Worth Fighting For: An Anon-a-Miss Story

Chapters

Not Worth It
Hardly Worth It
Might Be Worth It
Worth It
Always Worth It

Not Worth It

Hello, Clark. I have a special mission for you. Why yes, it is of the utmost importance. There’s a young lady on Earth who is in serious trouble. At exactly 9:47 p.m., she’s going to consider taking away God’s most precious gift. She needs to know just how much she would be missed and that she’s truly not alone. It’s your time to shine and put all that training to the test. Yes, if you are successful, you will become certified, that I can promise you. But first, you must first learn about this girl, all she has been through, the struggles she faces, and those she has come to love. Don’t worry, we have time. You’ll still be meeting her right on schedule.

Her name is Sunset Shimmer.

The streets of Canterlot we alite with Christmas lights as people hurried up and down the sidewalks, no doubt heading into one of the many shops in search of presents for their friends and family. Friendly greetings of, “Merry Christmas,” and, “Happy Holidays,” echoed from the store patrons as they exited with their arms ladened with bags. Snow was lightly falling onto the already white landscape, making the whole street look like the front of a Christmas card. The joys of the holiday were spreading like wildfire all throughout the area, and everyone showed the Christmas spirit.

All but one.

Sunset Shimmer was mum to the sounds, smells, and colors around her as she trudged down the sidewalk, having just left her apartment, eyes on her feet and hands in her coat pockets. Anyone who would take a closer look at her would know instantly that something was very wrong. Her eyes were bloodshot, her cheeks were stained with dried tears, and her face was as pale as a ghost. A cold feeling that had nothing to do with the weather had filled her up, and if asked, Sunset would be able to tell what it was. Loneliness, depression, hopelessness; these were just a few of the words that could only begin to describe how she was feeling.

It had been a week since she felt the warm, loving feeling of her old friends. Their faces flashed in her mind as she listed them off. Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, and Fluttershy. These five were supposed to be there for her. Ever since the Battle of the Bands, it really seemed that they had truly forgiven her for her old ways and had accepted her as one of their friends. And for a while, everything was perfect.

And then, Anon-a-Miss showed up. This mysterious MyStable account had popped up out of nowhere, and started posting embarrassing secrets about her friends. More and more posts appeared every day, making the girls the laughing stock of the school. Sunset didn’t know what to think of it, and corresponded with Princess Twilight Sparkle of Equestria via her magical book about the goings on, hoping that the truth would be revealed soon. But what happened next, Sunset would’ve never predicted, and the thought still sent a shock of pain through her mind.

“YER Anon-a-Miss, Sunset!”

“Don’t lie to us! We know it’s you!”

“How could you do that to us?”

“We thought you were our friend!”

“Never talk to us again, snake!”

Their voices still rang in Sunset’s head, making her choke up a fresh batch of hot tears. Did their friendship really mean that little to them? Couldn’t they see it in her eyes, how innocent she was? Were they even her real friends at all? They had left her all alone, on her knees and begging for them to believe her. They abandoned her. They broke her. They never even cared! And it only got worse after that. Anon-a-Miss started posting other peoples’ secrets online as well. Friendships were broken, allies turned to enemies, and only one person was given all the blame; Sunset. Day after day she suffered through the verbal abuse and death threats given to her by the same people whom she had gotten along with a week ago. Every night, Sunset would go home, cry into her pillow, and write to Twilight, telling her how alone she felt, and she didn’t know just how much longer she could-

Sunset’s recollection was suddenly interrupted by something hard and rough hitting the side of her head, making her vision go blurry as she crumbled to her knees. Sunset felt something hot trickle down her cheek which she quickly realized was blood. Looking up, she felt her vision steady as she saw a buff figure across the street, looking directly at her, holding a rock, and laughing cruelly.

“Go die in a ditch, Anon-a-Miss!” shouted the tough, female voice before running down the street and disappearing from view. Sunset knew immediately who it was; Gilda. She had been looking for an excuse to attack Sunset ever since Anon-a-Miss posted how she had a habit of sucking her thumb when she was nervous.

Wiping the blood from her head, Sunset made to stand up again, but was stopped by another figure in front of her. This one, Sunset didn’t recognize.

“Are you alright?” asked the random lady. “Do you need me to call an ambulance? That mark looks pretty bad. Maybe I should- hey! Where are you going?”

Sunset had gotten up and sped across the street and towards the empty park, not looking back at the stranger calling out to her, nor letting them see her tears. When she reached the park, she took the small path that led into a patch of dense trees. The only thing that was up that direction was a small clearing with a bridge that overlooked a lake. What was a perfect place to hike and picnic during the summer would certainly be completely deserted, and where Sunset could be alone, even if she didn’t want to.

When Sunset got to the clearing, she skidded to a halt on the bridge, huffing and puffing, and leaned over the railing to look down at the glistening surface of the lake. It was a decent-sized lake that covered about 40 yards, and Sunset knew from experience that the depth was perfect for swimming. Instantly, and without her being able to control it, her mind shifted to a memory of her and the others spending a warm, summer’s afternoon here a few months after the Battle of the Bands. Sunset could vividly remember her, Pinkie, Rainbow, and Applejack splashing happily in the water as Rarity sunbathed on the bank and Fluttershy picked flowers near the bridge. Sunset sighed and forced the happy memory from her head. Any more of that, and she would certainly start sobbing again. Those days were gone. Now, she had no one, and the thought made Sunset’s insides turn to lead.

As she stood there on the bridge, the side of her head still throbbing and heart filled with despair and betrayal, Sunset looked down at the water again. It wasn’t even frozen over yet, but no doubt that it would still be freezing to be in. Just then, a single thought crossed her mind; something that she would’ve never considered before, but with nothing else in her life, it felt like the perfect thought. It would be so simple. It was definitely deep enough. She had nothing else in this world, and no one would even miss her, not even her old friends. Yes, why not? It wouldn’t take long for her body to go into shock, and it might even be quick and painless. Anything would be better than what she had to go through. There was no more need for discussion; Sunset made up her mind right there. Taking one more glance around to make sure no one could stop her, she started to climb over the railing, and was just about to let go when-

SPLASH!

Sunset stopped immediately, looking at the spot of agitated water. It almost looked like something had just fallen in; no, jumped in. But there was nothing else around. Even in the dark, the light of the briefly exposed moon would’ve lit up the entire area. Then, Sunset heard a voice calling from the water.

“Help! Somebody please help me!”

Sunset looked again, and saw a man in the lake, thrashing around, trying to stay above the surface.

“Hold on!” Sunset called as she ripped off her jacket and leapt off the bridge into the lake. Sunset was right; it was freezing, but she didn’t have time to think about that at the moment. She quickly swam up to the man who continued to thrash wildly, put her arm tightly around his waist, and dragged him towards the bank. When she finally flopped both her and the man onto the solid blanket of snow at the water’s edge, the realization of how cold she was overtook her senses. Teeth chattering, she looked at the guy, who was thankfully still breathing and shivering just as much as she was. Sunset got up, retrieved her jacket, came back, and snuggly wrapped it around the guy. Then, with the strength that only stress-filled endorphins could grant her while being so cold, she helped the man to his feet and started to lead him back down the path and towards civilization.

A stop in at the nearly-empty diner down the street was just what Sunset needed. The owner was more than willing to give her and the guy some fresh towels to dry themselves off with. The weird thing that Sunset noticed as they dried off was the mystery man. He had just faced a near-death experience, and yet, he seemed perfectly content as he brushed the towels over his damp body. He didn’t say a word, though he was smiling as if he had just finished a nice, relaxing dip. Sunset almost felt unnerved, but then she also noticed how inhumanly handsome he was. It was almost like there was something about him that made Sunset, despite being weirded out by his contentment, feel lighter when around him.

After getting as dry as they could, Sunset bought the two of them hot chocolate, and they sat in a booth near the window. Sunset watched the guy some more as he looked out the window and sighed happily. He then took a sip from his mug and licked his lips.

“This is so good,” he finally said. Sunset was surprised at how soothing his voice was. “I remember the last time I had hot chocolate this good.”

“When was that?” Sunset asked.

“Central Park, Manehattan, December 21, 1904.”

Sunset blinked stupidly. Did he just say 1904? The guy said it so nonchalantly too, like he was just commenting about the weather.

“Um…” Sunset said, deciding just to overlook that statement, “so...what exactly were you doing in the park around this time of night? And how did you fall in the lake?”

“Oh I didn’t fall in,” the guy answered. “I jumped in to save you.”

Sunset blinked again. She was starting to get a little confused. “You...didn’t save me. I saved you.”

“Oh-ho,” the guy chuckled softly. “You think you saved me, but I jumped in because you were going to jump in. I knew that if you saw someone else in trouble, you would forget about attempted suicide and do the right thing, cause that’s the kind of person you’ve become, Sunset.”

Now Sunset was getting nervous. It was one thing to spout nonsense about being alive in 1904 and saying backwards statements, but how on earth did he know she was thinking about suicide? Could there have been someone watching her the whole time and seeing her about to jump? And even then, how did he know her name? She had never met this man in her whole life, and yet he addressed her like an old friend. And still, the guy didn’t even seem fazed at all by his comments.

“Do I...know you?” she asked shakily.

“No,” the guy answered simply. “But I know you, Sunset. Well, the important things about you. How you were born in Equestria and came here when you were spiritually lost. You rose to power but lost it all. And then, like the phoenix, you rose again, but this time, in friendship and love. And then this whole Anon-a-Miss thing happened, and-”

“Ok,” Sunset snapped as she started to lose her composure. How in blazes did he know she was from Equestria, and what did he know about Anon-a-Miss, or what she was going through? Now Sunset was getting mad, especially with how nonchalantly this guy was talking about it. “I don’t know who you are, but you have no right to talk-”

“Oh I’m so sorry!” the guy interrupted as he slapped a hand to his forehead. “Where are my manners? I forgot to introduce myself. I’m Clark Ablebody; G.A.I.T.”

“G.A.I.T.?” Sunset repeated with a raised eyebrow

“It’s my title,” Clark responded. “It stands for Guardian Angel in Training.”

Dead silence filled the already empty diner. Not even the distant sounds of shoppers outside seemed to register to Sunset, for her anger and frustration had halted for a moment, giving way to utter confusion. It took maybe a minute to process what was said before Sunset came to two possible conclusions; either this guy had suffered head trauma from the water, or he was just insane.

“Yeah right,” Sunset finally replied with an unbelieving smirk, “And I’m the Masked Matterhorn. If you’re an ‘angel,’ then where are your wings?”

“I don’t have them yet,” Clark answered, still not seeming to register how crazy he sounded. “That’s why I’m still in training. But with your help,” he pointed at Sunset, “I’ll be able to finally get my wings! Will you help me?”

Sunset scoffed and looked away, still smirking. “Yeah, sure, whatever.” It seemed that the insane theory was more possible. “What do you need me to do? Ring a bell for you?”

Clark chuckled humorously and replied, “No, no, nothing like that. I just need you to understand something.”

“Yeah? And what’s that?” Sunset asked.

“That you are still loved!”

With that one statement, it was as if a furious fire ignited in Sunset. The smirk immediately disappeared and her humorous disbelief had turned into a rage against this person that Sunset barely knew.

“Ok, listen, you!” Sunset snapped, her fists and teeth clenched as she glared at the stranger. “I don’t know if you’re sick, or delusional, or just insane, but don’t talk to me about what you don’t understand!” As she scolded him, Clark didn’t look angry or affronted, but calm and collected. He didn’t even seem to be taken aback how Sunset was talking to him. He just looked back with a thoughtful expression. When Sunset finished, he paused for a moment before speaking in a caring tone, as if talking to a sick friend in the hospital.

“I know you think you are alone, but it’s not true,” he said. “You aren’t the only one who’s hurting right now. Your friends are too, and, believe it or not, they still need you. They still care about you, Sunset.”

“SHUT UP!”

All other patrons turned abruptly as Sunset slammed a fist down on the table, causing both their mugs to shake slightly. Sunset didn’t care though. Her fury and sorrow were rapidly building at the hollow words of this crazy man. She didn’t want to hear how much her “friends” still cared about her. She didn’t want to hear that they were hurting too, and even if they were, well then it served them right! And even still, Clark wasn’t showing any form of hostility towards Sunset. It was as if Sunset was waiting for him to lash out at her too. She wanted him to give her a reason to punch him, but he was staying just as calm as ever.

“You still have a purpose on this earth, Sunset Shimmer,” Clark continued, making Sunset look taken aback. “I understand what you’re feeling, but killing yourself isn’t going to solve anything.”

Sunset, while still frustrated, calmed down a bit before answering bitterly, “You don’t know anything of what I’m feeling.”

Clark just sighed softly and leaned on the table. “Let’s see, you’re feeling disheartened and confused as to why this Anon-a-Miss had to pop up now of all times, as well as feeling affronted that they are framing you. You feel betrayed and broken-hearted that your five friends turned against you so easily and didn’t even listen to your pleas of innocence. You’re emotionally tired of the verbal abuse you’re receiving at school, and afraid that someone is going to assault you or actually try and kill you. You feel more alone than ever, even writing to Twilight Sparkle isn’t keeping your spirits up anymore, and you feel that the only way for you to put these feelings to rest is to take your own life. Now,” he looked back at Sunset, “do I exaggerate, or do I paint a pretty good picture?”

Sunset stared open-mouthed at Clark. As it turns out, she was feeling exactly all those things, right down to the last detail! If she wasn’t so angry or depressed, she would’ve thought it very impressive. If he kept this up, Sunset would soon run out of excuses as to why this man was off his rocker and would have to accept the impossibility that he might really be an angel.

After a short moment of silence, where all Sunset could do was open and close her mouth several times, she finally grunted, “What’s your point?”

“My point is that you aren’t alone!” Clark responded. “You shouldn’t give up on your friends so easily!”

The heat started to rise again in Sunset as she snapped, “They gave up on me, so why-”

“I’m not saying that what they did was right,” Clark intervened. “They should have believed you from the start! But are you saying that you haven’t done or said things you regretted later due to strong emotions?” Sunset opened her mouth again, but no arguments came to mind, so she stayed silent.

“Extreme emotions lead to extreme reactions,” Clark continued calmly. “Your friends are hurting as well, which is why they need you,” he pointed at Sunset, who suddenly looked taken aback, “now, more than ever! This friendship of yours is worth fighting for! Don’t let this ordeal stop you from trying to win them back!”

“They don’t want me back!” Sunset spat. She was tired of this stranger spouting random nonsense about a situation he knew nothing about, no matter how much it looked like he did. “They said what they meant, and it’s not worth it anymore! Nobody would care if I had jumped in that lake!” She pointed out the window towards the park. “No one would care if I were dead!”

“Hey now,” Clark said, now looking worried, “you shouldn’t say stuff like that! I won’t get my wings with that attitude.”

“Well it’s true!” Sunset retorted. “Everyone would just move on like nothing happened, the whole Anon-a-Miss thing would end, and my so-called friends wouldn’t even care.”

“Sunset-”

“Just leave me alone, will you!?”

Silence passed over the booth yet again, with the only sounds coming from outside. Clark didn’t say anything, but looked disappointed. Sunset didn’t care though. She said what she meant, and nothing was going to change her mind. Looking for something else to do, Sunset took another sip of her hot chocolate, which had turned lukewarm during the argument. Meanwhile, Clark sighed, leaned back in his seat, and looked away with a hand under his chin, as if in deep thought. When he spoke again, he was almost whispering and wasn’t even addressing Sunset. It looked like he was talking to himself. Just barely, Sunset could hear what he was mumbling.

“This is gonna be harder than I thought.” There was a slight pause, and then Clark looked up toward the ceiling and said, “What do you think I should do?” Another pause. “You think that could work?” He glanced at Sunset, who was looking back with both eyebrows raised in confusion. “Hmmm…”

Sunset, feeling a little bit awkward, looked back out the window. How much time had passed since her suicidal revolation? It seemed like so long ago. Sunset started thinking about the others again. Could it be that Clark really did have a point? She had said before how her friends were like family now, and a life without them in it was not worth living. Should she be fighting to earn back their trust? But then another thought crept in. There was nothing to earn back! She did nothing wrong, and yet they were treating her like a criminal! Like every good thing before didn’t even happen! No, she firmly thought. Extreme situation or not, they should’ve known that she wouldn’t do something like this.

“So,” Clark’s voice had snapped Sunset out of her train of thought, and she looked back at him. “You really think no one would care if you just killed yourself? That your friends wouldn’t bat an eye at it?”

“Did I stutter?” Sunset asked, realizing too late that she sounded rather rude, but at this point, she didn’t care much. “Yes! You want me to make it official? Fine! I wish I had jumped in that lake! I wish I was dead!”

She expected Clark to look startled that she would say something so bold, but the most he did was take a deep breath and stand up slowly.

“Well alright then,” he said, and before Sunset could even begin to think of a response, Clark clapped his hands together once. Strangely enough, the sound seemed to echo all around them, as if they were in an empty church. Everything went quiet for a few seconds, and then the surrounding sounds returned. Sunset, while curious about Clark’s actions, didn’t seem to register the oddity of what had just happened.

“What was that?” she asked.

“You got your wish,” Clark responded nonchalantly. “You’re dead.”

Ok, Sunset thought, this guy was off his rocker. Did he really think that he could just clap his hands and grant her wish? Did this guy think himself a genie? Smirking slightly, Sunset scoffed, “Is that so? Then tell me, Mr. Angel, why am I still here?”

“Well your spirit may still be here,” Clark said calmly, “but your body is frozen at the bottom of that lake. Right now, you’re nothing more than a ghost.”

That was enough for Sunset. Chuckling humorlessly, she sat up. “Ok, well this has been quite the experience, but I think it’s time to get back to the real world, where real things happen. So I’ll just finish my hot cho-” Sunset looked down at the table, but found that her mug had vanished. The coaster was gone too. In fact, it looked like no one had touched the table at all.

Hey!” Sunset snapped. “Where did my drink go?” She glanced back up at Clark, assuming he had taken it, but he just looked at her with an unchanged expression. Sunset couldn’t help that his mug was gone too.

“You didn’t order any hot chocolate.” Clark replied.

“Yes I did!” Sunset snapped again. “You think I wouldn’t know what I did and didn’t do?” She then angrily stood up and, seeing an approaching waiter, waved him down. “Hey, did someone pick up my drink?” Strangely enough, even though he was only a few feet from her, the waiter didn’t acknowledge her. He didn’t even look at her. Getting more and more frustrated, Sunset stepped right into the guy’s path. “Hey! I’m talking to-”

But whatever Sunset was going to say was lost as the waiter walked right up to her, and then through her! Sunset gasped and looked around just as the guy passed through her and carried on, as if she wasn’t even there. But she had to be there, right? She was standing right in the middle of the diner, clear as day. Starting to panic, Sunset went to the next booth, where a couple was talking and laughing, and shouted, “EXCUSE ME!”

No response. Sunset reached out to grab the lady’s arm, but her hand just phased through it. She started swiping at the arm, but she might as well have been trying to grab air. All the while, Clark watched her calmly, and when Sunset gave up on getting their attention, he spoke again.

“You’re dead, Sunset. They can’t see, hear, or touch you. You’re just a spirit.”

Backing away from the booth, Sunset felt like she was starting to hyperventilate. All of the evidence was leaning towards Clark being right; she was actually dead.

“No!” she said in a cracked voice more to herself than Clark. “No, this is just a dream! I gotta wake up!” In a desperate act, Sunset pinched her arm, but no pain came to her. “C’mon, wake up!” She started to slap herself, but once again, she felt no pain. No matter what she tried to hurt herself, she didn’t feel anything. Instinctively, she reached up to where the rock had hit her head, but there was no pain and no signs of blood. Still desperate, Sunset tried to think of an excuse, but nothing came to her. No person could pull off a trick like this, she wasn’t hallucinating, and she definitely wasn’t dreaming. That only left one alternative. Slowly, eyes wide with shock, Sunset turned back to Clark, who was still watching her as still as could be.

“Who are you?” she asked nervously.

“I keep telling you, Sunset,” Clark repeated. “I’m your guardian angel. I was sent down here to talk you out of suicide and remind you of how much you’re still needed and that your friendships are worth fighting for. You didn’t listen to me the first time, so I’m showing you what your world would be like if you had killed yourself.”

There was a short moment of silence as Sunset took in what Clark had just said. He had said it before, but Sunset didn’t have any reason to believe he wasn’t crazy. Now however? She was slowly being forced to think otherwise.

Taking a couple slow, calming breaths, Sunset said, “O-ok. Let’s just say for a minute that I do believe you. What happens now?”

“Now?” Clark said, a small smile stretching across his face. “Now we check out the world around us. Your school, your friends, and what they’re up to.” He stood up and walked over to Sunset’s side. “Let’s see just how your death has affected everyone around you.”

“Do we, like, wait?” Sunset asked.

Clark hummed softly then shook his head. “Seems like a time-waster. Might be best if we just skip ahead a bit.”

Then, without any warning, Clark clapped his hands again, and everything started to spin. The diner disappeared, and Sunset and Clark were enveloped by speeding colors and sounds.

Hardly Worth It

Sunset whirled around, looking all over as a multitude of colors and sounds spun around them. It was enough to make Sunset dizzy. Then, as abruptly as it had started, it was done. The world was put back into place, and Sunset felt cool pavement beneath her feet.

“Whoa! What was-” Sunset stammered. Clark pointed in front of them, and Sunset turned to see a very familiar building. “It’s Canterlot High!”

“Yep,” Clark nodded with a smile. “This is the day after you killed yourself.” Sunset just stood in place, marveling at the fact that technically, she just time traveled. She first thought that her friends would never believe this, before remembering that she didn’t have friends anymore.

“Shall we go in?” Clark asked, which snapped Sunset back to the present. Nodding, Sunset led the way up the steps to the front doors. Sunset started to reach for the handles, but then remembered that she couldn’t touch anything. Realizing how weird this would feel, Sunset just continued to walk forward, half-expecting to slam into the doors, but passed through them as if they weren’t there.

“That might take some getting used to,” Sunset said to Clark.

“That’s what they all say the first time around,” Clark chuckled as Sunset fixed her gaze on the hallways of her school.

From first glance, it looked like nothing was really different from the day before. If this really was the day after her suicide, it looked like no one knew what had happened yet, or may they just didn’t care. To any outside person, it would seem to be just another normal day at school, but Sunset knew better. As she started down the hall, she caught glimpses of students angrily looking at their phones, mouthing what could only be curses to Anon-a-Miss, or who they thought was Anon-a-Miss. Sunset never really noticed how, lately, Canterlot High had turned into a place of distrust and anger. She had been feeling so sorry for herself that she couldn’t see that her fellow students were suffering as well. Everywhere she turned, Sunset saw long-time friends at each other's throats. Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon, Vinyl Scratch and Octavia, even Lyra and Bon Bon were being driven apart. All thanks to Anon-a-Miss. The thought made Sunset boil with anger, and then even more when she remembered that all these people still thought it was her who was doing this.

“So,” Clark said as he casually looked around at the spreading hatred, “where would your friends be at this time?”

Sunset winced at the word friends, but chose to ignore it. She looked at the clock on the wall, which showed 12:32.

“We all normally have lunch during this period,” Sunset answered.

“To the cafeteria then?”

Sunset nodded, and led the way to lunch, though she wasn’t sure why. The last faces she wanted to see were her so-called friends. Soon, much sooner than she wanted, they arrived at the bustling cafeteria. It didn’t take long for Sunset to spot Fluttershy sitting at a table to the far edge of the room. Groaning slightly, Sunset trudged over to the table. As they got closer, Sunset saw that Fluttershy wasn’t eating, but just poking her food around, her cheek resting on her hand, as she sighed miserably. Sunset would’ve felt bad for her under normal circumstances. She didn’t have long to dwell on this lack of sympathy as she looked up in time to see an equally-miserable Rainbow Dash coming up to the table and taking the seat next to Fluttershy.

“Hey, Flutters,” Rainbow greeted softly. Fluttershy stopped playing with her food and smiled joylessly at her friend. “You see the latest in gossip?”

“Unfortunately,” Fluttershy responded, glancing at her phone. Sunset took the opportunity to move behind Fluttershy and stare down at the phone. Sure enough, MyStable was open with a post from Anon-a-Miss reading, Make sure to ask Fluttershy about her extensions. What a loser!

“You get teased much for it?” Rainbow asked sympathetically.

“Just a few people mentioned it,” Fluttershy said. “Then again, it only came out 10 minutes ago. Still plenty of time.”

Rainbow sighed and looked sorrowfully at her tray. “What’s happening to this place? Ever since this Anon-a-Miss mess started, everyone’s been on edge. It’s like it was back when Sunset was still ev-”

Suddenly looking nervous, Rainbow glanced at Fluttershy, who showed no signs of anger at the mention of Sunset, but instead looked even more glum. An awkward silence fell between the two before Fluttershy spoke up, and she sounded hesitant.

“Rainbow, do you really think that Sunset’s Anon-a-Miss?”

Sunset’s eyes widened with anticipation as she looked for Rainbow’s reply. She was almost expecting her to snap at Fluttershy, saying “Of course it’s her! No mistaking it!” To her surprise however, Rainbow just sighed and fiddled with her food.

“I...don’t know,” she finally said solemnly. “I don’t want to believe it’s her, but if it’s not her, then who could it be?”

This answer was not one that Sunset wanted to hear. In fact, Rainbow’s words seemed to reignite the anger within. Rainbow seemed pretty sure of Sunset’s guilt when she was calling her a traitor. If she really wasn’t sure of Sunset’s guilt, then why didn’t she give her the benefit of the doubt like a real friend would’ve done? Because she didn’t see Sunset as a real friend, and maybe she never had.

“I know what you mean,” Fluttershy nodded. “I just...have this nagging feeling that we may have been too hard on her.”

“Hard?!” said a familiar voice. Rainbow, Fluttershy, and Sunset turned around in time to see Applejack, followed closely by Rarity and Pinkie, make their way up to the table and sit down. Applejack had an almost affronted look on her face. “You defendin’ that no-good snake, Fluttershy?”

There was the kick in the heart Sunset was waiting for. Leave it to Applejack to ignore the honest truth when she was the victim. Rarity and Pinkie didn’t say anything, but eyed Fluttershy, who straightened up almost immediately.

“N-no,” Fluttershy squeaked. “T-there’s no denying that what she did was wrong-”

“Darn tootin’!” Applejack interjected.

“But,” Fluttershy continued, “don’t any of you think that there’s a possibility that we may have overreacted?” When Applejack’s eyes narrowed menacingly, Fluttershy quivered, but carried on. “I-I-I’m just saying t-that Sunset was our friend, and we didn’t even g-give her a chance to explain why she-”

“What’s there to explain?” Applejack snapped, making Fluttershy cower a bit. “She had us fooled this whole time!”

“Now wait a minute,” Rarity chimed in. “Was she fooling us when she helped us stop the Dazzlings? Were all those outings and sleepovers just part of her scheme?”

“She’s a really good actress,” Applejack retorted stubbornly. Rarity shook her head.

“I don’t think so. I think maybe Fluttershy has a point. There must’ve been a reason she went back to her bullying ways.”

Another silence surrounded the table as the girls looked at each other thoughtfully. Each one was most likely thinking the same thing. Sunset glanced from one girl to another and gave an irritated huff.

“How about that,” Clark said from behind Sunset, who had completely forgotten he was there.

“How about what?” she asked.

“For friends who you claim don’t want anything to do with you, they seem to be talking about nothing but you.”

Sunset scoffed and turned to Clark. “Just to say how guilty I am! They haven’t changed their minds at all!”

“And yet there are some doubts about your guilt now,” Clark responded, pointing to the six, still silent, but no doubt deep in thought. Sunset, however, was not swayed.

“If they had doubts this whole time,” she muttered scornfully, “then they should’ve realized that from the beginning.” Clark didn’t say anything, but turned his attention back to the Rainbooms, so Sunset did the same.

After a few more minutes of silence, Pinkie, who was being uncharacteristically quiet, spoke up. “Has anyone seen Sunset today?”

“Not a lick,” Applejack grumbled. “We share a math class, and she wasn’t there.” Then she added under her breath, “Probably doing her snooping in peace.”

“Well,” Pinkie continued, “maybe when she sees just how much pain she’s causing, she’ll come to her senses and stop.” The others looked curiously at their pink friend.

“You think she’ll just stop like that?” Rainbow asked.

“Who knows?” Pinkie shrugged. “Maybe all the good memories she had with us will make her realize how good she had it.”

Another moment of silence passed around the table before Rarity chimed in. “I suppose we can only hope at this point.” Pinkie, Rainbow, and Fluttershy nodded in agreement. All eyes then turned back to Applejack, who was still looking defiant. After looking at everyone’s pleading eyes, she sighed in defeat.

“Fine,” she said bitterly, “but I wouldn’t get my hopes up.” After that, the Rainbooms finally started on their lunches in silence.

“I think that’s enough for this day,” Clark said.

Before Sunset could ask what was going to happen next, Clark clapped his hands, and once again, the world was spinning before Sunset, who tried to stand firmly in place with the hopes of not getting as dizzy this time. Then, just like that, it was over. As the world reassembled, Sunset shook her head and looked around. Surprisingly enough though, they were still in the cafeteria. Sunset looked to Clark for clarification, and he smiled softly.

“It’s now been three days since your suicide.”

Sunset looked around. It certainly looked like not a lot of time had passed. Everyone was still just as glued to their phones and bitter-sounding as before. Looking at the table, Sunset saw, once again, the Rainbooms were seated around it. She would’ve almost thought that it was the same day, except for the fact that they were not in the same seats as before. Like the rest of the school, they too were glued to their phones, and looked just as miserable.

“Still no signs of her?” Rainbow asked, looking up at the others, who all shook their heads. Rainbow let out a long sigh.

“I don’t get it,” Rarity said, placing her cheek in her hand. “How is she able to keep posting secrets every day if she isn’t even here to get them?”

“Mah guess is she has inside help,” Applejack replied grumpily. “For all we know, she has spies all around the school sending her secrets.” She then looked around the cafeteria with a scowl, as if sniffing out any traitors. “It could literally be any one of-”

“Don’t say that!” Fluttershy snapped. Everyone, including Sunset, jumped at the sudden outburst. Fluttershy’s eyes were wide, and though her tone sounded angry, she looked like she was about to cry. “We can’t start turning against each other! If we start suspecting everyone we see, then who can we trust? We have to stick together, like with the Battle of the Bands!”

At once, Fluttershy went silent, her eyes starting to glisten with tears, and she hung her head. Everyone else went silent as well, for they were all thinking the same thing. It was Sunset who encouraged them to stick together during the Battle of the Bands when they were at each other's throats. It was because of her words that helped them find the power to defeat the Dazzlings. It almost seemed like history was repeating itself. Sunset watched the girls with belated breath. Dare she think that they were rethinking their suspicions? Were they realizing that Sunset couldn’t be Anon-a-Miss? Before Sunset could raise her hopes, Applejack broke the silence.

“Yer right, Fluttershy. We have to stick together and not dwell on Sunset’s betrayal.”

All of the hopes that Sunset was feeling were destroyed in that one sentence. She should have known it was too good to be true. She glared at the others, waiting for them to agree with Applejack, but while Rainbow smiled slightly, the others still looked unsure.

Pinkie suddenly cleared her throat, and all eyes turned to her.

“I…um…” she stammered. It looked like she wanted to say something big, but wasn’t sure how the others would take it. “I know you guys don’t want to hear me say this, but I can’t hide it any longer.”After a few more seconds, she took a deep breath and said very quickly, “I miss having Sunset around.”

The others gaped at their pink friend, as if she had lost her mind. Even Sunset’s mouth had dropped slightly. Looking at her friends’ reactions, she continued. “I mean, I know she posted our secrets, and we told her we don’t want to see her again, but I miss having her as a friend. You can’t deny that it was great to have her with us.”

“Aw, come on, Pinkie!” Applejack said sternly. “She’s a lyin’ snake who-”

“I miss her too.” Rarity added. All eyes now turned to her. Applejack’s mouth stood agape mid-sentence, but Rarity stood her ground. “The times we all shared after the Battle of the Bands were the best memories I’ve had in a long time. She was a good friend, and it just makes me sad to be avoiding her, even if she did go back to her old ways.”

Fluttershy and Rainbow looked at each other, and their eyes said everything. They felt the same way. Applejack, on the other hand, pounded a fist on the table, drawing the other’s attention.

“Ya’ll are crazy!” she spat. “Ah don’ care what fond memories we had! Ah trusted- ah mean, we trusted her, and she threw it back in our faces! Ah don’ care if ah never see her again!” She then crossed her arms and looked away from the table, her face set. Sunset had the sudden urge to slap the cowgirl until she could see how stupid she was being, but then she remembered that she couldn’t touch anyone.

Fluttershy suddenly straightened up and glared at Applejack, who didn’t look back. “Well the rest of us do care! And you can lie to yourself all you want, but I know the truth! You miss her just as much as we do!”

Applejack’s head whipped back around as she scowled at Fluttershy. “What?! That’s ridiculous! Ah don’-”

“You don’t miss how she helped your family with the harvest when Big Mac broke his leg?” Fluttershy asked with a raised eyebrow. “How, because of your teamwork, you two were able to beat the rest of us at that Corn Maze Race? Or how she gave you the money to repair your broken bass?” Applejack’s eyes suddenly started to soften as she started to think back on those fond memories.

“Well,” she said hesitantly. “Ah mean-”

“Remember the time at Sugarcube Corner,” Pinkie chimed in, “and she made Rarity laugh so hard that milkshake shot out of her nose?” This memory made everyone, even Applejack, start to chuckle reminiscently.

“And then she helped me pick out a new outfit,” Rarity added with a small smile.

“How about all of those days spent down at the lake?” Rainbow said with a chuckle. The atmosphere at the table had suddenly changed as the Rainbooms sat with smiles on their faces, silently remembering all of the good times spent with Sunset. Sunset, who hadn’t taken their eyes off them, couldn’t help but feel frustrated, despite the situation. How could they casually remember all the good that she did, and still think that she was Anon-a-Miss? It just didn’t make sense to her, and because of that, she still felt a lingering anger towards the five girls she once called friends.

After a while, the Rainbooms looked at each other again, and, slowly, each of their smiles faded as realization kicked in.

“We can’t just do nothing anymore!” Rainbow said suddenly. “We have to do something!”

“Well,” Rarity said thoughtfully, “we could have an intervention with Sunset.”

“You wanna give her a shot?” Pinkie asked confusedly.

“Not injection, Pinkie,” Rarity sighed. “Intervention! We go to Sunset’s house, and talk to her about why she should stop this Anon-a-Miss business and say how much we miss her friendship.”

“That’s not a bad idea,” Fluttershy nodded approvingly. “We could personally remind her of the good times we had together. Maybe seeing us will remind her how much better it was before and we could shut down Anon-a-Miss once and for all!”

Around the table, each of the girls sounded their approval. All except Applejack, who, despite having a softer expression, still looked unsure. But as she looked at her friends’ hopeful faces, she sighed and smiled.

“Ok, Ah’m in,” she said. “When should we do it?”

“I say let’s give Sunset one more day to come to her senses on her own,” Rarity answered. “Then, if by after school tomorrow the rumors still haven’t stopped, then we go at dusk.”

“Agreed,” the others said together with a nod.

As the Rainbooms sat down and finally started on their lunches, Sunset continued to stare at them, unsure about how to feel. She only snapped out of her thoughts when Clark spoke up beside her.

“Now do you see, Sunset?”

Sunset sharply turned to him with a scowl. “See what? That they still think I’m Anon-a-Miss?”

“Oh come now, Sunset!” Clark said imploringly. “They said how much they miss you. They showed that they want you back in their lives. They are willing to go so far as to try and persuade you to stop with the cyberbullying and be their friend again.”

“BUT I’M NOT-”

“Let’s just pretend for a moment that you were Anon-a-Miss,” Clark quickly remarked, raising his hands slightly to calm a fuming Sunset. “Wouldn’t you feel touched knowing that the Rainbooms were missing your company, and wanting to get you back on their side?”

Sunset paused and relaxed her anger for a moment. Her mind didn’t automatically go to an alternate life where she was Anon-a-Miss, but she did suddenly remember how she was before the Fall Formal incident. No matter how she wrapped her mind around it, she couldn’t hide the lingering fact that “Sunset the Bully” would’ve been happy knowing that five people whom she had done wrong wanted her to be their friend.

“You had said before that everyone would be better if you ended your life,” Clark continued, “but from what I’ve seen, what we’ve seen, that just isn’t the case.” He then gestured to the Rainbooms, now eating in silence. “You’ve made more of an impact on your friends than even you care to admit. The greatest of friendships can overcome almost anything, even if it doesn’t look like it at the time. And it looks like your bond with these five is stronger than you think.”

A feeling of doubt washed over Sunset like hot water. Could it really be true? Could she have been wrong about the girls’ feelings towards her? Just as she thought this though, the memory of how they talked to her, how they treated her when they first accused her filled her mind.

“How could you do that to us?!”

“Never talk to us again, snake!”

Immediately, the warm feelings iced over, and Sunset stiffened her expression again.

“If they really do feel this way,” she muttered, “then why didn’t they believe me from the start? Even after I begged them to believe me.”

“Like I said before,” Clark answered, “they were hurting and were thinking with their emotions. I’m not condoning how they acted, but even the best of humans had let their feelings control their actions. Remember what I said before?” Sunset’s head cocked slightly in Clark’s direction as he spoke. “Extreme emotions lead to extreme reactions. It happens to everyone at some point. Why do you think Anon-a-Miss is doing what they’re-”

Sunset nearly cracked her neck as her head whipped around to look at Clark, who had instantly shut his mouth and was looking more worried than he had since Sunset had met him.

“What did you say?” she asked with widened eyes. At once, Clark started to look everywhere except at Sunset.

“I-I-I didn’t say anything!” he stuttered. “Forget it.” Sunset wasn’t buying it as she got right up in his face, hers lit with the need to know.

“Are you saying you know who Anon-a-Miss is?”

“D-did I say that?” Clark said nervously, “I don’t think I-”

Clark was instantly pulled forward by the scruff of his collar by Sunset, who was inches from him.

“Clark, who is it?” she asked.

“I-I’m not supposed to tell you!” Clark replied.

“Clark, please!” Sunset begged as she pulled Clark closer. “I need to know! I need to know who’s been framing me! Please!”

“You’re not gonna like it, Sunset.”

“Who is it, Clark?”

Clark stared at the desperate look in Sunset’s eyes for a few seconds, and then groaned miserably, “Oh I’m gonna get in so much trouble.” Then, without another word, he clapped his hands, and the school disappeared. Sunset was ready this time as she mounted her feet firmly on the ground, or what used to be the ground, and didn’t move until the world reassembled itself. Once she knew it was safe, she looked around. Clark had moved them to a house, and it was a house Sunset knew rather well.

“This is…” Sunset mouthed as she let go of Clark, “this is Applejack’s house.” From the look of it, they were in the upstairs hallway of the Apples’ house. She looked back at Clark. “Why are we here?”

Clark, looking gloomy, pointed towards a door to the right. Sunset knew this one too. It was Apple Bloom’s room, and voices could be heard from inside. A horrible realization hit Sunset like a bag of marbles to the stomach. Fearing what she might see, and praying that she was wrong, she walked through the door. When she appeared on the other side and looked towards the far end of the room, Sunset felt her insides turn to lead.

There was Apple Bloom, along with her friend Sweetie Belle, typing away on the computer, and the screen was showing the MyStable homepage of Anon-a-Miss. Shaking from both disbelief and anger, Sunset got closer, and saw the profile picture of Sunset’s silhouette, as if they wanted to make sure it looked like her account. Looking closer at the page, Sunset saw a photo of Micro Chips, clearly not noticing the camera, in an empty storage room, sword fighting nobody using a broom handle. In the caption box below, Apple Bloom was typing, Hey look, everyone! It’s the Return of the Dork!

“Good tagline, AB!” Sweetie giggled.

“Thanks,” Apple Bloom beamed proudly. “Ah just came up with it.”

Sunset couldn’t believe what she was seeing. She knew that Apple Bloom didn’t trust her after the Fall Formal, but she had thought that after the Battle of the Bands, Apple Bloom had warmed up to her. And yet here she was; posting secrets online and making it look like it was her. And Sweetie Belle was happily helping. Sunset was about to wonder if Scootaloo knew about this, but her wonders were immediately put to rest as the door opened, making all three of the girls whip around.

“Scootaloo!” Apple Bloom gasped, her eyes looking worried for a second. “How many times do we have to tell you to use the secret knock?”

“Sorry,” Scootaloo said sheepishly. “I was in a hurry.”

“Does that mean you got some new stuff for us?” Sweetie asked.

“And how!” Scootaloo replied as she put down her backpack and pulled out her phone. “I got a photo of Sandalwood kissing Sweetie Drops-”

“Isn’t she supposed to be dating Lyra?” Sweetie interrupted, suddenly looking scandalized.

“Yep,” Scootaloo continued, “and I got from an anonymous tip that Diamond Tiara is a bra-stuffer!”

“Oooh!” Apple Bloom piped in, obviously reveling in the gossip. “I’ve been looking to stick it to that stuck-up bimbo for some time now!” Shen then turned back around and clicked the post button, making Micro Chip’s secret go public.

As Sunset looked between the three girls, she just couldn’t understand why they were enjoying this so much. Not only hurting herself, but hurting innocent students in the process, including, Sunset’s insides leadened again, their own sisters! What had Sunset done to them that caused them to hurt their family just to get at her? After a few minutes, Sweetie Belle spoke up, and her voice wasn’t as happy as before.

“Hey, do you guys think we’ve taken this far enough?” The other two, who were busy with the computer, wheeled around to look waringly at their friend. Sweetie, who went red, carried on. “I mean, we did what we wanted to do. Our sisters aren’t hanging out with Sunset anymore. Shouldn’t we stop before getting too deep?”

“It may seem like we won fer now,” Apple Bloom said as she straightened in her chair, “but what about down the road? What if our sisters try to get Sunset back, and then we’re back where we started. Ah happened to hear AJ talkin’ with the others today reminiscin’ about that sister-stealin’ she-demon!” Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo’s eyes widened and their mouths opened in shock. Apple Bloom nodded. “Ah know! Which is why we need to make it so that Sunset is so far into the hole, that our sisters won’ even want her back!”

“AB’s right, Sweetie!” Scootaloo chimed in. “Sunset started this, and we’re just ending it. It’s what she deserves.” When Sweetie Belle still looked unsure, Scootaloo continued, “C’mon, Sweetie! You hated Rarity hanging out with Sunset just as much as us with Applejack and Rainbow! What’s with the sudden cold feet?”

Sweetie Belle looked down at her feet when she spoke up again, sounding hesitant. “Well, I just feel kinda bad that we’re practically betraying the whole school. It’s bad enough that I did that to my own sister. And if they find out-”

“They’re not gonna find out!” Apple Bloom interrupted. “We’ve taken every measure to make sure all suspicions lead to Sunset.”

Another patch of silence filled the room as Sweetie just nodded and didn’t look up from her feet. All the while, Sunset followed the conversation with a rising anger at the three girls before her. They were doing all of this because she, Sunset, was hanging out with their sisters too much? How long had they been planning this? And more importantly, did they even consider how much they would be hurting not just her, but the others as well? It was because of them that the entire school had turned against her. It was because of them that she had almost jumped off a bridge! At that moment, Sunset hated the CMC more than the Rainbooms. Then again, came a thought in the back of Sunset’s mind, isn’t this what she would’ve done when she was still a bully? Didn’t she try to blackmail Flash after he had dumped her? No, Sunset thought, this is completely different! Wasn’t it?

Looking back at the scene, Sunset saw that Apple Bloom and Scootaloo’s expressions had softened slightly at the sight of Sweetie Belle’s continued concern. Apple Bloom sighed, walked over to Sweetie, and placed a hand on her shoulder. Sweetie looked up at the touch.

“Ah get it,” she said sympathetically. “Ah don’ like doing this to AJ either. So how about this; we keep this up for one more week. That should be enough time to get our sisters back permanently. Then, we’ll delete the Anon-a-Miss page and everything associated with it. It’ll be like it never happened.” Sweetie Belle seemed to cheer up a bit at these words.

“You mean it?” she asked.

“Absolutely,” Apple Bloom replied with a smile. The two turned to Scootaloo, who nodded.

“Agreed,” she said. The three then put their hands together in the middle and raised them (a typical CMC gesture), and turned back to the computer screen. Sunset blinked stupidly and then turned to Clark, who was still looking rather guilty. She opened her mouth, but no words came to her (or at least, no words that were appropriate in front of an angel), so she closed it. Clark seemed to get the gist though and nodded. This helped Sunset find her voice.

“Jealousy?” was all she could say. “That’s where this cyberbullying is stemming from?”

“I’m afraid so,” Clark sighed. “Like I said,” he gestured towards the CMC, “extreme emotion, extreme reaction.”

Sunset couldn’t help but start to feel that Clark had a point. For as long as she had known Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo, she never saw a desire to humiliate others in any of them. Apple Bloom, helpful and sweet, Sweetie Belle, caring and empathetic, and Scootaloo, loyal and always ready to defend someone in need. They seemed so genuine after the Battle of the Bands, wanting to be better friends to her. The only way Sunset could see them doing something so drastic was a powerful motivator. And the more she thought about it, the more Sunset could see a parallel with how the Rainbooms had acted. She could’ve never have seen them going against their elements so hastily if not for…

“Let’s move on, shall we?” Clark said abruptly. “Hang on.”

Sunset had only a second to brace herself as Clark clapped his hands again, and the scene sped away in a blur of color. In a few seconds, they stopped once again.

Might Be Worth It

The first thing Sunset noticed as she looked around was the new location. They were standing on the sidewalk outside a building that Sunset soon recognized.

“My apartment?” she asked, turning to Clark. “When is this? Why here?”

“It’s been four whole days since your suicide,” Clark answered calmly. “As for why, well, we’re about to find out.” He then pointed down the street and Sunset’s gaze followed his finger until it landed upon 5 oncoming girls Sunset had no problem recognizing, even at her distance. As the Rainbooms got closer, Sunset started hearing some of what they were saying. Remembering that they wouldn’t be seeing her eavesdrop anyway, she ran up to them slightly huddled together as they walked.

“Now, we all know what we’re gonna say?” Rarity asked in a business-like tone.

The others nodded and Pinkie replied, “Yep. Got it written down right here.” She then pulled out a folded piece of notebook paper to show the others. Sunset looked over Pinkie’s shoulder and saw phrases like, “All the good times,” and, “How much we miss you.” Sunset quickly realized that it was an intervention letter. So the girls had carried out what they said they’d do yesterday.

“And we’re going to be friendly, but stern with her,” Fluttershy added before looking at Applejack and Rainbow Dash with narrowed eyes. “Right?”

“Right,” Applejack and Rainbow said together with a small nod.

The girls stopped outside Sunset’s apartment, which was as dark as Sunset had left it four days ago, or however long it had been for her. All of this time traveling was starting to mess with Sunset’s mind. Taking a deep breath, Rarity stepped forward and knocked loudly, but casually on the door.

“Sunset?” she called out. “Are you in there? It’s Rarity. The others are here too.” No answer. Sunset knew there wouldn’t be. After a second, Rainbow stepped forward and knocked louder.

“Hey, Sunset! We’re not here to yell at you. We just wanna talk. Please open up!” Still nothing. Sunset sighed slightly. They still had no idea what had happened.

After another minute of silence, Rainbow turned to the others. “I guess she’s not home. Should we try again tomorrow?”

“Maybe right after school too,” Pinkie nodded. The others muttered their agreement and started to leave. All except for Fluttershy, who was staring up and down the building with a thoughtful look in her eyes. It didn’t take long for the Rainbooms to realize their soft-spoken friend wasn’t with them and quickly ventured back.

“What’s up, Flutters?” asked Applejack.

“Something’s not right,” Fluttershy responded quietly, not taking her eyes off of Sunset’s front door. The Rainbooms looked at each other concernedly.

“What do you mean, darling?” Rarity inquired.

“I mean something seems…off about this,” Fluttershy repeated, and Sunset noticed that she looked worried. She then walked forward and tugged at the door, no doubt seeing if it was locked. As she did this, Sunset remembered that she didn’t lock the door when she left. After all, she was not feeling much of anything at the time. Sure enough, the door swung open, and Fluttershy looked back at the others with concern in her eyes.

“Why would she leave her door unlocked if she wasn’t home?” she asked. When the Rainbooms didn’t respond, Fluttershy turned back around and ventured in. The others quickly followed. Trailing behind them, Sunset caught a glimpse of the darkness before Pinkie flicked the switch on the wall. The apartment immediately filled with light, and yet, the place wasn’t that pleasant to look at. The place was just as Sunset left it, and from the look of it, a small layer of dust had formed in the four days it had been empty. Rarity noticed this too as she ran a finger across the surface of the coffee table. Her nose scrunched in disgust as the rest of the girls looked around in every room. After a bit, they all convened back in the middle of the room, all except Fluttershy, who was looking around her bed.

“It doesn’t look like anyone’s been here for a while,” Applejack said, now sharing Fluttershy’s concern.

“Do you think maybe Sunset left Canterlot?” Rainbow asked.

“And leave all of her clothes and game system behind?” Rarity retorted, pointing at the TV where Sunset’s favorite game system was sitting underneath. Another remembrance came to Sunset; she had been trying to play games to get her mind off of everything before she left. The controllers were still out on the coffee table. Fluttershy soon joined the others with something familiar clutched in her arms.

“She left Twilight’s journal here,” she said softly. “She wouldn’t have left that behind, would she?”

“What do you think, Pinkie?” Rainbow asked, but when she turned to her side, Pinkie wasn’t there. “Pinkie?”

It turns out that Pinkie was staring, unusually quiet, out the window. Her face was pressed up against the glass, and her face was turned to look up the street. When her name was called, she jumped slightly and turned back to the girls with worried eyes.

“I just saw a whole bunch of ambulances up the street,” she said, no trace of the usual Pinkie pep in her voice. “It looks like they’re all by the park entrance.”

At that moment, Sunset felt a sinking feeling in her stomach. Did someone finally find her body at the lake? She looked back at the girls, who now all looked worried.

“Was there a wreck?” Applejack wondered aloud. “Maybe someone got hit!”

“Whatever it was,” Rainbow chimed in, “I wanna check it out! C’mon!” The others nodded and followed Rainbow out the door and down the street. Sunset wasted no time in tailing right behind them. This was the moment; she knew it. Here, they would discover what had happened. But the big question that was swimming in her mind was how would they react? Sunset’s nerves were racing as the girls stopped right across from the little cafe where Sunset had made her wish; where this all started. Sure enough, at least three ambulances’ lights were shining up the snow-filled night, and some people around had already started to gather, no doubt curious as well. Several paramedics were pushing the people back and away from the scene. Rainbow, being more brash than others, led the girls right up to the nearest paramedic.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa!” he said hastily, putting out his arms. “You can’t get any closer, girls. Not until we’re cleared out.”

“What happened here?” Rainbow asked.

“We got a call about someone finding a body at the bottom of the lake up near the trail,” the paramedic answered gloomily.

Pinkie and Fluttershy gasped and cupped a hand over their mouths, Applejack and Rainbow’s mouth fell open in shock, and Rarity croaked, “That’s awful!”

“No kidding,” the medic nodded. “We don’t know much more than that. The others should be down with the body soon, and then we’ll- Oh here they come. Alright, girls, step back a bit.”

As they backed up, the Rainbooms, as well as Sunset, looked up toward the park entrance to see two more medics coming down the path with a blanketed body on a stretcher. As they got closer, the girls could hear their conversation.

“Poor girl,” the older one grunted with a shake of his head. “Who knows how long she’s been in that lake. Must’ve been a few days at least.”

“Yeah,” replied the younger medic. “If that couple hadn’t been walking by the lake, she might’ve been there until after Christmas!”

“Oh how horrible,” Fluttershy whimpered as the medics got closer to them. “I can’t imagine finding a dead body. I’d probably pass out.” The others nodded.

Sunset’s heart was now racing. Her body was completely covered up. Would the Rainbooms never know at that moment that it was her dead body on that stretcher? The medics were getting closer to the ambulance. They were ready to lift it up into the back.

Just then, as if the earth had heard Sunset’s thoughts, a strong wind swept across the area. Sunset, not being alive, felt no effect of it, but everyone around her certainly did. Hats of passing men flew off, the trees around the entrance whipped back, pushing against the breeze, and everyone burrowed their necks deeper into their jackets to block out the cold. But nothing could match what happened with the medics, for as soon as the wind hit the stretcher, the sheet covering the body was blown forward, revealing a cold, blue, lifeless face Sunset knew all too well, for it was hers.

An ear-splitting scream suddenly filled the air, and everyone, including Sunset, flinched. It was a sound that was unfamiliar, for no one had ever heard Rainbow Dash make such a sound. Turning back to the girls, Sunset’s eyes widened as she saw Rainbow looking at the scene with her mouth open, face pale, and her eyes quickly filling with tears. And it wasn’t just her.

“SUNSET!!” Fluttershy and Pinkie wailed nearly as loud as Rainbow, tears also rolling down their faces.

“NO!” Rarity cried out. “NOT SUNSET!”

Applejack said nothing, but ran right past the medic, ignoring his calls of, “Hey! You can’t go up there!” Sunset saw that her eyes were widened, and she too had gone as white as the snow. She was right next to Sunset, when two more medics grabbed her arms and started to pull her away from the ambulance.

“LET GO!” she finally wailed, thrashing around like a wild animal, trying to get loose. Sunset had never seen her lose control like that. “LET ME GO, I SAID!”

“There’s nothing you can do!” the one medic grunted. “She’s been dead for at least-”

“NO!!” Applejack cried. “THAT’S OUR FRIEND! THAT’S OUR FRIEND!” Meanwhile, the other Rainbooms continued to stand where they were, but they too were all crying like Sunset had never seen them cry before. Fluttershy had fallen to her knees with her face in her hands, Pinkie, hair completely flattened, was covering her ears, her head bowed, and Rarity’s arms were wrapped around a weeping Rainbow as she, Rarity, sobbed into her friend’s shoulder. All the while, Applejack continued to fight the medics as tears flew off of her cheeks and she continued to scream, “SUNSET! SUNSET!”

“Now that’s some amazing acting.”

Sunset jumped again and turned around to see Clark, looking at the scene and shaking his head slightly. Once again, she had forgotten that he was even there. The sight of him reacting that way though confused her.

“What?” was all she could say.

“Well,” Clark replied matter-of-factly, “since they clearly don’t care about you anymore, they must be acting, right? You yourself said that they would be much happier if you had died. Then all of those tears they’re shedding must be fake.” He then looked at Sunset with a raised eyebrow. “Right?”

Sunset didn’t say anything, but looked back at the scene. The medics were now loading Sunset’s body into the ambulance, and the medics had finally gotten Applejack back with the others. But the Rainbooms’ sobs continued to echo around the area, and even more so, in Sunset’s mind. But there was something else that came to Sunset’s memory. Applejack had called Sunset her friend! At this point, the girls still thought that she was Anon-a-Miss, but it was like the sight of her dead body had completely washed that thought away, revealing their true feelings towards her. And it was Applejack, the one who seemed most against Sunset, who had said it! It was as if all of the malice Sunset had towards her friends had melted, and she was actually finding the urge to join them and cry with them. And then the realization that she was already dead came back, and the warmth disappeared.

“Hold on,” Clark said calmly, and clapped his hands. This time, the spinning of the world only lasted a few seconds. Sunset had just prepared to brace herself, but it was already over. Looking ahead of her, Sunset saw that she was in Sugarcube Corner now.

“How long?” she asked Clark at once.

“Only an hour later,” he replied.

Sunset was about to ask why, but then the sounds of sniffling and quiet sobbing caught her ear. She turned and saw the Rainbooms seated at a round table in the empty bakery. All of them looked exhausted from crying. Rarity’s cheeks had thick, black streaks on them from where her mascara had run, but she wasn’t doing anything to fix it. Pinkie’s hair was still deflated, and seemed to sag with sorrow. The rest had dark marks under their eyes from crying too long. Sunset immediately got closer and noticed that Fluttershy was reading Sunset’s magical journal, silent tears rolling down her face. After another minute of weeping silence, Rainbow spoke up, and her voice cracked.

“D-do you think someone from school did it?” she asked mournfully. “You know, like as revenge?”

“Ah don’ know,'' Applejack said, wiping her nose with her coat sleeve. “It’s a possibility. She made a lot of people mad.”

“I bet it was that brute, Gilda!” Rarity spat angrily. “She was looking for a reason to get back at Sunset. But-” she sniffed loudly as tears started to form again, “-but Sunset didn’t deserve that!”

“She didn’t deserve it!” came Fluttershy’s cry as she put down the book. Taken aback by her sudden outburst, everyone turned to their usually shy friend and saw that she looked absolutely disheveled, and her eyes were as wide as plates. “She didn’t deserve it because she was NOT Anon-a-Miss!”

A moment of shocked silence passed around the Rainbooms as if they needed time to take in what was just said. Finally, Rainbow spoke up. “W-what do you mean, Fluttershy?”

“I mean,” Fluttershy replied, turning the open journal out towards her friends, “why would someone who wrote For the first time in a long time, with my new friends by my side, I feel like I’ve found my home do what Anon-a-Miss has done?”

The other girls’ mouths instantly fell open, too shocked for words, as Fluttershy continued. “And this entry; My friends have helped me so much, and I will never be able to fully make it up to them! They’ve become more than just my friends. They’re my family, and I believe, beyond the shadow of a doubt, that nothing will ever break us apart!

Sunset was as shocked and speechless as the others. She had forgotten when she wrote that, but now the memory was flooding back into her. That was only a few weeks after the Battle of the Bands. It had been the happiest that she had felt in a long time, and that’s when she was finally able to proudly call the Rainbooms her friends- no! Her family! The memory made Sunset’s throat start to itch with choked-back sobs. Meanwhile, Fluttershy had looked back at the others, and she was crying again, and trembling over what she had to say next.

“Guys, that’s exactly what we did!” she whimpered. “We broke us apart. We broke her. And…” she fought back a fresh wave of tears, “I don’t think someone killed her. I think we broke her to the point of…of…”

There was no need to finish the sentence. As Fluttershy finally collapsed her head into her arms sobbing miserably, the others lowered their heads with realization about what they had done. The only words that could be heard were Rarity’s as she whispered, “It’s our fault.”

BAM!

Every head shot up to attention, and Fluttershy gave a scared little squeak, as Rainbow pounded her fist onto the table. Looking at her, Sunset saw that tears were streaming down her cheeks again as well, but her expression was of anger.

“She begged me to believe her!” she cried through gritted teeth. “She begged me, and I just…abandoned her! I betrayed my element! I betrayed Sunset!”

“We all did, darling!” Rarity wailed, putting an arm around Rainbow. “We were too blinded by anger and embarrassment to see the truth, and now…” she bowed her head, “it’s too late.”

As another wave of sorrowful silence filled the air, only broken by the occasional sobs from Pinkie and Fluttershy, Sunset once again felt the urge to join them. It was Clark’s nudge on her shoulder that broke her out of this thought and she looked at him.

“And keep in mind,” he said knowingly, “just now have they figured out the truth. Seems they were showing much remorse when they still thought you were Anon-a-Miss.” Sunset opened her mouth to respond, but nothing came to her, so she looked back at the Rainbooms, still silent and not looking at each other.

Just then, a small ping sound broke the silence, and Applejack took out her phone. One look at the screen, and her expression changed immensely. Sunset’s eyes widened with shock, for she had never seen Applejack look so furious, not even when she was accusing her of being Anon-a-Miss. Curious, Sunset ran over and peeked at the phone over Applejack’s shoulder. Her eyes grew even wider, for it was another post from Anon-a-Miss, or, in Sunset’s case, the CMC. It was the photo Scootaloo was talking about before; Bon Bon kissing Sandalwood. Below the photo was the caption Looks like Bon Bon has a new Sweetie! Hope Lyra doesn’t mind!

“THAT DOES IT!”

Everyone’s heads perked up again at Applejack’s outburst just in time to see her stand up. Sunset’s first instinct was to step back to avoid hitting the cowgirl, but then, once again, remembered that she was just an observer. Applejack, unaware of Sunset’s presence, shoved her phone back into her pocket, pulled the brim of her hat down lower towards her now fiery eyes, and stomped towards the front doors.

“AJ?” Pinkie called out. “Where are you going?”

When she whipped around to face her friends, Applejack still had tears in her eyes, but was also showing a kind of angry determination. “Ah may not be able to take back what Ah did to Sunset,” she snapped, “but there is somethin’ Ah can do! Anon-a-Miss is still out there somewhere; bullyin’ others online and causing discord an’ strife. Ah’m not gonna stand for it a second longer! Ah’m not gonna sleep a wink until Ah find that snake-in-the-grass and bring her to justice! Ah-” she paused to give a great sniffle, and then finished softer, “Ah owe Sunset that much. An’ don’t you guys try to stop me either!”

“Who said anything about stopping you?!” Rainbow said boldly, springing to her feet. “I’m with you 100%, AJ!”

“Me too!” Pinkie nodded, standing and looking determined.

“Here, here!” Rarity said, following everyone else on their feet.

“Yeah!” Fluttershy sniffled loudly, standing with the others and with the same determined anger Applejack was showing. AJ looked at her friends, her expression softening slightly, and walked back to the table.

“Ok,” she said as the others gathered around her. “If it really was Anon-a-Miss’ intention to frame Sunset, then once word spreads around about her death, Anon-a-Miss will most likely try to disappear.”

“Then we’ll have to work fast!” Rainbow nodded. “Let’s catch us a snake!” She then sighed and stretched out her hand to the center of the circle the girls had formed. “For Sunset!”

“For Sunset!” the others echoed as they placed their hands on top of Rainbow’s. Meanwhile, Sunset stood back a bit, locked onto the scene before her. Once again, words had escaped her. The hatred and anger she had for the Rainbooms before had all but disappeared.

“You see, Sunset?” Clark said from beside her. “You really had a wonderful friendship. Even though this Anon-a-Miss business had brought out the worst in everyone around you, even though those girls before you had let their emotions guide what they said and did, underneath all of that was a bond that not even Anon-a-Miss could break.”

Sunset didn’t turn to face Clark this time, but listened intently as she looked at the girls.

“You have been given a wonderful gift, Sunset; to see just how much of an impact you had made on those around you, especially your friends. Do you see now how much of a waste it would be if you just threw your life away? How much pain would be caused by your death? Your friends needed you even when they thought you were guilty. Your friendship with them was stronger than any of you gave it credit for. It’s in these circumstances where we see that, no matter how trying, or how challenging, the greatest friendships are always worth fighting for. Don’t you see?”

Sunset didn’t respond at first, but continued to look at the Rainbooms. As she stood there, the memory of what they said to her when they left her grew faint, only to be replaced by the remembrance of how happy she, Sunset, was being with them. She really did forget, just like she wrote in the journal, how much she felt at home with her friends by her side. Sunset suddenly felt something hot and wet trickle down her cheek. Reaching up to touch it, Sunset realized quickly that it was a tear. Wiping her eyes, she turned back to Clark at last.

“Clark,” she said quietly, “what happens to everyone? Do they ever find out that the CMC was Anon-a-Miss? Does the school recover? Do my friends recover?”

Clark’s face became stony as he answered, “You sure you wanna know? You’re not gonna like what you see.”

“I haven’t liked what I’ve seen the majority of this experience,” Sunset mumbled imploringly. “Please, Clark. I have to know.”

“Alright,” Clark sighed sorrowfully, “but don’t say I didn’t warn you.” Then, with a clap of his hands, the world was spinning once again. Sunset was finally prepared this time, and she cemented her feet to the ground and braced herself. It took several attempts, but she had finally gotten used to time-traveling.

It took a bit longer than usual this time, but when the world stopped moving, and the setting came into place, Sunset saw that they had returned to Canterlot High. This time, however, there was a major difference. While the school looked the same as before, the first thing that caught Sunset’s eye was the horse statue by the drop off, where the portal to Equestria rested. At the base of the statue lay what seemed to be the entire contents of a flower shop. So many different colors of flowers surrounded the statue, and Sunset even saw some cards as well. She then moved to the front where the portal was, and saw that a photo of her was placed in a frame in the middle of the flowers and cards. Inspecting closer, Sunset saw that the bottom of the photo said In loving memory of Sunset Shimmer; the true definition of redemption.

As if out of instinct, Sunset tried to pick up a card resting right next to the photo, but her hand went right through it. Instead, she leaned down to find words on the front that read, I should’ve known you were innocent. I hope wherever you are, you’re at peace. - Trixie. Sunset looked at another one, and gasped slightly when she read, I’ll never forgive myself for what I did to you. I hope someday you can forgive me. R.I.P. - Gilda.

“Clark,” said Sunset, her voice shaking slightly. “How long has it been?”

“Ten days since your friends discovered your death,” Clark answered mournfully.

Sunset’s eyes widened. All of this was done within ten days, maybe even less. This must have meant that everyone in the school had finally discovered the truth. There was only one way to find out. Not wasting any time, Sunset walked up the steps and marched through the doors, not even trying to open them this time. The inside of the school, like the outside, looked the same as before. Most of the students, however, were not. It was like a thick veil of gloom had washed over Sunset’s fellow classmates that sucked not only the joy, but the color, from everyone’s appearances. The nearest to Sunset was Lyra, who was putting something in her locker. As she did so, Bon Bon walked up from behind her and tapped her on the shoulder. When Lyra turned around, she looked hesitant.

“Uh…hey, Lyra,” Bon Bon said, blushing furiously.

“Hello,” Lyra responded, not angrily, but unsure.

The two stood there for a minute, just looking at each other in silence. Then, rather abruptly, the two broke into tears and flung their arms around each other in a tight, loving hug.

“I’m so sorry, Lyra!” Bon Bon sobbed.

“I’m sorry too, Bonny!” Lyra cried back. “Let’s never fight again, ok?”

“Never!” Bon Bon hiccuped.

Sunset then spotted Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon talking nearby. Leaving the tender reunion, Sunset went over to the two freshmen in time to hear Silver say, “I don’t think Sunset would want to see us avoiding each other. I really miss you, Diamond.”

Diamond smiled softly and responded, “I miss you too, Silver. Friends?”

“Best friends!” Silver said as she and Diamond hugged.

It was nice to know that more broken friendships were being mended, Sunset thought. Even though it was through her death. Suddenly, a thought came to Sunset, and she turned to Clark.

“Does this mean that the real Anon-a-Miss has been discovered?”

Clark said nothing, but sighed and pointed down the hall. Curious, Sunset sped down the hallway, looking in any open doors as she passed for any signs of the CMC. Sure enough, she spotted Apple Bloom in the small courtyard at the side of the school. With her was Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo. The three were clearing out the trash and shoveling the snow from the ground under the supervision of Vice Principal Luna, and they all looked dirty, disheveled, and absolutely miserable.

“It took two days after the Rainbooms started investigating to discover the real Anon-a-Miss was their sisters,” Clark said from beside Sunset as the two looked at the scene. “Though they tried to deny it at first, the evidence was overwhelming. They even tried blaming each other, saying that it was the others that talked them into it, or it was their idea, not mine, but the damage was long since done.”

“What happened?” Sunset asked, already guessing the answer.

“They were properly punished,” Clark continued. “They were given in-school suspension for the rest of their high school years, banned from all extra-curricular activities and sports, and sentenced to community service for the school. As for outside of school,” Clark sighed sorrowfully, “They were grounded until they turn 18, had their phones taken away indefinitely, forbidden from going out with friends, though not they have any friends left to hang out with, and have to be escorted home by their guardians to make sure no one from the school attacks them.” Clark paused again. “But probably the worst thing that happened was that their sisters completely cut ties with them.”

Sunset’s head whipped around to look at Clark. “What?”

“Yes,” Clark nodded sternly. “If you were to ask Applejack and Rarity, they would tell you they don’t have sisters, and Rainbow had sworn off Scootaloo as her honorary sister. It seems that the pain of their sisters being the reason you died was too much, and, according to them, unforgivable.”

Sunset looked back at the CMC, drenched with sweat and dirt, as they shoveled around the small fountain, and couldn’t help but feel sorry for them. Sure, what they did was wrong, but did they really deserve to be as alone as she, Sunset, was? A proper punishment from the school, sure, but to be completely cut off from their own sisters? Sunset could only imagine that the CMC were just as miserable, if not more, than she had felt during the Anon-a-Miss conflict.

“Clark,” Sunset said gloomily, “What about the Rainbooms? What happened to my fr-”

Sunset’s question was suddenly cut off by a booming voice that made Sunset almost jump out of her skin. Even the CMC and Luna looked up with shocked expressions, as well as any other student in the vicinity. The voice clearly sounded more angry than any voice that Sunset had heard, and the sound of it made everyone around it shiver.

“HOW COULD YOU!?!”

As soon as she heard it though, Sunset immediately recognized it, though it wasn’t a voice she had heard in a while.

“That’s…that’s Twilight!” Sunset said to Clark. The angel didn’t respond, but jerked his head in the direction of the sound. Sunset took the hint and followed the scream. As soon as she was outside the band room, the same room where she and her friends once practiced, she saw the five girls, each one cowering near each other, their faces showing true fear. And towering over them, looking more livid than Sunset had ever seen her, was Twilight Sparkle.

“T-Twilight,” Rarity quivered, “Please let us-”

“SILENCE!” Twilight shouted, making Rarity retreat. “I trusted you! I gave you a mission to help her in her time of need! I thought that after the Battle of the Bands, you guys had finally accepted her! But then, at the first sign of trouble, when she needed you the most, you five just ABANDON HER?! Did you not think there was room for doubt? Did you not try and think the best of your friend? NO! YOU. BROKE. HER!!”

The Rainbooms trembled at the waves of fury being shoved at them, and flinched even harder when Twilight pointed an angry finger at Rainbow.

“You,” she spat, “failed to be loyal!” Rainbow shrank to her knees as Twilight then pointed at Rarity. “You refused to be generous!” Rarity covered her face in her hands. “You took away her laughter!” Twilight yelled at Pinkie, who hid behind Rarity. “You,” Twilight pointed at Fluttershy, who hid her face behind her hair, “were too cowardly to be kind! And you!” she pointed at Applejack, who just stood there in guilty silence. “You ignored her honesty! You five have failed your elements!”

“Twilight!” Rarity sobbed, speaking for the first time. “We’re sorry! W-we were fools!”

“No,” Twilight said, her voice now softer, but replaced with regret. “I was the fool. The fool for thinking that humans could actually stick by their friends when times get hard. I was a fool for thinking that Sunset was safe here.” Tears now started to stream down Twilight’s cheeks as she turned away from the Rainbooms and, unintentionally, stared right into Sunset’s eyes. Sunset found herself moving closer to Twilight, and tried and failed to place a hand on her cheek to try and wipe away the tears.

“I should’ve brought her back to Equestria,” Twilight whimpered. “And now…” she fought back a sob, “and now, Sunset is dead.”

Applejack, regaining some of her courage, stepped forward and reached out to place a hand on Twilight’s shoulder. “Twilight, we-”

“PRINCESS CELESTIA’S DAUGHTER IS DEAD!” Twilight shouted, whipping back around, and causing Applejack’s courage to fail her as she retreated back with the others. “Do you realize that the princess is in mourning? Do you realize that Celestia is ready to come over here, and burn this cursed school to the ground?!” Everyone, including Sunset, gasped. Sunset had never known Princess Celestia to be so angry that she would want to destroy! She hated to think how that Celestia would look.

“But,” Twilight said, taking a deep breath, “I’m not going to let that happen. Because I am cutting off the connection between our worlds for good!” She then turned back to the door, and stormed out. The Rainbooms, whose limbs seem to have been reawaken by Twilight’s words, quickly followed. Sunset immediately followed as well, and had to practically sprint to keep up with Twilight’s hurried strides as the Rainbooms started voicing their continued apologies on Twilight’s deaf ears. As she continued down the hallway to the front doors, more students who saw this started following as well, and in a minute, it seemed like half the school walked in Twilight’s wake.

“The damage is already done,” Twilight snapped loudly for all to hear. “I am taking Sunset’s body back with me so that she may receive a proper funeral, I am destroying the portal between our worlds, and I am taking the elements back!”

At this, everyone gasped again, especially the Rainbooms, who looked downright mortified. “NO!” Rainbow shouted pleadingly as Twilight led them down the front steps and towards the statue. “Twilight, please! You can’t do-”

“DON’T YOU TELL ME WHAT I CAN AND CAN’T DO, RAINBOW DASH!” Twilight boomed at Rainbow, who fell back yet again. “If this incident has proven anything, you all are unworthy of the elements! You are unworthy to wield their powers! YOU ARE ALL UNWORTHY!”

The last four words seemed to ring out for all of the school to hear, and continued to echo. Sunset watched in horror as the Rainbooms froze like statues before Twilight, as if her words petrified them. Then, without another word, Twilight turned to the statue, and raised her arm. At once, an ethereal horn and pair of wings appeared on the princess and the ground around the statue started to shake. Students screamed and hung onto each other as they watched the scene before them. Then, slowly, the ground before the statue started to crack, and as Twilight raised her arm higher, out rose a dark red coffin. Sunset gasped at the realization that they had buried her body on the school grounds, and that’s why all of those flowers and cards were sitting around the statue.

“Please, Princess Twilight!” Rarity called out among the shaking earth and screaming. “Please, don’t do this!”

“It’s too late,” Twilight retorted, having now levitated the coffin completely out of the ground. “Sunset is coming home where she belongs, and is going to receive a funeral from those who have always cared about her. And now,” she then reached into her pocket with her free hand and pulled out a mysterious-looking, round amulet. Sunset didn’t recognize it, but immediately sensed that a strange power was coming from it.

“As Equestria’s Princess of Friendship,” Twilight announced in a booming voice, “and with this magical talisman, forced with the essence of the demon, Tirek, I hereby strip you five of your elements!”

“NO!” Sunset shouted, for she had just realized what the talisman was for. She had read about Tirek, the demon centaur who could absorb magic, back in Equestria, and knew that Twilight was going to take back the power of the elements by force. Her shout could not be heard though, for Twilight pointed the talisman at Applejack. The trinket glowed a pale orange, and then, without any warning, Applejack clutched at her heart and fell to her knees. As she did this, an orange stream of energy poured out of Applejack’s chest and into the talisman.

“Honesty!” Twilight shouted, and pointed at Fluttershy, who also dropped down as yellow energy was taken from her. “Kindness!” Pink energy was sucked out of Pinkie Pie. “Laughter!” Purple from Rarity. “Generosity!” Blue from Rainbow Dash. “And loyalty!”

The five Rainbooms had all fallen to the ground, clutching at their heart, as if their hearts had been ripped out of them. When Twilight had finished, the talisman glowed even brighter, displaying all the colors once belonging to the former human elements. Twilight didn’t look happy to do this, and neither did she look angry anymore. When Sunset looked at her, she saw that Twilight looked sullen as the princess looked at the talisman.

“Hopefully,” she said softly, “one day, I can find more reliable beings to be given these elements.” She then looked at her former friends. “And now, I will cut off the connection between our worlds, forever!” She turned around to leave, the coffin now levitating before her. She pushed it through, and then, just before stepping through herself, she looked back at the school she once thought of as a strange, new world.

“Goodbye, everyone,” she said in a tone of finality. “May the days be kinder to you than you were to each other.”

Sunset couldn’t stand it any longer. Seeing the empty, sorrowful faces of her five friends now stripped of their elements was too much to take in. Knowing that it probably wouldn’t help, knowing that she couldn’t be heard or seen, Sunset dashed forward just as Twilight stepped through the portal. “TWILIGHT!” she called out desperately. But it was too late. Once Twilight’s leg disappeared from sight, the horse statue, the statue that symbolized the proud spirit of Canterlot High, imploded upon itself, causing everyone to be pushed back by the powerful blast of wind.

At once, the scene dissolved, and Sunset found herself in darkness. No Canterlot High, no Sugarcube Corner, no nothing. Just black. Sunset looked around. No person in sight either. She expected Clark to be beside her, ready to end this experience, but he was nowhere to be seen.

“Clark!” Sunset called out, and her voice echoed eerily. “Clark! Get me out of here! Take me away! Clark!”

Suddenly, a crack of thunder echoed around Sunset, and the world became twirling around her once again. Scenes upon scenes of blurred images passed over Sunset like strong winds, and she had no control over anything.

“Stop it!” she cried. “What’s going on!?”

Sunset looked up at the whirling color, and saw that one scene had slowed itself down enough for her to see Rainbow Dash, but she looked unkempt and tired, with dark bags under her eyes. Standing next to her was the soccer coach, who was yelling, “This is the third time you’ve missed a game, Dash! You’re off the team!”

“Whatever,” Rainbow muttered, and the scene sped off.

More whirls of color and sound, before another scene slowed to a near stop. Sunset saw Rarity, but was horrified to see her destroying her design studio in a fit of anger and grief. Another scene slowed, which showed Applejack drowning herself in bottles of whiskey. Another scene showed Fluttershy ignoring her animals as she, Sunset screamed, cut up her wrists.

“NO!” Sunset wailed. Above all the spinning images was the echoing chorus of sobbing. Sunset tried to cover her ears, but the sound was boring into her mind like a drill. She closed her eyes tight, but she couldn’t forget the visions she just witnessed.

Then, just like that, the spinning stopped. Sunset opened her eyes. Around her there was still black and the echoes of someone crying. Looking to the left, Sunset saw two figures, kneeling before a bed. Slowly, Sunset walked up to the weeping people, and realized that it was Fluttershy and Applejack. On the bed was, Sunset wasn’t sure, for it was still coming into focus.

“W-when did it happen?” Applejack asked as she hugged a grieving Fluttershy.

“I-I-I don’t know,” Fluttershy answered. “I just found her like this not too long ago! She left a note!” She then pulled out a piece of paper with untidy writing on it. Sunset didn’t have to look at it, for Fluttershy began to read it aloud. “A life without laughter is not worth living anymore. Sorry.”

Sunset looked back at the bed, and saw that it was starting to clear the image. More and more the view came into focus before revealing…

Sunset’s mouth fell open, and though she wanted to scream, nothing came out of her. There, on the bed, was Pinkie Pie, dead. An open bottle of pills lay by her lifeless hand, and mouth slightly open, completely breathless. At that moment, the moment of seeing Pinkie’s dead body, all urges to not cry were obliterated, and Sunset soon felt fresh, hot tears trickling down her own cheeks.

“No!” she cried along with Fluttershy and Applejack. “Not Pinkie! Not Pinkie, please!” She knelt to the ground beside Fluttershy, all composure gone, as she tried to reach out to grab Pinkie’s hand, but couldn’t. She whipped her hand back again and again, hoping to get one last touch of her friend’s flesh, but to no avail. “Not Pinkie! Please!”

Another crack of thunder, and the scene disappeared. Sunset looked behind her, and saw a familiar setting; the bridge overlooking the lake. The place where it all started. Desperate, Sunset ran to the center of the bridge and called out, “Clark!” No answer. “Please, Clark!” she called out again, now tightly gripping her hands together and leaning on the railing, as if in prayer. “Please, take me back! I don’t want this! I don’t care if my friends don’t believe me right now, I want to see them again! I can’t give up on this friendship! I need them! Help me, Clark! Please! I want to live again! I want to live again!” Still no answer. Feeling that all hope had failed her, Sunset succumbed to her sorrow, bowed her head onto her hands, and started to cry.

“I want to live again,” she whispered through her tears. “ Please, God, let me live again!”

Worth It

It had begun to snow. Everything around Sunset was quiet, with only the sounds of her sobs catching her ear as she leaned against the railing of that bridge. She felt so cold, and so alone, like nothing would ever make her happy again.

“Hey, miss!”

Sunset didn’t answer or even look up. It was a man in the background calling to a woman near him. She heard footsteps getting closer. Pretty soon, he would pass through her like she wasn’t even there. The footsteps stopped right beside her.

“Hey, miss. Are you ok?”

“No,” Sunset answered automatically as she cried. “Nothing is ok. I don’t know what to do!”

“Do you need help?” asked the voice.

“There’s nothing that can help me now!” Sunset said, shaking her head. “How can I ever-”

At once, Sunset’s tear-stained eyes shot open, and she slowly lifted her head to face the man beside her. He was clearly looking at her! Could it be?

“Wait. C-c-can you see me?” she asked with a shaking voice.

“Well, yeah I can see you,” he answered concernedly.

“A-and,” Sunset continued, daring to hope, “you can hear me?”

“Yeah,” he replied. “I was walking by and heard someone crying, so I came up to- hey! You got some blood on your head! Do you need a doctor?”

It was at that moment that Sunset realized that the throbbing had returned to the side of her head! The snow was landing on her body, and it was making her cold! She reached a hand up to her head where Gilda had thrown the rock, and it hurt upon contact! And when she pulled her hand back, her fingers had spots of blood on them! All Sunset could do was start to laugh.

“My head’s bleeding!” she exclaimed to the man as if she had just won the lottery. “I’m cold, and my feet hurt from walking!” The man looked at her like she had three heads, but Sunset didn’t mind! “I’m back!” she joyously cried out. “I’m alive! Oh thank you, God! Thank you, thank you, tha-” She suddenly stopped as a fresh thought entered her mind.

“Sir!” she addressed the man, who jumped like she was going to rob him. “What day is it?”

“Um…uh…” the man stuttered, still not sure how to take the situation before him, “it’s…December 19th.”

“The 19th!” Sunset snapped, making the guy jump again. “There’s still time! I have to go!” And with that, she was off like a rocket, only stopping to say to the man, “Thank you, sir! And Merry Christmas!”

Sunset faintly heard the man say, “Merry Christmas, I guess,” before hurrying down the street, a new life within her that she hadn’t felt in a bit. She only had one destination in mind, and she didn’t want to waste any more time. If she remembered correctly, she heard them talking about going to Rarity’s house to hang. Feeling newly determined, Sunset dashed down the sidewalk, reminding herself that she had to weave between people now. How funny, she thought. It took her so long to get used to being able to phase, and now, she had to get used to being solid again. All she could do was laugh again as she ran. She was back, and she wasn’t going to throw in the towel this time!

Finally, huffing and puffing, she stopped in front of Rarity’s house. While before she was feeling elated, now she was nervous. She knew what she had to do, but would they let her do it, given their emotional state? Their true feelings are in there somewhere, she thought. Taking a deep breath, she walked up the stone path to the door, her heart now racing. She then reached a shaking hand up and knocked on the door. It was now or never.

From inside the house, she heard Rarity saying, “I’ll get it.” Sunset felt herself trembling even more, and tried to take a few more calming breaths as she heard Rarity’s footsteps drawing closer. She heard the turning of the knob, the door creaked open, and Rarity stood before her.

“Can I-” she started to say before seeing it was Sunset. Immediately, her expression changed. “What do you want?” she asked harshly.

“I just want to talk with everyone,” Sunset responded hastily.

“Well we don’t want to talk to you,” said Rarity as she started to close the door. “Now if you’ll excuse us-”

“Please, Rarity!” Sunset said desperately right before the door shut. “Just five minutes with all of you. That’s all I ask. Please!” Rarity looked at Sunset for a minute as if expecting foul play, but finally sighed and opened the door again.

“Come in.”

When Sunset stepped into the warm foyer, Rarity said nothing but closed the door behind her and beckoned her forward. Sunset followed her down the hall, her heart racing again. If that was how Rarity reacted to seeing her, it was a safe bet Sunset knew how the others would react. As they got closer to the living room, Sunset heard the upbeat voice of Pinkie, and quietly sighed with relief that she could hear her laughing again. When Rarity stepped back into the living room, Sunset then heard Rainbow say, “Hey, Rarity. Who was at the-” but her words died from her throat when she saw Sunset enter after her. All eyes turned and widened at the sight of her, and just as Sunset predicted, the others’ faces, especially Rainbow’s and Applejack’s, had gone sour.

“What’s she doing here?!” Rainbow asked, staring daggers at Sunset.

“She wants to talk to us,” Rarity answered bluntly.

“Well we don’ wanna talk with her!” snapped Applejack.

“That’s what I told her.”

“Please,” Sunset hastily interrupted. If she didn’t speak now, they would surely try and throw her out. “I know that I’m the last person you want to see right now-”

“Oh my!” Fluttershy suddenly squeaked, and all eyes turned to her. She actually looked concerned as she pointed at Sunset. “What happened to your head?” The others looked back at Sunset, and seemed to just notice the trail of red on the side of her face. Applejack’s expression even seemed to soften a bit as she too looked mildly concerned.

“It’s nothing,” Sunset said.

“What do you mean nothing?” Pinkie gasped. “It’s bleeding!”

“Someone threw a rock at me,” Sunset explained nonchalantly, “but that’s not important right now.” Pinkie gasped again, while Fluttershy and Rarity placed a hand over their mouth. Even Rainbow’s eyes had gone wide for a second, but just as quickly, she and Applejack regained their stony, untrusting demeanor. Still nervous, Sunset continued. “Just give me five minutes to talk. Then, if you want, I’ll never bother you guys again. Please!”

Sunset watched as the Rainbooms looked around at each other, checking for their reaction. Rainbow and Applejack still looked like they didn’t want to hear her, and Rarity seemed stony-faced, Pinkie was looking more sad than angry, as if she didn’t want to stay suspicious of Sunset. The look gave Sunset hope. As for Fluttershy, her expression had softened much after seeing Sunset’s wound and, while she wasn’t looking at Sunset, she wasn’t wearing a scowl. Sunset looked back at Applejack, who Sunset knew would be the hardest to convince, with her fingers crossed behind her back.

After another glance at each of friends, and no one raised any objections, Applejack sighed and nodded to Sunset.

“Five minutes,” she grumbled. “Go.”

Relieved, Sunset took another calming breath, and began.

“When I first came to Canterlot High from Equestria,” she said, “I was a horrible person. I was in a dark place, bullying others, driving apart friendships, and, yeah, turning into a raging she-demon.” Rainbow gave a small scoff at this, but Sunset ignored her. “After Twilight gave me a second chance, I felt as though I didn’t deserve friendship after what I had done. But then you guys took me in. Whether against your better wishes, I don’t know, but you still took me in, and I started feeling more happy than I had in a long time.” As she spoke, Fluttershy had finally turned to look at Sunset, and it looked like she was actually interested in listening.

“Then, after the Battle of the Bands, and you guys fully accepted me into your lives, it was like a missing piece of my heart was filled in, and I became whole. For the first time in years, I felt like I finally found my home.” Now it was Rarity whose expression softened when Sunset said this. Out of the corner of Sunset’s eye, she thought she had seen Rarity give a small smile out of the corner of her mouth.

“Three minutes,” Rainbow piped in, looking at her watch.

“Look,” Sunset continued, “I could try and plead my case with you guys and tell you that I’m not Anon-a-Miss, but I don’t think that’ll work anymore. This whole thing with Anon-a-Miss has hurt all of us in different ways. But I’m not giving up on us!” At this, Fluttershy and Pinkie straightened up a bit and looked at Sunset even more intently. “I know that somewhere inside you guys, you remember all of the wonderful times we’ve had. Well those times are treasured in my heart forever as well! That’s why I’m not going to stop trying to win you guys back! And if that means I have to start at the bottom again and earn you guys’ trust back little by little, then so be it! I’ve learned that this friendship is more than worth fighting for. You guys are more than my friends; you're my family.”

When she had finally finished, Sunset ended with a great sigh as she looked at the Rainbooms. It was clear that Sunset’s words did make a difference with some of them, looking at Pinkie and Fluttershy. Rarity seemed to be on the fence, and looked unsure now. The issue, it seemed, was with Rainbow and Applejack. Sunset knew there would probably be more problems with them, from what she had seen in the school cafeteria. While their faces didn’t look angry anymore, they still looked at Sunset like she was going to backstab them at any moment. Though Sunset could’ve thought she had seen the slightest trace of remorse in Applejack’s eyes when she, Sunset, had mentioned remembering the good times they had shared.

After another few seconds of silence, Applejack gave a frustrated sigh and said, “You done?”

“Yeah,” Sunset mumbled.

“Well thank you for telling us that,” Applejack said in an unsympathetic tone before adding, “Now get out.”

Fluttershy glanced towards Applejack, and Sunset could see sudden harshness in her eyes. Pinkie and Rarity gasped slightly, and Rainbow didn’t react at all, but continued to look at Sunset, who nodded understandingly.

“Ok,” she said miserably, for she had a notion that this was how it was going to go. And yet, it still made her sad to leave. Taking one last look at the Rainbooms, she smiled weakly and said, “Goodbye, guys. Merry Christmas.” She then turned around and started out of the living room.

“Wait!”

Sunset stopped. Her heart started racing again, for she knew that soft voice. Turning back around at the edge of the room, she saw Fluttershy had gotten up. The others were looking at her surprised as well. Fluttershy stepped slowly towards Sunset, and Sunset could see that her eyes were glistening. When she had gotten right in front of her, Fluttershy stopped, looked at Sunset from top to bottom as if x-raying her, and then smiled.

“Sunset,” she said warmly, “I believe you.” At that moment, Sunset’s insides warmed up like a mug of hot cocoa. Applejack, on the other hand, had a different reaction.

“Fluttershy! What’re you-”

At once, Fluttershy whipped back around, pointed at Applejack, and snapped, “No, listen to me!” Applejack immediately closed her mouth, eyes wide with shock. Everyone else looked surprised too at Fluttershy’s sudden burst of emotion. “I’ve had my doubts since the beginning about Sunset being Anon-a-Miss,” she said boldly to the others. “But I went along with you guys because I was afraid that if I sided with her, you guys would abandon me too!”

“Fluttershy, darling!” Rarity gasped, placing a hand over her heart. “We would never abandon you!”

“We abandoned Sunset!” Fluttershy retorted. Rarity opened her mouth again, but no comeback came to her. Fluttershy looked at the others again, who still looked unsure. “Come on, you guys!” she continued. “Sunset came here to tell us that she’s not giving up, and she’s willing to start at the bottom again if that means being our friend! Why would she say all of this if she was Anon-a-Miss?”

“She’s a good-” Rainbow started, but Fluttershy cut her off almost immediately.

“Stop saying she’s a good actress!” she said angrily. “I hate that excuse! It’s the only excuse we’ve had, and it doesn’t hold up! Well, if Sunset’s brave enough to come here and say that to us, then I should be brave enough too!” She then marched over to Sunset’s side, and planted her feet firmly on the ground. “I’m standing with Sunset!”

The four other Rainbooms stared wide-eyed at Fluttershy, almost like they couldn’t believe what had just happened. Fluttershy, meanwhile, didn’t show any remorse for what she had said. On the contrary, she looked at Sunset again and smiled. It was there that Sunset knew it was definitely genuine.

“Fine!” Rainbow snapped after a second of stunned silence. “If you wanna get hurt again, that’s up to you!” She then pointed to the door. “You can both go!”

“Wait a minute!”

Now it was Pinkie who stood up, looking at Rainbow like she couldn’t believe what she had just heard. “You just confirmed Fluttershy’s fear, Rainbow! You’re abandoning her with Sunset!”

“No I’m-”

“What’s next?” Pinkie angrily interrupted. “Are we going to ignore her at school too? Not sit with her at lunch? Treat her like she doesn’t exist?” When neither Rainbow nor Applejack answered, Pinkie huffed loudly and said, “Well then, you’ll just have to abandon me too,” she then walked over to Sunset’s other side as the others looked on with open mouths, “cause I’m also sticking with Sunset!” Despite the tense situation, Sunset couldn’t help but smile slightly at Pinkie’s words.

“Pinkie!” Rainbow and Applejack said in shocked unison.

“I didn’t want to think Sunset was guilty this whole time,” Pinkie boldly added before turning to the remaining three. “Don’t you think she deserves the benefit of the doubt, even after everything we had been through?”

“No, she doesn’t!” Applejack said stubbornly. Rainbow just shook her head. Meanwhile, as all this was going on, Fluttershy had suddenly taken out her phone, and when she looked at the screen, went wide-eyed.

“Guys,” she said with a cracked voice, still looking at her phone. No one had heard her.

“Rarity?” Pinkie asked, looking at the fashionista with pleading eyes. “What do you think?” AJ and Rainbow looked at her too, and saw Rarity once again looking unsure.

“Well…” she muttered.

“Rarity!” Rainbow snapped.

“Well,” Rarity said again, “maybe there is room for doubt. We were rathy hasty with our accusation.”

“After everything we’ve seen?” Applejack spat at Rarity. “Yer crazy!”

Rarity, clearly affronted, gasped in response. “That was uncalled for, Applejack!”

“Guys.”

“I don’t get it, Applejack!” Pinkie groaned loudly. “Do you want Sunset to be Anon-a-Miss?”

“Of course Ah don’t,” AJ replied, sounding almost offended, “but-”

“Then why don’t you just believe her?” Pinkie asked.

“Ah thinkin’ practical!” AJ snapped frustratedly. “There’s not enough evidence to say she’s not Anon-a-Miss!”

“There’s not enough evidence to say she is Anon-a-Miss!” Rarity chimed in, sounding hurt.

“GUYS!!”

“What, Fluttershy?” all four Rainbooms shouted, finally turning to Fluttershy, who still had her phone out.

“Anon-a-Miss just made a new post!” Fluttershy said at last. At once, all of the Rainbooms’ eyes widened and their mouths dropped.

“What?!” they all gasped.

Slowly, Fluttershy raised the phone up with the screen facing out, showing everyone a photo posted by Anon-a-Miss of a younger Trixie in a bunny suit captioned, More like the Fluffy and Pathetic Trixie, am I right? The upload time showed over 1 minute ago. Rarity, Rainbow, and Applejack stood there, completely at a loss for words. Sunset, however, was filled with inner elation. The CMC must’ve not known that she was here, or else they wouldn’t have made such a rookie mistake. In turn, each one of the girls looked up to face Sunset, their faces still stunned.

“B-but…” Rainbow stuttered, “Sunset’s been right here the whole time.”

“And not on her phone at all,” Rarity gasped

“That can only mean…” Pinkie said slowly, a large, Pinkie-like grin spreading across her face. No one had to finish that sentence, for Fluttershy’s delighted squeal finished everyone’s conjoined realization.

“Sunset isn’t Anon-a-Miss!”

Sunset was suddenly forced backward a bit as Fluttershy flung her arms around her in a tight hug as she cried joyously, “I knew it! I just knew it!” Looking through the onslaught of Fluttershy’s hair, Sunset saw that Rarity, Rainbow, and Applejack seemed to be still trying to process the revelation. Pinkie was smiling from ear to ear and looking so relieved. The sight couldn’t help but make Sunset smile.

“Oh, Sunset, I’m so, so sorry!” Fluttershy said after finally letting go of Sunset, tears flowing down her face. “I should’ve stood by you from the start, but I-”

“I know,” Sunset cut in as she wiped away Fluttershy’s tears. “It’s ok, Fluttershy. I forgive you.” Fluttershy beamed just as Sunset was pulled into another hug. This time, bone-breaking, from her bubbly, pink friend.

“Got room for another one to forgive, Sunny?” Pinkie asked tearfully. “I’m really sorry for taking away your laughter. I promise I’ll never do it again!”

“I forgive you too, Pinkie!” Sunset gasped, finding it hard to breathe in Pinkie’s embrace. Once she let go though, Sunset gave Pinkie a friendly pat on the back, making her friend squee.

“Sunset, darling,” Rarity said nervously as she walked forward a bit. “I-I feel like a complete fool! It was unfair of me to accuse you. I should’ve known better.” Tears started to drip down Rarity’s cheeks this time, causing little, black streaks to appear. Hastily, Rarity pulled out an embroidered handkerchief from her pocket and wiped her eyes clean. “I’m terribly sorry. Can you ever forgive me?”

“Of course I can, Rarity!” Sunset answered instantly, making Rarity smile as well. Then, it was Rainbow’s turn. At first, she didn’t say anything, but walked up to Sunset and looked her straight in the eye. Sunset looked back, not blinking, and hoping that she finally believed, for her face was unreadable. Finally, she gave a loud sigh, and hugged Sunset.

“Some element of loyalty I turned out to be; abandoning you at the first sign of trouble,” she said regretfully. “Man, I’m sorry, Sunset.” A loud sniff told Sunset that Rainbow was trying to hold back tears. When she spoke next, her voice was shaky. “I w-was so s-s-stupid.” Sunset broke the hug to look into Rainbow’s tear-stained eyes. She had never seen Rainbow cry in front of her before. Somehow, this was all the proof that Sunset needed that she wasn’t sincere.

Smiling again, Sunset reformed the hug between the two of them and said, “It’s ok, Rainbow.” That, apparently, was enough for Rainbow to let go of all barriers, and she started sobbing into Sunset’s shoulder. As Sunset rocked her back and forth, Pinkie, Rarity, and Fluttershy were all shedding happy tears as well. When Sunset looked up at them though, she realized that there was one left. Breaking the hug again, Sunset turned to Applejack, who was still standing as stiff as a board, a shocked look on her face.

“Applejack?” Rarity said, snapping Applejack out of her trance. “Still not convinced?”

“Well…uh…” Applejack muttered, looking around in every direction her eyes could go. “Y’know she…she might…Ah don’...” Every attempt to disprove the evidence before her AJ had couldn’t even be dignified. And then, after another minute of stuttering around, Applejack gave a great sigh, ripped the hat off of her head, and sat down on the chair, not looking at the others.

“What am I doin’?” she asked more of herself than her friends. “Am Ah really that stubborn that even now Ah don’ wanna admit when Ah’m wrong? My parents would be so ashamed of me. Heck, I’m ashamed of me!” She then stood up, wringing her hat in her hands, and finally looked at Sunset, and in her eyes, there too were tears. “Sunset, Ah’m so, so sorry,” she said as she walked forward. “Ah guess a part of me deep down wanted to believe you wouldn’t do this, but Ah was jus’ so angry, and embarrassed, and hurt that Ah jus’-”

“Let your emotions control your actions?” Sunset finished for her. “Trust me, AJ; I get it.” And, for the first time since before Anon-a-Miss happened, Applejack smiled at her. Wiping the tears from her eyes, AJ walked in front of Sunset as well and held out an arm.

“So…are we good?” she said hopefully.

In another life, Sunset would’ve done nothing but remember all of the harsh words that Applejack had said about her, and reject the apology of her and the others. But Clark didn’t give Sunset a second chance to be bitter. No more harsh thoughts came to her head as she looked at Applejack, smiling and hoping for her own second chance. More than happy to give it, Sunset took her hand and shook it. “Of course we are.”

Then, in a swift motion, Applejack pulled Sunset towards her, and turned the handshake into a loving hug. With no more hesitancy between them, Sunset returned the hug, and said to the others, ”It’s like I said; you guys are more than my friends. You’re my family, and I love you guys.”

“Oh, Sunset,” Fluttershy said happily, wiping her eyes. “We love you too!”

“And we promise,” Rarity sniffled, “if something like this ever happens again, we will always give you the benefit of the doubt!”

“That’s right!” Rainbow nodded. “No more doubts, no more suspicions.”

“Innocent until proven guilty,” said Applejack, breaking the hug to look at Sunset. “As it should’ve been from the start.”

Now it was Sunset who felt her eyes start to swell up, and with no way to stop them, happy tears streamed down her cheeks as she said, “Thanks, guys.”

“GROUP HUG!” Pinkie cried. And within a second, all five girls were huddled around Sunset, laughing, crying, and saying things Sunset couldn’t even hear. But it didn’t matter to her. The miserable, lonely feeling she had at the beginning of this whole thing was washed away with the loving words and hugs from her friends. Gosh, it felt good to say that, thought Sunset. Her friends. These girls were her best friends, and now, once again, Sunset was home!

After what seemed like an hour, the girls slowly broke the hug, still smiling from ear to ear. That is, until Rainbow’s grin faltered a bit as she said, “Well that’s one problem down, but there’s still another one.”

“Rainbow’s right!” Rarity gasped, clapping her hands with realization. “Anon-a-Miss is still out there somewhere! We have to find them! We have to put a stop to this!”

“Actually, guys,” Sunset interjected, feeling the nervousness grow inside her again. She was afraid this part would come up sooner than later, but it had to be done before any more damage was done. “I may have an idea of who it is.” The Rainbooms’ ears perked up at this statement, and all eyes fell on Sunset.

“You do?” Fluttershy asked. “Who is it?”

Sunset hesitated at first. How would they react to her accusing their own sisters? “Well, you guys probably won’t like what I have to say. You might even yell at me for suggesting such a-”

“Now waitaminute, sugarcube!” AJ interrupted, placing a hand on Sunset’s shoulder, and looking at her with serious eyes. “We’re not the same idiots as before!”

“Yeah!” Rainbow agreed. “We’re not gonna break our promise seconds after we made it! We’re different now!”

When Sunset still looked unsure, Rarity stepped forward. “Sunset, whatever you have to say, we’ll hear you out, and no matter how far-fetched it may sound, we’ll trust you. Right, girls?” The others nodded vigorously in unison. Maybe it was the sincerity of what her friends said, but Sunset felt more confident of telling them without repercussions.

“Ok,” she said, and taking a deep breath, she turned to Rarity. “Is Sweetie Belle here?”

Looking rather taken aback, Rarity answered, “Well, yes. She’s up in her room having a slumber party with Apple Bloom and Scootaloo. Why?” So they were all here, Sunset thought. That makes sense. Sorry, CMC, but it’s for your own good.

“You might want to check on her,” she said before adding, “quietly.” Rarity looked confusedly at the others, but shrugged and started towards the stairs. “The rest of you come too,” Sunset added to the others, who followed Rarity. As per Sunset’s instructions, the five made their way up the stairs, making as little noise as possible. When Rarity had made it to the top, Sunset whispered, “And Rarity?” The fashionista turned around. “Don’t knock before you open the door.” When Rarity and the others looked at Sunset with raised eyebrows, Sunset could only think of one thing to say.

“Trust me.”

Author's Note

Don't touch that dial! There's one more chapter to see! Coming to fimfic before New Years! And Merry Christmas! :heart:

Always Worth It

Sure enough, as soon as Rarity threw open Sweetie Belle’s bedroom door, the first thing the Rainbooms saw was Sweetie’s computer open to none other than the Anon-a-Miss homepage. Though the scared sisters tried to cover it up as best they could, it was too late. The evidence was right before them for all to see. The girls tried denying it at first, they couldn’t think of any liable excuse.

Finally, after seeing the disappointed scowls of their sisters, the three caved and told the whole story; how they had grown jealous of their own sisters hanging out more with Sunset than them, how Apple Bloom had created the Anon-a-Miss page, revealed Applejack’s Piggly Wiggly nickname, and made it look like Sunset had done it, how Sweetie Belle took Sunset’s phone to get the photos from it, how Scootaloo stole Rainbow’s failed test during soccer practice, and so on. To say that the Rainbooms, especially Applejack, Rainbow, and Rarity, were ashamed of their sisters’ actions would be an understatement. After a stern talking to about how much trouble the three had caused, they first made them delete the Anon-a-Miss page, along with all the photos they uploaded, and destroy all of the secrets they had obtained. After that, the Rainbooms watched as the CMC called Principal Celestia from her home, and told her the truth as well. Needless to say, Celestia promised the girls that there would be punishments coming.

The next day at school, Principal Celestia made the three girls announce their guilt and give an apology over the PA system. Mere seconds after they did, Sunset felt her phone blowing up with messages, no doubt from other students apologizing. Sunset made a mental note to reply to all of them later. After Celestia informed the student body that any student who tries to hurt the CMC would be suspended, she gave the girls their long-overdue punishment. They were given six weeks of detention, along with serving community service by helping the janitors on the weekends. Furthermore, their phones would be confiscated during school hours. And that was just at school. At home, after Granny Smith, Scootaloo’s aunts, and Sweetie’s parents were informed, the three were grounded for as long as the detention, with no access to their electronics. Though the girls grumbled a bit, they had resigned to the fact that they deserved it. It seemed that after being shown just how torn apart the school was, the CMC realized that they had taken things too far, and seemed genuinely sorry for what they had done.

“It could be a lot worse, girls,” Sunset found herself saying to them, before quietly adding, “Trust me.”

As for Sunset herself, things had gotten back to the way they were, and even better. Just like she thought, when she checked her phone at lunch, it was filled with students apologizing profusely, and even more students did it in person. Gilda had even come up to her, not only to say she was sorry, but offered to pay for any doctor bills she might have caused. Sunset couldn’t help but notice that she was looking at the spot where she had thrown the rock.

“Don’t worry about it, Gilda,” Sunset replied with a wave of her hand. “No critical harm done.”

But the thing that made Sunset’s life truly better was the fact that her friends were more on her side than ever. There was no more doubting, no more suspicions, even no more “no offenses.” This whole experience seemed to bring the Rainbooms much closer together, even after the Battle of the Bands. And as Sunset looked around at her friends, all smiling and enjoying her presence, she couldn’t help but think that she was this close to throwing away everything important. She didn’t tell her friends about the trip with Clark. It just seemed like something that was only for her and her alone. Besides, even with their new promise to believe her, she doubted that they would believe an angel, no, angel in training showed her a world where she had committed suicide. Well, maybe Pinkie, but that was a hard maybe. The Rainbooms would never know how close their lives were to getting emotionally destroyed. The whole experience was still nerve-racking to Sunset. Her time-traveling trip with Clark took her through felt like it lasted for days, but was just in one hour, or maybe even a minute. In fact, the whole thing seemed like a dream, but was it really?

The next couple of days at Canterlot High were brighter for everyone. With the truth revealed, friendships were reforged, relationships were fixed, and all misunderstandings were quickly cleared up. With all messes cleaned, the students could finally look forward to their Christmas break, especially the Rainbooms. Before the recent events, Pinkie had talked about hosting a Christmas party at her house, though that had been pushed from everyone’s minds when Anon-a-Miss struck. Now that all of that was over, Sunset and her friends could be excited for what Pinkie had planned.

On the day of the party, Rarity, Rainbow, and Applejack told Sunset they wanted to talk to their sisters before leaving for Pinkie’s house. Thinking she knew what this was about, Sunset instantly agreed. After the final bell, the four girls told Fluttershy and Pinkie they would meet them outside the school in a bit, and went to find the CMC. As they walked, Sunset realized that the three beside her hadn’t really talked much with their sisters since they came clean. Granted, any person would need some time to cool down before addressing such a serious issue. Sunset could definitely understand that. It didn’t take long for them to find the girls. They were cleaning the windows in the library under the supervision of Vice Principal Luna. At that moment, Sunset had a strange sense of deja vu, but then again, the circumstances were far different.

“Could we have a few minutes with our sisters?” Applejack asked Luna when they walked in. The CMC stopped abruptly, looking anxious at what was coming. Giving the three a quick glance, Luna nodded and crossed the room to go into the librarian’s office. As soon as the door was closed, there was a moment of awkward silence that filled the room.

“So,” Rainbow started, clearing her voice first, “you guys getting all of your work done?” Looking too afraid to talk, the three sisters just nodded.

“Your punishment didn’t include forced muteness,” Rarity said calmly. “You can speak if you want.”

From the look of it, the three of them had something to say, but also were too nervous to do so. But with Rarity’s words, Apple Bloom glanced at the other two, and then looked sorrowfully at Sunset.

“Ya know that we’re really sorry, right?” she mumbled.

“Yes,” Sunset nodded, “and I said that I forgive you. All of you.”

“But just because we forgave you,” Applejack interjected sternly, “doesn’t mean we fully trust you again.” Apple Bloom hung her head shamefully.

“Yeah, Ah know.”

“You know, you guys caused a lot of trouble around the school,” Rainbow added seriously, making Sweetie and Scootaloo join Apple Bloom in looking down at the floor. “I mean, what if it had gone on for longer? What if someone would’ve snapped and gone after Sunset, or worse?” Sunset shuffled her feet uncomfortably. She also never told the girls about how she was close to actually killing herself. It would’ve just made them worry even more.

“We just don’t understand,” Rarity sighed after another second of silence. “Why didn’t you three just come talk to us?”

Sweetie Belle raised her head slightly, looking at her sister with a sorrowful gaze. “I know we should have, but I guess we were just so jealous of you guys being with Sunset all the time that…we weren’t thinking straight.” At this, Applejack, Rarity, and Rainbow’s stern expressions softened as they looked at each other. Sunset knew exactly what they were thinking, for they had done the same thing with her.

“So ya let yer emotions control yer actions,” Applejack mumbled guiltily. “Well, we know what that’s like.”

“Indeed,” Rarity nodded as they turned back to the CMC, “but you three must realize that no matter what, you can come to us for anything.” She then walked up right in front of Sweetie Belle and placed a hand softly on her shoulder. “We’re your sisters, and we want to help you in any way we can.” At her sister’s touch, Sweetie’s guilty face seemed to soften as she looked up to face Rarity and gave a small smile. Rainbow, not wanting Scootaloo to feel left out, went to put a hand on her as well.

“Same thing with you, Squirt,” she said, lifting her honorary sister’s chin to look her in the eyes. Scootaloo calmed down as well when she heard Rainbow’s nickname for her and smiled back.

“Yeah, we get it,” she nodded before turning to Sunset. “And we really are so, so sorry!”

Sunset smiled and nodded, “I know.”

“And we’re sorry too,” Rarity added, drawing the CMC’s sudden attention to her “for making your girls feel left out. It’ll never happen again, we promise.”

At this, Sweetie Belle smiled even wider and said, “And we promise we’ll do all that we can to earn back you guys’ trust!”

“Well,” Rainbow said, backing away slightly to look at all three sisters, “you all will have plenty of time to do that.” She then glanced at Rarity and Applejack, who smiled and nodded. “Starting tonight at the Christmas party,” Rainbow added. All three heads perked up immediately at these words, and their eyes began to glow with excitement.

“Ya mean we’re still invited?!” Apple Bloom asked, sounding like it was too good to be true.

“Of course!” Rarity chimed in. “Christmas is a time for family, and you guys are family!” Rainbow nodded in agreement.

Applejack, meanwhile, had taken a few steps forward and stopped in front of Apple Bloom looking suddenly serious. “Plus,” she said to her suddenly nervous-looking sister, “we may not like you very much right now,” then, her serious expression melting into a loving smile, she placed both hands on Apple Bloom’s shoulders and continued, “but we’ll always love you. An’ don'tchu forget that.” At these words, Apple Bloom’s eyes filled with happy tears and she hugged her sister around the middle, who gladly returned the embrace. Sweetie did the same with Rarity, and, though embarrassed at first, Scootaloo with Rainbow. Sunset watched happily as all of the hard feelings she knew her three friends had for their sisters washed away, and was silently relieved that the events Clark had shown her didn’t happen.

“Thanks, sis!” Apple Bloom sniffled as she broke the hug. Applejack smiled widely and wiped a stray tear from Apple Bloom’s cheek.

“Now,” Rarity said to the CMC, “once you girls are done here, go straight home, and we’ll pick you up before the party, ok?”

“Ok!” the sisters answered simultaneously, now looking more joyful than they had in days. As soon as Sunset and the others left the library, they turned back one last time to see the CMC getting back to work with smiles on their faces, once again under Vice Principal Luna’s supervision. The girls didn’t say anything as they walked down the hallway to the front doors, but Sunset could see that her friends had a new spring in their step. The closure on the Anon-a-Miss fiasco had finally come to an end, and they all could truly start anew.

When the four had left the school behind them, they were instantly greeted by Fluttershy and Pinkie, the latter of whom rushed over and hugged them all at once the way only Pinkie can do.

“You guys ok?” Fluttershy asked.

“Very much so,” Rarity sighed contently. Applejack and Rainbow nodded along.

“Good!” Pinkie cheered as the six Rainbooms started down the sidewalk. “Cause we gotta get to my house and set up for the party! We can even have a decorating party before the actual party! Oooh, party-ception!” Everyone just laughed and hurried along to keep up with their pink friend.

All except for Sunset, who suddenly stopped and looked in the direction of an alley near Sugarcube Corner, where she thought she saw someone; someone… familiar. Sunset’s insides seized up. Was that? Could it have been?

“Sunset?” Rainbow’s voice came from a few yards away. “You comin’?” Sunset broke out of her trance and quickly glanced at her friends, who were all looking back concernedly. She then looked back to the alley. There was definitely someone there, she thought.

“Uh…you guys go ahead,” Sunset called back. “There’s something I gotta do first.”

“Ok, but hurry up!” Pinkie answered loudly. “You don’t wanna miss the party-ception!”

Not wasting anymore time, Sunset sped off in the direction of the alley. She knew that all that was back there was a dumpster, so there was nowhere to go but out. Sunset’s heart began to race with anticipation. Was it really him, or did she really imagine it? Taking a leap of faith, she peered into the alley, and gasped.

“Clark?”

Sure enough, there he was, just as Sunset had remembered him. He was once again dressed as normally as any person on the street, but his handsome face seemed to shine, just like it had in the diner when Sunset first got a good look at him. And when he looked back and smiled, his teeth were inhumanly white.

“Hey, Sunset,” he happily greeted. Almost not daring to believe, Sunset walked into the alley, right up to Clark, and reached out to touch his face. When her fingers made contact with his skin, her face broke into a wide smile.

“It wasn’t a dream!” she squealed, pumping a fist to the air. “I knew it!” Clark chuckled in response.

“I came to see how you’re doing,” he said casually, gesturing out to the street. “Looks like things are going well for you, huh?”

“Oh, Clark,” Sunset sighed. “It’s better than well! In fact, it’s much better than it had been before! This whole experience has made my relationship with the girls stronger. There’s no more doubting, no more wondering if I had really changed. I truly feel that our bond can not be broken now!”

Clark’s smile widened as he replied, “Good!”

“And it’s all thanks to you,” Sunset added, still overjoyed that Clark was real. “Thank you for jumping in that lake.”

“You’re welcome, Sunset,” Clark responded with a chuckle. “And thank you too.”

“Why?”

Clark then turned around to show his back to Sunset, and she gasped again. There, on his back, was a pair of snow white wings!

“You got your wings!” she exclaimed to Clark, who nodded happily. Instinctively, Sunset reached up an arm to touch one of them, but pulled it back. She gazed at Clark again, who gave her an approving nod. She then reached up again and stroked the nearest feather. It was like touching a cloud! Sunset couldn’t believe how soft they were. “They’re beautiful!” she added before putting her hand down.

“Thank you,” Clark said as he turned back around. “Well, I just wanted to do a follow-up on you. I gotta get back.” He gestured his head upward, and Sunset knew exactly where he was talking about. “Now that I’m a certified guardian angel, they’re sending me on more missions.”

The lingering feeling of the wings still on her fingers, Sunset grasped her hands together and said encouragingly, “Well whoever gets you as an angel is going to be very lucky.”

“Thanks,” Clark replied. All of a sudden, Sunset’s joy at seeing Clark started to fade as a realization kicked in, making her smile drop.

“So, this is goodbye?” she asked, placing her hands on her chest. Clark’s smile fell a bit as well as he looked around, as if trying to find the right answer.

“For now,” he finally said, looking back into Sunset’s eyes.

“Will I ever see you again?” Sunset inquired almost pleadingly. She didn’t know where this feeling was coming from. She had only known Clark for an evening, but from what they had been through, it felt like she had known him for years.

Possibly noticing the pleading in her voice, Clark smiled softly and walked closer to Sunset. “Maybe someday,” he said, “but only as a passing glance. Like, you’ll see me out of the corner of your eye, but by the time you turn your head, I’ll be gone. That’s kind of how angels work.”

Maybe it was how he spoke, or the caring look in his beautiful eyes, or maybe it was just because she believed him, but Sunset’s eyes suddenly sparkled with tears and, without hesitating, flung her arms around Clark’s neck. Sunset then felt his hands on her back as he returned the embrace. It was the kind of hug that made Sunset warm up from the inside out; the kind of hug she didn’t want to end.

“I’ll never forget you, Clark,” she whimpered into his ear.

“I’m not likely to forget you either, Sunset,” Clark returned in earnest. All too soon for Sunset, the hug was broken, and she was left staring at his trusting eyes and soft smile. Somehow, Sunset felt like she could take on whatever challenges lay before her, like Clark’s embrace had filled her with encouragement.

“Now get going!” Clark said happily. “You got a Christmas party to get to!” Sunset wiped her eyes, nodded, and turned to leave, a new happiness filled to the brim inside of her. She had just taken a step back onto the main street, when she heard, “And Sunset!” She turned back to face Clark, who was waving goodbye.

“Never forget; no matter how trying, no matter how hard, and no matter how challenging, the greatest friendships are always worth fighting for.” These words spread through Sunset’s heart like hot cocoa, and she smiled even wider.

“Right,” she nodded, not wanting to take her eyes off of Clark, who smiled back.

“Hey, Sunset!” came Applejack’s voice. Sunset’s head whipped around to see that her friends had come back. She must’ve been taking longer than she though. “Who’re you talking to?”

“Oh just-” Sunset started to say as she turned back to the alley, but just like that, it was empty. There weren't even any footprints aside from Sunset’s. Pausing, Sunset took another look around the alley, just smiled with content, and finished, “Just a very old friend of mine.”

“Well come on!” Rainbow said excitedly, gesturing Sunset towards them. “We got a party to get ready for!”

Taking a glance up at the blue sky, Sunset felt a rush of feeling that all was now right in the world before yelling out, “Coming!” And then she hurried off to join her friends, smiling and waving at her.

And, at last, she felt at peace.

Author's Note

Well, that's that! I had been wanting to do this idea for the Christmas season for a while, and I finally was able to buckle down and do it! I hope you all enjoyed it, and have a happy new year!

See you in 2022! :heart: