//------------------------------// // Chapter 49: Shattered Sunset // Story: The Other Journal // by Ganondorf8 //------------------------------// Day: Thursday Weather: Snow Time: 9:00am The second slumber party was just as exciting as the first one was, yet it felt more reserved thanks to Rarity's stylistic choices. I had been concerned about Applejack's well-being since her secret got exposed, but that soon changed to being concerned about myself. Rarity revealed that Applejack had second thoughts regarding her sister's claim, and I struggled to come to grips that perhaps she believed Applebloom. I was encouraged to not allow such thoughts to consume my mind, so I carried on through the night without worrying about what might be true. After spending a good hour taking selfies using my cellphone while wearing some of Rarity's tacky outfits, I sent a message to Princess Twilight before heading to bed, my head held high. My photos somehow ended up on MyStable the next morning. I knew they were mine. I recognized the various shots instantly. My friends were devastated by this sudden revelation, and the life that I had was about to end. The Other Journal By Ganondorf8 February 1, 2016 Chapter 49: Shattered Sunset. " You forgot to activate the password on your cellphone?" Twilight asked. " I never thought it was important. If I had been out and about, then I would have made sure the password had been turned on in case I were to misplace it. Since I was with our friends, the thought just never occurred to me. My password was complicated, one that most would never have figured out unless they really knew me." I answered. Most people use a combination of letters and numbers, words that held important meaning to them, or something completely farfetched as passwords for their cellphones. Mine was one that held sentimental value and a longing for wanting to someday make amends for being such a horrible student: Princess_Celestia_Ruler_of_the_Sun. It may have been impractical given how long it was, but it meant everything and more. Even now, I refuse to change it. My desire to return home to Equestria remains ever close to my heart. I just need to overcome my own insecurities of having to deal with a possible punishment for my actions. " You could have prevented Anon-A-Miss from gaining access to those photos." Twilight said. " She was resourceful. Even if I had prevented her from getting her hands on those photos, she would have found some other way to convince everyone at school that she and I were one and the same. No matter what, the outcome would have been the same." I said. " Sunset..." " However, Anon-A-Miss would make one fatal mistake." " What was that?" " She underestimated the power of people's desire to know everything about those they interact with." I answered. Humans were curious creatures by nature. They didn't care what they had to go through in order to uncover anyone's secrets. It was this lust for knowing the truth which compelled them. They all wanted power to dominate others, and that meant knowing everything. It would give them an advantage, but at the cost of losing friendships, family, and even themselves in the process. Anon-A-Miss learned that when you expose someone's secrets, people always want to have more. It's a vicious cycle where no one wins. " I have a feeling more than just Applejack's and Rarity's secrets were exposed." Twilight said. " How about the whole student body?" " Seriously!?" " I'm dead serious, Twilight. Students started sending other secrets to Anon-A-Miss in the hopes that she would post them online. She did because there was no other choice for her but to cave in to their demands. This started a chain reaction. Everyone began lashing out at one another over what had been posted. Friendships were brought to horrifying ends, some students insisted on changing schools over what had been revealed about them, but the worst thing was that the school had regressed back to the status quo before Princess Twilight first showed up. You could say Anon-A-Miss became Sunset Shimmer 2.0." I said. " Did it really get that bad?" Twilight asked. " I caused a lot of emotional damage in my first years at CHS. What Anon-A-Miss did was exactly what I had done, but at a much faster pace." I answered. It's a good thing that Princess Twilight never returned to this world during this time. If she had, her heart would have been broken beyond repair. She had placed her own future on the line when she united the entire school to defeat me, and Anon-A-Miss had taken it all away in the span of two days. Now that I think about it, Her Highness not coming here was a blessing; she had her own secrets that couldn't be exposed. I mean, the student body and the teachers were aware that she was a pony, along with myself, but that was all they could really know. The existence of Equestria and the magic that exists there could never be made known to these humans. They would become delusional with the desire of power, and that could destroy both worlds. Twilight is a perfect example of what can happen were a non-magical person suddenly granted powers they don't really understand. In addition to the secrets behind what exists in Equestria, some of Her Highness' more intimate secrets would have been scandalous. One time, she wrote to me about when one of her secrets, or rather, an exaggeration of one, was exposed across Ponyville. It was claimed that Princess Twilight, before she became an alicorn, viewed Ponyville as a backwater town when compared to Canterlot. Her Highness never said anything like that, yet ponies assumed she had and didn't care what the actual truth was. It was a secret being exposed, and they loved every moment. In that sense, ponies were similar to humans. In the case of what happened with Anon-A-Miss, though, the secrets she posted online were all real. " And the teachers never found out about any of this?" Twilight asked. " It still amazes me how it slipped past them." " Okay, so what happened after you took those photos?" " We had so much fun messing around that we lost track of time. We would eventually put all of those clothes away and start getting prepared for bed. Fluttershy, who had been curious about the magic journal, approached me and wanted to learn more about how it worked. No one among our friends had ever been curious about it before. I couldn't blame them, as they still doubted its ability to communicate with Equestria. Fluttershy was an exception. She genuinely wanted to know." My friends and I continued having fun posing in so many outlandish costumes. Despite Rarity's insistence that they were nothing short of embarrassing, she couldn't help but enjoy wearing them, showing us that she was okay with doing something out of her comfort zone. Among all of us, Pinkie was the most reserved. She posed wearing outfits that one could possibly wear for formal occasions. I expected her to go completely crazy with the different zany combinations of clothes. That honour went to Applejack, who decided to cut loose and wear outfits that were really out there. Some of what she wore I didn't even know existed. Deep down, I knew she wanted to take her mind off of what happened earlier with the whole "Piggly-Wiggly" problem. Eventually, I looked at the clock hanging on the wall and alerted the others to a horrible truth. We had completely lost track of time. What had originally been an hour of us having fun and not caring about what others would think had suddenly turned into four hours. Rarity at first felt disappointed that her plans for her slumber party didn't get carried out, but she quickly changed her mind, saying that things went better than expected. It was actually good that we stopped when we did; my cellphone's memory card had gotten completely filled up with photos of us posing. Would I consider printing some of these off? Perhaps. I thought that these photos represented cherished memories, ones where we could have fun just being ourselves. We deserved this private moment, so I decided to keep some of the photos. Yes, only some. I had to delete a lot of the really bad ones to free up space on my memory card. Those things weren't cheap, and financial income wasn't something I could rely on consistently. It took us about five minutes to pick up all of the outfits and place them back in Rarity's closet. Despite having so much fun, she was still insistent on donating them to the charity drive she frequents. Pinkie Pie protested that she should reconsider after the fun we had, but I had to agree with Rarity. If you don't plan on wearing something, then why even keep it in the first place? They would be better off donated so that someone else, who might be struggling out there in the world, could have it instead. Besides, Rarity's closet was bound to have future "bad" outfits, so we can easily repeat this experience if we wanted. Soon, everyone started to get sleepy, and we all agreed on getting an early night to avoid the exhaustion we had from this morning. I had chosen a small corner of Rarity's bedroom as my resting place, so I walked over to my sleeping bag and climbed into it. I reached into my backpack and took out the magic journal with the intention of sending another message to Princess Twilight. Opening it up and flipping through the pages until I reached the last message, I looked at what I had written, before staring upwards at the ceiling. I wondered if Her Highness was really okay about me sending her messages, especially at inopportune times. As a princess in Equestria, she had responsibilities and obligations, and responding to someone living in an alternate dimension would be the last thing she ought to be doing. If she ever were to ask me to stop writing to her so frequently, I'd do so without a second thought. " What are you thinking about, Sunset?" " Waah!" I almost jumped right out of my sleeping bag when Fluttershy startled me. I had been so deep in thought, I didn't even notice her sitting down next to me. Still, I felt embarrassed about my reaction. " I'm sorry for, um, disturbing you." " If anyone should apologize, it's me for reacting like that." " Um, I could leave you alone and head off to bed, uh, if you want." " No. You came over to talk to me. So, what did you want?" " I'm, um, curious." " About what?" " That magic journal you're holding in your hands. I'm, uh, curious as to how it really works. I still find it fascinating that you can communicate directly with Princess Twilight even though she's in a different dimension." Fluttershy answered. I was taken by surprise by what she just said. While my friends had acknowledged that my journal contained powerful magic, they still had their doubts as to what it could really do. Humans tended to denounce anything that's supernatural, yet Fluttershy was an exception. She had a genuine curiosity about her. I could tell, as she constantly stared down at the pages of the journal. " How do you suppose it connects with what Princess Twilight has in Equestria? Is it a simple spell or one that's really complicated?" Fluttershy asked. " Communicating via inter-dimensional means is magic of the highest caliber. Neither Her Highness nor myself are capable of casting such magic ourselves. If anyone back home were capable of such a feat, it would either be Princess Celestia or Star Swirl the Bearded in his prime. I'm personally leaning towards the latter, as his extensive knowledge on magic was far beyond the reach of all other ponies." I answered. " He must still be very powerful." Fluttershy said. " I'm afraid that he's been dead for close to a thousand years." " Oh, um, I'm sorry about that." " You don't need to be, Fluttershy. Star Swirl lived long before anypony in Equestria was born, save for Princess Celestia and Princess Luna. We only know of him from all the achievements he accomplished in his field." I said. I found it strange that Fluttershy was concerned about a pony who was alive around the time Equestria was founded and even more strange that she wasn't freaked out about the fact that I came from a world filled with ponies capable of talking. I suppose that could apply to my other friends as well. I've never really asked them their opinions on my place of birth, but then, they were accepting of such a truth when Princess Twilight revealed her true origins. Maybe I'm just not giving my friends enough credit? " So, when you write something down, it can be read by Princess Twilight?" Fluttershy asked. " Yes. I told this to you all before when I first showed it to you." I answered. " Oh, that's right. I, uh, forgot." " While it may seem like it takes minutes for my message to reach her, I think it actually takes mere seconds. In fact, if I were to write down a single word, I'm pretty sure it would appear in the other journal instantly. That said, I have no idea how long it takes." I answered. Since Fluttershy had such a strong interest in my journal, maybe I should consider teaching her and the others more about Equestrian magic. I'm certain they would be up for it. After all, when we pony up, we channel the magic each of us possesses. Who wouldn't want to learn more about how their powers work in a world which can't comprehend it? Should I ask them right now? Nah! I'll wait until after the holiday. Besides, they're more interested in spending the holidays just relaxing. No sense in trying to make them study anything during such a wondrous time of the year. " Um, I have a small request." Fluttershy said. " What is it?" " I, uh, want to send a message to Princess Twilight." " Oh? And what brought that on?" " Well, I want to say hello and maybe ask why she couldn't be here with us." " I already told you and the others that Her Highness has obligations in Equestria. She also has her family and friends there to consider. Finally, they are currently celebrating their own version of Christmas." I said. Fluttershy then looked at me, her eyes filling slightly with tears. If she was trying to make me cave in, then she had definitely succeeded. " Alright. You can send a message to her, but you'll get the same thing from her as you got from me. She'll tell you why she can't come here for the holidays. On the positive side, I'm sure she would appreciate you writing something." I said, handing Fluttershy the journal and a pen. It took her a few minutes before she began writing down what she wanted to say. Once she had finished, she handed it back, and I proceeded to read what she had written. Dear Princess Twilight, This is Fluttershy. I was curious about how this journal works, and Sunset gave me permission to write something to you. I'm not really sure what I want to say; I didn't put much thought into this. I do have one question, though. Why aren't you able to be here with us for the holidays? I'm sorry if I'm sounding too forward, so I'll end this message right now. I'm sorry for wasting your time. Fluttershy I'm not sure why she continued insisting that she was doing the wrong thing. Fluttershy may have had a heart of gold, but she was lacking in confidence. Perhaps she should consider taking some assertiveness training in the new year? I don't want her to become something she's not, but I'd rather not have her be someone who other people constantly walk all over. About a minute later, the journal began to glow, and a message appeared in its pages. This made me happy, as it meant Princess Twilight would respond to the message I planned on sending her after everyone else has gone to bed. Dear Fluttershy, I am surprised that you're curious about the journal's magic, but it's always a good idea to broaden your horizons. I'm sure if you ask her, Sunset will teach you more about the journal and quite possibly about other forms of Equestrian magic. Just don't ask her to teach you too much. The magic of Equestria is difficult for other creatures to fathom if they're not fully used to it. To answer your main question, I would have come, but I couldn't miss out on celebrating Hearth's Warming. I also have my duties as a princess, which limit my freedom, but don't worry; I plan on paying everyone another visit in due time. There is much of your world that fascinates me, and it would be nice to visit without having to save it from magical beings like the ones that plague my world constantly. Yours sincerely, Princess Twilight Sparkle. " She wants to visit us again?" Fluttershy asked. " I think I've got a pretty good idea as to what 'fascinated' her." I answered, chuckling to myself. " I don't get it." " Remind me to tell you sometime. I guarantee you'll get a real kick out of it." " Well, I think I'll get off to bed now. Goodnight, Sunset, and thank you for letting me use your journal." Fluttershy said. She then got up and walked over to her sleeping bag, making sure not to wake up everyone else. They had all since fallen asleep. Soon, she closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep, leaving me the only one still awake. I planned on going to sleep shortly, but first, I wanted to send my own message to Princess Twilight. The events of that day were something she needed to know about, but I couldn't be too serious about it. I didn't want her to consider dropping everything in Equestria and coming here to solve a simple problem of online bullying. Instead, I'm going to have a little bit of fun with her, and mention that Flash Sentry went to spend his holidays in the Carribean. I chuckled under my breath thinking about how Her Highness reacts over every small detail about Flash. It was really cute whenever she did that. Looking up at the ceiling, my thoughts on Princess Twilight faded away momentarily and began to focus on Anon-A-Miss. I was still having trouble coming to grips with how she came upon Applejack's secret. The idea that someone overheard her was just preposterous. Applejack never talks about her family life unless you've truly earned her trust, so that meant someone close to her decided to betray her trust. I had no idea who it could be, and I wasn't about to spend the rest of the night pondering over it. I'd try to figure out an answer the next day. Opening up the journal again, I tapped my pen on the page for several minutes before I began writing. Dear Princess Twilight, I've had my second slumber party with the girls, and it went better than expected. Despite what I've said about my inferiority complex, I'm starting to find more common ground with everyone. I feel as though I'm now even closer to you all. It's kind of weird. I've never felt this accepted since, well, ever. I feel like I finally have a family again. I mean, I do have an actual family in Equestria, but they're just a distant memory. Without all of you to help and support me, I'd still be a bully trying to rule the school. By the way, in case you wanted to come here as soon as possible in order to see a certain blue-haired boy, I'm afraid you're out of luck until next year. Flash is currently away on vacation with his family, but he did mention a desire to see you again before he left. I think you've found yourself a real keeper, but I'm not going to press the issue. What you do with your love life is up to you. There is one more thing I need to tell you. A problem has occurred at school involving a personal secret of Applejack's being made public. Now, before you overreact and drop everything in order to come here, do know that we can handle things, so you can relax. I'm sure it will all be resolved by tomorrow morning. Oh yeah, how did spending time with your parents turn out? Anything exciting happening in Equestria right now? Anyway, I should get some sleep, but before I do that, I want to mention something that I feel needs to be said. I truly appreciate everything that you've all done for me. I love you all. Sunset Shimmer Once I finished my message, I closed the journal. My eyelids were getting heavy at this point, so I struggled with putting the journal into my backpack quietly. I didn't want to accidentally wake anyone up. My eyes slowly closed, and I fell asleep, but for some reason, my ears picked up the sounds of shuffling on the carpet. It felt like someone was getting close to me, but I assumed it was Pinkie Pie having one of her midnight snack binges. I didn't feel like opening my eyes and confronting whoever was shuffling about. I was too exhausted at that point. " Who was shuffling around that late at night?" Twilight asked. " I actually thought it was Pinkie, but it turned out to have been Anon-A-Miss." I answered. " How could she have been at Rarity's house? Unless, someone there was behind her identity?" Twilight asked. Once again, I chose to remain quiet, and she knew that nothing would convince me to reveal the answer. I couldn't tell her the identity of Anon-A-Miss--at least, not yet--without her overreacting. Twilight had been growing ever more passionate about me, and I could tell she would lash out at anyone who tried to harm me. Was it a little bizarre that she felt that way ever since I started reading my journal? Or, was it because I offered her friendship during a time where she was on the verge of being left alone forever? There's no denying how cute it was, but being cute doesn't excuse anyone from taking things the wrong way. Twilight then sighed, knowing I wouldn't budge. " I had a feeling you weren't going to mention a name, but that's okay; I'll find out eventually. Did Princess Twilight ever send you a response to your message? I'm actually curious about what she said in response about Flash Sentry." " Really? You want to know about that?" I asked. " What? I'm just curious." Twilight answered, blushing for a brief moment before she turned away in embarrassment. Did she have a crush on Flash too? I wasn't an expert on love, but it looks like she may have a very tiny crush on him. I'll attribute it to what I've said about him. I did feel bad about Flash, though. He had no idea that the Twilight he was talking to isn't the one he went to the Fall Formal with. Her glasses should have been a dead giveaway, but I suppose most people assumed she had been wearing contacts and suddenly decided she'd switch back. " Sure, I'll show you the message." I picked up the magic journal and flipped through the pages until I came to Princess Twilight's response. Of all the messages I've received from Her Highness since we started doing this, it was this one in particular which always made me laugh. Her introduction was simply priceless, as she had done the same thing when Applejack brought Flash up after she returned to help deal with the Sirens. " Here we are, Twilight. This is what she said in response, but I didn't get a chance to look at it until after things calmed down." I said. " Wow... I didn't think she could be more obvious." Twilight said. " Flash was always on her mind, even when it didn't look like it." " She comes off as immature here." " Aren't you the same with science?" " Touché." " You're starting to pick up some of my habits." " Sorry." " No, it's completely fine. I just never expected anyone to mimic my qualities, given what I've been like over the years. Anyway, her response was quick and to the point. I figured she wanted to go to bed herself or was on her way out." I said. Dear Sunset Shimmer, What!? Flash Sentry went on vacation? Where did he go? Did he say anything about bringing back souvenirs? Why didn't you tell me sooner? That sounds very nice, and I hope he has a good time. Glad to see that your friendships with everyone are growing stronger. I am surprised that Applejack's secret got revealed, and while I think I should be there just in case, I'll respect your decision and remain in Equestria. Just don't get too overwhelmed, okay? I loved my visit to my parents, and I plan on having them here at my castle tomorrow. As for other business, I don't really have anything else to say. Still wish you could have told me about Flash, though. He hasn't forgotten about me, has he? Maybe he'll get me something from his vacation? Perhaps I should make plans on visiting sooner rather than later. To see all of you, of course. Your friend, Princess Twilight Sparkle Twilight stared at the response for a few moments before falling over backwards and laughing hysterically. I'll admit that Her Highness' response was pretty funny. It showed that despite being a princess, she was still an immature child, just like the rest of us. Closing the magic journal and placing it to one side, I picked up the other journal and opened to where I had left off before turning the page. My entire body froze for a few moments, when I started shaking. This is what I had been fearing. I tried to say something, but my mouth was incapable of uttering a single word. To get Twilight's attention to what was happening, I began tapping my finger on the page. The sound of paper rustling didn't appear to phase her, but I needed her attention now! When Twilight finally pulled herself back up after laughing so hard, she immediately noticed my shivering body. At first, she assumed that I was feeling cold, so she got up, took a flashlight, and was about to go looking for the thermostat, before she looked back at me. My eyes were looking downward, prompting her to realize what the actual problem was. I eventually managed to sputter out a single word. " Pain." " Pain? What do you mean?" " Look down at the page." I answered. Twilight did as I asked, and covered her mouth in horror upon seeing another photo. It had been taken by Photo Finish, and it depicted me in a heap, surrounded by other students, crying my eyes out. " Is... Is this what you've been afraid to reveal?" Twilight asked. " Yes." Wednesday had proven to be a dull day, and for that, I was relieved. Anon-A-Miss hadn't posted anything on MyStable, so I assumed that the danger had past. It must have been some kind of prank on Applejack. In any case, the third slumber party just so happened to be at Sweet Apple Acres. It wasn't what I'd call the most exciting party I've ever been too. While there was plenty of food to go around--a little too much--much of our time was dedicated to working on some chores Granny Smith needed to have done in time for the Christmas gathering at the end of next week. Because her family needed the main house in order to finish their decorating, we were forced to spend the night in the barn. It was actually rather cozy, and we got some free time to practice our music. At least there weren't any animals wandering about in the barn. The noise from our instruments would have driven them bonkers. Just like during Rarity's party, we all decided to get to bed earlier than usual. We didn't want to be exhausted the next day. While everyone else had left for school, I decided to remain behind in the barn. All our music playing had triggered our pony-ups, and I had to write down some notes to aid in my research regarding the magic problem. Despite everything that had happened, I was still determined to solve this problem. After an hour of combing through everything, I packed my things and headed off for school. I had no intention of being late. When I arrived, students began looking at me, suspicion clearly in their eyes. Had I done something to offend them? No, I don't think I did. Entering the building, more students were looking in my direction, and I started feeling uncomfortable. Why were they staring at me? Had I become the next victim of Anon-A-Miss? I had to find my friends, so I ran down the hallway, turned at the next corner, and resumed walking when I saw them by some lockers. If I didn't know any better, I could've sworn they were giving me the same look of suspicion. Something was wrong with this picture. " Hey girls!" I called out, only to be ignored. " What's going... on?" They looked angry. My eyes weren't playing tricks on me. " Sunset, I want to ask you a question." Applejack said. " What is it?" " Have you lost your phone recently?" " Um, no? I have it right here." I answered. I reached into my pocket and took out my cellphone, confusion spread across my face. What did my phone have to do with the way my friends were looking at me? Applejack's expression suddenly changed from calm to anger, and I needed to know what was going on. " As you can see, it's been in my pocket all this time. Why?" " Then you need to explain this!" Applejack answered angrily before handing her cellphone over to me. I had no idea what was going on, so I looked at what was on the screen, and my jaw dropped. The screen displayed Anon-A-Miss' profile on MyStable, and right there for all to see were the photos I had taken during Rarity's slumber party. I then noticed Anon-A-Miss' profile image had changed. It still displayed an image of my head, but was now in full colour, yet with certain features made to look monstrous. My own profile image was in her group of friends, along with other students who could be described as not being the best role models. Since when did I become friends with her? I barely even use MyStable. There was also a message posted by Anon-A-Miss, and I reluctantly began to read it. OMG... what a bunch of dorks! Hahaha! There was another message posted by her earlier. I know a secret... It didn't take long for me to put two and two together. She had sent a warning message that she was going to post something, and the next post was the photos I had taken on my cellphone. Why didn't any of the group shots feature me in them? Where were the photos of me wearing Rarity's ridiculous outfits? I was so distraught, I didn't even notice this discrepancy until I read those messages. Still, what were my friends getting at? I only post on MyStable every month or two, yet Anon-A-Miss had been posting every few hours since creating her account a few days ago. I'd worry about that detail later, as my main concern was dealing with this unexpected revelation. " What!? How is this possible? How did she get our pictures?" I asked. " They're not our pictures, Sunset." Applejack answered. " They're yours." Rainbow Dash added. " All those pictures were taken by you." Applejack said. " I know I took those photos! Heck, you and Rarity saw me taking them. I've had my phone all this time, and not once has it ever been out of my sight." I said. I was starting to get anxious over what Applejack had been saying. I knew she had second thoughts on believing what her sister claimed, but I didn't think it would be this bad. " I don't know how my photos ended up getting onto MyStable, but I swear to you that it's been on my person." " Then can you explain what's on my phone's screen?" Applejack asked. " I... I can't." " It all makes sense. How did she know about my nickname? How did she get the pictures from your phone? We all thought that one of the other girls was responsible for doing this, but the truth was that it was someone much closer to us. It was you all along! You're Anon-A-Miss!" Applejack said. My heart felt like it had just been shattered into pieces upon hearing her say those words. She couldn't have been serious! Why in the world would my friends accuse me of being responsible for exposing their secrets? No! They had it all wrong! I'm not Anon-A-Miss, yet I lacked proof to make them believe that. Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and Pinkie Pie looked at me with scorn in their eyes. Fluttershy and Rarity simply looked disappointed. " We trusted you, Sunset!" Rainbow Dash said. " We thought you were our friend." Fluttershy added. " How could you do this?" Pinkie Pie asked. " After all we've been through." Rarity added. " No. Wait, you guys--" I said, struggling to find the appropriate words to say. Various images of all the good times I've had with my friends began racing through my head and suddenly started popping as a result of these accusations. I couldn't believe this was happening to me. My life was starting to crumble all around me, and I needed to apply some damage control to stop the bleeding. " Listen! I didn't do this! You've got it all wrong! I could never hurt any of you!" " But you did! You must've just been pretending to be our friend. The other students always believed you weren't serious about changing your ways. They warned us not to accept your forgiveness, and we should have listened. All along, you were after our secrets! You... you... secret stealer!" Pinkie Pie shouted. " No! No! I don't know how she got this stuff, but it wasn't me. I'm not the one who did this to all of you. I'm not this person." I said. " Princess Twilight believed you deserved a second chance. She was wrong! That was one of the worst decisions she's ever made." Pinkie Pie said. " That was kinda takin' things a mighty bit too far there, Pinkie." Applejack said. " You're right. I shouldn't drag Princess Twilight into this mess, even if she was the one who insisted on asking us to be Sunset's friend. After all, she didn't make Sunset lie to us all this time." Pinkie Pie said. I struggled to refrain from throttling Pinkie for bringing Her Highness into this. I may live in this world, but I take offence when anyone disrespects one of the Princesses of Equestria. In hindsight, however, I realized my hypocrisy. I disrespected both Celestia and Twilight many times before I changed. Still, my hands trembled with the notion that Pinkie had crossed a line, but at least she backed off. " I'm not that person!" I reiterated. " No, you're not!" Fluttershy said, slapping my hand in frustration. That shocked me. " I never thought you would ever do something like that." I said. " Then I guess you don't know that much about me. Oh, wait! You do, and you chose to expose our secrets online!" " That wasn't me!" " I don't believe you!" " Fluttershy... What happened to the shy, quiet girl who talked to me two nights ago?" " That was when I thought you were our friend, but after what we've seen posted on Anon-A-Miss' page--no, on your page--I now understand the truth. All this time, I thought you were someone who struggled through hardships in order to start a new beginning. Now I realize it was all just a lie!" Fluttershy answered. She had since started to burst into tears, her frustration continuing to grow. I couldn't believe what I was staring at. When she wrote that message to Princess Twilight, she was filled with both joy and curiosity. Now she was filled with anger. It wounded my heart to see tears gushing down her face and dropping down to the ground below. " You're not the person we thought you were. You're not our friend anymore, Sunset!" Fluttershy then turned her face away from me, and Rarity started comforting her. " No. I... I am. I promise!" I said, tears gushing forth from my eyes as well. This was nothing short of a nightmare. If I were to pinch myself right now, I'd surely wake up in my sleeping bag, and none of this would have happened. Yet, I knew this was real. As much as it pained me to admit it, this was really happening. My life was hanging on by a mere thread, and that thread was quickly breaking. I tried to approach Fluttershy in the hopes of making her realize that I had nothing to with this, but Applejack stood in front of me, arms folded across her chest, a stern look on her face. " Alright! That's enough." " What are you saying?" I asked. " It's alright, Fluttershy. You can go over there and Rarity will give you as much support as she can give you." Applejack answered. " Applejack... Do you honestly think that I could be responsible for any of this? Did you end up believing what your sister claimed a few days ago?" I asked. At first, Rarity's eyes opened wide, and I immediately knew why she reacted like that. She was the one who told me that Applejack had second thoughts. I decided to do the right thing and not indicate that I learned from her about Applejack's sudden change of thought. I doubt this would make my friends suddenly believe me, but it was worth a try. Applejack simply stood there for a few moments without moving, but then she lowered her head before mumbling something to herself. A few moments later, she raised her head, and anger was spread all across her face. " I thought Applebloom was wrong about you, but I began havin' doubts after I looked back at what Anon-A-Miss posted. I even went and looked at her profile thinkin' I could come up with an answer. But, I reckon y'all just proved that my sister was right. What you just said was meant to be between the two of us, yet you went and told everyone within ear shot. My mind is clear, Sunset. You did this! You're Anon-A-Miss, and that's that!" Applejack answered. Wait a minute! She never said anything about our conversation two days ago being just between the two of us. I suspected that her frustration wasn't making her think clearly, and she was now making stuff up as she went along. " You never said--" I began before being cut off. " This is it, Sunset! You're not going to take advantage of us anymore." Applejack said. " But I never took advantage of you to begin with." " I'm sorry, but I just don't believe what's comin' out of your mouth. You did this to yourself. Tell whatever secrets you want, but we don't have to listen to any of them. Come on, girls! Let's get out of here before we do somethin' we might regret later. Sunset... As of this moment, our friendship is over. I'm officially kicking you out of the Rainbooms. You're also not allowed to visit any of our homes again. We're gonna warn our parents about you, so you best keep your distance! Finally, don't try to call us on our cellphones! We ain't gonna answer you!" Applejack said. She and the others then turned around and walked away, leaving me to comprehend what had just happened. I dropped to my knees, my backpack fell off my shoulder, a pencil and piece of paper rolling out along the floor before stopping a short distance away, and I began to cry even more than ever. Other students had walked by and witnessed what had transpired, yet none of them offered to give me any comfort. In fact, they had chosen to completely ignore me and allow me to wallow away. My worst fear had been realized. My friends... My friends had chosen to end all association with me. Just like that, my entire life had been reduced to rubble. It felt like my heart had been stabbed with a dagger until I could no longer breathe. Anon-A-Miss... she had made me both a victim and the one responsible for her actions. She had framed me, and her distortion of the truth had just cost me everything I'd worked hard for since the Fall Formal. I wanted to speak to my friends, to get them to understand, but I knew that my efforts would have been in vain. Just like that, everything had reverted back to the way it was after Princess Twilight and my friends--former friends now--defeated me after I became a monster. Monster... That very word had become a curse to me. No matter how hard I tried, I just couldn't shake off the grip it held over me. There was no doubt that this incident would soon spread throughout the entire school and that everyone would turn against me like before. Now there was no one left for me to turn to, aside from Her Highness, but what if she had become just like the girls and decides to end my friendship with her? No! My heart wouldn't be able to take that. My path was clear. I'd need to send another message to Her Highness to explain what has happened. Maybe she will have some words of wisdom? I could sure use some of those right about now. There was also something I could do right now, and that was find out who Anon-A-Miss really was. I did say to myself that I was going to uncover her identity, and now, that has become my main objective. The magic problem is going to be taking a back seat until all this has been sorted out. When I do find out who she is, will I be able to contain my emotions, or will I do something that could potentially land me in the worst possible trouble of my entire life? I pray that my heart guides me to the right path. " Well, it took a lot of effort to hold back my emotions, but I finally revealed to you how my life was destroyed. Unfortunately, things would only get worse from there, but at the very least, I had Princess Twilight, who knew that I was innocent." I said. It suddenly occurred to me that I had been talking to myself--for quite some time, it seemed. Twilight had since gotten up and walked away. Now why would she have done something like that? Had she finally reached her limit and left in disgust over what happened? I couldn't blame her. I'd have done the same thing if I were in her shoes. Standing up and stretching my legs, I took a single step forward before suddenly stopping upon realizing my foot had suddenly stepped in what looked like a tiny puddle of water. On a closer inspection, it looked like a puddle of tears. Grabbing one of my flashlights, I walked forward, making sure to follow the sparse puddles, which lead me down several aisles of books. I'd soon stop when I heard the sounds of someone crying from a bookshelf a dozen aisles away. The crying grew louder as I walked closer, my flashlight showing me the way so as to not walk into anything--or anyone. I turned to look down the aisle. Standing there with her back towards me was Twilight. She had been crying, and I knew why. It was because of how our friends had ended their friendships with me. The moment I took a small step forward, the floor beneath my foot creaked under my weight, and Twilight turned around to face me. Her complexion looked dreadful. She must have been crying for quite a while. There was nothing that needed to be said. I knew what I had to do in this situation. I quickly walked towards Twilight before she could run away, and I gave her the strongest hug I could muster. I even winced a little because of my injured hand, but I didn't care. My concern was making sure that Twilight was okay and that she was strong enough to continue listening to the tragedy that we'd both become accustomed to. " How did you know I was here?" Twilight asked. " When I discovered that you left, I assumed you left in disgust, and that was a fear even worse than my past. The moment I heard the sounds of crying, I simply followed the sound until I reached the source. Twilight... I'm not going to pretend to understand how you feel right now. What happened to me is something that scarred me for quite some time. Yet, I managed to regain what I had lost. While things may look bleak right now, it turns out good in the end." I answered. " Why... Why did our friends do that to you?" Twilight asked. " They were frustrated with those photos being exposed, and they lashed out at the one they thought did it." I answered. " It's not fair! You didn't deserve that." " I know, and I felt the same way you do." " Didn't you try to plead with them?" " That wouldn't have accomplished much. Our friends were dead-set in their opinion that I was Anon-A-Miss, and they refused to acknowledge my existence. I was now dead to them; they didn't care about anything I did." I answered. Twilight started crying again, prompting me to comfort her. I also started crying out of concern for my friend, but I knew that we had to continue reading the journal. There was still a ways to go before reaching the end. I began inching my way forward and Twilight knew that we had to go back to my residence in the library. The flashlight made sure we didn't bump into anything, and soon we arrived back at our campsite--not really much of one, since it was in the library. We both sat down and I picked up my journal before turning the page. " You didn't hear me say this, so I'll repeat myself. Princess Twilight knew I was innocent when I told her what had happened. While she wanted to come over immediately to help me out, I knew she couldn't, as she had her obligations to tend to." " She was still on your side?" Twilight asked. " Yes, and she would tell me what I needed to do in order to figure out who Anon-A-Miss was." " Did you suspect anyone?" " I had one person in mind, the very person who I had offered my friendship towards." " Trixie?" " Yes."