Sunset saw a silver bell in front of her when she enterd the shop. The bell had a sign in front of it which read, "Ring for service." She rang the bell, then heard, “I’ll be there in just a minute. Look around the shop. I'm sure you’ll find something to your liking.”

Sunset, hearing the soft, friendly voice coming from the back of the shop, placed a hoof to her chin in thought. “I know that voice.” Just as she saw the curtain begin to rise up to reveal the pony inside, she muttered, “It can’t be? Could it?”

A light-yellow-furred pony with a light-green mane and a daisy cutie mark came out from the back of the shop. She had a name tag that read, "Daisy Green". Her swollen belly wobbled slightly back and forth, and she let out a quick breath, placing a gentle hoof to her belly with a warm smile. As she was about to speak, Sunset said, “How far along are you? If I may I ask, that is.”

Daisy smiled kindly, replying gently, “Almost ten months. Although,” Daisy took another quick breath, letting out a soft sigh as she felt her unborn foal kick, then continued, “I have to admit that there have been times over the past few weeks that I just wanted this to be over with.”

"I can't say I blame you. Congratulations on the upcoming bundle of joy.”

"Thank you very much."

Daisy was about to sit down, when Sunset noticed a pillow off to her right. Sunset very quickly used her magic, pulling over the pillow for the mare to sit on. Daisy smiled when she noticed Sunset's actions. She sat down on the pillow, saying softly while still rubbing her belly, “My name is Daisy Green. Welcome to my shop.”

“Hello, Daisy. I'm Sunset. Do you sell Silver Bell tea here?”

“Yes, I do. That’ll be six bits, please.”

Sunset placed her bits onto the counter, then looked around the shop while Daisy counted the bits, placing them into her register once finished. While Daisy headed into the back of her shop, Sunset took notice of a brown, leather book on the countertop sitting next to Daisy’s register. Using her magic, Sunset opened the book to one of the ear-marked pages and began to read.

“The Fuchsia divaricata plant is a very rare, tiny plant and can be found anywhere near rivers and lakes. It blooms year-round. It has tiny, spear-shaped leaves, which are usually dark yellow. It also grows decent-sized flowers, which can be orange, dark bronze, and dark silver. These plants grow within short distances from each other, but it's easy to control and maintain their growth. The plant is highly toxic and can be used as pest control in gardens but must be kept away from any plants or crops that are to be eaten. The plant’s leaves can cause a condition in ponies known as Sleep Syndrome. Ponies suffering from Sleep Syndrome lapse into a coma from which they will never awaken. Currently, there is no known cure for Sleep Syndrome. The only animals that are currently known to be immune or resistant to this plant's poison are bugbears and all species of birds. Other defense mechanisms of this plant are its foul-tasting stems and roots and its sharp green or bright-yellow thorns under the flowers.”

A few moments after reading the excerpt, Sunset closed it, muttering to herself, “I hope I can find this plant. It'll make doing what I need to do so much easier.”

Sunset didn’t notice Daisy returning from the back of her shop until she heard, “Here is your order, Sunset. Is there anything else that I can do for you today?”

“What?” Sunset looked up, a bit surprised as she continued, “Oh, no, thank you. That'll be all for today. Thanks again.” Sunset took her order in her magic, then trotted out of the shop. Looking across the street, she saw Spike sitting next to Derpy on a bench. Spike looked worn out and was huffing and puffing, while Derpy hopped about playfully. Neither noticed her. “Well, well. It likes like those two had fun. I bet Derpy gave Spike a good chase,” Sunset muttered.

Turning eastward, Sunset saw a small garden. Remembering what she had read in Daisy’s book, Sunset trotted over to it. Looking at the garden more closely, to her delight, Sunset saw the plant she was looking for. Before making her move, she returned to the apothecary. Daisy saw Sunset enter the shop and raised her eyebrow, smirking. "Heh, turns out I forgot a few things after all," Sunset said, chuckling nervously.
Browsing the shelves, she soon found a sturdy pestle and mortar and a small flask, each with tags that priced them at ten bits and six bits, respectively. Returning to the counter, she gave the items to Daisy along with sixteen bits.

"Thanks, Sunset. Now, are you sure there's nothing else you need?" Daisy asked, chuckling.

"No, I'm sure this time. Thanks, Daisy."

Waving goodbye, Sunset turned around and left the shop. Getting back to the garden, Sunset used her magic to discreetly pick several small hoof fulls of the toxic plant. Once her task was complete, Sunset stuffed them into her saddlebags to crush later and returned to Spike and Derpy.

“Are you two ready to go back to the castle, Spike?” Sunset asked with a slightly unconvincing smile on her face. “I need to get back to school.”

Spike wiped some sweat from his head then nodded, showing Sunset how to get back to the castle. Spike turned to leave, with Derpy hoping about, playful as ever. When he noticed the new saddlebag on Sunset's back, he said, “Hey Sunset, what's in the bag?”

“Oh, just some, uh,” Sunset pushed some dirt around with her hoof as she thought of something to say, “uh, some gifts for my parents back home. Now, I don’t have time for a game of twenty questions, Spike. I really do need to get back to school. Lunch will be over soon, and I can’t afford to be late to class.”

“Oh, right. Well, if you'll follow me, I’ll show you how to get back to the castle.”

A few moments later, Sunset found herself walking the hallway back to where the mirror was kept. As Spike yawned as he walked close behind her, Sunset turned to him, saying softly, “How about you tell me which way to go from here, Spike. I’ll take it from here. That way, you can get some sleep.”

Spike looked up at her with tired, sleepy eyes, saying, “Alright. Just go four more doors down from here. The door you want is the one with Twilight's cutie mark on it.”

“Thank you, Spike.” Sunset pulled the little baby dragon into her, hugging him warmly. Spike thought he felt tears dripping onto his head but quickly brushed the thought away as Sunset continued, “I’ll miss you.” Setting him down, Sunset turned and walked on ahead before the little dragon could say anything to her.

As she walked down the corridor, she heard two voices through a doorway to her right. One was clearly Twilight’s, while the other was Princess Celestia's.

“--dangerous, Princess. Why can’t you see that?”

“Because I think she can still be reformed, Twilight.”

“She wouldn’t know how to be good if you hit her with the Elements of Harmony!”

“What would you have me to do, Twilight? Just give up on her like I did before?”

“Yes! You know what she's done! Mind control, attempted murder, declaring war on you, the list goes on! For the good of all of Equestria, you have to stay away from her! She can't be redeemed.” Sunset’s eyes went wide with fear before she closed them tightly in sorrow. “She belongs in Tartarus, where she can’t hurt anypony else.”

Having heard enough, Sunset stepped through the door, catching Twilight and Princess Celestia off guard as she sobbed out, “I thought you were my friend, Twilight.”

“What?” Twilight began, shocked to see Sunset standing in the doorway with tears running down her cheeks. “Sunset, how long have you been out there?”

“Long enough to know that I can’t trust you! You're just like her!” she shouted, pointing her hoof towards Princess Celestia. “All you care about is yourself!”

“Sunset, what--” Princess Celestia began.

“SHUT UP!”

“Sunset! You can’t talk to royalty like tha--”

Without thinking, Sunset fired her magic at Twilight, hitting her squarely in the chest and sending her right into a nearby wall. Twilight yelped out in pain when she hit the wall. After checking to make sure Twilight was alright, Princess Celestia turned to Sunset, saying, “Sunset, please calm down. Don’t make--”

“I said shut up! I am fucking tired of you and all your fucking horseshit!” Before Sunset knew what was happening, her body burst into green flames, and her eyes went as black as coal “You think it was my fault for what happened to her, don't you!” Sunset screamed. “You think it was my fault for what happened to your damn daughter!” Sunset blasted Celestia in the chest, knocking her back a few feet.

“Sunset, please, don’t do this.” Princess Celestia tried to push Sunset's continued barrage aside but failed. “Sunset, please don’t repeat what happened two years ago.”

Sunset continued to rain fire on Princess Celestia, and it was all the latter could do to keep from falling over. The strain on Celestia was almost too much to bear as she used her own magic to keep Sunset from sending her flying through a wall behind her. “Sunset, listen to me! I can--”

“I am tired of listening to your lies!” Sunset spat back in rage, her power only growing with her anger “All my fucking life, you lied to me about everything!” With one final blast of magic, Sunset sent Princess Celestia flying through the wall. Turning to leave, Sunset continued through bitter, cold tears, “I hate you! I hate both of you! I trusted you both, and you both fucking used me!”

Sunset bolted from the room, thick tears streaming down her orange cheeks. Spike who had heard the commotion, came into the hallway to see what all the yelling was about, only to get knocked over by Sunset. Before he could say anything, Sunset picked herself up and ran to the mirror room. Kicking the door open with her front hooves, she ran up to the mirror and jumped through it.

Meanwhile, a very bewildered Twilight picked herself up off the floor, followed by a sobbing Princess Celestia. Twilight had thick welts covering her entire body, from her snout to her hind legs, and Princess Celestia fared no better. As she picked her aching body up off the floor, Princess Celestia sobbed out, “Not again. I can’t lose my baby again.”

Not sure what her mentor meant, Twilight helped Princess Celestia over to the nearby couch, setting her down onto its soft cushions. Twilight tended to Princess Celestia’s injuries. Once she was satisfied, Twilight headed into the hallway, soon finding Spike running towards her. As they approached each other, he said, “Sunset ran off towards the mirror. I think she went through it. She looked really upset. What happened?”

“I don't know. I'm very worried, though. Losing her friends, her home, her mentor, her reputation, I think it all caused her to have a mental breakdown.”

“Well, I'm sure you'd be able to help her.”

“That's just it, Spike. I don’t know if anyone can help her. She might even go so far as to stop trusting the Cakes, the two she's closest to in that world. Once that happens, who knows what she’ll do? Come on, we need to go.”

Twilight and Spike headed for the mirror room, stopping when they heard, “Twilight! Oh, thank Celestia we found you!” Looking up, Twilight saw Rainbow Dash zooming toward her. Rainbow continued, “AJ and I were hiking with Apple Bloom, scoots and Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom fell off the side of the mountain, and now we can't find her! You gotta help us.”

“But I--”

“Now, Twilight!” Rainbow flew towards an open window, yelling back just before she flew out, “This is AJ’s little sister we're talking about, here!”

Looking between the window and the mirror room and panicking, Twilight pointed her hoof towards the mirror room door, yelling out as she took to the air, “Spike, go after Sunset. I’ll catch up when I can.”

“Got it, Twilight. I’ll help her.” Spike gulped as he ran towards the door, opened it, then jumped towards the portal. “Somehow.”

Spike landed outside of CHS, rolling slightly. He picked himself up just in time to see Sunset enter the school. Running up to the door, Spike found it was too heavy and too big for a little purple dog to pry open by himself. Trying to get anyone's attention, Spike started whining and pawing at the front door desperately. If Sunset heard him, she gave no indication of it as she made her way to her locker.

Next Chapter: Consequences (Edited by Icecreammac) Estimated time remaining: 13 Hours, 58 Minutes