It was the last day at CHS before the students were officially out for Winter Break. Even more exciting was the fact that the students had a half day. Christmas and New Year’s Day were just around the corner and Scootaloo could hardly wait. She ran down the Middle School section of CHS with great haste, having overslept and missed her bus earlier that morning. She made it to class just in the nick of time, beating the tardy bell by mere seconds.
“Ah, there you are Scootaloo,” said a voice from the front of the classroom.
Scootaloo turned towards the source, confused as to why the school’s gym teacher was standing at the front of the class instead of her usual teacher, Mr. Parasol. “Ms. Spitfire? What are you doing here? And where’s Mr. Parasol?”
“Mr. Parasol called in sick, so I’m going to be filling in for today. Of course, you’d already know that if you came to class on time.” Some of the students in the back had started laughing.
“I beat the tardy bell. Technically I’m not late,” stated Scootaloo.
“I already called your name on the attendance list, and you weren’t in your seat when the bell rang. In my book, that still counts as being late. Now, take your seat, please, so we can move this along.” Scootaloo rolled her eyes and sat down at her assigned desk.
“Alright, listen up everyone!” Spitfire called out while looking over a sheet of paper that had been left on the teacher’s desk. “It says here that you all have a take home quiz that’s due today. Drop it off in the Hand-In Box, and then open your textbooks to page 394. He wants you to do all of the odd problems up to page 399. It says here in bold letters, “Tell the students that I told them to show all of their work, or else they won’t get credit.””
A series of irritated groans echoed throughout the room.
“He also says that anyone who can finish all 70 problems before the bell rings will get a two week homework pass. Those are his instructions. Sounds like a nice deal, so you’d better get a move on.”
Just then, there were a series of knocks at the classroom door. Spitfire pushed the door open, and in stepped one of the security guards for the school.
“Sorry to interrupt,” the security guard apologized, “but is Scootaloo here?” Spitfire pointed to the desk where the girl was sitting. “Celestia and Luna would like a word with you. They’re waiting in the lunchroom. They said it’s important. I’m here to walk you down there.”
Scootaloo looked around and noticed that each and every one of her classmates was now staring at her with newfound interest. “The Principal and Vice Principal want to see me? Did they say why?”
“Nope. Just that it was important. I’ll be waiting outside while you get your stuff together.”
***
Scootaloo followed close behind as the security guard led the way to the closed front doors of the school cafeteria. There was a rusty squeaking sound as the security guard pulled the left door open and motioned for Scootaloo to step inside. Upon doing so, she noticed that there were other people already there, presumably waiting for her.
Besides Principal Celestia and Vice Principal Luna, she saw Rainbow Dash, accompanied by Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, and Fluttershy, all sitting at the same table. There were also a group of about 30 different upperclassmen present, some of whom she recognized, such as Gilda and Dumbbell. They were all gathered at the table across from Rainbow Dash. Scootaloo also noticed that her friends, Applebloom and Sweetie Belle, were both sitting at the same table as Applejack and the others.
At the front of the room, standing next to the Principal and Vice Principal, were Snips, Snails, a tall old man with short gray hair, and about 20 different Police Officers.
Scootaloo’s eyes widened in fear. Why were the police here? Did they find out what she and her friends had been up too? The middle schooler was now beginning to wish that she had stayed home that day.
“So glad that you could join us today, Scootaloo,” said Vice Principal Luna. “If you would be so kind, go ahead and have a seat.”
Scootaloo complied, sitting down next to her two friends, both of whom looked just as nervous as she was.
“Okay everyone,” said Principal Celestia, “Before I begin, is there anything that any of you would like to say?”
A single hand amongst the small crowd of students was raised.
“Yes, Rarity?” asked the Principal.
“If I may … what is this all about? And why is my little sister down here?”
“If ya’ don’t mind, I’d kinda’ like to know why ya’ called Applebloom and Scootaloo down here too,” Applejack asked.
“Those are all very good questions,” stated Celestia. “Applebloom, Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo. Do you three have any idea why Luna and I called you here?”
The three girls shook their heads ‘No’. Celestia then turned her attention elsewhere.
“How about you Fluttershy, Pinkie, or Rainbow Dash? I already know that Rarity and Applejack don’t know, but do you know why you’re here?”
They shook their heads as well.
Celestia then turned towards the other group of students. “Alright, how about you guys? I’m certain that at least one of you must have some idea about why you’re here.”
“I’m guessing that it has something to do with what happened to Sunset,” Gilda answered in a nonchalant tone.
“Correct,” answered the Principal.
“Huh? What happened to Sunset?” asked Pinkie.
“Another good question. But before I answer that, there’s some information that I’d like to share with all of you,” said Celestia.
“Ever since this little incident with the person calling himself ‘Anon-a-Miss’ began, I’ve been watching. The school staff has been keeping me updated on everything that’s been going on in the halls and in the classrooms. Each time a fight broke out in the lunchroom or a student ran to the counselor’s office in tears, that sort of information always comes back to my desk.” While Celestia spoke, Luna kept her eyes locked on Applebloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo.
“If you really know about what’s been happening around here lately, then you should know that Sunset’s the one who’s been messing with CHS,” Rainbow stated, earning a few nods from her peers.
“Are you sure about that? Because unless you know something that I don’t, there’s no proof that she did anything wrong,” the Principal responded.
“There wasn’t any proof when she framed and blackmailed other students around here for three years straight either,” said Rarity.
Celestia shook her head in disappointment and sighed. “Fair enough. Now, getting back to you Pinkie. You asked me about what happened to Sunset.” The Principal went quiet for a moment, as if to gather her thoughts before relaying the information.
“There was a ninth grader who came into my office this morning,” Celestia began. “This student, who shall remain nameless, looked visibly shaken. When I asked what was wrong, they showed me this interesting little picture that someone had uploaded onto Mystable. I was absolutely disgusted by what I saw. Now, it wasn’t because of the image itself; Luna had already filled me in on the details late last night. The thing that I found so disturbing was the reception that this picture received. For those of you who haven’t seen it yet, I took the liberty of printing out a few copies.”
Vice Principal Luna began passing out sheets of paper, one by one, to everyone in the room. Most of the students at Gilda’s table were either emotionless or grinned in amusement. Fluttershy raised a hand to her opened mouth in order to stifle a scream, Pinkie’s face went pale, Rarity gasped and Applejack was rendered speechless.
Rainbow Dash, upon seeing the picture, slowly raised her head and stared at Gilda in equal parts shock and confusion. The other girl returned the stare by rolling her eyes with disinterest.
When Scootaloo finally saw what it was that everyone had been staring at, her breath froze in her lungs. It was Sunset and she looked terrible. Her body had been marred with bruises and cuts. A series of profane pictures and messages had been scribbled all over her face. The words “Who’s Laughing Now?” had been etched onto her forehead. One of her two closed eyes had been blackened and swollen. Her arms, which hung behind her back, had been tied to what looked like a large metal pole. She looked like a corpse.
Scootaloo lowered her gaze onto the picture's caption. There was a message on it that read, “Lol! Wanna hear a secret about Anon-a-Miss? She's not coming back to CHS!” In the comments section were a plethora of jokes and laugh emojis that had been made by other students from every grade level, all of which showed praise to whoever Sunset’s attackers were.
Scootaloo lowered the picture with trembling hands and turned towards her two friends. Sweetie Belle was on the verge of tears and Applebloom looked as if she wasn’t too far behind.
“Is … Sunset okay?” Rainbow asked in a quiet voice.
“No, she’s not. She got attacked here on school grounds last night. That picture shows the end result. As you can see, the beating was serious,” Celestia explained. A heavy silence hung in the air while the other students took in the news. It didn’t last long however.
“Now wait just a darn minute!” Applejack called out while looking back and forth between her fellow classmates and the Officers in the room. “You think that one of us did this? Is that why you called us here?”
“We don’t think, we know,” said the tall old man who was standing with the other Officers.
“Ah, I almost forgot. Everyone, I’d like to introduce you to a very special guest,” said Celestia. “Meet Police Commissioner Swift Order. He’s in charge of all of the Police Stations here in Canterlot City.” As if to verify her statement, Swift Order reached into his pocket and held out his badge for everyone to see.
“Luna and I were originally going to have him come in and talk to the entire school about the dangers of cyber-bullying. That plan changed the moment that my sister and I learned about what happened to Sunset. We gave him a call at about two in the morning, and informed him that things had escalated beyond the point of talking things out. So, without further adieu, I’m going to hand the floor to our guest speaker.”
“Alright, let’s get down to business.” The Police Commissioner stood and began pacing back and forth; keeping his raspy voice projected loud and clear so that no one missed a thing.
“First things first, this goes a couple steps beyond typical cyber-bullying. I’d say that this is beginning to lean a little more towards identity theft. In case you didn’t know, taking other people’s information without the owner’s consent is a serious thing. Posting that stolen information online is also serious. Both are rude, a grievous invasion of privacy, and, above all else, it’s illegal. Anyone found guilty of committing these acts can find themselves in very serious trouble. And when I say “serious,” I’m talking a minimum of two years in prison serious.”
Applebloom, Scootaloo, and Sweetie Belle all jumped in surprise at what they had just heard.
“I understand that many of the students here at CHS have found themselves victimized by the criminal calling himself Anon-a-Miss. But after verifying some information with Luna, Celestia, and those two young men over there,” he said while pointing at Snips and Snails, “I’m fairly confident about who it is that started all of this.”
“Sunset Shimmer,” a voice called out. “Now can you please stop wasting time so that we can go back to class?”
The Police Commissioner turned and asked in a tone that radiated power, “Who just said that?”
The group of students sitting at Gilda’s table immediately scooted away and pointed fingers at a young girl who had a bandage wrapped over her nose. Swift Order approached at a methodical pace, and with each step, the girl seemed to shrink down a little.
“Hello there, young lady. May I ask what your name is?” Although he was acting polite, the Commissioner had an eerie aura about him.
“L-Lightning Dust … sir,” the girl stammered out.
“Lightning Dust,” the Commissioner repeated. “That’s a very pretty name you’ve got there, young lady.”
“Um … thanks?” the girl replied with discomfort.
“Yeah, a pretty name indeed.” The commissioner then leaned in so close that Lightning could smell his coffee scented breath. “I’ll be sure to remember it when you’re being escorted off of the premises in handcuffs later today.”
The teen’s mouth dropped in surprise as the Commissioner walked away.
“So, as I was saying, the person who I believe was behind the cyber attacks ...” Swift Order walked over to the table where Rainbow Dash and the others were sitting and pointed a single bony finger towards a frightened looking Applebloom. “… Was this little one, right here. You’re in big trouble, Miss Bloom.”
“Wh- what? But … but!” mumbled a misty eyed Applebloom.
“Okay, that’s where I draw the line!” Applejack stood up and marched over to Swift Order. Without thinking about her actions, she jabbed a finger into the Police Commissioners chest. “I don’t know who you think you are accusin’ my little sis’ like that! She ain’t no crook!”
“Applejack, settle down,” commanded Celestia.
“No! Not until he stops pointing fingers at Applebloom!” Applejack paused for a second. “Which reminds me, where’s your proof anyway? Aren’t you cops supposed to have evidence before you go around boastin’ about who’s guilty and who’s innocent?!”
The Police Commissioner stared Applejack in the eye and smiled. “You have a point. Maybe I was a little … bold, seeing as how I don’t have anything official,” Swift Order admitted. “At least, not yet anyway. But that’ll change within the next hour or so.”
“What are you talkin’ about?” Applejack asked in confusion.
Swift Order folded his arms behind his back and began pacing back and forth. “In addition to the other Officers standing in this room, I was able to bring in some friends of mine from the FBI. They owe me some favors, you see.” Swift Order turned back around and locked onto Applebloom with a penetrating stare.
“They’ve been here since around five in the morning, tearing the computers in your school library apart, looking for evidence. I asked for a status update right before you were all called here. They’ve confirmed that someone in this school signed into Mystable on the “Anon-a-Miss” account, at least seven different times. We have a password now and everything. But the thing is, they’re not going to shut the account down just yet. That’d be too easy. Instead, we’ve got something far more efficient in mind.”
As he went on, Applebloom broke out into a nervous sweat. No one noticed this, except for the Commissioner.
“As we speak, they’re currently in the process of tracing the account's information back to its original source. Soon we’ll be able to pinpoint the exact location of the device that the account was created on. So if the account was created on a laptop, for example, and the culprit left it at their place of residence, we’ll be able to pay them a house call. And if Anon-a-Miss ever, at any point in time, signed into that account using a cell phone, we’ll have ourselves a phone number that we could lock onto as well.”
Swift Order turned back to Applejack and smiled again. “If your sister really is innocent, then I’ll gladly apologize. But if the agents find anything that can link her to the crime …” The Police Commissioner’s face became serious as he looked Applebloom in the eye. “Then she’ll be coming back to the station with me faster than you can say “Don’t drop the soap”.”
“Wait!”
Everyone in the room turned towards Sweetie Belle. The poor girl had broken down and had begun to sob. “I did it … I stole Sunset’s phone while she wasn’t looking. I posted those pictures of my big sister and her friends. I made everyone think that it was Sunset ... I’m Anon-a-Miss … just … leave Applebloom alone.”
For a long while, not a word was spoken. The Principal and Vice Principal both shared looks of sadness, while the students who had heard the announcement began to whisper and mumble amongst themselves.
It couldn’t have been true. Sunset was Anon-a-Miss, not some random middle schooler! Sunset had to have been manipulating them somehow. Their whispers were silenced by the girl’s big sister.
“Sweetie Belle,” Rarity called out in a shaky voice, “this is a joke, right?”
Sweetie Belle couldn’t bring herself to look her big sister in the eye.
“Sweetie Belle, please tell me that you didn’t and that you’re just covering for someone else. Please tell me, that I didn’t just hear you say that it was you the whole time.”
Once again, the other girl didn’t say a word.
“Sweetie Belle!” Rarity shouted.
This time, the 8th grader replied back. “I’m sorry, Rarity.” Sweetie Belle then buried her face in her hands and continued to cry.
The Commissioner stepped forward, a grim expression etched into his face. “Well, I believe I’ve heard enough.” He reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a pair of handcuffs. “Sweetie Belle, you’re under arrest for -”
“Hold on!” Rarity jumped in front of the Police Commissioner and outstretched her arms in an attempt to bar his path. “Please, she didn’t know what she was doing! You don’t have to arrest her! She’s just a little girl!”
“I’m sorry, young lady, but I’m going to have ask you to move. What you’re doing now qualifies as “Obstruction of Justice”, which is illegal. If you don’t step aside then I’m going to have to arrest you as well.”
“Hold on a sec’,” came the guilty voice of Applebloom. “I’m the one ya’ want. This whole thing was my idea. I started this when I posted that story about my big sis. I’m the one who made the account. Don’t arrest Sweetie Belle or Rarity. If anyone should go to jail, take me.”
Applejack’s eyes grew to the size of dinner plates. “No … You … but then … that means that …” She turned towards the Police Commissioner who stared back at her with a wide grin that said “I told you so.”
“Wait.”
Everyone in the room turned towards Rainbow Dash. With just that single command, the entire room had gone as silent as the grave. She looked past Applebloom, past Sweetie Belle, and spoke again.
“Scootaloo.”
The violet haired girl gulped in fear as her role model stood up and slowly began to stalk towards her.
“Did you help them?” asked Rainbow Dash.
Sensing the danger that she was in, Scootaloo rose from her seat and backed away on trembling legs. “I … I … uh …”
“Did. You. Help. Them?” Rainbow Dash repeated, a little louder this time while pausing between each word.
At this point, Applebloom and Sweetie Belle darted in front of their friend and wrapped her in a protective hug. Next, Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie, and Fluttershy all stood in front of Rainbow in an effort to keep her from advancing on Scootaloo. Rainbow stopped for a moment, taking in the newly established barricade.
“Rainbow, please calm down,” pleaded Fluttershy.
“We know how you feel. We all got embarrassed too, but violence won’t solve anything,” Rarity reasoned.
“Think about what yer’ trying to do, Dash. Please, just take a deep breath, and sit back down,” said Applejack.
“Rainbow Dash,” whimpered Applebloom, “Don’t be mad at Scootaloo. She tried to warn us that we might have been goin’ a little too far. She didn’t know that we had that picture of you until after I posted it. I wasn't thinking! I'm sorry! We all are!”
Rainbow Dash stared at the small roadblock in front of her. After several seconds of silence, her breathing slowed down, and she appeared calm.
Applejack cautiously broke away from the group and placed a hand on Rainbow’s shoulder. “C’mon, let’s go back and -” she never got to finish her sentence. Rainbow shoved Applejack onto the floor and then forced her way past her friends, causing Pinkie and Rarity to trip and fall.
Fluttershy, the last one standing, gasped in surprise upon seeing Swift Order signal for the other Officers to get involved. “Rainbow! Stop!”
She didn’t listen.
Scootaloo screamed out in terror as she was snatched away from her friends and was forced to gaze into the enraged eyes of her idol.
“Do you have any idea what you did to me, to my friends, and to the whole school?! Because of you, Sunset-” That was when Rainbow Dash froze, something that didn’t go unnoticed by the Commissioner who then ordered the other Officers to stop.
Rainbow’s eyes widened in horror. For the last two weeks, Sunset had been trying to tell the girls, had been trying to tell her, that she was innocent, but no one ever listened. She tried one final time back at Sugar Cube Corner, and she responded to her friend’s pleas by nearly throwing punches at her.
Rainbow slowly turned back towards the small girl in her hands, but instead of Scootaloo, all she saw was Sunset. The image then began to distort into that of a defenseless girl who had been beaten half to death in a revenge plot gone wrong; a plot that she herself had helped to orchestrate.
Rainbow dropped Scootaloo, who then got carried to safety by her two friends. She collapsed onto her knees and placed both hands towards her mouth, contemplating the disaster that her actions had wrought. Sunset, was possibly lying in a hospital bed, or worse, and it was all because she had been too stupid to listen.
At long last, the truth had become painfully clear to Rainbow Dash. She herself was the betrayer, not Sunset.
Fluttershy looked on as her friend sat there in a daze, completely immobilized. She didn't know why Rainbow had dropped Scootaloo all of a sudden, or what thoughts were circulating in her brain, but there was one thing that she did know. Rainbow needed some time to herself. “Principal Celestia?” she finally called out in concern. “Can … we please walk Rainbow to the infirmary? I think it might be better for everyone if we gave her some space.”
Celestia turned towards the Commissioner, who then turned towards one of the Officers, a short man who looked to be in his mid-twenties. The Officer nodded once before gently lifting Rainbow Dash up by the hand. The girl gave no resistance as she was gently escorted out the door.
Now that the excitement had died down, all eyes were now focused on Sweetie Belle, Apple Bloom, and Scootaloo, who, like Rainbow Dash, had been rendered almost completely unresponsive.
“Um … Mister Swift?” Rarity called out to the Commissioner. “Do you really have to arrest them? I think they’ve been through enough for today.”
“Yeah,” Applejack said while observing the saddened look on her sister’s face. “And can ya’ tell those FBI people to stop too? I don’t think my Granny would take too well to havin’ our door kicked down. And I’m real sorry about snappin’ at ya’ earlier.”
Swift Order smiled and put his handcuffs away. “All is forgiven. And don’t worry about having your home searched. Everything I said before about the FBI and tracing signals back to a source? I made all of that up.”
“You did what?!” exclaimed Rarity. “You mean that you scared us all half to death just for laughs?!”
“Not entirely. I heard from a reliable source that all three of those girls were close friends, and that if one of them did it, then all three were likely guilty. The problem was that I didn’t have any proof - this was pretty last minute after all. So I kept adding pressure until someone finally cracked. And since they care about each other so much, after one confessed, the others followed. I took a gamble and they fell for it like a sack of bricks. Which reminds me,” Swift Order turned towards one of the other officers. “Did you get all of that on the recorder?”
The Officer, a lady with light brown hair, pulled out a black box and pushed a bright red button on the top.
“I did it … I stole Sunset’s phone while she wasn’t looking -”
“I got everything up until that girl flipped her lid,” the woman replied.
“So then, you’re not going to take them to jail?” Pinkie asked in reference to the three culprits.
“That all depends.”
“On?” asked Rarity.
“Don’t worry about it. Just sit back for now and enjoy the show,” the Commissioner instructed.
Rarity grabbed Sweetie Belle by the hand and led her back to the table. Applejack did the same for Applebloom and Fluttershy escorted Scootaloo.
“Applejack?” came the saddened voice of Applebloom. The middle-schooler watched as her big sister turned towards her with an expression that was a mix of anger, disappointment, and genuine hurt. “Do you … still love me?”
Applejack took a long drawn out breath. “Bloom, you’re my little sister. I’m gonna love ya’ no matter what.” Her voice then took on a harsher tone. “But that doesn’t mean that I’m not gonna skin your hide when we get back home.” Worry began to coat her features as she turned her attention to the Commissioner. "Assuming that you even get to go back home today ..."
With all of the commotion having settled down, Swift Order turned towards Gilda and the other students sitting at her table.
“And now that the big mystery about Anon-a-Miss’s identity has been settled … I have a few questions about how an innocent CHS student was assaulted here last night.”