A Tale of Two Dusks - New Beginnings

by keaton-furman-prower


Family

Gleaming Shield sighed as she walked up to the door. Between the wall-eyed girl who had somehow used a muffin to assault a yellow girl with long (and admittedly ludicrous) hair, and the subsequent ruckus involving several students from a nearby high school, she was quite ready to spend a perfectly ordinary night with her family.

Unfortunately, the universe seemed quite determined to mess with her at every turn.

"Hello! I'm back!"

"Gleaming!" Twilight Velvet exclaimed as she watched her daughter enter. "How was your day?"

"Eh, I survived," answered Gleaming. "I mean, there wasn't anything serious, but there were some... unconventional situations."

"Well, you'd better tell us about it later," said Velvet. "I'm sure our guest would enjoy hearing all about it!"

"Guest?"

"Oh yes! Dusk brought a friend along today! Why don't you introduce yourself?"

Gleaming raised an eyebrow.

"Since when does Dusk have friends?"

"Don't be rude, Gleaming," Velvet said sternly. "Besides, the poor girl was in terrible condition it there. Be nice to her."

Girl? Gleaming thought to herself. Wait. Surely she’s not talking about-

“Sonata? Would you like to meet Gleaming?”

Yup.

Slowly, a blue girl walked into the living room. Upon seeing Gleaming, she smiled and began to wave.

“Hi! I'm Sonata. Are you Dusk Shine's sister?”

For a moment, Gleaming merely stared at Sonata, unsure of what to say. Her brother had never been the kind of person to make friends, so the fact that he had not only made a friend, but also invited her to his house, all within just a few days, was very unusual, to say the least.

"Can you say something, please?" asked Sonata. "I want to know more about you."

"Gleaming Shield," Gleaming said finally. "Dusk usually calls me Gleam, though."

"Okay! It's great to meet you, Gleam!"

Gleaming couldn't help but roll her eyes. Sonata seemed a little too eager to be friendly with her.

Maybe that's just her way of making up for being a bully in the past? she thought to herself.

"Poor Sonata was living on the street before Dusk found her," said Velvet. "She doesn't have anyone to turn to, either; no parents, siblings or friends."

Gleaming's eyes went wide. Sonata was an orphan?

Well, if she doesn't have a family, then it's not that surprising that she became a bully... maybe it was her way of coping with her life.

Then a sudden, much more disturbing thought occurred to her.

What if she was more than just a bully? What if she joined a gang? What sort of horrible things did she have to see? What if she had to do something awful?!

"Hey Gleam!"

Sonata and Gleaming turned to face Dusk, who had just entered the room.

"Hello, Dusk!" said Velvet. "Your sister was just getting to know Sonata!" She smiled the way mothers did whenever children were getting along politely.

"Cool," said Dusk. "So, what do you think?"

"Oh!" said Gleaming. "I think she's... alright!"

"Dusk, why does your sister make such weird faces?"

Gleaming felt her face growing hot as Sonata spoke.

"Wh-what are you talking about?!"

"She's talking about your 'I just met Bolero for the first time' face."

At this point, Velvet burst into laughter, while Gleaming began to chase Dusk while screaming in rage. Meanwhile, Sonata simply stared at Velvet in confusion.


Velvet opened the door, revealing the room inside. It was a simple bedroom consisting of a bed, a nightstand, and a closet.

"This is our guest bedroom," said Velvet. "I know it's not much, but you can stay here until we find a solution to... well, you know. Your problems."

A small smile formed on Sonata's face.

"It's alright. It's better than sleeping on the floor in some alleyway."

"Don't worry, dear. You're welcome to stay here as long as you need."

At that moment, an unknown emotion overcame Sonata, and she threw her arms around Velvet. As she did so, she began to feel a certain wetness in her eyes. After a moment, she felt Velvet's arms around her as well.

Soon, the two broke off their embrace. Sonata couldn't help but feel embarrassed.

"I'm sorry! I didn't mean to... to..."

The confused siren tried in vain to articulate her thoughts, but nothing came out. Before she could say anything, however, Velvet placed her hand on Sonata's shoulder reassuringly.

"I get the feeling that this is the first time anyone has shown you genuine kindness, Sonata."

When Sonata said nothing, Velvet continued.

"It's okay, Sonata. You're not alone anymore."

The blue girl gave her a small smile, and then walked into the bedroom. Velvet smiled to herself, and then made her way towards her own room.

"So, what do you think?"

Velvet stopped to see her son waiting just outside his room. He had an expectant- and slightly worried- look on his face.

"Well," she said, turning back towards the guest room, "she seems to be quite a sweetheart. It's so sad that she was living like that."

Dusk's face became slightly more hopeful.

"So, you're okay with me bringing her here?"

Velvet's face quickly became much more stern.

"I am disappointed, Dusk. You should have asked me, or your father, before telling someone that they can stay in our home. You can't simply let anyone in whenever you want."

Dusk cringed. He'd expected this to happen, but it was still hard to stomach.

"I'm sorry, mom," he said. "I know it was a rash decision, but I didn't know what else to do. I mean, she's a friend, and I couldn't just leave her. I mean, isn't helping out in times of need what friends do?"

Despite her best attempts, a smile formed on Velvet's face.

"However rash it may have been, I believe that your heart was in the right place. And... I'm glad you're finally starting to make friends. Hasbro knows you need to come out of your shell."

At this, Dusk gave her a smile of his own.

"Thanks, mom."

As Velvet watched her son retreat into his room, her thoughts drifted back to her high school years. As she thought about Sonata and Dusk, she couldn't help but think back to the first time she'd met Night Light all those years ago.

"I'm home!"

Huh, Velvet said to herself. What do you know?

"Welcome back!" she called out as she began to walk back down the stairs. At the same time, however, she prepared herself to tell her husband about the newest addition to their household.