The sun was setting late again. Its light filtered through the blinds on the window, leaving an incidental stripped pattern behind on the room’s interior. It provided the room with a much-needed feeling of ambiance.
The air was hot, stuffy and humid, and the room’s only resident could do nothing to air it out. She was bedridden and wasn't due another nurse check for hours. She should have been annoyed, but she wasn’t. She was used to it by now. Hospitals had become so packed these days, she would be lucky if anyone got time to tend to her today.
So instead she lay still, hot flush after hot flush sweeping over her. Her only company was that of the slow beeps of the medical equipment keeping her alive, and her own wheezing breaths. Both of which were growing steadily slower.
Her hair had lessened in both length and color since her youth, but it had yet to go full grey. Her skin hadn’t been as lucky, however, as every natural line or crease had grown into a wrinkle, and she a series of unattractive blotches dotted about her being.
Death was closing in on her - she was well aware.
She always pictured it happening in a blaze of glory or rather, peacefully in her sleep. But never a whimper. Yet what she got was this hot, sweaty room, and nothing more than the awareness of death's presence dangling before her.
The earth had gone to shit. It hadn’t been triggered by a lone event, but a mixture of them. The divide between the rich and the poor had grown to such a degree that the two were practically different races. There were wars – none of them full-scale – but all of them damaging. Cities were either super-technologically-advanced or desolate wastelands, and with the latter considerably outnumbering the former. Smaller cities and towns even abandoned the idea of collected civilization altogether and created their own independent mini-states. States which would then fight each other over territory, supplies and numbers… the usual excuses for war.
Global warming took away the earth’s atmosphere. Any species on the weaker end of the conservation status had disappeared, deserts swallowed up towns and entire countries sank into the sea. And, though she hadn’t experienced it first hand, she had no trouble believing the rumors that most of the East required gas masks to even leave the house.
The apocalypse happened under every bodies’ noses and nobody had raised a finger to stop it. There was no reversing the damage now. This was their future, and the whimper that would be the end of humanity’s existence was close on the horizon.
She wasn’t even upset to be dying. In fact, she almost wished it had come sooner. She had outlived her time, and the world that now existed was but a shell of what it once was.
Her friends and family had all gone now, too. As each of them had passed they’d taken a part of her with them. Now completely alone, she merely existed. The performance was finished, yet here she remained, watching the empty stage. Campaign mode was over but she kept playing. The party was long over, but she refused to leave.
She’d grieved them all, of course. Cried over so many graves. She wanted to say she had grown numb to it with time, but she hadn't. She didn’t know if it was her altered biology that allowed her to live longer, or if she was just unlucky. She’d been trapped in this run-down hospital for months and hadn’t received had a single visitor.
She didn’t mind. She was lonely, but at last, had her peace.
So now she lay, waiting. Night after day. Day after night. She almost felt awkward still being alive at this point. Looking forward to death wasn’t a luxury she was feeling, though. She wanted to see her friends again, and in the early days that had been the thought that kept her going. But in the long years since, she’d lost her faith and knew exactly what was waiting her when it finally did happen.
But even then, she wasn’t scared. But she wasn’t quite ready to go, either. She no longer felt strong emotions about either prospect. That was what it was now.
Not life. Not death. Existence.
She wasn’t sure how long she’d been awake. The days blurred together, if it wasn’t for the sunlight coming through the blinds, she wouldn’t even know if it was day or night.
Her eyes were weak and tired, but they lit up as a voice entered the room.
“Sunset Shimmer?”
Her eyes darted to the side, alerted by the sudden entrance of a new sound. A masked nurse was poking her head through the ajar door, waiting for her to respond.
Her throat was dry, but she was able to wheeze out a response.
“Yes?”
The nurse nodded and pulled her head back from the room. Sunset could still feel her presence nearby.
“She’s in here,” she caught the nurse mumble.
The door opened fully this time and the nurse re-entered the room. Or somebody entered the room. As they neared the hospital bed it became clear this was someone new.
The person lowered the door closed behind them and approached the bedside table. They flicked on the lampshade, but the bulb inside remained dead. After a glance at it, they carried on to the visitor’s seat next to her bed. Sunset's vision wasn't what it once was - it was only when they sat and finally locked eyes with her, did she register who she was looking at.
She gave a sharp inhale of breath, the best attempt at a gasp she could manage.
“Am I dead?”
They shook their head.
“Not yet.”
They pulled down the hood of their jacket, releasing a puff of orange curly hair.
“Long time, no see."
Images flashed before her eyes. Canterlot High School. Princess Twilight Sparkle. Her friends. The Dazzlings.
As her vision focused, more became obvious to her. The person before her was not the young teenage girl she once was. Now she had crow’s feet, her forehead had grown lines and there were dark bags under her eyes. She’d gotten older, but had aged considerably more gracefully than Sunset had.
Yet, by far the weirdest part about her?
The expression she wore. It wasn’t revengeful or full of hatred, like she would expect it to be. She looked complacent, almost… happy?
Sunset swallowed a dry breath, trying to find the words to say.
“This is a surprise... Adagio.”
The siren nodded.
“It took a lot to find you, Sunset Shimmer. Seems nobody in Canterlot has heard of you.”
Adagio’s voice was deeper than it used to be.
She nodded.
“I haven’t lived in Canterlot for… nearly forty years.”
Adagio sucked in a deep breath.
“Probably explains that, then. For a one-hundred and ten years old, I imagine there's a full generation living there that have never even heard your name. Funny how that happens, isn't it? How even the mighty can be forgotten?"
The way Adagio spoke, from the way she held herself, to the way she looked at her, it was nothing like what Sunset expected from the old villain. Even despite her narcissistic words, she spoke to her like an old friend, when in reality the two never close to such things.
Sunset finally settled on the words she was looking for.
“What do you want?”
Adagio took a second before acknowledging she heard her words. When she did, she sat back in the chair and took a long, sad sigh.
“You’re dying."
A wave of chills washed over Sunset. An unfamiliar sting of sadness struck her in the heart. An icy dagger. She knew this truth, but this was the first time she’d heard it vocalized. She didn’t let it leak how much the words had just hurt.
“Yeah… Guess I am.”
Adagio nodded solemnly. After a moment, she continued.
“Me too. But slower than you, I guess. Ponies live long, but Sirens live longer… even after your friends took my powers. Thought I was safe, until I started aging a few years ago. Reckon I’ve still got a good half a century in me, though.”
“I’m sorry,” Sunset replied instinctively.
Adagio shook her head.
“Don’t worry about it. I’ve lived way longer than you, I should be the one apologizing.”
“Is that why you’re here?”
Adagio gave a light smile, but shook her head.
“Heavens no. I’m the one who deserves an apology from you girls, for what you did to us…”
Sunset felt another sting. This time it was one of guilt.
She opened her mouth to respond, but Adagio beat her to it.
“Although… I suppose it’s just you now, isn’t it?”
Sunset fell silent. Hearing all this stuff in her head was fine, but hearing it out loud...
She couldn't move much in her bed, but did her best equivalent of hanging her head in shame.
“It’s okay. I’m alone now, as well.”
She looked up. Again, there was no sourness in Adagio's tone. It was obvious she wasn't here to gloat. And even though her intentions were still a mystery, Sunset didn't feel as defensive as she thought she should be.
“What happened?”
“Same thing that happened to the rest of this world. Things changed and drifted apart. Aria left...” she paused, as if looking for the words. “And... now Sonata’s gone, too.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Stop apologizing, Jesus.”
The two shared a laugh.
Sunset's throat was dry, her laugh came out more of a wheeze, but Adagio didn't seem to notice.
After a few moments of nothing but mechanical beeping from Sunset's machine, the siren pulled a question out that, from her tone, had very obviously been on her mind.
“What does it feel like?”
Sunset wet her lips.
Her intentions had revealed themselves.
Adagio was scared. For the short time she had known her, Sunset had got to see her scared. She had never seen her as anything less than smug, villainous and in complete control, actually. Which left her with the question of, had the years really gotten to this villain so harshly, or was she perhaps always like this on the inside?
Neither possibility did anything to ease her guilty conscience.
“Kinda... boring, to be honest," Sunset replied, half-joking. "I feel I've outlived my usefulness, still being here.”
Again, another pause settled over the two. This one didn't last as long however, as even Adagio seemed to realize the intentions behind her visit were now obvious.
“Would you do anything differently?”
"Is that why you're here?" she asked rather bluntly. "You're dying and you want to know what it's like?"
Adagio pursed her lips, silent. She gave a light chuckle.
"Can you blame me? I'm scared and on my own, and you're the only other Equestrian left."
Even when admitting she was frightened, Adagio still managed to sound condescending. Sunset got a vague feeling of nostalgia from it.
"There's nobody alive that.. knows me... like you do," she continued.
"I don't know you," Sunset shot back.
"Which is a shame, really... Because... heck, maybe if we'd have known it would end up this way... Well then, maybe things could have been different."
There was something ever increasing in her tone that was beginning to unnerve Sunset.
"Different how?"
She shrugged, shifting around in her seat.
"I don't know. Could have been friends, or something," she shrugged.
If Sunset had been in any fitter state, she'd have had to sit down. She'd never imagine she'd be here, with Adagio Dazzle, having this conversation. If her earlier reminiscing hadn't made her feel old, this certainly did.
"There... is some stuff I wish I'd done differently," Sunset finally answered. "Wish I’d have seen my mom more. And made more of an effort to keep in contact with people. Traveled more, too, I guess.”
Adagio gave a weak smile.
“Are you happy?”
Sunset sighed. She had often asked herself that same question.
“I don’t know," she said plainly. "I lived, though. I think I'm kind of past the point of caring if it was fun or not. But I can say that I lived a long life, and had a load of friends, and... well, that's more than some people can say. What about you?”
Adagio laughed, but it wasn't a cheerful one.
“I wouldn’t even know how to answer that."
Feeling the silence settle in again, Sunset decided it was her time to lead.
“I’m sorry that you’re alone, Adagio. I can’t offer you much consolation, but… well,,, yeah. Maybe we could have been friends. But, it's not too late to start, I mean... You’re welcome to stay for a while..." she then suddenly added, “I could certainly use the company…”
Adagio held her hand up to stop her, shaking her head.
“Thank you, Sunset. I will always remember you said that. But, no.. I just wanted to connect with someone before I left."
“Left for where?”
She gave a bemused smile.
“Like I said Sunset... I’ve lived a long time. I’m ready to go, if you catch my drift."
When her confused expression didn't falter, Adagio sighed. And then, her tone was enough to indicate her meaning.
“Ah…”
Sunset didn't know how to respond to that.
She didn't know Adagio and the only relationship she'd had with her was as an enemy. Truth be told, realistically, she shouldn't be too bothered about that statement, right? Yet... hearing anybody vocalize that, even if she was an enemy, was enough to make the frequency of Sunset's life support increase.
“Hey, don’t worry about it," Adagio soothed her, placing a hand near Sunset's leg. "It's nothing dark. I’ve just… well, as you said… I've outlived my usefulness. I doubt there’s much else on the other side, but… it’s worth a check, I suppose.”
Those words hung, heavy in the air. Adagio had just summed up the feelings Sunset had been toying with for years now, and all in a single sentence. Hearing them out loud made them sound so much more logical and simple.
She found herself staring at Adagio.
She wasn't looking at a villain, a siren, or the high-school enemy of her and her friends. She was looking at somebody who knew what it felt like. They had both lived their lives, and ended up not only in this same place at the same time, but in the same situation.
For the first time in years, Sunset felt the sting of how lonely she truly was.
“Can I... come with you?”
Adagio pulled her head back. Shock was written across her face, but that quickly relaxed into happiness.
“Only if you’re sure?”
Sunset nodded her head as much as she could, which wasn't a lot.
“I’ve been sure for a while. I was just... too scared to go alone.”
“I can relate to that.”
Adagio took Sunset's hand in her own.
A wave of shivers swept over her. That was the most human contact she'd had since the nurse helped her to this bed, months ago.
Adagio closed her eyes and hunched forward, leaning on Sunset.
"One last question. Do you ever wish you could start again?”
“All the time."
Outside, the sun was shrinking. The light in the room around them was beginning to fade.
"There’s another way."
"What?"
"We could go home. Their world can't be worse than ours. We could start again... even if it won't be for long."
“This world is my home... and the portal to Equestria was destroyed years ago."
“But now there are two of us?”
She waited for Adagio to follow up her statement, but none came.
“What are you saying?”
“Life..." her voice was suddenly cracking,"... life leads you so many different ways. You think it’s going to be a straightforward path to getting what you want, but really it’s a twisting, turning road with false starts and you don't realize it until you're lost deep in it. And then, then you get so lost trying to find your way back to where you were you forget you where you were even trying to be in the first place. I never imagined I'd be here. Not with you, not at this time. But here I am. Nothing is likely, yet everything is."
For as little sense as Adagio's words made, Sunset understood her perfectly.
“You really think... we could go back to Equestria, if we tried together?”
Sunset felt wetness drop onto her hand.
“I think… I think that together, we can go onto what’s next. I never imagined it would be this way but... Well, do you still want to come with me?”
Sunset wet her dry lips. She squeezed Adagio's hand back.
“I do.”
And later that evening, a hero and a villain departed from this world. Not as enemies, but equals.
It was a happy ending.
