//------------------------------// // Chapter 9 // Story: Silent Night // by cerealkiller78 //------------------------------// “T-Twilight?!” Fluttershy squeaked. “I want to know EXACTLY how it can be that thirty plus students of the school I would have trusted my own life with, could attempt murder without a second glance!” Rarity was about to say something, when she realized what Twilight had said. “Murder might be a bit of an overstatement Twilight…I mean, it’s horrible what happened, don’t get me wrong. But murder is a completely different field…” “Oh, is it?? I take it you haven’t seen it yet.” “S-Seen what?...” Applejack put her head in her hands. “Oh sweet mercy…Tell me you did not see it…” “Yes Applejack, I did.” “A-Applejack?...What did she see that we haven’t?” Rarity asked nervously. “The news story concerning the CHS students who beat a fellow peer half to death inside their school’s gymnasium, before taking her to an abandoned factory twenty miles outside Canterlot, leaving her there overnight in freezing temperatures to die.” Twilight monotoned bluntly. “THAT is what you haven’t seen or heard.” “I-It’s not true…Dash was in on THAT?!” Rarity cried. “Well, according to her, she didn’t know they were going to go that far. But it still don’t excuse what she did…not by a long shot…” Applejack shook her head. “Only what SHE did?” Twilight asked harshly. Applejack looked at her. “Well ya…I mean, she-” “I know what she did Applejack. But the rest of you are FAR from innocent yourselves.” Rarity spoke up. "I realize what you mean Twilight. But surely you cannot compare what we did to what Rainbow did…” “Oh, can’t I? Sunset was in touch with me, I know what the lot of you did. Rainbow wouldn’t talk to Sunset, you guys wouldn’t talk to Sunset. Rainbow didn’t give Sunset a chance to explain herself, you guys didn’t give her a chance to explain herself. The school turned against Sunset, and you four turned against Sunset. Need I go on?" Rarity looked uneasily away. "It’s all the same story…Can any of you truly say the same thing wouldn’t have happened if something equally as embarrassing about you guys had been posted? Because the rest of the story seems to argue that you guys always did the same thing that Rainbow and the rest of the school did.” Fluttershy was in tears now. Nobody dared to argue her, knowing deep down, that what Twilight said was true. “I…I trusted you guys…What made you all even THINK that with all that she had done since the fall formal to make up for her past, she would throw it all away? What would be her point in doing such a thing? Did you ask yourselves that?” Twilight’s vision began to be blurred with tears of her own as she wiped them away with her sleeve. “Maybe if you HAD given her a chance to explain herself, you would have seen the error of your own ways. Maybe this all could have been solved in a civilized way. But instead, I come back to this world to find that the bearers of the elements of harmony have abandoned, abused, and betrayed the magic of friendship. “Would a fish abandon the water it lives in? Does it say “I don’t need you?” But is that not what you have done? Just as water surrounds a fish everywhere it goes, so also is the magic of friendship everywhere, and it sustains you. Fish don’t leave the water, if they did, they would die. But you all have left it. You’re a fish that has left the water. Like the fish, you also will die, and you already have. None of you will ever again wield the elements or their power. You are all stripped of them, this is despicable behavior from those who have been given such privilege.” “T-Twilight!!” Rarity gasped. “I’m not joking Rarity! No more ponying up. No more wings, tails, or ears. No more magic.” “B-But-” Twilight lowered her tone. “You should consider yourselves lucky that I’m not dragging you all back to Equestria, and having our princess throw you all in Tartarus, which is where the worst of Equestria’s enemies usually end up.” Applejack stared at Twilight. “Now, that’s just crossin’ the line Twi…” She said sternly. “We messed up BIG time, we get that, and we regret what we did, but to say that you would even consider sendin’ yer friends…there, is just going too far.” “You’re right Applejack, I wouldn’t dream of sending my friends there…But dangerous enemies who pose a threat to those friends is a different story though.” It took Applejack a minute to take in what that statement implied. “Now wait just one minute Twi…” “You know something, I was wrong…” She cut Applejack off. “All this time…I was led to believe that I was fighting against monsters here in this world…But all this time, I was fighting right alongside them.” Everything went dead silent. “Twilight…” Their principal attempted to diffuse this. “We understand you are upset. You have great reason to be…We understand you may be speaking things you would not normally say-” “And what about you??” Twilight turned on her principal. “Is there really absolutely no security measures in CHS?? How did the alarms not go off when those students got back into the school? How DID they even get back into the school? You’re the principal! You should be able to answer these things!” Twilight then directed her gaze at the three youngest of the group. “I would have never imagined you three to start something like this…You broke up friendships, turned everyone against each other, and Sunset…destroyed her already weak reputation that was just beginning to look up, essentially caused the entire school to spiral out of control, and may very well still become responsible for the death of a very dear friend of mine.” The three girls were sobbing by the time Twilight finished. Nothing more was said after that. Twilight had said it all, and nobody dared try to argue anything she said. Silence reigned for an unknown amount of time after that, everyone presently oblivious to time. It could have been minutes, it could have been hours before a nurse approached the group. One that Applejack recognized. “Are you all here for a Sunset Shimmer?” She asked. Twilight immediately turned her attention to the nurse. “Yes, how is she?” “We have managed to get her stabilized, though she is still unconscious. We are allowing one person in to see her, so you’ll have to decide amongst yourselves-” “I’m going in.” Twilight said, not allowing any room for debate on the subject. Nobody tried arguing with her. “Right...” The nurse gestured for her to follow. The nurse led her down hallways, past rooms and corridors. Twilight saw all sorts of sickly people. It was definitely a different sight than what she was used to seeing in this world. So far, she had really only known this world on the bright side. This was her first time being in a hospital in the human world. She was beginning to see that not everything was so right in this world. It wasn’t just a few either. There were lots of people here. People with casts on various body parts, people she could hear coughing and moaning from inside rooms…she even saw one man who was missing a finger. Twilight felt sick thinking that Sunset was one of the people here, and even worse, that she was in here because of students from CHS… The nurse stopped at one of the doors, looking to Twilight before opening the door. “You should know that there was severe frostbite in her fingers and toes. Now, as far as amputating goes, we managed to save them, but there will be long lasting effects into the future. Chances are she’ll have increased sensitivity to cold, some numbness, stiffness, and pain.” Twilight merely nodded, but inside, she had internal conflict. They nearly had to amputate her fingers and toes?...Oh Celestia… The nurse then opened the door for Twilight to enter. Twilight hesitated a moment, before stepping into the room. There was a bed with a figure inside. Twilight felt a little dizzy, but steadied herself, and approached the bed. Nothing could have prepared her for what she did see on that bed. It wasn’t Sunset. It couldn’t have been. If it wasn’t for the all familiar fiery hair, she would have been tempted to go right back out the door and claim to the nurse that there had been some mix up, she had been taken to the wrong room, anything…This couldn’t possibly be…” Her face was blackish purple from bruises and swelling, her right eye was swollen shut, her left cheek had thick bandaging on it, her hands and fingers were also wrapped up, as well as her arms. That was about the extent of what she could see right now, the rest of her body was under the sheet. Twilight didn’t even want to know what the rest of her body looked like. She had a mask on to help with breathing, which was about the only sound that let her know that she was still in fact, alive. “Oh Celestia…” Twilight whispered to herself. “Why was I not here?...” Tears welled up in her eyes, as she felt the strength leave her legs, and she slowly crumbled to her knees as she broke down in sobs.