As one would expect, the lunch hour of Canterlot High brought the usual level of high activity and chatter amongst the various students there. However, unlike most days, this plethora of youths was not gathered in the cafeteria, as was the norm, but rather, outside. For there, parked right in front of the school, was a convoy of vehicles from the local hospital. Doctors and nurses from the place had arranged themselves here, and were currently in the process of speaking to many of the boys and girls that now came to them. Some entered the parked vehicles, writing down forms as they did so. Others simply waited outside, speaking to their friends to pass the time. Among this latter category was Sunset Shimmer, and her collection of friends.

"You know...there was a time when I would have never considered doing this."

A giggle caused her to turn, seeing Rarity standing nearby.

"Much has changed since then, darling. But even so, it is nice to see so many here at CHS being this passionate about all this."

Walking beside her, Applejack smiled widely, placing a hand upon the young fashionista's shoulder.

"Eyup! Us Apples have been donatin blood fer years! Pretty sweet ta see so many others takin up the cause."

Sunset nodded to this, turning around to see more and more of her fellow students stepping forward to give blood. The doctors and nurses were all there, helping them through the process and making sure everything was in order before the deed was done. Among the crowd, Sunset could even see Principal Celestia, who sat with many of her students, calmly trying to help those with issues of nervousness before they stepped forward themselves. Naturally, such nerves immediately brought one thought in particular to Sunset's mind.

"So...how long has Fluttershy been in there?"

Sighing, Applejack shook her head.

"Quite a while. Ah tell ya, if Rainbow weren't in there, y'all couldn't get that girl anywhere near those needles, even if it were fer a good cause!"

Sunset nodded, but, shortly afterwards, a smile touched her lips, as she saw, nearby, that Fluttershy and Rainbow were now finally leaving their respective place. The girls all walked over to meet with them, and as they approached, they noticed that Rainbow was right in the middle of helping her childhood friend out, as though the latter found it difficult to walk.

"Are you okay, Fluttershy?" Sunset asked.

Looking up, the animal carer formed a small but genuine smile upon her face.

"Oh, you don't need to worry about me, Sunset. I'm just...a little tired, that's all."

Sunset smiled back, placing her hand gently upon the girl's shoulder, giving a slight nod.,

"It's fine. We all went through the same thing, remember?"

A round of nods from the other girls all confirmed that sentiment, and that, at the very least, helped to make Fluttershy feel at least a little bit better. But, she was still clearly tired, so Rainbow and the others all helped her along to the nearest chair, which had been provided in their dozens for students in just such a state. As their friend rested herself, Sunset again looked around, seeing many of the other students all looking pleased with themselves over what they'd done here today. But, as she scoured the crowd, she couldn't help but notice that, away from it all, there were two in particular, a doctor and nurse, both women, who were discussing something in private. The look on their face made it clear that it was an important issue, and while she knew she shouldn't interfere, something compelled Sunset to walk towards them.

"...it's impossible, I tell you!" the nurse said.

"You keep saying that, but it's still happened!" replied the doctor.

"Um...is everything okay?"

The voice of Sunset caused both medical personnel to snap their heads in her direction, and as soon as they saw her, they quickly composed themselves, with the nurse forming a courteous smile before replying to her.

"It's Miss Shimmer, yes? Can we help you with something?"

Clearing her throat a little, Sunset clasped her hands together and formed a smile of her own as she began to speak up.

"Yes, um...I know it's not my place, but...is there something bothering you two?"

At first, the two didn't really know how to answer that, but, after looking to one another, they shared a glance, silently trying to figure things out for themselves. In the end, it was the nurse who once more spoke to the former unicorn.

"It's not a problem per se, it's just...something unexpected."

Sunset raised an eyebrow, prompting the nurse to continue.

"Miss Fluttershy, the girl who just came to us, and about five other girls from this school...they appear to all have an extremely rare blood-type. And I mean rare, as in there's about a million-to-one chance of us ever finding it."

Sunset took on a more intrigued expression.

"These other girls...they wouldn't happen to be Rarity, Applejack, Pinkie, Rainbow and Twilight, would they?"

The two seemed rather taken aback by that, and the doctor, at long last, added her own voice to the mix.

"How...how did you...?"

She didn't finish, but Sunset already knew what she was going to ask, and so answered pre-emptively, bearing a knowing smile as she did so.

"They're all friends of mine. And trust me when I say that them and coincidences tend to go hand-in-hand."

That, in some small way, seemed to cause the two before her to relax somewhat, and the nurse once more started to speak to her.

"Yes...well...the point is, this blood type is so hard to come by that most in our profession could go their entire careers without seeing it. But to have six all have it at the same time? That just doesn't happen!"

The doctor stepped forward, looking to Sunset with curiosity.

"Those friends of yours wouldn't happen to be related, would they?"

Sunset shook her head.

"Not that I know of."

The doctor sighed.

"Pity. That would have at least gone some way to explaining this."

Shortly afterwards, the nurse turned to her.

"This has never happened before!"

Here, the doctor formed a slight smirk.

"Well...in that case, allow me to tell you a tale."

Both Sunset and the nurse looked to her with surprise.

"Wait...you've seen this before?!" the nurse remarked.

The doctor nodded.

"Yep. But it was decades ago. Back when I first started this job. These three girls, sisters I think, they came into the clinic to donate blood. And they all had that same type. Needless to say, I was pretty shocked."

The nurse seemed rather impressed, but Sunset, by contrast, took on a more thoughtful expression.

"...Sisters?"

Turning to her, the doctor nodded.

"Um...yes?"

Sunset looked away, thinking hard on what she'd just learned, all while the other two just shrugged their shoulders at one another. Slowly, Sunset turned to them again, speaking in a slow manner.

"These sisters...do you remember anything about them?"

The doctor raised a hand to her chin, thinking on that one.

"It was years ago, but...they did have this odd feel about them. Something I couldn't quite put my finger on."

Letting out a sigh, she continued.

"I probably couldn't describe them for you, but I do think I recall one of them being called by name at one point."

Again, she seemed to think hard on that.

"Dago...Adag...something like that."

Sunset's eyes widened, and she muttered something under her breath.

"That...no...don't be silly, Sunset. It...it couldn't be!"

The doctor and nurse glanced nervously to one another before, finally, speaking to the girl once more.

"Are...are you alright, Miss?"

Sunset, realising how she must have looked, shook herself out of this state, putting on a smile and nodding to them.

"Yes, sorry about that. But...um...I don't suppose there's any chance the blood of those three girls is...well...still around?"

The doctor chuckled.

"I'd say there's a pretty good chance of that. The thing about blood types this rare is that, well...it's pretty rare for them to be needed."

Sunset's smile widened.

"I'm glad to hear it. Could you tell me where that blood would be stored?"

Looking to her, the doctor seemed less than certain about all of this.

"Well...yes...I suppose I could, but...why would you want to know?"

Slowly, Sunset turned, a look of determination upon her face.

"Let's just say...there's a question that needs answering."