Just a few minutes away before arriving at the bakery, the sound of thunder from the overcast skies brought me and Sunset's hands instinctively to our ears. The wind picked up, then the rain came down immediately. As we finally arrived, a wave of relief passed over us, but we were soaking wet. We entered the bakery to an immediate welcoming voice by Mrs. Cake, then gasped as she observed the current condition of our attires, "Goodness! You girls are soaking wet! You girls must hurry and dry up. Come quickly." Mrs. Cake invited us to the back room of the bakery. We scampered towards a small, latched entrance door that led us there, and Mrs. Cake draped both towels behind our backs. "I don't know what happened, it was pretty sunny just five minutes ago, but when I came back from the bathroom, out of nowhere, it suddenly got dark and began to rain..."

Sunset Shimmer softly grinned at Mrs. Cake, and began drying her own hair with the towel, "I'm sorry Mrs. Cake, we should've brought an umbrella if we knew that it was going to rain like it did."

".. Thank You for the towels." I added.

Mrs. Cake smiled, "That's no problem at all, girls." The sound of a chime from the entrance door was heard at the front, and a couple of voices followed after, bragging about Mrs. Cake's most famous chocolate chip cupcake. "Are you girls going to be okay here for awhile?" She looked at the both of us.

Sunset nodded, "Yes."

Mrs. Cake chortled, "Okay, once you girls dry up, the cakes are on me." She darted out of the back room to help the customers out at the front.

"That was my line..." Sunset mumbled.

"S'cuse me?" I replied with an eyebrow raised.

"Oh.. nothing.." Sunset said with no signs of emotion.

There were two vacant seats that we sat on, we both waited patiently. The room was silent, the expression on our faces didn't show much as we both steadily looked blankly on the ground. Sunset broke the silence, "..Wow.."

I looked up at Sunset, preserving the same expression, "What..."

Sunset glanced back at me, "Just our day, huh?"

I sighed, and looked blankly back down on the ground, "I guess so.."

Silence took over between us once again for a short moment, then Sunset re-initialized with words, "How do you feel?"

I shrugged, "cold.."

Sunset wished that I would elaborate more, she asked another question, hoping that she wouldn't get any more vague responses from me, "How are the rest of your sisters?"

I lifted my head and glared at her, "Like you care?.."

Sunset paused, and raised a concerned look in her eyes. "... I actually do.."

"Why?.."

"... Because I do.."

I exhaled a gleeful laugh, "That's not really a compelling argument.."

Sunset gazed into my eyes with an attentive look, "A lot has happened, Clair. You don't have to believe me. I understand you want one thing done, and that is to get you out of your curse. But I also want you to know that I'm here to help anybody not because I'm trying to win a spot of leadership over my friends or to become better than anyone else. I want to do it because I want to be a better person.... And I owe it to you as an apology..."

"Thanks, so.. What made you decide this path suddenly?"

Sunset let out a brooding expression, and looked down on the ground, "Well... Lately, I looked back of all the wrong things I've done..." She sighed deeply, "I wish life had a rewind button so that I can undo it all. I mean of course, my friends forgave me, but the challenging part is forgiving myself." Sunset sat glooming over her mistakes, I shifted my chair next to her showing empathy. She continued, "I fell into my desires leaving Equestria to come here. It was that time I thought I was powerful enough to overcome anything, hell I thought I was more powerful than Princess Celestia, herself. But I was so wrong..." I faintly shook my head, "I want to go back and apologize, but I don't think I'm ready to show myself after all I've done." Sunset's expression remain unchanged, but her tears were beginning to blur her vision, then a single droplet coursed down her cheek, "I've always hid these feelings from my friends, but there were moments they caught me staring off into blank space. I want to tell them how I really feel, but I just can't get myself to." Then the area vibrated due to the sound of a thunder-clap.

I rested a comforting hand over her shoulder, "Sunset... No matter how many mistakes you make, or how slow your progress, you are still way ahead of everyone who isn't even trying." I have said, "I'm like over a thousand years old trapped in this seventeen year old vessel. I've shared my experiences of all the rights and wrongs. But you are the first person I know who goes this far to correct your mistakes. We all make mistakes, Sunset.. But sometimes there's just no way to go back and fix them. But we can move forward wiser and more in control of our own lives. When you realize you've made a mistake, take immediate steps to correct it, and that is exactly what you're doing right now." Sunset wiped her tears with her own bear hands, and sniffled. I unzipped my bag, and took out a tissue and handed it to her, "Tissue?"

Sunset kindly accepted the tissue, and she wiped her tears, "Thank You.."

I smiled faintly at her, "Sunset you have nice friends. I'm sure if you tell them how you really feel, they'll be there to comfort you."

Sunset nodded with a sniffle, "Yes..."

I chuckled lightly as an attempt to cheer her up, "Ya know, it was fate that brought us here. It wasn't just a coincidence that we bumped into each other." Soon after I said that, the rain had finally stopped falling, and the sun shined through the window beautifully of the back room of this bakery. Sunset and I stared at the window in amazement. I continued with words, "Well, ain't that a bucket 'o sunshine.."

Sunset's eyes suddenly widened, "Wow!... Beautiful!.."

Observing the light through the window, we also realized that our clothes are finally dry. We both stood up and draped the dampen towels on the back of our chairs.

Mrs. Cake poked her head in to check in on us to see if we we're alright. She smiled, "You girls are okay? It stopped raining all of a sudden!.. I never seen anything like that in my life."

Sunset and I exchanged smiling glances, then we looked at her. Sunset giggled innocently, "It's one of those rare moments that we should cherish."

"I agree." I added.

Mrs. Cake laughed, "You girls are a treat!" She then observed our clothes closely, "Wow, looks like you both are all dried up! Come on out here, like I said, the cakes are on me!"

Sunset and I expressed our gratitude towards Mrs. Cake. We both came out of the back room, and sat by the window in the dining booth.

---

Exhausting an hour sitting within this bakery, with our half-eaten cupcakes, seemed so quick when you're having too much fun. Sunset and I talked about things what we like to do for fun and such, we had lots of laughter. She turned out to be a very sweet girl. I know there's lots of story behind her past, but we chose not to dwell on it. Sunset placed her satchel bag out, and pulled out an old book that looked like it was from the twentieth century. The pages looked torn, and produced an unpleasant musty smell. Sunset grinned, "After spending lots of time of research, I finally got it."

I let out a quizzical look, "Where'd you get that?"

She placed the book down on the table, "Equestria."

My jaw dropped, "Wow, but how?"

"Well, to make long story short, after hours and nights spent with little sleep, I've researched many books from this world, just to get this particular book from Equestria, after trials and errors of course. I finally found the cure."

"Impressive... But how did you get that book from Equestria?"

"Princess Twilight got it for me."

"Oh, okay?.." I still remain a quizzical expression.

"Uhuh! Ya see, the books we have here in this world are... Pretty different than the books we have in Equestria, but not so different at the same time... Since you're from Equestria, we have to grab this book."

"Oh.." My thoughts lingered for a moment, "Sunset... Did you really spend nights without sleep for all this?" I said, "You really didn't need to do that for me..."

She then opened the bookmarked page of the book, "Oh it's nothing, Clair. Don't worry about me. I wanted to do this."

I expressed my gratitude, "Thank You so much.."

Sunset smiled, "That's no biggy." She then skimmed through the page with her index finger, "Let's see here..." I tilt my head slightly to read the page what she was skimming through. She continued, "From what I've gathered here, supposedly there were five gems. But it was to our knowledge that there were only three, which are your sisters. Then when you showed up, it was to our surprise that there's a fourth."

I quizzically looked up at Sunset, "Then who is the fifth? I don't remember having a fifth sister..."

Sunset remain focused on the page, then turned to the next, "It doesn't mention anything about it. But it states something here..." Sunset read out loud, "The fifth witch of the four siren sisters: Thy fifth is unhampered, all gems must be shattered." She stopped reading, and pointed out a line in the book, "Then it explains here how we can defeat the witch, but the ink is blurred out..." She skipped a couple of lines within the book and read out loud again, "Thy witch may or may not appear in dreams, but your impending doom nears, my beloved. Sing now or never!" Sunset simply looked up at me with seriousness, "Clair... Have you had any weird dreams of this so-called witch?.."

My breath became short momentarily after hearing that one passage read which terrified me to my very soul. If it wasn't for Sunset, who knows where I'll be pend to. After months of trying to find an answer, we finally found it. Now explaining it to my sisters is going to be a hell of a ride.

Sunset nudged me one more time for my attention as I stared into blank space, "Clair, are you still with me?.."

I snapped into reality, and looked blankly at Sunset in a low voice, "... Yeah..."

Sunset sensed my nervousness, and my absent mind. It begged her a question of what caused me to express such emotion, "Clair, are you okay?" She placed her comforting hand on mine, and held it, "It's going to be alright Clair. We'll go through this together. Me, my friends, and your sisters."

I nodded, ".. Okay.. Thanks..."

Sunset continued comforting my hands with a concerned look in her eyes, "Do you want to go home, Clair? I can fetch a ride with you on the way home if you need me."

With the same expression, I delayed response, "It's okay, I can go alone.."

Sunset's concern grew, "... I'm sorry Clair, this was a bad idea..."

I sighed nervously, "No, you did the right thing of telling me sooner than later. Thank You.."

"Mmhm..." Sunset somewhat nodded, "Lets continue this another time... Lets take you home..." Sunset closed the book, placed it back inside her satchel bag, and zipped it closed. Sunset got up from her seat of her side of the booth, and helped me up. We both walked slowly, arm in arm, towards the bakery exit. Sunset turned her head to Mrs. Cake, who is currently helping three customers, and waved a farewell before we made our exit.

It's a sunny day as expected when the rain suddenly stopped. Sunset called a cab for us, and waited patiently on a nearby bench. Sunset made efforts to cheer me up by telling stories about how The Rainbooms were formed, and how Rainbow Dash thinks she's the epitome of the band. I thought it was pretty funny and cute. I also shared my stories about Cuddle Bug and Moon Dancer, how we all sometimes act loony in front of the public just for kicks and giggles. We also talked about music. She wanted to collab with me sometime when there's an upcoming event, and I gladly accepted that offer. Sunset does a great job on cheering me up, but I know it won't last long. The thought of the curse will always appear in the back of my subconscious mind.

The cheerful atmosphere suddenly turned really heavy. Adagio appeared right behind us. She stood there, with a sudden raging look in her eyes. We both turned around, shocked and horrified. "Sunset!..." Adagio had said in a very hateful voice, "You bitch." Adagio suddenly launched a critical slap across Sunset's face which made her falter to the ground.

"No, Adagio! What the hell are you doing?!" I jumped up and shoved Adagio away, "What was that for?!"

Adagio remain the same raging expression with her fist tightly clenched, "I did what I had to do."

I quickly knelt by sunset's side on the ground, and attempted to raise her head. Adagio's slap got her really good, causing her lips to bleed violently. I instantly took an extra tissue out of my pocket, and wiped her bleeding mouth.

Adagio's rage tangled in with confusion, as she absorbed this questionable involvement between me and Sunset. She couldn't believe what she was seeing. "I can ask the same for you, Clair..." She asked, "Why are you helping her?"

I can already feel the raging turmoil flowing through Adagio's veins, so I dodged her question for the mean time, and continue to aid Sunset. I'm aware of the things I've done, I know the consequences of my actions, which I'm prepared for. I know I shouldn't have went against Adagio's back, but like what Adagio had just said: I did what I had to do.