What Could Be: Or How I Learned That The Mind Can Go In Many Directions

by BronyWriter


Mortality--Anger

Adagio made the drive back to her apartment, her gaze flicking to her cellphone every so often. Just one talk with Sunset Shimmer couldn't hurt, right? Just sitting down for coffee for half an hour and getting possibly stupid goody two-shoes advice. Adagio pulled into her parking spot and groaned.

Just one call.

She sighed and grabbed her cellphone, flipping it open and scrolling through the contacts. She felt some sense of relief that she'd grabbed the numbers of Sunset and her friends just in case she needed to track them down, or something. She reached Sunset's number and moved her thumb over to the call button.

She paused, her thumb hovering over it. Maybe it would be a waste of time. Maybe Sunset didn't want to even talk to her. Though, Adagio considered, she did like her redemptions. She was just about to snap the phone shut when her conversation with Sonata echoed through her mind again.

You're going to die, Sonata. I'm going to die. Have you really, truly realized that? Has it even set in at all?

I realize it every day. No, I'm not going to live forever. Then again, who does? Best thing is to be happy.

Best thing is to be happy.

She took a deep breath and pushed the call button. She brought the phone up to her ear and subtly flinched when she heard the ringing. No going back now. The phone didn't ring more than three times before somebody answered.

"Hello, this is Sunset."

Adagio grimaced, but cleared her throat and straightened up in her seat. "Hello, Miss Shimmer. This is... Adagio Dazzle. One of the Dazzlings. That tried to... take over the world."

Adagio grimaced, squeezed her eyes shut, and pinched the bridge of her nose. Not the best way to start. She didn't hear anything from the other side of the call for a few moments, but just as she was about to speak again, Sunset spoke up.

"Um... hi. Yeah, hi. Uh... how did you get this number?"

Adagio rubbed the back of her neck. "Canterlot High school directory. I wasn't even sure this was still your number."

"Alright. Makes sense." Another pause. "So what can I do for you, Adagio?"

Adagio sighed and considered hanging up, but for whatever reason her hand wouldn't move her phone away from her ear to disconnect the call. "Well, I was hoping that we could... talk about things. I'm in kind of a rough place in my life, and I was hoping that, you know, as somebody who once tried to take over the world yourself, I thought that you might have some tips on how to get through things. I don't have any powers anymore, obviously. I don't have anyone to turn to."

"Really? You want my help?" Adagio opened her mouth to respond, but Sunset cut her off. "That's great! I'd love to talk to you. Yeah, I had kind of a rough go of it right after I tried to take over, even with my friends, so I totally get what you're going through. How do you feel about coffee? Tomorrow at the Skybucks on Brandywine and Fifteenth?"

"Yeah, that sounds good," Adagio replied. "Eleven?"

"Eleven it is! Definitely looking forward to it. I know better than anyone what you're going through. We all need friends, right?"

"Yeah," Adagio muttered. "See you then."

"See you then! Definitely looking forward to it."

"Sure. Me too."

With that, Adagio hung up the call. She snapped it shut and leaned against the steering wheel, staring ahead at the door to her apartment. She lightly bounced the hand with her cellphone in it. She could call Sunset. Call the whole thing off. Put it off or pretend like none of it ever happened. The article, the meeting with Sonata, or calling Sunset. Just go back to the way things were, as dull and unfulfilling as it was.

When are you going to learn that going through life with the help of someone else isn't weakness? We're not going to live forever, Adagio. We can't do this alone.

Adagio groaned and got out of the car, trying to mentally prepare herself for the meeting with Sunset tomorrow.

* * * *

Adagio pulled into a parking spot opposite the coffee shop and turned her car off. She glanced at the clock on the dashboard. Eleven ten. She scanned the tables and chairs outside of the shop, and her stomach clenched when she spotted Sunset Shimmer sitting at one of the tables opposite an empty chair. She'd definitely grown older. Her hair was in a shoulder-length ponytail, and some lines on her face betrayed her age. Despite all of that, she looked happy. She was smiling and bobbing her head to the beat of whatever music the coffee shop was playing.

Nothing else for it now.

Adagio unbuckled herself from her seat and got out of the car. She began the walk toward Sunset, her heart pounding at the thought of the conversation. It wasn't more than a minute before Sunset looked in her direction and spotted her. She grinned and waved at Adagio.

"Hey, you made it!" she said. She motioned to the seat opposite her. "Take a seat. You want any coffee? My treat."

Adagio stopped in her tracks twenty feet from Sunset, and her heart stopped pounding. A feeling of clarity washed over her, and her face hardened in a glare. Sunset's happy smile slowly faded, replaced with a look of confusion.

"Adagio?" She stood up from her seat. "Is everything okay? Come on. Sit down. They have really good coffee here. We can talk about whatever's on your mind."

Adagio bared her teeth and began walking backwards toward her car. "No. You're just going to judge me. You gave up! You could have been something. I could have been something, but you and your nasty little friends took everything from me!"

Sunset's mouth flopped up and down for a few moments. "N-no! I'm not going to judge you. I want to help you. I've been where you are."

"You're a liar!" Adagio snarled. "Get away from me! Don't come any closer!"

"But... I--"

"Get away from me!"

Adagio turned and ran back to her car, Sunset calling out behind her. She hopped into her car and turned it on, locking the doors as Sunset got closer. She took a half second to buckle up, then hit the gas and drove out of the parking lot.

As Adagio sped down the road, hot tears began welling up in her eyes. This had been a mistake. That much was obvious. She wouldn't fall for whatever brainwashing Sunset and Sonata had surrendered to. She pressed the gas pedal down further, not even sure if she was headed back to her apartment or not.

It wasn't more than a few minutes before red and blue lights began flashing behind her. She narrowed her eyes and sped up. She'd lose him and then head back to her apartment; lock herself in and just forget the world until she disappeared.

Then her world shattered.

In her attempts to lose the police, she didn't notice that she ran through a red light. She was whipped to the side, then snapped forward into her airbag as it deployed. The car spun around twice before coming to a complete stop. Adagio merely laid her head against the airbag, still trying to register what had just happened. She groaned and shakily reached to her seatbelt to unbuckle it.

Once she was free of the seatbelt, she flopped out of the car, holding onto the door to prevent herself from completely collapsing. She roughly shook her head to clear it a bit, then looked to see what had happened. A sedan with a flattened front and shattered windows was right next to her car. A young couple was getting out of the car, but instead of walking up to her, they opened the back doors. The father took out a crying girl of no more than five, while the mother took out a screaming infant. Both parents didn't even register Adagio as they attempted to comfort their children.

Adagio's eyes hardened into a glare and she stomped over to the family as the police stopped just beside the accident. The father hugged his daughter close and his eyes widened when he saw Adagio stomp up.

"Are you okay, miss? Your head is blee--"

"Why weren't you paying attention?!" Adagio roared. "Are you trying to get somebody killed?"

"I..." The father returned Adagio's glare. "Me? You're the one who ran a red! You could have killed my children!" The father turned his attention to his wife, who was still trying to calm the screaming infant. "Is he okay?"

"I think so," the wife said. "He's just scared."

The father nodded. "We'll get everybody checked out."

"Oh, you're not going anywhere until you apologize!" Adagio snarled as the cops ran up to her. "How dare you hit me!"

"Ma'am, you're the one who ran the red!" the father insisted.

"Ma'am, please back away to your car," one of the officers said. "We need to talk to you to make sure everyone is alright."

"You can't tell me what to do," Adagio spat. She stomped up to the officer with enough venom that the officer put his hand on his gun. "You're worthless! You're all peons! You shouldn't be like this!"

"Ma'am, please go back to your car," the second officer said. "We will arrest you if you don't cooperate."

Adagio let out a caw of a laugh. "Oh, that's rich! You, who should be serving me will arrest me? You'd better be on your knees worshiping whatever gods you believe in, because I was there!" She grabbed the cop by the shirt and pulled him close. "It wasn't supposed to be like this! We weren't supposed to die! We were supposed to rule! We--"

Adagio was cut off by the second officer pulling her away from the first. She was thrown on the ground where both officers handcuffed her. She thrashed around as they dragged her to their car.

"Let go of me!" she screeched. "It wasn't supposed to be this way! Nothing should have stopped us!"

She couldn't stop the officers as they stuffed her in the back of their police cruiser. She thrashed about more, trying to escape before they shut the door behind her. As it closed, the fight slowly faded from her, and she slowly sat up as best she could. She looked out the window and saw that the paramedics had arrived and were helping the family while another police officer got their statements. The parents were hugging their children close, with everyone crying. Adagio took a deep, shaky breath and laid back in the car.

* * * *

Adagio shut the door to her apartment and tossed the keys on the nearby table, not even bothering to lock the door behind her.

She felt a small growl, and trudged over to the kitchen to see if any of her food was still edible. She opened the fridge and grimaced. It was nearly empty, and the paltry few items looked like they'd gone bad except for a jar of pickles. She sighed and grabbed them. There were only two pickles left in the jar, but it was something.

Just as she opened the jar, she heard a knock on the door. She growled and slammed the jar on the counter before stomping to her front door and throwing it open.

"What do you--?"

Her breath died in her throat when she saw that Sonata and Sunset were standing on the other side. Sonata had her son in a baby carrier strapped to her chest. The two gave Adagio weak smiles.

"H-hey, Adagio," Sonata said, taking a half step forward. "We heard about what happened, and we wanted to make sure that you were okay."

"I'm fine," Adagio said flatly. "Just a year of probation and paying any medical bills the family had. The parents got mild whiplash, but that's it. Paying for their car, too."

"Oh," Sunset said. "At least nobody was seriously hurt, then."

Adagio narrowed her eyes. "What are you even doing here?"

"Well, like we said: we wanted to make sure that you're okay," Sonata said. "We thought maybe after everything that you could use a friend righ--"

Adagio scoffed, shook her head, and slammed the door shut.