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// Bonus Chapter: The Sun may set, but it also rises.... 
// Story: Shattered Mirror 
// by The Bricklayer 
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Sunset Shimmer wasn't the kind of mare you would expect to be working in a hospital, not with her prestigious background. She, along with her fellow unicorn Starlight Glimmer and like Twilight Sparkle before her, had aced every exam in Nightmare Moon's very famous Magical Kindergarden (Which had been started up long ago by the Nightmare herself) and had been granted the rare honor of being one of Nightmare's two students alongside Starlight. 

But while Starlight had kept her nose (Well, whole muzzle really) in the old and rare tomes of the Canterlot and later the Golden Oaks Library pretty much keeping up with no pony not unless of course they were long dead and had a important piece to play in ages long since past in the pages of history and generally being a shut-in with only her assistant Spike to keep her company and the chaos spirit Discord to annoy her every now and again, Sunset had chosen a different path. She had never regretted choosing medicine as her line of work, in fact she had very good reason to do so. When the yellow and bacon maned unicorn was just a filly, and still in school her mother had come down with a rare strain of the Feather Flu. Now normally, this disease was harmless, but when you combined this particular rare strain with that fact that Sunset's mother had always been a sickly mare, well the result was inevitable really.

Sunset swore not to let anyone else suffer the same pains as she had. To be honest, although Sunset herself would never admit it even in private, she and Starlight weren't so different. They both kept their noses in books, not really having time for friends for the longest time. Sunset had broken the cycle sooner then her fellow student, and had made several friends at the Canterlot Royal Hospital where she worked. Although she had yet to find cures for every dangerous ailment of the world, that didn't mean she couldn't help those who had problems she could fix right now.

And that, was something that currently had Sunset in a frenzy. It had only been a few days since Celestia's return from her thousand year imprisonment and yet all of the Hospital was still packed from victims, dead or very close to that from her rampage. Like pretty much everypony, Sunset had thought Celestia just a story thought up to scare little fillies and colts into doing what they were told. "Do your homework or Celestia will come down from the sun and gobble you up!" they said, but now it was quite obvious that she was more then just a fairy tale.

Sunset snarled at the memory of the firey raged filled Alicorn mare. In fact, although she would never say a word about it, Celestia's rampage was not the first time she had met the mare. It was just a mere few days before the Burning of Canterlot as it was now being called that the two mares had met.







Sunset's office: Canterlot Royal Hospital

It was late that night, and a storm was raging over the city, as if to foreshadow what was to come later that same exact week. Sunset grimaced as she went over the papers. Several victims of animal attacks, all from right inside the city. But that wasn't the odd thing. It wasn't like these were creatures that had escaped from the local Canterlot Zoo. No, these were all house pets, cats, dogs, and birds and the like. But it somehow seemed they'd turned vicious on their owners for no good solid reason. Sunset didn't like it. If she was a superstitious mare or one of those ridiculous hoof readers that often set up tents inside the city to tell your fortune, and she wasn't either of those things, she would have said they were signs of something coming.

Sunset yawned as she continued going over the X-Rays of various ponies, perhaps it was better if she picked this up in the morning. Suddenly, the window flew open all on it's own and a image of a flaming winged and horned pony appeared, eyes blazing bright and it was odd as the rain pouring inside the room didn't seem to dampen her image. Sunset blinked and rubbed her eyes just to make sure she wasn't hallucinating out of sheer exhaustion, but nope. The pony was still there.

"Sunset Shimmer, that's a nice name." The mare commented, and Sunset's eyes narrowed.

"Who are you? Tell me and get out of my office before I call security." Sunset demanded, showing no fear. She wasn't afraid of ghosts, as it was only logical explanation for this occurrence. But the mare chuckled darkly.

"Oh, you know who I am, if you've read those damned fairy tales they've surely put out about me by this point. And as for security, I don't think they would be able to stop me. I'd just burn them to the ground, like I will the rest of this city." The unknown mare snarled, and Sunset's eyes widened considerably. She knew who she was speaking to, but it couldn't be. It just couldn't. But somehow, the mare seemed to know what Sunset was thinking.

"Oh, but it is me. Now Sunset, I know all about you, and your mother. I could provide you the knowledge, and the power to save everypony from sickness... for a price." Celestia replied with another dark laugh. Sunset's eyes widened, she had to fearfully admit she was tempted if only for a moment but then Sunset's eyes narrowed. It simply wasn't worth it, and besides it wouldn't bring her mother back anyway.

"No, no knowledge or power is worth the price I'll have to pay if I listen to you and have to obey your orders like some dog. Now get out." Sunset snarled out, her horn glowing with magic. Another dark series of chuckles came from Celestia.

"Very well, but I did give you the option... Now you'll just burn like the rest." She said, before vanishing back through the window leaving Sunset to shiver and it wasn't from the cold rain coming in. She didn't sleep very well that night.







Now:

Sunset barked orders out to other doctor and nurse ponies to carry the various victims of Celestia's rampage to the various wards where they could be cared for properly. The wounds ranged from simply being burned to having pieces of rubble cover their coats in red and glass shards piercing their sides leaving them open in various sized gashes. And then there were those who'd been hurt by Royal Guard weaponry. Those were the worst, as they showed how terrifying Celestia had been, perverting over half of the Guard and turning it against it's real purpose.

Sunset frowned to herself, the victims as they were found still just kept coming in. She was overworked, and exhausted even with the help of her fellow hospital workers.

"...I can't wait for this day to end, just so I can get a few hours of sleep." Sunset muttered as she write something down on a notepad, hoping that Nightmare would give her good dreams tonight, and fend off the images that came to her brain every night of Celestia razing Sunset's beloved city, and ponies fighting in the streets.

Suddenly, there was the sound of metal horseshoes meeting the hospital's floor from behind her, and Sunset turned to face the sound. It was Celestia, and yet not her. Sunset's eyes widened when she realized this was her good half, Solar Flare. The only difference between them, besides the non glowing eyes was the fact that Solar's mane was one color and one color alone: the color of fire. Somehow this didn't settle Sunset's nerves any.

"Y-You..." Sunset stammered out taking a step back and dropping her notepad out of shock and fear. "W-Why are you here?"

After a brief moment, Celes-No, Sunset reminded herself that this was Solar Flare, answered.

"I came to help, is that so hard to believe?" Solar answered back in reply, but Sunset's eyes narrowed.

"No, I know perfectly well that's not just it... is it?" She questioned, and smirked to herself when Solar Flare looked down in shame. Sunset then felt shame herself, for being angry at the Princess. But then again, this was the same one who had put her in this position in the first place, so she had every right to be angry... didn't she? She experienced a brief flashback to THAT night.

"Very well, but I did give you the option... Now you'll just burn like the rest."

"No, you're right. It's not just that." Solar said in guilt her eyes reflecting her mood. "I... I came to see the extent of my destruction. Now I wish I hadn't." Solar said, a tear coming down from her eyes as she saw a pony lying in a hospital bed, bloody and needing to be fed fresh oxygen to breathe. And at seeing this, Sunset herself felt sad for the once fallen Princess of the Day. She knew she'd caused this, and wanted to help fix it, but she just didn't know how she could do that.

"Faust above, maybe I shouldn't have come here..." Solar murmured to herself as she eyed another patient this one even worse then the last in a sense as he had been one of the Royal Guard's Solar's dark half had twisted and perverted to her own whims in her coup against her sister.

"No, that's not true." Sunset said in reassurance as she put a hoof on Solar's foreleg, as she couldn't quite reach her shoulder because of the taller mare's height.

"How so?" Solar questioned, a eyebrow quirked in confusion.

"Forgive me if this sounds harsh Princess, but I think you needed to see this. Needed it to see what happens if you don't keep yourself restrained, and a reminder of never to let yourself go ever again." Sunset replied, and Solar actually smiled at her. A sad smile, but a smile all the same.

"You really are Nightmare's student aren't you?" Solar complimented as she wiped away her tear with a hoof. "You have her wisdom. Starlight has the talent and she certainly has the intellect, but you I think gained another type of intellect... The kind that shows you know how a pony thinks."

Sunset looked back at her, eyes widened from the compliment given before a idea came to her mind.

"You want to redeem yourself?" Sunset asked, and Solar nodded before Sunset produced a nurse's cap which Solar used to replace her crown.

"Then start by helping me." Sunset said, and Solar nodded once more before she replied with a "Gladly. Now let us get to work."

At this, Sunset smiled the first true one she had all day. The mad mare known as Celestia truly was gone for good, and now there was only Solar Flare in her place, and Sunset suspected that she was going to stay for a very long time to come indeed, perhaps forever. And for Sunset personally, she was relieved as she now no longer saw her nightly tormentor, but Solar Flare in her mind's eyes and for her that was a personal victory.



END