Anon-a-Miss: A friendship Test
“…Well, I guess that’s it.”
The young girl from Equestria spoke.
Her slight but firm voice surprised the other teenagers who were in front of her, sitting at one table inside of Sweet Shop.
After a silence caused by their bewilderment, the rainbow-haired girl in the group speaks.
“What are you talking about? What do you mean by ‘that’s it’?” Rainbow Dash asks, gaining the interest of her friends who all look at the former member of their group.
The former unicorn wipes the tears from her eyes and cheeks, before answering, while picking up the messages she had left on the table.
“I’m done with the test. It’s clear what the result is.”
That answer doesn’t clarify anyone’s doubt, and the five of them seem even more confused.
“What are ya talkin’ about Sunset?!”
The girl with hat asks with clear demand. Once again there’s a moment of silence before the red and gold haired girl answers.
“…I AM Anon-a-Miss.”
Although it shouldn’t, hearing Sunset confess that felt like a blow to all of them, some being more affected than the others.
It’s the athlete who regains her composure first.
“O-Of course! W-We already knew that.”
Although she appears confident, there is a certain tremor in her voice.
“Yes, you did.” Sunset responds with some disdain, and a very serious face. “However, you don’t understand why I did it.”
There is an emphasis on such phrase, and it again provokes a silence from everyone before the cowgirl responds one more time.
“That’s obvious! It’s because yer a liar and a fake friend! Ya lied ta us the whole time!”
“I never lied Applejack. Not before Anon-a-Miss… ” Sunset seems to correct herself before adding. “… but now I see that you do.”
There is a pause in which the five girls show their confusion and doubt about the words of their former friend.
With a semi-deep breath, Sunset lets out a small sigh to explain.
“After the Fall Formal, the five of you offered to be my friends, and teach me about friendship. However, it was obvious to me that none of you were comfortable, or happy with the idea.”
“And what exactly makes you say that, Sunset?” Questions the pale girl in the group.
“The comments alluding to my failures. The stares of doubt and suspicion. Always giving me the worst assignments at every meeting like to clean the kitchen after making the cakes for the Sweet Shop sale, washing Rainbow Dash’s uniform after her soccer game, carrying your groceries when we went to the mall, etc.”
Faced with these comments, one can notice a certain shame on part from the majority of the Rainbooms.
“Most importantly: the fact I wasn’t considered when the band formed.”
“Hey! We didn’t know you could play the guitar!” Rainbow Dash defends herself with some annoyance.
“You didn’t ask.” Is Sunset’s almost emotionless response. “You didn’t even ask me if I could, or if I’d like to be part of the band. You just left me out, without considering me at all.”
This time the shame and discomfort is bigger on everyone’s faces. Fluttershy in particular tries to use her hair to hide her pained look.
Again it is Rainbow who recovers her senses to answer back.
“I… whatever. That doesn’t excuse you! You made Anon-a-Miss and you embarrassed us all! You broke our trust!”
Although all, or most of the girls seem to share that opinion, Sunset remains impassive as she responds again.
“You can’t break what you never had. Thanks to Anon-a-Miss, I can see now that you never really trusted me.”
The five friends seem to want to ask, but before they could the former unicorn speaks again.
“It was only after the Battle of the Bands that you, and the whole school, accepted me and forgave my past. But I couldn’t help but wonder… if it was just the fact of saving you, or if you really trusted that I had changed.”
“What difference there are?” Questions Applejack.
“It makes a world of difference, Applejack. I needed to know if you girls really trusted me. If you saw me as your friend. That’s why I created Anon-a-Miss, as an invisible enemy to test our friendship. I created the profile and intentionally messed it up, so everyone would think I was the culprit. In other words, I framed myself.”
“But, Sunsie, why would you do such a thing?” Pinkie Pie asks, looking quite shaken by the whole confession.
“Because I wanted to know if you would defend me against an attack. If you would trust me and doubt that I was responsible.”
Such an explanation leaves everyone present speechless.
“With the clues I left, it was a matter of time before someone at school tried to frame me. And at that point, it was a matter of seeing your reaction…and we all know what was the result.”
The memory of seeing Sunset cry at the accusation and shouting from everyone comes to the mind of the six, causing a barrage of feelings.
Fluttershy has an averted look as she nervously rubs a strand of her hair, before getting up enough courage to turn her eyes to her former friend.
“But then… does that mean you just faked it when everyone accused you?”
“I never pretended, Fluttershy.” Sunset responds somewhat coldly, and then her expression turns hurt. “When the five of you accused me of being Anon-a-Miss, without even doubting it a bit, it hurt me…it hurt me that my friends didn’t even think for a moment that I might be innocent.”
There’s a pause where Sunset seems to be waiting for an answer, but neither of them says anything, so she continues.
“I left too obvious clues. I did an act that didn’t match to my way of doing things. I even cried and begged for you to believe me, but none of you doubted my guilty. You were all sure that I had returned to my bad habits.”
The Rainbooms can hear the growing pain in Sunset’s voice as she gives her explanation.
“I don’t!” Suddenly Pinkie calls out, surprising the group. “I didn’t believe it… I didn’t want to believe it… I didn’t want to believe that our friend would do that to us.”
“…me neither…” Fluttershy confesses. “When I saw you crying, I thought you were innocent. I didn’t think… you were capable of doing something like that.”
There is surprise on everyone’s face, especially Sunset. Although it doesn’t last long, and instead, the flame-haired girl’s face becomes hurt.
“And yet, neither of you did anything or said anything to help me.”
Both pink-haired girls look away, ashamed and harmed.
“Is that what this was all about? A test?” Question the dressmaker.
“One we failed?!” Adds the farmer girl in an aggressive voice, although she lets us notice a certain regret.
Sunset is silent for a moment. Eyes closed, arms half crossed under her chest, and head bowed.
“In hindsight it was a bad plan. I probably would have been left alone and friendless no matter the outcome.” She allows herself a sigh before finishing. “I’m barely learning about friendship. But, I did learn something from this… ”
Sunset’s light emerald eyes look around the group, each looking back at her with different emotions - conflicting emotions.
“…you are bad friends.”
With that statement, Sunset turns around and hastily strides out of the store, not giving any of the Rainbooms time to say or do anything. All of them remain silent, their gazes and expressions constantly changing, revealing their inner struggle with their mixed thoughts and feelings.
~*~*~ Anon-a-Miss ~*~*~
I
can’t
believe
you would do THAT!!!
Sunset sighed as she read the message, and the way Princess Twilight had written it, through her journal.
I know Twilight, I know.
Sitting on the couch in her ‘living room’, Sunset leans back against the armrest and has both feet on the couch, allowing herself to bend her knees up to rest the newspaper on her lap.
Sunset had to wait a couple of seconds before more words appeared on the page.
"You know"?
SUNSET! I think you DON’T know what you did!
You cheated on your friends and then you lied to them! You lied to ME!
Sunset looks worried, and somewhat sad as she reads that message, but she still answers.
I’m sorry Twilight. I needed to know whose side you were going to be on.
Also, your messages served to help me with this.
If they didn’t believe you, they would never believe me.
After stopping writing Sunset has to wait for a while for a reply. Several seconds pass in which Sunset is getting very nervous. She seems ready to write something else, but then the words appear on their own in the princess’s handwriting.
Sunset, I don’t know what to tell you. I’m… disappointed.
Though hurt, Sunset can’t help but roll her eyes.
Yeah, join the club. You’re not the first teacher to say that to me.
I’m serious Sunset! Why did you think doing this was a good idea?!
I confess that in retrospective, it wasn’t a good plan.
But the worst of this
Sunset allows herself a couple of seconds before completing that sentence.
It worked.
Not just the Rainbooms, but the whole school has shown that they don’t trust me.
Despite what I’ve done against the Sirens, and everything I’ve done to prove I’ve changed, to CHS I’m still the queen bitch who wants to hurt others.
“Hurting people wasn’t even my goal to begin with.”
Sunset thinks to herself, debating whether she should write it. Once again, it’s Twilight’s writing that stops her.
Whether it worked or not, what you did was a terrible thing! It will take a lot of work to earn back the trust of the whole school.
Sunset’s eyes narrow with some annoyance.
“I can’t get back something I never had.”
She thinks to herself, but decides to write something different.
Is it even worth it?
…
What do you mean? They’re your friends, Sunset.
The former unicorn shakes her head as she writes.
They have shown me they aren’t. Any little mistake on my part will make everyone hate me again.
It’s like you didn’t fix anything Twilight. The school can be easily manipulated.
The Rainbooms are not my friends, they never were. And after this, I don’t know if I want to be their friend.
This time it was my doing. But what would have happened if it wasn’t been me? Is it so easy to frame me to make them turn against me?
Is it so easy to fool the school and have everyone in it turn against one person?
Is that
Sunset needs to take a moment before she can write the end of her question.
friendship?
After writing that, Sunset looks at the diary for longer than she herself expected. Worrying later that several minutes would pass without an answer. Still she just leaves the pen on her table in front of the sofa, and waits…
Finally the new letters are formed illuminating her face when appearing.
I think there is a lot to deal with.
Perhaps it was too soon on my part to be overconfident. Clearly the school, and yourself, aren’t ready to learn about friendship.
Sunset can’t help but cross her arms and let out an annoyed as well hurt moan, remembering the times her former teacher said something similar to her.
I have a lot to do here in Equestria. But as soon as I go back home, I’ll cross the portal and we’ll talk.
We all are going to talk about the matter and try to fix this.
Another moan escapes from Sunset. The thought of being scolded by Twilight while being forced to talk to her former friends makes her frustrated.
A moment passes where Twilight stops writing, and Sunset seems too upset to do so. Once again it is the princess who resumes the written dialogue.
Sunset, what are you going to do now?
The red nd gold-haired girl calms down her frustration and instead looks dejected at the thought of the question. It takes her a bit to gather her thoughts to respond.
Finally she picks up the pen again and writes her answer.
Tomorrow, I will make a final post on Anon-a-Miss, confessing everything and my motives.
The school already hates me so it won’t make a difference.
After that… I don’t know.
The holidays are close, so I think I’ll just finish the week and then take a break to think.
I’ve already spent the holidays alone. So that doesn’t matter.
If you want you can come to Equestria.
Don’t worry, I promise not to bring up Anon-a-Miss while we’re here.
This served to give Sunset a smile. Soft, melancholic, but sincere.
I will think about it. Thanks Twilight.
I’ll write to you tomorrow. Good night.
Don’t mention it!
Let’s talk tomorrow. Good night.
With a satisfied look, Sunset allows herself to close the book and put it on the table.
Her smile soon falls, replaced by a sigh and a slightly tired frowning. Sunset gets up and walks to the window, noticing the soft fall of snow on the street.
“…Merry Christmas, Sunset.”
Author's Note
Hi there!
This is the result of a week-long marathon reading Anon-a-Miss stories, and asking myself, "Is there a story where Sunset was actually responsible for Anon-a-Miss?"
And so I decided to write this. Even after Rainbow Rocks Sunset is still inexperienced in friendship, so it's not unreasonable that she had an idea like this.
This was meant to be a oneshot, as I'm not sure how the story could go on, though I have a couple of ideas. Let me know if you would like it.
Anon-a-Miss: A friendship Test
Sunset lets out a sound that mixed a sigh and a moan at the same time, while walking through the halls of the school and doing her ‘new’ favorite activity:
Delete messages from her phone.
It had been a few hours since Sunset posted what she herself described as the ‘last Anon-a-Miss post’. And following through on what she had told Twilight, it described Sunset’s guilt and the motive behind her actions.
All morning she had receiving hate mail from practically the entire school.
“How the hell does everyone have my number? It’s not like my name is in the phone book.”
It’s what Sunset thinks, allowing herself to pause for a moment, moving her fingers rapidly over the screen erasing each message without even bothering to read them.
Since the messages began to reach her, they accumulated at an exorbitant speed, and Sunset feared that if they continued like this they would end up blocking her cell phone. That’s why she spent the whole morning deleting message after message, trying to prevent them from collapsing her device.
Suddenly a strong impact is felt behind her causing the former unicorn to scream in surprise, which she cuts off when her body crashes against the lockers.
And for added fun, she enjoys her second favorite activity: being physically assaulted.
With a groan of exhaustion and annoyance, Sunset stood up and tried to keep walking so she can attend her class in time.
*~Anon-a-Miss~*
“Miss Shimmer! Please put down that phone!”
Mr. Doodle scolds her just as class starts.
Sunset had to sigh and look at her phone, the messages kept coming. With no alternative to her teacher’s annoyed gesture, Sunset decides to turn the device off, resigning herself to the fact that she probably couldn’t turn it back on.
Mr. Cranky Doodle seemed satisfied with this and returned to his place at the opposite end of the classroom.
Sunset tries to suppress another sigh as she rests her elbow on the desk and her face into her fist, looking ahead at the rest of the class.
As class begins, Sunset can’t help but feel a certain irony from her current seat.
During her dark days, Sunset used to sit in the center of the room, a place where she could see all the students and keep an eye on them. After the Rainbow Beam hit her, she started sitting in the front to get a better understanding of each class and improve her grades. And now, after creating Anon-a-Miss, she had to move to the back to avoid students throwing things at her back.
Another sigh escapes the fire-haired girl before she begins to take her class notes.
*~Anon-a-Miss~*
'Sunset Shimmer, please report to the principal’s office.'
A voice is heard on the school loudspeaker, holding all activity in the hallways.
Sunset Shimmer herself stops and looks up. Her gaze quickly shows concern as she rubs her neck nervously. Other students glare at her with looks that range from anger and doubt to mockery. But ignoring them, she walks towards her destiny.
*~Anon-a-Miss~*
A knock on the door is immediately answered by the principal’s voice.
“Come in.”
The Equestrian teen opens the door and enters the room, trying to hide her nervousness.
“Did you want to see me, Principal Celestia?”
Celestia takes a second to set aside the documents she was reviewing before settling into her chair and looking at the newcomer.
“Indeed, Sunset. Please take a seat.” Says the woman, to which the girl obeys. Approaching the desk, she sits in the chair opposite the woman.
There is a silence between the two, as Celestia remains with her eyes closed and Sunset begins to feel uncomfortable in her seat.
“Sunset, tell me, are you Anon-a-Miss?”
The question makes the fiery-haired girl squirm slightly and look away. She should have guessed that this was the issue at hand.
“… Yes, Principal Celestia. I am.”
Her answer seems to make Celestia more tense, who crosses her fingers and rests both elbows on her desk as she leans slightly into her hands.
“I don’t get it, Sunset. Why? You have made great progress in your attitude change… why go back to your old habits?”
The woman’s voice remains calm and somewhat serious, but she reveals a small hint of sadness.
Sunset doesn’t immediately respond, though she relaxes in disappointment. She can’t bring herself to look at her principal as she talks back to her.
“I needed to know if my friends and the school really supported me. I wanted to know if they were my friends or if they only accepted me because I saved the school from the Sirens. I created Anon-a-Miss to prevent an enemy from attacking me and see if others defended me…”
At her confession, Celestia has to rest her forehead on her clasped hands and Sunset becomes more uncomfortable.
“Sunset, that’s-“
“I know.” The teenager interrupts the woman. “I know it was a terrible plan… the truth is that I didn’t stop to think about it.”
After a moment of silence and a sigh, Celestia sits up straighter in her chair and looks at Sunset with an expression of disapproval and sadness.
“Sunset, I cannot express how disappointed I am. You were going well on your way to becoming someone better after what happened at the Fall Formal, and now…”
Sunset had to look down, hurt by the woman’s words and ashamed of her own actions. Celestia softens her gaze, looking very sad as she continues to speak.
“I’m sorry, Sunset Shimmer, but I’m afraid I have no other choice.” The principal speaks, leaving the student surprised.
The woman takes a second before explaining the situation.
“After the Fall Formal, the School Board asked me for your immediate expulsion due to your past actions. I stood up for your name and promised that you would change your attitude, but they warned me that if one more event occurred where you acted against the school or the students… it wouldn’t be tolerated, and I would have to expel you in the act.”
Hearing that leaves an expression of utter terror on the Equestrian girl. She seems to want to speak, yet her mouth barely moves unable to utter a word.
“Throughout the time Anon-a-Miss remained active, I defended your innocence and prevented an undeserved expulsion. And now that you’ve confessed…I’m afraid I have no way of helping you.”
Once again there is silence, for her part Sunset seems to be struggling to process the woman’s words and the principal struggles internally to express herself. Finally, the cherry-eyed woman looks up, and though her eyes reflect pain, her expression is stern and firm.
“Sunset Shimmer, you are expelled from Canterlot High School.”
Celestia’s voice is stern, with a barely perceptible hint of sadness.
Her words have a crushing effect on Sunset, the girl’s eyes lose their shine and her face pales. Her body almost collapses forward, barely managing to get her arms out to hold on to the principal’s desk.
The aurora-haired woman rushes to her feet. Concerned about the young woman’s condition, she leans towards her and supports Sunset. Celestia tries to speak to her, but Sunset only hears distant echoes in her ears along with her heartbeat. Her breathing quickens and her eyes cloud over.
Celestia has to sit her upright and hold Sunset by her shoulders, her face full of worry and fear as she sees the teenager’s reaction.
As the principal is about to yell for help, she notices Sunset’s breathing begin to calm down. Her color returns to her face and her eyes, though she can be seen to be starting to sweat; her vision, as well as her sense, take a little longer to stabilize.
“Sunset…Sunset, are you alright?! Sunset!!”
After another minute, the fiery-haired young woman finally seems to react. Her eyes meet the woman’s and they begin to tremble.
“Are…are you expelling me…? Principal… why…? I… I…”
Both females look closely at each other for a moment. Emerald eyes are filled with sadness, while pink eyes show pity.
“…Please don’t…”
Celestia can’t help but close her eyes and gently squeeze the girl’s shoulders. She gets up and stands up, with a neutral countenance and a calm voice answers her.
“I’m sorry Sunset, but I’m afraid I can’t do more for you. I have protected you for too long. If I don’t take action now, the School Board will… and it would be worse for both of us.”
Sunset Shimmer can only lower her head with her eyes closed and a defeated expression. Celestia seeing her has to look away from her.
“…I deserve it. After everything I did…”
Celestia upon hearing her seems to want to speak, but she can’t find the words. After a few seconds of silence between them, Sunset stands up and straightens up. She smoothes her clothes a bit, wanting to keep some decency.
“Thank you for everything you has done for me, Principal Celestia. It was nice to be at your school.”
Saying that, and making a small bow that serves as a reverence, Sunset turns around and leaves the room without saying anything. She barely takes a few steps after closing the door, only for it to open again as the principal comes out of the office to call her.
“Sunset, wait!”
The fire-haired girl turns and the woman reaches for her.
“I have a contact at Crystal Prep Academy. If I talk to her, maybe she can get you accepted as a student. It’s… a good school, with high academic performance.” The aurora-haired woman explains, though her voice seems to doubt itself.
“You are very intelligent and I am sure that you won’t have any problem with the classes. If you want, I can call her.”
There is a silence between the two as Sunset seems to think and process this while Celestia waits for an answer. Finally the young woman responds, although she doesn’t look at the woman.
“Thank you, Principal Celestia. I will think about it.”
Without saying more they look at each other for the last time, and then the former student turns away from her without looking back. The principal lets out a breath through her nose, her shoulders slump, and she walks back into her office.
*~Anon-a-Miss~*
The sound of the bell is heard throughout the school and the hallways slowly begin to fill with students moving to get to their next class.
In her locker, Sunset collects her books, notebooks, pencils and pens as well as whatever else she can fit in her backpack. As she packs up her belongings, her eyes drift to a photograph taped to the door: a picture of herself and the girls she’s grown to love, and whom she knows she betrayed. She averts her gaze, but her eyes return to her photo, and with a movement of her hand she rips it out of the door, putting it in her jacket pocket.
Sunset takes a moment to calm down and breathe. She doesn’t realice when someone approaches her until she hears her name being called.
“Sunset.”
The familiar, recognizable voice makes her look up to see those same girls standing over her, with Rainbow leading the group. The five of them look at Sunset and she looks back at them.
For a moment no one spoke, until the now former student decides to continue with her locker.
“If you come to yell at me, do it quickly. I’m leaving.”
“Leaving? Where to?” The dressmaker of the group speaks, asking the question that everyone had in their minds.
Sunset has to take a moment to collect her words before responding. “Principal Celestia just expelled me.”
Such a revelation comes as a shock to all of them, and they are instantly alarmed.
“SHE EXPELLED YOU?! But why?!” Asks the sports star.
“The School Board is not happy with my conduct record. Obviously.” Sunset explains with an almost sarcastic nod at the end. “The principal was warned that if I did any of my stunts again, she would have to kick me out of school. Needless to say, Anon-a-Miss fits into that category.”
While she finishes explaining this, Sunset ends placing everything that fits in her backpack, having to carry the rest of the books in her arms.
“B-But you can’t let them expel you!” Exclaims Rainbow Dash. “Maybe i-if we talk to the principal-“
Sunset cuts off the jock’s sentence. “It won’t work. Her hands are tied, the School Board already has it bad for always letting me get away with it. If Celestia tries to help me once more, I’m afraid they might do something to her. And I don’t want that.”
The entire group falls silent. The Rainbooms look sad as they look at the girl in the jacket.
“But darling, what are you going to do?”
Sunset lowers her head with her eyes closed, trying to appear composed.
“I don’t know. I guess I’ll find a way to continue studying.”
The answer doesn’t satisfy any of them, not even herself. The fire-haired teen closes the door of her now empty locker and plucks up the courage to speak again.
“I may not have a chance to say it, so I’ll say it now…”
There is a pause as the group sees Sunset stand before them, and with a calm expression – albeit with a look of pain – she speaks to the five teens.
“…I’m so sorry for what I did. I mean not just Anon-a-Miss, but everything I put you through these years.” Sunset holds up her hand to stop the Rainbooms when she sees that they are about to speak. “I know it’s been hard for you guys to adjust to me and put our bad blood behind you, but you made the effort and made me feel accepted. I thank you for that.” There is a moment of silence before she finishes speaking. “I also take back what I said last night. You aren't bad friends, you are… the best friends anyone can have.”
Although the words should have done them good, it is clear that no one in the group feels comfortable with them.
“We are not…” The young farmer girl speaks. “We left ya out with this whole Anon-a-Miss thing, and we didn’t give ya a chance to explain yerself.”
“There was nothing to explain. I am Anon-a-Miss.”
“It doesn’t matter!” Flutterhsy suddenly speaks, surprising everyone with his high tone of voice, contrary to his usual state. “You are our friend!... And we put you aside. We were mean to you. Even… even if you weren’t Anon-a-Miss, we should have helped you! We had no right to kick you out! We had to be best friends and help you stop being mean. We… “
The young animal lover is overcome by her sadness and she covers her face as she lets out tears. It is her pink-haired friend who hugs her to support her.
“… She is right.” It’s AJ who takes the floor. “It doesn’t matter if yer Anon-a-Miss, puttin’ ya aside just fer a bunch of secrets wasn’t right. We were lousy friends.”
Sunset is stunned by what she hears. “But I humiliated you in front of the whole school. And I did it for stupid reasons! All to test your friendship…” The girl’s gaze fell in embarrassment and grief. “That… that was even worse than what I’ve done to you all these years…”
“And we forgive you.” Says Rainbow, this makes Sunset look up to see the group. Fluttershy had managed to stop crying, and she looks at her Equestrian friend with sadness but at the same time with hope.
“We forgive you, Sunset Shimmer.”
Repeat the athlete. Sunset begins to tremble, her eyes stinging from the burning, and she fights back the tears that threaten to spill out of her.
“…But…I humiliated you girls…I did something horrible to you…”
“It’s just a few unimportant photos, darling.” Rarity speaks and dares to come closer, taking Sunset’s hand in hers and smiling softly at her. “Your friendship is more important to us.”
Clutching the books in her arm, Sunset has to close her eyes and bite her lip to keep from crying. Only she couldn’t help it when she felt several bodies pile on her, enveloping her in warmth and comfort.
Although the halls were full of students, the only thing they could hear was the sobs of the Equestrian girl, and later the crash of her books against the floor as they fell. It was this that made them break the comfortable embrace of her.
“Oh crap…”
The former unicorn grumbled before bending down to collect her things. Her friends did the same, and when picked up everything they helped Sunset carry them in her arms more comfortably.
“Hold on, I’ll be right back!”
Said the athlete of the group starting to walk down the hall at the speed that was attributed to her. The rest of the group looked at each other once more before returning to their conversation.
“Yer sure ya must leave, Sunset?” Applejack asked, clearly concerned.
Sunset could only lower her shoulders with some reluctance. “I don’t exactly have any other choice. I can’t study here anymore and… I don’t want to cause Celestia any more trouble.”
“And where will you go?” Rarity asks her despite having formulated a similar question moments ago.
This time Sunset takes a moment to think it through. “Principal Celestia offered me the opportunity to attend Crystal Prep.”
“Crystal Prep?! That school is plagued by filthy, snooty and antisocial students.” The southern girl complains dismissively.
“Well, maybe I’ll suit the place. I’m not good socially speaking.”
“Don’t put yourself down like that darling.” Ask Rarity. “You’re so much better than those uneducated brats. You have decency.”
“I still don’t know if I’ll go. Celestia only offered me that option, although I don’t know if I want to do it. It’s still too sudden. I need to think about all this.”
There is a pause in which the entire group is silent, each one seems to think about that statement. It is at that moment that Rainbow returns with a gym bag in hand.
“I’m back! I went to the gym for my gym bag, I left everything in my locker. Here Sunset, you can take your things here.”
“You didn’t need to do that, Dash.”
Despite her words and the slight embarrassment that her situation seems to give her, the athlete helps the equine put the rest of her books in her bag.
Once Sunset has everything made sure of her, her good expression fades and she looks a bit down.
“Well, I guess I’ll go now. I… I think I’ll see you around.”
Pinkie Pie takes a step—in fact it’s more like a leap forward—and she smiles brightly. “We’re going to the Sweet Shoppe after school! Do you want to come?! Today the Cakes will make their Marzipan Mascarpone Meringue Madness! I call it the ‘MMMM’!”
At the latter, the pink girl smacked her lips. Sunset can’t help but laugh a little.
“Thank you, but I don’t feel like going out today. I have a lot to think about.”
The answer depresses the girls a bit.
“Alright, sugarcube. We understand.” AJ speaks for the entire group. “But Ah really hope ya can come for the Christmas Eve party.”
“Huh? Party? You mean… that I’m still invited?” Sunset’s voice is heavy with doubt, even fear.
“Of course! It wouldn’t be the same without ya.”
Sunset feels her eyes burn and she has to wipe herself away from crying again. Her friends smile at her and finally they all say goodbye in silence. Sunset turns around, carrying her backpack and her borrowed bag, and walks towards the school entrance.
“I’ll save you a piece of ‘MMMM’ in case you change your mind!”
Sunset is tempted to turn around at the sound of Pinkie’s voice, but she decides against it and she just smiles as she walks away from her.
“They forgave me despite my idiocy.” She thinks to herself. “…maybe the test didn’t go wrong after all.”
*~Anon-a-Miss~*
Lying on her couch, in the solitude of her apartment. TV on a random channel, paying no attention to it and she just uses it to have something to make noise in the place.
Sunset didn’t know how much time had passed.
Arriving at her apartment, she simply left her things almost lying at the entrance, and had reclined on her sofa in front of the light of her television. Her gaze fixed on the ceiling observing nothing.
Her mind replayed the morning and what happened over and over again.
There were many things she wanted to think about and discuss with her own consciousness, but her head kept showing her in a repeating loop everything that had happened that day.
Upon her arrival at school, the talk with Celestia and her encounter with the Rainbooms.
Sunset had so many questions, so many that she needed to solve in her head, yet she couldn’t concentrate on solving them. She just repeated her doubts over and over again.
“Expelled…”
“Now… what am I going to do?”
“Should I continue with my studies…?”
“My friends forgave me.”
“How should I approach them?”
As much as she wondered, her mind wasn’t working to give her answers.
Sunset felt like her head had been spinning for hours, and when she was finally able to focus her attention on something concrete she realized that she had been lying there for hours doing nothing.
A sound coming from her stomach manages to get her on her feets. She only now realices that she had skipped lunch and it was almost time for become night.
She felt a little happy to be able to occupy her mind with something else, and putting the day’s thoughts aside she focuses on what to eat to satisfy her hunger.
Sunset stood where she was for a moment, her eyes flickering slightly between her small fridge and the door. She repeats that action a few times, until she seems to make up her mind.
Taking her keys, Sunset leaves her apartment. With sunset, the change in temperature is immediately noticeable. Her fiery hair shakes off and adjusts her jacket, though that doesn’t help her situation; Anyway, she prefers to ignore the cold and starts walking.
*~Anon-a-Miss~*
With a brisk step, without speeding up too much but trying not to be outdoors more than necessary, Sunset Shimmer walks through the streets of the city without a really fixed direction.
Knowing that her friends would be at her usual meeting point, and not feeling ready to talk to them, Sunset decided to head another way to an area that she rarely frequented, but well known enough not to get lost.
After wandering around, she found a taco shop with an affordable deal. With a good supply, she could save most of it for tomorrow’s lunch; maybe even for tomorrow’s dinner. With no more access to the school cafeteria, having extra food would come in handy.
Sunset buys a paper bag containing several cheese and vegetables tacos, with salsa inside. She also allowed herself to buy a few fish tacos.
Arriving in a world where the dominant race is omnivorous, the expony had trouble adjusting her diet. Even if she tried, she couldn’t muster the courage to eat red meat, so her diet was almost entirely vegetarian. But from time to time she could afford to eat fish meat, in the case of a species that didn’t possess thinking or sentient values. She had no problem eating it.
Pleased with her purchase, the former equine returns the way she came, now carrying a large bag of food.
It had gotten dark quite quickly, already giving away the change of season to the coldest time. Trying not to tremble, Sunset walked rather hurriedly, wanting to return to her home as soon as possible.
The only thing that managed to stop her was hearing a soft chant. A small group of voices wich together sang a melody that, for some reason, was familiar to her…
Overcome with curiosity, the young tanned girl followed the sound down an alley, straining her ears to hear how that chorus of voices continued to emit a chant without words, but too appealing… too familiar…
As our girl progresses, her pace slows, fearful and eager to find those voices. She finally does it…
A metal barrel flaunts a faint flame, its light illuminating the empty space between the buildings on the site. Three people can be seen around her: three teenage girls who raise their hands towards the fire seeking its warmth.
Sunset’s green eyes widen with surprise and a slight fear when she recognizes them. One girl with almost golden skin and thick fluffy orange hair, one lavender complexioned with her purple hair tied up in two big pigtails, and the third bluish skinned girl with hair almost the same color, tied up in a ponytail. All three of them wear winter pants and coats with hoods that are now down.
They have their eyes closed, their palms on the fire as they sing that chant Sunset now knows why it was so familiar to her.
“The Dazzlings…”
Sunset utters in her own mind, too shocked to speak or move.
The three girls, the Dazzlings, oblivious to her presence, continue to sing her song to each other. Minutes go by, until they stop.
“…THAT was disappointing.” Aria spoke with a whiny voice.
“Be glad we at least got our voices back.” Adagio comments with some scolding. “If we focus hard enough, we can support each other and make our voices consistent.”
“Who cares?!” The purple Siren complains again. “Without our charms powering our spell, we won’t be able to control anyone’s mind, let alone take negative energy to strengthen ourselves.”
“Try to be positive, Aria.” The leader speaks with a movement that shows she is holding back her anger.
“Positive?! Positive my ass! We ran out of magic in the middle of nowhere!”
The argument between the two could have continued, if the third member of the group hadn’t circled her stomach when she heard her growl.
“I’m hungry…” Sonata spoke, interrupting the other two’s discussion. “Can we buy something to eat?”
“We don’t have money anymore, Sonata.” Adagio responds, looking away and tilting her head a bit.
“Yeah, you spent the last thing we had on that stupid decoration for your phone!” The Dazzling with pig tails criticizes while her gaze goes to the pocket of the blue girl’s coat from where a blue phone is seen sticking out from which hangs a small taco-shaped ornament with a smiley face.
Sonata responds by taking the phone from her and raising it against the other’s glare. “Is not stupid! It’s funny! Look how its eyes bounce!”
With an amused smile, Sonata waves the phone at her causing the ornament cue’s eyes to roll. She laughs as Adagio rolls her eyes and Aria groans.
“You are the worst!”
“Oh yeah? Well, I think you are!”
“Stop, both of you. ENOUGH!” Adagio exclaims waving her arms and raising her voice. “Now more than ever is when we NEED to stick together!” She emphasizes that word. “None of us can survive without the others. We must stick together and find a way to get our magic back.”
Sunset becomes quite serious after the three Sirens’ conversation, and feeling a lump in her throat as well as a nervous tremor running through her body, she decides that she has heard enough. She slowly begins to back away, taking a step back followed by another, her gaze still fixed on the trio as she tries to remain silent.
Unfortunately for Sunset, a black cat hidden in the shadows of the alley notices her movement and seeing her approach without her knowing it, the cat becomes restless, emits a loud meow and soon runs off brushing the girl’s leg, which startles her and makes her cry out in surprise.
Sunset Shimmer sees the cat get lost in the city street and stands still for a moment. As she turns around, she notices how those three girls turned to look at her, each with amazement on their faces.
“YOU!!”
Sunset is disturbed by the scream of the purple Siren, even more so when she herself runs, almost pushing her blue companion and goes directly towards the former equine.
Sunset turns and runs to walk away, but seeing the Dazzling start to catch up with her, in a quick thought she reaches for the lid of a nearby trash can and manages to use it as a shield to stop the onslaught the other girl throws at her.
Aria uses both arms to keep her own body from colliding with the lid of the trash can, then decides to use her weight to push Sunset off. The fire-haired girl struggles against her and the purple Siren changes position; Using one hand to hold on to the blocking lid, she extends her other arm intent on reaching for her ‘prey’.
Feeling frightened by the nearby violence, Sunset pushes with all her might, managing to send Aria back nearly three feet before the Siren falls. The other two Sirens rush over and Sunset rushes to put the lid in front of her as a shield.
“Arie!” Sonata exclaims as she leans down to help her partner.
Adagio, for her part, remains standing in front of the others, and looks attentive but annoyed at her spy.
“Well, well, if is none other than the savior of Canterlot.” The Dazzling leader speaks spitefully and with some sarcasm. “What do you want? Have you come to gloat over your victory and mock your enemies like any good hero?”
For a moment Sunset doesn’t respond. She just stands there, the lid firmly in her grip like a defensive weapon as she shifts her eyes between the leader of the group and the other two on the ground.
After a moment in which she seemed to collect her thoughts, Sunset finally speaks.
“What are you guys doing here?”
The question is left unanswered, as the three Sirens look at the girl in the jacket with different emotions. It’s Aria, looking extremely upset, who growls before speaking.
“What do you think we do?! Freezing to death because of you!!"
Sunset frowns in confusion at such a statement. There is silence until the fluffy-haired Dazzling crosses her arms trying to appear nonchalant and speaks.
“None of your business, but if you REALLY want to know.” Adagio leaves a moment of silence before continuing to speak. “We just lost our residence and now we have nowhere to go.”
This puts the former equine completely off guard. Aria finally stands up, being helped by Sonata. Although she seems to want to pounce on Sunset again, she doesn’t.
“…What do you mean you have nowhere to go? …Are you…?”
Sunset was speechless, and she couldn’t understand the situation.
Adagio rolls his eyes and clenches his crossed arms a little, as if he’s holding back his mood.
“I mean ONLY that!” Says the orange-haired Siren without looking at her interlocutor. “Without our pendants we can’t charm people, and without it we can’t trick them into letting us live anywhere! After losing the Battle of the Bands and our magic, the owner of the house where we lived threatened to charge us for every penny we never paid him. We try to get work to pay for it, but we can’t because we don’t have legal papers from this world. So this morning we had no choice but to flee, before the curmudgeon had us arrested.”
Sunset had dropped her guard so much that the lid of the trash can in her hands was now completely down. Her entire body loose from her showed that she had no way to defend herself, but she didn’t realice that. She is too shocked by the revelation.
“So yeah, we don’t have magic, we don’t have a home, we don’t have money. We are literally homeless, thanks to you and your dopey friends. Go ahead and laugh! Rejoice in your victory!”
Adagio says this in a sarcastic but frustrated tone, her eyes drifting away and never looking at Sunset as her fingers press into her arms, which are clutched to her chest. Sonata looks down at the ground looking depressed, and Aria also crosses her arms looking down with a firm frown as she lets out a grunt.
Sunset Shimmer is speechless. For the first time since morning, her mind is completely blank. Her gaze barely registers what she sees, the image of the three Sirens that not long ago gave her some of the worst moments of her life in this world.
Now…
… Now she could only look at them and see that they just hit rock bottom. It was obvious to Sunset that they weren’t lying. There would be no point in lying like that; besides, she could see the grief, the anger, the despair in the eyes of the three of them.
Sunset had seen those eyes, on herself, many times. Including… the most recent events…
None of the homeless teens say or do anything. From time to time their eyes wander between the girl who is not from her group and any part of the alley. None of them seem worthy or even interested in continuing the ‘talk’.
For her part, Sunset also doesn’t know what to say or what to do. For several minutes that felt much longer than they really were, there was only silence.
Until a snowflake fell right on the flame-haired girl’s nose, snapping her out of her stupor and making her quickly think about the situation.
“…Gah! Uh…I…I mean…” Her words falter and she tries to sort them out.
The Dazzlings look at her. Two of them looking annoyed, the other just puzzled.
Sunset rubs the back of her neck and grips the lid of the trash can almost protectively, but nervously, doubting herself.
“…Would you like to come to my apartment?”
No answer comes, only three looks of astonishment and confusion remain, all directed at the young Equestrian.
Sunset bites her lip, too nervous to think and too confused to do anything. That is, until she spots the paper bag she dropped during the chase.
“~I have tacos~…” Offers Sunset with a slightly teasing tone.
The effect is immediate, and the blue-haired Siren immediately ‘glides’ near Sunset Shimmer, her eyes sparkling with excitement.
“Did you just said taaaaaaaacos?!”
