Gilda slowly wiped her tears away before finally answering Sunset’s question. “It’s like this, Shimmer…”
Things started to turn into a living hell after you left. A lot of students here were pissed beyond belief at the Crusaders for the stunt that they pulled. Some of them took some time away from school, like you did, to avoid the backlash they received from their exposed secrets. Some of us even chose to transfer schools entirely. Obviously, no one was having a happy holiday… especially the Rainbooms. Princess Twilight’s words shook them to their core. The Apple family Christmas Eve party was even cancelled due to no one being in the holiday mood.
The Crusaders weren't so lucky either. After their confession, they were given six months of detention, and their families grounded them until New Year’s Eve. The Rainbooms refused to talk to them at all, and I practically had to shield Scootaloo after Dash tried to punch her. And it wasn’t just them, of course; practically all the students were out for blood after finding out they were behind Anon-a-Miss. The abuse was so severe that all three of them just locked themselves in their rooms to avoid everyone, given the fact that they could be jumped at any time. Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle hadn’t even said a word to Apple Bloom after their punishments were given, probably because she was the ringleader of the account and practically dragged them into it.
Once the holiday season was over, I think we all expected everyone to have finally moved on… but boy, were we wrong. When we got back to school, everyone was still furious at the Crusaders, but fortunately no one reacted violently toward them. All anyone did was give them the cold shoulder. Their sisters still weren't speaking to them. I guess they felt that they were no longer welcome here, because they eventually asked their parents if they could transfer to Crystal Prep for the rest of the semester. They were on board with the idea, as it would have been a better alternative than waiting for the student body to cool down, with the fear of them acting violently toward them again. Soon, the girls were transferred to our rival school, with pretty much everyone happy to see them gone and out of their lives. Unfortunately, that wasn't the end.
Like I mentioned, the Rainbooms were a shell of their former selves after Princess Twilight yelled at them. They were all still on edge from both wrongfully accusing you and for what the Crusaders did. Pinkie Pie barely smiles anymore; Fluttershy was always sitting by the statue waiting for you to come back; Rarity doesn’t take care of herself anymore—poor girl looks like a zombie most days without her makeup on. And as for Dash and Applejack… well… that’s the really horrible thing that happened.
In the last week of January, AJ and Dash got into a lot of arguments. And when I say a lot, I mean A LOT. They would always accuse and blame each other for how the other treated you. Applejack yelled at Dash for not representing Loyalty, and Dash pinning the blame for the entire event on AJ because she was the one that accused you first. We thought it couldn’t get any worse… but their last fight really pushed them to the limit. During study hall, Mr. Sombra stepped out for a few minutes to take care of some paperwork, and the two of them started screaming at each other. Everyone in the classroom tried to break them up, but there was no stopping them. They just kept going at it, hurling insults back and forth, until Dash shouted, and I quote:
“You know, if your parents were alive right now, they’d be disappointed in you and your sister, ya hick!!!!”
Something in Applejack snapped after that. Dash barely even had time to react before the first fist was thrown. When Sombra got back, it looked like a freaking grenade had gone off in the classroom. They even shattered some windows! By the end of it, the two of them looked like they had been swarmed by a gang in an alley, but thankfully no one else got hurt.
After that, they were both given a month’s detention, not just from the fight, but for nearly destroying the classroom, which they had to pay the school for the damages. They didn’t speak to each other after that and just kept their distance; they didn’t even sit with the other Rainbooms at lunch and would glare at each other whenever they passed by. After that, the Rainbooms decided to go their separate ways Dash and AJ causing too toxic of an atmosphere. They even broke up the band!
Since then, Applejack had changed for the worse. She practically isolated herself from everyone completely, especially Dash. She hardly ever showed up at school, and when she did show up, she looked like a wreck. She always had these bags under her eyes from never getting any sleep at night, her hair was all messy, she barely wore her hat, and she looked as if she hadn’t eaten anything in days. She was in much worse shape than Rarity, and that was saying something. A few times here and there, I tried to talk to her, but she just brushed me off and went on with her day. Whenever lunch started, she sat in an empty classroom staring off into space until lunch period was over. I had never interacted regularly with her, but I was still worried sick about her every time I saw her. A part of me wanted to get her professional help, but I knew that it wasn't cool to get into other people’s business.
But now I wish that I did, cause then maybe I could have prevented…
Gilda stopped speaking for a second as fresh tears started to form. Sunset was quick to notice this with no doubt in her mind that something bad happened. “Prevented what?”
Gilda cringed in pain, desperately trying to hold back tears. She didn’t want to relive such an awful memory.
After what felt like an eternity, Sunset finally spoke again. “Gilda, please tell me what happened…”
Gilda let out a shaky breath. She looked back up and met Sunset’s eyes with her own, peering through her own tears.
“S-Sunset… Applejack… s-she… killed herself…”
In an instant, the world began to spiral away from Sunset. Her jaw dropped, and she stumbled backward into the lockers behind her. “N-no… it can’t be…”
Gilda stepped forward to help Sunset regain her balance. Sunset’s horrified gaze pierced the girl through her heart.
“What the hell happened…?”
A week after the study hall incident, Applejack hadn't been seen since. None of us had seen her in school for a while, and I even heard from Big Mac that she hadn't been home either. I was starting to worry even more for her, thinking that maybe she ran away from home or something. But then, while we were getting ready for gym class, everyone heard Derpy scream bloody murder. We all rushed into the gym to see what was the matter, and that's when we saw the most terrifying sight imaginable.
Applejack’s lifeless body was hanging from a makeshift noose made from her trusty lasso, tied to one of the basketball hoops. We were all in a complete state of shock at the sight, but what chilled us to the core was what was on the floor. She had written the words “I’m sorry Sunset…” in her own blood. The scariest part was that the blood was still fresh, and the cut on AJ's left wrist was still dripping. She probably snuck into the Gymnasium somewhere between 1st and 3rd periods and hung herself from the hoop, but not before writing her last words on the floor with her own blood.
An hour later, the gym was closed down as some paramedics took Applejack's body away. Everyone was still in a state of shock and horror after witnessing a student’s suicide. Granny Smith and Big Mac were crying uncontrollably after laying eyes on the body… I can imagine that it probably brought back memories of when her parents died. Apple Bloom had bolted out of the school to see her sister’s lifeless body being carried away. Her reaction outmatched both Smith’s and Mac’s; poor thing collapsed on the ground bawling uncontrollably as they both hugged her. She screamed only one thing over and over: “It was my fault!”
The gym was closed off quickly after that; no gym class, no sporting events. People were just too traumatized to even set foot in there again. Not even I can lay eyes on that hoop…
As for the Rainbooms… Feels like Fluttershy hasn't stopped crying ever since, same with Pinkie and Rarity. Dash blames herself for the whole thing; she thinks it’s her fault for starting the arguments. She’s completely ghosted herself from everyone. The only times I've seen her is either at the gym or near the bleachers when no one’s around.
And Applebloom… Granny Smith had to switch her to online classes for the time being. She’s still too broken to return to school, or even go outside to face the world at all.
“And that… that’s where we’re at now… two whole months of the worst tragedy imaginable…”
Gilda said no more and clenched her fist tightly while attempting to hold back her tears. Tears were streaming down Sunset’s face; she never would have guessed that one of the Rainbooms would have been so riddled with guilt that they would end their own life. While she was mad at them for accusing her, she didn't want any of them gone. The fact that Applejack thought that she didn’t deserve to live broke her heart. The fiery teen then walked up to the burly girl and wrapped her arms around her into a hug, Gilda didn't want to return it, trying to maintain her tough girl nature, but accepted it anyway.
“This can’t be happening…” Sunset whimpered. “I can't believe Applejack killed herself, this isn't what I wanted to happen. I just can't believe it… she can’t be gone…"
Sunset parted from the hug and faced the locker. Letting out a cry, she slammed her fist into one of the doors. “I should have been here. I should have—”
“Shimmer, this wasn’t your fault.” Gilda interrupted. “You couldn’t have possibly known what was happening or what was going to happen. Everyone was a dick to you; you had every right to be angry and you had every right to leave. If anything, I’m more at fault for not helping when I should have… I wish I could have done something to prevent this…”
Sunset sniffed and turned back to face Gilda. She placed a hand on the tough girl's shoulder. “If I shouldn’t blame myself, then neither should you. Everyone was in a dark place after the incident. It’s like you said, you had no interaction with her before then; I don’t know how much you would have been able to do. Applejack wasn’t just hurt from the fallout; she was scarred. Trust me, I know what it feels like to believe that the world no longer wants you alive.
“I know what I have to do now. I wasn’t there for Applejack, and I want to be there for the rest of my friends. I have to try more than ever to put Anon-a-Miss away for good; I don’t want anyone else to follow in Applejack’s footsteps.”
Gilda nodded, sniffling. “Well… that’s not going to be an easy road, but I guess I wish you luck. If you want, I can gather the Rainbooms and Crusaders during lunch today so you can talk to them.”
Sunset hesitated, then shook her head slowly. “No, I… I can’t. Not right now. I… I still need to process everything that’s happened… this is still so much. If you see my friends today, you can tell them that I’d like to speak with them tomorrow after school at Sugarcube Corner.”
Gilda nodded in reassurance. “You can count on me, Shimmer. But I should tell you, Dash isn’t gonna be easy to talk to. If I'm not able to convince her today, you should be able to find her either at the gym or at her place if ya wanna talk to her solo. Do you want to see the Crusaders, too?”
“No, not yet,” Sunset said. “I’ll have a word with them later this week. I need to wrap things up with the girls first before I'm ready to confront them.”
“Sure, sounds fair to me, especially since they’re the ones who caused all this…” Gilda's words were cut short as a bell rang indicating that the next class period was about to start. Sunset and Gilda watched as the students in the hallway began to move toward their next classes.
“Damn, guess I better head to class then,” Gilda said as she turned to leave.” I’ll see ya later, Shimmer.”
Gilda started walking toward her classroom, but stopped in her tracks as she heard Sunset’s voice again. “Gilda, wait! Before you go, I need to ask you something.”
Gilda turned back to face Sunset. “Sure… what’s going on?”
Sunset considered her words before speaking up again. “Gilda, you… when Anon-a-Miss was happening… there were only three people that never accused me of stealing their secrets: Flash Sentry, Derpy… and you. I’m grateful that you didn’t think it was me, but… why not?”
Gilda smiled. “Well, Shimmer… let's just say you were my wake-up call. Before you came here, I wasn't exactly the nicest girl in school either. I was just as big of a bitch as you had been, maybe even bigger. Hell, I even sent a few people to the hospital. But then… I watched you apologize to everyone and change your ways. It humbled me. It made me think back to all the shit I did in the past… and it made me realize that I was truly an awful person. So, I did the same thing. I made the effort to undo all of my rotten actions. I apologized to everyone I had bullied, including Fluttershy, and to our surprise, they forgave us. It took some time, of course, but they still gave us a chance despite the hell we used to unleash in the hallway.
“Shimmer, you practically saved my life. If you didn't show up and make me realize my mistakes. I'd probably be in jail before my senior year. You ain't a bad person anymore. I can see it in your eyes. You didn’t deserve all this shit and you definitely didn’t deserve to lose a friend.”
Sunset was at a loss for words. She had never expected to hear those words come out of the mouth from one of the toughest girls in school. Slowly, a smile grew across her face. “Thank you, Gilda.”
Gilda smiled back. “No Shimmer… thank you.”
Suddenly the warning bell rang, indicating that there were only a few minutes to arrive to class.
Gilda winced and turned to leave. "Crap, sorry, I gotta roll! I'll see you tomorrow, Shimmer! Good luck with your friends!” With nothing more to say, Gilda hurried to her next class, but not before waving back at the fiery teen. Sunset waved back as Gilda left the scene.
Sunset was left alone in the hallway. Slowly, she took out her phone and clicked it on. Her lock screen wallpaper was a picture of her and the Rainbooms with bright faces and wide open-mouth smiles, taken right after they had won the Battle of the Bands.
Applejack was right next to Sunset in the picture. She had an arm around her and looked like she was whooping with joy. It was the happiest she had ever been.
Sunset clenched her heart tightly while trying to hold back her tears.
“Applejack…” she whispered. “I’m s-so sorry…”
Sunset turned around and made her way out the front door, exiting the school back toward her apartment building.