The Setting of the Peaceful Sun

“You’re kidding me, right? You can’t seriously think this is me!?” Sunset looked around with a bemused look at the other five members of the Rainbooms. Tuesday was ending up to be even worse than Monday, and classes hadn’t even started yet.

Somehow word had spread of Applejack’s childhood nickname, the students around the school whispering “Piggly-Wiggly.” or making soft oinking sounds. The group had been unsure, and while she was embarrassed by it, Applejack had told everyone to ignore it. That night the girls had gathered at Rarity’s house to relax, and an impromptu costume show occurred, all six of them having a fun time and taking pictures.

And now those pictures had ended up online. But only the pictures that Sunset had taken, and they were all live on a new MyStable account calling itself Anon-A-Miss. And to make matters worse it was trying to frame Sunset, using a vague outline of her and using banners of her trademark crimson and gold streaks.

And it was working it seemed, if her friends were anything to go by. She had entered school happy and excited to hang out with five of the most important people in her life, but as soon as she had entered school grounds she noticed her fellow Wondercolts were staring darkly at her, grimacing or scowling as they ignored her morning greetings.

They now seemed tame compared to how the Rainbooms were acting.

“How else would those pictures end up online, Sunset?” Rainbow jabbed a finger into Sunset, her magenta eyes ablaze with fury.

“They were taken with yer phone, so unless ya fer some reason shared these private photos with someone else, which’s just as bad, yer tha only one who coulda gone’n posted em!” Applejack crossed her arms as she glowered at the girl standing across from the Rainbooms.

“But why would I post these?” The five grew quiet as they watched Sunset swing her arms out in disbelief. “What could I possibly gain from doing this!? You five are my friends!”

“...Are we really though?” Sunset felt all the blood, plasma, and bile in her body coagulate as a bone numbing chill ran through her body, which only grew as Rarity continued.

“I mean, maybe all of this was you just getting close to us for revenge?”

“Maybe you’re just a big secret-stealer!” Pinkie Pie added, a multitude of bags appearing under her eyes as she pointed an accusatory finger at Sunset.

“Fluttershy…?” Sunset slowly turned to look at the girl standing behind the rest.

“You’re not our friend, Sunset…” the meek girl’s delicate whisper threatened to topple Sunset, her eardrums nearly rupturing from the intensity of the sound wave slowly passing by her.

She stumbled back a step, then a second as her shoulders slumped, her face falling to the ground as confusion and dread rushed through her, leaving her a discoherant, bumbling mess. “N-No… Nonono, this- This is all a bad dream. Yes, a nightmare! I’ll wak-wake up and-”

“No, Sunset. You’re our nightmare now.” Sunset felt her whole body retracting as she looked up at the suddenly towering forms of the other Rainbooms. They swayed around in her vision, matching the unsteady quaking of the ground beneath her as they slowly marched off, leaving Sunset alone to finally start taking in the crowd that had gathered around the six of them.

“Bitch…”

“Freak!”

“You monster.”

Sunset looked around at the looming masks of the Wondercolts that were slowly encasing her, blocking the light as-

“Enough! I’m not Anon-A-Miss!” Sunset screamed as she bolted to her feet and bulldozed through the crowd and down the hall.

She wouldn’t cry!

She wouldn’t…

~

“You aren’t even going to let me try and defend myself?” Sunset stood in shock as she watched the Rainbooms all glared at her in excessive disgust. Anon-A-Miss had posted again just after the students had started making their way to the cafeteria, at the same time as Sunset had been on her phone. She had been in a panic defending herself from the students around her after a younger voice called out that she had posted again.

“Why should we? You keep posting after all!” Rainbow said between mouthfuls of sandwich.

“That’s not me, damnit! I’m innocent! Why won’t you believe me!?” Sunset stamped a foot down as she felt anger slowly bubbling up her tall frame.

“Howabout you apologize for being Anon-A-Miss to the entire school, stop posting shit, and maybe we’ll talk. Otherwise, just fuck off and die, Shimmer.”

“You know what!? Fine! Fuck you girls too! I don’t fucking deserve this!” Sunset screamed as she hurled her tray filled with meat based foods at the table that she usually sat at before storming off, ignoring the distressed scream coming from Rarity.

“Hey! Where do you think-” one of the linebacker’s for the schools stood up, trying to block Sunset’s way before she set him and his stupid whirlwind logo shirt back down in his chair with a firm arm.

Fine! If they won’t listen to me, then they will have to listen to Princess Twilight! Sunset thought as she almost removed the cafeteria doors from their hinges as she burst out of the room.

~

Dear Princess Twilight,

Hi, Twilight, I hope you are doing well, because I currently am not. You see, somebody has started impersonating me and spreading secrets around the school, and no one is listening to me that I’m innocent! Even the other girl’s think I’m guilty! I don’t know what else I can do right now and I was desperately hoping you could come over here and help me with a Friendship crisis of the largest magnitude! I’ll be eagerly waiting to hear from you, since I’m now gonna be stuck at home after school.

Your friend,

Sunset Shimmer~*

~

Dear Princess Twilight,

Hi Twilight, me again. I haven't heard back from you, so I’m thinking that you got caught up in something. Just wanted to buzz you again before I head back to school. I’m really not looking forward to it- I even had to turn off my phone because of all the angry messages I’ve been getting thanks to Anon-A-Miss. I’m going to leave it at home, hopefully it will help me plead my case.

Anyways, I’ll have your journal with me at all times now, so get back to me as soon as you can, please.

Your friend,

Sunset Shimmer~*

~

Dear Twilight,

Are you there? I really need your help! The entire school is coming after me at this point! Anon-A-Miss is getting worse and worse with each passing hour, and the students are following suit! It’s gone from them just verbally assaulting me to shoving and pushing. Sarah, (That’s my jacket, the one Rarity fixed after the fall formal.) has a tear in her now thanks to one of the students.

I really hope you are just stuck saving Equestria, but please get back to me as soon as you can! I don’t have anyone else to turn to at this point.

Your friend,

Sunset Shimmer

~

Sunset wiped away a tear as she opened up her journal, the only link she had to the Princess. Twilight still hadn’t responded to her pleas for help, and now she was stuck hiding in the girls washroom as class let out.

She flipped through to the last message that she had wrote before clicking her pen and starting to write.

Twilight?

I guess you really were just ignoring me. Just like everyone else.

I don’t know if I’m going to make it through the rest of the day. The Principals asked to meet me after classes, but I don’t know if I can go.

Please.

Help me.

Your fr

Sunset

Sunset shut the journal with a quiet sniff before depositing it into her backpack and exiting the stall, pausing to take a look at herself in the mirror. She was a mess, her long hair, her pride and joy was a mass of curls and tangles as a result of not showering for the last two days. She couldn’t count the number of dark bags under her eyes, and her left cheek was a dark bruise.

She quickly looked away and made her way out of the dingy room, pausing to peek around the corners to make sure it was safe before starting to scurry towards the Principal's office.

~

“You want to send me away!?” the chair Sunset had previously been seated on landed on the floor with a loud thud as the girl exploded to her feet in outrage.

“We believe it would be for the best of everyone if you were not at Canterlot High School come the new year.” Vice Principal Luna said slowly and calmly, an apologetic glint in her eyes as she looked up at the standing girl.

“Oh- I get it! Both of you think I’m Anon-A-Miss, huh!?” Sunset swung her arms around in a mix of disbelief and anger. “You want me gone so that way when I’m arrested I’m a former member of CHS, huh!”

Principal Celestia stood up, her hands on her desk as she slowly shook her head. “No. Sunset, please calm down. We’re trying to help you.”

“Help me!? You think sending me away is gonna fucking help me!?” Sunset couldn’t believe the drivel coming from the mouths of the two women now standing opposite of her. “Helping me would be finding Anon-A-Miss and proving my god damn innocence!”

“It’s not that easy-”

“You know what- No! You want me gone? Fine! I’ll fucking leave!” Sunset shouted as she reached down and hoisted up her backpack before storming towards the exit.

“Sunset, wait!” one of the women called out. Sunset didn’t care which one of them it was as she kicked open the door after turning the handle, scaring the poor secretary as she thundered past.

~

Sunset gave an annoyed hiss as she gently pushed at the fresh bruise on her arm before looking down at the crumpled forms of Gilda and her small troop of cronies.

“Why don’t I go and post a picture of this?” Sunset spat as she limped over to the huffing form of the aggressive Wondercolt.

Gilda and her group had run into Sunset at one of the liquor stores in the shadier part of town, Gilda and co on the way out as Sunset was on her way in. Needless to say that “diplomacy” went awry and Sunset soon found herself fighting off the various goons.

“You… Bitch…” the white hair teen grunted as Sunset hoisted the girl’s face up off the half frozen concrete, before adjusting it so Sunset could snap a picture of the two of them, as well as the other goons in the background. “You’re dead meat…”

“You can’t kill what’s already dead, idiot.” Sunset growled as she roughly let go of the girl’s head before stumbling back to lean against the wall, groaning in time with her bodies various aches as she tapped away at her phone.

She ignored the messages that continued to flood in as she finished her post on MyStable, her first post all week. It was a collection of pictures that showed a heavily bruised and slightly bleeding Sunset kneeling and grinning with an equally beaten Gilda who was scowling, as well as a few shots of her other assailants.

“Thanks for the booze, Gilda.” Sunset snarked a she retrieved both her backpack and the other groups bag of various alcoholic beverages and awkwardly walking out of the alley and onto the streets, thick heavy snowflakes falling rapidly from the fat, grey clouds up above. Sunset paused and reached down into the bag, rummaging around until she withdrew a large, familiar brown bottle.

“Not bad…” Sunset gave an impressed hum as she slowly twisted the seal off and returning to her steady pace of walking down the street.

~

An intoxicated hiccup escaped from Sunset as she finished depositing her journal into her backpack and leaned back unsteadily, her hand grasped around the neck of the now empty bottle before shifting her weight forward and throwing the bottle into the slow moving river beneath the bridge she now stood on.

She paused, watching and listening as intently as her slowly wobbling form could, but nothing happened. She brought her hand up to her face. Nope, she wasn’t still holding the bottle. So where was it? She started to look around, only to pause when she noticed it sitting on the crumpled up mass of her backpack and almost empty booze bag.

“Oh…” Sunset gave a slurred response as she slid down against the railing until she was sitting firmly on the ground, her back bending awkwardly because of the backpack she wore, only to give a startled cry as something started buzzing against her leg. She scrambled to save herself, only to realize it was in her pocket, so she slowly retrieved the buzzing item.

The screen of her phone was lit up, a strangely familiar number flashing in time with the buzzing and catchy tune playing from the device until it went silent.

Sunset gave another hiccup as she sloppily slid her finger across the little button thingee on the bottom of the device. It was time, or at least the small, somehow still sober bit of her mind told her as she found herself slowly rising to her feet. She prodded at the small icon, a bluish square with white picnic… prick? Picket! That was the word! Picket fencing. She giggled at just how smart she was as she slowly turned around and took a picture of the icy river.

She continued to giggle as she tapped away at the small little letters on the screen, having to pause as she started hitting even more wrong keys, before deleting all of them and starting again.

Sunset paused as her fat thumb hovered over the post button. The wind was carrying the sound of voices and… Quacking? No, cats don’t quack… Sunset chuckled as she shook her head, pausing when the sounds grew closer and giving a half gurgled “Wuh…?”

“She’s got something! This way!” the voice grew closer, along with the barking and a… blinking light? It was really hard to see through all the damn snowflakes!

“Aww, shut up ya stupid mutt!” Sunset attempted to say, but the cold running through her mixed with all the alcohol left her speaking in a chattering slur.

“Wait, is that…?” a second voice said, the violent wind carrying it into Sunset’s number ears.

“Sunset! Oh, thank heavens you’re fine!”

“Sunset!”

Sunset slowly blinked her frosty eyes as she studied the five girls staring at her in a mixture of shock and relief, a dog barking happily at one of the girl’s heels.

“Fuck. OFF.” the now sober Sunset snarled as the bubbly, happy, joyful, and buzz of her alcoholic blitz subsided, replaced by anger, fury, and rage as she addressed the Rainbooms.

“S-Sunset, I-I-I know you are quite upset with us right now, but-”

“You fucking think, Rarity!?” Sunset yelled, cutting off the fashionista and sending her scuttling back in fear. “I am beyond fucking upset with you traitors, so just fuck off already!”

“Please, Sunset! We know you aren’t Anon-A-Miss!” Fluttershy begged, her worry filled tears freezing in place on her cheeks, just like everyone standing on the bridge.

A single, harsh bark of noise escaped from Sunset, breaking the still silence, followed by a second and a third, and soon enough the air echoed with grating, empty laughter as Sunset stumbled back against the railing to the bridge, her whole body quaking as she started to gasp for air.

The Rainbooms remained frozen in spot, the air around them sweltering in comparison to the cold, bitter laugh emanating from Sunset, locking them in place. Winona gave a scared whimper as she moved behind Applejack, hiding herself from Sunset as she slowly caught her breath.

“I’ll tell you all again.” Sunset growled as she tapped her phone, her eyes passing over the five girls. “Fuck. OFF.”

“You gotta listen to us, Sunset! We-”

“Let you defend yourself!? Prove that you- You didn’t give me the time of day, you fucking bastards!” Sunset’s lungs burned as she shouted herself horse, this time interrupting Rainbow Dash. “No way in Tartarus am I giving you the chance! No, I’m gonna do exactly what you told me to do, Dash.”

The athlete’s face furrowed in confusion as she pondered Sunset’s comment, her gaze, along with the other band members watching Sunset intently. Silence grew over the crowd as they watched Sunset motion to them. “You gonna check that? Might be Anon-A-Miss posting something again.”

“Sunset, we know it’s not you!” Pinkie Pie started, only to give a small scream as Sunset fluidly reached down and grabbed, then hurled, an empty beer can at the the ground between the two parties.

“Fucking do it!” Sunset let out a banshee scream, causing Rarity to weakly fiddle around with her jacket pocket before pulling out her phone. Even from this distance Sunset could see the girl’s marshmallow hued face, her cheeks rosy from the biting chill of the wind whipping around them, pale.

“N-No… Please…” Rarity looked up, her head shaking back and forth. “Please, Sunset! Someone stop her!”

“So you say you know who Anon-A-Miss is, huh?” Sunset gave a dark chuckle as she stepped against the railing of the bridge. “I guess that’s not the only thing you’re going to have to deal with.”

“Rarity? What are yo-”

“She’s going to jump!” the fashionista yelled as she started to desperately run towards Sunset.

“Congratu-FUCKING-lations.” Sunset gave a disturbingly happy looking smile as she sat up on the railing before throwing herself off and towards the icy river flowing beneath them.

“Oh my god, no!”

“Sunset!”

“Nooo!”

Sunset chuckled as she plummeted down, the air racing around her as a cold smile spread across her face, almost as cold as the large chunk of ice drawing disturbingly close to-