The Rift

by Colors

#32 ◈ I

Author's Note:

And thus, my debt is paid.

I

“That’s it?” Gold Petals asked skeptically. She’d been standing the closest to Sigma, along with Lynn. “Just like that? Nothing happened.”

Gold Star, who must have noticed something was up, rushed over, closely followed by Autumn.

“What happened?” she shouted, as soon as she was in ear range. “Did something go wrong?”

“Um. A few things went wrong. I probably caused two accidents that could have been avoided. But the rift is closed.”

“So that’s it? We’re done?”

“Um. I’m not-”

“Pretty anti-climactic,” Autumn commented. “Are you sure everything went well?”

“I am over ninety-nine percent confident that Discord is dead and the rift closed,” Sigma said.

“Then we should leave, right?” Gold Star threw a gaze around. Rainbow and Fluttershy were standing somewhere far away, and didn’t seem to have noticed anything. “Someone who can fly, can you get them?”

II

“Is that true?” Rainbow asked, as her and Fluttershy were the last to join the group near the entrance. “We’re done? World saved?”

“Um. Yes.”

“Good. Then it’s time to make good on your promise. Bring back Twilight.”

“... um. Rainbow Dash, I will need time to try that, and I will not do it from down here.”

“How much?”

“Um, I estimate half a year.”

“HALF A YEAR? You... you... Twilight isn’t gonna make it that long! Are you gonna create a new body for her, too? Just admit you’ve been lying the whole time, you-”

“Stop!” Gold Star hissed, her voice almost spiteful. “Rainbow, don’t be naive! She has to invent a spell nopony has ever done before in the history of Equestria! Of course it won’t work in a day!”

“How do you think Twilight will look like in half a year?” Rainbow held against her. “We’re lucky if she makes it a day!”

“Um, a unicorn with as much magical energy as Twilight will be magically protected from decay for about thirty hours after her death,” Sigma said. “If we put her in cryonic stasis before that point, she will be unharmed for an arbitrary amount of time. Um, I don’t know how much time Featherfall has. In her case, it is possible that decay has begun already, and it is possible that it has already progressed too far. Um, getting out of here quickly would raise the chances for her. For Twilight, it will not make a difference.”

“Cryonic stasis?” Rainbow repeated.

“Her body must be cooled down to extremely low temperatures.”

“But... I thought-”

“If waiting around here means less chance for Featherfall to come back,” Cyclone threw in, “then can we please go immediately?”

“We are going immediately,” Lightning Arc said. “We don’t have to ask for permission. And Sigma, you come with us. Everyone else can stay here for as long as they want.”

“Does she smell?” Gold Petals asked as Cyclone picked up the fallen angel.

“No! Not at all so far.”

“That’s good, right?” Gold Star asked Sigma.

“Yes,” Sigma said. Without wasting any more time, she joined the group going one by one into the tunnel.

III

“We’re still alive,” Gold Petals accurately noticed, and not without relief. They were still in the tunnel, but it was now wide enough for several of them to fit next to each other. “Lightning told me you said all angels might die when you closed the rift. Does this mean that turned out to be false?”

“Um. Yes. It was unlikely to happen.”

“Is everything back to how it was before, now?”

“Um. The sphere’s software is still damaged. I expect further incidents to happen, but for them to become less frequent and less severe with passing time. Um ... It is somewhat probable that all angels lost their abilities to sense danger.”

“Oh. But I didn’t. I’m already sensing something.”

“Um, in that case you are likely but not guaranteed to keep it indefinitely.”

“Good. I believe you, you know? The same sense was what the other angels and me follow you here in the first place. It’d be nice if we kept it.”

“S-Sigma?” Fluttershy asked shyly, catching up with them from behind. “Sigma? D-Discord is dead now, isn’t he? I never heard you say it.”

“Yes.”

“And... you can’t bring him back too, can you?”

“It is very likely not physically possible to revive him at this point.”

Fluttershy didn’t reply, but tears dwelt up in her eyes. She didn’t try to hid it, she just kept walking beside Sigma, crying silently.

“Please bring back Twilight,” she whispered eventually. “I don’t care if you need half a year. I just want to see her again. The real her.”

“I will work on it every day as soon as I fulfil the promise I made to Gold Star.”

“Thank you,” Fluttershy whispered, not even asking what it was. Gold Petals kept watching her for the longest time, until they reached the end of the tunnel. There, something else drew her attention.

At the bottom of the abyss stood Celestia and Luna.

Comments

[Nerfyy]

they killed discord . . . just like that . . . and NO ONE GIVES A F*CK??
like seriously?
noone even saw it happening and he didnt get any dialogue to finish off with as well
. . . terrible