//------------------------------//
// Reactions (follows on from One Truth Prevails) 
// Story: Anon-a-Miss Remastered: Vignettes 
// by Wessexbrony 
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The New Year brought much change to Canterlot, but not necessarily for the better. Anon-a-Miss was still raw in everyone's mind, and the incident - in particular, the fact that the culprit had gone after Sunset Shimmer and then framed the Crusaders for no reason other than petty spite - had rocked the school to its very core.

However, the treatment of the Crusaders had been appalling, and the consequences were severe. Both Celestia and Luna were gone, having been fired for breaching their duty of care and failing to report abuse. So too was Granny Smith for misconduct, and Applejack was suspended for her treatment of Apple Bloom. As such, a subdued mood hung over the school as the students returned from the Christmas break - a depleted number, as many of them were serving suspensions for attacking either Sunset or the Crusaders.


"I just wanted to check how you three were getting on."

Principal Cadence smiled at the three students who sat in chairs opposite her desk. Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo looked at each other, before Scootaloo spoke.

"It's certainly better than it was," she said, "Most of the student body are avoiding us though, it's a bit awkward."

"Several of them have come to see me," Cadence replied, "If it's anything to go by, most of them are massively ashamed about how they assumed that you were guilty."

"The memory of how we were treated is still raw, though," Sweetie Belle said, "I mean, it's like with Rarity. I don't want to hate them, or hold a grudge, but it's going to take a long time to fully heal."

"If it's any consolation, Sweetie Belle," Cadence responded, "I had Rarity in here yesterday, crying about how she'd been such a terrible big sister. I can understand that things might still be raw, but if you truly want to forgive her, you'll have to make the first move."

Sweetie Belle nodded.


It seemed as if a dark cloud hung over Sweet Apple Acres. Applejack looked out of her bedroom window at the sky, then back to her room, which was now devoid of electronics. 

She'd already been in enough trouble for spanking her sister in contradiction to her parents' orders, but learning the bitter truth had been absolutely crushing. In retrospect, she was lucky. It was only thanks to Apple Bloom requesting leniency that she and Granny Smith had been given suspended sentences instead of actual ones.

Assistant Superintendent Lofty, on the other hand, had not been so inclined to show leniency. Applejack was currently serving two weeks of suspension, which would be followed by two weeks of in-school suspension, and then detention for the remainder of the academic year.

That, however, was small change compared to how her parents had reacted. Both of them had been furious with her - Applejack had not realised that either of them could get that angry - and had told her how her going behind their backs had almost cost them custody of Apple Bloom, and that she'd had no business increasing her sister's punishment. Not only was she grounded for the rest of the academic year, but she would be doing Apple Bloom's chores as well as her own. In addition, she and Granny Smith had been bluntly told that Apple Bloom's request for leniency from the courts would be the only Christmas present that they'd be getting. They'd both had to watch the rest of the family open theirs - including Apple Bloom getting what would have been Granny Smith's severance package as a donation to the Everfree Forest Railway. 

But the worst part was knowing that she deserved it. She'd failed to realise that her sister had been telling the truth, something that she should have picked up as the element of Honesty, and had opted to take the easy option. She'd failed as her element and as a sister, and it would likely be a long time before Apple Bloom could forgive or trust her again, even if she wasn't being hostile.


Mrs Cake sighed as she handed Ditzy and Dinky a muffin each, before putting the money in the cash register. 

She wondered why she hadn't heeded the presence of One Truth and High Kick when they'd entered Sugarcube Corner with Cheerilee; she knew them well enough to know that they wouldn't stand for any nonsense. She also wished that she'd laid down the law and kicked out the mob that had tried to attack Cheerilee. The judge had said that had High Kick not been there to block everything, it would have been a whole lot worse. One Truth had called the police, and everyone involved had been charged with attempted assault. Each of them had been given suspended sentences, as well as being named and shamed in the local paper. Not only had Sugarcube Corner been ordered to pay Cheerilee damages totalling $50,000, but for the next year anything the Crusaders and Cheerilee ordered would be on the house. It was fortunate that they weren't ones to abuse it.


Rainbow Dash and Sunset walked through the mall, although neither of them felt any need to buy anything. Their group of friends was depleted due to Rarity and Applejack's lengthy groundings.

"The sad thing is," Sunset said, "If everyone had applied a little bit of common sense, Rarity and Applejack wouldn't be grounded and Celestia and Luna would still be at Canterlot High."

"Tell me about it," Rainbow Dash replied, "I mean, as disappointed as I was in Scoots when I thought she was guilty, acting like Applejack did would only have made things worse. In my view, it was up to Cheerilee to deal with her and I wanted to leave the door open for future healing. And then I found out she was innocent, and it was a relief - not just that she was innocent, but that I hadn’t done anything rash and it would be easy to repair things. I just hope that Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle will eventually be able to forgive their sisters.”

The two of them noticed the three girls in question, as well as Rumble, Pipsqueak, Button Mash, Cozy Glow, Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon, occupying a table and handing out leaflets, and went over to have a look.

“Hey guys,” they said, “What are you up to?”

Apple Bloom handed Sunset a leaflet, on which was a picture of Spirit of Everfree and the caption “Everfree Forest Railway - The Final Push”. Sunset leafed through it, intrigued.

“It's amazing to think that a group of kids like you could achieve all that," she said. 

"Well, you know how the song goes," Scootaloo replied, "Little Engines can do the biggest things."

"That's certainly true," Sunset agreed, "Best of luck, and I look forward to the grand opening."

"See you around, squirt." Rainbow Dash said, as the two of them headed off.

As they made their way through the mall, they could have sworn that they spotted Luna in a security guard's uniform and Celestia behind the counter at a diner.


90293 stood on the disposal road at Canterlot Engine Shed with its smokebox door open, having worked a slow goods from Cloudsdale. Rarity stood in front of it, gloomily raking out ash from the smokebox. The WD 2-8-0 was one of many locomotives that she'd cleaned out, and it gave her plenty of time to think about her actions. Child services had stepped back after Christmas (although they were still keeping an eye out), but the knowledge that she'd been an awful sister wouldn't step back.

She coughed as a cloud of soot rose from the pile of ash that she'd cleaned from the engine, and groaned, "So filthy…"

"Goods engines tend to be," came a voice. Rarity looked around to see Sweetie Belle watching from the cab of a Great Western "Large Prairie", which Button Mash was coupling to four Collett "Sunshine" carriages.

"Oh, er, Sweetie Belle,” Rarity said, “I didn’t know you were here.”

There was a rather awkward pause, before Rarity spoke again.

“For what it’s worth, Sweetie Belle...I’m really, really sorry about how I treated you. I should have let you give your side of the story, or at least asked Celestia if she'd heard your side of the story.” She sniffed, and continued, “Even if I’d left the door open like Rainbow Dash did…”

Sweetie Belle hopped down from the footplate, walked over, and wrapped her arms around her sister, who hugged her back.

“If it’s any consolation, Applejack has it worse,” she said, “Apple Bloom told me about how she could hear her parents giving her and Granny Smith a massive ear-bashing.”

The tender moment was interrupted by a high-pitched whistle as a Standard Class 4, with Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo on the footplate, passed by on a local to Halfway.

“We've got the road,” Button Mash called, as the shunting signal cleared. 

"Better go - can't keep Sunset waiting," Sweetie Belle said. She returned to the cab, and the train moved to the platform that the Halfway train had just vacated, ready to work a stopping service to the outskirts of Canterlot.

Rarity smiled, wiped away the tears that had been forming in her eyes, and went back to work. It had been an awkward hug, but it had been a hug nonetheless, and she could finally see a light at the end of the tunnel that wasn’t the headlamps of an onrushing train.