Twilight finally found her way out of the hospital and quickly spotted Sonata Dusk crossing the street with the mesmerized doctor. “Sonata,” she called, running to catch up to the pair. Sonata looked back toward Twilight. “Sonata Dusk, what are you doing here?”

Not sure how to answer, Sonata paused, standing in the middle of the street just as the light turned from green to red. A loud honk sounded, and the three all turned to face an angry driver as he yelled, “Get the fuck out of the road, you idiots!”

Before Sonata could respond, she suddenly felt something grab her hand. Almost falling over while being pulled towards the sidewalk, Sonata yelped in shock and looked behind her. She relaxed when she saw that it was just Gilda leading her back over to the bus stop.

“Sonata, you need to be more careful! What would you have done if that driver didn't stop?” Gilda asked with slight worry on her face and in her voice. “Summer is lying on the bus stop bench behind me, but I need you for this.”

Sonata nodded to Gilda, then turned to face Twilight, who was staring at her a bit blankly as the four of them made their way to the sidewalk. “Twilight, I don’t have time to fight with you,” Sonata began. “If you wanna fight, I’ll do it after I get this blood thingy done.”

“Sonata, what's going on?” Twilight asked. “Why is there another Sunset Shimmer in this world? Why does she need a blood transfusion?” Twilight paused as she thought to herself, "Is this... Is this Sunset's human counterpart?"

Sonata was about to answer, when Summer moaned out in pain, “Gilda, it hurts so much.”

Gilda sat back down on the bench pulling Summer into her lap gently, saying to her, “Shh, I'm here, Summer. Just close your eyes and try to think of something other than the pain.”

Twilight stepped forward, stopping when Gilda pulled out a switchblade. Clicking the blade open with an angry look in her eyes Gilda snarled, “If you wanna hurt her, you’ll have to go through me first!”

Sonata looked to the doctor and said, “Well? Get on with it already! You are, like, the worst doctor ever!”

As Sonata handed over the blood bag to him, Twilight saw how dark and black the blood was. Lunging forward, she yelped out, “No, wait! Don’t use that blood; it's tainted.” With growing fear in her voice as the doctor took the blood, Twilight continued, “You’ll kill her if you use that blood. I have something that can work.”

“But Summer keeps saying she needs Sunset's blood.” Sonata said, confused as she held up her hand to halt the doctor. “Do you, like, have any magic that can fix this?”

“No, but I do have a vial of Tears of Hope. If we can get Summer to Equestria, then I am sure the Tears can heal her completely.” Immediately after Twilight said that, Sonata's words sunk in. "That's Sunset's blood?" she shouted.

"Well, yeah. Who better to get blood from than the one who looks just like you, right?" Sonata said.

"B-But how? Why does it look like that?"

"Don't know, don't care. We went through too much trouble getting this. We can't back out now," Gilda said.

Summer reached up, taking a hold of Gilda’s hand, saying softly, “Please, G-Gilda. Let her tr-try.”

“But, I...” Gilda closed her eyes tightly and sniffed hard, lowering the knife. “Fine.” Opening her eyes again, Gilda continued, looking at Twilight with tears streaming down her cheeks. “If you hurt her, I’ll end you.”

Kneeling down next to Summer, Twilight gently laid her hand onto Summer's shoulder saying softly, “It’ll be alright, Summer. I won’t hurt you, nor am I going to let you die here. Sonata can take you back to Equestria once I give her a vial of the Tears.”

"I get to go back to Equestria!?" Sonata asked, surprised and delighted.

"Yes. I'm trusting you with this, Sonata. Don't make me regret it," Twilight said sternly. As she gave the vial to Sonata, she continued, “Do not use it until you are in my castle, Sonata. Otherwise, it won’t work.”

“How do you know that?”

“I've already tried to use one vial on Sunset. The Tears healed her mind but not her body.” Twilight got up, sighing heavily as a dark-purple car pulled up to the hospital across the street, followed by a brown car, which was also followed by a police car, which definitely got the group's attention. Vinyl and Octavia got out of the brown car, while Luna got out of the purple car while Brushed Jade got out of the police car with Sweetie Belle, Apple Bloom, and Scootaloo. Twilight quickly excused herself and headed back towards the hospital.

Gilda took out her phone, sighing to herself, “I have no choice.” She looked down at Summer, who was anything but alright. “I have to call him. I need to get you home, and I doubt you’ll make it walking.”

“Gilda,” Sonata began softly, taking a seat next to her. “Summer can’t go back to the apartment as she is. My sisters would tear her apart.” Looking down with a soft sigh, Sonata continued, “Please, let me help you. I know how to get her to Equestria.”

“Why are you so hell bent on helping us?” Gilda flipped her phone open, placing her thumb on the call button. “What the fuck did we do to make you want to help us so badly?”

“Well, besides fixing my heart gem, I want to be part of a family, and so far, you and Summer haven't treated me like a complete idiot. That's more than I can say about my sisters.”

“Gilda, let her help us,” Summer wheezed. “I need to go home, and Sonata is the only one that can get me there.” Summer struggled to sit up, and Gilda swallowed hard as she helped her. “You're going to have to come with me. I doubt Sonata has the strength to carry me through the portal.”

“Portal? What portal? Is this more of that magic stuff you can do?”

“Yes and no.” Taking a deep breath, trying to relax and keep her mind off her physical pain, Summer continued, “I'll explain everything to you, and I'll understand if you decide to walk away once you see my true form.”

“True form?” Gilda had a look of confusion and worry on her face. “You're starting to freak me out a little, Summer, but I told you I won’t leave you, and I meant it.”

“Heh,” Summer scoffed lightly. “You might change your mind when you see what I and Sonata look like in our natural states.”

---

Twilight made her way back across the street and was entering the hospital. Spurred on by the memory of Sunset's blood and bits of conversation she overheard about some commotion in Sunset's room, she rushed to the second floor and stopped in her tracks when she saw Luna holding her sobbing sister in her arms. The Crusaders all had their heads hung low, and Twilight heard Sweetie Belle saying, “What have we done?”

“What does she mean?" Twilight thought before it clicked. "No. It couldn’t have been those three. They're Anon-a-Miss?” Twilight stormed over to the girls and demanded, “Tell me it wasn’t you three. For the love of all that is good in Equestria, tell me it wasn’t the three of you that helped to put Sun--”

Her words feel short as she heard a loud "Clear!" Twilight watched in horror while a doctor pressed the paddles of the defibrillator to Sunset's chest and side, causing her body to jolt painfully. Twilight backed away from the window, tearing up and saying, “Why? Why did this have to happen to her?” A sudden hand on her shoulder caught her attention, and she turned around to look behind her.

Mr. Cake's sad eyes locked with Twilight's own as he said softly while pulling her into him, “I don’t know why these three thought it was a good idea to bully our daughter, Twilight.” Looking to the three as they all watched in horror while Sunset received another jolt from the defibrillator, he continued, “But don't worry. Justice will be brought!” Feeling Twilight shake in his arms, Mr. Cake softly continued, “Vinyl and Octavia will be here shortly. They and my wife are getting something to eat, which is just as well; I don’t want my wife to see this. I don’t think she can handle it, not in her condition.”

Looking up Twilight sniffed, saying, “C-Condition?”

Mr. Cake met her eyes, and Twilight could swear that she saw a bit of pride in the sea of sorrow that stared back at her. “Well, you see, if Sunset lives, she'll be a big sister, and I--”

Mr. Cake’s words fell short as he and everyone else heard a soft blip from the heart monitor still hooked up to Sunset's chest. Twilight let go of Mr. Cake and pressed her hands into tight fists as she said, “Please fight, Sunset. You have to win. You have to come back to us. Your baby brother or sister will need you. I need you. We all need you.”

Next Chapter: Worst Fears Confirmed (Edited by Icecreammac) Estimated time remaining: 13 Hours, 3 Minutes