Lesson Learned

by Diamond Sword

Rating: teen
Tags: Alternate Universe, My Little Pony Comic, Other, Equestria Girls, Cutie Mark Crusaders, Profanity, Sunset Shimmer, Main 6, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
Length: 12143

After turning their backs on Sunset, the Rainbooms get set straight by six spirits.

The Rainbooms have just thrown out Sunset after accusing her of being Anon-A-Miss.

After all, the evidence pointed to her. No one else could have done it, right?

Wrong.

After Rainbow Dash attempts to harm Sunset Shimmer, The spirits representing the Elements of Harmony intervene and open their eyes. And it's not just about Anon-A-Miss.....

(This story is slightly inspired by Clouded Guardian’s What Have You Done. I highly recommend that you check that story out. It’s pretty dang amazing! :)
https://www.fimfiction.net/story/149998/what-have-you-done

I'd also love to thank KRChrome for helping me out with developing the Spirits of Harmony and the story itself! I suggest that you should follow them for their stories as well!)

Published 2018-06-19 00:50:11 UTC
Last updated 2020-11-21 07:16:48 UTC

A huge mistake

The Rainbooms sat in Rarity’s boutique, all of them downcast about what had just happened. After all this time, Sunset still wanted to stab them in the back.

“Why in the world would Sunset do any of this to us?” Rarity asked, hanging a newly-made dress onto one of the racks.

Pinkie pouted in the corner.Not even the pink party planner could find a good enough ‘bright side’ to this situation.

“I know! After all of the parties, saving the school from those sirens, even the sleepover we threw for her! She still turned out to be a big mean secret stealer!” She responded angrily.

AppleJack just stared into the ceiling as she leaned back in her chair, crossing her arms in front of her chest.

“‘Cause that snake never cared about us…” The orange farmer scoffed in a low voice. “She was jus’ waitin’ for the right moment to strike...an’ she took the chance.”

Rainbow Dash finally spoke after stewing in her own anger.

“How much do you guys wanna bet that skank fooled Twilight into thinking that she’s not Anon-A-Miss?” She growled.

Fluttershy shook her head, causing her long pastel pink hair to sway.

“Princess Twilight’s too smart for that.” She mumbled. Angel stroked his owner’s hair, attempting to comfort her.

Rarity nodded as she began to carefully organize her fabric.

“After all, she figured out that Sunset was the one who caused us to fight.” More nods and mumbles of agreement were shared.

Rainbow scowled at the floor. “But what are we gonna do about her? She’s telling everyone’s secrets as we’re talking! We fell for that bitch’s lies for God knows how long! We can’t let the same happen to the other kids!” She said, pounding her fist on the table.

That earned a glare from Rarity.

“Rainbow Dash, while we all agree with your statement, please treat my furniture with respect.”

Rainbow Dash nodded, looking away. “Sorry, Rare.” She sighed.

“It’s quite alright, darling…” She sat down in one of the chairs, taking off her red framed glasses and folding them. “I guess we do need some time to think about what to do about Sunset…”

Pinkie Pie sat up. “What if we let Twilight know?”

Rarity put her finger on her chin. “That would be the best….She is a princess in her world.”

Applejack nodded. “Maybe she could even get her version of Principal Celestia and Vice-Principal Luna. Then they could teach that snake a lesson that’ll actually stick.”

Fluttershy ran a hand through her hair. “But what if she’s really busy with something? It’s like you said, Rarity, she is a princess.” She responded, staring at her feet.

Rainbow Dash massaged her temples. “Well, we gotta figure out something!” The rainbow haired teenager stood up in anger. “If Twilight can’t teach her a lesson, let’s do it ourselves!”

Pinkie had a feeling that Rainbow Dash had something sinister in mind.

Rarity stood up with her. “Darling, take deep breaths. We don’t want you to get wrinkles or a grey hair…”

Rainbow Dash threw her hands up in the air. “To hell with wrinkles and grey hairs, Rarity! Anon-a-Miss needs to pay!”

Fluttershy hid behind her hair as her friend’s rage grew.

Rarity took the moment to glance at the clock. It was 10:30. “We should all get some sleep….” She frowned.

Applejack nodded. “Come on, girls. Hopefully some sleep can help us figure out what t’ do with Shimmer….” She sighed, opening the door. One by one, the girls left Rarity’s boutique, each saying goodbye to their friend as they individually made their journey home.

Rainbow Dash silently began to think about Sunset. How dare that slut take their friendship for granted? To think that she was just playing them all like puppets…They should’ve blasted her with that friendship laser along with the sirens...The sky blue skinned athlete growled, kicking a pile of snow out of rage. One thing was for sure….

“Sunset’s about to get what’s coming to her….”

A familiar sky blue pegasus was resting on a cloud nearby the Everfree Forest. A small smile was planted on her face as she peacefully snored. That’s when a bright light rudely awakened her from her nap. She scrunched her closed eyes, lazily extending one of her wings over her forehead to provide herself some shade. But for some reason, the light grew brighter. She finally gave in, cracking open one of her dark pink eyes glanced around lazily, catching sight of the cave where the Tree of Harmony occupied.

“Whoa….” Rainbow’s eyes widened at the sight.

Flashes of different colored lights were peeking out of it. The speedster’s brows knitted together as she sat upright. That wasn’t supposed to happen, was it? She flew down, cautiously walking towards the tree, shielding her face from the bright light and squinting. One by one, each element flashed dangerously, like a broken machine of some sort. Rainbow heard soft hoofsteps behind her. She turned to see a familiar yellow pegasus.

“Oh...you saw the lights too?” Fluttershy mumbled, worried about the tree’s strange behavior. A familiar white rabbit was sitting on her back.

Rainbow nodded. “You got any ideas about what’s happening?” She asked, looking at the Tree of Harmony again.

Fluttershy shook her head. “No, I don’t.” She stepped closer to her, peeking out between her wings as it kept flashing. “Do you think Twilight might know?”

Rainbow Dash nodded once more. “She might know what to do. If she doesn’t, we can go to Princess Celestia and Luna for help. You should get Angel home before you get to the castle. I’ll go on ahead.”

Rainbow Dash launched herself into the air with a single flap of her wings. She began to make her way over to Twilight’s castle.

She needed to let Twilight know.….Whatever was going on with the Tree of Harmony, something had to fix it...

Twilight had just finished writing to Sunset Shimmer. The young princess had just learned that the five girls she had trusted to take care of her had abandoned her with poor evidence. She could see tear stains on the page that Sunset wrote.

“TWILIGHT!”

The lavender alicorn jumped as Rainbow Dash burst through the door to her room, panting.

“Rainbow? What’s wrong?” She asked, urgently standing up.

“The tree! Something’s wrong with the tree!” The blue pegasus shouted.

Twilight frowned. “What do you mean?”

“It’s going crazy! The Elements of Harmony are glowing brightly! Almost like whenever we used them!” Rainbow Dash explained. “But, at the same time, they seem.....broken.”

Oh dear. Twilight’s eyes widened.

“Do you know how to fix it?” Rainbow Dash asked.

Twilight shook her head. “No. But I think I know what’s causing it.” She showed Rainbow Dash What Sunset wrote to her. As Rainbow read the pages, she grew angry at their human counterparts.

“I can’t believe they did that to her!” Her rage melted as she was reminded of a certain event that took place at a wedding. “Should we go over there?” She asked.

Twilight sighed. “I’m not sure....I just hope that nothing bad happens. I’ll let Sunset know about the tree. She’ll probably find a way to stop this ‘Anon-A-Miss’.

Author's Note

I hope you guys enjoyed this! Chapter Two should be coming out soon!

Let me know if you guys find any problems! I'll try my best to fix 'em!

What have you done?

Sorry for publishing this so late! I hope you enjoy what you've been waiting so long for! Sorry if it seems unevenly paced! Happy Holidays!

The Crusaders were sitting in Applebloom’s room. They were reading through another secret that involved Spitfire when they got another private message.

‘Greetings.’ Hmm….for some reason, their name didn’t seem to appear on the screen.

Applebloom began to type out her response.

‘Hey there! You got a juicy secret to tell?’

‘No. If anything, I’d like to ask you about something. You’ve got a couple secrets of your own, don’t you?’ They responded.

Applebloom looked at the other two freshman.

“Should we tell ‘em ‘no’? We don’t wanna get caught…” The bow wearing mastermind mused.

“What if we try to change the subject?” Scootaloo asked.

Sweetie Belle bit her lip. “But what do we say to them?”

Applebloom began to think about it. They had to be careful. Subtle. For all they knew, it could be Sunset trying to -

‘You’re Applebloom, right? Applejack’s little sister?’

The girls nearly had a heart attack. How did this person know?

‘If you are wondering who I am, well I’m someone who is very disappointed in you. Know this: Your actions will have dire consequences. It is not too late for you to make things right.’

Applebloom began to type out their response.

‘And why should I believe you? You’re literally some stranger telling me what to do. Mind your business.’

Sweetie Belle gripped her friend’s shoulder. “Applebloom! Don’t do this!”

“Yeah! They’ll probably tell the entire school about us!” Scootaloo cried out.

‘Believe me, Scootaloo. I want to. But I’m also concerned for your safety. Again, I suggest that you stop this while you’re ahead.’

For a while, no one said anything.

‘Your sisters have already abandoned Sunset by blaming her for what you did. So why are you still going?’

Beads of sweat began to dip down Applebloom’s head.

‘I’m not telling you. Sunset doesn’t deserve them. Our sisters deserve to spend time with their family. Their real family.’

At first, all the girls got was a laughing emoji.

‘And yet it is their so-called real family who is hurting them, humiliating them. I guess the ends justify the means. Well, if it makes you feel better let’s hope no other magical beings like the Sirens show up. You could call Twilight--oh, wait! Sunset called her. So what will you do when she’s gone?’

‘I hope it’s worth it when your sisters...Oh, I said too much.’

The Crusaders were stumped. Sweetie Belle looked at the floor in shame while Scootaloo and Applebloom rubbed their necks.

‘And by the way, you’re doing exactly the same thing they’re doing.’

Applebloom tilted her head.

‘Who?’

‘The Sirens. Past Sunset did the same thing, too. Ever since you’ve started this blog, you’ve destroyed friendships, caused chaos, and many other horrible things. You’re not too different from them.’

‘You are just as bad as they were. Maybe even worse coz u hide behind a computer.’

Applebloom began nervously twisting her shirt.

‘But dats OK. Ur 2 scared, I get it. I’d b scared 2. I mean it’s not like anybody besides me will figure it out.’

‘Nobody can hide 4eva.’

Applebloom’s hands clenched slightly.

‘You know what? You don’t scare me. I have the entire school behind me. I can find your secret and then no one will side with you. Heck, I can make it look like you did it.’

Ten minutes passed. So far, nothing happened.

Scootaloo looked at her friends. “Do you think we scared them off?”

Then, they finally got a response.

Good Luck.

That’s when the computer shut off.

“Huh?!”Applebloom leapt out of her chair and began to fiddle with the computer’s plug. “AJ just got this thing fixed!”

Sweetie Belle joined her. “Did the plug fall out? You always told us that the socket’s a bit big for it…”

Scootaloo was about to join them, but then she noticed something strange…..She walked over to Applebloom’s window and noticed a bright yellow bird next to it. It was frozen in midair. As Scootaloo looked around, she found more worrying things. Granny Smith had apparently just come home, but the elderly apple family member was frozen in a position where she was preparing to close the door to their pickup truck.

“G-girls?”

Time was frozen, with only them being able to move. This was freaking them out. Applebloom ran over to her bedroom door, attempting to twist the knob and open it, but it wouldn’t budge.

Sweetie Belle began to panic. “Is this the punishment they were talking about?!” The pale girl hugged her knees close to her chest.

“Don’t panic! We just need to get out!”

“Then what!? Who can help us!?”

Applebloom bit her lip and looked around the room. That’s when she noticed a small crack in the floor. The computer’s screen turned white.

“Do you think there was nothing wrong with it after all?” Scootaloo began to step closer.

The screen began to glow brightly. Sweetie Belle and Applebloom frantically reached out for their friend.

“SCOOTS, NO!”

The light spread out through the room. The light dispersed, revealing Applebloom’s room in broken chunks. The girls sat on chunks of the floor as they floated in space.

‘You think you are untouchable, Anon-A-Miss? You seek to break the bonds of the Elements of Harmony. Well, watch what happens and see the consequences!’

The girls could’ve sworn that they heard voices along with the response. The chunks of Applebloom’s room began to break into smaller pieces. Applebloom jumped onto her bed and held out her hand to the other crusaders, helping them on.

‘You are playing a dangerous game, children. But there is salvation. Confess your sins and accept your punishment or WE will come for you!’

Applebloom suddenly felt herself sinking. She looked down at her bed and saw that her blankets had turned into liquid. Goodness, the girls were sinking really quickly. Applebloom tried to grasp her bedframe, but to her horror, her fingers slipped through them. The girls tried to swim up to prevent themselves from drowning, but with no luck. They all closed their eyes tightly as they braced themselves for the inevitable.

That’s when the crusaders woke up in their individual beds, all three of them covered in sweat. It was all a dream? But why did it feel so real? That’s when their alarm clocks went off, signaling that they needed to get ready for school. But they weren’t so eager to do so….

Sunset silently walked into Canterlot High. The poor girl had to come in earlier than everyone else so that she wouldn’t have to deal with scowls and pettiness for the entire day. She got to her locker so that she could put away her things. Ah, wonderful. The other students were once again, generous to decorate her locker with vulgar graffiti.

‘Bitch’, ‘Slut’, ‘She-Demon’.

Shaking her head, the amber skinned girl began to put in her combination. She still couldn’t believe that her ‘friends’ threw her away like that. They didn’t even listen to her…. She took out her phone and looked through the photos. Those were happier times. Tears began to well up in her eyes. Sunset roughly wiped them away and began to walk to class.

Vice-Principal Luna was standing infront of Ms.Harshwhinny’s classroom. “Ah. Hello, Sunset. Let me unlock the door for you.”

Sunset smiled softly. “Thanks, Vice-Principal Luna.”

The long haired woman smiled back gently. “You are quite welcome. I apologize for what Anon-a-Miss has done…”

Sunset rubbed the back of her neck. “I’ll try to get through it…” She walked into the classroom and took her usual seat. She laid her head down on her desk, closing her eyes as began to drift back into her thoughts.

“Excuse me?”

Sunset jolted upwards, looking around the classroom to see who just spoke to her. Her eyes landed on a tall girl with royal blue hair and powder blue skin who was sitting in the seat next to her.

“Oh, I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean to scare you!”

Sunset sighed with relief and smiled softly at her. This girl was the first student to not show her any hostility. “It’s fi….fine…” Sunset began to notice the strange features that this girl had.

She had a pastel pink aura around her body, her dress was made of leaves and yellow flower petals, with vines holding it together. She had the pony ears just like when Sunset and the others ponyed-up, as well as a set of wings. There were pink butterflies in her long braided hair, and she seemed to be slightly transparent, like a ghost of some kind…

The girl in question tilted her head. “Is there something wrong, Sunset?”

And she somehow knew her name….

“Um..yeah,actually...Who are you?” She asked.

“Oh! I am Artemis Dolittle! I am the spirit that represents the Element of Kindness! It’s nice to finally meet you in person!”

Sunset was surprised by this. She would’ve refuted if Artemis was not so ghost-like.

‘The spirit that represents the Element of Kindness’? How interesting…’

Sunset slowly nodded. “So, Artemis…If you don’t mind me asking...are you dead?”

“Well...not entirely. Our souls just power the Elements and the Tree of Harmony.” Artemis shrugged. “It’s really hard to explain.”

Alright, but Sunset Shimmer had more pressing questions.

“Why are you here then? If you’re one of the spirits that represent the Elements of Harmony, why are you on this side of the mirror? Why not Equestria?” Sunset asked.

“Well, let’s just say we sensed a disturbance in the Elements in this dimension and came to investigate,” Artemis explained. “And I have seen less than kind things happening here and this unkindness seems directed to you.”

“Yeah...you can blame Anon-A-Miss for that,” Sunset Shimmer grimaced.

“So this ‘Anon-A-Miss’ is the cause of all your troubles?” Artemis asked.

“Yeah, and where it all started to go wrong for me.”

“Do tell.”

“You sure you want to listen? It’s a long story.”

“Oh, I do love long stories, but I suppose this is not a very good one.”

“I’ll give you the cliff notes version then.”

Sunset mentally prepared herself. “So...a few days ago, Someone named ‘Anon-A-Miss’ showed up on MyStable and started spewing out everyone’s secrets. For a while, my….’friends’ were on my side, but a day later, they’re suddenly convinced that I’m Anon-A-Miss because I took the photos at one of our slumber parties and it happened to be on Anon-A-Miss’ page.I tried to convince them otherwise, but they just wouldn’t listen…”

Artemis hugged Sunset tightly. To Sunset’s surprise, the spirit was actually able to have physical contact with her. “Oh, you poor thing!” Ok, this hug was starting to get a little too tight.

“Artemis...can’t...breathe…” She responded, gasping for air.

Artemis immediately let go. “Sorry! They just treated you so terribly!”

“Yeah….And they’re not the only ones who believe that I’m Anon-A-Miss…”

Artemis’ eyebrows furrowed. “You’re kidding….”

Sunset sadly smiled. “I wish I was…”

“Hun, so do I!”

Sunset jumped, startled by the voice behind her. She turned to see another spirit.

This spirit was female like Artemis, but shorter than her and Sunset. She had curly, gradient hair that started as purple, and shifted to orange at the edges. Rectangular framed glasses rested on her nose, her mismatched orange and purple eyes peering through the lenses. A set of pony ears poked out of her hair, matching her coral colored skin. This spirit also wore a lavender dress shirt that was rolled up at the sleeves, a white skirt, and sapphire blue heels . A light blue tie was around her neck, with matching diamond shaped earrings and a necklace.

“Sorry, hun. Didn’t mean to scare you.”

Sunset took some deep breaths. “Don’t worry about it….What’s your name?”

The spirit smiled gently. “Persephone. Spirit of Generosity at your service.” She answered, adjusting her glasses.

Ah. That’s explain the multiple amount of diamonds on her outfit.

Artemis chimed in. “What are you going to do about the other students, though?”

Sunset looked down at the floor. “Probably try to ignore them…”

“Which’ll be easier said than done….” Persephone snarked.

“Pretty much.” Sunset responded.

“Well, we’ll try our best in helping you figure out who’s behind this.” Persephone put a hand on Sunset’s shoulder, smiling. Artemis smiled as well.

“Stay strong, Sunset.”

Sunset smiled softly back. “Thank you. I’ll try…”

“Miss Shimmer!”

Sunset sat upright, looking around her. Artemis and Persephone had disappeared. She wiped away a trail of drool off her cheek. Was she asleep?

She looked to the front of the classroom to see Ms.Harshwhinny, tapping her foot with her arms crossed.

“While I appreciate that you have arrived early to my classroom, it would be nice if you did not arrive early just so you could sleep.”

Sunset blushed faintly. “Yes Ms.Harshwhinny..”

Ms.Harshwhinny turned and began to prepare for her class.

Sunset sat quietly in her seat. She felt a buzz from her bag, recognizing that Twilight had responded to her message. She grabbed the book and opened it.

“Sunset, are you ok?! What happened?!”

Sunset took out one of her pens and began to write back to her worried pen pal.

“Not entirely, but I guess I’m feeling a bit better about this shitshow. I have some supporters in my corner.”

Twilight responded almost instantly.

“Really?! That’s wonderful! Who are they?!”

“Well….I think I’ve got a clue about why the Tree of Harmony is going haywire.” Sunset wrote back.

Applejack watched as her sister ran into the school building. The blonde haired cowgirl walked through the schoolyard. She was greeted with the taunting oinks of her fellow classmates. Her jaw tightened as she tried to ignore it.

“AJ!”

The farmgirl looked to her right, seeing a familiar pink party planner waving, accompanied by Rainbow Dash and Rarity.. Applejack walked over to them, frowning when she noticed the absence of one of their friends. “Where’s Fluttershy?”

Rarity held up her phone. “The poor darling missed the bus. So she’ll be a bit late.”

Rainbow Dash crossed her arms as she saw groups of former friends arguing. “It’s like the Dazzlings all over again. What did we do to her to deserve this?” She growled with clenched teeth.

Applejack sighed, putting a hand on the hothead’s shoulder. “I know, Dash. But if we can report ‘er to Celestia, maybe she’ll get expelled. She ain’t gonna bother us anymore after that.”

Rarity and Pinkie Pie nodded.

Rainbow Dash’s shoulders bunched up. “But who says that she won’t go to some other school and pull the same bullshit and trick some other naive suckers?! That bitch needs to be taught a lesson! If friendship lasers won’t beat it into that thick head of hers, then I will!”

All of a sudden a stray dog had run up to RD, barking, growling, and biting at her ankles.

“HEY! OW! QUIT IT!” Rainbow Dash tried to shoo the dog away, but it was relentless, now biting harder.

Applejack reached into her backpack and pulled out one of the dog treats that she saved in case Winona would run out of the house. She shook it in front of the dog’s nose, whistling and gaining it’s attention. She tossed it in the opposite direction, causing the dog the chase after it.

“Thanks, AJ...” Dash rubbed at her ankles, trying to ease the pain.

“No problem. Now what in tarnation was that about?” Applejack’s eyebrows furrowed as she watched the dog run off into the distance.

“Perhaps it was just picking a fight…” Rarity wondered out loud.

Pinkie Pie scratched her head curiously. “But where did that little doggy even come from?”

Applejack shook her head. “I’ve got no idea. But one thing’s for sure, We need to get ya to the nurse for them dog bites, Dash.” She supported her friend’s body as she began to lead her into the school building.

As Rainbow Dash was lead to Nurse Redheart’s office, Applejack spotted Sunset in Ms.Harshwhinny’s class. The farm girl scowled, quickly turning her head away and lowered the brim of her hat to hide her face to avoid being noticed by her.

Meanwhile, Applebloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo were in the library, huddling together in the farthest corner and nervously looking through more secrets that had been sent from the students.

“M-maybe we should delete the account..” Sweetie Belle whispered, still shaken up from the dream that she and her comrades had.

“But what about Sunset, girls?” Apple Bloom asked.

Scootaloo folded her arms across her chest. “Our sisters won’t take her back after this! We already finished the job! Let’s just bury the hatchet while we can!”

Sweetie Belle nodded. “And besides, what we’re doing is pretty mean…”

Apple Bloom gripped her phone quietly. “Still-”

“Look, Apple Bloom, I know we’re doing this for our sisters and all, but we’ve crossed some lines.” Scootaloo was about to grab Apple Bloom’s phone, but the red haired farm girl pulled it away from her.

“Hold on, y’all! Why don’t we just take a break from the secrets! We can just watch and see if anythin’ looks out of the ordinary! If nothin’ happens, then we can post a couple more! J-just to make sure that it was just a dream!” She hastily suggested.

Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle both thought it over. It seemed shakey, they had some doubts about this idea...but…

Scootaloo huffed. “Fine. We’ll wait it out. But if we get abducted by some magical force or something, you better not throw us under the bus!”

The first bell rang, signaling that all of the students needed to head to class. The girls exchanged looks with each other and ran quickly to the stairs, since their first class was on the second floor.

Deep down, Apple Bloom hoped that her plan would work.

The lunchroom was filled with students. Most of them had gotten their lunches, while a small group was still in line. The Rainbooms were sitting in their usual spot. And they were still pondering what to do about Anon-A-Miss.

“Anyone think that it’s weird that she hasn’t posted anything yet?” Pinkie chimed in.

Fluttershy nodded softly. “I know it should be a good thing, but it does seem a little suspicious…”

Rarity scoffed. “Darlings, this is Sunset Shimmer we’re talking about.”

Applejack swallowed the last bite of her apple. “If anyone knows how to do ‘suspicious’ right, it’s her.”

Rainbow Dash wasn’t paying attention. She had been silently watching Dumbbell and his goons tease poor little Twist about her dreaded secret.

The rest of the Rainbooms noticed.

“Oh, poor dear…” Rarity sighed.

Dumbbell had turned to leave, but he had unfortunately tripped and fell face first into an innocent bystander’s lunch.

But thanks to Rainbow Dash’s position, she had seen a red magical aura surround itself around Dumbbell’s foot. It dispersed as students crowded around him, laughing and pulling out their phones.

“D-did you girls see that?!” The blue skinned athlete asked, wide eyed from disbelief.

“Yeah! Serves him right for picking on Twist like that!” Pinkie cried, crossing her arms and tilting her nose in the air.

“He should watch where he’s goin’ next time.” Applejack shook her head.

Rainbow Dash glanced back at the crowd of students. “No! It wasn’t an accident!”

Rarity frowned. “Rainbow Dash, whatever do you mean?”

“I mean someone tripped him! I saw it! Something red was around his ankle!” RD cried. “I swear!”

But before any of the other girls could question her any further, the bell rang, signalling that lunch was over. Students began to clean up their messes and head to their lockers.

Applejack put a hand on Rainbow’s shoulder. “Don’t worry Dash, maybe it’s nothin’. Come on, sugarcubes.”

After they cleaned up, they began to make their journey to their classrooms. But before they could reach their lockers, Rainbow Dash spotted fire-like hair across the hall. Her eyebrows furrowed with rage as she watched the former unicorn get pushed by vengeful students. That stupid pitiful look on her face made her wanna just puke. Her hands curled into tight fists, causing them to become a paler shade of blue. Applejack said to annoy her, but she just couldn’t. That bitch needed to pay.

“Rainbow Dash!” Reached out towards her friend as she ran off through the crowd of students. The Rainbooms followed her.

Sunset could barely react before Rainbow Dash grabbed her and pinned her against the lockers. “Dash!” She cried. Multiple other students crowded around the two girls, snippets of excited whispers, laughter, and worried murmurs were heard.

“Outta the way!” Applejack cried as she pushed into the front with the other girls in tow. “Rainbow Dash! What in tarnation are you doin’?!”

Rainbow Dash ignored her friend, instead pulling Sunset close to her face. “Alright, Anon-A-Miss. What’s the deal what happened to all of the stupid secrets you were posting, huh? Why’d you stop? I thought you were enjoying it?” Rainbow Dash growled. Students yelled out agreements,with some of them showing the screens of their phones angrily.

Sunset tried to push her former ‘friend’ away, but Dash wasn’t budging any time soon. “Rainbow, I told you girls, I’m not the one doing this! Now please, let me go!”

Boos and jeers were heard from the other students.

“Fuck her up, RD!”

“Yeah, teach her a lesson!”

Rainbow Dash didn’t need to be told twice. “Wrong answer!” She cried.

“YOU WILL NOT HARM HER!” Someone’s voice boomed.

Rainbow Dash was frozen. Literally, frozen. She had her fist raised to hit Sunset, but now she could not move. Not only that, but her friends were frozen too. The only thing that were not frozen were their lips.

Time had stopped all around them, and Sunset was stunned.

A magenta colored spirit had manifested beside the two girls. She looked disgusted at Rainbow Dash, the supposed Element of Loyalty.

“You will be judged. But you are not the only ones.”

The girls felt the ground start to crack from beneath their feet. They couldn’t do anything when the ground collapsed, causing them to fall into a deep hole.

The bell rung, and everything returned to normal, except Sunset and The Rainbooms were missing. For the other students, it felt as if they had just blinked, and then they had just vanished into thin air.

Cranky Doodle Donkey stepped out into the halls, with his hand on his hips. “What is goin’ on out here?!” He demanded.

That was a good question. What was going on here?

Meanwhile, in the library, Cheerilee was feeling the walls for the light switch, for they had mysteriously went out. She sighed with relief when she felt it, and turned the lights back on. The students who occupied the library were confused.

On the top floor, it was empty, except for shelves that held books, and for the three backpacks phones that belonged to the Cutie Mark Crusaders, who had disappeared along with the Rainbooms.

High horse

Author's Note

Happy New Years, everyone! I hope everyone’s had a good journey through 2019! I hope you enjoy this chapter, and sorry for the very long wait! My laptop is dealing with some problems, since Windows 7 is shutting down in 2020! (Yet for some reason it’s still acting weird.) But I luckily have Google Docs and Google Drive on my phone, so the new chapters will come, albeit slower.
I hope you like this chapter as much as the last two, though!

High horse

“Rainbow! Come on, Sugarcube! Wake up!”

Rainbow Dash opened her eyes, feeling AppleJack shake her awake.

“A-AJ?” She sat up slowly, putting a hand to her aching head. That’s when it hit her. She stood up, looking around. “W-where are we?! What is this place?!”

They were both standing in some black void. Nothing for as far as their eyes could see.

“I ain’t too sure myself…” AppleJack’s eyebrows furrowed as she felt the ground. There was no visible floor, but there was the cold feeling of one. A stern look grew on her face as she looked back at her friend. “I reckon we got in another ‘magic’ situation. I don’t know if we can get ourselves outta this with our powers without the other girls, but-“

“Then how do we get out of here?!” Rainbow Dash interrupted. “We didn’t even do anything wrong and we’re getting punished for Sunset’s shit!” That’s when she noticed a smaller and younger looking kid standing far behind her friend. “Oh thank god! Hey, kid! Do you know where we are?” She began to walk towards them, but AppleJack had a bad feeling. Where did this person come from?

The child didn’t answer though. They just stood there with their back facing Dash, muttering something under their breath. Frustrated, Rainbow Dash and attempted to tap their shoulder. “Excuse, me! I asked you a question!” But the athlete’s finger went through the child’s body as it turned into black liquid. Strange tentacle-Like appendages wrapped around Rainbow Dash’s throat as the ‘child’ tackled her to the ground and screeched.

“TRAITOR! TRAITOR!” It’s pupiless eyes stared into Dash’s soul as she struggled. The ‘child’ threw her against the wall. As it began to close in on her, Rainbow Dash threw a punch, but it went through it’s head, giving them no damage whatsoever.

“Dash! Hold on!” AppleJack ran forward, feeling the magic within her surge through her body, but to her horror“W-wha..?”

“Liiiiiar…..” The cowgirl turned around to see the shadow-like appearance of a woman walking towards her. She looked the same as the ‘child’ that Rainbow Dash was still busy struggling against. The ‘woman’s’ eyes had pupils, but they were so small and thin that AppleJack didn’t see them at first.

Rainbow Dash closed her eyes tightly, trying use her magic, but the same thing happened to her. She tried to keep dodging, punching, and kicking as the ‘child’ kept trying to attack her with it’s tentacles, screeching over and over again in a crazed manner.

The ‘woman’, who had started out calmer and spoke out in a hissing manner, grabbed AppleJack, pinning her harshly against the wall. “Liiiiiiaaaarrrr!” She opened her mouth wide, giving AppleJack the wonderful opportunity to see rows and rows of pearly white sharp teeth as she got closer to the farm girl’s face.

All of a sudden, a golden glowing arrow struck the ‘woman’s’ head, causing her to hiss in pain and dissolve into nothingness. Rainbow Dash witnessed a sharp disk cut into the ‘child’s arm, causing them the same fate.

The girls looked around to see who their saviors were, finally spotting two glowing men who stepped out of the darkness.

One of the men was armed with a golden bow and arrow, and had a slight stoic expression on his face. A light brown cloak covered his shoulders, an orange apple kept it together as the button and the cloak’s hood laid against his back. He wore a tangerine colored dress shirt with a dark green tunic, and a belt with another orange apple as the belt buckle. His pants were an apple red and his laced up boots were pure white. His hair was a canary yellow and kept in place as a ponytail, while his skin and pony ears were a soft cream color. His piercing orange eyes were behind the crystal clear lenses of his glasses. An orange aura highlighted his body.

The other male who accompanied him looked to be the same age as him. He wore a sky blue dress shirt that had its’ sleeves rolled up to his elbows. Over it was a magenta colored button-up vest. The six buttons on the vest were red lightning bolts. Another red lightning bolt took place as a clip, holding a rainbow colored scarf together loosely around his neck. Finally, his pants were pitch black and were accompanied by dark red boots, along with a pair of goggles with magenta colored lenses that sat upon messy moderate azure hair. His skin, pony ears, and wings were a light bluish gray, and his mauve eyes sparkled like stars. A similar aura in a deep red hue highlighted his body as well.

Applejack’s silence, once caused by the pure fear she felt, was now caused by the pure shock by the appearances of these two men. Dash’s jaw dropped, her shock causing her not to move. The man with her likeness walked over to her, holding out his hand to help her off the floor.

“You okay there, lady?”

His voice implied that he was most likely a young adult. Rainbow Dash was too stunned for words. He held out his hand, and the teenager hesitantly grabbed it. Once she was standing on her own two feet again, she silently nodded.

The other male who resembled Applejack helped her up as well. Applejack’s eyebrows furrowed. “Who are y’all?” She asked him.

He gripped her shoulders firmly, his eyebrows furrowing. “We’ll tell you soon. We need to get you two out of here first.”

Almost immediately, a large door formed in the area that the two men appeared in. The man who helped Rainbow Dash picked up the athletic girl and placed her on his shoulder, causing her to react out of surprise.The man who accompanied Applejack gently guided her to the door. The door opened by itself, almost like magic. The girls shielded their eyes as they were brought inside, a bright light nearly blinding them.

“Alright, coast’s clear, girls.” Both men say. Both tomboys were carefully put down on the floor. As they uncovered their eyes, they were amazed by the new area they were in. A large hallway, with walls glittering from the colorful crystal themed chandeliers above. Upon looking down, the girls noticed the rather expensive looking carpet that stretched out through said hallway.

After silence of awe, Applejack finally mustered the words to speak up. “Some digs y’all got here…” She muttered, lifting her cowboy hat to get a better view.

“Why thank you…” A voice called out. Applejack and Rainbow Dash both turned to the direction the voice was coming from, which came from the top of a large flight of stairs. The voice belonged to Persephone, who was accompanied by Rarity, the fashonista muttering to herself in awe about the materials that that the spirit used.

Rarity gasped as she noticed her two friends. “Applejack! Rainbow Dash! You’re alright!” She ran towards them, enveloping them both in a bone crushing hug that could nearly rival Pinkie Pie’s.

Speaking of….

As soon as Rarity released them, and AJ got air into her lungs, she looked into her friend’s sapphire blue eyes.

“Where’s Pinkie and Shy?” She asked.

A clear look of concern formed on Rarity’s face. “I thought that they were with you? I was by myself, nearly eaten by those horrifying beasts before she rescued me!” She explained, taking a moment to gesture towards Persephone, who had slowly and carefully walked down the stairs.

Rainbow Dash and Applejack exchanged horrified looks. “You don’t think they-”

“We assure you Ms.Dash, Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie are safe with Artemis and Smile Time.” Persephone spoke up as she stood beside her fellow spirits.

Rarity frowned. “My apologies, miss….”

“Persephone.”

“Yes. Ms.Persephone. But, who are ‘Artemis’ and ‘Smile Time’?” She asked.

“Us, of course!”

A large puff of smoke and sparkles suddenly appeared in the middle of the group, causing Rarity to squeal and jump into Applejack’s arms.

Once the smoke cleared, they saw Artemis and another spirit standing before them. This spirit appeared to be male, but also looked to be the Crusaders’ age. He had pure white skin and matching black eyes and hair, looking akin to an old cartoon. His clothes were a different story, however. His tuxedo jacket and pants were a bright blue, his dress shirt a pastel yellow, and his bow tie and vest a fuschia color. His tap shoes were a pale pink, with an opera mask in the same color that covered half his face. A tiny pale yellow top hat sat on his curly black hair in between two white pony ears, a blue balloon shaped gem keeping its ribbons in place.

The two spirits stepped aside to reveal Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie, safe and sound. The two of them ran over to their friends, the party planner giving them a bone crushing hug. “Thank goodness you’re okay!” They cried.

“We thought we were done for! Our powers wouldn’t work!” Fluttershy lamented.

AppleJack frowned as she took a moment to catch her breath as Pinkie released her. “So it wasn’t just us….”

Rainbow Dash turned to the spirits, a suspicious look forming on her face. “Yeah! What’s the deal with this place? Who are you guys?”

Persephone looked up at Rainbow Dash through her glasses. “Well, what do you think we are?”

Each one of them had different answers.

“More ponies from Equestria?” Fluttershy asked.

“GHOSTS?!” Pinkie cries, latching onto Applejack.

“Our replacements?” Rainbow Dash answered.

The spirit with Rainbow Dash’s likeness snickered. “Replacements, huh? What makes ya say that?” He asked.

Rainbow Dash gestured to them. “Well, come on! You guys almost look exactly like us! You’ve even got wings and ears to boot!” She cried.

Applejack nodded. “And we couldn’t use our powers, but y’all can!”

Artemis held up a hand. “Well, we assure you. We’re not here to replace you. You have heard of the Elements of Harmony, yes?” She asked.

The Rainbooms nodded, before Pinkie herself chimed in. “Why?”

The younger spirit proudly bowed. “We represent your elements! I am Smile Time!”

The spirit akin to Applejack shifted his glasses. “True Shot.”

“Name’s Atlas Staros!” The multicolored spirit said.

“You may refer to me as Persephone.” Persephone informed them.

“Artemis Dolittle. But just ‘Artemis’ is fine.” Artemis said.

Rarity stepped forward. “While it is nice to meet you all, I’d just like to know, why did you bring us here? Where are we?”

Smile Time crosses his arms. “We brought you here for the sake of justice, of course! We need to help determine whether or not you’re still worthy of being the elements of harmony in this world!”

Rarity gasped, offended just like her friends. “Excuse me? What for? I can eagerly tell you that we have done nothing wrong to warrant this!” She cried.

Atlas held up his hands, waiting for the girls to quiet down. “Alright, Alright. Let us explain.” He gestured the Rainbooms to follow him and the other spirits as they walked down a hallway. ”We felt a...How can I make this sound simpler for you? A spiritual imbalance.”

“You mean Anon-a-miss?”Pinkie pied up.

“Yes indeed!” Smile Time responded. “We knew someone was causing it, but we couldn’t pin down why, yet. However, after a little chat with ‘Anon-a-miss’, we finally found out.”

“So you know it’s Sunset, right?!” Rainbow questioned. Unfortunately, they’d be getting an answer that none of them would be happy with.

“Oh, heavens no. Sunset Shimmer isn’t the cause of this.” Artemis answered.

All five members of the Rainbooms collectively let their jaws go slack.

No one except Rainbow Dash has anything to say.

“You’ve gotta be shitting us!” The athlete cried, ignoring Rarity crying out her name from her language. “How can you guys fall for her ‘good girl’ shtick?!”

“That girl’s been playin’ us like fools from the start!” Applejack chimed in. “She hasn’t changed a bit!”

True Shot raised a brow as he peered at Applejack through his glasses. “Well it seems that you girls haven’t changed all that much either.”

“Us?! What did we do?!” Pinkie cried.

“Oh, You’ve done many things.” Persephone simply answered. “But we can tell that you’re not aware of the things you’ve done…”

“W-we haven’t done anything bad, though…” Fluttershy quietly protested, but before anyone else could agree with her, they finally entered a large room made of sparkling crystal. Six large chairs stood before them, sitting on a higher floor behind a table. The teenagers watched as the Spirits of Harmony sat in five out of six of the chairs, the sixth and middle chair noticeably larger than the rest.

It looked like some kind of courtroom….

Artemis spoke first. “We brought you girls here so that you can learn to be responsible for your actions.” She said sternly. “If you could please cooperate, this would go much easier than it needs to be!” The taller spirit said.

Rainbow Dash has hit her breaking point.“WE’RE TELLING YOU GUYS, WE DIDN’T DO ANYTHING!” She shouted. “WHY ARE YOU STILL TAKING SHIMMER’S SIDE?!”

Rarity stepped forward. “She’s been causing nothing but trouble!”

“She’s nothin’ but a snake!” Applejack chimed in.

“A big, fat, mean, secret stealer!” Pinkie cried out.

“A bully!” Fluttershy yelled loud enough to be heard.

The Rainbooms’ voice overlapped with each other’s, continuing their insults about the ex equestrian. That is until a final voice made its’ presence known.

“THAT’S ENOUGH FROM ALL OF YOU!”

Magenta colored magic flooded in from every nook and cranny of the room, floating into the large middle chair that sat between the spirits. It formed into a large ball, swelling outwards until it seemed to pop like a bubble, the force of the pop making a wind that caused only the Rainbooms to fall over from the force of it.

Once the wind cleared and the magic faded, each one of the five girls looked up to see who they were now dealing with.

A tall woman, two heads taller than Artemis, stood in front of the tall chair. While the other spirits appeared to be in their adolescence or early adulthood, this spirit appeared to be elder, perhaps her late fifties or early sixties. Her hair was a short light blue bob, with white streaks visible in certain places. Her skin was a sky blue, while her eyes, which had formed into a withering glare directed at the Rainbooms, were multicolored. Magenta, red, blue, pink, orange, and purple had equal amounts of space in them, forming into a color wheel. Her outfit was rather strange to say the least. She wore a navy blue cape over her shoulders held together by a magenta gem that was the shape of a six pointed star, slightly torn at the bottom, with a glowing light on the inside of it, and flowing by an unseen wind. She wore black gloves, with two bracelets carved out of gems, with a sun engraved on one bracelet, while a moon was engraved on the other. She wore eggplant high waisted pants, pastel purple turtleneck sweater, and black thigh high boots. One of her hands rested on top of a long staff. It’s long handle was built with pastel blue gems, while the top of it held another magenta gem that formed into a six pointed star.

For a while, none of the Rainbooms said anything, some of them out of fear, while the others out of shock. But eventually, AppleJack finally got the courage to speak.

“Wh-who in tarnation are you?” She hesitantly asked.

The spirit’s glare never gave way. “I am the spirit representing the element of Magic. However, you shall refer to me as Luminous Spark.” She said, her voice chillingly quiet.

The girls finally stood up, all of them, excluding Rainbow and AJ, looking fearfully up at Luminous Spark.

“Wait…” Rainbow Dash paused, after hearing Luminous Spark’s voice and finding it strangely familiar. “Are….you the one who brought us here?” She asked.

Luminous Spark nodded. “A rather smart observation from you, Rainbow Dash.” She still stood in front of her chair, glaring down at the five girls. “I did bring you and Sunset Shimmer here.”

“Where’s Sunset? What’d you do with her?” Pinkie finally asked, still fearful.

“Why do you care, Pinkie Pie? I could’ve sworn that you were claiming that she was up to no good again. And your friend Rainbow Dash might attempt to harm her again….” Luminous Spark bitterly pointed out. “I figured you’d be glad that she was gone.” She rose a brow ever so slightly.

Pinkie has no idea how to respond. But Rainbow did.

“Well, Yeah! She spread our secrets and made us into laughingstocks!” She cried. Pinkie and Fluttershy simultaneously squealed from Rainbow’s brash response.

“Rainbow Dash, please!” Rarity harshly whispered. “Think before you say anything!”

However, Luminous Spark’s cold anger remained the same. “So you claim…..” She said. “You keep standing by your word that Sunset Shimmer is the true villain of your little story, yet you never bothered to dig deeper.”

Applejack frowned. “What’re y’all tryin’ to say?” She asked.

Luminous Spark’s cold glare eventually melted into a stern gaze. “Your lack of proof is rather embarrassing. And your efforts have only succeeded in playing into Anon-a-miss’ hands. We brought you here to open your eyes that you’ve willingly closed when you believed that your ‘case was closed’.”

The Rainbooms suddenly felt chairs of their own place themselves underneath them. The chairs were smaller, akin to normal chairs, but still made of gem.

“Sunset Shimmer is safe and sound, I can assure you that.” Luminous Spark said. “Artemis Dolittle. Persephone. Would you kindly retrieve her for the trial?” She asked. Her fellow female spirits stood, teleporting to wherever Sunset was in bright flashes of light.

Luminous Spark sat down in her chair, her eyes gleaming white for a second as she looked down at the girls.

“Let us begin.”

Apologies and Forgiveness (Honesty and Laughter)

Sunset opened her eyes slowly, squinting as she saw nothing but bright white color. She looked around, standing up as she frowned. “Where am I?”

“Sunset?” A familiar voice called out.

The former equestrian turned to the direction of the voice, seeing a familiar lavender skinned girl.

“Twilight! You’re here!” Sunset cried, running towards the girl and embracing her tightly.

“Of course I am. Are you okay?” The princess asked.

Sunset closed her eyes tightly. Her hug grew tighter. “No. Everyone still thinks I’m Anon-a-miss. Rainbow Dash tried to hurt me. No one wants to believe me...I want to show them I changed, but they think that I’m still the bad guy….”

“Why should you bother?”

The question from the pony princess caused Sunset’s eyes to pop open. Her eyebrows furrowed once more, as she stayed in her tight embrace. “....What?”

“Why should you bother?” Twilight asked once more. “It’s like you said, they don’t want to believe you. Why keep fighting anymore? They’ll just take advantage of you…” She explained.

Sunset finally released Twilight from her embrace, stepping back slowly, the worried expression on her face. “Twilight, What do you mean?”

Twilight’s expression grew somewhat irritated. “Sunset, think about it. These humans….” Venom dropped from Twilight’s voice as she stepped closer to her. “They’re fools. Hypocrites. Liars. They talk about forgiveness, but look at the situation you’re in now. Everyone thinks that you’re the one at the reigns. That you’re still the monster you used to be. Rainbow Dash and the others think that they’re heroes. The stars in their fairy tales. If they want a villain so badly, why don’t you give them what they want?” She asked.

Sunset’s aquamarine eyes widened, as she walked backwards at a faster pace. “Twilight, that’s not….I can’t….” she struggled to find the words, as the supposed princess of friendship encouraged her to be a bully again. “I don’t want to.” She finally said.

‘Twilight’ became more frustrated, walking up to Sunset and grabbing her shoulders. “Sunset. You can’t play nice forever. Especially when they’re not going to. Look at Fluttershy. Why do you think so many people take advantage of her? She’s weak. Quiet. It’s why she was so easy to bully when you were in control.”

Sunset felt her heart stop as ‘Twilight’ continued to throw her friend under the bus.

“Admit it, being in control, having people be afraid of you, it felt good, didn’t it?” Twilight’s frustrated expression turned into a smile. “No one had the guts to go against you. Everyone knew what you were capable of. But once everyone knew that you tossed the crown away….” her smile fell. “They struck. The girls kept convincing you to play by the rules. That the past was behind you. But they abandoned you. One hell of a wake up call if you ask me. This is how they thank you after helping take down the Sirens? That’s the life of a hero. You get thrown to the wolves the second you’re not useful.”

“That’s not what you said.” Sunset pointed out, prying ‘Twilight’s’ hands off her shoulders. The fire haired girl’s eyes narrowed. “You told me that they’d help me. Teach me about friendship. Why are you telling me otherwise?”

‘Twilight’ still had her intense expression. “Yes, I did. They taught you so much about friendship. The lies, the betrayal, the greed, the cruelty, the mockery.” She walked closer, while Sunset continued to back away. “And they tried to mask it as something wonderful. Manipulation.”

If Sunset had needed more clues about how the ‘Twilight Sparkle’ standing before her wasn’t the real one, Sunset would’ve realized it now. She needed to find a way out of here.

“Just be yourself, Sunset…” ‘Twilight’s’ voice grew gentle, along with her expression. “Isn’t that what you want to do?”

“Yeah…..” Sunset answered. But soon after, she glared at the imitation of her friend. “But I know that’s not the way to do it. The ‘me’ you’re thinking of is someone else. And I don’t wanna be that person anymore.” Sunset turned to find a way out, but she felt her hand get grabbed by something warm.

Looking over her shoulder, she saw that the imitation of the lavender princess had grabbed her. But there was a massive difference. For one thing, her skin was an off-white color, her eyes had turned bright red, and her hair had burst into flames that nearly resembled solar flares.

“Stop fooling yourself, Sunset Shimmer!” She roughly began to pull Sunset closer to her. “They don’t care about you! They only see you for who you used to be! Who you truly are deep down! A monster!” As ‘Twilight’ began to pull her closer, Sunset could feel the intense heat radiating off of her, causing beads of sweat to form on her own face.

Sunset desperately tried to pull away, only to be more horrified as she saw that the dark magenta tendril that ‘Twilight’ had grown was engulfing her arm. Sunset pulled harder and harder, as the fake princess kept ranting on and on. She tried to drown her out. It wasn’t true...it wasn’t. She was sick and tired of being called a monster. All of her hard work being undone by some faker. She wanted everything to just stop. Sunset shut her eyes as she felt the heat grow hotter.

She just wanted her to shut up….

Just shut up….

Just

“SHUT UP!”

Sunset screamed as loud as she could. She felt the fake’s grip release, and heard the sound of glass shattering. She opened her eyes and felt her heart drop in horror. Red flames danced around her, only leaving the small clearing that she stood in. But other than that, the imitation Twilight Sparkle was no more. She had been scattered across the white room, broken like an old porcelain doll. The parts that Sunset could recognize as being the copy’s head no longer held flame, or anything resembling hair. The broken pieces where her eyes were held, were frozen wide out of shock, along with a stray piece that held her mouth left ajar.

“Don’t you see what you’re capable of?” Sunset heard a voice, or multiple? The loudest voice echoed around the void, but weirdly enough, other voices seemed to whisper around it, repeating the words it said.

“All that power you had when you wore the crown, you still have it. You know that, don’t you? And you’ve squandered it for a weaker power….”
Sunset covered her ears, desperately trying to drown out the overbearing voice in her head. She tried to hold back to tears welling up in her eyes.

“You can’t run away from your past Sunset, it’s a part of you! IT ALWAYS WILL BE! Listen to me! SunSET! SUNSET!”

“Sunset Shimmer! Please wake up!”

Sunset sat upright, breathing heavily and blinking away tears. She looked around to see Artemis and Persephone standing on both sides of her, both with concerned expressions.

“It’s alright, Sunset, you’re here.” Persephone said, the shorter spirit putting a hand on her shoulder.

Sunset looked around. They weren’t in a void, but they were in a cyan colored room. But there were various things that she noticed felt familiar. She saw a large bookshelf, a large window with a sitting space behind it, a few scrolls containing spells on the floor, and she happened to be sitting on a bed which, when she moved her legs, had a large sun symbol on it.

“Is this...my old room?” Sunset asked.

“When you were in Princess Celestia’s school? Yes.” Persephone said. “I tried my best to construct a memory that comforted you. Is this okay?”

Sunset stroked the sheets of the bed she sat on, Despite it being made of magic, she could feel the softness of them, as though she was truly there.

“Yeah...It’s fine.” Sunset agreed. “But...what am I doing here?” She asked. “As in...here. Wherever this is?”

Artemis chimed in. “We brought you here for the trial! For your friends’ trial!”

Sunset’s eyes widened. “Trial? Like...like a law trial? Defense and Prosecution? Juries? Judges? That sort of thing?”

Persephone nodded. “In a way, yes. They’ve gone against what their elements represent, that’s why they are here. We’re deciding whether or not they should keep their powers.”

Sunset frowned. “They could lose their pony powers? Forever?”

Artemis Doolittle sighed. “There’s a chance, yes. We might give those powers to another group in this world if they don’t own up to their mistakes or change.”

Persephone adjusted her glasses. “You also seem to care an awful lot about these girls. But didn’t they hurt you during these times?” She asked.

Sunset ran her hands through her hair. “It’s…..complicated. I’m not sure how to explain it yet.”

Persephone and Artemis’ eyes briefly flashed through the colors of the rainbow, before going back to their original colors.

“Um, are you guys okay?” Sunset asked, a bit shocked from the moment.

Artemis shook her head. “Don’t worry about us. We need to bring you to the trial. Your ‘friends’ and the other spirits are waiting.”

The taller spirit opened the bedroom door, revealing a light so bright, Sunset had to shield her eyes a bit.

“Everything will be fine. We need you for the full story to piece everything together.” Persephone adjusted her tie. “We’ll be convincing them that you aren’t the culprit, you’ll be providing part of the story…”

“And they will be attempting to defend themselves, of course...” Persephone muttered.

“It’s all to show them that they’re wrong, and to show them who the true culprit is.” Artemis said. “Go on through the door, we’ll be right behind you.”

Sunset nodded, slowly walking towards the door, stopping when she was an inch away. Being this close to the light caused her to squint hard, hesitant to continue, but feeling the close presence of Artemis and Persephone caused her to slowly step forward. Once she walked in, she heard the door shut behind her, and the light grew brighter to the point where she had to completely shut her eyes and hid them behind her elbow. But just as quickly as the light grew brighter, it had dispersed.

“There you are!”

Sunset gasped as she opened her eyes, recognizing the voice of her former athletic friend. The red and yellow haired girl’s eyes landed on the enraged face of the other, along with the more bitter faces of the other girls. Rainbow Dash had gotten up from her chair and began to march towards her. Artemis and Persephone each put a hand on Sunset’s shoulders.

“To think that we could actually trus-” Rainbow Dash to say, but was cut off as she felt something wrap around her foot and cause her to trip and fall forward, her chin hitting the crystal floor. The other Rainbooms cried out her name in shock, running over to her.

“The hell?” Rainbow Dash looked back and saw a crystal vine wrapped around her leg.

Sunset’s and the Rainbooms looked up to see that Luminous Spark had pointed her staff at Rainbow Dash, the eldest spirits’ eyes and the gem that sat atop her staff glowing a bright white.

Luminous Spark gently lowered her staff, gently striking the ground with the bottom end of it. The crystal vine unwrapped itself from the hothead’s leg, retracting until it became crystal flooring once more.

Luminous Spark’s eyes stopped glowing, her multicolored pupils becoming visible once more. “Return to your seats.” She simply commanded, a withering glare sitting upon her face.

The Rainbooms did as they were told, slowly making their way back to the chairs. Rainbow Dash couldn’t help but glance angrily at Sunset.

Another chair, made out of the same crystal material as everything else, yet the same size and fashion as the Rainbooms’ chairs, had taken place behind Sunset Shimmer. It sat between the large area of space that separated the spirits of Harmony and the Rainbooms. Sunset hesitantly sat down.

“There shall be no physical violence during this trial. That is not how we intend to solve this dilemma.” Luminous Spark started as she carefully sat down in her chair.

“You’ve failed to represent your elements…” She continued, as Artemis and Persephone sat in their respective chairs.

“You have broken a promise a certain friend of yours asked you to keep, and in the midst of antagonizing another, you refuse to acknowledge your own faults and misdeeds.” Luminous Spark finished.

“Wait, what?!” Pinkie cried out. “When did we do any of that stuff?”

Rarity stood from her chair. “I don’t remember any broken promises!”

“Yeah! If anyone’s broken a promise here, it’s Shimmer!” Rainbow Dash pointed an accusing finger at the amber skinned girl, glaring at her.

Sunset pinched the bridge of her nose. “I keep telling you guys, it’s not me!”

“We ain’t fallin’ for your tricks again, Sunset!” Applejack stood as well. “No one is! I dunno how you fooled these guys,” She paused to gesture at the spirits of Harmony, “But everybody at school’s got ya figured out!”

True Shot folded his arms. “If anyone seems to know about lies, it’s definitely you and your friends, Ms.Applejack.” He said.

“Pardon me?!” Applejack’s face turned a slight shade of red. “I’ve never lied to anyone! We’re tellin’ y’all, she’s the one who’s lyin’!”

True shot’s eyes narrowed through his glasses, leaning forward and resting his chin on the back of his hand. “You’re awfully defensive when you’re being accused of lying. Yet you’re perfectly fine with throwing the word at Ms.Shimmer. If I were in her shoes, I know I wouldn’t exactly be happy either.”

Applejack choked on her words momentarily, her face becoming a deeper shade of red close to her elder brother’s complexion.

“Let us just get this show on the road!” Smile Time called out, the younger looking spirit raising his hand. A large chandelier formed out of the crystal from the ceiling, a white light glowing from it.

True Shot summoned his bow and a singular arrow, pulling back the string until a rainbow colored light sparked to life from the tip of the arrow. He quickly aimed up towards the chandelier and released it, the arrow striking the light source and causing it to rapidly change through colors of the rainbow.

Pinkie Pie could be heard making sounds of awe as she stared up at the chandelier.

“From all this talk about Honesty, perhaps we should get that out of the way first….” Atlas Staros suggested.

Sure enough, the chandelier settled for the color that matched the element, illuminating the room.

“Now, we are all aware of the despair Ms.Shimmer has caused you previously.” True Shot started sternly. “But she claims to be a better person now. Especially under the teachings of Princess Twilight herself.”

“Yeah, claims…” Rainbow muttered. That earned her a glare from Luminous Spark, causing the athlete’s body to tense.

“Ms.Shimmer,” True Shot called out, causing the fire haired girl to perk up.

“When expressing your concerns about your past, what did your friends claim?” He asked in a more calm tone.

Sunset gripped her arm. “They told me that I had them. And they forgave me. That was back when the school still didn’t trust me. When I only had them.” She explained.

“Is this true?” True Shot turned to look at the Rainbooms.

Rarity had a faint shade of pink on her cheeks. “Y-yes, that is true…” She said in a quiet tone, remembering what she had told the other girl. “But...but that was before!” She added hastily.

True Shot tilted his head. “Before Anon-A-Miss?”

“Yeah!” Pinkie chimed in. “She was probably trying to get closer to us to get our secrets! And it worked!” She stuck her tongue out at Sunset.

Sunset groaned, both from Pinkie’s childish tone and her and the others’ increasing stubbornness.

“But did you truly forgive her?”

The Rainbooms fell silent. They found themselves staring at the floor, trying to find the right words.

Sunset’s eyes widened, an unreadable expression crossing her face as she stared at the other girls.

"Sunset did apologize, didn't she? Both verbally and metaphorically. There is a saying that 'one way to apologize is to change.' And that is what she did. She followed the path Princess Twilight showed her and you girls were supposed to lead her through." True Shot stated, folding his arms behind his back. "You were never honest with her. You never told her if you forgave her or not."

Surprisingly, Fluttershy was the only one to speak up.

“W-we did forgive her….” She said. As if Fluttershy could sound less confident than she usually did…

Smile Time stood from his chair. “Did you really?” The smaller, younger spirit had lost his theatrical tone. “I will take over from here, True Shot.”

True Shot gave a firm nod to the fellow spirit, once again firing an arrow at the chandelier. It shifted through colors again before illuminating the room with a pastel blue.

True Shot took his seat.

“You all know the definition of ‘forgiveness’, yes?” Smile Time asked.

The Rainbooms nodded, this time Applejack spoke. “Why are you asking this?”

Smile Time cleared his throat. “Usually, forgiveness would involve moving past the bad parts of previous events. And making good memories with that person.”

“But we did that!” Pinkie cried out.

“Then how do you explain this?” Smile Time lifted his top hat off of his head, then placed it on the ground. The opening of the top hat began to glow, until a projection of Applejack appeared.

“ Last thing she needs is another CHS event almost ruined by some power-crazed lunatic.” The projection paused, realizing what she’d said before turning to a projection of Sunset Shimmer. “Er, no offense.” The projection of Sunset Shimmer let out a sigh before saying a resigned “None Taken.”.

The projection flickered before changing to outside of the school area, focusing on Rainbow Dash as she kicked a soccer ball around.

“It's not like we haven't tangled with dark magic before and totally whooped its sorry butt!” Once again, the projection paused, before she looked over at the projection of Sunset Shimmer. “Uh, no offense.” The projection of Sunset Shimmer sighed again. “None taken. Again.” She said in an annoyed tone.

The projections ended, flickering out along with the glow from Smile Time’s hat. He picked it up, dusted it off and placed it back on his head. He looked at the girls with a risen eyebrow.

The Rainbooms had mixed reactions. Fluttershy hid behind her long pink locks of hair. Pinkie chewed on her lip nervously. Rarity wrung her hands. And Applejack and Rainbow Dash simultaneously rubbed the back of their necks.

Finally, Rainbow Dash spoke up. “Alright, we get it, it was a bad move, but she said she was used to it!” She crossed her arms.

Smile Time shook his head. “Just because someone is ‘used to’ a situation doesn’t always make it good.” He started. “Getting used to your friends bringing up a bad moment in your life like it’s not a big deal isn’t a good thing! Nor is saying ‘no offense’ fixing it!”

“But we didn’t mean it!” Applejack cried out.

“It doesn’t matter if you meant it or not!” Smile Time held up a finger to emphasize his point. “You’ve been making her uncomfortable, instead of giving her a place of enjoyment after all of that talk about how you never did anything wrong!”

“We GET IT!” Rainbow Dash cried out, gripping fistfuls of her hair. “We fucked up! But that doesn’t excuse Sunset’s shit!”

“Are you really trying to imply that I started Anon-A-Miss because of your dumb jabs?” Sunset stood from her chair. “That’s insanely petty! Even when you guys hurt me, I forgave you guys! I get it! No one was ready to forgive me yet, but YOU!" She gestured to them with both hands. "YOU GUYS told me that you were my friends! Twilighttold me that you were my friends! And I believed you!"

"We believed y'all too, ya know!" Applejack responded.

"Sure as hell didn't seem like it, AJ!" Sunset retorted angrily. She could feel tears well up in her eyes, causing her to blink them back to avoid letting them fall. Rainbow Dash was ready to fight again.

Smile Time teleported in between the girls, his arms spread out as he stood in front of Sunset. "That's enough, everyone! Please!" He said. AJ and RD sat down reluctantly. Smile Time turned to Sunset Shimmer. He spoke to her in a lower volume. "I'm awfully sorry about this, ma'am."

Sunset shakily sighed, wiping away the tears. "It's okay..."

Luminous Spark stood, along with the other spirits. "Perhaps we shall take this time for a short recess."

The Chandelier's light began to shift through the colors again, before it turned back into the regular light it had before.

"You girls may go out into the hallway." Luminous Spark said. "Sunset Shimmer shall come with us."

The Rainbooms all stood, each one leaving through the door into the hallway. Fluttershy glanced over her shoulder at the spirits and Sunset, an unsure frown sitting on her face. Soon after, she followed the others out of the door.

Luminous Spark rose her staff, her eyes and the gem top turning white again. Atlas Staros jumped down from the set of chairs and held his hand out toward Sunset. She gently grabbed it. Soon enough, the spirits of harmony each began to turn into balls of light, each in their respective colors. Atlas Staros' light enveloped Sunset, and as the other lights began to disappear, he followed suit.

Sunset found herself sitting on her bed in her old room again, except all of the Spirits of Harmony were present.

"Those friends of yours are real pieces of work.." Atlas shook his head, resting his chin on Sunset's bed.

"It's Rainbow and Applejack I'm worried about..." Sunset said. "Those two are the most stubborn. And when Twilight wasn't around, they usually hyped up the group. I've bullied each one of them before, and they haven't let that go as well as I thought."

Smile Time crawled on to the bed Sunset sat on. "But we said that we'd get through to them! We have all the proof! We just need them to see through the lies!" He proclaimed, his theatrical tone returning.

"Whatever concerns you have about the others," Luminous Spark began. "You may put them to rest." For the first time, Sunset saw the eldest spirit smile.

True Shot smiled as well. "We are very aware of your past, as well as theirs, and we can say for certain, you have made progress. And you're still trying your best to make up for your misdeeds."

Sunset softly smiled. "Thank you all. It's nice having someone be there for me again."

Artemis clasped her hand around Sunset's. "It's no problem! We're glad we are giving you a place of comfort!"

Persephone pushed her glasses close to the bridge of her nose. "Anon-A-Miss won't be getting off scot free, we can assure you that. And your friends will have quite a bit of thinking to do after this."

"We will show them the truth, Sunset. Their denial can only go so far." Luminous Spark said.

Author's Note

Hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! I'm sorry if there's any pacing issues! Been trying to stay on top of schoolwork! Hope you guys stay safe! Wash your hands, stay hydrated! (And to those of you who celebrate Thanksgiving, Happy Thanksgiving!) Have a wonderful weekend!