//------------------------------// // Chapter 7: Aftermath Pt. 2 (Scootaloo) // Story: Through the Eyes of Anon-a-Miss // by sonicfan05 //------------------------------// Several Hours Earlier... "...I can't believe you two!" Sweetie shouted as she stood up and grabbed her things. "HEY! Where you going!?" Scootaloo demanded. Sweetie Belle gave Scootaloo her angry glare. "Anywhere than here... away from you two!" As Sweetie rushed out of the cafeteria without looking back, Scootaloo sat down and let out a long sigh. When Sweetie Belle asked her that question if she thinks Sunset suffered enough as it is, Scootaloo couldn't answer. But it wasn't because Scootaloo thinks that Sunset should suffer some more. In fact, like Sweetie Belle, she actually felt... bad for doing this to Sunset, but she never wanted to admit it. Granted, she didn't felt that at first, believing that whatever happened to Sunset was because she deserved it. But as the days go by and seeing Sunset looked more and more miserable from the hallway, Scootaloo was starting to feel guilty and realizing what they were doing was wrong. It didn't help her guilt further as she witnessed many open hostility against Sunset from other students due to the messages that Scootaloo herself posted. She felt even worse as she saw her sister figure who looked just as miserable due to all the torment from others. Quite frankly, she wanted to stopped these postings a long time ago, especially after seeing so many people suffered due to her actions. But there was one major road block that prevented her to do so. Their followers. Once news broke out that the Rainbooms ditched Sunset, Scootaloo received more dirty secrets than ever in their Anon-a-Miss' email, especially if it was used against Sunset. However, each new messages Scootaloo received was worse than the other to the point that she wasn't even comfortable to posting them for all to see. If she refused them, she'll get a flood of repeated emails of people either demanding or harassing her until they get her to post the messages. Even if she decided not to log into the email, the new email notifications kept going on almost every five minutes to the point that it nearly made Scootaloo insane. The worse one was from yesterday when she received a message from her "fan", who followed her ever since she posted about Soarin many days back, wanting her to post something about a CHS student as a "request". This particular student was that certain clumsy blonde student with misaligned eyes, who would never harm a fly. Scootaloo couldn't believe that someone would write something so cruel about this person, especially about someone who is just as sensitive as Fluttershy. Granted, she did post a video of Fluttershy badly singing a song from Rarity's slumber party (which she felt bad about it afterwords), but that was nothing compared to how this so-call "fan" wanted to mock that poor girl's eyes. Naturally, Scootaloo refused this post it at first and even told this user that she won't use it. But when her "fan" responded that he'll find her personally so they can have a better "understanding", Scootaloo was freaked out. What's worse was that her "fan" believed that Anon-a-Miss was Sunset! Even though that threat wasn't directly at Scootaloo, but it scared her the way this person said it and that Sunset will get hurt if she doesn't post that message. She wanted to get back at Sunset for taking her sister away, but she never wanted to go as far as getting Sunset hurt because of it. She was stuck for a while, forcing to decide between one of the other while her "fan" impatiently demanded to do it. In the end, Scootaloo posted the message anyway so that Sunset will be spared from harm, while silently begged that muffin loving girl to forgive her. Scootaloo couldn't even sleep that night due to her guilt and spent the whole night thinking of what led them to that point. She wondered if posting everyone's secrets in school was worth the efforts of putting Sunset in her place. What confused her the most was the fact that she felt guilty for someone who was once a bully. Was she fooled so easily with Sunset's act or was she so wrong about doing things out of justice? As much as she wanted to tell Sweetie that she agreed with her about Sunset suffered, she couldn't answer because she was still confused with the situation and that she was still a little mad at Sweetie. Even if Scootaloo did admit that what they were doing was wrong, she knew that Sweetie would just scold her afterwards and say things like, "I told you so". Not wanting to deal with it, and admitting the truth, Scootaloo just kept her mouth shut, only to drive a wedge further between her and Sweetie Belle. She silently cursed herself for being so stubborn and drove her friend away like that. "Apple Bloom," Scootaloo spoke up quietly. "Do you think that maybe... we should cut back on posting stuff from our followers? I think we done more than enough to convince everyone that it was Sunset." Apple Bloom looked up towards her with a sharp gaze. "No. It is never enough! We shall keep going as we planned. Use whatever they sent ya!" Scootaloo eyes widened, surprised how cold her friend sounded to her. "But Apple Bloom, some of the things they want us to post was... too extreme that I'm not comfortable to post." Apple Bloom raised her brow. "So? You could just skip them." "I did... but they still send me messages, demanding to post them," said Scootaloo. "Then just altered them before posting them," Apple Bloom suggested nonchalantly. Scootaloo shook her head. "I did that too, but that only made them more angry and demand to post them exactly how they sent them! I'm too scared to say no!" Apple Bloom scoffed and rolled her eyes. "Look, just either altered the messages like you did or ignore them, but don't you ever say "no" to them!" "But–" "Just do it!" Apple Bloom ordered as she gathered her things. "Now Ah gotta go!" Apple Bloom walked away from their table and left the cafeteria, leaving Scootaloo alone with a worried frown. Why do I get the feeling that this going to get worse? Sometime after lunch, Scootaloo went to the library to hang out during her free period. Normally, she wouldn't even dream of hanging out in the library and would rather hang with her friends, but due to circumstances and have no where to go, she decided to come here anyway just to think. While Apple Bloom ordered her to continue with the posts, she was still having some doubts. She didn't want to hurt Sunset or anyone else anymore than they already did, but at the same time, she still didn't want Sunset to get off easily after everything she had done. But even with that ideal, her reasoning gets weaker and weaker by the day. Even if Scootaloo decided to stop, she'll only ended up making their followers angry and making things worse for Sunset. She really didn't know what to do and that she have no one to turn to. Not even her best friends. "Lyra, wait!" Scootaloo turned from where she was sitting to see two teenaged girls. One with a minty hair was trying to walk away with a angry look while the other with a blue and pink hair was chasing after her with a pleading expression. "I'm not talking to you Bon Bon!" said Lyra with her nose up. "Lyra, you have to believe me!" Bon Bon cried. "I would never revealed your secrets to anyone!" Lyra turned her head at her with narrowed eyes. "Oh yeah? Then explain to me how the dog incident from way back in kindergarten got on that site!? You were the only one I know who knew that!" Bon Bon shook her head. "I don't know, I swear!" Lyra just scoffed and walked away again. "Sure you don't! Consider our friendship over!" Bon Bon now on the verge of tears and chased after her again. "Lyra, please!" Scootaloo felt her heart heavy as she watched the crying girl chased after her friend. She remembered receiving a message from one user who overheard their conversation and wanted her to post it. As a result, Lyra was a laughing stock like all the others. But what she didn't expect was that she heard that Lyra accused her best friend of betraying her and broke off with her as a result. She couldn't help but being felt responsible for ruining a friendship that she had caused. Scootaloo then shifted her eyes to another section of the library and spotted another pair of teenaged girls, sitting near the window at the corner of the library with miserable looks. One girl has a raven hair with a white shirt, purple vest, pink skirt and her signature pink bow-tie. And the other has a spiky blue hair, white coat and skirt, long purple pants and her signature purple sunglasses over her eyes. "I don't know what to do Vinyl!" The raven haired girl moaned sadly. "Thanks to that horrid Anon-a-Miss, our secret is out! Not only this would affect my social life, but my personal life as well! How am I going to explain this to my parents!? What if they want to separate us!" She then teared up. "What if they decided to... disown me?" The blue-haired girl with purple sunglasses looked down sadly, as if she was to blame for ruining her girlfriend's life. The raven haired-girl noticed this and she gently grasped her hand while giving her a tiny smile. "Oh don't blame yourself love, this isn't your fault. We'll figure something out," she assured, comforting to her girlfriend and herself. Scootaloo frowned deeply. She remembered receiving info about that secret couple from some guy who wanted to expose them as a way to get back at them out of jealously and for being rejected from that raven haired girl. Scootaloo thought it was pathetic of that guy who would do that to them out of jealousy. But then she remembered that she practically did the exact same thing against Sunset. Does that mean that she's pathetic too? "Hey Great and Powerful Trixie, are you still afraid of the dark?" Scootaloo turned towards the direction of an obnoxious voice coming from another section of the library. What she saw this time was three teenaged boys, mocking at that certain silver haired magician girl with an angered and embarrassed expression. "You could borrow my baby sister's nightlight if you wanted!" One of the boys teased in his baby-like voice, leading the other two boys to laugh. "S-shut up!" Trixie hollered angrily. "Don't you dare mock Trixie! At least I don't watch cartoons which were made for little girls!" Trixie stopped talking as soon as she heard a loud whimper from behind him. When she turned around, she realized in horror that the one behind her was none other than Bulk Biceps with a hurt expression and tears in his eyes. He then let out a loud sob as he quickly turned and ran out of the library. "Oh... shoot! Bulk Biceps wait!" Trixie cried as she chased after him. "Trixie didn't mean that!" Scootaloo cringed at the sight. While she somewhat felt bad about Trixie (even though she is a jerk to Rainbow Dash and the Rainbooms), she felt terrible for hurting Bulk Biceps. While he looked intimidating with those large muscle of his, he was actually nice and a sensitive guy. He was so nice, everyone called him the gentle giant of the school. Scootaloo never understood why would anyone wanted to hurt such a gentle guy like Bulk. Was it because someone was jealous of his muscles? Who knows? Scoots felt more and more guilty as she watched more victims she used for the site. It was bad enough to think about that post she did about that girl from yesterday, but seeing all the other students she hurt in person? That felt worse. She thought that people will recover in time after she posted their silly embarrassing stuff online. But now... she wasn't so sure anymore. "Hey! Who are ya laughing at?" Scootaloo was snapped out of her thoughts when she heard a familiar voice she knew too well. When she turned towards the source, it was indeed confirmed to her that the voice belonged to her sister figure and mentor, Rainbow Dash. However, she was by the library's computers with a group of students, laughing hysterically as if they just heard a funny joke. "Why you of course Rainbow Dash!" one of them snickered. Rainbow narrowed her eyes at that student. "Oh yeah? What about me that's so funny?" "Your grades!" Another student replied before breaking into another round of laughter. Determined to see for herself, Rainbow shoved the kid to the side and looked into the monitor. When she did, her eyes widened in shook and disbelief. "W-what the!? How..." Her face becomes red and growled in anger before she abruptly turned and walked away, ignoring the roars of laughter from behind her. During the commotion, Scootaloo got up from her table and stealthy walked closer to them and took a peak at the monitor, only to cringe when she saw what was on screen. It was a photo of Rainbow's bad grade on her science paper that Scootaloo herself took from Rainbow's gym locker, now on screen for all to see. She felt a huge amount of regret for doing this to her own mentor and now Rainbow was paying the price. Seeing that Rainbow was about to exit the library, Scootaloo took off after her. As much as it scared her to see how angry Rainbow looked, she wanted to check up on her to see if she's okay, even though she knew Rainbow was anything but okay. Once she caught up with Rainbow from the hallway, Scootaloo spoke up to her. "Rainbow Dash!" Rainbow growled and turned towards her aggressively. "If you got something to say to me, then say–" Rainbow then immediately calmed down and relaxed somewhat when she realize that it was Scootaloo. "OH! It's just just you Scoots!" Scootaloo swallowed with a nervous expression. "Um... is everything okay Rainbow Dash?" she asked timidly. Rainbow's expression became hard. "Well let's see... I've been a laughing stock all day because I just found out that my grade from my science paper was posted online for everyone to see... WHAT DO YOU THINK I FEEL!? DO I LOOK OKAY TO YOU!?" Scootaloo recoiled and shook in fright from Rainbow's raw anger. Rainbow realized what she just did and immediate calmed herself and gave Scootaloo her apologetic expression. "I... I'm sorry Scoots," Rainbow sighed regrettably. "I didn't mean to take it out on you. It has been stressful for me with everything that happened for the past week and a half. Ever since Applejack's "nickname" was posted online and then broke off our friendship with Sunset... things went from bad to worse. I thought it was just me and my friends who are the only victims from all of this, but now... almost everyone in school become targets! Even the ones who were mocking at us were now demanding to bring Anon-a-Miss to justice after she posted stuff about them!" She then scoffed. "Bunch of hypocrites!" Scootaloo nodded in understanding while keeping her guilt in check. "It's just a bad grade on paper," said Scootaloo, trying to cheer up her hero. "Who cares what they think! You're Rainbow Dash! I'm sure you can recover from this!" While her words were meant to be encouraging and to lift Rainbow's spirits, it only did an opposite effect as Rainbow looked down somberly and let out a deep sigh. "Kid... while I appreciate that you think I'm awesome... I don't know if I'll ever recovered from this! People will now treat me differently like I was an idiot for not spelling some dumb word wrong like Boo... Boy...ya..." "Buoyancy?" Rainbow had an annoyed look for a moment before she sighed again with a defeated expression. "Yeah... that! Not to mention... this could affect my sporting career if they knew that I failed at that science paper!" Scootaloo's eyes were as wide as saucers. "You mean... they really wouldn't let you be a part of any team just because a bad grade is up online?" "You'll be surprised kid," said Rainbow before she turned away with narrowed eyes. "I hope Sunset is proud of herself for ruining everyone's lives!" Scootaloo winced at that statement, even though it wasn't meant directly at her. She knew that Rainbow will be the target of teasing the moment she posted Rainbow's grades online, but she never considered that this could potentially blew Rainbow's chance of joining any future teams for both in and outside of school. If Rainbow's sports career is ruined forever because of her, Scootaloo would never forgive herself. She was unsure now more than ever if what she did really was worth it, even if it was for justice. "Um... Rainbow? Can I ask you... a hypothetical question?" Scootaloo asked. Rainbow turned back towards her, giving Scootaloo her full attention. "Uh, okay. What is it?" Scootaloo was a little hesitant but decided to push on anyway. "Um... let's just say... you knew someone was a bully for a few years and then turned it around to try to be the "good guy". And yet... you still don't think that this person... didn't get enough punishment for everything they did. So you decided to do some... bad things and then pin the blame on this person so they get their just deserts. Was that considered... justice?" Rainbow stared at Scootaloo with a stunned expression. "Just where did you get that idea from Scoots?" "I... picked that up from show I watched once," Scootaloo lied, trying to dodge the question. Rainbow just stood there, starring at Scootaloo. Scootaloo had a feeling that Rainbow didn't fully believe her lie, but at least she didn't comment about it. After a full minute, Rainbow shook her head. "Oooookay... maybe you should stop watching that show, I think it gave you the wrong idea about justice." Scootaloo blinked. "What do you mean?" "That wasn't justice, it was petty revenge! There's nothing justice about ruining someone's life, whether that person was bad or not!" Scootaloo eyes widened in surprise. "It... it wasn't?" "Of course not!" Rainbow replied. "In fact, it's even worse to do that to a person who was trying to turn over a new leaf even after they got their proper punishment. All that really accomplished was that you'll just stoop to their level, maybe even lower than their level for doing that! And it also wouldn't be fair to give that person a chance to reform if they're accused of the things they didn't do." "It won't?" Rainbow shook her head. "No, it wouldn't. Let's say... your friend Diamond Tiara for example. I bet she was trying to make up the things she did to you three, right?" Scootaloo nodded. "I thought so," said Rainbow. "Now let's say while she tried to turn over a new leaf, Snips and Snails decided to frame her before she gets a chance out of spite. Do you think that was fair for her?" Scootaloo furrowed her brow in thought. Sweetie Belle pointed that fact out before, but both Scootaloo and Apple Bloom shot that idea down, believing that both Sunset and Diamond aren't the same. But now, with a much clearer thought, Scootaloo realized they really are actually similar in a way. She remembered that both Diamond and Silver Spoon had been bullies to them since way back in kindergarten. Up until her first year in high school, Scootaloo always thought of them, especially Diamond, as a mean person without a heart. But when they found out about her home life, Scootaloo realized that she was just a lonely girl who was greatly pressured from her family, especially from her mother. After the CMC helped Diamond to be the better person, Diamond's demeanor changed drastically and wanted to start over with them. At first, Scootaloo wasn't sure what to think. Part of her was a little skeptical that Diamond could change into a much nicer person so quickly, believing that it could be another one of Diamond's tricks. But as time goes by, she realized that Diamond really meant it and now considered her as her friend. Of course, there were some tough moments when some students gave Diamond and Silver Spoon a hard time out of spite, despite their efforts to show them that they truely changed. And when she saw the miserable expressions on their faces afterwards, that was when Scootaloo felt bad for them the most, something she never thought would happen. Her thoughts then changed from Diamond Tiara, to Sunset Shimmer, with that same miserable expression as Diamond. Like Apple Bloom, she pretty much gave Sunset the cold shoulder when even she sees her, believing that a bully like her doesn't deserve another chance. But after realizing that she pretty much gave Diamond a chance who pretty much bullied her longer than anyone, was that really fair of Sunset to not give her the same chance? "....no... it wasn't," she admitted with a somber sigh before looking up at her idol. "But how can you be sure that this person is truly reformed?" "You don't," Rainbow replied. "But that's the whole point of giving someone a second chance. If they are truly sorry, they have to work hard for it and earned people's trust. Sunset, for example, worked hard everyday to earn trust not just from me and my friends, but to everyone at school. It was a difficult challenge for her, especially from some students who still had a grudge against her and tried to sabotage her reformation." Scootaloo eyes widened in shock. "Really!? There were other people who tried to ruined Sunset's chance?" Like me? Rainbow nodded. "Oh yeah. I remembered during the first week of helping Sunset get back on her feet after the Fall Formal. Rarity tried to do a fashion show as a fundraiser to raise the funds for repairing the school's entrance and we all helped out, including Sunset as her way to start redeeming herself. Things were well at first, but then... there were nasty rumors going around about Sunset, which made people not want to come to the show because of it!" Scootaloo remembered that event all too well. While she is not a fashion person, but she originally decided to go to that show as a favor from Sweetie Belle to help support her sister. But when she heard that Sunset was there and how she supposedly sabotaging the fundraiser, Scootaloo immediately changed her mind and decided not to go, only to be forced to come along anyway by Sweetie Belle, much to Scootaloo's annoyance. She really thought that Sunset put on some kind of an act, but after hearing this from her idol, was she wrong this whole time? "Were... any of these rumors about Sunset at the time was true?" Scootaloo asked. "Oh course it's not true!" Rainbow answered. "You should never believe any of rumors you hear kid unless you heard it from a reliable source. Anyway, as it turned out, it was Trixie who spread those rumors, all because she was jealous that no one is interested to come to her stupid magic shows and still have a grudge against Sunset. Granted, we have beef with Trixie for as long as I can remember, but what she did that day... that was just downright despicable! No one should go out of their way to ruin another person's life all just for jealousy and grudge." "...Y-yeah... they shouldn't," Scootaloo said timidly, even though she pretty much did just that. At that moment, Scootaloo felt stupid and ashamed of her actions. The things that she did that she thought was justified was anything but justified. She helped humiliate everyone at school, made her idol miserable and put her sporting career on the line, and made an innocent girl who she thought was a irredeemable bully suffer, all because of her own grudge and pettiness and wanted to have her idol to notice her again. She really wanted to go to some hole somewhere and hide right about now. "Well... it doesn't matter now since Sunset has showed us her true colors," Rainbow said bitterly with a huff. "I don't even think I could be loyal to her if she goes that far and used my grade papers against me and come after my friends!" Her angry demeanor suddenly changed to somber and looked down with a defeated sigh. "But the worst thing of all... even after we all thought we did the right thing of breaking ties with Sunset... I couldn't help but feel like that a part of me thinks I just made a terrible mistake of accusing her like that and then left her in the dust without giving her a chance." Scootaloo was now feeling more guilty after hearing that, especially of how right Rainbow was but she managed to keep herself composed as she looked at her sister figure in the eye. "Did you... truly think so Rainbow Dash?" Rainbow didn't answer for a long time until she finally let out a long sigh. "I don't even know anymore." Later during the day, Scootaloo was heading to the next class with a somber expression, still thinking about her last encounter with Rainbow Dash. She had been berating herself over and over for doing something that she thought was justified this whole time was nothing more than an vicious attack on not only to someone that she unfairly judged, but to also nearly everyone in school who were caught in a crossfire. Not only that, they were pretty much attacking an innocent person who done nothing wrong aside from spending way too much time with Rainbow Dash. This just makes her situation more complicated than ever with all the messages she kept receiving from her so-call followers. If only she wasn't so stupid to encouraged everyone to send more dirt to her just to get back on someone for something so petty. "I'm telling you Garble, I didn't do it!" Scootaloo stopped walking and turned to see the commotion. Her eyes widened when she saw Sunset was being held up against the lockers by some student while some people in the crowd surrounded them. But it was not just any student, it was none other than Garble, one of the biggest and meanest guy in school. He had spiky orange hair, yellow piercing eyes and freckles on his face while wearing a black t-shirt with ripped sleeves, dragon logo on his chest and green camo pants with black boots. He and his gang are another group of bullies who caused so much trouble in school and will mess with anyone who gets in their way. He was considered the number two worst bully in school until Sunset decided to change her ways. But unlike Sunset, he wasn't exactly the smartest person in school, but when it comes to his physical strength that's a whole nother story. No one wanted to stand up against him or dare enough to laugh at his face. Until Anon-a-Miss posted a picture of him dancing around in his ballet outfit from a dancing studio downtown. Since then, Garble became the laughingstock of the entire school. While the picture was hilarious sight to Scootaloo at the time before she posted it, but judging the look on Garble's face, she realized that she just made a huge mistake. And Sunset was about to be the one to pay the price. "Quit lying Shimmer!" Garble roared. "We all knew it was you! So you better own up to your deeds!" "But I'm not lying!" Sunset cried desperately. "I'm not Anon-a-Miss! I know I was terrible in the past, but I'm not that person anymore! I would never hurt my friends or anyone else in that way!" Garble snorted, clearly not believing her. "Fine! If you're not going to admit it, then I'll just have to make you confess!" "Yeah! Give her what for Garble!" "Teach her a lesson!" "She had it coming!" "Put Anon-a-Miss in her place!" "No please!" Sunset pleaded as she was looking around the crowd. "Someone help me!" Scootaloo watched on in horror as many people kept encouraging Garble to deliver the "punishment" instead of helping Sunset, while Garble was preparing to deliver the landing blow to a defenseless Sunset. "No one is going to save you Sunset," Garble said sinisterly as he raised his fist high into the air. "Not even your friends! Now it's time to pay the piper!" Realizing that no one will come to help her and that she was truly alone, Sunset shut her eyes tightly and let out a single tear. Before Garble was about to land a single punch on Sunset's face, he was suddenly shoved aside, letting go of Sunset in the process. Garble's confusion was short lived when he saw a young girl with short purple hair stood in front of Sunset with her arms spread out, much to Sunset and the crowd's surprise. "Back off!" Scootaloo shouted at him with a glare. "You leave Sunset Shimmer alone!" Garble growled in disbelief. "Are you serious!? Why are you defending her? She's the cause of everything! Just stay out of my way you twerp!" "No way!" Scootaloo responded as she stood her ground with a huge amount of courage she didn't know she had. "Even if she is Anon-a-Miss, roughing her up isn't the way solve this! You'll only end up regretting this for the rest of your life!" Garble scoffed. "Fine then! First you, then her!" Her courage suddenly left her as she heard the crowd cheered again and telling Garble to take them out. With a cruel smirk, Garble cracked his knuckles and raised his fist up again. With a gulp, Scootaloo shut her eyes tightly, waiting for the inevitable blow. "WHAT'S GOING ON HERE!?" Everyone froze in place from the sudden loud angry voice. They all turned around and gasped when they saw the person who interrupted Garble was none other than Vice Principal Luna. And she did not look happy! Everyone just stood quietly with nervous faces as Luna made her way towards the tall boy, while Garble himself was sweating profusely at the sight of an angry Vice Principal. "Gah... Vice Principal Luna!" Garble cried nervously as he quickly bring his fist down and stood up straight. "This– this isn't what it looks like! We were just... messing around! I wasn't going to do anything to them!" Luna's eyes narrowed at the oversize delinquent. "Nice try. I saw you the moment you shoved Miss Shimmer against her locker and about to raise your hand on her as everyone else was egging you on. If it weren't for Miss Scootaloo, I would have intervened. And I also happen to witnessed you were about to lay harm on her too, despite that she is only a young underclassman!" Garble gulped nervously, realizing that he just got himself caught like some kid who was in a middle of stuffing his hand in a cookie jar. "But... but... she's Anon-a-Miss!" Garble defended desperately as he pointed at Sunset. "I was only doing that as a duty of a fellow classmate. So she must be punished, including those who was supporting her!" Luna raised her eyebrow, unimpressed with Garble's terrible excuse. "Funny, when I last checked that website, weren't you one of Anon-a-Miss' supporters as a user named GarbleRulz221?" Garble was stunned, slack-jawed that the Vice Principal knew all that info about him. "And also, where's your proof then?" Luna pressed further. "There's a saying innocent until proven guilty, was it not? You can't just go around accusing people and deliver punishments until you get all the facts!" Before Garble could speak, Luna added, "The MyStable site does not count as the real fact! And even if it is her, it is not up to you or anyone else to decide how to punish her. We'll be the one to decide the proper punishment. Besides, she served her time from the Fall Formal and earned her redemption and became a better person." Luna then leaned close to Garble's face, making the teen tense up in fear. "Would coming after our students make you a better person, even if that person turned out to be innocent?" she challenged. When she received no response from him, Luna leaned back and placed her hands on her hips with an angry expression. "For that, you'll be serving in detention every day until the beginning of winter break, starting today! Now get to your class or else you will receive a much worse sentence!" With a loud huff, Garble turned and walked away, grumbling and sulking the whole way. Luna then turned towards the crowd, causing all of them to wince from her very sharp gaze. "That's goes for the rest of you too!" She said sternly, disappointed in her students from the way they were acting. "You should all be ashamed of yourselves! You should never let one student harm another whether they're guilty or not! Violence should not be tolerated in our school!" Some of the students in the hallway felt ashamed for their actions, while some others were indifferent from Luna's scolding. "I know you're all upset from this individual who called themselves "Anon-a-Miss" who posted your personal secrets online," she continued in her understanding tone. "But let me assure you that your Principal and I are on the case to track this person down as quick as we can and then we'll take care of this matter once we catch them." Her eyes then narrowed. "But if I see of hear another incident like this again, then I will personally make sure you will be spending time in detention until the day you graduate! Am I clear?" The crowd mumbled in response, some out of fear and while some begrudgingly. "Good! Now get to your classes at once!" Luna ordered. Not wanting to be told twice, the crowd quickly dispersed, leaving Vice Principal Luna, Sunset and Scootaloo alone in the hallway. Once they're all gone, Vice Principal Luna let out a sigh and then turned towards the girls with a concerned and caring expression. "Are you two alright?" "We're fine Vice Principal Luna," said Sunset as she brushed her shirt. "Yeah, thanks for saving us!" Scootaloo added enthusiastically. "For a moment there, I thought we're about to be creamed!" "Glad I can be of assistance," said Luna with a small grin before turning to Sunset. "How you're holding up Sunset?" "Oh the usual. Everyone glared at me, insulted me, practically hated me, the good stuff," Sunset said nonchalantly with a frown. Luna frowned in concern. "You know, my offer still stands if you want to–" "It's okay Vice Principal Luna. Really... I'll be fine," Sunset insisted while putting on a smile. Luna just stared at Sunset for a moment before she let out a long sigh. "Very well Miss Shimmer," she conceded. "But please come to me if there's any trouble. And I promise that my sister and I will get to the bottom of this Anon-a-Miss. And when we find this person, they have a lot to answer for!" Scootaloo cringed from Vice Principal Luna's declaration as she watched Luna walked away back to her office. While she was thankful that she stopped the fight and that Vice Principal stepped in before things start to escalate, she felt terrible now more than ever after witnessing Sunset nearly pummeled from another student, all because of her and her friends actions. It was one thing to help out make Sunset look bad to the school, but to make someone want to physically harm Sunset was the last thing Scootaloo wanted to happen. "Hey, Scootaloo?" Sunset called out, snapping Scootaloo out if her thoughts. "Are you alright?" "I should be asking you that!" Scootaloo responded. "He didn't hurt you, did he?" "Oh don't worry about me. I've been through worse," Sunset reassured. Unfortunately as soon as she said that, she suddenly grasped her right shoulder with a grimace while baring her teeth. Scootaloo noticed Sunset's actions, which made her felt even more concerned. "Oh my gosh, he DID hurt you!" Scootaloo exclaimed. Scootaloo tried to run over to Sunset to help her, only for Sunset to stop her with her palm out towards her. "No no, this is nothing! I'm just a little sore a from earlier." "...Earlier?" Scootaloo echoed. Sunset quickly covered her mouth after realizing what she just revealed to the pre-teen, but the damage has already been done. Fearing for the worse, Scootaloo cautiously asked Sunset a certain question, even though she already knew the answer. "Sunset... did... did other people... aside from Garble... attacked you?" "...no," Sunset denied. Scootaloo's eyes narrowed, clearly not buying Sunset's answer. Realizing that the young daredevil won't drop the subject without a truthful answer, Sunset let out a resigned sigh. "I mean, they didn't attacked me like what he did. That was actually the worse of it... today at least. While everyone else either purposely bumped into me or shoved me aside, which is how my shoulder got so sore, I swear." Scootaloo had a worried frown. "Why didn't you tell Vice Principal Luna about this?" Sunset turned her head away from Scootaloo, avoiding the younger girl's gaze. "I just don't want to be a burden. Besides, she and Principal Celestia already have a lot on their plate in dealing with this Anon-a-Miss fiasco." "Why can't you just go home?" Scootaloo asked. "I still have classes to go to," Sunset answered. "No, I mean go and stay home from school to avoid all of this!" Scootaloo clarified. Sunset closed her eyes. "I couldn't." "Why not?" "It's... complicated," Sunset said vaguely before turning her head back to Scootaloo. "Now I have a question for you... why did you save me?" Scootaloo was caught off guard from Sunset's question. Why did she save her? Just before this whole mess started, she wouldn't even blink in eye towards Sunset despite that she's changed and probably would've just walked away. But now... she couldn't even bring herself to ditch Sunset and let her suffer at the hands of Garble and an angry group of students. Was it because she felt responsible for letting this happen? Was it because she couldn't let an innocent person get hurt because of her? Or was it because... she felt extreamly guilty... and that she couldn't live with herself if anything ever happened to Sunset? "I... I can't just stand by and... let someone get hurt... it just wasn't right," Scootaloo finally answered while looking down. "...so it wasn't because you believe I was innocent then?" Sunset said glumly. Scootaloo was silent. Of course she knew Sunset was innocent. The guilty one was herself! She was the one who deserved to get beat up by Garble. But she couldn't. She was afraid of what Sunset would think of her if she told her the truth. Afraid of what Rainbow Dash would think of her if she found out. What the whole school would think of her when they found out! She was just... afraid to say anything, and then be alone and hated afterwords like how Rainbow and her friends did to Sunset after the CMC framed her. Sweetie Belle was right. She really was a coward. "It's alright Scootaloo... you don't have to say anything," Sunset sighed sadly as she placed her backpack over her shoulder. "Anyway, don't worry about me. I'll be alright. I went through the hardship once after the Fall Formal and I can do it again... even though my friends are not on my side this time." As Sunset walked away with her head down, Scootaloo felt her heart heavy with guilt. She was no longer looking at Sunset as a former bully, she was now looking at her as a sad lonely girl with no friends and everyone hated her guts, all thanks to the CMC's efforts. It was at that moment, Scootaloo considered herself to be the worst person in school. Even worse, than Sunset herself. "Sunset!" Sunset stopped and turned towards her with the same gloomy expression. Scootaloo swallowed. "I..." She wanted to say something. She wanted to confess for what she did. She wanted to fix everything that the CMC had caused. Wanted to say that she was "sorry". But instead, she just sighed. "Please be careful." Sunset simply nodded and then walked away, leaving Scootaloo alone in the hallway while silently berating herself for backing out. Yep. Definitely a coward. It was sometime later during the evening as Scootaloo and her two Aunts were having dinner at their dinning room. But Scootaloo didn't feel like eating as she was poking her dinner with her fork, while bearing a solemn expression. Her two Aunts noticed her and exchaged each other with concerned expressions. Finally, it was Holiday who decided to speak to Scootaloo. "Everything okay kiddo? You didn't even touch your food." Scootaloo sighed. "I'm... not very hungry Aunt Holiday." "Tough day at school?' Lofty asked gently. "...you could say that," Scootaloo responded. Holiday then frowned. "It's about that Anon-a-Miss character on the web, wasn't it?" Scootaloo widened her eyes in shock. "You heard about her?" Holiday scoffed. "Of course! Principal Celestia notified us about it and they're under investigation as we speak. I don't know why they took so long, but I'm glad they're doing something about it!" "It's not that easy dear," Lofty pointed out. "Tracking someone down from the internet was actually pretty difficult. It's like trying to find a specific fish out at sea." Lofty then frowned deeply. "What I'm wondering was why on earth would anyone be capable to cyber bully almost every student at that school?" "Who knows," said Holiday with a shrug. "But if you ask me, maybe it was because of some kid who doesn't even know what's right and wrong and did it to bring her- or him- attention to themselves for all the wrong reasons! If you ask me, this person was nothing more than some spineless bully who hides behind the screen!" She then shook her head, making tsking sounds as she does so. "I feel sorry for that kid's parents if they ever found out! I'm just glad we raised Scootaloo right and that she wouldn't do such horrible acts like that!" Scootaloo felt like she had just been pushed in the gut. While her Aunt doesn't know that it was her, Scootaloo felt like that her Aunt hated her now for doing something so terrible. And worse of all, her Aunt described her as a bully, a bully who used a MyStable account just to take out the bully. Why does life have to be so ironic? "May I be excused. I... have to do my homework," Scootaloo said in her depressed tone. As her Aunts watched on in concern, Scootaloo immediately left the table and headed upstairs to her bedroom. As soon as she entered her room, she closed her door and locked it to avoid her Aunts coming in. She then sat by her desk and sighed deeply. She silently recapped all the events that transpired today; she drove a wrench further between her and Sweetie Belle, Apple Bloom acted a lot colder than usual, witnessed everyone who she humiliated now have their lives potentially ruined, realized how wrong she was about how justice works from her idol, stopped a huge bully from hurting Sunset, realized how wrong she was about Sunset after getting to know her a little, and now she just learned that her own Aunts described Anon-a-Miss as a bully without knowing that it was her. She highly doubted that everything they done was worth it at this point. Suddenly, she heard a 'ding' from her phone and she realized that it was another message for Anon-a-Miss. Scootaloo let out a tired sighed before she turned her chair towards her laptop and turned it on so she can log in to the email. Sure enough, it was another "request" from their follower to post something online and it was the same "fan" who got dirt on that girl with misaligned eyes. Scootaloo inwardly groaned and wondered what that creep wanted her to do now. As soon as she opened the message, her heart dropped. There was an image of the same blonde hair girl with misaligned eyes and a goofy smile, but much more younger like she belonged in second grade. But she was not alone. In her arms was a tiny baby girl with a turf of blonde hair, wrapped around in a pink blanket. Sootaloo recognized that baby and knew who it was. That baby was the goofy girl's sister Dinky from her classes. Dinky is a very nice and polite girl and didn't have any hate bone in her body, not even towards Diamond Tiara when she bullied her at the time. But the image of the two sisters isn't what worried her. What really worried her was the building from the background with the sign that said "Canterlot Orphanage". What's even worse was the message she received from this monster who called themselves her "fan". To Anon-a-Miss, I dug some dirt on this freak and it turns out her so-called little sister was not really her true sister. She was adopted from this town's orphanage and from what I heard, this freak's parents told her to keep this a secret from her "sister"! And the kicker was the reason why "Dinky" was at the orphanage was because both of her parents... don't want her! That's so rich! XD So I need you to post this picture and then post the words, "Looks like the freak's little sister wasn't really her "sister" at all! But since her original parents don't want that loser of a child, she fits in with the freak's family just fine!" I can't wait to see their reactions! LOL! XD Scootaloo couldn't believe what she just read. Not only the fact that the two of them are not real sisters, which was a huge bombshell of itself, but the fact that this "fan" wanted her to post something beyond cruel and potentially ruined the relationships between the two sisters and their family life... all just for kicks! Scootaloo began to shake violently as she stared at the message from her screen. This can't be real! Is this person serious!? There's no way I'm posting that! It was bad enough that this person made me post some terrible stuff including that girl with misaligned eyes! But to post this about her AND her younger sister!? This is way too far! Scootaloo felt trapped all over again. If she doesn't posted this, her "fan" will get angry and Sunset will received his wrath like what Garble almost did, but if she did post this, not only this would further damage that girl and her sister, but this would make Sunset more bad than ever and won't be able to recover from this. Scootaloo buried her head under her hands with a distressed groan, not knowing what to do. Suddenly, Scootaloo recalled that same question Sweetie Belle asked her from earlier today at lunch. "What about you Scootaloo!? Didn't you think Sunset suffered enough as it is?" Following after hearing her friend's echoed words, many images of all the miserable faces of her victims she saw earlier today flashed through her mind, including Sunset's. Scootaloo slowly lifted her head and narrowed her eyes with determination. Sweetie Belle was right! Anon-a-Miss was a terrible idea from the start and we should've never posted everyone's secrets and other mean things just to make Sunset look bad! I'm ending this right now before things gets worse! Without any hesitation, Scootaloo began to type her reply to her so-called "fan", who she now considered this person a heartless bully. NO WAY! I will NEVER post something so cruel for your own amusement! I don't know what kind of beef you have against that girl and her sister, but you leave these two alone! I'm not gonna take any more "requests" from YOU anymore! And the real loser here... IS YOU! >:( Once she finished typing it, she send it off and then deleted the original message. Next, she immediately logged in to Anon-a-Miss' MyStable account and typed in a new blog message for her "followers" to see. As of right now, I will no longer be taking any more requests for future postings due to cruel nature! Once she was done, Scootaloo immediately posted it and then leaned back with a relived sigh. It was over. She finally have the courage to say no to one of her followers and told everyone to stop sending her any messages. She knew that Apple Bloom would be very upset with her, but she will not continue to add any more fuel to the fire and keep hurting others, including Sunset. Now she can focus on getting herself the courage to go talk to Sweetie Belle. And apologize to her for being a jerk-faced idiot. Suddenly, she heard a 'ding' from her computer, alerting Scootaloo that she just received a message to their Anon-a-Miss's email account. Then another. And another. And another! And another! And ANOTHER! More and more messages continue to fold the email box, causing Scootaloo heart to beat rapidly in fright. Nervously, she switched back to the email page and checked the messages. Her face went pale as she read one angry email after the other from the followers of Anon-a-Miss. What do you mean you "no longer taking requests"!? You're not seriously backing out, are you!? You can't do that! I didn't get to chance to get you to post about someone yet! >:C Don't you dare backing out Shimmer, or else I'll make your life a living nightmare! D:< Typical Shimmer! All talk, but no backbone! This girl is a She-Demon AND a coward! Scootaloo felt more scared than she was before. She didn't make things better, she ended up make things worse! And while some people from these messages are angry at Anon-a-Miss, most of them are angry directly at Sunset! And she wasn't the one who did it! Just when things couldn't get any worse, she received another email message. This time, it was from her "Fan" that she just told off. With a gulp and shaky hands, she managed to move her cursor over to the message and then click it to open it. What Scootaloo saw next, made her feel so much terror in her entire life. You DARE... ...called ME... ...a LOSER!?! D:< You listen here SUNSET SHIMMER! You can't stop what YOU started! We all wanted YOU to keep going for OUR entertainment! If you're not going post the things WE sent you, then me and my buddies will FIND you, DRAG you to the BACK OF THE SCHOOL and then we'll– Terrified, Scootaloo immediately slammed her laptop shut, not wanting to read it anymore. She stood and slowly stepped away from her laptop and then collapsed on to the floor, shaking back and forth while holding her head tightly. No no no no no no NO! This is not what I wanted! I originally wanted to give Sunset a taste of her own medicine... not to bring harm to her! And now everyone is determined more than ever to go after Sunset... and it's all because of me! Tears began to flow out of her eyes and down her cheeks as Scootaloo's let out a muffled sob. ...what have I done!?