"I'm gonna kill her."
"No. You ain't."
"I'm going to kill her!"
"Rainbow Dash, quit hollerin'. People are starin'."
"How can you be so calm about this? Did you not see the photo?"
"Yes, Dash, Ah did. An' ya know wut's not gonna fix it? You screamin' like a banshee an' pointin' fingers."
"Oh come on, AJ! It's obvious she did it!"
"Just like it was obvious that you had purposely bailed on me at mah bake sale?"
That shut Rainbow up. All four of Applejack's friends visibly flinched. It was a very painful thing to be reminded that, three years ago, all five of them had stopped talking to each other over a series of texts and messages, a squabble that could have been easily cleared up had they simply taken the time to talk to each other. Applejack's words were like a wet blanket on a campfire, taking out any anger they had.
"Did it cross yer mind that we may be wrong, Dash?" Applejack asked, crossing her arms. "Just cuz somethin' looks one way, it don't make it so. After all we been through, Ah thought y'all woulda learned that."
Rainbow Dash scowled and looked at the floor, but said nothing.
Applejack pulled out her phone. "Ah don't know about y'all, but Ah'm not losin' another friend cuza false accusations. When Sunset gets here, we are gonna talk to her. We will ask fer her side, and we will hear her out." Applejack looked pointedly at Rainbow, who simply crossed her arms. "After everything she's done fer us, we at least owe her that."
"Owe me what?" asked a voice from behind.
The group turned to see Sunset Shimmer standing behind him, her brow furrowing at their uncomfortable stares. "What's wrong?"
Applejack took a deep breath, and stepped forward. "Sunset....did you lose your phone?"
Sunset dug in her pocket and pulled her phone out, looking confused. "No, it's right here.....why?"
Applejack sighed, then logged into Mystable with her phone. "Sunset...Anon-A-Miss has put up another post. She's posted pictures from our slumber party." She held the phone up for Sunset to see.
"What?!" Sunset cried, taking the phone from Applejack. "But...how?! How could she have gotten hold of these?!" She looked up, and realized that her friends weren't looking at her....except for Rainbow, who was glaring at her. "What?"
"Sunset," Applejack said cautiously, taking her phone back. "Yer th' only one not in these pics. So we can only conclude....that they came from yer phone."
Sunset stared, confused, then her eyes slowly widened as it began to sink in what Applejack was implying. She took a step back, visibly wounded.
"You think I did this." Sunset whispered hoarsely.
"Darling, you were taking photos last night," Rarity said sadly. "And you're the only one not in the pictures."
"And you're the only one besides us that knows about Applejack's nickname." Rainbow said coldly.
Something broke inside Sunset. A tiny part of her could understand her friends' point of view. But after everything she had endured after the Fall Formal, after nearly risking everything to save the entire school from the sirens, she had actually believed that everyone would finally see she had changed, and her sins would finally be forgiven and forgotten.
And yet, here they were. Once again, something had gone wrong, and once again, she was the prime suspect. And this time, it was her friends pointing the finger at her. It was as if everything she had gone through had been nothing but a cruel waste of time.
A tiny smirk formed on Sunset's lips, and she barked out a bitter laugh. "So that's it? You all think I'm Anon-A-Miss?" She looked from one face to another. No one answered. Sunset nodded, visibly holding back tears. "I see. Well then, if there's nothing else-"
"Sunset, we're willing to hear your side of things." Fluttershy reached out to Sunset, but Sunset shook her off.
"Why bother? It seems to me you've already made up your mind." Sunset snapped, forcibly brushing back tears. "And besides, there's nothing to tell. I didn't do it! I don't know how those pics got posted. But, obviously I can't prove it, so obviously I must be lying right?!"
She let out another bitter laugh. Students were starting to stare at the group, but Sunset was far too upset to care. "You know, I should've known that whole 'family' thing was just a bunch of garbage."
Applejack puffed up, offended. "Now wait just a gotdang minute-"
"NO!" Sunset screamed, tears streaming down her face. "It's all the same! No matter what I do, I always get blamed for everything that goes wrong in this school. I try and I try to prove I've changed, but it's never enough!" She wiped her eyes and glared at the group. "And you guys are no different."
"Sunset, would you please just listen?" Applejack pleaded. She had figured that Sunset would be upset but not to this extent.
Applejack's words fell on deaf ears. Sunset was too far in her hurt to listen to reason. She marched a few feet away before turning back, her face full of anguish. "I'm not Anon-A-Miss. Believe me. Don't believe me. I don't care anymore. I'm done."
And with that, she turned and stormed away.
The five girls just stood there, looking lost. Even Rainbow looked uncertain.
"Dammit." Applejack sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose.
"Well that could've gone better." Rainbow muttered. The others glared at her, and she shrugged defensively. "What?"
"Rainbow, darling.....do shut up."