//------------------------------// // Sunset Shimmer - Learning // Story: Life From Strife // by Draxonos135 //------------------------------// Today had to be the worst day of Sunset's life, and she went through the Fall Formal! This "Anon-A-Miss" somehow managed to alienate her from not only her friends, but all of the school, with even Principal Celestia and Vice Principal Luna showing their disapproval over the alleged posts. It felt like a hammy, broken excuse to try bring up a lesson about cyberbullying, but how was Sunset supposed to see the lesson beyond this utterly crummy day?! The girls eyed a rock, and kicked it with a furious expression. The rock bounced off the nearby body of water repeatedly until it had gone over the horizon, and Sunset hoped the rock had hit something on the other end eventually. I just don't understand! Why would a day like this come after everything I've done?! I'd understand if it came right after the Fall Formal, when everybody didn't trust me, but I've proven that I've changed! I've proven everyone that they can trust me! And I seriously hate the fact that I'm sounds like a angsty, whiny.... what's the word for it? "You stubborn mule!" No, that word means something... wait, what? Sunset scanned her surroundings and saw she had found herself back at the place where the Battle of the Bands had taken place. She figured the place would've been cleaned up several weeks after the battle was done, but alas, something more important caught her attention: Not only were the Dazzlings nearby, piled up in the middle of the stage, but Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo, and Apple Bloom were around as well, the latter two arguing with the former. So, she hid behind a tree and overheard their conversation: "Tell us the truth, Sweetie Belle!" Scootaloo lowered her eyelids. "Why do you want to revive the sirens?!" Okay, pause. Normally, coming from a magical land of talking ponies made Sunset impervious to weird statements, but that statement had too much information to pack off: The Sirens? The girls wanting to revive them? And before she could even ponder what was going on, Sweetie Belle continued: "Girls, we've already established that if we don't revive them, people are going to get suspicious-" "No, Sweetie Belle, this no longer has anything to do with that!" Scootaloo stated, folding her arms. "We were willing to buy that explanation and go along with your idea because we were worried how our friends would take it, but this has gone beyond that!" "Yeah, ya see Sunset in despair, and ya keep goin'! Ya know ta humiliation we put our families and friends through, and ya keep goin'! Ya see ta gems overflowing with ta negative energy, and ya still keep goin'!" Apple Bloom added. "Not t' mention yer're strangely determined to do it, so, what gives?!" Sunset wanted to chime in, wondering what the heck was going on, but she managed to keep herself quiet until "I just can't imagine living my life normally now that we know Sunset and her friends killed someone!" Okay, maybe she should've chimed in after all, this just made her more confused. And slightly concerned: did Sweetie Belle seriously just say that Sunset and her friends, which she assumes were the human counterparts to Twilight's friends, had killed someone? Who and how? Okay, not who, once she took a closer look at the Sirens' motionless bodies and the previous dialogue, it was clear that they were killed somehow. Then came the how, because even when they were at each other's throats, the Rainbooms never tried to kill the Sirens, let alone hurt them. The most they did was destroy their gems with the giant sky alicorn beam- Oh... wait... could that be how? But the beam it released was made of friendship! And friendship could never be used to kill! Right? "I mean, we didn't spend much time thinking about it, and I'm glad we didn't, because if we had, I don't think we would've slept that night!" Sweetie Belle continued, her voice becoming shaky. "But we didn't just see a trio of-admittedly terrible-girls collapse, we saw them die! And they didn't just die for no reason; they died because the thing that gave them life was destroyed by our sisters! By our friends! By Sunset!" Sunset put a hand on her chest and held back the desire to gasp. Being accused of a bad thing was one thing, being accused of murder was another. "I want to revive them so we can act like nothing happened... and if we're really lucky, maybe they'll forget that their gems were destroyed and, just... let us go on with our lives," Sweetie Belle clenched her fists and lowered her head. "B-But... we can't do that as long as they're dead... as long as they do, it'll mean our loved ones killed someone and... if they find out..." Sweetie Belle couldn't bare to finish the sentence, so Scootaloo spoke next, "Alright, let's do this." "Huh?" Sweetie Belle tilted her head. "Weren't you-" "We're still against ta idea, but ya brought a good point: our families might not take ta news as well as we did," Apple Bloom sighed. "So, what're we waitin' for? Let's bring these girls back t' life!" Sweetie Belle smiled, wiped her tears away, and nodded with determination. Sunset, on the other hand, kept watching silently to see what would happen. The girls took out the glowing gems and held them on one hand as they aimed them right at the motionless sirens. They spoke something in whispers that, although Sunset couldn't tell what exactly they were saying, her intuition told her it was a revival spell. That, and the white beam shot by the gems to the lifeless bodies also clued her in. Eventually, the beams stopped firing, and the girls slowly walked closer to the bodies as they slumped over and hit the ground: Aria face-first, Adagio on her back, and Sonata sideways. Unfortunately, once they poked them with something safe like a stick, they got no response. Then they tried again, and it was clear the sirens weren't moving. "No, it wasn't enough?!" Sweetie Belle grimaced. "I-It can't be! The gems were overflowing with negative energy! That should've been enough to at least power them up!" "Now you see, Sweetie Belle?" Scootaloo folded her arms, glaring in disapproval. "We humilliated our family and friends, and ruined Sunset's social life, for nothing!" It was at that point that every other sense or option Sunset had got thrown out the window. With that statement alone, Sunset connected the dots: Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo, and Apple Bloom were Anon-A-Miss, and thus, the ones responsible for her crummy day. "N-No, it isn't over yet! W-We can still make this work!" Sweetie Belle cried, pulling her hair. "M-Maybe we just didn't do something right!" They certainly didn't: they revealed their role in Sunset's misery while she was around! "Come on, there has to be something else we can do, like-" "Explaining yourselves!" The trio flinched and turned around, being met with Sunset's stern, disapproving glare.