Sunset closed her locker, trying to ignore the murmurs of confusion and groans of disappointment from the other students.
Yesterday left a bad taste in her mouth, as well as the other girls, and they had all unanimously decided that after everything that had happened, another slumber party was just out of the question, though she still stayed at Fluttershy's last night.
Applejack, Rarity, and Rainbow all told their parents (and Scootaloo's parents) what happened, and the adults agreed that the youngsters deserved the punishment their sisters had in store for them, fixing them with stern glares and shaking heads. They debated whether or not to tell the school Anon-A-Miss's identity, until Sunset pointed out, rather bitterly, that the students didn't really care who Anon-A-Miss was as long as they were posting secrets. The others couldn't help but agree; the profile had been taken down and the culprits had been punished. That was all that mattered.
Sunset was still hurt at having been accused, but after being bombarded with a dozen apologies, two dozen hugs, a lecture from her logical side about holding toxic grudges, and a box of triple-chocolate banana ripple cupcakes from Pinkie Pie, she couldn't bring herself to be mad at them anymore.
She turned when she sensed her friends approaching, scowls on their faces.
"You still getting picked on?" she asked sympathetically.
"Yup." Applejack sighed. "Don't really know what Ah was expectin'. The horse's already out. Closin' th' barn door won't do any good at this point."
"At least we only have two more days of school." Fluttershy pointed out. "And the Apple family Christmas party to look forward to."
"And perhaps this whole mess will have blown over by the time school starts up again." Rarity added.
"I must say, Trixie is quite impressed!"
All six girls mentally groaned as they turned towards the source of the irritatingly familiar voice, who was looking even more smug than usual.
"What do you want, Trixie?" Rainbow Dash growled.
"Trixie is simply expressing how amazed she is that all of you can even show your faces at school." Trixie sneered. "I mean, if her secrets were posted for the viewing world to see-"
"Well they weren't." Applejack said bluntly.
Trixie's smirk grew even wider as she innocently put her hands behind her back. "Very true. But then again, I'm not personal friends with the person who posted the secrets, am I?"
The girls' eyes grew stormy as they caught on to what she was implying. Except for Sunset, who kept a neutral expression.
"Not that Trixie's pointing fingers," Trixie stated rather loudly, drawing the attention of the other students. "but really, who else besides someone in your group could have known about the stuff that was posted?" She shook her head in mock sympathy. "I guess you really never know who your true friends ar-"
"Sunset didn't do it." Fluttershy said stiffly.
Trixie paused, then placed her hands on her hips. "Oh? And you know this for an absolute fact?" she asked, dropping all pretense. "I mean, we all know she doesn't really-"
"As a matter o' fact, we do know." Applejack interrupted. "We found out th' real culprits yesterday an' had the profile deleted."
Trixie rolled her eyes and flipped a strand of her hair. "And who, pray tell, are these so called 'real culprits?'" She didn't notice Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo quietly sneaking away.
"That is a matter that has been handled privately, and is frankly, none of your business." Rarity said curtly.
"Yeah! So butt out, Miss Nosy Pants!" Pinkie chimed in.
Trixie stared at the group, then snorted derisively. She turned to Sunset and said coldly, "Amazing. They're still sticking up for you even after you dragged their names through the mud. I don't know what you did to get them on your side, but you can't fool Trixie. We all know you're nothing but an evil she-demon, and that's all you'll ever be!"
The sounds of snickering and loud whispering resounded, the students obviously agreeing with Trixie.
Now, a couple of days ago, this statement would have gotten under Sunset's skin and left her on the defensive. But instead, her friends, who were angry on her behalf, stood amazed as Sunset showed almost no reaction at all. She simply stared impassively, blinked, and then said calmly, quite casually,
"You're a fucking hypocrite."
The whole hallway gasped at Sunset's use of such vulgar language. Trixie reeled back in disgust as if Sunset had spit at her. "Excuse me?"
Sunset crossed her arms and leaned against the lockers. "Let's just say that I am Anon-A-Miss. Why do you even care?"
Trixie's brows furrowed. "Trixie doesn't-"
"Why. Do. You. Care?" Sunset emphasized. "Why do you care who Anon-A-Miss is? Why do you care if it's me or not? You were laughing at my friends along with everyone else. Hell, some of you are still laughing. So you're obviously not that outraged at what Anon-A-Miss did. And none of you had your secrets posted, so you have no reason to be angry."
Trixie faltered as her bravado began to fade. The students began to murmur amongst themselves.
"I'll tell you why you care." Sunset said, her voice turning cold. "Because now that the profile's been taken down, you all need a scapegoat so you don't have to feel guilty about laughing at the posts. Because you still haven't forgiven me for my past actions, and you need an excuse to make me a pariah again.
"I was a bitch. Okay? I hurt people, I lied, I spread rumors, and then I used a magical artifact to transform into a literal monster, brainwashed the students, and destroyed the front of the school. I was a horrible person, and even though I have friends now," she turned to look sadly at her friends. "I will have to live with everything I've done for the rest of my life.
"But you know what? At least I can admit I was a bitch." She turned back to Trixie, scowling. "Did it ever occur to you that you're no prize either? Or did you sending me and my friends through a freaking trap door just slip your mind?"
"That was the sirens doing!" Trixie shouted defensively. "And besides, you weren't really hurt-"
"Bullshit!" Sunset snarled. "The sirens didn't hold guns to your head! You sent us through a twelve foot drop because you wanted to win a stupid band contest! We could've broken our necks! It was a miracle we didn't break our legs! And you weren't planning on letting us out, were you?" Trixie had the good sense not to answer. "We literally could've died down there! And let's not forget that if we hadn't escaped at the last minute, all of you would be the siren's playthings right now!"
The hall had gone completely silent. Trixie, unable to think of a counter-argument, backed down, looking visibly chastened.
Sunset sighed, then addressed the rest of the students, softly. "I've done everything I can think of to get you guys to see I've changed. I've even risked my life for you. I don't know what more you people want."
And with that, she gripped the strap of her backpack and walked to class, her friends doing the same shortly after.
Dear Twilight,
The last two days have been real hectic. I'll go into details later; I'm at the Apple Christmas party and they're about to open presents, but I want you to know that I learned two important things:
One: Friends will disagree, they will fight. And sometimes, they'll think you did something you didn't do. But a real friend will listen to you and try to work towards a solution. And hopefully, everything will work out in the end.
Two: sometimes you can do everything - literally everything - to get others to change their opinion of you - and it won't work. Some people's minds can't be changed, no matter what. All you can do is pick up the pieces and move on. Lucky for me, I have five awesome friends who know who I really am. And really, that's all that matters.
I gotta go. They're starting to pass gifts out.
Your friend,
Sunset Shimmer