The Sunset Sonata: Pt 1
Sunset Shimmer
The morning dawned crisp and cool. Sunset knew that it wouldn’t last. Summer was upon them, and the days heated quickly.
She stood up and opened the curtains, stretching her arms above her head. The scene outside was still a little strange to her, but had so far always given her a thrill of intrigue. Looking back into the bedroom, she noted the girl lying in the still shaded part of the bed. Sunset always kept the curtains partially closed so as not to wake her. Glancing at the clock on the wall, she moved around the bed in the direction of the kitchen.
Several important changes had occurred in the running of Sunset and Sonata’s lives. Following the fundraising concert, Aria’s operation had gone ahead as planned, and been declared a complete success. During her recovery time, still enrolled at school, Principal Celestia and Vice Principal Luna had been busy doing their part for Aria, recommending her to a physical rehabilitation clinic that provided temporary housing and a skill workshop.
To everyone’s utter surprise, Sunset’s small revenge on Hoity Toity for his sleight against Sonata in the art gallery had become an opportunity beyond anything anyone had imagined. Thanks to the secretive nature by which Sonata had concealed the nature of her project, even Sunset had not guessed at its full and glorious extent. Since then, Hoity Toity had been commissioning pieces for both his personal collection, and for the city gallery, which now had a portion of wall devoted entirely to Sonata’s work. The boon from this patronage was neither small, nor difficult to understand.
“The coming event is more than meets the eye,” Hoity had explained. He was seated in their small apartment room as though he expected the place to bite him. “The ‘fair’ as the locals have termed it, has attracted the eye of the Capital, and many an important person will be arriving to view everything within. I am not exaggerating when I say this,” he said in low, serious rumbles, “that the very future of the fashion world may be decided on that night. And you will be a part of that. Your paintings will inspire, be a part of the latest designs, and talk of the Capital.” He gazed fiercely at Sonata over his glasses, making her incredibly nervous.
“So some big shots are coming to see the fair,” Sunset said, shrugging. She was trying to put Sonata a little at ease. Hoity Toity spluttered.
“Big shots?” he exclaimed. He put a hand to his head as though what she had said had pained him. “The term does not do them close to a third of the justice these people deserve!”
In all honesty, Sunset still found Hoity rather tiresome, but she had to admit that at the very least he probably knew what he was talking about. Hoity was a rich man, and an influential one. Through his patronage alone, Sonata had risen to a kind of local fame. Paintings done by her hung in Hoity’s own residence in the city, in the city art gallery, in Sunset and Sonata’s place of residence, and even in Canterlot High, where Sonata had donated one of her early works.
Sunset strode about the kitchen, still appreciating the wide space and full sized cooker as she made fried eggs and bacon. With the sun beginning to filter in through the window, the first signs of life outside of her home sounded outside.
“Hey Rainbow!” Sunset called out of her window.
“Sup, Sunset?” Rainbow waved as she jogged by. Both girls knew the routine by now. Sunset took careful aim, and at the opportune moment she knew all-too-well from several weeks practise, threw the toast with unerring aim. Rainbow leapt forward down the hill, catching the toast expertly between her teeth.
“Mmph!” she grunted, giving a thumbs up as she darted down the slope passed Sunset’s house.
“Was that Rainbow?” came a voice from behind Sunset’s back.
“Her dad won’t buy whole-grain bread,” Sunset explained. “Eggs and toast good for you? I made bacon too.”
“If you made it, it could be soggy bread on burnt cereal and I’d still eat it,” Sonata giggled, kissing Sunset on the cheek.
“You wound me, dear,” Sunset smirked, setting a plate in front of her and sitting down opposite her. “And here I thought you liked my cooking.”
“See, that’s the thing,” Sonata said seriously, waving a bit of egg on her fork. “I both love you, and your cooking.” She stretched out both arms as though unable to comprehend the whole thing. “It’s like I’m getting my cake and eating it too! And you know how much I love cake.”
Sunset did. She, Sunset, enjoyed cake too, but nowhere near as much as Sonata or Pinkie. They were cake lovers in a realm beyond normal love of cake. And in another twist of cosmic black humour, neither of them gained much weight, which Sunset intuitively knew wouldn’t be the case with herself if she ever tried it.
“So, what do you want to do when we’re out today?” Sunset asked, sipping her coffee.
“I don’t know,” Sonata sighed, kicking her feet under the table. “I’m supposed to be doing those paintings for the fair.”
“Oh yeah? How’re they coming?”
Sonata’s lip curled a little. “Alright I guess. I’m just not used to taking suggestions, you know?”
Sunset knew what she meant. As part of Hoity Toity’s panic, there was no other word for it, about the crème de la crème of the Capital coming to survey the work at the art fair, he had urged her to paint things that, to be perfectly honest, Sunset had never seen Sonata paint before.
“I mean, it look really good,” Sunset said, fairly.
“No, it doesn’t,” Sonata corrected her sadly.
As part of their increased income, Sonata had followed through on her promise to buy a house. Not wanting to exceed themselves, Sonata and Sunset had bought a house on the mountainside near to Rainbow’s humble abode. Like Rainbow’s house, the building had an air of former grandness, and a generous size. Its rooms were all unusually high ceilinged, especially for the two girls who had lived in Filthy Rich’s apartment complex. Owing to its relatively large size, and the presence of only two residents, they had space for Sunset Shimmer’s office, and Sonata’s workshop, which was actually a spacious attic fitted with large, angled windows.
Standing in the morning sunlight, observing several of Sonata’s latest creations, Sunset tried to think of something to say that might cheer Sonata up. The poor girl was looking most morose.
“Why don’t you just do the pictures you want to do? Hoity might not even be right about what the big wigs want to see.”
“Maybe,” Sonata said despondently. “But this is his area of expertise. He wouldn’t be where he is if he wasn’t good at it, surely.”
“I suppose you have a point there,” Sunset conceded. She gazed at the crease between Sonata’s eyebrows for a moment or two more, and then gave her shoulder a little shake. “Cheer up. Aria’s visiting today. You’ll get some inspiration later.”
This did seem to make Sonata happier. She smiled. “Remember, she likes iced tea, not hot.”
“The one thing I can never forgive her for,” Sunset sighed, as she followed Sonata downstairs. “Ice tea indeed.” She shivered in disgust.
Nevertheless, the meeting was quite cordial. Sonata met Aria at the bus stop just down the road, and helped her to the house.
“Hey Aria. Still sorry about the incline,” Sunset laughed nervously.
“Yeah, well,” Aria replied, grinning. “It’s easier with crutches than that damn chair.”
“She was faster than me up that hill,” Sonata complained, breathing heavily. “This place is going to be the death of me.”
“That’s because you don’t ever get out of the house,” Sunset snickered.
“You are getting a little podgy there,” Aria teased, prodding Sonata’s middle.
“That’s not funny,” Sonata said in a deadpan voice.
“I’m just remembering how much you like cake,” Sunset said, innocently.
“You watch yourself, missy,” Sonata warned, poking Sunset in the chest. “You’ll be sleeping in your office tonight.”
Sunset raised both hands in defeat, smirking as Aria stifled a laugh with her hand. “Speaking of cake,” Sunset began, “want some, Aria? Got some gingerloaf in the kitchen.”
Aria gave a casual affirmation, but Sunset could see the eagerness in a few of her mannerisms. Her rehabilitation program, she knew, was heavy on healthy foods and hard carbs, rather than sweets. Whilst not exactly forbidden to have them, Aria had no job whilst in rehab, and so couldn’t be expected to be able to go out and buy her own.
“They say I’ll be able to lose the crutches soon,” Aria said excitedly. “I only have to keep ‘em now because they don’t want me overexerting myself.” She rolled her eyes and huffed, a typical Aria reaction.
Sunset set down a large slice of gingerloaf and fork before her, and a significantly smaller pair in front of herself and Sonata. Aria bit into the cake as though she were eating nectar of the gods. Her entire face lit up into a disturbingly angelic expression so far removed from anything either Sonata or Sunset imagined could appear on Aria. The other girls stared.
“I’ll have what she’s having,” Sonata said, taking a bite of her own cake.
“I never knew how much I missed sweets,” Aria sighed dreamily.
“I’d die without cake,” Sonata said idly, casually sneaking a chunk of Aria’s from her plate.
“Hey!” Aria cried, making a snatch for it, but Sonata ate the chunk in one gulp and stuck out her tongue. Aria flushed. “Ugh! That was mine!”
“Don’t worry, we have more,” Sunset said, repressing an urge to laugh as Aria leaned over and pulled Sonata’s ponytail. “So are you okay for coming out with us today?”
Aria made a dismissive gesture as Sunset set another slice of cake in front of her. “Please, I’ll be limping circles around both of you,” she bragged.
The sad thing was that she was right.
Aria’s crutches didn’t seem to impede her in the least, and she was able to ascend or descend stairs with a nonchalance that quite astonished Sunset. She agreed whole-heartedly with Sunset as well that Sonata should simply paint what she wanted to paint if she was in a slump.
“That’s what they tell us to do in rehab,” she explained. “If we get frustrated with something, you take a break and do something you want to do until you feel up to it again.”
“What do you do?” Sunset asked, curiously.
Leaning on her left crutch, Aria reached into the satchel she had, and pulled out a notebook. “I write mostly. For some reason I’d forgotten how much I used to like it.”
Sunset took the notebook and flipped through it, her eyebrows shooting up into her fringe. The book was full of neat, orderly script. Never ending black lines of writing, with red and green-inked corrections Aria had evidently made herself on almost every page.
“Wow,” Sunset said openly. “You write stories?”
“Yeah,” Aria said, looking a little proud of herself.
“When did you first figure that out?” Sunset asked, genuinely interested.
Aria’s smile faded. She frowned as though the question were perplexing. “Huh...” she said, sounding faintly troubled. “I don’t remember.”
Sunset stared at her, faintly surprised by this reaction.
“Yeah,” Sonata said suddenly, sounding troubled as well. “It was the same with me and painting.” Sonata too was frowning as though struggling to remember something. “It’s like I liked painting a long time ago, but... I just can’t remember it.”
Sunset looked between the two girls, feeling as though she were missing something. “Like, back in Equestria?” she asked, helpfully.
“Maybe,” Aria said, rubbing her chin. “It seems so long ago.”
The mystery of their hidden talents was eventually given up on, and the three of them made their way into the city via taxi.
“I’ll be glad when I can get rid of these things,” Aria complained, tapping alongside Sunset and Sonata. “People stare at me.”
“I never took you for being afraid of crowds,” Sunset commented.
“I never used to be, before,” Aria said. “Maybe it was just being with Sonata and Adagio. I used to love having a crowd watching me, but now it’s like they’re all individuals together rather than a single big thing with many voices.”
Sunset thought she understood what Aria meant. A performer herself, she knew the odd tips and tricks for overcoming stage fright, and one way of doing it was to remove the human aspect of the crowd from your mind. Imagining it as something that wasn’t human, and therefore couldn’t judge you, could help overcome the butterflies, or make them ten time worse. It kind of depended.
Despite having lived in the city for quite some time before and after travelling to Baltimore, Aria had never seen much of the city itself, and so Sunset and Sonata took her on a general tour of the city’s primary sights.
“It looks so weird,” Aria commented, frowning up at city hall, the rounded, oldy-worldy appearance of which had long been a subject of curiosity for the city when compared to many of the more classical public service buildings.
“I like it,” Sonata declared. “It has oomph.”
“What is ‘oomph’?” Aria asked, confused.
“You know,” Sonata explained. “Oomph. Razzmatazz. It. City Hall has It.”
Aria looked to Sunset for help. “I think she means it has character. Individuality,” Sunset interpreted.
“Yeah,” Sonata agreed.
“Why didn’t you just say that?” Aria shook her head. “I still think it’s weird.”
“My dear!” called a voice from across the street.
“Oh no...” Sunset groaned. She turned around with Sonata and Aria, praying she misheard, begging for it not to be... but it was.
Hoity Toity, silver hair agleam, red cravat delivering an explosion of colour across his grey and blue chest, strode across the road, apparently leaving two people he was walking with on the other side of the road.
“Dear, my dear, my burgeoning young prodigy,” he said in his usual, cultured tones.
“This guy again?” Aria whispered to Sunset.
“He’s Sonata’s patron,” Sunset said, glaring at Hoity, who was busily taking no notice of them.
His silver ponytail flying elegantly behind him and his purple glasses sparkling in the sunlight, he wrapped an arm around Sonata’s shoulders and began dragging her away. “I simply must allow you to meet two dear friends of mine. I assure you,” he said in a more serious tone, “they are simply dying to meet you. Yes, yes,” he said, seeming to notice Sunset and Aria for the first time. “Yes, my best talent scout and whomever she calls a friend are welcome too. Come, come!”
Sunset and Aria looked at each other, and then a little reluctantly followed him across the road.
The two people he had left standing were talking to each other amiably, but stopped to smile benignly at the new arrivals. One was a tall, white skinned man with elegant blue hair, a blue tweaked moustache, and a monocle. He wore a simple but spotlessly clean black suit with a blue bow tie, and had a look of effortless suave and sophistication. The woman to his left was an equally tall, slender woman with curves in all the right places. She had long, pale pink hair that looked as though it could have been fashioned from porcelain, a long white dress equally as simple and as well fitting as her companion’s suit was to him, and purple eyes that seemed to be able to speak a hundred different things at once. If Sunset wasn’t mistaken, she thought that the lady’s eyes slid onto her a little longer then on everyone else’s.
“I say, Hoity old boy, who do we have here?” the man asked good-naturedly, scrutinising them all through his monocle.
“Might I have the honour of introducing,” Hoity began, stretching out a dramatic arm, “Sir Fancy Pants, and his companion, Lady Fleur Dis Lis. This is the next great artiste of the present age, the talented Sonata Dusk.”
Fancy Pants smiled and held out a hand. “A pleasure to meet you,” he said earnestly, shaking her hand with celerity. “Hoity here has told me some wonderful things about you.”
“He does go on,” the lady said with the faintest suggestion of a laugh in her voice, stretching out her hand as well.
“He’s mentioned you a few times as well,” Sonata said, a faint colour in her cheeks.
Fancy Pants chuckled. “So modest,” he commented to the lady. “Well, I look forward to seeing some of your work. I’ve actually come by today to see what all of the fuss Hoity’s being making is all about. I expect to be mightily impressed.”
“Oh you will,” Hoity assured him.
Sunset was not a cruel person – anymore – but she had to admit to herself that she liked the sight of Hoity being all nervous and eager to please. These two people were clearly important in some way to his work. She was tempted to do something to make his life just that little bit more difficult, but a developed habit of being nice to people, and a thought that she might harm Sonata’s prospects by doing so, stayed her hand.
Hoity led both Fancy Pants and Sonata into the gallery, leaving the lady, Sunset and Aria behind. They followed on, the lady, Sunset noticed, looking faintly amused.
Standing opposite the city hall, Sunset supposed she should not have been surprised at Hoity having spotted them. He and Fancy Pants had moved into the first room, where an entire wall had been devoted to Sonata’s landscapes. Sunset watched nervously as Hoity pointed out particular pieces, and Fancy Pants nodded in apparent approval. Sonata managed to slip away during this time, and sidled back to where her friends and the lady were standing.
“Hey look, it’s Rarity,” she said, pointing to their right.
Looking over, Sunset saw that Rarity was indeed there, standing alongside an eccentric looking girl with a camera, whom Sunset recognised as Photo Finish. Sunset snorted to see Rarity’s outfit: a modern French beret with a black, overly large sweater and matching skirt. Photo Finish next to her had her usual attire of black and white dress, and pink-tinged glasses, through which she stared imperiously at people as though imagining what they might look like in print.
“Oh let’s hope she doesn’t fall for Fancy Pants too,” Sunset whispered, rolling her eyes.
As the other two laughed at the inside joke, the lady gave a little chuckle of her own. Sunset looked up at her, faintly surprised that she would join in with their humour. She seemed to notice.
“It would be a great misfortune for her if she did,” the lady said, smiling warmly. “I’m sorry, I don’t think that we’ve been properly introduced,” she said, proffering her hand. Sunset went to take it, but at the last moment the lady moved her own hand and grasped a hold of Sunset’s fingers as though she intended to kiss them. “Fleur Dis Lis.”
“Sunset Shimmer,” Sunset replied, feeling a little hot under the collar. “Um, is Fancy Pants your, um...” She imagined that the two must be married, or at least seeing each other, and that would be why Rarity must be unfortunate if she developed feeling for the man.
Fleur laughed daintily at this. It was not uncontrolled, but it was certainly an open laugh. “Oh my dear,” she said, her voice still trembling a little with mirth. She lowered her voice. “Fancy Pants is a blatant homosexual.”
“Oh!” Sunset said, understanding. The other lady raised Sunset’s hand a little higher, her elegant smile widening a little.
“As am I,” she continued.
Sunset felt the heat rise in her cheeks. She wasn’t sure she wanted to try and interpret the meaning in the older lady’s tone. At that moment however, another hand reached up and plucked Sunset’s from Fleur’s.
“Taken,” Sonata said firmly, directing a cold look at Fleur.
Sunset avoided Sonata’s eye, afraid of the colour still in her face. Fleur on the other hand simply laughed again, that same, open yet controlled laugh, a hand to her mouth, looking unabashed.
“Such honesty!” she said, her glittering purple eyes meeting Sonata’s burning magenta one’s unflinchingly. If Sonata were looking at her that way, Sunset would have dropped the subject and made her excuses to leave. “How refreshing.” She lowered her voice again. “This is an open relationship?”
“I’ve got no problem telling anyone,” Sonata said, defiantly.
Fleur reached down and seized their clasped hands between her own. “You two are just precious. And you, the little artist; so passionate. I hope that you never lose that fieriness.” She let go of their hands, but then put a hand to Sunset’s burning cheek. “You’ll forgive my fun, I hope,” she said in a more serious tone. “Capital life can be so rigid. No offense my dear, but I think you’re a little too young for me. It’s unfortunate really.” She slid her hand from Sunset’s face, her index finger tracing Sunset’s jawbone to the chin. With one last warm look at the three of them, she moved away to rejoin Fancy Pants.
“Wow.” Was Aria’s only comment.
As soon as Fancy Pants, Hoity Toity, and Fleur had moved away to see more of the gallery, Sunset and company made a speedy exit.
Sonata was still fuming, which only served to make Sunset feel even more awkward. The whole experience had just been a blur of confusion and what she imagined to be hints and innuendo that she just didn’t understand. The place on her face where Fleur had touched still tingled faintly. Aria, partly amused, partly confused, chose to regard the thing as something to be puzzled over, like a joke that didn’t make sense.
“Come on, you’re not angry are you?” Sunset asked Sonata. She clearly was angry. Sunset took her hand and gave it a squeeze. “There’s nothing to be angry about, it’s not like she was serious or anything,” she went on. To her own mortification, she felt that she was sort of trying to convince herself as much as Sonata. Luckily, Aria came to the rescue.
“She did say it was a joke,” she reminded them. “And I can sort of see how it was. Twisted sense of humour though.”
“Very,” Sonata grunted. All the same, she looked slightly mollified.
“All in all, it’s over now. Where were we going next?”
“Don’t know about you, but I’m hungry,” Aria said. “Want to get something to eat?”
The rest of the afternoon went by more amicably, with Sonata apparently forgetting about the encounter with Fleur for the most part. Sunset didn’t think about it much either, especially with Aria’s continuing descriptions of life in rehab.
“I can’t do anything,” she groaned, as she elaborated on her many failed attempts to find a skill in the rehab workshop.
“Why don’t you write?” Sunset suggested, remembering her notebook.
“What kind of career can I have doing that?” Aria asked. “It’s not exactly a safety net.”
“Neither is painting,” Sonata said, shrugging. She bit into a sandwich wrap and went on with her mouth full of food. “But we get by, don’t we?”
“I suppose,” Aria said, looking faintly ill as Sonata sprayed lettuce and flour wrap everywhere.
“You can always stay with us until you get on your feet, you know,” Sunset offered. “We have a guest bedroom.”
Aria refused to accept the offer outright. Sunset knew that she appreciated it, but was reluctant to accept more help. She probably still felt guilty and regretful for her past actions. Sunset could understand that, and knew it wasn’t worth it to push the subject.
“Why don’t you ask Adagio if there’s anything you can do in Applewood?” Sonata asked. “They need writers, don’t they? For shows and things?”
“I think you’re aiming kind of high there,” Aria said.
“If you don’t aim high, you’re only going to hit the ground,” Sonata said, sagely.
Aria raised an eyebrow. “That strangely made sense,” she admitted.
“I’m usually terrible at those,” Sonata said, unnerved. “What’s going on? Where am I?”
“The human universe. The sandwich shop on 23rd street. We’re eating lunch,” Sunset rattled off. Sonata settled down.
“Oh, good,” she smiled, slurping loudly on her fizzy drink.
“I don’t know how you can stand living with her,” Aria said shaking her head. This seemed an odd thing for Aria to say in Sunset’s opinion. Aria seemed to notice this as well. “We stayed out of each other’s way when we could, when we were sirens,” she explained. “It’s not like we slept in the same bed or something.”
“I do admit that her snoring used to be a little distracting,” Sunset said thoughtfully.
“Hey!”
“But she hasn’t snored once since we started sleeping in the same bed.”
Aria spluttered, sending a gulp full of diet coke right up her nose.
“Not like that!” Sunset hissed, covering her face and looking around to see if anyone was staring at them. Sonata laughed as Aria held a napkin to her nose, grimacing as the drink burnt her sinuses.
“So, all is right with the world,” Aria said thickly, once she’d recovered.
“Are you coming to the fair, by the way?” Sunset asked. “We’ve got extra invites.”
“Oh you bet I’ll be there,” Aria assured confidently. “I’ll be walking in too, instead of hobbling. I’m looking forward to seeing those finished paintings,” she said to Sonata.
Sonata’s good humour vanished almost instantly. “Yeah,” she said uncertainly.
Aria, too intent on drinking her coke without it shooting up her nose again, didn’t notice the doubt in Sonata’s voice, but Sunset did.
“Don’t worry,” she said with a smile. “It’ll be fine.”
- To be Continued