Sunset groaned as consciousness returned to her. The throb behind her eyes told her that she hadn’t gotten nearly enough sleep, yet that same familiar eye strain in the back of her head told her that she wasn’t going back to sleep anytime soon.
She never knew what to do on nights like this, where her mind refused to calm down and was constantly working overtime. She could always try and stay in bed and maybe hope for some extra sleep, or she could get up and do something until the day properly started.
That decision, however, was interrupted when she felt movement beside her, and she was suddenly a lot more aware of the warmth that was curled up against her body. She blinked open her groggy eyes, seeing that the sun hadn’t even risen yet, and turned to look at her side.
Twilight was curled up next to her, arm draped over her belly and head resting against her chest.
Sunset’s eyes shot open in realization, a hot blush forming on her cheeks as her best friend was nestled right on top of her. Her mouth fell open before closing again, her words lost in her throat.
She hadn’t intended to share the bed with Twilight… She didn’t even properly remember falling asleep last night. The last thing she remembered was that it had been a little past midnight when they’d finished cataloguing the list of students and then…
Maybe she had passed out at the computer? If that was the case, then that meant Twilight had carried her up the stairs to the bed and tucked them both in…
She felt her face heat up even more at the imagery of that and placed a hand against her face, internally groaning at how embarrassing that was… But especially at how much she actually liked the thought of it.
Now was not the time to suddenly be harboring feelings for her best friend. And she knew that was exactly what she was doing.
She’d dated before, she’d felt attraction before, this heat on her face and this thump in her chest was unmistakable.
She was crushing on Twilight, and crushing hard.
Running her hand down her face, she realized she was definitely not going back to sleep now. There might’ve been a chance before, but not now.
She reached her hand out to her bedside table, trying not to disturb Twilight as she did, fumbling her fingers around until she managed to grab hold of her phone. Bringing it over to her face she tapped the power button and checked the time.
4:53am
Well, at least she’d been able to get a couple hours of sleep, though the ache in her eyes told her it hadn’t been nearly enough. She rested the phone against her face as she groaned again, squeezing her eyes shut wondering just how she’d gotten herself in this whole situation.
Twilight grunted in her sleep, causing Sunset to glance over at the sleeping girl. She looked so peaceful where she was, like she took comfort in resting against her friend’s body.
Sunset wasn’t sure how she was supposed to take that.
On one hand, her romantic feelings were delighted to have the pretty girl resting against her, not wanting to move an inch and just let Twilight get the rest she so dearly deserved.
On the other hand, the friend in her was telling her not to abuse Twilight’s trust like this when they hadn’t agreed to anything romantic yet.
So it was with some remorse that Sunset slowly peeled Twilight’s arm off of her body, replaced her chest with a pillow, and slipped out of the bed without waking her best friend. Twilight’s sleeping form instantly curled up around the spare pillow and mumbled something in her sleep, but didn’t wake up.
Sunset sighed in relief at that, but then couldn’t help but smirk at the image of Twilight all comfy on her bed. It was rather cute after all.
She was half-tempted to take a picture for posterity, but something in her mind told her that it wasn’t a good idea. Embarrassing photos was how this whole incident had gotten started so she was only inviting more trouble if she took any without Twilight’s permission.
A sigh escaped Sunset’s lips at that thought before she stood up and stretched out. If she wasn’t going to be getting any sleep, then she might as well get back to going over the evidence they’d been gathering.
Sunset quickly made her way downstairs, being careful to not make too much noise as she did, before sitting down in her computer chair and pulling up to her desk. The computer booted up with a familiar warm-blue screen before she pulled up the all-too familiar Anon-a-Miss website and just double-checked to make sure there hadn’t been any updates since yesterday.
The last update to the site was still the familiar video of Sunset and Twilight ‘fighting’ in the halls. Nothing new there.
Sunset was still racking her brain over why that was the last thing Anon-a-Miss had decided to post. Was it a message of some kind? And if it was, was it meant for her, or the school?
The fact of the matter was that secrets had stopped being posted, and that meant that Anon-a-Miss was aware that she had confessed to the whole school. That put Anon-a-Miss’s power in a precarious situation, one where they couldn’t just toss around secrets like candy anymore.
And yet, they’d used their power to post Twilight confronting Sunset, and had made it clear that Twilight had failed to stop Anon-a-Miss.
It was a fact that everyone in the school still respected Twilight. Both for having stopped Sunset from ruling the school, as well as saving it from the Sirens during the Battle of the Bands. Twilight was the one who could do no wrong, and the school worshiped her for it.
So if she had failed to stop Anon-a-Miss…
Did that mean this was Anon-a-Miss’s way of saying that Twilight had the wrong person?
It was 5am and Sunset was very tired. It was entirely possible that she was reading this entirely the wrong way. After all, if Anon-a-Miss was confessing to not being Sunset, why not just come out and say that for everyone to see?
Other than the fact no one would believe them, of course. Sunset and Twilight would believe them, but the rest of the school would be a harder sell.
Sunset glanced at the time once more before running her fingers through her hair. School started in two hours, and it was the last day before winter break officially started. This was going to be her last chance to find any solid evidence before school let out, and the chances of finding out who Anon-a-Miss was after the break was slim to none.
At the very least there was always the hope that all of this would just blow over next year and everyone could just move on with their lives, even if that meant Sunset was left without any friends. A small price to pay in the end if it meant everyone else could be happy again.
At that moment however, Sunset just needed to wake up. Take a shower, eat some breakfast, drink some coffee, then start reviewing the list of names they’d written down last night. With the list of people Anon-a-Miss had targeted, it would be easier to figure out who they hadn’t targeted, and go from there.
It was as good a plan as they were going to get, and with the plan firmly in her mind she made her way to the bathroom.
The gentle morning sun peeked in through the window, landing on top of Twilight’s sleeping face. The sleeping girl shifted in her sleep, before letting out a stifled yawn as her mind escaped the haze of sleep.
She sat up in bed, rubbing at her face, slowly starting to remember where she was. She blinked and looked down, seeing the pillow she had been snuggling and suddenly remember that Sunset should’ve been asleep next to her. A quick glance around showed she wasn’t there, so Twilight hopped out of bed and made her way downstairs.
Sunset was already fully dressed and typing away at the computer, glancing over the notes they’d made last night several times.
“You’re up early.” Twilight chuckled softly, impressed at the girl’s dedication.
“Had some trouble sleeping, but nothing a bit of coffee can’t solve.” Sunset chuckled in return, swiveling in her chair to look at Twilight with a smile. She then thumbed over to a bag near the microwave. “Went ahead and grabbed you some breakfast and coffee too. Should still be warm, though you can just nuke it in the microwave for a couple of seconds if you need to, should do the trick.”
“Oh! Well, thank you.” Twilight smiled gratefully, a little surprised at the show of hospitality. Sunset just grinned happily back before turning back to the computer and continued to type.
Twilight looked into the bag, pulling out a fresh cinnamon bun that was still warm and a bit gooey. She took a bite and let out an audible hum of delight as the warm flavors exploded in her mouth, not having expected such a tasty breakfast to wake up to. She followed it up with a sip of coffee, which was a little lacking in comparison to the cinnamon bun, but was still warm and enjoyable none-the-less.
“What have you been working on while I was asleep?” Twilight asked curiously, stepping over to the computer as she took another bite.
“Mostly been cross-checking CHS’s student population with the list we compiled last night, and making sure none of the names left on the list had been affected by Anon-a-Miss.” Sunset explained, double checking with the list Twilight had made last night before tapping a few more buttons with finality. “And you’re just in time, as I do believe we’ve got a final list here. And it’s a lot smaller than I thought it would be.”
Twilight leaned over to review the list as she ate, spotting about twelve names on the list. Most of them she didn’t immediately recognize, but three names stood out to her as names she knew all too well.
Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo.
“Honestly, most of the names on this list are freshmen, and as a result, really shouldn’t have any reason to hold any resentment towards me.” Sunset said, leaning against the desk and propping her chin up in her hand. “And the remaining students in the right grade ranges are ones I barely even remember. Hell, I don’t think I’ve even met ‘Wallflower Blush’, whoever that is.”
Twilight hummed quietly in thought, finishing her breakfast before quickly downing the last of her coffee. The conversation she’d had with the girls yesterday had been about trying to find out who Anon-a-Miss could have been if it hadn’t been Sunset, and two of those three names had come up back then as well.
Something about all of this was terribly familiar, and Twilight felt like things were starting to make sense for her.
“Well…” Twilight spoke softly, leaning against Sunset’s chair as she looked at the remaining list. “I might… Actually have a theory on who the suspect might be, after seeing this list…”
“I’m pretty sure I’m coming to the same conclusion you are.” Sunset sighed with a shake of her head. “But I’d like to hear what you think first.”
“...I think, given the evidence, Anon-a-Miss isn’t just one person.” Twilight said simply. “I think it’s three people.”
“Let me guess.” Sunset pointed at the list. “Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo. Am I right?”
Twilight simply nodded her head.
“The girls were adamant about how it couldn’t possibly be them when we were talking about it yesterday, but Apple Bloom was the one who told you all about Applejack’s nickname. And Sweetie Belle was at Rarity’s house the night those pictures were stolen.” Twilight shook her head. “And knowing those girls, any plan that one of them concocted is a plan that all three of them got in on.”
“I hate to admit it, but they ARE the most likely suspects.” Sunset grumbled, running her fingers through her hair. “But the girls would skin me alive if I laid a finger on them without solid evidence. Not to mention, there’s no motivation for them to do this to me. At least, none as far as I’m aware. I thought we were on good terms with each other…”
Twilight was quiet for a moment, memories coming to her mind. She let out a sigh as she leaned against the desk, looking down at the floor.
“Back in my world, there’s a paper run by the school kids called the Foal Free Press. It’s mostly a harmless thing, where the students gather up current events from around town, what’s going on at school, charity organizations, that sort of thing.” Twilight shook her head. “But, about a year ago, there was a period of time where that all changed. And there was a new section that made the paper insanely popular called ‘Gabby Gums’, that focused on spreading tabloid news. Gossips and secrets from around town about ponies. Really embarrassing secrets too, the kind ponies didn’t want others knowing about.”
Sunset listened quietly, suddenly realizing what was being said, and the parallels being drawn.
“And, eventually, it boiled to a point where everyone was terrified, paranoid, and scared of what secrets were going to end up being revealed next. Everyone was really hurt by the columns, especially when they started printing straight up lies about ponies just to keep the column going. And well…” Twilight sighed. “Rarity was the one to discover it had been the Cutie Mark Crusaders writing Gabby Gums.”
“But… Why would they do that?” Sunset asked confused. “What did they get out of sharing everyone’s secrets, and then lying about it?”
“Well, it was to sell papers. The paper got insanely popular and everyone had to have it.” Twilight shook her head again. “They let the popularity get to their heads, and they apologized to everyone for what they had done. We ended up forgiving them because they genuinely hadn’t wanted to hurt anyone with it.”
“I see…” Sunset murmured quietly. “If the CMC really are behind Anon-a-Miss, then maybe something similar happened here too. They made a blog that got insanely popular spreading rumors, and made me the scapegoat so they wouldn’t get in trouble for it.” Sunset had to chuckle at that. “Certainly wasn’t hard to make the school believe it was me either…”
“We can’t know for certain without talking to them.” Twilight explained, looking at Sunset seriously. “That should be the first thing we do today.”
“I agree… Though, instead of it being ‘we’, it should be ‘me’.” Sunset said simply.
“Huh?” Twilight blinked confused. “If it's to clear your name, shouldn’t we do it together?”
“If for some reason Anon-a-Miss isn’t them, I don’t want you getting caught up in the heat of falsely accusing the girls younger sisters. I’m already in hot water as it is, I don’t want you ruining your friendship with the girls over this.”
“Sunset…”
“Plus,” Sunset continued, interrupting Twilight’s train of thought, “If it really is them then I can go ahead and enact the final part of my plan. I was working on it while you were asleep.” Sunset turned towards the computer and clicked around a bit, before bringing something up onto the screen.
Twilight blinked and looked at it a little confused at first, before Sunset started showing her what it was. Twilight’s eyes widened at what she was seeing.
“Sunset, this is…” Twilight was a little stunned for words. “Are you sure you want to go through with this?”
“I am.” Sunset said with a nod. “But I can only do this after I know for sure who Anon-a-Miss is.” She turned to face Twilight. “Can I have you be the guarantee that the girls will be in one place, and away from their sisters while I find out the truth?”
“And how are you going to do that?” Twilight asked hesitantly.
“Well, every morning the CMC meet together in the library as part of their little ‘club’, and from there they then go to class or whatever they have planned for the day. Since this is the last day before break, most students are going to have free periods until the school assembly. I’ll talk to them before the assembly, and if everything goes according to plan, that’s when I’ll have you assist me with the last part of the plan.”
“And if they’re not Anon-a-Miss?” Twilight asked hesitantly.
“Then I go through the list as best I can until the day is over. And if I don’t know their identity, then I spend the rest of break figuring out where to go from here.”
“You’re leaving a lot up to chance Sunset… And I just want to make sure you’ll be okay through it all…” Twilight murmured worriedly.
“I appreciate it Twilight, really I do.” Sunset said with a warm smile, feeling her face flush again. “But trust me on this, things will work out okay. As long as we stick to the plan, everything will be fine.”
Twilight wasn’t wholly convinced, but she could already tell this was going to be a cyclical argument if she didn’t agree. So she let out a soft sigh, and looked at Sunset with a smile.
“I trust you Sunset.”
Apple Bloom stared down at her phone from the corner of the library where the CMC met every day, staring at the admin-side of the Anon-a-Miss page. It had been days since anyone had last sent in their secrets, and Apple Bloom had been the one to record the fight with Twilight and Sunset, but she didn’t know what else to do now.
“Are you still looking at the dumb website?” Scootaloo asked, turning around from her own pacing to look at Apple Bloom. “We haven’t gotten any new secrets, and we got what we wanted, so why are you looking that way?”
“Because it don’t feel right Scoots!” Apple Bloom said, glaring at her friend. “We just wanted to spend the Holidays with our sisters, but then the whole school went plum crazy! Now Sunset’s going around admitting she’s Anon-a-Miss when she knows she’s not and acting like her old self! And I can’t… I can’t help but just feel like…”
“Like it’s our fault.” Sweetie Belle finished for her, arms wrapped around her knees from where she sat. “Because it is… Sunset became a bully again because of us.”
“Well, how were we supposed to know that would happen!” Scootaloo said putting her arms up defensively. “It was just supposed to be a dumb website for the holidays and then that’d be it! We aren’t at fault for what Sunset’s doing now!”
“We are though!” Apple Bloom said, glaring at Scoots. “This is our fault! If we hadn’t made this dumb page, Sunset wouldn’t be a bully again! You can’t deny that Scoots!”
“Y-Yeah! But! But!” Scoots tried to defend herself, but looked between her two friends who were just staring at her. Scootaloo couldn’t think of what else to say, but deflated as she fell into a seated position as well. “Yeah, I know that but… I just wanted to spend more time with Rainbow Dash. I didn’t want all of this to happen…”
“What can we do?” Sweetie Belle asked, looking at Apple Bloom. “We can’t just leave it like this, can we?”
“No one would believe us if we told them we were Anon-a-Miss now though!” Apple Bloom grumbled. “Sunset admitted to the school that she was Anon-a-Miss, and even the dumb video I posted did nothing to get people to think she’s not…” Apple Bloom buried her head in her knees sighing. “I just wanna apologize to her and have this whole mess be over…”
“Well.” Sunset spoke up, stepping out from behind the corner of the bookshelves, causing the three girls to jump in shock. “I’m honestly pretty glad to hear that. That makes this part a lot easier for the both of us.”
“S-Sunset!?” Scootaloo cried out in shock. “How long have you been there?!”
“Long enough to hear your confession and desire to apologize.” She laughed, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. “I had been wondering for a while now why someone would want to frame me for being Anon-a-Miss, but I never imagined it was because you three just wanted to spend more time with your sisters.”
Sweetie Belle’s eyes began to water over with tears, the younger girl rushing over to Sunset and wrapping her arms around her. Sunset felt the wind escape her from Sweetie crashing into her, but realized the younger girl was sobbing into her abdomen.
“We’re so sorry Sunset!” The girl bawled. “We didn’t mean to turn you into a bully again! We were just upset and angry that our sisters were spending more time with you than us and we… We weren’t thinking!”
“We really weren’t.” Apple Bloom said, walking up next and rubbing her arm in shame.
“Yeah… We… We really messed up this time.” Scootaloo said, scuffing the floor with her shoe. “We let our anger get the best of us, and I was… I was trying to justify everything we did but… Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle are right. What we did was wrong…”
“I’m sorry Sunset, could you ever forgive us?” Apple Bloom asked, clasping her hands together and begging with her biggest puppy dog eyes.
Sunset smiled at the display, just finally feeling a wave of relief wash over her knowing that things were finally reaching a conclusion.
“Well.” Sunset said with a smirk. “I’d be willing to forgive you all… Under one condition.”
“Name it! Anything!” Scootaloo said quickly.
“I want you all to delete the Anon-a-Miss page.” Sunset said simply.
“Huh?” Apple Bloom blinked in confusion. “That’s it?”
“That’s it.” Sunset said with a nod.
“But…” Sweetie Belle sniffled, looking up at Sunset. “You admitted to being Anon-a-Miss! Shouldn’t… Shouldn’t we tell everyone we were Anon-a-Miss and clear your name?”
“Honestly, at this point there really wouldn’t be any point in doing so.” Sunset chuckled with a shake of her head. “I admitted to being Anon-a-Miss to stop the secrets from being leaked, and I take it from you girls not posting any new ones, that it worked.”
“Y-Yeah…” Apple Bloom admitted shamefully. “Once we heard your confession it didn’t feel right to post any new secrets…”
“Especially since you were right. People had been sending us secrets, but no one sent in any new ones after you did that.” Scootaloo continued. “I guess we all just started to realize what a bad idea this had been all along.”
“Then I promise you, everything will be fine. The only thing I need is the website deleted, and then I can take care of the rest myself.” Sunset said with a smile.
Apple Bloom looked down at her phone. She stared at the website and hesitated a moment before handing the phone to Sunset.
“Here, you should do it. That way you know for certain it’s gone.”
Sunset blinked at that, but smiled and nodded at the gesture. She took the phone as Sweetie Belle pulled back from her hug, wiping her face as she sniffed, the three girls watching with anticipation.
Sunset browsed through the site real quick, simply confirming that it was the real Anon-a-Miss site and that the girls really were logged in with Admin credentials. Once she was certain, she navigated over to the deletion section of the website, tapped the delete button, gave confirmation, and then after a few seconds of loading, a confirmation message appeared followed by a generic MyStable page.
Sunset pulled out her own phone and double checked for herself, and got confirmation that the page was now gone forever.
“Thank you girls.” Sunset said with a sigh of relief, handing Apple Bloom back her phone. “Now why don’t you three girls run along and find your sisters. I promise everything will get better soon.”
The three girls gave quick nods, before rushing up and giving Sunset a large group hug. Sunset couldn’t help but smile and returned the hug in kind, before the three ran off to find their sisters. Sunset crossed her arms and let out a sigh of relief, glad that the biggest hurdle was now behind her.
She had found Anon-a-Miss and had gotten the website deleted in just one morning. She felt accomplished, and it meant that she could now execute the final step of her plan and clear her name before the holidays officially began.
She turned and began to make her way out of the library, but paused when she noticed that something felt… Off about the whole place.
She glanced around and noticed that, once the CMC had left, there wasn’t anyone left inside of the library. It was just her, and it was now extremely quiet.
...Too quiet.
CRACK
Or at the very least, those were the last thoughts she’d had before a sharp pain ripped through the back of her skull, causing her to black out right then and there.