The bistro's lighting was a cool neon purple and blue, complementing the abyssal purple of the fading sun. The Mad Lab, it was called, a speciality restaurant with the most unique burgers in the world. It was the only place that served beef not cut from a cow, or any other animal for that matter.
The science behind was pretty clear, though as an incoming physics major, Sunset was a little disappointed that her future was not likely going to include working with these patties.
Meat grown In Vitro, or cultured in a lab. The entire process sounded simple enough, taking a cell from an animal and growing it as it would grow naturally in the body. The look could use a little work though. The cells were simple in structure, not like complex muscle fibres that gave meat its texture. But, the taste was still the same taste, or so Sunset was told.
"You don't look so sure about this," her friend Marionette said.
Black-haired and peachy-skinned, Marionette had quickly become one of Sunset's close friends after they met at CHS, during a fencing tournament hosted on the school grounds.
"No, no, it's fine," Sunset assured her. "Really, I'm just excited is all. Just excited."
Marionette raised a brow at her. Around other people, even her friends, Sunset wasn't terrible at hiding what she was thinking, but Marionette had piercing blue eyes that seemed to melt away any defence Sunset put up.
"If you really don't want to we can go," she said.
"No," Sunset said suddenly, and a little loudly too. A few people sitting in the booth opposite them glanced over. She returned the look, then folded her arms and leaned closer to the table to hide her face from the embarrassment.
"This was your idea, I want to do it." Except, Sunset wasn't sure if she could even stomach it. Lab-grown or not, the burger she had just ordered still had meat, chemically identical in every way to the real deal. Just the idea resurfaced her deep-rooted appetite from her past. To humans, her lifestyle was a vegetarian one, but compared to her past in Equestria, it was only natural. But this thing she was about it eat, it seemed the total opposite.
"Alright, but just say the word and we'll try somewhere else."
The patty was sizzling hot, fresh off the pan. The buns were whole wheat and toasted, with mustard and ketchup thinly coated along them. Along with the patty was a rich assortment of red onions, lettuce, and tomatoes, all topped with blue and feta cheese. Two slices of a pickle, cut lengthwise, was left on the side beside seasoned, crispy fries.
The idea of eating meat flipped Sunset's stomach, but she couldn't deny how nice it smelled. Marionette had a fish patty, made from in vitro fish of course. Tartar sauce coated the buns, and it was stuffed full of lettuces, thin strips of cucumbers, and sliced green chilli peppers.
The first bite was messy, the grease from Sunset's burger dripped onto her fries, but it was good. The meat was softer than she expected, probably because the cultured meat was just a collection of cells, not built tough to support an animal's structure.
She expected something tough and salty, but ultimately bland. But it was just the opposite. The fat and oils used to cook the patty were savoury, but the taste stuck to Sunset's tongue and it made her stomach feel heavy and cluttered.
"Looks like it tastes good," Marionette smiled slightly. "You do like it, right?"
Sunset nodded. "It's definitely not what I expected, but then again, I didn't really know what to expect. It's really chewy."
"Hm, here," Marionette cut out a piece of her fish burger, "try this, it's a bit softer."
"Oh, okay." The fish was smoother, but she could tell that the texture wasn't quite the same. Fish came apart in sections, but the in vitro fish was clumped together. Softer, but a little chunky. Still, it was pretty good.
The two of them made sure to stay away from any topics about school while they ate. Summer was about to end in a month, and they would have plenty of time to think about their future careers. Instead, they traded stories about themselves and their interests.
"Really?" Sunset giggled, having a hard time believing some of the things Marionette claimed she did. "You have a skydiving licence?"
"Went with my dad on our two hundred and twelfth jump just last week," she said, pulling out her phone to show a recording that her mom took from the cliffs they jumped from. "Third time I've done it with a wingsuit."
"That's insane. I would've guessed that your parents would've stopped you from doing that kind of stuff." Sunset had talked to Marionette's parents only a couple times since they became friends, but they were always private people: polite, but reserved.
"Dad designs for an aerospace company, so he really loves air sports." She opened her gallery of pictures at the beach. "I started taking hang gliding and parasailing lessons when I was seven, but when I saw my Dad going on a skydiving retreat with his company, I fell in love with it."
"Of course," Sunset rolled her eyes, "that just adds to the list of things that make you perfect."
Marionette laughed. "Don't pretend, you're pretty cool yourself."
"Playing the guitar and jumping off a mountain, without dying, are two completely different things," Sunset smirked. "And painting's not that much more exhilarating either."
"Painting? I never knew you were a Picasso! No, that's not right, you're more of a Mary Cassatt."
"The impressionist painter?" Sunset raised a brow. "Eh, I can do brush and canvas, but I'm more of a Basquiat: spray can and wall."
The details were news to Marionette, but she wasn't surprised. Sunset was the kind of person to push what had already been done to new places. Any other style of art must have seemed boring to her.
"Got anything we can see?" She wiped her mouth clean of the fish burger.
"A few here and there around the city," Sunset said, rubbing the back over her neck. "But, some of them are technically vandalism, so they're probably painted over by now."
Marionette shrugged. "That's fine, you can just show me the ones that aren't."
Landing Soft But Falling Hard
"You good?" Sunset tightened Marionette's helmet as they got on her motorcycle.
"Yeah, just never been on one of these before," Marionette said.
She flicked up the kickstand and drove onto the road, taking a left onto the street. Sunset could hear Marionette's breathing through the speakers in her helmet, quickening as she gripped a little tighter.
"This can't be worse than skydiving."
"Yeah, but when I dive, I know the parachute's going to soften my fall," Marionette replied.
Sunset laughed. She scanned around her as she signalled into the next lane. The wind rushed through her mask, pumping her heart and racing her breath. Orange sunlight reflected off windows and cars as the sun set below the crowded horizon. As daylight faded, city light burst with life.
It was hardly dark out and Sunset noticed the street lamps had already turned on. Offices and business buildings in the distance became pillars of eyes, hundreds of little, yellow, square eyes waking up to the night. She slowed to let Marionette enjoy the view; cold air could rush through their hair while they watched the world flip upside down.
Sunset waited for a truck to pass before moving over to the rightmost lane and then turning towards the train yard. Along this road, things quickly turned reddish brown. Small businesses, barber shops and liquor stores, flashed their neon signs as they passed by. As she brought them further from the city, the pink-orange hue of the sun shined again over the stumpier buildings.
"I thought graffiti artists worked downtown, where people can see them," said Marionette through the helmet speakers.
They slowed, turning into the yard. "You wanted to see my best work," Sunset answered her. "It's here. This side of the train yard used to be for freight trains. But when the city finished building the mag-rails, this became prime real estate for my murals."
She swung them around to a warehouse for temporary storage. Sunset flicked off her motorcycle and set their helmets on a bench just outside in the boarding platforms. She reached into the bottom of an empty trashcan and pulled out a duffel bag, clanking with dozens of half-used spray cans.
"Come on," she waved to Marionette.
"You don't like people seeing your best work?" She followed closely behind. "Who's going to know it's here?"
"Me," said Sunset. "And now you. And that's why they're the best."
She flicked the lights on and revealed the forgotten belly of the building. Metal beams and dust-stained windows covered decorated the roof, turning the sunset to a sandy-brown glow inside the warehouse. Old and used art supplies littered the corners of the warehouse, and there was even a curtain draped over one corner that Marionette guessed hid away a messy pile of used paint cans.
Where there were cracks in the concrete walls, there was also white paint to cover them up, though not much of it was left anymore with Sunset's art as the building's skin.
To call it a mural was an understatement; every scene was linked together like a single landscape. On the floor, in the centre of the warehouse, streets ran like veins through a cityscape on fire. Hotels and skyscrapers popped out with bright reds and blacks and oranges, sharp yellows as the eyes of cars and buildings glowing in the evening. And the streets and cars drove from the city in winding arteries, turning to a forest campsite on one wall, a beach of sapphire seas on another.
There was a mountain range on the third wall, a palace on its side made of purples and golds. Behind it was the light source of the landscape, a pink-orange sun setting behind the mountain's raised horizon.
"These are beautiful," Marionette awed. "I see why you wanted something indoors, but why put it so far from everyone else?"
"I'm going to sound a bit selfish, but I made them just for me," Sunset said. "They're all the places I want to remember. I usually come here when I'm feeling down."
Marionette spun around to take the full span of the place. "Looks like that happens quite a bit."
Sunset shrugged. "We all have our demons."
But out of all the landscapes, the sun setting on the palace looked the most out of place. The city, beach, and camp were bright with round edges, thick and bold like a lively comic strip. But the palace was painted with sharp contrast, stencilled into the wall without lines or borders.
Marionette pointed. "What's that one?"
Sunset followed her gesture, but let her words hanging in the air for a while. "Not anywhere near here," she answered.
"Then where?"
"That's..." Sunset hesitated, then sighed, "not something I wanna talk about right now."
"Oh, alright," Marionette frowned.
Catching the tone, Sunset changed the subject. "I figured you could help me add a new painting to the floor." She tossed a roll of masking tape to Marionette. "I wanted you to add something to this place so it can remember you."
"You sure?" Marionette sucked in air through her teeth. "It's gonna look bad if I get involved."
"I'll be here," chuckled Sunset. "Just think of something you like and we'll work on it."
--*--
Marionette stared at the blank canvas floor. Her heart drummed her chest as she thought about what Sunset was thinking, letting her paint next to all her work? All this beauty was breathtaking.
Was that the point? Sunset must have felt the same about skydiving, but there was no way they could do that together. That would mean bringing her on a trip with her dad, a conversation Marionette didn't know how to begin having. Her thoughts were brought back to the ground when Sunset flicked on the lights as the sun passed the horizon.
Maybe it seemed superficial, but Marionette decided she wanted to paint a falcon. "The peregrine falcon," she said, "is the fastest animal on the planet."
"I thought that was the cheetah," Sunset said as she laid out a basic shape for the bird using masking tape and some stencils she had ready in her bag.
Marionette rolled her eyes. "Typical. That's for land animals. The peregrine falcon's stoop is faster than any other bird. The highest recorded speed is 240 miles per hour."
"What? You're pulling my leg," Sunset replied, a little incredulous. "Does it leave a rainbow trail while it flies?"
"Uh... no?" Marionette asked, very confused. "I don't- oh. I see."
Sunset laughed. "Sorry, I thought you'd be used to our magic gemstones by now." She palmed her own necklace, feeling the jewel at the centre. "You've seen us use them."
"Not an easy thing to get used to," Marionette laughed back, "knowing your friends found actual magic. I keep watching stage magicians, thinking how great it would be if magic was real. Then I remember, it apparently is. Good thing it's in the hands of one of the best people I know."
"Oh, you'd be surprised," Sunset said, "at how much magic gets misused."
Marionette eyed her while she applied tape to detail the falcon's wings. "You say that like it's a regular thing for you."
"It's occasional enough."
Once they applied the tape they needed, Sunset produced a few colours of paint from her supply bag, along with a portable wireless speaker.
"I usually listen to music when I'm working." She turned on her phone and synchronized it with the speaker. "Any requests?"
"Hm, I like Brightcore," answered Marionette, inspecting the paint colours.
"Brightcore, of course. That's... a song? A band?"
"Genre," she answered again. "It takes sad or slow songs and speeds them up, then layers that over some upbeat electronic tracks to make the song sound happier. I use it to pump myself up when I'm studying."
"Brightcore it is." Sunset set her phone to a music streaming service and let the channel, "Brightcore Nighttime Radio" it was aptly named, play while they painted. She showed Marionette how to put the paint on with confidence, using sheets of paper to cover up the other parts of their flacon's outline.
First when a light orange, the sun's reflections off the curved wing of the diving falcon. Browns were added the next layer, a light one then a darker, to highlight the feathers at the ends of the wing. Pointed and narrow to reduce turbulence, Sunset helped Marionette paint the wings like a blade cutting through the air.
With a fine paintbrush, Marionette detailed the eyes. Large pupils that honed in on prey a mile away, she painted them bright amber, giving the bird a piercing glare.
She didn't think it'd look as complete as it did, but when the paint was dry enough and the tape was removed, the falcon's wings were spread wide over the city below it. Painted in parts, the bird looked like a mosaic painting, put together by smaller pieces of painted tiles.
"And you were worried it wouldn't look good," Sunset smiled, looking at the scene. Her scenery was bright and lively, but the animal gave it a spirit, adding motion to still landscapes.
Marionette balled up the used tape and grabbed the emptied spray can of light brown paint. "Should clean up before we take a good look at it," she said, walking over to the curtained corner of the building. "The trash goes here right?"
Sunset whirled around to see where she was headed. She was on her in an instant, blocking Marionette's way. "Actually, I just put it back in the duffel bag and take it home with me when it gets full."
"So," Marionette tilted her head at the curtained corner, "what's that for?"
"Just a rusty part of the warehouse," she answered. "I didn't like looking at it, so I covered it up."
Looking around, however, Marionette couldn't see why there'd be so much rust in the corner. The walls were solid concrete, only the steel rafters above them had some rust on them. She moved around Sunset and continued toward the curtains.
"There's something you're not telling me," she said, her eyes naturally glancing over to the painted palace.
Sunset grabbed her by the arm. "It's nothing, really."
Marionette pulled her arm free. "People don't put up a curtain to cover up nothing. Is this something Twilight and the others know? Am I so different?"
"You're not any different," Sunset insisted, again stepping between Marionette and the curtains. "The girls don't know anything either."
"Ah ha, if they don't know anything, then there must be something to know!"
"Wha- no, that's not it." Sunset bit back her words. But under Marionette's glare, she couldn't last long, the girl's sharp blue eyes bore through Sunset's will.
Marionette stepped forward and put her hand around Sunset's heightened pulse. "I wish I could just forget it, but it's not fair, Sunset. You have magic that reveals every secret you could possibly want to know, and probably some that you don't. I was okay with you looking into my memories because I thought you were an open book."
She sighed and stepped aside. "It's not that I want to keep anything from you, but it's just something I want to forget. I'm moving forward, everything's been good. I don't want to look back and have any regrets. But you're my friend, and you deserve to know everything. So look, if you want, but I'm asking you right now, please don't."
The plea from Sunset made Marionette hesitate, she wanted to just trust her friends and go back to thinking their relationship was perfect. But she couldn't stand the idea that Sunset could look into her past without being equally transparent about herself.
--*--
Marionette pulled aside the curtains and there, a little dusty, were just more graffiti. Flames of green over dead trees, a purple star watching over the scene, the grizzly sight was nothing like the rest of Sunset's artwork.
"This can't be your art. The style, it's all different."
But in the clouds of black above the trees, in red lettering Sunset had painted a new layer over them, the curved comic font overcoming everything else.
"I had some money, I made the best paintings ever. I was completely reclusive, worked a lot, took a lot of drugs. I was awful to people." ~ Basquiat.
"Why hide this from me? Before we met, I already heard the rumours about who you were before. This isn't that big of a deal, it has nothing to do with who you are now."
Sunset shook her head. "It's not just that." She pointed to the purple star at the centre of the painting. "When I found this place, the only thing I wanted was power. I was obsessed with it, possessed by the idea of it. Hurting people and seeing their lives ruined was like a drug to me, all because of that: an Element of Harmony."
Marionette stepped back and looked at both the palace and the star. "So what's the connection?"
"That," Sunset walked over and stood by Marionette, "is where the Element and I both come from. It's where magic comes from. And it's not a part of this world."
"What, like another planet?" Marionette stared.
"No," Sunset said, pausing to think about it. "Well, I suppose it is, technically. But it's more like a parallel universe, with similar people with similar personalities."
Marionette moved back and sat on the ground, beside the falcon painting. Sunset's friends could lift cars, talk to animals, and levitate objects, so why not have an alternate universe? She pressed her palms to her head to clear her thoughts. There was so much to ask: what was the other world like? That question alone could spiral into a whole conversation.
But, looking at the lengths Sunset went through to forget her past, Marionette swallowed her curiosity. The details didn't matter. "Whatever it was like," she said out loud, both to Sunset and herself, "I'm glad you're here now."
"Maybe my body is," Sunset replied, looking down sadly, "but recently my thoughts have been of my homeworld."
Marionette looked at the old painting. "That's why you left that there?"
Sunset nodded. "I'm a completely different person but that world is still where I was born, and where I grew up. I've always felt like this place was tied to it, the portal between our worlds is at CHS. And now that my friends are going off to college, I've been thinking about going back."
"What?" Marionette's eyes widened. "But what about everyone here?"
"We'll be split up anyway, whether I'm in college or back home, it doesn't matter." Sunset shrugged. "But it's just a thought, I know I'm not going to do it."
Marionetted breathed easy with that clarification but noticed Sunset wasn't looking any happier. "Still, it's clearly troubling you."
"It's no big deal," Sunset shook her head. "I'm just a little worried I'll have regrets later on. But right now, I'm happy with you and the girls."
With a sigh, Marionette looked up at the warehouse lights. A few were cracked or broken, leaving enough of the night to show the moonlight starting to rise up.
She laughed at herself and shook her head in amazement. "I've been wondering if I'm gonna get homesickness once I leave. But you've been dealing with that for years now. I don't know if I have that strength."
Sunset sat down beside her. "Then I guess we're the same. If it wasn't for you, I think I'd be packing my bags for the portal when summer ends."
"Me?"
"Of course, if it wasn't for you, I never would have considered fencing at college," Sunset said. "And without college, I'd be totally lost once the girls left for their schools. Staying here, it would've just kept bringing back too many memories."
Marionette choked up on her words. Sunset was staying just because of her? They had just become friends, she didn't imagine she had affected Sunset so much. And the fact that it was Sunset who acknowledged it first made it feel genuine.
But then she furrowed her brows at the way Sunset was talking about the others. "So they don't know? That you're not entirely happy about being away from your home?"
"Ugh," Sunset rubbed her face, "of course not. I'd never hear the end of it if they did knew. RD would talk about sticking around for your friends, Pinkie would definitely throw a party every day to cheer me up. I think Fluttershy would just cry until I felt bad, which wouldn't take long.'
"I get it," Marionette giggled. "Your friends don't like being away from you. Neither do I. They're probably worried about leaving CHS too. I think you'd all feel better if you talked to them."
"You're probably right," Sunset said, sitting herself up. "But that's something for tomorrow. It's getting late. I think I should take you home."
--*--
Riding the motorcycle for the second time didn't seem as bad as the first. Perhaps it was the smaller traffic. With fewer cars at night, Sunset could cruise without freaking Marionette out.
She sat behind and held tightly, feeling Sunset's leather jacket in her hands. The city air was still warm, but the air shooting through them as they rode down the street felt relaxing. It actually felt like skydiving, Marionette realized, though with the added risk of hitting a car or a lamp post.
Finally, they slowed to Marionette's home, a townhouse just fifteen minutes away from Crystal Prep. Her parents had, somehow, let her go out late tonight, but even nearing midnight the lights in the windows told her that they were still up and waiting for their daughter, and see who she was with that was so important.
Sunset took their helmets off once they had parked. "Hey, looks like we're not that late," she said. "Think I should say 'Hello?'"
"Oh, er," Marionette hesitated, "it's actually pretty late for my parents, I don't think they'd want to. Besides, I don't want to hold you up any longer than you have to, so-"
"Relax, I'm only teasing," Sunset said. "I know what kind of blowhards your parents can be when they're nervous."
"Thanks," Marionette said, "for tonight. It was really nice, I achieved my childhood dream of meeting an alien from another world."
Sunset rolled her eyes. "Don't make me regret telling you everything, you know it's not like that."
"Parallel universe," Marionette waved her hands around dismissively. "Still pretty cool."
They laughed and said goodbye one last time for the night before Sunset rode off. And as she left, the night seemed to cool just a little more. Marionette stuffed her hands in her pockets as she walked the familiar path to her front door, and she realized when she grabbed her keys that her hands were still clenched from the rushing feelings in her head.
Sunset was staying in a world without magic, just for her friends. That included her. And a little flutter passed through her heart as she thought about being something even more important than magic.
