Sunset let out a sigh, wondering what was troubling Rarity so much. Looking through the windshield, she could see cold, grey clouds on the horizon. The weather looked chilly and ominous. Uncertain of what to do or say, she cleared her throat, catching Mr. Cake's attention. Sunset looked at Mr. Cake with worry in her eyes as they drove past 15th and West Chester street. Mr. Cake, seeing her worry, pulled over.

Looking at his soon-to-be daughter kindly, he said to her gently while she looked down, tugging on her coat, “Sunset, what's wrong? You look very worried about something.”

Sunset gulped hard, which didn't escape Mr. Cake's notice. Trying to be as casual as she could be, she replied, “D-Do you remember when I wanted t-to talk to you about something?”

“Yes, I do.” Mr. Cake shut off the car and laid a gentle hand onto Sunset's shoulder. “Is there something bothering you? I can help, but only if you tell me what's bothering you.”

“Well, you see...” Sunset let out a soft sigh, trying to form her words, “So there's, like, this person that I know at school, and, well,” Sunset began to stammer on her words, wondering how Mr. Cake would react. “I... That is, I, w-well, I--”

Mr. Cake chuckled lightly, starting up the car again as he pulled out into the street after checking to make sure it was safe. He glanced over to Sunset, who looked even more confused and worried than she did a few moments ago. Letting out soft sigh, he said, “I take it you like this person, Sunset.”

“Well, yes, I like this person.” Sunset turned her eyes to the window next to her. “I, well, sort of like like her, you know? And I must sound like a complete nut to you right now.”

“No, Sunset, you don’t sound like a nut to me. Not at all.” Mr. Cake shook his head, a soft but pleasantly reassuring smile forming on his lips. “Does this person have the same feelings for you as well?”

“I don’t know. I'm, well,” Sunset looked away, “scared to ask her.” Sunset looked down at her miniskirt, tugging on the edges of it. “W-What would you do? I mean, I like her and all, but I'm scared that she might not like me the same way.”

Mr. Cake brought the car to full stop at a red light. Taking the opportunity, he looked at Sunset, smiled warmly, and gently said, “Tell her how you feel, Sunset. If she doesn’t like you in the same way, then that's her loss. But if she does, then by all means, explore this new side of life. However, I would at least make one suggestion.”

Sunset turned her gaze back to Mr. Cake. Chewing on her lower lip she nervously said, “And that would be?”

“That you take it slow and easy. Don’t rush into this. Take your time, and let your love for her and, hopefully, her love for you become something truly special.”

Sunset looked out her window, smiling. Then, she looked down, her smile faded, and she said, “Stop the car.”

“Why? We're still about ten minutes away from your school.”

Sunset looked at Mr. Cake her eyes pleading. He nodded and pulled over. Sunset looked down at her miniskirt again. Her hands began to sweat and tremble as she stammered on her words, desperately trying to tell Mr. Cake what she needed him to hear.

“I, well, t-that is, I think I made a horrible mistake, and y-your going to be really mad at me once you find out about it. So I don’t know what to do other than to try to ask for help.”

Mr. Cake smiled warmly to her, laying his hand onto her shoulder and saying gently to her, “You slept with her, didn't you, Sunset?” Starting up the car again, Mr. Cake said, “I'm not mad, Sunset. I'm a bit concerned, yes, but I'm not mad at all.”

“YOU KNOW ABOUT THAT?” Sunset exclaimed. “But how could you know about something like that?”

Mr. Cake looked into her eyes. But where she should have seen anger or malice, she only saw love and tenderness from him. Looking back down, she she tried to calm herself by letting out a few quick breaths of air as she heard him say to her gently, “I know because I was young too, once.”

Mr. Cake was about to pull up to the curb of the school when Sunset said, “N-Nothing actually happened between me and her. She just spent the night in bed with me. And I was asleep when she got in, anyway. We didn’t have sex or anything like that.”

“While I'm glad that nothing physical happened, I do at least wish you had waited till you were a bit older to have done that with her. I understand that you're young and you want to experience life to its fullest, but something like this really needs to be taken one step at a time.”

“What do you think I should do? I'm worried that she'll hate me when I tell her how I feel about her. Besides, I think the only reason she got into bed with me was because I was having a nightmare.”

“About Cheerilee again or about the Fall Formal?” Mr. Cake asked. “I know you've had a few nightmares since moving into the cafe.”

“It was about Cheerilee again. Because of what I did.” Sunset looked down. “It was my fault that I caused her to…” Her voice trailed off as she tried to change the subject. “I need to know something before you pull up to the school.”

“Sure, Sunset. What is it?” Mr. Cake put the parking brake on and opened up the center council, taking out a small envelope and handing it to Sunset. Sunset took the envelope with a raised eyebrow and a slightly confused look on her face. “For your lunches at school for the next six weeks. Remember? We pay for your school meals, and in return, you bring home good grades.”

“Oh, right. I forgot that I need to renew my lunch card today. I take it that's why we got here so early.” Sunset looked at the clock on Mr. Cake's dashboard. It read 6:50 am. “Anyways, I need to know if I should tell my friends about that thing that I have in your safe. When should I tell them about that? How should I go about telling them?” She placed the envelope into her inside left coat pocket, then sighed heavily. “I have no idea what to say to them. All I have is my fear that they'll hate me for not telling them about it sooner. And what's even worse, I fear that I'll lose her for sleeping with her yet keeping her in the dark about my past. I really don’t know what to do.”

“I don’t think you'll lose Rainbow for not telling her right away about your past, honey. I do think she'll understand why you didn’t tell her about what happened to you in Equestria sooner.”

“How did you know I was talking about Rainbow?”

“When you work at the cafe and she's there, you always sneak glances over to wherever she is sitting. You also left your phone on last night, and I saw that her picture was set as the background. And you left your binder downstairs with her name scrawled over several pieces of paper, each i dotted with a heart.” Leaning in close, he whispered to Sunset, who blushed brightly, “I’ll let you in on a little secret, Sunset. I did the same thing with Mom as well. Besides, whenever Rainbow's around, you tend to, well, glow.”

Sunset looked down, blushing even more deeply than before. Mr. Cake was right on the money. She looked back up as he said to her, “As for telling your friends and Ms. Cheerilee, I think I might be able to help you with that. That is, if you're willing to let me help you.”

Sunset reached out, taking a hold of Mr. Cake in a warm hug, whispering into his ear gently, “Thank you, Dad. I would like that very much." Ending the hug, she said, “I've been so horrified about what she might do when she finds out what I did and what I caused to happen to...” Sunset opened the car door and got out, letting her voice trail off. Before closing the door, she said, “I’ll see you here after school, Dad. Thanks for everything and for talking with me.”

“That's what I'm here for. Now, do you have your homework?”

Sunset set her bag down, opened it, then looked up and nodded. Mr. Cake smiled and waved warmly to her, started up the car, and drove away as Sunset turned to head inside the school.

Sunset headed for the cafeteria first. Reaching into her jacket's inside pocket, she took out the money Mr. Cake gave to her. She handed it over to Apple Rose, the lunch supervising attendant, saying to the older woman who took the money from Sunset's hands, “I'd like to renew my lunch card, please, Mrs. Rose.”

Apple Rose took Sunset's envelope, opened it, counted out the money, then punched in the amount into her cash register, saying, “Will there be anything else, Sunset?”

“No, thank you. I need to get going, so I don’t have any time to chat today.”

Looking at her with a soft but very pleasant smile, Apple Rose replied kindly to Sunset, “Aren’t you forgetting something, dear?”

Sunset looked a bit confused by Apple Rose’s statement. After replying in the negative, she turned to leave, when Apple Rose stopped her. Apple Rose picked up a bright red, shiny apple, that she had in a basket located next to her register saying, “Here, dear. I think you forgot this.”

Sunset turned back around just in time to catch the apple. Smiling politely to her, Sunset said, “Thank you, Apple Rose.”

Sunset headed out of the cafeteria towards her locker, getting there a few moments later. She took notice right away that all her friends were there, and they all had very angry looks on their faces. Taking a step towards them, she said, “Hey, girls.” Sunset took another few steps. “What's going on?”

Rarity stepped forward, her face showing the purest signs of anger. She replied very glumly to her, “Sunset, we need to talk.”

Next Chapter: Summer Sunrise (Edited and titled by Icecreammac) Estimated time remaining: 18 Hours, 11 Minutes