Ever since Princess Twilight defeated Sunset Shimmer at The Fall Formal, Canterlot Highschool had become a beacon of friendship. Unfortunately, this would not last as a Mystable profile named 'Anon-A-Miss' had ruined that by posting the secrets of the students and teachers, causing mistrust to spread throughout the campus. Fights broke out daily and the staff tried their best to control the chaos. However, they could not be everywhere and no one had it worse than Sunset Shimmer.
Just a few nights ago, the former Equestrian was happily attending the slumber parties hosted by her friends. The girls held the slumber parties to give Sunset the best Christmas ever and to make her feel loved and welcomed. But just after the sleepover at Pinkie Pie’s home, Anon-A-Miss posted her first secret which was about Applejack’s embarrassing childhood nickname, Piggly-wiggly. Then, after the sleepover at Rarity’s home, Anon-A-Miss posted the photos and videos that Sunset took with them wearing outfits from Rarity’s “Closet of Shame”. With Sunset being the only one to have taken the pictures, the Rainbooms immediately accused Sunset Shimmer of being Anon-A-Miss and cut off all ties with her. Sunset was left heartbroken and crying on the floor.
The following days were hell for Sunset. As a result of her former friends' public accusation, everyone in school believed she was Anon-A-Miss. Students would glare at her, whispering insults as she walked past them, write terrible graffiti on her locker, it was just horrible.
But things were soon about to change.
“And that’s the situation,” Sunset wrote in her journal to Princess Twilight. She was in a secluded spot in the school’s library, sitting on top of a pile of books that had been stacked to form a makeshift bed.
“That sounds awful!” Twilight wrote back, aghast that the human counterparts of her friends would abandon Sunset like that. “I’ll come right over and straighten this whole thing out!”
“It won’t do any good unless you have proof that I’m not Anon-A-Miss,” Sunset wrote. She recalled the painful confrontation where her now former friends cut ties with her. “You’ll just end up arguing with each other and things will probably get worse.”
“Then what do you want to do?” Twilight asked.
“Find the real Anon-A-Miss,” Sunset wrote, it was a simple plan. Find the real Anon-A-Miss and her name would be cleared.
“Do you have any leads?” Twilight asked.
“Unfortunately, I don't,” Sunset wrote. She thought it might have been Trixie but she had nothing to do with this.
“How are you holding up?” Twilight wrote.
Sunset hesitated for a moment before responding.
“Honestly, it hasn't been easy,” Sunset wrote. “Everything has gone back to the way it was right after the Fall Formal, except that I don’t have the girls by my side.”
Tears welled up in Sunset’s eyes as she recalled the good times she had with the girls. A part of her was asking why they would so easily throw away their friendship, and another part of her knew the answer but refused to believe it.
“I still believe in you, Sunset,” Twilight wrote, smiling as she did so.
As soon as Sunset read those words, the tears started to fall. Just reading that someone, or in this case somepony, still believed in her was a welcome relief. She still had at least one friend in her corner.
“Thank you, Twilight. You have no idea how much I needed to hear that.”
“What are friends for?” Twilight wrote.
“Best friends!” Sunset wrote happily.
“The very bestest friends!” Twilight wrote back, giggling on the other side.
Sunset laughed when she read that, it sounded like something Pinkie Pie would say.
“I’d better be going now. Thanks for being my best friend, Twilight,” Sunset wrote with a bright smile.
“Likewise,” Twilight wrote back. “Sunset, stay strong. Remember who you are and find your family.”
“Thanks, I’ll keep that in mind., Sunset wrote before closing her journal and making her way out of the library.
As she was walking down the hallway, she could feel the accusing glares of the students on her, her ears picking up their whispered insults.
“I knew she hadn’t changed.”
“So much for turning over a new leaf.”
“This is all her fault.”
“Bitch.”
Sunset clutched her journal close to her chest and quickened her pace. As she made her way towards her locker to retrieve her belongings, someone bumped into her causing her to fall forward and drop her journal.
“Who did that?” a boy wearing a navy blue jacket asked as he looked at the down Sunset.
“Maybe it was Anon-A-Miss,” a female student wearing a red jacket and blue beanie answered.
Sunset’s head snapped back to see who said that and saw a crowd of students gather around her.
“Anon-A-Miss.”
“Secret stealer.”
“I can’t believe she did that.”
Sunset brought her legs close to her chest and wrapped her arms around them. Tears spilled from her closed eyes as she was bombarded with the crowds' accusing words.
“Traitor.”
“Way to go.”
“Anon-A-Miss.”
“Traitor.”
“How could she?"
Sunset dared to peek and recoiled at seeing that the crowd had grown bigger, their hostile looks burning holes in Sunset. Their harsh words intensified and Sunset found herself overwhelmed and alone. She turned to look at the floor so she didn’t have to look at them when she spotted her journal open to the conversation she had with Twilight.
“Stay strong, remember who you are, and find your family.”
“Family,” Sunset muttered, she was about to think of her friends but something else flashed in her mind. It was her mother, Princess Celestia. Images of the two of them spending time together flashed through her mind, from teaching Sunset magic, bathing her, tucking her in at night, and teaching her what it meant to be a princess.
Sunset’s heart felt warm as she remembered how much she looked up to her mother. She ruled Equestria with a fair hoof but didn’t let others push her around nor did she tolerate any nonsense. She always seemed to have a plan for everything and Sunset believed that everything that was going on in Canterlot was all planned by her mother. Twilight’s words rang true with her mother, she was a pillar of strength to others, is very confident in who she is, and had a family to draw strength from.
Sunset’s eyes widened in realization. Growing up, she witnessed her mother’s strength when dealing with her royal duties and had wrongfully assumed that power was the key to becoming a good princess. But the reason her mother was so strong was because of her, Sunset saw it in her eyes that always light up whenever she saw her. The staff at the castle even noticed how much different Celestia is now after she was born, Celestia was always a good role model that ponies looked up to but she wanted to be a good role model for her daughter.
Sunset chuckled as once again the proof of her foolishness was right there in front of her, but she so easily dismissed it. She felt so stupid for ever doubting her mother, she felt deep regret and remorse for betraying and abandoning her. She had everything she could have ever wanted and she threw it all away for power, she reached over to grab her journal. Sunset closed her eyes and saw the image of her mother’s smiling face, her eyes shone with pride at her daughter. Sunset wiped the tears away and stood up, she has had enough. She felt her confidence surging as a fire ignited in her heart, her hair extended into a ponytail, and pony ears sprouted from on top of her head. She is Princess Sunset Shimmer, daughter of Princess Celestia!
“ENOUGH!” Sunset shouted using the royal Canterlot voice, the effect was immediate as everyone in the hallway instantly went silent. “I’m only going to say this once so listen up! I am not and have never been Anon-A-miss! I don’t know who they are but rest assured that I will stop them!”
With that said Sunset marched confidently down the halls, the students moved to the side to give her plenty of space. They watched her pass with wide shocked filled eyes, especially a young red-haired girl with a bow.
The Rainbooms were all gathered in The Sweet Shoppe, despite the festive decorations the girls’ spirits were down. Their so-called best friend betrayed them and they were the laughing stock of the school.
“Ah can’t believe Sunset would betray us like that,” Applejack said bitterly. “After everythin’, we’ve done fer her she just stabs us in the back.”
“She was just using us,” Rarity said solemnly, she stared at the rising steam from her hot chocolate.
“It doesn’t make sense,” Fluttershy said on the verge of tears. “Why would she do this to us?”
“Do bad guys ever need a reason to be bad?” Rainbow Dash scoffed. “Let’s face it, Sunset hasn’t changed.”
“Were we ever really her friends?” Pinkie Pie questioned, her chin resting on the table and looking miserable.
Suddenly, they all received a message alert on their smartphones.
“What did she post now?” Rainbow Dash groaned in annoyance as she reached into her pocket to pull out her phone.
“Oh my!” Rarity was shocked at the photo that was posted on Anon-A-Miss’s blog.
“Seriously?” Rainbow Dash laughed as she looked at the photo of herself and Gilda kissing. “Is that the best she’s got?”
“You’re taking this rather well, darling,” Rarity noted, she thought her rainbow-haired friend would be very upset.
“It’s just a picture of me kissing Gilda,” Rainbow Dash said with a shrug. “The only thing I regret about that is that I gave my first kiss to a bully like her.”
“That’s mighty mature of yah to say Dash,” Applejack said, impressed at how mature Rainbow Dash is being.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Rainbow Dash questioned, raising an eyebrow at Applejack.
“Just that yah tend to flip yer lid whenever yer humiliated,” Applejack answered with a grin.
“She’s got you there Dashie!” Pinkie Pie snickered.
“Har har,” Rainbow Dash mocked laugh.
The Rainbooms soon started laughing, their spirits lifting despite the situation.
“What are we going to do?!” Applebloom asked as she paced around Sweetie Belle’s room in a panic.
“We’ve pushed Sunset too far!” Sweetie Belle said in a panic, clutching her head with both hands.
“Don’t panic, I’m sure Sunset won’t find out it was us!” Scootaloo tried to assure her friends but she wasn’t so sure.
“How can you be so sure?!” Sweetie Belle demanded, looking wide-eyed at Scootaloo.
“I..” Scootaloo tried to come up with an answer, thinking of any possible way that they can throw Sunset off their trail. “I got it! Even if Sunset finds out it's us, as long as she can’t prove it then no one will believe her!”
“That...actually makes sense,” Applebloom agreed, starting to calm down a little.
“We just gotta make sure we don’t leave anything that would point to us as being Anon-A-Miss,” Scootaloo said.
“Ah don’t think we left any proof behind,” Applebloom said.
“Then let’s keep it that way,” Scootaloo said as she checked her smartphone and logged on to the Anon-A-Miss account.” With how many secrets we’ve posted on almost everyone at school, it’ll be hard for even Sunset to nail it down to one person.”
“I can’t believe the amount of secrets people have sent us,” Sweetie Belle said as she checked her phone to see all the secrets that the students have sent her. “Some of these are pretty mean.”
“Yer telling me,” Applebloom cringed as she read some of the secrets that were sent. “No way we can post these.”
“We’ll just continue posting the less mean ones,” Scootaloo said as she logged out of Anon-A-Miss and put away her phone.
“Say Scoots, how’s spending time with Rainbow Dash going?” Applebloom asked, changing the subject to something less dreadful.
“It’s great!” Scootaloo replied happily. “We went to the arcade yesterday after practice and she taught me this neat trick with my scooter!”
“I got to help out Rarity with her new dresses,” Sweetie Belle excitedly said. “I even made her a scarf!”
“Ah an’ Applejack got to decorate our Christmas tree together like we do every year,” Applebloom was glad that Sunset didn’t get in the way of that. “This is what Christmas is about, spendin’ time with yer family.”
Everyone nodded at that, they were silent for a minute before Sweetie Belle spoke.
“Do you think Sunset has a family?”
“Why do you ask?” Scootaloo said in confusion, she was a little surprised by Sweetie Belle’s question.
“Well since we’re talking about family, anyone ever noticed that we never see Sunset with her family?” Sweetie Belle asked.
“Now that you mention it…” Scootaloo trailed off, Sweetie Belle was right. They had never once seen or heard anything about Sunset’s family.
“Ah heard mah sister say that Sunset is from the same magical world as Princess Twilight,” Applebloom said. “Ah’m guessin’ all her family must be over there.”
“That must be kind of lonely,” Sweetie Belle said, feeling bad for Sunset Shimmer.
“Hey! Don’t tell me yer feelin’ bad for Sunset?!” Applebloom said in shock.
“W-what?! No!” Sweetie Belle quickly said.
“Remember, Sunset’s the one who tried to steal our sisters from us,” Applebloom reminded her.
“I know that!” Sweetie Belle raised her voice. “You don’t need to remind me!”
“Whoa, calm down Sweetie Belle,” Scootaloo attempted to calm down her fellow Crusader.
Sweetie Belle took a deep breath before letting it out.
“I’m sorry, the stress is starting to get to me.” Sweetie Belle apologized.
“It’s okay, this hasn’t been easy for any of us,” Applebloom said sadly. “It’s not easy to humiliate yer own family.”
The Crusaders felt ashamed for what they did to their sisters, watching as the students make fun of them really upset them. But now some of them got a taste of their own medicine as their secrets are exposed for all to see.
“Ah can’t wait till we’re finally done with this,” Applebloom softly said.
Rainbow Dash walked through the snowy streets as she made her way home, she would have taken her bike home but her parents didn’t want her riding on the slippery road. Her thoughts strayed to Sunset Shimmer, despite telling Fluttershy about bad guys not needing a reason to be bad, Rainbow Dash couldn’t help but question why Sunset would throw away their friendship.
“It doesn’t make sense,” Rainbow muttered in frustration. “She was our best friend, no, our family. How can we mean so little to her?”
“Hey, Dash!”
Rainbow Dash stopped and turned around to see her former friend, Gilda.
“What do you want, Gilda?” Rainbow Dash asked, not in the mood to talk to her former friend.
“I want to talk to your pal, Sunset Shimmer about that photo she just posted,” Gilda said calmly as she approached Rainbow Dash.
“First of all, she’s not my pal. Second, I don’t know where she is and I don’t care,” Rainbow Dash said, a bit of irritation in her voice.
“You don’t care that she humiliated you and your friends?” Gilda questioned, grinning when she saw Rainbow Dash frown. “Don’t you think someone should put her in her place?”
“Good luck with that,” Rainbow Dash scoffed, rolling her eyes at such a thought.
“Listen Rainbow Dash, we both know that Sunset Shimmer has gone too far with posting everyone’s secrets. Are you going to let her get away with it?” Gilda asked.
“What do you want me to do about it?” Rainbow Dash challenged, crossing her arms.
“Simply, you tell me where Sunset is so I and some friends can stop her from posting more secrets,” Gilda said with a grin.
“Tch, do you think I’m stupid? You’re just going to gang up on Sunset and beat her up,” Rainbow Dash said with narrowed eyes.
“Why do you care what we do to shut up Shimmer?” Gilda asked as she narrowed her eyes. “You two aren’t friends anymore.”
“We may not be friends but that doesn’t mean I want to see her get hurt,” Rainbow Dash said as got close to Gilda’s face. “So back off of her.”
Gilda and Rainbow Dash stared each other down until Gilda started laughing.
“Lighten up, Dash. We’re not going to do anything,” Gilda said as she wrapped an arm around Rainbow Dash’s shoulder.
“You better,” Rainbow Dash warned as she removed Gilda’s arm and turned to walk away.
Gilda grinned as she extended her foot slightly to cause Rainbow Dash to trip and land face-first on the snow.
“Better watch your step, Dash.” Gilda mocked as she reached down to pull Rainbow Dash up, but she also reached into Rainbow Dash’s coat pocket and pulled out her phone.
“Gee thanks for caring,” Rainbow Dash mocked-thanked Gilda, she wipes some snow off herself before continuing on her way home.
Gilda watched Rainbow turn a corner, a sinister grin on her face as she looked at Rainbow Dash’s phone.
Sunset Shimmer sat on her bed in her bedroom, steam rising from the cup of tea in her hands.
“Think, Sunset. What did Mom say about situations like this?” Sunset said to herself as she tried to recall the lessons her mother had taught her. “Try...to calm your panic ponies! But how do I go about doing that?”
Sunset groaned in annoyance before taking a sip of her tea to calm her nerves, she recalled that whenever ponies are panicking, her mother’s mere presence puts them all at ease.
“My presence seems to only make people angry,” Sunset muttered, she then recalled how her mother would instruct ponies to help with calming the other ponies and lead them to safety. “Mom never did anything alone, she always had help.” An image of Sunset’s friends flashed in her mind. “Too bad I’m on my own.”
Sunset’s phone received a text message alert, the customize tone let Sunset know who it was.
“Rainbow Dash?” Sunset was confused as to why she would receive a text from her ex-friend.
‘We need to talk. Meet me in the gym tonight, I think I found proof that you’re not Anon-A-Miss!’
A smile spread across Sunset’s lips at the news but it quickly disappeared as she noticed something odd about this.
“Why don’t you come over to my place?” Sunset typed back, she waited anxiously until she received a reply.
‘It’s better if you come here, trust me. It’ll be worth the trip.’
Sunset pondered over the message, something wasn’t right here. She reread the messages and noted how vague and urgent it was. She thought back to one of her mother’s lessons on how to spot forgery in letters, looking at how each word is worded and looking for the sender’s personality in them. She could tell right away that this wasn’t Rainbow Dash, the rainbow-haired athlete would’ve been banging on her door to tell her this in person. Furthermore, the way this message is written gives off signs of a trap.
‘Could Rainbow Dash be setting me up?’ Sunset thought grimly, she couldn’t imagine Rainbow Dash doing this to her. “Then again, Mom always said that a pony’s true character isn’t always visible.”
Sunset stared at her phone for a minute before making up her mind.
‘I’ll see you at the school,’ Sunset typed, if this was indeed a trap then she’ll deal with it accordingly.
‘Great! I’ll see you there,’ Rainbow Dash replied.
Sunset downed the rest of her tea and pocketed her phone before making her way out of her apartment, her mind already formulating a plan of attack.
WOOOOO YEAHHH BABBBYYY
10545417
I already LOVE this. I have seen ALOT of Anon-a-Miss stories, and am always happy to see a new take like this. Sunset is acting exactly how she should, standing up for herself to prove she is right. She isn't depressed, she isn't letting it make her breakdown, or any of that. She is letting hersepf be sad and angry, sure, but she is using the sadness and anger for the right thing, to prove her innocence, ABSOLUTELY PERFECT.
10545419
Thank you! as Forgotten Friendship proved, even if the students hate Sunset if she still has her confidence then she will fight back. I always enjoy Anon-A-Miss stories where Sunset fights back, there are so very few good ones out there.
Lets be 100% real here. The only new bit of this clusterfuck waste of a comic, is that Rainbow is actaully innocent for once.
Everything else is recycled.
10545429
Sorry, you feel that way.
Great start, can't wait for more.
10545429
I am confused... do you mean this story, or the comic itself?
10545424
EXACTLY
10545436
Thank you!
Hmm. Sunset Shimmer has a feeling that this is a trap.
Hah! Well done Sunset, there's the confidence I was looking for. What's wrong Applebloom? Getting cold feet already?
10545437
Both? I can't remember if Rainbow ever did it in the comic, but she's usually the one to set Sunset up to be assaulted and almost killed by Gilda and her gang in these stories.
10545461
That's sadly true, she's made out to be a monster.
Don't think I've ever seen an Anon-a-Miss story with quite this premise.
That being so, you have my interest and a Follow from me on it.
Can't wait to see what happens in the next chapter and beyond!
Sunset Shimmer is angry and is ready to finish a war she never started.
10545492
Thank you!
10545493
Darn right she is!
10545498 You're very welcome, and keep up the rad work!
10545499
Should be "I'll see you there".
Good first chapter.
10545509
Thanks, I've fixed that now.
A great start to this new story, looking forward to more!
Students of CHS, Sunset just ponied up! If she truly was Anon-a-Miss, she wouldn’t be able to use her magic! Harmony is the source, so how could she activate her power if she supposedly turned her back on her friendship with those who represent its virtues?
Like you’re one to talk, Rainbow.
Make sure in the inevitable revelation of innocence, someone actually asks the Rainbooms how they could claim Sunset was like family to them when they threw her away over a half-baked conclusion based on evidence so flimsy that only a complete idiot wouldn’t see Anon-a-Miss for the painfully obvious frame job it is. Last I checked, people don’t disown their own flesh and blood that easily.
10545556
That will be pointed out to them.
This is an interesting start and you have my attention, like a hooked fish.
It would seem that soon everyone; even the CMC, will learn that they truly underestimate Equestria.
10545582
Like you wouldn't believe.
10545579
10545591
Hope my hooked fish thing amused you in some way.
10545597
You know it!
10545610
Good, because that was the intent.
Anywho, good stuff so far again, great Sunset and Momlestia story so far, love the parallels and all. Hope to see the next chapters up soon.
Yay more Anon-A-Miss!
Interesting to interpret find you family as what would Celestia do.
nice work.
10545556
I'm enjoying the story too, but I would like to point out something I feel a lot of Anon-a-Miss critics overlook.
We can see that the efforts against Sunset are a frame job, but this is because we have information the rest of the Rainbooms don't. Consider it from their point of view; Applejack's nickname is now common knowledge, only a day after Applejack told Sunset. She had no reason to suspect Apple Bloom at this point. By the time of the confrontation at the lockers, several photographs that Sunset took are leaked online, and Sunset can't explain how they got online. This is very suspicious and odd behaviour. Remember, they don't know about Sunset and Twilight's messages, and the Rainbooms applied Occam's Razor to the situation. After all, 'Sunset took the pictures and posted them online' is a much simpler and more likely explanation than 'Sweetie Belle snuck into the room without anybody hearing her, managed to guess Sunset's phone passcode correctly (another plot hole that is rarely addressed), plugged her phone into her computer and uploaded them to a dummy account designed to look like Sunset'.
This is part of why the scene hits so hard for a number of reasons; it's a textbook case of dramatic irony. Yes, not hearing Sunset out was foolish, but at that point in time there is no realistic reason to suspect anybody else.
10545956
does Sunset even have a passcode or something to lock her phone?
10545970
Given Sunset's past, I would be astonished if she didn't have a passcode. She's been in the human world long enough to fit in without anybody suspecting her, so I imagine she knows the importance of passwords and keeping information locked. Remember that when she was a bully, she was dealing in personal information, so she would almost certainly have kept that locked behind passwords.
Besides, not having a passcode on a mobile phone, a device that can be easily stolen, is foolish.
10545977
dude, she doesn't even know how to use photoshiop. Her frame up photoes are cut and pasted. All i'm saying is even after years in the human world. Sunset isn't well verse in the technology .
10545978
And yet could easily fake texts between friends. She's also pretty good at video editing, if the first film is anything to go by;
(1:54-2:12)
The images you refer to were apparently convincing enough to fool several members of faculty, including Vice-Principal Luna.
10546021
ok, fair enough. But i still like to argue the fact ; Is Sunset ever obvious?
10546067
Given we only have the words of the Rainbooms to go off, who didn't think to talk to one another after the texting incidents, it's hard to say. One clue we do get comes from Forgotten Friendship;
This would suggest that Sunset was reasonably good at hiding herself but at the same time relied on the others to not think twice about what was being spread. Human beings are not known for being rational all the time.
This is a good start.
10545977
Given how the passcode can now include your fingerprint and facial recognition, it won't be that hard for Sweetie Belle to access Sunset's phone while she's asleep. I've brought this up in a previous story.
10546401
Thanks!
10546067
Not unless it's part of her plan.
10546412
It’s nice to see an Anon a Miss fic that DOESNT portray Rainbow Dash in a negative way. Still, I fear what’ll happen in the next chapter.
10546421
There's too many of those, Rainbow Dash may be mad at Sunset but there's no way that she'll take part in anything that will physically harm her.
Sunset ponying up without the other Rainbooms. She never did that in Friendship games. Speaking of which, what did Sunset say about ponying up at the end of Friendship Games? Something along the lines of it happening when they show the truest part of themselves or something? Certainly fits here.
And I have a bad feeling about what's coming next, which may result in thing going further south between Sunset and Rainbow.
10546522
You'll just have to stay tune to find out.
10546411
Fair point. I'm not sure why, but I assumed this story takes place in the winter of 2013/14, when the comic was written and such technology was not common on smartphones AFAIR.
10546099
Here's the trouble I see in this. Sunset never once made it blatently obvious that it was her doing those things during her Bitch Queen days. Yes she did rely on people not being that smart to a degree. But she was also smart enough to not make it look like she did it.
And this is where the comic fails for good, and what defenders of it seem to ignore. This is post Rainbow Rocks. WHY would Sunset ever have a reason to do this?
Put this between Equestria Girls 1 and Rainbow Rocks, then the idea is actually more believable. This relies on the character being so fucking stupid. That the Dazzlings deserved to win, and that Sunset might as well not done a thing during the Battle of the Bands finale.