To say Sunset was surprised was an understatement.
When Lightning Dust contacted her asking to meet, she was hesitant. She firmly believed everyone deserved a second, or even third or fourth chance. None-the-less, knowing how deeply Dust was tied to what happened to her, she felt reluctant to welcome Dust into her life.
She finally agreed to meet Dust, and arranged for her to come over late one afternoon. Sharing her scepticism, Luna arranged to be home as well, in case Dust intended anything less that wholesome or healthy for her foster daughter.
Sunset sat nervously in her usual waiting spot at the dining room table, Luna next to her. “Dearest Sunset. If she tries anything to hurt you, or you feel the slightest bit threatened, you need only call my name. I’ll be in my room doing paperwork, but you need me, only say my name and I’ll be by your side.” Promised Luna.
“Thank you Luna,” sighed Sunset. “It means the world to me that you care, and are here for me. I owe you and Celestia so much.”
“Nonsense Sunset. We love you dearly. We’re delighted to have you here with us, and for you to share our lives,” countered Luna with a gentle hug. She smiled.
Sunset smiled back, and returned her hug. The doorbell rang. “Guess it’s time. I’ll get it.” Sunset said, rolling towards the door.
“I’ll be in my room. Remember, you need only speak my name, and I’ll come,” reminded Luna, heading up the stairs to her room.
“Thank you Luna! I will, I promise,” said Sunset, as she answered the door.
“Hello Dust,” she greeted. “Come in, please.” She rolled back and gestured towards the dining room. “Take a seat, let’s talk.”
“Thank you. You’re not alone, are you?” asked Dust. “Sorry, this just feels very awkward. And I am so sorry.” Dust stepped in, then headed towards the dining room at Sunset’s direction. Sunset shut the door and followed her to the table. Dust sat.
“Can I get you anything Lightning Dust? Are you thirsty? Would you like something to eat?” offered Sunset.
“Uhm. Sure, anything is fine, just something to drink, thank you Sunset,” answered Dust. Sunset fetched them both a soda, and returned to the table.
“Thank you. Well, awkward as this is, let me just start. Sunset, I know I can never make up for what I did, and for the part I played in what happened to you. I was wrong, and even though I was just following along with Gilda, that will never excuse what happened or my decisions to be a part of that. I’m just here to beg your forgiveness, even if you never want to see me again. Please, forgive me if you can. I am truly sorry for everything I’ve done and all your suffering.” Dust looked down at her hands, appearing truly penitent.
Sunset took her hands, and looked into her eyes. “I believe you Dust, and for what it is worth, I offer you my forgiveness.”
Looking up. Dust’s eyes misted. “Thank you Sunset. That means the world to me.”
They talked for a while, Sunset asking Dust about her friendship with Gilda, and her plans for her future. Dust spoke of her childhood, growing up as Gilda’s best friend. She told Sunset about the troubles they got into together. Eventually, she had Sunset laughing at some of the tales of their misadventures. Gilda had apparently always had a temper, was stubborn and opinionated, but from what Dust related was a loyal and true companion to her friends.
When the time approached for their visit to end, Lightening reached into her backpack. “Sunset, I know I can’t ever make right what I did. But I wanted to give you something, just a small gift, to say how sorry I am.” She pulled out a box, wrapped in blue tissue paper. “It’s not much, but I wanted to say once again how very sorry I am. Here, please accept this.”
Sunset took the gift and opened it up. It was a bass booster bluetooth room speaker. “I know it’s not much, but I figured you love music, with you and your friends being in a band and all. Thank you for letting me come over and apologize.”
Dust got up to leave, then turned back to Sunset. “Oh, it’s also a wifi speaker. You can hook it up to the wifi and it will stream any of the internet music services if you have a subscription. Thanks again for seeing me Sunset. I need to get home, my curfew is coming up.” Sunset walked Dust to the door, then bid her goodbye.
“Wifi huh? Guess I’ll try it out later.” She went to the stairs and took the stair lift up. Rolling over to Luna’s room, she knocked on the door frame.
Luna looked up from her paperwork. “Well Sunset, how did it go?” she asked.
“It went okay. It went well actually… We even shared a few laughs. I don’t think I’m ready to go anywhere with her, but it was a good first step,” Sunset replied. “Oh, and she gave me a little gift, this speaker. I’m going to set it up and try it out.”
“Ah, how nice. Okay Sunset. Let me know if you need anything. Celestia is picking up pizza for dinner. She ordered one half veggie, so you’re covered. We’ll come fetch you when she gets here. You can tell us all about your visit then,” Luna added, turning back to her work.
“Sounds great! Thanks.” Sunset headed into her room and shut the door. “Now, let’s see how this thing works…”
Twenty minutes later, Sunset could be heard in her room. “Okay, trying this out. Beatbox, play playlist Rainbooms!” Moments later, the Rainbooms could be heard singing out from the room. “Sweet! This thing has good sound too! I’m definitely keeping this around.” Sunset sang along with the music.
As she was reading through the rest of the manual, she saw the speaker had an impedance matching setting, allowing her to connect her guitar directly to it. “Ah sweet! I can use it as a personal amplifier!” She rolled over to her guitar, slung it on, and grabbed the aux cord. Wheeling back over to her desk, she plugged the cord into the box, and jacked up her guitar. She strumed a chord, which played over the top of the streaming music. “Sweet Celestia! I am so going to rock this!” She started playing along with the song, singing out, smiling ear to ear.
Downstairs, Celetia arrived. On entering the house, boxes of pizza in hand, she called out. “Luna! Sunset! I’m home! I’ve got dinner! Hope you're both hungry!” Luna emerged from her room, knocking on Sunset’s door as she passed. The music stopped. Luna called out. “Sunset, Celetia’s here. Come on down and join us for dinner.”
“Okay, be down in a moment!” replied Sunset.
Luna went down the stairs and joined her sister, puting plates, napkins and drinks out on the table. “Welcome home Cele. How went your day?” she asked.
“It went well Lulu. Glad to be home though. How did the visit go? Well I hope? From the music and Sunset singing I gather it went well?” answered Celestia, sitting at the table to wait for the others to join her.
“It was surprisingly drama free. They seemed to ‘hit it off’ as it were. Ms. Dust left a gift for Sunset, which is what you heard earlier. Some kind of speaker. Sunset seems to be enjoying it.”
Sunset wheeled into the room. “I sure am! It even has a setting so I can plug in my guitar and jam along. Sweet!”
“So I heard,” smiled Celestia. Luna and Sunset sat at the table, joining hands and bowing their heads. “Thank the maker for this food and the harmony we share,” canted Celestia.
“Thank the maker,” replied Luna and Sunset. Both grabbed a slice of pizza and a drink.
“Yeah it was a bit awkward to start. But Dust shared some stories about her growing up with Gilda, and we hit it off, a bit. Not ready to call her a full friend yet, but it was a good start,” responded Sunset between bites.
“I am quite pleased to hear that,” responded Luna. “Hmm… This is good. Thank you for picking this up Cele.”
“No problem Lulu. Anything for my girls!” responded Celestia.
They chatted a while, enjoying the dinner and each other's company. After a quick cleanup, Luna challenged Sunset to a battle royale, and the two were off for some gaming while Celestia went to finish up paperwork before retiring for the evening.
It was a good day in the Royal household.