A Study on Chaos Theory

by Amber Spark

Interlude: Peer Review, Phase Two

“How is she?” Raven stirred in a hint of milk into her tea. “I haven’t seen her since Saturday night.”

“Not a lot has happened in the last four days,” Coloratura replied. Her cup lay untouched before her, while Coco cradled hers in her hooves. “She’s quiet. Very quiet.”

“She won’t leave the house,” Coco murmured. The small mare stared into her tea and watched her reflection. “We never should have spied on them. I can’t believe we did that…”

“Coco, Moon Dancer knew.” Coloratura placed a hoof on her friend’s shoulder. “I know she forgot in the heat of the moment… but Sunset would have found out about it no matter what.”

“She found out in the worst possible way, Rara!” To Raven’s surprise, Coco pushed Coloratura’s hoof aside with a grunt. “I saw her face when Twi and Moony started crying! She looked like she’d been… been stabbed or… or something…”

Coco choked up and the tea wobbled in her hooves.

Wincing, Raven delicately lifted the cup from her grasp and set it on the table before Coco with a faint clink. Coco didn’t seem to notice. She just stared at her hooves and shook, though Raven couldn’t be sure if it was from repressed anger or repressed tears.

“Sunset is responsible for breaking their friendship,” Coloratura said slowly, though it looked like the words left a bad taste in her mouth. The singer rubbed Coco’s back with a hoof. “And... the potential for them having something more. But she knew that… well, at least the friendship part! We all did.”

Coco shook her head. “It’s not about the truth, Rara. We both know that.”

Coloratura nodded silently and continued to rub her friend’s back.

Raven glanced to her right and out the window. The small sitting room in the castle west tower overlooked the stage where Coloratura would be performing again tonight. Despite Coloratura’s obvious pain, last night’s performance had been flawless. Everything had gone according to plan.

Save for one element.

It had been the first time Sunset had not been at Coloratura’s Canterlot show since they’d become friends.

When Raven had discovered that Sunset had skipped her friend’s concert, it had worried her. And since she had already talked to the two earth pony mares a little over a week ago, they seemed the best choice.

Raven still wasn’t sure about that choice.

“Truth on its own isn’t necessarily beneficial,” Raven said, her gaze drifting from the stage and back to the two friends. “As Princess Celestia’s aide, I’ve learned that the presentation of truth is just as important.”

Coloratura nodded and poked her teacup. Silence fell upon sitting room again. They didn’t even need the plush tapestries and the sitting pillows to dampen the sound.

Raven listened as a tea trolley paused outside the door before it moved away. By the time it did… nothing had changed. Coloratura still stared down at her teacup. Coco stared at the table.

Raven took a sip. It tasted far more bitter than usual. She added a bit more milk.

“Raven,” Coloratura began, still not looking up. “About what you said before… I’m… I don’t know if we can help her this time.”

Raven let out a long breath and glanced at Coco. The smaller mare didn’t seem to notice, though her ears flicked a bit.

“Is she talking to anypony?” Raven stirred her tea, more for something to do than any real need. “Anypony at all?”

“No.” Coco shook her head. “Even Minuette can’t get much out of her.”

Raven winced. When Minuette failed to bring a smile to Sunset’s lips…

Coloratura rubbed her eyes with her hooves and let out an enormous sigh.

“She knew about it before,” Coco said, almost to herself. She bit her lip before continuing, “But… she’s never really had to see it. Not like this.”

“And now she’s just… stuck,” Coloratura sighed. “All because of this… this…”

Raven winced. “Guilt.”

Coloratura and Coco both nodded and stared at their teacups.

“I think…” Coloratura said, her voice uncertain and quiet. “I think we’re going to have to let her ride this one out alone. We’ll be there, of course. And we’ll keep an eye on her, but…”

“Are you sure that’s wise?” Raven asked.

“No,” Coloratura admitted with a shake of her head. “No, I’m not. But… I’ve learned that talking and encouragement can only go so far. All of us have talked to her about her guilt in the past. Even Princess Celestia can’t seem to break through those walls. I think… this one needs to come from the inside.”

Coco finally looked up. Her eyes were slightly red. “I wish there was more we could do for her.”

“Moon Dancer and Twilight might be able to get through,” Coloratura said ruefully. “And only then by hitting her over the head with a stick.”

“I… I still don’t like it.” Coco looked between Raven and Coloratura. “There has to be another way.”

“There may not be,” Raven admitted. “I believe Miss Coloratura is correct. This is a battle between Sunset and herself. In the end, while you—we—can all be there to support her… she’s the one who has to make the decision.”

“It doesn’t make it feel any better,” Coco said as she pushed her untouched teacup away.

“No kidding,” Coloratura said.

Raven nodded to herself, sighed and took another sip of her tea.

It was still far too bitter.

Author's Note:

...

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If you come across any errors, please let me know by PM!

Comments

[Comickook]

Excellent work on this chapter. The exchange and characterizations of Raven and Sunset's friends was simply superb. And, yeah, I can definitely understand what it feels like to be sympathetic, but unable to help.

Anyway, on to the next chapter.

[Sun Sage]

Pfft. You want me to comment on that when the author's note can't manage past a triple dot? This from the guy who wrote 24k or so retrospecting a long weekend? Hmph.... fine.

“Sunset is responsible for breaking their friendship,” Coloratura said slowly,

I can't help being reminded, rather fittingly under the circumstances, of Starlight and Sunburst. I absolutely do not ship those two for a few reasons, but number 1 is this: Sunburst never reached out. He went off to school, doing his own thing, and never wrote, visited, anything. That's not someone you get together with... and in this analogy, that would be Moon Dancer. Of course there are differences, but how many exactly? They were apart a shorter time, and there's implied romantic feelings before... so that's a mix since if anything Sunburst seemed envious of Star in their youth (watch those flashbacks carefully). Moonie and Twi are older when this happened, so if anything they should have been better at handling it, but that's easy to say in hindsight, things happen.

However... have you noticed which name I've yet to mention? Course you have, but that's because Rara, honest or not, is wrong. Sunset was not responsible; she was the cause. That is not the same thing. Revisiting our analogy here, Sunset is Sunburst's cutie mark (ugh... there's a fanart I hope to never see). She caused the separation by appearing at a bad time, and leading Moon Dancer away incidentally. But the responsibility for the parting lies with the two parties that parted. ...Further, as I mentioned prior, the responsibility for placing them together again lies with Sunny. Rara, to paraphrase Obi-wan... what you say is true, from a certain point of view. ...Find a different one.

This isn't an anime. Sunset may be fighting herself (freakin' duh...) but that doesn't mean you have to just sit there and comment about how amazing and powerful her opponent is. What you're trying isn't working. Try something else. By saying 'she's responsible' you seem to have locked yourself into this 'wait and see' attitude. To which I have to ask... why are you even here? Quit wasting my time if you're not going to do anything. What a letdown. 'Fix it herself.' Yeah, you know who could do that? Old Sunny. Ya want Old Sunny? You never even met Old Sunny, so trust me... no, you don't. New Sunny invested in all of you, threw away greed and ambition for a better path, and it isn't one she can walk alone. You let her get through this on her own she might hear what the ALP's been saying all along: she's stronger alone, friends do nothing but drag her down. You'd be the cause of that. You'd also be responsible. In this case, because you actively chose this passivity, you would be both. Unlike Sunny, who despite doing some really rotten things, isn't responsible for this one.

Best of luck... since I can't rant through the fourth wall.

[Kitcat36]

“Sunset is responsible for breaking their friendship,” Coloratura said slowly, though it looked like the words left a bad taste in her mouth. The singer rubbed Coco’s back with a hoof. “And... the potential for them having something more. But she knew that… well, at least the friendship part! We all did.”

I take exception to this. Sunset is not responsible for "breaking their friendship." This isn't something you can just assign blame or guilt to. A concatenation of events, many of which involved Sunset, broke their friendship for a time. It's not Sunset's fault Moondancer chose to be friends with her. It's not Sunset's fault that they happened to be playing O&O the day Twilight wanted them. It's not Sunset's fault that Twilight took things that way, either. I don't think it's anyone's fault--Twilight didn't respond well, but that was due to an unhealthy mental state. Other aspects were coincidences. This is NOT Sunset's fault! Someone like Rara, always seeing to the truth of matters, should never be saying it is. This bothers me immensely.

Edit: And now that I've finished the rest of the interlude, I have to say that the decision to sit it out rankles too. My above argument needs to be made to Sunset. And of COURSE you can't fight the battle for her--her guilt or lack thereof is something she needs to believe, not just be told--but by no means should she just be "riding it out alone".