s in science and mathematics; see her brother get married; have kids; grow old; then die. She wasn’t- she couldn’t die now she just couldn’t. She had a life to live, she was supposed to go to college; get her PHD’s in science and mathematics...

        As Luna saw Twilight sink deeper and deeper into the horrors of her mind, she saw Sunset break and hold her self together; break again and bind it together with willpower. But when she ran out, when her will fails her. What would she do?

        Something akin to a gunshot echoed throughout the hallway and Luna looked up, crouched, and focused. The door to her sister’s office had opened. That could mean only one thing.

        With a leap and a cry Luna was halfway across the hall but it was too late. Celestia had stepped out, Nightlight in tow. And everybody was staring at them.

        For Luna time had slowed. She saw Celestia’s sad, confused gaze focus on Sunset; Twilight’s broken facade lock onto her father; And Sunset’s grief fueled glare turning from Celestia to Rarity and Fluttershy her hand breaking the pen and it’s contents splashing over the journal as it snapped close with a bang. And time resumed.

        Luna stumbled into Celestia and Night Light backing them into the office. Twilight murmured,

        “Daddy?”

        And Sunset launched out of her chair, a hand aimed at Rarity,

        “SHUTUP! Shut! Up!” Sunset screamed at Rarity and Fluttershy as her hand streaked through the air and left an inky and bloody handprint on Rarity’s face.

        “Shutup! Shutupshutupshutupshutup-” Sunset was interrupted by a rainbow colored blur that tackled her to the ground.

Luna stared for a second,

Sunset had broken, she had attacked another student, she was on the ground being beaten by Rainbow Dash.

And Luna lept into action.

Leaping between the pair Luna quickly pulled Rainbow off Sunset and twisted her right arm behind her back and held her to the floor.

Sunset was up a second later, a kick aimed at Rainbows face. It was blocked by Steelhorn’s shin as he tackled Sunset to the ground and restrained her.

Rarity had stopped crying and was glaring daggers at Sunset. Rarity made to get up but was blocked by Storm Keeper as she got herself in a position to block Rarity from attacking Sunset.

With the exception of heavy breathing, and the muted sound of Fluttershy crying the hallway as still as a crypt. The seconds ticked by as no one moved. With a quick breath Luna took the initiative.

"Girls, I will contact your parents so they can come pick you up. You all have a week off to grieve."

As Luna spoke, the tension in the air eased and everyone was able to breath just a bit easier. But one situation still needed to be taken care of. With caution in her voice Storm Keeper addressed the principals.

"What about Sunset? Her parents are in Equestria and her teachers just died. I think it would be best if she came back with us."

From behind her Rainbow Dash started,

"Hey! We're her friends-"

"- And friends help each other," Snapped Storm Keeper. "Which is-"

"-I'll go."

Once again the hallway was silent save for the faint rustling as everyone turned to Sunset. While most were silenced by the statement, one wasn't.

"Sunset," Celestia called. "Are you sure you want to go back? You have your friends here, you have us. We're all grieving."

The rustling was heard again as everyone looked to Sunset.

"I- I'm sure."

A solemn silence filled the space after her words. Celestia was the first to break it.

"Sunset, are you sure."

The only thing that Sunset could do was nod her head. The hallway fell silent once more as Sunset clambered to her feet with the help of Steelhorn.

"Come on Sunset, let's get you up."

Once Sunset was on her own two feet she made her way to her journal. Ignoring everyone's voices she picked the ink stained book up by one clean corner then hugged it close to her chest. Turning around, she was met with the intense stare of Rainbow Dash.

"Sunset," Rainbow choked out. "I'm sorry." And she embraced her friend.

What followed was a tearful separation for everyone. Sunset said her goodbyes and gave out her final hand shake to Vice Principal Luna. It was over all too soon.





Steelhorn laid his hand on Sunset's shoulder.

"Sunset Shimmer, it's time to go. I trust you said your goodbyes."

Shakily, Sunset turned away from the portal,

"Yes sir. Let's go- go h-home."

Steelhorn walked through the portal first. Sunset followed a few seconds after him while waving a somber farewell to her friends. They continued to wave even as Sunset disappeared into the portal.