> Anon-a-Miss
>  by Dainn
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Chapter 1 - Friendship
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	It was the final Monday of the week, which meant that there were only four more days to go until the students of Canterlot High were scheduled to get out for Christmas break.  The dismissal bell had just finished ringing, signaling the end of yet another miserable day.  There wasn't a single cheerful soul in that building.  No one laughed.  No one smiled.  Something had the students on edge and it wasn't homework.  

For the past week, someone calling themselves “Anon-a-Miss” on several social media websites, such as “Mystable”, had been going around posting other people’s personal information online for the world to see.  No one knew for certain how Anon-a-Miss was getting so much information on everyone, but the students of CHS had seemingly all jumped to one unanimous conclusion.  Sunset Shimmer must have been the one doing it.

The students and the school staff burned her with their hateful glares as she walked down the halls.  Profanities were whispered the moment that her back was turned.  It wasn’t uncommon to receive a random shove when maneuvering through large crowds or to return to find that her locker had either been vandalized or broken into.

As much as Sunset wanted to hate them, the former top dog of the school couldn’t exactly blame them for being so quick to point fingers at her.  Past memories of an age built on fear, blackmail, and sabotaged friendships were still fresh in the minds of others.  The idea of Sunset slithering back into her old habits wasn’t very hard to believe.

There was just one small problem that no one else could see.  

Sunset was innocent.


	***


Light trickles of snow fell from the sky as Sunset ran from the school and across the city.  She didn’t stop until she had successfully reached her destination, “Sugar Cube Corner”.  From what she remembered during her late night talks with Twilight, there was a place with the exact same name back in Equestria.

Sunset stood outside the establishment, took a deep breath, as if to further solidify her resolve, and then willed herself to step inside.

The light chiming of a bell could be heard as the front door was pushed open.  As luck would have it, there were only five customers inside, not including herself.  They were gathered at the same table, at the same section of the restaurant, exactly as Sunset had predicted.  Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, and Fluttershy.  They were all sitting there together, like they always did, and they were all wearing similar looks of hurt and disgust the moment that they became aware of Sunset’s presence.  Even Mr. and Mrs. Cake, the restaurant's owners, seemed perturbed.

“You're not welcome here and you know it,” Applejack stated in a tone that could have turned entire rivers into ice.

Rainbow Dash was quick to follow Applejack’s lead. “Yeah, so whatever it is you want, go shove it , and leave us alone, Anon-a-Miss."

Sunset could feel her initial bravery crumbling away against the hostility.  She expected this type of response, but that didn't make hearing it any easier.  The fact that they were supposed to be her friends made it sting even more.

She considered leaving the restaurant.  Perhaps going there wasn't such a good idea.  She abandoned that train of thought after reminding herself why she had come there in the first place.  She needed them back in her life.  She needed them to listen.

“Look, I know things are a little messed up right now.  And I know that you all think that I sold you out.  But it wasn’t me.  I didn’t do it.  I would never do anything to hurt any of you.”  Fluttershy looked away, her face scrunched up in irritation,  Rarity mumbled something under her breath, and Pinkie rolled her eyes.

“You girls are literally the only friends that I have in this world,” Sunset’s voice cracked slightly, “So why would I ever -”

She was cut off by the sound of Rainbow slamming her fist down on the table and then leaping out of her seat.  “What part of leave us alone didn’t you understand?!”

Sunset was stunned by the outburst, and judging by the looks on their faces, so was everyone else.  It was no secret that Rainbow Dash could be a bit of a hothead at times, but seeing her like this, eyes narrowed, heavy breaths, fists clenched, body trembling in barely suppressed rage, this was something new.  Sunset was half hoping that one of the other girls would do something to try and calm her down.  

No such thing happened.  In fact, they seemed to be showing silent support.

Drawing upon her inner courage one last time, Sunset reached into her purse and pulled out her journal, the enchanted device that served as a link between the Human World and Equestria.  It was her hope that if her friends wouldn’t believe her words, then perhaps they would find assurance in reading through some of the more recent conversations between herself and Twilight.  “I get it.  You're all angry.  But if you won't listen to me, then would you at least be willing to listen to Twi -”

There was a flash of movement from Rainbow’s arm.  The only thing Sunset saw was a blur, and then the journal had been knocked out of her hands and sent flying across the room.

A heavy silence permeated the restaurant as Sunset slowly dropped her head to the floor in an attempt to avert her gaze away from Rainbow’s.  The message was clear.  Her friends wanted nothing to do with her anymore.

She silently walked over to the journal and placed it back inside her purse.

Before leaving, she turned towards her friends one final time.  

"I promise that I'll find out whoever's behind all of this, no matter how long it takes."  

She returned to her apartment later that afternoon, feeling more broken than ever before.
> Chapter 2 - Rainbow
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Applejack was sitting at her usual spot in the lunchroom while waiting for the rest of her friends to arrive.  She usually got to the table first because the school’s one and only Chemistry teacher, Dr. Discord, always dismissed class 10 to 15 minutes early.  She had made a decent amount of progress on her food by the time Pinkie had arrived, followed shortly by Rainbow Dash and Rarity, with Fluttershy being the last one to the table.  

None of the other four girls, Applejack noticed, were particularly talkative today.  She wasn’t surprised; this had become pretty routine for almost two weeks now.  Pay for your food, sit down, eat, maybe say one or two words when a friend arrived, wait for lunch to end, go back to class, go home.

School really was an irritating place to be.  Having her friends around usually made things more bearable.  Due to recent events, however, the companionship of the other four was slowly starting to lose its charm.

Applejack sighed as her eyes left her now empty plate and settled upon the rest of the lunchroom.  The other students were either glaring daggers at each other from across the room, snickering amongst themselves while catching up on some of the latest pieces of gossip on their phones, or, in the case of she and her friends, they just sat around and ate with hardly any social exchange.  Security guards had been stationed within different corners of the lunchroom so as to help prevent any more fights from breaking out.

‘Well,’ Applejack thought to herself, ‘At least they’re making fun of each other now instead of focusing on me and the girls all the time.’  Canterlot High used to be such a wonderful place, but now it was every student for his or herself.

“I’m a little worried, everyone,” Fluttershy announced in her usual low speaking tone.  Four other pairs of eyes were suddenly focused on her.

“Oh, somethin’ on yer mind, Shy?” asked Applejack.

Fluttershy nodded once before continuing.  “It’s about Sunset.”

A series of irritated groans could be heard from all over the table.  “Aw no, she didn’t post any pictures or nasty rumors about you again, did she?”  Applejack’s eyes half closed in disgust as she absentmindedly began staring at the empty spot at the table where their former friend used to sit.  It hurt deeply knowing that Sunset had betrayed them.  She had considered the troublemaker to be an extended member of her own family before all of this began.

“No, nothing like that.  It’s just ...”  Fluttershy paused in order to gather her thoughts.  “At Sugar Cube Corner yesterday, the things she tried to tell us.  What if she's telling the truth and she really is innocent?”  Fluttershy then recalled Sunset's parting words.

I promise that I’ll find out whoever’s behind all of this, no matter how long it takes.

“I was up all night thinking the same thing,” Pinkie confessed, her somber tone a far-cry from her usual bubbly one.  “Something about all of this feels a little crazy, and not the good kind of crazy when you’re out having fun either.”

“You guys can’t be serious!” Rainbow Dash cried out following a facepalm.  “Don’t tell me the two of you actually bought in to that crap she tried to pull yesterday?  Just look around the school!  It’s the old west all over again!  This totally has that traitor’s name written all over it!”

“As much as I want to believe otherwise, I’m gonna have to go with Dash on this one,” Applejack admitted.  “Think about what happened at those two slumber parties.  I told y’all about my childhood nickname, and then the very next day it showed up on the internet.  And then there were those pictures we took.”  Images of the photos that were taken on the night of the party at Rarity’s began to flash through her mind.  Those pictures were only supposed to be seen by her and her friends, not the entire student body!

“They were taken on her phone,” Applejack continued.  “And she said it herself, her phone never got stolen.  If that’s true, then it couldn’t have been anyone else but her.”

“See?  Applejack’s with me!  Sunset’s just trying to play the old sympathy card so she can weasel her way back into our lives.  Well, I’m not falling for it, and neither should any of you!”

“But she came all that way just to talk to us!  And she looked so sad when she left,” Fluttershy interjected.  “Could she really have faked all of that?”

Rainbow Dash clenched her teeth in annoyance, obviously not taking too kindly to being questioned.  Sunset was a backstabbing liar, end of discussion.  “Rarity, please tell me that you’re at least smart enough to see through this?”

Rarity, who was wearing a goofy and somewhat over the top disguise in a last ditch effort to stay hidden from her classmates, was staring down at her still untouched plate of food.  “I’m not entirely sure what to believe anymore.”  

Rainbow pinched the bridge of her nose in irritation.  “You’ve gotta be kidding me ...”

“I never said that I didn’t think that she was Anon-A-Miss.  All I said was that I wasn’t sure.”  Judging by all of the questioning stares that she received, Rarity deduced that her friends were waiting for a more detailed explanation.  

“Rainbow raised a valid point.  This is just the sort of thing that she was known for doing in the past.  And like Applejack mentioned earlier, the only person who had the ability to upload those pictures was Sunset.  As far as I know, she didn’t send them to any of us.  With that in mind, I don’t see how it could be anyone else besides her.”

“But?” asked Applejack.

“It’s just like Pinkie said; something doesn’t feel right about all of this.  The Sunset Shimmer that I remember wouldn’t have been this careless.  She’d never do something this obvious if it meant suffering the wrath of the entire school.  Instead of throwing it around all over the place, she would have held on to the secrets that she had uncovered and would have then used it as leverage against the other students.  Compared to her usual approach, this is just plain sloppy, amateurish even.”

Just then, all of the phones in the cafeteria started to vibrate.  A sudden hush had befallen the entire cafeteria while the security guards began to prepare themselves for the possibility of having to break up another fight.  The students of CHS were all too familiar with what that signal meant by now.  A new update from Anon-a-Miss.  

Applejack rolled her eyes while resting the side of her face against her hand.  “Here we go again.”  Who was the unlucky student of the day this time?  She wouldn’t have to wait long to find out, the students were slowly beginning to talk amongst themselves again.

“No way!”

“Wow.”

“Sunset should be ashamed of herself.”

“Did they really do that?”

“Oh boy …”

“That’s kinda hot if they really did.”

“Ha, always knew she was a little manly!”

One by one, several pairs of eyes had begun to lock on to the table were Applejack and the others were sitting.

‘It’s one of us?  Again?’ Rarity asked herself in confusion.  She turned her head and watched as Fluttershy pulled out her phone and began signing in to her Mystable account.  There was a cursory look on her face as she scrolled through old comments.  Then her eyes widened and she slapped a hand over her mouth in shock.

One by one, the other girls began checking their own phones for updates.  It didn’t take them very long to find what all of the excitement was about.  At the top of Anon-a-miss’s webpage was a new post that read, “Remember how Gilda and Rainbow Dash used to be such good friends?  It probably had something to do with this!  Get a room, you two!”

Underneath the caption was a picture of Rainbow Dash and another student named Gilda.  They were standing in a parking lot, their lips pressed together.

It was clear that the two didn’t want to be seen, as evidenced by the way in which their faces were concealed behind the hoods on their jackets.  However, there was no mistaking Rainbow’s hair pattern, and the way that the photo was angled gave any onlookers a clear view of Gilda’s face.

The post currently had 107 likes and growing.

An icy chill raced up Rarity’s spine as she pried her attention away from her phone.  She turned towards Rainbow Dash, who didn’t move a muscle or utter a sound.  She didn’t even breathe.  She just sat there, stone still.

Fluttershy wanted to give her friend a hug, she wanted to tell her that everything would be okay, and to just ignore it.  Before she got the chance, someone cut her off from somewhere in the cafeteria.

“Yo, Dash!  Guess they don’t call you ‘Rainbow’ for nothing huh, you little freak?”

The entire cafeteria erupted with boisterous laughter, shattering the trance like state that had befallen Rainbow Dash.  

She jumped out of her seat, and ran for the lunchroom door.  

Applejack and Pinkie chased after Rainbow, but it was in vain.  Rainbow was already 3/4ths of the way down the hall by the time the other two girls had made it outside the lunchroom door.

‘Sunset,’ Fluttershy thought to herself, ‘If you really aren’t the one doing this, then please hurry and find out who is.’


***


Principal Celestia and Vice Principal Luna were having a debate inside of the back quarters of their office.  The two sisters were trying to reach an agreement on whether or not to enforce a new “No Cell Phones Allowed” policy.  Luna was in favor of the idea, but her sister was skeptical.

“But Celestia,” cried the school’s second in command with a hint of frustration, “If the reason for all of the fighting is because of their phones, then wouldn’t it make more sense to just forbid them from carrying them around on school grounds?”

Celestia, who had almost finished draining the contents from her coffee mug, shook her head in disagreement.  “I’m afraid that it’s not that simple.  What if there’s an emergency and a student needs to get in contact with someone, or the other way around?”

“Then they can just walk down here and ask to use one of the phones in the office!  Is it really that complicated?”

“That’s not a bad idea, Luna.”  The Vice Principal smiled slightly at having finally won the debate.  “But there are still a few reasons why that won’t work.”  Her smile turned back into a frown.

“How many of the students do you think would actually go along with that?  Most of them would get rebellious and sneak their phones in anyway.  That type of thing tends to happen when you take away certain freedoms.”  Luna got ready to say something else, but then Celestia cut her off.  “Not only that, but what you suggested would target all of the students regardless of circumstance.  Some of the students here have legitimate reasons for why they need to carry their phones.  If we punish them too, then we run the risk of getting chewed out by their parents, and I’d rather not put up with that.  Our jobs are stressful enough as it is.”

“I suppose you do have a point there,” Luna admitted sadly.  “I still think that we should push for my idea.”

“Yeah, I know, I know,” Celestia said to her little sister with fatigue in her voice.  “It’s a good idea, but it won’t make the problem go away.  This won’t stop unless we can somehow pull this out at the roots.  We just need to figure out how.”

As if on cue, a series of soft knocks came from the office door.

“Come in,” called Vice Principal Luna.

One of the office attendants, a middle aged man with a receding hairline, stepped into the room.  “Sorry to interrupt, but there’s a student back here who wants to have a word with you two.  She says it’s an emergency.”

The two school heads exchanged a brief glance with each other before Celestia turned back to the attendant.  “Let her in.”

The man walked away for a moment and returned with a certain fiery haired student who the two sisters knew all too well.

“Principal Celestia, Vice Principal Luna, we need to talk.”
> Chapter 3 - Traitor
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	“So,” Celestia announced from behind her desk in her usual welcoming tone, “What can we do for you, Miss Shimmer?”

Sunset usually tried to avoid contact with the Principal and Vice Principal whenever possible.  It wasn’t that she had anything against them; they were actually both very nice ladies who were always there to listen if a student had a problem.  Her only issue was that every time she saw them, Celestia specifically, it brought back memories of how everything back home had gone awry.  The fact that this world’s Celestia and her world’s Celestia had such similar personalities made her feel even more uncomfortable.

“Principal Celestia,” Sunset began slowly.

“Just Celestia is fine.  No need for titles when there's no one else around,” the school’s head interrupted.

Yep, just like her old mentor.  

“Celestia,” she started again, “You’ve heard about the big problem going on around the school, right?”

“You’ll have to be a bit more specific.  Luna and I hear about all sorts of issues that take place around here.”

“Okay then.  Have any of you heard about someone on Mystable named Anon-a-Miss?”

Celestia crossed her arms and began staring a bit more intently at her visitor.  “Why, yes.  We’ve been hearing quite a bit about him or her lately.  It’s sad really.  A lot of good students have gotten hurt.  I'm sure that it would be greatly appreciated if they were to come clean.”

Sunset had seen that look in Celestia's eyes before.  Whenever Celestia had used that stare on her, back when she still lived in Canterlot Castle, it meant that the alicorn knew that she had done something wrong.  On some days, the Princess would choose to watch in amusement while the young unicorn tried her best to lie her way out of trouble.  It never worked.

“Do you have any ideas on who Anon-a-Miss might be?” Sunset asked.

Instead of Celestia, Luna was the one to answer. “There seems to be a popular belief among the students, and some of our staff, that Anon-a-Miss is all your doing.”

“Do you believe them?”

“Should we?” asked Luna.

Sunset had a feeling that this was going to be the closest thing to a definite answer that she was going to get from those two.  “Despite what everyone else thinks, it isn’t me.  But no one’s listening.  No one’s giving me a chance to say my side of the story.”

Celestia appeared lost in deep thought while her sister studied Sunset for any signs of deception.

“Alright, Sunset, I have a question for you,” proclaimed Celestia.  Sunset couldn’t help but notice the uncertainty in her voice.  “Why come all the way down to our office just to tell us this?  Is there something that you would like from us?”

Sunset took a deep breath before exhaling slowly.  “The students are about ready to tear each other apart.  I’ve never seen anything this bad before, not even during the days leading up to the Fall Formal.  The closest thing to this that I’ve seen would have to be back when the sirens took over the school.”

Celestia raised a single eyebrow in surprise.  “You think that Adagio and her sisters might be the ones pulling the strings?”

Sunset answered with a slight nod.  “There are only eight people who I could see as being Anon-a-Miss.  And out of that number, Adagio, Sonata, and Aria are at the top of my list.”

“Eight?  Who are the other five?” asked Celestia.

“Rarity, Applejack, Pinkie, Rainbow Dash, and Fluttershy.”

Celestia’s eyes widened at hearing Sunset list the names of the five girls who had helped save the school, and possibly the entire planet, on two different occasions.  “You think that your friends might have played a part in this?”

“Ex-friends, technically,” Sunset corrected.  “And I don’t have anything solid just yet.  Right now all I have is a hunch.  But if this isn’t a revenge attempt from the sirens, then there’s a strong possibility that it’s one of them.  Unless I’m missing something, I honestly don’t know who else it could be.”

“Hmm.” Celestia pressed her index finger against in her chin in contemplation.  “While I’m not sure how the other five got onto your list, I will admit that it wouldn't surprise me if Adagio was back at it again.  You’re the reason why their plans failed.  But I still don’t understand why you’re telling us all of this.”

“It’s because she wants to see our files so that she can find out where Adagio and her sisters live,” Luna answered.

Sunset had almost forgotten that the Vice Principal was still there.  She nodded in confirmation at the Vice Principal's deduction.

“Sunset, are you aware of just how dangerous of a request that is?  Not only is it illegal, but you’d be putting yourself at serious risk.” Celestia warned.  “And that’s assuming that the address that they gave us wasn’t a fake one.”

Sunset pondered Celestia’s words for a moment.  Now that she thought about it, going in alone was pretty reckless, but she wasn't about to be deterred.  Someone was targeting the other students and they were going through the trouble of making it look like she was the one doing it.  The only way that the cyber-attacks were going to stop was if she tracked the culprit down and made them talk.

"I’ll be fine," said Sunset.  "They don’t have their magic anymore and that was the only scary thing about them.  If something does happen to me then Anon-a-Miss’s impersonation routine will fall apart.  The students can go back to being happy and hopefully the fighting will stop.  And as a bonus, you’ll know where to start looking if I go missing.”

“Those are all terrible reasons to go through with this,” Luna interjected.  “And if you go missing then we won’t be able to start a search party.  Not without drawing attention to the fact that we handed you someone else’s files.  If the Board of Education were to find out, then we’d be lucky if unemployment was the worst that happened to us.”

'So, in other words, I'm on my own if something happens,' thought Sunset.

“You helped save us all once before, and for that we owe you a huge debt,” explained Celestia.  “If you truly believe that this is the only way to prove your innocence and restore peace around here, then I’ll print you a copy of what we have on record.  You’ll be dismissed from school for the rest of the week without penalty.  All that I ask is that you be careful and that you check in with us whenever you can so that we’ll know that you’re alright.  And if something happens, I’m sorry, but we’re going to have to deny having ever given you support.”

“I understand.”

Celestia still looked uncertain as she left her chair and disappeared into one of the back rooms.  She hadn’t been gone long before Sunset could hear the gentle hum of one of the printers going off.

***


CHS had an entrance towards the back of the school that led to a track that was around ¼ of a mile all the way around.  The track was special in that it was built within the perimeter of a small football field.  Whenever the school held a special event, such as field day for the students, it either took place on that very track, or it was moved into the gymnasium if it started raining.  Sitting on the bleachers that were normally used as a seating area for onlookers was Rainbow Dash.  She had long since stopped her crying, although her eyes remained bloodshot and streaks of dried tears were still visible.

She’d been sitting there for almost an hour.  Lunch had been over for quite some time and classes had resumed.  Her last two teachers for the day would probably report her for skipping class, but she didn't care.  Her mind was only focused on one thing, Sunset Shimmer.  That conniving, backstabbing, traitor.  She trusted her.  The girls trusted her too.  Even when the other students tried putting her down or kept their distance in fear that she might sprout demon wings again, Rainbow and the others stood by her side every step of the way.  They listened to her problems and treated her as if they’d all been friends for years.

Despite all of that, she still went back to being the same stuck-up witch that drove her and the rest of the girls apart.  Rainbow didn’t know how Sunset had found out about her “Experimental Phase,” and she was too angry to care.  This was a new low, even for Sunset, and Rainbow would never forgive her for it.

One way or another, she wasn’t going to let Sunset get away with this.

“Hey there, dweeb.”  Rainbow was snatched from her thoughts by a strong pair of hands that gripped tightly around her coat collar.  After her eyes stopped swimming around in her head, she blinked the stars out of her vision and was met with the image of an old “friend” of hers.  Gilda, the other girl mentioned during Anon-a-Miss’s update, and she didn’t look happy.

Rainbow tried to say something, but then Gilda clamped a hand tightly over her open mouth.  “I’m in a bit of a hurry, so I’m gonna make this quick and simple.  Me and some of the other students have been looking all over the school for that little friend of yours, but for some reason nobody can find her.  When I move my hand, I’m gonna give you five seconds to tell me where she's at, or you’re gonna be grass.”  Gilda moved her hand away, balled it into a fist, and began counting down from five to one.

Rainbow was about to swat Gilda’s arm away and start fighting back.  She wasn’t the type to let someone else push her around and she was already in a fighting mood after what happened at lunch.  Suddenly, a light bulb went off, and just in time too, the five seconds were just about over.

“You said that you’re looking for Sunset, right?” asked Rainbow.

“That’s already been established.”

“Well, it just so happens that I’m looking for her too.  So, what if I helped you?” Rainbow asked.

Gilda tightened her grip on the other girl.  “Thanks but no thanks.  We can get by just fine without you.”

Rainbow Dash narrowed her eyes in a small show of aggression.  “Maybe you forgot who I am.  I used to be friends with her.  I know her entire class schedule by heart.  I know where she lives and I know where her usual hangout spots are.”  

Rainbow Dash reached into her pocket, pulled out her phone, and held it up to where Gilda could see it.  She went over to her contacts list and scrolled down until her cursor stopped on the name “Sunset Shimmer”.  "I can do so much more than just “tell you where to find her”.  But I guess that doesn’t really matter.  You said it yourself, you can get by just fine without me."

A smile began to spread across Gilda’s face as she released her grip on Rainbow.  “About how I threatened you earlier, my bad, Dash.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Rainbow replied while jumping off of the bleachers.

If Sunset couldn't keep her mouth shut willingly, then she and the other students were going to do the world a favor and take care of the problem.
> Chapter 4 - Adagio
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Sunset finally rolled out of bed around eleven.  She didn't get much sleep the night before.  She didn’t know if it was the burning determination or the fearful anticipation at the big day ahead of her, either way her rest wasn’t a pleasant one.  'Here we go,' she told herself as she rolled out of bed and made her way into the shower.  After she finished cleaning herself up for the morning, she went back to her room and began cycling through her chosen tools of war: Her cellphone, her backpack, a microphone, a black baseball bat, and her journal.

She had been sure to bring Twilight up to speed on recent events.  The Princess of Friendship had agreed with the Principal and Vice Principal in that this plan of hers was needlessly reckless.  She even offered to come through the portal and go with her, but Sunset insisted on going alone.  Twilight made her promise to send a distress signal if anything happened.  Twilight also mentioned that she would keep the portal open for the next few days just in case.

Sunset then brought her attention over to the bat and the microphone.  If it came down to it, then she could try using her voice as a weapon, just like what happened during the Battle of the Bands.  If all else failed, she wouldn’t hesitate to start swinging the bat around.  Unfortunately, the bat didn’t fit all the way inside of her backpack and she suspected that she wouldn’t be allowed onto any of the city buses if she was seen carrying it around out of fear of it being used as a potential weapon.  This meant that she would have to travel to her destination by foot.

Sunset then walked over to her dresser and picked up the sheet of paper that Celestia had printed out yesterday.  She grimaced as she studied the address.  'It’s gonna take me almost two hours to get there from the apartment by foot.'  Sunset checked the time on her phone.  12:27.  'Guess I’d better get moving.'  

Sunset put on some jeans from her drawer and threw on a brown winter coat that hung lazily from a chair in her room.  She stuffed a handful of breakfast bars from her kitchen closest into her coat pocket before taking off.


***


It was nearly a quarter to three by the time Sunset had arrived in front of a small brick house with a black iron gate out front.  To be honest, she had been expecting something a bit flashier, considering who the possible inhabitants were.  The house itself, much like the neighborhood around it, was worn down, decrepit, and beat-up looking.  She was sure that it must have looked beautiful at one point, but the effects of time had reduced it to nothing but a mere shadow of its former glory.  The condition of the living area reminded Sunset of her descent from being a future Princess in training, to a delinquent runaway.

Sunset looked down at the piece of paper in her hands and then at the series of numbers that had been bolted down onto the house’s front porch.  She confirmed that she was indeed at the right place.  A quick inspection of the gate revealed that it would open by simply sticking her hand through and flipping the latch on the other side.

Upon reaching the front porch, Sunset noticed that the screen door was unlocked.  She pulled it open and knocked gently on the storm door.  

She stood patiently for several seconds, but no one answered.

Sunset knocked again, a little harder this time, and then pushed the doorbell.

Again, there was no response.

Sunset was about to mentally curse at having walked all that way for nothing when the sounds of footsteps were suddenly heard from the other side.  The door cracked open slightly and a single dark purple eye became visible.  “Whaddya want?”

“Aria, is that you?” Sunset asked.

“Huh?”  The door creaked open a bit further and the face of 1/3rd of the demonic trio became exposed.  After Aria got a good look at Sunset, her expression shifted from confusion, to surprise, to anger, all within the span of a few seconds.  “Get lost.”

Aria got ready to slam the door shut, but was shocked out of her wits when the door flew back and crashed into her face.  Sunset forced her way in, knocking Aria onto the floor, and then pointed the other end of her bat at the center of the siren’s face.  “Where is she?!”

A startled yelp could be heard from somewhere in the back, followed by a series of rapid footsteps.  

Stepping over Aria, Sunset ran through the house and eventually found herself inside a small kitchen.  Standing in one of the corners with several random pieces of silverware clutched under her arm was Sonata.

“Leave us alone!  We didn’t do anything!” the light blue Siren called while throwing forks, knives, spoons, and other objects that one might find in a kitchen at the home intruder.  Fortunately, Sonata had terrible aim.  She either missed Sunset entirely, or the projectiles were effortlessly swatted aside by the bat.

Sunset was about to close in on Sonata but never got the chance as a sudden weight had jumped up and latched itself onto her back while holding her neck in a chokehold.  “What’s your deal?!  The Battle of the Bands wasn’t enough for you?!”  Aria shifted all of her weight and leaned back in an attempt to knock Sunset off balance.  It didn’t work, and the Siren was effortlessly shaken off.  

Aria groaned in pain after falling to the ground with a loud crash.

Sunset then turned around just in time to duck underneath an attempted swing with a frying-pan by Sonata.  Sunset charged forward and slammed Sonata against one of the kitchen’s walls.  “Last time I'm gonna ask!  Where's Adagio?!”

“My, my!  Breaking and entering?  What would that Princess friend of yours think if she saw you now?”

Sunset stepped away from Sonata and saw the group’s leader, Adagio, standing at the kitchen’s entrance with her usual sly smirk.  Adagio maintained her aura of overconfidence even as Sunset marched up to her and pointed the bat in the siren’s face.

“I have a few questions for you, and I’m not leaving until I get some answers,” Sunset threatened.

Adagio’s smile grew just a little bit wider.  “Oh?  Are you insinuating that my wonderful little sisters and I might have done something naughty?”

“I’m not in the mood for games,” warned Sunset.  She then pushed the front end of the bat so close that it was almost touching Adagio’s nose.  “Now answer me, did you or your sisters do anything to the students back at Canterlot High?”

“I don’t know what you’re smoking,” Aria quipped while dusting herself off, “But whatever it is, it'd be nice if you split some with me.  Or better yet, give some to Sonata so she’ll finally shut-up for once.”

“Hey!” the light blue siren called out taking offense.

Adagio lifted a hand into the air and signaled for her sisters to stop talking.  “Tell you what, Sunset.  It’s been a long time since we’ve entertained any guests here inside our humble abode.  So how about you follow me to the living room, get nice and comfy, and then you calmly explain to me what this is all about?”

Adagio’s expression then changed into one of utter annoyance as she took note of all of the broken dishes lying around all over the kitchen.  “And in exchange, we won’t call the cops on you for breaking in here and making a mess.  Does that sound like a deal to you?”

Sunset slowly backed away from the siren and lowered the bat.


***


Adagio was sitting on a dark green couch that was positioned adjacently to where Sunset was sitting.  Aria had gone into a different room in the house while Sonata sat next to Adagio in order to jump to the rescue if Sunset started swinging again, not that she would have been much help.

“So, let me see if I understand correctly,”  Adagio stated in slight amusement.  “The students are behaving like a pack of savages because of someone who’s airing their dirty laundry online.  And because of your reputation, everyone assumes that it’s you.  So far so good?”

Sunset gave a small nod in confirmation.

“And you came all of this way because you think that we might’ve had something to do with it?”  Adagio asked again.

The death glare from the siren’s old enemy was the only answer that she needed.

Adagio dragged her fingers through her fluffy orange hair and smirked.  “Okay, Sunset.  Let’s pretend for a moment that we did have something to do with it.  What would you even do about it?”  Sunset gripped the handle on her bat in a show of aggression.  Adagio saw this and laughed.  “Are we supposed to feel threatened just because you stormed in here with that thing?  Please!  Don’t even bother unless you actually plan on using it.”

Suddenly, the siren clutched her stomach and began coughing violently while Sonata frowned.  Adagio reached into her pocket, pulled out a napkin, and spit up a yellowish substance into it.  “Sonata, go get me one of the garbage cans and a blanket.  I think I’m about done for the day.”  The other siren sped out of the room in a hurry, eager to do as she was told.

“Are you … feeling alright?” Sunset asked.

Adagio leaned back in her seat and tried her best to relax.  “You were just playing the role of the big scary home invader a little while ago, now all of a sudden you're worried about me?  What is it with this new generation and teenagers pretending to be something they're not?  And to answer your question, no, I’m not okay.  None of us are thanks to you and those annoying friends of yours.  My sisters and I don’t have much time left.  I’d give it, maybe, half a year at best for the other two.  Not sure how much longer I have, but I’d say my time’s just about up.”

Sunset blinked in confusion.  “Thanks to us?  What are you talking about?  None of us have even seen you guys since you ran off stage.”

“Are you really that naive?  I guess it shouldn’t come as that big of a surprise.”  Adagio smirked with satisfaction as she took note of the irritated look on Sunset’s face.  Sonata came back seconds later with the items that her sister had requested.  Adagio threw the napkin in the trash and then wrapped the blanket around her torso.  “But I’ve always had a soft spot for children, so being the kind and responsible woman that I am, I’ll explain it to you, slowly.  I wouldn’t want you to miss anything with that walnut sized brain of yours.”

Adagio’s expression suddenly became serious as she placed a hand over the area where her neck met her chest.  “That counter-spell that you and your friends used may have destroyed our Heart Stones and stripped away our magic, but it didn’t change what we are deep down inside.  Me, Aria, Sonata, we’re still sirens, and we still need to feed on negative emotions in order to survive.  

"We can still sense it in the air, but without those stones, we have no way of taking any of it in.  The only other option is if another siren were to transfer that energy to us directly, like a bird feeding its young.  But as far as I know, we are the only ones of our kind in this world.  In other words, you've doomed us to a slow and miserable death.  If you look closely enough you can tell that we aren’t exactly at one-hundred percent.”

Sunset appeared stunned by the news.  She leaned closer towards Adagio and Sonata and really zeroed in on their features.  They both looked a little pale now that she was paying attention, Adagio more so than her sister.  Both of Adagio’s eyes looked tired, sunken, and droopy.  Sunset then noticed that Adagio had lost weight.  Sonata had nearly all of the same symptoms as her sister, although not quite as severe.

"It's a terrible thing, having such a violent hunger constantly gnawing at your insides.  Always being surrounded by the one thing that can save you, only to find that it's just out of reach.  That's what you've put us through.  But hey, at least you managed to save everyone from the three evil sirens."

Sunset appeared deeply saddened by this.  “Can’t you get by on regular food?”

“What, you mean that junk that humans live off of?” Adagio questioned.  “You ignorant foal ... that's almost like asking if a pride of lions can survive off of plants instead of meat.  It won't work.”  Adagio closed her eyes and fell back in an effort to go back to sleep.  “Best of luck hunting down those imposters.  I'm sure you'll do a wonderful job, hero.”

Sunset was at a complete loss.  She came here expecting a fight against the three monsters who at one point had enough power to threaten the entire planet.  The pitiful state they were currently in wasn't what she had expected to find, and it was unsettling to know that she was the one who had caused it.  Not only that, but it was becoming more and more apparent that she was wrong about them being the ones targeting her and the other students, which meant that she would have to find a way to see if Applejack or any of the other girls were responsible.  The challenge with that was that none of them wanted to talk to her.

Sighing in frustration, Sunset stood up and got ready to leave, only to pause mid-step as her mind began formulating an idea.  “Wait a minute, Adagio!”

“What is it this time?” the siren groaned without opening her eyes.

“How about a deal?”

Adagio cracked an eye open.  “You think that you can bargain with me?  This should be amusing,” she said sarcastically.

For the first time in over a week, Sunset found a reason to smile.  “How’s this for amusement?  If you help me figure out who’s terrorizing the school then I’ll ask Twilight about getting you and your sisters a new batch of Heart Stones.”

Sonata’s eyes grew to the size of dinner plates but Adagio still looked unimpressed.  “As tempting as that sounds … you never did give me an answer.  What would you do if it turns out that we really are this ... Anon-a-Miss person?”

“If you were, and you came clean now, I might still help you.”

Adagio closed her eyes again and shuffled around underneath the blanket.  “Why would you do something like that for us?  We’re still technically enemies, in case you forgot.”

“Simple,” Sunset fired back.  “We may not like each other, but that doesn’t mean that I want you and your sisters die like this if there's something that I can do about it.  That and I could really use the extra help.”

Her response elicited a small chuckle from Adagio.  “I have two more questions then.  How do I know that you’d keep your end of the deal?  And if you do keep your promise, how do you know that we won’t try another bid for world conquest the moment that our strength returned?”

“I suppose that you can’t know for sure if I’d keep my word or not," Sunset admitted.  "But you don’t have much of a choice since it’s either you take a leap of faith, or you wait around while you and your sisters waste away.  And that whole world conquest thing?  It didn’t work out so well the last two times that you tried it.  If you really want to get beaten a third time, then be my guest.”

Sonata and Sunset were both staring at Adagio in anticipation for her next answer.  She contemplated Sunset’s words over and over again before coming to a final decision.  “Big words for an insect.  You’re lucky that I’m not in much of a position to refuse.”

Sonata squealed in delight before assaulting Adagio in the largest hug that her weakened muscles could muster.  “Oh, thank you Dagi!  Thank you, thank you, thank you!  We’re not gonna die!  I can't wait to tell Aria!”

“Don't celebrate until after we have our magic back,” Adagio said while doing her best to shove Sonata away.  “Sunset, I want you to start from the very beginning.  Include all of the details this time, and don’t leave anything out.”


***


“... and the pictures were uploaded onto the internet the next day.  Because they were taken on my phone, they all thought it was me.  You know the rest from there.  So, what do you think?”

Adagio sat upright, tapping her leg in deep thought.  Throughout Sunset’s story she had considered dozens of possibilities, only to eliminate most of them as she was provided with more information.  At long last, she came to an ultimate conclusion.  “I believe … that I know who it is.”

Sunset gasped in equal parts surprise and joy.  “What?!  Who is it?!”

“But before I tell you that,” Sunset groaned and tapped her foot against the floor impatiently, “Why are you so anxious to find out who Anon-a-Miss is?”

“What do you mean why?  They're hurting my friends!  They’ve turned the school upside down and they’re making it look I’m the one who's doing it!”

“So, you want CHS to go back to how it was before, and then you want to make up with those friends of yours and live happily ever after, as if none of this ever happened?”

Sunset didn’t answer at first.  She could sense that Adagio’s question had a deeper meaning than what appeared on the surface.  “What are you trying to say?”

“I can understand wanting to clear your name.  But your friends?  I don’t think welcoming them back with open arms is such a good idea.”

“What do you mean?” asked Sunset.

“Up until this all started, you probably thought that you all had a bond that would last forever.  And yet all it took was something as minuscule as a few strokes from a keyboard to shatter the fairy-tale.  Don’t you find that a little strange?”

Sunset didn’t like where this conversation was going.  Her common sense told her to ignore Adagio and leave, and yet she couldn't bring herself to pull away.  “Your point being ... ?”

A predatory like grin snaked its way across Adagio’s lips as she lowered the boom.  “The way they kicked you to the side without any hesitation, them not giving you a chance to explain your side of the story despite all that you had been through; the only way that I could see that happening is if their friendship with you was nothing but a facade.”

Sunset didn’t say anything.  She had already considered that maybe they never really trusted her to begin with, but dismissed it as her fears driving her towards paranoia.  However, hearing the same thing from Adagio was beginning to make her question that.  'Wait a minute …' Sunset’s eyes shot open and she jumped from her seat.  “Nice try Adagio.  You almost had me for a minute there, but it won’t work.”

Adagio tilted her head to the side in confusion.

“You’re just trying to get inside my head like you did before.  Well, it won’t work a second time.”

Sunset expected to see Adagio’s expression change from its usual smugness into at least some form of annoyance, but it remained unchanged.  “From what I picked up during my time at that school, you turned into a demon and then you literally tried to kill them.  But then, right after you were defeated, they flocked over to you and outstretched their hands and offered to make peace.  Odd when you consider how much time you spent tormenting your peers.

“Now think for a moment.  Who in their right mind would forgive years of past mistreatment, just like that?  It sounds to me like they were only keeping you around as a pet.  They probably just wanted to show off to everyone how they had successfully tamed and domesticated big bad Sunset Shimmer.”

Sunset flinched.  That last comment had struck a nerve.  “Stop.”

“And what do you do with a dog that starts biting the hand holding its leash?  Get rid of it.  They've been playing you like a pipe since day one.”

Sunset cut Adagio off before she could continue.  “If the next words that come out of your mouth aren’t about who you think Anon-a-Miss is, then you can forget about me helping you.”

The siren rolled her eyes.  “The hillbilly and that girl with the purple hair.  It’s their little sisters.”

By the look on Sunset's face, Adagio could see that she didn't follow, so she began her explanation.  

“First of all, you said that ‘Piggly Wiggly’ was a family name.  I'm pretty sure that the redneck and that little girl both spawned from the same set of cousins.  She’s probably the one that started this.  Secondly, at the walking marshmallow’s slumber party, there were eight people in the house besides you.  Your five friends, the parents, and purple head’s little sister.  It’s possible that she might have snatched your phone up while your back was turned.  Children can be sneaky like that if you don't watch them carefully.  

“And you sound positive that Anon-a-Miss has to be a student who goes to the school.  My memory is a little fuzzy, but I think that I remember seeing those two during the Battle of the Bands with some other girl who was around their age.  Unless you know something that I don’t, this sounds pretty clear cut to me.  I’m surprised that you weren’t able to figure this out on your own.”

Sunset was skeptical at first, but the more that she thought about it, the more sense that it made.  Applebloom knew about the origins of Applejack’s nickname and she had been the one who had originally suggested that Sunset might have been the one who had done it.  Sweetie Belle was in the house during the party and Rarity would occasionally bring up during casual conversation that her sister was pretty handy with computers.

"No way ..." Sunset mumbled to herself as realization began to settle in.  If Applebloom and Sweetie Belle really did have a hand in all of it, then that only left two questions.  The first was if Scootaloo was a part of it as well, and, secondly, why did they do it?  She never once messed with them, not even during her reign over the school.  Had she perhaps wronged them in some other way?

Sunset was startled out of her thoughts by the sound of her phone vibrating.  She checked her coat pocket and saw that she had a new text message.  Her breath caught in her throat when she saw who the message was from.  Rainbow Dash, the very one who just the other day was prepared to use her face as a punching bag.  She became even further bewildered upon reading the message that she had been sent.

‘We need to talk.  Meet me in the gym room at school tonight at around 7.  The back door will be unlocked.  AJ and the others will be here too.  It’s an emergency!’

'I thought Rainbow and the rest of the girls hated me.  What’s going on?  Was this sent by accident?  And what’s this about an emergency?' Sunset thought to herself.

‘I'm a little surprised that you're talking to me again.  There’s something that I need to tell you and the rest of the girls and I think it’d be best if I did it in person.  And what's this about an emergency?  Is someone hurt?  And if it's that late at night, then why meet up at school?’ Sunset typed back.

She waited with bated breath until her phone rang again.

'Just trust me on this.  We really need to talk.  See you at 7.'

Sunset tossed the message around in her head several different times, carefully picking apart what she had just read.  Something clearly wasn't right.  “I gotta go," she said while gathering her belongings.  "After what you said earlier, I should let you starve, but I promise that I’ll keep my end of the deal.  And remember, this is the only time that I’m going to lend you and your sisters a hand.  You’re on your own after this.”

Sunset was almost at the front door before she was stopped by the sound of Adagio’s voice.  “Before you go, I have some advice that you’d do well to remember.  It may even come in handy one of these days if you take it to heart.”  Sunset turned around in confusion.  

“Just because someone stands by your side, that doesn’t necessarily mean that they’re on your side.  Be very careful about who you decide to call “friend”.”

Sunset made the same facial expression that one might make when presented with a difficult math problem before dismissing the thought from her mind.  “Whatever, Adagio.  I'll see you some other time,” and with those parting words, she left out the door.

Adagio sat on her couch in silence.  A few seconds later, she turned to her sister. "Hey, Sonata?"

"Yes, Adagio?"

"Go get me the medicine.  Oh, and my sleeping pills too while you're at it.  The pain is starting to flare up again."

Sonata took off while Adagio tried her best to get comfy on the couch again.  She had had enough excitement for the day.  All she wanted now was to rest in peace without being disturbed.
> Chapter 5 - Trap
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

There were three new concerns on the forefront of Sunset’s mind as she began the long trek back to her apartment.

The first was the matter of Applebloom and Sweetie Belle.  Sunset needed to find a way to test Adagio’s theory about the two girls.  If it turned out that the siren was right about them, then that would mean that Scootaloo would definitely need to be questioned as well.  After all, the three friends did everything together.

The second issue was actually getting the three girls to come clean about terrorizing the school, assuming that they were all guilty.  Intimidation wouldn’t work; she knew this thanks to her failed attempt at scaring Adagio.  Trying to threaten them would only further strengthen the belief that she had slipped back into her old ways - not to mention the type of reception that she’d get from Applejack, Rarity, or Rainbow Dash.  The plan was to get her friends back, not push them further away.

There was also the possibility that proving their guilt still wouldn’t be enough.  Given her current status in the school, more than likely the students of CHS would dismiss her claims as a desperate attempt at dumping the blame on three innocent girls.  This meant that not only would she have to get the three girls to confess willingly, but the confession would have to be done in a way that left zero room for doubt, and it would need to appear as if she herself had nothing to do with it.  Once again, this was all assuming that Adagio was right.

Speaking of Adagio, she and her sisters were the final concern.  The sirens were dying, and, just like with everything else that had gone wrong recently, Sunset was to blame for it.  As much as Sunset wanted to help them, the choice wasn’t really hers to make.  That honor went to the Princess of friendship herself.

It was only then that she realized just how insane her promise to Adagio actually was.

‘What was I thinking?  Sure, Twilight has a heart of gold and all, but asking her to help out with something like this is a bit much.  She’ll never go along with it, especially after how close they came to winning.   I was stupid for getting involved.  I guess that’s another thing I can add to my list of screw-ups.  Way to go, Sunset, you’re on a roll.’

She continued to sulk until she had finally made it back to the apartment.  After setting her things down on the floor, Sunset checked the clock and saw that she still had some extra time left before she was scheduled to rendezvous with her friends.  

She sat down on her bed, punched in the digits on her phone, and then held the device up to her ear.  It rang a few times before someone finally picked up.

“Hello?” answered the voice on the other end.

“Hi, Vice Principal Luna, this is Sunset.”

“Oh, hey!  Celestia and I were starting to worry.  Have you found anything out yet?”

“Yeah.  As far as I can tell, Adagio and her sisters are innocent,” Sunset answered.  “But, thanks to them, I’m pretty sure that I know who’s responsible now.”

“Oh, well that didn’t take very long.  Who is it?”

“First things first, you might want to grab a pencil and some paper.  I’ve got a lot to say, and you might find most of it hard to believe.”

There was a brief pause from the other end before Luna spoke again.  “CHS has been visited by beings from a parallel world on about four or five different occasions that I know of.  Two of those instances eventually resulted in me, my sister, and just about all of the students under our care being controlled against our will.  You might be surprised by what I’m willing to believe nowadays.”
Sunset’s cheeks flushed a little at the memory of what had taken place after she had obtained the Element of Magic.  

“Ok, first we need to talk about Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo …”


***


If there was one thing that Sunset hated about winters in the human world, it was the fact that the days were shorter and nights ran longer.  Thanks to the Celestia from her world, Equestria never had that problem.  The solar Princess usually kept the sun and the moon on the same time schedule all year round.  At least that’s how things were before she fled through the Mirror Portal.  With Princess Luna resuming her duties as one half of the Royal Equestrian Diarchy it was possible that things might have changed.

She checked the time on her phone and saw that she had arrived at CHS almost ten minutes late.  She cut across the track outside the school and walked towards the back entrance, just as the message had instructed.  A close inspection of the door revealed that it was cracked open slightly.  There was an object preventing the door from shutting all the way, but Sunset couldn’t make out what it was in the dark.  

Ignoring it, she pulled the door open and entered the building.


***


Perhaps it was due to the echoing of her footsteps being the only sounds that she could hear, or maybe it was the memories of being stared at with disdain by the other students and staff, but Sunset felt increasingly uncomfortable being on school grounds so late at night.  Things only got worse when she finally made it inside the gymnasium and saw that none of the lights were on.  Sunset considered turning around and going back home until she spotted her five friends all leaning against the bleachers in the back corner of the room.  At least, she assumed it was them.  She wasn't entirely sure because they were all wearing hoods.

A few of them motioned with their hands for her to come closer.  Sunset, although reluctant at first, cautiously did as requested.  ‘This definitely doesn’t feel right.’

Sunset stopped just a few feet away from the girls before calling out.  “Hey, girls?  Not that I’m complaining, but this meetup feels a little … creepy.”

“That’s the idea.”

Sunset jumped back in surprise.  

That voice, it definitely didn’t belong to any of her friends.

Suddenly, all of the lights cut on at once. Several other people began filing into the room, one by one.  By Sunset’s estimation, there must have been between twenty and thirty of them all together, and they were all wearing hooded clothing.  She couldn’t decipher who they all were, but somehow Sunset was able to discern one key fact.  They were all CHS students.  She understood now why the message sounded so strange.  The entire thing had been a setup from the start.

Looking around the room, she noticed that there were at least three students standing guard at each of the room’s exits.  The rest of the students were standing in various locations that would have interfered with any attempts at escape.

Sunset turned her attention back towards the five students standing against the bleachers.  One of them she recognized as Gilda.  Thanks to her imposing size and frighteningly short temper, she quickly became one of the most feared students in the school.

She had fallen down a few pegs on CHS’s social ladder after Sunset came into the picture.  However, she had been slowly making a comeback ever since the fiery haired girl had chosen a more peaceful way of life.

Standing on Gilda’s left was a student who everyone called Dumbbell.  He used to be on CHS’s wrestling team until he got kicked off because of his grades.  Needless to say, he didn’t like his nickname very much.  

Sunset failed to recognize who the other three students were, although one of them looked slightly familiar.  She never got a chance to pay it too much attention thanks to Gilda.

“You know, I didn’t think that you’d actually be dumb enough to fall for this.  Guess you aren’t as smart as everyone thinks, huh?” Gilda jeered in a mocking tone.

Sunset ignored the insult.  When she spoke, her voice was calm and controlled.  “What happened to Rainbow Dash?  I got a message from her saying that there was an emergency.”

Gilda smiled, reached into her pocket, and then pulled out a bright red colored phone.  She then pushed a series of buttons before raising the phone to her ear.  Shortly after, Sunset’s phone started ringing.  She checked and saw a message that read, “Incoming Call from Rainbow Dash.”

Sunset never answered, opting instead to let it jump to voicemail.  “Out of curiosity, how exactly did you get Rainbow’s phone?” she asked.

“I went looking for you, you weren’t there, bumped into Dash instead.  She had her phone out, and I wanted it.  Plain and simple,” Gilda stated matter-of-factly.

Sunset arched an eyebrow in suspicion.  “So, you’re telling me that she just handed it to you?  Just like that?”

“Well, if you want to get technical, I might have jumped her after school and snatched it afterwards.  Speaking of my old buddy, you really pissed her off with that post that you put up yesterday.  Heck, you pissed me off too.”

For the life of her, Sunset didn’t know what Gilda was talking about.  Due to all of the threats and hate mail that had been flooding her inbox, Sunset took down her Mystable account and deleted the app from her phone.  From what she had just heard, it sounded as if things had gotten a lot worse since then.

“But enough of that,” Gilda put Rainbow’s phone away and began cracking her knuckles, “You screwed with the wrong school, you little freak.  We don’t need Twilight to save the day.  We’re gonna be the heroes this time.”  She began smiling with excitement. “Hope you had fun messing with us.  Now it’s our turn.”

One by one all of the students slowly began stalking towards Sunset, like a pack of wolves closing in on their prey.  Sunset took a couple steps back and tried once again to locate a possible escape route.  Nothing had changed; the doors were still being guarded. 

The students had Sunset trapped within an enclosing circle now.  Even if she did find a way outside the ring of students, there was still the issue of having to outrun Gilda, who had the strength of a lion and the speed of a cheetah.  It appeared to be a no-win situation for Sunset.

‘Unless I change the rules.’

The instant that the mob of students came within a reasonable distance, Sunset pulled her phone back out and, without missing a beat, chucked it as hard as she could at Gilda.  From that close of a distance, the other girl wasn’t able to dodge and she fell to the ground clutching her face in pain while screaming out profanities.  The action had its desired effect.  The students were too stunned to move, obviously not expecting her to fight back.

Taking full advantage of the opportunity in front of her, Sunset ran towards the section within the circle that looked the weakest and bulldozed her way through with enough force to knock a few students onto the floor.
Having forced her way outside the circle, Sunset took off and didn’t look back.  She was like a runaway locomotive, and anything that got in her way was going to get obliterated.  

Her sights were now aimed at the students who were standing guard at the gym’s upper left entrance.  The plan was simple, use her momentum to charge through the door, cut down the hallway, and then make a beeline for the school’s front entrance.  If she could make it outside, then all she had to do was gun it for the Mirror Portal where she’d be safe.  She figured that it was unlikely that anyone would dare follow her back into Equestria.  Even if a few students were feeling gutsy enough to take the challenge, she doubted that any of them had had any practice with running on all fours.

Sunset had gotten so close to the exit that the students blocking her way were debating whether or not to move aside for fear of getting rammed.  They were only a fraction of a second away from getting knocked aside until Sunset felt a sudden resistance along her midsection, resulting in her falling to the floor.  

Sunset quickly identified who had just tackled her from behind.  It was a girl named Lightning Dust, an athlete who had transferred to CHS two years ago.

“Hurry up!  I got her!” Lightning shouted out.  Sunset looked over and saw that the other students were gaining on her.  She threw the hardest punch that she could at Lightning, blasting the girl directly in the nose.  The strike resulted in Lightning losing her hold.

Sunset managed to kick Lightning Dust off of her and rose back onto her feet.  Unfortunately, before Sunset could properly regain her footing, a hard impact to the side had sent her tumbling back down onto the ground.  The students who were guarding the door had jumped in and had gone on the attack.  While she was trying her best to fend them off, the ring of students from before had managed to catch up.  They descended on their target like a swarm of locusts.

What followed next were several minutes of Sunset trying in vain to shield herself from a relentless barrage of punches, kicks, and stomps.  Every time she tried moving to protect one section of her body, another part became exposed.  She wanted to scream, she wanted to cry, but the most that she could muster were pained grunts.

Sunset wasn’t sure how much longer the attack went on for, but she soon became aware of the sensation of being lifted into the air.  She tried opening her eyes, but she could only get one of the two visual orbs to follow her orders.  For some reason her other eye was stubbornly refusing to open.

She now noticed that she was being pinned against the wall by a long muscular arm that had a vice like grip on her coat-collar.
The world around her had become blurry, as if Sunset was watching the events unfold from the other side of a foggy window, but she was fairly certain that the one who had grabbed her was Dumbbell.  He said something to her, but she couldn’t hear it very well, it was probably an insult.  Then he punched her in the face, hard.  At least Sunset thought that that’s what he had done.

Her body felt numb, but based on the way that her head had suddenly jerked and bounced off the back of the wall, she assumed that she had likely gotten hit pretty hard.

‘Why?’

There were three more hits to the torso.  Sunset was too delirious to tell if they were all from Dumbbell or if someone else had taken over.

‘I just needed … a little more time.’

Their laughter and cheers, which seemed to be coming from every direction at once, was beginning to blend together into a giant, distorted, mesh of sound.

More strikes to the head, her sides, every exposed body part.  Was she still being pinned to the wall, or had she been dropped back onto the floor?

Sunset felt one final blow, followed by something warm trickling down the side of her face.

She began to hallucinate.  She was standing in Sugar Cube Corner, joined by her friends.  Twilight and Princess Celestia were there too.  Everyone had smiles on their faces.  They all looked so happy.

‘I ... was so ... close …’

The image faded away as Sunset’s reality finally crumbled into darkness.
> Chapter 6 - Reunion
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The first thing that Sunset became aware of was just how uncomfortably cold she felt.  The cool late night air had stirred her back to reality.  Her first instinct was to feel around for a blanket, but her arms were locked in place behind her back.  Something was keeping her hands bound together, and the more she tried to fight against her bonds, the further whatever it was that had latched onto her wrists bit down into her skin.

She couldn’t stand either.  It felt like her legs might have been tied together at her ankles.  Not that she would have been able to stand anyway due to how dizzy she felt.  

Her body began to shiver and shake as she tried opening her eyes, but only her left would open all the way as commanded.  The most that she could manage from the other was a slight crack before a wave of pain hindered its progress.

She realized that something was wrapped tightly around her face.  Whatever it was, it was blocking her vision.  She tried moving her arms again, but found little success.  Still too dazed to process anything, Sunset tried calling for help, but the sound was muffled by whatever had been tied around her mouth.

“Hey, look!  I think she’s waking up!” she heard someone call out.

‘Who’s voice? ...  Where are you?  Can’t see …’

“Well well well, good to have you back!”  This voice belonged to someone different.  It sounded familiar somehow.  Where had she heard it before?

‘Too tired … maybe after a nap ...’

A loud noise resonated in her ears, followed by a stinging sensation across her cheek.    

Did someone just hit her?  Why?  That wasn't very nice.

“Hey, don’t go back to sleep just yet motor mouth!”  It was the voice again.  The same person who spoke a few seconds ago.  This time she could hear the sounds of multiple voices laughing in unison.

‘Motor mouth?  Why’s everyone laughing?  Did I do something funny?’

“Hey, Gilda, don’t you think that we might be taking this a little too far?  You never said that we were going to do all this.”

“Toughen up.  Did you really think we were just gonna leave her there?  What if she woke up?  What if someone found her body?  We would’ve been screwed.  Too bad you know who had to stay at home.  She's missing out on all the fun!”  There was a flash from somewhere close by, followed by the sounds of a camera going off.

‘Gil … da.  Gilda … That name … I know it.  Where … ?’

The cobwebs in her brain were blown away in that moment.  The Anon-a-Miss incident, talking with Adagio, the ambush that she’d walked into, all of it came back, start to finish.  

‘Oh no … ’  

Sunset tried uttering out a message but was silenced by a hard blow to the stomach.  She had been hit once again.

“Hey, how do you like that dog muzzle we tied around your mouth?” asked Gilda.  “Bet you thought it was real funny running your mouth and telling everyone’s business.  Well it looks like we found a way to shut you up, huh?”

Moderate waves of anger and frustration flowed through Sunset as she scrunched her face together and creased her eyebrows.  The display elicited a sarcastic response from one of her captors.  “Hey, I think you’re makin’ her mad!  Maybe we should stop before she turns red and grows wings again!”

There was another bout of laughter and then she heard Gilda’s voice again.  “Just so you know, you’re inside an abandoned factory in the middle of nowhere about 20 miles outside Canterlot.  Your arms and legs are all tied up and we’re the only ones who know where you are.  In other words, you aren’t going anywhere and no one’s gonna find you.  

“After we leave, you’ll be stuck here in this little dump all alone,” Gilda said in a mocking tone.  Sunset then felt a series of overly aggressive taps to the side of her face.  “But don’t worry, if you’re a good little horsey, we might come back some day.  Just not tonight.  Or tomorrow.  Or any day over Christmas break.  You get the idea.”

More laughter.  Sunset could hear several sets of footsteps moving away from her direction now.  “Hey, Sunset!  With any luck, maybe a family of rats will stop by and keep you company after a few days!  As soon as they see how much you've got in common, maybe they'll adopt you instead of turning you into a snack?”  She heard a male voice call out, followed by what sounded like a distant high five.

After Sunset was certain that no one else was around, she took deep breaths, calmed her nerves, and began to think.  

‘Ok, so I’m inside an abandoned factory and they have me tied to something.’  

She then gave a series of experimental tugs against her bindings.  

‘Yep, and the knots around my wrists are tied on there pretty good.  Each time I pull, the ropes grind a little deeper into my skin.  And my fingers are too numb from the cold for me to get a solid grip on anything.  This doesn’t look too good.’

She sat there for an unknown amount of time, thinking to herself, until her inner musings were interrupted by the sounds of rapidly approaching footsteps to her left.  ‘Oh great, they’re back.’

“Hey, Sunset, are you alright?!” a voice called out in the form of a shout mixed with a whisper.  

If it wasn’t for the blindfold, Sunset would have blinked in confusion.  Was someone trying to help her all of a sudden?  Who was it and why? 

She could feel a pair of hands fumbling around with something, and then the muzzle around her mouth fell away.  After opening and closing her mouth a few times in response to the soreness, she turned in the direction that the voice had come from.  “Who are you and why -”

“Shhhh!” The speaker placed a hand over her mouth.  “It’s me, Snips!  Keep it down, someone might be close by!”

“Yeah, and don't forget about me!” whispered a cheerful voice that she knew belonged to Snails.

“Wait, you guys were in on this too?!” Sunset angrily whispered.

“We sure were!  Actually, no, I take that back.  We didn’t help them beat you up or anything if that’s what you mean.  All we did was watch,” Snails stated while Snips untied her blindfold.

“You watched?” Sunset asked.

Snails nodded his head up and down like a goofball.

“You watched thirty plus people nearly kill me … and instead of going to get help … you stood there … and watched?”

“Yep!” Snails chimed in with a smile.  Then his eyes widened as he finally understood where Sunset was going.  “No, wait a minute -”

“Sunset, listen,” Snips interrupted, “Me and Snails didn’t want any part of this.  We were out minding our own business when Gilda stormed up to us and demanded that we “help her rip you a new one” or something crazy like that.  She probably thought that we had some dirt on you that she could use since we used to work for you and all,” he explained.

“Yeah,” Snails said in confirmation.  “And we couldn’t really say no either.  Gilda’s scary enough as it is, but she’s like a bazillion times worse when she’s mad!  And you should have seen Rainbow Dash!  She looked crazy too!”

Sunset stared at her former lackeys in confusion.  “Dash?  What does she have to do with any of this?  I thought Gilda attacked her and stole her phone.  Why were they together when you got cornered?”

Silence permeated the air.  No words were spoken as Sunset took in the saddened looks on their faces.

After another moment or two, it finally clicked, and Sunset lowered her head towards the ground.  “I thought Gilda’s story sounded a little weird, and now I know why.  Rainbow was in on it too, wasn’t she?”

Snips and Snails exchanged glances as if the two were having a mental debate over who should be the one to break the news.

“Sunset,” the red haired girl raised her head slightly at the sound of Snail’s voice.  “You didn’t hear this from us, but, Rainbow never got jumped, and her phone never got stolen.  She let Gilda borrow it, and then she helped set this up.  Leading you to the school was all her doing.  But to be fair, I don’t think that she knew that Gilda was going to take things this far.  She was really upset because Anon-a-Miss posted a really embarrassing secret about her at lunch yesterday.”

Sunset’s body sank even further into the ground as she heard this.  Her now messy and ruffled red hair hung over her face, casting a shadow over her eyes.

‘And what do you do with a dog that starts biting the hand holding its leash?  Get rid of it.  They've been playing you like a pipe since day one.’

The memory of her talk with Adagio echoed in her mind.

Silence reigned for several more seconds until Snips finally picked up from where Snails had left off.  “At first Gilda was just gonna round up a few of us and then corner you in the girls’ bathroom or something like that.  We never got the chance because you didn’t come to school today.  Then Rainbow got the idea to send you a phony message.  And did you know that she told everyone where your apartment was?  We were supposed to snatch you up outside if you didn’t fall for the trap.”

Sunset raised her head just enough that her tired and desolate eyes became visible.  “I guess I should be used to it by now.  It’s always like this in the end.”  The hurt in Sunset’s voice was evident.  If the other students had gotten too carried away she could have been killed.  She didn't believe for a second that Rainbow wasn't aware of this.  

It just wasn't fair.

After everything that she had been through, reforming, the sirens, trying to save the school, what did it matter anymore?

“Back in my world, Celestia is a princess,” Sunset explained.  “All she ever tried to do was help me.  I returned the favor by throwing it all back at her, because I thought that she was holding me back.  I had the chance to start over with a clean slate when I came here and I used that second chance to bring other people down, just to make myself feel better.  I finally made a few friends for the first time and tried turning over a new leaf, but that didn’t work out either.  And as a bonus, one of those friends nearly got me killed ...

“It seems that no matter what I do, I always end up causing way more harm than good in the long-run.  So … maybe it’d be better if I just stayed here?  Maybe I deserve this ...”

Snips frowned at the spectacle before him.  Sunset always seemed so proud and confident in the past.  Seeing her reduced to a broken wreck on the floor felt wrong.  He walked forward and sat down next to Sunset, butterfly style.  “I think you might be looking at this the wrong way.”

“What makes you say that?” she asked in a monotone voice.

“Well,” Snips began, “you said that you ran away because you thought that you didn’t need that other Celestia, right?”

“Not my exact words, but yeah, that's one of the reasons why I left,” Sunset replied.

“Well in that case you were right.  I’d say you got along just fine without her.”

Sunset glared bloody murder at Snips using her good eye and began to tug several times against her bindings.  “Does this look like ‘Just Fine’ to you, you fat slob?!”  Snips flinched away at the sudden harshness which made Sunset look away in shame.  “I’m sorry.”

Snips took a deep breath and then started again.  “What I meant was that you survived.  Sunset, I wouldn’t know the first thing to do if I ever ran away from home.  I mean, sure, I have a little bit of money in my bank, I have some things I could pack in a suitcase, and I can make phone calls if I wanted to stay with someone for a week or two.  

“But you?  You didn’t just run away from home, you ran away into another dimension!  You didn’t come here with anyone else, you had no way of calling for help, and you didn’t know anything about this world or the people who live here.  But despite all of that, you survived here all by yourself for almost four years.  And you did it all without Celestia’s help.

“And about all of the things that we helped you do to the other students, yeah, maybe we were a little out of control.”  The sorrow on Sunset’s face grew.  “But you tried to make up for it instead of sweeping it under the rug,” Snips added in quickly.  

“All me and Snails did was runaway and hide until the heat died down.  When everyone started blaming you instead of all three of us, we didn’t speak up.  If it had been me, I would have gone back through the mirror a long time ago.  But you never gave up.  Even now, you’re still here trying to make things right.

“And as far as Rainbow Dash and the others go?  It’s just like what happened with the other Celestia.  You got by just fine without them before.  You can do it again.”

Sunset turned back and faced Snips on the verge of tears.  “But I’m tired of always being alone!  Don’t you understand that?”

Snips frowned and looked away.  “So I guess me and Snails are just chopped liver then, huh?”

Sunset’s eyes widened, as she realized the implications behind her last statement.  Even Snails seemed somewhat offended.  “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean -”

“Nah, it’s alright,” Snips butted in, cutting her off.  “We get it.  I’m a loser and Snails is an idiot.  No offense buddy.”  

“None taken,” Snails replied.

“We’re just a pair of screw ups.  That’s why you ditched us for Rarity, Fluttershy, Rainbow, Pinkie, and Applejack.”

Sunset gasped in alarm.  “Oh no, Snips … Snails!”  She looked back and forth between the husky teen sitting on her right and the thin one standing to her left.  “I swear that wasn’t the angle I was going for!  All I ever did was treat you guys like tools.  I thought I was doing you guys a favor by turning you loose.”

“It’s fine … I guess,” said Snails.  “Anyway, we’ve kinda been gone for a while.  We don’t want to leave you here like this, but if me and Snips don’t head back soon then the others will probably come looking for us.  Gilda did give me and Snips a lift here and all.  She's probably gonna have to give us a ride home too.”

“He’s got a point,” Snips said while standing back up.  “I guess it’s now or never.  Do you want us to lend you a hand?  Or are you going to let Gilda win?”

She closed her eyes.  It wasn’t for very long but for Sunset it felt like hours.  She debated with herself, back and forth, like an internal game of tennis.  At long last, she finally she opened her eyes.

“Snips … Snails …” 

The two teens stared at Sunset.

“You guys up for one final scheme?”  

Her two companions stared at each other and then looked back towards Sunset and nodded with smiles on their faces.  At long last, the team was back together.

“How many students are still here?” Sunset asked.

“Not sure.  Most of them had already started leaving by the time me and Snails doubled back over here.  I don't know how many of them are left, but probably not a whole lot,” Snips stated.

“Alright,” said Sunset.  “And you said that Gilda was your ride here, right?”  Snips and Snails both nodded in confirmation.  “That means that we might have to deal with her later, but before we even get there …” Sunset gave a small tug against her bindings, “Snips, I need you to find something that can cut through these ropes.  If this is a factory, then there should be something sharp enough lying around somewhere.”

“I’m on it!” Snips gave a small salute before running off.

“Snails, all I need is for you to find my coat for me and bring it here.  If you know where my phone is then that would be a big help too.”

“Uh, that might be a problem.”

“What happened?” asked Sunset.

Snails began scratching the back of his head.  “Gilda got really angry when you threw your phone at her.  So she kinda threw it against the sidewalk.  After it broke apart she stomped all over what was left.  Then she threw your coat in the trash while you were knocked out in the trunk.”

Sunset sighed in irritation.  That phone of hers wasn’t cheap, and the winter coat that she had been wearing was pretty expensive too.  “Snails, your job is to go find something that I can use to warm up.  If you find a coat, a blanket, or anything else that I can wrap up in, bring it here, please.”

“Got it!” Snails enthusiastically exclaimed before running off.

As Sunset watched him leave her mind traveled back to a question that had been asked not too long ago.  

‘So, you want CHS to go back to how it was before, and then you want to make up with those friends of yours and live happily ever after, as if none of this ever happened?’

Sunset shook her head.  "Whatever happens next ... I'm not doing this for CHS or for anyone else.  Not anymore."  A new fire began to burn in her chest as she began planning her next move should she escape.

"I'm doing this for me."
> Chapter 7 - Escape Plan Part I
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Snips raced down the winding halls and dark corridors, using his phone as a flashlight.  He searched every room he could find that wasn’t locked for something that was sharp enough to cut Sunset loose.  His hope was to stumble upon an object made for cutting or slicing, like a knife, hacksaw, or even a rotary blade.  It mattered little what he found, as long as it was portable and easy to carry.

The first room that Snips searched was littered with torn sheets of paper, some of which had been marked with various messages and code words that he couldn’t make any sense of.

Not wanting to waste any time, he fled down the hall into another room.  The only thing of interest that he could see was a dusty old computer, which still appeared functional, despite having its front screen missing, and a folding chair made out of metal.

After the tenth or eleventh room, Snip’s determination had begun to falter.  Each room that he searched was either empty or contained miscellaneous items that he had no real use for.

It wasn’t much longer before Snips finally collapsed against the cool concrete floor, tired and out of breath.  Why was he having this much trouble finding something sharp inside of a factory?  That was all that factories did, cut things up and put things together, right?  Then again, if it was abandoned, then maybe the people that used to work there took all of their cutting materials with them.  It didn’t sound impossible and he was getting tired of running down the halls and always coming up empty.  Perhaps it would have been best if he doubled back and trying untying Sunset by hand?

Snips turned to leave but stopped midway when something caught his attention.  A final door at the end of the hall to his right.  It was much smaller than any of the other doors that he had seen.  The door had a sign next to it, although he couldn't read what it said.  
As he crept closer he saw that the sign had been covered by a thick layer of dust.  He cleared some of it away with a brush from his hand and saw the words “Broom Closet” written in large black letters.  His heart jumped with excitement when the door creaked open with a twist and a light tug on the handle.

The closest's contents contained the usual assortments that one would typically find inside.  There was a broom and dustpan, a mop, some garbage bags, and what looked to be a container filled with glass cleaner.  

Snips, however, didn’t pay much attention to any of that.  His focus was instead drawn towards a rusty light blue rectangular box.  After giving it a test shake, he could hear the sounds of several different objects jingling around inside.  
He pried the box open and took a peak.  What Snips found inside brought a victorious smile to his face.


***


Sunset had been waiting patiently.  It was the only thing that she could really do given her situation.  She kept her mind distracted by counting all of the holes in the ceiling tiles.  She used her previous score as the record to beat whenever she lost count.  
One of the challenges that came along with her little game was how the darkness lowered her visibility.  The light from the moon that snaked in from the windows helped a little, but not by much.  

She had almost broken her high score of sixty-seven when she was pulled from her concentration by the sound of Snips calling her name while waving something around in his hands like an idiot.

“Hey!  Hey, Sunset!  Look what I found!” he shouted.

“Do you want someone to hear you?  Keep it down!”

A light red flush flashed across his cheeks and the enthusiasm that Snips displayed diminished a little.  “Sorry!  But, look what I found!” he exclaimed while hurrying over to Sunset.

He opened his palm so that she could have a better view of whatever it was that he was so excited about.

In his hand was an oddly shaped, somewhat rusted, piece of metal.  It was only a few inches in length and had a large crack along its base.  It had obviously once been a part of some sort of tool until the blade had broken off.

That was all irrelevant to Sunset however.  The only thing that mattered to her was that the edge was still sharp.

“Nice work, Snips!  Now hurry so we can get out of here!”

The stubby teen dropped to his knees and began working the blade back and forth like a saw, slowly cutting his way deeper and deeper through the ropes.  It didn’t take long before Sunset could feel her bindings begin to loosen.

“You know, this whole rescue thing’s been going a lot better than what I thought it would.  By the way, where’d Snails go?”

“I told him to go find me something warm,” Sunset replied.  “But looking back on it now, I probably should have told him to go with you.  We’ll have to go look for him after this.”

“Well, that’s not too bad.  He couldn’t have gotten far.”  Snips had cut about half way through the ropes.  “After you’re free, we just have to track him down, and then we can finally see about getting back home!  Piece of cake!”

Snips was so excited that he failed to notice the sound of slowly approaching footsteps closing in from behind until he found himself eclipsed underneath a shadow.  Absentmindedly, Snips turned around and looked up.

“Oh, hey, Dumbbell.  What’s up?”  Snips turned back around and continued to cut for a few more seconds.  Then his eyes widened in alarm and he dropped the blade onto the floor.  He spun around, jumped up, and quickly stepped away from Sunset.

“Oh, hey, Dumbbell!" Snips repeated with a nervous smile.  "How's it going?  I thought you already left!"

Dumbbell looked down at Snips, completely unamused.  “Me and Gilda have been waiting almost thirty minutes for you and Snails to come back from the bathroom.  She asked me to go check and see what the hold-up was.”

“Riiiight … that … so, uh … I know what this probably looks like … and I just want you to know that it’s not how it looks, and I’m waiting on Snails to get back.  He’s got a bad case of the runs.”

Dumbbell raised an eyebrow and looked back and forth between Snips, and Sunset, who was rolling her eyes and shaking her head.  

“Sunset isn’t wearing her blindfold, or her muzzle.  I just saw you cutting away at those ropes.  And right before that, I’m pretty sure I heard you say something about freeing Sunset and going home.” Dumbbell took a single step forward while Snips took a step back.

“Oh, no, no, no.  See what I actually said was -”

Dumbbell reached forward with both hands and grabbed Snips by his shirt, slightly lifting the heavyset teen off the ground.  “Save it, you little slime ball! It wasn’t funny the first time!”  Snips was pulled so close that he could see his own terrified expression reflected in Dumbbell’s eyes.  “So, should I pop you like a zit, or knock your teeth out so you can’t run your mouth to anyone?”

“Let him go!” demanded Sunset.

“And what are going to do if I don’t?  Stare me to death?” Dumbbell taunted.

Sunset tugged against her bonds.  “This is your last warning.  Put him down, now!”

“Tough talk for someone who can’t even move,” Dumbbell replied nonchalantly.  “Besides, I’m not the bad guy here.  You are.”

A wave of anger was beginning to stir within Sunset.  “Look, if this is about Anon-a-Miss then -”

“Anon-a-Miss?" Dumbbell cut her off and laughed.  "Do you really think that I’m here because of that little circus on Mystable?  Please.  I never even got targeted, so it doesn’t matter much to me.”

Sunset's expression changed from anger into confusion.  “Wait, if you don’t even care then why are you helping Gilda?”

Dumbbell glared at Sunset and tightened his hold on Snips.  “Long story short, I’m still a little sore from that power trip you were on.  For three years, all you did was cause pain and humiliation for me and everyone else.  And how did you get punished for it?  They made you apologize to the school, fix a busted wall, and then a few months of detention.  They let you off so easy it's not even funny.  Even more ridiculous than that is how everyone at CHS has been acting like they forgot all about what you did ever since that one good deed of yours back at the Battle of the Bands.”

A twisted grin slowly spread across Dumbbell’s face.  “Then along comes Gilda who made me a deal too good to pass up!  I get to slug you around as much as I want, without consequence, and with no strings attached.  At first I thought her plan sounded too good to be true, until she reminded me of something wonderful ..."  

Dumbbell's expression went back to being serious as he stared at Sunset.  "You're not even from this world!  So even if a few classmates get curious and start asking questions, all we have to do is start a rumor saying that you ran back home after you realized just how badly you messed up!  It sounds believable enough, and I doubt too many people would question it after this little incident at school.  If you ask me, Anon-a-Miss was the best thing to happen to CHS in a long time!"

Dumbbell returned his attention back towards Snips.  “I don’t know how we’re gonna explain you ... but I'll worry about that later.  Lights out, rat-face!”

Sunset watched helplessly as Dumbbell pulled his fist back and took aim.

Snips, tried one final time to free himself, and then –

“Hey, Sunset!  I’m back!  Guess what I found?”  Snails had returned.  The good news was that he had completed his assigned task, as evidenced by the light-blue lab-coat that had been slung over his shoulder.  The bad news was that he had terrible timing.  His eyes traveled from Sunset, to Snips, to a very confused looking Dumbbell.

Taking advantage of the opening, Snips tapped his would be attacker on the shoulder.  As soon as the bully was looking back in his direction, Snips outstretched his index and middle finger into a scissor formation, and jabbed Dumbbell in both of his eyes.

Howling in pain and momentarily stunned, Dumbbell released his victim while shielding his face from further harm.

Snips scrambled to his feet and took off.  “Don’t worry, Sunset!  We’ll be back in a few minutes!” he shouted as he ran towards a random hallway.

Snails dropped the coat and followed his friend’s example after taking note of the wild and enraged look on Dumbbell’s face now that he had recovered.

After watching her two companions get chased off, Sunset searched frantically for the metal piece that Snips had been using.  She found it lying only a few inches away, and yet she couldn’t reach it thanks to her hands still being partially bound.

Sunset shook her head in disappointment.  “Well, it looks like I'm not going anywhere for a while ...”
> Chapter 8 - Escape Plan Part II
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Snails, despite what his name might lead others to believe, could move like lightning if provided with the proper motivation.   His grandfather used to always say to him, “You never know how fast you can really run until you get scared out of your mind.”  Snails wasn’t the sharpest tool in the shed, but he’d definitely say that the fear that currently coursed through his slender body qualified as “being scared out of one’s mind.”  

For the second time that night, he found himself running down the dark corridors of the factory.  Although this time he wasn’t alone.  Just behind him was Snips, and trailing not too far in the back was Dumbbell, who he figured probably wasn’t too thrilled about getting poked in the eyes earlier.

The two friends had been doing a remarkable job of staying ahead, but the potency of their fear induced adrenaline rush was beginning to thin out.  Meanwhile, their pursuer wasn’t showing any signs of slowing down.  Even after climbing stairway after stairway, and running down hallway after hallway, the big guy just wouldn’t give up.

Snails had almost cleared what felt like his thousandth hallway, wheezing and out of breath, when he heard Snips’s voice call out, “Snails, duck inside the next room on the left!”

As soon as Snails heard the command, he took notice of a single open door coming up from just ahead. Too tired to ask questions, Snails did as instructed.  He slipped inside and shut the door right behind Snips with a quick slam.

Snails gave the room a quick scan, expecting to find an emergency exit or somewhere to hide.  To his horror, there was no exit except for the way that they had just came in, and from what he could see, the room was mostly empty space except for a broken computer, a small desk, and a metal folding chair.

“Uh, Snips?” Snails called out in a rising panic.  “Why are we here?  Shouldn’t we be running away?”

“If we keep running he’ll catch us, and if we split up and get away, he might go back and hurt Sunset again, or worse.  So instead, we’re going to fight back, right here.”  Snips explained while hurrying towards the computer and fiddling with the various plugs that were keeping it locked in place. 

“Fight him?!  Did you see what he did to Sunset back in the gym?!  We’re gonna die!”  The sound of rapidly approaching footsteps could be heard from outside, signifying Dumbbell's inevitable approach.

“Alright, Snails,” Snips said while holding the unplugged monitor in both hands, “I need you to hold the door shut for as long as you can!  And when I say duck, get down!”

“But … but … couldn’t we just push that desk in front of -”

“C’mon, hurry up!” Snips shouted.

Snails probably could have listed at least a dozen different reasons for why him being the one to block the door was a bad idea.  Nevertheless, Snips sounded like he knew what he was doing, which was a first.  

Snails leaned with his back pressed against the door, and hoped that maybe, by some miracle, Dumbbell hadn’t seen him or Snips take refuge inside.  Those hopes were dashed by the sounds of the doorknob twisting back and forth and the door creaking open slightly, only to be forced shut again by Snails.

“Game over,” a voice said from the other side of the door.  Snails looked over at Snips who was standing in the center of the room, the computer monitor clutched tightly in his right hand.  Snails noticed that Snips had taken a stance similar to what someone would take when preparing to throw a baseball.  Before he could ask what his friend was planning to do, the door flew open with enough force to knock Snails onto the floor.

Dumbbell hadn’t even taken a complete step into the room when, all of a sudden, something big whizzed through the air, followed by a loud crashing sound.  Snips had thrown the monitor, with all of his might, at the entrance where he had anticipated Dumbbell would be.  

It was a pretty well thought out plan, even if he had gotten the idea from watching Sunset during the ambush.  The only problem was that while Sunset had managed to hit her target, Snips didn't even come close.

For Dumbbell, being greeted by the sight of a relatively large piece of equipment flying through the air had initially come as a surprise.  After the shock had worn off, his eyes traveled from Snails who looked back up at him from down on the floor, to Snips whose expression was a mixture of fear, and utter disappointment.  He then studied the failed projectile that had collided uselessly against a nearby wall.  It didn’t take him very long to piece together what had just happened.

“Wait a minute,” Dumbbell said slowly.  “How did you miss from that close up?”

Snips, too stunned to speak, stood perfectly still, completely frozen in place.  Snails, who had just gotten back up, was asking himself the same question.

There was a brief moment of silence and then Dumbbell began smiling.  “You know what?  I’m not even gonna complain, because I would have been pissed had that actually hit me.  And as a bonus, you two don’t have anywhere to run.  Oh well, sucks to be you!”  He lunged forward, intent on breaking Snails in half with one punch.

Snails, acting purely on instinct, ducked out of the way at the last second.  Without even thinking about what he was doing, he then made a fist of his own and slammed it as hard as he could into a very sensitive region of the body for men, located just below Dumbbell’s waist.

Dumbbell’s eyes grew to the size of dinner-plates as he dropped to his knees, coughing while tears welled up in his eyes.  “Oh, you’re gonna get it now, you little -”

“Snails, catch!” Snips shouted while tossing the metal folding chair across the room.

“What am I supposed to do with this?!” Snails asked after catching the chair mid-flight.

“What do you think you're supposed to do?!  Hit him!”

A light-bulb finally went off in the back of his mind and he spun around towards Dumbbell, who had almost finished pulling himself back together.  He didn't miss a beat.  Snails swung with all of the strength that his arms could muster and brought the chair down, hard, against the back of Dumbbell’s skull.

Snails froze for a moment in equal parts fear and astonishment at what he had just done as he watched the bully fall to the ground.  His first time getting into a fight, and it was against one of the toughest guys at CHS.  Even more overwhelming was the fact that he, the school's biggest wimp, was actually winning.  The trance was broken when Dumbbell began mumbling curses while attempting to once again rise back onto his feet.  Snails refused to give him that chance.

Over and over again the chair came down, followed by a pained groan from the bully on the receiving end.  Even after Dumbbell had gone quiet, Snails continued to slam the chair down.  For over a minute and a half, the only noise that filled the air was the sound of metal colliding against flesh.

The silence didn’t come until after Snails had officially run out of steam.  He dropped the chair and stood over Dumbbell, panting while hunched over.  The only movement that he saw from Dumbbell was the rising and falling of his torso, signaling that he was still alive.

“Hey, Snips?” Snails called out between heavy gasps for air.  “I think we can leave now.”

Snips was still a bit uncertain.  “Are you sure that he’s down?”  He watched as his friend gave a series of experimental pokes to Dumbbell’s side using his foot.  The giant didn’t budge an inch.

“Yep, I got him,” Snails replied.

Deciding that it would be best to double check for himself, Snips crept towards the downed titan with extreme caution.  After it became clear that Dumbbell wouldn’t be getting back up, Snips placed his hands on his sides and laughed. “Ha!  That’ll teach ya to mess with us!  Who’s the big tough guy now, muscle head?!  Snips, one, brainless thug, zero!”

Snails watched for a few moments longer as his friend pranced around the room, and then he interrupted with a word of warning.  “Snips?  Shouldn't we leave before he wakes back up?  I don’t think he’s going to be in a good mood later on …”

Snips paused in the middle of a victory dance, and took one final look at Dumbbell.  He kicked the bully in the side and blew a raspberry.  “Alright, I’m done.  Let’s get going.”  Snails nodded in agreement and turned towards the room’s exit.  “No, wait, hold on for a second,” Snips called out again.

Snips was still standing over Dumbbell, his face scrunched up in deep thought.  “He has his driver’s license, right, Snails?”

“Yep.”

“And we can’t just walk back home with Sunset when it’s freezing outside, right?”

Snails rubbed the bottom of his chin for a few seconds before answering. “I guess not.”

Snips then dropped to his knees and began digging his hands inside Dumbbell’s pockets.

“Um, what are you doing Snips?”

After doing some more feeling around Snips was finally able to find what he was looking for.  A pair of keys dangled in his hands from a chain.  “Snails," he said with a devious smile, "you don't think he'll mind if we borrow his car for a little bit, do you?”
> Chapter 9 - Escape Plan Part III
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Just a little bit more and … done!” Snips smiled as the last of the bindings fell away from Sunset’s body.  He and Snails both held out their hands and helped pull her back into a standing position.

“How do you feel?  Can you move around?” Snails asked while handing Sunset the lab-coat from before.

She buttoned herself up, outstretched her arms and then took a series of experimental steps around the room.  “Everything hurts, and I still can’t open my right eye all of the way,” she announced after getting a feel for her body's current condition. “I can still walk, but I think that might be about it.  And there’s another problem too,” Sunset continued.  “I still don’t have any ideas about how we’re getting back home.  And if someone else comes back here looking to see what’s up, we’re going to be in trouble …”

“Oh, that’s not a problem!  Take a look at what I snatched from Dumbbell!” Snips reached into his pocket and pulled out a key that dangled back and forth from a chain.

Sunset stared in amazement; her two companions were proving to be surprisingly competent today.  “Nice work!  I was worried for a minute there, but it looks you came through after all!”  She looked at the two teens that had come to her defense and nodded in gratitude.  “Thanks.  I really mean it.  You guys took a huge risk in helping me out like this.  And I really am sorry if I ever made you guys feel like I abandoned you.”

“Aw, don’t mention it!” Snips said with a smile.  “We weren’t gonna leave you here like that, you're our boss.  Even if you said that you wanted to stay put, we would have come to the rescue anyway.”

“You can say that again,” said Snails.  “We’re a team, Sunset, which means that we stick together.”

“Speaking of being a team, we need to figure out how we’re going to sneak past Gilda and whoever else might be waiting out there.  Did any of you happen to see any other exits besides the front door?  I wouldn’t want us getting spotted as soon as we step outside.”

“Well, we could always try the back door.  It’s down that way over there, and I don’t think anyone else knows that it’s there besides me,” Snails said while pointing a finger towards the end of the hall that they were standing in.  “With any luck, maybe no one will see us?”

“Hold on.”  Snails and Sunset turned towards Snips.  “If the plan is to take Dumbbell’s car then it really doesn’t matter which exit we take, because everyone parked in the same spot.  It doesn't matter what we do because we're just going to end up in the same place anyway."  He paced around for a few seconds, until he got an idea.  "Hold on, I think I remember seeing an emergency exit somewhere.  The only thing is that this place looks like it’s been out of business for a really long time,  so I'm not sure if the alarms still work.  If they do then maybe we could scare everyone away?”

“Oh, I already tried that,” said Snails.  “I walked past one of those doors after I found that coat for Sunset.  Not sure about the rest, but the door I tried using didn't do anything.”

While Snips and Snails debated back and forth on what to do, Sunset stood with her arms folded in deep thought as she began to formulate a plan.

Taking either the front or the back door both sounded like bad ideas.  She wanted to take a stealthy approach and not draw any attention to her two helpers.  No one knew that they had switched sides, and Sunset was determined to keep it that way.  

Using one of the emergency exits didn’t seem like a bad idea in theory, but based on what she had heard from Snails, it didn’t sound all that reliable.  She needed something that was guaranteed to work, something simple, and something that would keep Snips and Snails out of harm’s way.

After a long moment of internal deliberation, Sunset slowly turned towards her two teammates, her mind had been up.  “Snips, Snails, I know what we’re going to do.  It’s risky, but as long as you guys do exactly as I say, then everything should be fine.”

Snips and Snails both exchanged a brief glance with one another before turning back to their leader.

“What do you need us to do?” asked Snails.


***


Gilda, in general, wasn’t a very happy person.  The emotional spectrum representing her personality usually only consisted of two possibilities: angry or apathetic.  It was either one or the other with her, and that was the way that it had always been.

This didn’t mean that Gilda was incapable of feeling joy.  She felt it occasionally, but not in the same way that most people did.

Watching bugs flail about helplessly before dying from exposure to pesticides made her smile.  Dressing up in costumes and making small children cry on Halloween filled her with a type of exhilaration that transcended beyond words.  Delivering her own twisted sense of justice to Sunset and leaving her to rot had been euphoric … but now her high was beginning to fade.

All of the other students had gone home, leaving her all alone.  That, however, wasn’t what had her in such a foul mood.  The current source of her anger was the fact that she had been waiting outside for over an hour.  It had been nearly twenty minutes since Dumbbell had gone back inside the factory, it had been at least twice as long since she had last seen Snips or Snails, and she couldn’t call them to see what the holdup was due to her phone not having any reception.

She stood about thirty yards away from the abandoned structure, pacing back and forth in front of her car, which was parked directly in front of a dark green pickup truck that belonged to Dumbbell.  Her gaze was locked onto the front door of the factory.  She checked her phone and saw that the clock read 9:36 PM.

Gilda stuffed her hands inside of the pockets within her dark brown winter jacket and huffed in annoyance.  She told herself that if she didn’t hear back from anyone within the next fifteen minutes or so, then she was going to go back inside by herself, and she was going to check to see what the heck was taking everyone so long.  If she were to leave now without first making sure that everyone was okay, then there was a chance that the events that had transpired that night could get traced back to her and the other students.  Getting busted by the cops was the last thing she needed with Christmas break being only two more days away.

Unbeknownst to Gilda, she wouldn’t have to wait around for too much longer.  Somewhere in the distance she heard the unmistakable sound of a door slamming shut with a metallic clang.  “Well it’s about time,” she mumbled to herself as she looked towards the front door of the factory.

Gilda could make out the form of someone exiting the building, but her vision was obscured by the night sky and the falling snow flurries.  At first she thought that it might have been either Snails or Dumbbell due to how tall the person looked from a distance.  That changed when she got a better view of the apparel that the other person was wearing.  Snails was wearing gym shoes, not boots, and Dumbbell was wearing a dark green winter coat, not whatever it was that the other person was wearing.

When Gilda was finally able to see the long flowing red hair with streaks of yellow, her eyes widened in disbelief.  “There’s no way,” she said to herself.  Gilda began marching forward in order to meet the person halfway.

The two stopped a little more than a foot apart from each other, more than close enough for Gilda to confirm that it was indeed Sunset Shimmer.  She looked a little rough around the edges on account of all the bruises and dried sores that now decorated her facial features, but it was her.

Gilda growled in annoyance.  “I thought we got rid of you.  How did you get out, where’s Dumbbell, and where are those other two knuckleheads at?”

Sunset’s monotone voice complimented the unreadable expression on her face.  “To answer those questions in order ... One, I walked out the front door.  Two, your guess is as good as mine.  And three, I’m not sure.”

“Oh, so you’re getting smart now, eh?”  Gilda unzipped her jacket, dropped it in the snow, and pulled back the sleeves of her shirt.  “Fine by me.  It’s just gonna make whaling on you a second time that much more fun.  And since I’m the only one here, that means that I get you all to myself this time!”

Sunset matched Gilda’s aggression with an air of indifference.  “Did you already forget what happened the last time you tried that?  There were like, what, thirty-five of you who took part in that ambush back in the Gym Room?  I didn’t have anyone helping me, and I still came pretty close to getting away.  Speaking of which, how’s your face doing?”

Gilda raised a hand and gently prodded the skin where she had gotten hit and found that it was still sore to the touch.  Fuming, she stepped closer until she stood only a few inches away from Sunset.  “Are you trying to say that I can’t do anything on my own you piece of trash?!”

“What I’m saying is that you’re too impulsive.  You don’t think things through all the way before you make a move,” Sunset clarified.  “You planned out what you’d do if I walked into your trap, but what would you have done if I had fought my way out, or if I had found a way to leave here and get back to Canterlot City?  I’ve seen your face.  I can identify some of the students who helped you.  If I went to the police then -”

Gilda cut Sunset off mid-sentence with a hard hit to the jaw; the impact sent Sunset crashing into the snow.  Suddenly, a warm coppery tasting liquid began filling up inside of Sunset’s mouth.

“Hey, Ms. Know-it-all, I got a question for you!”  A heavy stomp to the torso forced the wind out of her lungs, sending Sunset into a coughing fit.  “What’ll you do if I get tired of hearing your mouth and start ripping you a new one?”

Sunset tried crawling away, but was eventually pulled back onto her feet after Gilda got a hold of her hair.  The instant that Sunset regained her footing she was met with two quick jabs to the stomach.  A third punch was aimed at her head, but Sunset was able to duck out of the way.

Gilda swung over with an elbow, but it got blocked.  She followed up with an uppercut that successfully made contact with Sunset’s chin, causing the firey haired girl to stagger backwards.  Taking advantage of the opportunity, Gilda charged forward and blasted Sunset back into the snow with a right hook.

“Pathetic.  Aren’t you at least gonna try fighting back?  Not that it would have made a difference.”  She began kicking snow in Sunset’s face while she struggled to stand back up.  “I wish everyone at CHS could see you now.  Beaten, helpless, and even more alone than ever before.  And to think that everyone used to be scared of you,” Gilda taunted.  “I don’t know what you were thinking when you came out here, but you should have just stayed put.  Because not only am I gonna beat you up again, but I'm gonna have to make sure that you can't walk away this time.”

Sunset spit out some of the liquid that had been filling up inside of her mouth and spoke calmly.  “The thing is, I've been fighting back this whole time; you just don’t realize it yet.  You’re actually losing right now.”

“Really?  Because from the looks of it, I don't have a scratch on me.”  Gilda cracked her knuckles, readying herself for another round.  Sunset didn’t seem bothered in the slightest.

“You know, students like you are the reason why I used to get these really strong urges to go back to my old habits after the Fall Formal.  Most of you are just so ... gullible and easy to manipulate.  If there's anyone here who's pathetic, it's you.”

Gilda snarled and grabbed Sunset by the collar of her coat.  “If I’m so easy to read, then you should be able to predict how badly I’m gonna split open that ugly little face of yours!”

Sunset smirked as she looked into the eyes of her attacker.  “And if you have even half of a working brain, then you should be able to predict how long Snips and Snails have been destroying your car.”

Gilda got ready to throw another punch, but her fist stopped only centimeters away from Sunset’s face.  “Wait, what?”

Sunset began pointing off into the distance.  Gilda turned around and was shocked to see Snips jumping up and down on the roof of her car while Snails kicked away at the windshield.

“You really should get that car alarm fixed.  I don’t think it ever went off the entire time they were over there,” Sunset jeered.

Realizing that she had been tricked, Gilda dropped Sunset and got ready to run back to her car, only to stop at the last minute.  She looked back and forth between Sunset and her poor defenseless car.   If she went after Snips and Snails, then Sunset might try running away.  If she continued to attack Sunset, then her car was going to get ruined.

Sunset, as if reading her mind, offered a suggestion.  “I’m not really in any condition to run away.  Go ahead.  Get over there and stop them before your car gets so messed up that you get stranded here.”

Gilda turned back towards Sunset, her heart seething with black passion.  “I’m not finished with you, you hear me!  You and your two lackeys are going to pay!” she shouted in warning before sprinting off towards her car.

As Sunset watched Gilda leave, a small smile spread across her lips.  “I win.”

Gilda continued her mad charge, hell-bent on destroying Snips and Snails.  She had nearly closed the distance between them and herself by the time that the two friends had finally jumped off of her car and made a beeline for the dark green pickup truck that she knew belonged to Dumbbell.  As if that wasn’t confusing enough, Snips and Snails were actually able to climb inside and start the ignition.

Before Gilda could question what was happening, she was blinded by a pair of headlights, and then Snips and Snails sped past her, and drove off towards Sunset.

‘They’re gonna get away!’ Gilda thought to herself in a panic as realization began to hit.  She ran over to her own vehicle, intending to go after Snips and Snails on a highway chase.  She pulled out her car keys, ready to unlock the door and spring into action, but stopped when she noticed that all of the windows on her car had been smashed.  To make matters worse, her front left tire had been completely deflated, making it impossible chase after her targets.

“Gilda!”  A voice shouted in the distance.

She looked over and saw Sunset getting ready to climb inside of the truck with Snips and Snails.  “You might want to go back and check up on Dumbbell!  He’s going to need you to give him a ride home!  See you later, and better luck next time!”  Sunset climbed inside the truck, and then she was gone.

“No way …” Gilda said to herself.  “How?!”


***


A Few Minutes Earlier

“You guys are going to go out the back door.   After that, make your way towards where everyone parked at,” Sunset said to her two partners.

“And what about you?” asked Snails.

“I’m going to wait here and count to one hundred.  That should to give you two enough time to loop around the building.  After that, I’m going to walk out the front door and act as a distraction so that the two of you won’t get seen.”  Sunset reached into her pocket and pulled out the metal piece that Snips had used to cut her free.

“While I keep them busy, I need you to take this and deflate a single tire on every car out there except for Dumbbell’s.  And if you break a few windows and smash some mirrors, that’d be great too - the more banged up the better.  After you send me a signal, I’ll point you guys out to everyone else.  Chances are good that they’ll turn away from me and then try to stop you two instead.  As soon as they get so close that running back for me is impossible, start up the car, pick me up, and then we’ll be in the clear,” Sunset explained.

“Don’t you think that’s a little dangerous?” questioned Snips.  “You’re gonna get hurt again.”

“We don’t have much of a choice.  Time is short.  Dumbbell could wake up at any second, which would throw everything off if he warned Gilda about us.  And besides, I’m the one that they want.  As long as we get a move on, you guys should be fine.” Sunset reasoned.

“I’m still not sure if I like this plan,” said Snails.  “It was bad enough seeing you get beaten up the first time …”

“Oh, do you have a better idea?  Because I’d love to hear it.”

Snips and Snails still looked uncertain, but they eventually agreed to go along with Sunset’s idea.

“Snips, Snails, you guys know what you have to do.  We’ll only get one shot at this.  And if something goes wrong, then I want you guys to drive off without me.  Don’t try anything heroic again.  Do you understand?”

“Yeah, yeah, we hear you.  Just … be careful out there, okay?” Snips pleaded.

“I’ll be fine.  All I have to do is stand there and take a few more hits.  You two are the ones who are gonna decide whether or not we make it back to Canterlot tonight.”

With those parting words, Sunset broke away from her two companions.  They all knew what their assigned tasks were, as well as the risks that came with it.

Sunset quickly located the front door to the factory.  After she had completed her countdown, she pushed the door open and stepped outside.  Immediately afterwards, she saw Gilda standing in the distance.

“Snips, Snails, I’m counting on you.”
> Chapter 10 - Black and White
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sunset didn’t even bother locking the door after making it back to her apartment.  She was a drained battery with no more energy left to spare.  Whatever pain that she had felt before had been magnified now that her body was no longer in survival mode.  She slumped through the living room, past the kitchen, and into the bathroom.  She was in desperate need of a shower, she could smell it.

As she began to undress, she caught her reflection in the bathroom mirror.  She looked as if she had just crawled away from a plane crash.  Scratches and large purple bruises marred her body from top to bottom.  Most of the cuts on her body had scabbed over, although she noticed that some of her injuries were beginning to reopen in response to her moving around.

Her face had taken the most punishment by far.  A torn piece from a napkin had been wedged in her nose from where she had been struck by one of the other students.  Her lip was still busted a little, and she could tell by the swelling that she was going to have to carry around an ice-pack for her injured eye.  Also worth noting were the profane messages and obscene drawings that had been scribbled onto her face with a marker.



***


The shower had done absolutely nothing to ease the pain, but it did grant her temporary respite from her troubles.  After throwing on a new change of clothes, Sunset began planning out her next move.  

Snips said that Rainbow Dash had told everyone where here apartment was located.  If that was true then her current place of residence was no longer safe.  Gilda had likely informed the other students about how she had escaped, which meant that she’d probably have a mob waiting for her outside the next morning.

Sunset, thankful that Snails had been kind enough to let her borrow his phone before driving off with Snips, pulled out the mobile device and dialed Vice Principal Luna's phone number.  To her surprise, she was still awake, something that Sunset attributed with Luna being the Princess of the night back in Equestria.

Sunset told CHS’s second in command all about her current situation.  The Vice Principal, upon hearing about the ambush and the students involved, was outraged by the news.  She informed Sunset that she would arrive to pick her up within the hour and that she would be staying at her house for the night.  With that problem out of the way, Sunset turned to her next order of business.

She opened her only dresser and dug around inside until she found her journal.  She needed to talk to Twilight.  There were some things that she needed to discuss with the Princess.

Sunset grabbed a pen and flopped down onto the couch in her living room.  After flipping through to the most recently used page in her journal, she saw that she had some missed messages from Twilight.

“Hello.”

“Hi Sunset.  It's Twilight, but you already know that.  So, how did everything go today?”

“Hey, it’s just me again.”

“Are you there?”

“Sunset?”

“Hey, Sunset.  It’s Twilight again.  Just checking up on you to see how things went with the sirens.  It’s getting late and I still haven’t heard anything back from you yet.  I really hope you’re alright.”  

“It’s almost eleven and I’m a little worried now.  Please write me back soon.”

It dawned on Sunset after reading the last two messages that it had been a pretty lengthy amount of time since she had last written to Twilight.  The last time that the two had communicated was yesterday, when Sunset told her about her plan to track down Adagio.

For Sunset, it felt like that conversation had taken place years ago.  Not wanting to keep her friend waiting, she put her pen down to the paper and began to write.

“Hey, Twilight.  It’s Sunset.  Sorry for the late reply.  Are you still up?”

Nothing happened at first, and Sunset began to ponder if Twilight had gone to sleep.  Her concerns were quelled as words that weren’t hers began to appear.

“Oh thank goodness!  I was just about to jump through the portal and come looking for you.  What happened?  You said that you would write me back as soon as you got back home!”

“Yeah, sorry about that.  I ran into a little bit of trouble here and there.  Nothing big though.”

“Are you alright?  What happened?  Was it Adagio?”

“Adagio and her sisters didn’t do anything.  Adagio seems to think that Anon-a-Miss is actually Applebloom and Sweetie Belle.  I think that she’s probably right.  And if it turns out that it really is them, then Scootaloo might have had a role to play as well,” Sunset explained.

Back on the other side, in the magic laden realm of Equestria, Twilight smacked herself on the forehead.  “Of course!  I should have known!”  

It was just like the Gabby Gums incident.  The three fillies went around leaking information about other ponies through the local newspaper.  Some of it was true, some of it wasn’t, but all of it was damaging and hurtful to those who had been targeted.  There were still some things that didn’t sit right with the young alicorn however, specifically the part about Adagio giving Sunset information.

“How exactly did you get Adagio to help you? That sounds a little weird after what happened the last time we ran into them.  And you still didn’t answer my other two questions.  What happened?  And are you okay?”

Sunset stared at the most recent message from Twilight and hesitated before writing back.  This was it, the moment of truth.  She still wasn’t expecting Twilight to cooperate but she still needed to try - she at least owed the sirens that much.

Sunset took a deep breath, deciding it best to gradually build up and break the news gently.

“From what I heard, there was a really embarrassing secret about Rainbow that went public.  She went over the edge and helped a bunch of other Students lead me into a trap.  I’m a little scratched up right now, but I’ll be fine.”

Twilight shook her head in disappointment.  She had entrusted her friends’ human counterparts with the task of teaching Sunset the magic of Friendship.  Rainbow Dash was supposed to help guide Sunset, not tear her down. 

“Do you want me to have a talk with her and the rest of the girls?”

“No.  There were some close calls, but I have everything under control now.  As for how I got Adagio to help ...” Sunset took a deep breath.  The moment that she had been dreading since that morning had arrived.  “I made a deal with Adagio that if she helped me figure out who was behind all of this, and correctly guessed who the culprit was, then I’d help her get a new set of Amulets.”

There was no response for the next several seconds.

“I’m sorry, I think that I might need to start wearing glasses again because it looks like you just wrote down that you made a deal to help Adagio and her sisters get their magic back.”

Sunset didn’t respond.

“You’re just messing with me, right?”

Still nothing.

“Sunset?”

Sunset took a deep breath and then she began to write back to her friend from the other side.

“I’m serious.  And I’m going to need your help too.”

There was a short three minute interlude before Twilight wrote back.  During that gap, Sunset figured that the Princess of Friendship was either seething or on the verge of falling into one of those famous panic attacks that she had occasionally heard about during their cross dimensional chats.  Given the message that came next, she figured that it was the latter.

“Do you have any idea what you’re asking me to help you do?  I’d be putting the safety and well-being of an entire world at risk!  And why would you ever agree to something that dangerous anyway?!  Did you forget about what almost happened last time?!”

“You don’t understand.  They’re going to die if I don’t do something.  And because -”

“Hold on.  What do you mean ‘they’ll die’ if you don’t do something?” Twilight interrupted.

“Do you remember how we stopped them during the Battle of the Bands?”

How could she forget?  Adagio and her sisters had endured everything that Twilight and her friends could throw at them, only to fire back with at least two times the force.

The power of harmony had failed, which in turn had left the entire planet at Adagio’s mercy.  Twilight honestly hadn’t felt that powerless since Queen Chrysalis and her army of Changelings had invaded during her brother’s wedding.  In the end it was all thanks to Sunset’s timely intervention that the sirens were defeated and their amulets were shattered, permanently crippling the three sisters.

“What about it?” Twilight asked.

“Those amulets were how they were able survive here for so many years.  Without them they can’t absorb energy.  They’re starving to death.  They can’t sustain themselves on human food like we can.  They don’t have much time left.”

Back in her castle, Twilight had begun pacing back and forth, unsure of what to do.  If the sirens were dying then she supposed that maybe she should at least try to help; she herself was partially to blame after all.  On the other hand, if she did help them, they’d just go out and cause trouble again.  

Out of all of her memories from how the students of CHS had behaved after being exposed to the sirens’ magic, there was one in particular that shined the brightest.


***


"Why are you acting like this?  I thought we were friends ..." Twilight asked sadly as her heart began to crack.

"Yeah, and then you decided to come back here, just so you could beat me in the Battle of the Bands!  I want this, Twilight, and you’re trying to take it from me!  Some friend …" scoffed Flashed Sentry.

"But, that’s not why -"

"Come on Twilight.  We’ve got things to do," Applejack interrupted in an attempt to help diffuse the tension between Flash and the Princess.

As Twilight and the rest of the Rainbooms walked away, Flash called out one final time.

"You really think you’re gonna help them?!  I bet you have no idea what you’re even doing!"


***


Twilight frowned at the memory.  It hurt every time that it crossed her mind.  If the sirens could turn someone as sweet and noble as Flash into something so mean and selfish, then there was no telling what they would do to everyone else if they ever got the chance. 

“I don’t mean to sound callous, Sunset, but why do you even want to help them?  They survive by making other people argue and fight.  If they live, they'll just go back to that.  They won't have a choice but too.  Don’t you think that maybe it’d be better for everyone if you let nature take its course?”

Sunset read and re-read the question over and over again.  She couldn’t deny that Twilight did indeed raise a good point.  Allowing the sirens to live would mean allowing an eternal cloud of conflict and strife to hang over the heads of anyone unfortunate enough to cross their path.  She tried her best to think of a good counter argument, but nothing came to mind.

Sighing sadly, Sunset wrote one final message.  

“Twilight, after you stopped me, everyone wanted me to disappear.  They wanted me gone, and to be honest, I might have wanted it even more than they did.  But despite all that I had done, and all that I had tried to do to you, and to your friends, you still gave me a chance.”  Sunset reflected back on that fateful night, one year ago.  Her transformation, the burn from getting hit by the Elements, the looks of contempt on the faces of the other students after she had lost … it all came back.

“You helped me, even though I didn’t deserve it.  Is there really that much of a difference between me and them?”

Twilight once again found herself at a loss for words.  She didn't want for anyone to have to die, but she didn't want a possible repeat of what happened at CHS either.  She just wanted what was best for everyone.  Unfortunately for her, the boundaries between black and white were starting to blur.

Something needed to be done, that much was for certain.  Twilight just wasn't sure what that 'something' was anymore.

“I’m sorry Sunset, I really am, but I’m going to need some time to think this over.”  

And with that, Twilight closed her book and the conversation came to an end.

Sunset, meanwhile, sat on her couch, thinking about all of the ways in which their talk could have gone better.  

“Well, at least she didn’t say no,” Sunset said to herself.

Around 15 minutes later, the phone began to vibrate.  She had a new message from Vice Principal Luna, saying that she had just pulled up in the driveway outside.

Her heart raced with new-found determination as she began rounding up her luggage.

She was innocent, and first thing tomorrow morning, she was going to make sure that the whole world knew it.
> Chapter 11 - CCPD 
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	It was the last day at CHS before the students were officially out for Winter Break.  Even more exciting was the fact that the students had a half day.  Christmas and New Year’s Day were just around the corner and Scootaloo could hardly wait.  She ran down the Middle School section of CHS with great haste, having overslept and missed her bus earlier that morning.  She made it to class just in the nick of time, beating the tardy bell by mere seconds.

“Ah, there you are Scootaloo,” said a voice from the front of the classroom.

Scootaloo turned towards the source, confused as to why the school’s gym teacher was standing at the front of the class instead of her usual teacher, Mr. Parasol.  “Ms. Spitfire?  What are you doing here?  And where’s Mr. Parasol?”

“Mr. Parasol called in sick, so I’m going to be filling in for today.  Of course, you’d already know that if you came to class on time.”  Some of the students in the back had started laughing.

“I beat the tardy bell.  Technically I’m not late,” stated Scootaloo.

“I already called your name on the attendance list, and you weren’t in your seat when the bell rang.  In my book, that still counts as being late.  Now, take your seat, please, so we can move this along.”  Scootaloo rolled her eyes and sat down at her assigned desk.

“Alright, listen up everyone!” Spitfire called out while looking over a sheet of paper that had been left on the teacher’s desk.  “It says here that you all have a take home quiz that’s due today.  Drop it off in the Hand-In Box, and then open your textbooks to page 394.  He wants you to do all of the odd problems up to page 399.  It says here in bold letters, “Tell the students that I told them to show all of their work, or else they won’t get credit.””

A series of irritated groans echoed throughout the room.

“He also says that anyone who can finish all 70 problems before the bell rings will get a two week homework pass.  Those are his instructions.  Sounds like a nice deal, so you’d better get a move on.”

Just then, there were a series of knocks at the classroom door.  Spitfire pushed the door open, and in stepped one of the security guards for the school.

“Sorry to interrupt,” the security guard apologized, “but is Scootaloo here?”  Spitfire pointed to the desk where the girl was sitting.  “Celestia and Luna would like a word with you.  They’re waiting in the lunchroom.  They said it’s important.  I’m here to walk you down there.”

Scootaloo looked around and noticed that each and every one of her classmates was now staring at her with newfound interest.  “The Principal and Vice Principal want to see me?  Did they say why?”

“Nope.  Just that it was important.  I’ll be waiting outside while you get your stuff together.”


***


Scootaloo followed close behind as the security guard led the way to the closed front doors of the school cafeteria.  There was a rusty squeaking sound as the security guard pulled the left door open and motioned for Scootaloo to step inside.  Upon doing so, she noticed that there were other people already there, presumably waiting for her.

Besides Principal Celestia and Vice Principal Luna, she saw Rainbow Dash, accompanied by Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, and Fluttershy, all sitting at the same table.  There were also a group of about 30 different upperclassmen present, some of whom she recognized, such as Gilda and Dumbbell.  They were all gathered at the table across from Rainbow Dash.  Scootaloo also noticed that her friends, Applebloom and Sweetie Belle, were both sitting at the same table as Applejack and the others.

At the front of the room, standing next to the Principal and Vice Principal, were Snips, Snails, a tall old man with short gray hair, and about 20 different Police Officers.

Scootaloo’s eyes widened in fear.  Why were the police here?  Did they find out what she and her friends had been up too?  The middle schooler was now beginning to wish that she had stayed home that day.

“So glad that you could join us today, Scootaloo,” said Vice Principal Luna.  “If you would be so kind, go ahead and have a seat.”

Scootaloo complied, sitting down next to her two friends, both of whom looked just as nervous as she was.

“Okay everyone,” said Principal Celestia, “Before I begin, is there anything that any of you would like to say?”

A single hand amongst the small crowd of students was raised.

“Yes, Rarity?” asked the Principal.

“If I may … what is this all about?  And why is my little sister down here?”

“If ya’ don’t mind, I’d kinda’ like to know why ya’ called Applebloom and Scootaloo down here too,” Applejack asked.

“Those are all very good questions,” stated Celestia.  “Applebloom, Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo.  Do you three have any idea why Luna and I called you here?”

The three girls shook their heads ‘No’.  Celestia then turned her attention elsewhere.

“How about you Fluttershy, Pinkie, or Rainbow Dash?  I already know that Rarity and Applejack don’t know, but do you know why you’re here?”

They shook their heads as well.

Celestia then turned towards the other group of students.  “Alright, how about you guys?  I’m certain that at least one of you must have some idea about why you’re here.”

“I’m guessing that it has something to do with what happened to Sunset,” Gilda answered in a nonchalant tone.

“Correct,” answered the Principal.

“Huh?  What happened to Sunset?” asked Pinkie.

“Another good question.  But before I answer that, there’s some information that I’d like to share with all of you,” said Celestia.

“Ever since this little incident with the person calling himself ‘Anon-a-Miss’ began, I’ve been watching.  The school staff has been keeping me updated on everything that’s been going on in the halls and in the classrooms.  Each time a fight broke out in the lunchroom or a student ran to the counselor’s office in tears, that sort of information always comes back to my desk.”  While Celestia spoke, Luna kept her eyes locked on Applebloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo.

“If you really know about what’s been happening around here lately, then you should know that Sunset’s the one who’s been messing with CHS,” Rainbow stated, earning a few nods from her peers.

“Are you sure about that?  Because unless you know something that I don’t, there’s no proof that she did anything wrong,” the Principal responded.

“There wasn’t any proof when she framed and blackmailed other students around here for three years straight either,” said Rarity.

Celestia shook her head in disappointment and sighed.  “Fair enough.  Now, getting back to you Pinkie.  You asked me about what happened to Sunset.”  The Principal went quiet for a moment, as if to gather her thoughts before relaying the information.

“There was a ninth grader who came into my office this morning,” Celestia began.  “This student, who shall remain nameless, looked visibly shaken.  When I asked what was wrong, they showed me this interesting little picture that someone had uploaded onto Mystable.  I was absolutely disgusted by what I saw.   Now, it wasn’t because of the image itself; Luna had already filled me in on the details late last night.  The thing that I found so disturbing was the reception that this picture received.  For those of you who haven’t seen it yet, I took the liberty of printing out a few copies.”

Vice Principal Luna began passing out sheets of paper, one by one, to everyone in the room.  Most of the students at Gilda’s table were either emotionless or grinned in amusement.  Fluttershy raised a hand to her opened mouth in order to stifle a scream, Pinkie’s face went pale, Rarity gasped and Applejack was rendered speechless.  

Rainbow Dash, upon seeing the picture, slowly raised her head and stared at Gilda in equal parts shock and confusion.  The other girl returned the stare by rolling her eyes with disinterest.

When Scootaloo finally saw what it was that everyone had been staring at, her breath froze in her lungs.  It was Sunset and she looked terrible.  Her body had been marred with bruises and cuts.  A series of profane pictures and messages had been scribbled all over her face.  The words “Who’s Laughing Now?” had been etched onto her forehead.  One of her two closed eyes had been blackened and swollen.  Her arms, which hung behind her back, had been tied to what looked like a large metal pole.  She looked like a corpse.

Scootaloo lowered her gaze onto the picture's caption.  There was a message on it that read, “Lol!  Wanna hear a secret about Anon-a-Miss?  She's not coming back to CHS!”  In the comments section were a plethora of jokes and laugh emojis that had been made by other students from every grade level, all of which showed praise to whoever Sunset’s attackers were.

Scootaloo lowered the picture with trembling hands and turned towards her two friends.  Sweetie Belle was on the verge of tears and Applebloom looked as if she wasn’t too far behind.

“Is … Sunset okay?” Rainbow asked in a quiet voice.

“No, she’s not.  She got attacked here on school grounds last night.  That picture shows the end result.  As you can see, the beating was serious,” Celestia explained.  A heavy silence hung in the air while the other students took in the news.  It didn’t last long however.

“Now wait just a darn minute!” Applejack called out while looking back and forth between her fellow classmates and the Officers in the room.  “You think that one of us did this?  Is that why you called us here?”

“We don’t think, we know,” said the tall old man who was standing with the other Officers.

“Ah, I almost forgot.  Everyone, I’d like to introduce you to a very special guest,” said Celestia.  “Meet Police Commissioner Swift Order.  He’s in charge of all of the Police Stations here in Canterlot City.”  As if to verify her statement, Swift Order reached into his pocket and held out his badge for everyone to see.  

“Luna and I were originally going to have him come in and talk to the entire school about the dangers of cyber-bullying.  That plan changed the moment that my sister and I learned about what happened to Sunset.  We gave him a call at about two in the morning, and informed him that things had escalated beyond the point of talking things out.  So, without further adieu, I’m going to hand the floor to our guest speaker.”

“Alright, let’s get down to business.”  The Police Commissioner stood and began pacing back and forth; keeping his raspy voice projected loud and clear so that no one missed a thing.

“First things first, this goes a couple steps beyond typical cyber-bullying.  I’d say that this is beginning to lean a little more towards identity theft.  In case you didn’t know, taking other people’s information without the owner’s consent is a serious thing.  Posting that stolen information online is also serious.  Both are rude, a grievous invasion of privacy, and, above all else, it’s illegal.  Anyone found guilty of committing these acts can find themselves in very serious trouble.  And when I say “serious,” I’m talking a minimum of two years in prison serious.”

Applebloom, Scootaloo, and Sweetie Belle all jumped in surprise at what they had just heard.

“I understand that many of the students here at CHS have found themselves victimized by the criminal calling himself Anon-a-Miss.  But after verifying some information with Luna, Celestia, and those two young men over there,” he said while pointing at Snips and Snails, “I’m fairly confident about who it is that started all of this.”

“Sunset Shimmer,” a voice called out.  “Now can you please stop wasting time so that we can go back to class?”

The Police Commissioner turned and asked in a tone that radiated power, “Who just said that?”  

The group of students sitting at Gilda’s table immediately scooted away and pointed fingers at a young girl who had a bandage wrapped over her nose.  Swift Order approached at a methodical pace, and with each step, the girl seemed to shrink down a little.

“Hello there, young lady.  May I ask what your name is?”  Although he was acting polite, the Commissioner had an eerie aura about him.

“L-Lightning Dust … sir,” the girl stammered out.

“Lightning Dust,” the Commissioner repeated.  “That’s a very pretty name you’ve got there, young lady.”

“Um … thanks?” the girl replied with discomfort.

“Yeah, a pretty name indeed.”  The commissioner then leaned in so close that Lightning could smell his coffee scented breath.  “I’ll be sure to remember it when you’re being escorted off of the premises in handcuffs later today.”  

The teen’s mouth dropped in surprise as the Commissioner walked away.

“So, as I was saying, the person who I believe was behind the cyber attacks ...” Swift Order walked over to the table where Rainbow Dash and the others were sitting and pointed a single bony finger towards a frightened looking Applebloom.  “… Was this little one, right here.  You’re in big trouble, Miss Bloom.”

“Wh- what?  But … but!” mumbled a misty eyed Applebloom.

“Okay, that’s where I draw the line!”  Applejack stood up and marched over to Swift Order.  Without thinking about her actions, she jabbed a finger into the Police Commissioners chest.  “I don’t know who you think you are accusin’ my little sis’ like that!  She ain’t no crook!”

“Applejack, settle down,” commanded Celestia.

“No!  Not until he stops pointing fingers at Applebloom!” Applejack paused for a second.  “Which reminds me, where’s your proof anyway?  Aren’t you cops supposed to have evidence before you go around boastin’ about who’s guilty and who’s innocent?!”

The Police Commissioner stared Applejack in the eye and smiled.  “You have a point.  Maybe I was a little … bold, seeing as how I don’t have anything official,” Swift Order admitted.  “At least, not yet anyway.  But that’ll change within the next hour or so.”

“What are you talkin’ about?” Applejack asked in confusion.

Swift Order folded his arms behind his back and began pacing back and forth.  “In addition to the other Officers standing in this room, I was able to bring in some friends of mine from the FBI.  They owe me some favors, you see.”  Swift Order turned back around and locked onto Applebloom with a penetrating stare.

“They’ve been here since around five in the morning, tearing the computers in your school library apart, looking for evidence.  I asked for a status update right before you were all called here.  They’ve confirmed that someone in this school signed into Mystable on the “Anon-a-Miss” account, at least seven different times.  We have a password now and everything.  But the thing is, they’re not going to shut the account down just yet.  That’d be too easy.  Instead, we’ve got something far more efficient in mind.”

As he went on, Applebloom broke out into a nervous sweat.  No one noticed this, except for the Commissioner.

“As we speak, they’re currently in the process of tracing the account's information back to its original source.  Soon we’ll be able to pinpoint the exact location of the device that the account was created on.  So if the account was created on a laptop, for example, and the culprit left it at their place of residence, we’ll be able to pay them a house call.  And if Anon-a-Miss ever, at any point in time, signed into that account using a cell phone, we’ll have ourselves a phone number that we could lock onto as well.”

Swift Order turned back to Applejack and smiled again.  “If your sister really is innocent, then I’ll gladly apologize.  But if the agents find anything that can link her to the crime …” The Police Commissioner’s face became serious as he looked Applebloom in the eye.  “Then she’ll be coming back to the station with me faster than you can say “Don’t drop the soap”.”

“Wait!”

Everyone in the room turned towards Sweetie Belle.  The poor girl had broken down and had begun to sob.  “I did it … I stole Sunset’s phone while she wasn’t looking.  I posted those pictures of my big sister and her friends.  I made everyone think that it was Sunset ...  I’m Anon-a-Miss … just … leave Applebloom alone.”

For a long while, not a word was spoken.  The Principal and Vice Principal both shared looks of sadness, while the students who had heard the announcement began to whisper and mumble amongst themselves.  

It couldn’t have been true.  Sunset was Anon-a-Miss, not some random middle schooler!  Sunset had to have been manipulating them somehow.  Their whispers were silenced by the girl’s big sister.  

“Sweetie Belle,” Rarity called out in a shaky voice, “this is a joke, right?”

Sweetie Belle couldn’t bring herself to look her big sister in the eye.

“Sweetie Belle, please tell me that you didn’t and that you’re just covering for someone else.  Please tell me, that I didn’t just hear you say that it was you the whole time.”

Once again, the other girl didn’t say a word.

“Sweetie Belle!” Rarity shouted.

This time, the 8th grader replied back.  “I’m sorry, Rarity.”  Sweetie Belle then buried her face in her hands and continued to cry.

The Commissioner stepped forward, a grim expression etched into his face.  “Well, I believe I’ve heard enough.”  He reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a pair of handcuffs.  “Sweetie Belle, you’re under arrest for -”

“Hold on!” Rarity jumped in front of the Police Commissioner and outstretched her arms in an attempt to bar his path.  “Please, she didn’t know what she was doing!  You don’t have to arrest her!  She’s just a little girl!”

“I’m sorry, young lady, but I’m going to have ask you to move.  What you’re doing now qualifies as “Obstruction of Justice”, which is illegal.  If you don’t step aside then I’m going to have to arrest you as well.”

“Hold on a sec’,” came the guilty voice of Applebloom.  “I’m the one ya’ want.  This whole thing was my idea.  I started this when I posted that story about my big sis.  I’m the one who made the account.  Don’t arrest Sweetie Belle or Rarity.  If anyone should go to jail, take me.”

Applejack’s eyes grew to the size of dinner plates.  “No … You … but then … that means that …” She turned towards the Police Commissioner who stared back at her with a wide grin that said “I told you so.”

“Wait.”  

Everyone in the room turned towards Rainbow Dash.  With just that single command, the entire room had gone as silent as the grave.  She looked past Applebloom, past Sweetie Belle, and spoke again.

“Scootaloo.”

The violet haired girl gulped in fear as her role model stood up and slowly began to stalk towards her.

“Did you help them?” asked Rainbow Dash.

Sensing the danger that she was in, Scootaloo rose from her seat and backed away on trembling legs.  “I … I … uh …”

“Did.  You.  Help.  Them?” Rainbow Dash repeated, a little louder this time while pausing between each word.

At this point, Applebloom and Sweetie Belle darted in front of their friend and wrapped her in a protective hug.  Next, Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie, and Fluttershy all stood in front of Rainbow in an effort to keep her from advancing on Scootaloo.  Rainbow stopped for a moment, taking in the newly established barricade.

“Rainbow, please calm down,” pleaded Fluttershy.  

“We know how you feel.  We all got embarrassed too, but violence won’t solve anything,” Rarity reasoned.

“Think about what yer’ trying to do, Dash.  Please, just take a deep breath, and sit back down,” said Applejack.

“Rainbow Dash,” whimpered Applebloom, “Don’t be mad at Scootaloo.  She tried to warn us that we might have been goin’ a little too far.  She didn’t know that we had that picture of you until after I posted it.  I wasn't thinking!  I'm sorry!  We all are!”

Rainbow Dash stared at the small roadblock in front of her.  After several seconds of silence, her breathing slowed down, and she appeared calm.

Applejack cautiously broke away from the group and placed a hand on Rainbow’s shoulder.  “C’mon, let’s go back and -” she never got to finish her sentence.  Rainbow shoved Applejack onto the floor and then forced her way past her friends, causing Pinkie and Rarity to trip and fall.

Fluttershy, the last one standing, gasped in surprise upon seeing Swift Order signal for the other Officers to get involved.  “Rainbow!  Stop!”

She didn’t listen.

Scootaloo screamed out in terror as she was snatched away from her friends and was forced to gaze into the enraged eyes of her idol. 

“Do you have any idea what you did to me, to my friends, and to the whole school?! Because of you, Sunset-” That was when Rainbow Dash froze, something that didn’t go unnoticed by the Commissioner who then ordered the other Officers to stop.

Rainbow’s eyes widened in horror.  For the last two weeks, Sunset had been trying to tell the girls, had been trying to tell her, that she was innocent, but no one ever listened.  She tried one final time back at Sugar Cube Corner, and she responded to her friend’s pleas by nearly throwing punches at her.

Rainbow slowly turned back towards the small girl in her hands, but instead of Scootaloo, all she saw was Sunset.  The image then began to distort into that of a defenseless girl who had been beaten half to death in a revenge plot gone wrong; a plot that she herself had helped to orchestrate.

Rainbow dropped Scootaloo, who then got carried to safety by her two friends.  She collapsed onto her knees and placed both hands towards her mouth, contemplating the disaster that her actions had wrought.  Sunset, was possibly lying in a hospital bed, or worse, and it was all because she had been too stupid to listen.

At long last, the truth had become painfully clear to Rainbow Dash.  She herself was the betrayer, not Sunset.

Fluttershy looked on as her friend sat there in a daze, completely immobilized.  She didn't know why Rainbow had dropped Scootaloo all of a sudden, or what thoughts were circulating in her brain, but there was one thing that she did know.  Rainbow needed some time to herself.  “Principal Celestia?” she finally called out in concern.  “Can … we please walk Rainbow to the infirmary?  I think it might be better for everyone if we gave her some space.”

Celestia turned towards the Commissioner, who then turned towards one of the Officers, a short man who looked to be in his mid-twenties.  The Officer nodded once before gently lifting Rainbow Dash up by the hand.  The girl gave no resistance as she was gently escorted out the door.

Now that the excitement had died down, all eyes were now focused on Sweetie Belle, Apple Bloom, and Scootaloo, who, like Rainbow Dash, had been rendered almost completely unresponsive. 

“Um … Mister Swift?” Rarity called out to the Commissioner.  “Do you really have to arrest them?  I think they’ve been through enough for today.”

“Yeah,” Applejack said while observing the saddened look on her sister’s face.  “And can ya’ tell those FBI people to stop too?  I don’t think my Granny would take too well to havin’ our door kicked down.  And I’m real sorry about snappin’ at ya’ earlier.”

Swift Order smiled and put his handcuffs away.  “All is forgiven.  And don’t worry about having your home searched.  Everything I said before about the FBI and tracing signals back to a source?  I made all of that up.”

“You did what?!” exclaimed Rarity.  “You mean that you scared us all half to death just for laughs?!”

“Not entirely.  I heard from a reliable source that all three of those girls were close friends, and that if one of them did it, then all three were likely guilty.  The problem was that I didn’t have any proof - this was pretty last minute after all.  So I kept adding pressure until someone finally cracked.  And since they care about each other so much, after one confessed, the others followed.  I took a gamble and they fell for it like a sack of bricks.  Which reminds me,” Swift Order turned towards one of the other officers.  “Did you get all of that on the recorder?”

The Officer, a lady with light brown hair, pulled out a black box and pushed a bright red button on the top.

“I did it … I stole Sunset’s phone while she wasn’t looking -”

“I got everything up until that girl flipped her lid,” the woman replied.

“So then, you’re not going to take them to jail?” Pinkie asked in reference to the three culprits.

“That all depends.”

“On?” asked Rarity. 

“Don’t worry about it.  Just sit back for now and enjoy the show,” the Commissioner instructed.

Rarity grabbed Sweetie Belle by the hand and led her back to the table.  Applejack did the same for Applebloom and Fluttershy escorted Scootaloo.

“Applejack?” came the saddened voice of Applebloom.  The middle-schooler watched as her big sister turned towards her with an expression that was a mix of anger, disappointment, and genuine hurt.  “Do you … still love me?”

Applejack took a long drawn out breath.  “Bloom, you’re my little sister.  I’m gonna love ya’ no matter what.”  Her voice then took on a harsher tone.  “But that doesn’t mean that I’m not gonna skin your hide when we get back home.”  Worry began to coat her features as she turned her attention to the Commissioner.  "Assuming that you even get to go back home today ..."

With all of the commotion having settled down, Swift Order turned towards Gilda and the other students sitting at her table.

“And now that the big mystery about Anon-a-Miss’s identity has been settled … I have a few questions about how an innocent CHS student was assaulted here last night.”
> Chapter 12 - Interrogation
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	The Police Commissioner had been standing patiently before the band of students.  As expected, none of them were feeling particularly sociable.  Swift Order wasn’t bothered in the slightest, however.  Just like with Applebloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo, they would all crack sooner or later.  It didn’t matter how long they gave him the silent treatment; he was a patient man.

“We don’t have anything to say to you,” one of the students finally said.  Swift Order studied the speaker for a moment.  Judging by his burly physical build, he assumed that the teen was an athlete.  If he recalled correctly, the other students referred to him as Dumbbell.  He also took notice of a relatively large bump on the back of his head, as if he’d been struck multiple times.

“Here’s the thing, big guy.  This isn’t my first interrogation.  As a matter of fact, I’ve been at this job since probably before your parents even reached adulthood.”  Swift Order folded his arms, never once breaking eye contact.  “And one of the things that I’ve noticed, especially with young people like you, is that when someone says something like, “I ain’t tellin’ you spit,” then it almost always means that they know something.  So here’s my question, tough guy.”

The Police Commissioner tapped a finger on one of the pictures of Sunset after she had been tied down and beaten.  “Are you guilty, or are you innocent?”

Dumbbell’s mouth stayed shut.

“Fine, be that way.”  Swift Order began pacing around the table in his usual manner.  “The thing is ...  I already know that each and every last one of you participated in the attack.  I have witnesses who named all of you.  They told me everything.”

“Oh yeah?” Gilda blurted out while giving Snips and Snails a death glare.  “Well if someone told you that I sprouted wings and turned into a Griffon, would you believe that too?”

The Commissioner suddenly stopped his pacing.  “As long as there’s enough evidence to support it, I’m willing to believe just about anything.  Which reminds me.”  He then walked towards Gilda and carefully began to examine her face.  “Did you know that there’s a dark spot just below one of your eyes?  I find that a little odd.”

Gilda shifted away from the Commissioner.  “I slipped on some ice yesterday.  Big whoop.”

“Slipped on some ice you say?”  Swift Order started smiling at her.  His smile combined with the lack of respect for her personal space made Gilda feel more than a little uncomfortable.  “Did you know that one of the people who attacked Miss Shimmer supposedly got hit in the face with a cell phone?  Even more curious … the area where your face made contact with the “ice” matches up pretty well with where that particular assailant got hit.  The attacker got blasted near the eye yesterday.  Yesterday you slipped on some ice and injured yourself just below the eye in the same location.  Isn’t that a funny coincidence?”

“Get out of my face,” Gilda snapped.

The smile never left the Commissioner's face as he walked away and resumed his pacing.  “Alright children, I’m gonna get straight to the point.  Unlike those three little girls from before, I don’t need any of you to actually say anything.  The pieces that you all left behind will tell me so much more than you ever could.”

No one at the table spoke a word, so Swift Order continued with his ramblings.

“I know what you’re all thinking.  What pieces did we leave behind?  Well, I’ll be happy to enlighten you.  First of all, there’s the scar on that girl’s face from where she “fell”, the bandage on Lightning Dust’s nose, and the bump on the back of big man’s head over there.  All of your injuries look recent, which fits up nicely since the attack happened last night.  Secondly, there’s the victim.  The beating that she suffered was a pretty violent one.  That’s bad news for Miss Shimmer but wonderful news for Canterlot City’s Forensics Team.

“When you come into close contact with someone, a little piece of them can rub off on you, figuratively and literally speaking.  For the students who attacked Miss Shimmer, pieces of her skin might have gotten lodged under their fingernails.  A stray hair or two might have gotten embedded in their clothing.  She was repeatedly stomped on as well, so we might get lucky and find some dried blood if we checked the cracks beneath your shoes.  Another interesting fact, I heard that Sunset’s phone was destroyed using brute force.  In addition to blood, one of the attackers might have a few computer chips stuck in their apparel.”

The other students were now beginning to show increased signs of unease, and Swift Ordered loved every minute of it.  They were almost ready to break; he just needed to push a little further.

“Sadly, we can’t snatch you guys up and pad you down like that without getting a warrant.  And by then all of that good evidence might not be around anymore.  But that’s not a problem.  While you're all in school, I could round up the Forensics Team, have those two young men over there show us the way to the factory where this picture was taken, and then dust the area for fingerprints.  If that doesn’t work, we could always search the terrain for shoe-prints and tire tracks.  And after we get our evidence, the next step will be to get an Arrest Warrant.”

Suddenly, a large mischievous smile spread across the Commissioner’s face.  The smile was so impossibly wide that it could have given Pinkie a run for her money.  “You know what?  Wait right there for a moment!” he walked over to Rarity and outstretched his hand.  “Excuse me Miss, but may I please borrow your copy of that picture for a moment?”

Rarity was happy to hand it over, honestly not caring if she ever got it back.  Swift Order nodded in thanks and then turned towards the Principal.

“Hey, Celestia, quick question!” the Commissioner shouted from across the room.  “If this picture was taken by students, then what would you say the odds are that it was taken on a phone?”

The Principal didn’t respond at first.  After thinking carefully about what it was that she was being asked, her eyes lit up in realization.  “I’d say that it probably was,” she replied while shooting a glare towards Gilda’s table.

Swift Order nodded and began making his way back towards the band of students.  “If I were to seal off all of the exits in this room, and confiscate all of your phones right now, what are the odds that I’d find a photo, or a video, or something else that would be self-incriminating?”

No one said a word as the Commissioner drilled the other students beneath his steely gaze.

“That’s a damn shame.”  The Commissioner paused for a moment before continuing.  “Picking up from where I left off earlier, the next step will be to take you all before a judge.  Would any of you all like to take a guess at how many years you could spend behind bars for Attempted Murder?  If you get charged in the First-degree, then some of you will probably be looking at a Life Sentence with the possibility of parole.”

That was the straw that broke the camel's back.  The students erupted into a symphony of outrage and despair.  The conductor of the fearful musical, was Swift Order.

“That’s not fair!  We weren’t trying to kill her!  We were just trying to teach her a lesson!” shouted an enraged Gilda.

“Oh, is that right?” the Commissioner questioned.  “I’m going to paint you a picture, and by the time I’m done I’ll let you guess whether or not a Judge will see it the same way you do.

“Fact, you lured Miss Shimmer into CHS with the intention of causing her physical harm.  Fact, the beating that you gave her was so vicious that she lost consciousness.  Fact, you threw her into the trunk of a car, and then proceeded to drive 15 to 20 miles outside of Canterlot City and into an abandoned factory - which, might I add, was a restricted area, which means that you can automatically get charged with trespassing.  Fact, you then tied and bound Sunset to a pole and left her there, presumably with no intention of ever coming back.  If those two young men hadn’t have had the good sense to set her free, I have no doubt that she would have died back there.  Now, I don’t know about the rest of you, but that sounds an awful lot like attempted murder to me.”

The three girls who were guilty of framing Sunset, Rarity and her friends, they all shared the same looks of shock and disgust while Gilda and her table had been rendered speechless.  Some of them had even broken down into tears.

The Commissioner, satisfied with his handiwork, signaled for one of the other officers to step forward.  It was the same woman who had recorded the previous confession about Anon-a-Miss.  “Everyone, I’d like you to meet my daughter, Officer Hunt.  In her hands is a tape recorder.  She’s going to pass it around to each of you, one by one.  You will then speak your name, age, where you go to school, and what you are guilty of.  If any of you fail to comply, or if you give false information, then I’ll turn this into an official case, round up all of the evidence that I’ll ever need, and then have each and every last one of you in cuffs by this time tomorrow morning.”

Officer Hunt handed the recorder to Gilda.  At first the hot tempered teen didn’t say anything.  She was finally spurred into action by the cold expression on the Officer’s face.

“My name is Gilda, I’m 19, I go to Canterlot High ... and I’m one of the students who beat up Sunset Shimmer.”

The recorder was shut off and passed over to Dumbbell.  “You’re next,” the Officer stated.


***


Swift Order had returned to his seat next to Celestia and Luna and had been quietly observing while the confessions were being recorded.  It had been almost 10 years since he last got the chance to interrogate anyone.  He had gotten rusty in his old age, but in the end he was still able to get the job done.

“Well, this was a nice exercise,” the Police Commissioner said to the Principal and Vice Principal.  “I’d say it’s about time to put the final nail in the coffin.  What do you think?”

Celestia nodded in agreement.  “Of course, but I’d like to say something to the rest of them first.”

“Go for it.  I just spent the last half hour making a room full of teenagers mess all over themselves.  I need a break.”

Shortly after the final student had been recorded, Principal Celestia stood before the center of the cafeteria.  All eyes were on her as the students awaited further scolding.  She sighed sadly before speaking.

“We’re just about done here.  But before you’re punishment is given, I would just like to say that I’m very disappointed in all of you for different reasons.”  Celestia turned towards the three girls who had ruined Sunset Shimmer’s already unstable reputation.  “Applebloom, Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo.  I’m still somewhat unclear about what your motives were and, quite frankly, I don’t care.  You not only turned the entire school against an innocent girl, but you also hurt hundreds of your fellow students along the way.  Was all of the damage that you caused worth it?”  The three girls lowered their heads in shame.

Celestia then turned towards Gilda and her assembled team.  “I’m absolutely appalled by what all of you did.  Instead of coming to me, my sister, your parents, or anyone else, you resorted to violence.  You allowed yourselves to get so worked up that you beat another person within inches of her life.  The ironic thing is that in the end it just might cost you yours.  And that hurts me deeply, because I know that you’re all good kids at heart.  Good kids who made a really poor decision.”  Some of the students had been reduced into a sniveling mess.  Others maintained a look of indifference.

“And then there’s you four,” Celestia said while focusing her attention on Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy, and Pinkie Pie.

“Why are you mad at us?  We didn’t do anything,” Rarity said in confusion.

“Actually, we did,” Fluttershy countered in her usual soft tone.  “Sunset tried to tell us that she was innocent.  She tried to tell us … but we didn’t listen.”

“Yeah.  If we had just given her a chance, then maybe things wouldn’t have gotten so wacky.  We didn’t do anything mean, like whip CHS into a frenzy or beat her up when no one was looking,” Pinkie Pie shivered at the image of Sunset in the photograph, “but we’re still guilty of abandoning her when she needed us the most.  Twilight was counting on us … and we let her down.”

Applejack shook her head sadly as she recalled the way she and the others shoved her away back at Sugar Cube Corner.  “We really messed up this time.  If nothin’ else, we owe that girl an apology.  I reckon the entire school does.”

Celestia’s sorrowful expression suddenly hardened and became stern.  “I’m glad you feel that way Applejack.  Because you’ll be getting the chance to talk to her very soon.  She’s here on school grounds.  And even now as we speak, she’s listening in on all of this.”

The students in the cafeteria had once again been struck with disbelief, Dumbbell in particular.  “What?  After the clobbering we gave her last night?”

“We were surprised too.  We tried to tell her to go get medical help, but she insisted on being here today,” Snips admitted, having finally joined in on the discussion.  “That’s our boss for you.  As soon as her mind's made up, there’s almost no keeping her down.”

“She’s in one of the squad cars outside.  She’s been eavesdropping thanks to this.”  The Police Commissioner reached into his coat and pulled out a walkie-talkie.

“Oh, and there’s one little thing that we should probably mention,” the Vice Principal chimed in.  “Sunset Shimmer requested that she herself be the one to decide your punishments.  The Commissioner, my sister, and I all agreed to honor her request.  Whatever happens next, your lives now rest in the hands of the very girl that you all tried to destroy.”

There were a series of surprised murmurs throughout the cafeteria.  Rarity suddenly felt a weight pressed against her side.  She looked down and saw Sweetie Belle clutching at her with fear embedded on her face.  “Rarity … what’s gonna happen to us?”

“I … don’t know,” Rarity answered while placing a protective hand around her little sister’s side.

Swift Order raised his communicator towards his mouth and pushed a small button on the side.  “Young lady, are you ready?  Over.”

There was a brief pause, and then a clicking sound could be heard from the other side.

“Yeah. I’m on my way now.  But before I go, bring Rainbow Dash back into the room.  I don’t want her to miss out on a thing.  Over.”

Sunset gave the walkie-talkie to one of the Officers who had been tasked with keeping watch over her.  She opened the car door and stared out at CHS.  For two weeks straight it had been her against the entire school.  Her friends, the other students, and even some of her own teachers had all turned against her.  It was a tough road, but it was almost over now.  She uttered a single phrase as she made her way towards the imposing structure.

“It’s time.”
> Chapter 13 - Punishment
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Several different sets of footsteps were heard marching down the halls from outside the cafeteria.  Suddenly, the noise stopped.  Everyone waited with bated breath as the side-doors slowly creaked open.  Over a dozen Officers burst into the room, who then parted away on opposite sides to reveal none other than Sunset Shimmer.

She didn’t look that much better compared to the physical state that she was in during the photograph.  The only real difference was the absence of all of the messages that had been scribbled across her facial region.  If one were to examine the teen underneath her clothing, they would find a punished body littered with scabs, welts, bruises, and lacerations.  How she had made it to CHS was anyone’s guess.

She stood there, like a statue, silently observing all of those who were in attendance.  The stares that she received from her friends were a mixture of relief as well as unease.  Rainbow Dash, who sat at a different table, accompanied by the same Officer who had taken her away earlier, was the exception of the bunch.  The athlete was the only person in the room who refused to meet Sunset’s icy stare.

Scootaloo clung tightly to Fluttershy, while Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle sought comfort in the arms of their big sisters.  All of the other students, Gilda included, all wore looks of unease, but whether it was out of remorse for their own actions or fear at spending time behind bars was up for debate.

“Sunset?  Are … you alright?” Fluttershy finally asked after an extended period of silence.

Instead of giving any sort of acknowledgement, Sunset began walking forward, completely ignoring Fluttershy’s question.

She walked past her friends and the trio responsible for the cyber-attacks without sparing either party a single glance.  She continued past Rainbow, who was trying her best to remain invisible, and then stopped in front of the small faction of students who had ambushed her the night before.

“Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t tell the Commissioner to drag all of you away.”  There was no anger in Sunset’s voice, only emptiness.

An immediate response came from a male student with dark blue hair.  “Because Rainbow helped us set you up!  So whatever you do to us, you’d have to do to her too!  It’s only fair, and you wouldn’t do that to one of your friends!  You can go ahead and ask Snips and Snails if you don’t believe us!”

There were a series of surprised gasps and mumbles from her friends.  “She did what?!” Applejack cried out in alarm.

All eyes were focused on Rainbow, who had her head slumped towards the floor.  She didn’t even need to look around to know the type of stares that were being directed her way.

“It’s true,” Rainbow admitted sadly.  “I thought that she was hurting everyone again … I thought that …” she slowly shook her head as the memory of being approached by Gilda replayed itself in her mind.  “I don’t know what I was thinking anymore …”

“Dashie ... no …” Pinkie whispered.

The student relaxed a little after hearing Rainbow Dash admit partial responsibility.  He had truly believed that he had just won himself and the others a lighter punishment.  That was until Sunset spoke up again.

“I don’t think that you understand what the Vice Principal meant when she said that I get to decide your punishments, so I think that maybe I need to dumb things down for you.”  Sunset narrowed her eyebrows in a small show of annoyance.  “As of this moment, I own all of you, just like I did back in the old days.  I can do whatever I want.  If I felt like it, I could give Rainbow two days worth of detention while all of you are getting ready for a court hearing.  It doesn’t make me any difference.”

The student winced at having his declaration shot down.

“But you did raise a good point.  I would never intentionally do something if I thought that it would cause my friends harm.  Speaking of friends, I’ve got five of them.  Would you like me to name them for you?”

The boy from earlier looked somewhat confused.  “Uh … Applejack, Fluttershy, Rarity, Pinkie, and … Rainbow Dash?” he asked with uncertainty.

Sunset shook her head and answered just loud enough for the entire room to hear.  “Twilight, Principal Celestia, Vice Principal Luna, Snips, and Snails.  The rest of you are just people who happen to go to the same school as me.  Nothing more and nothing less,” she answered.  Off in the distance her former friends flinched as if they’d been physically hurt by the announcement.  

“So, would you like to try again?  Or are you finished?”

“Hey, Sunset, how about a deal?”  Everyone at the table turned their attention towards Gilda.

“What?”

“You see those three pieces of garbage over there?” Gilda questioned while pointing a finger towards Applebloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo.  “We’re not the bad guys here.  They are.  They turned everyone against you and made fools out of all of us.”  Gilda leaned in and whispered, “If you cut us some slack, I promise that I’ll make some things happen for you.”

“I heard that!” Applejack shouted while tightening her hold on her younger sister.  “You ain’t layin’ a finger on Applebloom, ya’ hear me?!”

Gilda smirked at the sentimental display.  “Don’t you even start, Applejack!  They’re gonna get it one way or another.  Even if it isn’t one of us, someone else from CHS will do it.  You saw how Rainbow flipped out earlier, right?  Well that’s gonna become the norm around here after it gets out that those three were the ones that started this.  You may as well start putting target signs on their backs now!”

Scootaloo’s body began to shiver and shake as she recalled how Rainbow was moments away from crushing her like a grape.  If the one person who she looked up to the most had it in her to do something like that, and Gilda was willing to kidnap someone in the middle of the night, then there was no telling what the rest of the school would do to her and her friends.  

“She’s … she’s right!” Scootaloo stammered out. “They’re gonna kill us!  Oh no, what did we do?!”
Scootaloo’s distress began seeping into her friends, triggering a sense of alarm within the other two girls.  Applejack, Fluttershy, and Pinkie Pie all tried their best to calm them down, but found little success.

“Sunset, they’re scared!  Aren’t you going to do something?” asked Rarity.

Sunset stared at Rarity absentmindedly, and then at the three girls who had besmirched her good name.  She eventually turned back towards Gilda.  “So, you’re saying that if your punishment was to “take care of them” for me, you’d jump at the chance?”

Gilda’s heart began to race with excitement.  It seemed that she had piqued Sunset’s interest, which meant that there was hope that maybe she could still talk her way out of trouble.  “Oh, of course!  I mean, someone has to do it, right?”

Sunset nodded her head in agreement.  “Excellent.  Maybe you aren’t so bad after all?”

“Sunset, what do you think you’re doing?!” shouted Rarity.

“I'm delivering a fair and unbiased punishment,” Sunset answered in a calm tone.  “What goes around comes around, as they say.”

“Fair and unbiased?!  The only fair thing here is if they go to jail!  Think about what you’re doing!” Rarity pleaded.

“I already have,” Sunset replied as she calmly walked away from Gilda.  “Principal Celestia, are you ready?”

The school head nodded once.  “Go ahead.”

Sunset approached the table where Applebloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo were sitting.  As she approached, she couldn’t help but notice the looks of absolute fury on Applejack and Rarity’s faces.  Ignoring it, she turned her attention towards the three culprits.  “You girls have been running around out of control for too long.  Like it or not, you’re going to have to answer for everything that you did.

“Just before school lets out for the day, Principal Celestia is going to call for an assembly in the Auditorium,” Sunset explained.  “You will be given one of the school's laptops, as well as an overhead projector.  And then, in front of the entire school, the three of you will sign into the Anon-a-Miss account, and delete it once and for all.  But not before issuing a public apology to everyone at CHS.”


“But … but … they’re gonna come after us if we do that!  Couldn’t we just apologize in an update and then take the account down later without telling anyone that it was us?” Sweetie Belle whimpered.

“No.  They’d still think that it was me.  They need to hear the truth.  It needs to be done in a way that’s indisputable, and you’re going to be the ones who deliver the message.”  Sunset turned towards the group of students who had attacked her in the gymnasium.  “And you won’t have to worry about anyone trying to hurt you guys, because Gilda and her team over there are going to protect you at all times while you’re on school grounds.  They’re going to follow you everywhere that you go, like it or not.”

“Wait, we’re gonna do what?! I thought we were on the same page!” Gilda shouted in outrage.

“Oh, is something wrong?  I thought you said that you wouldn’t have a problem with taking care of them for me?” Sunset replied while feigning confusion.

A lightbulb went off as Gilda realized the play on words that Sunset had used earlier.  She didn’t mean, “take care of them” as in “get revenge on the three girls for me”.  She meant it as in “baby sitting duty”.

It was then that Gilda snapped … again.  She jumped from her seat and began marching over to Sunset, fuming the entire way.  “Oh screw that!  I’m not doing a thing you little -”

“You’re right,” Sunset interrupted.  "You aren’t going to do anything.  Not to me, not to Snips, and not to Snails either.  Take a look around the room for a second.”

Gilda did as suggested and was met with the image of at least 30 angry Police Officers, all of whom were staring directly at her.  Some of them had already begun reaching for their tasers, while others seemed to be readying themselves for an emergency takedown.

“This time, you’re the one who’s trapped.  And I’ve got a word of warning for you.”  When Sunset spoke again, it was in a tone so low that no one else could hear except for them.  “You being forced to protect them like this?  That’s me being nice.  The old Sunset Shimmer isn’t dead, she's just sleeping.  If you keep complaining, or if you ever try to harm me, Snips, or Snails in any way, shape, or form, I’ll bring her back out, just for you.  And if I go that route, I promise that I’ll make you wish that I’d sent you prison.  Now, unless you think that you can finish from where we left off last night before the police get their hands on you, I think you'd better sit back down.”

Gilda didn't move an inch at first.  The smoldering flame in her eyes clashed against the arctic chill behind Sunset's.  "This isn't over," Gilda whispered.  "I don't care how long it takes; you're gonna pay."

Sunset didn't appear to be bothered in the slightest.  "Final warning, if you ever try your luck a second time, I promise that there won't be a third.  And don't expect it to be as easy for you as it was before.  Unlike last night, I know who my enemies are."  Sunset leaned in a little closer.  "There won't be any mercy for you or anyone else the next time around.  Your move, Gilda."

The two girls remained in a silent staring contest for a few more moments until, begrudgingly, Gilda returned to her seat.

Sunset cleared her throat before facing the group of students again.  “As I was saying; you guys will keep them safe.  Because if I find out that they so much as got hit in the head by a paper ball while in Art class, each and every last one of you will be getting better acquainted with the Commissioner, no if’s and’s or but’s.  Same thing goes for if any of you try to weasel your way out of this by transferring to another school.  There is no escape from this.  Not for them, and not for any of you.  Do you understand?”

“Hold on a minute!” cried Lightning Dust.  “We have classes and school work that we have to do too!  How are we supposed to watch them and do what we need to do at the same time?  For most of us, this is our senior year!”

“Don’t worry, Lightning, you won’t be missing out on much,” assured the Principal.  “Due to the actions of the majority of the student-body, Luna and I have decided to cancel all after school clubs, events, and activities for the rest of the school year.  That means no Friendship Games, no more sporting events, and definitely no more prom.  That should give everyone plenty of time to think about their own actions.”

The volume in the cafeteria had gone back down to zero.  None of the students dared to try and challenge the decision.  They were already facing the risk of getting arrested.  What did it matter to them if a few special events got cancelled?

“Wait, I have a question.”  Everyone in the room turned towards the speaker, an 11th grader with puffy orange hair and a black shirt.  “You want them to fess up for embarrassing everyone, and you want us to keep an eye on them afterwards.  I understand all of that, but what about Rainbow Dash?”

“Yeah, she’s right!” came another voice.  “Rainbow is just as guilty as the rest of us!  What are you gonna do about her?”

Sunset turned and began to stare at Rainbow from across the room.  “Good question,” she admitted as she slowly made her way to the table that her former friend was sitting at.

At first the two girls just stared at one another.  Rainbow, who now had an up close and personal look at what her actions had caused, felt nothing but a deep rooted self-loathing.  Out of all of the casualties that had taken place that day, and out of all of the disasters that would soon follow, a lot of it had been because of her.  However, unlike the wielder of Loyalty whose pain was visible for all to see, Sunset remained unreadable.

“Before I make any decisions about what to do with you,” Sunset began, “I have one question.  And I want an honest answer.”

“What is it?” Rainbow Dash replied after a moment of hesitation. 

Sunset reached into her pocket and pulled out Snails’s cell phone.  After stirring the device from rest mode, she pressed the internet button and scrolled over to one of the saved tabs.  It was the picture that had been taken while she was still inside the factory.  “Did you know what they were going to do?”

Rainbow Dash slowly shook her head in denial.  “All I knew was that you were supposed to get jumped.  They were supposed to beat you up a little, maybe even take some embarrassing pictures later, but that was supposed to be the worst of it.  You were supposed to go back home at the end of the night.  I figured that maybe you’d end up calling someone to pick you up or something ... but that?” she pointed towards the image behind the screen.  “I swear I didn’t know that they were going to go that far.”

Rainbow tilted her head towards the floor.  “Anyway, go ahead.  I’ll take whatever punishment you throw at me.  I deserve it.”

Sunset studied the broken girl in front of her, considering a myriad of possible choices.  After a few more seconds, she finally came to a decision.  “Sorry to disappoint you, but I think it’s better if I don’t do anything,” she replied.

Rainbow Dash, her former friends, the three girls who were responsible for the cyber-attack and everyone who had allied with Gilda, all looked on in disbelief at what they had just heard. 

“But … why?” asked the athlete. 

“I heard when you snapped on Scootaloo.  She probably won’t look at you the same way after this, and neither will the rest of the girls, especially Applejack and Rarity.  Your reputation here is going to go into the trash as soon as word gets out about what you helped take part in, and what the consequences were for everyone here at CHS.  If you mix all of that with what happened to me … I can say with full confidence that you’ll never be the same after this.  I've been down a similar road before, so trust me when I say that the guilt will haunt you forever.  So in the end, there’s no reason for me to do anything.  You’ve already destroyed yourself far worse than I ever could.”

Sunset turned away and walked towards Celestia.  “I’m finished here.  You can take over now.”

“Alright then,” Celestia nodded in understanding and turned to face all of the students who were present.  “You know what your punishments are, as well as the ramifications should you disobey.  Now hurry back to class.  The assembly will begin after third period.”  

One by one, the students did as they were told.  They were going to be in for a rough second half of the school year.  

With their job now finished, the men and women from the Canterlot City Police Department filed out soon afterwards.  A few of them took the time to compliment Snips and Snails on their bravery.

After they were all gone, Sunset got ready to make her way out the door with her two teammates at her side, but was stopped upon feeling a light tap on her shoulder.  It was the Vice Principal.  “I’m sorry, but do you have a moment?” she asked politely.

“Well, the Commissioner said that he was going to take me to get checked out by a doctor right after this,” Sunset explained.  “But I guess that can wait for a few more minutes.  Is something wrong?”

“It seems that there are five young ladies who would like to have a word with you in private.”  Sunset followed the direction in which Luna was pointing.  Standing across the room next to Principal Celestia, were her five former best friends.  They were all staring back at her with saddened expressions.

“Not interested,” Sunset answered plainly.

The Vice Principal frowned at the response.  “If I recall correctly, they were the only ones who stood by you when you were at your lowest point.”

“The Fall Formal wasn’t my lowest point; that was just a wakeup call,” Sunset corrected.  “My lowest point was when, after everything that I had gone through in trying to show everyone that I had changed, I still found myself getting attacked by the same students that I worked so hard to try and make amends with.  And while all of that was happening, the five girls who I thought were my friends were nowhere to be seen.”

“Sunset, look at me,” Luna asked in a gentle tone. “There’s nothing wrong with being angry.  It’s perfectly understandable after what you’ve been through.”  

“If you understand, then why are we even having this talk?” Sunset asked.

Luna shook her head in disappointment. “Sunset, you should know by now that there’s no such thing as perfection.  We’ve all done some things that we’re not proud of.  And unlike Gilda and all of those poor misguided students who followed her every move, they actually appear to be genuinely sorry.  I’m not saying that they were justified in what they did, and you certainly don’t have to go back to being friends or anything.  But, at the very least, hear what they have to say.”

After a long moment of thought, Sunset turned towards Snips and Snails with a forlorn look expression.  “What do you guys think?”

The two boys took the time to carefully ponder the question before answering.  “I say you should talk to them,” Snails said with a reassuring smile.

“Me too,” said Snips.  “It’s like the Vice Principal said; people make mistakes all the time.  And at least this way you’ll all know where you stand with each other, right?”

Still unsure about what to do, Sunset created a list of reasons in her mind about why being the bigger person was a bad idea.  Next, she started to list as many reasons as she could for why speaking to them might be a positive thing.

In the end, she came up with far more reasons for why she should just walk away and never look back.  And yet, for some strange reason, as she stared at the five girls on the other side of the room, she couldn’t quite bring herself to brush them aside just yet.

“Whatever,” she finally said at last, “But after this, I’m done.”

Her two companions nodded in understanding.  “If you ever need us again, you know where to find us.  Take care Sunset,” Snips called out as he walked away with Snails.

“And if you ever need to talk about anything, our office will always be available to you.  And don’t worry, my sister and I will see about getting you a new phone.  Think of it as our little Christmas present, as well as a thank you for all that you’ve done.”  Luna backed away and then gave Celestia a thumbs-up from across the room.  The Principal nodded once, and then the two sisters exited the cafeteria, leaving Sunset and her former friends all alone.


***


One by one, each of the five girls made their way across the room and over to Sunset.  It had been almost a week since they had last been gathered together as they were, and that particular meeting hadn’t been a pleasant one.  With all of the tension that had formed between them, no one really knew how to start the conversation.

“So,” Applejack slowly began, “anyone wanna go first?  I’d do it, but my head’s still jumpin’ all over the place.”

Five different pairs of eyes were all trained on Sunset now.  They waited patiently for her to be the one to start the conversation, but all she did was stare back with an air of indifference.  After several more seconds of uncomfortable silence, they finally looked back towards each other in an attempt to decide who should be the one to go first instead of Sunset.

“Very well then, I’ll start,” Rarity said while doing her best to appear happy.  “I’d just like to say thank you for tossing Sweetie Belle, Apple Bloom, and Scootaloo a life-line like that.  I’ll be honest, I don’t know if that was just you trying to make Gilda and her merry band of criminals feel miserable or if you were just being nice, but … thanks anyway.  Applejack and I really do appreciate it.”

Rarity waited for a response that never came.  Realizing that she wouldn’t get anywhere, she stepped back and let someone else take over.

“Um ...” Fluttershy shuffled uncomfortably.  “We saw the pictures and … we see you now.   … Uh … those bruises look painful.  A-are you … ok?”

As expected, Fluttershy’s question went unanswered as well.

“C’mon Sunset!” pleaded Pinkie Pie.  “Say something … pretty please with extra frosting on top?”  After she too was ignored, her head drooped in defeat.

“I told Celestia that this was a bad idea,” mumbled Rainbow Dash.  “She hates us.  I’d hate us too …” She turned around and started to leave.  One by one, the rest of the girls prepared to follow.

“How dare you,” Sunset finally called out, stopping the other five in their tracks.  “I really thought you guys were my friends.  For the first time in years, I felt genuinely happy.  All those good times, from our weekly meetups after school, to the late night talks over the phone whenever one of us was having a bad day ... I thought that maybe there was some truth to everything that Twilight tried to teach me."  Sunset shook her head slowly as she reminisced on past days gone by.  

"But it was all just one big waste of time.  Because even after everything that I did to show you all that I had changed ... instead of trusting in me enough to know that I'd never go out of my way to try and hurt you guys like that again … you all turned your backs on me without a second thought.  You didn't even give me a chance to speak."  Sunset's voice shifted from one of sorrow into one of anger.  "Tell me!  At any point in time before today, did the thought ever occur to any of you that maybe I was telling the truth after all?!  Or was I worth so little to all of you that my side of the story wasn't even worth taking into consideration?!”

Rarity’s false optimism had been replaced by a sullen demeanor.  “Fluttershy and Pinkie were starting to suspect that you might have been innocent.  I noticed that something didn’t seem right as well.  Not that it matters.  In the end none of us did anything about it.”  She then lowered her head in shame.  “You have every right to be angry with us.  The way that you were treated by CHS as a whole was inexcusable.  And to think that my little sister was at the core of this ...”

“I hear ya’ on that,” Applejack admitted.  “They watched all of this happen.  And they probably would have never said a word if they hadn’t gotten caught.  And then there was what Rainbow did.” She paused and looked back at the wielder of Loyalty.  She had lost a significant amount of respect for the athlete, and she wasn't sure if they could still be friends after this.  “Where in tarnation did those three even get that picture of her anyway?”

“If you’re talking about that girl on girl picture that Snips and Snails told me about, then they probably got it from me,” Sunset answered, which evoked looks of surprise from everyone else.

“Okay …” Applejack began, “I’m assumin’ that you’re gonna give us an explanation.”

Sunset went quiet again as she debated with where to begin her story.  “You remember how I used to act all high and mighty, like I was better than everyone else?”  Each of the girls nodded.  “I operated under the mentality that everyone at CHS was a potential enemy who could try to hurt me someday.  I was obsessed with getting as much dirt as possible on everyone here.  That way, I’d be able to keep everyone in line if they ever tried to revolt.”

“But what does that have to do with Rainbow?” asked Pinkie.

“I’m getting to that.  Anyway, Snips, Snails, and I worked as a team in an effort to gather information on the other students.  That was all that I really did in my free time.  Two years ago, during our 10th grade year, I decided to follow Rainbow Dash around to see if I could find a weak spot.  Even then she was kind of a big deal around here.  She had charisma, and as long as she had that, then there was a chance that she could motivate the other students to start fighting back.  That’s when I caught her and Gilda together.  I took a picture and saved it on my phone for later use in the event that she ever became a problem.”

“You had that picture on your phone all this time?  Why didn’t you delete it?” questioned Rainbow.

“It wasn’t that simple.”

“What do you mean “It wasn’t that simple”?  All you had to do was -” Rainbow was silenced by Rarity who had gently placed a hand on her shoulder.

“Let her finish, Rainbow.”

The room went quiet again as all attention shifted back onto Sunset.  “My phone wasn’t the only place where I had that picture saved at.  I wanted to make sure that I never lost my leverage, no matter what, so I made hundreds of copies of everything that I had on everyone.  I had them stashed all over the place.  My apartment, Snips’s house, Snail’s house, my phone, flash drives, storage websites, hidden boxes that I buried underground … the list goes on.

“But after you guys came along, I went out of my way to get rid of it all.  I thought that there was nothing left, but it looks like I’m going to have to double check everything again.”  Sunset massaged her temples.  Just thinking about the extensive task before her gave her a headache.

“What probably happened is that Sweetie Belle found something that she had no business seeing when she took my phone.  Maybe I still had the picture itself hidden somewhere and forgot about it, or maybe I had the log-in information to one of those storage sites saved somewhere.  Thinking on it now, I guess that means that I’m a little guilty too.”

A hush had fallen over the room again as they all took in the news.  Finally, Applejack stepped forward.  “Ya’ know, besides Applebloom, I don’t really care much about who’s responsible for what.  We all messed up somewhere along the line,” she stated sadly.  “The only thing that I care about right now is you, and if there’s a way that we can set things right.”

Sunset raised an eyebrow in confusion.  “Are you asking me to give you guys another chance?  Because if you are then -”

“No,” Applejack interrupted.  “I don’t think that we deserve it anyway,” she stated.  “But what I am asking is if there’s anything that we can do to at least prove to you that we’re sorry.”

Sunset watched as all of her former friends nodded in agreement with what Applejack was saying.  She thought the question over, and though it took some time, she was finally able to find an answer.

“If you guys really want to make up for this, then make sure that Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo, and Apple Bloom get rid of everything.  Not just what they took from me, but any other secrets that they have as well.”

“You think that they might do something like this again?” questioned Fluttershy.

“It isn’t them that I’m worried about.  I’m pretty sure that they’ve all learned something from this,” Sunset responded.  “But I can’t speak for the rest of the school.  As long as that information still exists, then there will always be a chance that it could fall into the wrong hands again.  That’s why I want you guys to make sure that there’s nothing left.  If you really want to make amends, then make sure that what happened here never happens again.”

One after another, the five girls all promised to follow through with Sunset's request.  With nothing else left to say, they all watched as Sunset turned and left the room, leaving her former friends behind, once and for all.
> Epilogue 
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	It was the middle of February.  The day was surprisingly warm, a welcomed change from the usual cold and gusty weather that Canterlot City had been subjected too during the winter season.

Sunset was sitting all by herself on a park bench.  She had been watching silently as small children played around in the snow while their parents kept a close eye from a distance.

She had been sitting alone for almost an hour, wondering if perhaps she should just turn back and go home.  She still had some extra time left before they were supposed to arrive.  She eventually pushed those thoughts aside and chose to wait patiently.  She had already gone through enough trouble in getting everything together.  No sense in backing out now.

Around 20 minutes later, Sunset was joined on the bench by a single hooded figure.  Sunset recognized her guest almost immediately and frowned with disappointment upon realizing that she had come alone.

“I told all three of you to be here.  Where are your sisters?”

Aria pulled back her hood and shrugged with indifference.  “Adagio is too weak to leave the house and Sonata didn’t want to leave her by herself.  Guess that means that you’re stuck with me.”  The siren narrowed her eyes in annoyance.  “So, what do you want?  And make it quick.  It's freezing out here.”

Aria watched as Sunset reached into her coat pocket and pulled out three necklaces which had small colorless gems attached at the base.  The sirens eyes then widened as she realized what she was looking at.  “Are those … what I think they are?”

Sunset nodded her head twice.  “Twilight agreed to make you all a new set of Heart Stones.  It looks like you and your sisters aren’t going to starve after all.”  Aria quivered with excitement as she reached forward, eager to grab one and place it around her neck, only for Sunset to pull away at the last moment.  “But before I give you these, there’s something that you need to know.  And be sure to tell your sisters what I'm about to tell you.”

Aria rolled her eyes in annoyance.  “Yeah, yeah, I know, I know.  Don’t try to take over the world again, or you and your friends'll stop us, or some stupid mumbo jumbo like that, am I right?”

“Not exactly,” Sunset said while shaking her head.  “Twilight rigged these in order to keep all three of you in check.  See how the stones are clear right now?”

Sunset pointed to the gems and Aria raised an eyebrow.  “So what?” the siren asked.

“She said that that means that there’s almost no energy stored inside at the moment.  As you drain energy from other people, the stones will turn from clear to blue, blue to green, green to yellow, and yellow to red.  As soon as it turns red, you need to stop feeding and give the amulets time to cool back down, otherwise they’ll break.”

Sunset outstretched her hand and allowed Aria to grab all three of the necklaces.  After placing one of them around her neck, the siren could immediately feel a small fraction of her true power being restored, and with it, her primal desire to feed increased tenfold.  She felt absolutely ravenous.  It had been months since the last time that she had been able to feed, and her stomach was demanding that she make up for lost time.

“Tell Adagio that we’re even.  And I hope you guys take good care of those amulets, because Twilight made it clear that she won't be doing you any more favors after this.  And quite frankly, neither will I,” Sunset warned.

“Oh, don’t worry.  We’ll be careful …” A sly smile began to take root while Aria turned her gaze onto the children playing around the park.  “You've got nothing to worry about from us.”

Sunset stood from the bench and then proceeded to walk away.  As she departed, she heard one of the most beautiful and alluring singing voices to ever grace her ears, followed by the sounds of bickering children and quarreling adults.