The Sunset Sonata: Pt 11
Sunset Shimmer
Photo Finish could hardly contain her excitement. The memory chip had popped out of her camera and was being thrust under Sunset’s nose before she could raise a hand to take it.
“Just remember,” Sunset said awkwardly, as they made their way back to the others. “I can’t promise anything will happen. I can only promise to ask.”
“Zat may be true,” Photo Finish said eagerly, “but I know my mozzer, und I know Fleur enough by now to know zat zis is za best chance I heff. My amateur verk should suffice as a portfolio so long as I can get a foot in za door.”
“Well I certainly hope I can give you a foot,” Sunset said quietly. If she were honest, she didn’t dislike Photo Finish as such. She wasn’t particularly mean spirited, selfish, malicious, or sleazy. As such. It was more that she knew what she wanted, and had the personality to grab it. Grab it and hold it tight to her chest, gnashing her teeth at any who came too close. ‘Scary’ was a good word for her. And ‘stubborn’ another. ‘Selective hearing’ was probably somewhere on that list too.
But it did no good to ruminate on such things now. Sunset had what she wanted. She only hoped she didn’t have to use it. The prospect was somewhat distasteful. All she wanted to do that day was go home, sit down with a mug of tea, and watch some TV with Sonata. Or maybe just sit down with Sonata. The TV was rather unimportant in the situation building in her mind.
“What’s up with you?” Aria’s voice said, breaking into Sunset’s pleasant daydreaming.
“Huh?” Sunset looked up to see Aria giving her a raised eyebrow.
“What did you want with Photo Fangirl?” Aria asked. “You’re all red. In the face I mean.”
“Oh, um,” Sunset cleared her throat. “Just buying some security.”
“That sounds underhanded,” Aria commented, nodding with approval.
“And what did you pay with?” Adagio asked sharply, also noticing Sunset’s risen colour.
“What?” Sunset said, bemused by Adagio’s penetrating stare.
Adagio didn’t reply, but directed a remark to Sonata. “My own two hands.”
“What is she talking about?” Sunset asked Sonata.
“Ignore her,” Sonata said hastily, trying to grin. “We got all the lower ones down,” she indicated the pile of paintings leaning against the wall, “and got a few others up. But I think we need a ladder for those up there.”
“Well I don’t see any ladders around,” Aria said, giving the room a brief look-over. “And that bench is bolted to the floor.”
“Maybe there’s a storage room around here,” Sunset suggested.
“Well I don’t see one,” Adagio observed, “and we can hardly go looking for one with Jade and her goon-toon squad nosing about. And it’s probably only a matter of time until that guard stops fawning over the autograph I gave him.”
“Oh so that’s how you distracted him,” Sonata giggled. “Typical Adagio.”
“Hey, I did the actual pick-pocketing,” Aria said.
“You’re actually proud of that, aren’t you?” Sunset said, smirking.
Aria shrugged in false modesty. “Hey, when you’ve got it. You’ve got it.” She smirked too. “And when you don’t, you can always steal it. Oh don’t look at me like that; I haven’t stolen anything except this thing,” she spun the remote on the key ring it was attached to “since back in Baltimore.”
“My my,” Adagio said with a wry smile. “How the proud crumble.”
“What was that?” Aria asked. “I couldn’t hear you over the sound of Trenderhoof’s girly laugh.”
Adagio gave a careless shrug, as though she wouldn’t trouble to deny that Trenderhoof had a girlish laugh. Both girls chuckled. It struck Sunset how similar they were to before, yet also how differently they seemed to take things. She could easily imagine Adagio making a lethally scathing remark to Aria for such boldness, but now they both treated the whole thing as though they were just old friends. Maybe it wasn’t surprising really, given how long it had been since they’d seen each other. Still, it was an unusual transformation.
Sunset’s contemplations were interrupted when Adagio raised both arms in a nonchalant gesture. “Well, there’s only one thing for it, then.”
Sunset held her fist up to her mouth, trying to make it seem as though she were merely thoughtful. In truth, she was biting hard on her thumb to not laugh aloud. Next to her, Adagio did a much better job of composing herself, but the glint of merriment in her hot pink eyes gave away her enjoyment of the scene too.
“Are you sure one of you two couldn’t do this?” Sonata asked from between gritted teeth.
“Hold still,” Aria complained. “And don’t grab my leg like that, it still hurts.”
“Sorry,” Sonata wheezed.
“Oh no, no,” Adagio said silkily. “In these dresses? We certainly couldn’t.”
“Then couldn’t one of you go on top at least?” Aria demanded. “I’m wearing a dress too, you know.”
“You’re the lightest of us, Aria,” Sunset reminded her. “It’s a compliment really.”
“I’ll give you a compliment,” Aria grumbled under her breath, turning back to face the wall. “A compliment right upside the head.”
Sonata tried her best to brace her legs as Aria tried to hang the last painting. Both she and Sonata were sweating quite a lot, and more than a few times Aria had sworn with grunts of effort that her vengeance for this indignity would be painful and everlasting. Albeit in a more direct verbiage. For one horrible moment, Aria leaned backwards, and the two-people tower wobbled precariously. Both Sunset and Adagio leaned with it, willing them to stay upright, sucking in their lower lips. Sunset had been about to step forward and push them back right, when Aria leaned suddenly forward and applied the last painting to the wall with a bump. They all froze and looked towards the door, but the guard there appeared to be on one of his rounds.
“There,” Aria said, straightening the painting a little. “And now...” she pulled out the remote again and clicked the ‘On’ button. Nothing visible happened, but a low, electric hum buzzed from the wall and settled into the white noise of the room. “Alright, now get me down, we have to get back down stairs.”
“Well,” said a voice from the door. “That’s inconvenient.”
Aria managed to maintain her balance despite her surprise. Sonata on the other hand, already quaking under the prolonged exposure to Aria’s relatively light weight, lost her footing and fell backwards as her legs gave way. Both gave harmonic shrieks as Aria fell. Her backside landed squarely on Sonata’s abdomen, completely winding her and causing Aria to look at the door with an aggrieved eye.
“Ugh,” she sighed. “You.”
Sonata’s reaction to Jade’s appearance consisted of a pathetic squeak. She didn’t seem up to much more.
“Yes, me,” Jade said. She turned and gave Adagio a narrow, appraising look. “Should have guessed you’d help your sister out.”
Adagio made an airy gesture with her hand and nodded. “That’s the business for you,” she said with a faint air of superior amusement.
“Sounds like familial ties to me,” Jade replied cuttingly.
“Well what’re you going to do about it?” Aria sneered, matching Adagio’s better-than-you unconcern with a moody disinterest of her own. “Paintings are up. Fancy will be up in, what—“ she looked at her phone again. “Fifteen minutes?”
“Plenty of time,” Jade said, a malevolent smile of her own spreading across her face.
“For what?” Sunset asked. Having been helping Sonata to her feet during much of the confrontation, and helping her get her wind back, Sunset became slightly disconcerted only when Jade seemed to actually have an idea. “You can’t be thinking that you’ll be able to take them all down again.”
“Yeah,” Aria said snidely. “Not without this.” She dangled the security control on her outstretched finger, bobbing it up and down provocatively.
Jade’s smile didn’t falter, which wiped the smug look off Adagio’s face at least, replaced instead by a calculating stare. “Yes, that,” Jade said, inclining her head at the remote. “Pretty sure you didn’t ask the guard for that, did you?” Aria paused in her taunting gesture, which was all the affirmation Jade needed. “Yeah. Think I’ll just go and inform him where his lost property is,” she breathed malevolently, turning to push the door open.
“What do you want, Jade?” Adagio asked, like a parent relenting to a pouting child.
Jade turned. “I want a fair chance.”
“You already have that,” Adagio pointed out. “You already have your career. You already work in Applewood with a better job than most people on the planet have.”
“So you expect me to roll over and let her take the attention I could be getting?” Jade snapped. “Not likely. It’s everyone for themselves in this business – excuse the cliché – and I’m not about to let an opportunity like this one slip by!”
“What opportunity?” Sunset snapped angrily, trying to steady Sonata as the latter tried to stand by herself. “Fancy won’t pick anything like this,” she gestured to the wall, where the remaining paintings and other images of historical figures and cityscapes gazed down upon them. “He can’t. This is old fashioned by now.”
Jade bit her lip, the colour rising in her face. Set against her green kimono-like dress, her red face made her look a little like an angry Christmas elf. “Why should I let her have all the glory?” she cried.
“Jade, there’s no way to win this,” Adagio said impatiently. “Sonata was lucky, and you were unlucky. That’s the true nature of this business.”
“I don’t see her being that lucky,” Jade snarled. “Not when I tell the guard what you guys have done.” She turned to leave.
Adagio gave an enormous sigh. “Jade, stop,” she said in a long-suffering voice.
“You’re not stopping me, Adagio,” Jade spat, the venom in her voice palpable.
“No, that would be my job,” Aria said coldly. Stepping forward, she found her way blocked by Adagio’s outstretched arm.
“I’ll put in a word with Trenderhoof for you,” Adagio said, still in that tired, long-suffering tone. Rather to Sunset’s surprise, Jade stopped and looked back. Her frosty expression remained, but it was tinged with the faintest trace of curiosity. “Acting. I’ll ask him to set you up an acting audition. A proper one.”
Jade took her hand from the door, regarding Adagio with a wary eye. Adagio kept her speared on her sight like a fish on a steak. With a stride that was almost casual, she walked up to Adagio, squaring up to her, or though it seemed to Sunset.
“An acting audition,” Jade repeated, arms folded. Adagio nodded. “Not a recommendation for more sets?”
“An acting audition,” Adagio said firmly.
“Grade A?”
“Grade B,” Adagio corrected instantly. “You know better than that. You couldn’t get a D on your own.”
Jade shrugged. “Can’t blame a girl for trying.” She looped an arm around Sonata’s shoulders and pulled her in close. “Honestly, I like your sister. Always a good eye for a deal,” she whispered conspiratorially. “So good luck and everything. Hope the whole lesbian thing works out too.”
It was simply incredible how the more she talked, the more Sunset wanted to punch her in the face. She actually developed a sort of vacuum-like feeling on her knuckles, like of phantom loss for not having the feeling of Jade’s cheek bone splintering beneath them. She limited herself to removing Jade’s arm from around Sonata’s shoulders and glaring Jade back a foot or so.
“I’ll see you later, Jade,” Adagio said pointedly. “We can talk to Trender together.”
“I get it,” Jade said quickly, raising her hands defensively. “I get the hint. But you guys best get back downstairs before they get up here. The buzz’ll be coming back since lunch is over.”
Once she had finally gone, Aria was the first to pronounce what most still in the room were thinking.
“The whole friendship thing, Adagio? I’m no expert, but I think you might be doing it wrong.”
Adagio shrugged. “She’s wanted an acting opportunity for ages. I didn’t give it to her because she had nothing I wanted. Everyone in Applewood is a reprehensible scumbag. Myself included.” She raised a hand to forestall Sonata’s objection, and even Sunset felt somewhat compelled to give some amiable protest. “She’s right in a way. You do sort of have to subject yourself to some less savoury things in this business. It’s an unpleasant game we all play.”
“I think I’m afraid to ask,” Aria said slowly.
“Well I’m not against manipulation, as you know,” Adagio said offhandedly before adopting a more serious tone. “But some of the things Trender and I have had to do to stay ahead, well...” she stared into space for a moment before taking a deep breath as though suddenly tired. “I think even the old us would have been a little surprised to what depths people will go.”
As they descended the stairs, Adagio’s words lingered in Sunset’s mind. All of these other artists who’d already made it big; they no longer lived in the city. They moved to places like Los Angeles, Applewood, the Capital, and other places besides. It suddenly struck her that it might be a requirement. It might be that, should Sonata choose to pursue her career into this limelight attraction all of the others, and Adagio, had been drawn to, she might have to leave the city. Sunset would go with her, of course she would. Among all of the little problems this would cause, one larger one loomed out of the gloom like a shadowy obelisk in her mind.
Neither she nor Sonata were utterly free of malice; far from it, they had both been guilty of allowing their passions to drive them to dark places: Sunset on what she clearly now saw as a vain quest for power, and Sonata into a relentless march towards world domination with her sister sirens. Sunset had often feared since her realising her mistakes whether she might not relapse. That something might tempt her back into her old ways. Even worse; that she might revert in the belief that she was doing good by it.
Sunset had no delusions about her capabilities. She was strong willed, could be forceful, and had an undeniable leadership quality in her. But she knew that those qualities paled in contrast with Adagio. Her will was nigh indomitable, and her leadership abilities had stood the test of years, whereas Sunset’s were practically newborn and virgin. If Adagio could be brought low by the effects of such places, then surely she, Sunset, was just as susceptible, if not more so. And Sonata... Sunset didn’t like to think badly of Sonata, but she had proven before not to respond well to pressure. How easy would it be for either of them to break?
“Sonata?”
“Hm?” Sonata looked around. The cheerful energy in her face gave Sunset pause. “Yeah?”
“It’s...” Sunset hesitated. “I hope everything goes okay.” She forced a smile.
Sonata gave a more natural smile and took her hand. “Of course it will, Silly Shimmy,” she said rousingly. “Your plans always work.”
“Silly Shimmy?” Adagio inquired, a look of malevolent glee spreading over her face. “Isn’t that just precious.”
Sunset blushed a little and rolled her eyes. “Yeah, yeah,” she sighed, as Aria snickered and Adagio indulged in a little silent amusement.
“What?” Sonata asked, bemused. “Don’t you like it when I call you that?”
“Of course I do,” Sunset said firmly, giving her hand a squeeze. “It doesn’t matter what other people think.”
Sonata seemed to understand the implication here, and glared at her sisters. “You leave Sunset alone, you two,” she warned, scowling at them.
Aria spluttered into full on laughter for a few seconds before recomposing herself, whilst Adagio simply said “Sonata, you can call her whatever you like, and we will say nothing against it.”
Sunset saw the barb in that one, but wasn’t sure that Sonata did. She supposed it didn’t matter, since they had reached the base of the stairs. Jade was rather ostentatiously making a show of looking bored as she wondered around the state room, whilst from the entrance hall beyond came a loud buzz of conversation.
“For the last time, I’m fine,” Fancy Pants was saying irritably. Sunset had never quite seen him irritable before, but she could well understand it with Hoity practically up his backside.
“Fancy, you really should watch your health. Who knows what you might have eaten.” Fleur said in as casual a way as possible. Then she spotted the four of them at the bottom of the stairs. Her eyes flicked back to Fancy Pants. “Perhaps a little exercise will pick you up.”
“Then once we reach the second floor, I shall take a turn about the room,” Fancy said repressively. “Now really, we have wasted far too much time,” he said quietly as he reached the base of the stairs. He smiled at Sunset and company, who all gave convincing smiles back. “Come along everyone. Still one floor to go!”
“So,” Fleur breathed, ascending the stairs next to Sunset and Sonata. “What did you decide?”
“We went ahead with it,” Sonata muttered back.
Fleur exhaled and nodded. Sunset knew she probably couldn’t do much more. Photo Shop and her bright white coat was ascending the stairs not too far behind. It wouldn’t do for her to hear anything.
As the group made its way to the first room, Sunset noticed Adagio give Aria’s upper arm a small smack. Aria sighed and pushed her way to the edge of the crowd, where she could pass by the security guard from earlier, who still seemed perfectly unaware that anything untoward had happened. Aria returned, turning her pockets inside out as Adagio continued to give her an arch look.
Whilst this was happening, Rainbow Dash sidled up to the group, looking awestruck, windswept, and curiously uneasy.
“Cool uniform,” Sonata observed eagerly.
“Thanks,” Rainbow replied, incapable apparently of preventing herself from giving a semi-conscious pose. “Pretty sweet, huh? Did you see us up there? Did you see Pinkie?”
Sunset wasn’t personally invested in the concept of bodysuits, but she had to admit that Rainbow Dash wore it well. The goggles perched on her forehead had the Wonderbolt’s official monogram seal, and the back of the suit had her name etched in golden letters. Two or three other Wonderbolts, all with wild hair and confident expressions like Rainbow Dash’s, passed behind them. One of them, a tallish man still wearing his flight goggles, ruffled Rainbow’s hair as he passed and told her what a good job she’d done on her first official exhibition.
The immediate and satisfying effect this had was to stop Rainbow talking. Sunset had no problem with Rainbow enumerating each and every one of her thoughts on how utterly and awesomely radical this day was for her – she kind of deserved it – but like most people, Sunset could only stand Rainbow’s constant stream of fangirling for around about a few minutes. With Rainbow adequately star-struck, they were able to proceed in relative silence. Sunset only had to stop Sonata from trying to poke her back to reality two or three times
The first room was passed by without much comment. As Fleur had predicted, Fancy couldn’t approve of the cityscapes and portraits, although he did direct some delighted attention towards the other artwork. Sunset observed with some satisfaction that, in her own humble opinion, these were not nearly as good as Sonata’s paintings. They weren’t bad, just clearly not as good.
She had even more satisfaction in noticing Hoity’s continuing and uncontrollable perspiration as Fancy and the rest of them moved along the tour. Sunset could practically hear him praying in his mind. That wasn’t a cruel thing for her to delight in, was it? If it was, she thought that she could excuse herself just this once.
“Hey Sunset,” Sonata whispered.
“Hm?”
“These guys are still staring at us.” Sonata inclined her head backwards to indicate something behind her. Sunset didn’t look around, but guessed that the artists from before that Jade has collaborated with to thwart them were still under the impression that they could try something.
“Ignore them,” Sunset said. “What can they do?”
The answer was nothing, of course. Or so she thought. However, as they all pressed into the next room, which featured Sonata’s art, Sunset noticed something for the first time that made her heart stop.
Next to her, Sonata took a breath that sounded like a stifled gasp. They’d all been so focused on getting the paintings up that they hadn’t paid much attention to the old paintings, which were still leaning on the far side of a bench. Whilst out of sight now, as the group moved around the room, they would certainly be seen.
“Err...” Aria began, pointing discreetly at the offending pieces.
“I know,” Sunset hissed, pulling nervously at the hem of her dress. She suddenly felt a little like how Hoity looked. She shot a quick glance at Fancy Pants. He was scanning the first wall of paintings, looking as unenthusiastic as in the previous room. More cityscapes lined the wall before Sonata’s paintings in the middle.
“Can any of you get around the edge of the crowd and...?” Sunset tailed off. She knew that it wouldn’t work. They couldn’t do a thing without being spotted. The situation was utterly hopeless. The moment anyone saw the paintings, surely they’d look at them, see the signatures on them. Someone would realise what’d been done. One of the other artists who suspected them would definitely at least make some speculation about it. There was no way for Sonata to come off well should those paintings be spotted.
“What do we do?” Aria hissed at Sunset. But Sunset had no ideas. She was utterly lost. Briefly she looked to Adagio, hoping against hope that she had an idea. To her horror, Adagio’s eyes were wide and staring; she was evidently as lost as Sunset was. She even looked to Fleur, Hoity, and Trenderhoof, hoping that perhaps one of them would notice, distract the crowd somehow. But they were all as involved in looking at the paintings as Fancy was.
There was nothing they could do. They were doomed...
Then Sonata vanished from Sunset’s side. Sunset was so surprised by the sudden movement that she jumped and turned on the spot. Sonata was pushing her way through the crowd.
“Where’s she going?” Aria asked.
“Running by the looks of it,” said a voice from behind her.
Sunset’s blood turned to ice as she looked behind her to see the group that had been with Jade, although Jade herself was noticeably absent from their ranks. The one who’d spoken, Bluebeard, had his eyes fixed on the paintings.
“You look worried,” he said. “Anything to do with them?” he asked snidely, nodding towards the paintings.
Sunset swallowed and looked away in as haughty a way as she could. She didn’t need to be giving them satisfaction on top of everything else.
As she turned back to Aria and Adagio, she could only stare at the two of them, utterly bewildered. There was nothing they could do.
SNAP!
The sound pierced Sunset’s senses like a tinkling of breaking glass. It seemed to get inside of her head by some other means than through her ears.
She was still looking at the other two when it happened, and it was clear that they too had noticed something. Adagio blinked in confusion, whilst Aria turned her head suddenly like a dog that had sensed a rabbit.
“Did you hear that?” Sunset asked cautiously. No one other than they three had seemed to register the strange noise.
“I saw something... odd,” Adagio said. “Like the entire room just had its colours switched around, and...” she looked around, disconcerted. “I can’t tell whether they were the same as before.”
Aria’s nose, Sunset noticed, was flaring. “I smelled something strange,” she whispered.
“What?” Sunset asked, curiously. That was quite a strange thing for Aria to say.
“Like...” Aria hesitated. “Like chocolate and candy floss mixed together.”
“I heard a snapping sound, like someone clicking their fingers,” Sunset replied in answer to Adagio’s asking what she had sensed.
Before any of them could wonder further, Sonata reappeared at Sunset’s shoulder, looking surreptitiously passed the crowd.
“Hah!” she breathed.
Sunset followed her line of sight. And then her mouth fell open. The paintings were no longer there. She turned to Sonata, eyes wide.
“How did you—“
Sonata beamed and jabbed a thumb over her shoulder. Behind her, some way off in the crowd, Discord was smiling at her, his discoloured yellow eyes glinting with merriment. He raised a glass of what looked like chocolate milk as though toasting her.
“Oh snap,” Aria said succinctly, grinning as she noticed what had happened too. That, in Sunset’s opinion, just about summed it all up.
“Ah!” This sound caught everyone’s attention, and all eyes moved to the front.
Fancy had come to Sonata’s paintings at last, and in the delightful surprise of finding that Discord had apparently somehow disposed of the offending evidence of their duplicity, Fancy’s reaction was simply the cherry on top of the proverbial ice cream.
“Ice cream?” An ice cream cone hovered next to Sunset’s head, held up by a hand wearing a yellow, fingerless glove.
“Thank you,” Sunset whispered to Discord, declining the ice cream.
Discord shrugged and ate the thing in a few bites that defied all ice-cream headache logic. “I’m sure I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he said. “But you’re welcome anyway.”
“Now, I quite like this one,” they heard Fancy Pants saying to his entourage, pointing out a depiction of Sweet Apple Acres during a winter sunrise. “Such colours. The modern style isn’t so set on the use of the like this. See how it sets off the background in contrast with the foreground.”
Sunset took enormous pleasure in watching Hoity nodding his empty head enthusiastically, and Fleur smiling her natural, beautiful smile. If that wasn’t enough for her, the disgruntled sounds coming from behind her, no doubt Bluebeard and his friends blustering in confusion, made it so much better.
“I think they might be a little mad,” Sonata pointed out, in her usual fashion of indicating the obvious.
“Who cares?” Aria sneered. “They’re just butthurt that you won.”
“There’s no winning, Aria,” Sonata corrected her, rolling her eyes.
“Sure, sure,” Aria said airily, still smirking.
“Oh, but I think you’re right,” said Trenderhoof, popping up on Adagio’s other side. “I know that look anywhere. Fancy’s got his fix now.” He gave Sonata a sparkling wink. “Your work, yes?”
Sunset smiled as she saw Sonata blush and nod. Trenderhoof gave her a thumbs up.
“Delightful. You’ve saved all of our bacons, I can tell you that. Such wonderful country scenes. The Capital never really has appreciated the true wonder and simple beauty of the countryside, you know. I’ve long said it; there needs to be a great deal more—“
He went on in this vein for some time as the group moved around the room. Aria and Sonata both gave Adagio wicked grins, but Adagio bore their merriment at her boyfriend’s absurdity with good grace.
The event wound down following the tour with the media cornering anyone of note. Adagio and Trenderhoof were swept away early on, and were swept around in the crowd, occasionally viewable through a slight partition in the crush..
Rainbow Dash, Sonata, Aria, and Sunset all met up with their other friends as the public was readmitted into the gallery. To Sunset’s very great surprise, Pinkie Pie was there and un-handcuffed.
“Yeah,” Pinkie giggled. “Turns out I’m too young to be arrested!”
“They can still send you to juvy,” Rainbow pointed out.
“Pfft! Nah,” Pinkie said dismissively. “They don’t let me in there anymore.”
Sunset and her friends all looked at each other, each contemplating the meaning of this curious pronouncement.
“So, what does all of this mean?” Applejack asked, giving Sonata a comradely dig in the upper arm. “Y’all famous now?”
“I don’t know,” Sonata said, looking surprised. “I didn’t really think about it. Maybe?”
“Of course she’ll be famous, darling!” Rarity squealed, giving Sonata a rib-warping hug. “Oh my gosh, I was so right about your hair,” she said distractedly, giving her hair sticks a twiddle.
“But, um...” Fluttershy put in tentatively. “Um, I hope you don’t mind me asking, but, does this mean that you’ll... well, move away?”
The group fell silent.
Sunset side-glanced at Sonata. She herself had considered this point a little bit, but hadn’t brought it up with Sonata. Most of these already famous artists moved away once their names had become well enough known. Sonata looked as though she had not considered this very much at all. She’d gone rather pale at the thought, and looked troubled.
Perhaps this sense of foreboding was contagious, for looking around at their friends, all of them had equally troubled expressions on their faces too.
- To be Continued