> Fluffy Fever
>  by Eyeswirl the Weirded
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Chapter 1: The Doctor Is In!
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ugh.

Sometimes there were no better words. One word. No one better word. Whatever. Also one word. Was 'whatever' a better word than the one word she was using now? Probably not, it just didn't have the same punch. Whatever.

Uggh.

...

UGH!

Lying on her bed, Sunset Shimmer flopped over onto her stomach, restless. She'd been lying here for the better part of... an hour? Two? She'd have to get today's homework from her friends, but she could probably get through most of it in a matter of minutes. When this fever went away, at least. 

Yes, Sunset was sick, which left her in the bedroom of her little apartment. Her room was small, about a third of the floor taken up by her bed alone, but it had more than enough space for her, personally. It was usually warm enough, she never saw rats or anything, never heard gunfire from outside her window, and rent was cheap enough that she could get by with her online job. She never did thank Flash for finding this place for her, something she really needed to fix sooner or later.

Funny how I only think about stuff like that when getting up to do it isn't a great idea.

She'd have gone to school anyway, some time ago, but having friends that said not to out of concern for her health was a real game-changer. It was nice, too, the being-cared-about thing that Twilight left her with. She tried to thank her for that, the first time Sunset saw her since getting crater'd, but then Twilight gave her that weird don't-know-if-I-trust-you look when she tried to help her up and that kind of hurt and made things awkward. Sunset got around to it later with the journal, though.

Anyway, in the spirit of not wanting anyone to worry, she texted Pinkie Pie about fifteen minutes after she'd determined that she was sick, not just suffering some kind of morning funk. With the assurance that the message would be passed to her friends, Sunset had flopped back onto her bed, never having even changed from her pink pajamas. This brought her to the present time.

Ugh. Being sick sucks.

Maybe the worst part, other than the coughing, the sneezing, the tiredness, and occasional bouts of that gross, sticky feeling that came with sweating under the covers, was the way the fever messed with her head. Her pounding, hundred-pounds-heavier head. It wasn't constant, but she was even starting to get that thing where you see and hear stu-hallucinate! She was even hallucinating a little while still awa-fever dream! She was having little fever dreams, hearing noises and her vision going all wibbly-wobbly until she looked at it. The thing that was going wibbly-wobbly. Like her brain. It happened less when she stayed still, but that didn't explain why she heard footsteps from the ceiling now. 

Think I just heard my door open. Fever must be worse than I thought.

Glancing around her room, she saw a big, fluffy, fluff-fluff that walked like a man. Also, Adagio was standing over her bed, doing that sassy hand-on-my-hip-because-I'm-just-girly-enough-to-get-away-with-it pose. And smirking. Dagi liked to smirk.

Wait, Adagio? Here? Fever must be worse than I thought.

"Good morning, Sunset Shimmer."

I'm even hearing her voice. Fever must be worse than I thought.

"As I recall," spoke the vision, "I've accrued something of a... a debt, with you. Fortunately, I heard all about your condition, and I think it's time we settled the score."

With the realization that this was probably the real Adagio Dazzle, Sunset's eyes widened in horror. She's... She can't be, I thought we were- but, she never actually said she was over what happened at the Battle, does that mean-

"So," Adagio said with a little smile as she sat on the bed, "how can I help you get better?" Sunset stared back at her, silent. "...You are physically ill, correct? This isn't just a ruse to skip school today?"

Oh.

"Eh, n-no, but..." Sunset slowly sat up, confusion clear in her face. "What are you doing here?"

"As I just answered that question, I'm going to pretend you said 'How did you know I was sick?' Answer: Rarity mentioned it when she called earlier this morning."

"She called you?"

"We stay in touch, yes."

Too scared to ask if this meant Adagio had really known where she lived and aware that it was a moot question now anyway, Sunset opted to ask something else. "You finally got a phone? Remind me to ask the number when I've got something to write on. And with. And on."

Amused, Adagio smiled a little wider. "You said 'on' twice, silly."

Sunset folded her arms and made a scowly-face. "I'm not silly!" She glanced away, her brain warming up enough to think things again. "And, if you stay here, won't you just get sick too?"

"I keep warm and get enough sleep, failure to do that alone being the main reason immune systems falter. Energy in the body and all. On that note, what have you been up to recently?"

"I, uh," Sunset broke eye-contact, "just, some, stuff that kept me up a little later than usual the past few days."

Adagio smirked again. "Oh? And what was it that kept your attention so late into the night, leaving you so exhausted?"

Sunset angry-pouted at the implication. "I just wasn't sleeping that well."

"Mmhm. What was his name?"

Quickly getting up to lean forward, Sunset scowled through a furious blush. "I WASN'T up all night having sex with some guy, okay?!"

Adagio giggled, gently pressing Sunset back down with a hand on her shoulder. "Alright, alright, I was just kidding." To poke her about not having said it wasn't with some girl was an obvious choice, but her patient was looking frazzled as it was.

Sunset sighed as she reclined backward, already regretting having raised her voice enough to send another lance of pain into the center of her brain. She was startled by Adagio leaning in much closer. "H-hey, what-?!"

Gently holding Sunset by one shoulder, Adagio picked up a pillow and slid it between Sunset and the headboard, slowly resting the sick girl against it. She spoke softly, smiling a little. "Better?"

It wasn't quite warm, fluffy heaven, but it was comfortable. "Y-yea, thanks."

Standing up, Adagio looked around. "You could use a little more cushioning, best to minimize discomfort when you're ill. Do you have any other pillows or a thick quilt I could fold up?"

Sunset managed a nod. "Hallway closet." She sat in silence as Adagio left her alone for a moment. The truth behind her late nights was that she had spent maybe a little too much time scanning various social networks for any info about what the Dazzlings had been up to in the last week and a half since that virtual heist. While she did acquire some funny stuff to talk about with Rarity, it looked like none of them had accounts anywhere, so her efforts usually didn't amount to much more than snippets of rumor and gossip about the trio from other people. 

And it's not stalking, I just wanna make sure they stay out of trouble! That's what Twilight wanted me to do, right?

It was. Twilight even closed every note to her with 'P.S.; Please try to keep the sirens out of trouble.' 

Well, as one was bringing her the bundled-up winter quilt, that she was here at all because she wanted to help Sunset get better of her own volition, mission accomplished? Having the leader of the Dazzlings playing nursemaid for her had to mean something in terms of reform. On that note, she wondered what the other two were up to right about now.


---


Resting on her knees on the living room floor of the sirens' house, Sonata slowly donned a welding mask before picking up a hammer in both hands. Lifting it into the air, she quickly brought it down on the bubble-wrap laid out in front of her, screaming with berserker rage until every last pouch of air-packed plastic was burst. When it was done, she lifted the mask.

"Time?"

Aria looked at the stopwatch with mild interest. "6.6 seconds."

Furrowing her brows, Sonata brought the hammer down on the already-mashed plastic in frustration. Then she looked around curiously. "Hey, where's Dagi? She'd usually be telling us to 'cut this psychotic, noisy crap out' by now."

As she rolled out another sheet of bubble-wrap on the floor, Aria shrugged. "Note said she was 'securing the loyalty of our fourth member for the simulations.' Probably a good idea, since the guy in charge specifically wanted the four of us."

Lowering the welding mask again, Sonata tilted her head. "Why?"

"I'unno, but as long as we're getting paid to kill stuff, I'm not about to complain."

"Okay, but Sunny's pretty nice, y'know? Couldn't we just ask her to come along?"

"Maybe, but you know how Miss Fuzzlewuzzums is about going that extra mile for a plan." Stepping back to a safer distance, Aria raised the stopwatch again. "Ready?"

Taking a second to jot something down on her handy-dandy notepad, Sonata again raised the hammer. "Ready!"


> Chapter 2: Check-Up
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Adagio came back with the quilt, resting a knee on the bed to lean over and maneuver it behind Sunset as a big, soft super-pillow. It was almost like Sunset had Adagio's hair! Despite feeling a little cozier, Sunset frowned, looking away.

"Uh... I should probably say 'sorry.'"

Humoring her, Adagio raised an eyebrow. "Why is that?"

Sunset took a breath. "When you first got here, I kinda thought you were gonna do something... not nice. Possibly painful." The sudden, incredulous, possibly annoyed look made her defensive. "Part of it is your face, I mean, I-I can't help it if that slasher smile you're always sporting looks a little threatening," realizing that that was a not-nice thing to say, she quickly backpedaled, "I mean, not that I'm saying you look scary all the time, or that there's anything wrong with your teeth, what kind of toothpaste do you use? Because, they're actually very nice, no matter how you smile!"

In response to Adagio's increasingly bewildered look, she found herself grinning sheepishly. What the Hell am I saying?! 

Unfortunately, her mouth didn't slow down where her brain did. "It's like I said back in Fatbear's; you still have your face going for you because you're good at smiling and that's good for dealing with people, even when you're threatening them! Not that I think you're threatening me now, but when you walked in you looked a little mua-ha-ha about it," her voice started going squeaky as she ran out of breath during the stream of verbal vomit, "so I kinda-sorta might have jumped to conclusions -which I'm sorry about- in thinking you were gonna duct-tape me to the ceiling or something as part of that 'revenge' you warned me about last week while I wastooweaktodefendmyselfsosorryaboutthat?" She sucked in a deep breath.

There was a pause as Adagio stared at her wide-eyed. "...If I understood that correctly; I scared you a little when I first got here, you're now aware that I mean no harm, and," there was a tiny smirk, "you can't get enough of my smile?" She took Sunset burying her face in the covers as a collective "yes," which drew a chuckle. Then, thinking about it, she frowned. "You've really been expecting some kind of revenge for the last week or so?" 

Peeking out from the covers, Sunset nodded, her reply partly muffled. "Sorry. I know I shouldn't expect so little from a friend-" repaying favors or not, the word didn't feel like a stretch anymore, "-but, I guess..." She shrugged. "I don't know, something about the idea of you trying to get one over on me gets me all paranoid, like it's a game I really don't wanna lose."

Adagio tilted her head a little. "Is this why you acted so strangely around me for the duration of our deal? Sitting a few seats away from me at lunch, giving me odd looks in hallways, and just generally staying out of arm's reach?" She blinked, talking quicker than necessary herself for a moment. "Not that I wanted you in arm's reach or anything, but it does seem like strange behavior, more-so for someone that supposedly wanted me, Aria, and Sonata to attend classes."

To all of that, Sunset just nodded. "I guess this is something I do with all my friends at first; expect them to pull some kind of prank on me, be ready to dodge it and get them back as soon as possible, and feel like a complete tool when it turns out they never had anything like that in mind. So, again, sorry I didn't trust you."

Adagio stared back at her for a moment, then snorted, covered her mouth with a hand, and turned away in a thin attempt to hide her giggles. 

Even if it was possibly at her own expense, Sunset smiled a little too. "What? Did I say something funny?" She had to wait until the giggling siren could compose herself enough to reply.

Adagio offered a shaky smile. "Ih-hit's j-just, I can relate, you know?"

Memory of their discussion following the heist hit Sunset like a shovel to the face. "Ohh!" She giggled, little prickles of pain reminding her of her fever. "Yea, I guess you would. Still no hotsauce pans or thumbtack surprises, I hope?"

"Electrified thumbtack surprises, but no, thankfully no pranks. Well, not directed at me, anyway." Sunset's raised eyebrow urged her to go on. "Sonata tried to get Aria to stub her toe on a brick by leaving it just outside her bedroom door the other day, but to measure where exactly to leave it for the best chance of that, she tried dropping it half an inch in front of her foot. Three guesses how that turned out."

Sunset rolled her eyes and smiled. "Do Aria's pranks ever backfire?"

"Sometimes. The most recent was about a month ago, when she tried to leave a bucket of glue over Sonata's door and somehow got her hands stuck together, palm-to-palm." Sunset was already snickering, but there was more. "It actually turned out pretty well for her, once she decided to own it, put on a heavy robe, and go around acting like she was a monk until we could get the glue off."

Howling with head-pain-inducing laughter for all of four seconds, Sunset quickly fell into a coughing fit, but she didn't lose her smile. "I-I'm gues-" she cleared her throat, "I'm guessing you had to 'patch them up' both times?"

Adagio let out a mock-beleagured sigh. "And many times since. On that note, do you need anything right now?"

"Umm..." She couldn't think of anything, but the prospect of being left by herself again wasn't an appealing one. "I don't think so," she said with a hopeful smile, "but, somebody to talk to would be nice."

Taking the hint, Adagio nodded, leisurely sitting on the bed. "You know, it's funny that you should worry about revenge. Shortly after the Battle of the Bands, all three of us were completely on board with making your lives Hell. Then, a week later, we found our throats had healed nicely and we were able to speak normally again. As that was actually a bigger problem for us than losing our magic, avenging ourselves felt a little less... urgent? The benefits to our new situation had started to sink in by then, you see."

That she was saying all of this with her pleasant expression unchanged was a little disconcerting, but more notable to Sunset was her word choice. "Wait, you guys couldn't talk normally at all after the Battle? It wasn't just your singing voices?"

Rolling her eyes a little, Adagio's cheeks colored brightly. "As I said once before, having an enchanted stone broken while magically attached to you can have unpleasant side effects, like throat damage that left all three of us squeaking and chirping like rodents for about a week." She crossed her arms as she waited, but to her surprise, Sunset only gave her a sad stare. "...Well?"

She understood that Adagio was expecting laughter and mockery, but none came. "It's not funny, Adagio, and I'm sorry that happened to you. I can't imagine how difficult a simple thing like buying food must have been when you sounded like that, let alone getting a job to be able to do it."

With a quiet sigh, the formerly-squeaky siren shrugged. "We got by, Sunset Shimmer."

It was probably better not to ask exactly what they had to do, but Sunset noted in her head to be there if any of the trio ever wanted to talk. "R-right..." She managed a hopeful, if slightly nervous smile. "So, after you guys got better?"

Adagio regained a more relaxed posture. "Revenge was put on the back-burner while we scrambled to secure our living situation. I won't dwell on details, but while that was getting sorted out, I gave Aria and Sonata a chance to come up with something for striking back at your group that wouldn't obviously come back to bite us, whether it actually impacted the lot of you or not. Some of their ideas were, interesting, but that second part proved to be the sticking point."

Looking away as she twirled a lock of orange around a finger, Adagio chuckled. "I kept telling myself that I'd weave something to get our payback when I could hold a job. I think you remember things from there?"

Smiling with relief now, Sunset nodded just gently enough that it didn't make her headache worse. "So, no revenge? Because I distinctly remember that nixing the idea of getting back at anyone for the Fall Formal was an important part of moving on for me." 

The siren gently shook her fluffy head. "No revenge, because between daring rescues and lending a hand when we needed it, you've already helped pay us back, most of all with the heist." Shrugging, Adagio smiled at her, unconsciously validating Sunset's comment from a few moments ago. "I think, with all that's happened in the last couple of months, we're about even. Or," she reached out to boop Sunset's nose, "we will be, once you're healthy again."

Blinking twice at the nose-boopery, Sunset giggled. "Well, it hasn't all been easy, particularly getting blasted in the gut, but I'm glad I could help." The smile faded. "What Sonata did with that drill, though..." The nightmares had stopped with Fluttershy's help, but she still shuddered.

Good-naturedly rolling her eyes, Adagio chuckled. "Yes, Sonata has proven surprisingly good with this world's technology on a few occasions. Not a genius by any measure, but give her time and she can get just about any common machinery going, hence letting her tend the drill." She thoughtfully touched a finger to her chin. "All things considered, that Tank's eyeball was as good a place as any for a drill-bit at the ti-"

Subject change, now!! "W-what got Sonata so into screwing with tech? I mean, don't get me wrong, I had a little discovery phase myself when I got here, but...?"

Adagio dismissively waved a hand. "It's not like taking things apart to see how they work is a hobby of hers, just something she's done a few-..." She trailed off, a few different rows lining up in her head. "Huh. Actually, perhaps what we used to do, breaking up comaraderie and all, does vaguely translate to a fondness for taking things apart, for opening them up and seeing what secrets they kept beneath. You recall that Aria enjoys picking locks?"

Deciding not to ask what the licking was about, Sunset just nodded.

"It might just be that the three of us are still, technically, creatures of chaos, that disrupting any sort of order is almost- but then, why don't I...?" After a minute's contemplation, she gave Sunset an almost apologetic grin. "I, I haven't exactly worked this out yet, but if there is something of the sort influencing our behavior, I don't think it's done anything to me so far."

"Have you ever asked Aria and Sonata why they do those things, respectively?"

"Sonata said it was idle curiosity, and as we were new to the realm when it began, I was in favor of letting her learn whatever she could report back to me with." She deadpanned. "As you may have guessed, this was where I learned to treat cuts, bruises, and electrical burns..."

Sunset giggled at the short series of mental images. "And, Aria?"

"Just likes lockpicking." Sunset was tilting her head in almost disappointed fashion. Adagio shrugged. "That's the long and short of it, she just really likes picking locks, ever since seeing it in a spy movie. I didn't continually ask as she developed this little quirk, so all I know is that it's a relatively serious thing for her now." She chuckled. "Want to keep Aria out of something? Put a cheap, 'easy' lock on it and she'll be convinced that whatever's inside couldn't be worth her time."

Thinking for a minute, Sunset cautiously raised an eyebrow. "...Does she just randomly break into places, or...?"

"If so, she's remained adept enough at staying out of sight that even I don't know about it."

"You gave that answer kind of quickly."

"The question has occurred to me before."

Sunset looked at Adagio, who looked back at her with a completely passive expression. Sunset smiled first, quickly transitioning to contagious giggles, which led to both laughing until Sunset started coughing again, drawing a hand to her forehead in the vain effort to hold back the brain-stinginess.

Adagio composed herself well enough to voice the question. "Feeling alright?"

Still letting the coughing fit run its course, Sunset nodded. "Y-*koff!*-yea, I'm f-fi-*koffkoff!* ...Egh. I'm fine." Ooh, come to think of it... "Well, actually, do you think you could bring me some aspirin? I might still have some in the bathroom cabinet."

Nodding affirmatively, Dr. Dazzle got up to go look, again leaving Sunset alone with her thoughts.
> Chapter 3: Old Symptoms
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

When she got back, Adagio was holding a little jar of pills and a glass of water, which Sunset was happy to take. When Sunset had swallowed the medicine, it was time to take her mind off how long it might take to kick in.

"So, how was school for you guys? I never heard anything about harrassment or hallways of kids laying unconscious, so I'm guessing Aria did okay."

Adagio chuckled, taking her seat on the edge of the bed again. "There were no difficulties, just as you said." 

Well, there was Trixie, who loudly made her intentions to ignore the trio, Adagio in particular, clear to all. Quite a few times through the week, actually. Luckily, ignoring her right back was easy and convenient, so there was no conflict.

Nodding once, Sunset smiled. "I heard you guys did pretty good with the classwork, too. Even Mr. Donkey was impressed!"

Adagio rolled her eyes. "We may not have been able to get glamorous jobs, but that doesn't make us idiots."

"What? No, I just meant that, y'know, since you guys are from Equestria, I was worried you all might have a little trouble. History class had to be a little tricky, right?" There was another tiny dose of that feeling Sunset got when Adagio first showed up today as the siren shot her a triumphant smirk.

"Ohh, don't worry about us, Sunset Shimmer, this world's educational system isn't exactly demanding."

"What do you m- well, I know what you mean, but, it's still-"

"It's still reasonable to think we aliens wouldn't have a good grasp of what we're expected to understand here?" Adagio chuckled, haughtily bobbing her hair once. "Let's just say the three of us had some... advantages."

Sunset stared, dumbstruck. "You seduced Luna and Celestia into giving you an easy time in class."

Adagio nearly face-faulted. "What?! No!! Where would you even get that ide-..." As the memory of one of her earlier conversations with Sunset sunk in, she sighed, delivering her answer in a tired deadpan. "No, we did not seduce the women in charge into giving us an easy time in class." 

Sunset felt just a little smaller at that moment, but maybe she could pass off her blush as part of the fever. "Sorry."

"It's fine," she said quietly, folding her arms and looking away. "Not like that's worked for me lately anyway."

"Huh?" 

Adagio turned back to face her, but at least she didn't look annoyed. "Nothing. The advantages I was referring to are... complicated, but long story short? Most of the material is just 'memorize this,' which proves very simple when we compose the information into short melodies in our heads." 

"You can do that?"

Adagio spent the next half hour reciting rhymes she'd composed during the week she, Aria, and Sonata had attended CHS, and even a few by those two. The first few examples had been for demonstration purposes, the next dozen or so for Sunset's entertainment when she asked to hear more with a delighted smile.

"Do you have one for music class too?" Sunset got only a perplexed stare for that one. "Err, right, guess that would be kinda redundant. So, that's just like an inborne ability for you guys? Putting lyrics together at the drop of a hat?"

"You can't? Because the impression I got from the Battle was that there wasn't initially a part written for you in your group's song."

Sunset smiled sheepishly. "I, kinda adlibbed the parts I sung alone, picking up with what I'd seen of the original lyrics when the others joined in, but I can't just throw together songs in a snap." Adagio gave her a dubious look for this, which made her the tiniest bit defensive. "W-what? It's true!"

"Mmhm... Well, at any rate, we survived our week without difficulty. Even Aria found little to complain about."

Nodding once, Sunset grinned brightly. "Good to hear!" And now for a gamble... "So, any chance you guys might like to come back some time? If you're not having any problems, I mean...?" Adagio adopting a thoughtful hand-on-chin pose made her hopeful.

"Well... The free meals are a small help, and some of it is actually higher quality than what we're used to."

Sunset wasn't sure if she wanted to smile about that.

"That virtual heist paid well," continued Adagio, "but it's not as though we're set for life. Rarity still doesn't have much to offer me right now and Aria and Sonata are still on minimum wage, though I hear their management was very understanding when they asked for shifts compliant with school schedules."

"Minimum wage? I thought Sonata earned a raise back on Rarity's birthday."

Adagio chuckled, raising an eyebrow. "Is that when it started?" Sunset looked confused. "I suppose you never heard, but, well, you recall how I was nearly running the place when the three of us applied there?"

"Yea. And?"

"It appears that without his ex-wife around to keep the fool in check, the man in charge was a little more unscrupulous about how he treated the girls working there. Sonata was the one he approached and, long story short, he doesn't work there anymore."

"Shooting Star?"

The only surprising thing about Adagio's thinly-veiled denial of that incident at this point was that she was still doing it, turning her head away. "I don't see what that has to do with anything. When he came onto her, Sonata ran away and reported it to the authorities like a sensible girl, believe it or not. I'm told it was an ugly scene, but with our history of now-defunct magical manipulation weighed against his history of conduct toward young ladies, you can probably imagine that I didn't even need to call Flim and Flam for that one."

Sunset frowned. She may not have run into many of them in her life, but she knew that dealing with that kind of person couldn't have been pleasant. "Is Sonata okay? And, Aria?"

Smiling amicably, Adagio nodded. "They're fine. The higher-ups of the restaurant chain only held him responsible, fully sympathetic to the plight of the two teenage girls that desperately needed the job. Don't ask her to demonstrate it for you, but Aria is every bit as proficient in puppy eyes as Sonata." Sunset just giggled. "No, really, the way I hear it, that was part of how she got promoted from full-time mascot duty to taking orders in the restaraunt when things are busy."

"Guess that motivates her to put some effort into drawing people in, huh?"

Still smiling, Adagio shrugged. "Speaking of work, how do you maintain-" she gestured to the room around them, "-this place?"

Sunset nodded to the closed laptop on her bedside table. "They have an electric, global network in this world. Have you seen it?" 

"For better or worse."

"Heh, right. I spent my first few months here mostly figuring out what that was about." She grimaced. "Learned some things. But, some of it was useful, like how they set webpages up, and now I pay for stuff with money from code-work I do after school. It doesn't quite pay as well as robbing virtual banks, but it definitely keeps me going."

"Then you're not opposed to another job?"

"I'd rather not get shotgunned in the stomach again, but... did they make you an offer?"

"Sort of. I'm due to meet with the one who organized the project within the next few days to hammer out specifics." The look Sunset was giving her got an eye-roll in response. "Don't worry, I won't be trying anything this time."

Not having realized she'd been making a face, Sunset shook her head a little. "R-right, right, uh... glad you learned your lesson on that one." It came out a little more chiding than Sunset meant it to, but Adagio didn't seem to offer any argument as she let out a quiet sigh and looked away. 

"You could say that."

This drew a worried frown. "...Are you okay? Did something happen?"

Chuckling, Adagio shook her head once. "I'd say I'm doing great, actually. Minor injuries aside, Aria and Sonata are both excited at the prospect of a new job for Dis-Corp, and that on top of the money we earned have morale and happiness at record highs of late."

Sunset raised a single inquisive eyebrow. "And you measure those things, how?"

"I can tell, alright?"

"Uh, huh..."

"Really, those two were my minions for years! You think I'd have been able to control them as long as I did without learning to read them?"

Now there was a smile. "Do you think that's helped you get along with them any better in recent weeks?"

Adagio's mouth opened, but no immediate reply came as she chewed on the thought. "...That... I, that could... Hm..." Then she smiled too. "Has that been the secret all along? Understand how they're feeling?"

Sunset grinned a little wider. "It's definitely a start."

Orange fluff bobbed with her head as she nodded. "That fits, actually. I've been minding their behavior since Rarity's birthday, and for a while, they seemed almost happy to have me back."

Sunset's grin vanished. "Almost?"

There was an uncertain little shrug. "Well, I mean, for the first day or two, they didn't make fun of me at all, barely even snapped at each other all that much, which was unheard of before that day."

Oh! 

With an inkling as to what had happened, Sunset started to smile again. "Maybe it's just that they were worried about you? You don't know what you have until it's gone, so maybe the experience taught them something too?" She wasn't sure if she really should have been happy about it or not, but the contemplative look on Adagio's face said she was really thinking hard about this.

"I... suppose it might have..." She frowned. "But I didn't mean to worry them like that, and if I had known they were looking for me to start, I might have left much sooner."

"'Might have'?"

"Well, Rarity was remarkably hospitable once she released me." Adagio raised a curious eyebrow. "Why were you so worried when you learned I was with her?"

"Uh-" Because Rarity + Unique Hair = Pain for the attached head? Part of her was surprised that Adagio could still feel her scalp by the time they arrived, but sharing such a thought while said siren still regularly visited her fashionista friend would probably just scare her. "I-I wasn't!"

There was a doubting stare.

Sunset dismissively waved a hand. "Really, I knew you'd be fine the whole time, just wanted to reassure the others, is all."

Adagio tilted her head a little as a faint tinge of pink colored her cheeks. "Really? You thought the girl that shrieks in terror every time she so much as thinks one of the big, bad mascots is coming to get her would be fine in a hostage situation?" She recalled their recent experience in the VR project. "On the receiving end, I mean?"

"Uh, w-well, you're not-"

Reaching out to lightly ruffle Sunset's hair, Adagio smiled. "I'm flattered, but you're a terrible liar."

"Hey," Sunset said with a half-hearted scowl, "I'm a great liar, it's just this fever!"

Adagio giggled. "I'm sure."

Ha, thought Sunset, still got it! "So, wait, you didn't think they'd care enough to look for you to begin with?"

Crossing her arms and frowning, Adagio sighed a little. "I, I would have guessed that they'd assume I was just 'being moody' again."

"Why?"

She blushed. "Because sometimes I just get moody?"

Now Sunset giggled. "Everyone gets moody sometimes, it's usually called being a pony."

Blink.

"I mean, crud, being human. Being alive." She stretched out a hand in a theatrical gesture. "BEING!!"

Gently pushing Sunset back against the bundled quilt, Adagio smiled at her. "Calm down, silly girl, you'll get sicker if you don't rest."

Sunset furrowed her eyebrows. "Mm'not silly."

"So I see," she replied in a tone that rang of 'are too silly,' "but I'm serious about the resting part. Are you comfortable?"

Briefly soaking in the sensation of her soft, warm cocoon of quilts, pillows, and covers, Sunset smiled. "I'm about as cozy as I can be without booking a spa day, thanks."

Adagio blinked twice. "...Spa? The place where they administer the relaxing muscle-rubs?"

"You mean massages? And, yea, it's one of Rarity's favorite places. Why?"

"It's funny you should mention it," she said while absent-mindedly scratching her head, "she invited me to go with her and Fluttershy."

Eyes widening, Sunset sat up. "Rarity asked you to go to the spa with her and Fluttershy?" It was possible her reaction worried Adagio, because her doctor for the day was now giving her an uncertain little frown.

"Is, that bad, or...?"

Sunset shook her head, pleased to find that doing so only hurt a little bit. Aspirin's kicking in! "No, no, not at all, it's just the 'with Fluttershy' part that surprised me. Don't take this the wrong way, but she's still scared of you guys, y'know?"

This earned a nod. "That's partly what I was afraid of." Blink. "The irony is noted, thank you."

"I wasn't gonna say anything."

"Oh." She tried to carry on with the conversation before she could turn any pinker. "Well, at any rate, it's kind of a difficult situation. To start, I'm pretty sure that-" she started counting off on her fingers, "-it would be rude to refuse her offer, doing so wouldn't paint a flattering picture of us for the rest of your group either, I don't know whether or not I'm supposed to invite Aria and Sonata along too, and, honestly? I'm not entirely sure how to behave around Rarity sometimes, let alone 'Squeaky.'"

"'Squeaky'?"

The answer came with a quick nod. "Squeaky. I might have memorized your friends' names by now (Rarity mentions all of you often), but Aria has a bizarre love of aliases."

"Yea, I noticed."

"What?"

Sunset forced a smile. "Nothing!" That nickname list is probably one more thing they'll have to resolve between themselves... Hope that goes over well.

"Right, well," Adagio wore an increasingly uncertain expression, "those are just the first few problems that come to mind, so..." Even her sheepish smiles were nice, Sunset noticed. "I mean, you know them better than I and you're more or less the expert in Friendship™ around here, right? Your thoughts?"

In that instant, something in the back of Sunset's mind jumped for joy, whooping and squealing and getting on the rest of her brain's nerves. That part of her told the rest of her brain to can it, because the moment had finally come! 

That part of Sunset knew, since the moment the Dazzlings fled at the end of the Battle, that there would come a time in which those three needed help. Not just assistance of any old kind, but an ambiguity of action that risked putting the happiness of themselves and whoever may have been close to them in jeopardy.

They would need friendship advice.

And now, after months of gathering data and experience in that field, it was time; time to pass on what she had learned! Being called a 'Friendship Expert' made her all weirdly tingly, too. Or maybe that was the pain meds from a little bit ago. Either way, she smiled.

"Well, I don't know about 'expert,' but going in order; I'm not sure if it's a question of being rude or not if you're being invited to something you genuinely don't want to do, but Rarity might be sad if you turn her down. Whatever you decide, my friends should understand, because there's nothing remotely friendly about expecting people to go along with your every whim." She earnestly regretted her word choice. "Err... N-no offense?" 

"None taken."

Ouch. There was no sign of hurt in Adagio's face, but still... "Right, well... Anyway, Rainbow and Applejack might even stand up for you if you really didn't want to go to the spa, but I don't think you'd hate the experience."

"I've been to a spa before, yes."

Sunset smiled. "Oh?"

Adagio nodded. "It's where I learned to administer soothing muscle-rubs myself."

"You're a masseuse now?"

"Well... This was before we lost our magic. I had some time to kill alone (as we often did) and elected to wander the town for a while when I saw the sign out front. Curious, I went in, and didn't like that there was a school of seduction, a way to make someone feel that good just by touching them, that I didn't know about." Adagio had started to blush as she muttered. "Let alone that it worked on me... So, the next day, I went back and politely asked them to show me the method. It took me the better part of the afternoon, but I'd say I learned all I needed to."

"...You learned to give massages out of boredom and some kind of spite?"

Crossing her arms, Adagio made a scrunchy face. "I didn't hear you objecting when you learned that Sonata took things apart for no concrete reason!"

Giggling, Sunset raised her palms placatingly. "Okay, okay, just asking." Now was probably a bad time to prod Adagio further, hilarious faces or not, so she opted to resume the sharing of friendship advice. "Anyway, you probably don't have to worry about inviting anyone, because more people would probably mean Rarity has to pay for more spa treatments. Though, knowing her, she'd do it without even being asked, but-"

"But I shouldn't take advantage of her generous nature?" She chuckled. "Don't worry, I wouldn't be here if I was content to take whatever I could and walk." Blinking, she scratched her head, again making an apologetic little grin. "W-well, not these days, at least..."

Sunset just smiled. They grow up so fast!

...Did Twilight think the same thing about me, back when...?

Nevermind that, focus!

"So, unless it's specifically suggested that you bring someone along, I don't think anyone'll mind if you don't ask Aria and Sonata to join in." It touched something in Sunset's chest that Adagio's next question was delivered with a worried eyebrow.

"Not even Aria and Sonata themselves? Being left out of- well, I don't know how they'd feel about a spa day, so I can't be sure they'd even mind, but won't they feel slighted for not having been included?"

"Possibly, but if so, you'll just have to explain that Rarity only asked you and Fluttershy. Not everyone can come along for everything everyone does, y'know? Pinkie helped me understand that."

Her face contemplative, Adagio nodded. "Can't bring everyone every time... Come to think of it, she didn't mention bringing the rest of you, either, so that might fit. Still...?"

Sunset giggled, addressing the last point on her own. "Spoiler alert? If my experience was anything to go by, she invited you because she wants to be there to supervise while helping Fluttershy get more comfortable with you in a safe, relaxing environment."

Adagio stared at her for a moment. "...It almost sounds like your group has a formal plan for people like us."

The implications clicking in her head, Sunset stopped smiling. "I was never kidnapped, that was not supposed to happen, not even as part of the craziest friend-making ritual they'd throw at us."

"I wasn't sure if I should ask..."

"No, no, it's a valid concern. Or, it is now, anyway."

The two held one anothers' gazes in silence for a long moment before both began to giggle, which gradually escalated to laughing uproariously at the absurdity of their post-magical-megalomaniac lives.

Wiping a tear from her eye, there was one thing Adagio had to know. "Just so I'm not caught off-guard when it happens; what's the craziest friend-making ritual they'd throw at us?"

"I'd say camping. You hike out into the woods with a bunch of big backpacks, simulate being slightly better-off than a homeless person by sleeping in a tent right after sharing ghost stories around a fire, then hike back the next morning." She interpreted Adagio's slow blink to mean 'Why?', which drew a little smile. "It's kind of fun, but there are so many hazards to watch out for, it makes you wonder how they could have come up with such an idea in the first place."

"...You people work to pay for a house... and then pretend you don't have one?"

"Craziest. Ritual."

"Clearly so!"

"Yes, but if you do ever go camping, Fluttershy is actually someone you might want to take with you. She's... got a gift with nature, y'know?"

"I'll have to take your word on that. So, what did you do to keep her from sprinting in the opposite direction the moment you arrived?"

As it was, fittingly, the first thing Sunset learned to do when her first one-on-one interaction with Fluttershy came, she smiled. "Just keep cool and calm and she'll do the same. She'll pretty much always be more scared of you than you are of her, so-" she blinked, stammering out an amendment before the poor word choice could sink in, "a-and I mean that for everyone, not saying anything about, er, s-she'd be afraid at first even if you weren't- no, I mean-"

Making a slightly sour face, Adagio rolled her eyes. "I get it, Sunset, thank you."

"Sorry."

"...You still haven't told anyone, right?"

"No, but-"

The siren gave her a tiny grin. "Then it's fine. The rest of your advice, please?"

Taking a deep breath, Sunset chose to let the slip-up pass. "Right, so... Basically, just don't do anything that might relate to intimidation. Scowling and glaring were a problem for me until I consciously reminded myself not to make those faces around her, but talking to her was a lot easier after that. In your case, uhh-" she hated to say something like this so soon after all but calling Adagio a coward, but she was sure it would prevent damage later, "w-well, remember how I got completely the wrong idea when you first showed up today?"

If Adagio took any offense to that one, she didn't show it as she brushed a hand along her chin. "Mmhm... So what you're saying is that I need to watch my mouth around the sensitive soul?"

Snorting, Sunset burst into long, loud gigglefits, Adagio just smiling at her. At least until Sunset started coughing, but it quickly passed. "Nice one. But in all seriousness, you probably should be careful with words, too. She really is pretty sensitive, I've seen her flinch even when people swear without a hint of irritation."

Adagio remembered something Rarity had said to her on the latter's birthday. 'Beastly behavior makes us uglier inside.' I guess that includes swearing? "Noted."

"Actually, she generally likes to take care of people as much as she does animals, so you might be able to break the ice with her just by mentioning today. She might even offer to compare notes!"

Her face again contemplative, Adagio looked away, absent-mindedly twirling a lock of orange around a finger. "I, guess I could...? Something to consider, if there's a lull in conversation. Speaking of, I know I've asked this before, but how are you feeling? Comfortable? Need anything?"

Sunset gave her a cheeky little grin. "Can I order a massage?" She snickered as Adagio got a wide-eyed 'Huh?' kind of look, but it stopped when her caretaker averted her eyes.

"Wellll... If you really want one, I guess I-"

Oh, crap!! 

Tinting pink, Sunset quickly held up a hand. "N-no, no, I was just kidding, I'm fine where I am, no need for touching, thank you!" 

I forgot to shower last night! After laying in bed all morning, I've gotta be rank!

Unfortunately, Adagio seemed to sense that Sunset had been teasing her, because she wore a smirk as her eyes glinted with mischief. "You're sure? I really can do it, you know, and not just the basics." 

Trying to retreat further into her toasty coccoon as Adagio leaned closer, Sunset started to sweat. Which probably wasn't helping the smell. "Uh-"

"I didn't just copy what they showed me," she whispered in increasingly sultry tones, pressing a hand into the mattress to lean closer, "with the two of them under my spell, I was allowed to... improve on their methods." She waited until Sunset was juuuust about the same shade of red as her hair before pulling back and flashing a bright, innocent smile. "Really, the girls at the spa said it was the most soothing back-rub they'd gotten in years, they even told me I was a natural!"

Sunset blinked slowly. "...Back-rub?"

"Mmhm. Why," she said with a renewal of her usual grin, "were you hoping for something more?"

Flushed, Sunset could only sputter helplessly before muttering in defeat about the unfairness of picking on a sick person. 

Adagio chuckled. "You started it."

"Yea," concurred Sunset with an irritable sigh, "guess I did. Any chance we can end it here?"

"Done."

"Thank you."

"No problem." She waved a hand in the air. "With the scent in here, it probably wouldn't have been pleasant for either of us."

Sunset lit up like molten iron. "If you could s-smell it, why didn't you say anything?!"

Gaining a contrite little frown, Adagio shrugged before pointing to a corner of the room. "I don't know, what is there to say about dirty laundry in someone's room? I know you can't get to the cleaners all the time."

Her head whipping to the guilty, grody corner, Sunset gaped in mortified silence at the pile of unwashed clothes she'd allowed to accumulate over the last week or two. Rarity would have had some words. All things considered, she supposed this wasn't that bad, but she kind of wished she'd known there'd be company today to have a chance to hide her dirty laundry. And then her mouth betrayed her.

"Oh, that. I thought you meant me."

"What?"

Gah! "I-I mean-"

Adagio's smile could only be called 'amused' as she lifted a scandalous hand to partly cover it. "Wait, it's coming from-"

"I, sh-shu-"

"What, did you run a marathon before bed last night? Is that why you're sick now?"

Sunset wrapped herself tightly in her quilt cocoon like a living burrito. "Teasing!"

The mirth slipped from the siren's face in an instant. "Right, sorry." There was a long, tired sigh from her patient before she heard another slightly-muffled word.

"Okay. Need you to do something for me."

"Uh... Yes?"

"Pick up the nearest pillow. Smother me to death with it."

Getting up, Adagio giggled. "You're starting to sound like Aria. If you're not set on asphyxiation, I think I'll just run you a bath instead, alright?" There was a long silence. "Sunset?"

"I'm weighing my options!"

"Then I'm picking for you; bath. Wait here." She turned to get started, but Sunset quietly called out to her when she reached the door. 

"Adagio?"

She turned to see Sunset looking a bit like some kind of puffy, blanket-caterpillar, her eyes peering out from behind covers that otherwise obscured her whole face. 

"Thanks. For not laughing at me."

Adagio gave her an apologetic grin. "A little too late for that, don't you think?"

"Well, maybe a bit, but like, for not really rubbing it in." Her eyes were cast downward as she recalled their night at Fatbear's Pizza. "Like I would have."

Staring at the Shimmer-pillar in silence for a moment, Adagio touched a hand to her chin. "You told me once that your friends teased each other all the time, that there was friendly ribbing far below the level I'd gotten to know?" 

Sunset looked up at her, so she at least had her attention. 

Adagio smiled. "Think of it like this; you know that I'm here to repay everything you've done for me, right?" The sight of a nodding Shimmer-pillar was a surprisingly cute one. "Then you can trust me when I say that if you really do push me, I'll push right back," In a near-perfect imitation of her pose from just a week and a half before, she put one hand on her hip while pointing a finger of the opposite hand at Sunset, "so stay on guard, Sunset Shimmer!" There was a distinct difference from last time in that the sentiment was delivered with a friendly wink, drawing giggles from the mighty Shimmer-pillar as it shed most of its outer layers.

"Well, thanks for the warning. Come get me when the bath is ready?" Turning back toward the door, Adagio set off with a nod, leaving Sunset alone in her small, slightly smelly room. She looked at her laundry pile.

And now we see if I can stuff all of that into the closet before she gets back...
> Chapter 4: Clean Bill
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Giving her closet door one last push, Sunset was rewarded with the sound of tumblers clicking. The effort had been a little draining, so she hoped that when Adagio said 'bath,' she meant 'bath' and not 'shower.'

She had to mean a bath. You wouldn't need to get a head start on getting a shower running, that's part of the advantage they have over-

Sunset shook her head. There was no sense in thinking hard about this. That left her dozily standing by her closet until she remembered her reason for getting up. Which was done now. Where was Adagio? Ambling out into the hall, Sunset headed to the bathroom to find a tub full of steaming water, but no sign of her fluffy caretaker. Unless the tub counted as a sign, becau-

It didn't matter. Getting here under her own power felt like a good sign, but standing up was giving her that weird, woozy feeling, so she opted to strip and recline in the tub's welcoming, watery warmth. She started with her pajama-top, and it was as she was getting it over her shoulders that she heard a startled yelp from behind her, immediately followed by the door slamming.

Uncertain how much of her was seen, even from the back, Sunset again turned crimson. "Uh... hi, Adagio."

The hastily-delivered reply came muffled through the door. "I was looking for a towel for when you were finished but all I found was this bathrobe so I came back with it and I didn't know you were in here yet sorryaboutthat!!"

Okay, thought Sunset, you've been through this situation before, don't let it get awkward and everything will be fine. Something about the notion felt weird while she was removing the rest of her pajamas, but she couldn't dwell on weird right now! 

"Don't worry about it," she called as casually as she could manage, "I used to go naked all the time as a pony." She had long since developed a good understanding of modesty, but it seemed like something they could relate with as Sunset slowly settled into the bathtub.

"You're... y-you're alright with this?"

Play cool, Sunset. "Uh, yea, totally. It's just skin, right?"

There was a quiet sigh. "Then I applaud your psychological constitution, because I picked up the sense of nakedness after just a few months in this world."

"Wait, what?"

"They prefer that you wear clothes here, perhaps you've noticed?"

"No, I mean, I'm surprised you even care. You in particular had no reservations about shaking your hips in front of the whole cafeteria, right?" 

"Yes, because I wasn't naked."

"Okay, but didn't you guys go around unclothed back in Equestria?"

There was a humorless chuckle. "Back when our bodies were covered in glistening scales? Yes, to cover up would have been criminal, but things are a little different here."

That night they spent in Fatbear's, particularly when Adagio all but suggested that Sunset touch her behind and/or upper legs, made Sunset think that the sirens probably just weren't fettered by that kind of thing, but she had just implied that Adagio was overweight at the time. Maybe she'd been more indignant than modest? "Does being naked bother the other two at all?"

"Just Sonata, I think. She was the one that got me conscious of this, the way she'd alternate between staring and looking away when we first disrobed in our new bodies. Aria, on the other hand, stayed nude just to spite her, catching her first cold not long after."

"You never got sick as hippocampi?"

"Long story short, our scales did more than just gleam beautifully in the light, Sunset Shimmer. Truly, it boggled my mind back then that anyone could even go outside undefended."

"Fair enough." She giggled. "Kinda wishing I had them right about now."

"As well you should, though I don't know how well they would mesh with human skin. Come to think of it, I suppose part of what forced the change for me was the sense of vulnerability, as these bodies are much less protected."

Making the comparison of a pony with no fur, Sunset couldn't help a little smile. "In other words, without your scales, you felt na-"

"Precisely." There was a tiny, door-muffled huff. "Aria has since shrugged off the loss of our armor, so an apathy for undress may be something you two have in common."

"Yea, I gue-" 

Wait, what? Does... does she think I'm okay with being seen naked? Is that what she thought I meant when I said it was just skin?! 

"Uh, Ad-"

"Anyway," Adagio said before the misunderstanding could be fixed, "I couldn't find a towel, but I'll, er, l-leave this bathrobe I found hanging on the doorknob. Have you eaten today?"

"I, well, no, but-"

"Then I'll prepare something while you wash, take your time in there."

Sunset quietly sputtered for a few seconds, but the sounds of Adagio's fading footsteps said it was already too late. 

...And now I'm a casual nudist, at least in Adagio's eyes. That can't possibly bite me in the ass.

Well, at least she left Sunset the bathrobe she usually dried off in. Slower than turning the hairdryer on full-blast, but it saved on the electric bill. She spent a bit of her time in the bath pondering how best to clear up that she had adopted this world's sense of nudity too. Along with it, she wondered: If Aria was fine with being naked, what the Hell was she wearing to be embarrassed when her underwear was mentioned? Something else that had kind of been bugging her was Adagio. 

She didn't look embarrassed at all when she knew Pinkie had dressed her on Rarity's birthday. Was she just not thinking about it, or had she gotten over it by then? The way Rarity operates, she was probably seen a few times that d-ANYWAY.

It's not that I'm not grateful about her taking care of me like this, I am, just... Trying to save her not-actually-in-danger-at-the-time life, making sure her secret skittishness stays a secret, giving her friendship advice here and there, and helping with the VR thing (even though they let me keep some of the money there), did it all really mean this much to her?

Sunset felt a little pang of shame for it, but she couldn't deny the tiny voice that said it might have all been part of a ruse and that Adagio might have been seconds from springing a heinous trap, even now. She couldn't deny it, but that didn't mean she had to listen to it. 

Trust. Faith. Some other friend-related things. Heck, even the sirens were apparently figuring those things out. Faster than Sunset herself had, actually. 

Should I be jealous? I mean, I could say that they had the advantage of having me there to share what I already knew, but I had the others to start and barely let them in for the first week.

Maybe it wasn't said with 100% seriousness, but Adagio had referred to her as the expert in friendship, and part of Sunset wanted to defend that title. Maybe it was just that, sticking together for so long, the Dazzlings had a head-start over her? If just a tiny, unconscious one? Did they confide in each other every now and then, even back when they had the gems? Did Aria ever break into somewhere or swipe something just to make Adagio or Sonata smile? Did Adagio practice her massages on Aria and Sonata sometimes? Did Sonata... Well, she probably brightened the mood a little, whether the others could admit it or not.

They at least knew the first thing about friendship, whether they knew they knew it or not, that was the point here! Sinking a little lower into the water, Sunset sighed.

I shouldn't be like this. I mean, even if they 'get it' much faster than I did and they start singing about rainbows with the best of them, that's good, right? Isn't that what I'm after here? So what if they won't need me at all anymore? I don't strictly need Fluttershy, Rarity, Rainbow, Pinkie, and Applejack, but I still want to be around them for the foreseeable future. But, if the sirens happened to decide that they wanted nothing to do with me anym-

Sunset raised hand to slap herself, faintly startled by the sudden splash of warm water she'd directed at her own face. She was being ridiculous, and already starting to assume the worst again. The fear that her new friends would just leave her had come up back when she was getting to know them and it never came to pass. Adagio was here today because she must have cared, Sunset couldn't believe that it really was strictly about 'settling the score' between them.

That in mind, she did what she had to do the last time she had these fears: Take a deep breath, hold it, be reminded that holding it in like this only served to hurt her, breathe out, and let it go.

Ooh, I wonder if Adagio likes that movie too? I think I've got a copy around here somewhere. I should tell her to offer her massages to Rarity, maybe she wouldn't have to pay for so many spa treatments that way. Or at least, Adagio might earn a little extra from her. Would Lotus and Aloe be upset? Maybe I shouldn't say anything...


---


Sunset ambled back into her room with the feelings of clean freshness still hovering just over her skin, her red bathrobe (gift from Rarity) the perfect body-blanket to keep her feeling all warm and snug. She felt so cozy that she flopped right down onto her bed, face-first, lying in the still silence and just soaking in the peacefulness. The robe made her feel all cozy, too, something that regularly led to her lounging around in it, flinging it off when she needed to get dressed, and having to go get it from wherever she left it last every time she got out of the shower.

Probably for the best that I live alone. I guess that makes her bringing it to me this time a lucky break, but she'd probably have just brought it to me if I'd asked h-

She was startled by the door slamming. Angling her head to see the culprit, Sunset's eyes nearly bulged out of her skull.

There stood Adagio, a hand on her cocked hips and dressed in a tight little nurse outfit that hugged every curve on the way down. It was a very light, almost-white shade of pink, brighter and softer than the vest and gloves on her dance outfit. The close-fitting skirt stopped about halfway down her thighs, all but a thin line of her long, curvy legs covered with white, thigh-high socks and stilettos on her feet. She was even wearing gloves that covered up to her wrists and a cute little nurse's cap, placed perfectly atop her head between her huge, wavy bangs and even wavier, epic-level ponytail. She smiled.

"How's my patient?"

"Uh..."

Her playful titters came like the ringing of a bell as she daintily cupped a hand over her mouth. "Speechless?" When she lowered her hand, her mouth had twisted into a wicked, toothy grin. "Good, then I don't need to ask you to be quiet."

And then she moved both arms behind her back, reached into her hair, and pulled out a beaker with one hand and two BIG syringes with the other, both filled with suspicious, green liquid and the tips of each needle practically gleaming with stingy malice.

Looking at her, and those needles, Sunset was paralyzed with fear. Literally, she couldn't move at all! Not even wiggle her toes!

"Hrng...!"

Setting her equipment on the bed beside Sunset, Adagio chuckled fiendishly. "Can't move, Sunny dear? I guess that means the toxins I dosed your bathwater with are kicking in. And now you're all mine..." 

Sunset couldn't speak as Adagio crawled onto the bed in slow, predatory fashion, straddling Sunset and sitting on her back before gently pulling her bathrobe upward. Sunset felt herself blush, trying in vain to shake the vengeful-after-all siren off, but unable to do more rock her back and forth a little. This drew another laugh.

"My, my, why so resistant? After all," she purred as she pulled the bathrobe even higher up Sunset's legs, "It's just skin, right?"

She turned redder as she felt the cold air of exposure, realizing that that wasn't the worst thing she was about to endure as Adagio lifted one of the twin needles in each hand. She licked the tip of one before turning them around and pointing one at each cheek of Sunset's defenseless backside, but didn't jab her with them. Yet. Instead, Adagio's head slowly turned all the way around to project the widest, evilest, most big-sharp-fang-filled grin Sunset had ever seen as her thumbs flicked a switch on each syringe.

The needles then crackled to life with electricity, Sunset screaming at every muscle in her body to MOVE!! She felt her fingers twitch, but there was nothing she could do as Adagio drove the pair of pointy jumper-cables down on her bare-

ZZZZZZZZT!!!

Sunset awoke with a start, leaping up to her hands and knees as she glanced around. The first thing she noticed was that she was right on the spot where she'd flopped down, her bathrobe still on right and her modesty preserved. No horrible, stinging pain, paralysis, or puncture marks!

That... was... a dream?

She sighed.

Come on, Brain, what did I ever do to you?

Before she could riddle out an answer to her own question, she was startled by the sound of a throat clearing behind her. Whipping her head around, she saw that she was pointing her posterior at the doorway in which Adagio now stood, a bowl of faintly steaming soup in her hands. The perplexed look she was giving might have been hilarious if not for the context of the situation, so Sunset quickly righted herself to a normal, sitting position, even if the sudden motion made her feel a little dizzy.

"Hey," she blurted out with an awkward smile, "wassup?"

Adagio's mouth opened and closed a good four times before she settled on asking. "What.... What were you doing?"

Luckily, the pause gave Sunset time to think of something. "I dozed off, being sick gives me weird dreams sometimes, is all."

"Oh." She glanced down at the bowl in her hands. "Hungry?"


> Chapter 5: Getting Better
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The soup wasn't great by any means, but considering some of the things Adagio had said about her diet in the past, Sunset supposed that maybe the sirens didn't have the most refined sense of taste. Still, it was definitely better than cold pizza that had been sitting out all night. Adagio even let her feed herself this time!

Feeling weird about eating with someone just kind of sitting there watching her, Sunset offered to watch a movie together on her laptop as Adagio retook her seat on the bed. The film in question, 'Frosted,' wasn't a Trixar production, but Adagio had never seen it and there were enough similarities in the style that it seemed worth a shot. The events onscreen led to the topic of family, which drew the question of whether or not Adagio, Aria, and Sonata were sisters. Sunset was most confused by Adagio's answer.

"How can it 'yes' AND 'no'? Blood relation isn't really a 'maybe' kind of thing!"

"I know, and personally, I would say we are, but that's how it was explained when I asked our sire."

"Huh?"

"I was told that while the three of us were born from the same parents, we share little to no blood relation."

Sunset's inner biologist was having a conniption fit. "That. Isn't. Possible."

"Are you familiar with changeling biology?"

"Uhh..." Sunset hated holes in her knowledge. They never didn't make her feel like a complete idiot. 

"Long story short? One queen, many short-term fathers, all of whose genes are morphed into those black, porous freaks you may have seen in textbooks."

"Then why aren't you three-"

"Discord."

Processing the word, Sunset's eyes widened. "That thing raised you?" Twilight tells me he's changed from what the history books described, but only in that he isn't a complete asshole anymore.

Adagio raised a single, doubting eyebrow. "...Raised?"

"Uh... y'know, took care of you guys? Looked after you while you were young, taught you how to..." The cold stare she was getting said 'No on all accounts,' drawing a worried frown. "Okay, then... what?"

"The cliff-notes version? The head of a changeling hive made a deal with him; powerful offspring for the cost of the night it took to make them. They, err-" Adagio had to break eye-contact to keep from blushing, "-made us, we came out to be 'duds,' and she threw us into the sea, where Discord was waiting to catch us. He then awoke our power, gave us the run-down of our situation, and threw us into the sky. The last I ever heard of him was his laughter as we stopped screaming when we figured out that we could hover."

Sunset's jaw hung open for a long minute. "...How-"

Adagio held up a hand. "In short: Try to picture the genetics of chaos itself and our existence won't keep you up at night."

"...Okay. But, like, parenting? You make it sound like you were born, thrown out, picked up by Discord, and sent on your way all inside of about five minutes."

"It was closer to an hour, I think." Sunset staring in horror made her wonder if she was doing something wrong again. "...What? We're talking about his genetic material here, information included, so our maturation was complete in under a day, an adult's comprehension pre-packaged." She blinked. Sonata. "Well, you know, give or take."

Sunset couldn't help reeling at the idea of abandoning three newborn children regardless, but resisted the urge to wrap Adagio in a hug and never let go. "So, you three were born and literally just thrown to the winds? You never even had a childhood?"

Shrugging as she crossed her arms, Adagio looked almost defensive. "We had the whole world to explore and the power to make it ours, pretty good as far as abandonment goes." 

There was a silence. One in which the orange-haired orphan started to fidget under Sunset's distraught gaze, but to her quiet relief, it was broken when Sunset started coughing.

Escape! Adagio smiled. "Need a glass of water or-"

"No," rasped Sunset as her fit started to subside, "n-no, I'm fine, and not done talking about this."

Damn! The grin vanished as she let out a beleaguered sigh. "What else is there to say? That we weren't brought up with the greatest example of family values? Because we're definitely not the only ones, the way I hear it." Sunset flinched, in a way Adagio recognized from her years of toying with people as something deeply personal having been poked. "Um... S-sorry?"

Sunset shrunk back a little as she contemplated outright retreating back into her blanket-coccoon. Her question came in a whisper. "How did you know about that?"

Gathering her thoughts, Adagio blinked slowly. "Well, I may not go asking people about their situations, but I hear them talk. One parent cheating on the other, sibling with an addiction, absurdly racist grandparents, et cetera." All great topics with which to draw negative energy out of individuals, as it happened.

Then, for perhaps the first time that day, Sunset's brain worked on-time. "...You mean like, in general? That most people don't have the ideal, white-picket-fence family life?"

An eyebrow was raised. "I get the feeling you have me at a disadvantage here, Sunset Shimmer."

Grinning somewhat apologetically, Sunset giggled. "Guess I kinda do, huh? Sorry, I... well..." She shared a little about her past, right? Sunset cleared her throat. "Did you know I was once a protege to a princess?"

Adagio chuckled. "When I said we knew all about you, I only meant in regard to your time in this world."

"Well, long story short, it was considered a high mark of honor, and I wasn't the only one who made sure ponies knew it. My parents were among the wealthiest in the other world's Canterlot Elite when I left, which might have changed by now with how often 'power' fluctuates in that stupid city, but anyway... I was a magical prodigy growing up, which was how I earned the position, but that was all they saw me for." 

"I see... Perhaps that changeling did us a favor, hm?"

"W-what?!"

The siren cracked a smile. "What you just described is almost certainly what she had in mind for my pseudo-sisters and I; living tools with which to exert her own power and influence."

"Heh, I guess so." She almost managed to smile back, but the subject was kind of a downer. "It really doesn't bother you at all? Knowing that it was supposed to be different?"

"Considering that the experience and understanding of a healthy, functional family was not included in the information we inherited from Discord?" Adagio winked. "I think the three of us will come to grips with our loss." Then she frowned. "Uh, though, I suppose you might have had a harder time without... whatever it was you feel you've missed, so..." Slowly, gingerly, and with as little eye-contact as possible, Adagio stretched out her arms in what could only be called a Hugging Preparation Pose. "I-if you-"

That was as far as she got before Sunset, in a surprising feat of agility for a sick person, sprung forward and wrapped her in a hug, squeezing tightly and resting her chin on the other girl's shoulder at such an angle as not to be smothered in fluff. She'd have silently pat herself on the back for perfectly replicating what her friends had done for her so many times, but right now, there was only Hug, which Adagio rigidly returned.

Hah, I remember when I was like that. I bet her face is all red again.

They stayed that way for a little while, just long enough to shoo away the heartache, as Fluttershy had put it a few times, before Sunset broke the silence. 

"You guys really aren't sisters?"

"Well, legally speaking, perhaps, which is one reason I generally tell people that we are. Does it matter?"

Sunset backed away enough to regain eye-contact, finding that Adagio was only a little rosy. "Well, I guess not, but I kinda thought that was one of the reasons you guys stuck together. Blood is thicker, y'know?"

Chuckling, Adagio shook her head. "As I said, we weren't exactly given the best example of familial affection. That wasn't what kept us together even back then, we just wanted-..." Her eyes widened as she trailed off. "...Oh."

Giving her a sympathetic grin, Sunset spoke softly. "You three wanted to be adored, right? Maybe you did feel like you were missing something, huh?" 

"I'd, I'd never even... It hadn't really occurred to me until now..." Staring back at Sunset, Adagio felt lost, and by the look Sunset was giving her, it must have shown on her face. "So, what does this mean? Should I talk to the others about this, is there something we're supposed to-" She was pulled into another hug, this one much gentler than the last, and returned it just a little bit faster.

"I think it means," Sunset offered, "that no matter who your parents were, no matter how you grew up, you three are just like the rest of us deep down."

Adagio didn't contest this submission, instead relishing her new-found understanding of what hugging (also not included in Discord's knowledge base) had to offer. It wasn't exactly a roaring crowd, but she'd definitely take it in restrained doses. To think, the stories always made it sound so much more... carnal.

Another long, quiet moment passed before she whispered to her patient. "So, is there anything else I can do for you today?"

"Umm..." Thinking about it, all Sunset really wanted to do was cuddle into those orange curls a little more, even if they had lost a little of their poofiness since Rarity started regularly working on them.

I-dee-yaa!

...

Nope, that doesn't feel right, not even in my head. 

Still. Idea.

Sunset pulled back again, as asking during a hug might have been weird. "I think I'm good, thanks, just need to sleep the rest of this thing off... So, um," if she was lucky, maybe it would only look like she was red from fever as she averted her eyes, "since there's nothing better to do, maybe we could just take a siesta?"

Glancing at the big lump of quilt nearby, Adagio tilted her head a little. "Well, you're already on your bed, so-"

"No- well, yes, but-" Damn, knew this would be tricky, "I mean, i-it's like..." Applejack had once told her: The best way to say it was to just say it. She gulped. "Well, f-feel free to say 'no' to this, it's just kind of a little request, but-" Come on!! "rememberwhatwedidatFatbear's?"

There was a slow blink as Adagio processed the question. "...What we did at-Oh!" Her cheeks colored faintly as she absent-mindedly ran a hand through those long, soft locks. "Siesta... You, want to, like when-"

Sunset was looking squarely at her bed now, only talking a little too fast. "Like I said, you can just walk out now if you want because you've already done more than enough and you probably don't want me getting germs all over your hair or even that sick person smell even if I just had a bath and-"

"Sunset?"

She dared look up. "Yes?"

Even if she looked just slightly uncomfortable, Adagio hadn't moved. "I can't guarantee the effectiveness, but doing, well, enjoyable things, is generally healthy. Happiness helps the immune system, so if it's something you'd really like to do...?"

Lowering her head in bashful fashion, Sunset nodded. "I, if you don't mind...?"

Adagio offered a sympathetic little smile. "Well, I did say I was here to help..." She adjusted herself on the bed to be able to sit back-to-hair-to-back, just like they had that night at the restaurant.

It took Sunset a second to figure out how to crab-walk herself into position, but she soon found herself nestled in warm fluff even softer than her quilt. Still, it wasn't quite the warm, fluffy heaven she remembered, so she tried cuddling closer into the hair, but it almost felt like she was shaking.

Woah, have I been moving around too much? Maybe I couldn't have timed this much better...

Feeling just a bit more of that warm softness she remembered from Fatbear's, Sunset let herself settle into place, hearing Adagio's voice a second later.

"C-comfortable?"

"Very, thanks!" With hair like this, Sunset could hardly imagine why Adagio seemed so nostalgic for her scales. Then again, there were times she missed having magic, which her own hair did nothing to compensate for. Did the others get anything in that field? Aria's hair looked silky-smooth when last Sunset saw her, but it was hardly floofy-warmth material. The shade of Sonata's hair made it a little harder to detect a sheen, so Sunset wasn't sure she even had that much. 

Oh, speaking of those two...

"Hey, uh," she quietly asked over her shoulder, "did, do the other two know exactly what happened that night at Fatbear's? That we sat up half the night waiting for killer robots?" A shuffling of the hair-cushion suggested that Adagio had shaken her head.

"All I had to tell them was that things didn't work out and they were content to make fun of me from there, no questions asked." A sudden shift in the pressure against her back told her that Sunset had slumped a little, drawing a tiny smile. "It's lessened considerably since then, thanks in no small part to you."

"But I still suspected the worst when you got here." Just like Twilight did with me. "...So, have I ever said I'm not the least bit mad about anything you guys did anymore? I can't speak for the others, but if that was part of the 'debt,' I'd like to call it even." One last thought sprang from the back of her head like an angry cat. "I mean, as long as you forgive us for breaking your gems."

There was a loud pause.

"It's alright. I have said before that we're better off now, haven't I?"

"Maybe, but, back then, you said it hurt. So, I know it wasn't our best-I mean, I know we had to do it, but, did I ever even say I was sorry it hurt you?"

"...You tried to, once, but I wasn't really listening. I can't imagine it's still necessary, but if you feel like you need to say it, I'm listening now."

Sunset smiled a little. "I'm sorry for any pain the Battle may have caused the three of you, both when our spell hit and anything you had to endure afterward." It felt like Adagio nodded. 

"I can't speak for the others either, but I'm sorry we bewitched your school, ganged up on you in that hallway, tried to tear your friends apart, and, even if they were never directly under our control, I'm sorry those other contestants harassed your group during the Battle."

Feeling a little bit warmer and cuddlier all over, Sunset only regretted that she couldn't nestle further into the hair-cushion. "It's okay."

Things were quiet again, but it didn't feel like a tense silence as Sunset started to nod off. The heavy, hazy, sickly, smelly feeling she'd woken up with was all but banished now, the combination of pain meds, warm soup, a warm bath, and warm, cozy fluff just leaving her feeling all pleasantly relaxed. Not bad for a sick day!
> Chapter 6: Will There Be Lollipops?
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sunset awoke to find herself nestled in the winter quilt, her body unmoved from where she'd fallen asleep. How Adagio had managed that little switcheroo without waking her, she wasn't sure. Glancing around, she was just the tiniest bit disappointed not to find her doting Dazzling doctor nearby this time, but she guessed that Adagio probably had better things to do than be a living pillow to a sick girl for the rest of the day. 

Checking the time, Sunset found that it was about ten minutes after school let out for the day, so maybe Adagio had headed out to meet someone that would have been in classes until now? Rarity, maybe? There weren't a whole lot of other candidates that she knew of, which led to the thought that outside her, each other, and Sunset herself, the Dazzlings probably didn't have a lot of friends. While she pondered whether or not they'd ever shaved down that 'enemy list' of theirs, Sunset was startled by the sound of her front door flying open.

"HI, SUNSET!!"

"Pinkie Pie," came Rarity's stern voice, "don't raise your voice like that, she might still be resting!"

"Oop!" There were giggles. "Sorry!"

It sounded like Rainbow spoke next as they approached her room. "How do ya think she's holdi-WOAH!"

The next thing Sunset knew, Fluttershy had burst into her room and quickly began examining her as part of a practiced, slightly invasive Friend-Is-Sick-Have-To-Help check-up.

"Areyouokay?! Areyouwarmenough?! Doyouneedabucket?! Whataboutblankets?! Areyourestingwell?! Doyouneedanotherlullaby?!"

These frantic attentions continued until Rainbow, Pinkie, Rarity, and Applejack joined them in the room, though it was just a little crowded.

Her smile equal parts amused and grateful, Sunset waved Fluttershy off with one arm. "I'm fine, I'm fine, thanks."

Pulling back, Fluttershy examined a thermometer in her hands. "Hmm... Temperature is a little high, but otherwise pretty healthy."

Sunset stared in quiet shock. Where did she put that?! And when?!

Smiling, Applejack adjusted her hat. "Better already, huh? Looks like sleep's the best medicine after all."

"Well, actually..." Some part of Sunset was hesitant to share this information, but she didn't want to lie to her friends about having spent a few hours in a small room with Adagio, then going to sleep in her hair again. "Adagio Dazzle took care of me."

This won a few looks of surprise, but Pinkie smiled. "Oh, was it because in addition to not having a whole lot of stuff to do on account of technically being unemployed, she felt like she owed you some kind of favor for everything you've done for her since the morning you two came to school together and rather than interpret your actions as caring and kind-hearted deeds for their own sake, she thinks it-" She was silenced when Rainbow slapped a hand to her mouth.

"Yeesh, we get it, you can save time by summarizing exposition to streamline the narrative." Everyone, Pinkie included, stared at her in shocked silence for a moment. She crossed her arms, raising her chin somewhat haughtily. "I read sometimes."

Following another short silence, Applejack tilted her hat a little. "Welp, reckon that's that."

Sunset blinked twice. "None of you are suspicious or worried? Not even a bit?"

"Nope."
"Nah."
"Nu-uh."
"W-well, no more worried than usual, I guess."
"Not at all, Darling."

Rainbow scratched her head. "They came to school all last week and nothing bad happened, right? Feels like they've all gone straight."

Huh, thought Sunset, my friends are all apparently cool with this. Sweet!

Well, part of her was disappointed. It wasn't that she wanted a conflict, but she'd gained so much experience relating to distrust-based drama! She let the thought pass as Fluttershy grinned brightly at her. 

"I'm glad you're feeling better."

There were affirmative sounds from the others, though Rarity noticed an... interesting little detail.

My, my. Quite a few orange hairs on her bed, aren't there? Hope they weren't up to anything strenuous...

She didn't say anything out loud, but there would be time to interrogate ask Sunset, or perhaps Adagio herself, for all the juicy details later.

An arrangement was made for there to be a Congrats On Not Kicking The Bucket party for Sunset that weekend before some sharing of how school went that day, some small talk, a quick check if Sunset needed anything, and the others leaving her to rest for the remainder of the day.


---


The following morning, Sunset felt right as rain! The saying never made sense to her, but looking it up was yet another of those things she knew she wasn't going to remember to actually do any time soon. Regardless, she put her trusty jacket on, pausing for a moment when she noticed a slip of paper poking out of one of the pockets. On it was a phone number and a message.



You asked, so, here it is. Don't worry, I already got your number from your phone while you were out. 

Get more sleep, silly girl!



It wasn't signed, but there was no doubt in Sunset's mind who wrote it as her eyebrows furrowed at the last line. She called the number, waiting through the rings before Adagio picked up.

"Sunset Shimm-"

"I'M NOT SILLY!!"

"Gah!!"

Realizing that she essentially just shouted into someone's ear, Sunset smiled sheepishly, even if it wasn't visible. "Oh, and, hi!"

"Erm... Y-yes, hello... Did you need something?"

"Huh?" Oh, right, you're supposed to have something to say when you call people! "Oh, n-nothing, just, y'know, testing the number." She winced at what sounded like either skepticism or hurt on the other line.

"You thought I would give you a fake number?"

"W-well, no, I, uh, just wanted to make sure you didn't give me a sex line's number as a prank or something."

"...Why would I know a sex line's number?"

It was entirely possible that Sunset's brain was mad at her for some reason. "I, er, y-you, well, uh, n-no, I just-"

There was an audible smirk in Adagio's voice. "Were you hoping to use my number as a sex line?"

She felt warmer now than at any point she had been sick. "That wasn't what I-"

"Because, I'm doing alright between what we get paid in the virtual reality project and what Rarity gives me to do, but if you're making suggestions on where I might find wor-"

"NO!! I just-" She heard coughing on the other end. "...Are you okay?"

"Hm? Oh, yes, I'm fine, but Aria and Sonata seem to have come down with something. Would you two like to say hello?"

"HIYA, SUNNY!" Sonata was cheerful for a sick person, but it was possible having a fever just made some people loopy. 

Aria sounded a little more annoyed. And congested. "Yah. Tanks for gibbin' us yur bug, Shimmur."

"By the way," Adagio added, "you're on speaker."

Realizing that Adagio must have carried her infection after all, Sunset frowned a little. "Sorry you caught my cold, guys."

"Ahh, don' worry," replied Aria, "means we don' h-have, h-have t-t-ACHOO!!"

Aria's sniffle came at the same time as Sonata's giggling. "S'okay, Sunny-Dee, havin' The HackySneeze means we don't hafta go to work today!"

"But you do have to stay in bed," came Adagio's light reprimand, "now settle down."

"Yes, mummy."

Sunset wasn't sure if it was the two sickly sirens not being too bothered by their predicament or the quiet grumbles she heard from the third that made her smile. "Do what she says, girls, sleep is important for your immune system." She couldn't hear whether or not either of the two patients replied, but Adagio was probably smiling.

"Glad you learned something from that experience, Sunset Shimmer."

"Yes," Sunset said in the sweetest tones she could manage, "I had a very dedicated caretaker." Adagio didn't respond right away, but Sunset could tell by the sounds of Aria and Sonata snickering that she was turning red again, which drew a pleased smirk.

"I'll remind you two," came a low hiss, "that I'm taking care of you right now."

Sunset beamed, talking loudly enough that she was sure the others could hear. "Don't worry if she gives you a BIG SHOT, girls, she hurts you because she loves you!"

"SUNSET!!" Adagio groaned. "Great, Aria's curled up into a ball again."

Sonata's laughter made her a little hard to interpret. "H-help us, Sunny! She's g-gonna use the thermometer on us!"

"Go back to sleep, Sonata!"

"The one you have to pull your pants down f-"

Adagio sounded a little aggravated as she hastily ended the call. "I'lltalktoyouwhenIknowmoreaboutthenextjobgoodbye!"

Beep!

Snickering for several seconds, Sunset shook her head at herself even as she smiled.

Did it again. Right back where I started. But this time, I'm not gonna worry!

Adagio had shown that while not above seeking retribution if provoked, she had a pretty decent understanding of that whole Friendly Ribbing thing by now. Besides, even if she did get her back, the worst Adagio could come up with had to be better than freaking out about what she might do, right?