Collapse, Collide

by Zombificus

Conversation

Cheerilee sighed happily and sank back into her armchair, sending a grateful smile the way of her gracious host. Rich, catching her gaze, beamed back at her and drained the glass perched in his hoof. Besides the background whirring of the ceiling fan, there was nothing to break the comfortable silence between them, which suited both just fine.

The silence lent itself to introspection, and the wine in her veins helped usher Cheerilee's mind into contented consideration of her evening. It had, she reflected, been the best night she could remember since her days as a junior teacher, before the increased stress and that Sun-forsaken paperwork had cut off a vast portion of her free time and promptly gone ahead and devoured it. It had been an evening to enjoy, for certain, and the nostalgia of watching not one or two but three of the best action films of her youth had almost made her feel like the twenty-something party-animal Cheerilee, from those mad student years she'd long left behind.

Glancing over to her host, she felt as though the experience - or, a mare could hope, the company - had brought some youthful enthusiasm to the stallion. Certainly, when the two of them had been fanfoaling over their favourite parts of the films, they had been a long, long way away from the behaviour of a business-stallion and a headmistress, and neither of them had seemed to miss it very much. If it was for him even a little like it was for her, then she could rest assured that both of them had had a wonderful time. Princesses above, she thought, how long had it been since either of them had been able to just... let loose?

Too long, was the answer to that, but such was the life of the overworked. Still, if she could guarantee herself a few more nights like this, then she'd gladly take the late nights and the paperwork. Perhaps Rich felt the same way? She certainly hoped so. As much fun as she'd had, though, there was still work to be done before tomorrow rolled around, so as with all good things, her pleasant evening with Rich would have to end.

Just as she was preparing to voice this unfortunate truth, however, Rich eased himself from his seat and broke the silence with a different idea.

"You know," he began, almost shyly, "It's a little quiet in here. Maybe you'd like some music? I've got quite a collection if you wanted to take a look?"

The hopeful look in his eyes was like a knife to Cheerilee's stomach, and she was already regretting telling him she couldn't stay before the words had even been spoken.

"Rich, I'd love to stay, but I really have to get back. Paperwork is a harsh mistress, as we both know all too well... Besides, if I stay any longer, this comfy armchair of yours won't ever let me go again."

The dash of humour at the end seemed to have helped a little, but the disappointment which sank Rich's hopeful smile was still painful to see. Cheerilee only hoped he could see the disappointment in her own eyes, and knew that if she could, she'd happily while away the rest of the day with him until the sun had long since set and the moon made the sky its dominion.

"Would that be such a bad thing?" Asked Rich, surprising even himself. Cheerilee blushed and grinned at once, but sadly had to insist.

"Ha! Maybe not, Rich, but I'm sure the fillies and colts would notice if I suddenly vanished. It's been a wonderful evening, Rich, but I do have to go."

"Right," said Rich, trying to hide his sadness behind a soft smile. "I understand, honestly. I've actually got some paperwork of my own to be getting on with, so... Yeah. Shame you can't stay, but at the end of the day, the schedule is boss."

"True, true: so is our plight, eh, Rich?"

He chuckled, regaining some of his lost composure, though Cheerilee found she badly missed the coltish grin he'd had before.

"Definitely. Woe is us, right?"

The joke was more like the Rich she'd been seeing this evening, and Cheerilee laughed openly: half because of the joke, and half in joy at seeing once more what she'd been coming to recognise as the real Filthy Rich.

"Hey," she said, catching his attention immediately, and found that her next words came more reluctantly, in direct spite of how much she wanted to say them. "I can't stay this evening, but there's nothing to say we can't meet up like this again sometime, right? So, tell me when you're free next and maybe we can set something up?"

"Oh, sure, sure!" There was the stallion she'd been missing: all smiles and awkward eagerness. "Tell you what, I'll check my schedule and get back to you. I could meet you up at the school tomorrow, and we could find a time we're both free, if that sounds good to you?"

"Absolutely!" Cheerilee replied, slowly making her way from the living room to the hall, with Rich at her side.

"Then I'll see you then, suppose." Rich said, and Cheerilee nodded with a smile, her hoof on the doorknob. A thought struck the stallion as she turned the handle and pulled the door ajar, and he raised a hoof to make her wait. "Uh... So where should I meet you, exactly? Outside the main gates or...?"

"The main gates are fine," Cheerilee replied, stepping out onto the street. "I'll have to lock those before I leave, anyway, so there's no way we could miss each other."

"Alright, that's fine by me." Rich fell silent, searching his mind for something more to say, but only came out with a disappointed "Goodbye."

Cheerilee, smiling sadly, bid him farewell in kind. "Bye, Rich. I'll see you tomorrow."

With this, she turned and trotted back along the main road towards her own house, more reluctantly than she had ever done before, and with a nagging sense that somehow, that cosy cottage of hers had become a little less like home since she was there last. With a shake of her head, she pushed the feeling away and returned, with a smile, to the memory of the evening she'd just had. Unconsciously, she began to hum a happy tune from her childhood, and with the warmth of the setting sun on her back, headed home without another thought - except that tomorrow couldn't come soon enough.

*

Scootaloo looked up, met Featherweight's eyes, and sighed. "You don't get it, do you?"

He shook his head. "No. I mean, you were all so close! I just don't understand why Sweetie would be so nasty about everything, or why you'd, you'd actually bite her for it. And where was Apple Bloom? Why didn't she step in before things went all teats-up?" He fixed Scootaloo with an apologetic stare and shrugged helplessly. "Look, I know you've tried explaining it the best you can, but none of this makes any sense to me."

Scootaloo slumped sadly. "Sorry."

He reached over and put a consoling hoof on her shoulder. "No, I'm sorry. This is hard enough for you without having to worry about me understanding it. Look, maybe there's another way. Why don't you think back to when Sweetie first started getting at you about Rainbow Dash - not even the first time it made you mad - or her mad - just the first time she said anything about it. Maybe I can work out why this all happened by seeing how it started."

"Maybe." Scootaloo acknowledged, sullen and unenthused.

"Come on, Scoots," encouraged Featherweight, "Knowing more can't hurt, can it?"

"Ugh... I guess it's worth a shot." She conceded, shrugging.

"Of course it is." Featherweight sat back on his haunches and prepared to listen. "Now, what's the first time Sweetie made a negative comment about you and Dash?"

"Uh..." Scootaloo thought, frowning, while Featherweight patiently waited. "I guess it was maybe half a year ago? About January time? We'd just had Winter Wrap-Up, and I was towing the girls about in the cart, y'know, on the back of my scooter? I spotted Rainbow Dash flying through town and she looked like she was headed the same place we were, so I tried to race her there."

Featherweight nodded, already seeing where this was going. "With Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle still in the cart behind you." Already knowing what the answer would be, he asked: "Did you crash?"

"Yeah." Scootaloo nodded, ears folded back. "I crashed. Into the front of Sugarcube Corner... Through the front of Sugarcube Corner... With both the girls and the cart they were in."

"Ouch." Featherweight winced, grimacing. "That why you all got banned for a while?"

Scootaloo nodded. "It was a disaster... Neither of the girls spoke to me much after that, not until the Cakes let us back in Sugarcube Corner again. When we finally got around to talking about why it happened and I said I was trying to race Rainbow Dash, Apple Bloom just rolled her eyes at me and facehoofed."

"And Sweetie Belle?" Prompted Featherweight.

Scootaloo's expression soured immediately. "She was a total jerk about it. Right away, she says 'of course' in this I'm-better-than-you tone, like almost Diamond Tiara levels of snob."

"Hey," interrupted Featherweight, "I thought you and Diamond were on alright terms now? I mean, we both know it was Silver Spoon behind all of it, right?"

"...Yeah," Scootaloo admitted, "But knowing why she did what she did doesn't change that she was always the one to hurt us worst. It doesn't matter that it was all Silver Spoon wanting Diamond to look like the leader, because it still feathering hurt, okay, and she was the one who hurt me most!"

"Okay, alright, I get it."

"Do you?" Scootaloo frowned. "Because I don't remember you being tricked into almost ruining that flag bearing thing for everypony. I mean, we both had small wings, but I couldn't fly and she used that! She used that so feathering much! I was the one who was scared she'd never fly because of her- her crap, Featherweight, n-not you. And all that shit they say about understanding why being the best way to deal with pain? It's horsefeathers, Featherweight. Total. Bull. Shit. Hurt is hurt, and knowing why changes buck-all."

"I'm sorry, Scootaloo." Featherweight said, moving back a little to literally give her some space. "Look, if you want to take a break now, that's no problem."

Scootaloo snorted. "Take a break? Before I've even gotten to what that bitch said? Buck that!"

"If you're sure," Featherweight said, still concerned but hoping that she'd calm down once she'd gotten this off her chest.

"I'm sure, Feather. So Sweetie's going all snob levels maximum, and obviously I ask her what the hay she meant by that. She just brushes it off, calls me 'Little Crash' - Little Crash! - and says I knew what she meant. And yeah, I did, but I was hoping she wasn't going to be such an ass about it - I mean, I thought we'd already dealt with the crashing thing, but oh no, she just has to bring it up again because I had one accident. One!"

Featherweight's forehead crinkled, one eyebrow rising above the other, and when he spoke, his confusion laced in his voice. This didn't add up. "But... But you didn't fall out then... Did you?"

Scootaloo snorted again. "Oh, we fell out alright. We pulled back together for Apple Bloom's sake, but everything was still rocky for months."

"Oh." Featherweight said, but any further contributions were promptly blocked by Scootaloo's continuing rant.

"And anyway, I wasn't finished. After she pulled her 'you know what I mean' crap, I said how Rarity's been rubbing off on her badly and she's turning into the kind of snob we had to fight every day. I was thinking maybe she'd see she was being a total ass about it and back off, but no! No! She just goes off on one about me and Rainbow Dash, as if crashing once after three clear months of Sun-damned perfect driving is worse than digging up old fights just to try and prove she's better than me."

Featherweight was silent for a while after that tirade, sorting the truth from the vitriol. "So, that was what...? January? So... just six months ago, give or take, given we're in July now. You, uh, you didn't talk about it at any point between then and you three falling out?"

"No." Scootaloo shook her head firmly. "She kinda brought it up once, but she was already in 'I'm right, you're wrong' mode so Bloom just shut it down before it could turn ugly."

Featherweight nodded, and ticked that question off his mental list, proceeding immediately to the next one. "How about the rest? Did she bring up the argument about Dash being a bad influence again?"

Scootaloo looked at him like he was stupid, then sighed, losing some of her antagonism. This was, after all, her friend trying to help her: getting mad at him would solve nothing. Pushing aside the residual anger, she answered him fairly calmly, more so than either of them had expected.

"Whenever she had an excuse, and then literally any chance she got. At first, I'd argue back, but the last few months I've just been ignoring the bitch when I can't just avoid her entirely."

Featherweight paused before responding, being careful not to let his tone turn an already loaded question into something implying it was her fault.

"But... At the same time, were you also getting at her at all for being too much like Rarity?"

To his relief, Scootaloo shrugged and answered without further anger his way, apparently thinking the answer was obvious.

"Well, yeah. I mean, when she brings up that argument, what else am I going to say back to her? I didn't do it after I decided to ignore her, though, even though she turned the bitch factor up to eleven right after. Maybe she was pissed she couldn't get a rise out of me anymore, but if she thought that was going to make me do anything except avoid her she's as stupid as she acts."

Featherweight blinked, fiddling with his camera strap. "Huh," he said, giving a slow shake of his head. "Strange she'd go after you more after you started ignoring her. Did you have any sort of big fight right before that?"

Scootaloo shrugged. "No bigger than usual. I did switch from blaming Rarity to blaming her, though. I mean, Rarity's all frou-frou and prissy, but she's nice, y'know? If she was rubbing off on Sweetie Hell, I wouldn't have expected her to turn nasty. Posh, yes, but not nasty. Nasty is, like... Anti-Rarity, you know?"

"Mm-hm," said Featherweight, nodding. "So what did you say if you weren't playing the Rarity card?"

"I told her she'd changed. The last thing I said to her, just me and her - I still hung out with her for Apple Bloom's sake, but only if there was no other way - was that I didn't know who she was anymore. I stopped letting myself get all riled up into an argument after that, and she just went overboard."

Featherweight took that in and reconsidered what he knew before replying to the pegasus, who just sat there expectantly, surprisingly patient given her obvious anger towards Sweetie Belle and the events which had led up to their split.

"So you didn't answer back to her until... Well, until she brought it up again and you bit her, I guess?"

"Yeah." Scootaloo nodded.

"Okay," replied Featherweight, the lens in his mind focusing on a steadily clearing picture of what might have happened. "So, how long was that?"

"Two - no, two and a half - months. Nothing right up until... that day. I yelled at her a bit before I... well, you know... but she just wouldn't back down! I never hurt anypony, but she just made me so mad and I... I bit her. I bit her, and I cried about it, then I tried to hit her with baseballs and a bat and earned my cutie mark doing it, a-and then I cried! Again!"

She threw her hooves up in frustration and pain, tears glazing her eyes. She was going to break down again, Featherweight realised, and he moved in to cradle her in his hooves. Crying into his back now, Scootaloo half-sobbed, half-yelled her last few pained words.

"I don't hurt ponies a-and I don't cry, Featherweight - I don't do that! I could take her shit for two and a half months just fine - why not then?! What went wrong with me?"

Featherweight sighed, suddenly getting the feeling that this was the first time she'd ever voiced these doubts out loud. Nuzzling her cheek, he pulled back to lock his soft eyes with her own tearful pools. "Scoots... Did you talk to anypony about this before now?"

"N-No. Who could I talk to?!" sobbed Scootaloo, beating her hooves harmlessly against the small of his back. "I-I mean, Rainbow Dash knew something was up, bu-but I didn't want her to be ashamed of me." She went quiet for a second, and when she spoke, her voice was hushed and unguardedly sad. "I-I'm ashamed of me, Feather... I couldn't take knowing she was, too."

"Scootaloo," said Featherweight, gripping her face gently between his hooves so that her eyes stayed fixed on his. "Rainbow Dash loves you. You're her little sister, and nothing could change that." She started to object, but this time, Featherweight refused to let her so much as start to speak. "Nothing, Scootaloo! I cannot stress that enough. She! Loves! You! And you know what? Nothing went wrong with you that day. Nothing at all! You took Sweetie's crap without fighting back for two and a half months - of course you snapped!"

His speech finished, Featherweight sat back and observed his tearful friend. This seemed to have struck her completely silent, and as she worked through what he said, an idea struck him. Eventually, Scootaloo would start doubting the facts he'd just stated, and there was only one way to stop that happening. She wouldn't like it, but she'd thank him later.

"Scoots, get up." He said, softly but insistently. "Get up."

"W-Why?" Asked Scootaloo, confused and miserable. At his continued insistence, she picked herself up off the floor and trotted over to his side, half hoping that they were going somewhere other than the suddenly claustrophobic bedroom. "A-Are we going somewhere?"

"Yeah. We're going to see your sister," said Featherweight, steely-voiced with determination. "And she's going to tell you how much she loves you."

"B-But-" Protested Scootaloo as he started towards the door.

Looking back, he softened his gaze and his voice. "You don't have to tell her anything just yet, but I don't think you need friends right now. You need your family."

"I-I" began Scootaloo, but she found herself without the energy to object. Wordlessly, she followed Featherweight out of his bedroom and down the stairs to the front door. Avoiding her idol - no, her sister - all this time had done nothing but make her miserable. Once out on the street, with Dash's beloved sky overhead, she felt herself fill with a strange confidence that this, at last, was the right path to travel.

Featherweight was right - she needed her sister; now more than ever.

*****

Author's Note:

Well, not quite a Monday update, but it's close enough. I didn't give a blog with a revised update schedule because I honestly had no idea how long this would take, and that I finished it so quickly was a genuine surprise. It seems I was right about 3,000 word chapters being easier to do, as this didn't drag at all to write, and by refusing to add another plotline once it reached 3,000 words, I've been able to make a shorter, but more detailed, chapter than I would have otherwise.

I had intended to go into Apple Bloom's involvement (or lack of) in this chapter, too, but I think that might be better left for another time and another character. I'd quite like for Apple Bloom to perhaps tell her side of the story herself, but time will tell if that's the way the story goes. My plans for the next few chapters have had to be seriously re-ordered due to things I did differently than I planned in this chapter and the last, but that's normal and usually only means good things for the story's pacing.

I think I'll try to upload next chapter next Thursday, even if it's finished before then. I'd like to build up something of a buffer of chapters, or at the very least, parts of chapters, as that's something which I haven't had before. Certainly, when I go on holiday in a few weeks, I'd like to be able to publish something that week instead of having to wait until I'm back to finish and upload something like I usually do. Past experiences with writing have taught me that I could do with the sort of breathing room this tends to create, so it's something I'd like to try at the very least.

As always, comments are more than appreciated, and I'll always respond to any questions or complaints you may have as soon as I can. See you all next week with a new chapter.

Comments

[superfun]

While these past two chapters have been great, I do have a question, and this might just be because I haven't read the other chapters in a while:
Why did you use Featherweight and not Rumble?

[Zombificus]

7386334
Well, there are a few reasons for that. (Essay incoming. ) I have a full explanation of every reason below so that there's as little confusion as possible, but there's also a quick explanation at the bottom, under the underlined 'TL;DR...', if you only wanted a simple answer.

The first is that Rumble really hasn't been much of a major character at all, whereas Featherweight was, even before I had him take his current role as Scootaloo's friend. Rumble has only really appeared twice, during Diamond's attempts to apologise, and then after her assembly apologising for how he acted the first time he appeared. Both were quite early in the story, and very close to each other in time.
To contrast, Featherweight first appeared when Argent Gleam first showed up and filmed the exchange, which he then gave to Cheerilee. This then led to Filthy Rich and Cheerilee knowing that Spoon has influence through her cousin even though she's gone, and Cheerilee taking action (behind the scenes) to warn Gleam's parents of her poor behaviour.
Even though Featherweight's first appearance and Rumble's only appearances happen at the same time and take up a similar amount of screen time, Rumble's parts don't have much effect after they happen and could honestly have been filled by any pony (in which case he'd never have appeared at all) whereas Featherweights part had effects beyond what he did.

More recently, he returned when Silverspeed was first introduced, and has become her contact and parter in Ponyville, making him a more important character and establishing him as a part of Silverspeed's side's main cast. Contrast this with Rumble, who many readers, I'd have thought, might have forgotten was ever in the story by this point. Even I had to think for a second to remember whether or not I'd ever used him, and while he could have easily become more important by being Scootaloo's confidant, Featherweight was another character, already important to the recent parts of the story, who I could also use to fill that role.

The second reason is that Diamond and her friends already formed one cast of characters. Introducing Silverspeed and connecting her to Featherweight, Lyra and Octavia made another. Two casts of characters was already enough that a third cast made up of Scootaloo and Rumble might have been difficult to work into the story. My other option was to use Featherweight as her friend, connect her to Silverspeed's Anti-Spoon Task Force, and only have two casts, now more evenly sized. Using Featherweight instead of Rumble was more convenient for me from a perspective of planning and writing the story.

Reason 3, connected to the second, is that I like to have some kind of connection between scenes. I have admittedly broken this rule once, by out of nowhere having a scene where the CMC fight, because the plan at the time would have been hard to get rolling otherwise, but in general I tend to avoid things happening out of the blue if I can avoid it. For an example, I'll use events in recent chapters: Silverspeed is introduced and meets Featherweight; this leads to her going to his house, meeting Lyra on the way and Scootaloo while she's there; Featherweight and Scootaloo, who were already revealed to be in the same room and whose friendship was already implied, have a heart-to-heart once Silverspeed leaves. We already knew about Featherweight's house and his bedroom as locations, and that he and Scootaloo are friends, as well as currently in the same room, before the scene where they have the heart-to-heart. Wherever Rumble and Scootaloo might have had the same talk would have been a new location, we wouldn't have already known they were there, nor would we have ever seen them as friends in-story, and all of that would need to be established in the same scene as the heart-to-heart. Not to say that it wouldn't have worked, or that it's a bad idea, but it's not how I tend to do things.

Finally, and this is just a thing with me, I don't tend to use a lot of fanon if I can help it, or unless I like it. I did admittedly make Derpy fond of muffins, but it was a minor detail and not a major character trait, and even so I kind of regret doing it, because I feel less original for having done so. I am perfectly fine with fanon in things I read, but most of the time using it myself makes me uncomfortable because it's not technically my idea. Again, I don't judge other people for using it, but it isn't for me. Where this pertains to Rumble and Scootaloo is that while the fandom seem to like the idea of them being friends quite a lot, I don't remember seeing a lot (if any) evidence for it in the show, or at least nothing openly stated, so I tend to think of it as more fanon than canon. That isn't to say that I'd never use it, but because I don't usually pay too much attention to what the fandom accepts as fanon, not having much use for the knowledge, my understanding of Rumble and Scootaloo as friends was not the fullest, so it wasn't exactly at the forefront of my mind. If I'd had Rumble be more of a character, he would probably have taken Featherweight's recent roles, and I'd have had him be Scootaloo's friend over Featherweight.

TL;DR Short Version/Summary

In short, since Rumble wasn't ever much of a major player in the story, especially recently, whereas Featherweight was, I chose Featherweight. The choice also meant I didn't have to find a way to suddenly bring Rumble into the story, come up with somewhere else for them to have the talk Scootaloo and Featherweight did, or establish in-story that he and Scootaloo are friends. I could easily link the scene after the one with Silverspeed and Featherweight, and also introduce the facts that Scootaloo and Featherweight are friends, and in the same room, before I actually used them. Also, because I don't tend to use or pay attention to a lot of fanon, the idea of Scootaloo and Rumble being friends was not one which immediately sprung to mind, especially as I'd almost forgotten Rumble was ever in the story at all, so all in all Featherweight seemed the most obvious choice.

[superfun]

7386565 Those all make sense, thanks.

As for fanon, my stance on it is this:
Like everyone else in the fandom, I have my personal fanons that I like a lot, some (like Rumble and Scoots being friends, or Derpy's love of muffins (the latter of which having become canon now thanks to Slice of Life)) being plausible enough that I can actually see them happening in the show, while others (like Scoots and RD being related by blood, whether they were sisters by birth that happened to reunite, or mother and daughter) not being as plausible due to the tone of the show itself, while also having just enough hints in the show that I could bring myself to believe them.
However, I'm not so attached to the fanons/headcanons that I personally prefer that I don't mind when other fanfics don't use them, as long as the story itself is well written, and more often than not, they are (and, as I said before, this story falls into that category). I also don't mind when the show itself goes against them, though that hasn't happened often.

[Zombificus]

7386632
No problem. Your stance on fanon is actually quite similar to mine, really, and I'm glad me not using your fanon hasn't hurt your enjoyment any. Of course, I get a lot less exposure to fanon because I don't read as much as I used to, so my knowledge of them (like Scootaloo and Rumble) is a lot less, and of course they don't get as much of a chance to win me over. I've seen some good Rumble/Scootaloo friendships, but not quite enough to make me just sort of accept it as my own headcanon, although I'm certainly not against the idea. Obviously, I don't use them as much as I could, but that's just me being funny. Thanks for mentioning Derpy's muffin thing is canon, by the way; I did not know that.

[superfun]

7386819 Derpy's love of Mufins was canonized in "Slice of Life", in which the very first thing she did was offer a basket of apology muffins to Cranky...
And then the credits actually referred to her as "Muffins".

[StarRibbon]

I really hope Apple Bloom chooses neither. Did she abandon both of them, or just Scoots?

[Zombificus]

7397120
That's a good question, and I'll try to answer it as best I can.

All Bloom has wanted throughout all the fighting is for all of them to be friends again, but she's gone about it in a way which really didn't help the situation, and which both have taken as her starting to abandon them. She didn't step in during all the verbal conflict because she was afraid of losing one friend by taking the other's side, but both of them saw her reluctance to support them in the argument as her abandoning them, even before the big split.

She finally stepped in and took a side when things turned physical, and because it was Scootaloo who attacked Sweetie Belle, it was Sweetie Belle's side she took and Scootaloo she abandoned. I don't know how well it came across during the baseball bat scene, but she was already regretting taking a side and was very uncomfortable listening to Sweetie ranting about Scootaloo. Part of this uneasiness comes from the fact that she knows Scootaloo snapped because of what Sweetie was saying, and that this big split - what she was trying to avoid all along - only happened because she didn't step in. She was so scared of losing her friends that she did nothing, and in doing so had her fears come true.

Realising this is why she makes something of an effort to defend Scootaloo before she goes Ponyville Baseball Massacre on them, although she still falls afoul of the old 'Whose side are you on?' thing and shuts up. Then, of course, she feels forced to take Sweetie's side again when Scootaloo gets violent for the second time, but she's going to come back round to the idea that it's still her fault as much as anyone's that this got so bad. Sweetie is going to be even angrier after Scootaloo attacked her the second time, and that's not something Bloom is going to be at all comfortable being around, even if she does agree a little bit. The whole situation is the opposite of what she wanted and she can't deal with that.

At this point in the story, she's still sticking with Sweetie, but very much considering abandoning her as well. There is a definite sense of guilt for Bloom, and that, I think, will drive her more to try and fix things the way she always should have, rather than cut ties with both of them permanently. She can't do that while taking Sweetie's side, though, so it will be necessary for her to abandon both of them so that she can properly take a neutral stance. As for choosing neither, I think it will probably more a case of her choosing both-or-neither: either she can get them all to be some level of friends again (both) or she won't be able to forgive herself for sticking with one and abandoning the other, and end up sticking with neither.

The reason I use 'probably' when saying all this is that I don't like to hammer things down too early as far as planning goes. For me to say that this will definitely happen, when the nature of how I plan means that it could very well go another way, would be a little dishonest, but right now this is the way the story looks like it's going. Following on from that, any feedback you might have on this idea would be greatly appreciated, as reader opinion often shapes the way I move the story forwards, and if you can see a different way, I'm all ears.

I hope this has answered your question well enough. In any case, I think it's becoming a little clearer now to you readers what I meant about none of the CMC really being the 'good guy' in this situation: not even Apple Bloom is without guilt for how this has turned out.

[StarRibbon]

7397182 That helped, thanks!