The sun was setting late again. Its light filtered through the blinds on the window, leaving an incidental stripped pattern behind on the room’s interior. It created a much-needed feeling of ambiance.

The air was stuffy and humid, and the room’s only resident could do nothing to air it out. She was bedridden and the nurses hadn’t checked on her in hours. She should have been annoyed, but she wasn’t. She'd grown used to it by now. Hospitals had become so packed these days, she would be lucky if anyone tended to her today.

So instead she lay still, hot flush after hot flush sweeping her. Her only company were the slow beeps of the medical equipment keeping her alive and her own wheezing breaths. Both of which were growing steadily slower.

Her hair had lessened in both length and color since her youth, but it had yet to go full grey. Her skin hadn’t been as lucky, however, as every natural line or crease had grown into a wrinkle, and she a series of unattractive blotches dotted about her being.

Death was closing in on her, she was well aware.

She always pictured it happening in a blaze of glory or peacefully in her sleep. Never a whimper. But all she got was this hot and sweaty room, and nothing but the awareness of death's presence dangling before her.

The earth had gone to shit. It hadn’t been triggered by a lone event, but a mixture of them. The divide between the rich and the poor had grown to such a degree that the two were practically different races. There were wars – none of them full-scale – but all of them damaging. Cities were either super-technologically-advanced or desolate wastelands, with the latter considerably outnumbering the former. Smaller cities and towns even abandoned the idea of collected civilization altogether and created their own independent mini-states. States which would then fight each other over territory, supplies and numbers… the usual excuses for war.

Global warming took the earth’s atmosphere. Any species on the weaker end of the conservation status disappeared, deserts swallowed up towns and entire countries sank into the sea. And although she hadn’t experienced it first hand, she had no trouble believing the rumors that most of the East required gas masks to even leave the house.

The apocalypse happened under every bodies’ noses and nobody had raised a finger to stop it. There was no reversing the damage. This was their future, and the whimper that would be the end of humanity’s existence was close on the horizon.

She wasn’t upset to be dying. In fact, she almost wished it had come sooner. She had outlived her time, and the world that now existed was but a shell of what it once was.

Her friends and her family had all gone now, too. As each of them had passed they’d taken a part of her with them. Now completely alone, she merely existed. The performance was finished, yet here she remained, watching the empty stage. Campaign mode was over but she kept playing. Party was long over and but she refused to leave.

She’d grieved them, of course. Cried over many graves. She’d grown numb to it with time. She didn’t know if it was her altered biology that allowed her to live longer, or if she was just unlucky. She’d been trapped in this run-down hospital for months and hadn’t received had a single visitor.

She didn’t mind. She was lonely, but had her peace.

So now she just lay, waiting. Night after day. Day after night. She almost felt awkward still being alive at this point. Looking forward to death wasn’t something she was feeling, though. She wanted to see her friends again, and in the early days that had been the thought that kept her going. But in the long years since, she’d lost her faith and knew exactly what was waiting her when it finally did happen.

But even then, she wasn’t scared. But she wasn’t quite ready to go, either. She no longer felt strong emotions about either prospect. That was what it was now.

It wasn’t life. It was existence.

She wasn’t sure how long she’d been awake. The days blurred together, and if it wasn’t for the sunlight coming through the blinds she wouldn’t even know if it was day or night.

Her eyes were weak and tired, but they lit up as a voice entered the room.

“Sunset Shimmer?”

Her eyes darted to the side, alerted by the sudden entrance of a new sound. A nurse was poking her head through the ajar door, waiting for her to respond.

Her throat was dry, but she was able to wheeze out a response.

“Yes?”

The nurse nodded and pulled her head from the room, but Sunset could still feel her presence nearby.

“She’s in here,” she caught the nurse mumble.

The door opened fully this time and the nurse re-entered the room. Or somebody entered the room. As they neared the hospital bed it became clear this was someone new.

The person pushed the door closed behind them and approached the bedside table. They flicked it on the lampshade, but the bulb inside remained dead. After a second glance at it, they carried on undeterred and approached the visitor’s seat next to her bed. Before they sat, they finally locked eyes with Sunset.

Sunset gave a sharp inhale of breath, the best attempt at a gasp she could manage.

“Am I dead?”

The person shook their head.

“Not yet.”

They pulled down their hood, releasing a puff of orange curly hair.

“Long time, no see."

Images flashed before her eyes. Canterlot High School. Princess Twilight Sparkle. The Dazzlings.

As her vision focused, more became obvious to her. The person in front of her was not the young teenage girl she once was. She had crow’s feet, her forehead had grown extra lines and there were dark bags under her eyes. She’d gotten older, but not nearly as old as Sunset had.

Yet, the weirdest part about her?

The expression she wore. It wasn’t revengeful or full of hatred, like Sunset would expect it to be. She looked complacent, almost… happy?

Sunset swallowed, trying to find the words to say.

“This is a surprise... Adagio.”

The siren nodded.

“It took a lot to find you, Sunset Shimmer. Seems nobody in Canterlot has heard of you.”

Adagio’s voice was deeper than it used to be.

Sunset nodded.

“I haven’t lived in Canterlot for… nearly forty years.”

Adagio sucked in a deep breath.

“Probably explains that, then.”

The way Adagio spoke, the way she held herself, the way she looked at her, it was nothing like what Sunset expected from the old villain. She spoke to her like an old friend, when in reality they were never so much as acquaintances.

Sunset finally settled on the words she was looking for.

“What do you want?” she asked.

Adagio took a second before acknowledging she heard her words. When she did, she sat back in the chair and took a long, sad sigh.

“You’re dying."

A wave of chills washed over Sunset. An unfamiliar sting of sadness struck her in the heart. An icy dagger. She knew this truth, but this was the first time she’d heard it vocalized. She didn’t let it leak how much the words had just hurt.

“Yeah… I am.”

Adagio nodded solemnly.

“Me too.” After a moment she continued, “But slower than you, I guess. Ponies live long, but Sirens live longer… even after your friends took my powers. Thought I was safe, until I started aging a few years ago. Reckon I’ve still got a good half a century in me, though.”

“I’m sorry,” Sunset replied instinctively.

Adagio shook her head.

“Don’t worry about it. I’ve lived way longer than you, I should be the one apologizing.”

“Is that why you’re here?”

Adagio gave a light smile, and shook her head.

“Heavens no. I’m the one who deserves an apology from you girls, for what you did to us…”

Sunset felt another sting. This time it was one of guilt.

She opened her mouth to respond, but Adagio beat her to it.

“Although… I suppose it’s just you now, isn’t it?”

Sunset fell silent. Hearing all this stuff in her head was fine, but hearing it out loud...

She couldn't move that much in her bed, but did her best equivalent of hanging her head in shame.

“It’s okay. I’m alone too.”

She looked up. Again, there was no sourness in Adagio's tone. It was obvious she wasn't here to gloat. And even though her intentions were still a mystery, Sunset didn't feel as defensive as she thought she should be.

“What happened?”

“Same thing that happened to the rest of this world. Things changed and drifted apart. Aria left...” Adagio paused, as if looking for the words. “And... now Sonata’s gone, too.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Stop apologizing, Jesus.”

The two shared a laugh.

Sunset's throat was dry, and she found her laugh coming out as more of a wheeze, but Adagio didn't seem to notice.

After a few moments of silence, the ex-siren pulled a question out that, from her tone, had very obviously been on her mind.

“What does it feel like?”

Sunset licked her lips.

Her intentions had revealed themselves.

Adagio was scared. For the short time that she had known her, Sunset had never seen her scared. She had never seen her as anything less than smug, villainous and in complete control, actually. Which left her with the question of, had the years really gotten to this villain so harshly, or was she perhaps always like this on the inside?

Neither possibility did anything to ease her guilty conscience.

“It’s kind of boring, to be honest," Sunset replied, half-joking. "I feel like I outlived my usefulness.”

Again, another pause settled over the two. This one didn't last as long however, as even Adagio seemed to realize the intentions behind her visit were now obvious.

“Would you do anything differently?”

"Is that why you're here?" Sunset asked rather bluntly. "You're dying and you want to know what it's like?"

Adagio pursed her lips, silent. She gave a light chuckle.

"Can you blame me? I'm scared and on my own, and you're the only other Equestrian left."

Even when admitting she was frightened, Adagio still managed to sound condescending. Sunset got a vague feeling of nostalgia from it.

"Nobody alive knows me like you do," she continued.

"I don't know you," Sunset shot back.

"Which is a shame, really... Because... heck, maybe if we'd have known it would end up this way... Well then, maybe things could have been different."

There was something ever increasing in Adagio's tone that was beginning to unnerve Sunset.

"Different how?"

Adagio shrugged, shifting around in her seat.

"I don't know. Could have been friends, or something," she shrugged.

If Sunset had been in any fitter state, she'd have had to sit down. She'd never imagine she'd be here, with Adagio, having this conversation. If her earlier reminiscing hadn't made her feel old, this certainly did.

"There is some stuff I wish I'd done differently," Sunset finally answered. "Wish I’d have seen my mom more. And made more of an effort to keep in contact with people. Traveled more, too, I guess.”

Adagio gave a small smile.

“Are you happy?”

Sunset sighed. She had often asked herself that same question.

“I don’t know," she said plainly. "I lived, though. I think I'm kind of past the point of caring if it was fun or not. But I can say that I lived a long life, and had a load of friends, and... well, that's more than some people can say. What about you?”

Adagio laughed, but it wasn't a cheerful one.

“I wouldn’t even know how to answer that."

Feeling the silence settle in again, Sunset decided it was her time to lead.

“I’m sorry you’re alone, Adagio. I can’t offer you much consolation, but… Well, yeah. Maybe we could have been friends. It's not too late to start, I mean. You’re welcome to stay for a while." She then suddenly added, “I could use the company…”

Adagio held her hand up, and shook her head.

“Thank you, but no. I just wanted to connect with someone before I left."

“Left for where?”

She gave a bemused smile.

“Like I said Sunset, I’ve lived a long time. I’m ready to go, if you catch my drift."

When Sunset's confused expression didn't falter, Adagio sighed.

The tone of the sigh was enough to indicate it's meaning.

“Ah…”

Sunset didn't know how to respond to that.

She didn't know Adagio, and the only relationship she'd had with her was as an enemy. Truth be told, realistically, shouldn't be too bothered about that statement. Yet... hearing anybody vocalise that statement, even if she was a villain, was enough to make the frequency of Sunset's life support increase.

“Hey, don’t worry about it," Adagio soothed, placing a hand near Sunset's leg. "It's nothing dark. I’ve just… well, as you said… outlived my usefulness. I doubt there’s much else on the other side, but… it’s worth a check, I suppose.”

Those words hung, heavy in the air. Adagio had just summed up the feelings Sunset had been toying with for years now, and all in a single sentence. Hearing them out loud made them sound so much more logical and simple.

Sunset found herself staring at Adagio.

She wasn't looking at a villain, a siren, or the high-school enemy of her and her friends. She was looking at somebody who knew what it felt like. They had both lived their lives, and ended up not only in this same place at the same time, but in the same situation.

For the first time in years, Sunset felt the sting of how lonely she truly was.

“Can I come with you?”

Adagio pulled her head back. She had shock written across her face, but that relaxed quickly.

“Only if you’re sure?”

Sunset nodded her head as much as she could, which wasn't a lot.

“I’ve been sure for a while. I was just... too scared to go alone.”

“I can relate to that.”

Adagio took Sunset's hand in her own.

A wave of shivers swept over Sunset. This was the most human contact she'd had since the nurse helped her to this bed months ago.

Adagio closed her eyes and hunched forward, leaning on Sunset.

"One last question. Do you ever wish you could start again?”

“All the time."

Outside, the sun was shrinking. The light in the room around them was beginning to fade.

"There’s another way."

"What?"

"We could go home. Their world can't be worse than ours. We could start again... even if it won't be for long."

“This world is my home... and the portal to Equestria was destroyed years ago."

“But now there are two of us?”

Sunset waited for Adagio to follow up her statement, but none came.

“What are you saying?”

“Life..." Adagio's voice was suddenly cracking,"...life leads you so many different ways. You think it’s going to be a straightforward path to getting what you want, but really it’s a twisting, turning road with false starts, and you don't realize this until you're already lost in it all. And then, then you get so lost trying to find your way back to where you were you forget you where you were even trying to be in the first place. I never imagined I'd be here. Not with you, not at this time. But here I am. Nothing is likely, yet everything is."

For as little sense as Adagio's words made, Sunset understood her perfectly.

“You really think we could go back to Equestria if we tried together?”

Sunset felt a tear drop onto her hand.

“I think… I think that together, we can go onto what’s next. I never imagined it would be this way but... Well, do you still want to come with me?”

Sunset wet her dry lips. She squeezed Adagio's hand.

“I do.”

Later that evening, a villain and hero departed from this world. Not as enemies, but equals.

It was a happy ending.