Empress of flame

by Pathious II

The flame of the past

Something was clearly wrong. There was no way something like that could just happen. Sunset Shimmer was thinking very intently on the situation over and over again in her head. The way the flame danced like that. She couldn't stop imagining how it had wrapped around her finger. That's something fire just doesn't do, especially without burning the subject. Sunset just couldn't stop looking at the flame now. Her eyes watching it intently as if waiting for it to do something again. However it never acted strange the rest of the time.

" Sunset Shimmer, if you could be so kind as to keep your attention on the class." Sombra would say as he sat down at his own desk. He had a look on his face that showed he was rather displeased." I understand you probably have a lot going on in your mind, however that does not change the fact that you are a student here."

" I apologize mr. Sombra. I haven't been getting a whole lot of sleep recently so I'm finding it hard to stay focused." Sunset would say as if she was looking for some kind of sympathy from a kind of person who doesn't show it.

" Miss Shimmer, if you're having trouble staying awake in my class I recommend you don't come at all. Whatever it is that you're doing all night that keeps you up I recommend you change your habits." Sombra would say as his eyes were fixated on Sunset now. There was more anger in his eyes now.

"I...I...I'm" Sunset would try to stutter out a few words.

" Unless you're truly sorry Miss Shimmer I don't recommend you finish a full sentence. To finish that sentence would be to lie to me. For I find it hard to believe you would feel any sympathy for such lack of focus in my class." Sombra would say as he now Chris crossed his fingers to hold his hands together as he spoke." I deal with all kinds of students in this room and there isn't a thing that I have not witnessed or dealt with. I recommend you do me a favor of wasting my breath and head to the office and get some rest." Sombras incredibly unforgiving eyes remain fixated on Sunset.

" No, no, I promise I can stay focused. Please just don't send me to that office." Sunset would be incredibly frantic when she said this. The amount of sleep she had been missing made her incredibly on edge as was. On mention of the office however she would always become more on edge. That was a place she did not feel welcome the most. Celestia and Luna were there. They were the owners of this school they were the ones who she had caused the most damage to. They had to pay for all that brick and motor that Sunset had to lay to fix the school. It wasn't a small cost or expense to them.

The expression on sombras face would suddenly change for Sunset had uncovered her eye. It was in this moment that Sunset Shimmer felt a wave of exhaustion hit her. Flushing through her body like some kind of infection. Her head began to spin and her body began to tingle. Before she knew it she was passed out face first on the desk.

she would open her eyes in a dream. She was immediately met face-to-face with the face of a Jack O'Lantern. She stumbles backwards as she was in the dark world she was familiar with. However this time it appeared to have a setting. It appeared to have a Time. Her senses kept on alerting her that something was not right. The air was as it always was in the dream. It was cold, desolate and stale. That same Eerie feeling of being watched lingered in the air. Sunset Shimmer couldn't help but feel a feeling to run. Her eyes however we're fixated on the pumpkins that were around.

This was not the same as the other dreams before. Other than the feeling the setting was not exactly the same. She reached out to touch one of the pumpkins. The moment her hand was placed upon it the world began to fade to existence. The cold hard ground formed beneath her feet the walls of Canterlot High rising from the ground in a thundering and Epic climax. People begin to sprout out of the ground walking in a fixated path. The sky was now full of stars. Sunset could see her breath now as she was breathing.

She raised her hands to see that they were glowing in a blue aura. As if she was not real while everyone else was. Her eyes would be around looking at everyone who walked by. Everyone was wearing a costume. Her eyes now slowly shifted to the front door of Canterlot High. The door had a plastered poster on it, it read the simple words of Halloween party. Memories began to flood towards her. Canterlot was having a Halloween party this month. However it wasn't for another week, so she knew that she was definitely in a dream.

Her feet began to walk and she was stunned for she had no control. Her feet were leading her to the front door forcefully making her enter. It was once the door closed behind her that she had control of her own feet. Frankly she felt like running back outside and away from all these people who had no happiness towards her. Nothing but hate. When she turned around to open the door to leave it didn't budge. It was acting as if it never opened in the first place. Her heart began to beat faster, pounding and pounding in her chest. At any moment it felt like it might explode.

" Sunset Shimmer what are you doing out in this hallway?" The voice of Celestia herself rang down the hallway. Sunset was startled by this of course. Why was Celestia asking for her or wondering why she was out here? " You told me and Luna you would be able to handle this event." Celestia's hand would grab sunset by the shoulder and forcefully spin her around. They were now face to face, Sunsets cyan eyes now forced to gaze into the violet eyes of Celestia.

" I am, I just, I was only looking for something." Her mouth would move to try and make up some kind of excuse to Celestia. How does one make an excuse when she doesn't even know what she's doing? She closed her eyes waiting for the response of Celestia. A response however was never heard. Sunset slowly opened her eyes to see she was now surrounded by a lot of people. She couldn't hear the music or them until she had opened her eyes. A lights were flashing, people were dancing. Everyone appeared to be having a great time.

The music was The Monster Mash of course. Every Halloween party played this song at some point. Sunset was mostly confused. The dream she was having was nothing like the ones before. The farther she dug into it the more she began to realize how different it was. The people rushing by her cause her to roll around here and there till eventually she became face to face, with herself. Her eyes locked with her own and no one seems to notice that there were now two of her. The sunset she was looking at was also wearing a costume. Looking at herself when it was not a mirror was making her head hurt. However there was something wrong with this sunset. It looked like her but the emotion and Spirit In Her Eyes was a not her.

" It's about time you show up. We were wondering when you were going to come." Is the sunset in the costume finally expressed some words. Her face remained almost monotone but her eyes still showed so much emotion. The only thing that was moving what's her mouth.

" What are you talking about? Who's we? What's going on?" Sunset would say to the mirror image of herself. Upon her response however the sunset wearing the costume did not react emotionally.

" It's about time you show up. We've been waiting for you." This Shimmer now had an expression on her face. The expression however was rather horrifying to Sunset. The Sunset Shimmer had a glare is that seemed to stare into her soul. A crooked and Sly Smile Now upon its face. It didn't say anything else it just continue to stare.

With shaking knees and trembling hands. Sunset Shimmer felt the need to run.

" Everyone please welcome Vesper to the stage. She's about to announce the winner of the Halloween costume event." Celestia's voice would sound around the room. Sunset Shimmer would look over to the stage to see that Celestia was standing there. A girl was standing there next to celestia. Her eyes gazed back towards where the costumed Sunset was standing moments ago. The moment their eyes met this Sunset lunged with sharp teeth biting into her neck.

Sunsets eyes shot open. She was breathing heavily and rapidly. Her heart racing and thudding in her chest. Her eyes darted around the room to check her surroundings. The nurse's office appeared to be where she now was. No one was in the room but they must have been nearby. That dream was way different, she had never been attacked in the ones before. Her heart would slowly start to steady it's rate. Her mind began to grasp the fact that it was a dream and it wasn't real.

The clock said it was roughly 3 o clock. Roughly 15 minutes till it was time to go home. She had been out that long. 7 hours, it didn't feel like it was that long. It wasn't until now that she realized how sweaty she was. It was like she had just come out of a sauna. The cot she was laying on was soaked. Her fear still resonating in her body causing her to continue to sweat. The moment in the dream where she was attacked continued to resonate in her mind. The way she had attacked herself or it had attacked her wasn't right.

" Good to see you finally woke up." The voice of nurse redheart would say as she enters the room. She had a clipboard as she was writing various things on it. Her eyes fixated on Sunset very slightly now and then. "Passing out for as long as you did is very dangerous and can be very harmful."

"What happened? Who brought me into this room?" Sunset would say, she was generally curious as to what happened.

" Sombra carried you in here himself. His whole classroom was put on hold until he returned. To be honest that's the first time I've seen concern on his face." Redheart said that she would continue to write on her clipboard.

" Wait, Sombra brought me in here?" In response to Red Heart Sunset stated this as she looked at her own hands.

" Of course I did. Had I not I would have looked like a completely heartless person. Sunset Shimmer you have caused a lot of problems in this school. However this is a certain circumstance where a teacher has to take control. The way you passed out was not healthy and it has me and nurse redheart very concerned." Sombra said is he now entered the nurse's office. He adjusted his tie as he took a seat to not far from sunset. His eyes fixated on her like it was when they were in class.

"I haven't done this before. I know I have caused a lot of problems, I regret them everyday but..." Sombra would raise his right hands to interrupt her.

" your past is not today sunset. The events at the Fall Formal or not what we are concerned about. As much as you may think that everyone here is against you. I can assure you not every teacher and student is completely that way. This is about you passing out, not you becoming a demon at the Fall Formal. That damage has already been done. He said as he now had a very calm voice. There was not anger in his eyes this time.

"I'm sorry, I find it hard to not go back to that night. It's probably the reason I haven't been getting sleep." Sunset responded in a tired and weak voice. Despite all the sleep she had actually been getting, the rest was not efficient enough to catch up with the lack of actual comfort.

"Lack asleep is very dangerous Miss Shimmer. It can cause you to hallucinate or even go into a coma." Nurse redheart butted in.

" Miss Red Heart here is correct. Sleep is incredibly vital to The Human Condition. I know that you're not entirely human you went over that in the conference we had After the Fall Formal. We even heard a bit from Twilight before she left. That was two years ago but don't think we forgot." Sombra said as his knuckles cracked as he was tightening his fists against each other. "As your science teacher and the principal have went over this incident and we are not sure it's healthy for you to be coming to school if this is going to be happening. We can't stop you however we insist that you stay home and get to that needed rest until you are ready to return."

"I can't miss school. I have things I have to learn here, Twilight requested that I learn friendship. I can't have her friends coming over... I can't have my friends coming over every single day to my house." Sunset would respond. Clearly she was not agreeing with their resolution. They wanted to keep her from coming to school if she wasn't going to focus. She didn't feel it was necessary. So she could understand why they were so scared. They may not admit it but it was the Fall Formal indeed that had them all on the edge. Those events were stained in everyone's Minds, as long as they could remember it.

The bell rang and Sunset new now was her time to go. No matter how much Sombra and Red Heart wanted to continue this conversation. Legally they could not keep her after school for too long. So with that sunsets stood up and left the room without saying another word. Sombra let out a sigh as she left the room. Either he was upset or frustrated of her ignorance.

Sunset desperately wanted to face these issues. However to bring others into it would make her feel like she was doing the same thing she always did. She felt like this was something she had to deal with on her own. In the past she would have made other solve it for her or forced them to do other things to make it end. Or she would use them and some kind of mental punching bag that she could release all of her stress is on. Sunset slowly pulled her phone out of her bag and began to swipe through it. She had zero messages, a thought came to mind, she wondered if her friends have even noticed she was gone. They should have left some kind of concern to her. They were there when she had passed out.

It was once she had arrived home that she truly felt alone again. These walls would be the place where her life would probably end without a yell. The end of her existence would more be like a whisper a sound that would barely resonate outside these walls that she called hell. It was dark when she thought about it however was probably true. She desperately wanted to be something else, to be the one that helped everyone not the one that did all the damage. The wrongs of her past constantly resonated in her mind. Eventually she found herself laying in bed again yearning to actually get some rest.

She would grab her phone to look through it once again. She had a couple messages this time. One was from Fluttershy, the other from Rainbow Dash. Even one from Applejack. In that moment she contemplated whether she was going to answer them. It would be the nice thing to do, maybe they were worried about her. She rolled her eyes in annoyance. She was beginning to hate this place. The world she had chose to run off to so many years ago.

"I just want to go!" Sunset would scream up at her ceiling. Tears swelling in her eyes. Almost immediately they felt like they were burning. She grabbed a hold of her pillow and threw it at the wall. "Why did you have to be so stupid. So selfish!" He was Furious now. Angry at the world, angry at herself. She stood up with a thud. Looking at herself in the mirror she would step closer to it. She would rest two hands on the dresser it sat upon. Her head was lowered looking at the wood.

The tears still flowing. Dripping onto the hardwood of her dresser. She slowly looked up again at herself in the mirror. Her hair draped over her face.

"I just want forgiveness! I just want this to be over... I just want to be free!" She would yell looking into the mirror. As she yelled at it's a small crack appeared on its surface. There was so much pent-up rage. Her phone began to vibrate adding to her frustration. The vibrating sound just irritating her. All the Rage was just building up. Emotions flowing so hard through her that she felt like it was a fire. One that was completely out of control.

The phone continued to vibrate and the tears continue to flow. Someone was calling her, however she didn't want to hear it. But the vibrate slowly turned into a ringtone it was Fluttershy calling her.

"Just leave... Me... Alone!" She yelled into the mirror again. Each of her eyes black for a moment. The rage swelled and expanded. To the point that it was going to explode. For two years, she had been dealing with her own torment. Wondering why it would not leave her, wondering what these dreams were. In the end she just wanted it to go away. Desperately clinging to the fact that she could change. She knew she could.

She was sobbing now. Rage had enveloped and turned into sorrow. Curled up into a ball on the floor she was just crying. The phone had finally stopped ringing. But as a ringing in her ears just wouldn't stop. Her cries loud enough she couldn't hear herself think. So much stress so much hate. To think she thought today would be different, it was. It was worse than any other day. This world was full of judging and unforgiving creatures. Sunset wanted to leave but she had forgotten how. The thoughts of leaving continue to consume her mind as if something else was trying to get her to go. Nudging her towards leaving everything behind. Would leaving really help?

It was possible that maybe she couldn't change in this world. The unforgiving nature of its species just wouldn't allow it. Maybe Equestria would be the better option? Sunset herd what sounded like her phone vibrating again. She sniffled as she raised her head slightly, the sound was not coming from her phone. It was coming from the mirror on her wall. She slowly Rose to her feet. Her eyes shifting to look at her mirror. There was no reflection just a swirling mass of colors now. Was this another dream? Or was this a chance? She couldn't take this chance, how does she know this is even real. Sunset looked away wanting to ignore it. The thought of the costume sunset lingered in her mind once again.

That was When the Thought occurred to her. This isn't alternate worlds to the world she was born in. Therefore there were copies of each of everyone she knew from the Pony world here. Was it possible she could find out what was happening to her by finding out more about the version of her that lived here. After all the internet was a valuable resource and nowadays records of families and events were stored there. Especially if anything interesting happened or worth filing.

Her eyes looked over at the swirling mass in her mirror once again. It still felt like it was calling to her. She resisted it, she wasn't going to fall to whatever it was. And not yet anyways. Her hand reached down and picked up her phone off the floor. Twilight Sparkle had insisted she learn. She had also said very specifically. Now's the Time to choose your own path or forever be alone, the choice is yours. Sunset wasn't about to be alone there had to be more to this. Or possibly she was overthinking things, it wouldn't be the first time she was in over her head. The dreams didn't make sense and when something didn't make sense she had to solve it.

Sunset was used to studying so it was possible she could find a solution fast. However she would have to do her best to avoid distractions, such as her Newfound friends. There's no way they would understand the complications of what was going on in her head. She also just didn't want to get them involved. They could get hurt for all she knew. It was time to go to the library, after all she had never really purchased her own computer. The library on the other hand had computers people would use hourly. You would pay a certain amount and be able to use it for the amount of time you paid.

The school was closed so she couldn't use the free to use ones at school. Then again they were restricted to certain sites so they wouldn't be of much use to her anyways.

" Alright sunset we're going to figure this out."

Author's Note:

This will be the approximate length of every chapter. There will not be less words than this. If you like this please leave a comment and like I would greatly appreciate it. Things are about to get weird.

Comments

[Witchrblizzad]

goood chapter

[Xelarande]

Wait. WHY IS THERE TWO VERSIONS OF THIS STORY AND TWO PEOPLE CALLED "PATHIOUS" ???

[Pathious II]

8506663
As explained I had written this in another count before and I wanted to give it a better chance. The first one was too rushed for me but I still appreciate it and didn't want to delete it.

[Xelarande]

8508965
Oh, okay. Thanks !