“How are you holding up?” Ascentia asked as she sat at the bar, looking up at Sunset and sipping her drink.

“As well as I can be,” Sunset murmured, putting a freshly dried glass away, “Mom left big shoes to fill, but… Someone has to do it. I just really hope I can. I don’t want to replace her, but, I just want to be able to run this club and our family as best I can.”

“I think you have to replace her, at least to some degree,” Ascentia sighed sadly, “...Sonata and Aria need someone to take care of them.”

“I know they do, and I will take care of them,” Sunset gave a nod, “It’s not going to be easy, but I’m not going to turn my back on my own wives. Still, Aria’s helping me a bit behind the bar, and Sonata’s the one who-”

She cut herself off upon the surprising sight of Sonata, fully dressed in her designated “work” clothes, and coming into the bar. But even more surprising was her demeanour. Granted, she didn’t look like she was bouncing over the moon, but still looked a lot less miserable than before. If anything, she looked… fairly content.

“...Sonata?” Sunset said with surprise, “What are you doing down here? I thought you weren’t ready to get back to work.”

“Well… It might sound silly, but…” Sonata approached the bar, giving a little smile, “I dreamt about Mommy last night. After we went to bed…” She looked over at Ascentia and smiled, giving her a hug, “Hi, Asy. Nice to see you.”

“Hey Sonata,” Ascentia smiled, patting her arm as she leaned into the hug, “How’re you feeling?”

“A little better,” Sonata sat down in a stool next to hers, “Mommy came to my dream last night… She was in a white dress, and looked just like when I first met her. She… She said she wanted me to move on, and to be the happy little Sona-baby she remembered,” she sniffled a little, but still smiled, “She said it was going to be okay. And that one day… we’ll be together again.”

“Awww…” Sunset smiled, “I’m so glad. I had little moments in dreams like that, but that just sounds amazing.”

Ascentia gently patted Sonata’s back, “Well I’m glad you’re looking up. We were all worried about you back home.”

“I sowwy,” Sonata nuzzled her, “I just miss Mommy… But how are you guys doing?”

“We’re doing okay,” Ascentia smiled, “Twilight had a bit of a relapse when she came home drunk a few days ago. Cadance felt awful for getting her so plastered.”

“Oh, no! What happened?” Sunset asked with concern.

“She came home, I was in bed, and she was plowed out of her mind,” Ascentia whistled, pulling down her shirt collar to show the fading bruises on her neck and shoulders, “Got a little aggressive. That’s the nice version of it at least. When we told her the next morning, she broke down completely.”

“Poor Twilight…” Sonata said sadly.

“The poor thing,” Sunset murmured, shaking her head, “I can only imagine how terrible she felt.”

“Really terrible. She even said she should leave and live somewhere else,” Ascentia sighed, “...Kitten didn’t like that.”

Sonata pouted, “That’d be so sad! I went through that a couple times, wanting to leave. Not for the same thing! Just… you know. But Mommy didn’t like that…”

Sunset nodded in agreement, “It’s a tough feeling to have. She’s not going to leave, is she?”

“No,” Ascentia shook her head, “I practically begged her not to go… I couldn’t stand the thought of our marriage breaking apart because of an accident… especially after all we’ve been through.”

“I don’t blame you,” Sunset agreed, “That would’ve been a really sad reason to end things. How is she, now?”

“She’s okay, she’s been treating me like a china doll, but she’s okay,” Ascentia smiled, “Ever since she’s come home from the hospital, I’ve been sort of taking care of her.”

“Really?” Sonata smiled, leaning a bit closer, “How so?”

“I just… I’ve been the one making sure she stays grounded,” Ascentia smiled, “Kinda like what Sunny’s been doing for you guys.”

“Awww, that’s good!” Sonata hugged her once more, kissing her cheek. She looked off the main door, then stood, “Well, duty calls! I’ll see you for lunch, Sunny.”

“All right, Sonata. You do your best today,” Sunset kissed her cheek.

Ascentia watched and smiled as Sonata headed off for the door, “I know how you feel about having to take care of them… I’m in the same boat as you, Sunset.”

“So you said,” Sunset refilled her drink halfway, “What’s it like for you?”

“It’s… odd,” Ascentia nodded, “I’ve never seen myself as taking care of my wife… my wife always took care of me. Like you, I’m not a head of household kind of woman. But she needed me to, and so I did the best I could. Rainbow and Fluttershy are still there if I need help, or if I want to stop being in charge for a while.”

“That’s great,” Sunset smiled, “But yeah, that’s just it, too. I’m also not used to running the household. Mom was always the leader, and I was more or less second-in-command. Running the bar as a manager is one thing, but it’s a whole different story taking care of the girls at home.”

Ascentia nodded, “Yeah, it can be difficult. You just gotta be sure you can take a break every now and then. Even Adagio knew how important that was.”

“Mm-hmm, she did,” Sunset nodded as she wiped her eyes, “She always made sure to take care of herself. So she would be more prepared and ready to do what she had to do. She always encouraged us to do the same.”

Ascentia nodded, “If you need that, come down to our place. Twilight might be afraid to touch me, but I know she still can’t get enough of you.”

“Really?” Sunset blushed a little bit.

“Really,” Ascentia winked, “She’s still up for making you her little pet, don’t you worry.”

Sunset giggled a little, “Well, I’ll take you up on that, then. Once things settle down a little more, I’ll come see you guys. I know Aria won’t mind a little time alone with Sonata…” She winked at this, “But anyway… You can still come here when you need a break, either on your own or with Twilight. I know it won’t be the same, but I hope you’ll still feel safe.”

“Thanks,” Ascentia smiled, leaning in and kissing Sunset’s cheek, “That means a lot to me.”

“You’re welcome,” Sunset kissed her cheek back, “You girls are always welcome here.”

Ascentia raised her glass and smiled, “Hear hear.”

While Sonata was sorting through the mail, she went to sit at the table, sniffing the aroma of Sunset cooking dinner in the kitchen. A few of the mail items were flyers and menus for fast food restaurants. She placed a few aside to keep, the others to toss. At least, until she got to one in particular. Her heart stopped.

It was a menu for the very same restaurant Adagio had taken her to when they first met. When she had a taco for the first time. The very food that was now more special to her than ever imagined. Sonata sniffled, shaking a bit. She hadn’t had a taco in weeks. She placed her hand over the menu, hesitating. Keep it? Toss it?

“Oh, Mommy…” She murmured, sighing, “Do you remember that? I sure do…”

There was nothing. The apartment was quiet as a churchmouse. Sonata had taken to speaking as if Adagio were still there, like what Adagio herself had done with Timbre. Downstairs, she could hear the muffled sounds of the club going on around her. Sighing a little, she stood up, going to the kitchen. She observed Sunset for a few moments, hesitation.

“...Sunny? Do you want some help? I can help you…” Sonata murmured.

“Hmm?” Sunset looked up and turned around from the stove, “Oh, yeah sure, I can… are you alright?”

“Yeah… I just… I need a distraction,” Sonata murmured, coming into the kitchen and rubbing her arm, “I just saw a menu, it was for the same place Mommy took me to for the first time. I just…” She took a few deep breaths, “I’ll be okay.”

Sunset looked back down at the ground beef she was stirring and frowned, “Um… I’m making… tacos…” she winced, glancing over at Adagio’s recipe book.

Eyes going wide, Sonata took a step back. It was no wonder the aroma felt so familiar, so homey. She looked about for a moment, but closed her eyes, remembering her dream. “I… I can do this, Sunny… I want to try…”

“Alright…” Sunset smiled, “Why don’t you grate some cheese for me?”

Taking another deep breath, Sonata nodded, “Okay… I can do that.”

Going further into the kitchen, Sonata pulled out some cheese from the fridge, then retrieved a stand-up cheese grater. She went to work, grating the bits of cheese into a small bowl, slowly. It had been little tasks like this that she’d done to help Adagio in the kitchen back in the day. Especially grating cheese. She sighed, glancing toward Sunset for a moment, managing a small smile.

“Um, it’s sure nice that you’re trying Mommy’s recipes, Sunny.”

“Well… I know you girls love them so much,” Sunset smiled, stirring the beef into the sauce as she glanced at the page again and opened the cupboard to grab the canister of Adagio’s mixed spices.

“We do…” Sonata said, grating the cheese a bit faster, “They’re pretty much heaven in our mouths.”

Sunset chuckled and let the beef simmer as she diced up some tomatoes and green-peppers, “Yeah… Mom could do everything…”

“Oh, yes! Although, there was one thing she couldn’t do…” Sonata giggled.

“What was that?” Sunset asked, raising an eyebrow.

Sonata giggled, turning around to face her, “Believe it or not, Mommy was terrible at drawing.”

“Really? With everything she could do, I’m surprised,” Sunset giggled, “How terrible?”

“Oh, pretty bad!” Sonata giggled, smiling a little more, “Like a first grader drawing their family home. It was cute, though! She did a little diagram one time, to kind of show an example of what she wanted the club’s sign to look like. Then she was doodling some animals! And then I said, ‘Adagio… why does the squirrel look like he’s on fire?’, and she was all like, ‘Oh, but that’s not a squirrel! It’s a beaver, with a hockey stick!’ And I just didn’t have the heart to tell her it didn’t look like that…”

Sunset sputtered, nearly overturning the cutting board, “Oh my god… that’s hysterical… I take it you were the one who designed the club’s logo after all?”

“Yep! I did,” Sonata smiled, “She felt bad and asked me if I could design something for her. So, she gave me the specifications, and I drew it up for her on Photoshop. It worked! Sometime after Aria came along, she actually added the sparkly symbols on all the corners to kind of make it pop!”

“So the sign was a group effort after all, eh?” Sunset giggled, tipping the diced vegetables into a bowl.

Sonata nodded, going back to work on grating the cheese, “Uh-huh, it sure was! It really turned out so nicely, Mommy.”

Sunset giggled, “Yeah, it does look good, and-wait, what?”

“What?” Sonata looked at her curiously.

“Did… did you just call me…” Sunset trailed off.

“I-oh!” Sonata realized what she’d said, and stopped her task for a moment. Glancing at Sunset, she then turned around completely, “I’m so sorry, Sunny.”

“It’s… it’s okay,” Sunset came over and laid a hand on Sonata’s shoulder, gently squeezing as she wrapped her other arm around her waist and hugged her.

Sonata leaned back against her a little, nuzzling her, “I… I don’t want to make this harder for you, Sunny… You’re already doing so, so much. And we love you for it…”

“You’re not making it harder, Sona,” Sunset said quietly, nuzzling her hair, “I understand if it was a slip of the tongue.”

Nodding, Sonata placed her hand over Sunset’s, “Yeah… if I do ever slip like that, I’m sorry. I don’t mean to…”

“It’s alright,” Sunset kissed her cheek, “Mom used to always joke that I was more like the second parent than a daughter,” she chuckled.

Now Sonata giggled, “Yeah, that’s true. I noticed it, too. But hey, you’re really good at it.”

“Thanks,” Sunset nuzzled her, “...Hey, why don’t we invite Twilight’s family over for supper?”

“Really?” Sonata blinked, turning around to face her, “Aww, that’d be nice!”

“Alright, why don’t you go call her and invite everybody,” Sunset smiled, “I’ll make a triple-batch.”

Sonata nodded, kissing her cheek, “Okay, Sunny! I’ll do that.”

“Do what?” Aria came into the room, “Sorry, had to take a breather.”

“We’re gonna invite Twilight’s family over for supper,” Sunset smiled as she returned to the stove.

“Really? Huh, sounds like that’d be fun,” Aria stretched a little, “Want me to close up?”

“Yeah, sure,” Sunset smiled, kissing Aria’s cheek.

“I’ll go make the call!” Sonata went back to the living room.

Aria nuzzled Sunset’s cheek, “Wow, it’ll be the first time we had everyone here in… wow, since before Ma passed away.”

“Mmhmm,” Sunset sighed sadly, “Last time anybody was here… it was when Twilight showed up in the middle of the night, distraught.”

“Oh yeah…” Aria nodded, “Man, tonight’s gonna be a little heavy, I guess. But hey, it’ll be kinda nice if we’re all together.”

“Yeah… it’d be nice to see the others, too,” Sunset smiled, “We don’t talk to them enough.”

Aria shook her head and hugged her, nuzzling her shoulder, “Nope, not nearly enough. Guess we’ll have to do something about that, huh?”

“Mmhmm,” Sunset laughed, hugging Aria and rocking her on the spot.

Closing her eyes, Aria snuggled against her. Much as she tried to keep her pain inside, it was impossible. Instead she actually cried along with Sunset and Sonata, not even bothering to hold her tears back. She sniffed in Sunset’s comforting perfume, relaxing a little more.

“Thanks, Ma…”

Sunset kissed the top of Aria’s head, smiling a little, “You did it too…”

“Did what?” Aria blinked, pulling back slightly.

“You called me Mom,” Sunset giggled softly.

Letting out a sigh, Aria let her face fall against Sunset’s collarbone, “Damn… Sorry, Sunset.”

“It’s alright… I can understand why you’d do that,” Sunset stroked her hair, “I don’t mind…”

“Still, it doesn’t seem fair to you,” Aria sighed, shaking her head, “You’re doing great. I don’t want you to feel like you’re… Mom 2.0 or anything. Even though you kinda are like our second Mom.”

“Mom said that too,” Sunset rubbed her back, “I… I don’t mind. Really.”

“Really?” Aria looked at her with surprise.

“...Really,” Sunset smiled, kissing her forehead.

“Okay…” Aria kissed her cheek, “I’ll still try not to slip, but I’ll remember that.”

Sunset patted Aria’s back and let go of her, returning to the stove, “Alright… I gotta have supper ready before everyone gets here…”

“All righty. I’m going to go down and tend the bar before I close up,” Aria nodded, heading back out.

“Alright, cya in a bit,” Sunset smiled as she returned to cooking.

There was time.

Everyone wouldn’t be there for another hour, and supper was ready and staying warm in the oven. Sunset, Aria and Sonata were snuggled up on the sofa, Sonata clinging the hardest to Sunset, too comfortable to move.

“This was a nice idea, Sunny,” Sonata murmured, nuzzling her shoulder.

“Thanks… it’s always nice to cuddle with you girls,” Sunset smiled, stroking Sonata’s hair as she laid back on the sofa.

“Sure is,” Aria agreed, exhaling, “All we’re missing is Ma walking in, finding us like this, and giggling.”

“Then asking us why we didn’t wait…” Sonata giggled, then sighed sadly, “I always used to say ‘Mommy’s home!’ whenever she came back from somewhere… Then she’d say, “Yes, Sona-baby! Mommy’s home!’, then I’d run and hug her… Mmm… those were the days…”

“Remember when she came back so exhausted, you two had to cuddle her for a change?” Sunset asked with a giggle.

Aria chuckled, “Oh, yeah. That was fun.”

“Mm-hmm,” Sonata smiled, “It was nice to snuggle Mommy when she was tired. There was that other time she was so sick, and we had to take care of her. Being Mommies for Mommy!”

Sunset winced, remembering the incident when Adagio had caught a really bad virus and had been bedridden for two weeks. That had been how she’d learned to cook, having to make everyone’s meals while she was incapacitated.

“Oh yeah. She never let herself get sick again after that,” Sunset smiled as she glanced over to the box that held her urn.

“Poor Mommy… She was so upset at being unable to take care of us,” Sonata pouted.

“No kidding,” Aria agreed, “When I went in there to bring her some soup once, she was crying. I asked her what was wrong, and she said she was so grateful we were taking care of her. But she was also devastated at being unable to care of us.”

It was a very rare instance when Adagio ever cried. Sunset could only remember maybe three. The first being when Mrs Dusk had pestered her about her lack of children, the second being when Sonata had carved the chest for Timbre, and the third…

She shuddered. She didn’t like to think about the third. None of them did.

Sensing the tension, as well as where it would lead, Sonata moved it along, “Um… one time, I made Mommy laugh so hard that she started crying.”

“What happened?” Aria asked, wiping her eyes.

“Well… it was back when I first starting living with here with her,” Sonata recalled, “She came upstairs from the club, and I was in the kitchen. I was trying to make her a cake, since it was her birthday. Well, I made a bit of a mess on myself. I got more of it on me than in the bowl! I didn’t even know she was coming up, so she comes into the kitchen, and sees me there… I’m covered in flour, cake batter, and whatever else I was using!”

“Oh my god… I can already see those hips struggling to stay upright,” Sunset laughed, nuzzling Sonata tighter, “It sounds like she was walking into a Looney Toones special!”

“Pretty much!” Sonata laughed, “I felt SO embarrassed!”

“Man, that’s funny,” Aria snickered, “Hey, didn’t you say that her phone was kinda bugged back then?”

“Oh, yeah! Back before we ran away, Mommy’s phone sent texts in all caps! It’s like she’s yelling everything she says!” Sonata giggled, ‘HEY KID! YOU WANNA GET LUNCH? I’M OUTSIDE THE SCHOOL! SEE YA!’ and stuff!”

Sunset frowned for a minute and dug her phone out of her pocket, flicking through her text history, “She did that with me too. SUNNY, I NEED YOU TO PULL A DOUBLE SHIFT TONIGHT. SUNNY, I’M ON MY WAY TO PICK YOU GUYS UP. SUNNY, I GOT INTO AN ACCIDENT, THINK I’LL BE FINE.”

Sunset stopped as she read the last message and raised her eyebrow. It was marked as unread, and the time-stamp was… about four hours before the hospital called Sonata to tell them that Adagio wouldn’t be coming home.

“...Oh my god…” she whispered.

“What’s wrong?” Sonata asked, looking at her.

“It’s just… Mom sent me a message saying she was gonna be fine…” Sunset said quietly, pressing her fingers to her mouth, “...And that was… a few hours before she died…”

Aria balked, as did Sonata. The latter of which reached for the phone and took it, reading over the message.

“M-M-Mommy…” Sonata whimpered, letting the phone fall onto a cushion.

“Aria, get your phone. Sonata’s too,” Sunset said, patting Aria’s shoulder.

Nodding, Aria wiped her eyes of the fresh tears as she stood up. She went to the small table near the television, where their cell phones were charging. Retrieving them, Aria brought them back over, sitting back down on the couch.

“What… do you want them for?” Aria asked, her voice cracking slightly.

Sunset took them and opened the message history on Aria’s phone. She had nine unread text messages. Six from her mother, two from Sonata, and one from Adagio. She popped it open and read it aloud.

‘ARI, MOMMY GOT INTO AN ACCIDENT SO SHE MIGHT BE A LITTLE LATE. I’M ON THE SIDE OF PONYVILLE HIGHWAY WAITING FOR AN AMBULANCE. DON’T WORRY, MOMMY WILL BE FINE ONCE SHE’S OUT OF THE HOSPITAL.’

“...Oh…” Aria shook, more tears falling, “I-I wasn’t even paying attention when I got the text. I didn’t even check them after we got the news… Oh, damn… Ma…” She sniffled, shaking a little, “Even in an accident she’s still trying to assure us everything’s okay…”

Sunset wiped her eyes and moved to Sonata’s phone. There were four unread text messages. All of them from Adagio.

‘SONA, MOMMY GOT INTO AN ACCIDENT. SHE’S GONNA BE A LITTLE LATE. BE GOOD FOR TWILIGHT, PLEASE.’

‘SONA, MOMMY’S AT CANTERLOT TRIAGE HOSPITAL. THE DOCTORS KEEP TRYING TO TAKE HER PHONE, CAN YOU BELIEVE THESE QUACKS?’

‘SONA, MOMMY MIGHT BE HERE LONGER THAN SHE THOUGHT SHE WOULD. SEE IF ASY CAN DRIVE YOU GIRLS HOME, PLEASE?’

‘Sona… Mommy loves you… I love you so much...’

There was silence in the room, as Sonata stared at both Sunset and her phone, in complete awe alongside her tears falling. Aria squeezed her shoulder, then peered at the phone, seeing the time when the last text was sent. She too began to cry softly, then looked up at her.

“Sonata… that last one… it came just an hour before you got that call. ...Don’t you see? Ma… wanted to take one last second to tell you she loved you… To make it easier,” She smiled sadly, wiping her eyes.

Sonata shook, letting out little whimpers. She then threw her arms around Sunset, beginning to sob brokenheartedly, “M-Mommyyyy…!”

Sunset patted Sonata’s back as she continued to stare at the screen of Sonata’s phone. It was like she was watching Adagio slowly come to terms with the fact that she was going to die. That was probably why she and Aria didn’t receive similar messages. The doctor had said that she’d spent her last waking moments trying to type on her phone.

Sunset looked back at her phone and Aria’s phone. Adagio had tried for hours to get ahold of them, and they didn’t pick up once. She bit her knuckles as the tears began streaming down her face.

Aria sniffled, realizing this as well, “Damn… I even knew she was trying to reach me. Figured it was just, ‘Oh, I’ll be there soon’ or whatever. Didn’t even think about it. I even put my phone on vibrate…”

Sunset stared at the screen for a few more seconds… and then she broke. She disentangled herself from both Sonata and Aria and ran full-tilt into her bedroom, slamming the door shut behind her as she collapsed onto her bed. She pulled her knees up to her chest and started sobbing uncontrollably.

Aria watched her go through her tears, as did Sonata, both feeling worried. They exchanged glances, then proceeded to sob themselves. Next Chapter: Living Room! Right Now! Estimated time remaining: 1 Hour, 54 Minutes