//------------------------------// // The Queen Strikes // Story: The Queen and her Court // by Eternal Sunset //------------------------------// Sunset Shimmer sits on her throne, her loyal subjects knelt before her. “What is your bidding, your majesty?” Gilda asked. “Today we’re putting a stop to Anon-A-Miss’ supply of secrets,” Sunset informed everyone, smiling confidently. “How are we going to do that?” Lightning Dust asked. “I’m glad you asked, I’ve looked at the secrets and realized that these secrets are only known to a few students including myself,” Sunset explained. “So the students are likely sending secrets to the blog themselves.” “That’s crazy!” Dumbbell said in shock. “It isn’t so crazy once you think about it, the students sending them to Anon-A-Miss want to get a laugh, and seeing as I’m the top suspect, no one will suspect them,” Sunset said, her anger rising. “How dare they!” Gilda was outraged. “They’ll pay for this!” Dumbbell said in anger. “And they will,” Sunset rose from her throne. “We shall catch those students in the act and expose them.” Her followers cheered as Sunset descended from the throne, a sinister smirk on her lips as she walked past her followers who followed close behind her. A student with short red hair was checking his phone as he was taking out his books from his locker, he was currently typing a secret that he was going to send to Anon-A-Miss when his phone was snatched from his hand.   “Hey! What gives-” he turned to confront whoever took his phone but was shocked to see Sunset Shimmer with her group. “Good morning,” Sunset greeted casually as she checked his phone. “What do we have here?” “I-it’s not what it looks like!” he pleaded, fear evident in his eyes. “Really? Cause to me it looks like you're sending Anon-A-Miss a secret,” Sunset said before narrowing her eyes at him. “If I recall, you were one of the students who accused me of being Anon-A-Miss.” The student started to tremble, he had been caught and there was no way for him to talk his way out of this. He tried to make a break for it but he was caught in Sunset’s magic. “The coward finally shows his true colors,” Sunset said with disdain, as her followers grabbed on to him. “Time to expose the rest of the cowards.” Sunset and her group marched down the hallways of CHS, confronting those Sunset knew posted secrets and catching them red-handed. The students watched in horror and confusion as Sunset continued to round up more and more students, some students tried to deny the accusations and flee from Sunset, only to be swiftly captured. Other students just gave up and accepted their fate, the group marched towards the Principal’s office when they were confronted by the Rainbooms. “What vile thing have you done Sunset?” Rarity glared at the former unicorn. “If you must know, I’m cutting off Anon-A-Miss ’supply of secrets,” Sunset explained, crossing her arms.  Sunset and the Rainbooms had a staring contest that was broken when Principal Celestia opened her office door. “What is going on out here?” Principal Celestia asked, having heard the commotion. “Principal Celestia, Sunset is up to no good again!” Rainbow Dash warned. “She’s rounding up the students for her evil plan!” Principal Celestia raised an eyebrow before turning to Sunset. “Sunset, what is Rainbow referring to?” “It’s simple, Principal Celestia. I’ve caught these students sending secrets to Anon-A-Miss and here’s the proof,” Sunset explained as she showed the Principal all the phones she has confiscated with the secret that is about to be sent to Anon-A-Miss. “I see, thank you Sunset. You and your group did a great service for CHS,” Principal Celestia thanked the former unicorn, her eyes narrowed at the guilty-looking students. “Please step inside.” Sunset watched with a smirk as the guilty students entered the Principal’s office with their heads bowed. “I’ll be seeing you girls later,” Sunset winked at the Rainbooms before turning to leave. The girls watched in silence as Sunset and her group left, Rainbow Dash gritted her teeth before turning around. “Let’s go,” Rainbow Dash spoke softly, her bangs covered her eyes as she walked past her friends. The rest of the Rainbooms followed, Fluttershy having one last look at Sunset before joining the others. Pinkie Pie’s words from earlier echoed in her mind. Girls, from all the time we spent with Sunset, can you honestly say you know her? The Canterlot Movie Club are in their clubroom, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo are in shock as Applebloom has informed them of what Sunset has told her and Diamond Tiara in the interview. “We’re so screwed!” Sweetie Belle said in a panic. “Sunset’s going to catch us!” “What are we going to do Applebloom?!” Scootaloo frantically asked the farm girl. “We shut down Anon-A-Miss!” Applebloom quickly responded. “We delete the account as well as all the secrets that we received!” “Do you think Sunset will stop when she sees that the account is gone?” Sweetie Belle questioned. Suddenly, they hear a commotion outside their clubroom and when they went to check it out, they saw Sunset and her followers rounding up students. “What’s going on?” Scootaloo asked. “Sunset’s rounding up the secret leakers.” The CMC turned to see a girl with yellow hair talking to her friend. “It serves them right,” the friend with orange hair said with spite, her secret having been posted because of a so-called friend. “I hope Sunset makes them suffer,” the yellow-haired girl said, her tone filled with anger. “She did what she said she would,” Applebloom said in shock. “We have to delete the account now!” Scootaloo whispered urgently to Applebloom. The girls went inside the clubroom and logged into the Anon-A-Miss account, but just before they could delete the account, a student burst into the room. “Please! Don’t do this!” the blue-haired male student begged. “Did you give any consideration to the student whose secret you posted?” an angry Sunset asked as she walked in the room. The student didn’t reply, instead, he chose to try to use the CMC as a shield but Sunset quickly acted and pinned him to the wall. “Just how low can you sink?” Sunset growled as she took the student outside. “Sorry for the commotion girls.” The CMC watched in stunned silence as Sunset took the student away, as soon as the door closed they quickly got back to deleting the account. “She’s gone!” Pinkie Pie said in shock, she was checking Anon-A-Miss when the account was suddenly deleted. “Anon-A-Miss is gone!” “I guess she wised up,” Rainbow Dash said. “Yeah, but we still got another problem," Applejack reminded her Rainbow haired friend. "Sunset's in control now so she doesn't need Anon-A-Miss anymore." “That is rather vexing,” Rarity said. “But it begs the question, why did she need Anon-A-Miss if she could’ve done this from the start?” “Maybe she wasn’t strong enough?” Pinkie guessed. “But how did she get back her strength?” Applejack questioned. “Don’t you remember that she stole our magic?” Rainbow Dash asked, raising an eyebrow. “That’s how?”  “Ah meant before, Sunset was strong enough to get an army of students to be completely loyal to her.” Applejack clarified. “An’ another thing, how come Sunset didn’t steal our magic before? This doesn’t add up.” “We could really use Princess Twilight’s help right about now,” Rarity said dejectedly. “We screwed that up,” Rainbow Dash said, crossing her arms. “We’re on our own.” “No, we’re not on our own.” Rarity said with determination. “We have the magic of friendship, so Twilight is always with us.” “How do yah think she’ll handle this?” Applejack asked. “Together,” Rarity answered as she looked at her friends. “But we can’t do it if we have doubts, which is why we have to spy on Sunset to uncover her true intentions.” “What if she pulls the wool over our eyes?” Applejack asked. “Then we’ll just have to be extra vigilant,” Rarity answered. “Boss!” Snips called out to Sunset as he rushed to her side. “Yes?’ Sunset asked as she handed over another student to her followers. “Anon-A-Miss deleted the account!” Snails said urgently as he showed Sunset his phone. Sunset took the phone from him and saw for herself that the account was gone. “They’re on the run,” Sunset said with a smirk as she handed Snails back his phone. “What are you going to do now that the blog is deleted?” Snails asked. “Simple, by eliminating the source of her secrets we’ve also narrowed down our suspects,” Sunset explained. “Using the same method of knowing who knows who’s secret, we’ll narrow down the suspects further until we have who we’re looking for.” “You’re a genius, your majesty!” Lightning Dust praised her queen. “Let’s finish up rounding the last of these cowards!” Sunset declared.  Her followers cheered as they did what their queen ordered, screams of the guilty students echoed down the halls as Sunset and her group apprehended them. The other students watched with fear as Sunset marched down the halls with the captured students, flinching as Sunset laid eyes on them. Two days ago, Sunset was in their shoes but now the tables have turned and she loved it. During fourth period English, Sunset sat with Trixie to discuss their plans for the hospital, knowing full well that Rainbow Dash was listening behind them.  ‘Attention everyone, this is a special announcement.’ Principal Celestia’s voice can be heard through the school’s intercom system. ‘As many of you are aware, the school has been in turmoil the last couple of days due to a Mystable blog called Anon-A-Miss. Fights have been breaking out daily and an air of hostility is hanging over everyone, worse yet is that all of you seem to blame it on Sunset Shimmer. Let me tell you right now that Sunset Shimmer has nothing to do with this.’ The students in the classroom looked at each other in confusion, Trixie looked at Sunset to see her smiling gratefully. Rainbow Dash wasn’t buying it for a second. ‘Sunset Shimmer has been working hard on not only proving her innocence but stopping Anon-A-Miss, and today she has exposed the source of Anon-A-Miss’ secrets.’ Principal Celestia said, her tone hardening. ‘I can’t begin to explain how disappointed I am that not only did these students actively participate in slandering their fellow students, but did so knowing what kind of damage it will cause. They will all be properly punished and will issue an apology to all of those they have wronged during an assembly later this afternoon.’  The students glanced at Sunset Shimmer, her actions earlier started making much more sense now. “So those she rounded up are the ones spilling our secrets?” a female student with blue hair asked her friend. “So Sunset wasn’t Anon-A-Miss after all,” a male student said with regret, he was one of the students who accused Sunset of being Anon-A-Miss. ‘If there are any students who have willingly submitted a secret to Anon-A-Miss that have not been apprehended by Sunset, then I strongly advise you to turn yourselves in.’ Principal Celestia urged before she turned off the intercom. "It's just another ploy," Rainbow Dash growled, she couldn’t believe that everyone was falling for this. Sunset glanced behind her and winked at Rainbow Dash, annoying her even more. The bell rang and Sunset bid farewell to Trixie as she made her way to her next class. The hallways had gone quiet as she walked by, students looked at her with fear and a bit of regret. Students in Sunset’s path quickly backed away, not daring to incur the Queen’s wrath. Except for one student who happily stood in her way. “Hello, Sunset Shimmer.” Diamond Tiara greeted. “Hello to you too, Diamond Tiara.” Sunset returned the greeting. “Thanks again for the interview yesterday, here’s your copy of the School’s newspaper.” Diamond Tiara thanked Sunset as she handed her CHS’s newspaper. “Path of Redemption,” Sunset read the title, looking at Diamond Tiara with a bemused smile. “It’s a fitting title,” Diamond Tiara said simply.  Sunset opened the newspaper to the page of the article and started reading.  ‘The road to redemption is never easy, and no one knows that better than Sunset Shimmer. She ruled CHS with an iron grip and enslaved everyone when she turned into a demon, but she was defeated by Twilight and the Rainbooms. Having seen the error of her ways, Sunset worked to make up for her past mistakes.” Sunset cast a glance at Diamond Tiara to see her smiling. ‘But her efforts were met with disdain as no one would give her a chance, the wounds of what Sunset had done to them running deep. Sunset faced an uphill battle, but she refused to give up.’  The mention of wounds caught her attention.  ‘Eventually, during the battle of the bands' Sunset and the Rainbooms rallied together to defeat the Sirens who had everyone under their spell. Since then, Everyone has acknowledged Sunset’s efforts and started giving her a chance. Sunset has offered to tutor those that need help with any subject, she’s organized fundraisers, meetings, trips, and special events. Sunset has become a student to which everyone at CHS can depend on and look up to, embodying the virtues of Generosity, Kindness, Laughter, Loyalty, and Honesty that the Rainbooms have taught her.’ ‘But just when it seemed that she had redeemed herself from the person she used to be, all her efforts came undone by the blog Anon-A-Miss. The Rainbooms accused her of exposing their secrets and cast her out, the students have quickly forgotten her good deeds turn on her. Sunset was back to square one, but this time without her friends to support her. Alone and with the students blaming her for spreading their secrets, as well as the added pressure of finding the true identity of Anon-A-Miss and clearing her name was unsuccessful, Sunset was losing hope.’ Sunset’s grip on the newspaper tightened, Diamond Tiara noticed and feared that she might have upset Sunset. ‘However, with the help of Princess Twilight, Sunset was reminded of who she was which reignited her drive to find Anon-A-Miss. But she did not turn a blind eye to what was happening to our school, and with a heavy heart realized that the only way to save CHS was to become the bully she used to be and bring the school back under her rule. Essentially proving everyone right that she hadn’t changed at all, and it paid off. Fights died down and Sunset even offered her services to council students whose friendships have been negatively affected by Anon-A-Miss.’ ‘Despite this difficult ordeal, Sunset has stayed true to who she is and continues to do her best to help those in need.’ Sunset smiled as she looked at Diamond Tiara. “Not bad, you certainly get the full picture,” Sunset complimented. “A great reporter makes sure to uncover the truth,” Diamond Tiara said with a smile. “You’re not Anon-A-Miss Sunset, anyone with a brain can see that this isn’t your handy work. You’re too clever for that, and given your display of power and authority, everyone should realize how easily you could take over without the need of exposing secrets.” “Well said,” Sunset said with a smile before she went on to her next class. During lunchtime, the whole lunchroom was abuzz about Diamond Tiara’s article. The students are now doubting whether Sunset is Anon-A-Miss after all, looks of shame and guilt were on some of their faces as they realized that they were quick to pass judgment on someone who has helped them before and especially now.  “Can yah believe this?” Applejack asked her friends as she looked at the school’s newspaper, specifically the article about Sunset Shimmer.  “Quite, this article makes Sunset look like a hero.” Rarity said, frowning at the article.  “Hey, Applejack. Can’t you tell your sister to do something about this?” Rainbow Dash asked as she threw the paper on the table. “Why? She didn’t write this,” Applejack said. “Isn’t her girlfriend the one who wrote it?” Rainbow Dash questioned. “Can’t she ask her to stop the presses or something?” “I believe you mean retract the article, darling.” Rarity corrected. “That’s wrong, Rainbow Dash. Just cause ah don’t like an article doesn’t mean ah get to use mah sister’s influence to change it, that’s somethin’ Sunset would do.” Applejack said as she crossed her arms. “Ah aint stooping to her level.” “But this is wrong,” Rainbow Dash said as she listened to the students voice their doubts. “This is making everyone forget what a horrible person Sunset is!” “Is it?” Fluttershy questioned. “The article acknowledges Sunset’s mistakes and how difficult it was for her to make up for what she’s done.” “She did have a hard time,” Pinkie Pie said sadly, remembering how down Sunset was whenever she failed to make it up to those she hurt. “Seriously? You still think she’s innocent?!” Rainbow Dash questioned, her frustration getting to her. “Everyone else seems to be thinking that,” Rarity pointed out as she overheard the students from the table across from them how they might have made a mistake. “We’ll show everyone how wrong they are,” Rainbow Dash vowed. Sunset stared at her phone as she sat on her throne, with the Anon-A-Miss blog deleted, the students who sent them secrets captured, and the article about her in the school’s paper casting doubt on her guilt; she had defeated Anon-A-Miss in just two days. “Hmph, if only I did this sooner,” Sunset said with a smirk as she looked at her kneeling subjects. “But something is still off.” “Is it finding out who Anon-A-Miss is?” Snails questioned. “There’s that,” Sunset said as she waved her hand, and images of her friends appeared before her. “The first secrets she posted were Applejack’s nickname and the photos from Rarity’s sleepover that were only on my phone.” the images of Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, and Fluttershy faded leaving only Rarity and Applejack. But before she can dig further, her throne room echoed with the sound of someone knocking on the door. “We have someone here to see you, your majesty,” Gilda announced from the entrance. “Let them in,” Sunset ordered as she dismissed the images of Applejack and Rarity. Gilda did as she was told and stepped aside to allow Photo Finish and her two companions to enter. “What can I do for you Photo Finish?” Sunset asked politely. “Hold that pose!” Photo Finish suddenly said as she took out her camera and started taking pictures of Sunset. “Yes! So powerful and fierce! Yet kind and gentle!” Sunset raised an eyebrow but knew from experience with Rarity that Photo Finish was probably in “the zone”. “Photo Finish, I hate to interrupt but perhaps we should get down to business?” Sunset questioned. “Of course! I, Photo Finish, need your help organizing a photo shoot.” Photo Finish explained.  “What kind of photo shoot?” Sunset asked curiously. “It’s for the local animal shelter,” Photo Finish explained. “It serves to help promote the animals and help them get adopted.” “Why do you need my help with that? You’ve done events like these before.” Sunset pointed out. “Yes, but your presence will give photos...za magicks!” Photo Finish said. "Hm, I do like da magicks," Sunset rubbed her chin and it was good publicity. "Very well, Photo Finish. Set up a time so we can get to work." “Wonderful!” Photo Finish said, she was silent for a minute before speaking. “I go!” Photo Finish and her two companions quickly left Sunset’s throne. “Hey Boss, doesn’t Fluttershy work at the animal shelter?” Snips asked. “What of it?” Sunset questioned dismissively. “Won’t there be a problem if you attend?” Snips asked, a little worried. “Fluttershy's friends will probably be helping her out.” “I do not doubt that the rest of the Rainbooms will be helping her,” Sunset said with narrowed eyes. “Before I was betrayed, the Rainbooms and I were going to help Fluttershy. I see no reason why I shouldn’t keep my word.” “What if they start something?” Snips asked. “I doubt they’ll risk ruining the photo shoot, but just in case a certain someone gets a little rowdy, I have a plan to save the photo shoot,” Sunset answered, she fully expected Rainbow Dash to act rashly. “Your, Majesty. We have someone who requests your aid.” Hoops said as he ushered in two male students with guilty looks. “How may I help you?” Sunset asked as she got to work helping these two. "Well, goodbye Anon-A-Miss!" Pinkie Pie beamed brightly, skipping ahead of her friends as they walked down the hallway towards the auditorium. "Now everything can go back to normal!" “Pinkie, darling. Things can never go back to normal with Sunset in power.” Rarity pointed out. “But with Anon-A-Miss gone, everyone’s secrets are safe!” Pinkie Pie said happily. “And Sunset did us a favor and caught the meanies who gave Anon-A-Miss the secrets.” "No, that can't be it!" Rainbow Dash snapped. "Ya heard Principal Celestia. Other kids were sending in secrets," Applejack said. "That's just what Sunset wants us to think! It's all part of her plan!" Rainbow Dash desperately said. "So she planned to make everyone hate her again?" Fluttershy asked, raising an eyebrow. “That doesn’t sound like a very thought out plan, a very Sunset plan.” “Sunset has always remained elusive, but she’s bound to slip up. All the villains eventually do.” Rarity said. “Um, Rarity? Ah don’t think that’s how it works in real life.” Applejack pointed out. “Just like the magic, otherworldly pony princesses and demons?” Rarity smirked as she raised an eyebrow. “Good point,” Applejack acknowledged, scratching her cheek bashfully. The Rainbooms filled into the auditorium and found some spare seats, strangely there were 5 empty seats lined together. The girls took their seats and waited for the assembly to start, Principal Celestia stepped up to the mike and gathered everyone’s attention. “Good afternoon, everyone. Without further ado, there are a group of students who would like to say something to all of you.” Principal Celestia said, getting straight to the point as she motioned the students to come up to the stage. The students nervously walked on to the stage, some of them had the decency to look ashamed. The students in the auditorium glared at the ones responsible for making them laughing stocks of the school, some of which are now their ex-friends. The guilty students lined up and faced the audience of angry fellow students. “I’m waiting,” Principal Celestia said, her eyes narrowed at those who helped fan the flames of A on-A-Miss. “We’re so sorry for what we did!” The group said in unison. Principal Celestia looked towards the crowd and saw the furious looks on their faces, they were ready to tear them apart. But before she could say anything, Sunset Shimmer walked on to the stage. The anger left the students as they focused on Sunset. Sunset decided to say something as she addressed everyone. "You all heard Principal Celestia. These students were sending secrets and all of you have a right to be angry at them but they're not the only ones who are guilty. All of you are guilty too for following Anon-A-Miss. You wanted to see the secrets they posted, wanted to laugh and make fun of others but without feeling any guilt, as if there were no consequences. But you encouraged Anon-A-Miss by following them. Nobody forced you. That was your choice." Sunset narrowed her eyes at the crowd of students, some had looks of shame. “Friendships were ruined because of Anon-A-Miss and now I’m doing damage control and bringing this school back into working order.” Sunset turned to face the students who are responsible for sending the secrets, she felt her anger rising and they felt afraid when they say the murderous look in her eyes. Principal Celestia noticed this too but waited to see what Sunset will do before responding. “Principal Celestia, do you mind if I keep an eye on them during their punishment at school?” “I suppose it is alright,” Principal Celestia agreed, she trusted Sunset to not seek revenge. “Thank you,” Sunset thanked the Principal as she gathered her magic which caused her to pony up, with a snap of her fingers her cutie mark appeared on the students’ clothing but it had no colors. “Welcome recruits, let me be the first to tell you that you will be treated fairly unlike how you treated everyone else and you are to report to my club room for further instruction on how you will proceed with your punishment. Do I make myself clear?!” “Y-yes, Sunset!” the students said with fear. “What was that?” Sunset narrowed her eyes at them.  “That’s her Majesty to you!” Gilda said from the corner of the stage, out of sight from the auditorium. “Yes, your majesty!” the students correctly said. “Good,” Sunset said with a smile. “Great, she’s got more people serving under her now.” Rainbow Dash grumbled. “Her influence just keeps growing,” Rarity said with concern, as she frowned. Pretty soon, everyone would be drinking the Sunset Kool-Aid.  Rainbow Dash could not let that happen. The assembly was soon over and everyone made their way out of the auditorium, Principal Celestia and Vice-Principal Luna were on their way to their offices when their names were called. “Principal Celestia, Vice-Principal Luna?”  The two Principals turned around to see the Rainbooms. “May we speak with the both of you for a moment?” Rarity asked. “Of course, what is it you want to speak with us about?” Principal Celestia asked, smiling kindly. “It’s about Sunset,” Applejack said. “We believe she’s up to no good.” “What makes you say that?” Luna questioned. “She’s taking over the school again!” Rainbow Dash blurted out. “How is she taking over the school?” Principal Celestia asked, raising an eyebrow. “She has an army and is oppressing everyone!” Rainbow Dash raised her voice. “All I see is a girl trying to bring her life back under control,” Vice-Principal Luna argued. “And is doing her best to help the school improve after the mess caused by Anon-A-Miss.” “She’s Anon-A-Miss!” Rainbow Dash shouted. “Do you have any evidence, Ms. Rainbow Dash?” Principal Celestia asked. “And please keep your voice down.” “Her image’s on the profile!” Rainbow Dash said, her voice slightly less loud. “That can be easily done with photoshop.” Principal Celestia said. “She knew Applejack’s nickname!” “So do you.” “She put videos and pictures of our slumber party online!” Rainbow Dash said. “Videos that only she had on her phone!” “Phones can be hacked remotely these days.” Vice-Principal Luna said, narrowing her eyes at Celestia as she recalled her hacking her phone to pull a prank on her. “Rainbow Dash, I don’t understand what’s going on. This girl was your friend. She helped you all defeat the Sirens. Why do you insist that she’s guilty?” Principal Celestia asked. “Or have you never considered that she might have been framed by someone holding a grudge?” “And it seems to me like you’re the one holding a grudge,” Vice-Principal Luna added. “And you decided she was the obvious suspect.” “Hey! Whose side are you on?!” Rainbow Dash questioned, feeling offended. “We take no sides, Rainbow Dash,” Luna assures her. “We want to make sure we have our facts straight before passing judgment.” “If you truly believe that Sunset is guilty without a shadow of a doubt, then you need to provide us with proof.” Principal Celestia tells them.  “Of course, we are already in the process of doing that.” Rarity assures her principal. “Just make sure that it isn’t biased,” Vice-Principal Luna warned. “You girls are too close to this matter and your personal feelings towards Sunset might affect the evidence.” “I assure you, Vice-Principal Luna, that we will not let any personal vendetta we have with Sunset affect our findings.” Rarity assured her. “Yah have our word,” Applejack also assured the principals. The Rainbooms said goodbye to the Principals’ and headed to their classes. “Are you sure we should have let them investigate this?” Vice-Principal Luna questioned as she looked to her sister. “If they investigate Sunset, then perhaps they will see that she is innocent.” Principal Celestia answered. “Isn’t that wishful thinking?” Luna asked. “Perhaps it is, but it is my sincere hope that the girls see the error of their ways before it's too late.” Principal Celestia said with concern. “One can only hope,” Luna said before they both resumed their way to their offices.