Chapter XXXIV: The Finishing Touch

“How exactly am I supposed to confront them again when they were exposed like a science project?” I ask Sunset with a defiant tone, staring at myself in the mirror. “Seriously, Sunny. They were going at it so hard that they would have conceived something by now if they had the functions capable of that.” I can’t help but shudder at the thought. I have seen them naked before, especially when we first got to this world. That aspect is not shocking to me at this point. The act itself is what is shocking me. “I know Sonata said they were a thing, but they broke up and haven’t spoken in a couple years. I assumed that they had too much drama and we all agreed to be friends.” Except that they were doing something that friends should never do together. Ever. At least in my opinion. When Sunset and I do it, it is hot. But them? I can’t help but find the image disturbing.

“Adagio,” Sunset says with a mildly annoyed tone to her voice. Her hand rubs her forehead as if trying to coax herself to not get angry. I don’t know what she would have to be mad about though. “They probably just made up. I mean, they were an item before. It was only a couple weeks ago that you and I got back together as well.” Turning my gaze to her, I can’t help but raise my eyebrow. She’s right of course, but… I don’t know. Something about this situation feels different to me. “This is not an issue. All that happened was that you walked in on them having sex,” Sunset sighs in an angry tone, clearly tired of me locking myself in this bathroom.

“It’s still an awkward thing to walk in on,” I respond with a deep breath. However, before I can say another word, Sunset grabs my shoulder and pushes me against the wall. Unlike any other time, she’s not smiling now.

“Listen. You have been in here for the last thirty minutes. While I get it can be awkward, you are being a drama queen,” Sunset tells me point blank, her eyes almost fuming. “You have two choices before I lose it. You can either go talk with them about it or I will throw all of you out of here until you resolve it.” Something about her eyes tells me she’s serious about this threat. I have no idea why, but seeing her angry like this is almost… attractive.

“Okay. I will talk with them. You don’t need to threaten me, Shimmer,” I tell her in response, raising my hands to surrender. “If I talk with them, will you cool it? I don’t want you to be mad at me.” Well, maybe not mad at me right now. If she wants to be mad at me tonight, I know just the way she can take it out on me~ Damn. Focus, Adagio. You have a hangover to deal with, two friends to talk to and an angry wife-to-be to calm. Now is not the time to get your head full of lust.

“The faster you talk with them, the faster I will be less angry since I’ve been trying to help you out of here for the last half hour,” Sunset tells me with a furrowed brow. With a small nod, I slip past her and out of the bathroom. I can already feel another headache come on, but I guess I just have to power through for now… Sunset closes the bathroom door behind her. Taking a deep breath, I walk down the stairs. No amount of prep work can help me here. The best method is to just get it over with.

As soon as I can see the living room, I notice Sonata and Aria standing near the couch. Aria is the first one to notice my presence, nodding to Sonata. Thankfully, they have clothes on now. I suppose I will need to add a lock to the basement door to avoid situations like this in the future. Then again, I did give them enough warning by knocking three times. And trying to call out to them through the door.

“So… Where the fuck is the TV?” Aria asks me in a quiet tone, clearly trying to break the awkward atmosphere with an unrelated question. In a way, I guess it is a valid question. It doesn’t resolve the problem at hand though…

“Sunset and I had a hard time sleeping last night. We took it upstairs so we could watch something and avoid the risk of waking you two,” I explain slowly, walking towards the kitchen. I would be lying if I said I didn’t feel the urge to drink again due to our upcoming conversation. However, this headache is the result of my last little binge. Pouring myself a cup of water, I see that the other two followed me in here.

“Oh, well that explains it, Aria. Big mystery, huh?” Sonata asks with a nervous chuckle, desperately trying to hide her anxiety.

“I assume you’re not sick anymore since you’re drinking now?” Aria asks me in an almost teasing tone. “I didn’t… I didn’t know that our bodies were that nauseating.” Aria’s joke is another attempt to make light of what happened, but it doesn’t really land with Sonata or me.

“It… It wasn’t your bodies that I was sick at,” I speak up with a roll of my eyes, leaning against the kitchen sink. In the process of finding the right words, I click my tongue a couple times. Tapping my finger against the countertop, I finally look towards them with a slight shrug. “I was just shocked. I had been drinking a lot last night and I still kind of have a hangover… So, I wasn’t expecting to walk in on you two… making a nest,” I mention with a slight nod, drinking from my cup of water again.

“Don’t you mean sliding scales? That’s what I would call it with how we were-” Before Aria can finish her statement, Sonata punches her on the shoulder, still awkwardly smiling at me. Aria tries to give our friend a sour look, but she gives up half way into it.

“That’s such a crude way of putting it… But I guess if you want to say it like that.” Trying my best to ignore Aria’s casual use of siren slang, I place my glass of water down on the counter, taking another deep breath. “Anyway… Would I be wrong to think this implies that your… past transgressions have been resolved?” The way Aria looks at me is full of surprise, her once solid expression now a staggered confusion.

“You told her about-” Aria cuts herself off before finishing her question, looking at Sonata with an almost betrayed look. At this point, I had assumed it was common knowledge in this house. Maybe I shouldn’t have told Sunset… “Yeah… We um… We resolved our differences,” Aria mentions with an uncomfortable look on her face. A part of this tells me she really doesn’t want to indulge in her love life with me. Which is fair, but since I’m their closest friend, it feels like I should know some of these details.

“When we broke it off, we-” Sonata doesn’t get a chance to finish her statement before Aria jabs her in the ribs with her elbow. If they really don’t want to tell me, that’s fine. I suppose I don’t have a right to know how they got back together. As long as they’re happy…

“Listen,” I tell them quietly, placing my hands on Aria and Sonata’s shoulders. “No matter what happens, I still consider you two my closest allies and friends. I know you think of me the same. Whatever you two do together will not change that.” I give them a smirk before ruffling Aria’s hair. “As long as you two can be happy together. That is if Aria can ever truly feel happy.”

“Hey, I have emotions too, moron. I just don’t like to show them,” Aria groans while rolling her eyes, clearly finding my joke annoying. Sonata, on the other hand, simply giggles and pulls both of us in for a group hug.

“We love you too, Dagi~” Sonata sighs with a content smile, making Aria frown even further. At this point, a frown from Aria is essentially her form of a smile. However, you can sometimes see a genuine smile come from her if something truly makes her feel warm on the inside.

“Can we stop this now? All this physical closeness is making me feel claustrophobic,” Aria tells us while looking away. In a second, Sonata lets us go, looking beyond a little confused.

“You’re also afraid of confined spaces? Since when?” our friend asks her in a worried tone. Aria sighs heavily as if she was a disappointed parent.

“I’m not. I was exaggerating for a figure of speech, you- Forget about it.” Aria turns back to us with her arms crossed, but her expression seems a bit more peaceful than before. “Anyway, when are we going to have breakfast? I thought your ‘wife-to-be’ was making it.” Aria accompanies her question with air quotes as if she is unsure what title to call Sunset. Actually, Sunset stopped making breakfast to help me calm down from catching these two making a nest…

“About that…” I nervously chuckle, patting both of their shoulders. “Maybe we should just buy something to eat.”

“Remind me how this is supposed to help my wedding,” I sigh with my hand rubbing my forehead. The midday sun is beating down on both Rainbow Dash and me with hardly any cover near us in her parents’ front yard. Dash is currently wearing some shorts and a sports bra with nothing else between her and a training dummy. Again, Dash slams her hand forward onto the dummy’s chest, her palm facing away from her. There are only a few days left until the wedding and having my time wasted like this is not favorable.

“Uh, it’s obvious?” Dash says before kicking the dummy hard enough to send it flying into the street. Thankfully, there has not been a single car passing us by in the last twenty minutes. “I’m going to use everything I can to be a great bouncer for your wedding.” After dragging the dummy back into the yard, Dash continues to hit it without mercy, thinking it will impress me. Honestly, all it does is make me wonder how she would fare against a moving target. All this proves is that she would be great at kicking the ass of a stationary opponent. The only reason someone may be stationary in a fight is if they are caught off guard or if they are wheelchair-bound. Both situations are a little morally gray at best.

“I don’t mean to sound ungrateful or such, but is this the only reason you wanted me to drop by?” I ask her between her jabs. I’m actually glad we’re standing outside right now. I’m sure the air would be thick with sweat by now if Dash was doing this in the house.

“What? Is this not enough?” she asks me with an almost accusatory tone in her voice, but her exaggerated body movement makes it clear she is joking. “Well, no. I have a couple other things I want to show you. That is kind of obvious as well.” Walking towards the driveway, Rainbow Dash grabs a towel she set aside, rubbing her face with a deep breath. Without saying another word, she picks up her phone from the ground, pressing something on the screen. The garage door opens slowly. “So, I am almost done with your banner for the wedding. Fluttershy helped me get the colors right and all. I just wanted your input on the final part.”

Leading me into the garage, I can’t help but feel a little confused at the lack of a car. Instead, there is a wide banner laid out with orange scales painted onto it and a beautiful setting sun adorning the top. In small text at the bottom, it gives a congratulations, but the middle section is blank. Rainbow Dash crouches down next to it, pointing at the different sections. It is impressive. It really is. For a small moment, it makes me feel happier that I have friends willing to put in this kind of effort for a special day for me and Sunset.

“So, this middle section is the problem area,” Dash remarks with a small sigh. “Maybe I should have made the congratulations bigger and put it in the middle, but I can’t change it now since it is painted. I was wondering if you had any ideas to help me out here.” Dash stands back up, holding her hands out as if she was taking a picture of the banner. “Cuz I’ve got nothing. After this, we could also go get a drink if you’d like?”

“Thanks, but I’ll have to pass,” I mention with a slight wave of my hand, looking down at the banner. She doesn’t need to know the reason why I’m avoiding alcohol for today. The real issue at hand is what to put in the blank space for the banner… Bringing my hand to my chin, I try to think of something special. Something personal… Something that Sunset would smile at just as much as I would. Something like… “Do you have a piece of paper?” I ask her quietly, holding out my hand.

“Uh… No. Not on me at the moment. Um. Oh! You could write something down on your phone, right? Do you have a notes app?” Dash pulls out her phone to show me what she uses, but her eyes go wide when I take the device from her hand.

“It’s not for me. It’s for you to remember.” Typing some letters into her phone, I hand it back to her, pointing at it to hammer it into her head. “I want this on the blank space. Exactly as I wrote it.” Dash looks at her phone with a confused expression, staring at her screen as if it is some sort of alien technology she has never heard of before. After a moment though, she simply shrugs, nodding at my request.

“Huh. Okay. Seems a little weird, but you’re the boss. As long as it makes you and Sunset happy.”

Applejack opens the door of the house, seemingly surprised to see me at her abode. Taking a step back, Applejack offers for me to come in without saying a word, her expression telling me she’s exhausted from something.

“Hey, sugarcube. To what do I owe the pleasure?” she asks me in a short breath, shutting the door behind me. Everything about her makes it clear she is tired and stretched thin.. Honestly, it makes me feel a little guilty for coming here to bother her. While Sunset may be the one organizing the catering, she specifically asked Applejack to handle making the foods for the event. “I’m afraid I can’t let ya much farther inside. Surprises and all.” Before I can say anything, I can hear a clash from the kitchen followed by a masculine voice muttering oops.

“Big sis, how many eggs did we need for this recipe again?” Apple Bloom’s voice yells from the other room, making Applejack sigh heavily to herself. From the way Applejack walks me into the living room, her body speaks volumes about how irritated she is.

“Apple Bloom. If ya mess up the process one more time, you’re on harvest duty by yourself for the rest of the season,” Applejack yells into the other room before sitting down next to me.

“I’m guessing you have had an ineffective afternoon,” I say quietly, noting the stains on her apron. Applejack only gives a halfhearted nod to my observation. I have no idea what Sunset asked from Applejack in terms of the catering. The only part of the list she told me was that she got some of my favorite whiskey. That still makes me feel a little emotional… And it is the whole reason I am here in the first place.

“You could say that,” she responds with a shrug, seemingly unsure of the right words to say. “We’ve been making good progress, but the whole time is spent fighting with my siblings cus none of us can decide who is right. And a couple accidents happened, but nothing should impede the preparation. You’ll have the food on time,” Applejack tells me with a smile, patting my shoulder. “Is that why you’re here? A few jitters before the big day tomorrow?”

“I admire your eagerness to comfort me, but no,” I say quietly, moving her hand off my shoulder. “I’m not too nervous actually. Even though it is tomorrow, my desire to see the wedding carried out is actually bigger than ever.” Tomorrow is the day I get married to Sunset. Which makes it all the more urgent that I get every last preparation done today. “I’m here for one last request actually. I… I know it’s pretty late notice and Sunset is the one in charge of the choices here, but I was curious to see if you could make just one more dish. Something special.”

The small innocuous elevation of her eyebrow proves just how curious and confused Applejack is. The mere act of crossing her arms is normally cause for concern, but this is not such a moment. Instead, it feels like she’s taking the request into account, thinking about it seriously. I know her. She loves sentimental things since she was raised in a big family.

“Alright,” she tells me with a small nod, holding her hand up. “However, I can’t make anything too complex with the amount of time we have left. Tell me what it is and I’ll tell ya if Sunset already asked for it.” Applejack does her best to ignore a crash that comes from the kitchen, but I can see her forehead tense slightly. She’s in luck though. My request is not complicated at all.

“I was wondering if you could make a chocolate cake.” Pulling out a page from my bag, I hand the recipe over to Applejack. The exact same recipe that Sunset loves so much… “It doesn’t need to be huge. Just big enough for a couple slices. I’m not really planning on anyone having a part of it except for one person.” I inspect her facial expression for any kind of confirmation, but there are no indicators for me. Her thoughts may as well be a blank page.

“You two are mad in love, you know that?” Applejack asks me with a laugh, a smile on her face. “I swear that you two keep trying to outdo the other. It’s funny in an endearing way.” Slipping the recipe into her pocket, Applejack pats my shoulder once more, motioning for me to stand. “While I can’t tell ya what is in the kitchen right now, I can say that your request is perfect. I’ll get to work on it soon.” Again, a loud crash comes from the kitchen, making Applejack’s smile change back to a pertinent frown. “As soon as I kill a couple siblings of mine…”

I almost forgot how much I hate this place… Every time I come here, I can’t help but feel a bitter taste from my past resurface to grant me some nice embarrassment and anxiety. It is seriously unbearable… Annoying. It would be for Aria and Sonata too if they didn’t ditch us. Instead, I’m stuck sitting on the hard stairs in front of the entrance to Canterlot High with my wife-to-be. The last time I was here was for Apple Bloom’s School Days competition a few years ago, but I still didn’t like being there for that either. At least I knew why we were there then. Now? Sunset is being intentionally vague with me.

“Sunny, the school is closed. Why are we here? Just to try to remember the good times? Oh, right. I didn’t have good times here.” I can’t help but slump down, resting my chin in the palm of my hands. By now, the sun is setting and the horse statue is essentially a shadow in my view. Sunset simply smiles, holding my hand tighter than before. She looks down at her phone’s clock for the tenth time by now, keeping her mouth shut. It would be cute if it wasn’t annoyingly irritating.

“It’s simple. We’re here to meet with one of our guests,” she mentions with a hum. That’s the first clear answer she’s given me so far about this whole ordeal. I have no idea why we would meet with one of our friends right here. Why not go to their place? Or invite them to our house? This is a stupid place to wait… “I know you’re aggravated, but please. Trust me and try to have a good attitude,” Sunset whispers while nudging me. Her gentle reminder to keep a smile on my face doesn’t exactly help. “Besides. She’s about to come through.”

Come through? Through what? The only door is behind us. Unless she means a portal, then…

As soon as the thought comes to my mind, a flash of light emanates from the base of the statue. A squeal of surprise comes from a woman as she hits the ground, looking like she tripped. Her skin is a lighter shade of purple than her hair. In spite of what I have heard, this woman seems clumsy. Even though her appearance has clearly changed over the years, I still recognize her in a heartbeat. Sunset could have just told me who we were meeting instead of keeping it a secret…

Standing up, I walk over to the statue, offering her my hand. She looks up at me, finally making eye contact with me again for the first time in nearly five years. It doesn’t seem like a long time, but it definitely feels like it…

“Stand up, Princess Twilight. The ground is not fitting for someone of your stature or mine,” I tell her with a solemn nod, unsure how to feel about all of this. “We have much to discuss.”

Author's Note

One chapter left to go~ ;) And yes, I had the idea to include Princess Twilight all the way back by A Shimmering Heartbreak lol