//------------------------------// // Ch 4 - Pretence // Story: Bitter Tears: An Anon-A-Miss Fanfic // by hattafan2593 //------------------------------// The rush of the holidays was over. The new semester had begun. On the surface, everything seemed perfectly normal as students hustled about in the halls of Canterlot High. However, Rainbow Dash knew this was not the case. Shortly before the break, a mysterious Mystable user called Anon-a-Miss had shown up and had begun spreading personal and private information regarding her and her friends. And after barely a week had passed, they had all wrongly accused their friend Sunset Shimmer of being behind it. Rainbow still remembered the devastated look on Sunset’s face as they had coldly walked away, cutting her out of their group and their lives. Her tears had formed a puddle around her, she was crying so much, but they were all too angry to care. Rainbow sighed, disgusted with herself. How could she have been so stupid? After everything Sunset had done to prove she had changed, after everything they had been through, how could she and the others have believed that Sunset was capable of doing this? Rainbow snorted bitterly. She knew the answer to that, though she had tried to deny it. She couldn’t speak for the others, but she had believed Sunset was Anon-a-Miss because she had wanted to believe it, because it was easier to believe that Sunset, who had had a history of bullying and blackmailing others, had gone back to her old ways than to actually try to find out the truth for themselves. And because of that, they had hurt Sunset very badly, and Anon-a-Miss had been allowed to continue to sow discontent and misery amongst their peers. In the end, the true culprits had come forward and Sunset’s name was cleared, but the damage was already done. The secrets were out, Sunset still had had to suffer for no reason, and their friendship with her had been strained, if not worse. During the break, Sunset had accepted the invitation to the Apples’ Christmas party, where she opened presents, laughed, and acted cordially towards her hosts and the other guests. However everyone got the distinct impression that the smile was forced, and whenever Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo were in the same room, she either stopped talking or made excuses to go to another room. She had politely declined their offer to have her stay with them – her gaze had momentarily flickered over to Apple Bloom as she spoke - and had spent the majority of the break over at Fluttershy’s instead, although she had seemed reluctant even to do that. Rainbow had a feeling that Sunset only stayed there because it provided her with a roof over her head (she flinched at the thought – she and the others had known Sunset had been homeless since the Battle of the Bands. Another reason for her to feel guilty.) and because she was least likely to interact with Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo there. They had all chipped in to buy her a new phone to replace her broken one, but Sunset rarely used it unless one of them called or texted her. In fact, Sunset didn’t talk to them at all unless they asked her a question or spoke directly to her. And although she tagged along, she didn’t really join in. It was as though she was only tolerating being in their presence. Or maybe she thinks we’re just tolerating her, Rainbow thought sadly. Once school started back up, things didn’t get any better. Sunset refused to eat in the cafeteria anymore, preferring the solitude of the soccer field. She also seemed to be avoiding them as much as she could, participating in after school activities and making all sorts of excuses not to join them. And all the while that one elephant in the room still remained. Although the girls had apologized for their callous behavior, and Sunset had assured them that she had forgiven them, they had never really talked about what had happened, and Sunset was positively determined to forget the whole thing. But they couldn’t forget it. It had happened, no matter how much they wished it hadn’t. And if things between them were to ever be mended, Rainbow knew they would have to face it. She was determined to make things right, no matter what. “Hey.” Sunset looked up and saw Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy standing next to her. “Hey. You need something?” Sunset asked casually. Fluttershy resisted the urge to flinch. The casual tone Sunset was using only made her feel worse. She wished she would just scream at them and be done with it. “Can we talk?” Rainbow asked, leaning against the lockers. “Sure. Make it quick though. I have Calc in two minutes.” said Sunset, turning back to her open locker and pulling out books. “About….um….Anon-a-Miss.” Fluttershy said so quietly Rainbow barely heard her. Sunset did, though. “That I don’t wanna talk about.” Sunset said edgily, cramming the books into her backpack. “Sunset, we need to talk about this,” Rainbow said, pushing up from the lockers standing firmly in front of her friend. “Things aren’t okay between us, and you know it. And it’s because of Anon-a-Miss. And ignoring it’s not gonna make it go away.” Sunset slammed her locker closed and turned to face them, her patience wearing thin. “Look, you don’t get it, do you? I don’t wanna talk about Anon-a-Miss. I don’t wanna think about it. I told you, I forgive you for not believing me. The whole thing’s over and done with so just let it bucking go, okay?!” Sunset’s voice had raised a considerable amount, and other students were starting to stare. Still, Rainbow Dash couldn’t help but snicker, “‘Bucking?’” Sunset sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. She did not have time for this. “Look, I gotta go. I’ll see you at lunch, okay?” She slung her backpack over her shoulder and began to walk away. “Do you wanna meet us at Sugarcube Corner after school?” Fluttershy asked. Sunset turned and glared at her. “Fluttershy. I said. Let. It. Go.” And with that she walked towards her next class, leaving her friends disheartened. “Well that went well.” Rainbow said glumly. “She’s still mad huh?” Rainbow turned to see Flash Sentry walking toward them, a sympathetic look on his face. “No, she’s skipping down the hallway and singing show tunes.” Rainbow snarked, then immediately regretted it. All Flash did was ask a question; he didn’t deserve to have his head bitten off because she was frustrated. “Sorry.” Flash just shrugged. “Can’t say I blame her. We did treat her pretty badly.” Rainbow raised her eyebrow in confusion. “We? Flash, you’re one of the few people who didn’t jump on the ‘Sunset Is Anon-a-Miss’ bandwagon.” “No, but I didn’t stick up for her either,” Flash said sadly. Rainbow chose not to comment. In fact, Flash hadn’t even spoken to Sunset since their very loud and violent break-up over a year ago. And when Twilight came along Sunset pretty much just faded into the background for him. “I don’t know what to do. She’s just…so angry…..and hurt.” Fluttershy whimpered. “Look girls, I don’t know what to tell you.” Flash shrugged. “Maybe she just needs some time for the wound to heal. It hasn’t really been that long since it happened.” “Maybe…” Rainbow said idly. Just then the bell rang. “Oh, crap! Come on, Shy!” As the two girls ran down the hall to get to their class, Flash stared at the locker that Sunset had occupied mere minutes ago, and he suddenly got an idea. An absolutely stupid idea. But it was probably just stupid enough to work.