//------------------------------// // Chapter 4 // Story: A Dazzling Sunset // by Fuzzyfurvert //------------------------------// A Dazzling Sunset Chapter 4 Adagio stuffed her hands in her hoodie pockets, walking a few paces behind Sunset as the girl lead the way to her car. Feeding the horse after coming in from her campsite hadn’t taken nearly as much time as she thought it would. It took longer to brush it down. She’d stood there waiting while Sunset worked with the combs and brushes on the horse’s mane, smiling and humming happily to herself while she did it. Watching Sunset tend to the animal’s coat, from where she was leaning on the barn wall, made Adagio feel odd. She kept flashing back to the camp and how it had felt to have someone help her with her own hair like that. Though she was loathe to admit it, it’d felt good. Seeing it from another perspective made her stomach twist and temperature rise. Then, just as suddenly, Sunset was done and cleaning up, leading her along while the girl put away her apron and clocked out. She is in entirely too good of a mood. Was asking me to dinner a trick? Am I letting myself be lead into a trap? Now, as they neared Sunset’s little utility vehicle, Adagio shook her head to take her eyes off the redhead’s swaying wavy hair. If it is a trap, at least the bait is nice to look at. I bet her tail used to match her hair. Adagio’s distant memories of Equestria were interrupted when the car chirped, flashing its lights at her. Sunset pulled the keys from her jacket pocket, as the doors automatically unlocked. She opened her door and gestured at the passenger seat. “Hop in. I might have been human for the last few years, but watching Clyde eat hay always makes me hungry.” Adagio grunted noncommittally, slipping into her seat and buckling in. She tensed when the engine rumbled to life, gripping the armrest tightly. Where is she taking me? Don’t humans normally discuss things like this? I swear, if any of those Rainbooms are at...wherever...we’re going, I will… Adagio frowned, searching for an appropriate response to such a hypothetical situation that wouldn’t end with her covered in even more bruises. Sunset stopped the car at the end of the lot, looking at Adagio. “Something wrong? You look nervous.” She patted the steering wheel, and smirked. “Haven’t crashed it yet.” The siren frowned deeper. “I’m not nervous.” She snorted defensively, reaching down to turn on the radio. Adagio hit the first preset button. Instantly, the hatchback was filled with screeching electric guitar and thumping drums. “Seriously? I figured you for a bit of a rock n’ roller, but this is crap.” Sunset shrugged, turning the car out onto the room toward town. “What? It’s not like I can control what’s on the radio.” She turned the radio volume down slightly. “And what does that even mean? So what if I like the beat and the bass of the harder stuff?” Adagio rolled her eyes and pressed the next button on the radio. The music jumped to some sort of strobing, dubstep-light, pop music. “Uuuggghh...this is worse than I thought! Have you no taste?” Sunset grimaced as Adagio pressed all the preset buttons one after that other, and glanced into her rearview mirror. She changed lanes when they reached the wider streets that lead toward the downtown area and swatted Adagio’s hand away from the radio. “What are you doing? Just leave it on one station, we aren’t going far.” “You haven’t even told me where we are going.” Adagio’s frown flipped to a cruel smirk. “I’ll bet your taste in food is as bad as your taste in music.” She hit another button and the music was replaced by a boring weather report that prophesied heavy rains during the coming weekend. “My taste in music is just fine. Stop being picky. I get it that you can sing, but if you’d recall, so can I. I’m free to like whatever the heck I want to.” “You could at least like good music.” Sunset sighed tiredly, turning off the radio and put on the blinker, as she slowed the car down to take a turn. “Well, what would you listen to, if you could listen to anything right now?” Adagio sat there, chewing on her lip in thought for a moment. “I don’t know. Something I could dance too, probably.” Sunset laughed. “All that fuss, and you don’t even know what you want to listen to?” “Yeah...well...do you?” Adagio sneered at Sunset. “What would you listen to? Some cheesy pop rock crap like those Rainbooms songs?” “Hey! Those are not crap songs!” Adagio leaned in toward Sunset, her sneer growing wider. “Cheesy. Pop rock. Crap. All of them. Especially that last one you did at the battle, the one with all the rainbow pyrotechnics.” She clicked her teeth loudly, making Sunset flinch. “If you hadn’t summoned that giant horse out of nowhere, I’d be the one in charge now, everyone would adore me and I’d finally have gotten to go—!” Sunset flicked her eyes back and forth between the road and Adagio, her cheeks flushing and her brow narrowed. She huffed and jerked the wheel to the left, cutting into an empty parking space in front of a row of brick businesses. She hit the brakes hard and grinned savagely when Adagio flailed in surprise. “That’s for insulting my friends’ band and their music. You lost. There’s no need to be bitchy about it now, Adagio.” Adagio growled, glaring at Sunset, her eyes wide and pupils small. She clenched her fists and let her breath hiss out between her teeth before opening her mouth to say something. But Sunset ignored her and unbuckled herself. A moment later, the redhead was out of the car and dropping change into the meter. Sunset waved at Adagio. “C’mon. Food’s near by.” Without looking back to see if she was being followed, Sunset set off down the sidewalk at a leisurely pace. She breathed deep and drank in the scents and sounds of the downtown avenue. Cars passed by at a low speed and a few people strolled along on the wide sidewalks, glancing up from their cell phones now and then into the large window displays of the stores here. She was just reaching the end of a window display of restored cellos for Used Strings Still Sing, when she heard a car door slam shut and quickly approaching footsteps. She waited until Adagio pulled up next to her before reaching into her pocket to click the button on her keys and remote secure her car. “‘Bout time you caught up.” “Screw you, Shimmer.” Adagio glowered at the other girl, but kept her voice soft. “You dragged me out here to the middle of town, so do you mind telling me where the hell we’re going?” “It’s a surprise.” Sunset shrugged, shooting the siren a playfully smug look. “The other girls aren’t big fans of it, but it’s a place I came to like pretty early on. I learned a lot about being human here.” “What does that mean?” Adagio pushed her bangs out of her face. “I don’t want to eat at some new-age hippie vegan joint.” “They’re called ‘hipsters’ now.” “I meant what I said.” Adagio grunted and looked around, taking interest in their surroundings for a moment. “I was here for the hippie scene, Sunset, so I know what I’m talking about. Magic mushrooms, horrible slang, bad taste in hair and clothes —which sadly are coming back—not the thick-rimmed glasses and mustaches poser crowd. They liked experimenting with everything, including their food. That kind of crap can stay back in the seventies.” Sunset slowed and looked at Adagio. The girl sounded serious. Wow, she has been here a long time. What is that even like? And why does she look like a teenager? She leaned away from the other girl slightly. “How long do sirens live for?” Adagio’s shoulders bobbed in a loose shrug. “Depends on how much power we have. Why is that important? How long do ponies live?” She pointed a finger at Sunset, grinning wickedly. “Just how old are you, hmmm? Are you actually a foal parading around in teenagers’ clothing?” “I’m technically a full grown adult, you know? Humans just seem to age funky. Or time works differently here. I’ve never figured that one out.” One corner of Sunset’s mouth turned down. “If we were in Equestria, I’d be a unicorn mage...probably working for Princess Celestia, not some student that has to worry about grades and curfews.” “If we were in Equestria,” Adagio rolled her eyes, “I’d be the size of a city bus and crush you under my tail. Then I’d drag you to the bottom of the ocean.” “Not before I fireballed your scaly ass, you wouldn’t.” Sunset snickered and stopped walking, raising her hand to gesture at a nearby door. “Anyway, we’re here.” Adagio paused, looking up at the front of the building they were standing next to. Just like the rest of the block, it was old brick with woodwork framing a wide door that led to a dim interior. A chalk covered blackboard sign proclaimed the name of the place to be ‘Dom’s Grill n’ Garden.’ She could smell spices and the unmistakable scent of hot food that wafted from inside. The sounds of muffled conversation came from the dining area and Adagio thought she could see what looked like a bar at the back. “You brought me to a bar?” Sunset smirked and waved for Adagio to follow her. “Not really. It’s more like a sport’s bar...except that there isn’t any sports on. Dom runs the grill and likes to play random movies on the TVs. I learned to read here because he keeps them on subtitles so they don’t fight with the music.” She walked into the doorway and out of the later afternoon sunlight. Adagio licked her lips, her feet rooted to the sidewalk, when Sunset Shimmer paused in the dim interior light and looked back at her. The former pony’s eyes seemed to glow as she smiled back at her. “C’mon Adagio, the food is worth it, I promise.” The food smelled divine, but for some reason, Adagio couldn’t shake the feeling of a net closing in on her. So why do I want to follow her in? I should run, leave...I don’t need her charity. I don’t need her kindness or friendship or anything else! She took a hesitant step forward. I’m...just doing this for my magic. Remember that, Adagio! This is all to get your magic back and put Aria back in her place. This has nothing to do with anything else. The aromas of cooked food only got better when Adagio stepped over the threshold, making her belly growl in anticipation. The low ambient sounds of conversation and quiet classic rock music threatened to soothe her nerves and bleed away her foul mood. Sunset kept going in further, her dark jacket blending in with the dark wood paneling until it seemed she was only bobbing red hair and flashing boots. And a highly distracting, swaying, set of hips clad in too tight jeans, said a voice in Adagio’s mind. The food isn’t the bait to this trap, so why lie to yourself? The siren sneered unhappily, gripping the wooden doorway to push herself into the tavern. She instinctively reached for the hood on her jacket, but hesitated when she realized that she was the only siren—and powerless to boot—in the place. She didn’t have to hide. Not that she particularly wanted the humans to see her. Besides, the hood would just get sweaty and she didn’t exactly have easy access to a shower. Ahead of her, Sunset was standing next to a booth table near the bar, looking back at her. “Aren’t you going to sit?” “I have to run to the bathroom. I’ll be right back.” Sunset hooked her thumb back towards the bar. “The tall guy behind the bar is Dom, he’ll take your drink order while I’m gone. He already knows what I want.” “What?” Adagio raised her eyebrows at that. How could he already know what the redhead wanted? Sunset didn’t answer her question though and walked off, leaving her standing there awkwardly. “Why does she keep doing that?” “Ready to order?” Adagio jumped at the rumbling voice behind her and whirled around. Somehow, the man Sunset had indicated as ‘Dom’ had moved from behind the bar to within a few feet of her without making a sound, despite standing more than head and shoulders taller than her. Dom was older than she expected, lines marking his face as someone in their later years, or someone that smiled frequently. “Sorry! Didn’t mean to startle you, miss.” Dom smiled disarmingly, a lot of white teeth sparkling brightly in the dim room. He pulled out a small notepad and a stubby pencil, his smile fading a bit when he focused on the girl’s hunched posture and the bruise on her face. “Um...are you alright, miss?” Adagio let out a breath she wasn’t aware that she’d been holding, her shoulders sagging. “Um...yeah. I’m fine.” She licked her dry lips and slipped into the booth. She could feel her cheeks heating again and she wondered if her earlier decision to not put up her hood had been the wrong choice. “Well, if you’re ready, I can take your drink order.” Dom stepped closer to the booth, resting one hip against the table edge. “And if you’ll forgive my saying so, whoever did that to you isn’t worth your time, miss. He ain’t a good person.” Adagio flinched at the mention of her black eye. “Wasn’t a ‘he’ that did it.” The man raised an eyebrow and glanced pointedly toward the hallway where Sunset had disappeared to. She raised her hands, waving them dismissively. “No! No, it wasn’t her!” Dom’s smile flashed. “Well that’s good to hear! Sunset is a good, strong lady. Good customer too. She’s much better for you than whoever gave you the shiner.” “No. No...we aren’t like that.” Adagio shook her head rapidly, searching for the words to explain that she and Sunset were bitter enemies, two creatures of the same cloth but hopelessly at each other’s throats. She wanted to tell him that Sunset was nothing but a means to an end, a way to regain her mystical, otherworldly powers as a creature of the sea. They were not like that, not what he was implying. She was just taking advantage of misplaced charity...right? “Oh? Not to worry. We don’t judge here either way. I’ve been serving food and drinks up to whoever’s hungry, or thirsty, or just needs a quiet place to pull themselves together. Sunset’s been coming here for years now and she’s been a real wonder to watch bloom into the lady she’s become.” Dom grinned. “But enough of that. I know what she wants. What do you want?” What do I want? Adagio let that sink in for a second. Why was she here? How did this get her magic back? She frowned and sunk in the cushiony booth seat. Sunset Shimmer is my enemy...right? Why does this have to feel weird? Things were so much simpler when it was all about taking over the school and sucking Equestrian magic out of those girls. Now? I’m at some bar with the stupid former pony that is the leader of the Rainbooms—wait, is she the leader? Or is that girl, Rainbow Dash, the leader? Dom cleared his throat. Adagio blinked, searching the table for the laminated menu. “Uh...do you have...root beer?” “Yes! Excellent choice.” Dom jotted something down on his notepad. “I’ll be back with that in a minute or two. Take a look at the menu and I’ll get whatever you want going.” She lifted the menu, glancing over it. A quick look told her the kitchen boasted meals from both ends of the spectrum, favoring text over flashy pictures, and served everything in truly ‘american’ portion sizes. She wasn’t finished scanning the appetizer section when Sunset returned and took her seat opposite the siren. “You order yet?” Sunset took her own menu, looking over it with vague interest. “I already know what I want.” The blonde girl mumbled something about a drink and sank in her seat, hiding her face behind the menu. Adagio is acting stranger than normal—for what little I know of her ‘normal.’ Did Dom say something to her? Sunset crossed her arms, resting her elbows on the table. “I suggest you look at the garden section of the menu. This place grows most of their veggies out back and in a rooftop garden. It’s all super fresh and tasty as hell.” She smiled. “First thing I ever had here in the human world was one of Dom’s crunch salad wraps.” Adagio sat up suddenly, her eyes narrowed, and dropped the menu on the table. “I’m not hungry for salad. How…herbivore centric of you to recommend the vegetable selection.” “Oh? Then what are you hungry for?” Dom chuckled as both girls jumped in their seats. “I’m sorry ladies! I’ll make sure to make more noise next time, but you too are so focused on each other, it’s a shame to break up something so heartwarming.” “Uh...but...we’re not…” Sunset stammered until Dom held up a hand. “Let me stop you right there, miss. Your friend here already had that conversation with me, and you know my policy. Now, tell Dom what he can cook you two.” “Uh…” Sunset started. “Burger.” Adagio glared at Sunset, the edge of her mouth working into a smirk. “Double, with bacon and cheese. Hold the fries or whatever it comes with. I just want the meat.” “You want the bun with that slab? And medium well good?” Dom smirked as he jotted down his notes. “Sure.” Adagio leered and leaned forward, placing her chin in her hands with her elbows on the table to match Sunset’s pose. “Your turn, cupcake.” Sunset blinked at Adagio, looking back and forth between her and the restaurant owner, before it clicked and she leaned forward to leer at the blonde. “I’ll take a steak, Dom. Medium rare, side of fries with that.” “Okaayy...coming right up.” Dom tucked his notepad away and placed two tall glasses on the table. “One root beer and a soda. I’ll be back in a few minutes, ladies.” “Sure you can handle a steak, pony girl?” Adagio sat back, a smug look of superiority on her face, opening her mouth a bit wider to flash her teeth. “We sirens are carnivorous. I’ve eaten things much bigger than you in my day.” Sunset chuckled darkly. “News flash, Gio, I’m human right now. Have been for years. I got over the meat-eating thing a while ago. I like it nowadays, actually.” She picked up a straw from the table caddy with her fingertips and peeled the wrapper off it slowly. “Besides, you should consider yourself lucky.” “Why’s that?” The siren smirked and took a sip from her drink. “I could have ordered the fish plate.” Sunset deadpanned, dropping the straw into her soda. Adagio froze, blinking as her mind processed that. She put down her glass carefully after a moment. “You know, sirens aren’t actually fish. What was that anyway? Were you trying to intimidate me with that, or come on to me?” Sunset blinked at that unintended double entendre, sipping at her own drink thoughtfully. Sirens aren’t fish. Huh. Need to let Twi know about that when I write her back. She leaned back in her seat, letting herself relax some. She was at home here. It was Adagio that was off balance and on the defensive. She examined the other girl silently, while Adagio busied herself by squinting at the old movie posters that decorated the walls. Sunset could tell from the set of the girl’s shoulders that she wasn’t comfortable, nor happy at the moment, but her actual mood seemed hard to pin down. Hopefully, a hot meal would do just as much wonders for Adagio’s mood as it usually did for her own. Is that a hint of blush on her cheeks? Sunset couldn’t be a hundred percent sure in the poor lighting. If she didn’t know better, she’d call the look on the siren’s face ‘mildly flustered.’ This is going to bother me. What did Dom say to her while I was in the bathroom? Was it something about me? About us? The old chef meant well, she was sure, but something was eating at Adagio and she couldn’t help but imagine it had to do with herself. I wonder...she knows about me, but what does she think about that? She seemed to get angry as me when Dom sorta implied we were a couple. Sunset tapped a finger against her chin. Should I ask her about it? No...I’d just be setting myself up for another fight. I am curious about this whole new side of her I’m seeing though. I thought she was just some bully with a bit of power, like I was. Sunset sat back, slumping in the plush booth seat, and picked up her soda to sip thoughtfully. Her company kept quiet, but whenever Adagio looked her way, the siren would quickly look away again. Sunset chewed on her straw, settling into an easy silence as the two waited for their food. *** Dom did not disappoint. The food reached their table several minutes later, sizzling hot and ready to eat. Adagio wasted no time, tearing into her burger with the gusto of the truly hungry, a smile playing at the corners of her mouth when she wasn’t chewing. Sunset watched her eat, taking her time with her steakfries, which she dipped in ketchup carefully. The siren took big bites at first, her jaw stretching to take in as much of the tall burger served to her. “Might want to slow down, Adagio. This isn’t a fast food place. The food is worth savoring.” Sunset smirked and expertly twirled her cutlery in her fingers before slicing her steak. “Wouldn’t want you to choke.” The siren didn’t say anything, glaring at Sunset the way she’d done several times since their very first meeting at the school so many weeks ago. Adagio slowed her chewing though, and swallowed thoughtfully a moment later. “‘S’good…” “Toldja.” Sunset’s smirk softened and she sat a bit straighter in her seat. “How long has it been since you’ve had a real meal?” Adagio went to wipe her mouth with the back of her hand, when she paused and snagged a napkin instead. “It’s been a couple of days. I stole some ribs from a backyard barbeque a few days ago in the neighborhood behind the park.” She looked down at the food on her plate and Sunset could see conflicting emotions flash behind her eyes. “Normally, Sonata does the cooking if we don’t have a thrall do it for us.” “A ‘thrall?’ Is that what I think it is?” Sunset lowered her voice slightly. “I just called them ‘minions,’ personally.” This time, it was the blonde girl who smirked. “Yeah. When we still had our gems, we could control a few dozen humans at a time. Easy way to take care of things, just have the monkeys do it all. Pay the bills, transportation, houses, that sort of stuff.” Sunset nodded, biting a chunk of meat off her fork. “So...if you three could control people with your voices, why aren’t you living like queens here? Just find someone with loads of money and a big place to live.” Adagio took another, smaller bite out of her burger, and pointed a finger at Sunset. “That’s what we did! Find saps with more money than they needed and used it to our advantage.” “Pretty sweet gig, honestly. I did something similar when I got here and finally got my feet under me. Worked for a while, I suppose.” Sunset tapped her chin, thinking. “So, what happened?” “Aria.” Adagio breathed the name out like a curse. “She could never keep it together. Always wanted more, more, more. More thralls. More power. More influence.” She shook her head and sneered. “Aria never understood that there was a limit. That we could only go so far. We had no escape here. No family for back up. But she kept pushing those limits. You remember what happened at the school? How the other students turned on each other?” Sunset nodded, her eyes focused on Adagio as she ate more steak and fries. “That’s a side effect of our magical ‘feeding.’ It causes strife and unrest.” Adagio sighed, her fists clenching. “Aria...the number of times I had to save that little brat from her own hubris is ridiculous. In Equestria, using our magic on others just means chaos, lots of shouting and anger. Here? Humans are beasts. They talk a good game on the peace and harmony front, but you’ve seen the nightly news.” Adagio rolled her eyes and let that implication sink in. “Wow...I can see how that would throw a wrench in things.” Sunset took a sip from her drink. “But you guys have been here so long? Didn’t you find a way to manage it?” “Nope.” Adagio shrugged and pulled a strip of bacon from her burger to munch separately. “Aria always found a way to screw it up. We could only control so many of them at a time. As population density grew, it got harder and harder to hide what we were doing and harder to stop the chaos from making the humans turn against us.” “What did you do?” The siren finished off the bacon strip with a snap of her teeth. “I did what I had to. I put us on a diet. No more than a few thralls at a time. Kept us on the move so we couldn’t be found. That sort of stuff.” “Huh.” Sunset raised an eyebrow. “So, if you made the other sirens go on a diet, what was the whole school-slash-battle of the bands about?” Adagio sighed tiredly, her eye downcast. “When I felt...the Equestrian magic, I sort of lost it. All my careful planning kind of went out the window. I thought—for a moment, anyway—that I could find it, take it for my own and get us back home. Or maybe just make us powerful enough that our plans would stop falling apart.” “I know that feel.” Sunset stirred her soda idly with her straw. “I did the same when the portal opened up and I could get back to Equestria. I could just barely sense Princess Twilight’s Element of Magic on the other side. I threw together a quick plan, filched the crown and tried to take over the humans.” Adagio took another bite of burger and smirked around the mouthful. “That rainbow light show I saw must have been when those Rainbooms handed you your ass.” The redhead flushed and looked down at her half-eaten dinner. “Yeah...that was me.” The conversation lulled between them, each girl keeping her thoughts to herself. The music from the overhead speakers changed from the classic rock to something with more bass and synth heavy, making them both look up with mirroring frowns. Adagio noticed the look on Sunset and blinked. “Huh, so you do have some taste in music. Playing with the Rainbooms must have been irksome.” Sunset looked back at Adagio and shrugged. “Not really. I might not be a fan of that music, but it doesn’t mean I can’t rock out with my friends. Just because I like my rock a little harder than theirs doesn’t keep us from liking each other.” The siren grunted and took a sip from her glass. “Friendship isn’t so hard, Adagio. It takes work, but it isn’t as hard as it seems sometimes.” The former pony leaned forward, her voice lowering again. “Look, we have more in common than either of us is exactly comfortable with. There is no reason we couldn’t be friends, or at least frienemies.” Adagio remained silent and continued to eat slowly away at her food. She popped the last bite into her mouth and swallowed a moment later before she looked back at Sunset. “Is desert included with this meal?” “Yeah...I guess.” Sunset finished off her fries, refocusing on her steak. “What do you want?” Adagio looked over at the bar for a long moment. “Does this place have chocolate? I’ll take a piece of cake, if it they have it.” She sighed, wistfully. “It’s been a long time since I’ve had cake. Well, good cake. Sonata tries, but her cooking skills haven’t gotten any better since the introduction of ‘instant’ batter mixes.” Sunset hummed to herself and put away the last of her meal. She pushed away her plate and shot Adagio a glance. “Hey...were you thinking of sleeping back at your camp tonight?” “Where else would I sleep?” Adagio frowned, pushing her own plate away. Doing so seemed to summon a member of the waitstaff, who quickly cleared their plates and took their orders for a couple of pieces of cake. Once the waiter had moved off, Adagio banged her hand on the table hard enough to rattle the salt shakers. “I was kind of driven out of my place, or did you forget that part?” “Oh, I remember. But I was wondering if you’d like to stay at my place tonight.” Sunset raised her hands defensively. “I mean, I heard it was supposed to rain tonight and I do have a free couch. That’s gotta be better than that camp site of yours.” “Aren’t you supposed to take me to a movie first?” Sunset rolled her eyes. “I’m not suggesting anything weird, Adagio. I’m legitimately offering you a warm, dry place to sleep. You don’t have to take me up on the offer.” Adagio waited, her eyes roaming over Sunset as she weighed her options. One one hand, I’m still accepting a hand out from a rival. On the other...no leaves and pine straw to comb out of my hair. Charity, or aching muscles and a head cold. I’d be stupid to pass up the opportunity to get close and learn more about their magic. She bit her lip, turning the options over and over in her mind until the cake was brought to the table. No matter how she looked at it, besides her pride, there wasn’t much of a down side. So why do I still feel like I’d be walking into the lion’s den? She slowly took a bite of the fresh, gooey dessert, enjoying the way it melted on her tongue. There was one thing still, that could make up her mind. “Is a hot shower included in your offer?” “Complete with industrial strength hair dryer.” Adagio Dazzle grinned sharkishly. “Then I’m all yours.”