God, it was good to play like this again. This feeling, this sense of easy control, the music flowing up through her arms from the instrument, the rhythm and power of the thing, this was why she played. Sure, maybe it wasn’t quite as good as it had been once upon a time (when they were all together), but it was good all the same. She flashed a grin at Rainbow, who smirked right back. Yeah, this was life.
The song finished in a flurry of twanging notes, a show-off ending that Sunset half-suspected Rainbow had made up on the spot. She’d always been a natural.
“Phew!” The girl exclaimed, leaning back on her heels. “Good stuff.” She swung the guitar off her shoulder and slumped down on the couch behind. “Haven’t done that in a while.”
Sunset leaned her own guitar carefully against the wall and sat down next to her. “Me neither,” she said with a grin. “I miss this.”
“Yeah?” Rainbow's mouth twitched. “Your fancy Canterlot friends not jam like that?”
“More like not at all.” Sunset grinned ruefully.
“Mmm, I getcha. Not much need for electric guitarists in the team, either.” She paused, then sprang back off the couch. “Want a beer?”
“Sure.”
As Rainbow left the room, Sunset sank into the ratty couch, forcing herself to relax. It was always a little awkward being in a place she didn’t know, and Rainbow’s flat was a far cry from what she was used to. It was one of those student buildings which had clearly been built for some other purpose, probably in the times when being a student meant your family already had some spare property you could use, and whose renovation into thirteen individual flats had required the planner make some baffling choices. Sunset was not confident in her ability to find her way out through the maze of tiny staircases and corridors Rainbow had led her.
Still, it was a nice flat. Fairly spacious, even if the kitchen was hidden behind a plastered-over chimney. But as she looked around it, the main thing she noticed was that it just fit. Sure, it was kind of an odd shape, and the soundproofing, judging from the tufted foam poking out from the window, was less than perfect, but it felt like Rainbow’s room. The mess of clothes spilling out the drawer, the tangle of wires in the corner, the small mountain of dishes she hadn’t bothered to clean up, it was exactly as Sunset would have imagined. Really, it looked like Rainbow’s old bedroom had thrown up all over her flat.
“Hey,” Rainbow said, kicking the door closed as she re-entered, “sorry bout that. We keep the drinks in the basement, it’s always freezing down there.” She tossed a can to Sunset, cracking her own open as she flopped back down on the sofa. “So what’s up?”
“Hmm?” Sunset let the cool liquid soothe her, savouring that first bitter sip. It was very cold.
“Y’know.” Rainbow kicked off her trainers, sending them skidding halfway across the room, and shuffled closer. “How you doing? You okay?”
Sunset blinked. “Uh, yeah? Course.”
“It’s just...” Rainbow scooted even closer, squinting at her. “You seem kinda down.”
Sunset swallowed slowly, letting the chill filter down her throat. “Just tired. What with college and all.”
Rainbow laughed. “Tell me about it. Coach pushes us like he’s got a hard-on for heart attacks. I just want to sleeeeeep.”
“Yeah. Very glad I don’t have to deal with that. I don’t think I could take waking up early on the weekends.”
“It’s pretty bad,” agreed Rainbow. “It’s like, Friday night is not the night I want to have to go to sleep early.”
“Totally.”
There was a short silence while Rainbow finished her drink. “So anyway,” she continued, “how’s Twilight? Haven’t spoken to her in a few weeks.”
Sunset tried to hide her wince. “Um, she’s fine.”
“She keeping you up with, like, science stuff?” Rainbow raised an eyebrow.
“No.”
“She keeping you up with anything else?” she winked.
Definitely not. “Uhhh...”
Rainbow laughed. “I’m kidding! Kidding. But seriously, how are you two? She never tells me anything.”
“We’re fine.”
“Uh-huh.”
“Yeah...fine.”
“Okay.” Rainbow paused. “Is that it?”
Sunset looked away, grasping for something to say. “We’re...good?” She could feel Rainbow’s stare.
“Well, all right.” She sounded a little hurt. “Though I bet you’d tell Rarity.”
“I...”
“No, it’s cool. Um, you want to play something?” Rainbow gestured at the nest of wires under an ancient-looking TV beside her bed.
She wanted to say something, she really did. Specifically, she wanted to say ‘hey, yeah, we’re really good, really happy, I love that girl, you know?’ but somehow, the words just got stuck in her mouth. So she didn’t say anything except “Sure,” and after that it just didn’t seem relevant any more.
They moved over to Rainbow’s bed, and as they sat down Sunset commented that the squeaky springs must be annoying, and Rainbow only shrugged and said “Well, the soundproofing’s pretty good,” with an evil grin, and they both relaxed. Rainbow threw on some shooter, Sunset didn’t care to catch the name, and they spent the next hour or two yelling obscenities and having an absolute blast. Pizza was ordered, songs were played, and Rainbow’s friend Soarin came over to provide some hoarse emergency vocals.
“You know,” said Sunset, as they sat on the back steps of the building, feeling the fast-cooling air brush their faces, “I’m glad I came over.”
“Yeah?” Rainbow leaned back against the wooden post, letting out a long breath.
“Yeah.” Sunset nodded, looking up at the changing sky, the moon just peeking between the dark rolling clouds. “Hey, you mind if I...?” She pulled a pack from her jacket.
“Nah, go ahead.”
By the time she’d shaken a cigarette from the box, Rainbow was holding a lighter. Sunset raised an eyebrow.
“I remembered you always needed one,” said Rainbow with a smile.
“Thanks,” said Sunset, and meant it.
For a moment they sat there, as the clouds spun by overhead, and watched as the lights of the city replaced the light in the sky.
“Sorry I was a bit...whatever, earlier,” she said. “Me and Twilight are in a bit of a weird place right now.”
“Ah.”
“It’s just...” Sunset sighed, blowing out a long line of smoke. “Honestly? I feel kind of distant. Like, detached. I mean we’re still living together and everything, and I still...still love her, but...” She looked over at Rainbow, who was watching her.
“Damn, that’s, um, rough. I was just expecting you to say you were doing fine.”
“I did say we were doing fine,” said Sunset flatly.
“Well yeah, but more detailed.” She looked away. “Should you go see a marriage counsellor or something?”
Sunset blinked. “We’re not married.”
“You don’t have to be actually married to see a marriage counsellor, right?”
“You...don’t?”
“I don’t know,” Rainbow laughed, a little nervously. “Probably.”
Sunset rolled her eyes, but couldn’t help but laugh, too. “You’re useless.”
“Yeah, sorry.” Rainbow smiled. “Rarity would totally be a better person to talk to about this.”
“Mmm.” Sunset sucked in another breath and slowly let it out, watching the smoke wisp and tear apart on the breeze. “Why can’t things just stay the same?”
Rainbow was silent for a minute, long enough for Sunset to turn to see if she had heard. “I don’t know,” she said eventually. “Aren’t they?” Sunset didn’t have an answer.
They turned back to the sky then, and after another cigarette or two, went inside. Sunset slept on an inflatable mattress Rainbow borrowed off a flatmate, and it felt like an old-school sleepover all over again, except that Rainbow had to get up early, and was already gone by the time Sunset rose.