Care and Circumstance
When Adagio finally pulled up in their driveway, the three of them wasted no time in hurrying their companion inside. There wasn’t any argument over whose room Sunset would stay in while she recovered; despite it being on the second floor, Adagio’s room was by far the largest and most comfortable to her tastes, as even reformed she still preferred to live in luxury.
While Aria went to get their medical supplies, Sonata left downstairs to prepare food for whenever their guest would awaken--though they didn’t think it would be any time soon. Adagio, meanwhile, went about getting Sunset some more comfortable clothes. She was a bit smaller than Sunset (much to her chagrin) but found something for the teen to wear that wasn’t too revealing and began to switch out her attire.
Up close, Adagio was able to see that even though Sunset was unconscious, her sleep appeared to be fitful and uncomfortable, if her clenched teeth and distressed face seemed to be any indication. She placed a hand on Sunset’s head briefly before pulling back. Still burning. She sucked her teeth in annoyance, wondering what was taking Aria so long. Adagio had never seen an illness this severe, save for some instances of the flu and old illnesses in history that had since died out. She was frankly lucky that she and her sisters had never been unfortunate enough to catch any of them when they were banished to this world; without the abundance of magic to enable their quick recovery as it had in Equestria, they would have surely perished.
Thank the goddess for modern medicine.
Still, this looked nothing like anything she’d seen before. She would have acted upon her first instinct and taken Sunset to the hospital where she knew the girl could be checked over thoroughly, but a past conversation with Sunset about being a person in this world that didn’t legally ‘exist’ reminded Adagio of the possible consequences of taking her sick friend to one.
Approaching footsteps alerted Adagio to her sister finally returning. Aria’s arms were laden with towels, a bag that she knew carried varying cold and flu medications and ointments, bottles of water, a large bowl and other items she couldn’t make out.
“How is she?” Aria asked upon setting everything down.
“Not well,” she sighed in return. “Honestly, how this girl managed to get through most of the school day like she did is nothing short of a miracle. The fact that no one noticed her condition before we did, is even more appalling.”
“Hmph. You know Crystal Preppers always have their heads up their own asses. Doesn’t surprise me they wouldn’t have cared or noticed what another person was going through.” The purple siren had poured water in a glass to set on the side table, while wetting another that Adagio then used to dab at Sunset’s forehead. It seemed to have an immediate effect on the teen when she leaned into the cool dampness with a sigh, before letting out a series of hacking coughs.
“Damn. Whatever the hell Sunny’s caught looks bad. Are you sure we can’t take her to a doctor or something?”
“As much as I know it would help, we can’t be sure what would happen should it be discovered that Sunset is not from here, let alone not originally human. What they would do to her. You remember the Trials. Humans are so quick to resort to hatred and violence against things they don’t understand--that’s why it was so easy to feed. We don’t do that now, but…” Adagio continued to lightly dab at reddened cheeks, forehead and neck.
“Yeah, I know,” Aria grunted. “Still doesn’t mean we shouldn’t try. But whatever. I’ve followed you for this long Dagi. I’m not gonna throw a fit over this.” She looked down at Sunset’s prone figure with a huff.
“Hmmm? What’s this? My rough and tumble, argumentative sister isn’t going to question me for once. My my, you really are different now,” Adagio teased. She heard Aria chuff annoyedly, and her expression softened. She folded the small rag to set on Sunset’s forehead before reaching to Aria and bringing their heads close enough to lightly bump against another. They both closed their eyes and savored this rare moment of affection between the two before Adagio finally broke the silence.
“Go help Sonata with dinner. I’ll follow you down soon.”
“Alright. Don’t take too long though.” Aria turned to leave, but right before exiting the room, turned with a cheeky smirk and added, “By the way. You can play the good doctor all you want. Just don't think you’re gonna hog her all to yourself while she’s here, ‘mkay Dagi. You know how jealous Sonata can get,” she teased before ducking out.
A furious blush was all Adagio could muster.
Sunset groaned quietly and she slowly woke. She didn’t open her eyes to look around just yet--the last time was lesson enough. Instead, she tried to feel for her surroundings first, noticing the plushness of what she was currently resting on. Thick yet conforming pillows surrounded her head and upper back providing more comfort than she had ever felt on her brick back home, and she could feel a heavy blanket draped up to her shoulders and chin. Already she knew that this wasn’t her bed or her room for that matter. There wasn’t an ever lingering smell of must and old wood, but of cinnamon. She almost lost herself in the comfort of her environment, only slightly worried that she didn’t know where she was currently, only acknowledging the fact that wherever she was, felt amazing.
Speaking of feeling things, Sunset was surprised to find that she actually wasn’t feeling as ill as she had been earlier. Her headache had toned down tremendously, her temperature--that had fluctuated wildly between hot and cold over the course of the day-- was finally normalizing, and she no longer felt like hurling the contents of her empty stomach. Deciding it was safe to, she opened her eyes and smiled when the light proved little more than a dull annoyance--still there but not as oppressing.
Looking around at the room she was currently occupying, Sunet found herself on a large, king size four poster bed. Placed in the middle of the room, the ceiling above held a hook that suspended a sheer purple canopy. Slowly moving her still sore body, more of the room became visible. Slight burgundy and purple paint coated the walls--an elegant mix--that matched with much of the space’s antique style furniture. There was a mahogany dresser, makeup station with mirror, and even a fainting couch in the corner. The only thing that seemed out of touch with the rest of the set was the large flat screen television mounted on the opposite wall. A bay window was to her left side that overlooked rows of nice houses in the distance, and on the right was what looked like a bathroom.
Whoever this is really likes to live in style. How did I get here anyway? I remember getting to school, and the rest kinda blurs...I know I was talking to--
“Sunset!”
Jolted up by the exclamation of her name, Sunset had little time to prepare for the collision that all but knocked her back into the mattress. Though she was unable to put up much of a struggle against her assailant, a brief glance of light and navy blue hair identified her ‘attacher’ as the youngest of the siren trio.
“S-Sunset! You’re finally awake,” Sonata wailed. “We were so worried when you didn’t wake up for days and then it looked like you got sicker than you already were--but you’re okay! You’re okay, right?” She stopped nuzzling into the stunned red head’s shoulder and looked up with large, watery eyes, still sniffling. Sunset was at a loss for how to proceed at first. She was still unused to spontaneous and emotional displays of physical affection despite hanging with Pinkie Pie at one point, and the girl was known for them. Eventually though, Sunset relaxed and brought her arms around the sobbing girl.
“Heh, I’m fine Sonata. Still not great but, fine. I have to know though. This is your place? How did I--wait. Days?”
“Yo! I heard shouting up here, what the he-oh! ‘Sup pony girl. So you finally decided to get your ass up.” Aria Blaze stood at the door’s entrance, her annoyed grimace turning into one of shock, relief and finally into her usual cocky smirk.
“Uh, I wouldn’t say that I can control waking up from a fainting spell.”
“You know what I mean. And Sonata, you wanna think about letting her go sometime soon,” Aria directed to her younger sister. Said girl had taken to once more burying her face into the crook of Sunset’s neck and shoulder, small hiccups escaping every now and then. She sighed before addressing Sunset, who was still on the bed. Aria’s gaze hardened slightly.
“You know you had us worried right? What were you thinking showing up to school as bad as you were?”
A guilty feeling spread through Sunset’s stomach and looked down shamefully. She really hadn’t meant for this to happen. Quite the opposite actually. She hated feeling like a burden to other people and their emotions. Staying home in Sunset’s mind would have lead to these three worrying about her then and she had wanted to avoid that. But it looked like she did it anyway.
“Sorry,” she mumbled.
“Hey hey. What’s with the dejected look. You were sick--still are--and what you did was majorly stupid,” she smiled, “but what are you apologizing for. If you think you’re inconveniencing us or something, don’t worry about it. We wanted to help out.” Aria over the course of her little speech had made her way closer to Sunset’s position on the bed. The girl surprised Sunset by kneeling before her and gazing up at her with a soft look, reaching around Sonata and laying a comforting hand on Sunset’s arm. “ Besides, it’s not like we’re learning anything else from this school. We’ve got more life experience and booksmarts than most people can ever claim to.”
Sunset supposed that alleviated her guilt a bit. So she focused on asking, “Where exactly am I? I’m guessing this must be your house, but I can’t remember how I got here. I think I was too out of it and fainted before noticing anything else. Also, Sonata. You said I’ve been here for days! What happened to me? And where’s Adagio?”
“Well,” Aria began, “as soon as we got you in the car, you started mumbling some stuff--about us being mad at you or something--before you knocked out. We drove you here to our home here in Hoovington Heights where over the course of three day--yes, three,” she added at Sunset’s incredulous look, “we’ve been taking shifts looking after you. You were pretty bad Sunshine. I almost freaked and ended up taking you to a hospital.” Aria slowly began peeling her koala of a sister away from Sunset who had stiffened in anxiety after hearing that. Sonata provided little struggle and began wiping her eyes while the purple siren slowly stroked the girl’s hair in a calming motion. “Adagio left for school awhile ago. She’s gonna be back, but just went to explain the situation and get our assignments for the next week or so.”
“You guys, this--it’s too much. Thank you for what you’ve done for me, really, but I don’t want to intrude on you. You’ve done more than you really need to. I can go…”
“Go where exactly?” The abrupt addition to the conversation had all three girls turn to face Adagio, who had seemed to suddenly appear in the doorway, arms crossed and hips cocked to the side in her confident pose. She made her way over to the stunned group. On her face was a smile, but it didn’t reach her eyes. As a matter of fact, their wine red color seemed even more piercing than they normally were. Sunset could feel a shiver run down her spine, but not from her sickness.
“Where were you thinking of going Sunset? Home? We could have brought you there in the first place if you would have preferred, but the fact that you fainted on us earlier, and that even if you hadn’t, we have no idea where you live limited our options if you can imagine.”
“Uh-um, I-,” Sunset tried to speak,
“You know, when Dean Cadance was helping me get our work together, and yours, I asked if she wouldn’t mind sharing your information to bring some of your things over while you recovered. All I was able to get was that there was nothing on file--just that you live alone, which I thought was odd. I mean, you come to school everyday from somewhere right? But as I understand, you told us you didn’t have a family in this world and preferred to live on your own whenever we asked.You were more dodgy than anything whenever this particular topic was brought up.”
Sunset began to shake in fear, She couldn’t have known, could she? Sunset noticed Aria and Sonata also looking at her in confusion as the story was told and gulped.
“I also know that you don’t have a job. You told us as much in another conversation, so that means no source of income and you aren’t a part of any needs programs that I’m aware of.” she leaned closer to Sunset’s stunned face. Her expression had thinned out from the hard mask of annoyance and was almost sad. “So I’m going to ask again Sunset. Where were you planning on going--if you even could considering you still aren’t well enough to be doing much currently.”
“I-I...I mean, I have somewhere to go, if that’s what you’re asking--”
“It’s not. I asked where were you going.”
Okay, so this situation wasn’t ideal. Sunset had done all she could to avoid this conversation as well as she could. Otherwise, she knew questions would be asked and she’d at worst be pitied by others. If there was anything Sunset Shimmer hated more than feeling weak, it was being pitied. She’d being doing well on her own. She didn’t like where she was but it was enough for what she needed. She’d been fine, slowly doing better since she first came here. Unbidden, a wave of annoyance began to rise in her. What the hell did it matter to these three where she lived? It wasn’t any of their business.
“Why do you need to know, huh? I don’t need anyone worrying over me.”
“Well it seems as though that worry has been well placed. Otherwise you’d still be unconscious, at school and with no one really caring that you were unwell. Myself, the girls and Dean Cadance care though, and whether you like it or not, we want to help. We can’t though if you won’t let us,” Adagio argued, ignoring her attitude.
Sunset grit her teeth, trying not to lose anymore of her cool. These girls--she loved them. They were close to her. Closer than most people she let in throughout her life. Definitely more than the Rainbooms ever were or made an attempt to be. She supposed she could trust them, but she was so independent. It was hard to let people in after being left alone so many times since she was a filly on Equestria and even as a human.
Breath in. Breathe out.
Breathe in. Breathe out.
For some reason, it was harder than normal to control that anger. To reign in the emotions she so desperately wanted to let out at times. But the sirens, her..friends. They seemed to want nothing more to help her. Taking in one last calming breath, she answered, though it was low and resigned.
“I guess you can say I don’t have a traditional home..per se…”
“What does that mean. The hell do you mean traditional home--”
“Aria. Let her finish,” Sonata hissed. Rarely did the bubbly girl get mad, so sensing the weight of her words, the purple siren shut her mouth and crossed her arms with a huff. Sunset looked up briefly at the three of them, before continuing.
“What I mean is, coming into this world from Equestria, I didn’t have much. I was kicked out of the castle for my insolence and escaped so quickly...I-I didn’t have time to bring any of my possessions really. The term nothing but the clothes on my back could definitely apply to me when I came here.” She swallowed thickly. “No money, no food, no way to get a job--as I quickly found, you can’t get far in this world without legitimate identification, and being for all intents and purposes an illegal alien made this harder than it needed to be.” She could feel the eyes of her three companions bore into her head as she poured her heart out. “Well, back then I was cruel, an all around asshole, and incredibly stubborn. There was no way it was going to bring down Sunset Shimmer. So I walked around for a bit. All through the city. Eventually, I found an abandoned warehouse and basically turned it into my base of operations. It had basically everything I needed at the time. And with my delusions of returning to Equestria with an army to get my revenge, I didn’t think I’d be here long.”
A tear slipped passed her eye, but she felt a hand wipe it away. Adagio was giving her a look of encouragement, but Sunset could still see heartache, and a bit of anger there as well.
“But then, the Fall Formal happened. I got the sense knocked back into me and felt that if anything, I didn’t deserve to return after what I’d done. I resolved to stay here, maybe work on myself a bit. That was when Twilight assigned her little watchdogs to be my friends--and you know what happened with that. But anyway, I had nowhere else but that warehouse. The money I got was from when I was a bully and extorted it from people. Even then I gave it all back afterwards. I used the school for most of my needs like food. But there was still plumbing and heating--not new by any stretch of the imagination--but I made it work. I’ve been there since. It was why I didn’t want to share where I lived. I knew it would cause too many questions. I was fine on my own, and I knew it wasn’t ideal but it’s all I’ve known since coming here…” By now, tears had slowly begun to fall. She had made to wipe them away but more kept falling, and she gave up after the first few times.
The sirens were quiet. What they just heard was almost unreal. Their friend always seemed so put together that there hadn’t seemed any need to worry. But this recent incident made them think otherwise. As one, they embraced the crying former unicorn. She was still sick, so her so sobs were interrupted every now and then by a congested cough. They stayed that way for a while, but unbeknownst to Sunset, the trio met eyes above her head, seeming to come to some kind of unspoken agreement. Adagio took the initiative to say it out loud though.
“You know, Sunset. Now that we are aware your situation, we’re hesitant to let you return to that place.” She could feel the girl stiffen beneath her, but her cries refused to stop. So the eldest among them just rubbed her back in a comforting gesture. “We can’t have you there, especially with how you are now. Regardless of your independence, I think we would all,” gesturing to herself and the girls, “would feel better if you had someone to look out for you. We have the space so...we would like it if...you’d take us up on our offer.”
“What offer. What are you talking about?”
“We’d like it, Sunset Shimmer, if you would live with us.”
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when you say "Siren x Sunset fluff", do you mean Sunset gets one of the trio or all three as special someponies?
I'm hoping all three. (Crossing fingers)
9114638
I think you know. No need to cross fingers
The fluff has strong here, especially with Sonata snuggling up Sunset, when she woke up!
I very much enjoyed this chapter. While the whole werewolf story line looks like it will be interesting I'm enjoying the Siren x Sunset fluff at least as much and I hope we'll be seeing a lot more of it throughout the story.
Fluffy fluff is fluffy.
Also, Sonata is best glomp torpedo.
Is... It weird... That I want... To give... The Dazzlings... A... High five.
(Sorry... Came home... From... Football... Practice.)
I LOVE this!!! The way you write Sunset and the Sirens is absolutely adorable! Can’t wait to see what else you have in store
More fillers and yet another lesbian story.
9183167
I know. Isn’t it great?