Can Sunrise Come After Sunset?

by Autum Breeze

Chapter 1

Chapter 1

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Sunset inhaled the morning air of Sire’s Hollow as she trotted through the town.

Ponies would smile and wave to her, which she’d nod back in reply.

“Sunset,” a warm voice called.

Turning to her right, Sunset saw her little brother waving to his little friend as she and her father walked off.

Her mother stood next to her brother, waving her over.

Sunset rolled her eyes, but smiled and started in their direction.

Suddenly, the sky grew dark, grey clouds forming rapidly, somehow all on their own, shrouding the sky, blocking out almost all the light.

A strong, wrong feeling wind picked up, blowing against Sunset.

Looking around, Sunset’s eyes widened in horror as all the plants withered and died. Buildings quickly crumbled and decayed.

“Starlight!”

Sunset turned at the terrified sound of her little brother’s voice to see him looking in the direction his friend had gone.

Turning her attention in the direction he was looking on in fear, she felt horror as the filly unicorn and her father seemed to wither away, turning to dust on the wind.

Looking around frantically, Sunset’s heart leapt into her chest as she saw ponies all around her suffering similar fates, withering to skeletons, before turning to dust.

What in Equestria was going on?

“S-Sunset?”

Sunset whirled back around, only for her blood to run cold.

Her mother and brother were withering away, just like everypony else.

“Big sis?” her brother asked, his voice quivering with fear, looking to her for help, the trusting look of a little brother, who knows his sister will always protect him.

Sunset tried to run, but stumbled forward, slamming into the ground.

Turning around, she realized her foot had gotten caught on a discarded bag, no doubt dropped by a pony who’d turned to dust.

Wait. Her foot?

Sunset quickly looked herself over, realizing she was in the human form she took whenever going through the mirror.

“Sunset!”

“Big sis, help!”

Her eyes snapping back to her family, Sunset felt sick at the sight of their gaunt forms looking back at her, their sunken eyes looking to her, pleading for her to help as their bodies started to turn to dust, pieces of them blowing off into the wind.

Pushing herself up, Sunset ran towards the two ponies left that mattered in her life. She had to get to them, had to save them.

She reached her hand out, desperately trying to reach them, the two reaching their hooves out to her in kind.

She was just within arm’s reach, her fingers barely touching her mother’s skeletal outstretched hoof, when she turned completely to dust, the wind quickly blowing her away.

Sunset heart caught in her throat. She barely glanced towards her brother, now determined to save him, if nopony else, just as he too turned to dust and was blown away, the look of fear and pleading for help being the last thing of him she ever saw.

“No. No, no. no, no-no!” Sunset ran away the dust, frantically grabbing at it, desperately trying to catch the lingering remains of her brother, to no avail.

She lumped to her knees as she watched the last fragments disappear into the wind, leaving her to watch, helpless.

She was alone. The entire town was gone and she was all that remained.

___________________________________________________________

“Mama… Little brother…” Sunset sobbed, tears slipping out from her closed eyelids as she lay in the bed.

Applejack looked down sadly at the yellow girl, leaning forward and lightly brushing away her tears.

Lifting the covers a bit better over the slumbering girl, Applejack got up and left the room, silently closing the door behind her, then headed down the hallway.

It was hours after school had ended and they’d learned the truth of Sunset’s origins. It was evening now, approaching night.

Not long after the young magical girl named Screwball had left them all, Fluttershy holding the distraught (though that didn’t even feel like a powerful enough word to fully describe her) Sunset, Principal Celestia and Vice Principal Luna had hurried out to join them, having been filled in, more so than even themselves, on the situation by Screwball.

By the time they’d come out, Sunset had cried herself to sleep.

Naturally, the first thing the adults did was get Sunset to a hospital, where she was rushed to the Emergency Care Wing.

She was dangerously malnourished. The doctors said it was a miracle she was even still alive, that her body shouldn’t even be functioning with the lack of nutrients within it.

She’d be on an IV drip for a very long time.

Must be because she used t’ be a unicorn, Applejack thought to herself as she moved out of the way of a stretcher being pushed the opposite direction. Maybe it’s the last o’ her magic, tryin’ its best in its last efforts to keep her alive in a world without any.

She reached the hospital waiting room, where the rest of her friends were sitting in chairs, their faces anxious.

They’d all called their families on the way to the hospital to inform them they’d be late getting back home and why. Thankfully, their families had been understanding, even if it had taken a little convincing, since it was Sunset Shimmer, after all.

They all looked up as she came over and sat down, her head hung low.

“Any change?” Rarity asked tentatively.

Applejack slowly shook her head, as if the simple motion took a monumental amount of effort. “She’s still asleep. She… she mentioned her ma and little brother in her sleep. Must’a been dreamin’ ’bout ’em.”

“Wait. If all of her world is dead, then wouldn’t that mean her mom and brother…?” Fluttershy asked, but couldn’t bring herself to finish.

No words or actions were needed.

“It’s… still so surreal, ya know?” Rainbow Dash murmured, her eyes on her knees. “Her world. Sunset came from another universe to ours. And, now… now it’s dead.”

“Where’re Principal Celestia and Vice Principal Luna?” Applejack asked, noting the absence of the adults.

Pinkie Pie sighed, none of her usual joy and vibrancy showing. “They’re speaking with the hospital staff... and the police.”

Applejack’s eyes widened. “The police?!”

Rarity nodded. “It makes sense. Sunset was missing for several days and, when she was found, her condition is truly horrible and, with her being a student of their school, they’re the only ones right now with any authority on her personal life. As to what will happen to her afterwards…”

She trailed off, none of them wanting to imagine what fate would befall Sunset once she’d recovered enough to be discharged.

No one really knew her outside of school. Where did she live? Did she even have a home? How had she supported herself all these years in a world different from her own, where she didn’t have any documented records aside from school?

There was silence for a few moments, neither girl knowing what to say, the only sounds being the hustle of the hospital.

After what felt like hours, Rainbow Dash’s head suddenly shot up. “Wait. What about her parents?”

The others all looked to her with mild confusion.

“Huh?” was all Pinkie Pie could say.

“Dash, we just went over that,” Applejack said dejectedly. “Sunset’s family would’ve died along with her world. She wasn’t there when it died, so she was spared, but, if Screwball’s right, that world’s been dead fer years now. Sunset survived fer a while, but her family would o’ died a long time ago now.”

Rainbow stood up, shaking her head, fists clenched. “No, I mean her family here, in our world!”

There was a pause as the girls all looked to her with confusion.

Rainbow shook her head. “That Screwball kid said everything in our world is a human reflection of Sunset’s world, right? With almost every human in this world having a pony or other creature double in Sunset’s world.”

“Yeah, so?” Pinkie asked, cocking an eyebrow.

Rainbow raised her fist. “Then, if Sunset and her family come from that world, wouldn’t there be another version of her family, a human version, her in our world?”

There was silence for a moment, before all their eyes widened as it sunk in.

“There’s another version of Sunset’s family in this world!” Applejack gasped.

“And, maybe, another Sunset,” Fluttershy held a hand over her mouth.

“Do you think Principal Celestia and Vice Principal Luna realize this?” Rarity asked, her eyes still wide with shock.

“Let’s go talk to them, now!” Rainbow turned on the spot and headed off towards the front desk, her friends hurrying in pursuit. “Maybe Sunset won’t have to go away when she recovers after all!”

As the five girls ran off to speak with the heads of their school, a girl watched them pass by, before turning her head and staring down the corridor Applejack had come from earlier.

She watched the hallway for several moments, her expression mournful understanding.

Without a word, she got up and left the waiting room, then the hospital itself and walked away into the darkening evening.

Author's Note:

Yeah, this surprised me too.

And update to this, after all this time?

Eeyup. Your eyes do not deceive you.

Honestly, this story has been on hiatus for so long because, i realize, i had no idea how to move the story forward.

i mean, i know where i want it to go, but i couldn't figure out the right in between, the launching point from where the story could reasonably continue from where the last chapter and Tying Up Loose Ends both ended.

I'd orignally debated about jumping a few days ahead, seeing how Sunset was coping with the loss of Equestria and being trapped in the human world, but couldn't figure out how to word it without it feeling honestly empty and uncaring to the emotions of the characters and the world they live in, so i just kept putting it off.

then, two nights ago, as i was laying in bed, i scrolled through my stories and passed over this one, the cover art catching my eye more than usual and i couldn't figure out why.

then, the image of Sunset reaching out to her family in a dying Equestria flashed in front of my mind and it almost all completely fell into place, but, with still having a job irl, couldn't do anything the last two days.

it also fell a little better into place the more i wrote.

at first, i intended for Sunset to be sleeping at the Apple Family farm, since, even though they're going to still be fine in the human world, AJ's family would know best out of the five the feeling of losing family, since, if you think about it, Pear Butter's mother had to have died early, just as Bright Mac's dad had to, since we never see either of their other parent, only Granny Smith on Bright Mac's side and Grand Pear on Pear Butter's side.

However, as you can see, i didn't do that and went with the far more logical idea. Sunset was in really bad shape, not just mentally, but physically, so hospital is a much more logical place for her to end up.

As for who Sunset's family could be and where they'll fit in the story as a whole? I'll leave you to guess and speculate that.

Though, if you've read my stories, you should easily be able to figure out who her family is, especially since it's pretty much outright stated at the beginning of this chapter without saying their actual names.

As for the mysterious girl in the hospital? Many guessed her identity before she even made an appearance.

her role in the story, on the other hand? That's yet to be seen.

Don't expect any quick updates (to this or any of my other stories) any time too soon after this.

i only ended up writing this because the itch got to me and, due to events against my control, any original plans i'd had for the day had to be scrapped, so i chose to do this instead, rather than leaving it for another day.

Hope you enjoyed this, small as it is, chapter and, until next time, stay safe, stay clean and see you later everybody.

Comments

[Velvet-Fresh]

I wonder how she'll take it the fact her brother's own girlfriend was the one that ended the world out of petty reasons. It'll be a harsh slap wake up call for her. She was just as petty..

[Greenhorn]

“And, maybe, another Sunset,” Fluttershy held a hand over her mouth.

It would be an awkward situation for sure.

[jarjaxle]

Megan Williams... Have only watched FIM & Gen 5 so don't know about earlier Generations.....expect heard about her in this site...

Oh boy......Sunburst & Stellar Flare as Sunset's Family.... well that is realistic as their looks go....oh boy somewhat want starlight realize that and same time I don't want her to realize it.. finally we are back to this thank the Force

[Haver]

More good

[cogz 1]

When will you be updating this?