Fluff and Kidnapping

Chapters

Chapter 1: SURPRISE!!
Chapter 2: Unwrapping
Chapter 3: Ask Around
Chapter 4: Battle of the Strands
Chapter 5: Tying Up Loose Ends

Chapter 1: SURPRISE!!

The sounding of five simultaneous party horns signaled the end of the modified birthday song, Rarity clapping joyfully in appreciation. Rainbow might have been in favor of using Fluttershy's songs a little more often since the Battle of the Bands, but it was the first time she'd ever seen Fluttershy agree to being the lead vocalist in anything. She almost regretting having to just sit back and watch, but being serenaded by her friends was a treat all by itself.

"Thank you all," she said with a sincere smile, "this has been the nicest birthday in years!" Chuckling, she glanced over to the pile of neatly-folded wrapping paper and glittering bows that had been used to wrap her gifts, (a lady does not just tear apart perfectly good, reusable wrapping) finding those to be just as much welcome as the items themselves. "Really though, the five of you didn't have to-"

Applejack cut her off, looking amused. "Rarity, with all you give the rest of us year-round, yes, gettin' you somethin' on yer birthday is necessary." The six of them giggled together, Applejack giving Rainbow a pointed look. "Speakin' of..."

Rainbow, who hadn't offered a present right away, grinned with delight. "Guess that means it's my turn!" She motioned to Pinkie, who stood up with a similar smile. "Mine's waiting around back, it'll knock your silky socks off! Pinkie-Promise!"

Rarity nodded. "Lead the way, I suppose."

As the three of them left the room, Sunset Shimmer gave Applejack and Fluttershy an inquisitive look, to which they shrugged.

"Ah don't know either, Sugarcube."

Fluttershy glanced after them. "I wonder what it is."

Sunset did the same. "If it's Pinkie and Rainbow giving someone something at the same time, I'm actually a little worried..."

Applejack adjusted the rim of her hat as she leaned back on the couch. "Ah'm sure ArrDee knows better than to play a prank on someone right after their own birthday party, an' Pinkie'd blow a gasket if she did somethin' like that."

Mostly reassured, Sunset smiled. "Yea, you're probably right. What do you think it-"

The front door flew open with a bang, Fluttershy diving behind the couch in fright. Not stopping to say hello or apologize for the sudden entry, Aria Blaze and Sonata Dusk walked in, the former giving Sunset and Applejack a threatening glare. "Where is she?!"

Sonata tried to back it up, adding an irritated hands-on-hips pose for effect.

Sunset, Applejack, and the back of the couch shared a quick look, Sunset replying first. "Sorry for being cliche here, but, where is who?"

"Don't gimme that," spat Aria, "one of you bozos kidnapped Adagio, didn't you?!"

They again shared a look, more confused than before. Strangely, it was Fluttershy that spoke up this time, though she stayed behind the couch. "Y-your friend's gone missing?"

"AHA," declared Sonata, a finger meaningfully extended in the couch's direction, "so you DO know something happened to her!"

Aria's posture lost some of it's menace as her shoulders slumped, deadpanning a reply. "We pretty much just told them that. Idiot."

Sonata pouted. "Heeey! I thought we agreed on no name-calling until after we find her!"

Aria rolled her eyes. "Yea, whatever." She returned her attention to Sunset, Applejack, and the talking couch. "So you seen her or not?"

Truth be told, none of them had seen a curly hair of Adagio Dazzle since she joined Sunset in coming to school one day about two weeks before, listening to suggestions about where she might be able to find work. It looked more like she was humoring Sunset than anything else and they hadn't heard from her since.

"Um, sorry," Sunset offered, "we haven't seen her."

Aria held her gaze for a long minute, the glare slowly fading to something of a pleading frown. "Are you sure? 'Cuz, it's okay if you did lock her up in your basement for a crazy seven-way or something later, we just wanna know where."

Applejack's face resembled part of her namesake. "S-seven-way?!"

Aria shrugged. "Hey, I don't know what you guys get up to and I'm not judging, we just wanna find Adagio."

"S-sorry," muttered Sunset, fighting off an equally fierce blush at the thought of her, her friends, and Adagio all... doing that, "we really haven't seen her."

Sonata put a hand on Aria's shoulder. "Maybe someone else nabbed her? We've got a lot of enemies."

Turning a little to look at her, Aria raised an eyebrow. "You got the list?"

She produced a piece of paper from her skirt pocket. "Yep!" As she and Aria turned to leave, Sonata caught sight of the colorful banner wishing Rarity a happy birthday. She smiled genuinely. "Whoever just got a year closer to dying, Happy Birthday!"

All present were grateful that Rarity was not.

Without another word, the two of them walked out, Sunset standing up when the door closed. "I should probably go after them, who knows what kind of trouble they'll start if they can't find her?"

Muttering about those siren girls not being right in the head, Applejack nodded. "Reckon Ah'll head out too, got a bit'a work to do." She chuckled, patting her stomach. "'Sides, gotta work off that cake."

Sunset smirked at her. "Right, because you of all people are totally at risk of getting too heavy."

The three of them giggled, Fluttershy having emerged from her hiding place. "I think I'll head home too, see you guys at school?"

A few minutes later, Rainbow and Pinkie pushed a large, colorful box, about a square meter of space in total, into the living room, Rarity walking behind them. "Hm. Looks like the others went home."

"Aww," moaned Pinkie, "they'll miss the big surprise!"

Rainbow raised an eyebrow. "Bigger than that chocolate Ferris wheel?" It was only big enough to take up the dining room table, but nobody asked how she put it together. The cars even rotated as per a real Ferris wheel.

"The other big surprise!"

"Speaking of," Rarity said with more than a hint of eagerness toward the box, "may I open it now?"

Rainbow and Pinkie shared ear-to-ear grins, taking hold of the lid and lifting it in unison. "HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!"

Rarity's expression went from anticipation to shock almost immediately as she laid eyes on the 'gift' Rainbow had in mind for her. Judging by the way the 'gift' was staring back at them, Rarity wasn't the only one surprised by these developments. Adagio Dazzle was lying on a large cushion on the floor of the box, tied up at the wrists and ankles, arms at her back, and gagged with a red bow that was held in place with a shiny, red ribbon.

The pair of kidnappers giggled to each other at the sight of Rarity's mouth hanging open, Rainbow explaining the rationale behind her present. "I got the idea a while back, after she popped in to join us at school that one time? The way you went on and on about her for the next two days, I figured this was exactly what you'd have wanted." As Rarity tried to form a coherent sentence about being touched that they cared about her enough to commit what she was fairly certain was an illegal act for her sake, but still preferring they didn't, Rainbow wrapped an arm around Pinkie's shoulders. "Of course, I can't take all the credit, it never woulda worked without her!"

Pinkie giggle-snorted, still delighting in the look on Rarity's face. She agreed to help Rainbow when she said that this would be both a gift to Rarity, and a prank (from the Scary department of jokes and tomfoolery, frightening the victim, then revealing they weren't really in any danger for instant giggles) on Adagio. "It's a total win-win deal!"

Rarity continued to sputter in shock and disbelief, Rainbow smiling as she headed toward the door. "Welp, hope you enjoy your present!"

Pinkie skipped along after her, giggling merrily. "Have fun, you two!"

They had the decency not to slam the door. Rarity, a little uncomfortable with the insinuating tone of that last comment, turned slowly to her 'prize' to find her looking considerably less comfortable. Even with the cushion. Adagio stared up at her, pupils shrunk to pin-pricks, visibly sweating.

Suppose I would too, trapped in a box with all that fabulous hair. Humidity must be murderous for her.

Rarity smiled sheepishly. "Please don't mind anything those two said, I have nothing but pure intentions for-I mean, had nothing but, no, wait, that sounded-ah, l-let me start over."

Adagio squirmed in place, trying to get her hands free, to no avail.

Rarity cleared her throat. "Perhaps I should start with this." Adagio flinched when Rarity reached out towards her, Rarity hesitating for a split-second when she did. Still, as there was nothing malicious about what she meant to do, she went ahead and took the bow-gag out of the other girl's mouth.

Adagio immediately scowled up at her.

I will not beg, I will not plead, I am a siren!!

"Listen carefully," she seethed, "when I get out of this, tales of my revenge will be spoken in whispers in this region for generations to come."

Trying to ignore the shivers Adagio's threat sent down her spine, Rarity kept a cool head. "Actually, I was thinking-"

"And after I break the ones who put me in this position," she interrupted, "I'll come after the rest of you. Don't worry about Aria and Sonata, I won't even bother asking their help, because I want to do all of it myself."

"That's not really neces-"

"It will be slow, it will be agonizing, as much as lying in this goddamn box has been for me while I waited to know my fate." Sure, she had only been awake for around forty minutes, but waking to find herself tied up in a box is not how she'd have chosen to start the day.

"I'm sorry abo-"

"If you're wondering? I'll get you last, so that in being the one to 'receive' me as a gift, you'll be awarded the full horror of-"

As the creepy little monologue went on, Rarity rolled her eyes, took hold of the bow-gag still hanging around Adagio's neck, and moved it toward her mouth.

"-with the tombstones. And when that's finished, I'll-what are you-DON'T YOU DARE-"

The gag was fastened in place again. The resulting glare might have melted glaciers, but Rarity only stared crossly back at her. "I do apologize if this ordeal has been terribly unpleasant for you, but that is no excuse to go making threats. Doubly so for long, vague, scary ones." She wanted to be patient and understanding with Adagio, (her friends' occasional ludicrous antics could be anywhere from strange to horrifying for anyone not accustomed to them) but there was only so much venom one could put up with. "I hate to be the one to remind you of this, but you are currently tied up, in Pinkie Pie's knot-work, if I'm not mistaken, alone, and helpless before someone you just promised horrible vengeance upon. To their face. Are you certain you wouldn't like to revise your position a little?"

The realization seemed to reluctantly creep back into Adagio's awareness, her anger fading back down into fear, making Rarity's own indignance again bubble back down to guilt for the other girl's predicament. While she hadn't forgotten everything that happened because of them, not to mention a perfectly good outfit being ruined, Rarity had no plans to take any kind of revenge on any of the Dazzlings, even now. She sighed.

"Look, let's start over." Clearing her throat, she forced a smile. "Hello there! First off, I should probably apologize for my friends abducting you, I didn't ask them to do that. It's my birthday, you see, and Rainbow Dash had something of an unorthodox idea for a present. You. Specifically, so I could style your hair."

Adagio only stared back. It was a little hard to tell just from her eyes, but it looked like she was just incredulous.

With an abashed giggle, Rarity scratched the back of her head. "Yes, I was rather shocked as well, but you see-"

There was a knock at the door, startling both of them. Rarity glanced back and forth between it and Adagio, again smiling sheepishly. "I'm truly sorry about this," she whispered, "but I don't really know how to explain this situation to guests, would you mind just sitting tight for a spell?" As Rarity moved the lid back in place, the way Adagio thrashed and shook her head suggested she very much did mind. Rarity already felt horrible, but it was only going to be a few minutes. She rushed off to answer the door.

Alone, in a box, Adagio lay on her side, quietly sighing to herself. The action lost something when there wasn't even anyone she could complain to about her miserable situation. That situation was being trapped in a box. All she could really do was keep an ear to the ground, (which in this case was the wall of a box) listening for any sign of someone coming by. She could hear a voice that wasn't Rarity's, wishing her a happy birthday,

Ugh.

dispensing small-talk,

Yawn.

asking if she got anything interesting,

If only you knew!

and making Rarity some kind of offer she couldn't hear clearly. For her part, it sounded like Rarity was conducting the conversation not at all like someone that had a person trapped in a box in her living room. That the apparent heroes of this realm could orchestrate and cover up this kind of thing so easily was a thought too frightening to dwell on, so Adagio was grateful when she heard Rarity's returning footsteps. She showed her gratitude by glaring at her the moment the lid was off again.

Rarity gave her the same apologetic grin as earlier. "Hello again." She glanced at the door, looking like she was choosing words carefully. "I had a visitor, Prim Hemline. We met a few times at some of the fashion shows I've attended and-oh, I'd rather not bore you with the details-" it was possible Adagio's murderous look was having some effect, "-but she offered me a chance, as a sort of birthday gift, officially speaking, to display a design or two of mine in the Junior Fashionista displays for..." Rarity glanced away, taking a quick breath and looking at Adagio with a forced smile. "How are you holding up, darling?"

Unable to decide right away whether she should take a pet name as reason to be more angry or more afraid, Adagio just stared back at her captor, wondering how she was expected to respond through the bow-gag.

Rarity seemed to realize the problem, facepalming. "Right, forgive me, I'll just-" Her hand was inches away from the gag (Adagio didn't flinch this time) when the doorbell rang again, making Rarity jump. Once more, to Adagio's horror, Rarity's attention shifted rapidly between her and the door, a rueful look on her face as she whispered "Sorry!" and put the lid back on.

Adagio would have screamed at her to come back and let her go right now, but her mouth was full of bow-gag.

Author's Note

There wasn't really anywhere to fit it into this part of the story, but I'm thinking Pinkie and Rainbow stopped by the Dazzlings' place early that morning, Dash waiting outside with the cushioned box, Pinkie sneaking in, dressing Adagio somehow, and bringing her out all without waking anyone before bringing the box to Rarity's place for the birthday party, which started around mid-morning.

Chapter 2: Unwrapping

As they weren't going at a blistering pace, catching up with Aria and Sonata had been pretty easy. "Hey," called Sunset, "wait up!"

The two turned, Aria crossing her arms. "Come to fess up, huh? Alright, where is she?"

Stopping to catch her breath, Sunset sighed a little. "I told you I don't know, but I'd like to help look for her."

Sonata tilted her head. "For realzies? Why?"

Feeling a little taken aback by the question, Sunset glanced away, rubbing one arm. "Well, we, we're, uh..." She hadn't really seen Adagio since she joined them at school for a day after the incident at Fatbear's Pizza, (even if she disappeared right after lunch) but what she was about to say still felt right. "We're friends, I think." The part she didn't want to share was that she had apparently been right two weeks ago. It looked like they really did miss Adagio as much as she would miss them.

Aria and Sonata shared a quick, uncertain look, the former speaking first. "Thanks, but we'll find her just fine on our own." She turned to keep walking, gesturing for Sonata to follow her, but the blue girl quickly looked back and forth between her and Sunset.

"One sec?" She grabbed Aria by the arm, pulling her closer in what was likely supposed to be a private huddle, but Sunset could still very clearly hear them. "She's supposed to be the smarty-pants of their group, remember? She might think of something to find Dagi!"

"Tch, like we'd need her to-" Sunset couldn't see their faces, but she knew they were looking one another in the eye, tension visibly draining out of Aria's posture as she quietly complied. "Yea, yea, fine." The two of them turned back, Aria shrugging a little. "Okay Shimmer, any bright ideas?"

Sunset smiled. "Maybe. Is it possible she just went out for a while?"

Sonata shook her head. "Nuh-uh. Dagi ALWAYS leaves us a note when she goes somewhere without warning. This morning? Bupkis."

"And the last time you saw her was?" She'd have suggested they just call her, but it seemed like Adagio still didn't have a phone.

"Last night," Aria answered, looking almost hopeful, "she got back from another job that didn't work out, we had dinner together, then she hit the hay. When we woke up, she was gone, no notes anywhere."

"Hm," mused Sunset, holding a hand to her chin in thought, "If that's the case, she either wanted to be alone for a while..." she hesitated, knowing they didn't want to hear this even if they'd already assumed it, "or, might have been abducted somehow." She forced an optimistic smile. "But, maybe she just wanted some air, took a walk, and lost track of time? Or even found a job while she was out and hasn't been able to get back yet? If it's one of those, we should check her normal hang-out spots away from home and anywhere in town that might be hiring. Have you looked in any of those already?"

Sonata smiled at Aria. "Toldja she'd be a brainiac!"

Aria shrugged lightly. "First thing that came to mind when there wasn't a note was that one of your pals must have gotten her somehow. Checked by the sweets-shop you guys usually hang in, heard there was a get-together goin' on at the prissy girl's place, you know the rest."

Making the mental note to correct the name choice later, (Rarity wasn't that prissy) Sunset nodded. "Okay, where does Adagio typically like to hang out?"

Sunset stared in silence at the spectacle before her. It wasn't that unusual, for her at least, to see people singing and dancing with little provocation... One more thing it felt like started with Twilight, actually, but the two grown, somewhat sweaty men in suits were making it weird somehow. She couldn't put her finger on it.

"There's legal opportunity,
In this very community!"
"He's Flim!"
"He's Flam!"
"And we're Miss Dazzle's faithful lawyers!
Her legal advisers, nonpareil!"

As their song went on, Aria rolled her eyes, whispering to Sunset. "They do this every other time we come by. Adagio convinced these guys to help us out once and sometimes she drops by to remind them that they work for her now, when she wants them."

Sunset couldn't help but notice (in addition to Sonata quietly bopping along to the Flim-Flam Brothers' tune) that Aria left out her own part in 'convincing' them to help. Standing in the Everything Under the Sun Emporium while it's owners sang with what she realized were forced smiles, it looked like Adagio was still... well, Adagio, when she wasn't looking for work. That made Sunset think of something, her cheeks tinting red. "W-when you say, wants them...?"

Aria's eyes widened, followed by hand-muffled laughter. "Nah, don't think so. She wouldn't be so high-strung all the time if she were getting any." She glanced at the still-singing brothers. "They'd probably find some way to charge her for it too, and she barely spends a dime if it isn't strictly necessary." Looking Sunset in the eye, she smirked. "That the first thing that popped into your head? Didn't know you 'goody' types could be so-"

Sunset blushed brighter, whispering through clenched teeth. "We're not, I'm j-just asking, y'know?"

"Uh-huh. Does this mean you guys really do have crazy seven-w-"

"NEXT LOCATION."

They didn't stick around for the Flim-Flam Brothers' whole song about being perfectly reliable and how there was no chance they'd skip town even if certain documents found their way back into their hands, though the two seemed relieved as the trio left.

The next closest spot they might have found her was a quiet little area of the park. It was a little stone plaza (for lack of better words) in maybe twenty square meters up some stairs and effectively walled off by closely-placed pillars that were likely just there for decoration, rather than to hold anything up. In the center of the area, surrounded by stone benches, was a large fountain with a statue similar to the one in front of the school.

Sunset took in the scene with quiet awe. "With how serene this place is and the skill of the masonry, I can hardly believe nobody is here to appreciate it."

"Well," Aria guessed, "it's probably got something to do with being so far from anything else. Did you notice that it's a ten-minute walk from here to the entrance?"

"That," Sonata added, "and there's no snack machines either, and the benches are harder than the wooden ones everywhere else, so it's not even great for stopping to take a break."

Taking another look around, Sunset could see what they meant. "Huh. Then, apart from the whole, 'peaceful-park' thing this place has going, why does Adagio come here?"

Aria rolled her eyes. "It's her-" she made mocking finger-quote gestures for emphasis "-'secret place' whenever she feels like moping about something, and this is a pretty good spot to be alone." She took a quick look around, not seeing a hint of orange fluff. "Guess she's not just down about something, at least."

That was a relief, if nothing else. Still, as pretty as the stony area was, they had to keep looking.

Sonata was pacing around the fountain, as if hoping to see Adagio at an angle they just hadn't noticed. "How do you know she's not sad about something anyway?"

Aria shrugged somewhat irritably. "Because she always comes here when she's bummed out, doofus."

Scowling, Sonata pointed at Aria. "Hey, name-calling! And it's Dagi, her bum is always sticking out, dummy!"

Neither of them noticed Sunset had started giggling.

Aria sputtered. "That is NOT what 'bummed out' means, idiot!" She blinked, reflecting for a second or two on the state of their leader's hindquarters. "But, yea, it is."

"It is what bummed out means?"

"What? No, it means, I mean it doesn't mean, I mean-" Aria held both hands to her head, groaning with exasperation. "This, THIS is what I mean when I say you're the worst!"

Sonata just looked more confused. "It means Dagi's butt sticks out when she's sad because I'm the worst?"

Aria pulled at her own ponytails. "AAAAGH!!"

Sunset had fallen to the floor laughing, rolling around and holding her sides.

Aria dragged a hand across her face. It was going to be a long day.

It's going to be a long day, thought Adagio, who was still tied up in a box. Unlike Rarity, who was still at the door. She thought of kicking the sides of the box, of trying to make enough noise to draw the visitor's attention, but if it didn't work, there was a risk of painful consequences from Rarity. She said she meant me no harm, but I doubt that'll hold if I push it.

She tensed at the sound of returning footsteps, part of her fearing Rarity knew what she was thinking somehow and had come to administer punishment. Instead, the lid came off and Rarity again showed an apologetic smile.

"Truly sorry about that." The smile was visibly forced. "Again. That one just took forever to leave, but it would only have raised questions if I slammed the door in their face or-" She stopped, rubbing the back of her head. "Good gracious, this is awkward."

Adagio rolled her eyes, which Rarity would have thought was quite difficult to do while glaring ferociously. The effect gave the impression that Adagio was very cross with her, the walls, and the ceiling, all in rapid succession, the look on her face all but saying Really? PLEASE, tell me all about it.

Rarity smiled a little. She's so expressive! Giving something of a self-conscious laugh, she went on. "Haha, so, like I was saying, I'm sorry you were kidnapped by my friends and-" The sound of the doorbell returned again, as did Rarity's abashed grin. "I'm just popular as popular can be today, aren't I?" Adagio stared back at her blankly, which at least didn't make her feel like a monster. "I'm sorry, I'll be back, again!"

Lid on, Rarity gone, Adagio was alone with her thoughts again.

...Well. It's a good thing I'm not claustrophobic. The pillow they left in here is very soft, too, so it's not that uncomfortable. Sonata would call this looking on the bright side, which made Adagio groan with bow-gag-muffled annoyance. I've been in this damn thing too long already if I'm starting to take her advice.

Rarity came back a lot faster this time, which is to say, in only around five minutes. "Alright, I'm starting to think I should hang a sign or something to say I'm away at the moment." Doorbell. Now even Rarity was starting to look agitated. "Definitely hanging a sign."

Once more, Rarity dispensed hasty apologies and went away.

Will she let me out if I pretend to cry? She might be about to do that anyway, when the visitors stop, and I'm not sure if I can work up the tears... She liked to think she was a convincing liar, but physical effect was a little trickier.

What felt like around ten minutes later, the lid came off. "Okay," Rarity said through a forced, but hopeful smile when she returned, "that should do the tri-" Now it was her phone that rang. Not a text message she could reply to in a minute or two, either. She rapidly looked back and forth between the waiting call and her unwilling, unwanted captive.

Adagio gave her a tired look and nodded to the phone, as if to say. 'Just go, I'll be right here.'

Rarity smiled a little. So expressive! "Back soon!"

More thinking time.

On second thought, it's shameful enough that I really broke down in front of one of them already. Twice and they'll all think I'm a weak, trembling little flower-girl.

Then Aria and Sonata would hear about it somehow and she'd really have a problem. Then again, she hadn't really seen any of the Rainbooms since the day she joined Sunset at school, if only long enough to hear her friends' inane suggestions on where she might be able to find lasting work. She may have tried two or three of those ideas in the end, but for all she knew, Sunset really didn't tell anyone that Adagio had cried like a little girl the night before.

It was just as she started to wonder if she'd be going to sleep in this box tonight that Rarity returned, tearing off the lid as though Adagio's box was a gift she had actually wanted to open. "Alright," she said, visibly exasperated, "that should be all of them, I'm going to untie you now." She leaned a little on the edge of the box, frowning. "But first, well... I know can't truly stop you, and you have every right to be angry about what's happened, but, could you please just think about forgiving my friends before doing anything rash?"

To Rarity's surprise, Adagio immediately and vehemently nodded in agreement. By the look on her face, it might have even been sincere. The truth was that she just badly wanted out of the box, her restraints, and this house, but little details weren't important at that moment.

Rarity gently reached toward Adagio's mouth to remove the bow-gag. There were no threats this time, not a single word from the girl still waiting to be properly set free. Suppose it's possible she's just, shall we say, biding her time before letting me know exactly how she feels... "The ropes on your arms may be something of a challenge with your hair in the way, do you think you could lie on your stomach?"

Adagio gave her a skeptical look, but gingerly complied, her hair brushed to the side as Rarity went to work.

The silence grew heavier with each passing minute, but eventually Adagio's hands were free. To Rarity's relief, they didn't go straight to her throat, but to the ropes binding Adagio's ankles together as she tried to undo the knots herself, to no avail. This seemed to embarrass her a little as she looked back and forth between the ropes and Rarity. "Uh-"

Rarity smiled at her. "I can get them, darling, but your feet are a little hard to reach in the box. Do you think you could rest on the couch for a few minutes?"

It was with Rarity offering a hand the whole time that Adagio managed to hop out of the box and over to the couch with her legs tied together, a display she was grateful to have as few witnesses for as possible.

Rarity knelt down to undo the ropes wrapped around Adagio's boots. Pinkie had apparently had some fun finding how many ways she could wrap them around high heels at once. A shame as it was to undo the celtic patterns her favorite party planner had somehow woven into knotwork, Rarity made steady progress.

"I think I'm almost done, just a few more of these-OUCH!!"

Adagio jumped with a start, trying to angle her head to see what just happened. "What?!"

Rarity withdrew a hand that had a thin line of red along the side of that palm. "Ow." Tilting her head a little to get a better look at the back of the heels, she remembered that Adagio wore spiky boots. "Good heavens, those are sharper than they look!"

Adagio frowned a little, averting her eyes. "Not sharp enough to cut the ropes, clearly."

"Perhaps not, but still! Hold on, I've almost got you out of them."

When the last of the ropes were finally removed, Adagio quickly stood up and ran (stumbled, really, she'd been in a box for hours) to the door. She had almost turned the handle when a thought stopped her.

Rarity sat where she'd been in silence, Adagio slowly turning around to face her. A stream of cold dread slithered through Rarity's chest, and she was sure that if it weren't so expertly styled, her hair would be standing on end!

Facing her, Adagio raised a hand to point a finger like a commander directing their troops. "I am not afraid of you," she hissed through gritted teeth, stepping closer, "not afraid of anyone. To prove it, I'm not going anywhere until I've been compensated for waking up in a box. And since it was your idiot friends that brought me here," when she was close enough, she lifted Rarity to her feet by her wrist, looking magnitudes more intimidating now that she wasn't tied up, "you may as well make it worth my while." Glancing down, she noticed the cut from a moment ago on Rarity's hand.

Rarity noticed too, pointing at it with her other hand. "Er, c-could I just...?"

Adagio let go, averting her eyes. "That, you should, y-yes, um... Don't want you bleeding on me."

"Right," Rarity nodded appreciatively as she moved toward the kitchen sink, "I'll deal with this, thank you."

Adagio shrugged, waiting in place as Rarity cleaned and bandaged the small wound.

It's not my fault, she thought to herself, so what if my boots are sharp? My kidnappers apparently didn't lacerate themselves to death when tying me up, she just wasn't careful. It's not my fault!

She wasn't the least bit sorry. She'd spent the better part of the morning in a box, delivered to this girl as a living present! Rarity was lucky a little cut was the only thing she'd-

The cut might form a scar. If it were her own beauty permanently marred, Adagio knew she'd be furious. Rarity didn't even seem to care. Having the sleeves torn from her perplexing metal-thing jacket reduced the girl to tears, but scars didn't bother her? Adagio had a theory, hesitantly approaching Rarity as she finished wrapping her hand.

"S-sorry."

Rarity jumped a little, whipping around to face her. "What?"

She avoided eye-contact, speaking quietly. "Your hand. It might leave a scar, and you got cut on my-"

She was cut off by Rarity laughing. "Ohh, please don't worry about it, it doesn't matter if I do get a little scar from this." In response to Adagio's baffled look, she smiled almost smugly. "Darling, with my complexion, scars are all but invisible." She wiggled her fingers where Adagio could see. "I have several on my hands from years of cutting and sewing fabric, this little nic is nothing to write home about."

"Oh. Good, good." Her theory was apparently wrong, but at least it meant Rarity wasn't just keeping her cool until the time to exact retribution for the cut came, as Adagio herself might have done. The wound is properly dressed, too. Good.

"So," Rarity said with unhampered enthusiasm, "how long were you trapped like that, exactly?"

Adagio crossed her arms, failing to summon the right amount of contempt. "I woke up in there."

Rarity nodded a little. "Right, then I would imagine you haven't eaten breakfast yet." She paced back toward the living room. "I could prepare something given some time, or," she glanced toward a tall pan on the snack table, "you're more than welcome to leftover birthday cake, if you like. Still quite fresh, as well!"

"That's an odd choice of bre-..." She sighed. Cake for the first meal of the day? Suppose I haven't exactly kept a healthy diet the last several weeks anyway. "Very well."

Rarity beamed at her. "This might be hard to believe, but Pinkie Pie is much better with cooking than she is with rope-work."

"You would be right," Adagio said with a raised eyebrow, "I do find that hard to believe."

Rarity giggled, lifting the pan to reveal half the cake still untouched. "She worked on this one with Fluttershy, and you haven't lived until you've tasted that girl's frosting mix."

Adagio started mentally compiling the day's oddities. Kidnapped in her sleep, trussed up and put in a box, offered as a living present for someone that just wanted to style her hair, released without too much trouble, and fed birthday cake in something between hospitality and apology by her entirely-too-okay-with-this host.

And it wasn't even noon.

She didn't dare ponder whether Rarity seemed so calm and welcoming because she was trying to make up for the kidnapping, or in spite of it. Like if things like this happened often enough that she just wasn't really fazed by it anymore. Considering how she and the others stood against magical beings in a world not meant to have any of them on two separate occasions, the possibilities felt weighted.

When they'd finished, Adagio silently conceded that this was, if nothing else, a much better meal than the cold pizza she'd shared with Sunset Shimmer in that death-trap of a restaurant.

"So," Rarity asked while setting her fork down, "how was it?"

Adagio shrugged. "For someone that abducts people when she's short on gift ideas, your friend isn't a bad cook."

Having caught the pleased faces Adagio made (So expressive!) for the first several mouthfuls, Rarity just smiled. She would have brought up an offer made at the lunch table two weeks ago, but that they hadn't seen Adagio since made her answer rather evident.

"Now," Adagio said in an authoritative tone, arms crossed and one leg resting on the other, "I've sampled the efforts of two of your friends, and I understand your line of work is something I may be able to appreciate."

Rarity blinked twice. They stared at one another in silence for a solid minute.

Adagio's cheeks tinted red. "I heard you were skilled with wardrobes. While my own isn't lacking, I wouldn't mind the occasional-"

Rarity jumped up, starry-eyed and beaming as she clasped her hands together. "We can get started right away!"

Quick as a whip, she moved over to Adagio, grabbed her by the wrist, and started hauling her off somewhere. It was eerily reminiscent of being dragged around Fatbear's by Sunset Shimmer, right down to the weird little sense of foreboding that came with being pulled fast enough that she had to really move to not fall on her face.

Rarity kept her enthusiasm as they went. "We should probably wash your hair first. If you hadn't eaten yet, I doubt you had the opportunity to shower, either, and it looked a little cramped and... if I may say so, warm in that box anyway."

Still just trying to keep up, Adagio gulped. Maybe I should have just run?

Author's Note

I'm only aiming for friendshipping this time, there will be no (deliberate) RarDagio, SunNata, SunAria, or even AriaNata in this series.

Chapter 3: Ask Around

"She hangs out at the docks sometimes?" The trio stood looking out at the sea. Was Adagio just homesick or something?

Aria rolled her eyes, looking a little annoyed. "She's one of those stare-longingly-into-the-distance girls sometimes. I know that's big with gooey, romantic types, but the way she does it is just sorta creepy."

Sunset looked skeptical. "Adagio is the romantic type? How many boyfriends does she have around town?" Aria and Sonata started snickering, which made her feel like she'd said something stupid. "What?"

"Boyfriends," answered Sonata, "I don't think she even has one!" None of them did, what with half the town hating their guts, but still.

Aria smirked. "Pro'lly get weirded out by her Puff-O The Clown hair." The smirk fell away as she looked at Sunset and shrugged. "But yea, I know she gets all weak-kneed reading those trashy novels she thinks we don't know about." Her eyes widened for a split second, her face turning neutral, but her tone forceful. "Which is what she will continue to think when we find her. Right?"

Sunset noticed Sonata standing very close to her, magenta eyes wide and unblinking as she slowly leaned closer. Stepping back, Sunset held her hands up placatingly. "Hey, makes no difference to me." She quickly glanced back and forth between the two of them. "But that you snoop through her stuff? Also kinda creepy."

Aria reddened vibrantly. "I, w-we just make sure she's not up to anything really bad!"

Sonata backed her up with rapid nodding. "Yea! That's why Aria double-checks the boo-OW!"

Aria had thwapped her on the back of the head, her blush no weaker. "You really need to shut up sometimes."

Sonata scowled back. "You need to quit being such a-"

Before the quarrel could escalate any further, Sunset stepped between the two, pushing them apart. "Focus! Why do you two care if she knows, anyway? Why are you so scared of her?" Sunset hadn't forgotten that Snips and Snails had been afraid of her, before Twilight came along. She had only ever seen those two as tools for her ambitions before the day she apologized for roping them into her schemes, so they only ever had reason to fear her, but Adagio had made it sound like her group was closer than that.

"I'm not scared of her," Aria said half-heartedly as she turned away, arms crossed.

Sonata was even more transparent. "I'm scared of her. She's just, like..." She scratched her head in thought, shrugging. "Just, scary beyond all reason, y'know?"

Sunset frowned. "You're really afraid of one of the only people in the world you care about?"

The two were silent, Aria looking annoyed, Sonata looking contrite. The former spoke quietly. "You would be too, okay?"

Sighing, Sunset shrugged. "Alright, so we can rule out popular dating spots for the places she might be. Where else?"

They opted to try that piece of paper with a list of people that didn't like the Dazzlings very much, as the first name on the list wasn't too far away. Sunset noted aloud that they probably shouldn't just kick in the door and demand to know where she is.

Aria was skeptical. "Why not?"

"More flies with honey, girls."

Sonata was Sonata. "We're not looking for flies, we're looking for Dagi."

Facepalm.

Aria shook her head. "Brought that one on yourself, Shimmer."

"Noted."

"Ooh," the ditziest Dazzling went on, "can we get some honey on the way home? It's soooo sweet!"

Aria and Sunset groaned at the same time. Before long, the first name on the list answered the door.

"I'm sorry girls," said Principal Celestia, "but I haven't seen your friend anywhere." Looking at Aria and Sonata, her eyes narrowed a little in suspicion. "Actually, I haven't seen you two around school, either. I'm pretty sure you're both still students, and Adagio Dazzle, too..."

Aria started sweating, she and Sonata offering Celestia a sheepish smile. "Welp, gotta keep up the hunt, she could pop up any time, kaythanksbye!" And down the street they ran, Sunset turning to follow.

Celestia called after her, her tone stern enough to stop Sunset in her tracks. "Sunset Shimmer?"

She turned hesitantly. "Y-yes...?"

Celestia smiled warmly. "Keep up the good work. Maybe you can get those three to classes."

Hearing those words, in a very familiar voice, touched something in Sunset's heart. She couldn't speak, but gave a sharp nod and a wide grin before running after Aria and Sonata.

When she caught up to them, she had a question. "So, Celestia didn't seem to really hate you guys. Why is she an enemy?"

"The school part," growled Aria, "weren't you listening?!"

Touchy topic for her? Adagio seemed more annoyed about meeting my friends than entering the building... "Ah, right. You know, you guys could grab free meals if you attended, cafeteria's open to students and it would save you some money..."

"For realzies?"

"SONATA, NO! IT'S A TRAP!!"

Sunset spent the walk to the residence of the next-nearest name on the list arguing that they might actually have fun in school if they gave it a chance, but Aria was vehement that she never wanted to go back. Sonata seemed reluctant to weigh in, so maybe there was hope after all.

This house looked familiar. Bad-familiar. "Uh, g-guys," Sunset asked shakily, "whose house is this...?"

Aria double-checked the paper. "Flash Sentry. He might have gone after Adagio, what with that thing with Twilight Sparkle and-hey, get back over here!"

Sunset had ducked behind a tree. "I, uh, just, really think you guys can handle this one, what's the next name on the list? I can head there while you're busy and-"

Sonata pushed her lightly from behind. "We need you to talk to him!"

Sunset dug in her heels to retain as much distance from Flash's house as possible. "B-but I-"

Aria crossed her arms. "Look, I'm thinking that if everyone we ask sees us first, they'll know we're here for Adagio, so if they know where she is, they'll clam up. But people trust you, don't they?"

"I'm still getting weird looks every now and then, actually."

Aria shrugged. "Whatever, can't be worse than the ones we get. Now are you gonna help us find Adagio or not?"

Biting her lower lip, Sunset struggled with indecision for a moment.

I don't have anything against Flash at this point, but, The Awkward!

It would be slow, it would be brutal, and neither of them would want anything to do with one another for weeks. She may have been hyperbolizing a little, but it was bad. Still, if there was even the faintest chance that Adagio was in trouble and Flash knew something, she'd regret not doing this forever. Sighing in defeat, Sunset nodded. "Okay, fine, you two hide somewhere nearby."

Sonata looked especially pleased, grabbing Aria and yanking her behind the tree before she could so much as snark about the situation.

Steeling herself, Sunset knocked on the door of her ex-boyfriend. The one she used to further her plans to conquer Equestria. The one she never even bothered to get to know as a person. The one that-

"-et Shimmer? Hello? You there?"

Snapping out of her thoughts, Sunset noticed he had answered the door and was looking at her with concern. She smiled sheepishly. "Hi. I'm here to talk to you."

Flash nodded slowly. "That would explain why you knocked on my door, yes."

They spent a long moment in silence, Sunset's smile getting increasingly forced. "So, how have you been? Since, uh, things?"

"I'm... good? Not on fire or being mind-controlled." Sunset visibly shrunk back, making him wince. "I-I mean, not like your mind control, but someone else's, I mean, not someone else's, nobody is mind-controlling me right now." He held up his hands defensively, looking increasingly uncomfortable. "Not that I mean to say you even do mind control, outside that one time. That happened. Which is okay? I mean, not okay, but-wait-it's, it's not so not-okay that anyone still begrudges you for it. Okay?"

Sunset looked to the floor. "A-actually..."

"Oh. W-well, I'm completely over it, and," he forced a smile, "the Dazzlings were WAY worse, right?"

Knowing that Sonata and Aria were still in earshot, she really didn't want to answer that question. Luckily, she saw an opening. "Well, I kinda wanted to talk about, uh..." She glanced around, eye-contact getting more unbearable by the second. "Are you seeing Adagio Dazzle?"

Flash paled. "What?"

"I-I mean, have you SEEN Adagio? Like, in the last day or so?"

He seemed mostly relieved. "Oh. N-no, not really. Why, are you seeing Adagio Dazzle?"

Sunset flushed. "WHAT?!"

Again, Flash raised his hands placatingly. "I'm just asking! If it's the first thing you ask when you think I might know where she is, I thought I'd ask the same thing!"

"How does that make any sense?!"

"I don't know!!"

Sonata popped out from behind the tree, her face and tone very casual. "So, he doesn't know where she is?"

Flash's jaw dropped. He looked quickly back and forth between Sunset and Sonata, raising a finger to point at the latter. "Are-"

Sunset held up a hand. "Whatever you're about to say, please don't."

Sonata turned to Aria, who was still facepalming behind the tree. "I don't think he knows where Dagi is, Aria."

Any chance of remaining concealed thoroughly Sonata'd, Aria stepped out where Flash could see her. "Yea. Got that part."

Again, Flash quickly looked over the three of them. "What's going on here?"

Sonata smiled. "We're looking for Dagi, the yellow one with the orange, fluffy hair?" She walked over to put her hands on Sunset's shoulders. "Not like Sunny here, she's yellow with red/yellow wavy hair, totally different."

Flash gave Sunset an inquisitive look, which she confirmed with a nod. "Okay," he said while scratching his head, "so why were you two hiding?"

Aria rolled her eyes. "Would you have been honest if you saw us answering the door?"

He answered with a perfectly straight face. "Yes."

Aria blinked. "Oh. Well." She shrugged, turning to leave. "Looks like it didn't matter anyway. Ciao."

Content to leave the scene behind her, Sunset followed right along as Sonata spent another minute talking to Flash about how Sunset wouldn't have been enough to replace Adagio, but that she didn't mind having her around while they looked. Part of Sunset was touched. She turned to Aria. "So, are we leaving her there? You might have to spend another day tracking down one of your friends."

"Pfft. As if I could get rid of Sonata even if I really wanted to. You ever heard The Cat Came Back?"

"Seriously?"

"Seriously." Sonata had learned to make cat noises just to rub it in, but luckily seemed to forget the correlation and went back to eating cereal with her mouth open. "Why were you so scared of Sentry, anyway? I know he's got that 'tough guy' jacket, but yours looks way harder."

Sunset couldn't decide right away if that was a compliment or not, but coming from Aria, who favored the 'punk' look, it might have been. "Thanks, I guess. I'm not scared of him, really, it's more that we used to go out, and, well..."

Aria stopped mid-stride, her eyes widened. "He... was... your...?" She slowly turned to look at Sunset with something between reverence and horror. "Oh. OH! Wow. Sorry. Yikes..." Scratching the back of her head ruefully, she gave Sunset an apologetic look. "Damn, no wonder you were all..." All she could offer was a vague, shuffling motion.

Despite her own very recent predicament, Sunset couldn't help smiling a little in amusement. "You really didn't know?"

Aria shook her head. "Nah, left it to Adagio to keep track of who was doin' who, so-"

Sunset blushed vibrantly. "I NEVER 'DID' ANYONE!!"

Aria blinked once, crossing her arms. "For real? No wonder it was so awkward between you guys!"

Sunset facepalmed, groaning. Before she could explain the intricacies of relationships and how getting into one another's pants wasn't the end-all goal even if she weren't just using Flash at the time, Sonata popped up between them.

"Flash double-definite, super-sure didn't know where Dagi is."

"Tch," Aria said with an eye-roll, looking like she was restraining herself from saying the first thing that came to mind in the name of her and Sonata's fractured name-calling truce, "great job, you confirmed what we already knew. Why'd you stick around, anyway?"

"I wanted to make extra sure." Sonata tilted her head a little, looking confused. "The principal barely gave us mean looks, so I wondered if Flash was a not-enemy on the enemy list too, and he is! He said he was surprised we thought he hated us, so I asked about that mind-control thing he said. Then he ran in the house and locked the door." She scratched her chin. "Wait, maybe he does hate us..."

There was a long moment of silence before Aria turned to Sunset, pointed at Sonata, and deadpanned. "That there? That's what it looks like when Sonata has a thought."

Author's Note

Just Sunset, Aria, and Sonata this time.

Chapter 4: Battle of the Strands

Adagio and Rarity stood in the bathroom, which proved to be quite spacious, as the latter rambled on with a look of delight on her face. Adagio was unable to get a word in edge-wise to suggest that maybe showers were best taken only by the person who intended to get clean. She wouldn't disrobe until she was alone in here. Luckily, Rarity eventually stopped talking. Unluckily, Adagio hadn't caught the last thing she said as the seamstress produced a roll of measuring tape and stretched it out in front of her.

"Now please be still, this'll only take a moment." She stepped forward to wrap the yellow band tightly around Adagio's arm, leaning in close to read where the little markings met.

Adagio raised an eyebrow. "What are you doing?"

Rarity didn't look up from her task. "Taking measurements, remember? This'll just take a second." She then wrapped the tape around a different area of her arm and repeated the process. Then on her leg. Then her thigh.

Adagio started to blush, getting a bad feeling about where this was going. "Uh-"

"And next is-" Rarity didn't take her eyes off the tape, quickly measuring increasingly invasive areas. "Mmhm."

"H-hey!"

"And then there's your-"

"Gah!"

"I'm sure something will fit."

"S-stop tha-"

"And just for good measure-"

"Yeek!"

Drawing back, Rarity smiled at her innocently, as if she plain didn't notice Adagio's knock-kneed stance or crimson face. "All done! Now let's see about getting you clea-"

The moment Rarity's fingertips touched her vest, Adagio drew back, quickly circled around Rarity, and started pushing her out of the bathroom. "I'm perfectly capable of washing myself, thank you!"

Not resisting, Rarity giggled. "Oop! My apologies, I'll just leave you to-" The door wasn't slammed behind her, but it definitely closed with more force than was strictly necessary. Had she done it again? Rarity had practically been forced to go through something like sensitivity training conducted by her friends after the time she'd done something similar with Fluttershy. Some girls were just bashful about touching and nudity, she supposed, even around other girls. Well, no matter, she thought with a grin, heading toward the dressing room, this will give me some time to determine the best-fitting options!

Leaning up against the bathroom door, Adagio briefly pondered a window escape. Unfortunately, that would completely undermine her earlier sentiment that she wasn't afraid of anyone when Rarity came back and realized that she had fled after all. Still, yellow-tape TSA aside, this was going smoother than what she'd initially thought would happen when she awoke tied up in a box.

Turning off the hair-dryer and saluting it's nobility in the line of duty, Adagio sighed a little with relief. Not just that she managed to dry off in good time, but that Rarity hadn't decided to do something to humiliate her while she was in the shower after all. Though her... touchiness just before might have counted for something.

Still, she hadn't been surprised with something messy thrown over the shower curtain while she was in, or stepped out to find her clothes missing. It almost made her feel bad about locking the door. Redressing, she stepped out of the bathroom, Rarity swooping in and leading her away by the wrist almost the moment she emerged.

Her smile was no weaker than before Adagio's shower. "Right this way, darling, I've got the first dozen outfits all lined up!"

"Dozen?"

"Well, technically it's closer to eighty-four if you don't mind mixing applicable tops, bottoms, and shoes around, but I think the colors may clash that way."

She led Adagio to a large room full of curtained little areas, several clothes racks waiting near the center. Tracing a finger over the hooks of several hangars, she picked out two and handed them and the attached clothes to Adagio. "Try these on, any of the changing areas should do."

Stepping behind one of the curtains, Adagio started to change as Rarity stood outside and picked up where she'd left off.

"I know it's the reason you were brought here against your will, but I really would love to style your hair if you'd permit it! The sheer bulk allows for so many possibilities, from braids, to hanging loops, to an intricate mixture of many kinds! Really, I'm a little surprised you keep it as is, not that it doesn't look good with the spiked hairband." She stuck her head through the curtain. "Speaking of which, do you think you could-" There was a shriek of surprise from Adagio, Rarity immediately stepped back with a hint of a blush. "Ooh, right, you prefer privacy. Sorry!"

Adagio sighed a little and things were quiet apart from the sound of moving cloth.

Rarity smiled. "Very cute selection, by the way."

"What?!"

"With your usual demeanor, I really wouldn't have guessed you'd wear-"

Adagio's blush was almost audible. "D-do you mind?!"

Rarity giggled.

Once she was dressed, Adagio stepped out. She wasn't exactly impressed by the loose, purple shirt and ruffled skirt with thick shoes, but before she could do more than open her mouth, Rarity cut her off, looking her over carefully.

"You're right, the shoes are the wrong shade and the ribbon does nothing for your hair. Shall we try another?"

"I'm not sure the accents in that top are your color..."

"Black leather pants with a turquoise frilled shirt? What was I thinking?"

"Hm. You're a little more curvaceous than I first thought, Miss Dazzle."

She noticed Rarity was eyeing her lower body when she said that. "Just 'Adagio' is fine."

Rarity nodded, not taking her eyes off Adagio's figure, but not leering at her like some drooling lecher, either. The gaze was purely analytical, which had to be a first for any of the Dazzlings. "Very well. Perhaps we could try something that played to your strengths..."

Adagio stood in an asymmetric red-velvet dress that went down to one knee, covering down to the middle of the thigh of the opposite leg. The section covering her torso only stretched over the front, a small window between the straps holding the dress up exposing the upper portion of her modest chest.

Rarity paced around her, one hand on her chin, that arm propped up by the other as she kept the contemplative stare from every angle. "It's... I think the color is right, but it feels... off. What do you think?"

Adagio looked in the full-length mirror set up nearby, turning to her left and right to see herself from as wide a range as possible. She didn't look bad, she almost never did, but something about her current look did feel a little strange. "It looks..." She studied her mostly-bare legs, down the the black, high-heeled sandals on her feet. Her arms were uncovered too. She knew what the problem was. "Party-girl."

Rarity looked her over again. The light, flowy dress and the amount of skin shown on her limbs was more of a girlish look while Adagio had something of a lady-like vibe, and it was generally advised to match a look to a feeling. She grinned. "I-dee-yaa!"

Now Adagio wore a different dress, red-velvet like the last one, but very different in style. It was long, the thin cloth stopping down near her ankles, parted with a single slit on her left side that ran almost up to her hip. The upper portion was tight-fitting and stopped on her chest at roughly the same place as her purple jumpsuit, bound in the middle with a thin, black sash. Covering most of her arms were black gloves similar to the pink ones she normally wore, obscuring her wrists and most of her hand, but not the fingers. Combined with shiny, black, high-heeled boots much thinner (and less pointy!) than her usual choice, the overall effect was formal, but still flirty, svelte, but still sultry, something a young lady might wear to a ball or an opera or some other formal outing.

Judging by a pleased-looking smirk as she turned back and forth to admire herself in the mirror, Adagio approved. "You might make a better clothier than you do a musician."

It was said haughtily and with an ounce of challenge, but considering it, Rarity smiled genuinely. "Thank you! I may be able to magnify the look, if you don't mind sticking around a while."

Tearing her gaze from her reflection, Adagio blinked twice. She had expected something a little more venomous in reply, but if Birthday Girl was offering... "I, y-yes, very well. What did you have in mind?"

Rarity beamed, stepping closer while pointedly looking at Adagio's hair. "Well now, it depends. There's such a range to cover, so many options to consider..." She tilted her head, visibly projecting possibilities onto the fluffy canvas. "The things I could do with this hair if, well..." She gave a look not unlike a child asking for one more cookie from the jar. "I dare ask, would you mind, if...?" Adagio only responded with a raised eyebrow. "Could I, do you think, straighten it?"

There was an ominous chuckle. "If you're up to it."

Rarity frowned. "You would rather I didn't?"

She shook her head, orange curls bobbing tauntingly. "No, I mean that if you're feeling brave, then by all means, try. I won't stop you, good luck."

Rarity felt like Pinkie with her head stuck in a birthday cake again, though that hadn't actually happened today. Strangely. And Happy Birthday to me, indeed!

Rarity looked back and forth between the flat iron in one hand, a comb in the other, and the still-very-curly hair hanging in front of her. Something had gone wrong. "I... W-why isn't it working?"

Sitting on a cushioned stool, Adagio shrugged, replying in a casual tone as she thumbed through the magazine Rarity had offered for the wait. "To this day, I do not know."

Turning up the heat settings, Rarity tried again, slowly running the iron along the orange strands. When she stopped, it still didn't look like anything had changed. "How is this possible?!"

Page flip. "I've wondered the same thing."

Rarity grit her teeth, turning the heat up to maximum settings. She'd once (Once.) straightened Pinkie Pie's hair this way, and today would be no different! She took hold of the locks with the comb, clamped down with the iron, and slowly, carefully, meticulously dragged it along, certain every hair was feeling her burning vengeance, but no matter how many times she did it, she couldn't spot a single hair that looked even a little less curly than before. Her eye twitched.

Hearing Rarity stand up, Adagio turned to look at her. "Is something wrong?"

"Ohh, not at all," she replied as she calmly walked out of the room, "could you excuse me for just a moment?" The door shut before Adagio had time to reply. Moments later, it flew open, Rarity appearing armed to the teeth (there was a fine-toothed comb in her mouth) with hair-management products. She carried a much larger flat iron in one hand, a massive brush in the other, and had a band of chemicals in little bottles tied across her chest like an ammo belt. The most eye-catching detail of all, however, was the near-manic look on her face as she spoke through the comb. "It. is. ON!!"

Paying no mind to the wide-eyed fright of her target's owner, Rarity dove into battle.

Dropping the iron as it had finally grown too hot to continue holding, Rarity fell to her knees in defeat, breathing in ragged gasps. On the floor with her were the spent spray-cans, the empty bottles, and the brush so thick with orange hair she wasn't sure she'd ever be able to use it again. Not that she used the silly thing in ordinary circumstances, it was supposed to be a novelty item anyway, but still! Not even able to remember when the comb was lost, she hesitantly looked up to see Adagio once more admiring her reflection.

"Not bad," she said with a genuine smile, "not bad at all." Running a hand through that defiant mass of orange, she turned to Rarity looking quite pleased. "I've never seen it this straight in my life! You're nothing short of a miracle worker, Rarity."

Carefully looking them over again, Rarity determined that Adagio's curls were actually hanging a few inches lower, looking more wavy than puffy. Smiling a little, she stood up, extended her arms victoriously to the skies, and fell backward on her fainting couch.

Adagio blinked twice. Was that couch there before...?

"So," Rarity said, audibly fatigued, "how would you say your day has been, compared to waking up in a box?"

The former captive chuckled. "Compared to waking up in a box? Outstanding." Retaking her seat on the cushioned stool, she shrugged a little. "And, you?"

Rarity grinned brightly for one so tired. "I'm having a marvelous time!" She looked over the fruits of her labor; Adagio in a long, elegant evening gown, her much-less-puffy hair hanging down like a wavy, orange cloak stopping about halfway down her thighs. She smiled. "You really are beautiful, darling."

Adagio idly posed as her voice took on a nostalgic tone. "I know, but you should have seen me as a hippocampus! My scales had such luster that I would gleam in even dim lighting."

Rarity's mind boggled trying to imagine how the flying fish-horrors she'd seen at the Battle of the Bands could be called 'beautiful.' Maybe that wasn't the form she was referring to? A change of subject felt in order. "What kind of make-up do you wear? And, how did you keep from ruining it in the shower?"

Adagio looked at her in earnest confusion. "Make-up?"

The young seamstress's eyes widened. "Oh, my, stars..."

Brushing a lock of hair aside, Adagio smirked a little. "None of us have ever needed to artificially enhance our appearances with-" She stopped, her pupils shrinking to pin-pricks as she looked back at Rarity. A person who probably dealt in, and personally wore, make-up. "I, uh... I-I mean," Her face took on similar hues to her dress as she started to sweat. Rarity was just staring at her, expressionless. "n-not that there's anything wrong with, I mean, i-it's as valid as any other kind of seductio-err, unless that wasn't what you have in mind when you, n-not that I mean to say you do, um, m-make-up is perfectly fine, I'm sure, it's just that, I mean-"

Rarity started giggling, Adagio sitting in uncomfortable silence as it grew to loud laughter. "H-honestly, darling," she eventually managed, "it's fine. I can't very well begrudge you your beauty," her smile took on a modicum of sadness, "but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a little jealous."

Adagio felt strange, in that someone was envious of her and she drew no satisfaction from it at all. Not looking directly at Rarity, she scratched her head. "W-well, technically..."

Rarity sat up slowly, piqued interest clear in her expression.

Only glancing at her for a split-second, Adagio spoke quietly. "This isn't my body. Aria, Sonata, and I, none of us are 'naturally beautiful' because none of us are natural. The day we arrived in this world, this was how we looked." Never mind what being sirens in the first place meant... By the look on Rarity's face, she didn't seem to understand. "As these aren't even our bodies, we're all fake. It isn't our beauty, it's this world's answer to what we were before, and will never be again." Frowning, she held out a lock of hair in front of her face, speaking a little louder. "No idea what this is about, though." She lowered her head, looking toward the floor. "A-and, going that route? I don't know if our voices are our own, either. The gems, w-well, you remember, but..."

For the melancholic, dejected look on Adagio's face, Rarity felt like she should have said something comforting, but couldn't begin to think what it would be in this situation.

The other girl went on, closing her eyes. "The three of us still sing together sometimes, and while none of us sound quite like we did before," her breath hitched, "I c-can't be sure even that much is truly our own, independent of the gems! I have no idea how much of me is even mine, what kind of claim I have to-"

Rarity jumped up from where she sat, quickly moved to where Adagio was seated, and wrapped her in a hug, which only startled her a little.

Realizing what she had been doing, Adagio reddened faintly, took a deep breath, and cleared the lump that had been forming in her throat. She was not going to cry again. "Sorry."

Still hugging her, Rarity replied gently. "You have nothing to apolog-" She stopped, wishing she'd chosen her words more carefully. "Err, I-I mean, in terms of, uh-"

Adagio smiled a little. "So, anyway, yes, don't worry too much about make-up." The smile faded. "You could look like a clown and still be more 'natural' than my followers and I."

Frowning, Rarity backed away enough to look her in the eye. "I dedicate a lot of my time to aesthetics, Adagio, but even I know that how you look isn't truly important. Frankly? It doesn't matter how pretty someone is when they act, well..." She looked away for a second, not sure if this next statement would do more to make a point or just reopen what might have been not-so-old wounds. "Sunset Shimmer has always been a looker, but it's only in the last half year or so that she hasn't looked like a monster. Do you know what I'm trying to say?"

There was just the faintest glimmer of anger in Adagio's eyes, but it was watered down with a kind of browbeaten acceptance, like she'd already heard what she was no-doubt thinking now a hundred times before.

As just making Adagio think she was a terrible person was far from what Rarity meant to do, she tried a different approach. Resting both hands on Adagio's shoulders, she spoke gently. "You aren't a monster either, or we wouldn't be sitting here now. I can't be sure what you've been through since our confrontation, but I know something must have changed in that time, else you'd have done much more than demanded recompense for your abduction." Maybe Rarity was on to something, maybe Adagio just wasn't used to people talking to her like this, but there had to be a reason for the reserved, vulnerable look on her face. "You'd have never indulged my little episode with your hair, you'd have never calmly accepted my attempts to make up for your miserable situation this morning, and you'd have never joined us at school two weeks ago, even if you did leave right after lunch."

Sunset had said that Adagio ran into her on the way to school and the latter just had nothing better to do than tag along after her first and only shift at Flippy Fatbear's Pizza. Dubious looks were passed around at the time, but no one rightly asked.

"Beastly behavior may make us uglier inside," Rarity went on, "but the worst I've heard about any of your group since the battle is that Aria Blaze may have stood up for herself a little more aggressively than was strictly called for." Seeing Adagio smile a little at this, she returned it warmly. "You are not a monster, and I'm sure the other two aren't either." Adagio quickly turned away, her back to Rarity as she sat in silence. Rarity waited, not sure if she'd just made it worse.

"You were going to style my hair, right?"

She blinked twice.

Adagio still wasn't facing her, but she didn't sound upset. "I still certainly have time, if you're-"

Rarity hopped to her feet, beaming. "I'll get my tool-kit!"

As the young fashionista ran to get her equipment, (hopefully the sort to be used in normal circumstances this time) Adagio had some time to think. She tried to focus primarily on Aria and Sonata. They must have noticed she was gone by now, would they think she just forgot to leave them a note this time? She didn't want to up and leave just yet, but asking to use Rarity's phone wouldn't do much good, as she still didn't know Sonata's number. Did Aria have a phone yet? She would need to sort a few things out after today.

Then again, she wasn't looking forward to their comments about her getting captured like some helpless damsel when they heard that that was exactly what had happened.

Author's Note

If you're wondering, I picture Adagio's hair looking like the way Jack-A-Lynn tends to draw it post Rarity-goes-bonkers, more wavy than the big ol' cotton ball she has in the movie.

On that note, I know 'Adagio has wacky hair lol' is pretty much on par with taco jokes as far as low-hanging comedic fruit goes for the Dazzlings, but that's because Adagio might just have the most ridiculous hair in the entire franchise. Including ethereal manes, including Rainbow Power hair-extensions, including the Mane-iac, because hers was at least functional and served to make her more fearsome. Adagio is just super fluffy, which serves to make her more huggable.

Chapter 5: Tying Up Loose Ends

"No," the next name on the list answered with crossed arms, "the Great and Powerful Trixie has not seen Adagio Dazzle anywhere." She glanced between the three of them while bobbing silvery hair in one hand, a hint of a smile tugging at the corners of her mouth. "Why? Did she say anything about me? I mean, not that Trixie would take any interest in her anyway. So, did she?"

They tried every name on the list. The track team, Photo Finish, Snips and Snails (they proved to be more who didn't actually hate the Dazzlings and said it was nice to see Sunset again), the soccer team, a guy they couldn't find named Cheese Sandwich, certain staff of the local zoo, a local herbalist named Zecora (Subscript: See Cheese Sandwich), Lyra Heartstrings, Bon-Bon, Vinyl Scratch, and random people on the street. They literally had "just random people" on the bottom of the list. Sunset noticed the strange absence of Vice Principal Luna on that paper, but didn't really want to ask.

In between checking those on the list, they popped into the few buildings in town that had Help Wanted signs out front to briefly ask if anyone had seen her, to no avail.

Their last attempt, the guy who ran Aria and Sonata's work place, yielded similar results. He was going through divorce papers at the time, but Sonata somehow cheered him up a little about it while talking about looking for the girl whose fault it (technically) was.

"Y'know, the one with the big, fluffy, cheesy-poof hair? Like your whole arm-span wide, so deep you might just find the secrets of the universe at its center?"

This ended up earning her a raise and Aria's glare. However, Sonata was on a roll for making people smile, getting Aria to join in making fun of their search target's hair.

"You couldn't even tar and feather her if you wanted to," Aria said with a chuckle as the trio walked along a downtown sidewalk, "she'd just absorb it like a sponge!"

Sonata giggled. "You could probably pick her up and use her as a feather duster!"

As they laughed together, rare occurrence though it might have been, Sunset didn't join them. She guessed, hoped, that they were just trying to use humor to distract themselves from the fear and worry of losing their friend, not a genuine sense of joy at her expense. She'd noticed they'd often remark on Adagio's crazy curls when asking if anyone had seen her. Admittedly, Sunset had done that too not very long ago, as it was a ridiculously easy target.

Was that why she reacted so strongly at Fatbear's whenever I mentioned it?

"You guys talk a lot about her hair," she said conversationally, "is she sensitive about it or something?"

"Duh," answered Aria, "that's why we make fun of it at every opportunity."

"Yea," agreed Sonata, "that and her tremendous, huge butt!" Aria snickered as she went on. "We sorta have to. It's actually kinda hard to get to her the way she gets to-" Aria quickly thwapped her on the back of the head, "OW!!"

"She didn't need to know that," the surly siren hissed.

As the two started bickering again, Sunset reflected on how it wasn't hard at all for her getting under Adagio's skin.

I didn't always do it by making fun of her hair, either. Or her hips. Maybe I just have more experience than they do?

That she could think, without irony, that she knew more about hurting feelings than any of The Dazzlings, who fed on negative energy from fights they started, was a painful realization.

Regardless, she kept such thoughts to herself, more concerned with how the group apparently tease each other viciously. Adagio broke down crying when she admitted she didn't want to live without Aria and Sonata. Aria and Sonata willingly spend the whole day searching for Adagio, but Sonata constantly squabbles with Aria. They simultaneously fear and make fun of Adagio, but from the sounds of things, she does it right back at them? To an even greater degree? Was there just some twisted triangle of dysfunction keeping these three together? Did Aria and Adagio take turns calling Sonata an idiot? Did Adagio and Sonata have anything in common? What kind of friendship was this?

Sunset waited until they were walking down the street after the next house to investigate further. "I've gotta ask, just how many nicknames do you two have for Adagio? Just today, I've heard Cheese-Puff, Queen Fluffy, Puff-O The Clown, The Towering Cotton-Ball, Orange Fury, Evil Miss Frizzle, Sugar-Free Cream-Puff, and Fluffymongous, and those are just the ones about her hair." More surprising than the list was that Sunset could recite it with a straight face.

Sonata smiled. "We've got more, but I think those are the greatest hits."

"Why would you come up with all of those, anyway?" She wasn't, by any stretch of the imagination, new to mocking people, but Sunset knew there was no need for that much diversity to effectively tear down a target. Maybe it was actually affectionate?

Aria shrugged a little. "Kinda making up for lost time, since we can actually get away with it now. It's not like we do it constantly, or there'd never be a minute to breathe. That, and Spiky Dominatrix can still be scary as all hell, but since we have jobs and she doesn't, she won't get that mad if all we do's poke fun at her." She hoped.

Sonata had pulled a little notepad from somewhere. "I don't think that one works, Aria, her clothes aren't that prickly and she doesn't wear any leather."

"Tch, whatever." She smiled. "Ooh, how about Prickly Priss?"

Sonata giggled, quickly jotting it down. "Adding it!"

Sunset picked up from a moment ago. "Lost time?"

Sonata answered this one. "Before our gems got busted, her magic was always stronger than ours. That and her actually coming up with ideas are why she was the boss, but now...?"

Aria smirked. "Magic doesn't matter anymore, money does, and Fuzz-Tastic can't hold a job to save her life." Sonata jotted something down on the notepad again. "And since we make money and she doesn't, it's almost like we're the ones in charge." The confident smirk slipped away over the next half-minute. "Kinda. A little. Sometimes. Maybe." She glanced nervously at Sunset. "Don't tell her we said that."

Sonata looked around as though afraid someone was listening in. "Y-you're the one that said it!"

Aria was visibly sweating. "Shut up, Sonata!!"

As they bickered about whose head would roll if Adagio suspected they were legitimately trying to usurp her, even if none of them had their magic anymore, Sunset could only shake her head. The longer she listened to them, the more she figured the enemy list was pointless compared to how they treated each other. These three were a mess, and badly needed help, whether they knew it or not. But first, she'd have to find Adagio. "Got an idea," she said loudly enough to be heard over the squabble, "maybe she just went to the mall? Plenty of stores that might need an extra hand, plenty of hang-out spots for bored teenagers, she could be there for either one." Come to think of it, she sort of wished she'd thought of that sooner.

Apparently, so did Aria and Sonata, who looked at each other wide-eyed, facepalmed in unison, and groaned. "Oh, duh."

So they headed to the mall, but rather than going in through the front door, Aria and Sonata walked around the side of the building, to Sunset's confusion. "Eh, guys? Where are you going?"

Aria motioned for her to follow. "'Nother door over here, leads to the roof, that's probably where she's been all day."

They found themselves at one of those white doors Sunset got the feeling random mall-goers weren't actually allowed to go through. There were no Staff Only signs, no cameras watching the entrance, and the door wasn't even locked, but something about it still felt sketchy. Two flights of stairs later, they were standing on the roof of the mall, which gave them a good view of the town as well as the mall's interior via skylights. They spent a few minutes looking around, but there was no sign of Adagio.

Aria stomped in frustration. "Dammit!!"

Sonata had an entirely different reaction, lowering her head and idly playing with her ponytail. "What if she's really-"

Turning to her, Aria all but snarled. "Shut, up, Sonata!!"

Sonata scowled back at her. "You just don't wanna face it! She could have-"

Pointing a finger a the blue girl, Aria cut her off. "You think that every single time we don't know where she is, that's why she leaves notes!"

"Then why didn't she this time?!"

Aria clenched her jaw. "B-because, she, she might just, uh..."

"Might just what," asked Pinkie Pie, looking over her shoulder, "and, who? Where? When? Why? How?" She seemed to have earnestly confused herself, scratching her head. "What?"

Aria turned to look at her. "We're looking fo-GAHFRAHABLA?!"

She nearly fell backward, the look of terror on her face a familiar one to Sunset by this point, drawing a smirk. One thing Sunset could say about the startling effects of the Pinkie Pop-up? It was still funny when it wasn't happening to her. "Hey, Pinkie. What brings you to the roof of the mall?"

Rainbow's voice was heard from the direction of the staircase. "We could ask you the same thing, Sunset!" She emerged through the doorway, looking a little winded. "I'll never know how Pinkie gets up stairs so quick." In her and Pinkie's case, they were just hanging out at the mall, saw Sunset and two sirens go through a door that wasn't usually opened, and chose to investigate. She paced over to join the others, Aria more or less having recovered from her tiny heart-attack. "So, yea, what's up?"

Sunset turned to the sirens. "I was kind of wondering the same thing, actually. Why would Adagio be on the roof?"

Sonata shrugged. "She's kinda like a cat."

"What?"

Crossing her arms, Aria nodded. "The view of the town's nice, but it's more about being able to look down on people from up high."

Sunset smiled. "Yep. Sounds like her." It was then that she noticed Pinkie and Rainbow giving each other worried looks. "What's wrong, guys?"

They turned to her at the same time, their faces absolutely screaming 'busted!' They shared another quick look, Pinkie giving that nervous, 'oopsie' kind of grin. "Uh, y-you're looking for Adagio Dazzle? Fuzzy-licious? The Wig That Walks? She Who Must Not Wear Hats?"

Aria and Sonata both giggled, the latter writing on her notepad again. "Good one!"

Sunset, however, was a little less amused. "Pinkie? Rainbow? Do you know where Adagio is?"

Rainbow smiled sheepishly. "Uh... Haha, promise you won't be mad?"

Half the mall-goers stopped what they were doing at the sound of a sudden outburst.

"YOU WHAT?!"

Adagio sat still on the cushioned stool as Rarity braided a particularly thick column of her hair, thinking about things. One of them was the idea that 'beastly behavior' made someone uglier than any amount of disfiguration. She didn't want to be ugly. "Sorry."

Rarity didn't slow down in her task. "What was that, darling?"

She was getting deja vu for that time with Sunset Shimmer again. "When I threatened you earlier? I wasn't really going to do any of those things, I was just trying to scare you into letting me go. At the time, I was afraid you had very different intentions, and opted to try to intimidate you into submission first. Still, as you might not have known that, sorry if it sounded genuine."

Rarity smiled at her, giggling. "There's no shame in being frightened, darling, I'd have been crying myself into hysterics in your shoes."

Adagio sighed. "No you wouldn't. I can tell even without looking you in the eye that you're a lot sturdier than that."

Now Rarity stopped what she was doing, a little taken aback. "W-what do you mean?"

Turning enough for Rarity to see her, Adagio made an annoyed face, (so expressive!) but her answer was very calm. "I've bluffed my way out of unfavorable situations before, and while I could tell that it was worrying you, you didn't budge when I threatened you and your friends." She shrugged. "If anything, it seemed to give you new resolve." She cut Rarity off the moment she opened her mouth. "I know, I know, don't say it! Yes, I suppose if it were you threatening my idiots, I'd have gotten colder too, but that you are not easily intimidated is the point I mean to make."

Rarity smiled a little. "All things considered, you held together very well."

Adagio shrugged, turning away again. "Thanks." Neither felt like bringing up that she almost fled the house immediately upon release.

Then Rarity's phone rang again. "Ah, pardon me a minute, darling." She answered it. "Hello? Ah, Sunset, how can I-... What? Y-yes, I-please, slow down a minute... Er, yes, she's here now. Yes, that's the gist of what happened. No, no everything is fine! Would you like to talk to her?" She handed the phone to Adagio. "It's for you."

"Adagio?"

"Speaking."

"Oh, good, you're alright!"

She shot Rarity a worried glance. "Why would I not be alright? What do your friends normally do to people?" Apart from the whole kidnapping thing, but she felt pretty safe here.

"What? N-nothing, I just, err, I-I've got Aria and Sonata here, we've been looking all over for you."

She turned away from Rarity to hide a smile. "I'll take that to mean you weren't in on the scheme, then. Good to know you don't plan your felonies as a group."

"Very funny. Just hang tight, we'll be there soo-oh, wait!" Sunset's voice got quieter. "Do you guys wanna say anything? No? Okay." "We'll be there soon."

*Click!*

"Well," said Rarity as Adagio returned the phone, "I suppose we'll have more visitors soon."

Adagio smiled wryly. "Would you like to be the one waiting in a box this time?"

Rarity giggled. "I don't think that'll be necessary. Let's see if we can finish up here before they arrive, shall we? We wouldn't want you seen before you were perfectly presentable, after all." Nodding once, Adagio turned away to let Rarity continue with her task, which she set to with gusto. Her first instinct might have been to apologize again for the box thing, but her former captive's face and tone said she was already comfortable making jokes about it.

She noticed that Adagio really had been remarkably docile. From the moment she untied her, Rarity had at least anticipated that she'd be insulted a few times, but what she'd heard from the other girl today (once all that kidnapping business was behind them) was mostly complimentary!

Perhaps having to scramble to find work after wielding so much power for so long really has been a humbling experience?

Rarity knew it would be off-topic and uncalled for to ask, but she couldn't help wondering why she and her sisters(?) didn't think to just seduce any well-off young men into feeding and housing them at no charge.

Ending the call, Sunset sighed with relief. "Well, she sounded pretty calm, at least." Then, a little less calm herself, she turned to the culprits of Adagio's disappearance. "Now why did you kidnap somebody and offer them as a present?!"

Rainbow held up her hands defensively, though the contrition was clear in her face. "It was supposed to be a prank-gift, we-"

"No, no," Pinkie interrupted, "gift-prank! A prank gift would be like a spring-loaded pie in a box, this was giving a gift that was also part of a prank on someone else! Totally different!"

Aria raised an eyebrow. Her posture suggested irritation, but her tone was one of amusement. "You pulled a prank on Adagio?"

Pinkie seemed to forget that she was feeling guilty for a moment. "Yep! The ol' think-they're-being-Taken-but-actually-everything-is-fine gag!"

Rainbow nodded. "Plan was, we sneak into you guys' place early in the morning -Pinkie knew where to go, don't ask- and grab her while she was asleep. Then we bring her to Rarity's place for the party thinking she'd wake up a little before we went to get her. Seeing it was just us, she'd figure out that we weren't crooks that wanted to sell her kidneys or whatever, have a good laugh about it, then get her hair done for free."

Sunset, Aria, and Sonata all stared at the kidnappers in shock, which Pinkie didn't really seem to notice, looking at Sunset. "So, did it work?"

"Did... did what work?"

Pinkie smiled. "The plan, silly! You were talking to Rarity just a second ago, were they doing hair stuff?"

"I, they..." She scratched her head. "I didn't really ask, but-"

Rainbow tilted her head. "We left them alone hours ago, what else would they be doing all this time?"

Remembering Adagio's racier comments when they were trapped together, one particular means of passing time sprung to the forefront of Sunset's thoughts against her will, drawing a blush. "Uh, I-I guess, they're, yea, the, hair-thing."

Unfortunately, Aria seemed to notice her change in pigment, whispering to Sonata. "Crazy seven-ways."

Sunset flushed brighter, clenching her fists. "Will you STOP IT with that?!" She noticed Pinkie and Rainbow sharing a confused look, but just shook her head. "Don't ask." She also couldn't help noticing that neither of Adagio's closest friends(?) seemed the least bit angry at the perpetrators of her disappearance. "Why are you two so calm about this, anyway?"

Aria shrugged. "I told you, as long as she's pretty much okay, we just wanna know where she's been. If she's been doing stuff with the prissy girl al-"

"Rarity." Sunset corrected only that part because it went without saying that Rarity wouldn't do stuff with someone brought to her in a box.

"Whatever. If she was there the whole time, that's all we really wanted to know." She glanced at Sonata. "Might as well go get her, though, I don't wanna be stuck alone with her tonight."

Sonata worded her eloquently-composed thoughts in the form of blowing raspberries.

Ignoring that, Aria smiled with what might have been genuine admiration at Rainbow and Pinkie. "Besides, it takes serious guts to kidnap Adagio and not even wear disguises, can't wait to see how that goes down."

Rainbow and Pinkie shared a quick, worried look, turning back to Sunset with sheepish smiles. Rainbow let out a short, nervous laugh. "Well, sounds like you guys know where to go, so-"

Before either of them could take a step toward ~~escape~~ the stairs, Sunset grabbed both of them by an ear. "We are going to Rarity's, you are going to apologize, no discussions."

Rainbow proved more audible in terms of pained complaints as she dragged them along, Aria and Sonata watching in fascination as Pinkie hopped along on one foot. Pointing to them, Sonata sounded almost nostalgic. "Remember the time Dagi did that with us?"

Tenderly addressing one of her own ears, Aria smiled a little. "Heh, yea."

A little later, Adagio again stood turning back and forth before the mirror, quite pleased with the results. The bulk of her hair was still hanging loose, but brushed into as orderly a mass as could be managed. Decorating it were thin, criss-crossing strands woven into long lines of loops trailing down the sides. Running down the middle of her back was a single, massive braid, thicker than both of her arms and reaching down a little past her waist, ending in a perfectly spherical bun. This combined with the elegant dress made her look positively radiant!

Rarity would have tied in another large bun or four at the top of her head, but she didn't want to still be at it when the others arrived, and Adagio would probably like to go home soon. She smiled. "It's been lovely having you here, darling. I'd be happy to try something more in-depth if you should ever decide to drop by again."

Adagio stopped admiring herself, turning to Rarity with something of a demure look. "Actually... About your offer, two weeks ago?"

"Oh!" Her eyes widened a little. "Someone to model my designs? With Prim Hemline's offer, I may be in need of someone like that sooner than expected. Are you saying...?"

Adagio shrugged a little, lowering her head as though afraid to ask. "I remember you said there wouldn't be a lot of money in it, but I'm running increasingly short on options, so, is it too late to sign on?"

She'd first proposed it because none of her other friends wanted anything to do with standing before a camera for long periods of time, even in her most fabulous creations. That, and all three of the Dazzlings definitely had the looks for it. Rarity smiled widely. "Not at all! Do you think you can stop by after school hours this Tuesday?"

Adagio grinned brightly. "I think I can make time."

Before Rarity could start on what she had in mind for the showing, the door opened, an annoyed Sunset Shimmer dragging Rainbow and Pinkie by the arms, Aria and Sonata calmly following behind them. Sunset gently pushed the first two forward. "Okay, there she is, now say it."

Rainbow turned back toward her, rubbing her wrist. "Yeesh, was it really necessary to drag us here?"

Pinkie just smiled. "It was that or by the ears, remember?"

"Oh, yea..." Rainbow gingerly addressed a still-sore ear before turning to Adagio... who looked like she came straight from a fancy ballroom or something. "Uh, hi. Spiffy duds."

The others apparently just noticed as well, Rarity grinning wider and wider as they collectively took in the fruits of her labor. That Adagio smirked and struck a regal pose to be admired only helped, as far as she was concerned.

Aria crossed her arms as Sonata tilted her head. "Is this what you've been up to all day?"

Adagio chuckled. "Kind of, it was a bit of an odd morning."

Sunset, snapping out of her daze at seeing a victim of abduction apparently doing just fine in a pretty dress, cleared her throat meaningfully, prompting Rainbow and Pinkie to remember what they were here for.

Bowing their heads a little, the two spoke in unison. "Sorry we kidnapped you." Rainbow felt like they should at least explain themselves. "It was supposed to be a present to Rarity and kind of a joke on you. We figured you'd get a little scare and walk out of here with a snazzy new hairstyle, no harm, no foul. And-" They turned to Rarity, again delivering their apology at the same time. "Sorry we left you with a hostage."

Rarity blinked twice. "Err... Th-that's alright, all is forgiven."

Those gathered waited to see if Adagio felt the same way as she stared her abductors down. Her gaze held them like a vice, Pinkie's nervous giggling doing less than she'd hoped to abate the sense of impending ouchies. Just as she and Rainbow (and Sunset, albeit for different reasons) were starting to sweat, Adagio smiled. "Yes, yes, very funny, congratulations on your little prank."

Even Rarity looked surprised.

Adagio shrugged. "It's fine, I forgive you." She allowed only three seconds of relief before going on with a smirk. "I mean, I can understand someone wanting me badly enough to do something extreme, I just didn't think anyone would use their friend's birthday as an excuse to see me tied up."

Pinkie and Rainbow both blushed.

"Th-that wasn't-"
"We didn't-"

"That reminds me," continued Adagio, coquettishly brushing a lock of orange aside, "I wasn't fully dressed when I fell asleep last night. Which one of you did the honors?"

Rare was the day that Pinkie Pie could flush bright enough for it to be noticeable, but here they were as she twiddled her fingers. "I, uh, c-couldn't really just leave you in your birthday suit because it wasn't your birthday, soo..."

Rarity turned red too, relieved in hindsight that Pinkie hadn't tried to force any such rule on her.

Grinning predatorially, Adagio stepped closer to them, putting forward one bare leg through the slit in her dress and leaning on it, both hands on that knee. "Really? I ask because it only seems fair to return the favor some time, but you're both invited. If you like," making what could only be called bedroom eyes, she whispered huskily. "you can even bring ropes..."

Given her attire at the time, the effect was somewhat magnified. Rainbow and Pinkie turned bright red as the former stammered nonsense, the latter grabbing Rainbow's arm. "Unwanted Sexy-Times! Run!" And the two fled the building, shouting 'Sorry!' one last time as Adagio threw her head back and laughed.

Sunset was looking a little red too, but she shrugged. "I guess that went as well as we could hope for."

By the looks on Aria and Sonata's faces, they weren't too surprised by that reaction either, the former smirking a little. "So, got nabbed for your hair, huh? How's that rank on your list of proud moments?"

Judging by Adagio's scowl, not very high.

Sonata tittered like the schoolgirl she technically was. "At least it was for your hair, not your big butt!"

Adagio clenched her fists and grit her teeth, turning red. "You two are-"

Aria barely suppressed a laugh. "Yea, I can think of a few things they mighta done with that!"

Sonata grinned ear to ear. "Paintball target?"

So did Aria. "Nah, it'd be too easy!"

The two howled with laughter, Sunset a little ashamed to find herself snickering too, but at least tried to hide it by covering her mouth and turning away as Adagio started chasing her giggling tormentors around the room. As a near-Whinny-Hill-style chase scene ensued, Sunset looked to Rarity, who was just observing in silence. "Aren't you worried she'll mess up the dress or something?"

She didn't look away. "Actually, I'm just impressed she's keeping up that speed in stiletto boots. Aria is wearing heels too, do you think it's a matter of practice?"

Sunset shrugged. "I wouldn't really know. How'd you get her from tied up in a box to letting you doll her up, anyway? It had to have been a rocky start."

Turning her attention to Sunset, Rarity smiled with a hint of fatigue. "Ohh, goodness it was, but I remembered how Fluttershy treated you in those first few days and took a page from her book, so to speak."

"You were just... nice to her?"

"That sums it up, yes."

In hindsight, Sunset's own experience wasn't so different. She'd teased Adagio a lot, too, but not without a little comeuppance later. Maybe that was just how Adagio functioned, making an effort to re-assert her image of dominance over those around her any time she felt threatened or embarrassed? Still, that she didn't just throw Sunset to the mascots must have said something.

About a minute later, Adagio stopped running, Aria and Sonata still snickering at her. They stopped too, Sonata still beaming. "Tired already, Miss Fluffy-Fluffs?"

Aria chuckled. "Guess she's got a little something extra weighing her down, and I don't mean the hair."

It looked like Adagio might have been seeing red, but to the surprise of all present, she started to smile. "Yes. Yes, I suppose I do." Ignoring the confused, slightly amused stares of the other girls, she took up a dignified pose. "However, the two of you remarking on it so frequently is hardly polite, don't you think?" Before they could laugh at her, she went on, fingertips drawn to her chest in slightly melodramatic fashion. "I may have a slightly wider posterior than is average, but it would be unladylike of me to go pointing out the abnormal qualities of others." Now she smirked, a devilish glint in her eyes. "Like your little problem, Sonata. It may not happen often, but wouldn't it be unkind if I were to mention in public the times I've found you laundering your bed sheets in the middle of the night?"

"EEP!" Sonata turned red, hiding her face in her hands. "Dagiiii!!"

Aria chuckled at the other siren's shame, her smile vanishing when Adagio turned to her.

"Speaking of ladylike, would it not be unbecoming of me to let slip that most teenage girls don't wear undergarments like yours?"

"Gah!" Aria moved both arms in an effort to cover herself despite being fully clothed as she joined Sonata in blushing furiously. As Sunset and Rarity both giggled behind their hands at them, the two looked at each other and spoke in unison. "Welp, she's fine, let's go!!" And they followed Rainbow and Pinkie's example of sprinting out of the building in embarrassment.

Sunset facepalmed, smiling. "You're a monster."

Adagio mockingly hissed at her, wiggling her tongue like a snake. All present had a laugh. "Really though," said Adagio, turning to Rarity, her face uncertain, "that wasn't too beastly, was it?"

Smiling proudly, Rarity shook her head. "Not at all, darling."

Looking back and forth at the two of them, Sunset refrained from initiating a group hug or something in celebration of what appeared to be some kind of success in passing-on of friendship lessons. This was definitely going into a message to Twilight, though.

A little later, Adagio had changed back into her usual outfit, though Rarity offered her a rectangular, shiny, paper bag in which to keep what she'd tried on. In the spirit of why she'd been abducted in the first place, she opted to keep the intricate series of hair loops and the massive braid for a while. She and Sunset bid Rarity farewell and headed out, walking together. Not looking at Sunset, Adagio kept her head down. "So, did you tell them anything?"

"Huh?" Sunset got a quick, worried glance, jogging her memory. "Oh! No, I didn't say anything about... what we talked about in Fatbear's, don't worry."

While Adagio was relieved to hear that, it wasn't what she meant. "No, I mean, -well, thanks for that too, but- your friends, the ones that kidnapped me?"

Now Sunset was confused again. "What would I tell them?"

Adagio grumbled for a few seconds, looking like she was trying to think of the least humiliating way possible to say something. She partly succeeded. "W-when you heard that I, the one that jumped and screamed every time one of those machines got close, was abducted in my sleep, tied up, put in a box, and left at the mercy of an old enemy, what was your first guess for how I might have handled it?"

Taking a minute to think on it, Sunset felt bad for her. If she didn't know it was a joke, waking up like she did must have been terrifying, and knowing Adagio's disposition already...? Sunset frowned, putting a hand on the other girl's shoulder. "Sorry."

Her face sank. "You did tell them?"

"What? No, no! I hadn't really even thought about it that hard until now. I haven't told anyone and I'm not going to, okay?"

Adagio smiled gratefully at her, then seemed to remember something and huffed a little. "You're going to have to let me return these favors some day."

"Huh?"

"Nothing, just... if there's something I could possibly, I mean," she glanced back and forth, double-checking that the coast was clear, "I'll help if you ask for it, alright?"

Sunset spent a minute mulling over her answer as they walked. "There... there might be one thing."

Adagio blinked once. "Oh. That was fast... What is it?"

She took a quick breath, not sure how this would sound. "Do you think you could ease up on the other two?"

"What?"

"My friends and I tease each other too, but nothing like what I've been hearing today." She looked Adagio in the eye. "There's friendly ribbing, and then there's what you guys have. I don't know how long you've been like this, or how much longer you can do it before the three of you really have problems. You told me once that you wanted them to stop making fun of you, but how often do you tear them down?"

For just a second, Adagio looked surprised. Then she huffed, turning away and crossing her arms. "Don't try to turn this back on me, they were the ones that started it!"

Sunset frowned. "You said you'd help if I asked."

She turned back toward Sunset, incredulous. "And how does this help y-"

"Just hear me out? Please? It might sound odd, but I'd feel a lot better knowing you guys could get along."

Still looking annoyed, Adagio's mouth twitched a few times, all manner of defiant gestures and contrary statements spinning in her head before all were dismissed. She sighed. "Alright. Fine. Why shouldn't I strike back when they laugh at me?"

Feeling hopeful, Sunset smiled a little. "Because I think you'll be a lot happier learning to laugh at yourself than getting angry and hurting feelings by shooting back with something nastier." By the way Adagio flinched, Sunset's guess for one of Sonata's earlier statements seemed all but validated. "They're afraid of you, Adagio. It might seem hard for a while, but I think if you stopped first, they'd stop feeling so threatened."

By the way she shuffled her crossed arms, it looked like Adagio was trying to cross them again as she looked away, gears visibly turning in her head. After about a minute and a half, she looked back at Sunset, her eyes conveying hints of fear, remorse, uncertainty, and desperation. She replied in a whisper. "You really think it can work?"

Sunset smiled widely and warmly. "I think it's worth a try."

They locked eyes for a long moment, Adagio still looking unsure. "Just, let them say whatever they like until it's out of their systems?"

Sunset smirked a little. "Ohh, I didn't say you couldn't defend yourself, just don't go overboard with it." She shrugged. "How you responded just today was a little vicious, but it got them off your back while more or less making the point that mocking each other wasn't nice, whether you meant to or not."

Adagio smirked too. "That I can do." As their paths parted, she turned to leave. "See you around, Sunset Shimmer."

Watching her go, Sunset felt like she'd really done something right this time, along with the feeling she'd be seeing those three more often in the future.

Later that evening, just as she was going to sleep, Sunset remembered the reason she was supposed to think that as she sat up in her bed.

"Aw, crap! I was supposed to persuade them to come to school!"

Well, there'd be time for that later. She hadn't used up all of Adagio's good will with her request today, right? Wondering whether or not she and Adagio could be called close enough that strictly repaying favors was really a factor, Sunset drifted off to sleep.

Author's Note

This story had so many parts like the first one, I almost feel like someone should have shown up to tell Rarity that the S3 program stood for Sunset Shimmer Simulation, and then the distorted faces and voices of people she once trusted come to tell her that her entire life was scripted, just a series of lines fed to her that she accepted because she's incapable of choosing for herself.

April 30th is coming up! :pinkiehappy:

It occurred to me that it might have made sense to chop up the chapters differently, following the entirety of Sunset's adventure with Aria and Sonata before looping the day back to the part where Rarity opens her present and telling it from there up to the point where the two stories meet. However, given the title, the Adagio tag, and everything that heavily implied that Adagio was the present, I figured there wasn't much need to beat around the bush.

If you were thinking I was making it look like Aria and Sonata were just picking on Adagio, surprise! I don't think it would really roll that way either. :twilightoops: Still, conflicts usually aren't solved by escalating them, and as that's been the Dazzlings' M.O. for so long, I wouldn't be surprised to learn they barely knew how to interact with each other without someone getting annoyed, embarrassed, angry, or some combination of the three.
Cue Sunset's friendship advice!

Next installment of the series coming this summer. :trollestia: