“YOU DID WHAT?!”

Sunset recoiled as she read Twilight's message. She had just written to her about what had happened that day, and her response was not happy. She was about to write a response when more words appeared.

“Sunset, I don’t understand why you would not accept being part of our Canterlot friends' family. I know there have been a few hiccups with Rainbow, Applejack, and Rarity but you all talked it over and resolved it.”

“It's more than a few hiccups Twi,” Sunset responded. “The same issue popped up with Applebloom and Sweetie Belle.”

“What do you mean?” Twilight asked, a little confused.

“Applebloom was upset with me for stealing her sister’s time away from her family and Sweetie Belle was angry at Rarity for excluding her from the slumber party,” Sunset explained. “Despite my reformation, I seem to cause relationship rifts without even meaning to. Which is why being best friends with the girls is as close as I should be with them.”

Sunset watched the journal for Twilight’s response, it took a minute before the princess finally responded.

“Hmm, this is a tricky problem. I can’t say that I have encountered a situation like this before so my help is very limited. I'm sorry, Sunset,” Twilight apologized. “But this doesn’t mean that I’m giving up on you!” She quickly added.

“Don’t worry, Twilight. I know what you meant,” Sunset chuckled as she wrote back.

“Still, I hate not being able to offer much help,” Twilight wrote, she felt awful for not having the right answer to Sunset’s situation.

“Twilight, you’ve helped plenty,” Sunset assured her. “If anything you’ve been a great pony to talk about my problems with.”

“What are friends for?” was Twilight’s quick response.

“See? Being friends isn’t bad at all, we still care about each other as if we are family.” Sunset pointed out, she was feeling better about her decision.

“But it still isn’t the same as being called family,” Twilight retorted. “Whatever happens, don't push the girls away.”

“Not gonna happen,” Sunset confidently replied. “After experiencing the magic of friendship, there’s no way I’m giving it up.”

“Glad to hear it,” was Twilight’s simple reply.

The two wrote to each other for a bit longer, mostly Twilight talking about what she was doing for Hearths Warming. The two wrote their goodbyes and Sunset closed her journal, she let out a content sigh as she stared at her journal with a smile.

“It sure is good to have friends,” Sunset whispered, her smile faltering as she thought of Princess Celestia. Her mind kept going over their fight, and given recent events she couldn’t help but feel that she was being punished for the way she and her former mentor parted. “I guess it’s just something I have to live with.”

Sunset placed her journal on her nightstand and got ready for bed. She glanced at a picture of her and her friends by her nightstand causing her to smile, she closed her eyes and was soon asleep.

Sunset walked down the hallway of the school, she smiled as she saw her friends and quickened her pace.

“Hey girls, what’s…” Sunset trailed off as she saw the crestfallen looks on her friends faces. “What’s wrong?”

“Sunset,” Applejack began, she looked uneasy and could barely look Sunset in the eye. “Have yah lost yer phone recently?”

“No,” Sunset answered as she reached inside her pocket and pulled out her phone. “I have it right here.”

The girls looked at each other nervously, making Sunset feel uneasy.

“Then explain this,” Applejack said as she handed Sunset her phone.

As soon as Sunset looked at the phone, her eyes widened in shock. The Anon-A-Miss blog had returned and they posted the photos and videos of the slumber party at Pinkie Pie’s place.

“How did she get our pictures?!” Sunset shouted, she felt her anger rising as she read the comments. Her friends were being ridiculed and laughed at.

“They’re not ours, Sunset. They’re yours,” Applejack corrected, and she looked on the brink of tears.

“No,” Sunset looked at her friends, their looks of shame told her what they thought. “You think I did this?”

“Mah nickname, the pictures, yer strange behavior,” Applejack listed, her voice cracking. “Who else could it be but yah?”

Sunset took a step back feeling like she had just been punched in the gut.

“No, I couldn’t do this!” Sunset looked at her friends in tears. “I could never hurt any of you!”

“Darling, if this is a cry for help we’re here for you,” Rarity said as she wiped away a stray tear.

“Ah don’t know what’s causing yah to do this but ah know yah wouldn’t do it willingly,” Applejack said, she gave Sunset a serious look. “We’ll figure this out together, cause family sticks together.”

“I’ll always have your back Sunset,” Rainbow vowed, she looked like she was about to cry.

Sunset watched as all her friends were standing by her, willing to shoulder the humiliation…for her. She couldn’t let them do this.

“How could you keep this from me?!”

Sunset’s eyes widen upon hearing her angry voice. Her friends rush past her as her surroundings change from the school hallway to the royal library. She slowly turns around to see her friends standing between her and herself arguing with Princess Celestia. They are trying to shield her from what is happening.

“You knew I was destined for greatness but held me back!” Unicorn Sunset shouted angrily at Princess Celestia. “You were afraid that I would be better than you, right?! You wanted to keep me in line!”

“Sunset Shimmer, do not speak to me in such a tone,” Princess Celestia said calmly but with a firm tone as she glared down at her pupil.

“Why can’t you share the spotlight?! Are you that afraid of letting someone stand by your side?!” Pony Sunset accused as she threw a book at her former mentor but it harmlessly bounced off a golden barrier.

“I would like nothing more than to see you shining beside me,” Celestia said, her gaze hardening. “But you are not ready.”

“Not ready?!” Pony Sunset shrieked. “I am more than ready!”

“No,” Sunset whispered with dread, she knew what was coming.

“I demand you make me an Alicorn!” Pony Sunset demanded, stomping her hoof.

“You do not demand anything from me,” Celestia said, in a calm collected voice. Though she looked angry at Sunset. “I thought I asked you to learn humility but I can see that it was too much to ask. Sunset Shimmer, you are no longer my student.”

A strong gust of wind blew but the girls managed to shield Sunset, who clutched at her heart. She felt this incredible pain but she didn’t recall ever feeling this when the Princess first said those words. She looked towards Princess Celestia and her eyes widened when she recognized the look of pain in her eyes. She is feeling the Princess’s pain.

“This isn’t over,” Pony Sunset said defiantly, as the royal guards surrounded her.

“My guards will escort you to your room, you will pack your belongings and be escorted out of the castle,” Celestia spoke with finality, Sunset felt her heart ache with every word.

Pony Sunset looked at Celestia, her eyes burning with hatred, fire surrounded her and the princess before she spoke.

“I hate you.”

The flames burst forth, the girls hugged Sunset to protect her from her hateful words.

“Girls stop!” Sunset pleaded as she watched in horror as they caught fire.

“Yer not that pony anymore!” Applejack reminded her.

“You were angry, you never meant to say that!” Rarity said as she was engulfed in flames.

“You are a kind person Sunset!” Fluttershy said in tears.

Suddenly, Sunset realized that the fire was no longer coming from her pony self, it was coming from her.

“Girls, let go!” Sunset begged as she tried to pry her friends off from her burning body.

“No!” Pinkie shouted, refusing to let go.

“You’ll be burned to ashes!” Sunset shouted, crying profusely as her friends were suffering because of her.

“We’re never going to leave you!” Rainbow Dash stubbornly said.

Sunset watched her friends burn, unable to do anything to convince them to let her go. She could only scream.

“No!” Sunset screamed as she sat up from her bed, her body covered in sweat and her heart pounding against her chest. She looked around and noticed she was in her room. “A nightmare?” She whispered she hadn’t had a nightmare this intense since after the Fall Formal. She recalled her friends burning because of her causing her to cover her face with her hands and start sobbing.

Sunset yawned as she entered the school, she couldn’t fall back asleep because of the nightmare.

“Too bad Anon-A-Miss deleted her blog.”

Sunset stopped and turned to see two students talking by their lockers.

“Yeah, the post about Piggly Wiggly was hilarious!”

Both students laughed which made Sunset angry, she was about to march over there and give them a piece of her mind when someone beat her to it.

“You wouldn’t like it if they posted something embarrassing about you, right?” Flash said as he crossed his arms, giving both students a disapproving look. “Or perhaps you’d like to say that to my friend’s face?”

Both students looked behind Flash to see an angry Sunset Shimmer, they immediately fled in terror.

“Thanks for that, Flash,” Sunset thanked Flash as she calmed down.

“Don’t mention it,” Flash smiled at Sunset. “Besides, they’re my friends too.”

Sunset smiled at those words, but her smile faltered when she saw the concerned look on Flash’s face.

“Are you okay, Sunset?” Flash asked. “You look like you didn’t sleep well.”

“I didn’t,” Sunset sighed. “I’ll tell you later.”

“I’ll hold you to that,” Flash said as he winked at Sunset, causing her to smile.

The two parted ways as Sunset made her way to her locker. As she was putting away her things she noticed Applejack and Applebloom walking towards her.

“Morning Sunset,” Applejack greeted her friend as she opened her locker.

“Good morning Applejack,” Sunset greeted her friend before addressing Applebloom. “And good morning to you too, Applebloom.”

“Morning, Sunset!” Applebloom greeted Sunset, smiling brightly. “Do yah think yah can help me and mah friends with our homework?”

Sunset briefly glances at Applejack who is smiling as she gives Sunset a nod.

“Sure, what time should we meet?” Sunset asked.

“How about during lunch if that’s alright?” Applebloom suggested.

“It’s fine with me,” Sunset agreed.

“Thanks a lot, Sunset!” Applebloom thanked the former Equestrian before running off.

“Are you okay with this?” Sunset asked Applejack as she turned to face her.

“Of course,” Applejack said with a smile. “Nothing wrong with helping out my sister and her friends.”

Sunset opened her mouth to clarify what she meant but Applejack continued speaking.

“Ah know what you meant and ah am okay with it,” Applejack assured her. “Our talk yesterday made me realize how silly Ah’ve been for thinking yah were stealing Bloom from me, Ah’m sorry again fer what I said to yah.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Sunset shrugged dismissively. “I know what it’s like to lash out at somepony.”

“That still doesn't make what ah said right,” Applejack said with remorse. “Don’t yah worry, ah’ll make it right.”

“Applejack, you don’t need to make anything right,” Sunset assured her best friend.

“Ah do,” Applejack insisted. “Yah helped out around the farm as a way to make up for what yah did to me remember?”

“I remember you being reluctant when I asked to help you out on your farm,” Sunset said as she crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow. “You were really stubborn about not wanting any help.”

“Then yah should know that my stubbornness won’t stop until Ah make things right with yah,” Applejack smiled cheekily.

Sunset rolled her eyes but smiled at Applejack’s words.

“Alright, alright, just don’t do anything crazy,” Sunset finally relented.

“Ah promise ah won’t,” Applejack promised Sunset just as the bell rang. The two parted ways as they made their way to their classes.

Sunset sat down at the lunch table that had the CMC.

“Alright girls, ready to get started?” Sunset asked.

“I sure am,” Rainbow Dash said as she sat down next to Scootaloo.

“Rainbow? What are you doing?” Sunset asked, arching an eyebrow.

“Scoots told me you were helping her and her friends with their schoolwork and I thought maybe you could help me with mine,” Rainbow Dash answered, looking at Sunset with a smile.

“How bad did you fail your test?” Sunset questioned, knowing that Rainbow only comes to her for help when she’s in desperate need.

Rainbow Dash scratched the back of her head in embarrassment as she handed Sunset her physics test paper. Sunset flinched as she saw how badly she failed her physics test, the misspelling of buoyancy, and the “see me after class” written at the top left-hand corner told her plenty before she looked over her test.

“So….can you help me?” Rainbow asked hopefully.

“I hope you’re ready to work hard?” Sunset questioned as she handed Rainbow back her test.

“You know I am!” Rainbow Dash said confidently as she saluted.

Sunset smiled as she went over what they needed help with, she gave more attention to Rainbow Dash as she needed a lot of help understanding the subject.

“Geez, you make it look so easy,” Rainbow commented as Sunset instructed her.

“It’s easy once you get the hang of it,” Sunset said as she looked over Rainbow’s work. “Studying also helps.”

“That’s the problem right there,” Rainbow groans. “I hate studying.”

“You just haven’t found a studying method you like yet,” Sunset said as she pointed out something that Rainbow missed.

“What’s yours?” Rainbow asked as she erased something before writing the correct answer.

“It’s nothing special, I just study normally,” Sunset shrugged as she looked over the CMC to see them doing their homework without any problems.

“Probably cause you’re an egghead,” Rainbow Dash chuckled.

“Well this egghead did get the better of you,” Sunset reminded her, she grimaced before adding. “I got the better of the whole school.”

“And now you’re using your eggheadedness for good,” Rainbow Dash said grinning.

“Right,” Sunset agreed, her smile returning.

The final bell rang and the CHS students quickly exited their classrooms, eager to get started on their winter break. Sunset took her time getting to her locker, tomorrow is the Christmas party at Sweet Apple Acres for the Apple family as well as those they consider family. Sunset wasn’t going to go but if she tried telling that to Applejack, the farmer would do her best to convince her to attend and succeed. She needed to come up with a way to let them know that she wasn’t going to go. She reached her locker and as she opened it to retrieve her coat, she heard her name being called.

“Sunset?”

Sunset turned around to see a nervous-looking Applebloom.

“What’s the matter, Applebloom?” Sunset asked.

“C-can ah talk to yah for a minute?” Applebloom nervously spoke. “There’s something ah have to tell yah.”

Sunset knew that it must be serious if Applebloom’s nervousness was anything to go by, she hoped that whatever it was, wasn’t because of her.

“Okay,” Sunset said as Applebloom led her to an empty classroom.

“Remember how ah said Ah was mad at yah for making Applejack miss our family traditions?” Applebloom asked, her heart racing.

“Yeah,” Sunset said, a little confused.

“Ah was very mad at both of yah, especially yah so ah….” Applebloom hesitated, she closed her eyes tight before speaking. “Ah made the Anon-A-Miss account!”

The room was quiet, Applebloom waited for Sunset to say something but when she didn’t, she risked opening her eyes and almost flinched when she saw Sunset’s blank expression. Sunset’s eyes looked like they were gazing deep into her soul.

“Is it just because you were mad at us?” Sunset suddenly spoke, startling Applebloom.

“Y-yeah,” Applebloom shamefully admitted. “Ah was mad that Applejack missed out on our family tradition and ah blamed yah for it. So ah set up the account, posted AJ’s nickname, and made it look like it was yah who did it. Sunset, Ah’m really sorry. Ah was stupid for doing it but ah let mah anger get the better of me, ah promise to make it up to yah.”

Sunset didn’t say anything, she continued to look at Applebloom before speaking again.

“Is that all?”

Applebloom nodded, and there was more silence before Sunset turned around and started to walk away. Applebloom lowered her head, she felt crushed, Sunset no doubt hated her now.

“Applebloom?”

Applebloom snapped her head up to look at Sunset’s back.

“Y-yes?”

“Thank you for telling me,” Sunset thanked the youngest Apple as she opened the classroom door. “Please get home safe.”

Sunset left, leaving Applebloom alone.

Sunset closed the door to her apartment, she walked towards her room and sat on her bed. Applebloom’s confession weighed heavily on her mind, but it wasn’t just that she was Anon-A-Miss that shocked her. It was the fact that she was the reason this happened, if she didn’t tell Applejack how alone she always was on the holidays, then she wouldn’t have suggested the sleepovers and missed her family’s holiday traditions.

“It’s all my fault,” Sunset said sadly. “Why did I open my big mouth?”

Sunset covered her face with her hands.

“The sun provides warmth to everyone but burns everything close to it.”

Sunset lowered her hands, her eyes widening as she recalled Princess Celestia’s words. She assumed she was talking about the actual sun but maybe she was also talking about herself. Sunset pulled out her journal and stared at her cutie mark on the cover.

“I burn those closest to me,” Sunset said in a soft tone, realizing that the same thing now applies to her. Sunset fell back on her bed; she stared at the ceiling before laughing. She laughed for a good minute before she sat up, she looked at the framed photo on her nightstand of her and her friends. She picked it up and smiled as she remembered fondly about the day it was taken. It was just after they defeated the Dazzlings and she and the girls truly became friends. “I guess that’s how it’s always meant to be.”

Sunset placed the picture frame back down and got up, she let out a sigh before going to her kitchen to prepare something to eat. She already made up her mind for tomorrow, she hopes that her friends will understand her decision.

Author's Note

Things just keep getting worse for Sunset. I hope you enjoy the chapter, and I look forward to your comments.