History Fanfic / BitterTearsAnAnonAMissFic

* ArmorPiercingSlap:
** Twilight gives Flash one as punishment for his part of what Sunset's been through. He admits he deserves it after [[spoiler:tricking Sunset into a RageBreakingPoint, causing her to smash a mirror]].
** Rainbow punches Scootaloo in the face after she confesses to her part in Anon-A-Miss, and fails to provide a decent excuse for it. (Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle at least had petty jealousy as their motivation; the best Scootaloo can come up with is that "{{it seemed like a good idea at the time}}.")

* GoneHorriblyRight: Flash's BatmanGambit to get Sunset to stop bottling up her anger works, but [[spoiler:it causes a horrible emotional breakdown where Sunset smashes Fluttershy's bathroom mirror in anguish, and has to be rushed to the hospital because of how much blood she loses and because she goes into an emotional breakdown]]. Later on, Flash gets an ArmorPiercingSlap, and he admits he deserves it.

* SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome:
** When the girls run into the Sirens outside the hospital, Applejack proclaims that they thought they had seen the last of them. Aria points out that she and her sisters have been banished from Equestria and expelled from CHS, and that moving to a new town requires a lot of money, which the Sirens don't have. When Rarity states that they belong in prison for the trouble they caused in ''Rainbow Rocks'', Adagio mockingly points out that there's no way the police would believe "evil sea ponies from another dimension tried to take over our high school with pop music", even if that's really what happened. With all that in mind, [[VillainHasAPoint the Humane Five admit that they're essentially stuck with the Sirens]], and are bound to run into them from time to time.
** After Twilight visits Sunset, she sadly admits that friendship alone can't magically fix every problem. [[spoiler:She acknowledges that Sunset has serious issues that require professional help to deal with, which Twilight simply isn't qualified to give her. Especially since Sunset's breakdown landed her in the hospital.]]

* AtLeastIAdmitIt: [[spoiler: When Applebloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo finally stand up to their tormentors ([[{{Hypocrite}} many of whom actually submitted secrets]]), they point out that at least they felt horrible about their role in the whole scandal, and that they willingly confessed and accepted their punishment]].

* HardTruthAesop: A [[EtTuBrute serious betrayal of trust by those close to you]] isn't so EasilyForgiven. No matter how much you want to forgive your transgressors and how much they sincerely regret it, apologize, and [[TheAtoner work to redeem themselves]], it's not going to go away easily. Sunset's attempt to forgive them amounted to bottling up her feelings until they broke, after which she admits despite understanding why they did it and that she would have done the same given the evidence and her past actions, she can't trust them anymore. [[spoiler:The only reason she gives them another chance is because the alternative would mean reconciling with Princess Celestia, confronting her own role in an even greater betrayal.]]

** Enforced with Nurse Redheart. She's aware that the CMC are being physically bullied and sympathizes with their plight, but she can't do anything besides patch up their injuries unless she either witnesses the abuse herself (and the bullies are careful to make sure the staff doesn't see anything), or the CMC confirm Redheart's suspicions. [[spoiler:The CMC eventually have enough and confirm that the students are indeed assaulting them. The minute she hears this, Redheart reports everything to Celestia, who finds the CMC's tormentors and punishes them accordingly.]]

** Sunset accuses Celestia and Luna of believing her to be Anon-A-Miss based on nothing, and not intervening so the student body could punish her. While this isn't true, Celestia and Luna admit to themselves that a lot of grief could have been avoided had they intervened sooner. It didn't help that Celestia and Luna didn't understand how bad cyberbullying could be, because they didn't grow up with it.
** While Flash Sentry did not believe Sunset was Anon-A-Miss, nor did he actively mistreat her, he didn't go out of his way to help her either. He of course feels terrible about this, and tries to help Sunset when she's unhealthily bottling up her anger. [[spoiler: Unfortunately for both of them, it backfires horribly.]]

** Enforced with Nurse Redheart. She's aware that the CMC are being physically bullied and sympathizes with their plight, but she can't do anything besides patch up their injuries unless she either witnesses the abuse herself (and the bullies are careful to make sure the staff doesn't see anything), or the CMC confirm Redheart's suspicions. [[spoiler:The CMC eventually have enough and confirm that the students are assaulting them. The minute she hears this, Redheart reports everything to Celestia, who finds the CMC's tormentors and punishes them accordingly.]]

* AngerBornOfWorry: While Twilight ''is'' legitimately upset at the Humane Five and the CMC for their behavior, it's implied that most of her anger is over the fact that Sunset hasn't contacted her in two months, and she was scared to death that something had happened to her (and unfortunately, her fears were not unjustified.) She even chews Sunset out for not reaching out to her.

* ArmorPiercingQuestion: Twilight asks several when interrogating the CMC over their actions, the most pertinent being why they just didn't tell their sisters how they felt rather than going through the whole situation as Anon-A-Miss. This makes the girls flinch, as this apparently hadn't occurred to them.

* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler:Sunset admits that she no longer trusts any of her "friends" because of them turning against her on flimsy evidence, which proves to Sunset that they never trusted her. Also, the relationships between the CMC and their older sisters are pretty broken. However, there's still hope for reconciliation between everybody in the future. Sunset decides to see a therapist for her depression, and leaves said therapist's business card behind for the Humane Five, subtly asking for them to do the same in order to help them move on. Furthermore, because the CMC confessed to the physical bullying they've been through and stood up to their tormentors, they and everybody who submitted secrets to them are tracked down and punished.]]

* CallingOutForNotCalling: Twilight does this to Sunset when she discovers what really happened during the Anon-A-Miss incident, saying that Sunset could have talked to her.

* BrokenTears: [[spoiler:When the Humane Five find Sunset in the midst of her breakdown, she's alternating between [[LaughingMad laughing and smiling like a maniac]] and sobbing in misery. Combined with the blood pouring out of her head and hands, the Human Five are all left horrified.]]

** Flash Sentry [[spoiler:intentionally pushes Sunset to a RageBreakingPoint so that she'll stop bottling up her emotion. It works, [[GoneHorriblyRight sort of]] -- Sunset gets so mad that she punches a mirror, sending her to the hospital]]. He gets called out on not thinking it through by the other students.
* DisappointedByTheMotive: The best explanation Scootaloo can come up with for being part of Anon-A-Miss is "ItSeemedLikeAGoodIdeaAtTheTime". Rainbow is disgusted with Scootaloo over this, punching her in the face once she hears it. Sunset later adds that while Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle at least had a motive for being Anon-A-Miss -- a short-sighted, selfish, petty motive, but a motive all the same -- Scootaloo doesn't even have ''that''.

* HardTruthAesop: A [[EtTuBrute serious betrayal of trust by those close to you]] CANNOT be EasilyForgiven, no matter how much you want to and how much they sincerely regret it, apologize, and [[TheAtoner work to redeem themselves]]. Sunset's attempt to forgive them amounted to bottling up her feelings until they broke, after which she admits despite understanding why they did it and that she would have done the same given the evidence and her past actions, she can't trust them anymore. [[spoiler:The only reason she gives them another chance is because the alternative would mean reconciling with Princess Celestia, confronting her own role in an even greater betrayal.]]

* RealityEnsues:
** When the girls run into the Sirens outside the hospital, Applejack proclaims that they thought they had seen the last of them. Aria points out that she and her sisters have been banished from Equestria and expelled from CHS, and that moving to a new town requires a lot of money, which the Sirens don't have. When Rarity states that they belong in prison for the trouble they caused in ''Rainbow Rocks'', Adagio mockingly points out that there's no way the police would believe "evil sea ponies from another dimension tried to take over our high school with pop music", even if that's really what happened. With all that in mind, [[VillainHasAPoint the Humane Five admit that they're essentially stuck with the Sirens]], and are bound to run into them from time to time.
** After Twilight visits Sunset, she sadly admits that friendship alone can't magically fix every problem. [[spoiler:She acknowledges that Sunset has serious issues that require professional help to deal with, which Twilight simply isn't qualified to give her. Especially since Sunset's breakdown landed her in the hospital.]]

* HardTruthAesop: A [[EtTuBrute serious betrayal of trust by those close to you]] CANNOT be EasilyForgiven, no matter how much you want to and how much they sincerely regret it, apologize, and [[TheAtoner work to redeem themselves]]. Sunset's attempt to forgive them amounted to bottling up her feelings until they broke, after which she admits despite understating why they did it and that she would have done the same given the evidence and her past actions, she can't trust them anymore. [[spoiler:The only reason she gives them another chance is because the alternative would mean reconciling with Princess Celestia, confronting her own role in an even greater betrayal.]]

* ForTheEvulz: Adagio takes a photo of Sunset and Flash that, out of context, looks like Flash is attacking Sunset. considering that she later deletes the photo and says she "got what she wanted", it would seem that she only did it as an excuse to confront the Humane Five and stir up even more trouble.

* HardTruthAesop: A [[EtTuBrute serious betrayal of trust by those close to you]] CANNOT be EasilyForgiven, no matter how much you want and how much they sincerely regret it, apologies, and [[TheAtoner work to redeem themselves]]. Sunset's attempt to forgive them amounted to bottling up her feelings until they broke, after which she admits despite understating why they did it and she would have done the same given the evidence and her past actions, she can't trust them anymore. [[spoiler:The only reason she gives them another chance is the alternative, reconciling with Princess Celestia, would be even more this.]]

* HardTruthAesop: A [[EtTuBrute serious betrayal of trust by those close to you]] CANNOT be EasilyForgiven, even if you want to and they sincerely regret it, apologies, and [[TheAtoner work hard to redeem themselves]]. Sunset's attempt to forgive them amounted to bottling up her feelings until they broke, after which she admits despite understating why they did it and she would have done the same given the evidence and her past actions, she can't trust them anymore. [[spoiler:The only reason she gives them another chance is the alternative, reconciling with Princess Celestia, would be even more this.]]

* HardTruthAesop: A [[EtTuBrute serious betrayal of trust by those close to you]] CANNOT be EasilyForgiven, even if you want to and they sincerely regret it, apologies, and [[TheAtoner work hard to redeem themselves]]. Sunset's attempt to forgive them amounted to bottling up
her feelings until they broke, after which she admits despite understating why they did it and she would have done the same given the evidence and her past actions, she can't trust them anymore. [[spoiler:The only reason she's giving them another chance is the alternative, reconciling with Princess Celestia, would be even more this.]]

** Once Celestia and Luna learn about [[spoiler:the physical assault that the CMC had been through over the past two months]], the former tells off the entire school for their behavior and makes it clear how absolutely disgusted she is about it.

** As part of the torment the CMC go through, they've been subject to several "accidents" such as Scootaloo "tripping" and cutting her knee open, Sweetie Belle "accidentally" spilling soda on her shirt, and Apple Bloom getting a black eye from Gilda and telling the nurse that she tripped and smacked her face on a door frame. They don't tell the truth no matter how much Nurse Redheart (who quickly figures out what's going on) probes them because they believe they deserve it, and because they don't think anyone would believe them anyway. [[spoiler: After Sunset's emotional breakdown lands her in the hospital, the CMC get fed up and finally confess to Redheart, who passes on the information to Celestia immediately so the attackers can be punished.]]

* FixFic: The fic can be seen as what could have happened if the 2014 Holiday Special wasn't a single issue and what would have happened if everything was played out with more dramatic consequences.

** As part of the torment the CMC go through, they've been subject to several "accidents" such as Scootaloo "tripping" and cutting her knee open, Sweetie Belle "accidentally" spilling soda on her shirt, and Apple Bloom getting a black eye from Gilda and telling the nurse that she tripped and smacked her face on a door frame. They don't tell the truth no matter how much Nurse Redheart probes them because they believe they deserve it, and because they don't think anyone would believe them anyway. [[spoiler: After Sunset's emotional breakdown lands her in the hospital, the CMC get fed up and finally confess to Redheart, who passes on the information to Celestia immediately so the attackers can be punished.]]

* ForTheEvulz: Adagio takes a photo of Sunset and Flash that, out of context, looks like Flash is attacking Sunset. onsidering that she later deletes the photo and says she "got what she wanted", it would seem that she only did it as an excuse to confront the Humane Five and stir up even more trouble.

** Most of the student body, especially the Humane Five, have one for how they treated Sunset once the CMC come forward.
** Twist has one after she sees Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo finally stand up to their tormentors and call them out on their hypocrisy. As a result, [[spoiler:she's the first student to confess after Celestia issues her ultimatum]].

* KarmaHoudiniWarranty: [[spoiler: When Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo confess their scheme, they give Principal Celestia and Vice Principal Luna the list of the 27 email addresses they got the spilled secrets from so they could track down the submitters. However, during the two months afterwards, they had no such luck, and the submitters either kept their heads down or [[{{Hypocrite}} joined in the retribution towards the CMC]]. Their luck finally ran out when, after Celestia finds out about the physical assault the CMC have gone through, she finally decides to issue an ultimatum threatening to shut down computer use and extracurricular activities for the entire school unless the submitters confess. She also promises to outright expel the ones that don't do so by the end of the day. All of the submitters proceed to turn themselves in, either because they truly felt guilty for what they did (Twist) or to avoid expulsion (Diamond Tiara), and they all receive six weeks of detention and banishment from the school computers unless it's for class]].

* OrderedApology: As part of their punishment, Celestia forces Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo to confess to being Anon-A-Miss at a school assembly, apologize for the secrets they spread, then publicly take down the website. This was also done so Sunset's name could be cleared, since the CMC also say that Sunset was completely innocent.

* ProducePelting: When the CMC confess that they’re the true Anon-A-Miss culprits at the school assembly, the CHS students respond with throwing garbage and various other objects at them (with Diamond Tiara even going so far as to toss her namesake). The only reason they stop is because Celestia threatens to give anybody who threw something a month of detention.

* RageBreakingPoint: Invoked by Flash Sentry. [[spoiler:Flash intentionally gets Sunset angry so that she'll stop bottling her emotions over the whole situation. While this works, Sunset has a emotional breakdown and ends up punching a mirror, cutting her hands and head up. She ends up in the hospital due to how much blood she loses]]. The other students call Flash out on not thinking it through.

** When the girls run into the Sirens outside the hospital, Applejack proclaims that they thought they had seen the last of them. Aria points out that that she and her sisters have been banished from Equestria and expelled from CHS, and that moving to a new town requires a lot of money, which the Sirens don't have. When Rarity states that they belong in prison for the trouble they caused in ''Rainbow Rocks'', Adagio mockingly points out that there's no way the police would believe "evil sea ponies from another dimension tried to take over our high school with pop music", even if that's really what happened. With all that in mind, [[VillainHasAPoint the Humane Five admit that they're essentially stuck with the Sirens]], and are bound to run into them from time to time.

** When Celestia and Luna discover [[spoiler:the evidence that the CMC have been physically assaulted as revenge, the former makes a school-wide announcement issuing an ultimatum for the attackers and the Anon-A-Miss submitters. It also doubles as a WhatTheHellHero speech]]:

* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: This is pretty much par for the course, since it's an Anon-A-Miss AccusationFic where everybody calls each other out over their misdeeds:

** In Chapter eight, [[spoiler: Flash Sentry invokes one to Sunset in order to get her to stop bubbling up her anger. Sunset responds in kind with a rather explosive one of her own]].
** Chapter 13 is all about the Sirens giving a mocking one to the Humane 5 and the CMC over how they had treated Sunset.
** When Celestia and Luna discover [[spoiler: the evidence that the CMC have been physically assaulted as revenge, the former makes a school-wide announcement issuing an ultimatum for the attackers and the Anon-A-Miss submitters. It also doubles as a WhatTheHellHero speech]]:

* ScarsAreForever: It's revealed in ''Life Goes On'' that Sunset has scars on her back from where her wings and tail were when she turned demonic during the Fall Formal. Apparently the Humane Five didn't know about them, as they appear as shocked as Trixie when they're revealed.

* WasItReallyWorthIt: In Chapter 3, Sunset tells Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo that she hopes their scheme was worth it. Considering how everybody ends up hating and/or losing all trust in them due to the cyberbullying they committed, they all agree that it wasn't worth doing at all.

** Twilight tears the Humane 5 and the CMC a collective new one for how they treated Sunset, practically breaking down in the middle of it from sheer frustration and disgust. She also calls out Sunset for keeping her in the dark about what was really happening for two months, worrying her immensely to the point where she thought Sunset was dead.
** In the penultimate chapter, [[spoiler:Sunset finally chews out the Humane 5 for abandoning her the second they thought she was Anon-A-Miss on flimsy evidence, and says that she can no longer trust any of them because of that]].

* YouHaveGotToBeKiddingMe: Sunset is ''flabbergasted'' when the CMC reveal their motivation behind Anon-A-Miss. Sunset had initially assumed it was revenge for how she treated them and their sisters before the Fall Formal. Learning that it was nothing more than petty jealousy is more than Sunset's brain can handle.

* YourApprovalFillsMeWithShame: Adagio tells the CMC that they would have made excellent Sirens, and "congratulates" them and the Humane 5 for doing a better job of breaking Sunset than they ever did.

** Gilda's two friends took pictures of her assaulting Apple Bloom, and sent them to other students. [[spoiler: These pictures eventually wind up in Celestia's hands thanks to Twist, getting all three suspended for two weeks]].
** Flash Sentry [[spoiler:intentionally pushes Sunset to a RageBreakingPoint so that she'll stop bottling up her emotion. It works, but Sunset gets so mad that she punches a mirror, sending her to the hospital]]. He gets called out on not thinking it through by the other students.

** The CMC creating Anon-A-Miss and framing Sunset for it was bad enough. Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle's reason (they wanted to spend more time with their sisters) and the fact that Scootaloo hardly had an excuse [[DisappointedByTheMotive is what really disgusts everybody]] because it further highlights how cruelly petty the whole thing truly was.
** The bullying on the CMC as retribution for the Anon-A-Miss website eventually gets physical, with some students beating them up. [[spoiler:Once Celestia finds this out, she promptly suspends all of the attackers. When Gilda tries to protest her punishment, Celestia tells her that while feeling hurt and angry at the CMC for the cyberbullying they committed is very understandable, it does ''not'' change the fact that Gilda and her friends assaulted a defenseless student on school grounds.]]
* DullEyesOfUnhappiness: Sunset gains these after spending two months bottling up her anger and resentment. While she tries to convince others she's fine, it's pretty obvious that she's not.
* EtTuBrute: The Humane 5 betray Sunset by automatically assuming that she's Anon-A-Miss on circumstantial evidence and abandoning her right then and there -- and then it turns out that the CMC betrayed them when they find out that they are the true culprits.

* EvenEvilHasStandards: In the opening chapter, Sonata finds Sunset by herself, and (correctly) deduces that her friends have abandoned her. She openly admits that it was a crappy thing to do. Later on in the story, she makes no attempt to hide her disgust when she and the other Dazzlings confront the Humane Five.
* EvilCannotComprehendGood: Played with. [[spoiler:Gilda is shocked when Principal Celestia suspends her for punching Apple Bloom, because Gilda doesn't understand why the Principal would still protect the CMC even after everything they had done. Celestia herself has to point out that, as principal, it's her job to discipline any and all students who break the rules, which Gilda and her friends did by bullying Apple Bloom on school grounds]].

* FixFic: The fic can be seen as what could have happened if the 2014 Holiday Special wasn't a single issue and what would have happened if everything was played out with the realistic consequences.
* ForTheEvulz: Adagio takes a photo of Sunset and Flash that, out of context, looks like Flash is attacking Sunset. Why did she do this? Considering that she later deletes the photo and says she "got what she wanted", it would seem that she only did it as an excuse to confront the Humane Five and stir up trouble.
* FreudianSlip: When Sunset calls out Celestia and Luna for not doing anything to stop Anon-A-Miss before the situation went out of control, she shouts, “For crying out loud, what kind of ''princess'' ARE you?!”

* GoneHorriblyRight: Flash's BatmanGambit to get Sunset to stop bottling up her anger works, but [[spoiler: it causes a horrible emotional breakdown where Sunset smashes Fluttershy's bathroom mirror in anguish and has to be rushed to the hospital because of how much blood she loses]].

** The CMC have one when Apple Bloom sees Sunset smash her cell phone in grief over how she's been abandoned by her friends, causing the three of them to realize that they've gone too far and they proceed to confess.
** Most of the student body, especially the Humane 5, have one for how they treated Sunset once the CMC come forward.
** Twist, [[spoiler: one of the 27 students who submitted secrets to Anon-A-Miss, has one after she sees Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo finally stand up to their tormentors and call them out on their hypocrisy. As a result, she's the first student to confess after Celestia issues her ultimatum]].

* IChooseToStay: [[spoiler: While Sunset's bitterness towards the Humane 5 is far from over, she ultimately decides to stay in the human world. Sunset admits that her decision is based more on pragmatism, because she still has some issues with her old mentor and she feels that going back to Equestria will open up another can of worms that she isn't ready to deal with]].

* ItSeemedLikeAGoodIdeaAtTheTime: This is the best excuse Scootaloo can come up with when she's asked why she went along with the Anon-A-Miss scheme. Rainbow Dash is rather disgusted, saying that at least Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle had a flimsy motivation with jealousy over the attention Sunset Shimmer was getting from their sisters.
* KarmaHoudiniWarranty: [[spoiler: When Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo confess their scheme, they give Principal Celestia and Vice Principal Luna the list of the twenty-seven email addresses they got the spilled secrets from so they could track down the submitters. However, during the two months afterwards, they had no such luck, and the submitters either kept their heads down or [[{{Hypocrite}} joined in the retribution towards the CMC]]. Their luck finally ran out when, after Celestia finds out about the physical assault the CMC have gone through, she finally decides to issue an ultimatum threatening to shut down computer use and extracurricular activities for the entire school unless the submitters confess. She also promises to outright expel the ones that don't do so by the end of the day. All of the submitters proceed to turn themselves in, either because they truly felt guilty for what they did (Twist) or to avoid expulsion (Diamond Tiara), and they all receive six weeks of detention and banishment from the school computers unless it's for class]].

* LetMeGetThisStraight: When Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo confess being Anon-A-Miss to the Humane 5 and explain their reasons for doing so, Rainbow responds with TranquilFury to make them realize how stupid they were:

* MadeOutToBeAJerkass: [[spoiler:When Adagio is confronting the heroes at the hospital, she reveals that she witnessed Flash's ill-fated attempt to get Sunset to open up and snapped a picture of Sunset injuring herself. While Flash was really trying to catch Sunset when she lost her balance, the photo's staging makes it look like he's deliberately shoving her down into the park bench. Adagio gloats about how she only needs to circulate the photo to ruin his reputation. It ends up being [[AvertedTrope averted]], though; after the Sirens leave the hospital, Adagio deletes the photo, satisfied with the EvilGloating she's gotten in.]]

* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: The CMC and the Humane 5 both go through this; The CMC when they realize they went too far and decide to confess, and the Humane 5 when they realized that they turned against their friend on the flimsiest of evidence.
* NiceJobBreakingItHero: The Humane Five and the Human CMC get hit with this hard, since the have to deal with the harmful consequences of their actions throughout the whole story.
** Flash Sentry falls into this hard. [[spoiler:He recognizes that Sunset is bottling up her emotions, which he knows isn't healthy. Unfortunately, he decides to deliberately make her mad to get her to finally open up and admit how angry and hurt she is. When he confesses his plan after setting her off, Sunset is upset that he would do such a thing and tries to run. Flash tries to physically stop her, only for Sunset to lose her balance and hit her head on a park bench hard enough to draw blood. This whole incident is what kicks off Sunset's emotional breakdown and results in her ending up in the hospital for lacerations and blood loss. Needless to say, the other protagonists call him out on how foolish he was, with Twilight even slapping him (something Flash admits he deserved).]]

* NotHelpingYourCase: During one of Sunset's internal debates with the voice in her head, she argues that she isn't crazy. The voice simply notes that she's literally arguing with a voice in her head. Sunset begrudgingly concedes the point.
* ObliviousGuiltSlinging: Ironically, Twilight does this during some ''intentional'' guilt slinging. When Rarity weakly tries to bring up the evidence against Sunset (the photos that came from her phone), Twilight, not knowing the full story yet, suggests the possibility that someone may have swiped her phone and stolen the pictures off of them. Rarity flinches at this, since not only is this exactly what happened, it occurred to Twilight (who's from a world where phones don't even exist) when it never occurred to any of the Humane Five.
* OrderedApology: As part of their punishment, Celestia forces Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo to confess to being Anon-A-Miss at a school assembly, apologize for the secrets they spread, then publically take down the website. This was also done so Sunset's name could be cleared.

** When she finally confronts the Humane Five and the CMC over their treatment of Sunset, Twilight is so upset about what happened that she's extremely impatient and confrontational with them all.
** When Celestia and Luna learn from Nurse Redheart about the physical torment the CMC go through, the former is so disgusted and angry by it that she [[spoiler:gets on the school intercom and threatens that, unless those who submitted secrets to Anon-A-Miss turn themselves in by the end of the day, she'll suspend all activities and school computers indefinitely. She also threatens to expel the students who don't come forward by the end of the day. The threat works because everybody knows that she's not kidding around.]]

** Princess Twilight calls out the Humane Five for turning on Sunset based on little evidence, saying that they should have trusted Sunset when she said she didn't do it because she's their friend. Or at the very least, the Humane Five should have eliminated every other possibility before immediately concluding that Sunset was the guilty party. The Humane Five's guilt gets compounded when Princess Twilight points out that this is what led to their initial years-long feud, and that [[AesopAmnesia they really should know better than this]].
** Once the truth about Anon-A-Miss is revealed, the CMC find themselves being bullied by other students in retaliation. Applebloom and Sweetie Belle assume that their sisters ''must'' be aware of this and that their silence on the matter indicates their approval. [[spoiler:They're both stunned to discover that Applejack and Rarity genuinely didn't know anything about it; rather, the two are horrified upon being told]]. Applejack has to flat-out explain that the Humane Five aren't mind-readers who magically know when their sisters need help or are having problems; they need to be able to talk to them and let them know about such things.
* ProducePelting: When the CMC confess that they’re the true Anon-A-Miss culprits at the school assembly, the CHS students respond with throwing garbage and various other objects at them (with Diamond Tiara even going so far as to toss her namesake). The only reason why they stopped is because Celestia threatened to give everybody a month of detention if they didn't.

* RealityEnsues: When the girls run into the Sirens outside the hospital, Applejack proclaims that they thought they had seen the last of them. Aria points out that that she and her sisters have been banished from Equestria and expelled from CHS, and that moving to a new town requires a lot of money, which the Sirens don't have. When Rarity states that they belong in prison for the trouble they caused in "Rainbow Rocks", Adagio mockingly points out that there's no way the police would believe "evil sea ponies from another dimension tried to take over our high school with pop music." With all that in mind, [[VillainHasAPoint the Humane Five admit that they're essentially stuck with the Sirens]], and are bound to run into them from time to time.
** After Twilight visits Sunset [[spoiler:in the hospital after the latter's breakdown]], she sadly admits that friendship alone can't magically fix every problem. [[spoiler:She acknowledges that Sunset has serious issues that require professional help to deal with, which Twilight simply isn't qualified to give her]].

** Sunset accuses Celestia and Luna of believing her to be Anon-A-Miss based on nothing, and not intervening so the student body could punish her. While this certainly isn't true, Celestia and Luna admit to themselves that a lot of grief could have been avoided had they intervened sooner.

** Downplayed with Celestia and Luna. They do nothing to stop Anon-A-Miss until it's already gotten out of control because they don't understand how bad cyber-bullying is, something that Sunset calls them out on. However, they do give the CMC a proper punishment and force them to make a public apology to the CHS student body once they confess. [[spoiler: Celestia also punishes the students responsible for bullying the CMC, as well as the students who submitted secrets to Anon-A-Miss in the first place.]]
** Enforced with Nurse Redheart. She's aware that the CMC are being physically bullied and sympathizes with them, but unfortunately cannot do anything besides patch up their injuries unless she either witnesses it herself (and the bullies are careful to make sure the staff doesn't see anything), or the CMC confirm her suspicions. [[spoiler: The minute the CMC have had enough and confirm it, Redheart reports everything to Celestia, who finds their tormentors and punishes them accordingly.]]

** When Twilight calls out the Humane Five on immediately suspecting Sunset of being Anon-A-Miss on flimsy evidence, she admits she honestly thought that they would have learned the first time. Before Twilight first came to CHS, the Humane Five were at each others' throats over a series of texts and misunderstandings, and while they ''were'' tricked into it, Twilight points out that not a single one of them bothered to talk to each other or try to figure out what was going on, losing three years of their friendship as a result. This makes the Humane Five realize that they have truly learned nothing.
** The CMC also fall into it. It's pointed out that the whole situation happened in part because they didn't just talk to their sisters about their problems in the first place. They make the same mistake once they find themselves being bullied by other students, which leads to things getting worse for the three of them since nobody knew enough to intervene.
* AllOfTheOtherReindeer: The Cutie Mark Crusaders, Apple Bloom especially, become the social pariahs of Canterlot High School after they confess to being Anon-A-Miss.

* {{Angrish}}: Twilight is so furious at the Humane 5 for their actions that she can't even form ''words''. This happens twice in the same chapter. Appropriately enough, that chapter is called "Exasperation and Angrish."
* ArmorPiercingQuestion: Twilight asks several when interrogating the CMC over their actions, the most pertinent being why they just didn't tell their sisters how they felt rather than going through this whole situation. This makes the girls flinch, as it apparently hadn't occurred to them.
* ArmorPiercingResponse: When Twilight is chewing out the Humane Five for their treatment of Sunset, Rainbow demands to know why Twilight was so sure of her innocence. Twilight is both furious and incredulous in her answer:

** Twilight gives Flash one as punishment for his part of what Sunset's been through. He admits he deserves it.
** Rainbow actually punches Scootaloo in the face after she confesses to her part in Anon-A-Miss, and fails to provide a decent excuse for it. (Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle at least had jealousy as their motivation; the best Scootaloo can come up with is that "it seemed like a good idea at the time.")

* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler: Sunset finally admits that she no longer trusts any of her "friends" because them turning against her on flimsy evidence proved that they had never trusted her. Also, the relationships between the CMC and their older sisters are still pretty broken. However, there's still hope for reconciliation between everybody in the future. Sunset decides to see a psychologist for her depression, and leaves the business card behind for the Humane 5, hinting for them to do the same in order to help them move on. Furthermore, because the CMC confessed to the physical bullying they've been through and stood up to their tormentors, they and everybody who submitted secrets to them are tracked down and punished.]]

** The Humane 5 become this to Sunset after all they put her through. [[spoiler: By the end of the story, she's willing to move on, but isn't willing to call them her friends again, yet.]]
** An inverted example happens with Scootaloo and Rainbow Dash, as not only does the older athlete slap Scootaloo and call her a backstabbing brat after the CMC reveal themselves as being Anon-A-Miss, but Rainbow is so hurt over Scootaloo's involvement that she pretty much breaks ties with her. The inversion also happens with Applejack and Rarity with their younger sisters due to their involvement in the cyberbullying.
* BrokenTears: [[spoiler:When The Humane Five find Sunset in the midst of her breakdown, she alternates between [[LaughingMad laughing and smiling like a maniac]] and sobbing in misery. Combined with the blood pouring out of her head and hands, it's extremely disturbing for them all to witness.]]
* CallingOutForNotCalling: Twilight does this to Sunset when she discovers what really happened during the Anon-A-Miss incident.

* CassandraTruth: When a group of students comes up to Sunset in Chapter 5 and apologize for how they treated her, Sunset doesn't believe them, as not only is this not the first time they've [[WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyEquestriaGirlsRainbowRocks treated her this way]], but also because there are students in the school who willingly submitted secrets to the Anon-A-Miss profile, and still chose to blame her for it [[note]] While WordOfGod confirms that none of the specific students who apologized to her in this scene sent secrets to Anon-A-Miss, there's no way Sunset can know that[[/note]]. She only pretends to accept their apology so they'll leave her alone.

* ClothingConcealedInjury: Sunset had received scars from turning into a demon during the Fall Formal and hid them underneath her clothes. When she changes for P.E. in ''Life Goes On'', Chapter 6, she changes out in the open, which reveals the scars to everyone. Usually, she would change in the shower stalls to prevent people from seeing them, but at this point, Sunset no longer cares.
* CouldHaveAvoidedThisPlot: It's pointed out to several characters that had they done certain things differently - the Humane Five having more faith in Sunset, the CMC talking to their sisters, etc. - the whole mess with Anon-A-Miss wouldn't have gotten as out of control as it did. In "Life Goes On," Sunset takes this even further by pointing out that had the CMC waited until the week was over, they could have just hung out with their sisters at the Apple Family Christmas party. Instead, they threw a fit because they weren't allowed to attend two slumber parties that were meant for Sunset, and started an online defamation campaign that completely turned the lives of everyone at CHS upside down.
* CruelMercy: Apple Bloom views Principal Celestia not expelling her, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo as this, since now the entire student body hates them and the school staff and their own siblings no longer trust them.

** As part of the torment the CMC go through, they've been subject to several "accidents" such as Scootaloo "tripping" and cutting her knee open, Sweetie Belle "accidentally" spilling soda on her shirt, and Apple Bloom getting a black eye from Gilda and telling the nurse that she tripped and smacked her face on a door frame. They don't tell the truth no matter how much the suspicious Nurse Redheart probes them because they believe they deserve it, and because they don't think anyone would believe them anyway. [[spoiler: After Sunset's emotional breakdown lands her in the hospital, the CMC get fed up and finally confess to Redheart, who passes on the information to Celestia so the attackers can be punished.]]

* DeconstructionFic: This fic does away with the EsotericHappyEnding of the canon comic and explores the realistic and long-lasting consequences of the CMC's and the Humane 5's questionable actions during the Equestria Girls Holiday Special.
* DespairEventHorizon: Sunset hits hers [[spoiler:after Flash's ill-thought-out attempt to get her to open up about her feelings. She injures herself enough to draw blood, the voices in her head become overwhelming, and she loses it when she sees her demonic self in a mirror looking back at her, smashing the mirror in a fit of despair and injuring herself further. When the Humane Five find her, she's a bloody, unstable wreck.]]

** The CMC were so intent on getting their sisters to spend more time with them that they didn't consider how much they would hurt Sunset by framing her for the Anon-A-Miss website. Or how disgusted and betrayed their sisters would feel when they found out that they were behind the cyberbullying scheme. Or how much the entire school would hate them once they were outed as the true culprits.

* DisappointedByTheMotive: The best explanation Scootaloo can come up with for being part of Anon-A-Miss is "ItSeemedLikeAGoodIdeaAtTheTime". Rainbow is understandably disgusted. She later says that while Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle at least had a motive for being Anon-A-Miss -- a short-sighted, selfish, petty motive, but a motive all the same -- Scootaloo doesn't even have ''that''.

** Enforced with Nurse Redheart. She's aware that the CMC are being physically bullied and sympathizes with them, but unfortunately cannot do anything unless she either witnesses it herself (and the bullies are careful to make sure the staff doesn't see anything), or the CMC confirm her suspicions. [[spoiler: The minute the CMC confess, Redheart reports everything to Celestia, who finds their tormentors and punishes them accordingly.]]

* YouHaveGottoBeKiddingMe: Sunset is ''flabbergasted'' when the CMC reveal their motivation behind Anon-A-Miss. Sunset had initially assumed it was revenge for how she treated them and their sisters before the Fall Formal. Learning that it was nothing more than petty jealousy is more than Sunset's brain can handle.

** Once the truth about Anon-A-Miss is revealed, the CMC find themselves being bullied by other students in retaliation. Applebloom and Sweetie Belle assume that their sisters ''must'' be aware of this and that their silence on the matter indicates their approval. [[spoiler:They're both stunned to discover that Applejack and Rarity genuinely didn't know anything about it; rather, the two are horrified upon being told]]. Applejack has to flat-out explain that Humane Five aren't mind-readers who magically know when their sisters need help or are having problems; they need to be able to talk to them and let them know about such things.

* AccusationFic: The Humane Five are called out on abandoning Sunset based on flimsy evidence during the holiday special, and the CMC are called out on how pathetic and cruel their actions were. Sunset also calls Celestia and Luna for not doing anything until things got out of control during the Anon-A-Miss fiasco, though they're accused more of letting the situation get worse than starting it.