Author's Note

The point of divergence of this story is Sunset running out of the school in tears after several days of accusations.

The Human CMC are so ashamed, they confess to what they do.

Not that it will do them much good.

Is Friendship A Lie?

"A slumber party," Officer Garda parroted to the Crusaders a deceptively calm voice. Officer Garda, Luna, and the Crusaders were in the Vice Principal's office. The three sat on a couch, Vice Principal Luna sat behind her desk, while Garda stood beside her.

Apple Bloom once thought the scariest thing she'd ever seen was her Granny blowing a gasket at her.

But that paled in comparison to seeing the police officer's gaze honed onto her like an vulture waiting for an animal to die. The fact that he was literally looking down at him made his expression all the more powerful. And the look Vice Principal Luna was giving them wasn't much better. The lack of noise coming from her two friends showed how scared stiff they were.

"That's what this is about?" The green-skinned man asked, taking a sip from a mug he was carrying. A very long and audible sip. He then placed the mug on the desk with more force than necessary, causing a noise that made Apple Bloom and her friends flinch. "You three violated your sisters' privacy and violated the privacy of others because you got upset over not getting invited to a slumber party?" The gazes of the principals even sharper, driving the three girls to bow their head in shame.

"Are you sure that's the reason?" Vice Principal Luna finally said after a few moments of silence with disgust in her voice.

"Well," Apple Bloom muttered reluctantly.

"OK, we thought it was unfair that everyone started liking Sunset OK!?" Sweetie Belle shrieked at last to the surprise of the adults.

"And why is that?" Principal Vice Principal said in a less severe voice.

"Sunset ruined some poor girl's life," Apple Bloom muttered bitterly, "got her sent to prison. She also ruined my life, sending my family and me into the poorhouse for a year. And after the...Battle of the Bands, everyone started liking her and patting her on the back."

"So when we didn't get an invitation and she did," Scootaloo said with pursed lips, "it felt unfair...she was getting everything she didn't deserve while we were getting screwed over. It wasn't fair."

"I see." Officer Garda's face twisted into genuine calm as he approached he girls again. "And did this stunt of yours...help Muharib walk again?" The three Crusaders faced twisted into contemplation.

"No." Apple Bloom muttered.

"Did it give her back the time she lost in juvie?"

"No." Scootaloo said.

"Did it rid her of those memories of what that...monster did to her?" Officer Garda finished with a hint of discomfort in his voice.

"No." Sweetie Belle said.

"And it never once crossed your mind to talk about how you felt with me, your friends, and your sisters?" Principal Luna asked with some sadness in her voice.

"I didn't think they'd listen," Apple Bloom muttered angrily. "They were all patting Sunset on the back."

"So your...strategy was to humiliate your sisters, humiliate everyone else, and get someone in trouble for something she didn't do." Luna's face was one of incredible disappointment. "That's how you chose to deal with your anger. By becoming as bad as Sunset used to be?" The three Crusaders felt tears go down their eyes.

"I'm sorry." Apple Bloom said bitterly. Luna looked a bit concerned, but Officer Garda was not impressed.

"I can see that." Officer Garda crossed her arms. "But what had I made perfectly clear after the whole thing with Quick Pace?"

"Not to take revenge against Sunset?" Scootaloo said.

"And what did you do?"

"Took revenge." Sweetie looked down at her knees.

"Because revenge doesn't solve anything and makes you stupid." Garda's face turned red again. "And because you violated that, you three are in very serious trouble!"

"Hey." Scootaloo looked at the man with pleading eyes. "Doesn't it count that we told the truth?" Officer Garda's face was one of disbelief.

"Oh, so you want a medal for telling the truth?" Officer Garda said sarcastically. "I suppose you want a prize for chewing with your mouth closed, right?"

"Uh, no?" Sweetie Belle uttered.

"And I suppose you should also get a trophy for not punching babies, right?" The officer walked in front of the three girls with an intense look.

"Well-,"

"And I suppose I should get a millions dollars for every time I didn't take a dump on the floor, should I?!"

Luna looked concerned. "Officer, I think they-,"

"AM I MILLIONARE?!" Officer Garda suddenly bellowed in a rage, startling the three girls.

Apple Bloom looked utterly abashed. "What?"

"AM I MILLIONAIRE?!"

"No?"

"THAT'S RIGHT. BECAUSE I DON'T GET PAID FOR GOING TO THE POTTY LIKE A BIG BOY! BECAUSE I'M SUPPOSED TO TAKE A DUMP IN THE TOILET, YOU IDIOTS!" He then stood straight. "Just like you're not supposed to-,"

"Officer." The green-skinned man ended his tirade and turned to Luna, who fixed him with a concerned stare. "I think the three get it."

Officer Garda rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "OK, I got carried away." He walked back toward the desk, still looking at the three girls with a disappointed look.

"Is that why you three girls told the truth?" Principal Luna's tone and face revealed she was not amused with them. "Because you hoped you could get a lighter punishment?"

"No," Scootaloo denied furiously. "We did it after Sunset ran out of the school...crying." The three girls' faces were tinged with more than a bit of regret. "We realized that we wrong to do what we did."

"Well I'm glad you came to that realization." Principal Luna's face twisted into a frown. "But that does not absolve you."

"Nope." A nasty smile appeared on Garda's face. "Quick Pace got three months of suspension and Sunset Shimmer got two months of detention. So...you'll be getting six months of detention."

"What?" Scootaloo said with a panic.

An even wider grin appeared on Officer Garda's face. "By my count, that includes....your entire summer vacation."

Luna felt a mean smile form on her face as well. "That sounds pretty fair."

"But...but..." Apple Bloom stammered. "Sunset and Quick did worse-"

"If you think I'm being unfair," Officer Garda interrupted with a look that stopped Apple Bloom cold, "I'm gonna tell you now that I could care less about Sunset Shimmer. I have no love for some brat who someone sent to juvie for being a prom queen." A snarl appeared on his face. "My true friend is the law. Which you broke. By taking revenge when I said not to, and by exceeding Quick Pace's brand of malicious stupidity by several orders of magnitude!" Apple Bloom's defiance ceased and replaced by acceptance.

"I will also be notifying your parents," Luna said coldly, "and you will confess to what you did in front of the school tomorrow. And you will also go right up to Sunset and apologize to her. If she comes back," Luna finished with some bitterness, emphasizing how the three girls may have permanently driven Sunset from the school.

"Yes ma'am," Sweetie Belle said in a tired voice. Scootaloo and Apple Bloom also silently accepted their punishment. The three were so weighed down by guilt, they couldn't care less about the fact their reputation was about to go down the drain.

"Again, I can understand you have lingering resentment toward Sunset for what she did," Luna said in a sympathetic voice, "and you have every right not to like her. But this is not how a mature person handles their anger. You've not only hurt Sunset, but many of your classmates. If allow your anger to hurt someone, you have to pay the price. My hope is you girls will take that lesson to heart."

"Now get your butts to class!" Officer Garda said angrily. The three girls walked out of the room, dragging their feet, their heads hanging in shame.

As soon as he left, the redhaired officer snorted. "You know what's great about kids?"

"No, what?" The Vice Principal replied.

"You can't think of anything either," Officer Garda muttered with some bitterness.

"Um, their gonna take care of us?" Luna said.

"If I had kids like that, I'd rather die young." Garda's voice sounded whimsical, but it was laden with frustration.

"Twinkle, can we talk?" Rainbow said anxiously to the track co-captain who was shuffling books in his locker. The boy continued to empty his locker, seemingly oblivious to the blue-skinned girl's request ."Sunset isn't answering my texts-" Twinkle slammed his locker shut and stormed away from Rainbow, his face grimly stoic.

Rainbow felt a chill go down her spine. Twinkle never was this angry before. Not at Sunset for her misbehavior, not even at Quick for attacking him. Still, Rainbow, desperate to try and talk to Sunset, raced after him.

"Look, I know we screwed up," Rainbow said timidly to the muscular boy, "but-" Twinkle suddenly stopped, but didn't turn to look at her.

"You don't know anything." The prism-haired sports aficionado felt herself gulp.

"What do you-."

"Sunset won't even answer my texts," Twinkle hissed. "Even though I didn't do anything to her, she so upset, she won't even talk to me. I can't help you, even if I wanted to." Rainbow felt her lip quiver.

"Twinkle," Rainbow whimpered, "I-,"

"WHAT WERE YOU THINIKING?!" Twinkle screamed, turning to look at Rainbow Dash, his face twisted into utter rage.

"I-,"

"You really think Sunset would stoop so low?! After working her ass off to make it up to us? After all the community service she did? After she helped you guys defeat the siren bitches?!" He proceeded to storm up to Rainbow, who fearfully backed into a wall.

"I wasn't -,"

"Now she's probably gonna quit school!" Twinkle's voice drifted from burning hot anger to sorrow. "The girl I care about might leave my life altogether because of what you did." Rainbow felt her eyes become wet.

"Twinkle I'm sorry," Rainbow said in a weak voice, "I never meant for this to-"

"That's not acceptable." He crossed his arms, his face twisted into a scowl. "Until I can stand in the same room as you, I want to know what the fuck was going through your mind when you accused Sunset of stealing your secrets without proof!"

"I-I-"

"Well? Spit it out!"

"I was thinking about my sister being turned into a zombie!" Rainbow's face fell into her hands as tears ran down her face.. Twinkle's anger faded somewhat, his face full of confusion and a bit of concern.

"What?"

Rainbow cried for several moments before looking back at Twinkle, her eyes red and puffy. "It wasn't just my secrets being leaked. I thought the monster who hurt Fluttershy, got Muharib sent to juvie, turned my sister into her puppet, and nearly destroyed us with a fireball was coming back!" Rainbow sat on the floor, hugging her knees. "I thought that now she got her magic back, she was coming after us again, and I had to get rid of her before she could hurt Scootaloo and everyone else." Her lip started quivering. "But the person I was protecting was the real monster." Rainbow started crying again.

Twinkle's anger faded completely, seeing Rainbow look so remorseful. "She really turned people into zombies?" Twinkle hadn't been at the prom. He had only seen the destructive aftermath, and hadn't really bought the rumors that Sunset was a magical demon. All Twinkle knew was that Sunset had destroyed part of the school. That, and learning that Sunset was the one who sabotaged one of his fundraisers, was why he bullied Sunset for so long.

"Yeah," Rainbow said, her tears fading as she pulled herself up. "I know what I did was wrong, but I was scared it was happening all over again. The demons, and the zombie army, and..." Rainbow's voice trailed off into a remorseful whimper.

Up until the Battle of the Bands, when those siren chicks tried to turn him into their puppet, Twinkle hadn't really experienced any magic. But by then, Twinkle had become Sunset's boyfriend, and all those bad memories seemed like a distant memory. But Rainbow was still haunted by the Fall Formal, and he could see how horrific that kind of thing must've been.

"Rainbow." Twinkle's tone was both soft and stern. "I'm sorry you had to go through that." His mouth twisted into another frown. "But if you thought Sunset was becoming a bitch, you could've asked me before you jumped the gun."

Rainbow bowed her head in shame. "I wasn't thinking about anything except my own stupid fears. I'm a monster."

"Rainbow-,"

"I hurt Sunset, I drove her away, I hurt you!" In a remorseful rage, Rainbow started bashing her head against a wall.

Twinkle was horrified, seeing the blue-skinned girl hurt herself. "Rainbow, stop it!"

"No, I'm supposed to be loyalty," Rainbow said, grunting as her head hit the wall a fifth time. "I'm nothing but scum." Before she could hit her head against the wall again, Twinkle held her back.

"Rainbow, enough!" The girl struggled against Twinkle's superior strength, but eventually broke down again. Twinkle pulled the crying girl into a hug.

"Rainbow," Twinkle said softly, "what you did was awful, and I'm still mad. But I'm still your friend, and I don't want to see you hurting yourself. It isn't the way you deal with it."

"How can I?" Rainbow said miserably. "Sunset's never gonna speak to me again." Twinkle didn't even bother to contest it, and felt himself become miserable over the fact that Sunset might dump him and not come back to school.

"Look," Twinkle said with whimper, "right now Sunset wants to be alone. Let's just...give her that time and...hope for the best." The bell rang. Twinkle and Rainbow turned away from one another and walked to class, their faces full of anxiety and fear. Not just for their relationship with Sunset, but how she was coping. The lack of response to their texts filled them with even more fear for the yellow-skinned girl.

Sunset Shimmer sat alone on a park bench, idly watching as others were enjoying their afternoon. Due to the fairly good weather, the park was crowded. Some people enjoyed picnics while others played catch. A mother and daughter pair were flying kites.

Despite being in a park full people, Sunset felt more alone than she ever did in her entire life. While everyone else had fun, she was in her own oasis of misery. Sunset glanced at her phone, seeing all the messages from her so-called friends. The messages were either full of concern for her, apologies, or promises to make amends. She looked at them all in disgust.

"Yeah, your sorry know, but you'll probably turn on me later." Sunset put away her phone and continued to stare glumly at the crowd.

"Well, well, well, what do we have here." Sunset turned around and saw three uncomfortably familiar faces.

Adagio looked at her with more than a bit of disdain. "If it isn't Sunset Shimmer."

"More like Sunset Whimper," Aria snarked.

"I don't get it?" Sonata said blankly, to the disdain of her two older sisters. Sunset broke out of her self-pity, got up into a fighting stance, and bared her fists.

"You three better get away from me-,"

"Oh Shimmer," Adagio said with tired disdain. "I couldn't do anything to you even if I wanted too. Remember?" She gestured to her throat, which no longer had their precious gems.

Sunset lowered her fists but her suspicion remained on her face. "Then what are you three doing here?" The three looked at each other before looking back her with miserable expressions.

"Looking for food."

Sunset was stumped. "Why do you need to look for food?" Sunset asked with a bit of concern.

"What do you think?" Aria said with tired bitterness. "Without our gems, we can't survive here. We lost our homes, our cars, our voices. All we have left is a...van down by a river."

Sonata rubbed her belly with pain in her expression. "I'm so hungry." The sadness on Sonata's face made Sunset feel like a pit formed in her stomach.

"I'm sorry," Sunset said reluctantly. She shouldn't be sorry. These three brainwashed her (so-called) friends and boyfriend to regain their power. Taking away their magic was self-defense. But...she didn't want them to end up hopeless and alone. She had done bad things, and she's been given a chance, or so she thought. Her concern grew as the three turned away from her with utterly broken expressions. The concern gave way to pity as Sunset watched the eldest siren look through the trash for food.

"Maybe we can find something to eat?" Sonata asked hopefully.

"Maybe?" Aria looked deeply broken. Adagio pulled out a plastic container with a half-eaten salad, her face looking like she struck gold.

"We've hit the jackpot girls!" Adagio's joy gave way to terror as Sunset approached them.

"Get back!" Adagio said with fear, clutching the container to her protectively, looking like a desperate animal trying to survive. "We found this food, its ours!"

"Want to come over for lunch?" Sunset asked them sheepishly. The three's eyes narrowed in suspicion.

"What's your game, Shimmer?" Aria asked with disdain.

"Look," Sunset said, holding up her hands to calm them down. "I know we used to be enemies. But believe me, I don't want to see you guys suffer."

Adagio cocked her head in confusion. "And why is that?"

"Because I know what it is like to be at the end of your rope," Sunset said, trying to form an encouraging smile on her face, "to feel like things are hopeless. But...I had someone there for me. And...I guess just want to be there for someone else." The three's expressions softened a bit.

"Alright," Adagio said with some reluctance, "I guess we...can come over for lunch." Sonata's lip began quivering, before running to hug Sunset.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you." The blue-skinned Dazzling said happily, tears running down her eyes. Sunset felt a warm smile form over her face, especially as Aria and Adagio also began smiling as well. Even if they didn't fully like her, they apparently liked seeing their baby sister happy. That was enough to convince Sunset they deserved another chance.