Applejack sat down heavily at her desk. Class was winding down for the day, and she was glad of it. The day had been emotionally draining, and she was looking forward to heading home.
Pulling her hat down over her head, she allowed the thoughts that had been stewing through her mind to come to the surface. Sunset, you bitch. How could you do this to us? We were your friends! After the chance we gave you, why would you throw it away?
Applejack pulled out her phone. She knew Rainbow might enjoy yelling at Sunset through her device, but all she wanted to do was cut Sunset out. As she scrolled pas the Anon-A-Miss page, her anger grew. She was done with Sunset. Done with backstabbing, jerks. She switched over to her contacts page. Done with the lies, done with....
She froze. Above the name she'd set out to delete, and erase from her life forever, was another name. Rainbow's contact name, placed just above Sunset's stared back at her. Unbidden, her mind traced parallels between this moment and a similar moment a year earlier.
She'd been in this room, in fact, when she'd received the first text messages. Messages from Rainbow Dash, insults and slurs which angered her to the point of rage, and drove her to cut Rainbow out of her life. The messages hadn't been from Rainbow, though- Sunset had sent them, after hacking Rainbow's phone.
Deleting Rainbow's name from her phone had been the last thing she'd done before cutting ties off completely, a decision that kept her apart from her friends for a whole year before the arrival of Twilight Sparkle. She'd realized her mistake then, and since then, had found the friend she was certain she'd lost forever. She'd missed Rainbow Dash, even when she'd thought the girl had decided to be spiteful, but she'd buried it.
And I regretted it, didn't I? If we'd talked, if we'd shared notes, if I'd listened when she said she didn't do it...
Applejack looked down at her phone again, then narrowed her gaze. The question she'd thought back in her head resounded again, this time without the scathing note. Why would she throw it away? The parallels seemed obvious, but certainly only Sunset could have know what went up on the Anon-A-Miss page.
You were certain about Rainbow too. And Rarity, and Pinkie Pie...
Sunset got nothing out of doing this, and risked losing everything. She was about to lose her friends, lose her family. Why would she do this?
What if she didn't?
Sunset staggered out through the school doors, her head hung low. All day she'd endured the spite of the other students. Traitor. Demon-bitch. The old Sunset's finally back.
She closed her eyes. She couldn't take it anymore. I t might have only been fifth period, but she was leaving. If she left during the rush, when every student would be able to follow her... She shuddered.
"Sunset!"
Sunset froze. Someone was calling her name, and she recognized that voice. Fear blossomed in her chest, and she move a little quicker, feet digging through the snow.
"Sunset, please!"
Applejack's voice cut into Sunset's ears, and she stopped. Almost against her will, she croaked "What do you want?"
"Sunset I, I need to..." She heard a boot stomp the ground behind her. "Dammit, Sunset, look at me!"
Hesitantly, Sunset swung her head around. Applejack stood, back straight, arms crossed over her chest. Just like before, she looked like she was going to hand down a summary punishment, a casting out.
But her eyes were different. Instead of anger, a note of something else changed the contours of her face. She looked... hesitant.
Applejack spoke softly. "Sunset... please. Are you really Anon-a-miss?"
Sunset hung her head. She spoke softly "No. Please you have to believe me, I'm not..."
She expected more yelling, condemnations. Instead, she heard a half-choked sob. Looking up, Sunset caught Applejack gripping her forehead with one hand, her entire demeanor changed. Shoulders tucked in , free arm clutching herself, hat covering her eyes.
Applejack looked up. "Sunset... Ah'm sorry. I... Ah nearly made..." She flinched and said. "No, Ah made the same mistake I did last year." She looked down at her boots. "Can we talk? Ah know you don't wanna go back to school, but my van's right over there. I... need to apologize. And we gotta talk about what's gonna come next."
Applejack leaned forward in the driver's seat. She pressed her head into the top of the steering wheel, as Sunset watched silently from the passenger seat.
"Last fall," Applejack began "I got a few texts from Rainbow Dash. Spiteful little things. It's what drove us apart."
Sunset choked out a response. "I'm sorry I did that." She sniffed. Her composure had shattered with Applejack's declaration, and she was crying a little every time she spoke.
"Yeah, I shoulda remembered that. Both that you were sorry, that you'd confessed everything- and the texts themselves." Sunset looked at Applejack questioningly. "What I was going to do to ya- was exactly what I'd done to Rainbow. Get mad, cut off talking, and erase your name from my phone. Exactly the same." Applejack leaned back, and glanced down at her hands. "When I was about to, I remembered how mad I was at myself after Ah found out the truth. I hadn't talked to my best friend for a year because of some lies. And if we'd actually talked..." She shook her head. "Maybe I wouldn't have spent a year alone."
"And then Ah thought why you would do it. What I never bothered to think about Rainbow. Why you'd throw us away. There ain't no reason. And I did the same to you what I promised I never would; I threw away family." She sobbed. "Ah needed to know. And as soon as I wasn't angry, as soon as I had time to think... Ah realized how stupid ah was being."
She looked up at Sunset. Tears pooled in the corners of green eyes, matching similar tears in teal eyes staring back. "Ah made myself a liar. I promised you were family- and then hung you out to dry. All I needed to see the truth was hear you say it. Sunset- ah don't know for certain if you are Anon-A-Miss- but I wouldn't turn on a real family member, even with proof- and I don't have none." She paused. "I need to make this right. Please, Sunset- can you forgive me?"
Things will be worst when they find out who was really behidnit all. I wodnr what the damage will be between the sisters?
Well written and fascinating to see unfold. Brilliant to have Applejack start to see the folly of her mistakes by remembering what Sunset had done to them all before and choosing to not make the same mistakes all over. It's good that she doesn't backpedal on herself and admits she did make a mistake in not believing Sunset and asking for forgiveness. Seeing this kind if reflection here and from here on will be a great read I look forward to. It makes me wonder if some of the girls won;t be as accepting right away, if they need more time to think it over, and so on. Especially how Sunset will react to each of them. I look forward to the next part.
8430655
The next chapter is written, but I'm planning on proofreading it before posting.
To answer your question; I'm planning on having each of the girls have a different revelation regarding their treatment of Sunset. Applejack has remembered the truth of her past; facing herself with honesty allows her to understand her anger.
Next chapter will see Applejack make things right- in more ways than one.
"written because I'd like to believe that individuals can think beyond the baying of the mob", and you're making the same Anon-A-Miss story everyone else has... Ok then.
If you're gonna alter canon, why not alter it so this whole thing never happened, sparing everyone the OOC jerkishness and idiocy that's caused the comic to be so hated in the first place? That's what the EG franchise and the rest of the fandom seem to be doing.
Sorry if this seems complainy, but I've waited ever since the comic came out for a Post Nuptials style fic, a canon-compliant (at the time) work where the friendship the franchise is built around overcomes the pain without the AU cop-out . The fandom's failure to do so (those that tried didn't go far enough in addressing the issues) has annoyed me for years. At this rate I'll have to make such a fit myself.
But if your fic is how you want to approach this, I'll leave you to it. I wish you and your work luck.
8430739
The event itself matters- in all honesty, I can see myself making the same mistakes the Humane five made in the heat of the anger. My issue with both the comic and the majority of other fics is that none of Sunsets friends take time to think on their own; either they move as a group, influenced beginning to end by each other and those around them, or come to their conclusions in tandem.
And most other anon-A-Miss fic out there has the "big revelation" where everyone finds out the real culprit, and only then do they recognize what happened and go begging for forgiveness. If someone outside you has to let you know you've messed up, its time to take a long, hard look in the mirror. Post Nupials approached the issue after the fact- heartbreak and sorrow, with hope for reconcilliation. If you want something similar, try A Shimmering New Year, if you haven't already. It's not quite the same, but it heads in a similar direction.
Still- thanks for the encouragement. The story will be far different when we finish. Keep an eye on me- we've got a ways to go.
And if you do write such a fic- hey, I'll be happy to read it.
AJ's the first to see the light of truth. Now the question is, will the other four do so as well?
8431095
Yes, but slowly. And if you read carefully, even AJ's still suspicious. She's just recognized that tossing Sunset to the wolves is a terrible thing to do.
8431134
And I know that will apply to the others soon.
so is this a fix fic?
nice start, looking forward to where this will go
I cant wait to see where this goes.
Oh boy; three of my favorite things in fanfics! I can't wait to watch the truth crush them.
Upupu...DAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!
8430910
Good start
Finally a story were Honesty wins out before it's gets really bad. Been waiting for a story like this one.
Well, this is new. On to the next chapter.
I know the Author's Note is quite serious, but...well, I just can't stop myself from noticing typos.
The last word in this sentence is missing an 'e'.
8444799
Spellcheckers welcome. These are the sorts of errors which, in excess, cause me to drop fics with interesting premises. Thanks again!
good story so far, but you are falling into the same trap every one of these stories goes, admittedly that may be the comics fault but i have to call bullshit on the
'oh i was wrong my bad'
"oh i totally forgive you, let me just turn around and expose my fresh stab wound to you'
the problem being no one is able to forgive that easily, when someone hurts you you have a hard time letting it go and it takes years for that kind of trust to heal.
8450517
Please read the rest of the story- there's a reason Sunset's being so forgiving.
One of the major themes of this piece is that words spoken in anger can be looked upon with regret once tempers cool. It would be one thing if Applejack and the others abandoned Sunset for multiple days- or as it occasionally becomes in these stories, a full month- but here, Applejack realized her mistake within hours.
Methinks a turnaround like that can be healed from much more rapidly than "years."
Interesting start. Granted, I've never read the Anon-A-Miss comic, but I get the gist of it. Anyway, I digress. This is getting intriguing. A possibl "what-if" eh?
An... Anon-A-Miss story that isn't an accusatory piece of shit? Co-Staring Applejack?
You have my attention.
8450517
Sure some time it can take a long time to heal but the opposite is true too. Sometimes you have to work for it and others just a simple appoligy will do just fine. It all depends on the parties that were involved in the event. Sure you can refuse their attempts but that doesn't make it right either. Sometimes you might half to choose between being like them or being the better person without rubbing it in because if you do that it just makes everything pointless and worse.
So AJ derails the whole Anon-a-miss incident by displaying a rare and wonderful superpower: Common sense!
4chanmemeandmotivational.files.wordpress.com/2009/06/common_sense_-_so_rare_its_a_god_damn_super_power.jpg?w=720
8735180
Glad to see a new reader. I hope you enjoy the story!
1,000 words in and already you've earned my like and my attention. That's gotta be an academy record!
8735180
Yep.
I'm already enjoying this story, keep writing.
8735180
When it comes to Anon-A-Miss stories, they always seem to lack characters that lack common sense
9100274
Well if you want to keep some semblance to the source material then you kinda have too. The Anon-A-Miss comic made no sense, everyone of Sunset's friends took stupid pills that day.
9113355
Just like all of Twilight's friends did in A Canterlot Wedding.
I hate that episode.
9160324
Twilight never behaved like that and the only time Twilight had behave irrationally to this extent before the Wedding was Lesson Zero. They might have thought she was having another episode.
The heck is that spacing?
This was a good start. I'm almost hopeful.
8735180
Grandma:
*gasp*
Look dear! Someone has it!
Grandpa:
I thought I would never see it again in my lifetime, could it be? It must be! Someone has Common Sense!