//------------------------------// // Chapter 11 // Story: Silent Night // by cerealkiller78 //------------------------------// Sunset had no grasp on reality. She kept slipping in and out of consciousness. She was back in that factory setting. She felt the pain of the wounds on her body, and the cold bite of the winter air. The blade felt sharp against her neck, the cold steel threatening to drain her life in an instant. Not that she really cared anymore. She would honestly welcome death at this point. She couldn’t help but feel that something about all this felt strange…like she had lived it already before… “Don’t worry, I’m sure you’ll go to pony heaven…” A voice spoke darkly. She opened her eyes to see who was in front of her, holding the blade to her. It wasn’t who she had expected… It was a familiar face. One that she had called a friend… And had rainbow hair. Sunset wanted to scream, but nothing came out. She began hearing voices. “She sold you out hook, line, and sinker.” “Everything that has happened to you is because of her.” “What part of “leave us alone” don’t you understand??” “They’re not your friends.” A new figure approached Sunset, and with her, the temperature suddenly rose. But it rose past the point of comfort, and into an oven like heat. “They said so themselves. It was no dream Sunset. They never were your friends. Look at what happened to you because of the likes of them!! The demon slashed at Rainbow Dash, who then disintegrated into dust, freeing Sunset from the knife hold, but was then replaced with the demon who grasped Sunset’s neck. “I offered to help you! I was the one who would have saved you, and given them all what they deserved! But you refused me, and got what you deserved because of it!” The demon threw Sunset like a ragdoll across the room. Sunset felt like she had just broken several more bones as she came to a stop, sprawled across the floor. But no matter what, she couldn’t pass out. “Welcome to Hell, Sunset.” The demon hissed as it approached her again. “You can’t escape your own nightmares Sunset, and though it’s not real, you’d be surprised how “real” a nightmare can get.” The demon reached down to take Sunset in its grasp again. Sunset didn’t even try to escape. What was the point? She resigned herself to this…. “Sunset....” She heard a distant voice. “Sunset, I’m here...” Suddenly, the scene around her faded, and the sounds of the nightmare dissipated until all was black…. “…..Sunset?...Honey, can you hear me?” Sunset became aware of the sounds of whimpering, before realizing the sound was coming from her. She tried opening her eyes, but found it harder a task than it really should have been. When she finally was able to open one of them, she wasn’t really able to focus on anything. Her eye wandered until she was able to land it on a figure above her. She wasn’t able to focus quite yet, and an instinct told her there was something wrong. Was she still in that abandoned factory? Had she woken from one nightmare, only to awaken to another? “Sunset, I’m here…” That voice…It couldn’t be…But it had to be.... “M-Mom?...” She wasn’t actually, but it’s what Sunset had thought of her for most of her life. She had always been there for her…and Sunset had thrown her away for this…Sunset felt sick to her stomach at that thought. Celestia had been right to keep her from this world… “Mommy?...Sunset whispered with all the innocence of a child, as a tear streaked down her face. Celestia didn’t even know how to respond to that. “I-...It’s Celestia Sunset. It’s me.” “D-Don’t leave me.” Celestia had never heard Sunset sound so broken before. “Oh, Sunset… I’m not going anywhere...” It truly broke her heart to see Sunset like this. She was so disfigured. How could she have let this happen at her own school? She had some belief that maybe… just maybe, this could somehow be reconciled in the future. But now, after actually seeing what this whole disaster had caused, she wasn’t so sure anymore…How could anything be made right again, after this? Maybe Cinch was right…Maybe CHS was as good as down the tubes now. After all, she wasn’t even sure she even wanted to continue her job as a principal anymore. Maybe she’d be better off in just a regular office job, where no child would end up paying the price if she slipped up, or became negligent in her job. Crystal Prep had never had anything like this happen. Crystal Prep had surveillance cameras on campus, cameras which the students often protested, but it seemed to do the job anyways… Celestia had become too prideful…Boasting that her school had no need of cameras in the hallways, outdoors, or in the….gym. One thing was for certain…If there was going to be any chance that she did decide to continue her job, she would make CHS so full of security, it would rival even the security of President Discord. “The princess has been in that room for hours.” One guard said quietly to another as they passed the room that had once belonged to Celestia’s renegade pupil, while doing their routine security walks. They remembered that particular student of her’s all too well. They stopped for a moment, a little ways down from the room, talking quietly, so not to be heard. “Don’t know what could possibly have her so absorbed in that particular room. All I know is that when she got back here from seeing Princess Twilight, she went straight into that room, demanding that nopony be let inside, or interrupt her… She hasn’t come out since.” “And you didn’t hear anything concerning what went on when she went to see Princess Twilight?” “Not a word. Though, there is a rumor going around that Sunset actually died in that other world. Whether that’s actually true or not, I’ve got no clue. And if it is true, don’t ask me what caused it.” “No kidding?...The little pest bit the bullet?? Don’t know why that should cause so much care to the Princess. Ya ask me, she got what was coming to her.” “I hear ya… Ehh, the princess has a soft heart…” He said as they continued their walk. “She probably just needs some time and space. She’ll come around soon enough.” Inside the abandoned room, Celestia laid curled up on Sunset’s old bed, clutching that dusty old music box, and sobbing.