//------------------------------//
// Chapter 6: The Dream 
// Story: Eye of the Storm 
// by Doodle Note 
//------------------------------//

Sunset gasped as soon as she fell out of the portal and into a shallow puddle of cold water. She pushed herself to her knees and turned around to find the Nether Portal standing behind her as it emitted a purple light. She pursed her lips and scowled at it before standing back on her feet as water began to drip down her body. Shaking the water out of her hair, she pulled out her sword and slashed at the portal, breaking part of it. With that, an explosion of light pushed her out of the puddle and onto a patch of grass. There, she lied on her back with her eyes on the stars after rolling over, her clothes soaking wet as they began to collect small particles of dirt.

Wandering was difficult, especially when you're doing it alone. When the Order of the Stone disbanded, Sunset was certain she would be fine all by herself. Boy, how wrong she was! From her first days of solitude, she has been chased, attacked, and nearly killed. But as those two years went by, they became normal for her. Events like those became so normal that she became paranoid and scared about them.

Being alone sucked, she realized long ago. Not only was she slowly going on the verge of insanity because of her loneliness, but she feels as if she can't rely on anyone else nowadays. Isolation was painful for poor Sunset Shimmer. She wanted to cry, but the thought of tears streaming down her face didn't cross her mind. If only she could turn back time to when she first met Jesse and the rest of the Order of the Stone. Yet, she knew that was impossible. After all, no one can return to the past, even if they wanted to.

With every ounce of her strength left, Sunset turned herself onto her stomach and pushed herself back onto her feet. Then, she dusted the grass sticking to her clothes before she started walking. Her body was tired and heavy, but her mind was racing with thoughts and memories of the past. The cold wind of the night didn't help her calm down, either. As her body began to shiver, she fought the urge to fall asleep.

Sunset didn't know how long she was walking, nor did she know what time it was. When that finally crossed her mind, she reached into her pockets and pulled out a small pocket watch. But when she looked at it, all she could do was sigh. The pocket watch wasn't ticking as it should, so she assumed it stopped working once it plunged into the water while it was inside her pockets. Putting the now-broken pocket watch back into her inventory, Sunset looked up at the moon. From the looks of it, she deduced it was around midnight. At this time, she should be sleeping. And that was exactly as she did, only to spiral into the strangest dream she could ever think of.





When Sunset opened her eyes, all she could do was let out a gasp of confusion. She somehow found herself standing in a black void that was dimly lit where she stood. All she could do was look around, not knowing what to say or do in the peculiar place she was in. With no other option in front of her, Sunset started walking, hoping she would find something like a house or even a person. As she walked, her head kept on searching and searching and then, she stopped when she found six familiar people standing before her.

In front of her were her old friends, Twilight Sparkle, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Applejack, and Fluttershy. Those six girls were otherwise known as the Guardians of Equestria, handpicked by Princess Celestia herself. The girls were standing in a straight line, not paying any attention to Sunset, but instead were frowning at something. 

"Girls?" Sunset said, raising an eyebrow at her old friends. "Is everything okay?"

Neither of them responded to her question.

"Twilight?" The fire-haired girl turned her attention to the former. "What's going on?"

Once again, there was no response. So, Sunset turned her head to the left to see what her friends were looking at, and what she saw unsettled her. Standing in front of her was a man dressed in shiny dark armor holding a scepter with a glowing blue crystal. Hanging from the helmet that concealed his head was long white hair that reached his lower back. His back was facing the girls who were watching. 

But then, Sunset began to wonder what the man was standing over so she took a peek. Her breath hitched when she spotted Celestia wearing her golden armor, which was covered in scratches and dents. She was on both her knees as she looked down at what seemed to be a broken spear. Sunset could only furrow her eyebrows at the sight of it and then, her feet began walking up to the two. Once she was close, the fire-haired girl noticed that Celestia was gritting her teeth, whereas the dark-armored man had a toothy and sadistic smile on his face. Sunset raised her hand to touch the woman in golden armor. But before her finger could feel her head, she disappeared.

Sunset gasped in surprise and fell onto her rear before looking up to find that the armored man and the Guardians have also left her sight. Now, she was left in the void by herself, not knowing what to think. She closed her eyes for a brief moment and opened them again to find herself in a mountain setting. Sunset looked up to find the sky dark and thundering. Before she could stand back up, two armored men riding on Pegasi flew over her. Not knowing where they were going, Sunset immediately pushed herself onto her feet and started chasing them until she reached a ledge. She skidded her feet and looked down from the ledge and what she saw was war.

Soldiers in gold armor clashed against those wearing dark armor. Some used magic to fight while others only had their weapons or hands. Sunset even found men firing at each other using cannons and catapults.

"What is this?" Sunset muttered to herself. "What's going on?"

Then, she suddenly heard the sky rumble. Looking up, she spotted the dark clouds slowly shifting into a dragon-shaped beast with its eyes glowing white. Sunset watched as the beast flew downward to the golden-clad soldiers, devouring a large portion of them. She watched in horror as every soldier ended up being gobbled by the monster. Sunset decided to do something, so she formed a red orb of magic and chucked it at the beast. Once it hit its neck, it disappeared along with the battle that was being fought in front of her. Once again, she was back in the darkness with no one by herself.

Sunset gulped, not knowing what she was going to witness next. But then, a light shone behind her and she turned around to find five familiar humans. With a gasp, she recognized each face as Jesse, Petra, Lukas, Axel, and Olivia. Like the Guardians, their backs were facing her and their eyes were fixated on a bolt of lighting that connected the earth with the sky. Slowly, Sunset started to approach them, but before she could come any closer, an explosion emerged where the lightning bolt was. Then, a giant wave of smoke swiftly came in their direction. With a yelp, Sunset covered her face with her arms as the smoke wave moved past her. When she brought her down, the Order was gone as was the lighting bolt.

"Sunset Shimmer," a voice spoke, breaking Sunset out of her trance. "What you just witnessed was armageddon."

"Armageddon?" Sunset repeated.

"Yes, the end of the world."

"Who are you? Why are you telling me this?" she asked.

"Who I am is not important. Not now, at least." The voice paused for a brief second before continuing, "Sunset Shimmer, you must return to Equestria at once."

"Why?"

"Equestria is at risk of falling into darkness once again."

"Is it the Alliance of Darkness?" Sunset raised an eyebrow.

"It is far worse than the Alliance of Darkness," the voice replied. "It is the presence of a warlord called the Storm King. He is a threat to all of Equestria. If he isn't stopped, he will conquer Equestria and the rest of the world."

"What does he want?" she asked.

"If I only knew, but I don't. All I know is that only you and your allies can stop him."

"What do I have to do to stop him?"

"Return to Equestria at once. Sunset Shimmer, we need you."

Suddenly, the dark void was slowly engulfed in white light. With that, Sunset's eyes snapped open, but she was no longer in the forest.