Sunset Shimmer sat on the steps, waiting for her father to pick her up from school. Checking her phone, she saw the time was 3:30 pm. The last few hours of her day had been spent just trying to get from one class to another without breaking down in tears. Many of the students at CHS had shown their true colors to her, as they either threw spitwads at her or said obscene things to her face. Some had even gone as far as to threaten her. Now, as she sat on the steps, all Sunset wanted to do was get home, get her homework done, and curl up in bed.

While she waited, she heard, “Hey, Anon-a-Miss. Checking your phone to see how many more lives you can wreck?”

Looking up from her phone, Sunset was met with the cold, steel-blue eyes of Dumbbell Stallion, a senior at CHS. Looking just over his shoulder, she saw standing slightly off to his right were his two younger brothers, the twins Score and Hoops Stallion. Dumbbell grinned wickedly at Sunset. As she got up, trying to walk away from them, he reached out, grabbing onto her coat lapel.

As fear seized Sunset, she braced herself, before she heard, “Let her go this very instant, Mr. Stallion.” To her relief, Vice Principal Luna had come outside and saw the confrontation. Dumbbell let go of Sunset's coat, saying quietly enough for only Sunset to hear, “Next time, you won’t get off so easy.”

Walking away, Dumbbell motioned for his brothers to join him on the sidewalk. As Luna watched the three carefully, she said, “I think it might be safer if you waited for your father inside my office, Miss Shimmer.”

“Th-Thank you, Vice Principal Luna.”

Sunset headed inside the school, while Vice Principal Luna remained outside for a few moments, making sure the teen was safely inside the school. Once she was sure the Stallion brothers had left the school grounds, she radioed her sister to meet her in her office.

A few moments later, Sunset soon found herself sitting in Luna’s office with both principals giving her very concerned looks. Looking down at her skirt, she said timidly to both, “Th-Thank you for watching out for me, Vice Principal Luna.” Sunset looked up her face, on the very verge of crying. “Thank you for being there for me earlier today. I-It really meant a lot to me to have you be there for me.”

“Think nothing of it, Miss Shimmer. I was very glad I could help you.” Luna looked at Celestia, then back at Sunset before continuing, “Now, about what I said to you at the restaurant, I think you should know that while I and Principal Celestia don’t think you are Anon-a-Miss, that doesn’t mean that we can let all that has happened slide. Right now, everything points to you, and I am afraid that is how the school board will see it.”

Sunset gulped hard. She knew that if the school board got involved, it could be expulsion from school. Before she could say anything, she heard from behind her, “There you are!” Sunset turned around in her chair to see her father Mr. Cake standing in the doorway. Seeing the stern, grim looks on each of the older women's faces, he continued, “What happened this time?”

“Nothing, fortunately,” Luna began. “I came outside to see if Miss Shimmer had gotten off safely and found her being grabbed by one of our senior students.”

“Really? What is this student's name? I would like to have a few words with this person.”

“His name is Dumbbell Stallion. He is a senior here at CHS,” Celestia replied looking at Mr. Cake with a slightly worried look in her eyes. “Please, Carrot, don’t do anything foolish. He will be dealt with tomorrow when he gets to school.”

“Nothing happened to your daughter, Mr. Cake. Mr. Stallion only had Miss Shimmer by the coat, nothing more than that,” Vice Principal Luna said, “I am sure he wasn’t going to hurt your daughter.”

“Uh huh.” Mr. Cake folded his arms over his chest. Glaring at the two principals, he continued, “I want this nonsense with this Anon-a-Miss person stopped, and I want it stopped now!”

Sunset got up from her chair. Upset and on the verge of tears, she left the room without a word to anyone. Walking out into the hallway, she tried to hide her tears, when Pearl Dusk came up to her, saying gently, “Sunset, what's wrong? Was there another issue with your friends? I know they've avoided you since this morning.”

“No, Ms. Dusk. It’s...I just don’t want everyone to fight my battles for me, is all.”

“I understand. If you want to talk, my office is always open to you.”

Sunset nodded to Pearl Dusk, then headed outside, taking a seat next to the statue. Letting out a sigh, she looked out to the parking lot as a police squad car pulled into the lot. A woman that Sunset had not seen before got out of the car and started to walk over to her. Sunset noticed right away the badge on the side of her belt, the woman's jade-green eyes locked with her own cyan eyes. The woman's hair was a deep blue-green. As she got closer, she said sternly, “Don’t move from where you are. You are under arrest for assaulting an office of the law.”
At first, Sunset didn’t know what to think. She watched as the officer got within a few feet of her. “Umm, I think you might have me confused with someone else,” Sunset began as she slowly stood up. “I didn’t assault anyone.”

Before Sunset could say anything further, the officer grabbed Sunset by her right arm, flipped her over onto her stomach, and twisted her arm behind her back. Sunset suddenly found herself with her arm behind her back, screaming in pain and fear.

Pressing her knee into Sunset's back, the officer snarled in bitterness and anger towards the very frightened teen, “You can scream all you want to in jail. Now stop struggling, or I’ll--”

“JADE, LET HER GO NOW!” Officer Brushed Jade took her eyes off of Sunset for a split-second to see that Pearl Dusk was standing on the school's front steps, a hand over her mouth and a look of complete shock on her face. “I said let her go. She's just a child. There's no reason for you to do this to her.”

“Pearl, stay out of this,” Brushed Jade spat back. “I am charging this girl with assaulting an officer of the law.”

“Please, I didn’t do anything to you or to any other officer. Let me go,” Sunset cried out in fear. “I swear, I don’t know what your talking about. I didn’t hurt anyone. I've been here at school the whole time.”

As Brushed Jade was beginning to read Sunset her Miranda rights, Mr. Cake was just coming out of the school. Pearl again yelled out to Brushed Jade as Sunset was being placed into Brushed Jade's car, “Brushed Jade, please! For the love of God, let her go. She didn’t do anything.”

“I have no choice, Pearl. I can’t let her get away with assaulting me.”

“When did this take place, officer?” Mr. Cake asked in a bitter tone. “I think before you take my daughter away, you should at least tell us when this happened.”

“I don’t have to tell you shit, mister. If you interfere, I’ll charge you as with obstruction of just--”

Before Brushed Jade could finish her sentence, her radio chimed out, “Officer Jade, the girl you've been looking for has been spotted on the corner of Fifth and Lexington.”

Brushed Jade's eyes went wide when she heard the announcement. After fully handcuffing Sunset, who was in tears and almost choking on her own sobs, Brushed Jade pressed the button on her shoulder radio, replying into it, “Dispatch, this is Officer Jade. Repeat last transmission, over.”

“Roger that, Officer Jade. the girl you are looking for has been spotted in the area of Fifth and Lexington.”

“That’s impossible. I have the girl with me right now!” Officer Jade snarled into her radio, “There is no way she could be in that area when I have her here with me in custody.”

“The girl that you are looking for,” Mr. Cake began, looking at officer Brushed Jade with a slightly confused look on his face that quickly turned to anger, “is not the one that you have in handcuffs right now. The one you have right now is my daughter, and her name is Sunset Shimmer.”

“Mister, I don’t give a rat's ass what her name is. I'm taking her in. You can figure this out at the precinct.”

Mr. Cake looked at Sunset as she was loaded into the squad car. Brushed Jade was just about to get in when Pearl yelled out to her, “We can prove that she was here the whole time, Brushed Jade. Will you just listen to us?”

Brushed Jade paid neither Pearl nor Mr. Cake any attention. Getting into her squad car she started up her car and drove off towards the precinct. Mr. Cake looked at Pearl Dusk, saying to her sternly, “What precinct does that officer work at?”

“She works at the First Precinct in downtown Canterlot, Mr. Cake.” Pearl lowered her head as she continued, “I am so sorry about this. She's not normally like this at all. She's actually very gentle.” Sighing, she finished, “We both told her who Sunset was and that Sunset didn’t do anything. Why didn’t she listen to us?”

“I have no idea, but I intend to find out!” Mr. Cake took out his phone, pressed an icon on it then held the phone to his ear. A moment later, he continued, “I'm calling my lawyer and getting Sunset out of jail as soon as I can.”

Mr. Cake didn’t need to wait long for his lawyer to pick up. He said sternly into his cell phone, “Hello, Fancy. It's Carrot. My daughter Sunset Shimmer was arrested. Please meet me at the First Precinct.”

Mr. Cake hung up his cell phone and walked away from Pearl Dusk before she could say anything to him. He got into his car and drove off towards the station. A half-hour later, he was inside the station, waiting to see his daughter. Before long, Fancy Pants also entered the station. When he saw Mr. Cake, he said, “Carrot, do you know what your daughter is being charged with?”

“Yes, and you are not going to like it. Either way, I want her out of this hellhole as soon as possible.”

Next Chapter: It Worked (Edited by Icecreammac) Estimated time remaining: 17 Hours, 8 Minutes