//------------------------------// // Confrontation // Story: Anon-A-Miss: Confrontation // by CapNTilfy //------------------------------// Sunset Shimmer smiled to herself as she entered Canterlot High. After all her struggles in life, she finally felt she had a family. That she felt loved. She put her jacket in her locker, then noticed her friends standing together. "Hey, girls," she said with a smile. "What's going..." she trailed off as she noticed Applejack and Rarity eye her suspiciously. Fluttershy looked as though she was on the verge of tears, and Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie looked uncertain. "...on?" "Sunset," Applejack said warily. "Do you... have you lost your phone?" Sunset raised an eyebrow. "Um... no?" She fished her phone out of her pocket and showed it to Applejack. "It's right here. Why?" Applejack scowled and put a hand on her hip as she handed Sunset her phone. "Then you need to explain this." Sunset took Applejack's phone and noticed a MyStable page with the user name of Anon-A-Miss. A post saying "OMG... what a bunch of dorks!" was directly above several pictures. One depicted Applejack with several red bandannas tied on her arms. She wore torn jeans and a black shirt with green diamonds. She was playing a green electric guitar. Another was a picture of a very surprised Rarity caught in a selfie with Pinkie Pie, who was dressed in a blue fancy suit and hat. She continued scrolling until the end. "What?! How'd she get our pictures?" "They're not our pictures, Sunset," Applejack said accusingly, glaring at her. "They're yours. All those pictures were taken by you." Rainbow Dash began to clench her fists. This didn't feel right to her. Something just wasn't adding up. "Wait, but..." Sunset said, as panic and dread began to fill her. "...but I've had my phone all this time! How did she-" "Yeah, how did she," Applejack asked as she walked up to Sunset. "How did she know about my nickname? How did she get the pictures from your phone?" She pointed an accusing finger at her. "It was you all along! You're 'Anon-A-Miss'!" Sunset's eyes widened in horror. This couldn't be happening! "No, wait, you guys..." She began to choke up. "I-I didn't do this! I could never hurt any of you!" Oh sweet Celestia, she was going to lose her friends! She didn't want to be alone in this world again! Rainbow Dash shot over to Sunset's side. "Okay, that's enough," she said angrily, holding her arms out. "Rainbow Dash," exclaimed Rarity. "What is the meaning of this?" "I could ask you all the same thing," Rainbow said. "What in tarnation are you yammerin' about, Dash?" Rainbow glanced at Applejack. "I believe her. And you all should too," she said with conviction. "Have you gone loco in the coco, Dashie," Pinkie asked incredulously, flailing her arms. "No. I haven't," Rainbow said, then put her hand to her head with a sigh. "Honestly, you guys. Think about this for one second!" "Okay," Rarity said as she folded her arms. "We're listening." "What does Sunset Shimmer have to gain from all this," Rainbow asked, gesturing to the girl in question. "Why would she do something like this after she worked so hard to earn trust from the student body?" Applejack, Pinkie, Rarity and Fluttershy shuffled with uncertain looks on their faces. "If you ask me, she has everything to lose by doing this. She'd lose us as friends and the trust of Canterlot High as a whole!" Sunset remained still as she watched Rainbow Dash come to her defense. It was both surprising and not. Surprising because she was almost positive beyond the shadow of a doubt that they'd all abandon her over something she didn't do, but not surprising because her defender was the human Element of Loyalty. She resisted every urge to hug and thank her. "And most of all," Rainbow continued. "Would Sunset Shimmer have ponied up even if she truly hadn't changed?" The four girls looked down on the floor and fell silent. Several moments passed by, then Pinkie Pie shot towards Sunset and burst into tears. "I-I'm s-sorry for doubting you," she cried out, then sobbed into her chest and hugged her tightly. Applejack walked up to Sunset with her hat in her hands. "I'm awful sorry for accusing you, sugarcube," she said as a tear fell from her cheek. "I just got so worked up, I-I wasn't thinkin' straight." She joined Pinkie in the hug. Rarity put a hand on Sunset's shoulder. "Can you ever forgive us for acting so rash, darling," she asked sincerely. Sunset felt a lump in her throat and sniffled. "O-Of course I can, Rarity," she said, her voice quavering. "You guys are like a family to me." Fluttershy shot over to Sunset, sobbing uncontrollably. "We love you, Sunset," she said between sobs. "I... I love you guys, too!" Sunset broke and held all of her friends tightly, crying tears of joy and relief. She never, ever wanted to feel lonely ever again. Rainbow walked over and joined the hug, shedding tears of her own. She was pulled into the hug by Sunset, who repeatedly thanked her until she had no more tears left in her. Once all tears were shed, the girls broke the hug. Rarity took out a tissue from a tissue holder in her backpack and blew her nose, then promptly threw it away and washed her hands, swiftly returning to her friends. "Now that we've established that Sunset is innocent, where do we go from here?" Sunset wiped a tear from her eye, then took a deep breath and composed herself. "I'm sure we'll figure something out," she said. "We just need to brainstorm, that's all." As the girls discussed ideas, they failed to notice a light green girl walking away from them and rounding the corner. ---------------------------------------------- "Dammit," Wallflower muttered under her breath. "I should have known it wouldn't be that easy to break them apart." She sighed heavily, then sent a message. All right, Trixie. Looks like it's time for plan B. - Wallflower Blush What did you have in mind? Wallflower received a text. She read it, then laughed. "Wow," she whispered. "That's inspired..."