For someone that once spent an extra nugget of brainpower to belittle Rarity's favorite passtime, Sunset had grown to appreciate the young fashionista's skill in her field. This might have had something to do with why she'd long ago been asked to stop apologizing. That said, there were definitely aspects to the craft that Sunset could do without, and the most irritating part was the waiting.

Her arms crossed and one leg folded over the other, Sunset sat in the living room of Rarity's house as she waited for her and Adagio to finish up their work for the day. True, Sunset could have just gone ahead to Dis-Corp's VR testing lab with Aria and Sonata, but it felt weird to make Adagio walk there alone when she didn't have to. Besides, Sunset kind of wanted to catch up with her. They hadn't really talked much since Sunset's sick day the week before, and even then, it was mainly through text messages. Adagio probably hadn't gotten the hang of texting yet, because her responses were always very slow, but the grammar, spelling, and even punctuation were always top-notch, which Sunset appreciated.

It was through such messages that Sunset knew she was in Rarity's home workshop at the time and that they'd be due to test Dis-Corp's new virtual reality game within the next hour or so. Sunset checked her phone and sighed.

"Rarity said five minutes," she muttered under her breath, "why do I keep believing her?"

Getting up, she opted to see how things were coming along in there, but when she pushed the curtain aside, no one was there.

"Rarity? Adagio? Hello?"

She paced in while casting cursory glances in every direction, but didn't see a trace of either girl until she nearly tripped over one of Adagio's spiky boots. Glancing over the array of familiar clothes spread almost in a trail to one of the changing rooms, Sunset chuckled. She'd been through enough dress-up sessions with Rarity herself to be able to piece together what went down, and the mental image of Adagio's crimson face as Rarity did her usual thing just made her smile.

Guess that means she was in a hurry before I even got here. Maybe they'll be done soon?

Casually pacing over to the changing room at which the trail of Adagio's dance outfit stopped, Sunset gently rapped her knuckles against the wall by the curtain. When there was no reply, she slid it open enough to confirm that it was empty. In the middle of the floor, beside Adagio's spiky hairband, were her pink, triangle-patterened tights.

I wonder if those are as warm as they look. Her outfit wouldn't be the same bare-legged, but how does she deal with hot weather?

Of course, if Adagio could put up with Summer under all that hair...? Stepping away from the curtain, Sunset looked around the room again, trying to work out where they could be if not here.

"Let's see," she whispered to herself while idly pacing the floor, "if I were Rarity with access to a full head of soft, wavy hair, where would I b-EEK?!"

Her arms flailed as she nearly tripped and faceplanted, but kept her balance well enough to right herself. With a quick scan of the ground, she again noticed Adagio's spiky boots. She stopped to glare at them, but they were just boots, so she felt silly after a second.

Heels... The first time I tried them on, I almost fell flat on my face.

In hindsight, she probably should have gotten used to human legs first.

Rarity had explained it to her a few weeks after they became friends; that with the way heels supported your feet, you were bound to walk a little differently whether you meant to or not, in a way that usually drew attention. It was something Adagio and Aria had used to their full advantage when they first arrived at CHS, but maybe Sonata didn't like how they fit. Or, being accident-prone, couldn't walk in them at all?

She glanced around again. Still no sign of Rarity or Adagio.

I could wear them too, if I wanted. I mean, I didn't trip just a second ago, right?

The thought of Aria mocking her for being just as clumsy as Sonata made Sunset's jaw clench.

I'll prove it!

She sat down by the boots, slipped her own off, and pulled them on. Standing upright, she looked down to find that they fit pretty well. Were she and Adagio the same shoe-size? She took a step forward. Then another. Then she walked in a short circle, getting the hang of her slightly altered leg movements almost right away. This drew a victorious little smirk.

Ha, easy!

She walked around a little longer, catching sight of the changing room she'd checked a minute ago. Adagio's clothes were still on the floor, including her tights. It occurred to Sunset that she'd never actually worn tights before. Fashion hadn't been a big concern before the Fall Formal and her friends had never suggested them to her after, but now...?

Sunset shrugged, walked over, sat down to take the boots off, and pulled the tights up, lifting her skirt where necessary. She stood, gently brushing a hand along her leg as the sensation sank in. They fit like a very tight, but soft pair of pants!

...Probably because that was what they were.

She took a few steps forward. Then a few more. She walked in another circle, smiling. It felt a little weird, but not in a way that made her think of Pinkie Pie. Except for just then. Still, she liked it, not sure she'd ever worn something that made her feel so... sexy! She was as comfortable in her human body as she was ever going to be, maybe she could stand to spice up her wardrobe a little?

The thought drew a little blush, at least until she laid eyes on Adagio's boots again. Without thinking about it, she sat down to put them on a second time. Apart from the poofy shorts of her purple jumpsuit, she was now dressed like Adagio from the waist down. She tried walking around a little more, but before she could decide how she felt about the combination, a distant voice froze her blood.

"-obably kept poor Sunset waiting long enough."

CRAP!!

Faster than she knew she was capable of moving, Sunset took off the boots and tights, glanced around in a panic as her brain caught up with itself, set the tights in the middle of the floor where she'd found them, dashed out of the changing room, put the boots back where she was pretty sure she'd almost tripped over them twice, and quickly sat down to put her own, heelless boots back on. She'd barely stood up as Rarity appeared in the doorway.

"Ah," she said with a bright smile, "there she is! Terribly sorry to have held you, Darling, but we got a little side-tracked. My fault, really."

Before Sunset could respond, Adagio stepped into the room, wearing a long, white, sleeveless dress, cinched at the middle with a thick, black sash.

"Hello, Sunset Shimmer... Are you feeling alright?" An orange eyebrow arched. "You're not coming down with another fever, are you?"

"Huh?!"

Rarity frowned. "She's right Darling, you look a little flushed. You're even perspiring!"

The fever must have been well and truly gone, because Sunset's brain actually kicked into high gear. "Yea," she said in slightly irritable tones perfect for covering how winded she was after moving so fast to hide her little dress-up session, "because we're gonna be late if we don't get moving soon!"

This drew a look of alarm from Adagio. "Oh, right! Sorry," she said while quickly gathering up her clothes and heading to the changing room, "I'll be with you in just a minute!"

Safe, thought Sunset as she let out a little sigh. She might have felt guilty about the tiny deception, but they really did need to head out soon. Rarity was saying something.

"-oped your reaction had more to do with how stunning she looked in that dress."

Blinking, Sunset turned to look at her... and caught sight of something that made her forget what little she heard in an instant. Staring at the offending object on the wall over the door that led into the room, Sunset slowly raised a hand to point at the huge, comically-oversized hairbrush, thick with strands of orange hair. The thing hung on a plaque like the trophy of a big game hunter, depriving Sunset of a proper sentence.

"Rarity... What."

Glancing over her shoulder, Rarity turned flourescant pink. "Err... Haha, that, that was, uhm... W-well, you see, back on my birthday, I may have had a little... episode..."

The two stood in silence, Sunset too scared to formally ask and Rarity smiling sheepishly until Adagio stepped out of the changing room.

"Alright, ready, wh-EEK?!"

She was immediately seized by the arm and all but dragged out of the room, out of the house, and down the street leading to the Dis-Corp building, Sunset not giving her a second to compose herself as she struggled to stay on her feet. Once again, she got flashbacks to that night at Fatbear's.

The two stopped in the lobby, both gasping for breath as Adagio did her best to glare.

"You, huff, will, huff, pay for that!"

Still practically panting herself, Sunset wore a contrite face. "S-sorry, just..." She took a deep breath. "Rarity kind of scares me sometimes, y'know?" That first makeover. The horror.

The horror.

"But, I know you don't like being dragged around like that, so, I'm sorry. However you want to get back at me for this, go ahead." Sunset had to clench her jaw to keep from laughing at Adagio's sudden, baffled expression, both because she was sincerely sorry and because laughing would probably tick her off even more.

"I, you... what?"

Sunset shrugged. "I don't wanna be jumping at shadows until you get me, so whatever you come up with, I'm just gonna take it head-on. Okay?"

Adagio's mouth hung open for a second. Even if no one saw her getting dragged around like a rag-doll, she was definitely still angry about having been transported that way again, but Sunset's expression gave her pause.

Is she just going to tease me again, or was that genuine remorse? She knows I hate being pulled around, but isn't that all the more reason to sincerely apologize?

Not sure what to make of it, she sighed, opted to just drop it for now, and stepped past Sunset toward the testing chamber. "Aria and Sonata are waiting."

Smiling a little, Sunset followed.

In the snazzy science room with the big pods, Aria was the first to call out to them. "What took you guys so long? Was Prissy brushing every hair on Adagio's head?"

Sonata beamed. "Or sewing together enough blankets to cover her big, fat butt?"

The two snickered as Adagio's cheeks tinted red, but to Sunset's surprise, Adagio was smiling a little anyway. "Yes," she replied calmly, "but at least those blankets are clean."

Aria and Sunset both laughed as Sonata went neon-pink. "S-so," she stammered, "are we just robbing a place again?"

"Not quite," Adagio answered with a hand on her hip. "When I spoke to the lead developer of this technology, -also the CEO of Discorp, he claims- he said he wanted to do more than just 'cops and robbers.' This time it's something he described as a 'fairytale hack-and-slash.'"

"An RPG!"

The sirens turned to look at Sunset, whose bright smile shifted toward self-conscious.

"Heh, heh... Uh, I might've heard of this kind of game before, though not in virtual reality."

Aria raised an eyebrow. "Just 'heard of'?"

Sunset shrugged, clasping her hands behind her back. "And... maybe sampled a few times...?" More stares. "I mean, y'know, I had a lot of time to kill once I'd taken over CHS and it was maybe a little fun imagining myself with magic again, sooo..."

In the year before Twilight arrived, she'd had a four-month obsession with a mass-multiplayer online game. It wasn't that she was embarrassed to have played at all, but the way she'd grown so entranced with the game as to skip school, meals, and showers until she finally realized what she was doing. This was a souce of shame that she hadn't even shared with her closest friends yet, and it was one she wasn't eager to elaborate on now.

New subject! She looked at Aria and Sonata. "Are you two up to this? Getting hurt in there may not cause any injury, but it still stings, so I really hope you're over your colds."

Sonata frowned. "Yea, we're fine, but-" she pointed at Adagio, "-she made us eat something with onions!"

The on-and-off nurse huffed indignantly as she crossed her arms. "I told you; they're good for your immune system." Not terrible for revenge on patients who laughed at her again, either, but that was just a bonus.

Aria shrugged. "They weren't that bad, Sonata."

"They! Were! Onions!!"

Conversation was cut off by the synthetic, female voice telling them it was time to begin the tests. While Aria and Sonata headed to their pods, Sunset stepped closer to Adagio, an inquisitive eyebrow raised.

"You didn't feed me onions when I was sick."

Adagio shrugged. "You didn't have any in your pantry."

"...Oh, yea..."

Author's Notes:

There are a LOT of continuity nods in this series, which might make things confusing with how far apart the stories are released. For the people I've seen adding the stories to Favorites lists in rapid succession, I hope it makes for fun marathoning, at least!

Also, I meant to have this story finished back in January so I could do what had become the tradition for these stories and release each chapter two days apart. I'm not quite sure why I ever started doing that, but as it's been over a year since the last story, I still don't have this one completely finished, and tradition for the sake of tradition is kind of silly, I figured I might as well do what I did a couple years ago; publish what I've got bit by bit (will be going for a weekly update schedule until everything I have so far is out), then finish the rest whenever.

There are some stories that, for one reason or another, I kind of feel need to be finished before publishing starts, usually due to some kind of message or something that only makes sense when you've seen the whole thing (I Can Smile was like that), but this isn't really one of those so much as what I hope will be a fun romp through a virtual fantasy dungeon or two.

So, here goes. Hope you enjoy!