//------------------------------// // Haunting Dream // Story: You Can't Help Who You Love // by Feather Flyer //------------------------------// It was early afternoon and Sunset was resting in her apartment thinking about her 'progress in the pursuit of a better life'. So far her progress was pretty much zero. No. To be honest, it was in the negatives. Her luck had gone backwards and decided to bite her in the ass rather than hand her the keys to a brand new car. It wasn't helpful in the least. Sunset sighed and wrapped herself in a blanket. It was the weekend and she had been lying in bed all morning. She yawned. Though she was in bed, that didn't necessarily mean she had a good night's sleep. The usual dream of her guilty conscience stirred: a raging she-demon who had the intent to destroy and gain power. Sunset's mind recovered the dream she had had and there was nothing she could do to stop it from playing over in her mind. Her sweeping claws grabbed and snagged at the clothes of her peers, nearly ripping them in half. Her fiery breath scorched the walls of the school as she flew around it, hunting down all of those whom she would force into her army. Students let out bloodcurdling screams in her wake. But instead of feeling astonished, a sort of adrenaline rushed through her and her chest would rumble as a low cackle took a hold of her. It was like watching a horror movie starring herself. The real her was sitting in the audience, experiencing the guilt and pain that the demon on screen was not. Her demonic self was just crashing around on set, not giving a shit about future consequences while the viewer cringed, knowing that the punishment will come in due time. Sunset felt that all of it was wrong. This power...it was too much. She wasn't ready to handle it! As soon as she put the crown atop her head she regretted it. With all this energy surging through her veins she lost complete control. Her evil intentions came to life in the form of a beast and revealed a side of her that even she didn't know existed. And there was nothing she could do to stop it. Princess Twilight and her friends tried in vain to retrieve the crown, shouting at her and chanting 'It doesn't have to be this way!', 'You'll come to regret your actions!', 'You're taking the hard way!', etc. Her demon self didn't want to listen to that and ignored them. They were powerless in defeating her so why even bother? They would just be nice additions to her army. But at that moment, she wanted to round up all those who were fleeing, contrary to the six girls screaming at her. Sunset sighed and rubbed her temple as she reflected on her dream. She could feel a pounding headache coming along. But the vision kept on playing much to her dismay. She had gathered them all, the students, and snapped her fingers. White rings of hypnotic properties appeared above the heads of the students and in an instant, they became mindless zombie-like beings. Sunset cackled in delight and they surrounded Twilight and her friends. And like zombies, they bit and scratched and grabbed at them. The six of them were desperate to get away. Applejack and Rainbow Dash punched and kicked their way out, fighting back tears and sniffling as they inflicted pain on former friends of theirs that crowded around with glowing white eyes. In a series of well timed dodges, Twilight with Fluttershy in tow, got out of there with few scratches and bruises. Without Spike biting the shit out of those who tried to harm her, Rarity would have never come out alive. And as for Pinkie Pie...she was Pinkie Pie. Her magical ability to sense odd things and immediate danger kicked in and she bounded out with nothing to lose. Sunset Shimmer felt her blood boil at the sight. They had gone and surpassed the army without so much as a lost arm or gouged out eye! In rage, she sent a storm of fireballs that they fled from in terror. The flames licked at their heels as they ran. The girls screamed in fear of their lives as the zombie army followed, slowly but surely. The mischievous fire rushed along with them, devouring the grass and tinder that lay in their path. There were a few casualties; some of her recruits disintegrated from the roaring mouths of hot flame. But none of that mattered. She had a whole school. As long as she could catch her victims... It wasn't long before the fleeing heroines ran themselves to the ground and collapsed. The only thing they could do then was watch their pursuers gain on them. The snapping of their jaws. The clicking of their teeth. The moaning that escaped their gaping mouths...It was all over. Sunset laughed in pure joy. Finally, it was her time to shine. No one could rain on her parade now! That is... Sunset covered her ears and snapped her eyes shut. No! She didn't want to keep thinking about it! For a moment, the dream wavered in her mind as she attempted to clear it from her head. The nightmares...they needed to end! Sunset threw her pillow over her head and screamed into the blankets. But it was no use as her mind promptly resumed her mental review of last night's 'show'. A girl appeared from nowhere, seemingly having just popped up without an invitation. And the moment she arrived, everything froze. Including the demoness. The person had no distinguishing feature that Sunset recognized; in fact, she was a shadowy aura with no definite shape, but Sunset somehow knew it was a female. She stared at Sunset with eyes full of fear. The real her might as well have died watching it from the audience. A pain aroused; it was of guilt and depression and heartache...It was like a shot to the head. A pierce through her chest. A vertical slash over the wrist...The girl reached her hands out to the demon, who stayed frozen in the sky. She looked at her with a scared expression and uttered, "Who are you?" Immediately, the shadow figure became someone Sunset had seen once but remembered very well. Her light orange skin...the flaming hair...those bewildered turquoise eyes...those trembling lips. Her clothes became visible from the aura; a half jacket with arrows pointing upward on the sleeves, a light blue shirt with a transparent top underneath it, blue jeans, black boots with the same arrow design... Suddenly the real her that had been in the audience watching it from a big screen appeared beside the demon and the question was repeated. "Who are you? Who are you? Who are you?" The demon unfroze and looked at her with malice. Her teeth barred and her claws were outstretched, ready to grab her at random. The zombie army came around them in a big ring, ignoring the six girls they were to destroy only moments before. They surrounded Sunset, her demon form, and Shimmer, all the while groaning and chanting in a monotone, "Who are you? Who are you? Who are you?" Sunset took a step back only to find that she bumped into Twilight. She jumped forward and nearly fell in surprise. The Elements of Harmony were standing there looking at her with serious expressions. Twilight pointed at her accusingly. "Sunset Shimmer, who are you?" The hot-tempered girl growled and snapped back at her. "What the hell do you mean by that? Why the fuck is everybody asking that bullshit question?!" Twilight, unfazed, moved and pointed at both Shimmer and the demon without looking away from her. "Sunset Shimmer, who are you? Are you that of innocence--" Her finger aimed at Shimmer, giving her a purpose and reason for appearing in this hellish world. "--Or that of ill will?" As if being evil was a good thing, the beast snarled and hissed with a smile of absolute delight. Sunset stared at the two. Shimmer stood in suspended animation, her eyes still full of the same fear. Despite the girl being a mirror image of herself, Sunset couldn't help but wonder how it was she looked so...frail. So innocent. So oblivious to the evil that stood next to her. Sunset had seen herself in the mirror, but she never looked the way Shimmer appeared to her. Compared to her soft eyes that were full of many emotions, hers were hard and dark. The healthy glow of a slight blush in the other girl's cheeks was not visible in hers. Instead, there was a faded scar from past fights and scraps she had gotten into. The small mouth of Shimmer's, that was presently puckered in the same way someone who was in danger of crying would have them, was something that Sunset had never done. Her mouth was drawn in a hard line, barely cracking into a smile. Sunset kept her eyes focused on Shimmer feeling troubled. The demon hissed and stamped her foot. She looked her way and saw features similar to her own; angry eyes and a crinkled nose complete with a smirk. Sunset didn't like what she saw. "Tell us, Sunset. Who are you? Good or bad?" Twilight whispered. Without warning, a zombie-like teen grabbed at her shoulder chanting the same three words. She smacked at them and moved away in disgust. To her horror, she saw that all of her army was coming towards her and crying out those dreadful words. Sunset tried to escape their grubby hands but found that there was no use in that. She had to choose. Was she good? Or was she bad? From looking at Shimmer, she knew she couldn't be her. She was too innocent. Sunset was far away from her level. But the demon...there was no way she'd choose her. The beast waved its hands in the air trying to persuade her into coming to her. Shimmer remained motionless. Desperately, Sunset began to move toward the beings that represented the concepts upon which she was being asked to consider herself under. "Who are you? Who are you? Who are you?" Their hands snatched at her hair, their teeth bite her arms, their legs kicked at her shins and ankles. But she had to get out of there and choose. It seemed the only way to get out of this hell house. Twilight and her friends began to chant as well, their voices louder and clearer than all the others. "Choose, Sunset. Choose between the good and evil and we shall see what consequences befall of that decision," Twilight called. The army gathered closer and closer and closer and closer. Sunset fell over as they overcame her. But she had to choose! Her mind came up blank. What was she? Was she still evil? Was she relatively good? She had abandoned the concept of Friendship, and went back to her own ways. But she hadn't done anything terrible as far as she knew. Sunset definitely wasn't as cruel as before so what was she? Before she could even answer, darkness fell. The last thing she saw being Shimmer's inanimate image staring off into space.