A Moment in Autumn

by wishcometrue


2. Morning

As the gentle thrum of chords dying out sounded, the girl’s feet reconnected with the stage floor, pony ears and tails--and wings, for two--faded away as well. Even after all these shows, “Friendship Through the Ages” still made Sunset a little teary eyed, and she quickly embraced the other girls, and was embraced in turn. As the hug ended, Sunset could clearly hear only polite applause.

The manager who had booked them was waiting as they walked backstage. "That was a decent show, girls. Here's your pay."

Check handed over, she walked off before any of them could respond. The tacit ‘don’t overstay your welcome’ was clear even to the more dense of the group, and whatever good vibes left from their finale quickly dissipated.

Glancing at the check, Sunset winced. It was barely enough to cover their current hotel stay and the gas to their next show. She passed the check over to Rainbow Dash, who groaned and slammed her fist into the wall after reading it, wincing and shaking her hand afterwards, glaring at the wall.

"Decent show? We totally killed it out there! This place just couldn't handle all of our concentrated awesome," Rainbow fumed.

"Ugh, I know. Whose bright idea was it to book a show at a retirement home?"

Rainbow Dash side-eyed her. "It was yours, Sunset."

"Oh. Right." Sunset sighed, head drooping. She slid down the wall into a crouch before burying her head in her hands. “Sorry, I’ve just been distracted.”

Rainbow glanced at her friends and quickly moved to Sunset’s side, awkwardly wrapping an arm around her. “Don’t worry about it, stuff like this happens. I booked our next show, so it’ll obviously be a hundred percent awesome, and I know whatever show you book for us next will be about fifty percent more,” she reassured.

Sunset glanced over, slight smirk betrayed by eyes still weary. “What happened to your obsession with twenty percent, Dash?”

"Pfft, twenty isn't even close to enough for this situation."

"Just this one?"

Rainbow Dash punched her shoulder and they both started laughing.

"Hate to break up your little moment there but we really oughta head out."

"Yeah, yeah, we already know that AJ." Rainbow Dash waved her hand at her.

"Well then, Dash, why aren't you helpin' us packin’ up?"

Sweating bullets under Applejack's glare, Rainbow Dash sheepishly rubbed the back of her neck. She quickly stood up and dashed at geode speeds to the stage to begin packing up her guitar.

Applejack turned to Sunset with a much softer gaze. She helped Sunset stand up before putting her hand on her shoulder.

"So, what had ya so distracted girl?"

Sunset sighed. "I just really miss Trixie. It feels weird to be apart from her for so long and texts and calls just can't replace actually being there, you know?"

"Sorry Sunset, I really don't. I mean, don't get me wrong, it seems tough, but...” she trailed off, putting her hands in her pockets.

“I know, I know. Rarity is in the band, so you don’t have to worry about this kind of thing.”

Applejack looked at her with furrowed brows. “Sunset, that’s no—” Her words were cut off by Sunset’s hand pressed over her mouth.

Sunset sighed morosely. “Let’s just pack up and get out of here.”

She walked away before Applejack could finish her thought.

-----

Sunset sat at the back of the bus, staring out the window as endless fields stretched behind them. Being in Canterlot City was so strange because, despite being so different than the one she spent so many formative years in, it still felt familiar in a way. There were the poor areas, the rich areas, the in-between areas. There were so many cultures converging, and yet they both managed to feel bland and less than the sum of their parts.

Out here though, passing seemingly endless expanses of fields, it just felt wrong. All she could think about was how much greener it was in Equestria, how much cleaner it was and more real it felt.

She could hear Rainbow Dash saying something to Twilight a couple rows up, and, judging by their tones, it was probably Rainbow Dash begging her for help with some assignment. She shook her head and chuckled. She didn't really get what they saw in each other, and she especially couldn't get how Twilight hadn't gone full Midnight on Dash yet, but she saw how happy they were together, and that was what really mattered to her.

Her phone started ringing, "Awesome As I Wanna Be" playing. She pointedly ignored the smug grin Dash was giving her—just because it was a catchy song didn't mean she was going to do even more to add to Dash's ego—and picked up the call.

"Hello?"

"Sunset? Why do you sound so... fuzzy?"

"Oh, hey Trix. Yeah, we're out in the Whinnesota countryside, so the connection isn't great."

Rainbow Dash, seeing that her ego wasn’t going to be stroked further, rolled her eyes and turned to bug Twilight again.

"Ah, that would explain it. Trixie just wanted to say that she is sure things are going adequately there, but she also knows things would be better if she was there."

Sunset laughed, rolling her eyes and pushing her fingernails into her thigh while pushing down nagging thoughts. "Yeah, yeah, I'd love if you could be here too, Trix. I miss you."

"I miss you too, and I... I just wanted to say I love you."

"I love you too Trix, talk to you soon."

Sunset looked down at the red marks across her thigh as she put her phone away.

----

The girls morosely walked off stage, walking slowly back to the green room. Sunset barely noticed any of this, her gaze downcast. She knew she’d messed this one up, and she wasn’t ready to face the music, not this time. She turned her sluggish gait towards a different hall, hoping to escape before the girls noticed.

Rainbow Dash, unfortunately, did notice. With a quick “Hey!” she ran up to Sunset and punched her. Sunset winced and rubbed her arm. She knew Dash was holding back, but it still felt tender.

“What the hell Sunset, this show was even worse than the last one! I handed you good venues on a gilded platter,” Twilight looked like she was about to interrupt to correct Dash, but she kept plowing on, “How did you fuck this up!”

Sunset awkwardly smiled in an attempt to diffuse the growing tension. “Well, that was more of a statement than a question.”

Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes. “No shit, Sunset. I need to hear an answer, but I don’t really want to.”

Sunset grimaced. Dash didn’t get serious like this unless she was really upset. “Well, I emailed all of the places, but I guess I just kind of… forgot to respond to the follow up emails?”

Rainbow Dash groaned, executing a perfect double facepalm. “Sunset, I just…” She struggled with her words for a moment, but Twilight put her hand on Dash’s shoulder. After a deep breath, she soldiered on. “You can’t book any more shows, at least for right now.”

Sunset gasped, but noticed that no one else did. “What? B-but it’s supposed to be a team effort.”

Dash glanced back at Twilight, who nervously rubbed her geode before responding, “Look, Sunset, we can’t keep doing shows like this. You’ve broken all of our trust and you need to earn it back.”

Sunset glared at the others. “And you all agree with them.” When there was no response beyond some nods and awkward glances at the floor, Sunset had her answer.

Growling, Sunset’s glare intensified and flames began to lick at her fingers, but they slowly faded. She grimaced, clenching her eyes so that the forming tears wouldn’t spill out. “I get it, I just…”

She sighed and the flames went out. Without another glance at her friends, she walked back to the bus, guitar case in hand, not bothering to finish her thought.

--

ugh

today sucked

What happened, Sunset?

i messed up bad

booked a shit show

again

I know a thing or two about booking shows.
I could have helped you.

yeah and trixie also

wont be able to help me now

rest of the girls decided i cant be trusted to do this rn

cant really blame them

That hardly seems fair, Sunset.

idk trix

idk

----

“I don’t really see the point of this, Dash.”

Rainbow growled, gripping her guitar tight enough for her knuckles to pale. “You don’t see the point of one on one practice between the guitar players when you still can’t get this part?”

Sunset growled right back, anger flaring up. “And I’m telling you I’ll get it in one of our group practices, and I don’t need you to patronize me.”

“Is that really what you think this is, Sunset? Newsflash! We’ve been practicing this song for two weeks for a big show, ya know, the one we’re playing tonight? We don’t have time for this anymore! You either learn the part, or you’re only doing rhythm on this song.”

“Oh, that’s just great Dash, well, you know what I think? I-” Her tirade was cut off as her phone started buzzing. She awkwardly pulled it out, quickly reading the text.

Trixie’s car got stolen Sunset
All of my magic materials are in there and I’ve got a show tonight.
I don’t know what to do.

Biting her lip, Sunset swallowed her pride. “Alright, fine, the sooner we finish with this, the better.”

--

“Sunset, would you please put your phone away? Dash might have said you got the part down, but now… well...”

Brow furrowing, Sunset fumed. Typical Rarity, not having the guts to say something, and somehow making it seem worse because of it. Sunset’s only response was a grunt; she never stopped writing her text.

Rainbow Dash shook her head and put her hand on Sunset’s shoulder. “Rarity’s right. C’mon Sunset, you need to focus! This show will either make us, or it’ll break us.”

“I know, Dash, just… Trixie is going through some stuff right now, and I need to be there for her.”

“And that sucks, like, it's totally lame. But she isn’t here, and we are. So what's it gonna be, Sunset? Some more comforting texts? Or getting your head in the game and actually doing something.”

Sunset sighed. Realizing she wasn’t actually being given a choice she put her phone away, leaving a consolatory text incomplete and unsent.