Twilight Sparkle, Equestria’s alicorn Princess of Friendship, was sitting in her castle’s library happily reading an exciting book. Suddenly, her reading was interrupted by a vibrating sound. The sound was coming from the table, surface covered with various books, sitting in the middle of the room. One of the books on the table was vibrating and glowing pink. She recognized the book and knew it must be her former rival turned good friend, Sunset Shimmer, writing a message to her from the human world. She opened the book thinking it might be a letter about a lesson in friendship Sunset learned and wanted to share with her, just like Twilight used to share friendship lessons she learned with her mentor, Princess Celestia. However, instead of a friendship lesson, she found something quite disturbing:

Dear Princess Twilight,

We know you might be busy with princess duties at the moment, but this is an emergency. There is a very, very serious problem with Sunset Shimmer, which is why we’re writing this message instead of her. If you come through the portal, we’ll explain everything. Please come over as soon as possible if you get this message, we really need your help.

Your friends:

Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, and Fluttershy

“Spike! We need to make a trip through the mirror immediately!” the young alicorn princess called to her faithful dragon assistant while making a quick exit out of the castle library. Sensing the importance of this issue, she wasted no time.

Back in the human world, the Humane Five were just returning to CHS after their miserable time at Sugarcube Café. Just as they arrived in front of the school entrance, they saw their beloved friend pop out of the dimensional portal that was their school statue followed by her trusty dragon-turned-canine sidekick. Immediately, their hearts filled with joy and hope at the sight of their old friend.

“Twilight!” they all exclaimed in joyful unison and immediately embraced her.

Some students had gathered at the school to see the girl from another dimension that saved their school twice in the past return. They all shared the belief that if there was someone who could fix this problem, it would be Twilight Sparkle. Even Principal Celestia, Vice Principal Luna, Flash Sentry, and the Crusaders were amongst the crowd with hopeful expressions on their faces.

“Twilight’s back!” Lyra Heartstrings said excitedly.

“She’ll be able to make things right!” Bon Bon said just as excited.

“Oh Twilight,” Applejack said. “You have no idea how bad things have been here.”

“I received your message and now I’m here,” Twilight assured the human counterparts of her friends. “Now tell me what is wrong with Sunset Shimmer.”

The Five told her about how Sunset had formed a relationship with the gang leader named Zak and how he was horribly abusing her. Needless to say, the Princess of Friendship didn’t like the news.

“Sweet Celestia! What is Sunset thinking?!” Twilight exclaimed clearly unnerved. Spike didn’t look too happy about hearing this either. “And you say she refuses to listen to any of you! Why wouldn’t she listen?! I thought you were all friends.”

“She is still very hurt from the Anon-a-Miss incident that she doesn’t trust anyone anymore,” Rarity answered.

“Anon-a-Miss?! I thought that whole thing was resolved a month ago,” Twilight said very confused. But then her confusion turned to suspicion. “What exactly happened?” she asked suspiciously. “I don’t know too many details of that fiasco because I wasn’t there. But it’s clear that Sunset was hurt really badly from it. I know you all thought she was the culprit and turned your backs on her, but what exactly did you say to her when you did?”

A wave of tension swept over the Five as Twilight questioned them. The five nervous teens didn’t want to answer that question but the seriousness in their friend’s tone meant they didn’t have a choice. Reluctantly, the Five repeated the exact words they said to Sunset on that terrible day.

To say Twilight didn’t take it well would be a huge understatement. The purple-skinned girl hung her head in utter disbelief and disappointment. Her head hung so low that her bangs hung low enough to cover her eyes leaving only her nose and frown visible. Spike felt both horrified by the terrible things he also heard and concerned as he could sense how very upset his mistress was feeling.

“Now we know that sounds bad, darling,” Rarity spoke up trying to ease the tension. “But please try to understand.”

“All the evidence was pointed at her,” Applejack said.

“Considering her past, how could we not suspect her,” Fluttershy timidly added.

“You remember what she was like, don’t you?” Pinkie asked.

“Heck, I bet if the same thing happened to you, you would’ve thought it was her too,” Rainbow spoke in a friendly tone trying to reach an understanding.

SMACK!

Without warning, Twilight slapped Rainbow Dash across the face leaving a big red hand print on her left cheek. Everyone was shocked by what Twilight just did. Rainbow stood where she was holding her aching cheek in complete surprise.

SMACK!

SMACK!

SMACK!

SMACK!

Before anyone could react or respond to what happened, Twilight used this moment of surprise to slap the rest of the Five in the face. Now all five girls were holding their aching cheeks and staring in complete shock at their dearest friend who was standing in front of everyone holding her right hand which was trembling with pain from slapping all of them. Almost everyone present stared at Twilight and couldn’t believe what she just did. The only ones who didn’t look surprised were Principal Celestia, Vice Principal Luna, Flash Sentry, and the Crusaders.

The look in the humanized alicorn’s eyes sent shivers down everyone’s spines. Her eyes were filled with so many emotions, but mostly disappointment, fury, and disgust.

“Will there be any consequences for what I just did?” Twilight asked the principal and vice principal without changing emotion.

“We’ll let it slide this time,” Celestia regretfully answered.

“Consider it our apology for letting everything get out of hand,” a remorseful Luna added. “This one is on us.”

After that, the two faculty members departed into the school. Sensing that this was a tense and personal moment between Twilight and the Five, the rest of the students started leaving with only Flash and the Crusaders staying behind.

Twilight was taking deep breaths while trying very hard to calm herself. Spike and the Five were nervous, they had never seen their friend this angry.

“Why?” Twilight finally simmered down and asked. She was still pretty angry, but was now calm enough to have a conversation. “How could say such cruel things to Sunset Shimmer and turn your backs on her after all she’s done for you?”

“We were embarrassed and angry,” Fluttershy nervously answered.

“Our most embarrassing secrets were being posted on the internet for the whole world to see,” Rarity added.

“Oh, I’m sorry girls,” Twilight replied in an unsympathetic tone. “It sounds like you’ve all had a rough time since I’ve been gone. Sunset too, as she was being falsely accused of the very crimes you just mentioned by everyone including yourselves.” Hearing their terrible deed being constantly brought was making the already ashamed Crusaders feel even more ashamed of themselves and now they had to watch their beloved big sisters pay for their deeds. “You know, I’ve been having some hardships back in my world also. Quite recently, my friends and I went to a little village where everypony there was forced to have the same cutie mark and be equal. Things weren’t too bad, until their leader tried to steal our cutie marks and brainwash us into becoming a part of their society!” Everyone cringed at the princess’s sudden yelling. “I thought things would get better when Sunset decided to turn over a new leaf after the Fall Formal. Were her apologies not that convincing to you? Or what about when she actually helped us stop the sirens during the Battle of the Bands? Was that moment not good enough for you?” None of the Five answered Twilight’s angry question. They were trying to think of an answer that might calm her down. But it was too late, after observing their nervous and shameful facial expressions, she got her answer. “I asked you all to look out for her,” she reminded them in a calmer tone. “If I didn’t ask that, would you still had tried to be friends with Sunset? And I want the truth.”

The Five found themselves corned by a very difficult question. Now only was their last ditch effort to resolve this issue with Sunset and Zak already starting to go south, but they also felt that their friendship with Twilight was now in jeopardy. However, they knew they had no choice but to come clean.

“No,” AJ regretfully answered. “After everythin’ she’d done ta us in the past years, we would’ve had nothin’ ta do with her. Ah’m sorry.”

Hearing this, the Princess of Friendship hung her head in great disappointment. “I have one more question, for them,” she said looking over at the Crusaders who were now starting to feel a little nervous because now they had to answer to their hero from another world. Twilight approached the three younger girls and asked them in the calmest tone she could muster, “I heard you three were really Anon-a-Miss. Now I know Sunset Shimmer wasn’t the nicest person any of you have ever met in the beginning, trust me I understand. But what exactly did she do that made you want to ruin her life like this?”

“It wasn’t like that,” Apple Bloom was the first to speak. “Ever since Sunset became friends with our sisters, they’ve been spendin’ more time with her and less time with us.”

“When the holiday season came, our sisters started ignoring us even more,” Sweetie Belle tearfully explained. “We got desperate.”

“However, turns out framing Sunset for secret-stealing wasn’t the best solution,” Scootaloo admitted with clear self-disgust in her voice.

“Yep, would appear that way,” Twilight said with a mixture of disappointment and pity in her voice. While she was upset with how petty and foolish the Crusaders’ motivation was, she noticed they had a few bruises and clear looks of remorse on their faces and couldn’t help but feel a little sorry for them. They were already experiencing the consequences of their actions. “Well then, I’m sorry for the inconvenience I caused everyone. This one is on me.”

“No Twilight, it–” Fluttershy tried to argue. She along with the other were surprised that Twilight would take some blame for this entire mess.

“I don’t want to hear it,” Twilight stopped her. “Words can’t describe how disappointed and… frustrated I am with all of you. That being said, I understand the importance of this situation and will offer my assistance.”

“So you’ll help us?” Pinkie asked with renewed hope.

“No Pinkie,” Twilight corrected her. “I’m going to help Sunset Shimmer. After that, it’s up to the rest of you to clean up your own mess. It appears I’m going to be here for a while, so I’ll need to find a place to stay.”

“You’re always welcome to stay with us,” Fluttershy offered.

“Yeah, we can have a slumber party together like last time!” Pinkie said with hope and excitement in her voice.

“I think I’ll sleep in the school library this time,” Twilight replied in a tone that was as polite as she could muster while giving them a look that made it clear she didn’t want to hang out with them.

This rejection hit the Five hard. Pinkie suddenly felt her hope and excitement disappear. They had upset Twilight to the point where she didn’t want to spend time with them. Some of them were even starting to understand how Sunset must’ve felt when they wrongfully cast her out. Fluttershy and Pinkie looked as if they were ready to start shedding tears.

“Why don’t you stay at my place?” Flash politely offered the princess. “I have a spare room with a bed. I’m sure it’ll be better than sleeping on a bunch of hard books.”

“Thanks Flash,” Twilight calmly expressed her gratitude. The blue-haired rocker started leading her to the school parking lot where he had parked his car.

“Wait, Twilight!” a desperate and hurt Rainbow called to her. “I know we didn’t trust Sunset Shimmer as much as we should’ve, but how did you know she was innocent?”

Twilight just shook her head in disgust and continued following Flash without answering the question.

“Isn’t it obvious?” a sad and disappointed Spike asked the Five before joining his mistress.

The Five sadly watched as their friend walked away wanting nothing to do with them at the moment and leaving them with their shameful thoughts. It was apparent to everyone that they had screwed up, big time.

As Flash drove his car, he looked over at Twilight, who was sitting in the front passenger seat with Spike, from time to time to see if her mood would change. Sadly, she still had that unhappy and disappointed look on her face.

“Um…” Flash said trying to start a friendly conversation in hopes of lightening the mood. “So, how have things been in your world?”

“Okay, I guess,” Twilight answered with little to no emotion in her voice.

“Well, now that I have a chance to say this, I’m sorry for the things I said during the Battle of the Bands.”

“I know,” Twilight replied but this time giving him a warm and forgiving smile which he returned with his own warm smile. She had actually long forgiven him since then. “Could you do me a favor,” she asked in a more serious tone. “Before we go to your place, I’d like you to show me were Sunset hangs out with this ‘Zak’ person.”

“I wouldn’t recommend that,” Flash replied in a warning tone. “Zak is more dangerous than you think.”

“I’m not going to do anything yet, I just want to see for myself how bad it is.”

So Flash drove by the house where Zak lived and stopped the car. Twilight rolled down the passenger window to see if she could get a better look and hear better.

SMACK!

“AAAAAAAAGGGGGGHHHHHH!!!”

They suddenly heard what sounded like someone getting slapped hard and a painful cry.

“FUCKING MORON!” an extremely vicious and unpleasant voice yelled. It was obviously Zak. “Get the hell out of my sight!”

Then they saw through a window Sunset Shimmer enter the kitchen. She looked absolutely miserable. Not just because she had tears in her eyes and a big red hand print on her left cheek. The expression on her face was filled with heartbreak, loneliness, and hopelessness. Twilight had seen enough and couldn’t bear to see anymore, so she rolled her window back up.

“Alright, let’s go,” Twilight sadly told Flash she had gotten what she wanted. Flash wasted no time and drove them away from that forsaken hellhole. Twilight looked very upset now. She just got here, but she immediately realized how truly horrible the situation was. Things were a lot worse than she expected. She could already tell that this was going to be one of the hardest challenges of her life. “Oh Sunset! What have they done to you?!” she said to herself. “What have I done to you?!”

Author's Note

New Chapter Finally Here! Sorry for the long wait. Hopefully Twilight will be able to figure out a way to set things right.