//------------------------------//
// Nightmares (Edited) 
// Story: Seeing the Sunset 
// by CoverArt 
//------------------------------//

	Sunset walked through the courtyard of the school. The sun was shining, and there wasn’t a cloud in the sky. She found it odd that it was completely empty; it was almost time for school, and she didn’t see a single person.  She shrugged. It wasn’t her problem, and less kids at school meant less kids to make fun of her behind her back. In fact, thinking about it that way made Sunset even happier. Something did make her pause, though. She wasn’t walking with Fluttershy, and she didn’t know why. Maybe she was sick and I left her at home? But then why don’t I remember that?
She got out her cell phone and tried to dial Fluttershy’s house, but was only met with silence, not even a dial tone. That’s really weird… Wait, I don’t own a cell phone. Where’d I get this?
She didn’t have much time to think, however, as the sky got darker, rain clouds rolling in. Sunset jogged over to the school doors as the rain started to fall. She pulled the door, only to discover that it wouldn’t budge or even shake. She quickly got out her apparently new phone and looked at the date.  Tuesday, November fifteenth. She definitely had the right day. So why wasn’t the door opening? She turned around and was about to run around the school to try the back door, when she looked at the statue above the portal. She gasped at what she saw. There was no statue standing there. There was only her demon form, looking down at her.
“Well look at the pathetic girl in front of me. Wanting to be normal and loved when she knows she never will be,” the demon said with a laugh.
“What? How in Tartarus are you even here? You were me!” Sunset exclaimed.
“Oh, I still am, dear. I am you, and you are me. We are one. In. The. Same.”
“No, we’re not! You used to be me! I’m nothing like you now.”
“Oh, is that so? Well why don’t we ask them, hmm?” She motioned to her left. Confused, Sunset turned her head, and before her eyes, Flash Sentry and the rest of the kids she saw in the gym appeared. None of them looked happy in the slightest.
“Now before I ask them their opinions, do you want to admit I’m right?” the demon asked. Sunset stared wide-eyed at the suddenly-appeared people, but shook her head and put a determined look on her face before she replied.
“So I was a little mean to him. Who wouldn’t be? I had every reason to think he started the rumor.”
“Did you? I remember hearing you think to yourself that Flash wasn’t the type of person who would spread rumors.”
“W-well, yeah, b-but I--“
“But nothing! You knew Flash wouldn’t do something like that, but instead you listened to Lightning Dust, who has always just looked out for herself. She could have said it was anyone, and it’d be just as much of a lie. You know for a fact it was probably a mistranslation or someone else. Instead, you verbally assault Flash. Very harshly, I might add.”
“What’s your point?”
“My point, Sunset, is that no matter how much you deny it, I’m still part of you, and there’s nothing you can do to get rid of me.”
“That isn’t true! I used to be like you, and even now, I can fall back to you if I’m mad enough. But with Fluttershy and the others, I know I can get rid of you for good.”
“You mean the people you tried to kill?”
“Wait. What?” Sunset was taken back by this. What did she mean? Did Sunset forget something important?
“Don’t play dumb. You know what I’m talking about, even if you chose to forget it. It’s still in your mind.”
And then it hit her. Her eyes widened as the scene popped into her head again after repressing it for so long.
“When I was you… I shot at Twilight with that energy ball. Oh, Celestia, I did try to kill them.”
“Yes, and it seems they haven’t forgotten.” The demon motioned to the right with her hand. Sunset looked over and saw the whole group, including Rainbow and Fluttershy. They all looked like Flash and his group: furious. They looked at her like they wanted to tear her limb from limb.  Sunset had never seen any of them, not even Rainbow, so angry. They terrified her.
“I-I was driven by power then. I was you! I regret trying to do it. Especially now. I never wanted to do that.”
“Oh and I bet you regret bullying everyone else, don’t you?”
“O-of course.”
“You’re a terrible liar, although I am you, so I know when you are lying. You don’t regret bullying people. Maybe some, but you did what you had to do to survive. You wanted to live, so you lived. So what if you took down others to get what you needed? You obviously needed it more than they did.”
“That doesn’t justify it, though. I regret having to bully anyone at all.” She lowered her head. "If I knew this kind of thing would happen, I wouldn’t have even tried. I would have just died, like I should have before Fluttershy saved me.”
“You bullied, tricked, stole, and lied to everyone in Canterlot to live your life and get to the top. And the people you did all that to? They suffered. Even your precious Fluttershy suffered because of you, and you know they all resent you for it, even Fluttershy.”
“They all hate me, don’t they?” Sunset started to genuinely agree with the demon. What she was saying was all true. Sunset, up until that point, had simply refused to accept it.
“Why don’t you ask them yourself?”
Sunset brought her head back up, and her eyes widened. Her pupils became the size of atoms as she stared at the entirety of Canterlot surrounding the courtyard. There were at least four thousand people in the crowd, and it seemed to stretch for miles. They all had the same furious look, at least the ones Sunset could see. Sunset started to shake. She was never so scared in her life. However, that was before they started speaking.
They started shouting at her, everyone, including Fluttershy, her friends, and Flash. All saying how worthless she was and how they hated her. How they wished she was dead or gone, and how maybe they should help her with that. Throughout all of this, Sunset failed to notice her demon form vanishing from the statue base. Then, the crowd of people started to move.
They were starting to close in on Sunset. Panicked, Sunset turned and tried to open the doors to Canterlot one more time, yielding the same result as before.
Think, dammit, think! Sunset looked around. She was completely surrounded, the angry mob on three sides, the school behind her. There was no escape. Unless… The portal! Oh, please be open, please!
She ran for the portal, the crowd within ten feet of her as she reached it. She tried to push into the portal, only to be met with some resistance. She could get through, but it was a lot harder than it should've been. The crowd was now almost within reaching distance. With one final shove, Sunset fell into the portal, hopefully to her safety.



Sunset fell to the floor on the other side of the portal. With a groan, she opened her eyes and looked around. She was in Canterlot castle, in the same room where the portal was originally. That somewhat made sense; when she came to steal Twilight's crown she was in a different castle entirely. Obviously with that kind of security breach, Celestia probably wanted it closer to her. She was hit with a headache suddenly and brought a hand up to her forehead. What hit her forehead, however, was no hand, but a hoof. Oh, yeah that’s right. Sunset slowly stood up on her hooves and was about to walk out of the room, when the door burst open. With a gasp, Sunset fell back into a sitting position as several Royal Guard stormed into the room and leveled pikes at her. Oh… I didn’t exactly leave on a happy note, did I?
“P-please, I don’t mean any harm,” she pleaded.
“Is that so, Sunset Shimmer?” a very familiar voice replied sternly. Sunset suddenly felt that she'd have been a lot safer if she stayed in the human world.
“P-Princess! Hello.” Sunset bowed as the Princess of the Sun strode into the room, her face neutral, neither angry nor forgiving. Sunset had no clue what to make of this. Before she entered the portal, Celestia had made her anger with her apparent. Seeing her so neutral was by far scarier.
“What are you doing here, Sunset Shimmer?”
“I was attacked in the other world. The only way I could survive was to come here. I’m sorry about how I left. I-I’ve changed, though. Hasn’t Twilight told you that?”
“She has, but I remember telling you specifically that you are not allowed in the castle ever again. You have just stepped onto castle property. There must be reprimands.”
“Wait, Princess, please! I know I messed up, but this was the only way. They would have killed me if I stayed there.”
“Tell me, Sunset. Do you deserve for me to give you haven here?”
“N-no. I don’t after the way I acted and ignored you’re lessons. I don’t deserve for you to keep me safe here, just like I never deserved to be your student.”
Celestia smiled, “Well, at least my last lesson sunk in. You seemed to have learned humility, Sunset. I accept your apology.”
“R-really? You mean it? Thank you so much, Princess. Does this mean you’ll let me return?”
“Of course not,” Celestia giggled, before addressing her guards, “Kill her.”
“What?” Sunset walked backwards a bit as the guards moved forward. Her former mentor had just ordered her killed after accepting her apology. Why?
“I may have accepted your apology, but you are still not welcome in the castle, and after what you put Twilight through, as well as all of Equestria, you aren’t welcome in Equestria, either. I therefore have no choice but to kill you.”
“You could banish me! Or lock me up!”
“And allow you to have a chance to escape and plot to get revenge? I’ve learned my lessons, Sunset. You must not live.”
Sunset shuddered as she thought of what to say. There really wasn’t anything to say. Celestia had given her order, and Sunset knew she wasn’t going to go back on it. She looked around for any way of escape. She was too far from any windows to escape that way, and the door was behind the most powerful alicorn she knew of. The only escape she saw was going back through the portal. It was here when Sunset noticed that no one followed her through. She hoped that meant they had given up and that she wasn't going to be mauled when she went through, but there weren’t any other options. She took a deep breath and jumped backwards through the portal yet again.



Sunset fell to the ground, again groaning. This is getting as annoying as it is life threatening. She stood up and dusted herself off. She looked around and was shocked to find herself not in the Canterlot High courtyard, but on a bridge. Specifically, the bridge she was, just days earlier, trying to jump off of. She shuddered as she remembered it. She didn’t even want to be on the bridge but, for some reason, felt like she had to. Something was drawing her closer to the edge, something she couldn’t fight. She looked over the edge to the water below. No, it wasn’t water. What she saw down there was red. Blood.
“Jump,” came seven voices. Sunset gasped and turned around. Standing in front of her were her four friends, Rainbow, Celestia in her pony form, and her demon-self.
“Jump,” they repeated.
“No! I can’t.”
“Jump.” They moved closer. Sunset backed up until her back hit the railing of the bridge.
“No! Stop, please. Help me!”
“We will help you, Sunset,” Fluttershy said in her normal sweet tone, “Just let us help you.”
The group all put their hands up--or in the case of Celestia, a hoof--and pressed them against Sunset, pushing her.
“No! No! Stop!” Sunset tried to fight back, but she was off balance. There was no way for her to fight all of them. They pushed her over the railing and watched as she fell.
Sunset screamed as she fell into blackness.



Sunset woke up with a gasp. She was sweating and terrified. She looked around and at herself. Fluttershy’s room. It was a dream… Just a dream. Sunset couldn’t just sit there, though. If she did, she risked crying and waking up Fluttershy. She slowly got up and made her way towards the bathroom, careful to avoid the sleeping girl.
Walking into the bathroom, Sunset noticed the mirror she broke a few days ago had not yet been replaced. Sunset was fine with that; she didn’t want to look at herself, anyway. She made sure the door was closed before sitting on the toilet and crying. The dream was so accurate. Everyone hated her, and she deserved it. Even Celestia would never want to have her back. Maybe she would have been better off if Fluttershy hadn’t saved her.
No! I’m thankful Fluttershy saved me. I just need a… distraction.
Sunset went over to the trashcan next to the sink and pulled a shard of glass from the mirror she broke. She rolled up her sleeve and sighed as she brought the jagged glass across her upper arm. She whimpered a bit as the pain hit. She would wrap up the cut later and clean up the blood currently rolling down her arm, but now, she just needed to forget her dream.