Part I - Chapter 01 - Three's a crowd
Chapter 01 - Three's a crowd
It was a nice summer night. The kind that people generally refer to when they think of the camping trips of their childhood or their first kiss after school. The temperature was in that comfortable middle ground between sweating hot and deviously chill. The cloudless sky smiled a thin, slanted smile and watched the world below with a myriad of shining eyes. And as the abyss stared at the people of Everton, a few of them stared back, peering into the cosmos’ beauty.
Among these peoples, two showed unparalleled enthusiasm. These two were among the few, select people who had been given the chance to see a whole different sky.
The first one was Sunset Shimmer, born unicorn in a different world. The second one was Twilight Sparkle, who had – because of a device of her creation – peered through the veil separating her world from Sunset’s. Both of them were what was usually referred to as “nerds”. They were the kind of people who would extensively study the differences between the heavens in their free time and thoroughly enjoy the experience. However, even nerds needed a break sometimes. And so, their telescope had been set aside while they lay side by side, on the grass of Twilight’s garden.
“This one’s called Monoceros, the unicorn,” Twilight declared, pointing at a collection of stars.
“Okay, now I know you’re pulling my leg,” Sunset answered with a laugh.
“No no! I swear!” the purple girl said, laughing in turn. “I’m surprised you don’t know it.”
“I was more interested in how they work than where they’re placed on the sky…”
Twilight laughed at the admission. There wasn’t a lot of topics Sunset had not explored during her time on Earth, and Twilight was the only person she knew who always had that head start. She just seemed to have at least some knowledge on every topic Sunset knew… and also on all the topics she didn’t. And Sunset loved it. “Look, see the lower half of Orion? Well, just a bit to the left…”
“I see nothing that might look like a unicorn...”
“Heh. It’s hard to make an accurate description of a mythical creature with only a few lines.”
“Hey! Who are you calling a mythical creature?” Sunset asked with mock indignation.
“I don’t know… some of the things you do are pretty uncommon.”
“Would a mythical creature travel through worlds and harness the power of friendship?”
“If my external sources and personal, anecdotal evidence are to be trusted… Yes.”
“Oh… Well… Would a mythical creature do… this?” On these words, Sunset jumped on Twilight and relentlessly tickled her favourite dork. Twilight’s feeble defences quickly crumbled and soon she found herself at the mercy of the unicorn. Sunset was a merciful victor though, and soon the one-sided tickle fight devolved into a mutual, giggly hug.
“Is something wrong?” Twilight asked after some time, noticing that Sunset was staring at her.
“No, nothing’s wrong,” Sunset said, her smile widening slightly. “I was just thinking that the stars are not the only beautiful thing that sparkle tonight.”
It was corny, Sunset knew it but it still worked. Despite the obscurity, she could see the blush quickly blossoming on Twilight’s face. Such a sight was worth even the corniest comments. Sunset watched her fumbling with her words, completely disarmed by the compliment. There was something irresistible about it. And Sunset didn’t want to resist.
“Can I kiss you?” she asked softly.
Twilight turned an even deeper shade of purple, nodded, closed her eyes and then blushed some more. Sunset passed her hand into Twilight’s hair, pushing aside messy strands of hair from her face. Her skin was smooth and Sunset enjoyed the contact as much as Twilight. She finally settled her hand on her cheek, cupping it, using it as an anchor as she got closer. The kiss was soft and warm. Sunset’s lips aptly captured Twilight’s with patience and delicateness that betrayed their eagerness.
Twilight reciprocated, slowly, hesitantly. This wasn’t their first kiss, but there was still this innocence, this almost childish scare that she could kiss Sunset so wrong that their whole relationship would shatter. Sunset was well aware of the fact and she was determined to show Twilight that she enjoyed every contact with her lips, no matter how slow or simple they might be.
The kiss ended, and as always, it felt both too short and breathtakingly long. They stayed on the grass, staring at each other for a while, a whim away from a repeat. A whim Sunset was very tempted to indulge... Unfortunately, Fate had decided otherwise. In that case, Fate had chosen to manifest itself in the form of a purple talking dog, whose mealtime had been skipped. The emissary of Fate cleared his throat soundly, making the two girls jump.
“Are you going home soon? I’m hungry…” Spike said sheepishly, not even trying to come up with an excuse. “You said one hour…”
“Oops! I’m so sorry Spike I forgot about your food! I was so caught in the stargazing.”
“Yeah... ‘stargazing’,” the dog mocked.
Twilight blushed again and Sunset jumped to her rescue. “Sorry, little guy. We didn’t realise an hour had already passed…”
“It’s been at least two!” he protested.
“What? No, you’re exaggerating...” she said while checking her watch, trying to confound the dog with her superior technology. Unfortunately, as always in time of need, technology betrayed her as her watch agreed with the canine, revealing that two hours and a half had passed. “You… were not exaggerating.” She sent an apologizing look to the purple dog. “Sorry, Spike...”
“It’s alright,” he said in that specific tone that tried to make the situation seem alright but ultimately made it seem worse and guilt-inducing. “I took a nap anyway...”
Twilight finally got up, taking her furry friend into her arms. “Let’s get you some food. And a few treats.”
“Treats?” Spike said, his heads, ears and mood perking up.
Sunset laughed at his reaction. She was about to tease him about his appetite when her phone rang. The first notes of Arctic Donkeys’ Why’d You Only Call Me When You’re Down? echoed into the night, breaking the ambience. Sunset didn’t need to check who it was. Only one person deserved this ringtone. “Why don’t you two go and eat. I’ll take this and bring back the telescope.”
“Yes! Yes! Let’s go!” the purple dog barked enthusiastically.
“Okay,” Twilight agreed with a laugh. “Don’t take too long,” she added in direction of Sunset before leaving.
Sunset watched her girlfriend go for a few seconds before she finally took the call. “Sup’ Dagi?”
Adagio Dazzle spoke slowly, emphasising each word. “Sunset, the night was terrible.”
Adagio sounded exhausted. Sunset was sure at least part of it was just for show, but she had learned to discern the truth hidden behind the dramatic reenactment. It didn’t mean she wouldn’t tease her though. “Aren’t all the nights terrible?” she retorted as she unscrewed the telescope’s stand.
“This one was worse.”
“How worse?”
“At least 2 Bobs.”
Sunset whistled, impressed. A night worth two Battles of the Bands was usually, bad. However, considering her tone she was probably just being dramatic. Sunset chose to play along. “Wow... that much?”
“Stary had to quit early because her girlfriend was delivering their baby, so I had to deal with the entrance alone, right when a pack of douchebroes decided that they wanted to celebrate their bachelor party at the club.”
“Ouch…” The last screw of the stand finally relented, freeing the telescope from its elevated restraints. Sunset folded it carefully and put it in its case. “How did you deal with it?”
“I lured them inside and...”
“You lured them?”
“I promised them a lapdance and they accepted.”
“I’m not sure what’s worse... The fact that it worked or the fact that I’m immensely jealous right now...”
“Maybe you’ll get one... if you beg nicely...”
Adagio’s words were the vocal equivalent to having someone slowly stripping you off your clothes while promising you a very wild night. Which, Sunset hoped, was exactly what was ahead of her. Sunset bit her lip as if she could somehow purge the frustration out this way. It didn’t work. In fact, it made things slightly worse. A slightly aroused silence arose between them that Sunset killed before it got her. “So you said you lured them inside?”
“Yep. Easy as fuck.”
“And what happened to them?”
“Oh... Let’s say they got what was coming to them?”
“Dagi...”
“Calm your perky tits, Sunny. I just locked them in the meeting room.”
“And?”
“Why do you assume there’s more?”
“Because I know you, Dagi. What did you do?”
Adagio sighed. “You know me too well... Now I have to eliminate you.”
“You can’t get rid of me, you’ll get bored.”
“Bold of you to assume you’re irreplaceable.”
“I’m right though,” Sunset affirmed with a confident smirk.
“Still bold,” the siren admitted.
“So what did you do?”
“I put Take a Hint in a loop. Hopefully loud enough to deliver the message through their thick skull.”
Sunset tried not to laugh. Her good, virtuous side fought bravely to empathise for the poor souls, trapped by their lust and hubris. It was defeated after roughly 0.35 seconds of an arduous battle against every other part of Sunset. “You’re terrible!” she simply said between two giggles.
“You love me that way,” Adagio bragged.
Sunset laughed some more at her girlfriend’s boasting. “Yeah,” she simply admitted. She looked around. The telescope and its stand were safely in their case. Spike likely had been served his food and it was probably already gone. Meaning that Twilight was waiting for her. Still, it didn’t feel right to dismiss Adagio. She weighed the situation for a few seconds, then chose to bet on Twilight’s patience.
“So what happened next?”
“They managed to break the lock and get out. They were pretty pissed for some reason…”
“Wow… Is everything alright?”
“Yeah,” the siren said with proud dispassion. “They threatened to call the cops on me, but Zalea got everything under control, she told them she’d forgive them for the broken lock if they never came back, and I was ’punished’ for my action with two days of paid leave.”
Sunset laughed again. “I’m dating a terrible girl!”
“I’m simply the best at what I do.”
"The best, huh?" Sunset asked with a grin that showed as clearly in her voice as it did on her face. "You sure about that?"
"Positive," Adagio retorted with a sultry tone. "Does someone need a little reminder?"
“Now that you mention it, my memory is a bit fuzzy…”
“Well, if you’re quick enough, I might find a way or two to jog up your memory.”
Once again, Sunset found herself at the centre of an epic battle between two sides of her. This time, however, her more principled parts prevailed. “Damnit Dagi, don’t tease me like that… you know I’m with Twi tonight…”
“Yeah, yeah, I know,” she said with a sigh. “I wasn’t one hundred per cent serious.” There was another silence, more awkward this time. “So when do you come back? The house’s lonely without you…”
“Probably tomorrow night… You know Twilight leaves to her dad’s tomorrow so I won’t see her for weeks after that…”
Adagio hesitated a moment. That pause was different for it was not part of Adagio’s masterful speechcraft. There was genuine uncertainty. These were very rare and Sunset had learned to pay a great deal of attention to them. “Can’t you come back sooner? I… I don’t want to stay alone.”
For Adagio Dazzle to ask her to come back early, something had to be wrong. However, she couldn’t just leave Twilight like that. Sunset racked her brain to find a solution. That was what she did. She made things work. “What about we meet at the amusement park tomorrow afternoon? That way we can spend some time outside and come back home together?”
“It’s been a while since I’ve been to an amusement park,” the siren admitted after some time. “Okay then. Around two?”
“Perfect,” Sunset confirmed. “See you tomorrow then.”
“See you then, Sunny. I’ll leave you to Magical Girl. Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.”
“That doesn’t cover a lot of things…”
Adagio paused audibly and it felt as if she was leaning to whisper in her ear. “You should see what I’m wearing right now.”
“Okayloveyoubye!” she said as she hung up.
She took a long calming breath, the telescope case and slowly went to join Twilight.
Twilight’s house was in the image of its owner. Purple and nerdy themed. A few hints of orange had started popping up here and there in the last few weeks, however, to Sunset’s delight. She carefully put the case next to the door and joined Twilight in the dining room. “Sorry I took so long. Dagi was telling me about her night…”
“It’s okay,” Twilight said with a smile as she finished dressing the table. “How is she?”
“She’s fine. She says hi.”
“Really?”
“In her own way.”
Twilight smiled at that. “The dinner’s ready if you want to eat.”
“Gladly! I’m starving!”
The dinner was filled with laughter and happy conversations. Twilight and Sunset were rarely out of topics to discuss, but tonight one particular topic was monopolised. The next day date at the amusement park.
“So what do you want to do after the mirror gallery?” Sunset asked with a smile.
“Anything but the rollercoaster.”
“Aw! They’re half of the fun,” Sunset teased.
“I’m afraid of heights and speeds our bodies weren’t made to handle,” Twilight stated.
“But the infrastructure has been made with that information in mind!”
“I know but…” She hesitated a moment, visibly embarrassed about the reason. “Okay, don’t laugh but… when I was very young and I still lived with Shining I…I snuck up and tried watching the scary movie he was watching, and since then I’ve been afraid of them…”
“Which movie?”
“The Ultimate Stop 3,” she admitted sheepishly.
Sunset nodded with a smile. “I see. Okay, no rollercoaster nor mention of it during our date.”
“Thank you for understanding,” Twilight said, visibly relieved.
“Besides, there are other rides I wanna do with you…”
“Oh? Which one?”
Sunset sent a long, loving, meaningful look to Twilight. “The love tunnel of course.”
Twilight blushed again. “I’d like this too,” she finally let out.
“Urgh… Please! I just ate…” Spike complained.
The two girls laughed at the dog’s “misery”. The night was perfect. They were happy. And the next day would be even better.
Sunset contemplated her life and wondered if things could get any better.
✶𝄞☀𝄞✶
Sunset contemplated her life and wondered if things could get any worse.
The day had started to well… The morning at Twilight’s had been delightful. The call to Adagio had been extremely pleasant. The trip to the amusement park had been a blast. The first hour, a pure bliss. They had raided the prize booths, and while they had barely won anything worthwhile – a keychain and free tickets for other attractions – Sunset loved trying to show off in front of Twilight. And judging by the happy grin on her face at the time, Twilight loved it too. And that was only the beginning of the day. They had eaten their fill of unhealthy but delicious food, they had watched the parades and run like children as the water displays started.
It had been perfect.
And then, Adagio had called.
And then, things had crumbled away around Sunset.
“Adagio is coming? Now?” Twilight had said with shock and badly hidden horror in her voice. “Why?”
“Because I invited her…” Sunset had said dumbfounded.
“But… why?”
Why? Sunset couldn’t find a reason why. She didn’t think she’d had to justify it. She never considered “why?” as a question before this exact moment.
She never got to find an answer, however. Before she could, a young woman, born siren in the same world Sunset had been born a unicorn, had tackled and hugged tightly from behind. For a shining instant, Sunset hoped she’d been mistaken for someone else, for the awkward discussion would be way more preferable than the other scenario.
She was not so lucky.
“Hey, Sunny!” Adagio said, tightening her hug. “Fuck I mi– what is she doing here?”
At this point, Sunset’s intellect melted into a puddle, evaporated then condensated in cold sweat that rolled from the back of her neck.
“Sunset?”
One of her girls was calling her. This woke her up. Whatever she was doing now was not helping. She could do it.
“Twilight, I invited Dagi yesterday so we could all spend time together,” she said to her purple girlfriend with a smile that she hoped was reassuring. She then turned toward the yellow one. “Dagi, Twilight’s here because we had already planned on going to the park before. I told you about it, remember?”
She looked at both, hoping that she’d have cleared the misunderstanding. And the good news was that she did. The bad news was that what had appeared in its place was worse. Twilight was getting uneasy. Adagio was pissed. The mood was getting cold enough to force windigos into coats.
But Sunset could still save it. “So girls what do you want to do?” she tried.
There was an awkward silence. It settled in the trio, growing louder by the second until Adagio finally broke it. “What about the rollercoasters?”
If she had to choose one point, one fateful turning point where the date had gone from bad to terrible, Sunset Shimmer would have chosen that one. The moment where Adagio Dazzle had proposed the rollercoaster. In that exact moment, the date had become unsalvageable. No amount of cotton candy, no amount of prize booths successfully raided, no sweet talk or negotiation would improve things enough to make it a good night. Sunset knew this. She felt it like a metaphorical blade in her metaphorical heart and like a slightly less metaphorical weight on her not-metaphorical chest.
But she still tried to save it.
“Come on, Dagi,” Sunset ‘I Can Salvage This Mess’ Shimmer chuckled, trying to pass the proposition as a joke.
“What? What’s wrong with the rollercoaster?” the siren let out with an exasperated sigh.
If the initial proposition had been the turning point, this was the part where whatever had turned at that point had sped up in the opposite direction and chose never to look back. Sunset sent a reassuring glance at Twilight which never reached her as her eyes were fixed on the ground.
Another weight set on Sunset’s chest.
She tried to take her hand, send her some comfort, but Twilight chose to cross her arms instead, denying her even that.
“I think it’s time for me to go home…” she whispered.
“What? Already? I thought we had at least–”
“I think I should go,” she said, turning away from Sunset.
The unicorn turned human sent a look at Adagio – who was busy watching her perfectly done nails and practising her annoyed look – then at Twilight – who was busy getting further and further from her. She quickly signed at Adagio to wait for her and ran behind the purple girl. Adagio rolled her eyes, took the most disdainful pose she could muster and went back to watching her nails.
The few metres separating her from Twilight felt like kilometres. The distance from her hand to her shoulders even more so… But she finally reached it.
Twilight stopped but didn’t turn. “I can’t… I don’t know…”
“I’m sorry, Twi, I know I messed up, but I–”
“Yes, I know Sunset, ‘you can fix it’.” Her voice cracked up, torn between a chuckle and a sob. “I know.”
Sunset’s hand started to feel awkward, so she removed it and instead tried to face her. “Hey! I can do it. I swear.”
“Maybe you can’t…”
Sunset didn’t think there was enough place for another blade in her heart, but today was the day everything she knew was proven wrong. “Come on, Twi… I helped save the world a few times, remember?” she said with a laugh she wished looked encouraging. “I can do… whatever it takes to save our date?”
Twilight finally turned. She was done crying, but some tears were still rolling down her cheeks. Sunset tried to come closer, but Twilight took a step back as she did so. “I’m afraid all the evidence shows otherwise. Maybe this is finally the one thing that you can’t do…” She tried to laugh, but failed and sobbed miserably.
“Listen, Twi, I’m really sorry… This was supposed to be our day and I ruined it. I know. I’m sorry. How can I make it work?”
“I don’t know, Sunset… I don’t know.” They stood together in silence, facing each other for a time that felt infinitely longer to them than the rest of the world. Sunset was racking her brain, trying to find something good to say, something to comfort Twilight. But nothing came.
Finally, it was the purple girl who spoke first. “I think it’s time for me to go home.”
Sunset didn’t answer. Instead, she opened her mouth and closed it.
“I’ll see you next week.”
Once again, Sunset opened her mouth for a few second, then closed it. This time, however, she opened it again to let out an “okay” that expressed that everything was not okay like only an “okay” could.
She watched Twilight leave until she was swallowed by the crowd. Then she watched the crowd until it lost any meaning whatsoever. Then she turned back. Her other girlfriend was waiting for her.
Adagio had not moved at all. She looked like an antique statue of a pissed off goddess whose gaze would turn mortals into columns of salt she would then use on the wounds of her enemies. It softened, however, when it fell on Sunset. “You’re back,” she simply stated.
“I’m back.”
“Magical Girl’s not here?”
“Twilight didn’t feel well, so she went back home…”
“Shame,” Adagio said in the same tone one would use to discuss the traffic. “Well since she’s not here anymore, what about we try those rollercoasters?” She left her position and went closer to Sunset, deep into her personal zone. “I know where all the cameras are. What about we make a show for the staff?”
“Sorry, Dagi… I’m–”
“Yeah, I know. ‘Not in the mood’ or something.” The ex-siren returned to her previous position. “I freaking know. Looks like the purple prude doesn’t only suck the magic out of people. She’s sucking all the fun out of you.”
“Dagi, please, not now…”
“Hey, I’m not the one who started this.”
“Adagio, please stop. If you have a problem with–”
“If I have a problem? If I have a problem? You’re telling me you don’t already know that I have a problem!? Well, I guess that explains why you’re doing jack shit about it. I thought you were supposed to be good at this sort of thing.”
At this point, Sunset’s heart was more pain than flesh and this severely impaired her ability to talk. The only word that managed to leave her mouth was the most pitiful and sad “Dagi,” that was ever spoken.
Adagio either didn’t notice or didn’t care. She stood up again and turned away from her partner. “I won’t be home tonight. Sonata will need my help with babysitting.”
“How do you know?” Sunset croaked.
“She’s Sonata,” Adagio stated, “she always needs help.”
For the second time in less than ten minutes, Sunset watched her girlfriend leave and disappear into the crowd.
Author's Note
I initially wrote this story for a contest almost two years ago and never finished it... I hope this will push me to complete this story at long last.
Hope you liked it!
