The Issue of Multiple Sunsets

by Hopeful_Ink_Hoof

Second thoughts

In one of the older apartment buildings in the city, there was a large basement apartment. Originally, it had been built for the building's owner to live in peace, leaving the apartment and roles of superintendent and manager to be used by someone else. The place had not been used in a while, the current owner now owning multiple apartment buildings, and even a few houses. The most recent owner had "forgotten" about the basement apartment thanks to some "help" from The Dazzlings, allowing the three of them to live there without having to pay rent or utilities.

The three of them were there now, enjoying their private little place. Sonata Dusk had just finished taking her shower, and was now sitting naked on a towel covered chair to dry off. The other two were still dressed, waiting for the small heater to refill so the next could go. Aria Blaze lay sprawled in a chair, watching some nineteen-sixties era detective show on the television, while Adagio Dazzle was looking at Sonata's burnt hand.

"Well it's not too bad," she decided. "Have to keep it clean and dressed for a few days, but it should all heal up fine and have no scarring."

A moment of bitterness tingled at the back of Adagio's mind. Used to be that something like this would be completely gone in a day or two (less if they had recently fed well on negative energy), and with something so minor, scarring would not even be a question. Now, while they were still, stronger, faster, and more resilient than mortals, they were still far more susceptible to things than they used to be.

But Adagio Dazzle was a leader and mastermind, even now, and as such, could not -- would not -- let her emotions get the better of her.

She smacked Sonata Dusk on the shoulder.

"What were you thinking?" she snapped.

"I wasn't," Sonata replied.

She then turned to face Aria.

"Shut up," she stated, pointing a finger.

Aria rolled her eyes and shrugged.

Sonata returned her attention to Adagio.

"I just saw demon Sunset going after nerdy Sunset, and felt I should do something. The tire iron was the closest and heaviest thing to me so..." She gestured.

"Not that part," Adagio stated. "Why is it that when she turned it burning hot, you didn't let go?"

She then picked up a tube and burn cream and popped the top open. Taking a hold of Sonata's wrist, Adagio poured a generous amount into the open palm.

"Oh," Sonata replied. "Uhm... well... that's a little harder. Because, yeah, at first, it didn't really hurt, and I was kind of worried she'd try to use it on me or the other Sunset. Then, when it did start to hurt, I couldn't let go. It was like my hand wouldn't listen to me."

"Or maybe the skin had already fused to the metal," Aria offered.

"Not helping," Adagio stated. She continued to work the cream into the palm and fingers.

"Not trying," Aria retorted.

"Yeah," Sonata agreed. Her grin widened as her eyes narrowed. "She already showed how much she loved me when we got to Sunset's apartment."

A small squeak escaped from the back of Aria's throat as she tensed. Her cheeks grew deeper in color as she focused on the television with greater intensity. This caused Adagio to look up, raising an eyebrow.

"Did she now?"

"No," Aria huffed.

"Yes," Sonata replied.

"Shut up," Aria snapped, still not looking at them.

Adagio returned her attention to Sonata.

"And how, precisely, did she doe that?"

"She checked my hand when we got there, because she looooves meeee," Sonata called out, sing the last to words.

"No I don't," Aria growled, finally turning to face them. "Shut up."

"So, you didn't check her hand?" Adagio asked.

"Yes, I checked her hand," Aria retorted. "Don't want the doofus to suffer all the time or something."

"Because you care," Sonata stated.

"Because you'd never shut up about it, and one of us would probably have to help you with everything because you couldn't use your stupid hand!" Aria threw herself into her chair, arms folding as she looked away. "I'm not helping you wipe your ass or feed you."

"Uh-huh," Adagio said. She grabbed the fresh roll of bandages and started wrapping Sonata's hand. Aria and Sonata turned quiet, letting the bickering and teasing come to an end for the time being.

It would not last. After being together for so long, they were closer to each other than any family, be it by blood or marriage, and they bickered like ones as well.

"Are we really going back to Equestria?" Sonata asked.

The question made Adagio paused a second before continuing her work. She could feel Sonata's deep red eyes focus on her. From her seat, Aria turned to look as well, her purple eyes narrowed and studious.

"That's the idea," Adagio answered. "The girls said they would ask Princess Twilight for us, and she in turn will probably allow us to go back."

Several more seconds passed in silence as she continued to work.

"Do you want to?" Sonata asked.

That made Adagio pause again. This time, she looked up at Sonata in surprise, raising her eyebrows. Aria did the same, neither of them seeming to have expected the question.

"You don't?" Adagio asked.

Sonata bit her lip. Her gaze drifted from Adagio, to Aria, back to Adagio, then off and away from them both. She gave a shrug of her shoulders.

"I don't know," Sonata admitted. "I mean, it was something we talked about wanting to do since we got here, but it had always seemed like wild speculation. A way to vent about what happened to us. Now that it's actually a possibility..." She gave another shrug. "I don't know."

Aria moved to face them more. She leaned forward in her chair, looking at Sonata closer.

"Don't you miss it, though?" Aria asked.

Sonata's good hand started drumming on the armrest as she shifted her weight, getting more comfortable. She turned to look at Aria.

The movement reminded Adagio what she was doing, and she resumed her bandaging.

"Well, yeah," Sonata answered. "Of course I do. I also miss when were England during The War of The Roses, and France when we were part of the aristocracy before the Revolution."

She paused, letting the other two comment if they wanted. Adagio loved The War of The Roses. She had been friends with both sides of the family prior to their falling out, and had actually been quite key not only in "encouraging" both sides to fight for their right to rule, and then "advising" them as the war went on. She was very proud of it. As for Aria, she enjoyed reminding Sonata that The French Revolution was -- and the need to flee to what was then The Colonies to avoid decapitation -- was Sonata's fault.

Neither said anything.

"I don't want to go back to them though," Sonata continued. "It's kind of the same way with Equestria. Yeah, I miss it, but I don't really have a strong interest in going back."

"But.. It's our home," Aria said, her own gaze drifting down to the floor. "Are you honestly saying that you don't care about whether you go home or not?"

Several seconds passed in silence as Aria and Adagio continued to look at Sonata.

"You guys are my home," Sonata stated.

Another moment passed in silence. Adagio turned to look at Aria in surprise. Normally Sonata saying something like that would get Aria to groan and call such a thing childish in some form or other. Instead, she said nothing, just sort of sitting there.

"In all our years, we've lived in a lot of places," said Sonata. "From ratty little shacks to mansions and even castles. From penthouse suites to..." She motioned with a hand to their little basement apartment. "We've been rich and poor more times than I can count, and through it all, we've always had each other. Yeah, we take shots at each other, but we've always been there to help each other up when things go bad, and save each others' asses when things went to shit. We explained ourselves as sisters just to make things simpler, but it's become true. We've become family. Sisters." She grinned. "The blood of the covenant is thicker than the water of the womb."

She then leaned forward.

"If you two want to go back to Equestria, I'll go too. Same thing if we stay. Because wherever you two are is home."

Adagio finished wrapping Sonata's arm, taping it up to keep it in place.

"I'm going for a walk," Aria Blaze announced, getting up and heading for the door.

"Aria," Adagio called out, turning to look at her.

Aria stopped, not turning around.

"What do you think?"

"You normally don't ask that."

"I normally don't feel we need to. Most of the time, it feels like I'm trying to keep you two focused while Sonata does her flighty thing and you stew in anger." Adagio turned, moving to sit on the floor. "But you each seem to be taking this very seriously, so I'm willing to listen."

Sonata smiled, looking up. She had pointed out before that Adagio was willing to listen to them if they had an idea, and this proved her right all the more.

Aria let out an audible sigh, her shoulders sagging.

"I don't know," she announced. "Like she said, this is something we've been talking about it for so long, but now that it's actually possible..." She gave a shake of her head. "I don't know."

She started for the door again.

"That's why I'm taking a walk. I actually need think about this. Figure out how I feel on my own."

She stopped right in front of the door.

"It's weird, trying to do that."

Aria then opened the door and stepped out, shutting it behind her. Surprisingly to the other two, she had not slammed the door hard as she normally did, but had actually pulled it closed gently behind her.

The only sound was that of the still on television.

Adagio got up and brushed her hands down her clothes.

"Well, if she going to be out for a while, then I'm going to take a nice long soak in the tub."

Sonata watched her leader go to the bathroom, leaving her alone in the living room. She then looked down at her hand, which had been so carefully wrapped in bandages.

Of the three of them, Sonata saw herself as the most in touch with her emotions. Adagio often put hers back, trying to keep focused and objective while coming up with and executing plans. Aria mostly just let herself be angry in one form or another, covering up most of her other feelings that way.

But right now, Sonata was not sure how she felt. Or maybe she was feeling too much at once. She felt proud of herself for speaking up, and expressing her opinion on going back to their world. She felt bad that it seemed to bother the other two, not upset them, but definitely got to them. At the same time, she was happy that they actually listened to her, and took that opinion so seriously.

She also felt like bad about sitting there. She should do something, but what? She had already said what she wanted, more than she had intended, actually. Both Aria and Adagio now needed time to think about it on their own. She had to leave them alone so they could do that. It still felt like she should do more, though.

Taking a deep breath, Sonata decided to push the feeling aside for now. There was no way she could force them to do anything, and she did not really want to either. Like she said, as long as it was together, Sonata did not care where they were. So, now, they just needed to figure out how they felt about that as well.

Moving over to where Aria had been sitting, she grabbed the remote and changed the channel.

At least she could have a mature cartoon on to keep her distracted until they were done.

Comments

[Comickook]

Great job on this latest chapter as usual. This look at the Dazzlings as they privately reflect on recent events and check up on each other was quite well done. Excellent work on the exchanges, characterizations and future chapter set-up in all the right places, naturally.

Yes, I will very certainly be looking forward to more of this.

[Mr cold ghost]

I have very little to add. But you did a good job on giving the dazzlings character!

[Sylica telca]

This was a really good chapter

[Herald of Opera]

The blood of the covenant is thicker than the water of the womb.

Ooh, she's using the original meaning of the phrase because she's old enough to remember it. Also the sensible meaning, if you ask me. In my opinion, that water is a lot like drinking water: you need it to live, but "caring" in the way that society expects of you should take more than that. The fact that it's pure societal obligation on both sides doesn't exactly hurt...

[Prince Leviathan]

Awww
That was a nice moment there.

[Pr1deM0rn1ngstar]

I suppose everyone has their own way of dealing with their emotions, but damn that was some Sage level s*** from Sonata, proving my point that she's not nearly as dumb as everyone thinks she is.