Some things were too easy.

As a magical being with the power to re-write people's wills with a song, Adagio Dazzle had experienced many small conflicts that she and her cohorts overcame with minimal difficulty. Ironically? Adapting from the loss of that very power was one of them, proving easier than the three would have ever dared dream. Not to say it was entirely a cake-walk, whatever that expression meant, but living without the ability to brain-wash people really wasn't so bad. They'd already adapted to being weakened when they came to this world, so having the last of their power snuffed out wasn't a big change.

Not that the three of them were bitter or anything.

At all.

Well, that was actually true for the most part, but they did miss their ability to sing.

But what can we do? If they beat us at our most powerful, the idea of revenge isn't even worth entertaining.

She was sure they'd only face further pain and humiliation if they tried anything, so the Dazzlings made no effort to get back at those that cost them their voices. Truth be told, she wasn't even sure the three of them could muster the energy. What would be the point? They'd lost everything.

Well, everything but the large piles of money they'd accumulated over the years in this world and the subsequent two-story house they now lived in. That certainly helped cushion the blow. They had enough to live comfortably for the foreseeable future, but Sonata had joked a few times that maybe they shouldn't have entranced all those people at that high-society party to 'donate to their cause.' If they hadn't, they might have had to get jobs. If they had jobs, they might have had something to divert the newest threat to their daily lives:

Boredom.

No magic, no revenge for having no magic, no idea what to do with themselves. Luckily, Sunset Shimmer had made something like a suggestion the last time they talked. She had wanted to make triple-sure that vengeance really wasn't in the Dazzlings' plans, becoming much less jittery when that was cleared up. Shimmer's proposal was that they, like her, attend the school they tried to enslave, go to classes, make friends, et cetera.

So, still attending school for lack of anything better to do, she, Aria Blaze, and Sonata Dusk hadn't really caused trouble since the Battle of the Bands. People still didn't trust them, due to the whole mind-control thing and some honest misunderstandings, but no one had been willing to openly antagonize them, either. Flash Sentry has been hard to place, greeting the three of us and making small-talk, but never going further than that.

This and more Adagio pondered as she wandered the school grounds one morning. It was early, well before classes were due to start and nobody else was even around yet. Sighing, she lamented her own inability to just flop down and sleep on command, a skill Sonata had evidently mastered. Along with snoring. Aria couldn't do that, but she had the blessing of sleeping like a rock.
Adagio had woken up around 5:00AM, rolled around on her bed for forty minutes trying to get comfortable again, groaned with irritation, and opted to start her day sooner than normal. She found herself at the school building a good forty-five minutes before the first classes began, and that was by walking in a leisurely stroll the whole way. Now here she was, aimlessly circling the building while waiting for someone to show up and unlock one of the doors.

Not that she couldn't get in if she wanted to, but Vice-Principal Luna had gotten on her case for 'breaking and entering' the first time she'd been caught in the school building half an hour before it was due to open. Apparently it had nothing to do with sitting in Celestia's office chair with her feet up. As she thought about the paradox of wanting to keep students out of school, she noticed a light-pink plume on a bench by the soccer field.

Had that person been sitting there before? Approaching from behind the bench, she opted to investigate...

Pinkie was right, you really do have to enjoy the little things in life. Sitting alone wasn't exactly Fluttershy's favorite activity, but in quiet, peaceful mornings (which was most of them, before anyone else showed up), it was nice to just enjoy the calm environment of the area around the building. Of course, she kind of had to be here at this time every week-day, her mom could only drop her off just before work about an hour before school started and the only other way she knew to get here on time was to take the bus.

Buses were scary. They were basically big, cramped metal rooms that roared down the street, full of people, people she didn't know, people who might talk to her, might look at her, might-

Fluttershy stopped herself, reaching into her backpack for the second part of her morning routine. Today it was a lollipop! Every morning, since maybe middle school, she brought something sweet to help start the day on a bright note, since her friends usually weren't there as early as she was.

That, and even on peaceful mornings, it's a little scary to be all alone.

So, she popped the sugary end of the stick into her mouth, savoring its... cherry! Today was a cherry-flavored lollipop.

I know it's childish, but it makes me feel a little better. Besides, who doesn't like a little candy?

She would feel bad for hiding it from Pinkie if she weren't sure beyond the shadow of a doubt that there were, at any given time, at least two handfuls of snacks in Pinkie's hair. Somehow. It was best not to think about the mechanics of the thing, that she knew.

"I didn't know you smoked."

Fluttershy nearly jumped out of her skin, emitting a high-pitched squeak. Not just for the sudden appearance of the voice, but for it being a voice she definitely recognized. Quickly turning to the source of the sound, she saw Adagio Dazzle, leading lady of the sirens, leaning over the back of the bench... with a surprisingly casual look on her face, give or take a raised eyebrow.

"I-I-I don't," Fluttershy muttered back, "w-why would you s-say that?"

She pointed a yellow finger at the paper stick hanging out of Fluttershy's mouth. "Does this mean you carry a lighter, too? Or do you leave that to your pink friend? Because if she's a pyromaniac, I'm honestly not surpri-"

"N-no!!" Popping the sucker out of her mouth, Fluttershy held it where Adagio could see. "It's just candy, see?"

"Oh!" Adagio facepalmed, laughing a little. The sunny shift in her mood drew a tiny smile from Fluttershy as she put the lollipop back in her mouth. "Well, suppose I should have seen that coming. You don't have that scent about you anyway."

Fluttershy blinked twice. "Scent?"

Still leaning over the back of the bench, Adagio nodded. "That smoker scent. Tried the stuff once, took a week to get the smell out of my hair." So much for stress relief.

"I-it's, um, bad for your throat, too."

"As bad as having my gem destroyed?"

Fluttershy winced, bracing herself for something painful.

Adagio rolled her eyes. "Please, I know better than to take it out on you or your band mates." Her tone was surprisingly calm, even dispassionate. "Besides, nothing I could do to any or all of you would ever fix them, so it's not really worth the effort."

"S-sorry."

She seemed to ignore Fluttershy's whispered sentiment, staring off into the empty soccer field. "You know, prior to the Battle of the Bands, I never settled for less than dark energy for sustenance, no matter my cohorts' insistence that some of what they called food in this world was alright." Aria's was more like begrudging praise, particularly for anything she could eat with hot-sauce, but Sonata could be downright obnoxious at times. "As such, I haven't tried much of what they have to offer here. How is it?"

"I-it's, uhm, s-sweet, I guess...?"

Adagio turned to look at her, making Fluttershy's heart-rate jump up again. "Sweet?"

Fluttershy ducked her head a little. "Maybe?"

"Hmm..." The two locked eyes for a long moment, Adagio keeping her bored, disinterested expression while Fluttershy's grew increasingly nervous. Quick as a whip, she snatched the candy out of Fluttershy's mouth and popped it into her own.

The first thing that registered in Fluttershy's awareness (The second was that somewhere, Rarity was probably making a disapproving face and talking about hygiene, but that wasn't important right now) was shock, her mouth hanging open as Adagio adapted a contemplative look.

"Hm. Yes, I suppose it is sweet. Tastes a little like a kind of fruit, as well. Familiar. I can't quite place the exact-"

She knew it was rude not to listen to people when they were talking, she really did, but in addition to the awareness that her treat had just been snatched right out of her mouth, Fluttershy's mind wrapped around a particular thought. It was in much the same way Adagio's tongue wrapped around the sugary substance at the end of the stick.

Saliva. Mine is on that, and now hers is, my saliva is in her mouth, that's, that's like, like a-

Finishing her analysis of the thing called 'lollipop', Adagio noticed the weakest Rainboom still gawking at her, mouth ajar, and cheeks tinting red. She smirked. "Oh, I'm sorry, I forgot it's not polite to take things that aren't yours." Taking hold of the stick between her thumb and forefinger, she took the lollipop out of her mouth, "You can have it back." and pressed the candy-coated end on Fluttershy's tongue, to an immediate and enjoyable effect.

Fluttershy squeaked, her eyes went wide, her mouth shut tight, her face burst into brighter red than the cherry-flavored sucker itself, and she collapsed, falling sideways on the bench while maintaining her normal sitting pose.

Chuckling at the sight, Adagio's evil grin grew a little wider. "Well, I should be going, the building should be open soon and I'd hate to have Luna annoyed with me for 'skipping' again. Be seeing you, Sweetie."

"S-sweet, s-s-sa-saliva, m-mouth, m-my-"

Walking away from the blushing wreck of a person, Adagio cackled to herself.

That one made some cute expressions. I'll have to do that again some time!

Fluttershy eventually managed to form coherent thoughts again, though her heart hadn't stopped racing. Considering the slowly-melting candy on her tongue right then, her mind returned to an earlier thought.

Saliva. Again. This time it's hers in my mouth. Almost like... like...

A kiss!

...And with a very pretty girl, at that. Savoring the lollipop, Fluttershy was certain of one thing; she'd definitely start today with a smile.

Author's Notes:

"Show, don't tell." I would, but writing another story has taught me that when I try to include all the details with as little "this is how things are" as possible, things drag on about 20k+ words longer than I meant them to. And that's not even all of what I'm now calling Act 1 of that story! Granted, that one was intended to be long anyway, but still.

I'm less than great at weaving in exposition. As such, I opted to just tell this time, and then get on with the story.

Also, I've been told that the first few chapters of this story are a little creepy if the saliva business is focused on, so I'd like to note that this is not a fetish story. The intent is not to disturb or to arouse, but to entertain, so I hope you enjoy. Rated Teen for Adagio Dazzle.