It has been sometime after New Years and everyone was going about their day at Canterlot High School. With the holidays over, the students were back to working through another semester at school. Although, the Holiday Season wasn’t exactly the best time of the year that time. That year, a mysterious blogger named Anon-a-Miss appeared out of nowhere and started posting the secrets of so many students at CHS. At first, everyone believed it was one particular student but eventually the true culprits came forward and confessed to everything. Although that fiasco has passed, and the Anon-a-Miss account has been taken down, some students still remain greatly affected by that incident.
After the final bell rang, all the students started leaving the school grounds and heading to their homes. All but five teenage girls, who were all waiting on the steps of the school’s front entrance for one of their friends to arrive.
“What’s taking her so long?” Rainbow Dash asked impatiently.
“Sunset should be out by now,” Rarity said.
“Ah heard her say she was goin’ ta meet with Principal Celestia today about somethin’ important,” Applejack informed them.
“I hope everything’s alright,” Fluttershy said.
“Relax,” Pinkie Pie assured her. “I’m sure whatever it is, it will be just fine.”
In the principal’s office, Principal Celestia was sitting at her desk looking through some papers while Sunset Shimmer was patiently sitting in a chair facing the desk. Both of them looked very uneasy and not very happy for some reason. Sunset Shimmer was a victim, actually the biggest victim, of the infamous Anon-a-Miss fiasco. But she wasn’t one of the people who got her secrets posted on the internet, she was the scapegoat that everyone, even her own friends, thought was the culprit. Although the real culprit confessed and everyone stopped thinking it was her, the pain never went away. Sunset had asked to meet with Principal Celestia to talk about a very serious and important decision she was about to make.
“Here it is,” Celestia said handing Sunset a form. “Just sign your name at the bottom. But before you do that, is there any way I can convince you to rethink your decision?” The principal had a look of sadness on her face. “If you still feel like you weren’t compensated enough for what you went through, I could have another talk with the Crusaders or your friends if that is what you need.”
“No, Principal Celestia,” Sunset assured her. “There’s no need for that. Besides, I’ve already made my decision.” She sadly began signing the paper.
“I know you’re still feeling pretty upset,” Celestia said. “But I took this job so I could teach and help young people grow into happy and responsible adults. But there have been a few times where I’ve failed some students. I just don’t want you to be one of them.”
“I appreciate your efforts, but I have to do what I believe is best. Not just for me, but for everyone else.” Sunset then finished signing the paper, handed it back to Celestia, put on her backpack, and started heading for the door.
“If you give us another chance, we can show you that you don’t have to be alone,” Celestia said to her in a slightly pleading tone.
“But I am alone,” Sunset sadly replied. “Always have been.” With that, she left the office and the principal to her thoughts.
Celestia stared down at the paper Sunset signed, her face showing visible sadness. Then she closed her eyes, lowered her head, and let out a heavy sigh. What just transpired in that room was something Celestia desperately wanted to avoid. But despite her best efforts, she had failed to stop it. The guilt of being unable to help a student and the feeling of being utterly useless was eating away at her insides.
“Oh Twilight,” she said to herself. “If you were here, you’d know what to do.”
Back at the school entrance, the five girls were still waiting patiently for Sunset. Their faces lit up with big smiles when their friend finally came out the doors carrying her backpack. They didn’t seem to notice the sad expression on her face.
“Well, it’s about time,” Rainbow said relieved.
“How did it go, darling?” Rarity asked.
“I had an important ‘issue’ to take care of,” Sunset told them.
“Well now that yer’ done with that, we all better head on to Rainbow’s house for our sleepover tonight,” Applejack said.
“YES!” Pinkie yelled and jumped into the air with excitement. “Let’s get this slumber party started!”
Sunset watched uneasily as all five girls started chatting excitedly amongst themselves about what their plans for the slumber party should be. She knew she had to tell them the bad news now.
“Girls,” Sunset said timidly in an attempt to get their attention. “I’m not going.”
The five instantly stopped chatting and turned their full attention to Sunset. They stared at her as if she had bat wings sticking out of her ears, snakes slithering out of her mouth, and thousands of spiders crawling out of her hair.
“Come again,” Rainbow said in a tone of disbelief.
Pinkie chuckled as if she just heard a funny joke. “Good one, Sunset.”
“I’m not joking, Pinkie,” Sunset said in a sad and serious tone.
“Why not?” a confused Rarity asked.
“Is there something wrong with my house?” Dash asked.
“No, it’s not that at all,” Sunset assured them. “I have something to tell you all: I’m leaving Canterlot High.”
All five girls’ mouths dropped in complete and utter shock. They all had a bad feeling but were desperately hoping this wasn’t what they were thinking it might be.
“What do you mean, darling?” Rarity asked nervously.
“I’ve just dropped out of school,” Sunset sadly confessed. “I’m no longer a student of CHS.”
“Wha… But why?!” Rainbow asked completely flabbergasted.
“Is somethin’ wrong, sugarcube?” AJ asked concerned.
“Don’t you like it here anymore?” Fluttershy asked just as concerned.
Sunset didn’t answer. She couldn’t. However, that seemed to answer the questions anyway.
“What’s wrong?” Rarity asked.
“Is someone making you miserable?” a serious and suspicious Pinkie asked.
Sunset didn’t reply, which gave them the answer they needed.
“Is it Trixie? Because if it is, I can see to it that she stops giving you trouble,” Dash said clenching her right fist in her left hand.
“Photo Finish isn’t making you look bad to anyone is she?” Rarity asked.
“Did Snips and Snails pull a mean prank?” Fluttershy also asked.
“Did another evil villain from Equestria become a student, put everyone under a spell, and turn them into their pawns for their diabolical plan?” Pinkie asked.
“No,” Sunset replied giving Pinkie a weird look.
“Then who is it?” AJ asked getting impatient. “Who’s givin’ you problems?”
“Everyone, including you!” Sunset cried unable to take the pressure anymore.
The five girls finally stopped and stared at Sunset in complete and utter shock and confusion.
“What?” Rainbow asked greatly confused. “But what did we do?”
“Do you all still remember what happened last holiday season?” Sunset asked starting her explanation. They all had very disturbed and somewhat regretful expressions on their faces indicating they did remember. “You all talked about how it is the most wonderful time of the year. But for me, it was the worst time of my entire life. The day when I realized friendship doesn’t always work for everyone. Anon-a-Miss was destroying the new image I’d been working so hard to build up and not a single person was willing to believe in me, not even you.” Tears started welling up in Sunset’s eyes as she spoke. “I know my first impressions on everyone weren’t the greatest, but I thought that after everything we’ve been through you all would’ve believed that I had truly changed for the better unlike the other students of CHS. I helped you all stop the Dazzlings, remember? But instead, you all started acting like I had returned to my old ways, even though I had no reason to do so. For the first time in my life I was happy, I had experienced the magic of friendship. But in one fell swoop, it was all taken away from me and I was left alone, thrown out like a broken vase.” At this moment, Sunset started to softly and tearfully weep. Her friends stared at her with sad realization in all their faces, they finally understood what was upsetting her.
“Sunset, that’s all in the past now,” Dash assured her.
“Your name was cleared, darling,” Rarity said in a tender tone.
“And we all made up,” Fluttershy gently said.
“It doesn’t feel like we did,” Sunset solemnly replied. “The pain I felt has never stopped hurting.”
“What are you going ta do?” Applejack asked nervously. She was afraid of what Sunset’s answer might be.
“I hate to say this, girls,” Sunset said with visible remorse on her face. “But until I figure out a way to clear this up, we can’t hang out anymore.”
This hit all five of them like a giant semi truck going 100 miles per hour. They looked absolutely devastated and heartbroken.
“Sunset, I implore you to reconsider this decision,” Rarity begged as her eye makeup began to drip down her cheeks.
“I’ll throw you a big party to make everything better,” Pinkie said trying to be as positive as she could.
“Sorry Pinkie,” Sunset apologized. “But I’m afraid parties can’t fix everything.” This made Pinkie’s poofy pink hair deflated and hung straight down as her face was etched with extreme sadness.
“Sunset, please let us help you out,” Fluttershy desperately begged.
“We just wanna make ya feel better,” AJ said on the verge of tears. “Can’t ya trust us?”
“I did once,” Sunset replied with tears in her eyes. “I’m sorry girls. I really am. But I can’t risk going through that again. I don’t think my heart can take it.
“So you were miserable being left alone,” Rainbow tried to reason with her. “Do you really think isolating yourself from everyone again is the right thing to do?”
“Don’t worry, it’s not like I’m not used to it,” Sunset sadly assured. “No offense.” Then she turned around and started walking down the sidewalk leaving the five girls she once called friends with miserable and remorseful faces. Sunset’s facial expression showed that she really didn’t want it to come to this, but the pain in her heart was just too much. Rather than risk another incident like Anon-a-Miss, she decided it was probably best to just distance herself from everyone entirely. She didn’t how long it would take for her to get over this and return. Perhaps she may never return to CHS and get back with her friends again. Her future was unclear.
“I’m sorry Twilight, I tried,” she said to herself. “I really wish you were here right now. Sometimes I wonder if there’s anyone in this world who has it just as bad or even worse than I do.”