Twilight Sparkle had gathered the Rainbooms in the Music Room. When the Princess of Friendship learned about Anon-A-Miss, she suggested that Sunset Shimmer come back to Equestria. At first, the redhead was reluctant but Twilight managed to persuade her to come through the Mirror Portal and come to her castle. Sunset needed a break from Anon-A-Miss and the stress they were causing her.
“Sunset’s been telling me about Anon-A-Miss,” Twilight Sparkle started.
“Well, whatever she’s told you is a lie!” Applejack snapped.
“You mean that you all think it’s her? That’s a lie?”
“Well, who else could it be!?” Rainbow Dash demanded.
“The pictures came from her phone, Twilight,” Rarity insisted. “She’s the only one that could’ve done it.”
“Or maybe you all think it’s her because of what she's done in the past?” Twilight shot back. “I know she turned you all against each other, ruled the school with an iron fist, and was a terrible person before the Fall Formal. But I also got to know the girl who helped us defeat the Sirens.”
“One good deed does not make up for years of misdeeds,” Rarity argued.
“True, but it’s a start. The fact of the matter is that this Anon-A-Miss could not be Sunset,” Twilight crossed her arms.
“Why do you think that?” Pinkie Pie asked curiously.
“Because Sunset’s too smart to get caught,” Twilight pointed out. “She turned you all against each other and hid her involvement for years. But then Anon-A-Miss pops up and you all think it’s her immediately. Why? Because the ‘profile image’, as you call it, looks like her. And the pictures came from her phone. Tell me, is Sunset the type of person who’s stupid enough to make herself the prime suspect?”
“Well, who else could it be?” Applejack demanded.
“Who knows?” Twilight Sparkle shrugged. “Maybe someone who has a grudge against Sunset Shimmer. She was cruel before the Fall Formal and like Rarity said, a single good deed does not make up for years of that. Even if she helped you defeat the Sirens, I doubt everyone in this school has forgiven her. I don’t know about you, but Sunset’s the victim here.”
“Sunset is Anon-A-Miss!” Rainbow Dash insisted. “We all know it!”
“Do you?” Twilight quirked an eyebrow. “Alright, let’s vote. We’ll use an anonymous ballot. Does anyone have a piece of paper?” Pinkie Pie handed Twilight a piece of paper and she tore it into five strips. She then handed each strip to the girls with simple instructions. “Write ‘innocent’ or ‘guilty’ on your slips and then put them in Rarity’s purse.”
“My purse?” Rarity blinked.
“Yes,” Twilight nodded.
“Alright.” Rarity emptied the contents of her purse on the piano. Then each of the Rainbooms wrote down their verdict before they folded their slips and put them inside. Twilight shook the purse and then took out each slip and read them one by one.
“Guilty.” Twilight, took out another. “Guilty.” She repeated this with each slip. Four slips that read ‘guilty’. It would seem the Rainbooms were unanimous until Twilight read the last one. “Innocent.”
“Who wrote innocent!?” Rainbow demanded. “Lemme see that!” She snatched the slip out of Twilight’s hand, not believing it. Then saw it written as plain as day. “OK, who wrote this!?”
Shakily, Fluttershy raised her hand.
“M-me,” Fluttershy claimed.
“Flutters?” Rainbow couldn’t believe it. “Why?”
“Because I believe it,” Fluttershy stated. “Twilight’s right. Sunset is too smart to get caught. Yes, she was cruel but even she wouldn’t be so stupid as to make herself the most obvious suspect.”
“But, sugarcube, she bullied you the most,” Applejack reminded.
“Yes, she did. She called me horrible things, harassed me while I was all alone, and was mean to me all the time,” Fluttershy said. “But then, after the Fall Formal, I really got to know her. I don’t think she’s that girl anymore. I know I said horrible things to her but I was angry. I just hope she can forgive me.”
“Fluttershy, are you serious?” Rainbow Dash couldn’t believe what she was hearing. Fluttershy was actually vouching for Sunset.
“I am. I was afraid to say anything before since I didn’t want to upset you, but after I saw Sunset break down in the middle of the hallway, I started to have doubts.”
“Well, guess not all of you think she’s guilty after all,” Twilight nodded. She did not want to look smug but she felt it.
“Well, that still doesn’t prove Sunset’s not Anon-A-Miss,” Rainbow Dash insisted.
“How about another ballot?” Twilight suggested. “Fluttershy and I will abstain.”
Pinkie, Rarity, Applejack and Rainbow Dash wrote on new slips and put them in the purse. Twilight shook it and took out each slip to read the results.
This time the results were two for guilty and two for innocent.
Applejack and Rainbow Dash were surprised but then looked at Pinkie Pie and Rarity. They felt betrayed.
“You too!?” Applejack shouted.
“Why!?” Rainbow Dash demanded.
“Coz I got to know Sunny too,” Pinkie Pie answered. “I saw how miserable she was after the Fall Formal and I wanted to cheer her up. I know she was bad, but I just didn’t like seeing anyone sad, even her. She also helped me plan a party. I even hired a clown for a kid’s birthday party but when he didn’t show up, we had to improvise. So, she helped me entertain the kids.”
“She also helped with my fashion designs. You know how I need a model to sew my outfits, right? No matter how uncomfortable it got, Sunset Shimmer never complained. Even if some of my designs were embarrassing, she never said anything. She endured it and even gave me constructive criticism. She was never mean about it either. She was honest and kind and she helped me fix the flaws in my designs,” Rarity added.
“Well, that just means she’s a good actor!” Applejack shot back.
“I don’t think she was acting, darling. Do you think Sunset Shimmer would do anything that would risk so much? The thing is, Sunset only does whatever benefits her the most and Anon-A-Miss goes against that. She was ambitious and smart. Won’t do something as stupid as to out herself. Now that I think about it, Anon-A-Miss seems purposely designed to turn us all against her.”
“A leopard never changes its spots. She was bad before and she’ll always be bad!” Applejack stubbornly insisted.
“Then why did you give her a chance to begin with?” Twilight asked.
“Coz I made a promise to you,” Applejack answered. “I only promised so I could keep an eye on Sunset Shimmer.”
“And while you were keeping an eye on her, was she up to her old tricks?” Twilight pressed.
“Well...no...” Applejack admitted reluctantly. “I asked her to help on the farm. You know, like feeding the chickens, milking the cows, carrying the hay. You know, real hard word. I wanted to punish her. She never complained though.” The hard look in her eyes softened. “And while I was having trouble with my homework, she helped me. Even tutored me and Applebloom so we could get some of our grades up. I didn’t fully trust her yet, but she was growing on me. I think I really started to trust her after she helped us defeat the Sirens. We were at each other’s throats but she brought us together.”
“She did,” Twilight recalled. Sunset had rallied the girls together. “And does that sound like the girl who would intentionally antagonise the one group of people who accepted her, even if they were forced to?”
“No,” Applejack sighed, finally seeing Twilight's point. “I think I needed a real kick like that to make me think. Sunset can’t be Anon-A-Miss.”
“Are you kidding me!?” Rainbow Dash snapped, furious. Just what was happening here? Didn’t they all agree it was Sunset Shimmer? Now, it was the other way around. Couldn’t they see what was happening?
“Dash, I think we owe Sunset an apology.”
“No! Hell no!” Rainbow Dash stomped her foot. “Sunset Shimmer is Anon-A-Miss! It has to be her!”
“Why?” Twilight Sparkle questioned.
“Because...because she made me betray you guys!” Rainbow Dash screamed. “Because of her, I stopped talking to Applejack! Because of her, I wasn’t there to protect Fluttershy! Because of her, I lost my best friends!” Tears started to form in her eyes, angry tears. “She made me betray my best friends and I could never forgive her for that! And now...now Anon-A-Miss has opened up my eyes! She’s shown her true colours! Yeah, sure, it was super obvious it was her! But Sunset’s not perfect! She could’ve made a mistake! The profile picture looked like her so she can throw off suspicion! But Sunset did so many bad things and...and now she’s tearing us apart again, and she’s not even here!”
“We’re not turning our backs on you,” Applejack, putting a comforting hand on Rainbow’s shoulder.
“Then why aren’t you with me on this?”
“Because we turned our backs on Sunset and that ain’t right. We promised Twilight and we broke it. We betrayed her and Sunset Shimmer.”
“...No.” Rainbow Dash sobbed. Applejack hugged the rainbow-haired girl, letting her cry on her shoulder. After a moment, Rainbow Dash looked up, still teary-eyed. “Can we apologise to Sunset?”
“I don’t think she’ll want to see you all right now,” Twilight Sparkle said. “But I’ll pass on your apologies to her when I see her.”
“Alright, so, now that we do not believe Sunset Shimmer is Anon-A-Miss, what’s our next move?” Rarity asked.
“Our next move? Our next move is to get this dirty secret-stealer!” Pinkie Pie cheered. “She messed with us and messed with our friend!”