Adagio shivered. Due to the condition she was in when she arrived, the doctors had assumed that most of the poison had left the siren's body and she was well on her way to recovery. This had been an inaccurate assumption. Her condition had only grown worse since she had arrived, the poison evidently re-circulating her body. She could feel the poison in her veins draining her strength further. Doctor Grant seemed stumped as to what toxins exactly could have been killing the siren. They all realized, if they didn't figure out what poison Trixie had used, she would probably die.

Sunset now slept, her waist between Adagio's legs, and her head pressed between her breasts. Adagio smiled down at the girl she cared for most in the world as she ran her fingers through the bright red locks of her hair. She had cried ever since she had arrived and exhausted herself to sleep. Applejack and Rarity had been playing poker in the corner of the room most of the day. Adagio didn't miss the looks they shot her, and she silently wondered just how bad she must look if the tears in their eyes were truly meant for her.

Still, she knew all she could do now was be strong for her new friends and her girlfriend. Fluttershy had previously been trying to make conversation with the siren, but had left a few minutes before to use the bathroom. Unfortunately, the walls between the bathroom and Adagio's room were thin enough for her to hear Fluttershy crying.

"I know I look awful, but I promise it's not as bad as it looks." Adagio said. Unfortunately, the weakness in her voice was obvious to every girl in the room.

Applejack grinned sheepishly at the siren. "Nah, you don't look bad, sugarcube." she said. "Kinda tired though..."

Adagio giggled quietly. "I guess I could use a nap, but I'm okay." she said. "Besides, when Fluttershy gets back in here, I want her to finish telling me the story of when her and Rainbow first did it." Adagio giggled again. "I think Rainbow would kill me if she found out I knew that story, but so far it's been funny enough I have to know how it ends."

"Dear," Rarity began quietly. "perhaps this isn't the time for such things... maybe you s-should wake up Sunset... and spend some time with her..."

"It's okay, Rarity." Adagio said with a smile. "She needs to sleep... besides, if I wake her up and she sees me like this, she'll just start crying until she passes out... again..."

There was a quick knock on the door before it opened and a nurse walked in. Apparently, after his initial shock had worn off, Doctor Grant had spoken to all of the hospital staff that would be in Adagio's room and told them to leave her guests alone and let them stay for as long as they liked. He had really been a kind man once he warmed up to the group. Adagio's high chances of dying this week probably helped his decision as well.

The nurse walked in quietly and checked Adagio's medicine bag. Because they couldn't identify the poison, they had simply been giving her pain medicine to keep her comfortable. Adagio had learned enough in her long life to know what a doctor meant when he said he would keep a patient comfortable.

Adagio was scared.

She wouldn't admit it, or tell any of her friends. They were scared too, and they needed her to be strong, but she guessed that she didn't have much time left in this world. She wanted to scream and cry. Now that she had friends, and a girl who meant everything to her, it looked as if she'd die. It wasn't fair.

Still, she hadn't told her friends what Doctor Grant had said. Merely told them that they were still stumped and that they were working on it. That had not been a total lie, they were still checking her blood for anything and everything, but they couldn't find the source of the toxins, and Adagio was fading fast.

The nurse smiled at Adagio. "How are you feeling?" she asked, her voice kind and warm.

"Well, truth be told, I'm feeling kind of itchy, but I can't scratch my nose because Sunset's got my arm. You wanna help me out?" Adagio joked. She giggled as the nurse smiled and scratched the side of her nose. "Much better." Adagio sighed. "Thank you."

"You're very welcome, Miss Dazzle." she said. "Let me know if you need anything else."

"Will do." Adagio grinned as the nurse turned to leave. The door closed behind her and Adagio fell further back into the bed. "It's a shame really..." she mumbled aloud.

"What's that?" Applejack asked.

"The nurses here are cute, but I was really hoping for one of those nurses like on T.V. Y'know, the ones with tight uniforms and double-d boobs." Adagio laughed.

"Careful, darling." Rarity said with a soft laugh. "If Sunset hears that, she might be jealous."

Adagio shrugged. "There's nothing to be jealous of." she said. "Even those nurses on T.V. don't hold a candle to her." Adagio smiled as she ran her fingers through Sunset's hair again. "She's so much more than them... in every way."

Applejack and Rarity smiled at the sight.

Fluttershy finally opened the door to the bathroom and stepped into the room with everyone else. "Sorry that took me so long." she mumbled.

"It's alright, Fluttershy." Adagio said. "Why don't you come finish telling me that story."

Fluttershy smiled and nodded. "Well, where did I leave off?" she asked.

"You were just telling me about how she fell out of your bed." Adagio giggled.

Fluttershy wore an obviously fake smile as she nodded. "Right." she said. "Well, I apologized, and she told me it wasn't my fault. She laughed and got right back in the bed with me. I asked her if she wanted to keep going and all she said was 'not yet' and then she started holding me. It would have been nice, but since we were both sweaty it kind of smelled..."

Adagio laughed. "Well, that's why your first time shouldn't have been after a date in the park in summer."

Fluttershy laughed politely herself. "Well, I probably also shouldn't have asked Rainbow to get a shower." Adagio laughed again. "She seemed so offended, I thought she was just going to leave."

Adagio giggled as she held a careful hand to Sunset's hand to keep from waking the girl. "So, what happened then?" she asked.

"She blushed and spent ten minutes trying to ask me if I would get a shower with her, but because she was stuttering so much, I thought she asked if I would shower her." Fluttershy laughed.

The door to the room grabbed everyone's attention as it slowly swung open. Rainbow, Pinkie, and Twilight all stood in the threshold of the room, staring at Adagio as if seeing a ghost. Adagio grimaced at the accuracy of the thought.

"What the hell?" Rainbow asked quietly. "I thought you were gonna be fine."

Adagio tried to laugh lightly, but even to her ears it was hollow. "I am going to be fine, Dash." she lied. "The poison is just apparently getting worse."

"But, the doctor said that because you cut your wrist and they had to give you fresh blood it watered down the poison. He said your body shoulda taken care of the toxins." Dash said quickly as she approached the bed. She absently rubbed Fluttershy's shoulder as she passed before flinching away when Fluttershy tried to return the contact.

She ignored her lover's slightly hurt expression to sit on the bed next to Adagio and Sunset. "You were supposed to be okay..." she whispered.

Adagio smiled. "I'm happy that you're concerned, Dash." she said, "Still, the doctors said they'd find out what poison Trixie used and then I'll be fine."

"There can't be that many..." Rainbow whispered low enough that the siren was the only one that could hear her. "They said they'd make you comfortable, didn't they?"

Adagio nodded slightly with a sigh. "Don't say anything." she whispered back. "I know you and I aren't exactly friends, but the rest of the girls are my friends and if this really is going to be my last day, I'd like to spend it with them being happy." she pleaded.

"Ugh!" Dash threw back her head and yelled. "Well he better hurry! I can't kick your ass while you're still sick." She grinned at Adagio. "If Grant doesn't hurry, I'll just have to do it while you're still in bed."

Adagio smiled and mouth an imperceptible 'thank you' before returning her attention to Fluttershy.

"Can I talk to you in the hall real quick?" Rainbow asked her girlfriend. Fluttershy raised an eyebrow, but nodded nonetheless.

Once outside the hospital room, Fluttershy opened her mouth to speak, only to be cut off as Rainbow wrapped her arms around her and buried her nose in Fluttershy's hair. "I love you..." she whispered. "I want you to know... You're not a game. You're not a diversion. You're my everything, butterfly."

"Dashie?" Fluttershy asked as she tentatively returned the embrace. "Is everything okay? What did Adagio just whisper to you?"

"That has nothing to do with this." Rainbow said with a quiet sniffle. "I need you to realize what you mean to me though. I need to make sure you know that you are the love of my life..."

Fluttershy hiccuped quietly before speaking. "Sometimes... I do feel like I'm not good enough for you... that you're just gonna leave me when somebody better shows interest in you..."

"There is nobody better for me." Rainbow said, squeezing tighter on her lover. "I love you with everything I have, and it's really important that you know that."

"What happened?" Fluttershy asked. "What happened over there?"

"I met us... a version of us that wasn't together..." she whispered. "That morning... when Applejack got the video..."

Fluttershy tensed in her arms. "I guess the other me did it, huh?" she asked quietly. "Are you mad at me..."

"No, I just needed to know... I don't know why you got it in your head that you needed to leave me for something as silly as our friends approval..."

"Especially with what we know now." Fluttershy sighed. "I get it. You got the other us back together... didn't you?"

Rainbow laughed softly. "Yeah, I did. All the other you needed was to hear how much the other me really loved her..."

"I'm sorry." Fluttershy said again. "I understand now just how wrong of a decision that would have been."

The girls were interrupted as Doctor Grant ran down the hall to them. "Do you girls have a minute?" he asked as he drew close. The girls released each other and nodded at him. "Listen," he said as he finally arrived before the pair, his voice low so he would not be overheard. "I have looked into every poison in the book and nothing is matching up with Adagio's symptoms."

Fluttershy gasped and grabbed her lover's arm. "What are you saying?" she asked.

"I'm saying that if I can't figure out what poison was used, I can't help your friend." Doctor Grant said quietly. "She told us that she thinks somebody slipped something in her drink, is that correct?"

"As far as we know." Rainbow said.

"And it was a six-pack?" he asked. Rainbow nodded. "Is there any way you could go back to where she was and see if you can find the exact pack she was drinking from?"

Applejack stepped into the hall. "I can." she said.

Rainbow blinked at her. "What were you just doing?"

"I was eavesdroppin' on ya'll." Applejack shrugged. "I was worried, sue me."

"It would really help if I could get a sample." Grant said, ignoring the glare Rainbow was giving her friend.

"Don't go alone." Fluttershy said quietly.

Rarity stepped from the room behind Applejack and closed the door quietly. "I wouldn't dream of letting her go alone." she turned her attention to a red-faced Rainbow Dash. "Are you even surprised that I was eavesdropping, dear?" she asked.

Dash simply snorted in annoyance. "Whatever, you guys just go find that pack of drinks. See if you can find the exact one she was drinking out of, if nobody's thrown it away already."

Grant nodded. "That would help. Thank you girls." he said before shuffling away quickly, hopefully back to the lab to try to learn more about the poison.

As Rarity and Applejack began a brisk walk down the hall, Rainbow softly called after them. "Is Adagio awake?"

Rarity turned and nodded as she ran.

Rainbow sighed. "Fluttershy, I need to talk to Adagio alone. When Sunset wakes up, would you take her and the other girls to get something to eat?"

"Sure I can, but why do you want to talk to her alone?" Fluttershy asked.

"Because I have to ask her something, and it'll mean more coming from her." Rainbow said quietly. "I'm not gonna be mean or anything I promise."

Fluttershy nodded slightly. "I love you..." she whispered.

Rainbow smiled and leaned down to plant a quick kiss on the girl's lips. "I love you too." she said as they broke away. "Don't ever forget that, okay?" Fluttershy nodded with a small smile.

Sunset awoke to the feeling of fingers softly weaving through her hair and she felt kind eyes staring at her from above. After a moment of laying still and enjoying the feeling she was receiving, she opened her eyes and looked up at her siren. "Hey..." she said quietly with a sad smile. "How are you feeling?"

"I'm on top of the world." Adagio said with a slightly convincing smile. "I've got you in my lap, medicine in my veins, and good friends to spend time with."

"I wish I could do something." Sunset said as she ignored her girlfriend's sentiments. "I hate seeing how much worse you've gotten."

"I'll be okay." Adagio said quietly.

The door to the room opened once more as Fluttershy and Rainbow entered. Twilight and Pinkie sat in the chairs that had been occupied by Rarity and Applejack. Pinkie was drawing with crayons that she had somehow produced, while Twilight was writing notes. Rainbow had filled her in on everything they had learned and she was hard at work planning a spell to flush the dark energy from Trixie before it gained sentience.

Twilight had explained it was possible, but unlikely. Still, if it got to that point, stopping it with a simple spell would be difficult, so she needed to figure something out quickly.

Adagio had asked what happened between them, but Twilight had only told her that fixing both Trixie and the siren took priority. She had been confused, but knew better than to push Twilight on the subject.

"I'm hungry." Fluttershy announced as she entered. "Will you girls go with me to the cafeteria?"

Pinkie and Twilight grabbed their paper and crayons and shoved them into Pinkie's hair, before nodding and approaching the girl.

"You too." Adagio said as she placed a hand on her lover's head. "You haven't eaten all day, and I don't want you to pass out from hunger."

"I'm not leaving you alone." Sunset said as tears built in her eyes. "You're-"

"Gonna be fine." Rainbow interrupted as she crossed her arms over her chest. "I've actually eaten today. I'll stay here and watch her... if anything happens I'll call you." she said.

Sunset stood quickly and kissed her siren quickly before approaching Rainbow and staring into her eyes. "I shouldn't have to tell you this, but don't mess with her." her tone was less provoking than it could have been, but her stomach growling half-way through her sentence really took away from the threat.

"Go eat." Rainbow said with a friendly smile as she clapped Sunset on the shoulder. "Threaten me when you get back or something."

Sunset frowned but quickly followed behind Fluttershy and the others in search of food.

The door closed quietly behind the girl and the two remaining were awkwardly silent for several minutes.

Rainbow sighed loudly, gaining Adagio's attention. "Did you know?" she asked quietly.

Adagio tilted her head. "Know what?"

"Don't do that." Rainbow commanded, though her voice was soft. "I can see it on your face... I'll ask again. Did you know... about the day the video got out?"

Adagio considered the other girl for a moment. She assumed Rainbow was asking if she knew that the video had actually saved her relationship with Fluttershy. She nodded. "I found out about a month ago." she explained.

Rainbow sat in the chair next to Adaigo's bed with a heavy sigh. "I could see it on your face." she said quietly. "When you saw me earlier... when I brought Sunset here. You had something on your face... it was like you were sad for me..."

"I didn't want to tell you." Adagio said.

"Why not?"

Adagio sighed. "Because, I knew it would hurt you." she whispered. "I'm not gonna say I'm any good at this friendship thing, and I'm probably worse at relationships, considering I've only ever had one, but I don't think it would have been good to tell you that the only reason you still had your relationship was because of a person that you hate." Adagio sighed again. "Fluttershy is my friend, and I knew it would hurt her too if you found out before you were ready. I didn't want that."

"So you were gonna fight me?" Rainbow asked. "Instead of taking the easy way and just telling me how lucky I was for what you did, you thought you'd let me rearrange your face so... what? Not even so I would be your friend, but just so I wouldn't hate you anymore?"

Adagio laughed quietly. "Yeah, I guess that pretty much sums it up." she said. "Fluttershy actually told me about her plans to break up with you to convince me not to fight you."

"That sounds like her." Dash said. "Quick to throw herself under the bus to help someone else."

"Are you two okay?" Adagio asked.

"We will be." Rainbow sighed as she ran a hand through her hair. "It still hurts... thinking that she never realized she was good enough... thinking that the only reason I still have her is because of something bad happening... but, we'll get over it. Twilight and Pinkie still aren't one-hundred percent yet either, so I guess it's not just us."

"For what it's worth. I am sorry." Adagio.

"Don't be." Rainbow said as she stood from her chair. She placed one hand on Adagio's shoulder and smiled down at her. "I forgive you." she said quietly. "From now on, I'm your friend."

Adagio giggled quietly. "Whether I like it or not?" she asked.

"Nobody has a problem with somebody as awesome as me being their friend." Rainbow said with a laugh.

"Y'know... I still haven't said anything to the other... but, all of this might not matter in a couple of days." Adagio said quietly. "I might die soon... In fact, it's starting to seem more likely the longer we wait."

"We won't let you die." Rainbow said. "Applejack and Rarity are going back to the farm. The Doc thinks if he gets a sample of what you were drinking, they might be able to help you."

"I hope so." Adagio said as tears began welling in her eyes. "I'm scared, Dash." she whimpered. "I finally have something worth living for... and I might die."

Rainbow quickly, but gently, wrapped her arms around Adagio and hugged her closely. "We won't let that happen." she said softly, her voice becoming a nurturing tone that Adagio never expected to hear from the girl.

Adagio returned the hug and smiled even as her tears began soaking Rainbow's shoulder. "Thank you, Rainbow."

The two embraced in silence for a moment before Rainbow pulled away. "If you tell anybody about that, the poison will be the least of your worries." she said.

Adagio laughed slightly and nodded. "I'll keep that in mind." she said.

Melody threw another CD in the trash. "What else have you got, Trixie?" she asked as she rummaged through the desk. She had initially been looking for good music, but her search had turned into a purge as she found Trixie's pop CD's.

"Stop throwing away Trixie's things." Trixie said.

"Now they're my things, and I'm not listening to that garbage." Melody said. "I can listen to any music except for that."

"You've been alive less than a week, how would you even know any music?" Trixie asked incredulously.

"I was born of music," Melody said. "good music. Not this Mustin Keeber bullshit you listen to."

"That's not his name; it's-"

"Literally so far beneath me that I couldn't possibly care less?" Melody asked as she threw another CD in the trash. "Seriously, if I can thank my mother for anything, it would be her taste in music."

"What about my taste in music?" A slightly raised voice called from the open door. Melody turned to see a frowning old woman. Her skin was a light blue, similar to Trixie's own and her hair was a clashing shade of forest green. Melody quickly scanned her memories for this woman.

This was Trixie's mother. Trixie hated her. Melody found memories of the woman beating Trixie. Telling her she wasn't good enough and forcing her to see a therapist. Trixie's therapist had discovered her depression and given her medicine for it, but after her mother found out, she had spoken to the therapist again.

He later prescribed anti-psychotics. This woman was the sole reason that Melody now had full control of Trixie's body. Her doubts within her mind about herself had stemmed from this woman, who was convinced her eccentric daughter was crazy. She was ashamed of her child and had done her best to make Trixie feel ashamed to even be alive.

Melody smiled. Had she been in a different body, she would have liked this hag. Still, if Trixie's memories were any indication, her mother, Star Lulamoon, was about to be very upset.

Melody mentally shrugged. "I wasn't talking about you, Star." she said as she grabbed another CD and threw it in the trash.

"Excuse me, young lady?" Star asked. "Who do you think you're addressing?"

Melody shrugged without so much as a glance at the woman. "Some bitter old bitch who hates her daughter because she can't even hold onto a husband?" Melody asked, her tone sickeningly sweet. "Seriously, you can't blame your kid for your husband running off."

"Trixie Lulamoon!" Star yelled. "You will not speak to me in that way!"

"Shove it up your ass-" Melody sang loudly.

Star, huffing with indignation, stormed across the room and placed a hand on Melody's shoulder. She spun the smaller girl around, and backhanded her across the face.

Melody stumbled back with a giggle. "Wow!" she laughed. "This body really can't take a hit." she turned her attention back to Star. "So, I take it I hit a nerve?"

"I should have given you up for adoption!" Star yelled. "I merely came in here to see where you've been all night, and I find you wearing some disgusting jacket and trashing your room! Where did you even get that thing?" she pointed at Melody's new favorite jacket.

Melody stared at her sleeve and shrugged. "I found it." she said. "Where did you get that salty-" Another slap cut off her words and forced the girl back another step.

"Enough!" Star yelled. "You will clean your room now! While you clean you can get started on a written apology to me, do you understand?"

"You will eat a dick!" Melody laughed, her voice dripping with a malice that Star had never seen in her daughter before. Star stepped forward and raised her hand, preparing to strike the girl again. "I wouldn't do that if I were you!" Melody grinned, despite her threat.

Star froze, finally unnerved at her daughter's attitude. "What-"

"Last Halloween." Melody said softly. "You beat Trixie until she was nothing but a sobbing bloody mess." Melody grinned as the memories came to her. If she didn't know any better, she would think that Trixie was actually handing them to her. In truth; she was. She may have hated Melody for stealing her body, but as far as she was concerned her mother had stolen much more from her in her life. Melody was strong enough to put the woman in her place, so in this one fight, she would root for the body-snatching woman.

Melody laughed. "Man!" she cried, wiping a tear from her eye and holding her side. "You really messed her up. Wow, she was in the hospital for, like, two weeks. You never guessed that she had taken pictures? That she still had the bloody clothes, hidden away from here as proof of what you did. Hey, Trixie?" Melody called to her mental guest. "How old is this body?"

"Trixie is seventeen..." Trixie supplied happily, her own voice dripping with malice as she enjoyed the showdown between monsters.

"Seventeen, huh? Isn't that a crime here?" Melody asked Star.

"You..." Star paled. "You aren't my daughter..."

"DING DING DING!" Melody yelled loudly. "We have a winner!" she laughed again. "I can't believe you're just now realizing that but, don't worry, Trixie's still up here." Melody pointed at her head. "Oh, and she's loving this. She's always been too afraid of you to turn those pictures into the police, but me? I would happily watch your ass rot in jail." Melody smiled happily. "Don't worry, though. We turn eighteen soon, and when we do, I'll find a job and leave and you'll lose your favorite kick-toy forever!"

Star slowly inched backwards toward the door, a look of horror and revulsion on her face. She believed that her daughters anti-psychotics had somehow split her personality or something. She was afraid of her child now.

"So," Melody chirped happily as she followed Trixie's mother out the door. "For the next month or so, I'll make you a deal. You stay the fuck away from me, and I won't make sure your ass lands in prison. Sound good?"

Melody stepped on the tips of her toes to be in Star's face.

Star nodded before retreating down the hall.

"Trixie is having a hard time hating you now, Melody." Trixie said.

Melody laughed slightly. "Well, why don't I help you with that."

Not a single CD survived Melody's purge during that night.

Author's Notes:

Well, I feel like a lot actually happened in this chapter... even if it didn't. Still, Rainbow and Adagio are friends now, Adagio is getting sicker, but we know from the previous story's ending that she'll be okay, we finally know exactly what was going on with Trixie, and Melody continues to astound me with just how much of a psychotic bitch she is.

So was there anything I didn't cover well that I should clear up? Was there anything you didn't like about this chapter? Were there any spelling errors? If so, then you should let me know in the comments. I really like comments.

I regret nothing.