For The World Is Ending and I Am Left To Die
Sunset Shimmer didn't actually feel the bullets as they tore through her chest. Actually, she really didn't feel anything for a few seconds. The pain didn't come until she stumbled backwards off the raised platform, her body still numb with shock, and plummeted fifty meters down to the cold, hard, metal floor below. Then, as her body crashed into the surface, she heard the sickening crunch of flesh and bone, and finally, she felt the pain.
And it hurt. A lot.
Her body was twisted at a sickening angle, three of her legs bent outward at odd directions, the other one twisted painfully behind her back, crushed by the weight of her own body. Sunset tried to roll off of it, but she could not move her body; it simply lay there like a heavy rock. The only hint that she was trying to move anything at all was the subtle clenching of the muscles in her neck. She figured that in the fall, she must have snapped her spine, or at least damaged it in some way. But right now, she really didn't care. After all, what was left for her to care about?
In a few moments, the massive complex that she was in would finally activate, and all life in Equestria, and ultimately, the universe, would end. There was nothing she could do to stop it. She had led the valiant attempts into the facility to try and stop the machine from firing, to try and save trillions upon trillions of innocent lives, but her attempts had been fruitless. They had been when Princess Twilight Sparkle had been shot right at the gate. The haunting image of blood pouring from the holes in the lavender alicorn's skull still plagued her vision now.
No wait... that wasn't an image. That was her own blood. Sunset watched idly as a pool of her own crimson blood slowly drifted out from underneath her body. The thick substance matted down the fur on her chest, as slow trickles seeped out from the bullet wounds marring her.
The pain wasn't really going anywhere. It was just there, not getting worse. If anything, it might have been subsiding slightly. Sunset focused her gaze upwards, gazing at the platform from which she fell. Her eyes tracked the lifeless body of Rainbow Dash as it was hurled off and away from the tower, falling to the chasm below. A few moments later, she heard the faint, echoing crunch as it impacted with the main floor even further below.
That was it. They were all dead. They had come in four hundred strong, only to be defeated within an hour. Their attempts were hopeless. No pony force, no matter how strong, would be able to prevent the inevitable. Equestria was simply not prepared for the automatic rifles the humans had brought with them.
Tears finally came, streaking her cheeks as Sunset cried to herself. She cried for the foals who would never grow up to become what they dreams. She cried for the humans in a world far away from here. But mostly, she cried for herself. She cried as she lay on the cold, hard floor, alone, with no one, no pony to comfort her.
Sunset would never feel the sweet, soft touch of another pony's fur on her own as they shared a hug, or the smooth, comforting clasp of a hand in her own. And right now, in her pain, she would not have any other being there with her to comfort her as she slowly, painfully drifted off into the realm of death.
Fear began to consume her as this realization dawned on her. She was going to die here, all alone. Sunset did not want to die. There was things she wanted to do, wrongs that she needed to make right. Sunset needed to apologize to Celestia, her former mentor. She needed to find her family, tell them how sorry she was, and how much she loved them. She couldn't die here. They would never know just how sad and lonely she was without them, and how much she wanted to make things right.
Sunset Shimmer was going to die without being able to say goodbye, without even being able to tell anyone she was sorry.
Her soul burned with the heavy weight of all her sins as her crying only grew stronger. Sobs racked her body, the shaking of her chest only causing her the bleed and hurt more. She was going to die here, alone. All alone. Sunset closed her eyes, relaxing into the floor as life dumped all of her grievances on her at once. Tears now mixed with the pool of blood on the floor, mixing to create a deadly concoction of sorrow and misery.
A loud, droning noise blasted through the air, causing her to weakly open her eyes. Her vision was blurry now, the amount of blood she was loosing finally catching up to her. Shouts rang out from above her. This was it. Soon, the weapon would be firing, and it would all be over.
Her breathing became faster, panic surging through her body. No! She couldn't go! This was all just a horrifying dream! Soon, she would wake up, and it would all be over. Sunset couldn't be dying, it was impossible. Just hours ago, she was with her friends at Canterlot High School, watching as Rainbow and Applejack challenged each other to an arm wrestle. She must have passed out from the heat of the day, that's all. She wasn't dying, this was just an dream! An illusion!
Suddenly, the noise came again, loud and raucous in her ears, and reality was once again swung upon her. She closed her eyes again, desperately waiting for this hell to be over. There was nothing she could even do. Her body was paralyzed, and her mind was beginning to numb. Soon, it would all be over, and she would be left alone to rest... forever.
The temperature began to rise rapidly, as a loud, droning hum filled the air. It got louder, and louder, and louder. Mechanical whirs added to the cacophony, the signal that the large machine was active, and parts were finally moving into place. This was it. It was over.
Sunset Shimmer thought one last thought, her mouth moving subtly as she did. "Please forgive me."
And then the weapon fired.