Saying Goodbye...
”I don't think anyone is supposed to have all the answers but you can count on your friends to help you find them.”
-Sunset Shimmer
Twilight had her back pressed against the wall as firm as possible while she continued to call out to Princess Luna for help. The images of her friends began to take on a demonic look as their teeth became pointed and their eyes turned green with red irises.
'This isn't real,' Twilight thought fearfully. 'But I can't wake up for some reason.'
The room then became pitch black with only the eyes of her possessed friends being visible.
"Twilight, why can't you just save us?" asked Sunset. "Remember the great times we had?"
"We... we did have some good times," Twilight answered.
"See? I'd love to have some more," Sunset told her.
"That... sounds like a great idea," Twilight said hesitantly. "I do miss hanging out with you girls."
"Great! We can recreate one of our most memorable times," Sunset said as her teeth became visible with a smile.
"Like when we defeated the Sirens?"
Sunset eyes changed colors just as the eyes from the rest of her friends disappeared. The rest of Sunset's body was revealed just as she responded with an evil laugh. "Actually I was thinking more along the lines of when I should've destroyed you in front of CHS."
Twilight's eyes grew wide with fear at the sight before her. "Demon Shimmer!" she shouted as she slid backward on her buttocks.
"Oh, yes! I'm alive and well!"
Twilight closed her eyes as tight as she could while Demon Shimmer continued to cackle. Twilight began calling out to Luna once more for help as tears flowed like rivers down her cheeks.
"Twily! Wake up!"
"I can't. I won't fall for it."
"Twily, it's Shining. Please wake up."
"No!" Twilight shouted. "I won't let you hurt me!"
Shining Armor shook his sister harder in an attempt to wake her up but to no avail. Something was keeping her asleep and the only one that would know was in Canterlot. He lit his horn and touched it to the tip of Twilight's horn in the last ditch effort to revive her. It was a trick he had learned from their parents that would help calm them down.
"Shi-Shining?" Twilight said groggily a few minutes after having the calming spell filter through her body. "Am I...?"
"You're fine, Twily."
Twilight rubbed her eyes as she attempted to make sense of the nightmare she had. What was with my friends in that dream? More importantly, where the Tartarus was Luna?
“Twilight, what happened?” Cadence asked as the younger alicorn regained her bearings. “We heard you screaming in your sleep.”
“I was having a nightmare about…” Twilight paused as she recalled the terror moments earlier. “...about Sunset Shimmer and Rainbow Dash. Rainbow blamed me for her… her…”
“Twily, what happened to Rainbow Dash isn't your fault. It was a freak accident,” Shining said, attempting to reassure his sister.
“I know that but I've got this nagging feeling that there is something more I could've done,” Twilight said as Cadence and Shining sat down on the bed, sandwiching her between them.
“You may not be able to reverse the events of three days ago but I'm sure that you'll be able to put together some kind of memorial for her,” Cadence said as she wiped away a stray tear from Twilight’s right cheek.
A weak smile appeared momentarily on Twilight's face before her thoughts shifted to Sunset Shimmer. She lowered her head in grief before quietly asking, “What about Sunset? She's going to die soon from a disease that only affects humans. I… I…” Twilight began to softly sob as she turned to bury her face in her brother’s chest.
“Twily, I know this can't be easy because of the bond you have with your friends but eventually they are all going to pass on,” Shining said as he stroked her mane with his forehoof. “That's the major disadvantage of being an alicorn. Cadence made sure I understood that before accepting my marriage proposal. You will outlive your friends. No amount of magic in Equestria is going to change that.”
“There…*sniff*...there's just got to be something…*sniff*... I can do to help Sunset,” Twilight said, her words somewhat muffled. “Why else…*sniff*...would she appear in a dream?”
“I don't know, Twilight,” Cadence answered. “That's a question more suited to ask Luna when you have the chance.”
Twilight just nodded in acknowledgment as she slowly began drifting back off to sleep.
Twilight sat alone at the top of a hill that overlooked Ponyville Cemetery as the undertaker covered Rainbow Dash's casket, one shovel full at a time. She managed to hold her head up just far enough to watch her friend disappear from her sight for the final time. There were dark purple lines that ran from her eyes to the bottom of her chin from her most recent round of crying. She was lost in thought that she didn't hear the hoofsteps approach her from behind.
“Twilight Sparkle?”
The mention of her name made Twilight jump slightly but as her attention was drawn back to reality, her emotions changed almost instantly.
“Luna,” Twilight acknowledged with a hint of bitterness in her voice.
Princess Luna sat down next to her fellow alicorn as they both watched the sun sink below the horizon in front of them. Neither of them spoke for several minutes, causing the tension in the air between the two of them. Finally, Luna broke the silence as the shadows grew longer behind them.
“May I ask what is bothering you, Twilight Sparkle?” she asked.
“Nothing,” Twilight snapped. “Nothing at all.”
Luna, taken aback by Twilight’s response, paused a moment before attempting to find out what was bothering the young princess.
“I don't mean to be rude but I don't believe you,” Luna said softly.
“What makes you say that?” Twilight asked as her resentment continued to build.
“I've been to tens of thousands of funerals in my lifetime and nopony has ever been as distant as you were today.”
Twilight said nothing as she knew Luna was speaking the truth. She had been distant all day; both physically and mentally.
As she watched the last of the dirt cover Rainbow Dash’s coffin, Twilight let out a long sigh and responded to Luna.
“So is it you that wants to know what's wrong or is it your sister?”
“I am the pony who would like to know. I'm concerned about your well being; your psyche,” Luna said as she glanced to her right.
“My psyche?” Twilight asked skeptically. “Does that include my dreams?”
“Your dreams?”
“Yes, my dreams. Do you have any clue of what I went through last night?” Twilight said as her anger began to build. “I was tormented by my friends. They bucking blamed me for Rainbow’s death! I CALLED OUT FOR YOU LUNA!”
“Twilight…”
“No! I was stuck in that nightmare!” Twilight yelled as tears began running down her face. “Shining Armor had to use a calming spell to wake me up! I have never been so terrified in my life!”
“Listen, Twilight. Please let me explain…”
“Explain? Explain what? I… I just want to know where in Tartarus were you at!”
Luna took a deep breath and waited for Twilight to finish her rant.
“Twilight, the dreamscape is more complex than you think,” Luna said, wrapping a foreleg around Twilight’s body. “Certain dreams or nightmares cannot be interrupted because of your subconscious needs to experience the entire event so your mind can come to terms with whatever is bothering you.”
“But… why was Sunset Shimmer there?”
“I'm not sure about that. Perhaps it's because of the intimacy that the two of you once had years ago.”
Twilight sobbed for a few more minutes before wiping her tears away and looking into Luna’s eyes and asking, “Is there really nothing that can be done to help Sunset overcome her illness?”
Luna stood up, turned around and began the descent down back down the hill. She stopped after a few steps and whispered loudly enough for Twilight to hear, “Check the restricted section of the Canterlot Library…”
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Yea! An update!
*reads chapter*
Ouch.
Celestia is going to have guards posted, isn't she?
8900631
Not yet but more than likely sometime down the road.
Whoo. Yeah, I can see how this chapter would be difficult to write while depressed.
8900685
Could they even stop her?
8901096 Who knows? Of course, Twilight is on an unofficial "Friendship mission" in the next chapter. So they're safe for the moment.