Opening Moves
It was yet another winter morning in Canterlot, and it looked to be another terrible morning in a few weeks that had brought a succession of terrible mornings. The students of Canterlot High School shuffled through the corridors like zombies, waiting for another buzz from their phones or another ding from the computers to inform them of the latest MyStable post.
For the last few weeks, a mysterious MyStable account called ‘Anon-a-Miss' had been posting personal information of a number of students on the Internet, producing a garbage fire of information that had led to tensions flaring up across the school. Many had taken the opportunity to settle old scores and humiliate old rivals by submitting secrets about other students, which had led to broken emotions, lots of tears, and fights in the locker areas, cafeteria, and practically everywhere else on the school site.
It had turned what had once been a relatively peaceful place that had been running on a high of optimism after the defeat of the Sirens into a complete warzone. It had got so bad that Celestia and Luna had been seriously planning banning smartphones and blocking internet access on the computer system. Not to mention the list for the student councillor was now full to overflowing with requests for appointments.
Safe to say, it hadn’t been the season of goodwill many had hoped for. Naturally enough, many had tried to figure out who was behind it, and had found a clue in the account itself. The avatar for the account was an image, admittedly crude, of Sunset Shimmer. Sunset had been a bit of a terror back in the old days of the school, so several students had simply put two and two together and gotten four, concluding that Sunset was indeed the one responsible. This even included her former friends, the Rainbooms, who had walked away from her without so much as a second thought.
Just there was one problem. And that problem was that is wasn’t Sunset.
Sunset was innocent.
That morning, students pulled books out of their lockers and got ready for another tiring and no doubt emotionally tense day. They were awakened from their zombie-like slumber when the school intercom engaged and began to transmit a message.
“To all students of Canterlot High School,” the voice of Vice-Principal Luna said over the speaker, the sound crackling as it did so. "I would like to inform you all that you are to attend a special assembly this morning. Proceed to the main hall immediately and be seated as soon as possible. That is all.” The intercom switched off with that, and the students began murmuring amongst themselves.
“What could this be about?” asked Micro Chips.
“Don’t look at me!” Wallflower answered. “Not least because you probably wouldn’t see me, but I have no idea what this assembly could be about.”
“Anon-a-Miss maybe?” a boy by the name of Dumbbell suggested.
“Maybe that bitch Sunset will finally confess to her crimes,” Gilda said with satisfaction, rubbing her hands together with glee.
Once the entire student body had taken their seats on the bleachers, Principal Celestia stepped forward with a microphone in her hand, stepping toward a table; upon which, a laptop had been placed, with a tangle of wires running out of it that linked up to a small projector mounted on a table next to the first table. She pushed a button which started a short film about the dangers of cyberbullying, retelling one real case that pushed a girl to suicide.
Once it had finished, Celestia began to speak. “Good morning students,” she said. “At least as good as it can be given the last few weeks. I trust you all know what this assembly is all about?”
“Is it going to be Sunset finally owning up?” shouted Flash.
“Yeah, I thought I smelled horseshit in here!” shouted another.
Celestia shook her head. “That’ll be after school detentions for the both of you. But yes, this concerns the matter that has been going on with social media for a few weeks now. I know that this ‘Anon-a-Miss' has been leaking personal information of yours for several weeks now, and it has led to a state of chaos in the school.”
There was a brief pause, before she continued. “We have finally brought an end to this incident, and the perpetrators have been caught. But before they come forward, there is someone here to speak to you.”
She stepped back, and Sunset stepped forward and took the microphone.
“Look,” she began, “I know that many of you have a low opinion of me at the moment, and that you want a scapegoat for this mess, but-”
“No shit Sherlock!” Rainbow Dash shouted from the crowd. “Just confess now and save us our time!”
“Indeed!” Applejack added. “You’ve been causin’ enough pain around here fer now. Mah poor little sis’ came home cryin’ from that stuff ya posted!”
Sunset shook her head. “But please, ask yourselves this; after all that I had done to redeem myself from who I used to be, and saved your lives at the Battle of the Bands-what would I actually gain from this? Being alone isn’t fun, and it hurts. Just like the truth you are about to receive. I hope you had fun enjoying your little lie Applejack, because it is time to end this charade once and for all. That’s all I have to say.” She walked back, and Celestia took the microphone once more.
“Could Anon-a-Miss please step forward.”
At those words, the group collectively referred to as the ‘Canterlot Movie Club’-Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo-stepped forward, with three security guards behind them to keep them moving if they didn’t. However, it seemed as if they didn’t need much encouragement, as they stepped forward consistently, looks of crushing guilt and fear on their faces.
“Yeah,” Apple Bloom said quietly. “It was us.”
There was a brief silence. And then the entire hall burst out laughing.
“Good God!” one student howled. “You really expect us to believe that?”
“Sunset put you up to this, didn’t she?” asked another, a student by the name of Trixie.
Apple Bloom sighed. “Gotta do this the hard way.” She stepped over to the laptop, opened MyStable, and signed into the account. Now all was clear. The account page was displayed, with the queueing and status bars clearly visible.
The response was mixed. First there was silence. Then there were some shocked gasps. And finally, there was rage.
“YOU BASTARDS!” a student in the front row roared. “YOU WRECKED OUR LIVES! YOU WILL PAY!”
Guards came over to remove him from the premises, whilst the crowd went on booing and shouting profanities too rude to reprint here.
Celestia stepped forward, and cleared her throat. “SILENCE!” she boomed.
Silence fell.
Celestia went over to the CMC. “Girls, would you care to explain why you acted why you did?” she asked, her voice indicating intense displeasure.
Apple Bloom took the microphone, and began to speak. “Some of ya folk out in the crowd may be wonderin’ what it would take ta motivate us ta do somethin’ like this.” Her head sank, the girl unable to make eye contact with anybody else due to the shame she felt. “It was jealousy. Jealousy of Sunset!”
Sunset looked shocked. “What? Why? Didn’t you knuckleheads understand I saved you from the Sirens?”
“You took them away from us,” Sweetie Belle continued.
“Took who, exactly?” Celestia asked.
“Our sisters,” Scootaloo answered.
Sunset looked baffled. “Scoots, you and Rainbow aren’t even related. I swear Flash is your brother!”
“Our siblin’s were spendin’ time with Sunset, and not with us,” Apple Bloom finished. “We were alone and left out. So Ah concocted the plan to get them back. Those secrets came from us.”
“I took Sunset’s phone during the slumber party,” Sweetie Belle added. “I uploaded the pictures from it onto my PC, and from there onto the account.”
“But it got out of hand,” Scootaloo continued. “People started sending us other stuff. We didn’t post most of it, of course, but-”
Sunset’s face had turned redder than usual, and the look of pure rage was on her face. “But nothing,” she snarled, walking over with her fists closed. “You should never have posted any of it, at all. Not only are you three complete idiots, you also show a complete lack of self-control.”
“Who are you to tell us what we should have done?” Sweetie Belle asked. “What’s done is done, and we can’t take it back.”
What happened next shocked everyone.
There was a percussive bang the volume of a thunderclap, and in a split-second Sweetie Belle was on the floor, clutching her face. Her friends formed a protective circle around her, to fend Sunset off if need be.
“Now that was uncalled for!” Rarity shouted.
“Oh really?” Sunset smiled back. “She’ll remember that next time she tries to do something to utterly idiotic again!”
Celestia intervened. “Only one thing remains to be done,” she said, helping the prone member of the CMC back onto her feet. “Delete the account.”
Apple Bloom nodded, and walked over to the PC. She then clicked the account name, and pressed the ‘delete’ option.
Warning: This will delete the account ‘Anon-a-Miss' and all content associated with it. Are you sure you want to do this? Yes/No
Apple Bloom clicked yes, and the screen changed to show a new text box.
Account deleted
With an audible sigh of relief, the situation stabilised. Until Applejack stood up.
“Yer in fer a switchin’, missy!” she shouted.
“You’ll be lucky if you manage to stay in Canterlot!” Rarity added, focusing on her own sister.
“Not cool, kid. Not cool,” Rainbow Dash muttered under her breath, planning in her mind the ways in which she would punish Scootaloo.
Celestia spoke up again. “I will assure you now that these three will be severely punished, with-”
Suddenly, the lights in the hall turned off, and the display on the laptop screen changed to show a display with a large logo floating in the background, with a cityscape behind that. A moment later, a man appeared on the screen, wearing a black suit and flanked by two soldiers in strange armour.
“Fellow citizens,” he began to speak, “for 20 years the ADVENT Coalition has worked tirelessly to repair the ravages and injustices of the Old World. Under our stewardship, our cities prosper, our people flourish, and our world heals.”
Celestia looked furious. “Is this your doing?” she demanded of Apple Bloom. “Stop the video. Now.”
“This ain’t us!” the girl replied in fright. “Ah got no idea what this is!”
“It’s some sort of live broadcast!” Sweetie Belle added. “But what I don’t know.”
The speaker on screen then continued. “And yet, among us, there are still those who would refuse to acknowledge the truth; who are determined to see that all we have achieved crumble!”
There was a brief pause, before the tone of the address suddenly changed. “That must end. Even as I speak to you today ADVENT peacekeepers are on their way to put an end to the Resistance scourge known as ‘Anon-a-Miss'.”
The sound of aircraft engines was suddenly audible outside, and the glass on the windows of the hall shattered as soldiers smashed their way in through the windows. The doors burst open, to reveal more soldiers storming the auditorium, a mixture of those in black armour, with a few in red with capes mixed in amongst them.
One of the red ones barked orders in a strange language, and the soldiers opened fire. Bullets rained down through the auditorium and smashed through several students, pools of red and mangled remains building up.
Flash was one of the first to go down, his skull cratered by a high velocity railgun round. The soldiers stormed forward, guns continuing to blaze, as the speaker continued.
“We will ensure your continued well-being and safety during this crisis,” he continued, without a hint of irony to his voice. “With your co-operation we will overcome these radical elements, and usher in another 20 years of peace and prosperity.”
Celestia attempted to shout instructions. “All students, evacuate the-”
She never finished her sentence, as both she and Luna were torn apart by a hail of bullets. Sunset covered her face as their blood splattered over her clothes. “Run!” she shouted, only to see more blocking off the stage exit. They closed in, and shouted at her, guns primed, when suddenly one flew backwards and into the wall.
Sunset looked over, to see Cheerilee advance with a shotgun. She fired again and again, felling two more, and motioned over to the girl and the CMC. “This way!” she called. “We have to get out of here!”
They fled for the door, not looking back whilst the soldiers continued firing. When they could stop, Sunset asked; “Who the hell are they?”
Cheerilee looked back to her. “ADVENT ‘peacekeepers’. They are here for our blood.”
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Ya know. This is not something worth celebrating. At all. Why do people think that comic is good for anything?
9453990
Its mostly just used as a source of drama fanfiction its the same for canterlot wedding fics. It has nothing to do if it was good cause lets face it both were crap but make easy fanfiction fuel.
9453989
What do you mean what? I am taking Anon-a-Miss' worst tropes and ramping them up to 11.
9453990
Complete silliness like this.
9454040
That they do.
9453989
ADVENT Peacekeepers. XCOM
9454357
Good spot! Where do you think the madness will go?
9454362
Honestly, not sure. I was kinda confident no one would survive first encounter with soldiers that well trained.
9454371
That is a fair point. All shall become clear tomorrow.
9454357 ... I'm almost scared to ask what the point of the clarification is.
9454382
I mean, there has to be some background. Also, who else died during the raid?
9454500
Why?
9454935
The school suffered pretty heavy casualties, probably around 60-70% of the student body.
9455582 Because it's a pointless clarification/response? It doesn't actually say anything even remotely relevant. or inform me of anything I don't know. I ask "what?", and this dude replies with "ADVENT Peacekeepers. XCOM" as if I didn't know what they are.
9455590
Ah.
Well, of course you know what ADVENT is. You're the expert on this site, after all!
Bro what
No, seriously. This is nonsensical. Like... why? Sunset slapped Sweetie so hard Sweetie was knocked down? Lolwat
And then ADVENT showed up? Excuse me, what?
9533443
OK, look. I am aware this is shit, and I'm seriously thinking of deleting it.
9533647
It may be a pile of poop, but I don't think there's any pressing need to delete it. Let it stand as a testament to how far you've come. Or maybe leave it up so you can laugh at it every now and then.
what the fuck?
11167762
I'm not proud of this one...
I don’t know what the hell’s going on…