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Gunsmoke

by Wanderer D

Chapter 27: Chapter 27: Wake

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Gunsmoke

by Wanderer D

Chapter 27: Wake

Two days later...

"Thank you, Princess Celestia," Principal Celestia said as the pair walked the school grounds. "Without your help, I don't think we could have ever afforded the repairs to the school."

"Think nothing of it," her counterpart replied. "It's only right that we help. Between me, Princess Twilight, Princess Luna and Science Twilight, your school should be able to withstand everything short of magical armageddon on a scale far surpassing what happened here."

Principal Celestia said nothing, stopping next to her identical twin to take in the re-construction of the school.

Classes had resumed soon after with the aid of Crystal Prep, as the other school had taken in some staff and students into their extra classrooms while the school was being rebuilt. But as much as they were able to move forward and things were looking up, a shadow still hung over all students, staff and their interdimensional guests.

"I think I should take my leave," Princess Celestia said after a moment. "It has been a pleasure to meet you and see your world, Principal Celestia, but my little ponies need me, and I have eluded my responsibilities too long."

Principal Celestia nodded. "Would you... like me to take you to see her, before you leave?"

Princess Celestia closed her eyes. "Sunset... was like a daughter to me. A daughter I failed... and now, she's gone." She gulped and shook her head. "It reminds me so much of my own failure at making her see she was loved so long ago."

Princess Celestia sniffed, and cleared her throat, wiping tears with the back of her hand. "I-I'm sorry, I know she's loved here too it's just—"

"No need," Principal Celestia said, giving her counterpart a hug. "No need."

Princess Celestia returned the hug briefly and nodded, pulling back. "I'll go ahead then, my sister will follow in time, I think she wants to remain a little longer with your sister."

Principal Celestia nodded, watching Princess Celestia walk through the statue. Alone now, she sighed and looked back towards the school, her mind replaying Sunset's last battle.

Principal Celestia led the Rainbooms to the back of the building, opening the doors into the crowded computer lab and ignoring everyone's questions as she pushed her way to the front. She turned the projector on while Rainbow Dash and the others moved the rest of the student body and staff out of the way to have a clear view.

Several students and teachers, upon seeing the sky clear and no sign of the monster, quickly made their way out, however a large group remained in the room, either curious or awaiting instruction from the principal.

Before the projector had completely activated, Celestia had already pulled up a live feed of Glocken and soon the questions died as everyone in the room watched the giant, mutated monster crash onto the city.

"Oh my!" Rarity gasped, "Look at all those people shooting at it!"

"Just what is going on here, Celestia?" one of the teachers asked, but they were ignored as Celestia changed from camera to camera.

"There!" Rainbow Dash shouted. "I see Mirage, Thunderbird and Nightmare Moon, along with someone else. On the rooftop on the far left, away from the battle."

Celestia stopped there, unable to change the camera angle to something closer, since all gaming streams were really focused on the huge monster.

"They seem to be talking about something an—oh." Fluttershy went beet red. "I um, I didn't know that S-Mirage and um, N-Nightmare Moon were like that."

"Or into each other." Applejack gulped, glancing at Principal Celestia. "Although it doesn't seem to be news to everyone."

"Hey, Mirage's doing something!" one of the students shouted.

They all watched as wings sprouted out of Mirage's back and the horn formed on her forehead. Stealing a glance around, Rarity noticed several dawning looks of understanding on some students.

"What's she planning?" Celestia asked, narrowing her eyes, then changed camera views to follow Mirage, who was now the focus of several streams which had noticed her unusual display of power.

They could see her hovering and saying something, although there was no audio, so more than one person wondered what was happening, however everyone in the room gasped in awe when Mirage was enveloped in blazing, magical flames, and dive-bombed the monster.

The gathered group of students and teachers cheered when she shot a massive blast of energy that cut through the monster, splitting it in half before it became pixels.

Rainbow Dash turned to face Principal Celestia with a grin in her face, when she noticed the look of horror the principal had. She had covered her mouth with a hand and her eyes were wide and shimmering with pooling tears.

"Principal?" Rainbow Dash called, the tone of her voice calming everyone down, cutting through the victory yells like a knife.

Rainbow turned to look at the screen, and she realized what was happening. "Oh no," she whispered, pushing the others out of the way so that she could stand in front of the large screen, watching as Desert Mirage broke apart into fragments of light. "No. Nonono," she whined. "Sunset!"

And just as if that shout had been a signal, what remained of Mirage exploded into pixels.

Rainbow Dash jerked awake when her head slid off of her hand, barely stopping herself from hitting the table with her forehead. "A dream?" she mumbled, looking around and blinking as the cafeteria came into view.

Crystal Prep's cafeteria.

"Hey Dash, you're awake," Indigo Zap said, taking a seat across from her. "Feeling better?"

Rainbow Dash forced a smile. "Of course, wouldn't want our friendly match to be called off because you thought I was too tired." She looked around. "Where are the others?"

"They had class," Zap replied, shrugging. "When they saw me they let me know you didn't have anything until next period, so I offered to keep you company."

"Heh, thanks."

The pair remained silent for a few minutes.

"How are you really doing?"

Dash grit her teeth. "Come on. Don't ask."

"Dash, you know I see you as my greatest rival, as well as a friend," Zap stated, pointing at Dash with her fork. "I might not be one of the Rainbooms, but maybe that's exactly what you need: an outside, friendly view."

Rainbow Dash considered Indigo Zap's words carefully. "I just... never got to apologize," she said at length. "Even when we were all in the middle of that huge fight, I could have said something other than what I did. Something that would have gotten across that... that I cared."

"You could... always go visit her," Zap suggested carefully. "Tell her now."

Rainbow Dash gulped. "What's the point? It's not like she can hear me, or answer, or forgive me." She grimaced. "Or hear me forgive her."

Indigo Zap bit her lip, obviously debating whether to say something or not, but finally, she looked Dash in the eye. "I hear they're taking her back to Equestria."

Rainbow Dash blinked. "What."

Zap nodded. "I heard that... they want to..." she gulped. "bury her there. They won't take her across the portal until after the contest tomorrow." She smiled sadly. "They want her to be here for that. Both contests."

Rainbow tried to take a deep breath, but it caught, and she felt her eyes sting with tears. She sniffed and wiped and rubbed her eyes, but she couldn't bring herself to say anything.

She remained quietly sobbing while Zap walked around the table, silently sat next to her, and wrapped an arm around her shoulder.

Lemon Zest turned the page of the First Aid/CPR/AED manual.

"She's burning to the touch!" Cadance shouted. "Quick, bring me the cold presses!"

Lemon Zest nodded, running out of the room and rummaging through the equipment they had bought almost a week ago. She could feel her heart pounding hard against her chest as adrenaline drove her to move faster and find them.

After discovering Twilight being under, she had been the first to hear the sounds from Sunset's room, and now, it seemed that no matter what they did, they couldn't get a break.

Finding the presses, she ran back into the room, where Cadance quickly made use of them. But there was something else...

She took a deep breath. She should have been more help. She should have known some basic things other than what she saw on TV.

The pair backed off when Sunset suddenly burst into light. The straps snapped releasing her as she floated a solid three inches over the bed. Wings of light and the silhouette of a horn emerged from her back and forehead. The AmuSphere she was wearing started to fizzle and spark as the magic coursed over the room in waves, until, arching her back, Sunset pulsed with magic once more and then collapsed on the bed.

The AmuSphere split in half and fell to the floor, and the computer connecting her into GGO fell to the side, smoking, as something inside exploded.

Cadance and Zest stared at the damage done before the former ran over to check on Sunset.

"She's not breathing!" she shouted, looking up at Zest. "Call 911!"

Zest smirked a little. "First thing to do if there's several people," she muttered. "Have someone call an ambulance."

"But—"

"She's not breathing!" Cadance repeated with a glare, before starting CPR.

"And the first thing I did was question it." She closed her eyes and shook her head.

Twilight rushed into the room, staring in horror for a split second before taking turns with Cadance in trying to keep Sunset alive, while Lemon Zest could only hold onto the phone and tell the operator their address and to send an ambulance.

She turned to the next page, reading through the procedures and memorizing them. She had scheduled a course for next week so she could be certified. Never again would she just stand idly by and let someone die.

Twilight Sparkle reclined against the wall of the emptied-out computer lab, earphones plugged into her mp3 player.

It's funny how life throws us curve balls just when we think we're finally getting ahead.

"Tell me about it," she muttered.

I found new friends... I think I found finally the words needed to mend old friendships... I found love... a sense of belonging beyond a single circle.

Twilight choked back a sob and slammed her fist back, hitting the wall.

I learned that friendship is like a kaleidoscope of sorts. For each person, each friendship, each love there is a million details that make them unique, and when you shine the light of friendship on them, you can truly appreciate how beautiful they all are.

"Stupid. Idiot. You knew it was going to kill you!" she almost snarled.

She was about to slam her fist against the wall again, when someone took her hand. Surprised, Twilight looked up suddenly, accidentally dislodging the earplugs from their place.

"T-Twilight?" she stammered, immediately recognizing her otherworldly counterpart. "Princess! I-um," she tried to get up, but Princess Twilight's hand on her shoulder stopped her.

She watched as the princess sat down next to her. It was always surreal to see the similarities and differences, and how they still looked nerdy regardless.

"When are you going to stop beating yourself up over this?" Princess Twilight asked.

Twilight shook her head. "I got her hooked on this game," she said at length, unwilling to look at her friend/counterpart. "It was me who introduced her to it, I who arranged for the experiment to happen..."

Princess Twilight's smile was sad. "But I helped too. Both Sunset and I worked on the magical side of this whole thing..." she trailed off, apparently thinking something over, before she nodded to herself and she slid a familiar looking book from her bag.

"Sunset's diary!"

Princess Twilight chuckled. "No... it's the one I had in Equestria, I brought it with me... I wasn't sure why, but... well, look at this."

She flipped through the pages until she found the one she was apparently looking for, and passed it over to Twilight.

Dear Twilight,

Something happened today. It was amazing.

I was visiting Twilight—you know, your other you—and she and Lemon Zest agreed to go Ragnarockr with me! It's... a type of really intense series of music concerts... and I knew that it wasn't Twilight's cup of tea, but she went regardless.

I love these girls, Twilight. Not only does Zest get my music, but Twilight also showed me the most amazing thing! It's a game of sorts where you can transfer your mind into an avatar of sorts, and create a whole new life and explore and have adventures and even use weapons without the actual risk to hurt anyone!

I needed this so much. Friends that wanted to do what I want to do, or would do things for me just like I do things for them, and also a way to let loose and de-stress by doing something challenging where I don't have to watch myself so I don't accidentally magic someone to the moon.

I'm really excited about this... about the new friends I'm making, about the new worlds I can explore, about the things I can do now... and it's all thanks to you and Twilight here.

You both are teaching me so much about friendship and life it's... humbling. And I'm thankful.

Your friend and student,

~Sunset Shimmer.

Twilight bit her lip, and upon a nod from Princess Twilight, she flipped through.

Dear Twilight,

Call me... Desert Mirage! Gunslinger supreme!

Twilight introduced me to two of her online friends and they all helped me set up my character. I love being her already! It's... empowering and freeing and cool and crazy and unreal at the same time.

I look a little older, I thought about doing a completely different character type, like Twilight did for herself and I'm sure others do, but I figured I wanted to explore how life as a no holds-barred version of me that looks closer to my age would be like... and I love it!

I'll be sure to write to you about my adventures!

Your friend and student,

~Sunset Shimmer

Twilight chuckled, sniffling immediately after. "I remember how proud she was about her character. She wouldn't let me or the others do anything for her after that first time... she trained and grew by herself until she was ready to do her first dungeon raid." She smiled. "We never told her, but we were impressed by how quickly she got to that level. Sunset was a natural."

Princess Twilight simply nodded, and Twilight continued leafing through the pages.

Dear Twilight,

This day started very bad... I really felt things would collapse around me, that I was doomed to just be alone again. But then, something happened today.

I feel like I've made new friends today.

I've known a few of them for a few months, but I never really sat down to talk to them and... it was fun. There was a lot of banter, a lot of bragging and plenty of planning a contest we want to win. But I haven't laughed like that in a while, and it felt so good!

It was... honest. A really honest, heart-felt laugh. I think the last time I had one of those was on your first visit, before you had to leave. We talked about learning from Princess Celestia and we were comparing notes, remember?

It was like that, again... and guess what? One of my new friends is none other than Vice Principal Luna! It's just... so different, and so interesting to find out that she and I have such things in common.

We talked tactics and teamwork and so many things related to this event! It was great to be with people that get me.

I'm glad I met with all of them earlier today. I'm meeting them again, soon, but I wanted to let you know that I learned an important lesson about friendship today:

Sometimes you try too hard to fit in. Sometimes it's worth it, and sometimes not... but there's always a place for you, where you fit and where friendships can bloom.

~Sunset Shimmer.

"Oh, I remember this!" Twilight laughed. "It was her first meeting with Surgeon's team. Did you know Principal Luna gave her homework in-game?"

Princess Twilight chuckled. "I'm not surprised, she's very dedicated to education, even if her photoshop skills are lacking."

Twilight rolled her eyes and elbowed the Princess goodnaturedly. "No one is perfect, besides are you saying you're a photoshop ace now?"

"Of course not!" Princess Twilight declared. "There simply aren't enough photoshop books in Equestria for me to do that yet. But give me a few and I bet I'd manage just fine."

The pair giggled.

The leafed through the pages a little more, until Princess Twilight snickered. "Oh, this is when she went back to Equestria and she had to explain to everypony how Gun Gale Online works. So, I got Princess Celestia to send Sunset a letter, because I just knew Sunset wouldn't do it herself..."

The walk from the school to the cemetery was short. In a small city like Canterlot City, everything was within relative walking distance. And so, Princess Luna found herself walking among graves, keeping her eyes trained on her counterpart, who had sat down exactly where she thought she would be.

"In Equestria," she said as she sat down next to Vice Principal Luna, "I don't have a specific place to seek solace with those who have gone before me, but I find myself drawn to cemeteries nevertheless, to consider mortality, absence, loss and love."

"Does it get easier with such a long life?" Luna asked, not looking up at the Princess. "I understand that time heals, and that it's a natural part of how the world works... but is it ever easier?"

Princess Luna sighed. "No. Whether it is a lover, a musician we were particularly fond of, a friend or even a noble we might have spared with, those that touch us deeply in one way or another will always leave a mark on us that will never be fully filled." She glanced at the sky. "Their mark upon us... a hoofprint in our heart. It is that gift; that connection which brings us the best memories of them, and as such, they are missed because the memory cannot be given flesh to be renewed again. "With time, as you rightly say, we learn to cope with the absence, for if we did not, we would be doing not only a disservice to ourselves, but also to those that loved us and are no longer with us to snap us out out if."

Luna nodded. "I've never felt so helpless. Even when I had no clue what to do for Sunset to get her back in her body, I didn't feel as helpless as when—" she cut off, biting her lip. "When I was younger I felt that my sister's popularity was stifling, even killing me. I took off and did things I'm not proud of."

She snorted. "Thankfully not as bad as what some other, more unfortunate people than I have gone through, but I... I did take drugs. I let myself go, lived in squalor, broke into an abandoned building. Built a shrine to nature, smoked whatever came to me. Stole. Begged. Ran away from the police... until one day, I was walking down the street and I stopped and stared through the window of a store... I saw Celestia, drinking coffee, surrounded by people and she looked so lonely.

"I never told her what made me go back... and when years later, I met Sunset, I saw how lonely she was, and I wanted to change that. She was a horrible, horrible person, though," Luna laughed. "I wanted to help her be happy, but she was just, oh my goddess, she was just impossible!"

The pair chuckled.

"It took me time to see her for who she was. Far more than I care to admit most of the time. And it would have taken me longer, had I not agreed to go meet Surgeon and his team... and there I saw the real Sunset. And I think I loved her from that moment on."

Princess Luna nodded. "Do they help you through this?"

Luna sighed, looking at the two graves in front of her. "In a way. My mother passed away when I was really young, so I have few memories of her, and my father... I never knew him. We grew up with our distant family, who were as loving as they could be. But them... my parents, I like to think that they worried for me. That they were proud when I pulled myself together, got a job, learned to love my sister for our differences... and that they would have approved of me and Sunset."

"I'm sure they would," Princess Luna said. "I never met my parents either, but what I have seen of parents leads me to that conclusion: that your parents would be proud of you and happy for you."

Vice Principal Luna smiled, then slowly stood up, helping the Princess up as well. "I'm going to the hospital. Even if she's really gone, and all we have here is an empty body, kept alive by machines... She's still Sunset, and I only have until tomorrow to be at her side."

Princess Luna gulped. "If you want..."

Luna shook her head. "No... I-I understand why she needs to go back... I just wish it wasn't because of this."

Princess Luna nodded. "In that case, I shall return home for now. Rest well, my sister, I will see you tomorrow."

The soft beeping of the machines attached to Sunset greeted Luna. She walked slowly around the bed and sat down, taking Sunset's hand in hers.

"They say that you're gone," she whispered, "the doctors said that there is no activity in your brain... that it's just the machines." She sniffled. "The others... they say you have no magic in your body at all. No spirit. That it's just the machines."

Luna rested her head on Sunset's arm, still holding her hand.

"They say you're going home, to Equestria... to spend your last days with your family there."

She gulped.

"I just want you back," she confessed. "Please. Come back."



Next Chapter: Chapter 28: Vision Estimated time remaining: 1 Hour, 37 Minutes
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