A Sunset On the Horizon

Anon checked his watch. 10 AM sharp. The final day. Just 7 hours and 30 minutes left. It may as well be mere moments. But he couldn't get caught up on that. He had to stay strong. The time for grief was later. Once again, as it always did, the smell of Sunset's cooking wafted across the air. Unlike all the previous days however, this smell had a heavy weight to it. It'd be the last time he'd smell it, last he'd taste it.

"So what's on the menu today?" he asked

"A personal favorite of mine too cook." she said "French toast."

"Sounds wonderful."

Sunset sat at the table beside him and watched with a look of particular intensity.

"Is something the matter?"

"I was wondering something."

"What's that?"

"I want to do something today."

"What's that?"

Sunset blushed

"What's the matter? Want a candle light dinner? Or maybe a romantic stroll?"

"No that's not it... I kinda... I want to sing."

"To sing?"

"Right. I'd love to do a singing contest to be precise."

"A singing contest?"

"Yeah. It seems like so much."

"Consider it done. I'll call in a few favors and we'll get it set up."

Sunset gives a great big hug

"You're the best."

"Don't you mention it." he said "You sit here and practice your performance. I'll be right back."

Anon walked out of the room and headed to Rarity's bar. It was closed and Rarity was sitting there polishing some glasses. As he approached, she gave him a sympathetic smile.

"How are you doing, love?" she asked

"I'm hanging in there. I need a favor."

"Name it."

"Sunset's final wish is to do a singing contest. Can you get one going?"

"It'd be my pleasure."

"Thanks Rarity. I owe you big time for this."

"Don't even mention it. I'll call you when it's done."

He rushed back upstairs to find Sunny on the bed. He sat beside her.

"Rarity's got it going. She should be ready in an hour or two."

Sunset smiled

"Thanks. I know it's silly."

"Not even. I bet you're going to kill it. Let me hear you sing."

She began to sing. It was bad. Really bad. Like nails on a chalkboard bad. Poor thing had no sense of tone whatsoever.

"How was that?" she asked

"You want me to be honest?"

"Yes."

"It was pretty bad. But we can fix that. I know a little about singing"

He guided her through it as best he could. When he said he knew a little about singing, he meant it in the most literal sense of the word. Slowly but surely, however, she began to get some tone and learn rhythm. She was just a diamond in the rough that needed a bit of polish. Within no time at all, Rarity called up, saying everything was ready. She worked fast. She did what he expected her to do in an hour or so in less than thirty minutes.

"That was Rarity." he said "The singing contest is ready to go. You ready?"

"As ready as I'll ever be."

"Then lets go. I know you'll do great."

They arrived at the tenth floor and went to the designated room for the event. It had a pretty decent turnout. About twenty guests. He and Sunset took a seat towards the middle, waving to Rarity to signal that she could start. She took the podium.

"Thank you all for coming on such short notice and welcome to the first ever singing contest!" Rarity said "The rules are simple: you must sing without the aid of music and you must sing a song under 3 minutes in length. You will be judged by myself and the ships head mechanic, Applejack. We will be picking three among the 12 to go the finals. Questions?"

The room was silent

"Excellent. Then we'll begin. Our first contestant comes all the way from the Large Magellanic Cloud, give it up from Troy!"

One by one, each contestant, twelve in total, took the stage. Some were, of course, horrendously bad but two in particular were stellar. One of them was an opera singer and the other seemed to just have a natural gift for singing. The odds were against Sunset now. But he could see that it didn't phase Sunset a lick. She was confident she'd win.

"And now, last but not least, a woman hailing from the origin point of humanity, Earth. Give it up for Sunset Shimmer!"

The was a light round of applause. Suddenly Sunset seemed quite a bit more nervous. Anon gave her a nod and a smile. She took a nice deep breath and smiled, taking center stage.

"This goes out to the man I love: Anon E. Mouse."

The audience gave a big round of applause. Anon blushed and smiled, clapping just as hard. Sunset hesitantly took the mic, waiting for her nerves to settle before finally singing. The little coaching session payed off in spades. She was easily on the level as the two heavy hitters. She'd have to be do even better though of she wished to outclass the opera singer, no easy feat. Sunset returned to her seat beside him, shaking quite a bit.

"That was excellent, Sunset. You were even better than when we practiced."

"Thanks," she said, voice trembling slightly "It was so nerve wracking."

"Clearly those fears were misplaced."

Anon hugged her tight, bringing her trembling to a stop. The safety of her lover's arms calmed her in mere moments. Rarity took the stage once again, grabbing the mic.

"Well the judges have spoken." Rarity said "And the final contestants are, drum roll please."

The audience began to make a drum sound by tapping their fingers against the chairs.

"Sunset Shimmer, Pinkie Pie, and Scootaloo."

There was a huge round of applause from the audience and Anon kissed Sunny's forehead.

"Great job, honey."

"Our first contest for the finals will be Scootaloo." Rarity said "Take it away!"

Scootaloo sang a rousing ballad followed by Pinkie, the opera singer. Those pipes were no joke. Sunset would have to sing one hell of a song to top that performance.

"Go get 'em, Sunset. You've got this."

"Thanks, hun."

She made her way back to the stage and grabbed the mic. Anon could instantly tell how nervous she was just by the way she stood. She took a deep breath and began to sing. Something truly incredible happened. Sunset had reached a whole new level of beauty in her voice. Never in his life had he heard notes so beautiful. She sang a slow song, a melodic song. Most of the audience stood up for a standing ovation, himself included. It was clear who the winner was. Sunset nearly ran back down to her seat, shaking like a tree in the breeze.

"Sunset! That was incredible!"

"Thanks," she said, hugging him tight "I did my best."

Rarity once again took too the stage

"Well after a bit of deliberation, we know we have a clear winner. However, each final contestant will be going away with a prize today. In third place, we have Scootaloo."

Scootaloo happily walked up, receiving a third place ribbon.

"In second place, the one, the only: Pinkie Pie."

Pinkie walked up, getting herself a second place ribbon and a free ticket to any event on the ship

"And the moment you've all been waiting for: drum roll please."

The audience began a drum roll again

"In first place, Sunset Shimmer!"

Sunset walked up and received a gold first place ribbon along with a glass rose. Rarity smiled and tapped her shoulder.

"Good job, Sunset."

"Thanks, Rarity. This was better than I could've hoped for."

"No. Thank you, Sunset."

Rarity embraced Sunset tight

"For what?"

"I've known Anon since he was a child." she explained "And ever since his mom passed, he's never been a particularly happy guy. This is the happiest I've ever seen him since he was little. And it's all thanks to you."

"Thanks Rarity. That means more than you realize."

"Anytime, love."

Anon checked his watch. That took much longer than anticipated. It was already half past 1. He couldn't help but feel an overwhelming sense of dread wash over him. It was too soon. It was all going by too fast. Sunset walked back, embracing Anon hard.

"That was so wonderful, Sunset."

"Thank you so much. I couldn't have done it without you."

"We've got five hours left. What do you want to do?"

Sunset rested her head on his shoulder

"Ready for another silly request?"

"Name it."

"I want to do a movie marathon and snuggle the entire time."

"I couldn't think of a better thing to do if I'd been given all day." he kissed her "let's go."

The returned to the room, moving the couch in front of the TV and getting some popcorn ready.

"Anything you'd like to watch in particular?" Anon asked

"No. Whatever you want to watch, I'm sure I'll enjoy it."

"You sure?"

"Positive."

Anon reached into the fridge to get something

"I have something just for this occasion."

"What's that?"

Anon pulled out a tall bottle of wine

"A bottle of vintage Chateau Pierre de Montignac. It's the nicest, most expensive wine I own. And I can't think of a better time to open it than right now."

Sunset got teary eyed

"Oh Anon." she whispered

"And I don't want to hear a word of protest. We're both going to enjoy this together and that's final."

He sat beside her and she hugged him tight

"You are the best man I could ask for."

"I only do the best for the best woman in the world."

"I love you."

"I love you too."

He flicked on the TV

"Anon. Before we watch, there's something I want to ask you. It's important."

"What's that?"

He noticed she was reaching into her purse for something, pulling out a small wooden box.

"The purse wasn't the only thing I got... And I know this is not usually how this is done but..."

She pulled open the box, revealing a diamond ring

"Will you marry me?"

Anon's eyes went wider than dinner plates. Even he couldn't stop the tears in his eyes. He hugged Sunset tighter than he'd hugged anything in his life.

"Absolutely, Sunset. Absolutely."

Sunset gave the most wondrous, content smile and closed her eyes.

"Thank you."

Sunny slipped the ring around his finger

"It's beautiful, Sunset. I promise I'll never take it off for as long as I live."

"I'll hold you too that."

He poured each of them a glass of wine and lifted the glass in the air

"To our marriage."

"To our marriage."

They both drank

"So what do you think? Like it?"

"I still can't say I enjoy the taste. But I do prefer it to the wine we had on our date. It's good going in, but boy does it leave an aftertaste."

"I'm glad. That's what you get with such good wine."

He began to run through the various selections of movies

"I say we watch 80s and 90s classics. Some say it's the golden age of American film making."

"Well now I'm more eager than ever."

They watched the best of them. Apocalypse Now, Predator, the Goonies. Sunset couldn't help but laugh at how unrealistic the high testosterone movies were. How unrealistic it all was. Movie by movie, their time dwindled until finally 5:20 had arrived. Sunset had been reduced to laying her head on his lap. The entire rest of her body had completely stopped functioning. He slowly ran his hand through her hair, tears forming in his eyes.

"Sunset."

"Don't... cry. That face... of yours... it doesn't look good with tears on it."

Tears began to stream down his face. Sunset's voice had started to change. It was metallic and echoing, as if she were speaking through a roll of aluminum foil.

"Sunset." he barely managed to choke out through the tears "I love you."

"I love you... too. Please... don't be too sad."

"I won't. I'll keep your memory alive. I promise."

"Thank you," she whispered "That's exactly what I... what I..."

She closed her eyes, a peaceful smile across her face. Sunset had finally passed.

She looked so relaxed. Almost as if she were just asleep. Then the realization hit him like a falling building. Sunset was gone. Anon let out a wail of sadness. He spent two solid hours sitting there, hugging her tightly and crying his heart out. He needed a drink. He got up and lay Sunset on the couch. She was much heavier now, at least 150 pounds or more. He placed some covers on her and wrapped her fingers around the glass rose.

He walked down to Rarity's bar, absolutely defeated. He sat on the bar stool, head down, not saying a word. Rarity rubbed his shoulder.

"Oh, sweetheart."

Rarity, making good on her promise, gave him something strong. He drank himself comatose, all without uttering a single word.

The next he woke up, he was in his own bed. Head pounding, joints aching. Felt like he had been ran over by a bus and a jackhammer was doing chaos in his skull. He didn't want to get up. All he wanted to do was lay there, forever. All of a sudden there was a loud knock on the door. It felt like someone pressing a hot iron in his eye socket.

"Go away!" he yelled

"Anon! Open up! It's Twilight!"

"I said go away!"

"You asshole! Open up right now!" she yelled "Your stupid toy did something to my books!!!"

She obviously wasn't going to stop knocking any time soon. And if he had to hear that for even a minute more he was going to tear his own ears off. But then it hit him. His toy? What did she mean? He sluggishly got up, unlocked the door and found Twilight, holding her book tablet. She looked shocked at the sight.

"Anon..." she said "You look terrible. What happened?"

"Never mind that. What did you mean when you said my toy did something to your books?"

She pointed to the tablet

"Look."

Anon took it and couldn't believe what he saw. There was a message. It read

"In my last moments I figured out something. Since a part of my code was used to to transfer those books to Twilight, I was able to use it as a backdoor and upload all my consciousness and memories. It took quite a while to upload all the data, but I'm still here."