Anon-A-Fix

by Soufriere

Chapter Seven: Gossip Spreads

On the other side of the school, Rainbow Dash carried her cafeteria tray full of Aristeque Agriculture Department-regulation glop and slammed it down next to Fluttershy, causing Dash’s apple to bounce off the tray and slowly roll off the table.

The sound of the tray startled Fluttershy out of a glum stupor. She warily turned her eyes to look at her friend but did not initiate conversation. Fortunately, Rainbow Dash was in the mood to talk.

“Hey, Fluttershy,” said Rainbow Dash, unable to hide her anger at life.

“H-hey Dash,” Fluttershy stuttered, trying her best to keep her eyes fixed on her tray of glop, watching it jiggle as she poked it with her spoon.

Rainbow Dash proceeded to rant. “Can’t believe it. Y’know that biology pre-final we had last week? The one I bombed? It’s been posted on the Anon-A-Miss page! Now everyone’s calling me a dumbass! I mean, I know I suck at school, and it’s not like my parents would ever be disappointed in me no matter what I do as long as I bring home some dinky trophy for them to coo over. But still!” Her tone softened. “…You still getting teased?”

“Yes,” Fluttershy replied with a melancholic sigh. “I have to run straight to the animal shelter every day the minute school ends. At least the animals won’t make fun of me.”

“Well, at least we’re not the only targets anymore. Take a look.”

Rainbow Dash pointed over to a nearby table where now-former best friends Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon were figuratively (and almost literally) at each other’s throats.

“Don’t lie to me!” Diamond Tiara screamed. “You stole my necklace. Anon-A-Miss posted a picture of it. That was a gift from Daddy!”

Silver Spoon rolled her eyes, then shot back, “Why should you care?? You were the one who said it was a crap gift and you didn’t even want it! Besides, it looks better on me anyway!”

A couple tables away, Greensleeves, the Eco-Club President with unkempt dreadlocks and velour beret, angrily shoved a jar full of butterflies at Bulk-Biceps, whose already bone-white skin somehow managed to lose more colour as he backed away in terror, with only a pathetic “Noooo!” as reaction.

Indeed, every single table in the cafeteria seemed to have at least one group arguing about something Anon-A-Miss had posted. Even Vinyl Scratch, the school’s normally unflappable turntable queen, sat alone with her arms crossed and a scowl on her face as Octavia Melody, the school’s cello virtuoso, sat a few feet away, facing the opposite direction but with a near identical expression.

“Seems like she wants to spill everyone’s secrets now,” said Rainbow with an air of resignation.

“Oh my,” was all Fluttershy could say in response to the spectacle.

Just then, Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo entered the cafeteria as a group. Rainbow Dash’s and Scootaloo’s eyes met, at which point the latter immediately startled and fast-walked away to contemplate a ripped poster of a taco.

“Jeez. Even the squirt is ashamed of me,” Rainbow Dash said, dejected.

She and Fluttershy watched as Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle slowly manoeuvred their way around the cafeteria, Sweetie Belle observing everything with slowly heightening despondence and alarm before Apple Bloom took her wrist and guided her out one of the giant room’s other exit doors, nearly bumping into Rarity in the process, for which they muttered apologies that Rarity ignored as she approached her friends and plopped herself down across from Fluttershy.

“Um…” began Fluttershy tentatively, “You don’t… look good.”

Rarity blinked, slowly. In fact, she did not look good. Her clothes were ruffled, her hair a bit wild, she wore no makeup, her eyes were puffy, she simultaneously looked like she had lost yet gained weight, and so on. When she spoke, there was almost a creakiness to her voice.

“Why should I?” Rarity tried to sound angry but her weariness overpowered it. “No matter what I do, everyone else at this school quacks at me or calls me ugly or… ugh! It really is just like freshman year, except now everyone is getting a big dose of what I was dealt… except my baby sister, thank goodness. Honestly, I don’t know how much longer I can take this.”

Rainbow Dash shook her head. “I haven’t seen this many arguments, this bad, since… well… since before Twilight Sparkle came and set everything straight.”

“I miss her. I wonder where she is. I wish she’d come back,” Fluttershy said so quietly that Rainbow Dash could not hear her and just kept talking.

“All because of Anon-A-Miss. Or, Sunset, I guess.”

Fluttershy turned to face Rainbow Dash, a serious yet sad expression on her face. “Do you really think Sunset Shimmer is Anon-A-Miss?”

Rainbow Dash sat back and thought for about five seconds, quite a while by her standards. “I don’t want to believe it, but… Who else could’ve stolen all our secrets? Besides, like Rarity said, this isn’t too different from the crap she pulled three years ago. You might have had a point with that outburst of yours the other day. She never changed from back then.”

“I know what you mean,” Fluttershy agreed, on the verge of tears. “We let her into our hearts, and then… now… it…” she sniffled.

“She was our friend. More than that, with her around it felt like we had become a sort of family, y’know?”

“Well… family can make mistakes, right?” asked Fluttershy tentatively.

“Maybe, but…” Rainbow Dash said, shaking her head. “I don’t know if you can forgive them.”

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Two storeys away from the din of the lunchroom, on the upper mezzanine of the library, under the frosted glass dome, Sunset Shimmer sat on a pile of books she had made into an impromptu day bed and began writing another entry in her beige diary. Through the tears and her arm quivering, she had difficulty writing, but tried her best anyway.

Status Update: Særrajeola XX:
I don’t know what to do…