Sunset Shimmer lay in her pyjamas, on her bed, cuddled up amongst the duvet, listening to the shower. The purple camisole was bunched up on the pillow next to her face; she could smell Adagio on it. Every so often she nuzzled it and murmured contentedly to herself.

They had lain silently in each other's arms. They had cleaned up. Then Adagio had announced she needed a shower – “You don't mind if I use yours, do you?” – and gone in without waiting for a response. Taking a liberty like that, taking it for granted that the world owed her everything. Sunset found it endearing and worrying all at once.

There was something else troubling her. Something about her own behaviour. The last thing she wanted to do was slip back into the old Sunset Shimmer.

The shower turned off. Adagio came out, towel hanging over her arm instead of wrapped around her. She stopped in front of the mirror and fiddled with her hair to give it more volume. Sunset knew all this was deliberate: Adagio wanted to be looked at, wanted to be admired. And Sunset, well, Sunset was all too happy to oblige. Adagio was gorgeous.

Hair fixed, Adagio dried herself.

“Hey,” said Sunset. “There's something I need to ask you.”

“Yes,” said Adagio. “I always look this good.”

“No. Well, uh, yes.” Sunset cleared her throat. “I mean, did I, uh, do you feel like I took advantage of you?”

“Huh?”

“When you were alone in The Starburst, you know?. By figuring out what you wanted and inviting you back?”

Adagio shrugged. “I dunno. Maybe. So what?”

While Sunset was struggling to find something to say, Adagio started to get dressed.

“Look, if you want someone to tell you when you've been a a naughty pony. Actually, no, I'll do that. But not like THAT. I don't give a fuck how well you're doing redemption.”

Sunset allowed herself a brief smirk. “You're so hot when you're articulate.”

Adagio strode forward and snatched up her camisole from the pillow.

“Anyway, I'm sorry if I did. Even if it doesn't matter to you.”

Adagio acknowledged this with a brief nod, then peered through the curtains. Seeing how dark it was outside – just the pale glow of streetlamps – Sunset sat up and checked the clock beside her bed. Quarter to ten.

“Damnit,” Adagio muttered softly.

“What?”

“It's raining.” She looked back at Sunset. “Didn't bring an umbrella.”

“Oh,” said Sunset. “Where DO you live, anyway?”

“Skewbald Heights.”

That was the other side of town – a good forty minutes by bus if you were lucky, plus a ten minute walk. If Adagio was willing to come all that way to get to her apartment, that meant something, surely?

“Do you wanna stay here tonight?”

“What, like a sleepover?” Adagio raised an eyebrow.

“Sure, why not?” Sunset grinned at her. “I promise we don't have to make friendship bracelets or anything.”

“You trust me enough for that?”

“Adagio, if I didn't trust you, you wouldn't be here.”

Adagio looked into Sunset's eyes. She had the almost-vulnerable look again. “Okay,” she said. “I'll give it a go.”

“Do you wanna call your fr – uh, Sonata and Aria and tell them you won't be home?”

Adagio shook her head. “They won't care.”

Sunset reached out and clasped Adagio's hand. “Come on. We can watch a movie. You like movies, right?”

“Yeah.”

Sunset retrieved her laptop from her desk and shifted over so Adagio could sit beside her at the head of the bed.

“Nothing mushy,” said Adagio. “I can't stand that stuff.”

“Yeah, okay. Hm. Oh, I know! Heathers.”

Adagio shrugged.

“You'll love it. I promise.”

With everything set up – laptop balanced on a sturdy book in front of them, screen angled right, speaks turned up, movie running – Sunset put her arm round Adagio. She got no resistance. In fact, Adagio leaned into it, and soon was resting her head on Sunset's shoulder, with her arm around Sunset's waist.

Cuddling like that, feeling the warmth of Adagio's skin against her own, feeling Adagio's curls tickle her cheek, listening to her breathing, inhaling her scent, was different to cuddling after sex. Sunset felt like it had more import. Like she was seeing Adagio a more intimate way than when she had her face buried in her pussy.

There's something in you, she thought, that craves tenderness and warmth and companionship. Just like the rest of us. No matter how much you try and tell me otherwise. No matter how much you try and tell yourself otherwise.

Adagio stirred briefly and sniggered at a line of onscreen bitchsnark.

After a second movie, they got ready for bed. Sunset leant Adagio a baggy white t-shirt to sleep in.

Lying beside her, Adagio asked: “What the deal with the apartment?”

“The school starts to wise up after you've spent more than five nights in the library.”

“I mean: You need to pay rent, right?”

“Oh, yeah.” Sunset shrugged. “They have this thing called 'internet marketing.'”

“Isn't that supposed to make you rich?”

Sunset made a show of sitting up and looking around the tiny room. “Yeah,” she said, lying back down. “I'm really rolling in cash.”

Adagio smiled and said, “Knew I was on to a winner.”

She wouldn't explain further. Sunset reached over and switched the lamp off.

In the middle of the night, with only the faint light of the street outside crawling through the curtains, Sunset Shimmer woke briefly to find Adagio curled up next to her, grasping her arm and nuzzling her shoulder.

And drooling over her pyjamas. So much for untarnished beauty, she thought.

Looking closer, she noticed a crease on Adagio's brow.

In her sleep, Adagio mumbled something that sounded like, “You're never beaten so long as you have …” Her grip on Sunset's arm tightened briefly.

Sunset stroked her cheek with her free hand and went back to sleep.

Morning. Sunday morning. Warmth of Adagio's leg against hers. No obligations, no schedule. Maybe call the girls up and hang out, play some games or something?

Beside her, Adagio shifted. When she rolled on her side, she found Adagio looking at her with a smile that was half sleepy and half imperious. Even with no makeup and her hair a mess, she still looked amazing.

“Good morning, little pony,” she said, shifting closer and running her fingers down Sunset's chest.

Sunset arched her back at the touch. As she felt Adagio's hand slide under her top and run their way up again across her belly, she let out a small moan.

She moved closer, leant in, and started kissing Adagio's neck.

Adagio's hand cupped her breast briefly, then moved round to her back.

Sunset brushed some of Adagio's hair back from her ear and whispered, “You're so fucking gorgeous, you know that?”

“I do.” Adagio's fingernails raked down her back.

She felt Adagio's leg slide between hers, thigh against her pussy, separated by only the thin fabric of her pyjamas. The exploring hand rode over her sides, her belly, her hips.

Adagio moved her leg, tugged Sunset's pyjama bottoms down, and placed it back against her bare pussy. Her face buried in the crook of Adagio's shoulder, Sunset pulled her closer and mewled in pleasure. She hooked her legs around Adagio's and rolled her hips.

Adagio's wandering fingertips slid between her legs and found her clit. Her other hand ran up and down Sunset's body, caressing her arms and back, playing with her nipples, grasping her hip.

She came gently, moaning Adagio's name into the mass of her hair. Adagio kept going, only moving away when Sunset had came twice more. “I'm going for a shower,” she said.

Sunset pulled hey pyjama bottoms up and lay spread out across the bed, enjoying the sleepy, post-orgasmic haze listening to Adagio in the shower again. That was surprisingly tender, she thought to herself. And then: Should I tell my friends?

She knew she should. This was the sort of thing you told your friends about, surely. But what would that accomplish? Would they think she was going redeem Adagio – or that Adagio was going to corrupt her?

And with all that, the thought of redeeming Adagio through sex – or even through a relationship – left a sour taste in her mouth. It felt horribly manipulative.

Sunset closed her eyes and rubbed her forehead. Way to ruin a good moment with worries, girl. You're always doing that, aren't you? Can't you just roll with it for a while and enjoy life?

Well, no, actually, replied another part of her mind. Because when you do that, when you let your passions get out of control, things go wrong. Things like turning into a crazy demoness and leaving the school with a big fucking hole in the facade.

She cut off this line of thought, but it was no longer fun to just lie there and enjoy being, so she stood, stretched, and padded across the room to open the window.

When Adagio came out the shower, Sunset went in without speaking. She thought about Adagio's tenderness again, about not telling her friends, about doing good.

She found Adagio had taken the only towel out with her, and came out dripping to get it.

Adagio, already dressed, was using Sunset's deodorant. She sat on the bed and slid her feet into those absurdly large boots. “I'm gonna head back,” she said matter-of-factly. “Let's do this again sometime.”

Sunset pulled on her top and started at her. “I, uh, I can't tell if you're being serious.” She finished getting dressed without a response.

“Oh, fuck it,” said Adagio eventually. “You know what? I'm not going to screw around with 'it's not like I like you or anything' bullshit. I have more self respect than that. Yes, Sunset Shimmer, I DO like you. I think.” She scowled and held up a hand to command silence while she thought. “What I mean to say is: I would like to see you again. And not just for sex.”

Sunset smiled at her. “Yeah. We can see each other again. I'd like that.”

“Right. Good. Don't think this means I'm gonna buddy up with your friends. This offer is for you an nobody else, all right?”

“Sure.”

“I'll call you you to arrange something.” Adagio stood, hesitated, then strode over to Sunset, took her arms, and brought her in for a gentle kiss. “See you later, little pony.”

Author's Notes:

Bit of a gamble, this. Lots of feelings and not much porn.

Woah, is this turning into a shipfic? It might be turning into a shipfic. I can't help myself; I just love the chemistry these two have. Might we see more in the future? More porn? More feelings? Maybe.