Time for the young Crusaders to face their own little trials
On one nice summer day, The Cutie Mark Crusaders are playing outside with each other. It was a game of volleyball, with the founding members, Apple Bloom, Scootaloo & Sweetie Belle making one team, with Babs Seed, Rumble & Dinky Doo on the other.
While Dinky was not an official member of the Cutie Mark Crusaders, she was still considered a friend to the group and they needed her to make even teams.
Apple Bloom had just scored for her team, "Yeah! Another point for your founders! You may praise us!" Apple Bloom said.
"Don't get cocky cuz!" Babs said.
Rumble chuckled at her actions, he found it cute.
Apple Bloom grabbed the ball, "Ok get ready, I'm gonna really spike it!" Apple Bloom hit the ball pretty high but Rumble flew up and whacked it down, causing the other team to miss it, giving Rumble's team the point.
"Sweet move Rumble!" Babs said.
Scootaloo pouted, "That's not fair! He's flying!"
Rumble was confused, "Of course, I'm a Pegasus it's normal for me to-" Rumble realized what he was saying and stopped, especially when Scootaloo shot him a dirty look.
"Come on, so he can fly, big whoop, it's a natural ability", Babs said.
"I don't see Sweetie or Dinky using their magic", Scootaloo said.
"Uh Sweetie uses her magic to pick up the ball", Babs said.
"Yeah but-"
"Ok, ok, before this gets out of hand, lets just play another game", Apple Bloom said.
"Seriously? Just because Scootaloo complained about Rumble flying? Next she'll complain I have a strength advantage for being an Earth Pony" Babs asked.
Rumble landed near the girls, "Please don't start fighting, maybe Scootaloo's right, I do have an unfair advantage and it's not easy for me to not use my wings, I don't wanna make her feel insecure"
Babs sighed, "Fine"
Apple Bloom smiled, "Glad to know Rumble's a real gentlecolt"
Scootaloo rolled her eyes, "Yeah whatever"
Apple Bloom glared at her, Rumble then spoke, "Scootaloo, do you hate me?"
Scootaloo noticed the sad look in his eyes then sighed, "No, I don't hate you, though I am a bit jealous of you since you can fly and Rainbow Dash still likes you"
Rumble approached her, "She likes you too I'm sure"
Scootaloo shook her head, "She doesn't, ever since I helped beat you up she's been mad at me, she was close to beating me up too after that, she used to like seeing me, nowadays she barely seems to care when I'm around, that hurts a lot"
Rumble pitied her, "Sorry to hear, if you'd like I can speak to her, get her to be your friend again"
Scootaloo sighed, "That's really nice of you but it probably won't work, I think she loves you more nowadays, probably cause she's dating your brother"
"Don't be silly, you were her friend first, maybe she feels really bad and doesn't know how to approach you about it, you know how Rainbow can be sometimes, she's very proud so it's harder for her to really admit this"
Babs sighed, "How did we go from volleyball to a therapy session? Any chance you'se two can talk later? We're burning daylight"
Apple Bloom glared at Babs, "That was rude Babs"
"Sorry cuz, I'm just a little impatient at the moment"
Sweetie interjected, "Maybe Babs is right, lets go have a little fun before you two settle down to talk, unless you both wanna go now and we'll go on our business"
Rumble pondered a moment, "No it's fine, we'll play more for now, I can chat with Scoots later"
Scootaloo nodded, "Yeah, can have another date if you'd like"
Dinky cocked her head in confusion, "Wait, date? You two are dating?"
Rumble nodded, "I dated each of them at least once, busy days but fun too"
"Wait...you date all of them? Isn't that, you know, weird?"
Rumble shook his head, "No, it's not like they're all my girlfriends, I date them so I can decide who I like, we always keep it fair, once in a while I ask them or they ask me, been like that the last couple of weeks"
"So...would you date just about any filly?" Dinky asked with a small blush on her face.
"Sorta, why are you interested?"
Dinky shook her head, "No, just wondering...let's just go"
They then heard some fillies laughing.
"Oh no it's them", Dinky said.
Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon approached the group.
"Wow, just when I thought you Blank Flanks couldn't get any weirder, we hear this", Diamond Tiara said.
"Yeah I mean dating the same colt? How desperate can you be?" Silver Spoon added.
"He doesn't even look like a colt either, he's got a filly face", Diamond said, much to Rumble's displeasure.
"Now the foalsitter of the village idiot wants some", Silver said.
Dinky growled, "I told you not to make fun of Derpy!"
"Aw, did we hit a nerve? I know it's not easy to have to spoon feed a mare who can't even look straight but you really need to realx a bit", Diamond said.
Dinky wanted to hit Diamond but Apple Bloom stepped in, "Hey Diamond, we're busy, now is there a reason yer here or are you just bored cause you have nothing better to do than bother ponies below you to make you feel better about yerself?"
"I have a lot of things I could do, I figured common ponies like yourselves would appreciate the presence of a greater pony, the daughter of the most powerful pony in Ponyville"
"Um, technically Princess Twilight is the most powerful, then there's the Mayor, maybe the Apple Family since they supply the town apples, come to think of it isn't the only reason your family's rich is because of Apple Bloom's family? You probably should be a little more grateful to the Apple Family, and start showing that by not being mean to Apple Bloom, then you can be our friend and we can do fun things together, that sounds better than alienating ponies with your insults"
Diamond looked displeased, "Hey! I don't remember asking your opinion Filly Face!"
Scootaloo stepped in, "Hey don't call him Filly Face, he's just trying to be nice to you, which is WAY more than you deserve right now"
"He just took a shot at my family!"
"He simply told the truth, in a nice way! Rumble's too nice a colt to have to deal with your insults"
Diamond scoffed, "Surprised your so fond of him, considering he's Rainbow Dash's new pet now, don't blame her, I'm sure she only wants pets that can actually fly!"
While she tried not to show it, that comment really hurt Scootaloo, and enraged Rumble.
"That wasn't nice Diamond Tiara! You shouldn't make fun of anypony's disability! One day it could be you!"
Diamond looked taken back, "Was that a threat? Wait til I tell my daddy you threatened to cripple me! You can say good-bye to your brother's chances at being a Wonderbolt with his skanky marefriend"
Rumble growled but Babs stepped in now, "Hey! Quit bothering my friends! Unless you wanna end up in another mud pile!"
"Hey, I don't talk to traitors!"
Babs raised her eyebrow, "Who you callin' traitor?"
"I took you in the first time you came to Ponyville, let you hang out with the big crowd, then you turn against me by threatening to be a tattletale!"
"Maybe I won't tattle this time, maybe I'll just smash your face in!"
Silver interjected, "Uh, uh, uh, we heard about your little fight problems before, you don't want Princess Twilight finding out about this, do you?"
"Pfft, now who's the tattletale?" Babs said.
Apple Bloom stepped in, "Seriously, Rumble didn't threaten anypony, don't you go making false accusations about him, y'hear?"
Diamond got in Apple Bloom's face, "Don't tell me what to do!"
As they stared down soon Cloudchaser had arrived with Applejack.
"Hey! What's going on!" Cloudchaser asked, she then turned her attention to Diamond Tiara, "I thought I told you not to bother Rumble"
"Save it you, I know about your behavior problems, and I know about this whole thing with Princess Twilight, if you try anything, you'll be dealing with Princess Twilight herself"
Applejack stepped in, "Listen hear missy, you and your little sidekick best skedaddle or I'll be telling your daddy about what you're doing, and he can forget about that deal he's trying to cut with mah family, which means bad news for your allowance"
Diamond gasped, "How dare you! Who do you think you are!?"
Applejack simply glared into her eyes, freaking her out a little and making her back off.
"You were saying?"
Diamond gave up and left with Silver Spoon.
Apple Bloom groaned a bit, "That girl really gets on mah case, once we get out Cutie Marks, maybe that will shut her up"
"From the looks of things Apple Bloom, getting your cutie mark won't mean anything, she'll just find another reason to pick on you, like she picks on Scootaloo's inability to fly, or Derpy's eyes"
Cloudchaser growled a bit, "That girl knows no boundaries, maybe I should just teach her a small lesson, just a small one"
Applejack shook her head, "CC, if you go and pick a fight, Twilight will be mad"
"So we just let her get away with poking fun at Derpy and Scootaloo for their disabilities?"
"Remember the last time y'all got angry at a filly?" Applejack asked.
That struck something of a soft spot in Cloudchaser, she had some lingering remorse over how she acted with the girls, especially Babs, mostly since Babs turned out to be a nice filly who since then has been more than caring to Rumble, Cloudchaser sometimes wonders what would have happened if she actually broke her arm, how it could have led to much worse.
"I know I lost my cool with Babs and Scootaloo at one point but the difference is that Diamond is a total brat, Babs and Scoots had redeeming qualities so threatening them is a mistake, but Diamond Tiara? The biggest brat in Ponyville? Not to mention she's already turning into a real bitch despite her young age"
"Still, Twilight don't want any more fighting, And I'm sure the last thing you want is to further draw her ire, especially after what happened a couple weeks ago"
Cloudchaser sighed, "Fine, you win, lets just go somewhere else so the foals don't have to deal with Diamond returning"
"Lets go grab a soccer ball, we can play teams of 3 again", Apple Bloom said.
"Can I be on Rumble's team this time?" Sweetie asked.
"You can switch with me Sweetie Belle", Dinky said.
"Fine, but after that it's mah turn", Apple Bloom said.
The group went to to play their game, later on they would start heading home, except Rumble and Scootaloo, they had their date to attend to.
Before Rumble left, Sweetie Belle approached him "Hey Rumble, I know you have your date with Scootaloo but can I have one with you tomorrow? I still have a lot I wanna talk with you about"
Rumble nodded, "Sure, I'd like that"
"Great, you know where my sister's Boutique is, come there around 6:00, my sister won't be home so we can have some alone time, plus free food and maybe we can watch a film"
"Ok, I gotta go to Scootaloo now", Rumble said and walked off, Sweetie eyeing him with love, then walked home.
In the distance, Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon were watching.
"I can't believe that kid, I heard those other blank flanks hated him once, now they all wanna date him? They're so weird", Silver said.
"They are, but I think I know a good way to have fun with this", Diamond said.
"How?"
"Well...based on what I've seen on occasion, and from gossip I heard from Lyra & Bon Bon, all of those blank flanks have a crush on the kid, and I think with a little tipping of the scales, we can cause a major fallout"
"How so?"
"We need to get one of them to take it up a level with him, ALL the way up"
Silver Spoon blushed, "But why? Wouldn't that be helping?"
"Not exactly, it sounds like when they date him, they're trying to get him to make a choice, but to keep it fair they keep it tame, they don't advance on him but he has to really advance on them, we just gonna convince one of the girls that all is fair in love and war
"But who?"
"Lets see, Apple Bloom really likes the kid, she was the first, but that would be too obvious, plus if it was one of her friends, imagine her heartbreak, maybe Babs, but she probably wouldn't have the guts, nor would she trust us, that just leaves Scootaloo & Sweetie Belle, of the two I think Sweetie Belle's the best choice, I can see it now, Sweetie sleeps with Rumble, Apple Bloom and Babs hate her, knowing Scootaloo no matter what side she takes, she'll make a huge fight over it, plus should Rarity find out, it would cause a break in her relationship with Rumble, in turn ruin her friendship with Thunderlane too, and then Rainbow Dash has to make a tough decision, plus imagine what happens with Applejack, maybe she'll feel so bad for her sister she'll chase Rumble again, I wish I could have seen that in Canterlot, an encore would be great, oh I just love all this potential chaos, I bet Discord couldn't do that on his best day"
Silver Spoon looked unsure, "Wouldn't that be going too far, I mean if things get bad it's gonna make things bad for us"
"Quit your worrying, we gotta go make our plans", Diamond said and walked off with her friend.
Rumble and Scootaloo went to their date night, it was them chilling on a park bench, talking about flight related things.
"How is it with rainbow Dash? She comes over to your house a lot these days"
"Yeah, she mostly just hangs out with my brother, sometimes in his room, they never leave there it seems, but when they do they're all sweaty and happy"
"Wow...they must to a lot of exercise in there"
"They're doing something, honestly it seems like they'd rather make out these days than actually fly, which isn't so bad cause it means they love each other, even though neither has actually said that yet, I kinda miss hanging out with them, but Cloudchaser says it's normal for them to act like this, they've been officially dating for almost 5 months, my brother said it's been the best time of his life to be with a girl he's always felt something for"
"Is that why you're being extra careful on who you choose?"
Rumble nodded, "Honestly I wish I could pick all of you, you're all great in your own way"
Scootaloo scoffed, "Maybe it would have been easier on you if we stayed hating you, though I didn't hate you at first my point still stands"
Rumble sighed, "Why did you do what you did that day though? You really hurt me, that hurt more than the beating I got"
Scootaloo looked annoyed and confused, "How!? Seriously how?"
"Physical wounds heal can heal with medicine, emotional wounds however do not heal as easily...so why did you?"
Scootaloo groaned, "I just felt bad for Sweetie Belle alright? She was so upset and truth be told, I care a lot more for Sweetie Belle than I do for you, no offense but that's how I feel"
Rumble nodded, "That's fine, she IS your best friend, you met her before you met Apple Bloom I think"
"Yeah, I did, I made that clear to Apple Bloom when she got in my face about that decision, Sweetie Belle is very important to me, so I don't like seeing her unhappy, the more she hated you, the more I grew to hate you, not to mention I was so jealous of Rainbow Dash liking you more than she liked me".
Rumble took that all in, "Well I'm glad you're being honest with me, I hope getting this off your chest is making you feel better"
Scootaloo groaned, "Seriosuly!? How can you be so forgiving, you never get mad, you always seem to be fine with it"
Rumble simply eyed her, "You think it doesn't hurt? Your words do hurt me Scootaloo, I do feel pain, and I do feel angry at half the things you've done, the things that Sweetie Belle & Babs have done, you think I didn't feel angry when you girls ganged up on me!? Or when Sweetie used to give me an attitude!? Or the stuff you're saying now!? Or the time you ripped my heart out and stomped on it!? I've always been angry, but I never show it, cause Flitter says if I let my anger through, it's just gonna lead to bad things, so I have to swallow my anger every time, and truth be told Scootaloo, half the nice things I've done to you was mainly to feed your guilt, so that helped too!"
Scootaloo looked surprised at Rumble's tone, "So all this was just to get back at me? What about Babs and Sweetie, you trying to get back at them too?"
"I admit that I did, though like I said, I have come to like all of you so there was a bright side"
Scootaloo shook her head, "No, there is no bright side, you're a master manipulator! Using our own guilt against us? Teasing us? Screwing with our emotions!?"
"Like you screwed with mine?" Rumble coldly stated.
Scootaloo was so surprised at this, "I thought you were cool, I thought maybe you were too nice, but I see it's all an act, you know what, I don't want you as my coltfriend, you can have one of the other girls, you blew your chance with me"
Rumble sighed, "For the record I do care about you, but sometimes you just need to be taught a lesson, if you have no interest in dating me then so be it, makes my decision easier"
"And what makes you think any of them will choose you? Suppose Sweetie Belle finds out, or Babs?"
"Babs knows, I told her this as well, I told her most of my kindness was my form of revenge, she was surprised but she said she didn't blame me cause she deserved it, and that as long as I liked her now, which I do, I told her that I am willing to honestly give her a chance, and soon I will tell Sweetie Belle and see her reaction, but you so far have failed my little test"
Scootaloo growled, "I hate you!" she then stormed off leaving Rumble behind, sighing heavily, "That didn't come out like I wanted, damn now what? I don't want them to separate again, I should let her cool off and apologize later, otherwise its gonna be hard to sta in the Cutie Mark Crusaders"
Everyone has some form of a breaking point, and sometimes you can only be nice for so long.