Line #136 Fanfic/BitterTearsAnAnonAMissFic


1	''[[https://www.fimfiction.net/story/340985/bitter-tears-an-anon-a-miss-fanfic Bitter Tears: An Anon-A-Miss Fanfic]]'' is a ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyEquestriaGirls'' fanfic written by [[https://www.fimfiction.net/user/hattafan2593 hattafan2593]].
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3	Sunset was very hurt and betrayed by her so-called friends after they callously dumped her during [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicIDWHolidays2014 the Anon-A-Miss incident over the holidays]]. However, she can't bring herself to leave; she can't go back to being the person she was - aloof, cold, and alone. And so she buries it. Tries to forget it. Easier said than done.
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5	A sequel of sorts, the aftermath story ''Life Goes On'', can be found [[http://www.fimfiction.net/story/346265/life-goes-on here]].
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8	!!This work provides examples of the following trope:
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10	* AccompliceByInaction:
11	** Sunset accuses Principal Celestia and Vice-Principal Luna of believing her to be Anon-A-Miss based on nothing, and not intervening so the student body could punish Sunset for what she did at the Fall Formal. 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.
12	** Flash Sentry did not believe Sunset was Anon-A-Miss, nor did he actively mistreat her. But he didn't go out of his way to help her either. He 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 when she takes out her rage on a mirror, causing her to be a bloody LaughingMad mess that needs to go to the hospital.]]
13	* 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 petty and cruel their actions were. Sunset also calls out 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.
14	* AdultsAreUseless:
15	** 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 cyberbullying 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.]]
16	** Enforced with Nurse Redheart. She's aware that the CMC are being physically bullied and sympathizes with their plight. Unfortunately, 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 (which they don’t do out of a belief that they deserve what’s happening to them). [[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 complete with the detailed paperwork of the resulting injuries as evidence, who finds the CMC's tormentors and punishes them accordingly.]]
17	* AesopAmnesia:
18	** 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 how bad it could be to jump to conclusions. Before Twilight came to CHS, the Humane Five were at each others' throats over a series of misunderstandings. And while they were tricked into that, Twilight points out that not a single one of them bothered to figure out what was going on, losing three years of their friendship as a result.
19	** 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 the students didn't know enough to intervene and the school staff's hands were legally tied.
20	* AllOfTheOtherReindeer: The Cutie Mark Crusaders become the social pariahs of Canterlot High School after they confess to being Anon-A-Miss.
21	* AmazinglyEmbarrassingParents: Sunset and Flash at one point reminisce about a date of theirs where Flash's car broke down, forcing him to call his mother for a lift. She showed up wearing a skimpy nightdress and a visible thong, much to Flash's embarrassment.
22	* 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.
23	* {{Angrish}}: Twilight is so furious at the Humane Five for their actions that she can't even form words for a moment. This happens twice in the same chapter. Appropriately enough, that chapter is called "Exasperation and Angrish."
24	* ArmorPiercingQuestion: Twilight asks several such questions when interrogating the CMC over their actions. The most pertinent of these questions is why the CMC 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.
25	* ArmorPiercingResponse: When Twilight is chewing out the Humane Five for their treatment of Sunset, Rainbow demands to know why Twilight was so sure that Sunset was innocent. Twilight is both furious and incredulous in her answer.
26	--> '''Twilight''': You ''seriously'' have to ''ask'' me that?! [...] I believed Sunset because she's my ''friend''! Because I ''trust'' her! That's what friends ''do''! They have faith in each other, they stick by each other, and until there is undeniable, irrefutable evidence that says otherwise, they give them the benefit of the doubt! For crying out loud, after all this time, do you still have that little faith in her? Or did her helping us save the entire school from the sirens just go over your heads?!
27	* ArtisticLicenseLaw: When the Humane Five want to put up a missing poster for Sunset, Mr. Cake says that they can't report her as a missing person until at least 24 hours have passed. This is actually not true; it is legal to report someone missing the second you have reason to suspect they are missing, and ideally you should do so as soon as possible to maximize chances of finding them.
28	* 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, they never forced anybody to share embarrassing secrets with them, and that they willingly confessed and accepted their punishment]].
29	* BatmanGambit: Flash Sentry, feeling guilty for not helping Sunset during the Anon-A-Miss incident, tries to get her to stop bottling up her feelings by intentionally [[BerserkButton provoking her]] so she'll unleash her anger on him. [[spoiler: Not only is Sunset incredibly hurt that he tricked her, but this ultimately leads to her having a ''massive'' emotional breakdown that lands her in the hospital.]]
30	* BerserkButton: [[spoiler: Implying that Sunset has not changed at all, and that she deserved what Anon-A-Miss did to her. Flash knew this and deliberately pressed it, only for it to blow up spectacularly in his face.]]
31	* BewareTheNiceOnes: Princess Twilight Sparkle, the Princess of Friendship who is always willing to TurnTheOtherCheek, erupts with anger when she learns what exactly happened during the Anon-A-Miss incident.
32	* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler:Sunset admits that she no longer trusts any of her "friends" because of them turning against her based on flimsy evidence, which proves to Sunset that they never trusted her. Also, the relationships between the CMC and their older sisters are broken. Finally, Sunset chooses to stay in the human world in spite of all that's happened, but only because going back to Equestria would mean having to face Princess Celestia, and that's a can of worms that Sunset is not ready to open yet. 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.]]
33	* BrokenPedestal:
34	** The Humane Five 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 However, Sunset's going to see a therapist to help her talk through her issues.]]
35	** 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 all ties with her. The inversion also happens with Applejack and Rarity with their younger sisters due to their involvement in the cyberbullying.
36	* BrokenTears: [[spoiler:When the Humane Five find Sunset in the midst of her mental breakdown, she's alternating between [[LaughingMad laughing 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.]]
37	* 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. By that time, Sunset hadn't contacted Princess Twilight in over two months.
38	* CarFu: Scootaloo's dad punished her for Anon-A-Miss by destroying her laptop, TV, and phone by running them over with his truck.
39	* CassandraTruth: [[invoked]]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. She only pretends to accept their apology so they'll leave her alone.[[note]]WordOfGod confirms that the specific students who apologized to Sunset in this scene were being honest, and they really hadn't sent any secrets to Anon-A-Miss. But there's no way Sunset can know that.[[/note]]
40	* CirclingMonologue: Adagio and Aria do this when mocking the Humane Five over their failures as Sunset's friends.
41	* 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. Usually, she would change in the shower stalls to prevent people from seeing them, but at this point, Sunset no longer cares if they're seen.
42	* CouldHaveAvoidedThisPlot: Befitting a tragedy, had they done certain things differently -- the Humane Five having more faith in Sunset, the CMC talking to their sisters about their problems, Sunset reacting out to Princess Twilight, Celestia and Luna intervening sooner -- 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.
43	* CruelMercy: Apple Bloom views Principal Celestia not expelling the CMC as this, since now the entire student body hates them, everyone knows what they did, and nobody will defend them.
44	* CruelToBeKind: Deconstructed: [[spoiler: Flash Sentry insults Sunset about her past behaviour and how she deserved what happened to her in an attempt to get her to stop bottling up her emotions and open up. Unfortunately, this was the final step towards Sunset having a massive mental breakdown, resulting in her punching Fluttershy’s bathroom mirror in a fit of rage and having to go to the hospital as a cut up, crying mess. Sufficient to say, everyone is furious at Flash for a good reason when they find out, and Flash himself ultimately has to admit he caused more harm then help]].
45	* CutHimselfShaving:
46	** 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 to Nurse Redheart (who quickly figured out what's going on) 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 everything to Redheart, who passes on the information to Celestia immediately so the attackers can be punished.]]
47	** The penultimate chapter reveals that Fluttershy explained the broken bathroom mirror to her parents as Sunset tripping on the bathroom rug. [[spoiler:In reality, Sunset had smashed it in a fit of despair. Fluttershy does this either to respect Sunset's privacy or to keep her parents from kicking Sunset out of their house. Or both.]]
48	* DeadFic: ''Life Goes On'' appears to be dead, considering that its last update was May 16, 2017.
49	* DeadpanSnarker: Sunset becomes one, albeit in her head, due to what she's gone through.
50	* DeconstructionFic: This fic does away with the ending of the canon comic and explores the realistic and long-lasting consequences of the CMC's and the Humane Five's questionable actions during the 2014 Equestria Girls Holiday Special.
51	* DespairEventHorizon: Sunset hits hers after [[spoiler: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, crying, unstable wreck]].
52	* DidntThinkThisThrough:
53	** 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. Or how much the entire school would hate them once they were outed as the true culprits. As a result, the lives of everyone at CHS are turned upside-down after things get way out of control.
54	** 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 Gilda and her friends suspended for two weeks]].
55	** 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, and Flash admits that it was stupid.
56	* 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 -- jealousy over Sunset getting more time with their sisters than they did, which is called a short-sighted, selfish, petty motive, but a motive all the same -- Scootaloo doesn't even have ''that''. Sunset is incredulous that Scootaloo would do something like that for no reason at all.
57	* DisproportionateRetribution: {{Deconstructed\|Trope}}.
58	** The CMC creating Anon-A-Miss and framing Sunset for it was bad enough. [[DisappointedByTheMotive What really disgusts everybody]] is Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle's petty, short-sighted motive (they wanted to spend more time with their sisters), and that Scootaloo ultimately has no excuse. It further highlights how needlessly petty the whole scheme was.
59	** 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 understandable, it does not change the fact that Gilda and her friends assaulted a student on school grounds.]]
60	* 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 to everyone else that she's not.
61	* EtTuBrute: The Humane Five betray Sunset by 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.
62	* EvenTheDogIsAshamed: Played with. Spike, who assumes a dog form in the Human World, is angry and disappointed with the Humane Five and CMC as much as Twilight is.
63	* EvenEvilHasStandards: In the opening chapter, Sonata finds Sunset by herself, and deduces that her friends have abandoned her. Sonata openly admits that it was a crappy thing to do. Later on in the story, Sonata makes no attempt to hide her disgust when she and the other Dazzlings confront the Humane Five.
64	* EvilCannotComprehendGood: Played with. [[spoiler:Gilda is shocked when Principal Celestia suspends her for punching Apple Bloom, because Gilda doesn't understand why Principal Celestia would still protect the CMC even after everything they'd 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]].
65	* ExplainExplainOhCrap: PlayedForDrama after the Humane 5 discovers who Anon-A-Miss truly is:
66	-->'''Rarity''': Now see here, Rainbow Dash. What my sister and her friends did was petty and foolish, but that was simply uncalled for.\
67	'''Rainbow Dash''': Don’t defend them! Petty? Foolish? No, Rarity! "Petty" is locking yourself in your room because your parents won’t buy you a car. "Foolish" is spilling soda on your new shirt. What they did was ''vindictive'' and ''cruel''! They knew that spreading those secrets would hurt us, and they did it anyway! This is something I’d expect from Diamond Tiara, or Trixie! Hell, even when ''Sunset'' pulled this crap, she never-! ''(Rainbow suddenly pauses with horrified realization on her face)''\
68	'''Fluttershy''': ... She was telling the truth. She tried to tell us, and we wouldn’t listen. [[JerkassRealization We… we all turned our backs on her]]. ''(Breaks down crying)''.
69	* ForTheEvulz: Adagio takes a photo of Sunset and Flash that, out of context, shows him 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.
70	* 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?!"
71	-->'''Sunset''': ''(Realizing what she just said)'' Principal. What kind of principal… are you… ''(turns towards the office door)'' I… I gotta go.
72	* 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 a slap, and he admits he deserves it.
73	* 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 her friends 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.]]
74	* HearingVoices: Sunset keeps hearing a voice in her head constantly mocking her attempts to act like nothing's the matter after she and her friends start hanging out again. It reaches the point where Sunset starts to get into internal arguments with it.
75	* HeelRealization:
76	** 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, leading them to confess.
77	** Most of the student body, especially the Humane Five, have one for how they treated Sunset once the CMC confess to being the true culprits.
78	** 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 submitting secrets to Anon-A-Miss after Celestia issues her ultimatum]].
79	** In ''Life Goes On'', Trixie has one when she realizes not only how petty she's been to Sunset since the Fall Formal, but also how she acted during the Battle of the Bands.
80	* HoistByHisOwnPetard: Gilda's friends take pictures of her giving Apple Bloom a black eye and sends them to other students, [[spoiler: creating enough evidence to get the three of them punished for the assault once Twist shows Celestia the photos]].
81	* {{Hypocrite}}:
82	** All the students, like Diamond Tiara, who sent information to Anon-A-Miss, only to act upset by the situation and start bullying the CMC in revenge. [[spoiler: They're all eventually called out and punished by Principal Celestia.]]
83	** Rainbow Dash admits this is one of the reasons why she can't bring herself to forgive Scootaloo for her role in the Anon-A-Miss incident even two months later;
84	---> '''Rainbow:''' I want to. Believe me I really want to. But I can't. If I do, it'll make me a filthy hypocrite. How can I justify forgiving [Scootaloo] when I wouldn't even give Sunset a chance? How can I without being an even worse friend than I already am?
85	* IChooseToStay: At the end of the story. [[spoiler:While Sunset's bitterness towards the Humane Five 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 Princess Celestia, and she feels that going back to Equestria will open up another can of worms that she isn't ready to deal with.]]
86	* {{Irony}}: Gilda and her two friends become one of the CMC's main tormentors after they're revealed to be Anon-A-Miss. [[spoiler: They end up getting busted for it because one of Gilda's friends took a pic of her punching Apple Bloom and sent it to other students; if they haven't spread what they had done through the web, there would have been no way they would have been caught for it]].
87	* 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; Scootaloo doesn't even have that.
88	* JerkassRealization: The Humane 5 and the rest of CHS get this after Sunset is proven innocent.
89	* 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 afterward, 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 has 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]].
90	* KarmicShunning: The entire story is basically the CMC suffering this; their older sisters are furious with them and the entirety of Canterlot High turns against them, to the point where they get graffiti written on their lockers and assaulted in the hallways. They don't tell their sisters about the harassment because they feel they deserve what they're getting.
91	* KickTheDog:
92	** The Sirens go out of their way to bump into the Humane Five and CMC and mock them for all the pain they've caused Sunset. [[DownplayedTrope Downplayed]] with Sonata, though; unlike Adagio and Aria, who only care about mocking the heroes, she seems genuinely upset in regards to how Sunset was treated.
93	** The rest of the CHS student body constantly harass the CMC after they're exposed as Anon-a-Miss.
94	* LampshadeHanging: The fact that Anon-A-Miss is basically a rehash of Gabby Gums gets brought up by Twilight and Spike, who also point out that the human CMC had far more petty motivations than their pony counterparts.
95	* LetMeGetThisStraight: When Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo confess being Anon-A-Miss to the Humane Five and explain their reasons for doing so, Rainbow responds with TranquilFury to make them realize how stupid they were:
96	--> '''Rainbow Dash''': Let me see if I got this right. You posted our most private and embarrassing secrets, made us laughingstocks of the entire school, framed Sunset, and turned the school completely on its head... because you didn't get invited to a freaking slumber party. That's what you're telling me.
97	* 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 trying to catch Sunset when she lost her balance, the photo 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.]]
98	* MoreThanMindControl: On two separate occasions, people compare Anon-A-Miss to the cruelties Sunset experienced during the Sirens' rampage, and it's explained to anyone protesting that comparison that the Sirens' HatePlague only made people angrier and more competitive; anything they said and did was all their own doing.
99	* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: The CMC and the Humane Five both go through this; The CMC when they realize they went too far and decide to confess, and the Humane Five when they realized that they turned against their friend on the flimsiest of evidence.
100	* NiceJobBreakingItHero: Flash Sentry falls into this. [[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, blood loss, and emotional trauma. Needless to say, the other protagonists call him out on how foolish he was, with Twilight even slapping him (something Flash admits he deserved).]]
101	* NoSenseOfPersonalSpace: Just like in canon, the Dazzlings have little to no respect for other people's physical boundaries, especially when it comes to Sunset and the Humane Five.
102	* NotHelpingYourCase: During one of Sunset's internal debates with the voice in her head, she argues that she isn't crazy. The voice notes that she's literally arguing with a voice in her head. Sunset begrudgingly concedes the point.
103	* 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 that exactly what happened, it occurred to Princess Twilight (who's from a world where phones don't even exist) when it never occurred to any of the Humane Five.
104	* 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 Sunset was completely innocent but the only way the students would have believed that was if they saw and heard it in person for themselves.
105	* OOCIsSeriousBusiness:
106	** 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, even spouting off some {{Angrish}} as she does.
107	** When Celestia and Luna learn about the physical torment the CMC go through by the other students, the former is so disgusted that she gets on the school intercom and [[spoiler: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 for everyone. 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.
108	* PoorCommunicationKills:
109	** Princess Twilight calls out the Humane Five for turning on Sunset based on little evidence, saying that they should have trusted Sunset because she's their friend. Or at the very least, the Humane Five should have eliminated every other possibility before 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]].
110	** Once the truth about Anon-A-Miss is revealed, the CMC find themselves being bullied by other students in retaliation. Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle assume that their sisters ''must'' be aware of this and that their silence on the matter indicates their approval. They're both stunned to discover that Applejack and Rarity genuinely didn't know anything about it; rather, the older sisters are horrified. Applejack has to explain that they aren't mind-readers who magically know when their sisters need help.
111	* 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 continued to throw things a month of detention.
112	* PunctuatedForEmphasis: When Twilight is confronting the CMC about Anon-A-Miss, she demands to know why they did it. Fluttershy tries to gently interrupt, only for Twilight to cut her off with:
113	--> '''Twilight''': I want. To hear it. From them!
114	* 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 an 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.
115	* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: It's an Anon-A-Miss AccusationFic where everybody calls each other out over their misdeeds. There's quite a few of them.
116	** When Apple Bloom attempts to apologize to Sunset once she and her friends are outed as the true Anon-A-Miss masterminds:
117	---> '''Sunset:''' [[RejectedApology Save it]]. I don’t know why you did this, and frankly, I don’t really care. All I know is, [[WasItReallyWorthIt I certainly hope it was worth it]].
118	** When Rainbow Dash punches Scootaloo in the face after the CMC confess that they are the true culprits:
119	---> '''Applejack:''' ''(She and Pinkie Pie are holding Rainbow back from attacking Scootaloo even more)'' Dash! Have you lost yer cotton pickin’ mind?!\
120	'''Rainbow Dash:''' She’ll thank me for it! Maybe next time she’ll think twice before she ever does something this stupid again!\
121	'''Mrs. Cake:''' ''(Emerging from the kitchen)'' What on Earth is going on here?\
122	'''Rainbow Dash:''' I’ll tell you what’s going on! ''(Breaks away from Applejack and Pinkie Pie and points at the three pre-teens in disgust)'' These three are nothing but secret spreading, backstabbing, lying little ''brats''!
123	** In Chapter 8, [[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]].
124	** Chapter 13 is all about the Sirens giving a mocking one to the Humane Five and the CMC over how they had treated Sunset.
125	** When Celestia and Luna discover [[spoiler:the evidence that the CMC has 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]]:
126	---> '''Celestia:''' [[spoiler: Attention, students of Canterlot High. It has come to my attention that certain students have resorted to bullying and physical assault, as a result of the Anon-A-Miss incident last semester. I cannot begin to tell you all how ''disgusted'' I am by this. I had hoped -- I had ''prayed'' -- that you all would learn from this experience, that two wrongs don't make a right. I have always believed in the best of my students, and I trusted that you would be better than this. Sadly, you have all proven, once again, that that trust was misplaced. The culprits behind Anon-A-Miss have already been given punishment for their actions, and they were not the only ones at fault. Several of the secrets posted were submitted by ''other students''. We have their e-mail addresses and we are still trying to find them. In hindsight, I can see the fault in not telling you all of this, but that does ''not'' excuse this despicable behavior. I am hereby issuing an ultimatum. Unless the students who submitted secrets come forward by the end of the school day, the use of all school computers and all after school and extracurricular activities will be suspended ''indefinitely''. Those that do not come forward, I will find you, and you will be expelled. Think I'm joking? Go ahead. Call my bluff. Actions have consequences. If nothing else, I hope you will at least learn ''that''. That is all.]]
127	** In the penultimate chapter, [[spoiler: Sunset gives her "friends" one about how they threw her away like trash barely a day after declaring her family, proving that they have never trusted her, so now Sunset can't trust ''them'']].
128	* 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. Sunset had been hiding them before that point, but she simply stopped caring if anyone saw them.
129	* TheShrink: Sunset decides to see a psychologist at the end of the story, and encourages the others to do the same so they can all get help to move on. ''Life Goes On'' reveals that Rainbow Dash decided to take that advice in order to forgive both herself and Scootaloo for what happened. It seems to be working, as Rainbow is starting to talk to Scootaloo again even though their relationship is still in shambles.
130	* StepfordSmiler: Played with. It's pretty clear that Sunset's still upset with how her friends treated her, but she continues to hang out with them two months after the fact because she simply wants to put the whole incident behind her. [[spoiler: This ultimately backfires, as Sunset winds up having a major breakdown that lands her in the hospital, thanks to Flash Sentry deciding to deliberately provoke her in an ill-thought attempt to get her to open up.]]
131	* TokenGoodTeammate: Sonata Dusk has become one to the Sirens. When she comes across a miserable Sunset in the park, she genuinely sympathizes with her, gives her a taco to eat, and admits that she's actually happier not trying to take over the world (or at least, not having to listen to Adagio rant about it). [[spoiler:When the Sirens arrive at the hospital where an injured Sunset is being treated later, she's the only one that appears genuinely angry at the way Sunset was treated, and isn't simply there to mock the Humane Five like the other two are]].
132	* TranquilFury: This is Rainbow's initial reaction to the CMC's reasons for being Anon-A-Miss, and then she loses it after Scootaloo's excuse is "ItSeemedLikeAGoodIdeaAtTheTime" and nothing else.
133	* WasItAllALie: [[DownplayedTrope Downplayed]]; in the last chapter, Flash asks Sunset if their relationship was only ever a ruse, not out of anger or sorrow, but rather in an attempt to receive closure. Sunset assures him that, whatever else she lied about, she did genuinely care about him.
134	* 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 it.
135	* WhatTheHellHero:
136	** Twilight tears the Humane Five and the CMC a collective new one for how they treated Sunset, practically [[{{Angrish}} 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.
137	** In the penultimate chapter, [[spoiler:Sunset finally chews out the Humane Five 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]].
138	** Once Celestia and Luna learn about [[spoiler:[[PayEvilUntoEvil the physical assault and sheer extent of the bullying]] 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.
139	** Applejack is noticeably horrified at Rainbow Dash punching Scootaloo, and she (along with Pinkie) immediately leaps in to hold her back from beating her even more.
140	-->'''Applejack''': Dash! Have you lost yer cotton pickin’ mind?!
141	* WouldHurtAChild: Rainbow Dash, in a fit of rage, punches Scootaloo hard in the face when she and the rest of the CMC admit to being Anon-A-Miss over completely petty reasons -- basically amounting to "ItSeemedLikeAGoodIdeaAtTheTime" and petty jealousy -- and had Applejack and Pinkie not held her back, clearly would have given her a NoHoldsBarredBeatdown.
142	* {{Yandere}}: According to Flash, Sunset would deliberately sabotage any relationship he had with other female students following their break-up. [[spoiler: Of course, this was said in an attempt get Sunset angry, so how much of it was actually true is up for debate.]]
143	* YouHaveGotToBeKiddingMe: Sunset is stunned 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.
144	-->'''Sunset''': This has got to be, the most ''petty, stupidest'' thing I've ever heard of. And coming from someone who's done her fair share of petty and stupid things, that's saying a ''lot''!
145	* YourApprovalFillsMeWithShame: Adagio tells the CMC that they would have made excellent Sirens, and "congratulates" them and the Humane Five for doing a better job of breaking Sunset than they ever did.

Context Fanfic / BitterTearsAnAnonAMissFic