Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo stepped out of Big Mac's truck and walked towards the entrance of the hospital, all wearing expressions of unease. They had been walking home from school when Big Mac had pulled up and told them to get in, saying Applejack wanted all of them to meet her there.
"You don't think she's hurt, do you?" Sweetie asked.
"Maybe she wants you to get checked out, Bloom." Scootaloo suggested, gesturing to Apple Bloom's black eye.
"If she did, she woulda brought me here weeks ago." Apple Bloom said grimly. Applejack obviously believed, like everyone else, that she deserved the treatment she was getting at school; she acted liked she cared when she was bullied in front of her, but paid almost no attention the rest of the time. Surely she had to have noticed all the bruises and injuries Apple Bloom had gotten the past few weeks; she had to be ignoring her. Right?
And who can blame her? I'm the worst sister ever.
"Yo." They turned to see Flash Sentry, a boy in their sisters' grade. "You looking for you're sisters?"
They nodded. He jerked his thumb behind him. "They're in the room down the hall. Second to the right."
As they left, Big Mac went to sit down in the waiting area. Flash joined him.
Awkward silence.
"Soooooo......any idea why you brought them here?"
"Eenope. You?"
"Nope."
More awkward silence....
The tension could have been cut with a knife. No one in the room dared to breathe, let alone speak.
Suddenly, the door creaked and in walked three young girls, all looking like they've had a very bad day.
Applejack and Rarity were by their sisters' sides in heartbeat.
"Apple Bloom! What in tarnation happened to yer eye?" Applejack started. Apple Bloom avoided her gaze.
"Sweetie Belle! Your outfit! Merciful heavens, that's one of your best shirts! I should know; I made it! " Rarity cried dramatically, trying her best to clean the ugly purple stain as best she could. Sweetie Belle just stood there, embarassed.
Rainbow Dash stayed in her seat, arms crossed, refusing to look at Scootaloo. Scootaloo stared at the ground.
".....What happened to your knee?" Rainbow asked awkwardly.
"....I fell." Scootaloo said, just as awkwardly.
"....That sucks."
"....Yeah."
"It was those bullies again, whatnit? Tell me who did it!" Applejack demanded, trying to get Apple Bloom to look her in the face so she could examine her eye.
Apple Bloom stepped back and avoided her gaze. "Ah fell."
"Now that is a darn right lie an' you know it! Tell me what happened, and Ah want the truth, gotdangit!!"
"Whatsit to ya?" Apple Bloom grumbled. "Ya wouldn't believe me if Ah said it was rainin' and it really was."
Applejack glared at her sister, placing her hands on her hips. "Well ya cain't exactly blame me fer takin' yer words with a grain a' salt, now can ya?"
"Ahem."
Applejack, Rarity, and the three girls turned to the source of the voice. There sat Twilight Sparkle, her legs and arms crossed, a blank expression on her face. Near her legs was a small purple and green dog, wearing a rather reproachful look on his face.
"If you don't mind, Applejack. Rarity." Twilight said, cocking an eyebrow. "I'd like to speak with your sisters."
Applejack and Rarity exchanged a nervous glance, then returned to their seats.
Twilight took a deep breath, and then smiled. "I don't believe we've been formally introduced, Apple Bloom. Sweetie Belle. Scootaloo."
Twilight stood up and gave a small curtsy. "Twilight Sparkle. Princess of Friendship. At your service." She gestured to the dog. "And this is my companion, Spike."
The girls gave awkward "hi"s and "pleased to meet you"s as Twilight sat back down. The princess was smiling at them, but...there was something.... off about it. Almost...angry.
Sweetie Belle, not questioning why there was an animal in the hospital in the first place, reached out to pet Spike, but he backed away and gave a small growl. While the growl wasn't menacing, its message was clear, and Sweetie withdrew her hand.
"Please sit down, girls." Twilight gestured to three empty seats on the opposite wall. They did.
"As you can imagine, being a princess is no easy task. Loads of responsibilities and all that. Still it does have its perks. Being able to teach others the magic of friendship is certainly one. However, there are those more.....headache inducing moments.
"For example, about two months ago, I received a message from Sunset Shimmer, a very dear friend of mine, that someone calling themselves Anon-A-Miss was spreading the personal secrets of my other friends, and that these friends suspected Sunset of being Anon-A-Miss."
All three girls paled, but said nothing.
"Naturally I was disappointed," Twilight's gaze flickered towards the older girls momentarily. "And sympathetic. But ultimately, I had faith that they would be able to get past this little hurdle and everything would work out. Two days later, Sunset sent me another message saying that the real culprits had been found and that her name had been cleared. And nothing else. No details whatsoever. Of course I was suspicious but, again, I didn't really worry too much about it.
"But then things got...strange, to say the least. Sunset stopped writing to me, and when I tried to write to her she wouldn't respond. Naturally, I was concerned, but I really couldn't do anything about it. Princesses duties and what have you.
"But then, about two hours ago, I retrieved a very....interesting message." As Twilight spoke, her smile began to look more and more like a grimace, and her cheerful voice became more filled with contempt. "Flash Sentry, the blue-haired boy outside, wrote me that Sunset had apparently had an emotional breakdown and he was very concerned she might do something drastic. I came over immediately, and do you know what I found?" The girls, now very pale and frightened, shook their heads. "Sunset. Bleeding. From her hands and forehead. After apparently trying to smash Fluttershy's bathroom mirror."
"Wait....Sunset's here? In the hospital?" Scootaloo asked, her eyes widening.
"Is...is she okay?" Sweetie asked nervously.
"Physically? She's in the ER right now. Probably going to have to have stitches. She'll live, if that's what you're asking. But I wouldn't say she's 'okay.'" Twilight said bitterly, her smile completely falling off. "I asked your sisters a little while ago what the heck was going on. And do you know what they said?" The girls didn't respond. They knew what was coming. "Apparently, these five girls, the girls I specifically asked and trusted to guide Sunset and teach her about friendship, not only did they suspect her of being Anon-A-Miss, they flat out rejected her and cut her from their group on the flimsiest of evidence. And you know what else they said? Go on, guess! You'll never be able to figure it out!"
Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo slid down further in their seats, bracing for impact.
"They said that you three....were Anon-A-Miss. You. Their little sisters."
Twilight leaned forward, her gaze colder than the chilly weather outside. The girls struggled not to look away. "I want to know what. Exactly. Was going through your minds when you decided to publicly humiliate your sisters and make Sunset a scapegoat."
"In all fairness, I don't think they intended-"
"I want. To hear it. From them!" Twilight snarled, never breaking eye contact. Fluttershy whimpered, but ultimately went silent.
And so, the girls told her. They left nothing out.
"Jealousy. That was it." Twilight smirked, then let out a very bitter laugh. "You want to know what the worst thing about this is for me? I'm not even that surprised it was you!"
"What do you mea- oh." Spike looked down, looking as though he just ate something awful. "The Gabby Gums incident."
If Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo were shocked by the dog's ability to speak, they didn't show it.
"Exactly." Twilight turned to her friends as she explained. "There is a version of these three back in my world. They did something similar to what these three did - they ran a newspaper column that printed embarrassing stories and even outright lies about everyone in town. Naturally everyone wasn't too happy with them."
Twilight smiled sadly, "Maybe if I had figured it out sooner, then.."
"Twilight," Spike said firmly. "This isn't your fault."
Twilight paused, and then nodded. "You're right Spike. It isn't. Not completely."
"Of course, when they did it," Twilight turned back to the three girls with a scowl. "It was because they wanted to pursue a career in journalism, and because they were being blackmailed when they tried to quit. Not over some petty slight."
"We didn't mean for-"
"Don't. Don't even give me that." Twilight said condescendingly. "You posted information that you knew everyone would laugh and scoff at. Things you knew would hurt your sisters deeply. What exactly did you think was going to happen?!"
Sweetie Belle fell silent, biting her lip.
"What I don't understand, is why you continued? You had gotten what you wanted; these five weren't hanging out with Sunset anymore. So why keep doing it?"
"People were sending us requests." Scootaloo said, confused. Didn't they just go over this? "We didn't know what else to do."
"Oh yes, because obviously you didn't have any other options. It's not like you could have, oh I don't know, ignored them!" Twilight shouted. "Here's a little life lesson, girls; at the end of the day, most sane po-people, don't like being made fun of. It doesn't matter that you were sent requests (though make no mistake, I'm very upset about that.), because in the end, you still chose to post them. Actions, no matter how little or insignificant they may seem, always have consequences."
"Don't Ah know it." Apple Bloom muttered, absentmindedly touching her black eye.
Twilight fought down any sympathy she felt. This was a lesson that needed to be harsh. Letting out a deep sigh, she asked, "Just one more thing....why didn't you just talk to your sisters? Tell them how you were feeling? Why did you have to resort to this?"
All three girls looked like they had been slapped.
"Ah...Ah don't know..." Apple Bloom whimpered, her eyes filling with tears.
"...I didn't think she'd care..." Sweetie Belle whispered.
Suddenly the room was filled with loud hysterical laughter. Everyone turned to see Rarity doubled over in her seat.
"You...silly...ignorant...stupid child!" Rarity choked out. Rarity looked up, revealing her mascara running down her face in two ugly black lines. "Of course we care!"
Tears ran down Sweetie's face. "....I..."
"Girls, we're not mind-readers." Applejack said exasperated. "We cain't know anything's wrong unless you tell us!"
Applejack knelt down in front of Apple Bloom and held her face so she'd have to look at her. "Ah won't lie. You girls hurt us. You especially, Apple Bloom. An' it'll take a while before that hurt goes away. But Ah will never stop bein' yer big sis! Ah don't like seein' you hurt. Okay?! Have Ah made mahself clear enough fer you?!"
Apple Bloom ran into her sister's arms, sobbing freely. Applejack wrapped her arms tightly around her, tears falling from her closed eyes.
Sweetie Belle walked timidly up to Rarity and offered her a handkerchief. Rarity took it and wiped the mascara away, then took Sweetie Belle's hand in hers, smiling sadly.
Scootaloo went up to Rainbow Dash, who stilled refused to look at her. "Dash...I'm so sorry. For everything. Can you ever forgive me?"
Rainbow Dash tightened her crossed arms. "Scoots...I can't."
Scootaloo blinked back tears, her heart beginning to break. "But..."
"I want to. Believe me, I really want to." Rainbow Dash turned to look at her, her face full of sorrow. "But I can't. If I do, it'll make me a filthy hypocrite. How can I justify forgiving you when I wouldn't even give Sunset a chance? How can I do it without being an even worst friend than I already am? Huh? Tell me!"
Scootaloo hung her head, her tears falling to the floor. "I'm sorry..."
Rainbow turned away, curling herself against the wall. "...Me, too."
Twilight took all of this in, and then covered her face with her hand. She felt she had bitten off more than she could chew on this one.
The door creaked opened and Flash stuck his head through the crack. "Sunset's awake."
Twilight stood up, and opened the door fully. "I'm going in first."
Pinkie tried to protest. "But-"
Twilight turned, her face full of sympathy, "You guys have a lot to discuss."
And with that, she walked out, Spike close behind, and gently closed the door behind her.