Pinkie sighed as she sat inside the Sweet Shoppe, a hot chocolate in her hand. Sipping the warm beverage, she glanced over to the counter where Mrs. Cake was wiping the countertop. After Sunset left in tears, Mrs. Cake was very angry at the scene, scolding them to high heaven. Then, Pinkie Pie was taken to the back of the room where she was suspended with pay with a strong reminder to never create a scene like that when she came back to work in the new year. Their anger dissipated in the next day, but their slight disappointment did not and the punishment was still acted upon.
Pinkie's eyes then concentrated on a small spot in the wall. At first, she was upset and vowed to concentrate all of her anger on Sunset. But after she saw Sunset in the condition that she was in, it was honestly a miracle that the Cakes were lenient at her as they were. After all, creating a scene like that was bad for business and would scare potential customers away. It was, to be frank, something that she would regret going forward. Why didn't she listen to her Pinkie Sense when it screamed and yelled at her to look at the situation differently?
Her hair bounced as she turned to see her friends enter the bakery. She swallowed her saliva nervously. She knew that with Anon-a-Miss going on, just even uttering Sunset's name would be a hot-button issue. And yet, she had to challenge them. At this point, every single lead on Sunset was exhausted and they were willing to beat a dead horse into the ground. Pinkie just bristled as she thought that last point. Twilight wouldn't be happy with that analogy.
"Pinkie," Fluttershy's soft voice broke her out of her trance. "Pinkie, are you okay?"
"...Yeah," Pinkie forced a smile. "Yeah, I'm fine, Fluttershy. I'm just thinking about things right now." She honestly couldn't be more amazed at how this shy girl was the same girl who glared at Sunset like a basilisk threatening its prey.
"Aren't we all, darling," Rarity grumbled. "It's gotten worse." She pulled out her phone and showed it for the girls to see. "It's horrible what she's doing to Canterlot High! Look, somebody posted this on the Anon-a-Miss blog about Lyra and Bon Bon!" Her dainty fingers clenched the phone tightly. "Did she learn nothing during the Fall Formal or even afterwards, when we've given her a place in our family?!"
"Honestly, sugarcube," Applejack growled. "We should've let the police deal with her the moment she fell on the Fall Formal! That way, she would never hurt anybody else ever again! But it just goes ta show that a leopard never changes its spots that easily!"
"Next time I see her," Rainbow slammed her fist into her hand. "I'll teach her a lesson that she'll never forget!"
The more they talked, the more Pinkie was starting to get uncomfortable. It was quite surreal, to see her friends who were a group of friendly girls being so vindictive and vengeance obsessed. Just yesterday, she was the same way, being angry and a revenge-obsessed girl towards Sunset. Would she still be revenge-obsessed if she didn't find out about Sunset, she thought, or would her Pinkie Sense eventually win out in the end?
"Pinkie," Fluttershy asked again, frowning at the girl. "You've been real quiet right now. Are you sure that everything's okay?"
"I've been thinking about this whole Anon-a-Miss thing," Pinkie finally said. "And I've been wondering on whether we're a bit too eager to pin this on her. I mean, she wasn't the only one at the sleepovers. We all were there, so it's a little too easy." It's risky for her to plant this seed of doubt in their minds, considering everything, but she had to try. "I'm just thinking. Maybe a different person could've started this whole thing."
"Pinkie, I know that you still want to see Sunset as a good person," Fluttershy softly spoke, putting a hand on hers. "But I can honestly say that she has crossed the line of no return with this. We thought that we could trust her, but who else could this profile be but hers? After all, she said it to us herself. She didn't lose her phone that day."
"And because of that, we're immediately declaring her guilty of Anon-a-Miss?"
Wow. Twilight was right. When it was said aloud just like that, it sounded really dumb and too convenient an excuse. Pinkie's eyes widened in disbelief. How could she be so foolish? Why was she so foolish? She was the Element of Laughter, yes, but a closer inspection should tell people that she wasn't dumb! And yet, here they were, playing the fool for all the world to see.
"Yes," Rainbow said, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "Pinkie, what's gotten into you? Why are you sticking up for that traitor?!"
"No, Rainbow Dash," Pinkie glared at the chromatic-haired girl. "A better question is why aren't you?! After all, aren't you the Element of Loyalty?!" She knew that she would get into trouble with Mrs. Cake again, but it didn't matter. "Besides, if no one, not even us, will stand up for her, who will?! Sunset's got nobody else in this world before we came along except maybe Twi! But Twi can't be here everyday, so we promised to be there for Sunny when everyone else was rightly against her! But now!"
"Land sakes, Pinkie," Applejack gaped. "What's gotten into ya?! Ya more wound up than an agitated rattler!"
"Because...Because I should be," Pinkie gasped, clenching her fists. "Why did we act this way towards her?! It's not fair! She's done a lot for us without asking anything! But all we did was turn our back on her when we did! Worse, now everyone's mad at her for something that someone else might've done! And we didn't care at all about her! We should've been there for her, but now we're lucky if we can even talk to her again when all of this is over!"
"Pinkie," Rarity stood up, alarmed. "When all of this is over, Sunset will be charged for the profile of Anon-a-Miss by Principal Celestia and Vice-Principal Luna. So there's no reason to fret over her!"
"I can't believe it," Pinkie responded, flabbergasted. "You still want to declare her guilty of being Anon-a-Miss even after I say otherwise! It's that attitude that makes Twilight and Sunset hate us! We've become nothing but a bunch of bullies!"
"Pinkie, how could you say that?" Fluttershy gasped, tears in her eyes.
"Because it's the truth, Fluttershy! Because it's the truth! Ever since this whole thing started, we've done nothing but make a person who's supposed to be our best friend miserable! Worse, we've turned the whole school against her, both the faculty and the students! We're no better than Anon-a-Miss in that regard! Heck, we're no better than Sunset before she was good, and you know that!"
"What are you saying," Rainbow growled, seeing red. "We didn't blackmail anyone into doing things for us!"
"We isolated her, Dash! We called her names such as traitor and lying, no-good snake! Heck, I called her a meanie and a no-good secret stealer! We didn't lift a finger when the other kids were trying to push her into the lockers or spill their lunch on her! We even ganged up on her when she tried to say that she was innocent! You even slapped her, Rarity! How could you?! She didn't even lift a finger in her defense that night! We left her crying out in the cold! And now, she could be real hurt due to our actions! But you still want to accuse her of hurting people when she's the one hurting!"
"It's not like we wanted ta accuse her..." Applejack began.
"Well, you're not acting like that," Pinkie retorted, narrowing her eyes. "In fact, you want to see her hurt even more! Why is it that we want to see her guilty even when there's a good chance that she might be innocent? Do we really hate her so much? Or is it because now that the shoe's on the other foot, it's too good to see Sunset humiliated beyond all belief?! Answer me!"
Nobody replied. Rainbow Dash, Applejack, and Rarity were all looking at each other in disbelief while Fluttershy looked at an ornate part of her skirt, biting her lip. Pinkie felt her rage dissipate a little, but her sadness didn't. She wondered why Sunset even tried to speak with them if they didn't even want to hear her out. Maybe Sunset was too persistent or too hopeful. But, in the end, it only left her with heartbreak.
"And the fact is," Pinkie continued, echoing Twilight's words. "Nothing about this mess even looked up for us! In fact, it got a lot worse! Everyone's at each other's throats and the only thing that's uniting them is how they treat Sunset! But, other than that, everyone hates each other again!" She stood up. "I'm going to see Sunset. I'm going to apologize to her and be a friend to her again!"
"You are...?" Fluttershy whispered, eyes widening.
"Yes, I am. And I don't care if you hate me after this. Unlike Sunset, who was trying to walk on eggshells around us, you can't intimidate me with what you do from here. You can join me if you want, but I'm leaving right now. Bye, Mrs. Cake!"
With that she left, leaving the four other Rainbooms in disbelief.
I honestly don't want Sunset to give any of them a second chance.
After what they done and failed to do, i hope she looks for new Friends at least Pinkie starting to ralize how badly she screwed up.
I can see Sunset hate Apple Jack and Rarity due to what their siblings have done.
also glad Pinkie pointe out they were the ones who got Sunset blamed for it all.
This better have a ending with real conqunces, such as the CMC getting suspended or expelled
Pinkie Pie, you are finally using your brain.
I’m proud of you and you have my respect again.
Great chapter! Didn’t think we would get it this soon!
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What real conquences are you thinking of?
In Norway
You can be suspended for 3, or to 5 days for repeated offences.
In extreme cases, the rest of the schoolyear, but that most be decided by the county. The same with expulsions, as far as I know.
While I was in high school (1st year, mid term), a friend of mine (before i befriended him) had been bullied for several years, ended up knifing (steak knife) one of the bullies in the upper arm. He got 3 days suspension.
Considering this... How extreme is Anon-a-Miss?
Remember, they only released embaresing info. no physical violence.
The abuse Sunset suffer, is from many separate individuals of the student body.
Depending on how much surveillance there is and what was witnessed by school staff, there might be a very empty Canterlot High School in the coming days.
I you ask me, the most real conquences they could get would be:
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Yes that is true. in some stories i know their rights to their phones are revoke by the staff, and family.
access to computers be very strictly watched at school and home.
One thing i see is that Sunset may find it hard to want to be around Rarity and Apple Jack as it was their sisters who caused all this.
going to spend time with them means being around...THEM!
Not saying she should hate them but it be very hard and awkward. So may stay away for a bit.
Rainbow well you know.
But trust would been lost and the damage take alot of time to heal and fix. Pinkie wising up and standing up and revealing the cold heard truth to them.
Won some major points, the truth being everyone blames Sunset because THEY BLAMED HER FIRST! also how they may of secretly enjoyed seeing Sunset hurt for their pass grudges.
Well done Pinkie Pie.
Interesting putting Pinkie in this role when the original had the doubter be Fluttershy, also having the response be hostility instead of commiseration. I suppose the latter could be just that it's a group thing instead of one on one, though.
Comic version:
(Yes, the original comic always used bold italics rather than picking either bold or italics.)
I suppose, writing it out, Fluttershy hasn't moved all that from the original version, but "Yes" is a far cry from "I don't know!" and "What's gotten into you? Why are you sticking up for that traitor?!" is a far cry from "I don't want to believe it" or even "She was family!"
Anyway, alternate versions are always in a sort of conversation with the original they're an alternate version of. In a wholly new story, Pinkie Pie being the one to doubt Sunset's guilt, for example, would just be that, but because this is an Anon-a-Miss story, it's also the author deciding to take that distinction away from Fluttershy. Pinkie needing to be pushed (hard) by Twilight where in the original Fluttershy came to it on her own is another point of divergence we can look at. So too is the reception for the doubt being shifted from friendly to outright hostile, and Pinkie actually acting on it where Fluttershy didn't.
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This is an interesting comment! Thank you for it!
I don't really mean to take something away from a character. I just wondered if even the Element of Kindness, that too being in a tumult of adolescence, would be just as forgiving of past transgressions as her Equestrian counterpart. Add in a factor of being tormented for a while by Sunset and there might be an interesting...take on the usual Anon-a-Miss fic.
I would also add that from the Rainbooms' point of view, they want to do right and punish the person making Canterlot High suffer. But, as once said, the road to hell is paved with good intentions. So, it's not like this fic demonizes them (they are impulsive and reckless than actively malicious), but it expands on that recklessness and gives more chance for inner reflection.
But, yeah, looking back, I understand where the contention comes from. Don't worry! I assure that they won't be as egregious with this in the future chapters!
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The other Rainbooms will follow suit, too! But not after some talks and understanding.
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Sunset will talk to them, but it's going to be somewhat heavy and touches on their recklessness just a few times more before it truly sinks in.
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Yep! It's been a month since I last updated not counting a couple of days ago so I feel as if you all needed two chapters to satisfy!
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As I said before, the other Rainbooms will follow suit. Though, not without some talking that touches on heavy things in-universe within the story.
To quote the 4th Doctor, played by Tom Baker;