//------------------------------//
// A not so clean slate 
// Story: Empress of flame 
// by Pathious II 
//------------------------------//

Sunset Shimmer would awake with a sudden startle, it was the nightmares again, the ones she had been experiencing for months now. Ever since Twilight Sparkle had left something was not right. She just couldn't wrap her head around it, it was like there was something new. However this new feeling did not feel nice. The dreams were always dark the feeling and emotion horrific. She didn't know where she was, or exactly what was happening. All she could think of, all she could feel. Was hate and anguish. She had this overwhelming feeling to cry. Yet she didn't know why. It was like something was being torn away from her something she held dear, yet it was something she could not quite remember. When she awoke from these dreams / nightmares she would always be so cold. 

She remembered when Twilight had left. It was a moment she couldn't erase from her head. So many questions she had left unanswered, maybe not for her friends but for Sunset indeed. Twilight had given her new human friends the responsibility of helping Sunset learn friendship. Yet no matter how much they tried, no matter how much they tried to Triumph, they just couldn't. Sunset so desperately wanted to change. She clung to the thought that maybe she could have friends, be able to move on with her life. These dreams on the other hand just would not let her go. It was like an invisible hand preventing her from progressing. As she sat there in bed thinking about everything. she just wanted to feel normal. Her Newfound friends we're great. They made Sunset very happy, she couldn't deny that. There was just that hand that invisible force. It was always holding her there preventing her from progressing, steering her towards leaving. 

It was in that moment of her Despair and lonely thoughts that her phone buzzed. Her beautiful cyan eyes would glance down at the light that now reflected through out the room. The display showing that Fluttershy had texted her. She blinked momentarily, debating on whether she would pretend to still be asleep or answer. She gave a long deep side as her eyes glanced over once more at the phone. Ignoring her would just make her feel bad, Fluttershy didn't have a bad bone in her body. Her light amber colored hand slowly and steadily reached over and grabbed the phone. She would swipe her pointer finger crossed it's smooth glossy screen to unlock it. She would type in her pin and proceeded to head to her messages. She was still very tired, for her dreams left her very little time to have any comfort. She would be asleep but she would never be rested. Her eyes darted back and forth as she began to read the message.

" Hello sunset, I really hate to disturb you. I was just wondering how you're doing? You seem so unfocused at school, you have me very worried. Please respond as soon as possible."

Sunset would briefly glanced over this. She was way too tired to even respond. She desperately wanted to, she would hate to make Fluttershy any more worried. On other notes she just wanted to sleep. She would let out one more long sigh as she would roll her eyes. She would click the button on the side of your phone to turn off the screen for now. The light was just too blinding, and her attention span less than a squirrel. She would run her fingers through her Vivid crimson and vibrant yellow hair. Lost in thought as usual.

" Get it together Sunset." Sunset Shimmer would say to herself. It was a phrase she found herself using quite frequently." You're just stressed, you just need time. Things will get better." Another phrase she found herself saying more than she would like to. Her own self reassurance just wasn't working anymore, yet she found herself continuing to say it.

She would slowly let herself fall back in her bed. Well looking up at her ceiling, hoping that today would go swell. She yearned for a day that she could go to school and be accepted. She wasn't going to deny that she had done some wrong things. She just wanted to be forgiven, if this world wasn't going to give that she didn't know what she would do. She stared up at the ceiling for what felt like forever. Her eyes slowly getting heavy as if weights were pulling them to a close. Her body weak and her mind not entirely there. Maybe this time she would get the sleep that she desperately needed.

The world was dark and cold. All Sunset could fuel was a Darkness. She didn't feel alone and she didn't feel hated. However the surrounding area was sick and twisted. Without ever showing a single image. She was alone but not alone. There was a presence but no physical body. There was no pony or anybody around. She was beginning to wonder if she truly was alone.
It was in this moment that she heard a voice. The voice was familiar in a weird way. It was like an echo from the past. Something she hadn't heard in a long time. It was familiar, possibly the only warm feeling she had felt in this dream.

Sunset Shimmer slowly Rose to her feet. She needed to find what was making this voice. She hadn't felt a warm feeling in years, not since she was young. She couldn't quite wrap her mind around where she at heard this voice. She just knew she had heard it before. She followed it as it continued to call her name. Over and over again, it would just continue to say her name. The more she walked the more I felt like she was getting nowhere. This world was nothing but a black space, a void of nothingness. She felt the need to hold her hands out in case there was some invisible wall preventing her from pushing forward.

The voice was getting louder. She had to be getting close to whatever it was that was making this noise. She desperately wanted to see, even feel the emotion that was coming from The Voice. It got to a point that it felt like it was right in her ear yet she still couldn't see anything. She was getting frustrated now as if the right emotion was hiding from her. This was the emotion she should be feeling, yet the voice was only saying her name. It had this warm and friendly feeling. She clenched her Fists in frustration as she just couldn't find the voice. She was aimlessly walking around in darkness looking for something she couldn't find. She closed her eyes as tears begin to swell. Her arms outstretched waiting to feel something in front of her. All she could feel was the tears in her eyes and the cold air around her. The feeling was getting greater again and soon she felt her hands pressed against something cold. She strained to try and open her eyes. She hopes that she would see something good in front of her. When she opened her eyes she was surprised by what she saw.

It was the mirror, the portal that had brought her to this world. The warm feeling was coming from the otherside. Beckoning  for her to come. Was this her solution, was this the way for her to feel happy again? She didn't know why but this dream felt more real than it ever had. She questioned herself, wondering if possibly going back would be her solution. She couldn't be so hasty she couldn't just leave. Maybe this would become an option. Just maybe this could be her final attempt if all else fails.

Sunset would wake once again. However this time she wasn't cold. She was warm possibly even hot. She felt like she was panting as her eyes darted around the room. It was as if she was still looking for that voice, she wasn't she was in her room and she was so overheated. Her eyes felt as if she had actually been crying. Like the tears from her dream had resonated to the real world, she sure hoped she wasn't crying in her sleep. It would have been incredibly embarrassing if she was, luckily for her she never had anybody over. She slowly got up out of her bed. Her legs were aching and shaking as if she had been walking for miles. Her body felt as if it was in total Anarchy like she was on fire. She had to get a glass of water before she passed out again. She slowly made her way to her small kitchen, the Moonlight reflecting off the wooden floor and the fake metal of the sink. It was still this late at night? She could have sworn it was this dark before she went back to sleep. She Shrugged it off as nothing as she opened her cupboard and grabbed one of her many glasses. Water was all that was truly on her mind right now. She held the glass under the sink as the water poured into it the Bubbles as it hit the bottom of the glass would ride up the sides almost overflowing the glass. She shut it off and then quickly drank it down. She would set the glass down and then rest both of her hands on the counter as she let her head hang and thought.

Sunset Shimmer was a very studious girl. She didn't like things that she couldn't understand. If she could not put science into perspective of the problem, she would have a hard time making sense of it. She had never paid attention during her friendship lessons when she was Celestia's student. She kind of wished that she had, then maybe she wouldn't be so hardcore on the facts rather than the friendship. She was always so busy studying what she felt was important. She unfortunately at the time did not see friendship as an importance, she had such a hard life as it was bringing others into it was not something she wanted to do at that time.

" Oh Sunset, just get ready for school. It may be early but there's no point in going back to sleep." She would slowly raise her head has she spoke finally slipping out of her Focus. She still felt warm but the burning sensation had subsided. It was more of an itch now than it was a burn. She was going to do everything in her power today to make it so that this school day would be good. She had to ignore the dirty looks and the comments. If she didn't she would just make herself more depressed.

Sunsets did her usual to get ready. She started with her hair to be not so scruffy. It wasn't the easiest hair to comb. After that she would go for her teeth, healthy teeth means the more she smiles the less people have to cringe at her yellow teeth. Her self-esteem was low and her Pride not what it used to be. She just so hoped that today would be a good day.