The second Sunset burst out laughing, wiping a mock tear off of her face. "That's a good one."
Sunset felt annoyance flare up, but quickly tapped it down so that her counterpart didn't see it. "You've been received a mysterious letter in the mail...and a package arrived today." Sunset hoped that she got her theories correct...or else this was mightily embarrassing, and she was back at square one.
Her counterpart's face fell, shock flashing across her features. "Wha... either you're the one that sent those, or you're telling the truth."
"I'm telling the truth. You live with your mother, who insists that you not only go to a private school that only accepts the best, but that you have to be better than the best." Sunset fought a shudder at the mention of her cruel mother. The Cakes were far better than she had ever been.
Her counterpart paused, uneasiness crossing her features. "Okay...if what you say is true and your not just trying to trick me.... what was the one thing that changed my life on my fourth birthday?"
Sunset grinned, suddenly glad that her counterpart decided to ask a question that no one would know the answer to. "Easy. You snuck out the house and hide from your mother in a nearby exhibit hall. What you weren't expecting was for an art show to be taking place there at the time. You fell in love with what you had seen and vowed to grow up to, not only to meet your mother's ridiculous expectations, but to be the best artist that the world has ever seen." Sunset gestured around the art exhibit, a grin crossing her features. "Reason why we're here. To see what the newest art trends are, well. You're here to see that. I'm here in hopes of running into you and to see how many people like my paintings."
"You mean you entered your own art into the exhibit?" Her eyes widened in surprise at that, before she remembered that she was supposed to be confirming whether or not she was who she claimed to be. "The only way for you to know that is if you really are me. But I can't call you by my name...and if you have art here the security here knows your name. Which is also my name....wow this is confusing." Sunset's counterpart rubbed the back of her neck, worry creasing her brow.
Sunset grinned as she slung her arm around her shoulders the same way Rainbow Dash would when encouraging someone. "Don't worry....all we need are nicknames. How does Sunny and Stormy sound?"
"Great... but which one of us is Sunny and which one is Stormy?" No sooner than the question slipped out than a patron tripped, their drink sloshing out all over her outfit. A yelp escaped her as she grabbed her shirt, frantically trying to shake the purple juice out. "You fool! Look what you just did!"
"And now we know who Stormy is...Chill. It was just an accident." Sunset grabbed Stormy by the arm, pulling her along towards the bathroom. "Come on Stormy, let's get you cleaned up."
Stormy waited till they were in the Ladies Room, before she yanked her arm free, whirling around to stare at her counterpart in shock. "How can you be so calm about that?! You know what Mother will do if she sees this!" She gestured to her outfit, panic still in her eyes.
Sunset shook her head, already unzipping her backpack that she had brought with her. "Relax. Lucky for you, one of my friends at my school has taught me a very important lesson about fashion."
"Mother doesn't like me to have friends...and if her counterpart is anything like her, you aren't allowed to have friends either." Stormy rubbed her arms, worry creasing her brow.
"Then it's a good thing that I don't live with her anymore. Haven't for a few years now." Sunset dug into her bag, looking for something.
Stormy was silent as she observed the difference between her and Sunset, her gaze soft. "So...about that important lesson on fashion..?"
Sunset grinned as she stood up, holding up a clean light blue shirt with little slightly darker glitter hearts scattered across it. "In case of an emergency, always have a spare outfit on hand."
"I love it! It's so sparkly... I mean... ew. That's way too girly for me." Stormy struggled to keep her face neutral, excitement dancing in her eyes.
Sunset snorted, before tossing the shirt at her counterpart. "Remember... I am you. Just go into one of those stalls to change." As an after thought she quickly added, "You can keep the shirt."
Stormy clutched the fabric close to her chest, before looking up at Sunset, with tears in her eyes. "Thank you... I wish that I really did have a cousin like you. That would be wonderful!"
"Tell me about it." Sunset grinned as she zipped her backpack back up. "I'll go wait for you over by the painting of superheroes."
"Okay... wait. That's the one that I found you by." Stormy arched one eyebrow upwards.
"I know. That one is my painting. I wonder if you can tell by looking at it what kind of strokes I used..." Sunset teased her, before ducking out the bathroom.
Sunset decided that this could be fun. At least the cashier looked as if she were about to have a heart attack at the sight of two of her. Grinning at her, Sunset leaned against the counter, a wry smile on her face. "I'll have your Veggie Power Menu Burrito and let's go with a medium drink with that." Turning to face Stormy, she tried, and failed miserably, to keep her face straight. "What do you want Stormy? Anything here sound good?"
Stormy glanced briefly at the menu, before opening her mouth...and making a request that surprised Sunset. "I'll have the Veggie Power Menu Bowl. I guess as long as she doesn't find out, I'll have a soda with that."
"Anything else?" Sunset had to give Trixie credit. She really could be the best actor anyone has ever seen, now that she was over her shock at seeing Sunset with her counterpart.
Sunset shook her head, pulling out the amount of cash needed to pay for the menu items. "No... just can you double my usual order of cinnamon twists, Trixie?"
"Sure thing Sunset... though I must say... you have to explain to me later why you're hanging out with the, uh... you from this dimension." Trixie raised one eyebrow in question, she was rather good at that, as she filled out the order, pulling out two medium to go cups with Taco Bell's logo on the side.
"Later. Come on Stormy. Let's get our drinks." Sunset rolled her eyes at her, slightly, nosy classmate.
As soon as they were both sitting down, with lemonade in their cups, Sunset blurted out the question burning at the tip of her tongue. "I didn't know you were vegetarian. How did that happen?"
Stormy snapped her head up, surprise flashing across her features. "You're vegetarian. Why are you surprised that I'm vegetarian? I thought we were the same person?"
Sunset blushed, before explaining what she had meant by that. "We are. However, none of the counterparts here are vegetarian too. I mean..." Taking in a deep breath, she silently reminded herself that she knew this conversation was going to come up no matter what she did. "The dimension I come from, there isn't any humans. Everyone there are animals. Cause of that...we don't eat meat at all. I kinda find the idea..."
"Totally nauseating. I used to eat meat. But then I...there was this one class where we learned about the different biologies of a variety of animals." Taking in a shaky breath, she fiddled with her straw. "I guess you could say that I no longer could look at a piece of steak the same after dissecting a frog and discussing the various organs used to keep a cow alive." Stormy shuddered in horror at the thought, her gaze worried.
"Sunset! Your order is ready!" Trixie suddenly yelled across the room towards the two identical girls.
"That's my cue. I'll be right back." Sunset pushed her chair back, angling herself towards the pickup counter.