• Published 6th Nov 2014
  • 27,748 Views, 2,678 Comments

The Evening Sonata - Daniel-Gleebits



When Sunset Shimmer hears strange sounds outside her apartment, she finds an old enemy who seems down on her luck. Can Sunset Shimmer help Sonata Dusk to cope with her life as a normal teenage girl?

  • ...
57
 2,678
 27,748

The Drunken Night Sonata *NOT CANON*

The Drunken Night Sonata


Sunset’s e-mail inbox was bulging. It seemed to her that both FlimFlam Brothers were bombarding her with responses at the same time from separate accounts. She slammed down her laptop in annoyance just before Sonata returned from the coffee shop. Looking up hopefully for what she expected to be a tray of coffee and a bag of pretzels, she saw instead that Sonata was holding a brown paper bag with what sounded like several full bottles.

“What’s that?” Sunset frowned. Sonata pulled a bottle out.

“I met AJ on the corner, selling apple cider. She gave me some for free.”

“Free?” Sunset said. “Did you offer to pay her?”

“Yeah,” Sonata said, awkwardly. “She said they were on the house, on account of... you know, Aria.”

“Ahh,” Sunset nodded. “That’s just like Applejack. You know, I chewed her out once over this stuff before the Fall Formal,” she said as Sonata handed her a bottle. She contemplated the orangey liquid in it for a moment. Something seemed off about it. “There’s no label on here,” she observed.

“Not on this one either,” Sonata added, looking at another bottle.

“And it doesn’t look carbonated,” Sunset looked closely. “Oh well, maybe it’s just apple juice or something.”

Sonata sat down on the sofa, her characteristic posture of legs folded and leaning on Sunset’s shoulder. “It is home-made,” she said, as though that explained everything. “How’s the paper work coming?”

“Badly,” Sunset sighed. “If I could still use magic, I’d use any amount of it to get those brothers just a single generous bone somewhere in their bodies.”

“Silly Shimmy,” Sonata poked her playfully in the shoulder. “Bones can’t be generous.”

“Expression,” Sunset said, giving a tired smile.

“I knew that,” Sonata said, unconvincingly.

For lack of anything better to do, she unstoppered the cork to the bottle she held, and took a large swig. Sunset leapt away from her as she choked on it, spraying a large quantity of orange drink and spit across the coffee table.

“What did you do that for!?” Sunset cried, balancing off the sofa arm. Sonata coughed and wheezed, massaging her throat.

“It’s... it’s hot?” she gasped, uncertainly. “It’s like... sharp or something.”

Frowning, Sunset uncorked her own, and took a careful sip. She recoiled slightly.

“You’re right, it is.” She rubbed her chin. “Maybe the carbonation wasn’t brewed in correctly or something.”

“The carbonation?”

“These are supposed to be fizzy I think. Maybe they made them wrong and that’s why they taste funny.”

Sonata was cautiously trying her again. “It’s not so bad when you’re expecting it.” She took a larger swig. “Yeah, I could like this.”

Sunset watched her guzzle about half the bottle. She wasn’t so sure, but took a large gulp as though hoping doing so might make the hit impact less. She was wrong. The burning sensation intensified in her mouth and throat as she tried to swallow. Gasping for air, she hiccupped, feeling a hot bubble shoot up from her. Sonata gave a snort of laughter as Sunset covered her mouth, her face burning with embarrassment.

“S-shut up!” she complained. Wait, what? Why do I sound so... whiny? Sonata laughed harder and pointed at her.

“You’re so red, it’s just so cute!” she pinched Sunset’s cheek.

“Whoa,” Sunset said, suddenly, holding up her hand for Sonata to stop. “What’s going on here?”


Now, it may be considerate of us to think that we be understanding of our heroine’s ignorance on the subject of alcohol. Equestria was not a major producer or imbiber of alcohol on the whole. Alcohol had been introduced by the Griffon Kingdoms centuries ago in the form of a cooking component, used widely in meals and more especially, famed Griffon desserts. Sunset Shimmer had had no concept of what alcohol was or what it did upon entering the human world, and what she knew of it since came from school. Which meant that whilst she knew a great deal about it, she had never actually been introduced to it, nor shaken its hand, and so did not recognise it when she saw it.

Sonata’s excuse was perhaps rather more lamentable. The simple truth was that neither Adagio nor Aria found it the least bit advisable to introduce it to Sonata. Adagio considered herself above its consumption, and Aria saw it mostly as a means of manipulating others, but both had witnessed and understood its effects, and so made a personal pact to never let Sonata within five rooms of it.


“You know, I’ve been wondering that,” Sonata said, absently finishing off her bottle and setting it down a little shakily. “Have you seen these things over here?”

Without really meaning to, Sunset also took another large swig of her own bottle. “W-What things?” she asked, forgetting her previous thought. She stood up, but found it a little hard.

“These things over here,” Sonata said, seriously. “I’ve only just noticed them today. They’re all over the wall.”

Sunset moved to stand beside her, annoyed by how the easel and the coffee table seemed to lean in to cut her off. She looked at the wall curiously for a moment.

“What?” she asked, draining the last of her own bottle. The taste wasn’t pleasant exactly, but it grew on you.

“These things,” Sonata said, tugging on a painted canvas square. It fell off the wall as the pin suspending it pinged away. Sonata snickered as though she found this very funny. And then Sunset giggled too. It was funny, she realised. She reached up and tugged one too, and both of them erupted into barely stifled chuckles as the pin spun across the room.

“No, wait,” Sunset said, conspiratorially. “Whoever put them there will be mad if we keep doing that.”

“Ooooh,” Sonata whispered back, the word unnecessarily long. “Right, so... um... was there any more of that drink? I’m thirsty again.”

Sunset checked the bag.

“One,” she pouted. “Well that wasn’t very nice of her. Why give us... err...”

“Three?” Sonata suggested.

“Yeah, three.”

“I got it,” Sonata said, as though a wonderful idea were occurring to her. “We can share,” she finished in hushed, impressive tones.

“Oh yeah,” Sunset frowned, her eyes a little watery. “Why didn’t I think of that?”


Once the third bottle had been drained, both of them had found it agreeable for some reason to look up some internet videos that for some equally unknown reason they suddenly remembered were hilarious. Slurring heavily over her explanation of why monkeys were typically the best for animal comedy videos, Sunset spotted Sonata’s sketchpad.

“You know,” she said thickly. “You’re a mean girl.”

Sonata gave a somewhat uncontrollable giggle and poked Sunset playfully with her finger.

“No, no, I’m serious,” Sunset said, slamming her hand onto the coffee table perhaps a little harder than she intended. She picked up the sketchpad. “Why did you hide away the pictures of *hic* me?”

Sonata slowly but surely stopped her snickering as a look of puzzlement edged its way across her face. This took a few moments.

“How do you know about those pictures?” she asked, the pitch of her voice rising and lowering at apparently random intervals.

“Well, because I found them,” Sunset said, as though explaining something very simple to someone very stupid. Sonata seemed to think about this.

“Oh,” she said, succinctly. “Did you like them?”

“Son... Sona...” Sunset sighed a heartfelt sigh. “Your name is hard to say.”

“Sonny?” Sonata suggested. “Sonny and Sunny,” she said, erupting into fresh giggles.

“Sonny,” Sunset began again, leaning drunkenly towards her. “I have something I need to say,” she slurred, sternly.

“You like me!” Sonata laughed, triumphantly. Sunset paused for a long while, thinking hard.

“W-Whaaaat?” she said in a feeble attempt to sound as though the suggestion were absurd. Why was the room changing size?

“Don’t you lie to me, young missy,” Sonata chuckled, poking Sunset’s nose. “You said it before, you asked me who I like, because you like me.” She looked directly into Sunset’s eyes. “I’m not stupid you know, even though I’m not smart.”

“Hey, wuh-nuh,” Sunset admonished, pushing Sonata’s face away. “Nuh, you are smart.”

“No I’m not,” Sonata shook her head hard from side to side like a small child might.

“Yes you are!” Sunset slurred more insistently. “And I’s prove it to you!”

She stood up, pulling Sonata with her by the wrist. She led her into the bedroom, narrowly missing the door frame, and looked blearily around for something. Sonata, who seemed to have trouble standing, sat on the bed, still giggling copiously. Sunset mulched around the sparse furnishings and affects in her room, before finally looking in the last place she would ever think to look for it. Her bedside table.

“Ah ha!” she said, sitting down next to Sonata and holding up a thick, brown book. “See here,” she flipped through several pages of the journal, and jabbed a finger onto the page.

Intelligence isn’t just knowing facts and figures. It’s about knowing how to apply what you know as well. Princess Celestia said that,” Sunset finished, proudly.

Sonata frowned at the page. After a few moments of silence, she said “Are you sure that’s what it says?”

“Actually no,” Sunset admitted. “Actually I’m having trouble *hic* reading at the moment. But she did say that,” she added, folding her arms.

Sonata stared at her for a long while, her expression hard to read. Despite being basically wasted, her stare was a steady one, and Sunset found herself staring back, feeling the heat in her face return.

“So, you like me,” she said slowly, as though just laying that out there again. “And I know I like you. I should probably tell you that.” She began to say it, but Sunset cut her off with a ninja kiss. Unlike a ninja kiss however, she missed completely. They both recoiled, Sonata holding her nose, Sunset’s hand at her mouth.

“S-Sorry,” Sunset blurted, sucking at her lip a little. Sonata prodded her nose gingerly, seeing if it would bleed.

“No,” she slurred. “No I get it. It was a good try.” Sunset glared at her. “Okay, no, it sucked. But hey,” she shrugged, giving a winning smile. “Practise makes perfect.”

The second kiss was more-or-less successful. Their lips met, probing each other, the never-ceasing motion of the world making it hard for Sunset to focus entirely on the job. She held Sonata’s cheeks with both of her hands, and Sonata’s fluttered to Sunset’s middle. It was a few moments before she realised what Sonata was trying to do. Pulling her tongue from between Sonata’s teeth, she gazed blearily at Sonata, whose already red face turned redder still.

“I suppose I should have asked first,” she mumbled. Clueless as always.

Some part of Sunset, the currently unheard, sober part of her, told her that what she was doing was a very bad idea. But the free-flowing world whispered to her of how much she wanted this, and somehow what she knew would usually be her concern and her hesitation just didn’t appear. She reached up, and pulled the black ring around her neck over her head, allowing the pink fabric to fall away. As though trying to be fair, Sonata removed her shirt as well, slipping it from her slender shoulders and letting it fall to the floor. Her white bra stood out startlingly in the semi-dark of the room, contrasting sharply with Sunset’s black one.

As Sunset gazed, finding it difficult to look away, she was suddenly aware of a primal sort of clawing in her vitals, a predatory instinct that surged up inside her and urged a seed of longing to burst into full bloom. Without a thought of hesitating, she pushed Sonata backwards onto the bed by the shoulders, pinning her. Sonata was either too dazed to cry out, or simply was too surprised to. She looked up at Sunset with shocked eyes, giving Sunset the agreeable feeling of being a fox upon a rabbit. She raised a hand to reach out for what she wanted, as the darkness gathered about them.


Morning came very abruptly to Sunset Shimmer. As the first rays of morning sunshine leaked into the bedroom through the slit in the curtains, Sunset twitched away from it. She raised her head from her pillow and received an indignant stab of pain that seemed to throb across her entire head. She groaned and lay back down, but now that she was aware of the throbbing she couldn’t ignore it. Groaning again, she rolled over to the side of the bed and tried to plant her feet on the floor.

This herculean feat practically delivered the death blow to her complaining brain. Vertical, she covered her forehead with her hand, trying to remember what had happened. It was hard. Really, really hard.

She looked at the bed through bloodshot and blurry eyes. As her vision stabilised, she saw that the sheets were a tangled mess. What had she done last night? The room had an unfamiliar smell to it as well. Or maybe the unfamiliar smell came from her, for it followed her out of the room

Dragging herself to the kitchen, she made herself some coffee, and sat down on the sofa, trying to clear her head. It was a few minutes before she realised something was wrong. Then another minute more before she realised what it was.

“Sonata?” she said feebly. Even this small utterance was enough to give her pounding head a sharp shock. A sudden banging on the door made her wince and hold her hands to her ears. “Come in,” she said faintly.

The door opened tentatively, and in stepped Applejack, looking uncomfortable. Then she saw Sunset and looked even more uncomfortable.

“Oh,” she said. “Um...” she looked away pointedly, blushing slightly. Sunset looked down at herself, and was slightly surprised to see that she was in nothing but her underwear. That was most unlike her.

“Sorry,” she mumbled, wrapping a blanket hanging on the sofa’s back around herself. “Don’t know what’s come over me this morning.”

Applejack looked between her and three empty bottles on the table. “I think I have some idea,” she sighed. “That’s actually what ah came to talk to y’all about.”

Sunset listened patiently through the short and quiet explanation, sipping her coffee and swallowing the maximum safe amount of headache pills.

“I thought it was weird they didn’t have labels,” Sunset groaned. “What were you even doing with Granny Smith’s moonshine anyway?”

Applejack mumbled something about loading the truck up wrong, and something about Applebloom not following instructions correctly.

“So basically what you’re saying is that Sonata and I got whammed last night?”

“Your hangover suggests yep.” Applejack grinned, guiltily. “You didn’t do anything crazy did you?”

Sunset considered this question. Now that Applejack mentioned it, she was having a difficult time remembering what had happened. She remembered Sonata coming back. She remembered trying the drinks. She even remembered watching the internet videos. It got a little blurry after that though. Something about trying to prove something or other to Sonata had led them to her bedroom to look at her magic journal...

Sunset’s heart missed a beat. Applejack gave her a funny look.

“You alright, sugar cube?” she asked, leaning forward. “Y’all have gone awful pale.”

Sunset didn’t answer her, but at that exact moment, a groan came from the bedroom door, and Sonata squinted painfully away from the sunlight. Leaning on the door, wearing nothing but her underwear as well, she leaned on the door frame and gave a wan smile at Applejack.

“Hey AJ...” she said delicately. “Those drinks were killer.”

Applejack frowned at her slightly, then looked at Sunset. Sunset’s face had gone bright red, her suddenly wide eyes full of secret meaning.

“Ah think ah need to leave you two to work this out,” she said hurriedly, blushing herself.

“W-What were you doing in my room?” Sunset asked, aghast.

“Duh,” Sonata groaned. “Don’t you remember last night?”

“See y’all!” Applejack sped up, opened the door, and zoomed out. Sonata and Sunset both winced and moaned harmonically as the door slammed.


After an hour or so, once the headache tablets kicked in and the coffee began to work its miracle on them both, Sunset dared to raise the question again, her face still bright red.

“So... I have to admit, I don’t remember everything from last night.”

“No, I didn’t think that you would.” Sonata smirked over her half drunk coffee.

“Why?” Sunset asked, curious. To her consternation, Sonata gave a little chuckle, although it seemed to cost her.

“What was the last thing that you remember?” she asked, giving Sunset a knowing smile. Something in that smile made Sunset feel she was going to regret answering.

“Well,” Sunset said, her face burning worse than ever. “We kinda... said a few things. Things we might not have-“

“Things that needed saying,” Sonata clarified. “Yeah, and then.”

“Then we... well, I kind of... fell on—“

“You leapt on me and pinned me down,” Sonata said, firmly, although still not above a loud whisper. “You leapt on me and held me down. It was so awesome.”

“Okay, yeah,” Sunset said whilst biting her lip and turning her mug around in her hands. “Yes, I... I held you down and... um...” that was where her memory ended.

“You blacked out,” Sonata finished, nodding wisely.

Sunset stared at her, the colour that had threatened to overflow her face draining rapidly from it.

“I... I blacked...”

Sonata grinned at her. “You were staring at me liked you wanted to bite me, and honestly I would have let you,” she said reminiscently. “I don’t know what all that was. But then your eyes kinda went out of focus and you fell on top of me.”

Sunset stared at her in disbelief. Her mug fell out of her hand and dropped a few remaining drops of coffee across the floor. Putting her head into her shaking hands, she tried to ignore the mingled look of compassion and merriment.

“Celestia kill me now...” she pleaded.

“Oh come on, it wasn’t that bad,” Sonata said soothingly, sitting next to her in her usual cross-legged posture and patting her consolingly on the shoulder. “I mean yeah, the first kiss was pretty bad, but the second one was magical,” she sighed as though remembering it fondly. “And the pouncing was very exciting. And you’re not really heavy, so it was kind of romantic you lying on top of me. I think you must have pushed me out of the bed whilst we were sleeping or something though, because I woke up on the floor. Carpets hurt to sleep on” she added, as though committing that information to memory.

“Please stop talking,” Sunset groaned through her fingers.

“No, no, it was okay for a first time,” Sonata insisted. “We were never going to do a perfect run the first time, were we?”

Sunset allowed these words to wash over her for a few, long moments before she managed to digest their meaning. She looked up at Sonata, red impressions of her fingers imprinted on her cheeks like war paint.

“First time?”

Sonata shrugged in that adorably oblivious way that she had. “Like I said: Practise makes perfect,” she smiled. “Do you think we could get Granny Smith to make us more of that stuff?”

Author's Note:

PSYCHE!!!! Trolololo...

Not canon, dear readers. You who made me do this, you know who you are, behold what you have wrought!

Down vote counter: 3