Ugh.

Sometimes there were no better words. One word. No one better word. Whatever. Also one word. Was 'whatever' a better word than the one word she was using now? Probably not, it just didn't have the same punch. Whatever.

Uggh.

...

UGH!

Lying on her bed, Sunset Shimmer flopped over onto her stomach, restless. She'd been lying here for the better part of... an hour? Two? She'd have to get today's homework from her friends, but she could probably get through most of it in a matter of minutes. When this fever went away, at least.

Yes, Sunset was sick, which left her in the bedroom of her little apartment. Her room was small, about a third of the floor taken up by her bed alone, but it had more than enough space for her, personally. It was usually warm enough, she never saw rats or anything, never heard gunfire from outside her window, and rent was cheap enough that she could get by with her online job. She never did thank Flash for finding this place for her, something she really needed to fix sooner or later.

Funny how I only think about stuff like that when getting up to do it isn't a great idea.

She'd have gone to school anyway, some time ago, but having friends that said not to out of concern for her health was a real game-changer. It was nice, too, the being-cared-about thing that Twilight left her with. She tried to thank her for that, the first time Sunset saw her since getting crater'd, but then Twilight gave her that weird don't-know-if-I-trust-you look when she tried to help her up and that kind of hurt and made things awkward. Sunset got around to it later with the journal, though.

Anyway, in the spirit of not wanting anyone to worry, she texted Pinkie Pie about fifteen minutes after she'd determined that she was sick, not just suffering some kind of morning funk. With the assurance that the message would be passed to her friends, Sunset had flopped back onto her bed, never having even changed from her pink pajamas. This brought her to the present time.

Ugh. Being sick sucks.

Maybe the worst part, other than the coughing, the sneezing, the tiredness, and occasional bouts of that gross, sticky feeling that came with sweating under the covers, was the way the fever messed with her head. Her pounding, hundred-pounds-heavier head. It wasn't constant, but she was even starting to get that thing where you see and hear stu-hallucinate! She was even hallucinating a little while still awa-fever dream! She was having little fever dreams, hearing noises and her vision going all wibbly-wobbly until she looked at it. The thing that was going wibbly-wobbly. Like her brain. It happened less when she stayed still, but that didn't explain why she heard footsteps from the ceiling now.

Think I just heard my door open. Fever must be worse than I thought.

Glancing around her room, she saw a big, fluffy, fluff-fluff that walked like a man. Also, Adagio was standing over her bed, doing that sassy hand-on-my-hip-because-I'm-just-girly-enough-to-get-away-with-it pose. And smirking. Dagi liked to smirk.

Wait, Adagio? Here? Fever must be worse than I thought.

"Good morning, Sunset Shimmer."

I'm even hearing her voice. Fever must be worse than I thought.

"As I recall," spoke the vision, "I've accrued something of a... a debt, with you. Fortunately, I heard all about your condition, and I think it's time we settled the score."

With the realization that this was probably the real Adagio Dazzle, Sunset's eyes widened in horror. She's... She can't be, I thought we were- but, she never actually said she was over what happened at the Battle, does that mean-

"So," Adagio said with a little smile as she sat on the bed, "how can I help you get better?" Sunset stared back at her, silent. "...You are physically ill, correct? This isn't just a ruse to skip school today?"

Oh.

"Eh, n-no, but..." Sunset slowly sat up, confusion clear in her face. "What are you doing here?"

"As I just answered that question, I'm going to pretend you said 'How did you know I was sick?' Answer: Rarity mentioned it when she called earlier this morning."

"She called you?"

"We stay in touch, yes."

Too scared to ask if this meant Adagio had really known where she lived and aware that it was a moot question now anyway, Sunset opted to ask something else. "You finally got a phone? Remind me to ask the number when I've got something to write on. And with. And on."

Amused, Adagio smiled a little wider. "You said 'on' twice, silly."

Sunset folded her arms and made a scowly-face. "I'm not silly!" She glanced away, her brain warming up enough to think things again. "And, if you stay here, won't you just get sick too?"

"I keep warm and get enough sleep, failure to do that alone being the main reason immune systems falter. Energy in the body and all. On that note, what have you been up to recently?"

"I, uh," Sunset broke eye-contact, "just, some, stuff that kept me up a little later than usual the past few days."

Adagio smirked again. "Oh? And what was it that kept your attention so late into the night, leaving you so exhausted?"

Sunset angry-pouted at the implication. "I just wasn't sleeping that well."

"Mmhm. What was his name?"

Quickly getting up to lean forward, Sunset scowled through a furious blush. "I WASN'T up all night having sex with some guy, okay?!"

Adagio giggled, gently pressing Sunset back down with a hand on her shoulder. "Alright, alright, I was just kidding." To poke her about not having said it wasn't with some girl was an obvious choice, but her patient was looking frazzled as it was.

Sunset sighed as she reclined backward, already regretting having raised her voice enough to send another lance of pain into the center of her brain. She was startled by Adagio leaning in much closer. "H-hey, what-?!"

Gently holding Sunset by one shoulder, Adagio picked up a pillow and slid it between Sunset and the headboard, slowly resting the sick girl against it. She spoke softly, smiling a little. "Better?"

It wasn't quite warm, fluffy heaven, but it was comfortable. "Y-yea, thanks."

Standing up, Adagio looked around. "You could use a little more cushioning, best to minimize discomfort when you're ill. Do you have any other pillows or a thick quilt I could fold up?"

Sunset managed a nod. "Hallway closet." She sat in silence as Adagio left her alone for a moment. The truth behind her late nights was that she had spent maybe a little too much time scanning various social networks for any info about what the Dazzlings had been up to in the last week and a half since that virtual heist. While she did acquire some funny stuff to talk about with Rarity, it looked like none of them had accounts anywhere, so her efforts usually didn't amount to much more than snippets of rumor and gossip about the trio from other people.

And it's not stalking, I just wanna make sure they stay out of trouble! That's what Twilight wanted me to do, right?

It was. Twilight even closed every note to her with 'P.S.; Please try to keep the sirens out of trouble.'

Well, as one was bringing her the bundled-up winter quilt, that she was here at all because she wanted to help Sunset get better of her own volition, mission accomplished? Having the leader of the Dazzlings playing nursemaid for her had to mean something in terms of reform. On that note, she wondered what the other two were up to right about now.

Resting on her knees on the living room floor of the sirens' house, Sonata slowly donned a welding mask before picking up a hammer in both hands. Lifting it into the air, she quickly brought it down on the bubble-wrap laid out in front of her, screaming with berserker rage until every last pouch of air-packed plastic was burst. When it was done, she lifted the mask.

"Time?"

Aria looked at the stopwatch with mild interest. "6.6 seconds."

Furrowing her brows, Sonata brought the hammer down on the already-mashed plastic in frustration. Then she looked around curiously. "Hey, where's Dagi? She'd usually be telling us to 'cut this psychotic, noisy crap out' by now."

As she rolled out another sheet of bubble-wrap on the floor, Aria shrugged. "Note said she was 'securing the loyalty of our fourth member for the simulations.' Probably a good idea, since the guy in charge specifically wanted the four of us."

Lowering the welding mask again, Sonata tilted her head. "Why?"

"I'unno, but as long as we're getting paid to kill stuff, I'm not about to complain."

"Okay, but Sunny's pretty nice, y'know? Couldn't we just ask her to come along?"

"Maybe, but you know how Miss Fuzzlewuzzums is about going that extra mile for a plan." Stepping back to a safer distance, Aria raised the stopwatch again. "Ready?"

Taking a second to jot something down on her handy-dandy notepad, Sonata again raised the hammer. "Ready!"

Author's Notes:

Surprise, I've been working on SunDagio on the side for months! ...I'm pretty much always working on Sundagio on the side. I wouldn't call it an 'OTP' or anything, but when handled well, it's easily my favorite ship!

...Though there's no romance tag, so you know they won't- Ah, whatever. It's their interactions that count, right?

You might be wondering about the bubble-wrap. Sonata does not like bugs.