New day, new thoughts to sort through. She tried not to add the possibility that this would be a regular thing to the list, but it was a good thing first period didn't really demand that much attention. Today: Bringing candy bars was not a good idea, Adagio was apparently the cutest kind of ticklish, and, Fluttershy had to seek refuge behind her book before thinking about the last one...

She's seen my underwear!!

When did that happen?! She couldn't think of an instance in which she'd undressed in front of Adagio, she even made sure to stand around the corner in an area with no windows where nobody would see her when changing in the locker room, when could she have been seen that way?! Did it mean Adagio really did know where she lived and had peeked through her window one night? She wouldn't put it past her, but...

No. I don't know if she'd never act like a peeping tom, but, wouldn't she at least tap on the windows or something to let me know she saw me?

That was how Adagio operated, right? Find weak spot, poke it mercilessly? Well, maybe she wasn't that either, she'd backed off once or twice before. Still, she couldn't believe Adagio would peek at her and only offhandedly mention it when her own underwear was exposed in a way she didn't plan. So when was-

Monday. She fell off the bench, her feet comically in the air and her legs apart. Adagio had been standing over her... And didn't say anything? Fluttershy was lost, underwear showing was the definitive reason to mock someone in school, and with Adagio's sense of humor, ignoring... that thing that happened... was like a starving wolf turning up its nose at a bacon sandwich. (That poor piggy.) Was she holding back again? She'd already teased Fluttershy viciously by that point, so it wasn't unthinkable, buy why did she keep stopping herself?

No.

I have to.

No, you don't!

I have to know why.

NO, YOU DON'T!!

Yes, I do!

Please, think about what you're doing, you have friends and family that love you!

You're being ridiculous.

She won't hold back if you ask why, she'll take it as a challenge!

Or maybe she'll just answer the question?

You don't know that!

I don't know that she'll tease me for it, either.

Even if she did, Fluttershy wasn't sure she could just forget about this one. Was Adagio showing mercy sometimes because she cared? Could there even be another reason? She couldn't wait much longer. Friday morning, she wanted some kind of answer, no matter how humiliating Adagio made it for her.

...

Well, that was settled. By comparison, the rest felt pretty easy. Adagio was ticklish. Cute, but not a lot to do with that information right now. Bringing anything vaguely shaped... like... one of those... was just asking for trouble, she'd have to remember not to do it again. The faces Adagio made when she was being tickled, and even that pouty expression before that, were adorable! She wanted to see more. That high-pitched giggling was unexpected, but she smiled just thinking about it.

And... That was all! With her stray thoughts all returned to their kennels before first period had even ended, Fluttershy swelled with confidence and triumph! Then her brain spoke up.

So, about that kiss yesterday?

Her head smacked on the desk, startling half the room. For once, she didn't even notice the stares.

Walking through the gym in an absent-minded daze, Fluttershy caught herself doing the swingy walk without even thinking about it! She couldn't decide right away whether that was really good or really bad, whether it meant she was at risk of unconsciously doing it any time she walked through the gym now, but couldn't help being a little proud of herself just the same.

The next day, Fluttershy waited alone for a little longer than usual. It brought her back to all the mornings she used to spend that way before Adagio came along, just her and the quiet almost every weekday. It was so much slower than she remembered, so much lonelier. Maybe because now she was actively waiting on something, instead of just waiting? That was the better part of impatience, she thought, the frustration of being stuck waiting until something else made it's way to you, be it a bus, (not that Fluttershy would know) or an inconsiderate friend who said they'd be here twenty minutes ago, or even for a class to end. Waiting was fine, expecting could be a little trickier. Maybe that was what Adagio was getting at the other day, how other people typically-

"-said GOOD MORNING, SWEETIE!"

"EEEEK!!" Fluttershy seized up like a fainting goat, falling over on the bench before realizing what had happened. Again. She sat up quickly, straightening her hair as best she could as she met Adagio's equally annoyed and inquisitive gaze.

"What is it like, getting so lost in thought that you can actually check out of reality, up to a point?"

Lowering her head a little, Fluttershy twiddled her fingers and blushed. "A little embarrassing, when someone catches you doing it?"

Adagio blinked once in surprise and laughed, bringing a smile to Fluttershy's face. "Alright, then. You know, I don't think I'd be startling you as often if I wore a bell around my neck." And then came the smirk and the suggestive eyebrow waggle. "With a collar, I mean..."

Taking a few seconds to piece together what she meant, Fluttershy squeaked and turned much redder.

"No? Very well, you can wear the collar."

"W-what?!"

"For keeping you on a leash, of course." Casually inspecting her nails, Adagio grinned wider. "Don't worry, I'd keep you fed, cleaned, take you on walks, you still do that sometimes, right?"

Fluttershy's jaw dropped as she recalled that morning by the statue a few weeks ago, the one Adagio had very deliberately taken out of context after sneaking up on her again. "I-I-I wasn't, I don't-!"

Coyly averting her eyes, Adagio chuckled fiendishly. "Whatever you say, Sweetie."

She might be a little mad about what happened yesterday, thought Fluttershy, most of her face still giving the science lab's hot plates a run for their money, or, even about the Battle. Or anything else she might feel like taking out on me. The old Sunset Shimmer hadn't always needed a reason to torment anyone in particular (though in her defense, she usually did), maybe Adagio was just feeling a little vindictive this morning? Then again, she and her friends had lost something precious to them partly because of Fluttershy, maybe more-so than even Twilight, depending on how you looked at it. That in mind, she couldn't even stay frustrated with Adagio, who had at least stopped laughing at her.

"Really though, I'm not sure how to approach you when you get like that, and I've tried all the polite avenues. I think." She counted off on her fingers. "Gently call your name, do it again a little louder, tap you on the shoulder, scream in your ear. Are there more?"

"W-well," muttered Fluttershy, using the change of topic to speed her recovery, "the last one isn't exactly polite, but please, don't worry about it." She managed an earnest smile. "It's my own fault for not paying attention, so doing what you've been doing is fine."

"Your funeral," replied Adagio with a noncommittal shrug.

Worrying a little about the chances she would seriously get an Adagio-induced heart attack, Fluttershy tried to set those thoughts aside in favor of the usual routine. "S-so, anyway," she said while retrieving today's little bag from her backpack, "have you ever seen a candy necklace?"

Blink. "A what now?"

The confused face swiftly becoming one of her favorites, Fluttershy giggled, holding the sugary tablets on a ring of string where Adagio could see. "It's just ordinary candy, but you can wear it around your neck, if you like."

Adagio tilted her head. "That sounds a little unsanitary."

"Y-you've eaten something straight out of my mouth..."

"Yes, but that wasn't resting against your skin for a while. Food as clothing is an interesting kink and all, but unless you've showered very recently, I think things like edible underwear -fascinating what you people do with your global information network, by the way- would probably-"

Again, Fluttershy turned scarlet. "I-it's not a k-k-kink!!"

There was a short pause, the two looking at one another in silence before Adagio shrugged. "So, do you floss with the string afterwards?"

A little blindsided by the question, Fluttershy took a second to think about it. "Um... sometimes. They make the string out of actual dental floss in some brands, but since the candy mostly melts and doesn't get stuck in your teeth, it never really caught on."

"Huh." She gently prodded the necklace with a finger. "How exactly does one eat from these without chewing on the thread, as well?"

"Uh, well," holding the necklace out in front of her, Fluttershy lifted it in front of her mouth, "you basically just hold two ends by the string and-" she bit down in the middle, crushing the pieces beneath her teeth to a sweet-tasting powder that dissolved on her tongue. Though she was now technically being rude by talking with her mouth full. "lahk tis."

Leaning forward, Adagio gripped two ends of the necklace and mimicked Fluttershy's action. "Just, hold in two places and bite down?"

There was another flush of warmth to her cheeks as she nodded, trying not to think too much about how close their faces were now. That became impossible when Adagio bit into the other side of the necklace, meaning they were now both chewing on the same object! Separated by several inches, but still! Then, to her horror, Adagio reached out with one hand to hold it under Fluttershy's chin, keeping her from opening her mouth to break away.

It probably took practice to form a devious smirk while chewing on something, but that was what Adagio did as she slowly worked her way around to Fluttershy's end of the necklace, locking eyes as she cleaned the string piece by piece.

Effectively motionless, Fluttershy's heart beat faster and faster. She isn't.

Crunch, crunch...

She wouldn't.

Crunch, crunch...

She can't!

Crunch, crunch...

Their faces were almost touching now, Fluttershy fidgeting in Adagio's grip as she drew closer and closer, their lips barely an inch apart...

And then Adagio let go and pulled back, snickering as Fluttershy fell over again. "There, I left half the necklace for you. It isn't sharing if I take everything myself, right?" A coy wink was completely unnecessary to fluster her any further, but she did it anyway, looking at Fluttershy's shocked, wide-eyed expression with evil delight. "Oh? Did you want me to go further? You only have to ask..."

Still lying on the bench, but at least fairly certain Adagio couldn't see up her skirt from that angle, Fluttershy whimpered. "Y-you're mean."

The vicious vixen only smiled wider. "Aren't I, though?" Her grin and tone were prideful as she again rested the fingertips of one hand on her chest. "I just cause all kinds of trouble around here, you know? Would it be such a shock if someone got irritated with me now and then? They might even try to take revenge, if they were really pressed." She held a finger to her chin while making a contemplative face. "I wonder what they'd do? Throwing rocks or burning alive are a little extreme, I couldn't care less if they tried to strip me naked and force me to run through town that way, if they shaved my head, it would grow back to this-" she gave her whole head a quick shake to bob her massive, bouncy hair for emphasis, "within a week or two, -don't ask, I have no idea- and nobody in town can outdo me in verbal jousting." She blinked. "Well, not that a lot have actually tried."

The few that had, though... Good times! The one that dared mention her group's crippled singing ability, in front of Aria and Sonata, no less, received no mercy, but she was sure moving to a different state afterward was just their way of saying 'I fully understand my mistake.'

"Come to think of it, my understanding is that most of the people around here are cowards, doing nothing to combat threats themselves without a lot of back-up or a sufficient proxy." Looking out over the soccer field again, Adagio shrugged, but her tone carried a note of bitterness. "The students of CHS did nothing during the reign of Sunset Shimmer until someone else did it for them, and she was just one human girl. I wouldn't be surprised if such people were to get creative in venting their frustrations against me. Maybe by, say, training an animal to do it for them or-"

"I WOULD NEVER DO THAT!!"

Not for the first time, Adagio was the one startled as she took a step back from Fluttershy, who had sat up very quickly, standing on the bench on her knees to face Adagio. Her face wasn't angry, but her eyes seemed to glow with a kind of energy the siren couldn't place, hurt and sadness the most prominent feelings she could discern.

"I know it happens all the time, but that doesn't make it right! Dogs have big claws and sharp teeth, but that doesn't mean they're just attack drones to throw into danger! I hate seeing them used that way, no matter the cause! Maybe it's easier or less expensive than some other security measures, but those poor creatures deserve better! The same goes for any other animal! If you can't get human beings to volunteer for the benefit of science, maybe doing that research on lab rats is too cruel to be doing at all! Killer whales are NOT happy in those tanks, that's why their dorsal fins flop over and sometimes they kill trainers! It's bad enough people kill so many animals every day for food, and don't get me wrong, I won't pretend it's only okay when non-sapient life ends other lives to save its own, but all of these things are just-"

Mercifully, she stopped, her eyes slowly widening as she made a heartbreaking realization. "You think... The squirrel yesterday. Y-you think it was me, don't you?"

Adagio frowned. "S-Sweetie, I-"

"Animals like me, it's t-true, but, to sic them on anyone, for any reason, I-I could never-"

"Wait, I just-"

"-but, to you, it must have looked exactly like-"

"I didn't say-"

Tears started to gather in her eyes. "I just wasn't thinking, it never even occurred to me that a squirrel might come along and-"

The two were almost talking over each other.

"Please, listen to-"
"I knew squirrels foraged for food on school grounds sometimes-"
"Sweetie-"
"-never even thought about something like that happening and-"
"Sweetie!"
"-so sorry, I never meant to-"

Adagio stepped closer and bent over the bench to wrap Fluttershy in a hug, silencing her immediately. "I'm sorry." She didn't wait for a reply or an insistence that it shouldn't be her apologizing, even if it was what she'd initially hoped to drag out of her usual victim for yesterday's humiliation. "I believe you when you say you'd never tell an animal to do something like that, and I'm sorry I ever even suspected otherwise. The squirrel situation was a complete accident, I see that now. Part of me knew it was preposterous to even think you were capable of such a thing, but, I, I-I don't even have an excuse!" Her tone was very gentle as she hugged Fluttershy a little tighter. "I'm sorry, I won't do it again."

Fluttershy, for her part, melted. The tenderness of the embrace and the sentiment, the sincerity in Adagio's voice, the smell of her hair- Stay focused! -and that, even with Fluttershy not being the one that permanently lost something near and dear to her because of the other, Adagio still felt like she had something to apologize for!

She chose to ignore the little Rainbow Dash in the back of her head that said she was being a total doormat again.

Her heart thudded in a pleasant rhythm as her whole body started to feel warm. And fuzzy! "It's okay."

"It really isn't."

"It is if I forgive you." She tried to hug Adagio back, but her arms were trapped at her sides.

"But-"

"Will you let me?"

Adagio's mouth hung open for several seconds. "...Do you?"

The reply came without hesitation. "Yes."

There was a faint shaking in Adagio's arms, but she quickly steadied herself. "I... Alright. I'll respect your decision."

Fluttershy giggled, enjoying the warmth between them for as long as it lasted.

Then Adagio spoke. "By the way, am I doing this right? Hugging is actually a little new for us and the others don't give me a lot of helpful feedback."

"Uhm... W-well... You don't really have to hold me in a way that I can't move."

Pulling back a little, adorable confusion was again clear in Adagio's face. "I thought that was the point of these things, for people to show they trust one another enough to practice light bondage?"

Fluttershy lit up like a neon sign, her jaw dropping. Once more, she couldn't tell if Adagio was messing with her head or not, but going by the sound of her voice and an inquisitively-raised eyebrow, this time really hadn't been intentional.

"So... that's a 'no,' or...?"

"That... th-that's a 'no,' Adagio." Maybe that's why Aria doesn't like her hugs?

"Oh. Well." Adagio sheepishly pulled away, the clearly-abashed grin on her face making Fluttershy forgive her all over again. "I'll, just... go, figure out how all that works, then? See you around, Sweetie." And then she sauntered off, possibly toward the library to research proper hugging technique.

Letting out a blissful sigh, Fluttershy could hardly wait to see how that turned out. Maybe she could even help her practice? That was something you might do, when you had a crush on someone.

Oh, by the way, brain? I have a crush on Adagio Dazzle, I don't mind thinking it now. Please remember that for the diary later today.

Sure, I'll hang it next to You-Were-Supposed-To-Ask-Her-About-Seeing-Your-Underwear-You-Dummy on the wall.

Remembering that unspoken detail, Fluttershy facepalmed. Chances were good she wouldn't be able to talk to Adagio again until Monday, so this promised to be a long, dreadful weekend of... Or, maybe it didn't matter? They'd both seen a little of each other, after all. It felt like she'd gotten something like an answer for why Adagio held back, too; she cared. She wouldn't have hugged her and earnestly apologized if she didn't. Things were fine. Reinforced by the thought, Fluttershy smiled, taking in a deep breath through her nose.

Mango. Who'd have thought?

Author's Notes:

The Dazzlings have been to the internet.

I was so, so tempted to have one scene go differently:

---

Please, think about what you're doing, you have friends and family that love you!

You're being ridiculous.

You're right, no one loves you.

Yes, I-wha-HEY!!

Look on the bright side, at least the animals at the shelter don't all hate you, right?

Oh, shut up, brain!

---

But Flutters isn't nearly crazy enough for it to fit. Darnit.

No candy analysis two chapters in a row. My apologies to anyone who really likes those bits. Not to worry, though, I've got a plan for the final chapter!