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Sunset Shimmer set her saddle bag down by the doorstep, finally getting back home after another long day. It wasn’t easy being Princess Celestia’s star pupil, what with the education and many responsibilities it came with, and although she appreciated the challenge, it did have the propensity of wearing her out.
But she was home now, which meant it was time to relax for a while, as well as time to start her daily ritual of gathering nuzzles and kisses from her fellow housemates. She smiled at the thought of what was to come, and entered into the living room to see where her fellow housemates were. However, she found the room empty and realized that tonight she would have to hunt them down to get what she wanted from them.
“Adagio, Sonata, Aria, where are you three?” the unicorn called loudly, strolling through the room and eventually picking up the smell of food coming from the kitchen. “I have a surprise for you all!”
“A surprise?” one pony, Sonata, got out as she walked in from the kitchen, a happy smile on her face. “Oooo what is it? I wanna know!”
“I’ll show you,” Sunset replied with a smirk on her face. “You have to come here though for you to see it.”
“Well, I’m busy cooking dinner for us, but… okay!” She pranced over to the mare and found herself started when her nose was being rubbed against Sunset’s, her ears being scratched by the unicorn’s hooves as she did so.
“Aaaaaah! Nuzzles! The best surprise!” she called out as she closed her eyes and leaned in, rubbing their foreheads together a bit.
“You’re such a good nuzzler, Nata,” Sunset told her happily as the two continued, the mare moving her head so she could rub their cheeks together. “You three are always the best part of my day.”
“Awwww, you really mean that, Sunny?” she asked as they rubbed their coats together some. “Promise?
“Of course I do, silly filly,” Sunset assured her. “I love all three of you to death. Speaking of which, where are Aria and Dagi?”
“Oh! Aria’s in her room working on music, and Dagi’s in the shower. You should nuzzle them, too! I bet they’d love it!”
“Of course, I’m gonna nuzzle them, Nata. They're a couple of cuties, just like you are.”
“Awwww you’re so sweet, Sunset. Nuzzle them for me, too!” With that, the pony turned back to her cooking while humming a tune.
It wasn’t long before Princess Celestia's pupil was trotting into Aria’s room, the sound of music playing coming from the room, starting off faint before becoming louder. She stood in front of the purple-coated pony as she played, the mare having her eyes closed while she did so, opening them only to briefly write something down on the music sheet in front of her before continuing. Sunset didn’t interrupt and stood silently watching and listening for a while until the pony finally looked up.
“Oh!” she got out, startled by the sight of her and quickly hiding what she was working on as though she was doing something wrong. “What- what are you doing home so early, Sunset?”
“Oh, just watching one of my favorite ponies compose a song like the cutie she is.”
“I’m not cute!” Aria scowled. “Why do you always say that? I’m not!”
“Says the one who’s blushing,” Sunset smirked. “Now come over here and nuzzle me, you cutie.”
“No,” the purple pony told her, turning her head away from her.
“No?”
“No,” she repeated. “You’re gonna nuzzle me and then tell me I’m cute, and you and I both know how much I hate that, so no.”
“Oh, well in that case…” Sunset shrugged and turned to leave, getting a few steps out the door before Aria’s voice called out to her.
“W-wait! You’re j-just gonna leave without trying to- to nuzzle me? You're gonna give up that easily?”
“I mean, if I nuzzle you, I have to tell you how cute you are, and since you hate it, I figured I didn’t want to make you angry. I’ll just see if somepony else will nuzzle me. It's no trouble.”
“Now you… I mean, you don’t- you don’t have to do that…” she stuttered a bit. “I mean, if you really want me to, I’ll… nuzzle you...”
Sunset gave her a cheeky smile at that, telling her, “Well, I really want to, but… I don’t want to make you do anything you don’t want to do. I’ll just find Dagi and nuzzle and cuddle her.” She took another step away into the hallway before turning around and saying, “Unless you really do want to be nuzzled and called a cutie…?”
Aria blushed deep red at that, changing the fur above her coat. “N-no… I- I mean… I- I’m not, but I… wouldn’t mind it… if I were… and it’d mostly be to make you happy if I let you call me that, so…”
“You know, it only makes you more adorable when you try to deny your cuteness,” Sunset giggled as she went back in and moved up to her, causing Aria’s ears to flatten as she looked at her hooves in embarrassment. “Absolutely adorable is what you are, but… you have to do something before you get your nuzzles from me.”
“Wh-what… what do I have to do?” the pony asked, trying to portray annoyance but sounding more shy than she intended.
“You have to say that you’re a cutie and that you like being nuzzled by me.”
“Wh- what?” the former siren stuttered out. “N- no! I won’t do that! That would be- that would be… lying! I’m not cute, and I don’t- I mean, I don’t really like- I mean…”
“It’s fine,” Sunset decided. “I can find somepony else to nuzzle. I’ll see you later, Aria.”
Once again, Sunset walked out, this time making it halfway down the hallway before the Dazzling called out again.
"Wait! I... I, umm... I..."
“Yes?” Sunset asked, smirking again as she saw the mare standing in the doorway stuttering. “Do you have something to say?”
Deep red was what her cheeks turned, changing her face’s coat color as she quietly mumbled, “Imerkeul…”
“What was that?” the unicorn asked her, wanting to drag this moment out as she made her way back over to her again. “I didn’t hear that.”
“Imerkuel…” she said again quietly, looking at the floor as she did so.
“Can you speak up? I can’t hear you when you speak that quietly. I don’t know what you’re saying.”
“Ugh, I’m cute, alright?” she finally said angrily. “Is that what you wanted to hear?”
“Yup, exactly that,” Sunset responded, moving up to rub her nose against Aria’s gently, giving her the same treatment she gave Sonata. She noticed the mare gave a small, almost silent purr as she rubbed her nose, and giggled at the thought, leaning in more to give her a quick kiss before rubbing their necks together a bit.
“That feels nice…” Aria subconsciously let out, keeping her eyes closed as she did so while Sunset used a hoof to pet her back.
“Awww, somepony likes being nuzzled and petted! How cute!”
“No I don’t!” she said loudly, pulling away from her so fast that Sunset was left rubbing her neck against air for a moment. “I only did this because I know you like it! I don’t like it at all! I swear!”
“Well, you already admitted you’re cute, so you can’t take it back,” Sunset laughed. “It’s too late now.”
“Eergh, I need to get back to composing,” Aria told her, trying to sound angry but only getting another giggle from Sunset as a result. “You’ve distracted me for long enough,” she continued.
“I’ll let you get back to it, cutie,” Sunset replied, getting the last dig in and watching as she made a face before moving back up to her sheet music to begin working again.
With that, Sunset finally headed to her third stop of the day, the bathroom, just in time to catch Adagio stepping out of the shower.
“Oh, hey Sunset!” she called when she saw her, shaking her mane and coat free of water. “You’re finally back. Did you have a nice day?”
“Mmmm, it was well enough, same as usual. A bit tiring though.” Sunset paused to look into Adagio’s violet eyes and say, “You can make it better though…”
“Oh, is that so?” Dagi said playfully, taking a step closer to her. “How can I?”
“I think you know how you can,” Sunset told her before leaning in to kiss her and nuzzle her at the same time, just as she did the previous two Dazzlings. She pressed her hooves into the mare’s sides as she did so, rubbing her coat gently, some of her still wet mane getting into her face a bit.
Another few kisses came from Dagi, these a bit deeper than the previous kiss, before Sunset moved up to pull the same move as she did on the other two, rubbing their cheeks together while she pet her back. She yawned as she did so and wrapped a foreleg around the mare in a hug.
“Ahhh, I need a nap. Will you snuggle me? I want to be the little spoon this time, but only because you’re so cute.”
“Of course I will,” Adagio replied with a smile. “Actually, no, we will. Hey, Dazzlings?”
Adagio’s Dazzlings responded immediately to her call, and before she knew it, she was surrounded by all three ponies and being hugged on all sides.
“Celestia, I wasn’t prepared for all this!” Sunset Shimmer laughed as she was pushed towards her bedroom and flopped onto her bed. “Even you, Aria? You’re so adorable!”
“I’m only doing this because I know it’s what Dagi would want… and I guess your coat is kind of soft, but that doesn’t mean anything.”
“I’m sure it doesn’t,” Sunset told her sarcastically before yawning again. “Ahh, you three are the best, snuggling me like this.”
“No, Sunny, you’re the best for being such a good marefriend to each of us, silly head!” Sonata told her, tightening her hooves around her and rubbing her forehead against her back a bit.
“That’s right, Sunset,” Adagio agreed. “You’re the leader of our whole group basically, and give us all the love and attention we could ever ask for, even after what we tried to do. And you’re the best because of it.”
“I mean, even I have to admit you’re not that bad, Sunset,” Aria said as she nuzzled her neck, Sunset craning it in response. “I mean, even though you lie and say I’m cute, I have to admit you do love us.”
“Of course I love you guys. If I didn’t where else would I get such nice snuggles and nuzzles when I’m tired? Now each of you needs to give me a kiss so I can take my nap.”
The three of them obliged her, each of them taking a few seconds to give her a few kisses before pressing their bodies back into hers and snuggling her tightly again.
“Mmmm, I love you guys,” she said as she closed her eyes and started to drift off.
“We love you too, Sunset,” the told her in response as she fell asleep.