Giving her closet door one last push, Sunset was rewarded with the sound of tumblers clicking. The effort had been a little draining, so she hoped that when Adagio said 'bath,' she meant 'bath' and not 'shower.'

She had to mean a bath. You wouldn't need to get a head start on getting a shower running, that's part of the advantage they have over-

Sunset shook her head. There was no sense in thinking hard about this. That left her dozily standing by her closet until she remembered her reason for getting up. Which was done now. Where was Adagio? Ambling out into the hall, Sunset headed to the bathroom to find a tub full of steaming water, but no sign of her fluffy caretaker. Unless the tub counted as a sign, becau-

It didn't matter. Getting here under her own power felt like a good sign, but standing up was giving her that weird, woozy feeling, so she opted to strip and recline in the tub's welcoming, watery warmth. She started with her pajama-top, and it was as she was getting it over her shoulders that she heard a startled yelp from behind her, immediately followed by the door slamming.

Uncertain how much of her was seen, even from the back, Sunset again turned crimson. "Uh... hi, Adagio."

The hastily-delivered reply came muffled through the door. "I was looking for a towel for when you were finished but all I found was this bathrobe so I came back with it and I didn't know you were in here yet sorryaboutthat!!"

Okay, thought Sunset, you've been through this situation before, don't let it get awkward and everything will be fine. Something about the notion felt weird while she was removing the rest of her pajamas, but she couldn't dwell on weird right now!

"Don't worry about it," she called as casually as she could manage, "I used to go naked all the time as a pony." She had long since developed a good understanding of modesty, but it seemed like something they could relate with as Sunset slowly settled into the bathtub.

"You're... y-you're alright with this?"

Play cool, Sunset. "Uh, yea, totally. It's just skin, right?"

There was a quiet sigh. "Then I applaud your psychological constitution, because I picked up the sense of nakedness after just a few months in this world."

"Wait, what?"

"They prefer that you wear clothes here, perhaps you've noticed?"

"No, I mean, I'm surprised you even care. You in particular had no reservations about shaking your hips in front of the whole cafeteria, right?"

"Yes, because I wasn't naked."

"Okay, but didn't you guys go around unclothed back in Equestria?"

There was a humorless chuckle. "Back when our bodies were covered in glistening scales? Yes, to cover up would have been criminal, but things are a little different here."

That night they spent in Fatbear's, particularly when Adagio all but suggested that Sunset touch her behind and/or upper legs, made Sunset think that the sirens probably just weren't fettered by that kind of thing, but she had just implied that Adagio was overweight at the time. Maybe she'd been more indignant than modest? "Does being naked bother the other two at all?"

"Just Sonata, I think. She was the one that got me conscious of this, the way she'd alternate between staring and looking away when we first disrobed in our new bodies. Aria, on the other hand, stayed nude just to spite her, catching her first cold not long after."

"You never got sick as hippocampi?"

"Long story short, our scales did more than just gleam beautifully in the light, Sunset Shimmer. Truly, it boggled my mind back then that anyone could even go outside undefended."

"Fair enough." She giggled. "Kinda wishing I had them right about now."

"As well you should, though I don't know how well they would mesh with human skin. Come to think of it, I suppose part of what forced the change for me was the sense of vulnerability, as these bodies are much less protected."

Making the comparison of a pony with no fur, Sunset couldn't help a little smile. "In other words, without your scales, you felt na-"

"Precisely." There was a tiny, door-muffled huff. "Aria has since shrugged off the loss of our armor, so an apathy for undress may be something you two have in common."

"Yea, I gue-"

Wait, what? Does... does she think I'm okay with being seen naked? Is that what she thought I meant when I said it was just skin?!

"Uh, Ad-"

"Anyway," Adagio said before the misunderstanding could be fixed, "I couldn't find a towel, but I'll, er, l-leave this bathrobe I found hanging on the doorknob. Have you eaten today?"

"I, well, no, but-"

"Then I'll prepare something while you wash, take your time in there."

Sunset quietly sputtered for a few seconds, but the sounds of Adagio's fading footsteps said it was already too late.

...And now I'm a casual nudist, at least in Adagio's eyes. That can't possibly bite me in the ass.

Well, at least she left Sunset the bathrobe she usually dried off in. Slower than turning the hairdryer on full-blast, but it saved on the electric bill. She spent a bit of her time in the bath pondering how best to clear up that she had adopted this world's sense of nudity too. Along with it, she wondered: If Aria was fine with being naked, what the Hell was she wearing to be embarrassed when her underwear was mentioned? Something else that had kind of been bugging her was Adagio.

She didn't look embarrassed at all when she knew Pinkie had dressed her on Rarity's birthday. Was she just not thinking about it, or had she gotten over it by then? The way Rarity operates, she was probably seen a few times that d-ANYWAY.

It's not that I'm not grateful about her taking care of me like this, I am, just... Trying to save her not-actually-in-danger-at-the-time life, making sure her secret skittishness stays a secret, giving her friendship advice here and there, and helping with the VR thing (even though they let me keep some of the money there), did it all really mean this much to her?

Sunset felt a little pang of shame for it, but she couldn't deny the tiny voice that said it might have all been part of a ruse and that Adagio might have been seconds from springing a heinous trap, even now. She couldn't deny it, but that didn't mean she had to listen to it.

Trust. Faith. Some other friend-related things. Heck, even the sirens were apparently figuring those things out. Faster than Sunset herself had, actually.

Should I be jealous? I mean, I could say that they had the advantage of having me there to share what I already knew, but I had the others to start and barely let them in for the first week.

Maybe it wasn't said with 100% seriousness, but Adagio had referred to her as the expert in friendship, and part of Sunset wanted to defend that title. Maybe it was just that, sticking together for so long, the Dazzlings had a head-start over her? If just a tiny, unconscious one? Did they confide in each other every now and then, even back when they had the gems? Did Aria ever break into somewhere or swipe something just to make Adagio or Sonata smile? Did Adagio practice her massages on Aria and Sonata sometimes? Did Sonata... Well, she probably brightened the mood a little, whether the others could admit it or not.

They at least knew the first thing about friendship, whether they knew they knew it or not, that was the point here! Sinking a little lower into the water, Sunset sighed.

I shouldn't be like this. I mean, even if they 'get it' much faster than I did and they start singing about rainbows with the best of them, that's good, right? Isn't that what I'm after here? So what if they won't need me at all anymore? I don't strictly need Fluttershy, Rarity, Rainbow, Pinkie, and Applejack, but I still want to be around them for the foreseeable future. But, if the sirens happened to decide that they wanted nothing to do with me anym-

Sunset raised hand to slap herself, faintly startled by the sudden splash of warm water she'd directed at her own face. She was being ridiculous, and already starting to assume the worst again. The fear that her new friends would just leave her had come up back when she was getting to know them and it never came to pass. Adagio was here today because she must have cared, Sunset couldn't believe that it really was strictly about 'settling the score' between them.

That in mind, she did what she had to do the last time she had these fears: Take a deep breath, hold it, be reminded that holding it in like this only served to hurt her, breathe out, and let it go.

Ooh, I wonder if Adagio likes that movie too? I think I've got a copy around here somewhere. I should tell her to offer her massages to Rarity, maybe she wouldn't have to pay for so many spa treatments that way. Or at least, Adagio might earn a little extra from her. Would Lotus and Aloe be upset? Maybe I shouldn't say anything...

Sunset ambled back into her room with the feelings of clean freshness still hovering just over her skin, her red bathrobe (gift from Rarity) the perfect body-blanket to keep her feeling all warm and snug. She felt so cozy that she flopped right down onto her bed, face-first, lying in the still silence and just soaking in the peacefulness. The robe made her feel all cozy, too, something that regularly led to her lounging around in it, flinging it off when she needed to get dressed, and having to go get it from wherever she left it last every time she got out of the shower.

Probably for the best that I live alone. I guess that makes her bringing it to me this time a lucky break, but she'd probably have just brought it to me if I'd asked h-

She was startled by the door slamming. Angling her head to see the culprit, Sunset's eyes nearly bulged out of her skull.

There stood Adagio, a hand on her cocked hips and dressed in a tight little nurse outfit that hugged every curve on the way down. It was a very light, almost-white shade of pink, brighter and softer than the vest and gloves on her dance outfit. The close-fitting skirt stopped about halfway down her thighs, all but a thin line of her long, curvy legs covered with white, thigh-high socks and stilettos on her feet. She was even wearing gloves that covered up to her wrists and a cute little nurse's cap, placed perfectly atop her head between her huge, wavy bangs and even wavier, epic-level ponytail. She smiled.

"How's my patient?"

"Uh..."

Her playful titters came like the ringing of a bell as she daintily cupped a hand over her mouth. "Speechless?" When she lowered her hand, her mouth had twisted into a wicked, toothy grin. "Good, then I don't need to ask you to be quiet."

And then she moved both arms behind her back, reached into her hair, and pulled out a beaker with one hand and two BIG syringes with the other, both filled with suspicious, green liquid and the tips of each needle practically gleaming with stingy malice.

Looking at her, and those needles, Sunset was paralyzed with fear. Literally, she couldn't move at all! Not even wiggle her toes!

"Hrng...!"

Setting her equipment on the bed beside Sunset, Adagio chuckled fiendishly. "Can't move, Sunny dear? I guess that means the toxins I dosed your bathwater with are kicking in. And now you're all mine..."

Sunset couldn't speak as Adagio crawled onto the bed in slow, predatory fashion, straddling Sunset and sitting on her back before gently pulling her bathrobe upward. Sunset felt herself blush, trying in vain to shake the vengeful-after-all siren off, but unable to do more rock her back and forth a little. This drew another laugh.

"My, my, why so resistant? After all," she purred as she pulled the bathrobe even higher up Sunset's legs, "It's just skin, right?"

She turned redder as she felt the cold air of exposure, realizing that that wasn't the worst thing she was about to endure as Adagio lifted one of the twin needles in each hand. She licked the tip of one before turning them around and pointing one at each cheek of Sunset's defenseless backside, but didn't jab her with them. Yet. Instead, Adagio's head slowly turned all the way around to project the widest, evilest, most big-sharp-fang-filled grin Sunset had ever seen as her thumbs flicked a switch on each syringe.

The needles then crackled to life with electricity, Sunset screaming at every muscle in her body to MOVE!! She felt her fingers twitch, but there was nothing she could do as Adagio drove the pair of pointy jumper-cables down on her bare-

ZZZZZZZZT!!!

Sunset awoke with a start, leaping up to her hands and knees as she glanced around. The first thing she noticed was that she was right on the spot where she'd flopped down, her bathrobe still on right and her modesty preserved. No horrible, stinging pain, paralysis, or puncture marks!

That... was... a dream?

She sighed.

Come on, Brain, what did I ever do to you?

Before she could riddle out an answer to her own question, she was startled by the sound of a throat clearing behind her. Whipping her head around, she saw that she was pointing her posterior at the doorway in which Adagio now stood, a bowl of faintly steaming soup in her hands. The perplexed look she was giving might have been hilarious if not for the context of the situation, so Sunset quickly righted herself to a normal, sitting position, even if the sudden motion made her feel a little dizzy.

"Hey," she blurted out with an awkward smile, "wassup?"

Adagio's mouth opened and closed a good four times before she settled on asking. "What.... What were you doing?"

Luckily, the pause gave Sunset time to think of something. "I dozed off, being sick gives me weird dreams sometimes, is all."

"Oh." She glanced down at the bowl in her hands. "Hungry?"

Author's Notes:

Adagio isn't always okay with touching, just ask Rarity!

...With the context that she sometimes works for Rarity now and that the sirens have had at least one sleazy boss before, that sounded really wrong. Sorry.