//------------------------------//
// Chapter 3 - Flash of Guilt 
// Story: No Offense 
// by NonDescript 
//------------------------------//

"No offense Sunset, but I didn't want anything to do with you again before, and I certainly do not now," Flash said to me, uncharacteristically cold, refusing to look at me in the eye. "Go away".

"P-Please Flash, I just want to explain tha-"

He turned to interrupt, "No Sunset, I think I need to explain something to you! I don't care if you're better, I don't care if you want to fix things and I most certainly don't care if you feel sorry for me!" he yelled with an anger that I could never have imagined coming from him.

What a way to start the day. Receiving a verbal assault from none other than Flash Sentry, as the rest of the school body couldn't help but watch intently at me being put in my place.

"I know I was lucky! I didn't lose all my friends, I wasn't a victim of your rumor mill and I was never put in a position where it was me against the school."

And here comes the but....

"But you played with my heart Sunset! I gave you the benefit of the doubt, and clearly you didn't deserve it! I loved you Sunset, and not only did you not love me back, you made me believe that you actually cared, up until you threw me to the side when I stopped being worth it to you. Do you know what that did to me Sunset? When you dumped me, I thought I could never love another person again. I thought I wasn't worth anyone's love. And I will never be able to forgive you that."

He turned his head away, unwilling to spare another glance at my tear covered face, as I openly wept in guilt. "Never try to speak to me again. Because I'm not interested in whatever apologies you want to give." And then, he stormed off leaving nothing but the silent looks of the school, and my uncontrollable sobbing.

"....I-I'm sorry...."

No one bothered to hear my cry, as they instead either glared at me, or sent looks of pity in Flash's direction. No one came to pull me away from the situation, and no one offered any words beyond contempt or hatred. And in my current state, there was nothing I could do, despite going through all my possible actions.

The old me would have forced him to turn around and receive his own verbal assault.

The old me would have had a terrible secret conveniently leaked to my advantage.

The old me would have succeeded in making his life hell.

...I don't want to be the old me anymore. I-...

...I need help.

And of course the only people who might have helped, the friendship brigade, were nowhere to be seen.

As such, I continued my newly emerging habit of hiding from all my problems. I ran towards the nearest classroom, my cheeks wet with liquid sorrow, doing my best to ignore the continued barrage of hateful words, as I slammed the door shut behind me and curled up into a ball.

I cried. Plain and simple. I let loose a flood of tears beyond what I thought I had in me. I let out a torrent of bottled up emotion that I didn't realize I had. Every hateful glance, every loaded comment... I couldn't keep it in any longer.

And all this was made all the more worse, by the fact I wasn't alone.

"Well, look-y who we have here, bursting in to my classroom without the common decency to say hello to lil' ol' me?" I heard in a deep male voice.

...Do I recognize that voice from somewhere?

"Oh, and if it isn't the queen bee, head honcho and little mastermind herself! I wasn't aware I was in such prestigious company, your majesty!"

Oh... It's Mr Chaos Theory. One of the physics teachers.

"Oh, um. I'm sorry Mr Theory for bothering you. I'm just gonna go, and leave you to do... Whatever it was you were doing... Before I barged in".

Before I could have the chance to turn around and head back the way I came, Mr Theory had blocked the door with his arm, leaning awfully close into my personal space.  He looked at me suspiciously while still holding his cheeky grin.

"My dear, you just ran into my classroom with more water coming out of your eyes than a decorative fountain, and wrapped up tighter than a Christmas present. What kind of teacher would I be if I just forced you helplessly outside my classroom." His expression exchanged to one of faux-offense. "I may be a terrible teacher by some measure, but I'm not nearly that cruel."

"But no, really. It's fine, I'll just go..."

"And leave you to do something you might regret? As much as that would be utterly hilarious I do have some professional obligations that I choose to live up to." Should I be worried that he thinks my situation is hilarious? "And my professional obligations do unfortunately require me to listen to the problems of students."

I was starting to feel nervous at this point, my mind searching for an exit, a way to abort this conversation. "Oh, well. No problems here! Seriously, I'm fine."

"You know, for someone who built their whole system of oppressing the students on lies, you really are a terrible liar, you know that?" He was now moving closer, causing me to flinch and pace backwards away from him. "I'm going to hazard a totally wild guess, out of the blue. Everyone hates you, and won't give you the time of day. And now, you're crumbling under the pressure, knowing the moment you step out of line, is the moment that it all comes crashing down. Am I correct?"

"..." My silence told him everything he needed to know.

Mr Theory started to get a glint in his eye, and his face changed from a wicked smile to an excited one. "I think you'll appreciate the metaphor I have for you Sunset. Tell me, do you know what happens when a star dies?" he asked, clearly invested in the broached subject.

"...Vaguely. Look, I don't need-"

"-Well a star is just a giant nuclear furnace in space," he said, not caring to bother with my attempts to derail the conversation. "Tens of millions of degrees at it's core, small atoms fusing together to make bigger, more complex atoms and producing enough energy to hold up the massive weight of the outer layers of the star.

"But a star only has so much fuel before it runs out, dear Sunset. At some point the atoms in the center will become so big, they will no longer be able to fuse. And at that moment, everything comes crashing down all at once." Mr Theory was now throwing his arms around to accentuate his words. "The whole thing implodes on itself with incredible force, since the core is no longer able to sustain the star. A very, very violent reaction."

"...And then?"

He put a hand on my shoulder, and leaned in gleefully. "Glad to see you showing some interest!" He resumed his flailing. "If the star is small, sure there will be flashes and some violent reactions, but in the end it will produce a much smaller star, but one brighter than before." He smirked. "Or, if the star is big, it will explode more violently than anyone could ever possibly imagine it would. We're talking some of the biggest explosions in the universe. We're talking the end of living things big."

I was still confused. "I don't exactly get what you're trying to say."

He stepped away, looked genuinely quite peeved. "Ugh. Do I have to explain every little thing to you? Seriously! ...Fine. What I'm saying is, there's nothing you can do about the fact that everything is crashing down around you, it was only inevitable. At some point, you were going to run out of fuel, and everything would implode.

"But now you have a choice, either you can try to take it in stride, knowing there'll be some difficulty and reactions, but be all the brighter for it..."

"...Or I can explode and make the whole thing worse for everybody."

And his grin returns. "So you were listening. I didn't even know you cared!" He pulled a tissue out of... Somewhere... And rubbed at his eyes as if he were tearing up. "Look at me, getting all emotional!"

I couldn't help but smile. "Yeah, you keep trying to tell me that. I'll just be over here, not believing you."

"Ooh, was that a snark remark coming from you? I dare say you're already better than when you came in here. That was barely any work at all!" He went to sit in his chair, leaning back in a fashion that seemed to indicate he was proud of himself. "Still, I much preferred the way the school was with you in charge. Was far more entertaining than all this 'everybody is your friend' nonsense."

I looked at him confused. "If everything I did, and everything that happens to me amuses you so much, why did you try and tell me what I needed to hear?"

"Oh please Sunset, I only told you what choice you have available to you. But that choice doesn't mean anything if everyone else has already made their choice. No matter what you choose to do, some things will always be inevitable. This school will always find a way to create a fair amount of chaos and disorder."

I honestly have no idea what to think about that. "Still, thanks. You've cheered me up immensely, whether that was your intention or not."

Surprisingly, he looked genuinely appreciating of my words. "Oh think nothing of it. It's no skin off my back. ...And ol' Celly thinks I shouldn't be allowed around students."

That... Came out of nowhere. "...Why would the principal not want you around the students?"

"Probably because of my dashing good looks! Scared they would all fall for me," he said as he struck a pose and started stroking his goatee.

...Okay, now was my chance to get out of there before things got even weirder. I turned to face the way I came in, and tried to psych myself up to deal with the school that still hated every bit of me.

One step... Two steps...

My hand stops just in front of the door handle. I see that I am shaking, and no doubt I have gone extremely pale.

I can't do it. I just can't.

But I have to. It's up to me to not explode... And one way I can do that is to be at least just a little bit appreciative.

"...You know Mr Theory? I don't think you're the terrible teacher you said you are."

"Oh spare me Sunset, I'm not even qualified as a teacher, yet alone a physics teacher. My classes' failure rate is abysmal. The only reason I'm still here is Celestia seems to think I have some good potential in me that she can use to create harmony. Blegh."

"Still, you're alright in my books."

"I'm not in any books, but I appreciate the meaning behind the idiom."

I placed my hand on the door handle, finally sure I was calm enough to face what was outside. "...Bye Mr Theory."

"Please, Sunset." He said just before I could pull the door open. "Mr Theory is so formal. You can call me Discord."