It wasn't snowing as Sunset walked to school, but it might as well have been. She hunched low against the biting wind, keeping her eyes down and wishing she'd put on a heavier scarf, something to push up against her face, something to hide behind. Some lingering pride—what little hadn't been wrung out of her already—hated looking so weak. Beaten down. But it's not as if she could have fought back, not as if she had any right.
She was so... so tired.
"Just one more day," she muttered, straightening her back as she glared at the school entrance, going carefully up the icy steps. After today was winter break and she could hunker down at her place and not have to go through this daily gauntlet. It might even be long enough for people to forget all about Anon-A-Miss, but doubtful. Only a few hours more and then at least she can forget for a little while, or pretend to. She pauses before stepping in, pulling together what strength remains. "I can do this."
Or, perhaps not.
Go to hell where you belong, DEMON!
Her locker was covered. It could have almost been mistaken for something sweet, like how friends would paper a locker for birthdays, celebrations or the holidays, but even before she could fully see it, she understood. When she was close enough to begin reading the words, she understood even more.
How do you live with yourself?
Little notes. They were taped all over, covering almost every inch, in every kind of handwriting, in pen and pencil and blood-red marker, on full sheets of paper or ripped corners of lined paper. Even some words scribbled right on the cold gray metal.
Monster, in black sharpie.
I knew you couldn’t be trusted, written small and neat.
Her hands shook as she stared, the ambient sounds of a school growing loud and indistinct, talking and laughter and lockers slammed. Was she really so hated? Did truly no one believe her? She thought she had finally been making progress, making friends. Maybe she could finally prove that she could be a good friend.
Guess she was wrong.
Do us all a favor and just disappear
“Maybe she’ll finally take the hint,” someone murmured. Sunset spun around but she didn’t know who had said that. A few cold glares met her flickering eyes, like those of strangers. A shove came from behind, knocking her to the floor and making her journal spill to the floor. The world around her grew quiet as her eyes fell on Twilight’s last words written to her.
“Sometimes all you can do is stay strong. Remember who you are. And find your family.”
Maybe that was the answer. It was right there in front of her. She hurriedly shut the journal and scooped it into her arms, struggling upright and hurrying out of that packed hall of glares and murmurs, not stopping until she was alone with her back pressed against a door, breathing hard as everything became shockingly clear.
All she had to do was disappear. She should have done a long time ago if she hadn’t been such a coward.
Morning classes passed in a blur as she spent the hours thinking through her strategy, the little details. She didn't need much, and if she timed it right then no one would notice she was gone until
During the mid-morning break she took her chance, slipping away through the crowds as she snuck into the empty music room. She pulled out her journal, and idly flipped through the pages thinking of the memories of it, her last tie to Equestria. In her last class she had written a note to Twilight saying goodbye, and wrote a separate one for her friends that she had placed in the front, one corner sticking out so they’d find it. Twilight was their friend more than her; it seemed right that they should keep it.
She tried Applejack’s locker, then Rarity, then the rest. All of them were shut tight. Rainbow’s locker gave a clatter as Sunset banged her head against it- just her luck. She had hoped at least one would be unlocked, heck, she was pretty sure Pinkie Pie’s was empty, anyway. But they were probably more cautious with what was going on.
She began shaking the lock on one of them. “Ugh, come on, you stupid—“
“Um, Sunset?” a small voice called.
She jumped, turning to seeing three young girls huddled by the doorway:Applebloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo.
“What were you doing?” Scootaloo asked, before getting elbowed by Applebloom.
“This isn’t what it looks like,” she said, dropping her shoulders with a miserable glance towards the locker she had just been abusing.
“It's fine. Actually, we wanted to talk to ya,” Applebloom said, nervously putting her hands behind her back. “You, uh, haven’t figured out who’s behind the Anon-A-Miss account, have ya?”
“Wait, you don’t think I did it?” Sunset said, stunned. “Wow, you must be the only ones in the whole school.”
“Well, that’s because…” Sweetie trailed off, twisting her fingers nervously.
“We know who really did it,” Scootaloo said.
“What? Really? Who?” she asked quickly, stepping closer to them. Hope flared hot and bright in her chest. If she could prove who did it, maybe she could clear her name. Turn in whatever bastards did this to her. Get her friends back…
“Yeah, the real Anon-A-Miss… is us,” Applebloom said.
Sunset stared as if it was some cruel joke, but none of them were laughing. None would meet her eyes. They looked… guilty.
“No. No, that doesn’t make any sense. Why would you… wait.” She looked more carefully at them as the pieces came together.
Pointing to Applebloom, she said, “You were the one who told me Applejack’s nickname, over the phone. And Sweetie Belle, you were at the slumber party that night. You… you got those pictures off my phone somehow, didn’t you?”
Sweetie Belle nodded, looking to the floor.
“Scootaloo?” Sunset prompted.
“The varsity soccer team practices before we do, so when no one was looking I took pictures of some of Rainbow Dash’s papers,” she mumbled, staring hard at her feet.
Sunset leaned back, the lockers giving a faint clatter as she stared at them in the growing silence. Of course. She hadn’t even thought of them, but they were the only ones who it could have possibly been. How had she let herself be so blind? Except it still didn’t make sense.
“Why would you do that? To your own sisters?” Sunset said, as that flicker of hope turned to fury. “What on earth were you thinking?! Do you have any idea how much they’ve been hurt? How much everyone’s been hurt because of that damn account!”
They flinched, Sweetie grabbing Applebloom’s arm as if Sunset might strike them.
“We didn’t want to hurt them. Not really,” Applebloom said, struggling to not shrink back. Scootaloo gave a little cough and glared at her. “Yeah all right, maybe a bit,” she admitted. “We, or, I mean, I... I was jealous.”
“Jealous? Of what?” Sunset repeated.
“Well, Applejack was always spending time with you and her other friends, way more than they ever used to. She doesn’t ever have time for family anymore.”
“Same with Rarity,” Sweetie Belle squeaked, still half-hidden behind Applebloom. “We barely even talk anymore. She’s always doing stuff with the band now.”
“But that wasn’t the main reason. Not really,” Scootaloo said.
“Then what?”
“We wanted to hurt you,” Applebloom said quietly.
A chill ran through her, quite apart from the winter cold outside.
“Me. You did all this… to hurt me.”
“We didn’t mean for all this,” Sweetie said, tears in her eyes. “We just wanted to, I don’t know, to make you feel bad. Give you a taste of your own medicine after how much you hurt our sisters—hurt everyone! You were a bully for years. We know they forgave you, but they weren’t friends for so long because you drove them apart! I kept having to hear Rarity cry at night because of things you did.”
Sunset opened her mouth—whether to argue or to make some snippy comment about Rarity crying, she wasn’t sure—but she closed it again. It was true. She had hurt them.
“Fine,” she said, the words thick in her throat. “You’re right. I hurt them, so maybe I did deserve—“
“No!” All three girls said at once, looking appalled.
“We weren’t… we didn’t mean...”
“It wasn’t supposed to be like this,” Applebloom said, taking over from Sweetie Belle who was trembling. “It was fun at first, everyone thought it was hilarious. But then…”
“We didn’t think it’d get so out of hand,” Scootaloo continued. “We were going to stop after a few days but everyone seemed to like it, asking us to post more.”
“Then they started sending in other secrets, and everyone was so excited… we got carried away. It… it wasn’t supposed to be this bad,” Applebloom said, and the three girls lapsed into silence, heads bowed.
“I don’t understand, though. Why are you telling me this?” Sunset Shimmer managed to say, her fury chilling into numbness. Did they know no one would believe Sunset? Did they think they were safe? Except this wasn’t gloating—it was a confession.
“We’re tired of all these lies and secrets, of making everyone miserable. After today we’re shutting down the account. And…“ Applebloom took a deep breath. “And we’re gonna tell everyone the truth.”
“It’s been getting really out of hand,” Scootaloo said, her voice much quieter than usual. “At the beginning it was all dumb stuff: funny pictures or little jokes. We didn’t think it was all that mean.”
“I still think piggly wiggly is funny,” Applebloom muttered with a pout, before Sweetie Belle slapped her arm.
Scootaloo went on. “Then people started sending in other stuff, and people thought it was pretty funny too. And then they started sending worse stuff and it became a lot less funny. I mean, really bad secrets.”
“We didn’t post them!” Sweetie said quickly. “Not all of them, and none of the really bad ones. Just ones we thought people might find funny, or it was a secret that someone was hiding. We weren’t trying to hurt people.”
“But then some of them started getting mean and messaging us all the time,” Scootaloo said. “Then they started threatening us when we wouldn’t post their secrets.”
“An’ now someone keeps tryin’ to guess our password and hack the account. They haven’t yet, but if they get in and start posting those other secrets…”
“It’ll be bad,” Sweetie Belle said in a low voice, a haunted look on her face.
“We’re gonna stop it. And we’re gonna tell everyone it was us. They’ll have to leave you alone then.”
“We saw your locker this morning,” Scootaloo said after Sunset didn't reply. She wasn't sure how to reply.
“That was awful,” Sweetie Belle whispered.
“Ah’m sorry Sunset.” Applebloom stepped forward, raising her chin and trying not to flinch. “And if you gotta be mad at someone, it’s me. I’m the one who started it. I got jealous of how my sister was hanging out so much with you, and I was the one who made the account.”
“I’m sorry, too,” Sweetie said, also stepping forward.
“Me too. This whole thing was pretty messed up,” Scootaloo said.
Sunset looked away from the girls; she needed to think. The answer was easy: let the girls spill the truth and shut down the account. There. Done. All laid out on a silver platter. The school would realize she was innocent. Her friends would talk to her again, things would go back to normal.
So why did she feel sick? Why did she hesitate?
Her gaze fell to the journal. With numb hands she picked it up and flicked to where she had last written, a farewell note to Twilight: thank you, sorry, I'll miss you...
There on the opposite page was Twilight’s words from last night, and it was these she sought out.
Sometimes all you can do is stay strong,
Stay yourself,
And find your family.
Her family, her friends… she would never be able to find it if she stayed there, and no one would ever trust her, no matter what she did. There wasn’t anything left for her there.
“It’ll be all right,” she said softly, more to herself, before turning and holding out the journal. “Just… do me a favor, ok? Just give this to my frie... to your sisters. Wait until after school.”
Applebloom reached out like she was being offered a tarantula. “What is it?”
“Doesn’t matter. Just give it to them once school is over. They’ll know what it is.”
“What about us? Aren’t you mad?” Scootaloo asked, as the two other girls squinted at the hardcover book. “After everything we did? Aren’t you going, I don’t know, shout at us or something?”
“Nah." Sunset shrugged. "I already made my decision. It’ll be fine. You said you’re going to shut down the account today?”
“Yeah, right after school,” Sweetie Belle said, looking unnerved by Sunset’s relaxed response. “We already made the final post saying it was us.”
“Don’t bother,” Sunset said with a wave of her hand, surprised at herself but too numb to care. “As long as you stop it, and stop spreading rumors, I don’t mind. We’ll keep it between us, how about that? Someday you should tell your families, at least your big sisters, but for now let sleeping dogs lie, I think the saying goes.”
“Wait, what?” Applebloom yelped, while the others gaped at her. “But then everyone’s going to keep thinking it was you!”
“By this afternoon it won’t matter. By then I’ll be far away- it won’t hurt me anymore.”
“Far away?” Scootaloo said, looking uneasy. “Why? Are you going somewhere?”
“Don’t worry about it. And...” Sunset took a deep breath, closing her eyes for a moment. “Look, I’m sorry to you three as well. I don’t think I ever went after you directly, but I know my actions hurt a lot of people. I know I hurt your sisters. I understand if you’re still mad.”
She bent over and picked up her backpack, ignoring the shocked faces of the girls. Maybe some things can’t be forgiven, she thought. But if anyone knew what it felt like to be forgiven, it was her. She turned around to grab her backpack and felt a hand grip her sleeve, holding her back.
“Sunset, I…” Applebloom said in a small voice, still clutching her sleeve, “I really am sorry. Honest. You don’t gotta do this.”
“Don’t worry about me. Take care of your sisters, okay?”
The warning bell rang, and she calmly walked to the door, having no intention of sitting through another class ever again at that school.
“Sunset?” Sweetie Belle asked in a quavering voice, making her pause. “Are you going to be all right?”
Sunset Shimmer gave a short nod, a hint of a smile, and then she closed the door, leaving behind three miserable, terrified girls.
Lot of anguish in the next chapter I’m guessing.
9366291
Ehh... not as much as you might think. This is a much more hopeful and optimistic take on the story, although there will be some yelling in the next chapter
9366302
Fair enough. Most Anonamiss stories I’ve read recently have focused heavily or the Rainbooms self loathing.
It’s a pretty good storyline, not like the other guilt focused stories from before, more like something that the CMC with actual morals would actually do, confiding to the person they wronged first.
I think it’s good, keep it up. Unless you don’t wanna then that’s fine too.
9366312
Thanks!
I wrote this because I had yet to see an Anon-A-Miss fic that seemed to deal with it not uh... insanely. I wanted to do a spin on the comic storyline exploring more about Sunset as well as her friendship with the others without making them out to be villains or drowning in self-loathing.
And I definitely plan to keep going! There's four more chapters planned and the next two mostly written- I'm not done yet
Great! Can’t wait 😊
Keep it rolling. And Happy Hearth's Warming to you.
Interesting start. I think the CMC are feeling guilty enough that even though Sunset said they shouldn't, they'll tell their sisters the truth anyways.
9366336
I still want them to confess, and with what they can tell the Principals, they can maybe chew out the entire school for being so petty and vindictive.
Shame them hard, and yes they need to be, they need to realize how cruel they were,and nearly drive a innocent girl away for good.
I'm not saying drive them into a wallow of guilt but a loud scolding and maybe even informing the parents will teach them a lesson.
Thou the one trying to hack into the account...i'm not sure what can be done about it.
Because doing nothing will not solve anything, just make things worst, and will happen again.
Someone trying to hack the account to post more darker secrets, if they fail they just make a account of their own and here we go again.
9366308
Also, I'd like to see one where the Rainbooms actually apologise to Sunset and really mean it. Sunset refuses an apology party and just wants them to say it straight to her face.
Personally, I view the party aspect as an excuse to have fun and the idea of apologising to Sunset gets lost
This is nice, not over the top like a certain recent story, I can easily picture the characters acting this way, looking forward to the next chapter
9366663
I really don't think the CMC would keep it to themselves, no matter what Sunset told them (which we'll see a bit of next chapter). They weren't going to be a big part of this story, mainly the catalyst, but I'm now gonna add a scene in later with them talking with Sunset again- she knows what it's like to do something wrong and want to do better.
Also... I might well have shot myself in the foot with the hacker thing- it was mainly an idea that I thought seemed feasible and I really don't think they would share anything that could be really dangerous (not knowingly). Don't uh... don't expect much more on that front
9367016
Glad to hear it! (curious which other story you're talking about)
Hopefully I'll have the next chapter up in about a week or so
9367016
Nuclear Option?
Gonna be honest, really liked that you didn't have Sunset get mad at the CMC. To me, it really made it stand out. Sure, logically it makes the most sense for her to get mad but honestly I like the idea that the CMC didn't think Sunset should get off this easy. A lot of stories either have Sunset and [insert other characters here] get mad at the Rainbooms and crack under the hate, or have the Rainbooms hate themselves over and over. I like the (somewhat) more optimistic tone here.
9367120
9367074
I was more referring to the original Anon-a-miss a wrinkle in time however If you want to go was rather rough and then there's Nuclear option
9367164 I think Nuclear Option is the worst, it's nothing but gratuitous gore and disgusting stuff.
9367050
I see, glad, and the hacker bit did sound pretty serious, but understand. Do hope the bit on being threaten is addressed thou, wanting more personal secrets exposed and then threatening them or they assumed was Sunset to do so.
Wow....I think a suspension is called for, if not alerting the parents for sure. Those things aren't taken lightly.
I am guessing return to eqjestria or skip town
I'm intrigued!
9367158
Agreed. In the comics Sunset never seemed angry, she seemed tired and alone, even when hearing the confession. Here, she's more numb than anything and pushing down those more fiery emotions.
I'm glad it's resonating. She does absolutely have a right to be angry, but it never seemed to fit quite right in the situation.
This is definitely a more optimistic take on the storyline, but it's not gonna be all sunshine and rainbows.
I wonder where Sunset's going to go. It's obviously not Equestria otherwise she wouldn't be leaving a note for Twilight.
One of the things about the whole Anon-A-Miss thing that I've pondered periodically is, assuming Sunset bailed on the others before the mess was resolved, how would that affect subsequent events? Sci-Twi would still do her investigation at CHS, but there wouldn't be a Sunset to talk her down after the magic takes her. And Camp Everfree would likely still be under threat of foreclosure, with the magic-infused crystals still in the cave (though the movie doesn't mention at what point Gloriosa found them and began misusing their power). Wallflower Blush, however, had by her story already been making considerable use of the magic she found, and probably would continued to do so unnoticed.
It's no stretch to say that Sunset's presence was pivotal during these events, and without her? I think things would have gotten pretty unpleasant.
9367488
Good catch! As to where she goes... there is a hint somewhere
9367667
That’s a perfect setting for a connected story. What does happen? Maybe without Sunset, Sci-Twi becomes Midnight Sparkle quietly and hides her possession from the world. Camp Everfree could become the EG equivalent of Camp Crystal Lake with Gaia Everfree being Jason Voorhees. And Wallflower gets to be the reason why no one ever follows though with their plans to destroy or rule the world, she had her own plot to play God but she’s forced to play the hero and make the villains constantly are missing a piece to their plots.
So, basically it turns into an episode of Star Trek.
I'm terrify of what the next chapter reveals.... You have my attention...
9367927
Sci-Twi had her meltdown out in the open though, after being pushed to dip into the magic and use it, regardless of the consequences. Now, while a part of that push came about because of Sunset's performance during the games, the other girls--and the school as a whole--were connected enough to put up pretty good results themselves. So its pretty likely that that part would have happened much the same way. Only now, there's no Sunset present to understand the rush that comes from stolen power, and how damaging it can really be.
Ah, that's a bit extreme, lol. Remember, Gloriosa wanted people to show up at the camp, not stay away. And Gaia took that to an extreme degree. I could see the camp getting a reputation after a bunch of campers--and those sent in to find them--never come back out of the forest though. And then a steady trickle of curious tourists, stupid kids on a dare, and random travelers who don't about its reputation all getting disappeared when they get close. As for what happens to them in the camp itself? Well that could be varying levels of dark, but Gaia still wants them to be a part of the Camp Everfree family and enjoy themselves.
Interesting idea for Wallflower though. She'd be a hero because there's no other choice for her, but nobody would ever know it. I can see that really messing with her mind.
9367948
9367927
Cool topic and some real interesting ideas here. Although you might want to start a new forum post for it in the Anon-A-Miss group (would probably get more interest there too)
9367962
Sorry, didn't mean to derail your story's comments .
9367920
Oh you sneaky little...
I might have at least a guess on what she's going to attempt to do. It's probably wrong though.
Nope.
9368169
Oooh... I think I know what you're talking about and... if my guess is correct, it's probably off
Although it does make me wonder about writing a different kind of Anon-A-Miss story... which is ironic since I already have 2 versions I want to write and finish.
9368637
If you're thinking what I'm thinking you're thinking, it really would make for a decent story. I only wish I had the creativity to write it.
You got me interested. I'll be watching this story.
I'm always cautiously optimistic about SadSunny stories. When it's done well, avoiding wish-fulfillment and not forcing shipping/happy endings, it's absolutely heart-wrenching. When it's done poorly, it's just cheap garbage. This looks pretty good so far--in fact, I'd say it's a far cry better than the vast majority of Anon-a-miss fics, even just by grammar and well-written dialogue. I'll be interested to see where it goes.
color me intrigued. I wonder where this is heading.
9369120
Oh boy, expectations
Hope I won't disappoint! It's going to be a fic I haven't seen but wanted to. Glad it at least seems to be catching people's interest! (kinda amazed it hasn't been done before).
Don't know if I'll manage heartwrenching... but perhaps heartwarming at the end
9367667
Midnight Sparkle destroys both universes rendering any further thought on this moot . This is why the comics (which operate under the multiverse) haven't followed up on it, and is a bigger problem than these fics are supposed to fix.
Also, any reason this isn't listed as AU?
9370570
Oh shoot, I wasn't even thinking of it as an AU. In other fandoms, AU is more for coffee shops and major changes to the universe, while this is more of a canon-divergence. I'll update it, thanks for catching it!
(as for the 'what if Sunset wasn't there post AAM' thoughts... I don't remember enough details but it is interesting to think about (I might make a forum post for it if no one else has)
So yeah, thanks!
Well now this has my interest
I hope to see this again soon. And I'm betting being as SAd as they are they are not going to keep it to themselves.
In fact I'm picturing them running through the halls scared and looking for thier sisters to tell them the truth. To try and stop sunset form running.
You accidentally a word.
There's a random line break there.
I'm with 9369120. I've been burned so many times by promising descriptions for Anon-a-Miss fics only for something silly like poor grammar to ruin it. This was actually pretty competent. There were only a few things (some random hyphens that shouldn't exist, for example), but it was mostly solid. Most stories can't boast that much. I'm looking forward to the rest!
9383799
Oh, thanks for catching those! I admit I wrote this chapter months ago, and my grammar has improved a lot even since then, so glad to hear it's mostly good (I'll look for those extra hyphens, too, thanks for the head's up).
This is also the kind of motivation I need to finish up the next chapter, just adding to the opening scene and fixing up some parts.
Also... someone just went and downvoted the top... 11 comments. That's odd.
9386853
That is pretty weird.
9386853
I'm sorry to inform you but you've got
hater-trolls.
I'm afraid there's no cure.
Please tell me this is is continuing
9411536
Yep! And this comment made me sorta jump and open up that word doc again (it's been nearly done for ages, I just take forever in editing)
9412966
YAY!
9415849
Louder!
9430176
YAY!