Sunset sat at a table on the outdoor patio of a café, wearing her usual semi-formal outfit of black slacks, a white shirt with the sleeves rolled up, and a black vest with teal lining. Sitting in the chair beside her was Phillip. Sunset had taken a liking to Phillip in the last few years, and not just because he was the Rainbooms’ top male enforcer. Arianna, of course, was the gang’s top female enforcer, and she wouldn’t let him outperform her, and so they’d come to an agreement that they’d share the honor, though of course that didn’t stop them from competing.

“How late do you think she’ll be this time?” Phillip asked. “I think she’ll be twenty minutes late.”

Sunset thought for a moment, drumming her fingertips on the table. “Twelve minutes, tops. Italians may have a tendency to be late for appointments, but Octavia’s a punctual girl... for an Italian.” She took a sip from a glass of water. “She gets it from her English mother.”

“I keep forgetting her mother is British.”

“Still want to bet on twenty minutes?”

“No, I’ll move my guess up to thirteen,” he said. “It’s bad manners to undermine you, but at least I can give you a challenge.”

Sunset smiled and offered her hand. “Twenty bucks. Deal?” Phillip took her hand in his and shook it. “Money to be exchanged after the meeting when we’re back at home. Wouldn’t want to offend her in person, after all.”

Eleven minutes later, Sunset and Phillip noticed a familiar black Cadillac drive around the corner and made its way toward the café.

“Looks like you win again, Sofia."

Both Sunset and Phillip stood up as the Cadillac came to a stop. One of the Melodia’s enforcers stepped out and opened the back door. A black stiletto stepped out onto the pavement, followed by another. Octavia wore a sleek black dress and black nylons, with a wide lavender belt. She walked toward Sunset and Flash, followed by her enforcer. Sunset and Octavia shook hands, and then kissed cheeks before all four of them sat down. Phillip hailed a server, who set two more glasses of water down for Octavia and her enforcer.

“Signora Octavia, it’s great to see you as always,” Sunset said.

“Likewise, Signora Sofia. How have you been?”

“I’m doing very well, as usual. Good health, good friends. How are you and your family?”

“I and my family are well. Healthy, wealthy, wise,” she responded, giving her customary response. “And no exaggeration.”

“I believe you,” Sunset said. “In all the years we’ve been friends and meeting weekly, I’ve never known you to be a liar. It’s one of your best qualities.”

A waiter arrived and took their orders. Octavia and Sunset continued making small talk until their food arrived.

“On to business matters, then?” Octavia asked.

“Yes. Shall we start with new business this time?” Sunset asked. “There have been some recent... developments with my own affairs that I feel it best you knew about.”

“That does not sound very good,” Octavia said. “What happened?”

“Two nights ago, I received word of some Melodia associates in my area, following a young woman. We have an agreement not to be involved in each others’ territories, so I have to assume that they were working independently.”

Octavia frowned. “That’s no good. I shall have to speak to the offenders. Do you know who they were?”

“Arianna got the best look at them when she made a flying kick into one of their sides, knocking him into the other.”

“Then the investigation shall begin with our doctors to see if anyone needed his services recently.”

“As always, the Rainbooms offer their complete cooperation with the Melodias.”

“For which I am forever grateful, signora.” Octavia took a bite of her sandwich and chewed it. “Do you know who the young woman they were following was?”

“As it so happens, we do,” Sunset replied. “She was a childhood friend of Arianna’s who had recently returned to Canterlot after about fifteen years away. Her parents decided to leave after her older brother was murdered by a street gang. We have not yet learned why she returned. She’s rather shy and so far has pretty much only spoken to Arianna and stayed in a room about the music store that we provided for her safety.”

“You’ve always been kind, Sofia,” Octavia said. “Even with your reputation, your kindness finds a way through that harsh façade.”

Don’t remind me, Sunset thought through a fake smile.

“It’s one of my favorite qualities about you,” Octavia continued. “Never lose that. Kindness is out of place in this world, but that is exactly why it cannot be destroyed. Sugared almonds?” she asked, offering a tin.

Sunset thanked her and took some.

“I hope my own associates in our other territories have been acting appropriately.”

“Don’t they send you reports?"

“They do, but it’s wise to cover all the bases. Fully trusting anyone in this world is a bad mistake leading to a waiting disaster.”

Octavia nodded. “Wise words. Our associates continue to send regular reports, and from what they tell us your associates are continuing to honor our original agreement. I must say,” she continued, “it occurs to me. In all I know of my father’s business dealings with the other crime families in this city, yours has been the most enjoyable for him to deal with.”

“Your father honors us with the compliment,” Sunset said. “I suppose that’s why he trusts you to deal with us.”

“That, and you were my first friends. Trusting me with your gang is evidence of his trust in you, as well as his trust in me.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sunset and Phillip walked through the front door of the music store. Midweek afternoons were a popular time for college students, and Arianna was helping a customer with guitars and Rachel was helping a customer with a piano.

“Excuse me a moment,” Arianna said, turning away from her customer to Sunset as she passed. “Sofia, Felicity was asking about our operations. I can talk more when I’ve finished helping this gentleman. Just thought you should know.”

“Thank you, Arianna,” Sunset replied, then looked at the guitars she had been showing the customer. She smiled. “Good choice. These are some of our finest inventory.” Sunset and Phillip walked to the back of the store and through the staff door. Sunset went into her office, and Phillip followed her.

“Close the door,” she told him when he noticed him still following her. He nodded and did so, and once he had he turned around to see Sunset standing very close to him. He smiled and wrapped his arms around her waist.

“What’s on your mind, Phil?” she asked, using her own nickname for when they were alone together. “There’s always something going on in there.”

“You heard what Dash said,” he replied. “What are we going to do about Felicity?”

Sunset rested her cheek against his chest, hearing his heartbeat as she thought. The rhythm helped keep her train of thought running smoothly sometimes, and this was no exception.

They could always kill her, but that was no good. Felicity was Arianna’s oldest friend, and offing her would offend her most useful capo. She couldn’t be killed. Nor could she be abducted, sent away, or coerced into drug-related dependency. Arianna would hate all those options. No, the only things she could do would have to be to help Felicity.

“According to Arianna, Felicity said that when the thugs were following her, the only thing she could think to do was walk in the streetlights. We’ll teach her how to defend herself.”

“And if she finds out what we really do here?”

“Then we’ll tell her the truth, if she asks: we provide protection and security through various means. I see no reason to lie.” She turned around, placing her arms on his around her. “Maybe neglect to mention certain aspects of our business, of course.”

“Arianna may be here soon.”

“Yeah, I know.” She removed his arms from her body and walked around her desk. “Open the door and take a seat.”

It wasn't long before Arianna knocked on the open door and entered.

“What are we going to do about Felicity?” she asked.

“She wants to know about what we do, so we’ll tell her,” Sunset replied. “We sell and rent instruments to those wanting to learn, and we supplement our income by providing protection. She said she didn’t know how to defend herself a couple nights ago, so we’re going to teach her.”

“That’s... pretty smart.”

“I know. Hopefully she doesn’t ask about our more illicit operations until later. I still need to figure out how to justify those to her without making her afraid of us. Dash, could you go see if she can come down?”

“Of course.”

Arianna left the office and went up the stairs to get Felicity, and Sunset gestured for Phillip to stand beside her. They soon saw Arianna descending the stairs with Felicity behind her, almost hiding behind her. When they got to the door Arianna encouraged her friend to step forward.

“Don’t worry, Lis, it’s fine. You can trust these guys.”

“Oh, I’m sorry, Sofia,” Felicity said, stepping forward. “I don’t mean to look like I’m ungrateful for helping me. It’s just that I know almost nothing about you, and when you leave your office it’s almost always because you’re leaving to go somewhere.”

“No offense taken, Felicity. I’m a known workaholic,” Sunset replied. “Can we get you something to drink? Water, juice, coffee?”

“I’ll just have some water, please, if it’s not too much trouble."

“No trouble at all.” Sunset gestured to Phillip, who left the office to get Felicity a bottle of water. Felicity thanked him as he passed. “I’ve been told you’ve been asking about what we do. It’s only natural; after all, you’re our guest and you know very little about us.

“Our primary job is selling and renting instruments to musicians, but that’s not all we do. I’m sure you’ve already seen some of the back area where many of our employees work. Aside from the music, our other primary job is helping those who need help, which can include funding and self-defense training.”

Phillip returned with a bottle of water and gave it to Felicity, who thanked him again.

“We figured since you didn’t know how to defend yourself the other night,” Arianna said, “we could teach you!”

“You would do that for me?”

“Of course, Felicity,” Sunset said with a smile. “First you’ll have to meet up with Esperanza Noches down the hall. She’s the technical genius here and provides most of the protective measures we offer. Arianna, would you mind showing her around?”

“Not a problem, Sofia.”

“As you are a friend of Arianna’s, I’d like to believe that we’re friends as well,” Sunset said.

Felicity smiled. “Thank you, Sofia,” she said. “You’re too kind.”

Sunset waited until Arianna and Felicity had left her office before letting her smile turn into a scowl, and she crossed her arms. “Why does everyone keep saying that I’m kind?”

“Probably because you are,” Phillip said. “You present yourself with a façade of uncaring toughness, but deep down you’re actually pretty kind. And generous, too. Not many Dons and Donnas offer their families’ full resources to someone they just met a few days earlier.”

“I am tough,” Sunset responded. “I have to be – we all have to be – just to be able to survive in this cruel world. Just... don’t remind me of my kindness or generosity.”

“You’re also uncharacteristically honest for a Donna.”

“Don’t remind me of that, either.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Dash led Felicity a few doors down the hallway to Twilight’s lab and knocked on the door.

“Just a minute!” a voice from inside called.

“Compared to other groups like ours, we have a leg up,” Dash said as they waited. “Whatever tools and weapons we obtain, she makes them better, as well as provides us with drones and robots to help us with what we need to do.”

“Weapons?”

“Oh. Right.” Dash scratched her head. “When your business involves protecting people, sometimes you have to use weapons to keep them safe from as– from jerks. I’ll try not to swear around you, but I can’t promise everyone else will do the same.”

“It’s... fine. I guess I’ll just have to deal with it.”

Just then the door opened, revealing a young woman with black-framed glasses and a lab coat. Her purple-dyed hair was done up in a bun, and there were a lot of loose strands. She adjusted her glasses.

“How can I help you, Dash? Oh,” she said, noticing Felicity. “We have a guest?”

“Have you even left your lab the last few days?” Arianna asked. Esperanza shook her head. “This is Felicity, my oldest friend. We helped her out a couple nights ago and brought her here to make sure she’d be safe. We’re gonna teach her some self-defense, and Sofia wanted her to meet some of the crew.”

Esperanza looked between the two of them for a moment, then offered her hand to Felicity. “Good morning –”

“Nope,” Dash said.

“Evening?”

“0 for 2.”

“Good afternoon. I’m Esperanza. I make upgrades and build robots and other gadgets to help us do what we need to do.”

“Can I go inside the lab?”

Twilight looked to Dash, who shrugged. “Why do you want to come in? Just curious.”

“I get nervous around people I haven’t met,” she replied. “I like to sit alone in the woods. It’s quiet, but it isn’t. Birds chirping, critters calling each other. It’s noisy, but in the ways that calm me. You feel that way about technology and robots, don’t you?”

“Well, yes. That’s a rather apt analogy. Come on in."

Twilight stepped aside and welcomed them into her laboratory. Dash stopped her at the door while Felicity walked around, looking at some of Twilight’s handiwork.

“Twilight, that was odd for Felicity,” Dash said. “She’s never talked that much to someone she’s never met before.”

“How long has it been since you last saw her?” Twilight asked. “Before a couple nights ago, that is.”

“About fifteen years," Dash answered. “Why?”

“Things can change in that much time,” Twilight replied. “I’m not the same person I was fifteen years ago. Can you honestly say that you were?”

“Duh. I’ve been awesome my whole life!”

“Arianna, come on.”

Dash let out a groan. “Okay, fine. I’ll admit I’m not exactly the same person I was fifteen years ago.”

Twilight nodded. “Even if nothing changed in fifteen years, Felicity was right about. She finds comfort in nature and animals, I find it in technology and books. We’re both introverts, kindred spirits. We have a tendency to not talk much most of the time, but if two introverts discover they have something in common, we become fast friends. It’s rare for us to feel connections the way extraverted people like you do.”

“Huh. Never thought about it like that.”

“Esperanza, what does this robot do?”

Twilight and Dash looked over. Felicity was standing next to a tall robot. One arm ended in a whisk, and the other was a nozzle.

“Careful around that one!” Twilight said, nearly panicking. “That’s a robot I’m building to help Diane and Jacqueline with baking and I need to fix the programming!”

Twilight hurried over, and Dash started laughing.

Author's Note

The chapter title translates to "great minds think alike"

In this chapter we learn that Sunset and Phillip have a more intimate relationship than you would expect from a mob boss and her bodyguard. I'm sure I'm going to get some dislikes from people who hate Flash for no good reason simply because I'm putting her in a heterosexual relationship with him. Aside from the same two anti-Flash arguments, I wanted to avoid the "bury your gays" trope. This is a tragedy, after all.