The World Between Us

by Starburst Gleam

The Hardship

Princess Luna teleported to Canterlot. She had forgotten about Twilight's parents until she went through the list of ponies she had to talk to. She suspected it would go down similar to Rainbow Dash's parents.

"I'm sorry for the late hour Miss Velvet" Twilight Velvet looked like she had stayed up, for there were bags under her eyes, and she looked very worried.

"Is Twilight alright? I've heard all sorts of stories, reporters came knocking, I had to kick their flanks to get them to leave."

"Twilight is fine. She is unconscious, but will make a full recovery. I'm afraid it is the others we must talk about." Twilight Velevet's eyes narrowed.

"What happened." Was all she said.

Velvet stepped aside, allowing Luna to come in. Her husband, Night Light, was sitting on the couch. Both had witnessed what had happened, and both had stayed awake. Neither knew of the conditions of the bearers.

"Princess Luna! Are you bringing news?" Night Light stood up.

"Yes. Bad news, I am afraid." Night Light's ears fell, and he set back down.

"Firstly, Twilight is fine. She will be one hundred percent recovered in about a month, and it may take a bit less than that, since she is an alicorn." The blue unicorn breathed a sigh of relief. Twilight Velvet stood silently, waiting for what came next.

"Out of her five friends, I'm afraid only Rainbow Dash survived" there were two gasps.

"Oh no..." Night Light wiped away a tear, and his wife looked distant, trying to comprehend what came next.

"What sort of spell did they use?" Luna grimaced. Two unicorns, both scholars. She should have guessed one of them would ask.

"An explosion spell, modified to use their Rainbow Power."

"So it destroyed their enemies, but not innocent bystanders." Twilight Velvet connected the dots quite easily.

"But why did they..." Her husband trailed off, not very eager to hear the answer.

"It drew on their power, and their energy to make the blast. It completely drained them."

Twilight Velvet sighed sadly. Her eyes glistened, yet no tears fell.

"Thank you Luna, for coming to tell us. I'm sure we are not the last you have to deliver this news to?" Luna nodded, taking the hint to leave.

She would have to tell Shining Armour and Cadence soon too. At least they were far away, in the Crystal Empire. She could finish visiting those in Equestria, then see them. Hopefully they would not have heard by then. Twilight Velvet and Night Light had taken it about as well as she could have hoped. Perhaps though, they were just waiting for her to leave.

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"You want to go back already?" Starburst looked at Applejack, surprised.

"Yeah. You know, just to see if anythings happened." Applejack shifted uncomfortably, waiting for permission.

Starburst thought about it. Two of their own were currently unconscious, it made sense the four would want to check in to see if they've woken up.

"If you want to, you can. Same things I said last time though." Applejack smiled thankfully at the orange pegasus.

Wow, she was starting to sound like their mother. She thought back to when she had first arrived in the afterlife. She had been the last of her group to die, and she spent about a week just telling them exactly what happened after they died. Then they told her that they had been going out and keeping tabs on her anyway.

"Do you still have to come with us?"

"Probably. It is just your second visit." Applejack nodded.

It didn't take very long to find the three others. They were just about ten metres away, doing an awful job of pretending they weren't trying to listen. Starburst didn't mind. A little eavesdropping never hurt anyone here.

"Alright girls, let's go."

All four of them started trotting happily behind her. They were very eager to go back out. This had happened before, usually with bearers who were the first, or among the first of their group to die. There was usually a bit of space in between the first visit and the second, but hey, what can you do? They could do whatever they wanted here, Starburst was just supposed to show them the ropes, and warn everyone of incoming Laughters. The second point of the job, she was quite unaware of. Everyone else was though.

Behind her, the four were chattering away. They looked extremely happy for four ponies who'd died just hours before. Of course, everyone was happy here, but most of the ponies she'd guided (with the exception of a lot of Laughters) had been mostly sober throughout their tour. Quiet, thoughtful. But this group, the four of them had adjusted so quickly. Perhaps it was the fact that they were a group. She had heard stories of all six bearers arriving in one go, but since she had arrived, there had been no groups like that. The four mellenia gap between bearers arriving probably helped.

Perhaps a group just held better than the one or two on their own she had gotten used to. Were happier. Because they weren't alone. Being an element bearer was a dangerous business. If you died first, there usually wasn't anyone you knew waiting. Sure, meeting other element bearers is cool, but if you're first, and you don't know anyone else in afterlife, what would it be like? She had lots of people she knew to welcome her. Her sister, her cousins, her parents, her friends.

Starburst wondered if these four had anyone they knew here. They all had their pets, and Fluttershy seemed to consider them more important than any ponies that might have been there. Heck, she had only just finished saying hello to all of them a few minutes ago. Applejack had seemed much more sober than the others, and had looked around a lot when they had been in the ordinary afterlife. Perhaps she was looking for someone?

Pinkie had tried to meet as many ponies as she could, who knows if someone she knew was among them. And Rarity? She just helped Fluttershy. Peculiar.

Arriving at the portal, Starburst turned to look at the four ponies.

"Okay, you guys remember how to teleport and stuff?" They all nodded. Pinkie jumped right through the portal. It made Starburst smile.

"That's my cue to go." She walked in.

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Princess Celestia was exhausted. There were a lot of ponies in the throne room, and many of their questions were just repeating the same thing.

Where are the bearers?

Will we be okay?

Eventually, she had gotten sick of it, and announced that the bearers are completely unavailable, and will stay that way. No exceptions. That had gotten a decent majority of the 'Pressing Questions' group out of the throne room. Eventually she had wheedled it down to people with actual problems, like structural damage, injuries to family members. That she could deal with.

The guards had become impromtu note-takers, writing down information given to them by ponies with information regarding the Id. Nurses, bystanders, one filly was even there, saying she could not find her brother. She was sent to fetch the rest of her family so they could organise a search party.

Eventually, the throne room was cleared out, in the lovely time of about three hours. She wondered how far Luna would be in informing families of the Bearers fates. Knowing Luna, she would not be going through them quickly. Teleporting was quick, but waking ponies up in the middle of the night and telling them their daughters have perished or are unconscious requires preparation. Not to mention it might even take a while before Luna realises her duty. Celestia trusted her sister, but in a time of chaos, it is possible she got caught up with Twilight and Rainbow.

But that was how it went. Celestia dealt with public affairs, and Luna went taking care of the internal affairs. She has faith in her sister that Luna would start without Celestia needing to tell her. Before she had been banished, Luna had done it before. When great generals fell, or simply when a hero died from his injuries. Celestia took care of recovering everyone else, and Luna got handed the job of informing the family. She wasn't sure how it came to be like that, but it was.

Celestia even wondered if perhaps Luna would wait til morning. But that would not do. Even in places like Ponyville, rumours spread extremely fast. If the families did not hear by morning, no doubt someone would say the correct thing, thinking it just a rumour. That would worry them immensely. Better to tell the families now, so they needn't worry about rumours.

Sitting wearily on her throne, she tried to decide what to do next. She would wait to tell the ponies about the bearers until after Luna returned. She could check in on the ponies the Id got to, but there was little she could do. None of them were ponies she knew personally, all citizens of Canterlot who had been in the wrong place in the wrong time. She could do nothing for them. Their families could though. She could check Twilight Sparkle and Rainbow Dash. But she would most likely be watched, and people would guess.

No.

She had to sit on her throne and keep things in control.

Celestia sighed, if only there were something she could do. But now she could only wait. Wait for Luna to be finished, so she could make the announcement. Ponies would be shocked, the gossip columns would go wild, and then Equestria would go into mourning. Then she, and the families of the four ponies killed, would have to plan the funeral.

It saddened her to think of it. It would be a huge occasion. With four ponies, it would also be very long. It felt a bit wrong to have them separately. They had been together for so long, and they had died together.

She thought of the Crystal Empire. Would the elements still work now that four of their bearers are gone? Celestia had wielded all six once, perhaps Twilight and Rainbow could take three each. But could they? Would they respond to just two owners, as they had to Celestia and Luna?

The Crystal Heart might be another option. If it's magic could be transferred to protect all of Equestria, they could have a backup plan. Currently, it only protected the Crystal Empire, but the Empire had grown exponentially throughout the past fifteen years. Perhaps its magic could expand.

What of other nations? Would the Gryphon Kingdom attack Equestria in its time of weakness? Would some other enemy show up? The questions whirled in Celestia's head. This was a delicate time. She had to maintain control. Which meant more planning. She was sick of planning.

She had planned the attack on the Id. That had both failed and succeeded. She had planned attacks for all the monsters that had decided they wanted a piece out of Equestria over the past few mellenia. They had all worked, with varying degrees of success. She planned the day to day handling of the entire country. She planned bills, decrees, treaties. She had planned for her faithful student to become an alicorn. She had planned for her to make friends, and she had shipped her off to Ponyville when it became apparent it was not going to happen in Canterlot. She had planned for her to defeat Nightmare Moon.

She had planned for Discord to defeat Tirek. She had planned everything. She didn't want to anymore. She was sick of being the chessmaster. The silly games of messing with stuck up nobles in her youth was gone. But she endured. She continued the plans. Because she couldn't let her ponies suffer because she wanted to shunt off her responsibilities. She always had to keep up an air of control, of power. Because if anypony saw her crying, like she wanted to do, word would spread. She would no longer be the all-powerful princess they felt they needed.

Perhaps she had already lost it, the respect of it given to the bearers. At the wedding of Shining Armour and Cadence. She hadn't defeated Crysalis. They had. Who defeated Tirek? Them. What had she done? She had played around with their lives, pushing them in a certain direction, hoping that once again, they'd find a way to beat the enemy. They had never failed her. Had she pushed too far?

No. This was not her fault. That final plan had been a plan built from desperation. Twilight and her friends had assured her. Told her not to worry. They had done this before. They would be alright.

Sitting, unmoving on her throne, blankly staring. Celestia replayed the moments. They had stood defiantly. The Id sensed them. Sensed the elements within them. It had pounced. They hadn't expected it. They were surprised. Mouths open, wings flaring, heads starting in shock. Things went from controlled to desperate very quickly.

Celestia and Luna could not do anything. They could merely stall, getting ponies to safety, hoping, praying that they were still alive, that they had a plan, that they could defeat it. Which they did. The rainbow in the sky. It had been a proud moment. They had succeeded.

Then the yellow band shut off. Like a lightbulb. Everything came crashing down. Celestia supposed it symbolised that Fluttershy had died. Her spirit gone. Then Rarity. Then Pinkie Pie. Applejack held on longer. Clung to life. But she too, fell. Leaving just the alicorn princess, and a pegasus that still was clinging to life.

No. She was done with the control.

"I'm going to my chambers." The guards nodded curtly. Celestia started walking. The pony who had been droning on for a while about who knows what gave a start of surprise.

"But Princess! I haven't finished-" Celestia interrupted. She was done.

"Write it down and send it." Done. She needed to be alone.

She needed to have some time to think. To sort out her thoughts.

She was done.

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Heart Beat watched Princess Twilight Sparkle. Not so much watched, as glanced back and forth every few minutes. She was recovering faster than she had expected. She'd woken up once, and since then had moved around a bit. Rainbow Dash showed no change.

It felt weird, being in charge of the health of these two ponies. If something happened to them, she would be to blame. She was suddenly important, a player in this game that the two had played so often. Now some of their ranks had lost. It also felt weird being in possession of this secret.

It had been made quite clear to her that this secret was extremely important. Which was understandable. If she told ponies four bearers were dead and the remaining two in the hospital, it would be chaos. If Celestia did it, it would be less chaos.

She had only been a nurse before. She had saved lives, but it was her job. Lots of ponies did it. But now? Now she was caring for two of the most important ponies in Equestria. These two were on a similar scale to the Princesses. One was a Princess. The other, a Bearer of an Element of Harmony. A close confidant to a princess. Both got invited to any big event. Heck, they could show up at the door unannounced and still be let in.

She wasn't sure how she felt about it. On one hand, she though she should feel honoured, happy. On the other, it was just another job, just slightly more urgent. Not that these two had any urgent medical needs. Both were just dozing away.

Normally she would have clocked out. Returned to her home, her coltfriend. Not today. She wasn't clocking out until the morning. Which couldn't come soon enough. All the coffee in the break room was going to mysteriously disappear before the night was out.

"Only eight more hours." Great, she was talking to herself.

Eight hours. Three hours since they had arrived. It would probably still be dark when she left. Much had happened today. She could handle that. Multitasking was essential in this job. But now, the only thing she could multitask on were watching these two and attempting to make the worlds best cup of coffee.

The purple alicorn made a groaning sound, moving over. Heart Beat watched carefully, monitoring vitals automatically. Nope. Not waking up again. Sometimes it would seem as if she were flitting in and out of consciousness, but had not opened her eyes since that one time she woke up.

Taking a gulp of coffee, she pulled out a magazine from underneath the waiting chair. She usually didn't like reading them, the earth pony had never been a big fan of gossip on the latest Canterlot celebrities. But she was bored again. Here she was, with one of the most important jobs in Equestria, and she was bored. Reading a magazine, and drinking coffee.

Did that count as irony? Shrugging, Heart Beat continued to read, looking up every now and then to check on her charges. Not noticing the spirits watching in the room.

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Princess Luna stood on the doorsteps of Rarity's parents home. Sweetie Belle still lived with them, saving up to get her own apartment. Knocking on the door, it was not the curly maned unicorn, nor one of her parents who answered after a few minutes.

It was a quite sleepy Scootaloo, with a tousled mane and eyes that were only half open.

"Princess Luna?" Sleepily, the orange pegasus blinked, as if to confirm what she was seeing.

"Good evening, Scootaloo. I'm afraid I have grave news." That got her awake.

"What's wrong? Is Rainbow Dash okay?" Her wings flared, eyes wide in concern.

"Please. Is Sweetie Belle and her parents here?" Luna stepped inside, walking past the worried mare.

"Yeah, Sweetie and I were having a sleepover," Scootaloo seemed almost embarrassed to admit it.

"We figured, you know, it would be fun. Like old times."

"That's fine." It was good. She wouldn't have to tell Scootaloo by herself. Now both she and Sweetie Belle would have friends to comfort each other.

"Could you please go wake them, I must talk to all of you." Scootaloo nodded, walking off into the house to wake the four unicorns.

A few minutes later, the five of them were seated nervously in the living room. Luna was on a small couch, and Rarity's parents were on a sofa, with Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle standing next to it. Luna knew what to say. Explain what happened, then leave. She'd already done it three times. But it didn't grow easier. Each time was a new set of faces she had to meet. To see their faces crushed.

To tell them that either their daughter was dead, or unconscious. Without getting to say goodbye. It had only been three times tonight. She'd done it before. There were a few different reactions. Ones like Spike, running away to do who knows what. Don't want anyone to see them cry. Ones like Rainbow Dash's mother, beginning to cry right then. No questions, just grief. Then there were those like Twilight Velvet, who wanted the full story. Who wanted to know exactly what happened. There were those who denied it, those who got mad, those who just collapsed.

There were four ponies in front of her. Which would they be.

"Princess Luna, did something happen?" Rarity's mother was worried. Not surprising.

"Is Rarity okay?" Sweetie Belle however, got right to the point. She had grown from when she had met her two best friends.

"What about Rainbow Dash?" As had Scootaloo.

"I'm afraid I have bad news. The Six defeated the Id. However, they had been forced to use a very dangerous spell." Silence took over the room. Luna hated the silence the most. They were waiting.

Waiting for her to tell them. Waiting for the information they didn't want to hear. Waiting.

"Out of the six of them, only Twilight and Rainbow Dash had survived." The reaction was immediate.

Scootaloo had a glimpse of relief cross her face, before it being replaced with shock, and grief. However, that tiny moment, that small split second had not gone unnoticed by Sweetie Belle. No. How could it be, that Scootaloo, who wasn't even related to Rainbow Dash, be able to have her friend survive, while her only sister was dead? How was that fair?

Her face contorted in a variety of emotions. Sadness, anger. She had the face of a pony who didn't know what to feel. Wanted someone to blame. Something. Anything. But she was a kind pony. She wasn't one to blame. Instead, she ran from the room, sobbing. Like Spike had. Her father followed her pitifully. Her mother stayed for a moment longer. She wanted answers.

"How did those two survive?" Her voice was quiet.

"Twilight was an alicorn, we think her enhanced strength and durability enabled her survival. Rainbow Dash was simply a miracle. We do not know yet why she is still alive." Luna's eyes flicked between Scootaloo and Rarity's mother.

Scootaloo looked torn. Rainbow had did it. Pulled off another miracle. But at the cost of losing four of her friends. What was she to do? She was grateful, yet saddened. She had to support her friend. Support Apple Bloom too. The Cake twins.

"What about Melody, and Blues?" Rarity's mothers eyes glistened with tears.

Melody. Rarity's young, not-quite-a-year old daughter. Blues, her husband.

"I have not told them yet."

"Then I will." This shocked Luna a bit. She had not heard of someone offering to tell someone else of a death.

She was the Princess. It was her job.

"You do not have to." But Rarity's mother was adamant.

"No. It's my grandchild, and my son-in-law. I will tell them. Surely the others must be told." Luna nodded. She had no remark to that.

Second time in a row she had been told that she had others to tell. Others. Yes, the parents of the bearers were a strong bunch. They would have had to been. But parents are not supposed to outlive their children.

"Very well. Good night." Luna had dismissed herself.

There was little she could do. Little she had ever been able to do. She did not know them personally. She knew them, she had had conversations. But she did not really know them. They would help themselves better than she could. That was how it had always been.

She came. She told. She answered questions. She left. They would find comfort in their friends, their family. Not in her.

"Wait, Princess!" Scootaloo had stepped forward to the middle of the room.

Luna turned to face her. The pegasus still looked torn, unsure of what to do. Rarity's mother had left the room.

"Is Rainbow Dash alright?" The question could have a million meanings. But Scootaloo wanted to know how Rainbow Dash felt. Did she know yet?

"She has not yet woken up." Scootaloo's wings flared slightly.

"Um, thanks Luna. I'm going to go see Sweetie now. Bye." Scootaloo looked conflicted. Upset. Confused. Grateful.

Unfair. It was unfair. Sweetie Belle thought it was unfair. Luna thought it was unfair. Unfair for the four who died, unfair for the two who survived. Unfair for their family, their friends. Unfair for Melody. Unfair for Blues. Unfair for Sweetie Belle. Unfair for everyone.

But the world was cruel, and enjoyed being unfair. It always had, and it would stay that way for a long time yet.

Author's Note:

Hello everyone! I had a bit of trouble with this chapter, the Mane 4 section in particular, I rewrote it a couple times. Hope it's good! Thanks!

Feedback and ideas are always appreciated! :)

Comments

[Starlight Nova]

This is a sequel to something, right? The synopsis makes it sound like it is.

[Starburst Gleam]

5371720

No, it's not a sequel, though I can see why you might think it is.

[Starburst Gleam]

5377058

To give a basic rundown, it's essentially a creature that feeds on good emotions. I'll go into more detail through the story, and perhaps in other stories.