//------------------------------//
// Chapter 20: Striking the Heart 
// Story: A Search for Something More 
// by HAKDurbin 
//------------------------------//

The next day, I bump into Soarin between our second and third-period classes. I am about to call him up from a distance with a, "Hey, bro," when I notice his face looking almost as perplexed as Caramel was yesterday. 
"Hey, Soarin, are you okay?" I ask.
"Nope," Soarin says bluntly.
"What's up? Did something happen?" I ask.
Soarin doesn't say anything at first. He continues walking until he sighs and turns to face me and says, "Sunset Shimmer is Anon-a-Miss."
"What?" I say, bewildered.
"She's Anon-a-Miss," Soarin repeats. "I was about to speak to Fluttershy and the other Rainbooms about my idea for me and Rainbow Dash when I saw them looking broken-hearted. I asked what happened, and they told me that Sunset Shimmer was behind the posts. They said when they were heading to school this morning, they saw Anon-a-Miss post pictures that were taken during their slumber party of them wearing a bunch of silly outfits from Rarity's closet. All of the pictures came from Sunset Shimmer's phone, and whatever ones had her in them were conveniently cropped out. They had just confronted her when I saw them, and they pretty much told her off."
I stand still with no idea how to react to this information.
"B-b-but I thought she was their friend and -" I begin before Soarin interrupts.
"Yeah, well, I guess not," Soarin says. "The way Pinkie Pie was explaining it, she was pretending to be their friend so that she could learn their secrets and use them against them. So, I guess you were right all along, Rough Draft. Sunset Shimmer is still as cruel and conniving as ever."
I stand there, speechless while Soarin lets out a half-hearted chuckle.
"You wanted to be proven right this whole time, bro. Now you have your chance to say that you told me so," he says.
"Um, that's okay. I don't feel like saying it," I say. "I guess after she helped me get Octavia's necklace, I was finally starting to believe that she's good."
"Heh, talk about ironic timing, I guess," Soarin says with a sad chuckle. "At least everyone will know, and she'll be outcast for good and unable to do more harm to the Rainbooms."
"Yeah, I guess," I say reluctantly.



****************************************************************************************



Third person P.O.V.
 
 
A couple of days have passed since the mysterious posts from Anon-a-Miss started. Even though everyone believes that Sunset Shimmer is the culprit, the posts have continued to reveal more embarrassing things about the Rainbooms. Rainbow Dash is infuriated for Anon-a-Miss publishing posts about her bad grades and refuses to be comforted by her friends or her boyfriend, Soarin. Applejack is getting sick of receiving various texts that make fun of her family nickname. Rarity regularly wears a large coat and sunglasses to try to hide the shame from the photos of failed fashion experiments, but everyone can easily recognize her from the style of her outfit. And poor Fluttershy is nearly drowning in her tears after Anon-a-Miss posted a video shaming her singing voice during one of the slumber parties with Sunset Shimmer and the other Rainbooms.
As for Sunset Shimmer herself, she is nothing short of broken.
When the Rainbooms ended their friendship with her, she was devastated. After everything they've been through, they chose to believe that she was using them the entire time. With everyone verbally attacking her, Sunset Shimmer feels like she can do nothing but hide from all of the students who think she's still cruel.
It's currently lunch period, but she isn't hungry, and she would be verbally bullied if she shows her face in the cafeteria anyway. Her only safe haven is the second floor of the school library. The bed made out of books that Spike the Dragon made for Princess Twilight Sparkle during the week of the Fall Formal has been left untouched until now. Sunset Shimmer uses this place to rest and try to comfort herself whenever she gets the chance during school. 
Things have been getting worse for the whole campus as Anon-a-Miss has started posting secrets of other students. People are beginning to argue with each other as if they're back under the Dazzlings' spell. What's worse for Sunset Shimmer is she feels like she can do nothing about it. She talked to Princess Twilight about what's happening with her magical book, gaining little advice on what to do, and she has no idea who Anon-a-Miss could be. She thought it was Trixie, but after confronting her, she found out that Trixie also thought that she is the culprit, leaving her just as clueless of who it could be as ever. It's as if someone wants to make life a living hell for everyone in Canterlot High, and all Sunset Shimmer can do is cry as she looks at the posts that Anon-a-Miss is posting.
"Agh, this isn't getting me anywhere!" She shouts to herself. "There has to be something I can do. Something that can prove I'm not Anon-a-Miss. But who else -"
Suddenly she stops talking as she scrolls down Anon-a-Miss' page until she finds something that worries her. A post has just been uploaded that contains a video that tagged her and another person. Hesitantly, she plays the video, and what she sees makes her gasp.
"Oh, no! Rough Draft!"



*********************************************************************************************

Rough Draft's P.O.V.

Despite losing all of her friends, it looks like Sunset Shimmer has found a way to post secrets of other students with her Anon-a-Miss page. It concerns me how she hasn't stopped this even though everyone knows that she's behind it now. I'm starting to wonder if she wants everyone to know that it's her to prove a point like she did at the Spring Fling. Honestly, after she was there to help me find Octavia's necklace, I feel torn between believing it's her and wanting to tell everyone that they might have the wrong person. 
Either way, it seems like no one can go from one class to another without passing by a couple of people who are arguing over a recent post from Anon-a-Miss or seeing other students look at their phones and either gossip or laugh at whatever secret has just been revealed. 
Me, Soarin, Caramel, Octavia, and everyone else in the E.M.R. are among the few people left who haven't been attacked by Anon-a-Miss. Even so, though, Soarin has been growing frustrated that Rainbow Dash has been giving him and their soccer teammates the cold shoulder. She refuses to even talk about what Anon-a-Miss is saying about her grades. Caramel is still irritated at all the students who are mocking Applejack because of her family nickname. The three of us don't say much to each other during lunch anymore. We all know how each of us is feeling, so we eat quietly, trying to ignore the fighting all around us at the cafeteria. At this point, we're waiting for this to blow over or for someone to shut down that MyStable page.
The final bell rings for the day, and I quickly put away my stuff in my backpack. I exit the classroom as fast as I can, eager to meet Octavia at our usual spot. We're going to study for finals again, which I'm not thrilled about, but as long as my girlfriend is there and I do not hear any more about Anon-a-Miss stuff, I'll put up with it any day. But as I walk down the halls, I notice some of the other students looking at me. Some of them are giving me hard glares while others are snickering at me.
Great. I guess I've become Anon-a-Miss' next victim. I wonder what she cooked up this time. Maybe if it is Sunset Shimmer, she posted my Star Wars stories from the Spring Fling again or is telling everyone about something embarrassing she learned about me when we were hanging out.
"Hey, Rough Draft," a voice says from behind. "How was the rest of your date with the she-demon?"
...what?
I turn around and see Mystery Mint leaning on a locker with a smug smile on her face.
"Does Octavia just not kiss like Sunset Shimmer does, cheater?" She asks.
"What are you talking about?" I ask worriedly.
"You better check your phone, Don Juan," is all Mystery Mint says before she walks away.
I feel my heart trembling as I reluctantly take out my phone and open the MyStable app. I go to notifications and find one that says, "Anon-a-Miss tagged you in a video." I bite my lip before I reluctantly select the message.
Anon-a-Miss' red and yellow page opens, and the first post makes my heart drop. The text reads, "Sunset Shimmer drops off Rough Draft after their secret date!" The video itself plays automatically, showing Sunset Shimmer dropping me off and walking me to the door before she hugs me with a warm smile, and her eyes closed as I hug her back.
I stare at my phone in shock. How could anyone have known that we were there? Did someone follow us while we were shopping for gifts? What if Octavia finds out before I can explain -
...
Octavia.
Immediately, I race through the halls, bumping into people as I go. I hear more snickering as I run, but I don't care. I make it to the front entrance and force the door open to find Octavia waiting for me with a devastating face that crushes my heart.
"Octavia," I begin before she interrupts.
"Rough Draft, how could you?" She asks with a tear running down her face.
"Octavia, it's not true," I say.
"Oh, so you weren't with her behind my back?" She exclaims. "Look at the date on the video, Rough Draft. This was on the night you said you were working on an essay! This happened right before you started saying that she isn't Anon-a-Miss."
"I know, but we didn't do anything," I protest. "I was at the mall, and we bumped into each other."
"And you took the opportunity to make a move!" She snaps.
"No, I didn't!" I counter. "I was there to find your Christmas present."
"Oh, please, Rough Draft!" She shouts. "You agreed that we don't get each other presents and now you're saying that didn't happen? What kind of fool do you take me for?!"
"I know we said that, but I wanted to give you something anyway," I say. "I wanted to give you something to show how much you mean to me and -"
"And you asked that witch to help you!" Octavia exclaims.
"No, I didn't!" I yell. "I just happened to have bumped into Sunset Shimmer, and she had the idea of -"
"Oh, Sunset Shimmer did this, Sunset Shimmer did that. Why don't you marry her, you pig!" She shrieks. 
I looked at her in disbelief. This is not the reasonable Octavia I know.
"Octavia," I begin sadly. "What's with you? Why won't you listen to me?"
At that moment, Octavia's eye twitches, and her face turns red in rage.
"Listen to you? Listen to you?" She begins before she screams in my face. "That's all I've been doing, Rough Draft! It feels like every other conversation we have in some way or another has to do with your bloody feelings for Sunset Shimmer!"
"That's not true, and you know it!" I shout back.
"Do I?" She questions. "She was the first thing we talked about on our first date, you were the one who was defending her when we were shopping for Sonata, and it feels like half of our relationship was me trying to keep yourself together whenever you were glaring at her, and I never realized it until now! I guess it's my fault! I'm the one who pushed you into trying to be nice to her even though you didn't want to!"
"Octavia, there is nothing between Sunset Shimmer and me!" I beg. "I love you! The only reason I've tried being friendly to Sunset Shimmer at all is because I will do anything to make you happy! You're the one that I want to be with. My heart belongs to you, and you alone. Why won't you trust me?"
Octavia looks at me for a moment before she sighs.
"I did trust you," she says coldly. "And all it led to was half of our relationship was about your feelings toward her. I can't do that anymore, Rough Draft. I can't do this, anymore."
My heart breaks as those last five words echo in my head.
"Y-you're breaking up with me?" I ask.
Octavia turns away from me and says with a cold, blunt voice, "Yes."
"B-b-but, you can't," I protest. "This thing you think I have with Sunset Shimmer doesn't exist. You're ending our relationship over nothing. Nothing! You can't let everything we've been through go to waste. It can't end like this."
Octavia doesn't say anything for a moment, and I hope I somehow I got to her, that maybe she's seeing the error of what she's saying. But then she turns her head to face me. Her beautiful violet eyes showing the pain that she's feeling. A couple of tears run down her face as she looks at me.
"Then how come it is?" She asks quietly.
My heart is shattered from those words. A couple of tears escape my eyes as I try to say something. Before I say anything else, she says three words that give the final blow to my heart.
"Goodbye, Rough Draft."
With those words said, she turns around and walks away. I want to run over to her and say something, but those words hit me so hard that it feels like I can't do anything. Finally, after half a minute, my mouth quivers, and I drop to my knees and cry.
She dumped me. After all that we've been through, Octavia believed in an online post over me. I thought I could trust her with everything that I am. I thought she wouldn't believe what other people will say. I thought she would never let us go.
I thought she loved me.
I'm still on my knees, crying as I hear other students heading home for the day. I hear some of them throwing insults at me, calling me a cheater or a player or a crybaby, but I ignore them as I let out my emotions.
"Rough Draft!" 
Immediately, I stop crying, stand up, and turn around to find Sunset Shimmer coming toward me. She looks worried as if something terrible is going to happen. My sad face turns into one of anger as she approaches me. When she's close enough, she sees my red, puffy eyes that tell her everything.
"O-Octavia," she says. "Did she -?"
"Dump me?" I snap, which makes her jump. "She sure did, and here you are to admire your work once more. Old habits die hard, I suppose."
"No, I'm not," She claims. "I'm not Anon-a-Miss."
"Oh, please," I rebuke. "I know you love to make me miserable, but the least you can do is not insult my intelligence."
"No, I'm serious, Rough Draft," Sunset Shimmer says. "Whoever Anon-a-Miss is -"
"No, no, no, no, no. I have no reason to believe your lies anymore," I snap. "You used me to get a stupid plastic crown, you turn into a demon and brainwash me and almost the entire student body, you try to convince me you're good by asking me to a dance or give me my notebook back, and then you use my desire to get my girlfriend - now my ex-girlfriend a Christmas gift for your ultimate vendetta."
"That isn't me, I promise," She protests.
"And why should I believe you?" I challenge. "Heck, the fact that you have done this to me before with my stories more than qualifies you as the only person with the nerve to do anything that Anon-a-Miss has been doing. The MyStable page is red and yellow for heaven's sake. There's nobody in all of Canterlot that have those specific colors. You can't get any more obvious than that."
"I know it looks that way, but it isn't me," Sunset Shimmer claims.
"You know what? I don't care," I growl. "I don't care if this whole thing is you or just a ruse by some freshmen that want to screw with everybody. The fact is I've had it with you, and for all I know, none of this would have ever happened if you hadn't decided to come to our world and screw things up for your sick pleasure. As far as I'm concerned, my life would have been so much happier if you never came to our world."
Sunset Shimmer looks at me in shock with a tear coming out of her eye.
"W-what are you saying?" She manages to ask.
At this moment, I feel my purple face turn blood red as I grind my teeth, snap my eyes shut, and take a deep breath before I let it all out.
"I hate you, Sunset Shimmer!" I scream. "You're a despicable, miserable demon that ruins everything she touches! You will do anything to make sure everyone is miserable! You've been using the kind hearts of everyone who dares care about you just so that you can cause pain against them! I don't want to see you, I don't want to hear from you, and I don't even want to remember your existence for as long as I live!"
When I finish, I glare at her venomously as I breathe heavily from my outburst. Sunset Shimmer looks at me with her mouth quivering and her eyes full of tears. I expect her to start crying just to continue her act.
But she doesn't. Instead, she sniffs, wipes the tears from her eyes, and stands up straight.
"Okay, Rough Draft. If that's how you feel, I understand," she says with her voice cracking.
My glare weakens, and my anger breaks at her words.
"What?" I ask, confused.
"You win," she says sadly. "I've done all I can to prove that everything I've said is the truth, I even came looking for you and Octavia to try to save your relationship, but in the end, it's never enough. I'm never going to be enough for you. There's just too much blood between you and me, and I accept that now. I'll leave you alone for good now. Goodbye, Rough Draft."
After saying the same three words that Octavia said, she runs past me, fighting the tears that are still coming. I try to say something, to call her back and apologize somehow, but my voice dies in my throat again. The next thing I know, I'm all alone. Everyone else has already left for the day, and I'm still here, contemplating everything that has happened.
I thought I would feel better finally telling Sunset Shimmer off, but now I feel worse than ever. Just three days before, I was willing to lower my defenses, and now I've lashed all my anger and grief from losing Octavia on her. The broken-hearted look in her eyes haunts me. Those cyan eyes were trying to tell me I blew up on someone who is just as tormented as I am, and I didn't pay attention.
But in the end, none of that matters. Whether I yelled at Sunset Shimmer or not, the fact is Octavia is gone. She dumped me, believing that I am unloyal to her. No matter what I did or what I said, she didn't listen, and now the only girl I have ever truly loved has turned her back on me. Fresh tears fill my eyes as I begin to cry again, broken, ashamed, and alone.