Everybody made it to Sugarcube Corner safely, and Sunset was just opening the front door. With a soft sigh, she looked at her friends and smiled warmly to each of them. Pinkie bounced inside happily, while Rainbow and the others came in, wiped their boots, and headed to a nearby table.

Sunset headed into the back of the cafe, looked around, and found the boxes of doughnuts and cake she was supposed to take with her to the mall. Looking on the wall behind the boxed-up items, she saw a clipboard with the order manifest on it. Taking it down and looking over the order manifest to make sure she had the right order, Sunset smiled as she took the piece of paper off the clipboard and placed into her right, inside coat pocket.

She then walked into the storage room, returning a moment later with a cart. Soon, all nine boxes were loaded up onto the cart, and Sunset was ready to take them out into the dining area of the cafe. Sunset came out into the dining area with the boxes on the cart.

Her friends looked from her to the boxes. Applejack tipped her hat back, saying as she stared at all the boxes of food in front of her, “That sure is a lotta pastries you got there, Sunset. Here, let me help ya with those. We don’t want those to fall and splatter all over the place.”

“Thanks, AJ, and thank you all so much for helping me with this. If it weren’t for you all, I'd have to make at least six trips.”

“Well, that's what friends are for, Sunset. Friends help each other out, and that's exactly what we're going to do for you,” Fluttershy said, looking at all the boxes in front of her.

Sunset began to place the boxes in front of her friends so each of them could take a box when she heard Pinkie exclaim excitedly behind her, “Oooooh, pink and strawberry doughnuts! My favorite!” Pinkie pressed her face up to the glass display case. “Now let's see if I have enough money for the one on the right.”

Sunset turned to see what Pinkie was looking at and giggled. “Here, Pinkie, let me get that for you before we go.” Sunset walked behind the display case, opened it, then took out the doughnut that Pinkie was looking at. Looking over the display case, she continued, “I need to clean off the display case. Can’t have Pinkie prints on it, you know.”

Pinkie burst out laughing as Sunset walked back around the counter. Pinkie took out her money for the doughnut, which Sunset took and put into the cash register, letting Pinkie munch happily on her doughnut. Once finished, Pinkie took out her cell phone, called her sister Maud to ask for a quick pick-up and drop-off at the mall.

Thirty minutes later, the group soon found themselves climbing into the back of Maud's Van, with Sunset taking the front. Applejack, Pinkie and Rainbow took the back, while Fluttershy took the seat behind Sunset.

Getting to the mall a little while later, Sunset began to get out, when she heard Applejack say, “Sunset, is there anythin' you'd like us to order for ya while we're at the food court?”

Thinking for a few minutes while everyone else got out of the van and carried their boxes with them, Sunset finally said as she shut the door to Maud's van and thanked her for the ride, “No, I'm good, AJ. I might be a few minutes, though, so take as much time as you all want to.”

“Okay. We'll see ya in a little while, then.”

The group headed into the mall, then up an escalator and down a small corridor to Daisy Green’s flower shop. Sunset placed her box onto the counter, as did her friends. To her right, she saw a small silver bell with a sign on it that read ‘Ring for service’. She pressed down on the bell, ringing it once, then turned to her friends, saying as she waited for Daisy to come out from the back of the shop, “Alright, you all go ahead. I’ll catch up in a little while.”

Everyone nodded in agreement, with Rainbow saying to Pinkie as the two of them headed out of the flower shop, “Hey, Pinkie. I bet I can beat you to Pony Burger.” Pinkie grinned widely as she and Rainbow raced off towards the fast food restaurant while Applejack and Fluttershy both shook their heads in amusement.

Soon afterward, Daisy Green came out from the back, looked at Sunset, who was facing away from her, and said, “Are you the one that's supposed to bring my order from Sugarcube Corner?”

Sunset turned around to see Daisy Green scowling at her. She replied to her with a confused look on her face, “Yes, ma’am, I am. I have here eight boxes of doughnuts and one boxed-up cake, which I believe is your order.” Sunset looked at the manifest then up at Daisy Green. She continued as she handed over the clipboard to Daisy, “If you could sign on the dotted line, indicating that I delivered your order, that would be great.”

Daisy Green looked at the boxes, then at the clipboard. Taking it from Sunset, she smiled warmly to her, signed the paper, and said, “Oh, before you leave, I have your order for you.”

“Uh, my order?” Sunset replied, confused. “I don’t understand. I didn’t order anything from you.”

Looking a bit more closely at Sunset, Daisy turned her head slightly to the right as she said with a rather unsure look on her face, “You sure you're not here to pick up six pounds of crushed monkshood?”

“No, ma’am. I wouldn't order something that's poisonous, let alone six pounds of it. Heck, I wouldn’t even know what to do with it.”

Pursing her lips, Daisy took out a pad of paper and handed it to Sunset, saying as Sunset took the pad of paper in her own hands, “So, that name that you signed there not more than an hour ago is not yours, then?”

Sunset looked at the paper, dropped it, and bolted from the store, saying to herself as she ran out into the hallway, “It can’t be her. She can’t be alive.” Repeating those words like a mantra, saying them more quickly with each repetition, she ran toward the food court, leaving a very confused Daisy Green to pick up the pad of paper and return it to its proper place. As Sunset ran down the hallway someone else came out of a shop she passed and entered the flower shop she had just left.

"Hey lady you got my order ready" a voice snarled out from behind Daisy Green.

Daisy Green turned around to see the same girl that had just left her shop standing in her shop again only this time she was wearing a full black leather biker outfit. Daisy Green scrunched her eyebrows together as she stammered on her words to the new comer, "I--I don't understand f-first you say you didn't order anything. Then you leave my shop running out of here like your worried about something. Now your back in my shop demanding that I get your order?"

Looking at Daisy Green the new comer frowned deeply snarling out bitterly to her, " Yeah OK, lady whatever you say. You got my order yes or no I don't have all day."

With a heavy sigh and more than a confused expression on her face Daisy Green turned around headed into the back of shop, returning a few moments later with the order of Monkshood. She placed it on the counter the rang up the order while the woman in front of her took out her money Daisy Green said as she took the money from the woman in front of her, "You do know this stuff is deadly if you ingest it right?"

"I am not going to eat it lady." The other woman snarled angrily "I use it as fucking Potpourri!"

"I see," Daisy Green sighed heavily "very well that will be 10.50 please."

After paying for her order the woman in the leather biker outfit left the shop a few moments later she met up with another woman in a brown leather flight coat and sporting a white Mohawk. Gilda Griffin smiled taking the order from the other and stuffing into her cloth bag she had on her back. Grinning to the other woman she said, "You head downstairs I saw a few people that are just ripe for you to pickpocket. I am going to head into the food court to see if there is anyone in there worth stealing from."

With a nod the other woman turned and entered the shop that Gilda had come out of found the escalator leading down and was soon on the first level. Within a few moments of entering the first level the other woman soon would find her first victims. A few moments later, Rainbow and Pinkie both made it to Pony Burger, each of them excited to order the biggest burger possible. Applejack walked over to a railing overlooking the first level of the mall. Looking down with Fluttershy at her side, she suddenly exclaimed, “What in tarnation!?” To Applejack’s complete shock she, witnessed a girl dressed in a full biker outfit pickpocket an elderly couple. From the back, the two girls could easily see the mystery girl's red-and-yellow hair. “What the hey is Sunset doin'?” Applejack said. “Ah can’t believe Sunset did that.” Fluttershy raised a hand to her mouth when she saw the same girl walk over to another couple and pickpocket them as well.

Before either of them could react, they both heard a loud crash from behind them. Spinning around, Applejack saw Rainbow being held by her shirt in the hands of a girl with a brown, leather coat and a white Mohawk. Fluttershy looked back from Rainbow to the first level, saying as Applejack ran off to help Rainbow, “That's odd. Where did Sunset go?” She looked back again to see Applejack getting up to Rainbow and Gilda. “Sunset couldn’t have gotten away that quickly.” Fluttershy didn’t have time to ponder her predicament as she also ran off to help Rainbow deal with Gilda. Unaware that the Sunset look-alike had taken a elevator and was indeed already upstairs watching the fight between Gilda and Rainbow with a wicked smirk on her face.

Gilda had Rainbow by her shirt collar. Fluttershy heard her say to Rainbow as she got up to the two of them, “Give me your money and food right now, Crash, or I'm gonna rearrange your face.”

“Let me go, Gilda. I don’t want any trouble.”

“Not until you give me your money and food, Crash.”

Gilda shoved Rainbow backwards and landed a clean punch to Rainbow's stomach. Rainbow's eyes went wide as she doubled over and fell to the mall’s floor. Applejack immediately jumped in to help her friend. Pinkie also jumped in, throwing a soda at Gilda, hitting her in the back of her head.

Gilda turned around, cracking her knuckles, snarling out to Pinkie, who merely grinned back widely to Gilda, “You’re gonna wish you didn’t do that, loser.”

Applejack moved in to try to tackle Gilda to the floor, only to be knocked to the ground by someone who had managed to sneak up behind her. Applejack rubbed the back of her neck, stuttering out as she slowly looked up, "W-Who in tarnation did that to me?"

Applejack heard soft yet wicked laughter coming from behind her. Fluttershy gasped when she saw just who knocked Applejack to the ground. Looking up, both Rainbow and Applejack were shocked to see a girl wearing a full leather biker outfit and smiling wickedly to both of them. She had red and yellow hair, light amber skin, and cyan eyes.

Exactly like Sunset.

“Security's coming, Gilda,” she said. The girls' eyes widened even further; even her voice sounded like Sunset's! Gilda smirked, kicked Rainbow twice in the stomach, then ran off with the new girl towards the exit just as security arrived and started taking statements. In the end, Applejack and Rainbow were getting to their feet, Fluttershy was panicking, and Pinkie simply stood in stunned silence as she watched the Sunset look-alike run off with Gilda Griffon.

Sunset also arrived a few moments later, but when she saw the security officers, she immediately headed away from the food court and headed for the exit. She was about halfway there when Fluttershy saw her and ran after her, calling out to her, “Sunset, wait. You need to talk to us.” Sunset dashed and got outside just in time to see herself get onto a motorcycle with Gilda seated behind her. The two were laughing as Sunset watched the two of them drive off.

“Sunset, please wait up,” Fluttershy called from the doorway, trying to catch her breath. “Sunset, you need to explain this to us.”

Sunset turned to face Fluttershy, her face as white as newly fallen snow. She began to breathe in and out rapidly as she said quickly, “it can’t be her. it can't be her. It can't be her.” Fluttershy reached her friend, along with the rest of her friends and the security guards. Sweat began to pour down her face as Sunset continued to have a full-blown panic attack. Rainbow turned to the officer that had taken her statement, saying to him, “If we don’t press charges, are you gonna take her away in handcuffs?”

“If you don't press charges, there's little that I can do other than ban her from coming back here again,” he replied. “But after what I saw her do to your friend, I would suggest you file assault charges on her.”

“Good. We ain't about ta have our friend dragged off like some cow ready for slaughter,” Applejack injected sternly. “Besides, from the looks of her right now, she won’t be of much help to you now, anyhow.”

“It can't be her,” Sunset said rapidly. She gulped for breath every now and then, then continued repeating herself.

Rainbow raised her hands up slowly and began to approach Sunset, who began to shake and tremble with fear. “Easy, Sunset. No one's gonna take you away. AJ and I aren’t gonna press charges. Calm down. You’ll be alright. Just breath, Sunset.”

Rainbows words fell on deaf ears, as Sunset began to fully panic. Her breathing got worse as she tried desperately to catch her breath, only to fail completely. Rainbow tried again to calm Sunset down, saying gently to her, “Sunset, listen to me. You need to breathe. You're gonna pass-”

Sunset's eyes rolled up in her head. She stumbled forward, collapsing into Rainbow's arms. “Out,” Rainbow muttered to herself. She very gently laid her down on the ground as Pinkie, her hair limp, took out her phone to call Maud for a fast pick-up. A few minutes went by before Maud pulled up, got out, and helped to get Sunset into her van. Rainbow was adamant about not taking Sunset to a hospital, and nothing Maud, Applejack, or Pinkie said could convince her to relent. Eventually, Maud agreed to drive to Sugarcube Corner.

Maud pulled up to the curb of Sugarcube Corner a half-hour later. Pinkie hopped out of the van, opening the door for Rainbow and Applejack to get out. They both took Sunset by her arms, each draping one arm over their shoulders as they helped the nearly-unconscious red- and yellow-haired girl into the cafe. Mr. Cake was just coming out of the back, carrying a cake for the display case off to his right, when he saw Sunset being brought--almost carried--into the cafe. He dropped the cake, exclaiming, "WHAT HAPPENED!?"

Rainbow looked to Fluttershy, saying to her as they switched places, "Take her to a booth so she can rest. I'll explain what happened to Mr. Cake."

"Alright." Fluttershy looked at Sunset while she and Pinkie helped her to the nearby booth. "Hold on, Sunset. You'll be alright. Just hold on. You're safe now, don't worry."

Rainbow approached the counter, saying to Mr. Cake with concern, "She had a panic attack. She saw someone that I think she knows from Equ--" Rainbow stopped mid-sentence, unsure if she should say anything about where Sunset was actually from. "Er, I mean from her past," she continued, "and she's having some issues." She looked to Fluttershy and Pinkie as they set Sunset down into the nearby booth. "You're not gonna like what else I have to say, Mr. Cake."

Mr. Cake looked from Rainbow to the two girls who had just set Sunset down. "Bring her upstairs into her own bed. My wife and I will tend to her there."

"Alright," Rainbow replied, turning to face Fluttershy and Pinkie. "We need to take her upstairs. I'll get the door while you two help Sunset."
Both Pinkie and Fluttershy nodded in agreement, and within a few minutes, the girls had gotten Sunset up to her room, while Mr. Cake headed down the hallway to get his wife. Upon hearing the news, she rushed to Sunset's bedside without a word to her husband. Mr. Cake entered the room a few moments later, carrying a cup of water with him. He looked at Rainbow and said sternly to her, "What else do you need to tell me, Rainbow?"

Rainbow sighed, then replied while looking down at the floor, "Someone that looked like her attacked Applejack while we all were at the mall today. I'm really confused. How can there be two Sunsets? I thought Sunset didn't have any family."

Mr. Cake and Mrs. Cake exchanged worried glances to each other before Mr. Cake replied, "I see. Thank you for telling me this, Rainbow. Just so you all know, she doesn't have any family that I know of. The only thing that I can say to you about this is that you must be mistaken about seeing another Sunset Shimmer."

Rainbow scrunched her eyebrows together tightly. She couldn't believe that Mr. Cake would say that to her. She knew she saw someone that looked like her friend, yet with how this other person acted, she wasn't sure if it was Sunset or someone else entirely.

Before Rainbow could say anything, Applejack snarled out, "No, we ain't mistaken, Mr. Cake. You can't mistake that fire-red and yellow hair or the cyan eyes for someone else's. It just don't make a lick of sense. We saw her, and then we all saw this Sunset outside of the mall having a panic attack. She kept a-sayin', 'She is alive,' or somethin'. What in tarnation does she mean? Who was that other Sunset?"

"Umm, I saw her too, but she didn't act like Sunny would. She acted like Sunny would have two years ago, back in sophomore year," Pinkie chimed in, her hair flat. "I threw my soda at Gilda during the fight, which she didn't like one bit. I was all ready to go all karate on her party-pooping butt, but when I saw the other Sunset tackle Applejack, I-I froze. Now I don't know what else to do but try to help Sunny out of this mess."

"Sunset was really upset. The only other time I've ever seen her that frightened was at the Fall Formal when we blasted her with Rainbow Magic," Fluttershy said, looking down at her friend while holding her hand. "I hope she'll be alright. I want to know what's going on, too."

"Girls, you need to understand. Sunset has--" Mrs. Cake began, but stopped, remembering her promise to Sunset. "Well, she's complicated," Mrs. Cake said. "I'm not sure if it's our place to actually say anything. Besides, we Pinkie Promised her, and according to Sunset, once you make a Pinkie Pie promise, you can't go back on it."

"That's right," Pinkie said, sniffing hard, trying to fight back her tears. "You can't. A Pinkie Pie promise is very, very sacred. You never break a Pinkie Pie promise."

Their talk was interrupted as Sunset stirred, moaning out, "She's alive." She turned her head to the right, gripping the sheets tightly in both hands. "Crystal." She turned her head to the left. "Mom."

Fluttershy let go of Sunset's hand and let Mr. Cake sit by Sunset, saying as she stood up and walked over to Rainbow, "She must miss her mom. I guess her name's Crystal."

"Fluttershy dear, that's not what Sunset is talking about. Her mother's name is not Crystal, although that would be far less confusing than sharing a name with your principal."

"Oh, so she's Princess Celestia's daughter, then?" Fluttershy almost whispered out, looking very sad as she watched Sunset breathing rapidly. "Please, Sunset, wake up. We aren't mad. We just want you to talk to us. We won't judge you."

"Yes, she told us who her mother is, Fluttershy. She told us everything--literally everything--about herself, including the many things she's kept from you five." Mr. Cake looked down before continuing. "Girls, I need you all to head downstairs now. I'll call you back up here when she begins to wake up." Looking at Sunset, Mr. Cake gently took her hand into his own. "Shh, Sunset. It's going to be alright. You're not over there. You're right here with us."

Rainbow's eyes went wide when she realized that the Cakes knew about Sunset's past and about where she came from. She began, "You know she's from--"

"As my husband has already stated," Mrs. Cake interrupted, "she has told us everything, Rainbow. Now we can't say anything else to any of you."

"Can't or won't?" Applejack snarled out bitterly. "Ah aint gonna file charges on her for what she done to me back at the mall, but Ah at least wanna know the truth about her and about why there are two of them. If there really are two of them."

Three hours slowly ticked by before Sunset began to stir in her bed again. She could clearly hear Fluttershy's soft yet sweet voice say, “Hey, I think she's waking up.”

“Okay, everyone out now!” Mr. Cake's voice came loud and clear. “She needs some time to rest.”

"But we wanna stay and help Sunny,” Sunset heard Pinkie say as she began to wake up, her vision blurring badly. “Why can’t we stay here with Sunny?”

“Because you can’t, Pinkie. She needs some time to be alone, now scoot,” Mrs. Cake’s calming voice came out. “We'll contact each of you when the time is right. Now please leave.”

“Alright, we’re going. Just call us if--make that when--she cares to explain herself to us, got it?” Applejack said as Sunset opened her eyes. “Ah just hope she really will be alright.” Applejack stopped in the doorway, saying to Mr. Cake as he held Sunset's hand in his own, “We don’t want any trouble for her or for us. We just wanna know what's really goin' on, is all. Please tell her that for us.”

“I will. Now will you all please just leave so we can tend to Sunset?”

Sunset woke up to find herself in her bed in the Cakes' cafe. Mr. Cake was sitting next to her, saying as he held a glass of water to her lips, “Shhh, it's going to be alright, Sunset. No one is going to hurt you.”

Mrs. Cake, sitting to Sunset's right, nodded. “Yes, Sunset. You're safe now. You just had a really bad panic attack,” she said. “But you're going to be just fine. You're safe now, back in your room. You’re not going to get hurt.”

Sunset drank the water. When she finished, she said as she laid back deeply into her pillow, “She can't be alive.”

“Hush now, Sunset. Just sleep. You’ll stay home from school tomorrow. We'll take care of getting your homework,” Mr. Cake said, gently pulling up the covers to Sunset's shoulders. “You're safe now. You're home, and that is all that matters.”

“Yes, Sunset, you're home now, so just sleep for now. You’ll feel better. You'll see in the morning.”

Sunset closed her eyes and soon fell into a deep sleep. Mr. and Mrs. Cake headed out of Sunset's room. Each looked at the other worriedly. Mrs. Cake stopped in the threshold of Sunset's door to take one last look at the sleeping red- and yellow-haired girl in bed. She wiped a tear from her eyes, saying to her husband, “She can’t keep this from her friends any longer. She has to tell them.”

“I know, honey, but I'm very worried about how they will react when they find out what she really is and how she came into existence. For now, though, let's let her rest.”

“We can’t let this go on any further, Carrot. Our daughter needs us now more than ever. She may not be ours by blood, but she's our daughter nonetheless. We have to do something.”

Sunset, meanwhile, slept soundly for the rest of the day and well into the night. Mrs. Cake headed into a spare room and climbed into the spare bed they kept in the room in case Sunset ever wanted a sleepover. Mr. Cake entered the room as well. He could hear his wife crying softly to herself. He sat down next to her, pulled her into a warm hug, and gently ran his fingers through his wife's hair. He soothingly said to her, “I know, honey, I know. It hurts, but we will make every effort to help Sunset get through this. I promise.”

“That's not why I'm crying, Carrot.”

“Then why are you crying? Please tell me so I can help make things right for you.”

“I'm crying because Sunset is going to be a big sister but only if we adopt her. I can’t hold off on telling her any longer. I want to tell her the happy news, and I want her to be ours so she can be a part of our family.”

“You mean you're--”

“Yes, Carrot. I'm pregnant. Please don’t make us wait any longer to ask her to let us adopt her.”

Mr. Cake held his wife warmly in his arms as she cried into his shoulders, soothingly running his fingers through her hair. It wasn’t long before she cried herself to sleep. Laying her down next to him, he thought to himself as he kissed her goodnight, “We'll tell her tomorrow. I promise. We'll tell Sunset about our plans to adopt her tomorrow, honey.”

Next Chapter: Conditions and Blackmail (Edited and Titled by Icecreammac) Estimated time remaining: 19 Hours, 18 Minutes