Severed Ties

by Carol Heart

Prologue: Anon-A-Miss (Part II)

Making her way slowly toward CHS in the cold, Sunset shoved her hands into her pockets to fend off some of the cold, and it dawned on her that her hands were empty. She had left her journal behind when she’d left Sugarcube Corner. Fluttershy had reluctantly accepted it, but none of the girls had so much as opened it when Sunset had asked.

It felt strange leaving the item behind. It was one of the few items she’d brought with her when she’d come to this world. It felt wrong to leave without it now, but the journal was the magical anchor for the mirror portal. Even if the girls never wanted to speak to her again, if a magical emergency arose again, they would need the journal to contact Princess Twilight. Just because there was nothing left for her in this world, did not mean Sunset wanted to see it fall to any other power-hungry magical threats that might show up.

Trying to think more positively, the girls might come to their senses later and use the journal to write to her and apologize. Maybe when Twilight returned, she would be able to fix this. Though Sunset was beginning to wonder if there was anything left to fix. If they were willing to turn on her so easily, were they ever really friends to begin with?

Trudging slowly through the building snow, Sunset had grown numb both inside and out. She had cried enough this week and now all she wanted to do was get away from it all. Sure Twilight had said she would be out of town, but Sunset was sure the princess wouldn’t mind if Sunset were to crash at her place. Sunset really didn’t want to be alone again in her apartment, and maybe the feeling of being a pony again would distract her from all of the other feelings she had running through her mind.

As she neared Canterlot High, Sunset was so lost in her own thoughts that she didn’t see the fist flying toward her until it connected with the side of her face. The impact coupled with the fact that it had been completely unexpected knocked Sunset to her knees. As her vision swam, her mind hastily tried to clear itself and get a grasp on the predicament she now found herself in. Time was not something she was afforded, however. A steel-toed boot swiftly connected with her ribs, driving the air from her lungs and causing her to crumple the remaining distance to the ground.

“Well, if it isn't Anon-A-Miss,” a voice growled from above her. Though she couldn't manage to see who it was though the spots still dancing in her vision, there was no doubt who it was.

“Gilda,” Sunset wheezed, trying to push herself up with one hand while gripping her injured side with the other. “What the buck is wrong with you?!”

Grabbing Sunset roughly by the collar, Gilda yanked up and forced the flame-haired girl to meet her hawk-like gaze. “Aww, baby still hasn't learned to use big girl words yet?” Gilda teased before switching to a far icier tone. “What's the matter? After all those years of running the school, knowing everyone's business, don't tell me you can't figure it out.”

“I never did anything to you,” Sunset managed to get out, though her injured jaw protested the movement and she could taste the coppery pool in her mouth. “Even when I was the old me, I never went after you.”

“You're right. You didn't, because you used to be smart. You stayed out of my way and I stayed out of yours. Now though, I don't know what your angle is. Maybe that rainbow you took to the face scrambled your brains, but I think this sudden bout of stupidity calls for some reeducation on just why it's a bad idea to cross me.”

Grabbing hold of the downed girl's fiery locks, Gilda easily connected when she kneed the already injured girl in the face, eliciting a sickening crunch and ensuing fountain of blood as it impacted Sunset's nose. Letting Sunset drop back to the pavement with the blow, Gilda took the chance to straighten her own leather jacket.

Pulling Sunset back to her feet, Gilda shoved her into the waiting arms of two of her goons, Hoops and Score, who dragged her back into the alley they had blindsided her from. The final member of their little gang, Dumbbell, took up a spot at the end of the alley to act as a lookout for any would-be do-gooders who would try to break up the fight.

With her arms restrained and head still reeling from multiple blows, Sunset could offer little resistance as Gilda pelted her body with punch after punch to her midsection. Eventually, Sunset wasn't sure which was hurting more the impacts to her ribs or the resulting cries that caused extreme pain to shoot through her side as she tried to catch her breath. Finally, Gilda opted to change targets. Meeting the beaten girl in the eyes, Gilda gave a smirk before a fist connected solidly with Sunset’s left eye.

The blow drove the flame-haired girl backward. Sunset had long since given up struggling against her captors as she’d been more focused on retaining consciousness. The sudden change in momentum afforded her a chance, as it caused the two holding her arms to rock backward into the alley wall and unintentionally let go, allowing the beaten girl to collapse in a heap on the ground.

Falling to the ground on all fours with her brain now pumping with pure adrenaline, Sunset saw her way out. The primal response of fight or flight kicked in and instincts that had been repressed for years came to bear. With all the strength she could muster, Sunset tapped into her long-unused pony nature and bucked Hoops as hard as she could in the knee cap. He immediately dropped to the ground clutching his injured leg. Sunset quickly followed that up with a strategic strike between the legs of Score. In her weakened state, she knew it was the one place she could land a blow that was guaranteed to drop a guy.

Seeing his friends all go down in such quick succession left Dumbbell in a state of stunned shock. Taking full advantage of the delay, Sunset made a break for the portal as fast as her injured body would allow. As she neared the statue, she could hear the rapid approach of footsteps behind her. Spurred on by the fear of being caught once again, the injured girl pumped her legs even faster, though the effort only made the pain her injured ribs worse. Fighting back the yelp of pain, Sunset had almost reached the portal when she felt a sharp tug on across her injured body. Dumbbell had managed to catch up and grab hold of her collar. Letting her arms slide out from the sleeves, she left him holding only her jacket as she managed to stumble the last few steps and tumble through the portal in the base of the Canterlot High statue.

***

Sugarcube Corner was usually buzzing after school with students looking to get a sugar or caffeine pick-me-up after a long day at school. Considering the fast-approaching holiday break, one would expect a sense of warmth and joy to permeate the air. Now though, there was no sign of warmth, instead one could best describe the mood as set to arctic chill, especially for five girls in particular.

None of the Rainbooms had been in a particularly good mood as of late. The spreading of their secrets on MyStable being only part of it. They had lost friendships before over misinformation, and they really didn't want to go through that again. But even as this thought made them want to believe Sunset, remembering it had been the flame-haired girl behind those lost friendships the first time always stopped them.

The secrets that were posted, too, seemed to prove it had been Sunset. The reveal of Applejack’s nickname right after it had been revealed to the group could have been chalked up to coincidence with the timing, though it was suspicious. When put together with the pictures from Rarity's sleepover, however, it was harder to shrug off. The pictures were taken by Sunset on her own phone. Sunset said her phone hadn’t gone missing. Even if it had, who else but those at the party would even know that the pictures existed to look for them? As much as they hadn’t wanted it to be true, it seemed clear that Sunset Shimmer was back to her old ways.

“Girls,” Pinkie said, her voice lacked its normal bubbliness, instead having a surprisingly somber tone, “I'm not feeling so good.”

“Might have something ta do with all them cupcakes ya just ate, sugarcube. Ah told ya hot sauce and cupcakes were not a good combination,” reprimanded Applejack.

“What are you talking about?!” Pinkie shouted indignantly. “That was an old Pie family recipe. Trust me. You do not mess with a Granny Pie recipe...EVER.” The last word seemed to hang in the word as an ominous threat. The girls were willing to once again chalk the outburst up to Pinkie being Pinkie, happy at least to see the party girl return to normal, or what was considered normal for her. But just as quickly as the burst of energy came, it was gone again, leaving only a sad girl one might think was Fluttershy in disguise. “It's not my tummy that hurts,” she whispered. “Well, my tummy hurts too, but I think it's my heart. I keep thinking about Sunset.”

“Pfft,” Rainbow snorted, “Why bother? She turned on us, Pinkie!” Angry, frustrated tears formed in the athlete's eyes though she refused to let them fall. “She was supposed to be our friend, and she stabbed us in the back…AGAIN! Do you remember freshman year? The conniving witch and the ‘interview’ for the yearbook. She lied to get close to us, then she took what she learned and used it to split us up.”

“I know,” said Pinkie, her voice remaining quiet despite the confrontation, “but we were supposed to teach her how to be a friend. If she thought that Anon-A-Miss was funny, maybe it's my fault for not teaching her that there's a difference between the mean, hurtful laughs she used to have when she was evil and plotting and the kind that come from when everyone is having a good time. I’m supposed to show her how fun it is to spread joy to people,” her voice dropped to a near whisper to conclude, “not leave them crying in the hallway.”

Thinking back on that moment in the school and on her own behavior toward Sunset, Rarity flinched. In the past, Sunset’s schemes were always for a bigger purpose. There had always been something for her to gain; money, power, popularity. But ever since the Fall Formal, Sunset hadn’t asked for a thing. Even when Rarity had offered to make her new clothes or take her on a spa trip, Rarity practically had to force her into accepting. What did Anon-A-Miss get her? So far it only seemed to be costing her everything she had worked so hard for. Actually, Sunset had asked for one thing in all the time they’d been friends since after the Fall Formal, and Rarity had denied her.

“For all my talk of generosity and treating strangers like they’re friends, when a friend was in real need, I was too selfish to even give her a chance to explain herself.” Tears flowed down the girl’s face leaving a trail of mascara across her fair skin. However, it was not accompanied by her usual dramatics. This was true sorrow showing through, and no amount of style or couture could hide the ugliness she felt in herself at this moment.

“She tried to explain herself,” Fluttershy said, indicating the worn journal she was still holding emblazoned with a bright red and gold sun on its cover. Flipping it open, she skimmed through it until she came to the most recent entries, stopping when she found the entry from the night of Rarity’s sleepover. Fluttershy placed it open on the table for all the girls to see.

I haven’t felt so loved, so accepted, in …well…ever! I feel like I finally have a family again.

Tears were streaming down the face of the shy girl as she finished reading, and she retreated behind her curtain of long, pink hair. What she had seen in that journal, clearly Sunset had been hurting for a long time. Now, when she was finally opening up and learning about friendship, Sunset had that cruelly ripped away from her by the people she had loved and thought loved her. To tell Sunset that she’s “not our friend,” how could she have been so unkind?

Applejack had remained focused on the words in Sunset’s journal. Applejack had been the one to call Sunset family. Had she really meant it though? Even if Sunset was the one behind Anon-A-Miss, did family turn its back on one another because they screwed up? Would she have abandoned Big Mac or Apple Bloom so easily? Applejack didn’t know. She didn’t think so though, and that only made it worse. Granny Smith had taught her that being an Apple was more than just being blood. It was being there for each other through thick and thin. That no matter what, you’re always welcome with your Apple kin. That memory struck home for her as she recalled her words from only a few minutes ago when she threw the poor girl out in the cold, “You’re not welcome here, Sunset.” Had what she told Sunset about being family just been a lie?

“Oh, come on,” Rainbow Dash moaned, “of course it’s Sunset! This is exactly like what happened last time.” That thought, however, caused Rainbow to actually stop and think for a moment. No, not exactly like what happened last time. When Sunset, had broken her and her friends up the first time, none of them had ever suspected Sunset had been involved. Sunset was always smart like that. Now though? Anon-A-Miss just screamed Sunset Shimmer. The colors, the profile picture, everything pointed to the former bully. But if Sunset really was behind it that would be just stupid, and Sunset was anything but stupid. The number of times Sunset had helped Rainbow through her homework or cram for a test was proof enough of that.

Rainbow’s heart dropped at the memories. This was exactly like last time. Once again, Rainbow was willing to abandon a friendship because of the smallest sleight without even trying to make sure it wasn’t some kind of mistake. She was always bragging how she’d “never leave a friend hanging,” but just like when she’d cut Applejack out after Sunset tricked them, Rainbow was once again leaving a friend hanging. No, she hadn’t just left Sunset hanging, she’d pushed Sunset right over the edge and never looked back. Rainbow Dash groaned and slammed her head down on the table. “We messed up bad, didn’t we?”

A sad group of faces just nodded, unable or unwilling to speak or even meet the others’ eyes. Without another word, the group hurriedly gathered their winter gear and raced out the door in the direction the former unicorn had headed. Unfortunately, the rush out the door resulted in a collision as they ran into a smaller group headed the other way.

“Whoa, careful there, Scoots,” Rainbow said catching the younger girl as she skidded to a stop on the slick sidewalk.

“Rainbow Dash, I gotta talk to you,” the young daredevil started only to be cut off by her surrogate sister.

“Sorry, Scootaloo, me and the girls are in a hurry, but we can hang out later. Promise.”

“That’s what you always say,” Scootaloo muttered. Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom caught it though and silenced any further comments with a stern look. The young athlete knew there were other priorities right now, but Rainbow Dash’s response and subsequent blow-off irked the short-haired tween, and she couldn’t bite off her retort.

“Yes, darlings,” Rarity cut in, “we are in a dreadful rush, so if you’ll kindly excuse us there are pressing matters we must attend to.”

“No, you need to listen,” Sweetie cut in, her voice squeaking a bit as her volume increased. “It’s Sunset Shimmer. You have to help us find her.”

“Look, girls, I know I might have been a real jerk this week towards Sunset,” Rainbow started, earning a bit of a glare from her friends as she completely undersold how badly she’d treated the girl, “But Sunset isn’t Anon-A-Miss and ‘shooting her with another rainbow-laser’ as everyone keeps suggesting isn’t going to stop that webpage.”

“Wait how’d y’all figure out Sunset ain’t Anon-A-Miss?” Apple Bloom asked shocked by their sisters’ sudden change of heart.

The way the little farm girl said it, with the surprise not stemming from Sunset’s innocence so much that the Rainbooms had finally realized it, caught Applejack’s attention. She was supposed to be the Element of Honesty. Something about that statement was niggling at her personal lie detector. She’d doubted that feeling too much this week when she’d assumed Sunset to be at fault. Despite what her gut told her, she’d given in to the belief Sunset was guilty, but she wasn’t going to ignore it anymore.

As realization crept across the elder Apple’s face, Applejack’s eyes suddenly narrowed as she crossed her arms and cast a withering gaze at the young trio. “Girls, is there somethin’ you three want ta tell us?”

The middle school trio could tell they had been found out. They had intended to confess anyway, but the prospect of doing so to the older girls they so admired left them a stammering mess.

Surprisingly it was Fluttershy who decided to take command of the situation. Fixing the younger girls with a look her friends feared, something they had dubbed ‘the stare’, she spoke softly but in a tone that brooked no argument. “Girls, the truth…now.”

The three friends were struck by the presence of the normally shy girl. They flinched away from her eyes but soon realized there was no comfort to be had from their sisters or sister figure either at this time. They could only stare helplessly at the snow-covered sidewalk as they all admitted in a meek chorus, “We’re Anon-A-Miss.”

Comments

[dragenfire68]

okay, I gotta ask, when choosing a bad guy for these, why is the trend always Gilda as the bad guy, she wasn't that evil in the show, mean yes but not as evil as these make her.

[Admiral Q Ponyform]

Well at least the girls are smart enough to figure out sunset can't be anon a miss. But a little to late

[J_Q]

“Pfft,” Rainbow snorted, “Why bother? She turned on us, Pinkie!” Angry, frustrated tears formed in the athlete's eyes though she refused to let them fall. “She was supposed to be our friend, and she stabbed us in the back… AGAIN ! Do you remember freshman year? The conniving witch and the ‘interview’ for the yearbook. She lied to get close to us, then she took what she learned and used to It split us up.”

Add an “it.”y

That’s all I could find.

“I know,” said Pinkie, her voice remaining quiet despite the confrontation, “But we were supposed to teach her how to be a friend. If she thought that Anon-A-Miss was funny, maybe it's my fault for not teaching her that there's a difference between the mean, hurtful laughs she used to have when she was evil and plotting, and the kind that come from when everyone is having a good time. I’m supposed to show her how fun it is to spread joy to people,” her voice dropped to a near whisper to conclude, “not leave them crying in the hallway.”

Just add some commas.

[Carol Heart]

10316327
Fixed

[SpadesOfDarkness45]

I’m a little late on this, but having the girls come to their own conclusion that Sunset isn’t Anon-a-Miss instead of having conclusive evidence is such a refreshing change of pace. It’s just a shame that they realized it too late.