Sonata stood before the door to Sunset's apartment, phone in hand, unmoving.
It was a deep red door, a deep red like Sunset's hair. But it was also old, chipped, and faded. Normally apartment doors weren't made or kept in such garish colors, but most apartment buildings weren't old refurbished homes either.
Gently, she pressed one outstretched, peachy pale fingertip to the worn paint and ran it down.
Despite appearances, the job was still mostly smooth. But there were cracks, visible and sensate both. It reminded her of how their relationship was towards the end.
She sighed and withdrew her hand. She used it to reach inside the pocket of her hot pink hoodie for her keys, only to remember and stop.
She looked instead at her phone. Pointed, bubblegum-painted nails pressed the power button and tapped, gliding away at the screen. Opening her text conversation with Sunset, she wondered if she should send a message to let her know she was there.
No, she decided. She also took it upon herself to finally change the name of her contact.
From Sunny D 🌞💋❤, it became only Sunset Shimmer.
She slid her phone into the pocket of her pink jeans - ripped once a while ago, so she and Sunset could match. Then, she knocked at the door.
After a moment, it swung open, revealing Sunset and the apartment behind her, sunlight shimmering against her mocha complexion. Sonata waved and tried to smile, even going so far as to give a chirpy little 'Hi!', but she knew right away Sunset could tell the smile was false, the chirpiness sad.
"Hey. Come on in," Sunset said and gestured her on. Sonata nodded and stepped inside before Sunset shut the door.
It was then Sonata took note of the clothes Sunset was wearing - some breezy denim shorts and a thin t-shirt that left her right shoulder exposed. Most would have found it odd, given the November season, but Sonata remembered how Sunset once told her that, while she'd always preferred the heat, the cold had never particularly bothered her. She had joked that her blood must've just been as fiery as her hair, and Sonata had tittered her little head off while Sunset grinned on.
That shirt, however. Sonata glanced again, and her heart seized upon itself. How had she overlooked it?
The shirt was yellow, brighter than the streaks in her hair. It bore a printed logo from when they'd gone to a concert for one of their shared favorite bands.
"Oh, uh," Sunset said, plucking at the decal. She must have seen Sonata's face. "Sorry. All my comfortable clothes are at the laundromat's. These were the only clean things I had left."
"It's okay," Sonata assured, but she didn't really mean it. If she were younger, she might've been angry and accused Sunset of wearing it on purpose to provoke her. Instead, it just made her want to cry.
"Sooooo," Sunset went on, breaking the stilted silence. "My stuff's already packed, as you can see."
She gestured at the living room surrounding them. Sonata followed the motion. Nearly everything was gone, packed up into cardboard boxes, a couple of them open. The only things standing on their own were furniture - sofa, flatscreen, lamp, recliner.
"Twilight told me she'd have a place in her castle for me to crash when I move back to Equestria, so I'm just gonna hock all this stuff out to a charity or something. Or, if you would rather-"
Sonata shook her head. "No thanks, I'm okay. I'm just going back to live with my sisters."
Sunset nodded. "Alright. Anyway, I haven't packed any of your things, but I put some empty boxes in my- er, our old room. There's also all the stuff in the backroom as well. I'll be making lunch, so holler if you need something, okay?"
Sonata nodded. She opened her mouth to say something - of what exactly, she wasn't sure - but before she could, Sunset had stalked off to the kitchen. For a moment, Sonata stood there before pulling off her hoodie. She wouldn't need it inside, and if she was going to be moving around a bunch of stuff, she'd rather wear her t-shirt.
Before she did that, light played off something in one of the boxes. She moved towards it curiously, crouching down to push open the folds.
For the second time that day, she thought she might cry.
"Oh," she realized. She was.
Touching fingers to her left cheek, she found tears. They were few, but they were there.
She told herself to get it together. Doing her breathing exercises like Adagio taught her centuries ago, soon she was feeling more in control. Her emotions could rage all they liked, but emotions were the seas, and she was the siren. She was the master of the sea.
Deeply inhaling, she closed the box, pressing down on the folds a bit too tightly. She wished she had some tape, but Sunset wouldn't want her to mess with her things like that. But it did the job well enough. Even if she couldn't see it from far away, she didn't want to look at it knowing what was in there.
Standing up, Sonata gathered her wits about her and made her way to their once-upon-a-time bedroom. Along the way, she saw more boxes, smaller ones for smaller things and lightweight items. A niggling part of her wanted to peek inside, but she couldn't bring herself to do it. Not after that first one.
She packed her things away in silence. She'd brought her earbuds to listen to a podcast or some tracks while she worked, but now that she was doing it, she couldn't find the stomach for it. The silence was almost comforting, a numb void she could wrap herself in and forget why she was here.
It wasn't pure silence, though, not truly. Through the wall, she heard Sunset - moving around, opening drawers, clanging metal. Taking the sounds in, muffled as they were, she relaxed, and chose to focus more on them than the process of putting objects in boxes.
It wasn't long until the sounds of preparation were followed by chopping, succeeded by sizzling. By then, Sonata had packed half of her things. When she stopped hearing anything from the other side, she put away all of it, save for one item.
"Lunch is ready," announced Sunset, standing to the side of the doorway. Sonata mhmed and placed a light blue seahorse plushie inside the box she was squatting at before getting to her feet. "I know you love seafood, so I made a quick clam chowder. It's not the fanciest thing in the world, but I hope you like it."
"I'm sure I will." Sonata smiled, daring to show a hint of pearly white. This smile, at least, was genuine.
They walked into the kitchen together, and Sonata seated herself upon a pretty wooden chair. The piece was simple - unpainted wood, matching its sibling across the table, but its back had been carved to show branches with leaves, flowers, birds, and nests. If she was going to take any furniture from here, she might take one of these.
"Okie dokie, soup's on."
Sunset placed the bowl before Sonata, spoon included. Sniggering, she said, "I'm sure Applejack would give me a thumbs up for that one."
"Or give you a haymaker. Emphasis on the hay!"
Sunset laughed, and so did Sonata. For that small, precious moment, it was almost like things were like they used to be.
But it ended, and Sunset sat across from her with her own bowl. With the moment passed Sonata spooned a mouthful of creamy broth into her mouth, savoring its chest-filling warmth and the smooth, creamy texture in contrast to the soft potatoes, the chewy cuts of clam.
"So how've your sisters been? I don't think I've seen Adagio since July. I text with Aria plenty and game with her online, but we haven't met face to face since Halloween."
"Oh, they're good! Or, uhm, as good as they, like, usually are? Heehee. You know Ari and Dagi at this point,"
"Ha. Sure do. Honestly, it's kinda hard for me to think you guys were ever villains in the first place nowadays. But hey, I'm sure a lot of people feel that way about me."
Sunset picked up her bowl with her left hand, spoon in her right, and kicked her legs up on the table. It was long, so there wasn't a chance of shoes touching Sonata's bowl.
They ate and conversed on for a while, making small talk about this and that. In spite of everything, once they got rolling, they were in sync. Their chemistry was perfect, but Sonata knew better.
She hadn't broken it off with Sunset because she stopped loving her.
An hour and a half went by before their bowls were actually empty. Sonata, feeling as good as she was capable of feeling, stood up and brought the bowl to the sink.
"'Kay, I'm gonna go back to packing now," she said.
Sunset offered an, "Aaaaaalrighty," and leaned into the back of her chair.
To the backroom she went. This area would be more of an ordeal to pack. Where Sunset kept things down near to the bare essentials, Sonata liked to throw as much pink and as many soft things at a room as she could without making it unliveable.
For her, anyway.
This time around, she didn't find the silence so comforting. If Sunset was up to anything in the apartment, she didn't hear it, so she brought up her phone and switched her earbuds on, hoping to drown the stifling quiet with pop music nonsense.
It helped.
The whole task took several hours to complete. She would have preferred simply tossing whatever in whichever box, but she knew it would be easier for her later on. Once, Present Sonata didn't particularly care for the trials of Future Sonata, but after enough times, Present Sonata learned her lesson.
When she was done, she observed her handiwork with no small amount of pride. It was a job well done, something even the perpetually grumpy Aria or sardonic Adagio could recognize. The only things left on the floor were things she would be hard pressed to fit inside the box sizes on hand.
Closing the door to what used to be her special place, Sonata strode forward and flopped onto one of the several fluff-lined beanbags. She took out her earbuds, met with silence once again, and bathed in it. Fuschia pools stared onwards, hiding as best they could her true feelings.
She glanced at her phone. It was late in the afternoon now, approaching evening time. Though, she didn't need a screen to confirm that for her. The room was darkening. Outside, the hues of eventide splashed across the cloud-sprinkled sky.
Without thinking, her thumb opened the screen. She tapped Photos, Camera, the most recent picture in her gallery.
For a long, long time, she stared blankly at the photo on screen. Sonata gazed back at her with a dopey smile. She laid belly flat on a beach towel, wearing a blue bikini, legs kicking in the air behind her.
Sunset was there, too. She offered the camera a cheeky grin, a wink. Wearing her own swimsuit, geode necklace around her neck, she had the devil horns set up behind Sonata's head.
Sonata tapped the photo. From below a series of icons pulled up. One to edit. One to share.
And one to delete.
Again, without thinking, Sonata pressed the trashcan icon. The next photo in line moved up, still at the beach. Sunset stood with her toes in the sand, looming above a sand castle with a big grin. In the picture her toned physique was visible, arms straining with the effort of holding Sonata on her back.
She deleted that one too.
Beach in the background. At a tiki bar. Sharing ice cream.
Delete.
Their third anniversary dinner, the desserts.
Delete.
The entrees.
Delete.
The starters.
Delete.
Easter, wearing bunny ears. Valentine's Day, in scuba suits. Christmas. Halloween. Parades. Festivals. Dates. Meals. Videos.
Delete. Delete. Delete delete delete delete delete.
It didn't even matter if it wasn't pictures of them.
Before she knew it, she reached the last image.
The same picture from that photograph, in that box.
Tears welled in her vision. They burnt hot, and stung salty.
She tried to keep calm, she really did.
Then she realized what she had just done.
She would never get those photos back.
She screamed. And cried. And sobbed. And wailed.
That was how Sunset found her. Hysterical, curled into a tight ball.
Sunset dropped the grocery bag she was carrying and ran over.
They weren't together anymore, but Sunset hugged her anyway.
That just made Sonata cry harder.
"Shhhh. Shhh. It's okay. I'm here. I'm here."
Sonata's chest hurt. Her eyes hurt. She felt like her ribcage was about to collapse, and her skull about to explode.
"Shhhhhh."
Sunset's whispered voice was like honey. Her strong arms cradled her, one hand stroking gingerly through her blue and teal hair.
How long it took until Sonata could breathe again, she couldn't say. Gradually though, her sobs slowed. Her hitching chest fell more rhythmically. The tears came more sparsely. Sunset's coos and assurances grew quieter and further spaced apart.
"I deleted them" she croaked.
"What?"
"I deleted them," said Sonata, a little louder. "T-t-the... the pictures. Our pictures. I dunno why. I-I just... I looked at one, a-and, and-" She sniffled. For a second, she thought she might start sobbing again. "A-and I just started deleting them, every single one. They're all gone. They're all gone, and I'm never getting them back because I'm stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid."
"You're not stupid, Sonata."
Sunset's nails slid along her scalp.
"You're not stupid. You're not. You just got... overwhelmed, that's all. It happens to the best of us."
Gentle-like, Sunset guided Sonata to move. She soon found herself sat across from the woman she loved, but couldn't anymore.
Sunset smiled, took her pale hand into her dark own, and squeezed.
"B-but, the-"
"Shhh," Sunset hushed, pressing a finger to her lips, squeezing the hand again. "They're still in the system, just in the recycling bin. You didn't delete them from there, did you?"
Sonata shook her head. Even that tiny motion made her ponytail swish.
"Then they're not gone. I can help you restore all of them, if you want me to. Do you?"
Sonata's head bobbed.
"Okay. Now come on, stand up. Let's get you on the sofa-"
"One more night."
"Huh?"
Sonata's teeth sank into her lower lip. Her brain raged with a storm mighty enough to bring down a city. Sunset's touch had awoken something in her. Something she hated, and yet.
Was she going to say it? Would she cross that line?
Yes. She would.
"Please."
Her hand, so much smaller, daintier than Sunset's, struck forward, grasped Sunset's other.
"One more night together. I know it's selfish, but I need you one last time, before you go to Equestria. Please. I just want you to hold me, like you used to."
Sunset's face was inscrutable. Sonata was always terrible at keeping a neutral expression, but Sunset? Sonata didn't think there was anyone who could pull as flawless a poker face.
And so she waited, breath held, terrified. The longer time passed, the louder her heart drummed. How long had it been now? It felt like an hour, but she knew that couldn't be true. There was still daylight outside.
"I'm sorry, it was a stupid idea. I'll go-"
"No."
In the blink of an eye, Sunset's expression transformed. She smiled, albeit sadly. Her hands squeezed Sonata's.
"You made the right decision. To break up, I mean."
Sonata's face fell. She knew it was true, but hearing Sunset put it so bluntly hurt. Then again, Sunset had never been the type to tiptoe around issues.
Except for her, a million years ago.
"I'm not saying it was entirely your fault," she said, tipping Sonata's chin upwards. "I share plenty of the blame as well. I should've said something when you were bothering me, but I didn't want to hurt your feelings. Instead..."
She sighed. "Instead, I let it go on like nothing was wrong, even though we both knew better. I knew from your sisters, way before the signs started showing, that you had attachment issues. Sorry to put it so bluntly," Sunset laughed, "but you know what I mean. Honestly, if anyone here was the most at fault, it's me. I made you break up with me by my own inaction to address the problem until..."
"Until it got so bad I thought I didn't have a choice."
Sunset nodded. "I won't lie. You did make me upset. It felt like I couldn't go anywhere or do anything without you, or you'd just... shut down or freak out, and I'd have to promise you over and over again I still loved you. It was frustrating. But I should have done better. You deserved that much. And so," she took in a deep breath, expelling it with the finality of a great weight lifted. "One more night is the least I can offer you."
Sonata started crying again, and Sunset just held her there, wordlessly. But her touch spoke volumes enough.
"I brought home some popcorn. We can do movie night, if you'd like."
Weakly, Sonata nodded into the crook of Sunset's shoulder.
"Cool. What genre would you want? Adventure, comedy, romance- Actually, no." Sonata felt the woman shake her head. "Not a good idea, on second thought. That's assuming I had one to begin with."
Sonata giggled. "Romance, um. Actually sounds kinda nice. I-if you're okay with that."
"I am. Anything specific?"
Sonata felt her cheeks go warm. "The, uhm. T-The Pink Petunia."
Sunset laughed. "I should've figured. It's a good one, I'll give you that. Now come on. Can't watch a film stowed up here, can we?"
And so they spent the night together. Sunset, in addition to the popcorn, had bought soda and ice cream. Sonata herself had to bust out one of the many comforters she'd packed away to wrap themselves in, but it was worth it.
They laughed. They cried. They never kissed, but Sunset let Sonata hug her as close as she wanted. When they finished the first movie, they went with the next, whatever Sunset chose - some cheesy 80s action flick. Then it was Sonata's turn. And on and on, it went like that until late into the dark of morning.
Until they fell asleep, in one another's arms.
And as the light from the horror movie flickered in the room, one photo sat in a box, towards the left corner.
Inside, two women smiled. Behind them was starry night, but lanterns lit up their happy faces, pressed together.
At the top it read:
'Heart emoji First date!!!!! ❤😊'
Author's Note
Everyone has a most consistent source of inspiration. For me, it's music. Listening to songs, new and old, lyrical or instrumental, from a video game, a pop star, or some old timey git from the 30s, I often find my mind exploding with ideas when I hear arrangements and symphonies.
In this case, I was inspired by a song from my favorite musical artist Marina, formerly known as Marina and the Diamonds. The specific song is Blue. The story doesn't perfectly mirror the song, but that's just how inspiration works.
If you're an artist of any kind, tell me in the comments where you go for your inspiration.
And happy tenth birthday to Equestria Girls as well. I fell hard in love with this series, and Sunset Shimmer has been my favorite character in all of G4 since 2014.
If you liked this, I have several more Equestria Girls stories on my profile, and many many more yet to be written. In fact, I'll be writing a novel-length fic beginning on the 10th anniversary itself, a sequel to Raging Fire. Make sure to check in for that if you'd like to see my take on Sunset's life in Equestria, and how she goes about rectifying it in the future (or trying to, at least).
Lastly, if you enjoyed this and would like to receive a story of your own, see here for more details!
