Sunset held her head in her hands. The events of Saturday night had left her sore and spent; and despite it now being Monday, the marks Adagio had left on her skin were still prevalent, no matter how much concealer she tried to apply to the bruised skin.

She didn’t want to risk the girls— or anyone else for that matter— finding out about her little… sleepover; and so she did what any rational person would do.

“Sunset? Why on earth are you wearing a turtleneck in 90° weather?” Rarity piqued a brow as she approached the other girl’s lunch table, tray in hand.

“Yeah, Sugar Cube,” Applejack blinked. “Don’cha know it’s almost June?”

The fashionista took a seat across from the red-head, who avoided eye contact with the other two girls, before settling her elbows on the table to rest her chin on her intertwined fingers. “I must admit, though. The new look suits you.”

“Ah. Uh, thanks.” Sunset laughed awkwardly, “I was…. just thinking about trying out something new. I think I’ll just stick to my leather jacket, though. I’m literally melting.”

“Who’s ice cream’s melting?!” Pinkie Pie bounced over, Twilight not far behind.

Rarity dismissed her with a wave, “No, no, dear. Sunset’s trying out a new look and is realizing how entirely impractical a turtle neck is in the summer. Don’t worry darling, we’ve all made that mistake.”

Apple jack narrowed her eyes a bit. “Uh… have we?”

“A-anyway,” Sunset sputtered, eager to change the subject, “how’s everyone’s classes today? Mr Crankydoodle sprung a pop quiz on us today. I’m pretty sure I failed it.”

Twilight gave the taller girl a teasing smirk as she sat beside her. “It isn’t really springing something when he let us know on Friday we had a quiz coming up. I spent the whole weekend studying just in case.” She smiled, “what did you girls get up to?”

Shit.

“Oh! Applejack and I checked out that new makeup boutique at the mall. They have an entire body butter selection and honestly, darling, I couldn’t decide which one to buy.”

The farm girl tipped her hat, “She ended up buyin’ five.”

“Ugh!” Rarity gasped, “don’t pretend that two of those weren’t for you, miss this-chocolate-one-smells-lovely!”

Applejack blushed and tapped her forefingers together. “Well, uh, Sunset, what did you get up to?”

Sunset was like a deer in the headlights as all eyes were suddenly focused on her, and she sputtered, looking for something to say. “I, uhm— I just listened to music, really. Music and video games,” she chuckled. “Nothing really eventful.”

She forked at her lunch for a bit as the conversation seemed to fall back into its usual jabber, unable to stomach anything at the moment.

“You look really nice.”

“Hm?” She glanced up to look at Twilight, who offered her a gentle smile.

“I said you look nice. The turtleneck— it looks really nice on you.”

“Oh–” Sunset’s cheeks felt warm as she rubbed at the back of her neck, “it’s not new or anything. I just don’t really wear it that often. You uh… you really like it?”

The bookworm nodded and plucked an apple slice from the red-heads lunch tray. “You should wear it more often.”

“Yeah?” Adagio’s whispered voice echoed in her mind. “I think I might.”

“So you took my advice?” Rainbow Dash quirked a brow as Sunset tried her best to keep pace with her; running and P.E were never her strongest subjects.

The red-head panted and nodded sheepishly. “I–… I found someone to—”

“I can’t believe you lost your virginity at the weekend and didn’t call me immediately. It’s true what they say, you’re a real fire cracker, Sunset Shimmer.”

Sunset growled with a frown. “Can you please keep your voice down? I don’t need everyone gossiping about me.”

Dash raised her hands defensively. “I won’t tell a soul. So, tell me, who’d you bang?”

The former equestrian’s voice caught in her throat as she let out a strangled yelp, tripping over her own feet and crashing into the red AstroTurf of CHS’ running track. Rainbow Dash stopped and jogged back over to where the girl lay in a mess of limbs to help her back onto her feet.

“Sorry. Did I catch you off guard?”

“Ugh—” Sunset frowned and pulled herself back onto her feet, with the other girl’s help. She dusted herself off and winced down at her grazed knee, waving a dismissive hand toward the teacher, before giving a thumbs up and hobbling off to the side. The rainbow-haired girl offered Sunset a bottle of water, to which she took and poured over her injury with a quiet gasp of pain.

“Least now you can say you got those bruises on your neck from track, I guess.”

“Dash?”

“Yeah?”

“Shut up.”

The other girl rolled her eyes with a huff. “I’m sorry! I’m just curious. The most eventful thing thats happened recently was when Twilight singed her eyebrows off in chemistry class.”

“That was months ago?”

“Exactly, Shimmer! I need drama.”

“I think you’ve been spending too much time with Rarity,” she mumbled as she raised the bottle of water to her lips and took a swig. With a breath of relief, Sunset held the bottle between her thighs as she reached up to untie and then re-tie her ponytail, high on her head. “But I’m not telling you who it was with. That’s private. It doesn’t matter to you anyway.”

“Do I know them at least?”

Sunset paused and debated whether to play this little game of hot and cold. “Yeah.”

Rainbow Dash perked up and drummed her palms against the tops of her thighs in excitement. “Girl or boy?”

Another pause, and Sunset lifted the bottle to her lips to take another sip. “Girl.”

“A gir—!? Oh my god. What was it like?”

The redhead narrowed her eyes, searching for any hint of mischief in Rainbow Dash’s curious expression. When she found none, she furrowed her brows upward before looking down at her hand. She ran her thumb over her palm and, with a light blush, she shrugged. “I dunno. Like— I mean— it was nice, I guess?”

“Nice? Sunset, oh my god—”

She squirmed under the other girl’s stare. “What? I don’t know what you want me to say.”

“Did you top?”

“I—” she let out a huff, “no, I didn’t.”

Rainbow Dash beamed, clearly wildly amused by all of this. “This is amazing.”

“And how’s that?”

“Well, because,” Dash spread her arms out wide, “think about it. It’s kinda hilarious.”

“Elaborate?” Sunset narrowed her eyes.

“You used to be, like, the queen bee. Now you’re sat with me, on the bleachers in P.E, talking about how some chick topped you.”

Sunset slugged her in the shoulder, face flushed in a heated blush. “I said keep your voice down, bonehead!”

“Ouch!” Dash whined, rubbing at her arm with a frown. “Alright, alright, jeeze. Calm down. I’ll be quiet.”

The red-head twirled the strand of hair at the side of her head before pushing her bangs from her face with a sigh, “I’m just—… I don’t want anyone to know. You can’t even tell the girls about this. Is that clear?”

“Not even Fluttersh—”

“Especially Fluttershy! Are you an idiot? No, wait, don’t answer that.”

“Wh—?” Dash glowered, “I’m not stupid! Fluttershy and I tell each other everything. I just wanted to double check.”

“Well I’m making myself clear. Don’t speak about this to anyone. You’re the only one I can talk to about this without blowing it out of proportion. I’m trusting you Dash.”

Rainbow Dash waved her off before pushing herself up onto her feet again to return to the track with the rest of the class. “You’ve got it Shimmer. I won’t tell anyone about your new bestfriend,” she shot the other girl a thumbs up as Sunset’s face fell into a scowl, “Your secret’s safe with me.”

“Rainbow Dash…” Adagio tapped at her chin, “isn’t she the stupid one?”

“I—” Sunset pursed her lips, “no. I mean, yes, but— that’s besides the point.”

“So what is the point?” The siren quirked an amused brow at Sunset’s endless pacing and flicking through sheets of music.

“Well, I mean, there isn’t really a point. I just thought you should know that she kinda knows about… you know.”

“Us fucking?”

Sunset squeaked and glared over her shoulder as she pulled a sheet of paper from her music folder. “Do you have to be so to-the-point?”

Adagio hummed and tilted her head, taking the paper from the other girl with an amused grin. “Yes. I legally can’t dance around issues.”

Sunset narrowed her eyes. “That seems inconvenient.”

Adagio shrugged, “I like to deal with things fast. I don’t have patience for children.”

The red-head blew out a breath of air and teetered on her heels. “So… should we get started?”

Adagio nodded and raised the paper to scan over the notes. Sunset gave her a bit to take it in, but when Adagio’s mouth drew into a line she knew something was wrong. “You okay?”

“Yes. I’m fine.”

“Then why the nervous look?”

Adagio shot her a glare. “I’m not nervous. I’ve just tried to read music before and it didn’t help. Singing always came naturally to me and now it doesn’t. Trying to read notes on a page is just… unnecessary technicality.”

“Ah…” Sunset scratched at her cheek, shifting her weight onto one leg, “I see.”

She looked about the apartment from where she stood, blowing air into one cheek and letting it out in small bursts. She hummed. Furrowing her brows and racking her brain, a smile soon lighting up her features as she turned and paced over to the large metal cabinet across from the other girl, to dig through it.

It only took a moment but she pulled a keyboard into her arms and turned to set it down on the back of the couch, Adagio adjusting herself on the arm to face the red-head as she beamed. “Will this work? Or have you tried harmonizing before?”

Adagio clicked her tongue. “I’ve tried before,” she pushed the hair from her face, “but if I’m being honest it was just disheartening. I didn’t want the girls to hear me either, and I just ended up getting frustrated.”

Sunset nodded and flipped the keyboard on, taking a moment before tapping a few keys to make sure the battery was still good. She looked to Adagio with a smile, “We can start with an easy pentatonic scale. Just try and match the note, okay?”

“I’m not a child Sunset. You don’t need to be gentle with me.”

“I—” she frowned, “I’m not. I’m just being friendly? I don’t want you to feel pressured to get it right the first time.”

“So we’re friends now? Is that right?” Adagio piqued a brow and leaned against the back of the couch, folding one leg over the other. “That’s sweet.”

Sunset rolled her eyes with a frown. “I get you’re not into the whole friendship thing, but I just don’t want there to be any tension between us. Honestly… what you said on Saturday really stuck with me.”

“Oh? What part? The part where I said you wanted your little princess friend to fuck you, or the part where I—”

“Adagio,” the red-head snapped. The other girl raised her brows and held up her hands defensively. “I meant the part where you said it was my fault you couldn’t sing anymore. You’re right. It is my fault, and I want to make that up to you. Not just because you—” she blushed and averted her eyes a bit, “because we’re sleeping together. But because it’s the right thing to do.”

“Well aren’t you just so noble.”

“Do you want to do this or not?”

The siren sighed and waved a hand to signal for the younger girl to begin with the keyboard. She hesitated, swallowing nervously before opening her mouth to sing.

Off key would’ve been a compliment. Adagio physically winced at the sound of her own voice, even more so as Sunset shifted onto the next note in the sequence, and so on. She fidgeted with her fingers and kept her eyes low as Sunset played about with the keyboard settings.

“Alright. I’ll be honest, that was really bad.”

Adagio scoffed, “You don’t hold back.”

Sunset smiled, “It’s not really my style.” With a shrug she started playing out another scale in a lower octave. “Try this scale. You’re saying singing came naturally to you, so maybe you can’t sing anymore because you just don’t know how to. We can work on breathing techniques and finding your voice type first, then worry about singing in key. Sound good?”

Adagio let out a sigh and finally let her shoulders drop as she relaxed. “Alright. I suppose I can trust you.”

Sunset shot her a wink. “You’re in good hands.”

Author's Note

LMAOOOO this was supposed to be a one shot but I have been commissioned to try and give this story an ending; so here's chapter 2!

stay groovy