Shimmer had decided to enter the assembly hall ahead of time, taking her seat in the back on stage. Many students watched her as she waited with crossed arms beside Vice Principal Luna, who had decided to follow her to prevent any conflict with the other students.
She listened in silence to the other students’ whispers and murmurs. She could hear some of them talk about how she finally confessed and that Luna was making sure she would not run. Others talked about what they had seen that morning in front of and inside the school, about a second Sunset walking around, though many who didn’t witness the events didn’t believe those claims. Another few talked about how Twilight returned and about what she did to Rainbow Dash.
Looking over the aisles to where the Rainbooms were sitting, she saw exactly what that was about. She had not really seen Rainbow earlier, and Twilight had only mentioned what happened, but judging by the clearly visible handprint on the girl’s cheek, she knew that that was going to sting for quite some time.
‘Note to self: Never piss off the Princess of Friendship,’ Sunset thought; if that was her going easy on Rainbow, she really didn't want to see what Twilight was willing to do when she was serious.
Shifting her gaze away from them, Shimmer looked over the gathered students, ignoring the few angry glares she received, until she found who she was looking for. The Crusaders sat on the left—her left—side of the room near the middle, not so far away from one of the entrances of the room. They were busy talking to each other, but none of them made any move that indicated that they would stand up and approach a teacher or other faculty member that was gathered around the room.
Just behind them, near the entrance close to them, stood Granny Smith, her eyes focused on the three girls with a frown on her face. The faculty members had been informed about what happened and what would happen today. Needless to say, Granny had not been amused upon hearing what Apple Bloom did, but she agreed that the damage had been done and that she would let the principal handle the situation. No matter what she did, it wouldn't change much in the end.
Shimmer looked at the clock hanging on the wall. 'Still five minutes left for them. Maybe they’ll come forward themselves.’
~*~
Time was up, and none of the Crusaders has moved from their place. When Shimmer noticed some movement and saw Twilight and Principal Celestia walk on stage, she sighed.
'Well, they had their chances,' she thought before standing up. She hugged Twilight once she reached her and nodded at the principal before both girls sat down.
Celestia herself stepped up to the podium with the microphone, her sister already waiting for her. For a long moment, she simply looked over the gathered students, before finally, she spoke.
"Under normal circumstances, I would open this assembly by wishing all of you a good day, but as I’m sure we’re all aware, today simply is nota good day." The gathered students murmured to each other, and Celestia waited for a few moments before continuing, "We are very much aware of what has been going on these past two weeks regarding Anon-a-Miss, and I must say I'm very disappointed in all of you," Celestia continued. "After everything that happened, after everything Princess Twilight did to renew our school spirit and friendships, I never would have imagined it would be so easy to tear this school apart again.
"Now, I received reports about students making fun of each other, arguing with old friends, breaking off friendships for good, and in the worst cases, physically fighting in the hallways these past few days!" She punctuated her grievances with a strike to the podium, the feedback of the microphone making everyone present cover their ears from the sharp sound. "This ends now! And to start things off, I'm telling you: Sunset Shimmer is not Anon-a-Miss."
As expected, the volume in the hall heightened immediately after she said those words.
"Of course, she is!"
"We all know it's her!"
"You’re just trying to protect her!"
"Who else could it be?!"
Those were just a few of the things Celestia managed to hear over them yelling over each other. She waited for them to calm down again, but after a minute, she had enough. Just as she opened her mouth to demand silence, she was interrupted from behind.
"QUIET!"
It took only a few seconds for everyone to follow that order, and they all watched as Twilight stepped up besides Celestia. Without saying anything or even looking at her, Twilight held her hand out demandingly to Celestia, who took the microphone from its stand and gave it to her.
"The first time I heard about how all of you started acting after this whole thing began, I didn't believe it. Now, I see that all my effort in uniting you was a waste if this is enough to destroy it again."
Twilight began walking along the edge of the stage without taking her eyes from the students. "I can assure all of you as well that Sunset is not the one responsible, if you are not willing to believe Principal Celestia.”
Twilight looked at a few of the front-row students. "Did Anon-a-Miss post anything over the past few days?" she asked. They nodded angrily, and Twilight continued, "Sunset has been with me in Equestria since Monday morning."
That information caused a new wave of talking from the other students, but this time, no one was yelling. From her position, Twilight noticed two groups with different reactions as the others. The first were the Rainbooms, who looked at each other in surprise or, in Rainbow's case, in wide-eyed shock. A similar reaction could be seen from the Crusaders, who had their heads together and were talking quietly with each other.
'Seems they realized they messed up,' Twilight thought.
"How do we know you’re telling the truth?!" someone shouted from the audience. "Who tells us you’re not lying to help her?"
Twilight looked over the crowd to localize the owner of the way-too-familiar voice. It didn't take her long to find her after she rose from her seat.
"No one, but let's look at this from another side, Trixie," she responded as she frowned at the blue-skinned girl. "Why do you believe the one behind Anon-a-Miss is Sunset?"
Trixie scoffed and waved with her hand. "Oh, please. Just look at her page, and it’s clear that it's Sunset Shimmer."
"Really?" Twilight responded before she looked at Luna and nodded. Luna took a remote from her pocket, and after pressing a few buttons, she activated the projector hanging from the ceiling, which showed the Anon-a-Miss page on the wall behind Twilight. "I assume you are talking about that image of Sunset's silhouette in her colors?"
Twilight turned and glared at Trixie. "Seriously, if that’s all you got, it's pretty weak. I mean, even I could do something like this if you give me some time to figure out how these computers work!"
Trixie's confidence fell, but she soon caught herself. "What about the fact that she’s done this before? She always collected secrets and held them over our heads!" The crowd grew louder, agreeing with Trixie, who smirked at the princess, sure that she had won this time.
Twilight stayed calm. "Yes, she did spy on many of you and threatened to expose secrets, but there is one huge difference this time: The old Sunset used that knowledge to oppress you, so that you wouldn't get in her way. From what I know, she has never made something public as long as you did as she said. She never published anything for fun or without a reason.
"And besides, what would she gain from this? Do you think she wants to be hated, to lose the friends and the redemption she worked so hard for?"
Trixie stared at Twilight with wide eyes, her mouth opening several times just to close soon after, before she sat down again. Done with one, she addressed the rest of the room. "Any more arguments?"
The room was quiet for a moment, before someone else yelled, "The Rainbooms said last week that she’s the only one who could have posted those pictures!" Many eyes turned to the mentioned group, who didn't feel as confident as the center of attention as usual.
"And have you thought of the possibility that the Rainbooms might be wrong and that they are a bunch of idiots who abandoned a friend?"
Silence filled the room as many stared at Twilight with open mouths. The Rainbooms flinched and looked down in shame, knowing it was true; all besides Rainbow, who looked at her friends in confusion.
"Aren't they your friends? How can you say that about them?" someone asked.
"That's where you’re wrong and where I made the same mistake," Twilight slowly said. "They are not my friends. They only look like them." Upon seeing the confusion spreading, she continued, "That's one thing you need to know about our two worlds. They may be different, but there are also similarities. They are mirror versions of each other, and they share the inhabitants in some ways.
"In my world, there is another Celestia, Trixie, Cheerilee, and so on. Most, if not all, of you have another version in my world. The Rainbooms are your worlds versions of my best friends, and I assumed they were one in the same, essentially. I was wrong."
No one said anything while they all took in this new information. Twilight could see on their faces that some of them connected the pieces from what she said earlier and what they saw this morning, but many more were just confused.
"Anyone else with 'proof' of Sunset's guilt?"
Another round of silence greeted her, and once again, it was broken by a shout. "We saw her in town this week, so she can't have been with you!"
Twilight raised the microphone, but before she got to answer, Celestia stepped in. "I think I should take it from here again. Thank you, Twilight, for shedding some light on things." Twilight nodded and returned to her seat after she handed the microphone to the principal.
"That point you just mentioned brings us to the most serious part," Celestia began. "The violence that started here did not stay on school grounds. Many of you decided to go after Sunset during after-school hours, inflicting several minor injuries on her. As you heard from Princess Twilight, she returned to her world before something worse could happen. They thought that after a few days without her around, everything would calm down, that once the posts continue without Sunset being around at those times, her innocence would be proven. Sadly, fate had other plans."
She motioned to the side of the stage. "I would like to introduce you to Desert Sunrise and Northern Star, along with their daughter Sunset Shimmer."
She watched in satisfaction how the entirety of the room fell silent and stared at the family of three that walked in from the side. Or, more precisely, at the girl that looked just like the one they had known and feared for years. The three took their seats behind Celestia, with Desert Sunrise frowning at the gathered students with crossed arms while Northern Star and Sunset had their eyes closed, not giving them any attention.
With her guests seated, Celestia turned back to the crowd. "As I can see from your expressions, most of you managed to connect the dots, but for those who didn't, I will explain.
"While Miss Shimmer, as I will call her to avoid confusion, crossed over into her world, Miss Sunset and her family arrived in town last weekend. Without knowing about Anon-a-Miss, she stayed behind while her parents went back to Manehattan to overlook the move, and on her first day out in town, she was ambushed. Things became no better over the following days.
"I hope that I don't need to point out how much trouble those that took 'justice' into their own hands and are involved in this are in. The authorities have been informed, and the assaults are being investigated as we speak. There is not much I can do for any of you, even if I wanted to, but let me give you this last piece of advice.”
Celestia waited for a tense moment of silence before finishing, “Come forward later and confess what you did. Otherwise, your punishment will only be harder."
Many students began whispering to each other upon hearing this. Celestia also noticed some of them with panic written over their faces.
She raised the microphone again, but before she could say anything, she noticed more and more students going quiet and looking at something behind her. Turning her head, she saw Desert Sunrise standing behind her, his hand held out. "May I?" Celestia nodded and gave him the microphone before making space for him. He stepped up and looked over the hall before speaking.
"I will make this short before I say some things that should never be said in a school. Some of you might think about running away to avoid punishment, but let me make this clear: I will not let this rest until each and every one of you that harmed my daughter is found! No matter how long it may take, I will find you, so I would think twice before doing anything stupid!"
He waited a moment to let his message sink in before returning the microphone to Celestia and going back to his seat. Celestia nodded at him and said to the crowd, "Now, with that part done, I think it's time to tend to the matter everyone’s been waiting for.
"We can assure you that Anon-a-Miss won't be an issue any longer. The police have already been contacted, and they are working out the details with MyStable right now to bring the account down. Some of you might think that MyStable can't reveal personal data of users, as is stated in their terms of privacy. Usually, that's true, but if a serious crime is involved, the police can and will overrule that right.
"In this case, those crimes would be aggravated assault, battery, and attempted murder."
Several gasps ran through the hall, along with shocked faces on almost everyone. The biggest reactions came from the Rainbooms and the Crusaders, who looked at her in disbelief.
"Yes, Anon-a-Miss, thanks to your work, Miss Sunset over here has been attacked, and without the help of Miss Shimmer, who returned to our world at the right time and came across the scene by sheer luck, it is possible that she would not be with us any longer. I hope you are proud of yourselves."
Celestia saw a wide variety of reactions, from disbelief to shock and surprise. Sadly, she also noticed some students without any kind of reaction, as if they don't even care that an innocent girl could be dead by now.
Slowly a blue hand rose from the masses, the owner not as confident as she was before.
"Yes, Miss Lulamoon?"
Trixie slowly stood up, her face a much paler blue than usual. She opened and closed her mouth several times as she tried to figure out what to say. "Wh-Who was... What happened? I mean..."
Celestia sighed. "Usually, I would not say anything, since it's a private matter, but regarding the gossip mill of this school, it wouldn't be long until you find out. The assailant was Gilda Griffon, and she has been taken into custody this morning after a second failed attempt to 'deal' with Miss Sunset and Miss Shimmer."
Celestia waited for a minute for the chatter that followed to calm down, but when nothing happened, she cleared her throat loudly over the microphone.
"Now, we are going to reveal to all of you who really is behind Anon-a-Miss, but before doing so, let me make one thing clear: Until now, I have always stayed calm and solved every problem peacefully, but I have had enough of this. It seems that it is necessary to take the kid gloves off to get this done. So, if any of you tries to lay a single finger on the ones responsible, there will be consequences, and I'm not only talking about detention but about outright suspension, expulsion, and perhaps even legal action if necessary!
"I can understand that you all are angry, but keep in mind that you all are also to blame for this getting out of hand." As she had expected, the outcry was intense. Most of the crowd started yelling over each other, asking for why they were getting punished. Celestia’s amplified voice dominated the outcry as she said, "No one forced you to keep track of Anon-a-Miss. You all could have simply ignored it, but you chose to watch it, to follow it, and to laugh along with it. And because of this, there will be consequences for all of you, which will be decided over Winter Break. Enjoy it."
Without another word, Celestia stepped aside, nodding to her sister while doing so. Luna once again pulled out the remote and pressed a few buttons, starting the same recording the four members of the Rainbooms listened to earlier.
While the recording echoed through the room, Celestia saw that many students quickly came to the conclusion where this was going and started looking at the three girls. They, on the other hand, simply sat there, eyes and mouths wide open in shock while everything was revealed to the school. The room remained quiet during the entire time and for the first long moments after the end, but soon enough, the room exploded in volume. Many students shouted obscenities over each other at the Crusaders, who sank into their seats, covering themselves with their arms.
Two or three students, Celestia couldn't see how many exactly from her position, tried to get their hands at the three girls but were stopped by several faculty members while other faculty members pulled the girls out of their seats toward the nearby exit.
"THAT'S ENOUGH!" Celestia yelled into the microphone, making the room fall quiet as everyone protecting their ears from the feedback. "You all have done enough already. Their punishment will be enacted later." She frowned at the students that tried to get to the Crusaders. "And I will see you later to discuss your punishment as well."
Slowly, the gathered students calmed down while the Crusaders remained near the door, still cowering without meeting anyone’s eyes.
Celestia cleared her throat. "I think that is all for now. Details regarding the punishments will be given after Winter Break. And once again, I want to appeal to your common sense and hope that you come forward to the police if you have done something to Miss Sunset this week."
She turned back to look at the gathered guests behind her. "Does someone want to say anything before we finish?" At first, no one moved, and the crowd, thinking it was over, started talking to each other. They all fell silent again when Shimmer rose from her seat and approached the principal who handed over the microphone. At first, she simply stood there, looking over the gathered students. Many were looking at her, their faces clearly expressing how sorry they were for how they treated her, while others couldn't even meet her gaze and looked away.
"I tried," she finally said. "I tried to make up for my past actions since the Fall Formal. I did everything I could think of to prove that I had changed, and I helped save you from the sirens during the Battle of the Bands. I thought I had been finally forgiven, but it seems I was wrong.
"You made me feel forgiven, even accepted after everything I did, and I truly thought that I had finally found a place I could call home." She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "Making someone feel so at ease that they think that they, after years of loneliness, can drop their guard and be herself only to get a knife in the back is one of the cruelest things you can do.
"Now, I'm done trying. I don't care anymore what all of you think of me. You can go to Tartarus for all I care."
With those words, Shimmer handed the microphone to the principal and left the stage, Sunset and her family following her. Celestia raised the microphone and spoke.
"This assembly is over. I wish you a Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays, for all it's worth."
~*~
Silence reigned as the Crusaders waited patiently for the hall to be cleared of students, with Mr. Doodle standing watch over them, his back turned to them.
None of them could believe what they had heard at the assembly. Sunset was right. To even think that someone attacked Sunset because of them was too much, but that they really did attack the other Sunset...
At that moment, the door closest to them opened, and Vice Principal Luna appeared and looked at them. "Thanks for watching over them, Cranky. I will take it from here. You three, follow me," was all she said before she turned and walked out again.
Without saying anything, the Crusaders followed her, their heads hung low and gazes focused on their feet. The walk through the halls seemed to take forever for the three girls, who were not looking forward to what was awaiting them in the principal's office.
“SCOOTALOO!”
The entire group stopped and looked down the hall behind them. The Crusader’s eyes widened when they saw the five Rainbooms down the hall behind them, with Applejack and Pinkie Pie doing their best to hold back an enraged Rainbow Dash while Fluttershy cowered with Rarity behind the three, the latter glaring at her sister in disappointment. As the group got closer and Rainbow Dash refused to calm down, the Crusaders backed up, huddling together behind Luna. Luna folded her arms in front of her, shielding the girls from Rainbow Dash as she waited for them to get closer so that she didn’t need to yell.
“Rainbow Dash, I advise you to calm down. Everything my sister said during the assembly regarding aggression against these three still applies, no matter how personal your connection to them.”
Stopping her struggle against her friends, Rainbow looked first at Luna before glaring harshly at Scootaloo, who was looking at her with wide eyes from behind the vice principal. Sighing, she turned her head back to look at her two friends. “You can let go; I’ll behave,” she said. Applejack and Pinkie shared a glance before releasing their friend. “And we’re gonna talk later,” she hissed at the freshman, who started crying from her idol’s aggression.
“And the same goes for you two,” Rarity added, stepping forward to stand with Applejack.
“Actually, it’s good that you are here; you are expected in my sister’s office as well,” Luna said before turning around, making sure to stay between Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo just in case the former lashed out again. “So, if you don’t mind, please follow me.”
The girls looked at each other in confusion. “Excuse me, Vice Principal Luna, but I can understand the three of us, regarding our sisters’ actions,” Rarity said, “but why would Principal Celestia want to talk with Fluttershy and Pinkie?”
“Your sisters’ punishment will be discussed with their guardians later,” Luna said without turning around again. “And it is not my sister who expects you in her office.” With those words, Luna continued on her way to her sister’s office, the Crusaders walking in front of her. The Rainbooms shared one last, concerned look before following.