//------------------------------// // Burnout // Story: Glowing Embers // by Sun Aura //------------------------------//                 Summer break was worse than before. Sunset and Flash still hung out, but she stayed home more often. She told him that she was trying to push him and Thunder into a relationship, since they obviously liked one another, so they should hang out instead. He didn’t deny it, but he did try to hang out with her.                 It hurt to do that. It hurt to push him away. But if she was going to do this, if her plan worked, she would be going back to Equestria. And yes, perhaps she could take him with her; tell him the truth and show him the world that he thought was a dream. But that would mean leaving Goldie and Bramble and Brawly and Thunder. Maybe she could find a way to bring all five, but what about their friends and family? She couldn’t bring everyone, and she didn’t want to make him choose between staying with them or not seeing them for at least three years. Instead, she’d make the choice for him. But she’d tell him, tell him everything before she left. And maybe he wouldn’t believe her, but maybe she’d come back in another three years and it would be just like before, a few days of visiting every couple years. Maybe she could have everything.                 But by the time the beginning of Senior Year came around, Sunset was trying to balance everything. She knew she was snapping at others more often, and especially at those girls. The only solace she had was that it had worked. They stopped talking over Summer break, the months apart giving things time to fester, and now they barely interacted. Even if she hadn’t sent a direct message, either their own fighting or siding with other friends on their conflicts had driven them apart. She had been careful. There were no online messages to track, no recordings thanks to an EMP made from a crystal, and even if someone said ‘she blackmailed me into doing this’, there was no proof. She even had copies of her blackmail material hidden and protected. No one could hack her laptop or phone and get rid of what she had if there were copies in flash drives hidden around town. But she hadn’t been careful enough. Somehow, somewhere, she slipped up. Flash knew now, and he didn’t like it. They fought. It was more than petty arguments, this was screaming and yelling and crying hot tears. It was the kind of fight that could ruin people. “Just tell me why!” Flash demanded. “Because I have to!” Sunset screamed back. “Why?” he yelled, slamming his fist into the table. “What the hell is so important that you’d bully and blackmail people?” “I-I can’t tell you,” she answered, her voice quieting a little. “Not yet. Not until I actually…..” “Is it worth this?” he asked. “Is it worth hurting everyone?” She hesitated. She didn’t want to hurt people, she didn’t want to ruin them. She was sure she could use the Element of Magic, that she could prove her worth, and gain everything her Replacement and those five had. But if these few people had to fight one another, just for a little while, was it worth it all to get the love she’d wanted for so long? She hated it, but she’d made her decision. “Yes,” Sunset answered. “I’m sorry, but I have to.” “Fuck this,” Flash replied. “I’m out.” “What do you mean you’re out?” she asked. “If this is what you want to do, I want no part of it,” he said, heading to the door. “So I’m done. Done with whatever our relationship is. Both the fake parts and anything that might be fake. I don’t even know if I can trust any of it!” “Flash-“ she started, her hands shaking. “Don’t,” he cut her off. “Don’t you dare. Whatever it is you want out of this, it isn’t worth it. And I’m not going to go down with the ship. Until you find a way to fix this, I don’t want to even talk to you. You’re not what I thought.” “Flash please,” she cried. “Just-just don’t tell Goldie and Bramble about this.” “Why shouldn’t I?” he asked. “Because I didn’t want you guys to get hurt,” she said. “Too late for that,” he said. “You’re hurting everyone else, for reasons you won’t even bother to explain! I won’t tell them, but it sure feels like you wanted to hurt us too. And right now, I can't trust that you ever cared about any of us.” She tried to protest, but the door slammed shut. There was a half-second of shock before she broke, before she was sobbing on the floor. It hurt, just as much as everything else, but it was so different. This wasn’t a pain that burned her from within. It was cold, terrifying, like winter frost blasting through her Soul until her fingertips went numb. And in so many ways, that was worse. The only thing that kept her together was hope that once she got what she wanted, she could fix it. “It isn’t that I never cared,” Sunset sobbed. “It was that I cared too much.”                 She had begun to hate them. Those five had cost her everything. Their Counterparts had Celestia, and now when she tried to get that back, they had taken anything she had left. She didn’t hold back her comments, her insults. They were the only ones she crossed the line with, using any foothold she had against them to hurt them worse than she felt.                 She avoided Flash, just like he asked. It took a day for rumors to start about what had happened, and all of them painted her as the bitch. She couldn’t blame them. She couldn’t even blame Flash for leaving her. She knew what she was doing, even if she had her reasons. But it would be okay, she could fix it, once the portal opened.                 She wondered if she should even bother fixing it. She didn’t care about those five. Even if she did, Flash would still hate her. She wondered if she even could fix it, if it was too far- If she were too far gone. It was too late to go back now. Her only hope at any sort of happiness was to get the Element of Magic.