POV - Principal Celestia

Celestia sits at her desk checking over her files, her third cup of coffee taunting her for her restless nights. Everything has just gotten worse since the start of Anon-A-Miss, students are bullied for their exposed secrets and it appears Anon-A-Miss is only getting worse and worse by the day. If this goes on after winter break it could mean permanent damages in the friendships that have been made at the school and the loss of her job. After finishing the last of her paperwork she got up to check up on how Luna was doing when her phone started ringing insistently, much to the chargin of the small migrain she had forming in her head.

“Please let it not be another phone call about Anon-A-Miss, please…..” She says to herself, silently praying to any deity that might be listening.

She answers the phone with her standard greeting. “Hello, this is principal Celestia speaking, how may I help you today?”

“Hello principal Celestia, this is detective Daring Do from the Canterlot Police Department. I’m sorry to inform you, but at around 5pm a student of yours by the name Rover Smith stabbed to death in an abandoned Florist shop on Baker street… Apparently he was on his way home when it happened, we just wanted to inform you so that you could properly be notified of the situation. I wish I could provide you with more information, but until we can determine the cause and/or reason behind this murder I cannot give you anymore information. I wish you a happy holidays and hope for the best, goodbye.” She says before ending the call.

Principal Celestia was stunned by this statement, and found herself wishing, probably for the first time since Tuesday, that this had been another call about Anon-A-Miss. She picks up her phone and starts to quickly dialing Luna’s number.

“Luna, I have an urgent matter to discuss, hurry to my office!” She says wishing she could have a drink.

POV Change - Fluttershy

The sky was blanketed in gray clouds covering up the shining sun from Canterlot high, seemingly emulating the general feeling of the student body as they awaited classes to end for the last day before winter break. The Rainbooms were the most eager of the students in this regard, being as they were the first targets of the profile Anon-A-Miss, and thought to be betrayed by Sunset the once Queen Bee of school. Since the creation of the account its influence and suffering has spread across the entire campus, affecting both student and faculty members alike. Fluttershy sighs as she sits in the back of her first period classroom once again forced to hide away in her hoodie after some of the secrets about her “above-average” love for animals was exposed. As she made her way through the boring lecture that miss Cheerilee was giving, something about how the pagan beliefs formed in history, before suddenly the sound of the intercom turned on catching her attention before the sound of Principal Celestia’s voice came on.

“Would all students please make their way towards the gym, there is an emergency announcement that will be taking place. All students and faculty are required to be present for this meeting.” She said before the sound of the intercom cutting off sounded throughout the school.

Fluttershy was confused as to what the principal could possibly want to talk to the school body about. She quickly left the classroom alongside her fellow students towards the direction of the gymnasium making sure not to be noticed as much as possible, this didn’t help when one of her old tormentors from before Sunset, Dumbbell, pushed her into the corner where the lockers and the wall meet laughing as he did so.

“Animal fucker…..” He chuckled as some of his other buddies laughed alongside him before moving on, throwing their own jeers and insights at the now silently sobbing Fluttershy.

She knew she shouldn’t have come to school today, she had hoped that she could have avoided this if she had just stayed home. As she started to beat herself up over her lack of foresight she’s startled when a gentle hand grasped her shoulder, frightened she turned to see her friend Rarity looking over her worriedly, obviously checking her for injuries.

“My word, Fluttershy darling, what happened to you? Was it another one of those brutes, I swear I may just have to have a very unladylike talk those buffoons that dare call themselves gentlemen.” Rarity says as she gently helps a clinging Fluttershy up onto her feet.

Once Fluttershy was on her feet she hugged Rarity feeling her gently caressing her back. “W-why d-d-did this ha-happen to us?…” Fluttershy sobs out to Rarity in pain.

“Shhhhhh, I don’t know deary, sometimes some people never change… Sunset is just one of those people, we gave her a chance and she threw it back in our faces. Now we’re stuck dealing with her lies and the hatred she’s spread across campus.” Rarity says holding onto her crying friend.

“Come, we should be heading to the Gymnasium soon darling. Don’t want to be late, it sounded important.” She says gently leading Fluttershy to the gym as she started to calm down.

When they arrive they look around to find the rest of the Rainbooms sitting near the far exit of the Gym with Rainbow Dash and Applejack sitting on either side of a visibly depressed Pinkie Pie. Ever since the school learned that Pinkie Pie was once in an insane asylum for multiple personality disorder they would tease her and even go out of their way to make her life miserable. Turning her head from them she noticed on the opposite side of the gym was Sunset at the double doors that led to the sports field. Fluttershy quickly turned her head and made a beeline for her friends with Rarity quick to catch up. Upon sitting with their friends and catching it Fluttershy turns and notices something off about Celestia, she doesn’t seem like her normal, seemingly always peppy self, she seemed somber and more than a little tired. While turning to Sunset she seemed to be anticipating something, almost restlessly as she taps her foot in impatience, probably wants to spread more secrets.

POV Change- Celestia (Principal)

Principal Celestia watched the students file in. Each of them milling about the room and waiting for whatever the assembly would be about. Her eyes scoured the room and she found Spot and Fido leaning against the wall. Her heart thudded painfully against her ribs at the sight of them. She couldn't imagine how terrible this loss had been for them. Certainly, they wouldn't show it, but she knew Rover had been a close friend of theirs. She hoped they could move past his loss and continue on for the future.

Once the last of the stragglers had entered the hall, Celestia cleared her throat and looked to Luna. Her sister nodded to her encouragingly and the principal returned it. Gazing out at all of the gathered students, Celestia took a deep breath and began.

"Everyone," she said, her voice carrying around the quickly quieting room. "I understand that this may seem irritating to some of you, being called in for an assembly on the last day before break. However, I would just like to tell you all that I value each and every one of you as my student, and I can assure you that the faculty and staff feel the same. Whenever a student drops out, graduations, moves away, or transfers, it is a hard experience for everyone involved. The student is always missed, and the memories they created here at CHS don't just disappear."

Off to the side, Spot turned his face away, Fido patting him on the back. Celestia swallowed and continued, "As you can probably guess, it is also difficult for everyone when a student dies. It leaves a terrible scar on CHS, one that will take a long time to heal. The other night, Rover Ruby was found dead in an abandoned flower shop in a remote part of Canterlot." There were several gasps from the crowd, but Celestia waved her hand to quiet them. "I understand that this is hard to take, but I just would like to reiterate a few things with you all. We here at CHS are a family. We make friendships that last lifetimes and it will always be difficult for us when someone leaves unexpectedly.

"Because of this, I want you all to be safe, this holiday season. Please do not take unnecessary risks, please travel in groups. The police are still looking for the culprit of the murder, and until they are caught, I would feel better knowing no one else is in their sights. Please stay safe, and may Rover's spirit watch over his friends and family." Spot broke into soft wails as he pressed his face into Fido's chest. The larger boy just let him, keeping his face stoic so his friend could let it out. "Have a happy and *safe* break everyone. Dismissed.”
That was all she could give them. It pained her to know that she couldn't keep all of them safe. But she hoped that, what she couldn't do, their families and friends could. She didn't want to lose anymore students to some wayward killer. Certainly, the police had said that it was a gang dispute, but Celestia still preferred to be wary on the slim chance it wasn't. She didn't want to lose anyone else.

Pretty much everyone had forgotten about Anon-a-Miss by the time they shuffled back to their classrooms. Silence hung in the air as the students contemplated what they had been told. Most of them preferred to brush it off as a gang conflict, having heard some snippets of the story from the news already. However, others felt an uneasiness in their stomachs, as though something wasn't right with the whole thing. The younger students huddled together in groups, skittish and jumpy, while most of the older students went about their business. It was probably a one-off, so it didn't matter as much to them.

Fluttershy hated knowing that someone had died and felt her chest constrict for Rover's friends. However, she was grateful that only a few students were paying attention to her now, distracted as everyone else was with the news of Rover's death. Her friends converged around her as everyone made their way to their lockers, the break looming ahead of them.

Author's Note

Hi there everybody, Sar Meister here.... So last time I uploaded the prologue I got a lot of positive feedback, and it really touched me to hear as that was my first time posting anything ever regarding my stories.

So I decided to at least try and get ya'll 1 chapter before I relaxed for the rest of my time on winter break. So I hope ya'll enjoyed and I'll see ya'll next time.

Happy Hearts Warming Eve.

Sincerely,
Sar Meister