In the perplexing mash of the subconscious that was the world of dreams, concepts like time and understanding of reality were lost. For this reason, Sunset had no idea how long she had been laying on her knees before the door in front of her. In actuality it could have been no more than a few seconds, but to her, it felt like it had been eons.
The door itself was a familiar lavender colour, as was the frame that bordered it, which rose from the ground with each side being parallel to the other before joining together in a pointy half ellipse shape as the top. On the front of the door was a six pointed pink star surrounded by five smaller white stars that Sunset recognized as Twilight's cutie mark.
It was something that looked so simple, but Sunset couldn't muster the strength to get any closer to it.
She couldn't even look at it most of the time, as she just stared at the floor beneath her. It was the same shifting shades of red that she had grown used to, spreading out in all directions before disappearing into a black void that surrounded her like a dome of emptiness.
What kept Sunset on her knees was a mix of fear, despair, and loneliness. All emotions that she had associated with this place, and emotions she knew she would experience if she walked through that door. The only feeling that was missing was the anger, but she knew that she had no one to be angry at but herself. And she considered herself too pathetic to deserve even that.
"Wallowing in your self pity isn't going to help anyone."
Sunset looked up to her left, where the other Sunset was standing over her. Like before, it was an exact copy of her aside from the black eyes with glowing opal irises. Only, as Sunset was currently in human form, so was she.
Not long ago, the sight of this darker side of her would have sent her into a state of sadness, anger, and denial. But as she had accepted that she had to cut ties with Twilight for the sake of them both, she had also accepted this side of her soul as a part of her. There was no point in ignoring it.
"I know what I have to do, but... I don't feel like I can do it..." She told her.
"Oh, you know that you can do it, because you think you have to do it. You're just trying to stop what's impossible to stop for as long as you can, cause that's all you can think to do."
She was right, and Sunset knew it.
With as much effort as their was regret, she lifted herself off the ground and walked towards the door. As she approached it, the feelings of fear, despair, and loneliness escalated, while a feeling of uncertainly joined them. Stopping right in front of the door, she nervously put her hand on Twilight's cutie mark, letting it slowly slide down the flat image.
"What can I expect if I go through with this?" She asked.
Demon Sunset appeared suddenly from behind the closed door, casually walking out from the right side.
"You mean what happens to us if you cut ties with Equestria? Well, I'd say I know as much as you given that we're the same person, which is to say I don't know jack shit."
"But if being in Equestria was what caused you to appear in the first place, than if I stop going there, does that mean you'll eventually disappear?"
She let out a laugh as she walked past Sunset. "How much influence I'll have over you is questionable, but I'll always be here, just as I always have been here. Everyone has that part of themselves that they try to keep buried inside of them, yours just happens to be magically influenced to almost have a will of its own."
"I see..." Sunset responded halfheartedly.
She stared at the door that her hand was still touching. Even though she understand what the right thing to do was, it didn't make it any easier.
Once again, the other Sunset appeared from behind the door, this time walking out the left side.
"Wondering which choice is right and which choice is wrong is just a waste of time. There aren't any right and wrong choices in this world, only choices that cause varying amounts of damage, and you just want to go the route that ends in the least amount of damage. Simple as that."
"But why do you treat it so casually? If Equestria is really whats making you grow stronger, why are you just letting me cut my ties with it? What do you have to gain from that?"
Demon Sunset leaned against the side of the door, letting out another cackle. "You know I can't do anything about it even if I want to. While your awake, all I can really do is blow your emotions out of proportion, and maybe influence your thoughts and actions slightly if you're broken enough. But like I said earlier, I'll be here no matter what you do, so whether you ever go back to Equestria or not doesn't really matter to me. Equestria or no Equestria, everyone you know will eventually come to know the real Sunset Shimmer."
"I won't let that happen." Sunset told her.
The other Sunset smirked. "You don't have to..."
All of a sudden, the top of the other Sunset's head burst into red and orange flames, which quickly spread across her whole body, engulfing her and leaving behind nothing but scattering embers and a menacing cackle echoing through the void.
Sunset knew that she should have felt some kind of relief at her other sides departure, but at this point her presence wasn't going to change anything about how she felt. If anything, it just made her feel more lonely and afraid of the path that was in front of her.
She let out a deep breath. It didn't matter how she felt about it. It was what was best for her. And more importantly, it was what was best for Twilight, and the two worlds they had gotten caught up in their idiocy.
"I'm sorry Twilight..." Sunset whispered, before pushing forward the hand pressed against the door, swinging it open to reveal nothing but pitch black darkness behind it.
Letting out another deep breath, Sunset took a heavy step forward, passing through the threshold of the door and entering the darkness. After a short moment, she took another step onward, and preceded to walk forward faster and more effortlessly with each step she took. She looked back to see that the door and the red world she was previously in were completely gone, leaving her surrounded by nothing but the black void around her.
The compassing empty darkness around her made her feel even more lonely and afraid, and she instinctively began to run. The farther she went, the faster she seemed to go, and the less of her surroundings she could feel. Eventually she couldn't even feel her own body, and she was too focused on running to even check if it was there at all.
Sunset's senses numbed and her mind warped as she found herself in complete and total darkness.
And a surge of light hit her vision as she opened her eyes.
The very real feeling of a soft blanket covering her body and a firm but equally sift pillow under her head told her that she wasn't sleeping anymore. She sat herself up on her bed, looking around to see that her room was illuminated by the dark blue light of the early morning. On the other side of the room, her roommates were sound asleep in their own beds. The the room itself was dead silent, the usual morning city sounds echoing quietly outside.
Sunset threw her legs over the left side of the bed, sitting on the edge as she adjusted to waking up. After standing up she dressed herself out of her pajamas and into her jeans, light blue shirt, and black jacket. Picking up her bag, which she had packed the night before, she slipped her arm into one strap before swinging it over her back. She walked towards the door, stopping to adjust her boots on to her feet.
"Sunset?"
Sunset turned around to see that Sweetcream Scoops was sitting up in her bed, looking at her with one eye half open while she rubbed the other with the back of her hand.
"What... are you doing?" She asked tiredly, letting out a yawn. "Is it like... school or something?"
"Um... it's Saturday..." Sunset told her.
"Oh... right..." She replied, blinking a few times. "Why am I up then? Wait... why are you up?"
"I... have something to do. I shouldn't be long."
"Are you okay?" Scoops asked her.
Sunset felt slightly on alert. "Why would you ask that?"
"You just sound... down..." She responded wearily. "Or maybe that's just me... I don't know, I need more sleep..."
She fell back into a lying down position.
Sunset looked at Scoops for a few seconds. She looked so sweet, peacefully resting with her hair all over the place and her face so relaxed. Looking at it gave her this ticklish feeling inside her stomach that was the closest thing to sibling love she knew. Taking a brief look at Cactus and Salty Haze as well, the feeling was still there
Making sure that she caused as little noise or overall disturbance as possible, Sunset left the room, passing through another door.
As Sunset walked down the stairs and through the halls of Miss Peachbottom's, she thought about the three girls that she had just left behind in that room. They, along every other person who lived in this building, were the only real family that she had ever had. They were one of the many things that her relationship with Twilight put at risk, and one of the reasons she had to do this.
Her talk with Sweetcream Scoops may have been short and seemingly pointless, but it was enough to give her the resolve to go through with it.
After making it to the ground floor and passing through the lobby, Sunset stepped out into the chilly morning air. It had brightened up a bit in the short time it had taken her to get down there, as the sky had turned to a lighter shade of blue that became more yellow the closer it got to the horizon. It was definitely an unusual time to be awake, but she needed the sounds of a city morning. It wasn't so quiet that she felt helplessly alone, nor was it so loud that she felt distressed.
As Sunset walked, she became too distracted by her fear of confronting Twilight to fully acknowledge her surroundings. Because of this, the walk to Canterlot High went by so quickly to her that she almost passed the school before realizing where she was.
Sunset had seen the portal between Equestria and the human world in varying lights over the course of the past few years. When she discovered it back in her days as Celestia student, she had a curious but malicious interest in it. After going to the human world, she saw it as one of the tools that would be used to accomplish her goals. After she had turned her back on those goals and discovered friendship, she thought of it as the thing that connected to the Equestrian part of her life. And after she and Twilight became a couple, few things made her feel as happy or excited as walking over to it.
But now, she could barely look at it as she approached it. She knew that once she walked through it, there was no going back. Once she returned, she would never set foot in Equestria again.
She stopped herself at the base of the statue, mustered the rest of her courage, and took the bag off her back, placing it on the ground. Taking out her journal and a pen, she prepared herself to message Twilight.
Many times had she considered breaking up with her through the journal, but she couldn't bring herself to do it. Twilight deserved better than that.
Holding the pen firmly in her hand, she wrote her message across an empty page.
I'm ready.
And she wasn't just saying those words to Twilight.
She then sat herself against the pedestal and waited. At this point in the morning she didn't expect Twilight to respond so quickly, not that she minded. If anything, she needed a little more time to ease herself.
Her perception of time was lost again as she retreated into her own thoughts. The only physical things her mind processed were the feeling of the cold, hard concrete and marble she was lying against as well as her hair gently brushing against her face in the light breeze. She wondered what would happen to herself and Twilight after the break up. There would definitely be a period of emotional pain they would have to endure, that was for certain. How long it would last was the real question. There was also the question of how their lives would be affected as well. While removing themselves from each others lives was the best choice for themselves and Equestria, what would actually change? Twilight had made her better as a person, and she had a feeling that Twilight would say the same for herself, but it didn't seem like they had affected how the other lived their life, but what if there was some impact that they just hadn't realized? How would their goals in life be affected? Or their future relationships?
Sunset smacked herself on the head when she realized how much thought she had put into thinking about Twilight's future. She couldn't afford to do that anymore, nor could she think about what would happen to Equestria. All she could do for their sake was put them behind her, and after that, it was best she tried forget that they had ever existed, for her own sake as well as the sake of Twilight and Equestria.
Her heart jumped as she felt her bag start vibrating, which could only mean one thing.
It was time.
Whatever Twilight's message was, she didn't want to read it. What was important was putting an end to this, anything other than that was meaningless to her.
Standing up, she turned to face the mirror. As she mustered the strength to press onward, she looked into her own reflection, reminding herself of why she was doing this.
Either because of her own imagination or the work of some kind of magic, the eyes of her reflection suddenly went dark as the irises started glowing.
'Having second thoughts again?' The voice in her head mockingly asked her. 'You know you can't let Equestria go. You want it too much.'
"I don't deserve Equestria." Sunset told herself. "Any more than I deserve her. That's why I have to do this. For Equestria, for Twilight... and for myself."
'Keep telling yourself that...' The voice echoed in her head as the darkness left the eyes of her reflection.
Not wanting to waste a second more, Sunset walked forward, allowing the glowing light of the mirror to consume her body as she shifted between worlds.
The transportation process felt strangely... different this time. The process of her body morphing felt uncomfortable and wrong. She felt each strand of her muscles twitch and stretch into different shapes, her skin molding over her shifting body frame, and her individual bones forcefully morphing into different forms. It was almost painful. Was this Equestria rejecting her, as she was going to reject it?
Despite the unusually rough transportation process, Sunset found herself walking out the other side of the mirror into Twilight's library normally.
Twilight was nowhere in sight, which was strange since she usually insisted on being there the moment Sunset arrived. Since someone had to have activated the portal, either her or Spike were probably nearby. Sunset walked ahead through the hallways of bookshelves until she made her way to the entrance of the Library. And sure enough, as the doorway came into view around a bookshelf, so did Twilight and Flash.
Seeing Twilight hit her almost like a physical strike. She looked so cheerful and perky this morning as she spoke to Flash that Sunset couldn't help feeling a little spark inside herself. But at the same time it burned to look at her, knowing what she was going to do.
Twilight quickly spotted Sunset headed towards her and Flash, waving her hoof. "Morning Sunset."
"Hey." Sunset replied as enthusiastically as she could lie.
Now closer to the other two, Sunset saw that Twilight was currently in the process of writing on some papers that, judging by the satchel hanging from his neck, were given to her by Flash.
"Just a sec..." Twilight told her as she scribbled down on the last two sheets of paper, before levitating them into Flash's satchel neatly. "There you go."
"Much appreciated." Flash thanked, turning to Sunset. "Nice to see you as always Sunny."
"Same here." Sunset responded.
Flash's eyes suddenly narrowed into a look of suspicion and concern. "You Okay? You don't look too upbeat today."
Sunset's heart jumped upon recognizing the look he was giving her. It was a look she was pretty familiar with from the time they had spent together as kids, and the time she had spent dating his human counterpart. It was a look he gave people when he felt something off about them, when they were upset about something, or had something to hide. He was good with people like that.
"I'm fine." Sunset told him, uncomfortable with how he was clearly trying to figure out what was going on in her head. "Don't you have hallways to pace or something?"
Flash briefly glared at her with that same look, with a little bit of anger aimed at her as well.
"Sure..." He responded, before turning to Twilight. "See you later."
He walked with a strange fusion of casualness and formality that only Flash Sentry could achieve as he left the library, Twilight shutting the doors behind him.
"What was that about about?" Twilight asked in confusion, gesturing to the doorway Flash had left through.
"I'm... just not feeling so great today." Sunset told her. "What was with you and Flash?"
"Oh, just some paperwork. Nothing you need to worry about." Twilight explained. "Flash needed some signatures from me. The world just seems to have this huge thing against him. Have you SEEN his office?"
Sunset shook her head in response, she hadn't checked out any of the Castles mild renovations after the Guard had been established. She never felt the need to, given her dislike of the fact that the Castle was now crawling with soldiers whose jobs probably involved making sure certain reformed Crimminals were kept in line.
Twilight looked at her with concern. "Flash did have a point, you don't look so good. Did something happen in the past week."
Sunset knew it was hard to hide something from Twilight's strong perceptiveness, but she summoned the best smile she could fake. "Really Twilight, I'm fine."
It seemed to work, as Twilight smiled back in response. Maybe she just trusted Sunset enough to take her word for it, a thought that further bit into Sunset since she as essentially lying to her. The pain all this was making her feel was reaching the boundary of what she could stand. She had to put a stop to this now.
And now seemed like a good opportunity, as they appeared to be alone, but she had to be sure.
"So... is anyone one else here?" Sunset asked.
Twilight shook her head. "Aside from the Guards, it's pretty much just us. Spike's currently on a trip to Manehattan, and I haven't made any plans with any of the girls. I was actually planning for it to just be us for the day."
So they were alone. The opportunity was perfect. It was time to tell her the real reason that she was here.
That they were done.
But when she opened her mouth, all that came out was an almost silent groan that leaked through her throat as her body stiffened up. This was clearly as hard for her as she feared it would be. Panicking a little on the inside, she tried forcing more willpower through, but the signals running through her nerves seemed to just stop within her frozen muscles.
'Come on Sunset, just tell her!' She desperately thought to herself. 'You can't afford to be this weak now!'
But no matter how much effort she put into it, her body refused to let her do it. Selfish as it was, she couldn't bring herself to destroy that which had given her and Twilight so much happiness over the last few weeks.
What was happening to her must have been very subtle, as Twilight hadn't noticed anything. Or at least she wasn't reacting to it.
"Sunset... there's something I want to talk to you about." Twilight said softly. "Something regarding us."
A small shock hit Sunset. Twilight wanted to talk about their relationship as well. Was that just a coincidence?
"Um... what's that?" She asked
"I think it's best if we take this to my bedroom." Twilight explained. "We don't want anyone to overhear anything, and the room's probably the most private place here. Well... except the bathroom I guess, but the bathroom's not exactly my ideal location for talking about this kind of thing."
"Sure..." Sunset replied. "Lead the way."
Twilight smiled, opening the library doors and leading Sunset into the hallway. As was to be expected, there were a few guards on patrol. Sunset could see at least three of them in the hallway they were walking through. Their prominence concerned her, since it would be easy for them no notice something wrong if things between her and Twilight got intensely emotional. And considering Sunset's past, she was unsure how they would react.
"By the way Sunset, do you notice anything... different about me?" Twilight asked as they made their way up the stairs.
Nothing seemed different to Sunset, though she hadn't exactly tried searching for anything new, since it was too hard to look at Twilight directly most of the time.
"No." Sunset responded. "Why?"
"Well, I didn't expect any noticeable changes yet, since it's only been a week, but I've recently been working out a bit."
Sunset was surprised. She had never taken Twilight for the 'working out' type, aside from maybe reading about how to do the mathematically perfect push up.
"Why's that?" Sunset asked as they reached the top of the stairs.
"After my... event... with you and Celestia, I thought I could use some intense training to build myself up physically and mentally. It's been working great so far. The days just feel so less... stressing. I actually ended up getting trained by Discord of all people."
"How was that?" Sunset asked.
Twilight telekinetically opened the door as she and Sunset approached her room. "He was... well... Discord. But he actually did a pretty good job. Like I said, I've been feeling great. I think my days of fainting in front of Celestia are over."
"That's nice." Sunset told her as the two of them entered the bedroom.
"Actually Sunset..." Twilight's voice got more serious as she closed the door behind them. "I had a lot of time to think while I was training. A lot of advice to hear as well. I've started to... consider something."
There was definitely something new in her voice. A type of confidence Sunset had never seen in her before.
Twilight turned from the door to face Sunset, their faces separated by just a few inches. It had previously hurt her to look at Twilight, but now that their eyes were locked, she instead felt total paralysis. Twilight's eyes were full of confidence, determination and adoration. Adoration directed towards her.
"I love you Sunset, and I don't want to hide that fact from anyone anymore."
Sunset felt like her head had suddenly hollowed out. She wasn't sure she had heard her correctly.
"What are you talking about?" Sunset asked in bewilderment.
"Sunset... I can't imagine a future without you anymore." Twilight confessed to her in a voice ringing with passion. "These past couple of weeks with you have been some of the best of my life, and I don't want it end. I want us to stay together for the rest of our lives."
Sunset stared at her, eyes wide with shock. Twilight couldn't see it, but the amber mare could feel it. They were having completely opposite thoughts. Surely Twilight knew that their relationship was a threat to themselves and those around them. Sunset knew that Twilight would be reluctant to separate, but not to the extent of desiring eternal companionship.
"And if we're going to stay together, we can't keep it a secret from everyone. I can't lie to my friends anymore. Or Celestia. Or my family. It should be safe to let them in on it. And while it will have to take time, maybe we can eventually reveal it to the rest of Equestria. To the world. And perhaps... though it won't be instant... they could actually accept us."
Sunset tried to object. This wasn't right. But her body continued to stiffen, refusing to move. She felt like her heart had been crunched into a small ball, the emotional and physical pain coursing through her body like fire.
"We can do this Sunset." Twilight whispered, her face getting closer to Sunset's. "I'm yours... forever."
Sunset could do nothing as Twilight's lips pushed against her own, the kiss sending a charge through her body. It felt so good, but it burned so horribly at the same time. Her heart raced in her chest in the most frightening way. This was selfish. This was wrong. This was exactly what she wanted to stop.
Suddenly she could feel her muscles again, her hot blood rushing through her veins as control returned to her shaking body.
"NO!" Sunset cried, separating herself from Twilight's kiss and frantically stepping away from her.
A look of fearful confusion spread across Twilight's face. "What's wrong?"
"This! Us! Everything!" Sunset groaned in despair. "We can't do this anymore Twilight!"
Twilight's eyes were now smothered in confused fear as she let out a chuckle of disbelief. "What... what are you talking about?"
Sunset's head shook as she felt her eyes get mistier. "You're smarter than this Twilight! You how much this relationship will hurt the two of us."
"Sunset, if this is about us being accepted, I told you we can make it through that. Why are you acting so hysterical?"
"It's not just about that, Twilight. If we stayed together I'd have to choose between you and my human family. And I can't make that choice! And what about Equestria?! Do you want the rest of this world to end up like the Griffon Kingdom?! And have you forgotten about what's wrong with me! I'M A DAMN MONSTER!"
Twilight stared at her in pure disbelief, the light reflecting off her increasingly tearful eyes. "You're not a monster Sunset, you're the one I love."
"Well then you fell in love with a monster, and I can't let you do that."
A moment of silence and tension hung in the air between them for a second as they stared at each other with eyes drenched in salty tears.
"Sunset... please..." Twilight uttered in a cracked voice. "I want this."
"Well I..." Sunset could feel her own voice cracking. "I don't..."
Twilight's pupils shrank, gazing at Sunset with horror and despair, like she had only just really come to the realization of what Sunset was saying. She sank to her knees, her gaze reverting to the floor. Her body trembled as her quiet sobs accompanied the existing silence.
The sight of it was too much for Sunset. She knew that nothing could be done about about it, but she couldn't help but feel like it was her fault. Perhaps it was. Maybe her and Twilight should never have fallen in love in the first place. It probably would have been better if they had just never met at all.
"Goodbye Twilight." Sunset whispered as she opened the door, leaving her beloved to cry alone.
She walked towards the stairs, the despair she felt vibrated through her muscles, filling her with painful energy. She suddenly broke into a run, rushing past the many doors of the corridor and down the stairs. The Guards were nowhere to be found, but that didn't matter to her. What mattered was that the deed was done. She had cut ties with Twilight. Now it was time to do so with the rest of Equestria.
Making her way into the library, she sprinted towards the direction of the mirror. Once she had made it to the human world, she would never have to go back to Equestria. Maybe she could also make sure she never could. Possibly destroy the mirror. It would certainly stop Twilight from following her. But she couldn't do that, not when Twilight still had friends in that world. Her friends. Even if it meant that she would still see Twilight again, she couldn't do that to them. She would just have to live with it.
And she knew that she would. This was what was best for everyone.
'How Pathetic.' The voice echoed in her head. 'You can't even bring yourself to witness the anguish you're giving her. To think you could once claim that you loved her!'
'Do you want me to leave her or not!' Sunset responded in her mind. 'Do you have any idea how hard this is for me?!'
'That's a stupid question to ask yourself.' The voice snarled back. 'And I want her to be more than just heartbroken, I want her corpse bleeding out on the stone cold floor!'
Sunset found the mirror, but the book that was meant to power it was nowhere to be found. Had one of the Guards removed it to keep the portal closed for security purposes? This had to be the worst time for it to go missing.
Running frantically from shelf to shelf, Sunset pulled out countless books, trying to recognize the journal that would bring her home, and hopefully put an end to this nightmare.
'You're only delaying the inevitable, Sunset. Your desire for Equestria will soon bring you to return to it, and take it for yourself. And who knows, maybe you won't end up killing Twilight. You can always keep her as a toy.'
"Stop..." She cried out, not even caring to keep the conversation inside her head anymore. "Stop it! Stop it! Stop it! STOP IT! STOP IT! STOP IT!"
She continued to pull book after book out of their shelves, but she stopped trying to see if any of them were the one she was looking for. The opal glow from her horn glowed intensely bright through the library as she ripped the endless books that she and Twilight had organized together from their places and threw them on the ground in sadness and frustration.
"SUNSET!"
Sunset spun around to where the familiar cry had come from to find Twilight walking towards her. The burning light from Sunset's horn bathed her in an opal glow, bright reflections shaking in her drenched eyes.
"Stay away from me Twilight!" Sunset screamed, her horn flaring more intensely. "IT'S OVER!"
"WE CAN WORK THIS OUT!" Twilight screamed back, getting closer to her.
"WHY CAN'T YOU JUST LET ME GO!?" The inferno pulsing at the tip of her horn grew more intense with every cry, flooding the room in it's almost blinding light.
"SUNSET PLEASE!" Twilight tried to cry over the sound of the roaring mass of pure magical energy as she almost reached Sunset, who didn't want to be anywhere near her.
"JUST GET AWAY FROM ME!"
That was when everything went wrong.
In pure uncontrolled emotion, and the possible influence of her other self, Sunset released the pure state of destruction that she had inadvertently created at the end of her horn. And she sent it screaming right towards Twilight.
The room was engulfed in a blinding white light as a wave of heat struck Sunset. She felt her strength leave her body as the energy was released, a roaring screech ripping through the air from the eruption of destructive magic.
Sunset fell to the ground from exhaustion and the shock of the release, her vision going blurry and her ears ringing. Her throbbing brain tried to comprehend what had just happened as she tried to regain focus. After a few seconds, the ringing faded and her vision returned to her, allowing her to properly focus what was in front of her.
While the library itself looked miraculously unscathed from the explosion, several bookshelves had toppled over while countless books were scattered everywhere. The only other sign of destruction was the large black scorch mark on the ground, smoke coming off a lump of black mass sitting at the center of it. Sunset focused on it, dazedly trying to figure out what it was.
And her eyes widened in horror, her heart seemingly stopping as she realized that she was looking at an alicorn's charred, smoking body.
She stretched her shaking hoof out as she realized just what she had done.
"Twilight..." She croaked weakly.
The last thing Sunset saw was the ravaged remains of the person she cherished most in the world lying lifeless on the floor before a sudden tremendous shock at the back of her head made everything go black.