The next morning Sunset was up early, much to her annoyance, she would have liked to have missed as much of Christmas Eve as possible, but a cold breeze had blown through the boiler room and given her a restless night.

But maybe that wasn't a bad thing, she definitely had to go into town again today and get some food for the holidays. A little exercise would also do her good before she barricaded herself in for the next two days.

Sunset put on her clothes and packed her gym bag full of all her dirty clothes. Unfortunately, living in the boiler room had some disadvantages, so Sunset used the shower at the local gym, which was the first place she went. The advantage of this, however, was that she kept herself in good shape. With all the garbage that people ate, Sunset was still able to maintain her flawless appearance.

Without this, she probably wouldn't be able to wrap the people she wanted to charm around her finger as much as she needed to. As expected, the gym was quite empty and the people inside weren't exactly spreading Christmas cheer, which Sunset was more than happy about. A little wistfully, she left the center and made her way to the supermarket. It would probably be full to bursting, but this would at least ensure a bad mood around her. There wasn't much left of all the festivity once the stress of Christmas dinner, presents and all the relatives began. It outright put a self-satisfied smile on Sunset's face. After all, Christmas was nothing more than a huge hypocrisy and that was exactly why it was so easy for her to pick up in the new year exactly where she had left off this year. As Sunset stood at the entrance to the store in the vegetable section, she couldn't help but notice Rainbow's rainbow-colored hair standing at the checkout counter.

She seemed to be in a great hurry. Sunset grinned sardonically, her good mood had also given way to the stress of Christmas. Sunset grabbed one of the oranges displayed in front of her and played around with it in her hand. Rainbow couldn't wait to start shooting from the cash register. When Sunset saw this, she immediately dropped the orange unobtrusively on the floor. In an almost fluid motion, she matched Rainbow's movements. She also had to leave the store through the entrance at Sunset's back.

At the moment as Rainbow shot off like a rocket from the cash register, Sunset gave the orange a little kick with her heel. It took a bit of luck for Sunset to get the timing right, but Rainbow made it easy for her with her predictability. The orange rolled unerringly across the floor, unhindered by all the other people, and came to rest right in Rainbow's path. And in the very next second, Rainbow flew through the air and crashed to the ground. The only two things she had bought, a bottle of cocoa and marshmallows, flew across the room in a high arc. The bottle shattered into a thousand pieces and the contents hit Rainbow's clothes, which let out a painful groan. But that didn't seem to bother her as much as the loss of the cocoa.

“Damn it!” she heard Rainbow's almost whiny voice. Sunset was torn as to whether she should show herself to Rainbow or not. But Sunset was smart enough not to, seeing Rainbow miserable was all it took. Sunset didn't want that to be replaced by anger at her person. Although, of course, Sunset couldn't avoid running into Rainbow one way or another while shopping. But contrary to expectations, Rainbow didn't enter the store again to buy a new bottle, but quickly ran out of the store.

The cherry on the sundae was that no one had bothered to help the rainbow-haired girl up. So much for the festival of love!

With blissful satisfaction, Sunset finished her shopping, the last stop on her list being the local laundrette. Not surprisingly, it was quite empty, so Sunset was able to enjoy her music and scroll through the internet in peace.

By the time she left the salon, it was already dark and the streets were largely empty. Almost everyone must have been with their families now, “enjoying” Christmas Eve. Bah such humbug! The world kept turning and just a few hours after bumping into each other in the supermarket, everything was supposed to be perfectly harmonious again, even if they were probably shouting at each other at the table.

It was just like in Equestria, where everyone acted as if the spirit of Hearth Warming Eve had entered them as soon as the clock struck 6:00 p.m., but everything stayed the same.

Well not quite, Sunset would make life even harder for her subjects, she used all her free time to be productive and not indulge in these silly illusions.

So, the first thing she did when she got back to her boiler room was to open her laptop and, listening to music, start organizing all her incriminating material and drawing up a plan of who to bully and how to bully them as soon as the new year started in order to restore the natural pecking order.

In between, she made herself a few sandwiches and drank lots of hot tea. She was so much in the flow that she only realized how late it actually was shortly before midnight and remembered the strange dream from last night.

“Listen to their advice!” echoed in Sunset's head, sending a cold shiver down her spine. It was entirely possible that magic from Equestria was at work, but even if it was, what should she be afraid of? A few ghosts that couldn't hurt her? Eternal damnation? Celestia had been alive for over 1000 years, so Sunset saw death as something extremely avoidable. And let's see how long her chain was once she ruled Equestria as well and as wisely as nopony before her. A smile played around the corners of Sunset's mouth at the thought, oh yes, she was destined to do great things! Celestia and all the others would see. Those narrow-minded idiots who only wanted to keep her down!

The digital number on her laptop jumped from 11:59 p.m. to 0:00 a.m., Sunset held her breath for a moment before laughing to herself. Of course nothing had happened, why would it? She reached for her cup of hot tea and took a sip with relish.

“Aaaaaahhhh,” a contented moan escaped her, that felt good.

“Aaaaahhhhhh”, “Aaaaaaaahhhhhhh”, “Aaaaahhhhhhhhh”, “Aaaaaaahhhhhhh”, it echoed through the boiler room and it was unmistakably her own voice. But Sunset had never heard an echo here before, and certainly not in canon.

Irritated, Sunset looked around as it echoed again.

“He?”, “He?”, “He?”, “He?”, again it was Sunset's astonished voice that echoed off the walls. Sunset jumped up tensely and scanned the entire boiler room with her eyes.

“Oh!”, “Oh!”, “Oh!”, “Oh!”, it went on, as Sunset got too tired and reached for her baseball bat. But to her astonishment, she suddenly heard a strange giggle as she put her hand around the handle of the bat.

Astonished, she turned around and saw that her hand was not wrapped around the baseball bat, but around a candle. Sunset's eyes widened in shock as the candle protruded from the head of a white transparent pony, which itself resembled a candle. The skin looked like wax crawling from a burning candle, like the one on her head.

“Boo!” the pony giggled and flew straight through Sunset, who jumped up in fright. Full of rage, she turned around, this time grabbing her baseball bat and struck.

“Whoa!” the pony exclaimed as her bat went through her body, followed by another laugh.

“That tickled!” she continued laughing, ”You're very hilarious, Sunset!”

Hilarious? What was that pony talking about?

“It's a good thing you've kept your sense of humor, because what you and I are about to watch isn't funny at all! At least most of it!” the pony continued, still ignoring Sunset's confusion.

“I'm not going to watch anything with you, do you understand?” Sunset clarified!

“Oh ho!” mocked the pony, ”I can see now why you're so difficult!”

“Good! Then you'd better get out of here before I show you how difficult I can become!” Sunset threatened her.

“I'm afraid,” the pony began as the candle on her head slowly went out and came back on again, “I can't!” She floated through the air as if she were swimming and as if her body really was made of liquid wax. Sunset couldn't help but watch her in fascination, nevertheless she kept her guard up and her hostility high.

“Then I wish you good luck messing with me!” she crossed her arms tightly in front of her body.

The pony started laughing again: “Oh you're really hilarious!” It stopped just in front of her face and Sunset tried not to flinch, “I don't want to mess with you Sunset! I want to help you!”

All at once, the pony dissolved into a whirlwind of wax until it finally reassembled in front of Sunset and now stood before her at eye level with its back straight.

“My name is Candlelight Flare and I am the Ghost of Christmas Past!” she said with a grin on her face, ”I'm here to teach you the meaning of Christmas so that you can change your life!”

Now it was Sunset who let out a mocking laugh.

“I already know the meaning of Christmas. Feigning peace and happiness only to go for each other's throats again afterwards. So, thank you very much for your visit, but it looks like you can't teach me anything more. However, I promise you that I will change and pretend to have some peace, joy and pancakes! So, you can tell Moonblow Flipper that you've done a great job and my chain is already starting to shrink!”

“Hihihi.” the ghost giggled, ”I don't understand how people can be so afraid of you, I think you're adorably hilarious Sunset!”

“Are you making fun of me?” Sunset snapped angrily.

“Oh no, oh no not at all! Really not!” Candlelight swore, still hovering in place, “I promise you I'm taking my job here deadly seriously, but you have to have a little fun otherwise life would be so depressing, don't you think?” Candlelight had turned theatrically onto her back.

“Sure, whatever you say,” Sunset replied, annoyed, ”Now what? Are we going to tell each other jokes all night long or should I start thinking about how I can make sure the baseball bat hits you after all?”

Again, Candlelight couldn't stop her laughter: “Oh we're going to have so much fun Sunset! Since you can hardly wait, I'm going to get started right away!”

Before Sunset could say anything back, Candlelight came flying towards her and swept through her, being pulled up into the air by one of her hooves. They headed straight for the ceiling. A loud scream escaped Sunset's throat, who hadn't expected the ghost to be able to touch her physically when her baseball bat obviously couldn't.

But to her amazement, they both passed the ceiling with ease. They continued through the corridor of the school, through the roof and up into the sky. They climbed 10, 20, 30, 40 meters until Sunset could see all of Canterlot.

“Okay, okay, okay, it's okay,” Sunset gave in, ”You win, I'll listen to you and I won't interrupt you again, but please, please don't drop me!”

As was to be expected, a giggle sounded from Candlelight's mouth, “So hilarious!” was all she said as they suddenly flew into a bright light that engulfed them completely and shrouded everything around them in brilliant white so that Sunset could no longer see anything. Suddenly, Sunset hit the ground softly.

Oh thank God! She straightened up and looked around. Her breath caught and her jaw dropped, this couldn't be! She was in Equestria and not just anywhere in Equestria, she was in a place from her past that she had hoped to see again only when she had become the ruler of Equestria.

“Well Sunset surprised?” Candlelight wanted to know.

“How?” was all Sunset could get out.

“I told you I am the Ghost of Christmas Past and as such I have insight into all Christmases past. I think you know this place very well Sunset don't you?” a slight grin in her voice.

Sunset's astonishment quickly gave way to the anger she felt towards this place.

“Of course I know this horrible place! This is where I spent my childhood!”, Sunset blurted out.

Candlelight startled a little and then looked disapprovingly, “Horrible? I mean certainly not the nicest place for a little foal to grow up, but it wasn't all bad was it?”

Sunset's pupils narrowed menacingly: “But it was pure hell here at Mrs. Cherry Blossom's orphanage! I hated it here so much!” Sunset's hands were clenched into fists. Only now did she realize that she was still human.

“Why?” she began, when Candlelight interrupted her.

“You're still human because this is just a memory of you Sunset. The past, we are just spectators, no one can see or hear us! Like me, you're just a ghost in this place! A place where, contrary to what you say, everything wasn't always terrible, shall we take a look at it? A happy memory?” Candlelight asked expectantly.

“Good luck with that!” Sunset wished sarcastically. There was nothing at all cheerful that she remembered here except for the day Celestia had taken her away.

“Let's go then!” with these words, Candlelight dragged her behind her and they flew into the orphanage. It was the evening of Hearth Warming Eve, Sunset had completely forgotten how the orphanage was decorated that evening. It wasn't much but they also had a Christmas tree decorated with things they had made themselves, a few small presents under the Christmas tree and a small feast, which was already a lot for them, as all the other days they only had disgusting porridge, bread and water. And sometimes not even in sufficient quantities.

“Look!” Candlelight pointed to a little foal with a flaming red mane, “If it isn't little Sunset Shimmer, but no?” Candlelight wondered, ”What's that? I thought you were just unhappy in this place, but now look at you, you're beaming with joy!”

In fact, now that she saw everything, Sunset remembered all too well how happy she had been that day. Or rather, how stupid she had been back then. That these little things had blinded her so much from all the misery around her.

“I was stupid and young. I let myself be blinded by all the appearances at Hearth Warming Eve,” Sunset admitted.

“Semblance?” asked Candlelight in astonishment, ”I think your joy is very real!”

“Because it was, but I had no reason to be happy!” explained Sunset.

“And why not?” Candlelight wanted to know.

“Because my life was horrible and just because it was one night of the year less didn't make it any better. I should have realized that instead of being an idiot and singing along to all the carols,” Sunset felt like an idiot as she saw herself there.

“So you would rather have been unhappy?” Candlelight wondered.

“I was unhappy!” protested Sunset.

“Well, I've seen a lot of foals and I can tell you that being unhappy looks different,” Candlelight assured her.

“You know what I mean, so stop pretending you don't!” Sunset snapped at her.

“Oh ho, who's losing their temper?” Candlelight wondered.

“Seriously?! You think I'm just losing my temper now?” Sunset replied, stunned.

“There she is again, my hilarious Sunset!” Candlelight said happily. This ghost really was even crazier than Pinkie Pie!

“So here I see a foal filled with the magic of Hearth Warming Eve. Despite her humble life, she can be happy on this one day of the year and not just because there is better food or because everything is so beautifully decorated, no. At this time of year, everything is much happier, no one has to feel alone and you can forget that you're miserable,” Candlelight was suddenly mesmerized and her voice was soft and sweet as she spoke. No comparison to before, when she only seemed to laugh and not stand still.

“You're right Sunset, humans and ponies unfortunately forget what that feeling is far too quickly and they only remember it at this time of the year, but that doesn't make it any less magical, in fact, it should remind you to carry that feeling with you all year round. Tell me Sunset, would the orphanage have been so horrible if every day had been like this?” Sunset was amazed to see Candlelight like this. She had only known the ghost for a few minutes, but the change in her character made Sunset forget her frustration and anger.

“Well, it certainly would have been less horrible. The food alone.” Sunset glanced at her past self, sitting happily at the table with the other orphans, singing songs and enjoying herself, “It might have been really nice.” Sunset whispered softly. Immediately regretting it. Anger rose up in her and she was ready to lash out at Candlelight's response, but nothing came. In fact, Candlelight didn't even look at Sunset. But Sunset could tell she was smiling as she watched the feast before her.

“Is it okay if we stay a little longer?” Candlelight suddenly asked.

“Sure,” Sunset said, shrugging her shoulders, no longer paying any attention to the scene. But what Candlelight said next took her completely by surprise, “Thank you.”

“For what?” Sunset said reflexively without thinking about it.

“For allowing me to experience this moment.”

They stood there silently for a while before Candlelight turned away.

“On to the next station, Sunset!” Candlelight announced.

“Next stop?” Before Sunset had finished, she was snatched up into the air again, towards the white light. This time, however, she didn't land on the ground but they came out in the air and she could already see where they were heading this time, Celestia's castle.

Of course, this was where the next big chapter in her life had begun, it was only logical that Candlelight would bring her here and she could already imagine what she wanted to show her.

They flew towards the balcony on the top floor, which adjoined the princess's private chambers, and landed there.

“I bet you remember this Christmas, don't you?” Candlelight's voice was filled with joyful excitement.

You bet Sunset could do that, it was her first Christmas as Celestia's student, she looked spellbound at the scenery in front of her without answering Candlelight's question.

In front of her, they saw an older Sunset, who was alone with the princess in her chambers. A beautiful Hearth Warming tree stood in the middle of the room, the fireplace crackled and the smell of cookies was in the air, honey oat cookies to be precise, which Sunset loved so much.

Sunset's younger self jumped excitedly around the room.

“Oh Sunset my dear, calm down!” Celestia's warm voice rang out, sending a chill through Sunset's spine. How long it had been since she had heard that familiar voice.

Sunset's younger self stopped jumping abruptly, but the joyful tension was still written all over her face.

“Oh I'm sorry princess, I just still can't believe it, it's like a dream come true!” Sunset lost herself in her joy.

Celestia began to giggle: “Believe me Sunset, the joy is all mine. You are a very special unicorn and you spread a lot of joy in my castle. You can't imagine how lonely it has been here during the past Hearth Warming Eves."

Sunset's former self had suddenly become very quiet.

“Lonely?” she asked in amazement, “But you're the princess, how can you be lonely?”

Celestia let out a heavy sigh: “For that very reason. Besides, I find it hard to let other ponies get close to me, when you're as old as I am you've seen a lot of good, as well as bad. Not all my Hearth Warming Eves were lonely, you know. And I'm glad they won't be from now on either."

Her former self began to smile, “Does that mean?”

“Yes, that's what it means,” Celestia replied with a smile and Sunset let out a loud cry of joy, which made the princess and then Sunset laugh even more.

“Now don't tell me you weren't happy at that moment,” Candlelight poked.

Sunset didn't take her eyes off the scene and said with difficulty: “I was young and naive.”

“Here.” Celestia's voice rang out as she floated a gift over to Sunset, “This is for you!”

Sunset's former self could hardly believe it, her eyes grew as wide as they could possibly be and a look of sheer bliss was reflected on her face.

“Oh my God, oh my God, a present for me?” she said excitedly.

“Of course!” said the princess warmly and graciously, “You mean a lot to me Sunset!”

Tears of joy welled up on Sunset's former self's face, “You mean a lot to me too. I'm just afraid I don't have a present for you,” Sunset admitted ashamedly.

“Oh, but you've already given me a present,” Celestia replied.

“I didn't give you anything,” Sunset insisted.

"You certainly have. With your presence, you have given me the best gift of all. You've made me happy again for a long time at Hearth Warming Eve."

Sunset's former self threw her arms around Celestia's neck: “I promise to keep making you happy!”

Sunset swallowed hard at the words of her past self.

“So, do you want to stay here a little longer this time?” Candlelight wanted to know.

Part of Sunset wanted to say yes, but another part just wanted to get away from here as quickly as possible, away from this incriminating scene from her past, and so she finally said, “No. No, we can go.”

“Good!” This time Candlelight was waiting for her and they flew off together. Their path was very short this time, the light opened up in the air directly in front of them and they flew just a few meters further into the tower of the castle where Sunset lived.

They walked through the wall and stood in Sunset's old room. Everything was just as she remembered it, the large, soft four-poster bed, the many magical devices and ornate paintings and sculptures. Not to mention all the books, parchments and shelves. And, of course, Sunset's large, always cluttered desk, at which she was currently sitting.

Sunset knew what was coming and it gave her a queasy feeling in her stomach.

Candlelight remained silent while there was a knock on Sunset's door.

“Come in!” Sunset's voice sounded emotionless and cold.

Celestia's towering figure appeared in the doorway, wearing a worried expression on her face.

“Yes?” asked Sunset, annoyed.

“Sunset, what are you doing?” Celestia's voice was still warm and kind, but it seemed weak, almost sad.

“I'm studying,” Sunset replied, not looking up from her documents.

“But Sunset, it's the evening of Hearth Warming Eve,” Celestia said anxiously.

“So?” Sunset replied disinterestedly.

"I was hoping we could spend some time together in my private chambers. You're so buried in your studies all the time, it's not good. And even now, this evening.” Celestia had moved closer to Sunset's desk and put on an affectionate smile.

“No good?” Sunset looked up from her documents for the first time her voice fierce, “I thought as your private pupil you'd be proud of me for being more studious, well-read and talented than all the other ponies! I can't waste my days wagging my tail in the sun. I have expectations to fulfill!"

"Sunset I've told you often enough that I'm proud of you and that your learning progress is overwhelming, but there's more to it than just knowledge from books. You also need to take care of the world around you, take care of yourself, do what makes you happy!” Celestia tried to encourage her, but all Sunset heard was the worry in Celestia's voice that Sunset might become more powerful than she was and wanted to keep her at arm's length.

"But that's what I'm doing! I'm learning about the world through all these books! I take very good care of myself every day, exercise and eat a balanced diet. And this, this is what makes me happy, not staring at some Hearth Warming tree!” Sunset countered all of Celestia's advice.

The princess let out a loud sigh: “I miss you Sunset!” she finally said.

“That's strange, I've been here the whole time,” Sunset replied coolly.

“I mean, I miss the old Sunset, who used to laugh with me and just keep me company and not always bury her head in books!” Celestia's expression was now openly sad and Sunset thought she could see tears now as she saw the scene from outside that she hadn't seen back then. Or had she?

“So you're not happy with me, are you?” Sunset asked defiantly.

"No, it's not like that Sunset. You mean a lot to me and I just want you to know that I would like to spend more time with you again,” Celestia assured her.

“But we're just spending time,” Sunset replied defiantly.

Celestia finally gave up with a heavy sigh, “If you change your mind, I'll wait for you in my chambers! Merry Hearth Warming my little Sunset!” With that Celestia left her room and Sunset buried herself in her parchments again without returning the princess's wishes.

For Sunset, this scene from her past was hard to watch. She didn't regret anything she had said, but seeing Celestia like that after everything still left a bitter taste in her mouth.

“And did you still go to visit her?” Candlelight wanted to know.

“You know that very well!” Sunset replied angrily.

“Oh, you don't seem to have enjoyed this look into your past so much, do you?” There was no trace of Candlelight's laughter, only her annoyingly cheerful voice remained.

“Can we just go?”, Sunset asked.

“Right away, of course. I'd just like to know Sunset, do you really think it was the right decision to break your promise to Celestia?” Candlelight sounded genuinely puzzled and interested in Sunset's answer.

“What promise?” Sunset asked, irritated.

“To continue to make her happy,” Candlelight replied dryly.

“Oh.” Sunset thought about it, “I did try,” she finally said, ”But I could never satisfy her. You saw how she criticized me.”

“Oh did she?” asked Candlelight in amazement, ”She seemed rather broken, close to tears to me. And it didn't look at all like you were trying to make her happy. And you didn't look happy yourself either,” Candlelight noted.

“But I was happy, okay?” Sunset clarified.

“And why did you run off then?” asked Candlelight.

“I ....,” Sunset began, ”I had to! Celestia wanted to get rid of me!” Sunset didn't get any further.

“You're just telling yourself that, but we both know it's not true. But just in case, I'll show you one last thing,” Candlelight promised her.

This time they didn't fly through the air, but teleported directly to another location. This time it was the school's boiler room again, where Sunset spent her first Christmas in the human world. This world was still so strange to her and she was all alone. The nights in the basement were still a little scary and it was so uncomfortable compared to her bed in the castle. Sunset looked at her own hard expression fixed on her cell phone in which she typed various things.

“I bet you're about to tell me you were happy here too, aren't you?” mocked Candlelight.

“No.” came the unexpected answer from Sunset's mouth, ”No, I wasn't happy! I never was on this goddamn holiday, okay?” Sunset slipped out.

“I see,” said Candlelight, ”Well there's one last thing I promised to show you. Maybe then you'll understand what misfortune really means.”

The scenery changed again before Sunset's eyes and they suddenly found themselves back in Celestia's chambers.

“That's not from my past,” Sunset said.

“No, but it's the same Hearth Warming Eve as your Christmas Eve in the human world,” Candlelight announced.

What Sunset saw before her took her breath away. Celestia's private chambers were dark, with only a faintly decorated tree in the room and a small fire burning in the fireplace. The smell of foggy dew was in the air and Celestia was crouched in the middle of the room, sniffling and whimpering.

“What's wrong Sunset?” Candlelight pulled her out of her thoughts.

Sunset was at a loss for words.

“I thought Celestia wanted to get rid of you and now look at her, does a happy pony look like that?” inquired Candlelight.

Sunset was still silent.

“So from what I've learned today, she must be the happiest pony in the world! Not a smile on her face, not a soul around her, just tears and darkness embracing her. Isn't that right?” Candlelight continued to tease.

Anger rose up in Sunset: “Just leave me in peace! Why are you showing me all this? Heh?! Do you think that changes anything? I'm not the bad guy here! Just because I didn't behave the way everyone wanted me to at Hearth Warming Eve, but let me tell you something, my life sucked outside of that, I had no reason to be happy that night. You can show me as many pictures from my past as you like, they won't change my present!” Sunset blurted out.

Candlelight smiled faintly, “That's right!”

Sunset was surprised by her approval.

“That's what the next ghost is there for!” Candlelight explained to her, ”But here's my advice to you Sunset. Learn from your past so that you can take a different path in the present. Carry the spirit of Christmas past within you! Don't forget it!” With that, the scene dissolved and everything around Sunset went black.

Author's Note

As promised, just in time for the first Advent. Hope all of you are in Christmas spirit already!