Chapter 9 - We Fucked Up

Applebloom sat on her bed, phone in hand. She stared at the screen, the Anon-a-miss profile pulled up.

gforce: sunset shimmer i swear to god im going to end you

r0ckerchick: Fucking bitch, I knew she was still evil

firefighter03: why is she even bothering to hide behind this dumb account? we know its her!

March was halfway over, and the guilt only grew as time wore on. She sighed. “Ah think it’s time to end this,” she thought with a sick feeling in her stomach.

Applebloom’s door swung open and a worried looking Scootaloo walked in, followed by an equally anxious Sweetie Belle. “What’s up, Bloom? We got your text,” Scootaloo said as she sat on the bed next to her friend. Sweetie Belle closed the door and sat on Applebloom’s other side.

“Girls,” she started. “Ah think it’s time to come clean about the Anon-a-miss profile.”

The room fell into a heavy silence. The three had plenty of time to ponder what exactly this meant for them.

Eventually, Sweetie Belle spoke. “I agree. I think we’ve gone too far.”

Scootaloo avoided their eyes and clenched her fists. “rrRRRAHG!” She startled the other two as she flopped back against the bed with a frustrated scream. “She deserved it! She was taking our family away from us!” Scootaloo shouted as she covered her face with her hands.

“Ah know she was taking up their time, but we really went too far with this. Y’all saw that black eye she had. People are gettin’ violent!” Applebloom replied.

Scootaloo moved her hands up to grip at her hair. “We can’t come clean now,” she argued. “You said so yourself, people are getting violent! They’ll probably turn on us next!”

Sweetie Belle remained silent. She was torn between protecting herself and ending the torment of an innocent person. Scootaloo continued her rant. “And before that? She was a tyrant! She hurt so many people, and all she got was a slap on the wrist and a ‘lesson in friendship?!’”

“But what about the Battle of the Bands? Didn’t she prove herself when she faced off against the sirens?” Applebloom countered. The farm girl sighed. “Ah don’t feel good about pinning this on Sunset anymore. If y’all aren’t going to tell someone about this, then Ah will. It was mah idea in the first place, Ah’ll take the blame fer it,” she decided. This had gone on long enough.

Sweetie Belle made her choice. “No, Applebloom,” she said. “We did this together, we’ll take the fall together too. We’ll tell the Principals tomorrow.” She said, giving a pointed look to Scootaloo, who groaned.

“Fuck, fine. I still think she deserved it. And if we get beat up for this, I’m blaming you guys,” she quarreled.

Despite Scootaloo’s protests, Applebloom smiled at her friends. “Crusaders forever?” She asked.

Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo smiled at their friend.

“Crusaders forever.”

***

Would Applejack, Rarity, and Rainbow Dash please come to Principal Celestia’s office?

The loudspeaker crackled out the request during lunch. Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy gave the three girls worried looks “Do either of you know what’s going on?” Pinkie Pie asked.

“No idea, sugarcube,” Applejack answered as she, Rarity, and Rainbow got up.

The three walked in relative silence. They entered the office to find a tense Principal Celestia, an angry Vice Principal Luna, and three very guilty looking freshmen. “Sweetie Belle?” Rarity was confused. “What are you and your friends doing here?” She asked, giving a worried glance to Applejack and Rainbow Dash.

“Yeah, what’s going on?” Rainbow Dash queried.

Principal Celestia narrowed her eyes. “It appears,” she began with a cold voice. “That we have discovered the identity of Anon-a-miss.” Celestia gestured to the trio in front of her.

“Woah woah woah, you’re not seriously accusing them of being Anon-a-miss, are you?” Rainbow Dash exploded. Scootaloo cast her gaze to the floor.

Rarity scoffed. “Our sisters would never do something so horrible!” Sweetie Belle winced at that remark.

Applejack continued the tirade. “We all know it’s Sunset-”

“Actually,” Principal Celestia interrupted their cantankerous rantings with a harsh look in her eyes. “Sunset Shimmer has been in the hospital for the past two days. She has been unconscious for both of those two days, and Anon-a-miss has still been active.” The usually kind woman’s voice was hard as steel. The six girls paled at the news.

“H-hospital…?” Sweetie Belle meekly stuttered. Scootaloo bit her lip and Applebloom fidgeted with her hands.

Celestia nodded, her attention remaining on the upperclassmen who all had similar expressions of horror on their faces. “There’s no way that Sunset could be Anon-a-miss, and these three have already confessed.”

A beat of silence.

Applejack’s gaze bored into her sister as the truth crashed over her in a dreadful wave. “No… mah own kin wouldn’t do something like this...” The farmer trailed off.

A lump formed in Rainbow’s throat. She turned to Scootaloo. “Scoots, you wouldn’t…” Scootaloo sniffed, wiping her eyes. She didn’t respond.

“Sweetie Belle…?” Rarity pleaded. Sweetie Belle shook her head.

Celestia looked at the group with apathetic eyes. “Applebloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo will delete the account, after they announce to the school what they’ve done,” she stated.

The older siblings looked at their family with distress evident in their eyes, desperately searching for something that wasn’t there.

Scootaloo felt horrible. She didn’t want to confess, to bear the weight of Rainbow Dash’s disapproval, but it was too late now. She turned to the Principals, antipathy laced in her voice. “Just give us the microphone.”

Celestia raised her eyebrows. She reached for the microphone that was used to make announcements over the school’s loudspeaker. She pressed the button and started to speak, voice cutting through the thick silence. “Hello, students. I apologize for the interruption, but I have a very important announcement to make.” Celestia held the microphone out to the trio. Applebloom took it with shaking hands.

“H-hey, y’all. This is Applebloom. Me, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo have something to confess,” she started, trying to hold back tears.

Sweetie Belle took the mic. “We’re Anon-a-miss. We were jealous of Sunset Shimmer, so we blamed it on her. If you don’t believe us, check your phones now,” she said with a nod to Scootaloo, who held her phone in her hands.

Ding

Ding

Ding

Applejack, Rarity, and Rainbow Dash’s phones simultaneously announced another post from Anon-a-miss. Mortified, the three pulled out their devices.

This is Applebloom, Scootaloo, and Sweetie Belle. We’re Anon-a-miss.

It was Scootaloo’s turn to talk. “We didn’t mean for it to go this far, but so many people starting sending us secrets and we panicked,” her voice shook as she tried to ignore the betrayed look of Rainbow Dash.

The three perpetrators gathered around the microphone together. “We’re sorry,” they said together.

Luna took the device from them. “These three will be punished accordingly, as well as anyone who sent something to the Anon-a-miss profile. We have a list of the Mystable accounts that contacted Anon-a-miss. If you come clean without us having to find you and make you, your punishment may be less severe. That is all.” The Vice Principal ended the announcement.

The room lapsed into a thick silence. Celestia waited a for a few minutes, letting the information sink in, before speaking again. “These three will be suspended for the rest of this school year, and will receive afterschool detention for the entirety of their sophomore and junior years. In addition, they will not be allowed to attend any extra-curricular activities for the remainder of their highschool career. This includes any groups they were already a part of, as well as school dances.” Celestia stated firmly.

Applebloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo did not protest. They had already been informed of their punishment, and saw no use in arguing. No more art, no more choir, no more sports.

Applebloom sniffled. “... Do y’all hate us?” She asked with a tremor in her voice.

Applejack only sighed.

“... Ah just don’t think Ah can talk to y’all right now.” She said, her voice betraying the turbulent emotions that bubbled in her stomach. Rarity and Rainbow Dash kept their eyes on the ground.

After a few silent moments, Dash unexpectedly whipped her head upwards, turning to her friends with wide eyes. “Guys,” she said with a horrible sinking feeling in her stomach.

“We fucked up.”

***

Trixie dashed down the stairs, skidding into the living room where her mother was reading. “Mom! Mom, Sunset’s in trouble we need to go help her get your keys, now now now!”

Supernova, startled, looked up from her book at her frantic daughter, who was scrambling to grab her mother’s car keys from the coffee table. “Woah, Trixie, calm down.” She stood from her seat. “What’s going on?”

Trixie’s tears were all the prompting Supernova needed to jump into action.

Supernova snagged her keys from Trixie and bolted out the door alongside her daughter. The car ride was tense and silent for a few moments, only broken by Trixie giving directions. Finally, as the buildings became more dilapidated and potholes littered the road, Supernova spoke. “What’s going on, Trixie?” Her voice was calm, but firm.

Trixie stared out the window at the swiftly passing scenery. “Sunset tried to kill herself again.” Supernova’s eyes widened and a short gasp made its way past her lips.

“A-agian?”

Trixie nodded, fresh tears flowing down her face. “She was having a bad day today and went home from school early. Sonata went to check on her later and drop off some homework. She found her…” Trixie swallowed past the lump in her throat and resumed the explanation, her mother’s grim expression adding to the urgent air around them. “Sonata just called Trixie. Adagio and Aria are on their way as well.”

Supernova took in both the situation and the surrounding area as she silently continued driving. Sunset had quickly become like a second daughter to her. Pieces began clicking into place. How Sunset wore a scarf for a short while, even indoors. They way she only wore long sleeves. Trixie inviting her over so often. Sunset’s thin, malnourished form. Supernova drew her mouth into a thin line.

The quiet was once again broken by Trixie.

“She, uh… She doesn’t have any official paperwork,” the teen started awkwardly. Her mother’s brow furrowed in confusion. “And Trixie is sure you’ve already guessed by now, but she lives in one of these old factories,” she gestured to the decrepit structures outside her window.

“Why-”

“ITrixie will explain everything later, but for now Sunset just needs help.”

Supernova pursed her lips. “...Okay. I’ll see what I can do.”

Doctor Supernova Lulamoon walked through the busy hospital halls with a dark feeling in her chest. The patient’s files- or rather, lack thereof- were clutched tightly in her hands.

“Sunset Shimmer. Age: 18. Parents: None. Records: None. Birth certificate, hospital reports, place of residence: None, none, none.” The doctor was stumped. The only record of Sunset Shimmer’s existence was her school paperwork, which was revealed upon further investigation to be forged.

The Lulamoon matriarch sighed as she continued traversing the hospital’s fourth floor. “She needed immediate medical attention, of course I wasn’t going to turn her down, but… What do I do with a patient that doesn’t appear to exist?” Trixie had warned her of Sunset’s lack of paperwork, but had yet to explain why. “She’s been here for two days, now. I can only hide her lack of paperwork for so long.”

Supernova arrived at the room that contained the subject of her bewilderment. She gently pushed open the door. Sunlight filtered through the dreary room, beams of light casting their gaze onto the hospital bed. A vase of flowers, which was brought by Trixie and Sunset’s three friends, rested on the bedside table. Supernova was shocked to find the girl awake.

Sunset’s dull eyes were unseeing, uselessly open as if to only grant the illusion of wakefulness. Dark bags hung underneath them; her skin was pale and her hair frazzled. She appeared to only be a pathetic, woeful facsimile of herself.

“Hey there, Sunset,” Supernova softly tried to get the girl’s attention. Sunset’s eyes briefly flickered to the doorway, where the doctor still stood. She did not give any other indication of acknowledgement.

Doctor Lulamoon walked into the room and proceeded to check Sunset’s vitals, the routine serving to calm her nerves a little. “You gave us quite the scare, Sunset,” Supernova tried to garner some sort of reaction from the otherwise dead girl in front of her. “Those pills left you knocked out for two days, even after we pumped your stomach. Sonata found you just in time,” Sunset remained motionless and silent.

Supernova sat on the edge of the bed. She tentatively reached a hand out, resting it on on of Sunset’s own. The teen finally reacted, looking up at the woman with an intense misery radiating from her eyes. Supernova’s breath caught at the cutting emotion she saw. Without a second more of hesitation, Supernova wrapped the frail, despondent girl in a motherly hug.

Sunset broke.

The tears came in heartwrenching sobs, and the girl burrowed deeper into the soothing embrace of Trixie’s mother. Supernova rubbed small circles onto Sunset’s back, whispering soft words of encouragement and comfort to the bawling teen. Eventually, Sunset’s cries started to die down, her heart almost a little lighter as the pent up sadness she had held onto for so long was let out.

The two sat in their embrace for a few moments longer before Sunset pulled away. She sniffled. “Thank you, Mrs. Lulamoon,” Sunset started but was cut off by another hug from the mother.

“Please, Sunset, you know you can just call me Supernova.”

Sunset gave the woman a shaky smile. “Thank you, Supernova.”

***

Rainbow Dash tapped her foot impatiently as she leaned up against the school’s front wall. She and the rest of the Rainbooms, sans Pinkie Pie, were clustered around the front of the school, their decided meeting place.

Pinkie Pie, the last to arrive, grimaced as her eyes fell upon the miserable faces in front of her. Fluttershy had retreated even further behind her curtain of hair. Rarity’s normally pristine and perfect makeup was smudged and ran down her face in dark streaks. Applejack had her hat pulled low over her face, and Rainbow Dash was methodically hitting the back of her head against the brick behind her.

The group remained in a suffocating silence until Fluttershy broke the tension with her timid voice. “What’s wrong with us? We didn’t even hear her out…” She spoke with a tremble and a sob. Nobody answered her.

Pinkie Pie’s hair completed it’s transformation from bright and upbeat to dull and melancholy, as if her very essence had leaked out of her. Silence fell around the girls once again. They quietly stood in contemplation for another few minutes before Applejack lifted her hat up slightly, revealing watery, bloodshot eyes.

“Girls, Ah don’t think we can fix this,” she choked out. Morose faces looked back at her. “Ah don’t think she’d be too keen on listening to us.”

“Ah know Ah wouldn’t,” she added in her head.

Rarity nodded miserably. “She’s not even answering our texts,” she reminded everyone.

Rainbow slammed a fist against building’s side, letting out a mournful scream. She sunk to the ground, wrapping her arms around her legs and burying her face in her knees. She started to cry. “Some element of loyalty I am,” Rainbow thought remorsefully. “I was the first to turn on her.”

The rest of the girls had similar thoughts running through their heads.

“I should have seen that she wasn’t lying…”

“Where was my kindness when she needed it most…”

“Generosity my ass, I didn’t even give her a chance…”

“I never thought the day would come when I took away someone’s happiness…”

The girls stood around the school’s front doors, pensively reflecting on their behaviour. The group had never felt something as awful as this crushing guilt and horrible regret. A hopeless anguish had clenched their hearts with a painful intensity.

It was Pinkie Pie who spoke up, breaking everyone out of their rumination. “I think we should go now. Applejack’s right, we can’t… we can’t try and fix this yet, and she’s not even here today.” Her demeanor was grey and sad. Everyone nodded their agreement. The Rainbooms all looked at each other in tortured contemplation before leaving. Nobody spoke a word as they went their separate ways.

***

Rainbow Dash made her way to the soccer field, but she wasn’t in the mood for sports. Instead, she went to the bleachers. She intended on stewing in her thoughts, maybe hitting her head against the cold metal, when she a sad, acoustic sound filled her ears. Rounding the corner and looking up, she saw Flash Sentry sitting alone at the top of the bleachers.

Flash said nothing as Rainbow Dash took a seat next to him. He said nothing as he continued plucking out melancholy chords on his guitar. He said nothing when Rainbow put her head in her hands and started to scream.

As Rainbow’s mournful shrieks echoed across the empty athletic fields, Flash shifted, putting down his instrument. He lay a hand on the chromatic-haired girls hunched frame while she released her feelings into the brisk air.

When Rainbow Dash’s voice gave in to scratchy, feeble whimpers, Flash removed his hand, replacing it with a one-armed hug.

“We fucked up, dude. We fucked up so bad,” the crying girl wailed into her friend’s shoulder.

Flash felt tears begin to form. He remained silent, guilt crushing his heart. Flash Sentry knew. He knew Sunset was innocent, and yet he still gave in to other’s opinions of her instead of hearing her out.

“I may not have been as bad as the Rainbooms, but I still didn’t listen,” his conscience reminded him. “Poor Sunset...”

***

Rarity sat in her car, eyes blankly staring at the dashboard. She had long since given up trying to wipe the mascara stains from her face; what was the point in attempting to look presentable? Sweetie Belle was cleaning out her locker, and as her sister’s designated chauffeur, Rarity had to wait. The fashionista let out a shaky breath as fresh tears tracked down her cheeks. “I wonder if this is how she felt...”

A knock on the passenger side window broke Rarity from her musings. Sweetie Belle shuffled her feet nervously as her sister unlocked the car door. She climbed into the car silently. Rarity did not give her any acknowledgement as she started the car and pulled out of the school’s parking lot.

The ride home was tense. Rarity’s tears never stopped as she drove, and Sweetie Belle continued her nervous fidgeting.

Finally, the quiet became too much for Sweetie, and she broke the strained silence between the two. “Uh, sis? C-can we-”

Rarity cut her sister off with a deadly venom in her voice. “Don’t fucking talk to me, Sweetie Belle.”

The younger girl recoiled in shock. Rarity was strictly prim and proper; she never cursed. Sweetie sunk lower in her seat. “Oh gods, we really fucked up...”

***

Applejack sat up in the largest apple tree she could find, rolling farmland and trees spread out before her. The farm itself look small from her vantage point in the leafy branches.

“My own flesh and blood...”

Applejack almost couldn’t believe her own sister was capable of such a horrendous act. It was Applebloom! Sweet, adventurous, gentle Applebloom- how could she do something so heinous? It felt like a bad dream. The freckled girl gazed out over the vast orchard. She had no tears left; they had all been shed earlier that day.

“Uh, h-heya, sis,” a meek voice called out to the brooding girl. “Um, Granny told me to come get you for dinner,” Applebloom continued when she did not receive a response. Applejack did not acknowledge the younger girl.

“Sis?” Applebloom tried again. “Granny said-”

Applebloom’s voice failed her as her sister’s violent scowl pierced her soul. Applejack remained silent. If looks could kill, Applebloom would be dead a thousand times over.

The anxious girl fidgeted with her hands and ducked her head shamefully. “Ah’ll just leave you be, then...” She hastily retreated back through the trees, leaving Applejack alone once more.

“My own fucking family...”

***

Pinkie Pie stirred her milkshake idly. The baker was uncharacteristically not hungry. Fluttershy mirrored her actions from across their booth at Sugarcube Corner. Neither spoke, content with stewing in their dark thoughts.

Pinkie huffed a sigh. “There has to be a way we can fix this. There has to,” she grasped desperately at the idea, but it felt hollow even to her. “There has to...”

Fluttershy broke the silence with a small slurp of her milkshake. It was tasteless on her tongue, but it gave her something to do other than sit and think. The shy girl spoke up, interrupting Pinkie’s fruitless planning. “Maybe we could talk to Trixie? She could pass along message to Sunset,” Fluttershy offered.

Pinkie Pie brightened marginally. “Yeah, maybe she can convince her to talk to us!” Hope sparked in Pinkie’s chest, a small flicker in the darkness. It was a long shot, but they had to try. “I’ll text the girls, we can talk to Trixie at lunch next week.”

***

Sunset stared out the open hospital window from her bed, enjoying the light breeze that tickled her face and rustled her hair. The small television set in the corner of the room was mumbling out the day’s news, offering quiet background noise against Sunset’s thoughts. After a day of being there, Sunset quickly realized that there wasn’t much to do. Thinking was, unfortunately, the only thing Sunset could do to combat the boredom.

“Anon-a-miss...” Sunset shifted in her bed. “All this time…” Over three months of agony, of endless amounts of self-inflicted cuts, of wallowing in horrible anguish, and all because of what?

Sunset clenched her fists as anger bubbled in her stomach. “Because they were jealous. They ruined my life because they were jealous.” Trixie had told her the news about Anon-a-miss when she came to visit the day prior. Needless to say, Sunset was shocked. The more she stewed over the situation, the angrier she got as the emotions she was holding back flooded her mind.

Sunset’s thoughts were laced with poison. “I mean, this is so fucking rich! It was their fucking sisters all along,” she let out a humourless chuckle at the thought. “Their own family, a family they said I was a part of… And they all blamed me.”

The red-head’s rumination was interrupted by a soft knock at the door. Sunset looked up as the door opened, revealing Trixie, Adagio, Aria, and Sonata, each carrying something in their arms.

“‘Sup, nerd! We’re watching a movie!” Aria playfully punched Sunset on the arm, dumping an armful of blankets onto the fiery haired girl’s lap. Trixie grinned and held up a familiar looking DVD at Aria’s declaration. Sunset found herself smiling as she read the title: Lilo and Stitch.

Agadio rolled her eyes at her friend’s antics as she set down the mugs of tea she was holding on Sunset’s bedside table. She turned to Sunset was a small smile. “Hey pony girl. We have tea and cookies-” at those words, Sonata happily waved around the plastic bag filled with chocolate chip treats that she was holding.

She interjected cheerfully, “-and we’re gonna make you feel better!”

Sunset’s small smile grew as her friends got to work. Trixie and Adagio struggled to figure out how the hospital’s T.V. worked, Aria had started making a blanket nest on the floor next to Sunset’s bed, and Sonata was enthusiastically digging into the cookies.

Finally, Adagio pressed the right button on the television and the title screen for Sunset’s favourite movie popped up. “Woo!” Trixie cheered and slapped Adagio on the back, the former siren jokingly giving a small bow. Adagio pressed the ‘play’ button and moved to take the plastic chair next to Sunset’s bed, behind the blanket nest that Aria and Sonata were sharing.

Sunset scooched over on her bed, making room for another person to lie comfortably. “Hey Trix, come sit on the bed. There’s plenty of room,” Sunset smiled and motioned for the magician to join her. Ever oblivious, the red-head did not notice the scandalous look that Adagio shot Trixie, nor did she notice the slight blush on her friend’s cheeks as she took a seat.

Thigh to thigh, shoulder to shoulder, Sunset could not deny the intimacy of the position she had initiated. “Um, whoops…” Sunset thought with a flush in her cheeks as she glued her eyes to the screen in the corner of the room and tried to ignore the soft touch of her friend next to her.

Eventually, she started to relax, and felt Trixie do the same.

Sunset looked around at her friends with a warm smile on her face. Adagio, with her motherly tendencies and endless teasing; Aria’s sarcastic comments and old scars; Sonata and her bubbly personality, combined with her cooking skills; Trixie…

Trixie’s smile. Her love of astronomy and baking. The way her eyes brightened when she talked about magic, the light giggle that Sunset would give the world to hear, her fierce loyalty to Sunset and the Dazzlings. Sunset could not deny the flutter of butterflies that graced her stomach whenever she thought about the blue-haired girl.

Each of Sunset’s friends truly cared for her in a way she had never felt before, certainly not with the Rainbooms. Her heart swelled with love and happiness as she continued watching her favourite movie, accompanied by the people that made her feel whole again.

“Well, Twilight,” Sunset thought as Trixie gently leaned her head against her shoulder.

“I think I found my family.”

Author's Note

And here it is, the long-awaited reveal! An extra long chapter tonight, I hope it was worth the wait!

Sorry I was a little late updating today! I recently got some minor surgery done (nothing serious, don't worry) and I'm still recovering, so I spent most of the day sleeping

Anyways, let me know what you think of the big reveal! Hope you all have a wonderful evening!

~Bitty Bug