Chapter 7 - Perspective

Sweetie Belle sighed as she looked at the Anon-a-miss profile. Her own terrible words stared back at her, along with Scootaloo’s and Applebloom’s. She was getting tired of this. Sure, she got to spend more time with her sister, but what was the point when Rarity wasn’t even happy? And no one was happy, for that matter. The school was a warzone. Friends turned their backs on each other, students teased and mocked and galred, people were ostracized and hurt.

They had started the profile the week before winter break began. Now, it was nearing the end of February, and the Mystable account had only grown. People had started sending in secrets by week two, and the whole thing just spiraled from there. “We’re totally stuck,” Sweetie Belle thought miserably. “If we tell anyone now, all that bullying will be turned on us. Not to mention the consequences from the Principals,” She shuddered. She really didn’t want to get in trouble. The thought of Rarity’s betrayed expression and the furious eyes of the Principals made her feel sick.

“This whole thing is a mess...”

***

The Rainbooms sat in their usual afterschool spot at Sugarcube Corner, sipping their drinks in silence. Rarity huffed and crossed her arms, leaning back in her chair. “I just can’t believe she’s still finding things to post,” she said with an indignant flip of her hair. “You’d think she’d run out of secrets at some point.”

Applejack snorted. “Y’all know how crafty she can be. She probably has a neverending supply.”

Fluttershy gave the two a gloomy look. “Can we please stop talking about her,” she begged, burying her face into her arms. “I don’t want to think about it.” Her muffled voice said. Pinkie Pie gave an agreeing nod.

The bell above the door rang cheerfully, a stark contrast to the girls’ mood. “Heya sis!” Applebloom said brightly, though with a bit of anxiety, her two friends trailing closely behind her. The trio pulled up extra chairs to the table, taking a seat and looking around at the dejected and angry faces around them.

“Uh, what’s up?” Scootaloo tried nervously. Rainbow Dash slammed her hand against the table, nearly knocking down her milkshake.

“Sunset Shimmer is what’s up!” She shouted, earning her a harsh look from Mrs. Cake. She lowered her voice. “That bitch is still posting shit,” she fumed.

“Oh, ha, well, that sucks” Sweetie Belle responded with an nervous tremor in her voice.

“I don’t know how she’s finding dirt on us,” Dash continued her rant. “We haven’t talked to her in months!” she said.

Pinkie Pie scoffed. “She probably has eyes everywhere,” the usually upbeat girl grumbled. Fluttershy brought her head up from its resting place atop the table.

“I thought we were going to stop talking about this,” she snapped.

“Sorry ’Shy,” Pinkie said. “I’m just glad we cut her out of our lives. Who knows how much more damage she could have done if we hadn’t!” The rest of her friends gave sounds of agreement. Nobody noticed the freshmen glance at each other in distress.

***

Flash Sentry strummed a sad tune on his guitar. Music never failed to raise his spirits, but today he just wasn’t feeling it. His thoughts drifted to the Anon-a-miss situation. He didn’t want to believe that Sunset was behind this, but he couldn’t deny the likeliness. “I really thought she’d changed...”

He sighed, putting his guitar back on its stand and flopping onto his bed. “I just hope this thing ends sometime soon.”

Flash’s band was on a temporary break due to a certain post by Anon-a-miss that spurred Ringo and Brawly Beats to have a falling out. Needless to say, the situation left him feeling alone and distressed. Flash couldn’t have a band without his bass player and drum player! He and the Rainbooms and been hanging out more frequently now that their sixth member was an outcast, but it wasn’t the same as the weekly practices and hangouts he and his friends had before their argument.

Flash stared forlornly up at his ceiling. “I want my friends back.”

***

Trixie marched towards the pet store, Sunset in tow, ignoring the girl’s protests. “All you do in that sad hovel of yours is mope,” she chided. “I can’t sleep over every night, so we’re going to get you some permanent company.”

Sunset grumbled something that sounded suspiciously like “I’m fine by myself” as she was pulled through the store. “I don’t have the money for a pet,” she reasoned, trying to yank her arm from Trixie’s firm grasp. The magician finally relented and released Sunset’s arm.

“Then we’ll get you something low-maintenance” she countered. “C’mon Sunset, just entertain me for a bit.” Sunset sighed. She knew Trixie wasn’t going to let up anytime soon.

“Fine,” she muttered, and Trixie squealed. “But I’m not getting a fish.”

Trixie dragged Sunset all across the store, cooing at the smaller mammals and laughing at Sunset’s annoyed face when the red-head’s suggestion of getting a pet rock was shot down. Finally, Trixie and Sunset arrived at the reptile section, and Sunset was suddenly interested. She had always had a soft spot for reptiles.

Trixie smirked at Sunset’s captivated expression. “I see we’ve found some potential candidates,” she joked.

Sunset huffed, crossing her arms. “They’re my favourites, okay?”

Trixie laughed. “I can see why you like them.” she responded.

Sunset gazed fondly at a small corn snake. “They’re a bit misunderstood,” the fiery-haired girl murmured. “Just like me...” Her unspoken words rang out.

“Hey, these guys are pretty cute,” Sunset said, interrupting her train of thought before it could get too depressing. She moved down the aisle and crouched to gaze into an enclosure that held a group of leopard geckos. One, however, stood out to her. He was a startling bright yellow, and seemed to glow under the light of his heat lamp. He looked directly at Sunset, seeming to smile at her, and she knew that she was not leaving the store without him.

“I think we have a winner,” Trixie giggled as Sunset pressed her face against the glass.

“He’s perfect,” the enraptured girl whispered.

Trixie laughed even harder. “I’ll go grab him some supplies,” she said, leaving Sunset to gush over the small lizard.

“I’m going to name you Ray,” Trixie heard Sunset say lovingly as she turned the corner to the next aisle.

Trixie’s heart gave a little leap. She loved seeing her friend happy. “I’d do anything to see that cute smile of hers...”

“Um wait, what? What was that?!” Trixie mulled over the affectionate thought as she started grabbing reptile care supplies off the shelves. “I’m acting like a goddamn schoolgirl with a crush!”

Trixie stopped dead in her tracks, nearly dropping the heating pad she had just picked up. Her eyes widened and her cheeks flushed. “No. No no no no, I do not have a crush.” But it was too late; the thought had already planted the seed of realization in Trixie’s mind... and in her heart.

***

Sonata hummed to herself happily as she danced about the kitchen. Early morning light filtered through the curtains of the former siren’s cozy apartment, and the small kitchen was filled with the smell of breakfast. The blue girl stacked several hot pancakes onto a rapidly filling plate as she waited for her sisters to wake up. Sonata, surprisingly, was usually the first to awaken on the weekends, and used the opportunity to make her sisters breakfast.

A yawn reached Sonata’s ears as Adagio and Aria stumbled into the small dining area that was attached to the kitchen. “Morning, Dagi! Morning, Aria!” Sonata chirped as she placed the plate of pancakes onto the center of the table. “Pancakes are ready now, and I’m working on eggs and bacon.” She said, turning back to her task.

Adagio grumbled out a “thank you,” still half asleep as she took her seat. Aria only grunted in response as she made a beeline to the coffee machine. After Aria joined her sister at the table with a steaming cup of coffee, the two began tiredly piling pancakes onto her plate, the promise of a delicious breakfast waking them up a bit.

The trio enjoyed a comfortable silence as they respectively ate and cooked. The apartment was something they had bought with the money they had… persuaded others into giving them back when they had their pendants. The group still had some cash left over, but not enough to live off of in their new lives as humans. Because of that, Adagio had gotten a job as a waitress at an old, 50’s-themed diner and Aria worked as a mechanic at a nearby auto shop. Sonata pulled her weight by cooking and cleaning for the trio.

Sonata served two more plates onto the dining table, one with eggs and one with bacon. Aria immediately grabbed a huge helping of bacon, the action earning a snicker from Adagio.

Aria groaned in delight. “Breakfast is amazing as always, Sona. Thank you,” she said gratefully. Adagio nodded in agreement.

Sonata smiled as she took her own seat at the table. “No problem, gals!” The blue girl cast a glance at Adagio and Aria, her smile growing wider. “Sunset’s already been a good influence on them,” she thought as she dug into her breakfast. “Aria’s mellowed out a bit, and Dagi is less stressed.”

Sonata looked at her sisters with a mouthful of pancake and a heartful of love. “I’m glad we decided to give friendship a chance.”

***

Vice Principal Luna sat at her desk, a concerned expression adorning her otherwise stony face. She did not find herself working on Saturdays very often, but a certain situation demanded her attention.

“Anon-a-miss…”

Luna’s brow furrowed as she flicked through the profile. “We’ve been trying to track you down for a month now, and we’ve got nothing!”

The dark-haired woman heaved a sigh. She and her sister knew for a fact that this was not the work of Sunset Shimmer, but there was almost no way to figure out who the bully’s identity really was. Luna winced as her thoughts drifted to the previous day’s conversation with Sunset and Celestia.

Sunset sat in front of Principal Celestia’s desk. Her eyes anxiously darted about the room, refusing to settle on the woman in front of her or the Vice Principal by her side.

“Sunset, please reconsider. We can’t do anything about the harassment unless you give us your express permission,” Celestia’s kind voice and worried gaze bored into Sunset.

The fiery-haired girl shook her head. “No. If you do something about it, it’ll only get worse.” She crossed her arms defiantly. “I can handle it,” she lied. Perhaps it was the face of her old mentor that dissuaded her from taking action. Perhaps it was the feeling that she deserved the hateful treatment she was receiving. Either way, Sunset Shimmer did not want help.

Luna lay a hand on the teen’s shoulder. “We should have started investigating sooner, and for our lack of action, I apologize,” she started. “But we can at least offer you some protection while we search for Anon-a-miss’ identity-”

Luna retracted her hand when Sunset shook her head vehemently. Her words were angry when she responded. “I’m fine. Look, I appreciate the offer, but I can handle this myself,” she repeated.

Luna and Celestia exchanged a fretful glance. It was Celestia who broke the tense silence.

“... Very well, then. We won’t do anything, but please come to us if you change your mind.” The Principal looked Sunset in the eyes. “We’re here for you, Sunset Shimmer. My door, as well as Luna’s, is always open if you ever need to talk.”

Sunset said nothing as she left the room, but Luna could see tears streaming down the girl’s face before she turned away completely.

Luna shook her head to rid herself of the memory. “There’s no use dwelling on this. If I want to help Sunset, I can do so by finding out who Anon-a-miss is.” She sighed again as she looked through Anon-a-miss’ older posts. None of the words Luna read offered any idea as to who the profile was run by.

“... Easier said than done.”

***

Princess Celestia lowered the sun with practiced ease, making way for her sister’s beautiful darkness. As fiery colours painted the sky and the sun’s last plight blared over the land, the princess found her thoughts drifting to the little yellow filly whose name reminisced of this golden hour.

“Oh, Sunset… Where did I go wrong?”

The sun drifted lower, any remaining light blues being banished into tomorrow.

“You aren’t the type to give up.”

Reds, golds, oranges made their presence loud and clear.

“So why…?”

The princess did not cry, but her heart felt laden with grief as inky blacks and blues swallowed up the remaining threads of red and gold.

Celestia was a pony whose endless kindness and fearless leadership shaped the land of Equestria, and the hearts of many students, into something to be proud of. To have a student fall like the way Sunset had…

“I don’t understand, Sunset. I just wish I could understand...”

Author's Note

Alrighty, a bit of a change of pace for this week! I thought it'd be a good idea to kind of give some insight into the other characters thoughts and feelings about the whole situation

For those of you concerned with the Dazzlings and their characterization, fear not! Next week's chapter will be dedicated to fleshing out Adagio, Aria, and Sonata's characters as well as their friendships with Sunset and Trixie.

Hope everyone is having a wonderful day!

~Bitty Bug