//------------------------------//
// Chapter 1: In Which a Bathroom is Trashed 
// Story: A Broken Mirror 
// by Ma Zedong 
//------------------------------//

"AOOGA," Cadance was snapped out her stupor by a loud honk from the road beside her. After having her explanation of who Sunset was cut off by the return of the aforementioned teen, backpack in hand, Cadance had gradually slipped into her personal thoughts as they all walked together towards Sunset's "hideout". On some level she acknowledged that the self-propelling carriages that zipped by them every minute or so were new and fascinating, but she barely spared them a glance as her brain attempted to process everything she'd observed in the past hour. The fact that Sunset was alive and breathing was just the tip of an iceberg that included ancient portals, Changeling plots, and a rumbling stomach that was definitely not in the same place it had been yesterday. 

Cadance spared a glance towards her fellow Equestrians, noting that not a single word had been said by either of them since they'd left the school grounds. Twilight seemed to be almost as deep in thought as she herself had been, though instead of staring blankly ahead her eyes were tracking every new and fascinating thing that passed their way. Cadance imagined that Twilight was making a mental list of questions to barrage Sunset with later. As for Sunset herself, she was guiding them forward with a look of stony determination. Cadance could almost hear the gears turning in Sunset's head as she planned and replanned... something good or evil, Cadance wasn't sure.

As they kept walking, Cadance began to notice a gradual shift in the scenery. The more colorful storefronts they had first passed gave way to graying and decaying facades that looked dull even in the light of the rising sun. If human settlements were anything like their pony counterparts, they were now entering a "bad" part of town. Cadance stole another glance at Sunset to make sure they were going in the right direction. Sunset had the same look of determination as before, but now also bore a small smirk. A smirk, Cadance knew, that indicated Sunset had finished crafting a particularly conniving plan. A smirk, she realized, she had last seen before Sunset had embarked on her ill-fated quest into Celestia's personal library. 

Before Cadance could ask about the smirk, however, Sunset suddenly stopped in front of a small store with two tables out front. Above the door hung a sign that said "Java Bean Cafe", with the letters seeming to ride the steam coming from what Cadance hoped and prayed with every fiber of her being was a depiction of a coffee cup. Sunset cleared her throat and pointed a thumb back towards the shop, "We're going to get food here, and then we'll head to the hideout. Just a quick warning, humans can pretty much eat anything a griffon can, so there will be some meat on display."

Both Cadance and Twilight had witnessed foreign dignitaries and their entourages eating meat on multiple occasions while living at the castle, so neither displayed the usual look of queasiness that ponies usually gave when told about cooked animal parts. Taking this as a good sign, Sunset led them into the small store. As the door let out a soft jingle, the heavy-set mocha-colored man at the counter raised his eyes to meet hers and offered a hearty bellow, "Ah, little Sunset, it's been a while since you've come by. Oh, you've brought friends? Great, great day!". As Sunset slung her backpack into the corner, he leaned over the counter and grabbed first Cadance's, and then Twilight's right arm into a vigorous handshake that would have made Applejack flush with pride.

Before either could recover, he turned back towards Sunset, who was blushing slightly, "Sunset Shimmer, aren't you going to introduce me to these lovely ladies?", he said with a grin.

"These two are uh... just a second", Sunset's face morphed into a grimace, "I just remembered something urgent. We'll be right back!" she said, grabbing onto her companions' arms and pulling them back out of the store and into a nearby alleyway.

"W- what was that all about?" Cadance stammered out as she and Twilight fought to stay balanced on two legs against Sunset's rough pulling.

Once they were a few feet into the alley, Sunset let go and turned back to face them. "Sorry about that, I just realized something important that I need to tell you. This world mirrors our own in a lot of ways. The city we're in right now, for example, is called Canterlot, and parts of the city are called things like Ponyville and Cantershade. As for the people-- that is to say, humans-- they also usually share the name and look of ponies from Equestria." Twilight's face displayed a roulette of emotions as she processed this information.

Sunset continued, "For example, the principal of Canterlot High School is named Celestia. She isn't a millennia-old princess who raises the sun, but she looks and acts a lot like the Princess. The reason you need to know this now is that if you use your regular names, somebody-- and it is somebody, not pony here-- might get suspicious about why there are two Twilight Sparkles running around."

"But wait," Twilight interjected, "Why does that even matter? If we just explain the situation to these, uh... 'people', then won't they try to help us get back to Equestria?"

"There are a few reasons why we can't do that" Sunset said, turning towards Twilight, "This world has almost no magic. Imagine if somebody came up to you and claimed to be from another dimension. You'd probably assume they were crazy, but you might give them the benefit of the doubt. Now imagine they claimed that in a world where dimensional travel, or even just instantaneous travel like teleportation, is considered pure fantasy! Even if some people did believe you, humans are more paranoid about unknowns than ponies are, especially when it comes to things like aliens. They'd be more likely to lock you up and study you than help you open a portal."

Twilight nodded, but then noticed another peculiarity, "I can accept that, but then why did that man back there still call you Sunset Shimmer? Is that not your original name?"

At this Sunset cringed slightly, "Well, I didn't really know that there were alternate versions of everyone here until after I'd given a few people my name. As for the other Sunset...", she hesitated, "among many other small differences between this world and ours, she, uh...", Sunset glanced away, "She's dead. I was curious about her once I realized she probably existed, so I did some research. She accidentally started a fire when she was seven, and didn't make it out of her house alive...", she trailed off as Cadance moved to wrap her arms around her. 

They stood like that for another minute, with Cadance pressing into Sunset, who self-consciously looked anywhere but at the pink teen wrapped around her. Twilight stood off to the side, internally debating on whether to join the hug or not. Finally, she moved forward and quickly wrapped her arms around the two others, "I'm so sorry, I can't even imagine what that must feel like." She said, as Sunset finally moved to break free of their grips.

As they broke away, Sunset attempted to school her blushing face into something one might see at a business meeting, "Anyways, as I was saying, there's probably another Twilight and Cadance running around somewhere around here, so it'd be best if you came up with new names for yourselves. We should also get some hair dye later, so you don't look exactly like your other versions."

Sunset turned towards Twilight, "We'll start with you. Any ideas for a good name?"

Twilight considered for a moment, "How about... Dusk Shine? Or Starlight Glimmer?"

Sunset frowned, "Those are just alternate ways of saying the name you already have. I think it would be safer if you came up with something completely different. I assume your talent is magic, but surely you have some other hobby or talent you can make a name from?"

Twilight rubbed her chin, "Hmmm... Well, I've always loved books, and I ran a library back in Ponyville. How about... Codex Keeper?"

Sunset nodded, "That should work, just give me a second." She pulled out her phone and, as the other two stared, began typing away. After a few moments, she looked back up. "Okay, I didn't find anything about anyone else named 'Codex Keeper', what about you Cadance?"

Before Cadance could respond, Twilight cut in, "Wait, wait, wait. What exactly was that thing? I thought you said there wasn't much magic here!"

Sunset held the phone up so that Twilight could see it better, "There isn't much magic here, but humans have made up for that with their technology. I'll explain it more to you later since Java Bean is probably starting to think we ditched him right now, but it basically lets me access libraries worth of information almost anywhere I want to. The 'libraries' don't contain any information on somebody named Codex Keeper, so it should be a safe name. Anyways, Cadance?"

Cadance responded a bit hesitantly, "Well, I was thinking... Love Beat."

"Love... Beat?" Sunset asked, "Why that name in particular? Secretly wanted to pummel all those stallions that used to hit on you, eh?"

"No no no," Cadance said, waving her hands, "Even after I became a princess I'd sometimes dream about being a DJ. I had even asked my parents for a turntable for my birthday, but I ascended before that could happen." 

At that, Sunset starting laughing to herself, "Heh, Mi Amore Cadenza, Princess of Raves! Was Love Beat going to be your stage name?"

As she attempted to withdraw into her own hair, Cadance made a passable Fluttershy impression, "No... It was actually going to be Cad-Z..."

Sunset clutched her own stomach and began to laugh loudly as Twilight watched her in disapproval. Eventually she composed herself and began typing away on her phone again. "Alright, that name should work. Codex, Cad-Z, let's go get some food." Snickering a bit more, she led them back into the coffee shop.

"Welcome back, welcome back! I was beginning to fear you'd ran off on me!" the mocha-man said. "Are you finally going to introduce these lovely ladies?"

Sunset nodded and motioned towards them, "The pink one's name is Love Beat, while the purple one is Codex Keeper. Love Beat, Java Bean. Java Bean, Love Beat..." she went on to introduce the two, with the respective parties each receiving another vigorous hand-shaking.

Java Bean beamed at them, "Ah, it does me so much good to see you out and about with others." He turned towards 'Codex' and 'Love Beat', "So, how do you two know my little Sunset?"

At this, Sunset began to silently curse herself, 'Idiot! Instead of teasing Cadance, you should have been creating a backstory. Better just say I just bumped into them...' 

Before she could respond, however, Cadance seemed to have a flash of inspiration and suddenly uttered, "We're sisters!". She hesitated a bit before continuing, "I can't believe Sunset has never mentioned us! She's the oldest, then me, and then Codex here.", she said, ruffling Twilight's hair slightly while giving Java an awkward smile.

Java looked between the three girls in front of him. Cadance struggled to maintain her smile while on her right Sunset glared a hole into her head and, on her left, Twilight stared into space like a deer caught in the headlights. Suddenly, he leaned back and burst into a hearty laugh before staring back at them, "Little Sunset has always been so hesitant to talk about her family, I was almost afraid they didn't exist!", he didn't notice Sunset cringe, "It's a pleasure to meet both of you. So, what can I do you for?"

At this, Sunset gave Cadance one more heated glance before turning to Java and forcing a smile, "I'll just get my usual, but double the eggs." 

While she spoke, Cadance and Twilight looked at the menu and at the items displayed on the counter. After a few seconds of deliberation, Twilight ordered, "I'll get an egg-and-cheese bagel and an iced coffee, please."

Finally, after what seemed like an entire minute, Cadance glanced back up to Sunset, "Is there a limit to how much I spend, or can I get however much I'd like?"

Sunset raised an eyebrow and peeked into her wallet, "This place isn't all that expensive, but I am a bit short on cash right now. You can spend... er... Ten dollars?"

Cadance scanned the menu one more time, and then nodded to herself, "Alright. I'd like a Black-as-Night Coffee, a cream cheese bagel, two early bird specials without bacon and..." she looked back up at the menu for anything cheap enough to keep her under ten dollars (she didn't really know what a "dollar" was, but she hoped it was related to the '$' symbols that appeared all over the menu) "... An apple bear claw."

As those around her stared at her, she looked back at them quizzically, "What? I haven't eaten a good meal in over two weeks, cut me some slack!" Java seemed like he was going to ask a question, but Sunset waved him off and began to pay the bill. 

Once the bill was payed and they had sat down at a corner table, Sunset leaned across towards Cadance and whispered harshly, "What in Tartarus was that sister stuff about?"

Cadance shrunk back for a second, but then leaned back in with a determined look on her face, "Well, Twilight and I are practically already sisters. I was engaged to her brother and would have been married to him by now if not for the Changelings.", she leaned back slightly as her gaze softened, "And, as for you... I know you never really liked me, and that you thought I didn't really deserve to be a princess... But we lived together. My parents were the only family I had growing up, but after I ascended they started treating me like a ruler, not a daughter, so I... Kind of thought of you as a bratty older sister. Even if you never treated me that well, you were probably the closest thing to family I had in Canterlot."

At this revelation, Sunset balked, "B- what about Celestia? You're her niece!"

Cadance adopted a small frown, "I think you know as well as I do that I'm only her 'niece' because the nobility demanded it. I saw Celestia two or three times a week at most, and it was always for some formal event or special princess training, never for anything a family would do together. I was actually jealous of you. You got to have teatime with her everyday on top of all of her lessons."

Sunset flared in anger, not even bothering to whisper this time, "You, jealous of me? Celestia never saw me as anything other than a tool! I tried to get close to her, but every time I did she'd just find some way to distract me! She would never give me a straight answer unless I asked her directly, and even then she'd usually just say I 'wasn't ready'. When she showed up," at this she pointed violently at Twilight, "Celestia decided that I wasn't even that useful of a tool and started shutting me out!"

At this, Twilight began to rise to defend her mentor, but Cadance held her back as she began trying to calm Sunset down, "I'm sorry. I knew your relationship with Celestia strained at some point, but I never knew why. I think we were both jealous of each other for entirely wrong reasons. I thought Celestia considered you a daughter, and a part of me wanted to have that too, but clearly I was wrong. You thought because I was her adopted 'niece', that meant that Celestia actually treated me as family, when in actuality she knew me so little that she couldn't tell the difference between me and a two-bit impostor. We were young and oblivious, and if we'd just talked about this years ago, I'm sure we would have become close friends. So... Sisters?"

Cadance offered her hand. Instead of accepting it, though, Sunset quietly got up and walked into the bathroom, locking the door behind her. As Cadance and Twilight stared at each other in confusion, they began to hear Sunset's muffled voice, "Hahaha, Sisters! All this time, I only wanted... But it never... By Celestia! By Celestia! Oh, she'll..." a series of dull thuds came from within the bathroom and, after a minute of complete silence, Sunset calmly walked back to the table.

"After some thought, I think I'd like that very much." Sunset said, offering her hand to Cadance, who accepted it with some  trepidation. "Sisters it is."

Before they could continue, Java came out of the kitchen with a large platter filled with food and bearing three cups of coffee. Laying it out on their table, Java whispered in Cadance's ear, "Take care of my little Sunset, please. I could tell she was hurting every time she came by here, but I could never get her to open up like you did just now."

After Java left, they all began to silently work on their meals. As Cadance digested Java's words, she looked around the table. Twilight seemed to be overtaken by inner turmoil from what she'd just heard about her mentor, and Cadance gave her a quick squeeze of comfort before turning her gaze to Sunset. She was robotically picking at her hash, her face scrunched in deep thought. Suddenly, her face softened and a slight smirk came to dominate her features. Cadance gulped, she knew immediately what that smirk meant. A new plan was afoot, and Cadance wasn't sure she'd like it.