//------------------------------// // Car Talk 4 // Story: Too Many Everything // by Daemon McRae //------------------------------// Adagio Dazzle was many things to many people. To her sisters, she was a sheepherder, disciplinarian, ringleader, and confidant. To the Rainbooms, she was a mild irritation, having stepped down from active antagonist. To the Shadowbolts, a curiosity, one that made far too many innuendos that nobody was sure she was joking about. To the Pie family, she was… another human being. Maud was growing to like her, and Limestone had had all of an hour’s worth of direct interaction with the ex-siren to date. Pinkie Pie, of course, was friends with everyone, whether they knew it or not. When it came to Sunset Shimmer, however, she was… confused, if only a little. There was still an air of uncertainty there that she had never really cleared for herself. They’d talked about it, at length of course, more than once. The general consensus was that their current dynamic of friends with benefits didn’t need any further complications. They liked, well, loved their physical relationship, and they got along both intellectually and emotionally quite well. It wasn’t a question of jealousy, either: Sunset and Adagio had each had their own individual adventures, which had never bothered either of them. Some were even joint ventures. Yet there was something nagging at the back of Adagio’s mind when she spent time with the fellow redhead. She was never one to adopt labels (outside of those that came with being royalty or otherwise in charge), but she could never quite convince herself that “friends” was as far as they got. Not that this was a sentiment she had any intention of voicing, ever. “So Trixie, tell me,” Adagio started, after they’d been peacefully flowing with traffic down the interstate for a few minutes, having left the hotel (which was both a little bit richer and a lot bit in need of a good cleaning). Trixie looked up from the back seat, staring into the rear-view mirror like a student caught talking in class. “Um… yes?” “Oh don’t look so alarmed. I merely wanted to ask you if you had any special plans for our vacation? Anything in particular you wanted to do? Any...one?” Adagio added, as if out of habit. “There it is,” Sugarcoat said. Although if one were looking they might have detected half a hint of a grin. “Oh!” Trixie exclaimed. “Well, I had packed a trunk of magic tricks to perform on the beach! A whole new crowd to witness my Power and Greatness!” “Oh yes,” Sunset chided. “A whole new city full of people to set on fire.” “That was one time! And you deserved it!” Trixie shot back. Adagio raised an eyebrow. “Was that the weekend you came over with half your hair burnt off?” “No, that was when I tried to use science to explain Equestrian magic,” the driver groaned, with all the frustration hindsight could afford her. “The time Trixie lit me on fire was the weekend Aria tried to sneak into Twilight’s house cause she heard there was a pendant that could absorb magic.” “Oh, yes, I remember that. I believe that was when we started… hanging out,” Adagio mused. “Yes, mainly because you were still trying to find ways to sneak back into Equestria, steal magic, and kill me,” Sunset added, only partially reproachful. The rest of the passengers were now paying full attention. Having somewhat grown used to the innuendo, flirting, and outright scandalous conversation after a day’s worth of exposure, the sudden turn towards lethal force was a distinct change of pace. “When the hell did Adagio try to kill you?” Sugarcoat asked, only because she spoke faster than the other two. The siren looked to the ceiling as she mused, “There was the week immediately after the Battle of the Bands where I snuck into her house to smother her in her sleep, only to find out she wasn’t there, at which point I got carried away by cops because I hadn’t gotten used to not being able to mind control people yet and so wasn’t trying to be sneaky…” “That was a fun one to come home to, by the way,” Sunset interjected. “Took me weeks to replace the living room furniture.” “Oh it looks better now anyway. More space. After that I think was the time I followed you after school to mug you in a back alley, only to find out that you did, in fact, practice martial arts, and were, let’s say, enthusiastic about using them,” Adagio deadpanned, the memory of Urgent Care and a night of ‘I-told-you-sos’ from Aria flooding back. Trixie nodded with a consoling look. “She does get rather gung-ho when she’s surprised.” “Well maybe if someone would stop setting off smoke bombs in class when they forget their homework,” Sunset growled. “The time I tried to get my sisters to join me in waiting outside your house only for you to walk home with all of the Rainbooms in tow. The time I tried to cut the brake lines in your car, only to find out you had a neighborhood watch and I was now on a LIST. The time I tried to pay a professional to have you killed, and got busted by an undercover cop-” “-I’m sorry what that’s a new one,” Sunset interrupted. “I’d ask how you aren’t IN PRISON, but I’m sure I don’t want to know. And I think, at least, I’m hoping, that covers everything except the last time, when you came to my house roaring drunk, went on a long spiel about how it shouldn’t be this hard to kill a teenager, and passed out on my couch. The morning after being, I believe, the first real conversation either of us had.” Trixie snorted. “And it took you until after the Friendship games to start going at it like wild rabbits?” “Actually, yeah. We’d started hanging out before then, but hadn’t gotten to… ‘rabbit season’ until I went over to berate Aria for breaking into Twilight’s house,” Sunset explained. “I’d sort of given up on going home by then, and Sonata had already gotten used to being fully human. It was easier not having to feed off people to stay alive, which Sonata, truth be told, had never been fond of. She liked people doing what she said, but the whole ‘eating emotions’ thing never quite sat right with her. Aria, however, had long since been addicted to the power. I had always been driven by the fame and fortune, which had taken some time to get over, but with Aria it had been like rehab. She took... a while to come around,” Adagio mused, almost sadly. It was good that her sisters were all on the same page again, even if they would never be what they were, but it still hurt to think about. “Still, watching you be that mad at someone who wasn’t me was… very exciting.” “Yes we get it you two like sex,” Sugarcoat groaned. “Between that and the violence is there anything you two have in common that wasn’t pulled from a procedural cop show?” “Well, there’s music,” Sunset said, after a moment of thought. “We have similar taste in movies and books… and…” Adagio snorted. “Please. Like you need anything more than to enjoy each other’s company to be friends. Look at the Rainbooms; their shared interests are tangential at best. Sure, they have similarities if you take two of them at a time, but besides the ‘band’ I doubt you could find a single common thread across all seven of them. You don’t need to have anything in common to be friends with someone outside of enjoying each other’s company and a mutual understanding that you won’t kill each other.” Sunset looked sideways at Adagio approvingly. “That was almost a good friendship lesson.” “How DARE you.”