A Shimmering Memory

Sunset Shimmer woke up after another nightmare. It was the same thing, every time.

○ NIGHTMARE ○

‘Girls, you have to believe me. I didn't post your secrets,’ Sunset said desperately

‘No matter what you tell us, we don’t have to listen,’ Applejack said coldly

‘You betrayed us by posting that online,’ Rainbow Dash said angrily

‘Go away. Secret stealer,’ Pinkie said

• SCENE CHANGE •

‘So, you finally understand they were never your friends,’ the demon said

‘Shut up! Shut up! Shut up,’ Sunset said covering her ears

‘We framed you and you can't do anything about it,’ the CMC taunted

‘There is one thing you can do,’ the demon taunted

‘Never.’

‘Either that, or run back to mommy with your tail between your legs and beg her for forgiveness,’ the demon continued

○ END NIGHTMARE ○

“Fuck. It's just a nightmare,” she said to herself “Well; the second half anyways.”

Looking at the calendar, she realized Christmas was approaching. For two months she had been tortured by the other students over something she never did.

Anon-a-Miss.

The online troublemaker that started her personal hell. She was assaulted by the students with the teachers not helping. They apparently thought she went back to her old ways of manipulating others and thought Sunset deserved what she got.

“Why won't anyone believe me? After all I've done to redeem myself,” she asked
through tears “Sorry Twilight. I don't want to be a burden to anyone anymore.”

Looking at the diary in front of her, she read the last message she wrote to her friend, Twilight before heading to sleep.

I believe I found who is responsible for this Anon-a-Miss. Unfortunately, they covered their tracks too well and would never admit to it. This will be the last time we talk. Goodbye Twilight

Sunset, PLEASE do not do what I hope you aren't planning. You could come back to Equestria and start over. I love you so much
Your mother, Celestia

The next morning she withdrew a box from the bottom of her closet and removed the contents.

“Thank you for giving this to me Discord. I told you how much I feared for my safety and made you a promise not to use it for any other purpose. Unfortunately, this is one promise I have to break. I can't go back home, and I can't stay here. This is my only option as I don't have any paperwork that would allow to transfer schools.”

A simple .32 caliber revolver sat inside along with its bullets. With a sigh, she reluctantly placed it in her backpack and got dressed for her final day at school. Once there, time seemed to drag on. Heading to her locker, were the usual graffiti messages.

‘She-Demon’

‘Anon-a-Miss’

As usual, she just ignored the other students as they intentionally shoved into her. Sunset refused to acknowledge their abuse and carried on without feeling or emotion. In every class, the students decided to pelt her with paper balls and erasers right in front of the teachers.

‘Sunslut Shimmer!’

‘Demon bitch!’

‘What does the pony freak want now?’

‘Do us all a favor and just die already!’

“You don't have to worry about that,” Sunset thought

Just before lunch, she headed into the bathroom and placed a single round in the chamber. After getting a simple salad to eat, she headed over to the table currently occupied by the Rainbooms and sat down.

“Go away, Anon-a-Bitch! We don't want you here,” Rainbow Dash said throwing a french fry at Sunset

“What does Sunslut Shimmer want,” Rarity demanded

Regardless of the comments made or items thrown at her, Sunset ate in silence. After returning from the trash can, she calmly set her backpack on the table and withdrew her pistol.

“Goodbye,” Sunset said calmly

To everyone's horror, she placed the barrel in her mouth and fired. The table behind her ended up getting covered in blood and brain matter as Sunset dropped dead. Students ran screaming while someone went to fetch Principal Celestia. Fluttershy started shaking at the sight while holding back tears. Pinkie’s hair immediately deflated and became dark and straight. Rarity had to hold Applejack’s hat in one hand and her hair back with the other as the latter expelled her lunch into the closest trashcan.

“Call an ambulance,” a student yelled

“An ambulance is for the living, not the deceased,” came a reply

“What. The. Fuck,” was all Dash managed to say

“Oh my god, Sunset. What the hell happened,” Celestia demanded running into the cafeteria

“She, she,” Pinkie managed to stutter before breaking down in tears

“Anon-a-Miss drove her to this end. We could have done something to prevent this,” Luna said trailing behind before pointing a finger at the Rainbooms “You should have prevented this.”

Sweetie Bell, Apple Bloom and Scootaloo looked at each other silently deciding what to do next. Now that Sunset was dead, they could simply delete the account and no one would know. They could also leave it up as a ‘tribute’ to her.

“Everyone, gather your belonging. We must call the authorities. You will all remain outside until they dismiss you,” Celestia ordered

“What about that book? What do we do with it,” Fluttershy asked

“I've already taken the liberty of sending a friend. Ah, Discord. You accomplished what I asked,” Luna asked as he returned

“Of course, Captain. Here's the book you want. Although I wouldn't tell anything to your friend, the Princess, just yet,” Discord answered “I also have a friend working on some paperwork as well. Chrysalis is completing that as we speak.”

“Very well. You made sure no one saw you,” Luna asked

“I wouldn't be who I am, if someone did,” he replied

“Let's get out of here and head to my office. Police are on their way,” Celestia said

The group followed behind and managed to fit everyone in the office. Discord sat on the desk while Luna and Celestia sat down in their chairs. Unbeknownst to anyone else; and seemingly against her will, Scootaloo had put on a pair of rubber gloves and removed the pistol from Sunset’s grasp before walking away.

“Who the hell are you,” Dash asked pointing at Discord

“I was a former commander of Special Forces with my friend Chrysalis. I'm not getting into detail, but we've taken care of events like this before,” Discord answered

“Discord was under my leadership with the Changelings. He was simply known as ‘Chaos’ while I was known as ‘Reaper’,” Luna replied while Discord received a message on his phone

“Changing the topic, every one of you is being detained until further notice,” Celestia replied

“You can’t do that,” Applejack argued

“Considering the five of you were present when she died; yes we can,” Luna countered

The girls heard their phones signal another posting from Anon-a-Miss. Someone decided to post a photo of Sunset’s body with the caption ‘Ding dong the demon’s dead’.

“Girls, what do we do,” Apple Bloom asked quietly as they sat outside

“Leave it up. Make it a memorial page,” Sweetie Bell suggested

“I agree. It could be suspicious if we delete it now,” Scootaloo replied with nervousness in her voice

“Agreed. It stays up,” they decided

“Something to add Scoots,” Bloom asked

“No. Nothing. Why would you think I'm hiding something,” Scootaloo asked quickly and defensively

“Definitely hiding something,” Sweetie said

“Alright, I am. Just not here,” a defeated Scootaloo said

“Let's go. The police are here,” Celestia said

“Who exactly are these five,” a police officer asked as he approached the principal’s office

“Shining Armor, these five were friends with the deceased,” Celestia said

“Why did she do it? Any note or something,” Shining asked

“Something called Anon-a-Miss. An online profile that started sharing secrets about our students. Many believed Sunset Shimmer to be the culprit,” Luna replied

“Her last word to us was ‘goodbye’ before she pulled the trigger,” Applejack said before crying

“We left her when our secrets were revealed. We're shitty friends,” Rainbow Dash said sadly

“In my personal opinion, I agree with you,” Officer Shining Armor said

“What will happen to her now,” Fluttershy whispered

“Fortunately, Miss Shimmer had a guardian looking after her. It is their responsibility to set up funeral arraignments,” Shining said

“What about Anon-a-Miss? What happens with that,” Rarity asked

“Our computer experts tracked her to this school, but that's where it stops. If they do not come forward, we cannot do anything more,” Shining said sadly

Shining had multiple officers take Rainbow Dash and her friends home. The rest of the student body was already questioned and dismissed to go home.

“So, Discord; what are we going to do with Sunset,” Luna asked as they stood outside the school

“I'm going to have a closed-casket funeral for her. It's the least I could do for her,” Discord answered

“So; Chaos has a soft side, after all,” a voice said “Captain, Commander.”

“Sergeant. It's nice to see the Queen has a sense of humor,” Discord countered

“Thank you Chrysalis for your help,” Luna replied hugging her friend

“You're welcome. It's the least I could do. I saw the photo that was uploaded earlier today. Such a shame to see a beautiful young woman do that. I would gladly have became her mother if it meant having a proper family,” Chrysalis said

Due to the nature of what happened, Canterlot High School was closed for the reminder of the week. On Friday, the funeral for Sunset Shimmer was held in the school gym for anyone that wanted to pay their final respects. Surprisingly, the entire student body and teachers showed up, with everyone wearing red and gold in Sunset’s honor.

“Sunset Shimmer had a very rough time. While she may have started manipulating others, she changed with the assistance of Twilight Sparkle. One incident changed all the progress that was made. Farewell Sunset Shimmer. I hope you are at peace,” Celestia said sadly before kissing the casket lid

“The five of us were horrible friends to you in the end. We're so very sorry that it ended like this,” Pinkie Pie said speaking for the others

After that, the rest of the school stayed quiet knowing they played a role in the death of Sunset. Apple Bloom and the others agreed to quit the account, but leave it up as a tribute. Flash Sentry joined Applejack and the others as pallbearers as they carried the casket to the gravesite.

“Goodbye Sunset,” Dash said as she threw the first shovel of dirt in the hole

“I'm sorry I never listened,” AJ said next

“You really deserved more credit then we gave you,” Rarity added

“Thank you for all the help at the shelter,” Fluttershy said

“I'm sorry we fucked up,” Pinkie added throwing more dirt as the girls filled in the grave

The following Monday, Celestia headed to work and saw someone she knew couldn't be there. She rubbed her eyes to see if it wasn't from a lack of sleep.

“That can't be. Sunset died last week,” she said

Following behind the path taken, Celestia was led to a bathroom where Sunset left and headed to the cafeteria. Moments later, she watched the entire scene of Sunset’s death be replayed and was shocked to see it clearly. Celestia willed her body to move and headed to the lockers to begin cleaning the graffiti left on Sunset’s locker. While she cleaned the locker; a single message was written on three particular lockers, in what seemed like blood.

‘Anon-a-Miss’.

Celestia immediately recognized the owners as Sweetie Bell, Apple Bloom and Scootaloo and was shocked at the sight. Another message showed up on dozens of other lockers.

‘Guilty’.

“Each of them shared secrets to those three,” Celestia commented out loud

A new message appeared on the message board, that was not there previously. It just appeared and was written in ink.

‘Yes. Bring them to justice’.

“I will do what I can,” Celestia said

‘Thank you’.

● HUMANE FIVE ●

“We have to tell Twilight what happened,” Applejack said

“I'm afraid of what will when we do tell her,” Fluttershy said quietly

“Let's just get this over with,” Dash said “Rarity would you do the honors of starting? You have the best handwriting out of us.”

‘Twilight, this is Rarity. I am with the others.’

‘What do you TRAITORS want? Let me contact Sunset.’

‘That is what this about. I'm Applejack.’

‘Let. Me. Speak. To. Sunset.’

‘You can't. She's not here. This is Fluttershy now.’

‘FIND HER AND LET HER KNOW I WANT TO TALK TO HER!’

‘Not unless you have a Ouija board. It's Rainbow Dash.’

‘Tell me you aren't kidding!?’

‘No we aren't. It's Pinkie now’

‘I'm coming to see her. Don't try stopping me OR ELSE’

“Yikes. I think she's ticked,” Dash said

“You think? We'll be lucky to make it out of this unscathed,” Applejack said sarcastically

● CMC ●

“Alright, spill,” Bloom asked as the three sat in their clubhouse

“I stole this when no one was looking,” Scootaloo said removing the pistol

"Why did you take it,” Sweetie asked

“I don't know. My body felt like it was acting on its own,” Scoots replied

"For now, this stays between us,” Apple Bloom decided as the others nodded in agreement