//------------------------------// // Consequences // Story: The Forsaken // by AmberSun //------------------------------// True to what the Rainbooms and the Crusaders expected, the confession the younger girls had to give to the rest of the school resulted in nothing short of an uproar. With the entirety of the student body together in the auditorium, there was no shortage of outraged shouts, curses, threats and even a few daring individuals attempting to make their way to the stage in order to get at the three. Despite initial mockery that there was no way such young girls could have done something as bold and cruel as Anon-A-Miss, a quick post on the account courtesy of Applebloom changed their tone quickly. Currently, the Crusaders still stood atop the stage, Luna and Celestia stern faced as they attempted to quiet the crowd. Their sisters stood off to the side. Applejack, Rarity and Rainbow Dash looked on as the girls stayed in place, tears silently running down their cheeks. As much as they wanted to comfort them, the conflicting emotions currently running through their minds that their own family was the cause of such ugliness in the school, caused them to remain uninvolved. Besides, they said that Sunset was family, and left her to a much worse fate than this for so long. Fluttershy hadn’t even come to school today. Her guilt was too crushing to be around anyone of the Rainbooms currently. She was supposed to be the element of kindness, but she showed none of it to Sunset when the other girl needed it the most, and the thought sickened her. According to Pinkie Pie, since she was the last person to make contact with the shy girl, as far as she was concerned, she and the others deserved this pain and nothing they could attempt to do would be enough to make up for what they had done. “THAT IS ENOUGH!” Vice Principal Luna’s voice flashed like lightning, and the effect was immediate. Whether in shock or fear, the students shot back down into their seats, unwilling to test the more severe of the two sisters. Celestia gave Luna a thankful, if tired look. “I understand that this revelation has come as a shock to many of you. It has been to many of us at this school to think that something like this would have happened but I can assure you that the discipline of these three is being handled.” “Like hell it is!” one student shouted in rage. “Because of those three, my chances at a full scholarship to Canterlot U  is toast!” “My friend had to transfer! She didn’t feel safe here because of what everyone knew about her then, and I can barely get into contact with her now,” another cried. One by one, more students began to voice their complaints until another stern command by Luna quited them once more. “I believe it pertinent to this discussion that it is not just these three you should be blaming, but also your fellow students. It has come to our attention, that most of what was posted came from other student accounts from CHS. I believe this list comprises them all.” The confused stares the instructors receive at the beginning morphed into shock, fear, and horror for a few of them as the projector behind them came to life. Clear, black and bold letters revealed a good third of the accounts students used at CHS. Luna smirked, “So, as you can see, casting the blame here on these girls alone will do you no good. And while your punishment will not be as severe, there WILL be consequences for ALL of the names on this list. No exceptions. Am I understood?” A few quick nods and shameful ‘yeses’ filled the auditorium. “Good. Now given that it is still a school day, you all will return to your classes. I will be calling in these listed individuals over the course of the week, and by the end of the day you will report to either my or Principal Celestia’s office. You are dismissed.” Little by little the students trickled from the gymnasium, many of them not without sending ugly and menacing glares to the trio who just walked down the stage.They tried meeting the gazes of their elder siblings, and were heartbroken when those faces were turned away. We really messed up. Scootaloo lamented. With that thought she and her two friends allowed themselves to be led away by Luna. Scootaloo knew their parents had already been called and were currently on their way. She shuddered to think what her parents’ punishment would be. Applebloom was albut confined to the farm when she wasn’t in school and doing homework. No access to any electronics or any mobile device and spending whatever free time she had doing chores around the Apple Family Farm property, even some of those belonging to her elder siblings. Sweetie Belle, unfortunately had it a bit worse and would be moving back in with her parents who were all the way in Manehattan, which was a five day car ride away. They hadn’t even waited when they received the news of their daughter’s involvement with this smear campaign. Sweetie had been packed since yesterday evening after her parents had been informed and would be leaving tomorrow. It was a shame that they wouldn’t be able to see each other together before then, if ever afterwards. Scootaloo’s parents traveled often for work. It was why she spent so much time with Rainbow Dash. She would check up on the younger girl and help out whenever she had time with homework, sports and most other things that caused Scootaloo to view her as a sibling figure. They loved her and called home regularly, but in lieu of this most recent event, the flat and disappointed tone she heard over the receiver was unsettling. When they had breaks in between their travels and came home, it was wonderful, and she hated to disappoint them, but this… Yeah. way to go on the not disappointing them thing Scoots. This’ll really win them over. She sighed. What’s done is done, and she would just have to be ready for whatever was in store for her later. She attempted one last glance back at the Rainbooms, more specifically Rainbow Dash, and when the older girl still avoided looking at her, a small tear fell, before she was finally led from the building. By the time lunch rolled around, there was still much lingering negativity in the air. While nothing was posted anymore, the wounds of discovering who was responsible for the Anon-A-Miss account, and who contributed to its success still left many splintered relationships among the students. The Rainbooms sat in their usual spot, but not with the usual amount of cheer they felt when together. One friend too depressed to show her face, the other too depressed to lighten the mood even marginally, and the others so disgusted at their recent actions towards the last missing one seemed to cause a metaphorical storm cloud to form over their group. Rainbow Dash suddenly slammed her fists down on the table, startling the other girls. “God damnit!” “Rainbow, wha-” “What the fuck were we thinking! We should have known...Sunset tried so hard after the Formal and we were told to give her a chance! She helped us when we needed it the most, and look what we fuckin’ did to repay her,” she ranted breathlessly. Tears pricked in the corners of her eyes. “What kind of friends are we? What kind of friend am I! We never gave her a chance, and even in Celestia’s office, were still so quick to blame her with the evidence looking us right in the fucking FACE!” With a keening groan, her head hit the table into her arms as she sobbed. The others looked on in shock. Rainbow Dash was never one to show emotion so easily, especially when it came to tears. Seeing her broken like this was unnerving to say the least. Applejack squared her hat after a minute and looked over the other girls. “Well then. Ya know what we gotta do don’cha? We have tuh apologize.” She stated. “What do you mean apologize. Even if we could find her since she left CHS, she’ll never listen to us!” Rarity argued sadly. “We were supposed to be her friends. And we couldn’t even do that right,” Pinkie mumbled. The flat pink curtain that was her hair covered most of her face, but her reddened cheeks and recent tear tracks were indicators enough that she was torn up over this. “Then we fahnd her an’ make it raght. I aint gunna lie. We fucked up badly, but if’n we want to prove tuh ‘er that ‘er friendship means somethin’ tuh us, we have tuh fahnd her an’ show ‘er that much. Even if she don’t listen, at least she’ll know.” Her speech trailed off into silence as she looked over her friends. Rainbow Dash had stopped her crying, but tears still leaked. Rarity’s mascara was leaking as well and Pinkie was still silent. Then, as one, they nodded in determination. “Then it’s settled. This weekend, we fahnd our friend. And this tahm around, we won’t make the same mistake twice.”