Equestria Origins: Fallout

| chapter XIII |

Serendipity

noun

1.The occurrence and development of events by chance in a happy or beneficial way.

Synonyms: (happy) chance, luck, fortuity

Sunset Shimmer's POV

"Don't act so shocked, Sunny." Discord muttered under his breath. I glared in his direction and redirected my gaze to what seemed like the millionth body we unearthed. This was definitely worse than I had imagined. When we had first started the resurrection process I had literally lost my previous appetite. "This was you - well... Your corpse had certainly seen better days than these... But... You get what I mean."

"Unfortunately," I replied quietly. I folded my arms across my chest and felt my stomach doing cartwheels all over again. Discord flipped over the burn victim onto their back. Their body was charred black. They almost seemed like a plank of wood due to how stiff their bodies were.

"Well... Good to see you too, Filthy Rich," Discord spat out with an eye roll. I stared back at Discord with disgust.

"Yeah, I get he's not the most liked person in the world, but give the guy a break -"

"Discord." Princess Celestia's voice was thunderous when she scolded her husband. Discord instantly straightened up and looked in her direction as I did the same. I had never heard her scold someone this way. She placed her hands on her hips and glared at Discord, "How many times do I have to hear you picking fights with someone?"

"Well - she -"

"Don't. Just find as many people as possible and we'll continue with the process. I certainly don't know how many more casualties I'll be able to take..." Her voice faded when her eyes landed on Filthy Rich. I wasn't even certain how Discord knew it was him. Princess Luna walked up from behind her elder sister and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"Come..." Luna ushered her sister in her direction. Discord sighed and turned his attention back to the massive pile of rubble in front of us.

"Discord... I'm sorry. I didn't mean for -"

"It's fine." Discord interjected. He was tense for a moment, "I... I don't exactly like having to do this type of work. Humor is just my coping mechanism. It's certainly an inconvenience for most people, but... It's how I can function in situations like these."

"I understand. I'm the same way to an extent." I responded and gave him a playful punch on the shoulder. His red eyes flicked to mine for a brief second before he smiled. I grinned back at him and scanned the area. We were currently in the center of Canterlot. Of course, the castle was in ruin - demolished would be an understatement. Navigating the remains of the royal castle was hectic. We only managed to revive a handful of royal guards - one of which included Shining Armor.

"Oh my God..." I covered my hands over my mouth and stared at Shining Armor's dead body. His body was already in a heavy state of decomposition. Bullet holes were littered all over his body, but the most notable injury was on his face... His jaw was hanging by only a few tendons. Teeth were scattered on the floor beneath and behind Shining Armor. The wall behind him was stained with large blood spatters. A dry pool of blood sat just underneath him.

"Shotgun..." Discord exhaled slowly. Princess Celestia walked over to the body and knelt down beside him and placed a shaky hand on his forehead. Discord ran a few fingers through her iridescent hair. After what seemed like eternity, a brilliant aura engulfed Shining's body.

At this moment, my mind went blank. My hearing went fuzzy as my attention was just focused solely on Twilight's brother. I felt sick to my stomach just imagining what they might have done to her... The thought of her being killed in this same manner angered me.