//------------------------------//
// The Sunrise Sonata, Part 3 
// Story: The Evening Sonata 
// by Daniel-Gleebits 
//------------------------------//

The Sunrise Sonata Pt3


Sunset Shimmer

Sunset lost track of her just before the lifts. Almost crashing into a crowd of med-students crowding outside of a ward, it wasn’t until she got to the lift doors themselves that she found Sonata again. Throwing herself into the lift after her as the doors began to close, she leaned against the wall and panted as the angry barking of a security guard telling them not to run was cut off by the closing door.
“Sonata, I get that you’re upset, but please don’t run off like that.”
Sonata didn’t respond. She seemed to be staring into space, her legs twitching as though urging her to run more. Sunset had never seen her so agitated. The moment the door of the lift opened, she flew against it, squeezing through the crack and nearly bowling over an old lady and her husband.
“Sorry,” Sunset hastily apologised as the woman screeched in surprise. “Sonata, come back!” Yep, definitely not listening to a word I’m saying, she thought, as she dodged around a support pillar and spotted Sonata fleeing out of the main entrance.
She caught up to her again outside as Sonata puzzled over which way to go. Catching her arm, Sunset pulled her around and held her firmly in place. Even like this she turned her head this way and that, muttering incoherently and looking frankly deranged. Pulling her aside in case any hospital staff saw them, she told her firmly to calm down.
“We need t-t-to find Rainbow,” Sonata stuttered.
“Okay,” Sunset said, trying to sound understanding. “But you need to calm down first. You can’t go running off on your own like this. You’re going to get hurt.” She held up the sketch pad to her. “You’re so panicky right now that you forgot this.”
Sonata took the folder, colour returning to her cheeks. She appeared to concede that Sunset might have a point; either way, her breathing slowed to a more natural state, and she was shaking a great deal less.
“Sorry,” she said shakily, holding a tremulous hand to her head. “I-I just—“
“I know,” Sunset promised. “I know. To be honest, I don’t know what you’re going through. I’ve never had a friend hurt before, let alone a sister. But I could imagine sort of how I might act if something happened to...” she cleared her throat, hoping Sonata didn’t notice the slight flush of colour suffusing her face. She seemed far too distracted to notice anything at the moment. “But what’s with the running?” she asked in a rallying tone. “Do you have an idea?”
Sonata rubbed at her eyes a little before answering. “Actually, it was Rainbow who gave me the idea.”





With numerous pauses, Sonata explained her idea to Sunset Shimmer. 
If Sunset were honest with herself, she was astonished that Sonata could come up with such an idea as she was proposing. It wasn’t that Sunset was of the opinion that Sonata couldn’t come up with ideas; she certainly could. But this idea was so... nuanced. It had a level of complexity to it that frankly astonished her. 
“Do you know how much work that’s going to take?” Sunset asked, cautiously. “There’s a lot of preparation, a lot of organisation. I kind of wonder about the cost to set it all up, too.”
“I know. It’s just...” she pressed her lips together for a moment. “I can’t leave her like that.”
If she were honest with herself, Sunset had little love for Aria Blaze. Considering what she knew that Aria had done to Sonata, and how she had acted in the hospital just now, she had to admit that her sympathy was rather limited. But on the other hand, Sunset couldn’t think of her plight without compassion. Aria Blaze might never walk again. Nonetheless, only her friendship with Sonata could propel her to say these next words.
“Fine. Let’s do it.”
Sonata looked up with fresh hope in her face. “You mean it?” she asked, the colour in her face rising.
“Yeah. We can at least give it a try. And I think I have some ideas on how we can—“
“Thank you!” 
Sunset’s pondering on logistics was cut short as Sonata seized her around the middle. Knowing by now Sonata’s usual propensity for hugs, Sunset wasn’t surprised by it, but she was surprised when her feet left the ground and her ribs began to concave.
“You... welcome... but lungs... puncturing...!” she gasped. Sonata put her down, looking slightly sheepish.
“Well, well, well,” said a familiar voice. Rainbow Dash, arms folded and with a grin wider than the hospital welcome sign, stood watching them with heavily lidded eyes. “To be honest I didn’t believe it until I saw it.”
“Rainbow Dash!” Sonata cried excitedly. “We need to talk to-“
“Oh no, don’t mind me,” Rainbow Dash said, holding up both hands and beginning to walk away from their secluded little corner. “Please, carry on.”
“Rainbow Dash,” Sunset said, gritting her teeth. “Shut up and get over here.”
Snickering, she swaggered over. “Oh I owe AJ and Pinkie for telling me this one. I genuinely thought they were messing with me.”
Enduring Rainbow’s teasing merriment for a moment or two, Sunset slapped her across the face with the wet fish of serious news. As Rainbow listened to the situation, and to Sonata’s plan, her expression underwent a startling transformation. Multiple expressions vied for control of her face, until it coalesced into a steely look of eagerness, the kind of look Sunset had observed in her face before delivering the winning goal in a football game.
“I knew it was a good idea,” Rainbow boasted happily, arms behind her head as they sat on a park bench drinking pop from a hospital vending machine. “But seriously, that totally sucks for her.”
“Whatever she’s done, whatever she is, I don’t think she deserves never to walk again,” Sunset Shimmer agreed.
“She’s just scared,” Sonata chimed in. “She always gotten like that when she was scared. She ignores things and then just explodes after a while. It’s not her fault.” Sunset said nothing to this, but she didn’t like hearing Sonata defending Aria’s behaviour.
“Hey, I can hardly say anything about temper tantrums,” Rainbow Dash said, shrugging her shoulders a little awkwardly. “You ask Fluttershy how I was when we grew up in the Cloudy Dales together. I was a right little snot rag.”
“So, you’re up for it then?” Sunset asked, deciding to hide her misgivings.
“Sure am. Like I’d give up a chance to rock.”
“Oh,” Sonata said suddenly. “How’d your test go?” 
Rainbow paused. She seemed to be considering the question. “Okay, I guess. I knew a lot of the answers I think.”





Whilst Rainbow went to get them all food from a Japanese takeout across from the park, Sunset accompanied Sonata back to the hospital to say goodbye to Aria.
Unfortunately, the receptionist informed them that ward twenty three was currently off-limits.
“Broke her stitches apparently,” the same man said, looking uninterestedly at the computer screen. “Good news though. She’s being transferred to the hospital in your city.”
“Transferred?” Sunset asked, suspiciously. Aria couldn’t pay for that, nor could she see why this hospital would want to do it. And if she was in as critical condition as this guy was making out, surely it wasn’t safe.
“Once her condition has stabilised,” the man confirmed. “She’s registered as a student in a Canterlot High School there, and someone has donated funds to have her transported and cared for.”
“Donated?” Sonata asked. “As in, someone paid for her?”
“Mm,” the man sighed. “Do you know a Mr... Trenderhoof?” he said, as though he found the name absurd. Sonata and Sunset glanced at each other.





“I wish that she hadn’t done that,” Sunset said, nervously.
“Adagio must have sent that money,” Sonata surmised. “I guess Trenderhoof is her manager or something.”
“Yeah, so that’s one part of the plan down the toilet.”
“What do you mean?” 
“Well,” Sunset said uneasily. “To be honest, I had some slim hope that Adagio might forward us some money to get started. But I don’t think she’ll have another wad of cash like that one floating around somehow, or she’d just have offered to pay for the surgery.”
“We’ll find a starter,” Sonata said, confidently. Sunset had to be impressed by how quickly Sonata had recovered. Her plan seemed to have galvanised something inside her, and Sunset could honestly relate to that feeling. “First we have to get back and tell our friends about this. Rainbow Dash said yes, but if the others don’t go along with it, then it won’t work.”
“I’m sure they will. If Rainbow agreed, I can’t see anyone else saying no.”
“True,” Sonata said, thoughtfully. “And I think I’ll need Pinkie’s help most of all. And possibly Rarity for the last bit.”
The idea that Sonata needed Pinkie for something kind of scared Sunset when she thought about it. Sonata was whimsical and airheaded at the best of times, but when she and Pinkie got together, things tended to veer straight into a cavalcade of arbitrary disaster, usually involving party string and tartly worded warnings from city hall. But Sonata waylaid these concerns slightly.
“How much of that canvas she bought at Whitetail do you think she still has left?”
“Um,” Sunset pondered. “I don’t know. A lot I suppose. I haven’t seen her parachuting any more than usual.”
“Good,” Sonata said, rubbing her hands together and smiling like an evil genius. She tried out a half-baked maniacal laugh, making several people in the parking lot stare at her. 
“Do I want to know why you’re trying to scare octogenarians to death?” Sunset asked with a grimace.
“Don’t you fret about that,” Sonata patted her head condescendingly. Sunset folded her arms and tried to look stern, but it was hard when Sonata was up to her antics. She always just ended up smiling in amusement. “Hey look, Rainbow’s here with the food!”
It had never been worth arguing with Sonata when she set her mind to something. She never heard anything above the first few words. Nevertheless, Sunset had reservations about her idea, and about the way she seemed to want to go about it. The entire thing was a financial issue, so her dismissing the immediate financial obstacle did not bode well. What was more, the entire thing required funding, advertising, participation, the consent of their neighbours and landlord, and most likely a permit from the city. In short, a great deal of paper work. Sunset was just glad spring break was upon them, for between her job and school work she would never have time.
“Applejack will definitely go for it,” Rainbow said on the train journey back. “I got her number already.”
“Well yeah, you’re friends,” Sonata said, puzzled. “Why wouldn’t you have her number?”
Rainbow squinted at Sonata as Sunset explained what a figure of speech was. “You know it’s scary how much like Pinkie Pie you are.”
Sonata seemed to take that as a compliment. “This whole thing will essentially be a giant party, so she’ll pitch in.”
“Rarity will be easy to persuade,” Sunset smirked. “We just have to get her to design us some new clothes for it. She’ll be begging to join in.”
“One can never have too many costumes,” Rainbow Dash gasped in an uncanny impersonation of Rarity. “I never took her for a Daft Punk fan.” They all laughed.
“But seriously, Sonata,” Sunset said, lowering her voice again. “What do you need Pinkie’s canvas for?”
“Well it depends really,” Sonata said, frowning slightly as a sign of deep thinking. “How long do you think until we can do it?”
Sunset thought about this. “It’s a lot of preparation, I don’t really know how long it’ll all take.”
“Ball park estimate?” Rainbow asked.
“Err... I don’t know. Three weeks? If we start today?”
Sonata grinned wickedly again. “Plenty of time.”
“You’ve really gotta stop doing that,” Rainbow said conversationally, as Sonata rubbed her palms together sinisterly.





The moment they returned to the city, Sonata insisted on setting out immediately to their friends’ individual houses to ask them for their participation. Sunset knew better than to stop her, but determined herself to go home and work on some of the logistical issues of Sonata’s idea.
“Oh, okay,” Sonata said, looking slightly disconcerted. 
“Did you want me to come with you?” Sunset asked. Sonata paused, then shook her head.
“No, it’s okay. Thanks for going to look up those problems for me. I wouldn’t know where to start.” She laughed.
“I could come with ya,” Rainbow Dash said. “I think they’d be more willing to listen if both of us go.”
“Don’t you have to go home?” Sonata asked. Rainbow waved an airy hand.
“Nah. My dad’ll be at work until seven. I’ve got all day.”
Sunset turned to leave, raising her hand to wave goodbye, when Sonata suddenly spoke again.
“Wait, Sunset,” she hastened over, and held out her art folder. “Could you take that back with you please?”
“Oh. Yeah, no problem,” Sunset assured, taking the folder. Sonata gave her a radiant smile and turned back to join Rainbow Dash.





Sunset Shimmer wondered as she ascended the lift to her room’s floor whether she should ask her neighbours if they minded her and her friends enacting Sonata’s plan. When the lift dinged to a stop, she decided against it for the moment. The first thing to do was to get official authorisation before she asked anyone else’s permission. It was no good asking Mr. Sweet or Mrs. Balm if they minded, if the police were going to swoop in and shut them down anyway.
Back in her apartment, Sunset sat down at her coffee table, marvelling at how easy it was to move without three easels to dodge around. They hadn’t been down in two months. Setting the sketch pad down on the seat next to her, she opened up her laptop and checked a few things before doing a search for her particular issue. 
As she scrolled through the city’s official page, she sighed at how ominously long it all looked to be, and so decided to brew some tea to keep her awake. As she brought the steaming mug back to her seat with a half-full packet of biscuits, she accidentally knocked the sketch pad off the chair, and it crashed to the floor. Cursing, she set down her tea and picked it up, praying it wasn’t broken.
The sketch pad had shaken itself half loose, and the zip pocket on the left side had fallen out, but it otherwise looked okay. Straightening the pad back into place, she picked up the pocket, which she found to her surprise was transparent on the back. Looking at it, she found that the pocket contained a small number of papers inside. Intrigued, she went to open the zip to see what they were, but was then struck by a doubt.
I shouldn’t be snooping at these, she thought to herself. If she put them in here, she probably doesn’t want anyone to see them.
But then, she reasoned, what could Sonata possibly be hiding in an art folder? It was hardly the safest or most secure location, so couldn’t, Sunset thought, be anything valuable or overtly personal. Surely. Curiosity finally overcoming her misgivings, she opened the zip, and pulled out the papers inside. Her heart thumped upwards into her throat.
For a moment or two, she could only stare at what she was seeing in bemused amazement. Saying to someone “Sonata can draw,” is frankly a display of how ill-adapted the English language can be to expressing thoughts and feelings. Sonata’s ability to draw was exceeded perhaps only by other surprising talents, like Rainbow Dash’s propensity for sports, or Fluttershy’s curiously empathic connection with animals. But these were beyond anything Sunset believed Sonata capable of, and... and they were all of her...
Holding up the first picture, she somehow instinctively knew what it was. It showed herself on a roof with a stairwell behind her. The her in the picture was standing in an uncertain posture and with a look of mingled fear and concern on her face. And perhaps too, a little shock. The picture was coloured in, so that the picture-Sunset’s hair shimmered gold in the fading light of twilight. She looked as though she were glowing with a faint, personal radiance.
Forgetting her misgivings on the instant, she rifled through all of the pictures in a daze. A sketch of her at school, casually brushing her mane of red and yellow hair from her face. A crosshatch drawing of her working on her laptop and drinking tea. A colour drawing of her singing during the battle of the bands, with her pony ears and tail on prominent display. They went on and on, from the barest sketch to a fairly detailed comic.
Sunset sat kneeling on the floor with the pictures spread around her, her own smiling face looking back at her from multiple directions. Then she jumped as her mobile rang.
“U-Um... y-yes?” she asked, hearing guilt in her own voice. 
“Slight change of plan,” Rainbow said from the other end. “We’re all meeting at Sugarcube Corner in two hours. Pinkie has to finish up a birthday party first, so we all said we’d meet there when she’s done.”
“Ah, um... okay.”
“You okay, Sunny?” Rainbow asked, sounding concerned.
“Yeah, fine,” Sunset lied. “Just reading over some of this city regulation stuff. It’s kinda complicated.” She gave a forced laugh, but Rainbow didn’t question it.
“Okay, see you then.”
The phone went dead.
Sunset looked around at all the pictures. What did this mean? Why would Sonata try to hide them like this? Even though Sunset Shimmer honestly didn’t know the answer to these questions, some part of her must have at least suspected the truth. As she gathered them back up into the right order and placed them carefully back into the pocket, she felt uncomfortably warm for it being such a cool spring day, and her face as she sat down to read the page of city regulations didn’t stop glowing pink until she again left the apartment.


- To be Continued