> "When's the Wedding?" And Other Rumbaloo Tales
>  by Candy-Sweets_12
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Chapter 1 "Pancakes"
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The sunlight shone brightly through the window, displaying little pools of light across the room. 

Scootaloo squinted her eyes, waking up from her deep slumber. She yawned and groggily opened her wings with a stretch. She felt a bit warm, as though she was wrapped in a think blanket. She smiled at the thought. She shifted one of her forelegs, only to bump into something else.

Scootaloo cracked her eyes open, a gray blur faded her vision as it adjusted. She widened her eyes and looked around. She found Rumble's wings wrapped around her, and a small smile on his face as he slept.

'Why am I in Rumble's bed?' she thought worriedly. 'Did we...?' she couldn't bear the thought of it. Just then, memories from the previous night flooded her thoughts, causing her to soften with relief.

Scootaloo blushed when she found her limbs entangled in Rumbles, specifically, her forelegs. Much to her own surprise, she enjoyed the predicament, just a bit. She couldn't help but smile at how comfortable it was to be in someone's wings, especially Rumble's.

As if on cue, Rumble stirred awake from his slumber. He groggily opened his eyes to find Scootaloo there, blush still painting her face and ears. Just like Scootaloo, he blushed furiously while his eyes widened in shock. Prompting Scootaloo to chuckle.

"D-did we...?" Rumble asked. He sighed in relief once Scootaloo shook her head. They both lay there for a moment, small smiles on their faces as the both blushed furiously, staring into the other's eyes.

Eventually, the two decided they had to move sometime. They both struggled to detangle their legs, which took a good minute or two. Once they were free, Rumble folded his wings back.

Scootaloo took the time to stretch all of her tired limbs. "I should..." she began, looking to the door.

"Yeah." Rumble agreed. Scootaloo slipped off the cloud bed and walked to the door.

"You...want breakfast?" she asked with hesitation, stopping in the doorway.

"Sure," Rumble shrugged, hopping off of the bed. The two walked in silence to the kitchen, where Scootaloo got to work on making pancakes.

"I didn't know you like to cook." Rumble remarked, a smirk on his face.

"Not all of the time," she replied, looking through the drawers for a spatula. She found it sitting with the other utensils and continued. "but I don't mind it every now and again. My Mom, however, she likes to cook." 

Rumble nodded. "So how'd you sleep?" he asked.

"Well, I'm not quite used to my room yet, it's still a bit strange to live here actually. I'm not quite used to everything."

"That's understandable,  I felt the exact same way when I first moved into this place." Rumble admitted.

"I'm sorry for bothering you last night." Scootaloo continued, red heating the tips of her ears. "I wasn't really able to sleep by myself."

"It's okay," Rumble said."I don't really mind your company," he said. "I actually enjoyed it." he smiled while Scootaloo blushed.

"You mean you liked sleeping next to me?" she asked, looking up from the batter.

"Yeah." Rumble replied with a shrug."I guess you might've felt differently."

"It's not that," she said. "not in the slightest. I just didn't really expect you to is all."

"How come?"

Scootaloo sighed. "I don't know, I'm so new to all of this dating stuff. I don't know how to feel about somethings, let alone, what I'm feeling half the time."

"Well you've got a lot to get used to, and all of the time in the world to help." Rumble said, walking over and pushing Scootaloo's mane from her eyes, before planting a kiss on her cheek. "But so do I."

Scootaloo blushed bright red as he had intended. She nearly dropped the spatula from her grip. 

"You're way better at this than I am though." she sighed with a smile. "I wish I knew how to handle our relationship like that. And stop being so pushy all of time."

"I grew up with it, I've just seen it for myself is all." Rumble said, pulling away. Scootaloo took the opportunity to flip another pancake over.

"Do you ever think we'll be like that?" she asked out of nowhere.

"Like what exactly?"

"You know, like Blossom and Thunderlane, or Pip and AB. You'd swear they were married or something."

"Blossom and Thunderlane are married," Rumble remarked, raising an eyebrow.

"I'm talking about everyone else, Rumble. Sweetie and Button Mash, Twist and Snails, Zip and Featherweight, they're completely fine with trying new things, and actually act like a couple. And then there's us."

"What about us?"

"We seem to be more like close friends than anything else."

"That may be true, but you know what most of them haven't done?"

"What?"

"Move in together." Rumble reminded her.

"Well," she said after a short pause "you've got me there." she shrugged. She flipped the last pancake onto a plate, and set her own on the table and sat down.

"Care to join me?" she asked.

"Rumble smiled and took his place next to her.

"Maybe this could be easier than I thought." she said. Rumble grinned and took a bite, before immediately devouring the rest of dish, prompting Scootaloo to chuckle.
> Chapter 2 "Small Talk"
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Scootaloo tightened her saddlebag, making sure it wouldn't slip off. Once it was on she grinned. "I'm heading out," she announced, walking past Rumble from her bedroom.

"Where're you going?" Rumble asked, looking up from the unopened box in front of him.

"I promised Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle I'd meet up with them at Sugar Cube Corner. I haven't seen them since the graduation party." She explained, opening the door.

"Have fun then." Rumble shrugged, turning back to the box.

"See ya," she waved, shutting the door behind her and jumping off the edge.





"There you are!" Apple Bloom exclaimed, rushing up to meet her friend. "Ah' haven't seen you in weeks!"

"Sorry AB," Scootaloo apologized, "I had a bit of a mixed up morning. Where's Sweetie?"

"She's just getting some snacks inside," 

"Alright then." Scootaloo started for the door before Apple Bloom stopped her.

"We're not eating them here, we're heading to the clubhouse." she said.

"Oh," Scootaloo stated, "I guess I just kind of assumed we were staying here."

"Well you thought wrong, so suck it up."

"So, how's everything going with Pip?" Scootaloo asked curiously.

"Pretty good actually, but nothing very noteworthy. Unless you count hangin' out in the orchards." she chuckled. "how about Rumble?"

"I'll tell you at the tree-house."

"Tell us what?" Sweetie Belle asked, walking out the door with a large bag of cookies, as well as three different kinds of milkshakes, taking a moment to sip from her own.

"At the tree house." Scootaloo repeated. Apple Bloom rolled her eyes as the three turned for Sweet Apple Acres, Scootaloo flying close above.

"There's no need to be so secretive ya know," Sweetie Belle said after a slurp, "It's not like your marrying him or anything."

"What?!" Scootaloo exclaimed, stopping in the air. She caught herself before she could plunge into Apple Bloom. Sweetie Belle giggled at her red faced friend.

"Relax, You're making such a big deal over it." she said as she and Apple Bloom burst into another fit of giggles. 

"Sorry, I just can't imagine myself," she cringed," marrying anypony. Let alone Rumble."

"You never thought you'd ever date anypony either," Apple Bloom remarked. Scootaloo turned redder and covered her face again, groaning from embarrassment whilst her friends continuously giggled.





"Here we are, the lovely clubhouse," Apple Bloom announced, opening the door. Scootaloo was a bit surprised to find a bunch of pillows stacked together in one corner. And from the look on Sweetie's face, so was she.

"Ah' figured we could be a bit more comfortable in here." Apple Bloom explained. "Go ahead, take a few."

Scootaloo took an enormous mauve pillow from the stack, it was surprisingly bigger than she was. Sweetie took a similar green one, before they all took to lying on their own. Sweetie Belle displaying the snacks she'd bought.

"Spill it," she commanded, looking in Scootaloo's direction.

"Well you girls are gonna be pretty surprised to hear about my new house," Scootaloo grinned.

"Your new house!?" the two asked in unison. Apple Bloom nearly spat out her milkshake.

"You've got ta show it to us sometime!" Apple Bloom exclaimed. "I'd love to visit.

"That might be a bit difficult, considering it's not exactly on the ground."

"Not a problem." Sweetie Belle said. "We'll ask Twilight to do that cloud walking spell, she's found a way to make it permanent anyway."

"That's not it though," Scootaloo replied with a grin.

"Oh, will you stop with the riddles? What could possibly be next? Tell us everything!" Sweetie Belle demanded.

"I live with someone now."

"Who?!" her friends asked, clearly forgetting about Rumble.

"Rumble, of course." Scootaloo said. Her friends squealed excitedly before swarming her with questions.

"Why didn't ya tell us sooner?"

"How long have you lived with him?"

"Did he ask you to move in, or did ya decide on your own?"

"Do you have separate rooms?"

More and more frantic questions came her way, and Scootaloo answered them to the best of her ability, deciding not to mention what happened the night before. In case her friends got the same idea. When their talking finally slowed, Scootaloo decided to change the subject.

"What about you, Sweetie? Anything worth mentioning?" 

Sweetie Belle smiled. "I guess that you can say that certain promises have been made." she then turned to her saddle bag, where she pulled out a necklace with a silver ring attached.

Scootaloo and Apple Bloom gasped.

"A promise ring?" the two asked, their voices overlapping.

"It sure is beautiful, isn't it?" Sweetie Belle asked, holding out the necklace proudly with her magic. Scootaloo and Apple Bloom gawked at it, taking in every detail. From the swirled designs etched in it, to the words 'I love you' engraved ever so slightly.

"It's beautiful," AB said in a hushed voice.

"That's not all," Sweetie Belle grinned. "I'm going to Canterlot this summer for an official show! And you two are coming with me!"

Now it was her turn to be swarmed with questions, this time including thanks and congratulations in the mix.

"We should do something to celebrate all of this." Apple Bloom decided. Sweetie Belle perked up and grabbed the scrapbooks on one of the shelves of the tree-house. Save for a few pages, the first one was almost as empty as the other four.

"Where'd you get those?" Scootaloo asked.

"I've always wanted to make one, just about us. And now that we're adults, we can make a new one!" Sweetie Belle exclaimed.

"Ah' should've known," Apple Bloom said, "alright, let's do it. What've we got to lose?"

Sweetie Belle clapped her hooves together excitedly before snapping a selfie of the three of them.

"To being adults," she declared, holding up her milkshake. Scootaloo and Apple Bloom click their cups to hers.

"To being adults!" they repeated. Sweetie grinned and snapped another picture.
> Chapter 3 "Accepted"
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Rumble yawned as he flew to his mailbox, taking a moment to stretch before opening the door. He took the mail out, shutting the door as he went back inside, groggily wiping the sleep from his eyes before sorting through them.  Scootaloo, who was finishing her breakfast glanced up, setting her plate in the sink.

"What's up?" she asked. Rumble flipped through the pile, setting the miscellaneous aside. He paused when he found two specially sealed envelopes. Scootaloo glanced over the counter and perked up once she found them in Rumble's hole. She immediately rushed over to Rumble and took the one with her name on it.

She took to ripping through the envelope, before skimming through the letter, a grin spreading over her face. Upon the last words, she jumped into the air and spun about.

"Yes!" she cried out. Causing Rumble to grin.

"Didn't you already know we got in?" he said.

"I know that, " Scootaloo said, landing next to him. She held it out to him. "They want us to be there now." she grinned. Rumble skimmed through the letter, rereading it a few times to make sure he got it all right.

"Besides, sometimes these letters can have something else important in them, the Wonderbolts can always find some complication in our records between the time they told us and now."

"Fair point." Rumble admitted. He opened his letter and found that it had the same response. He smiled. "Let's go." he stated. Scootaloo was already in her room, getting her saddlebag and retrieving Rumble's. She came in just as Rumble was looking up from the letter. She then strapped her own saddlebag on, tightening the strap as Rumble did the same.

"Ready?" Rumble asked, looking up from his belongings.

"Hold on." Scootaloo said. She pulled out 4 envelopes from her bag, smiling when she saw the confused look on Rumble's face. "These are for our family and friends, to let them know where we'll be for the next few weeks." she explained. "I wrote them ahead of time."

"I think you've been hanging out with Twilight too much." Rumble retorted.

"It's always good to be prepared." Scootaloo shrugged.





Twilight glanced up from her book, feeling a chill go down her spine. She perked her ears up, as though she heard something unfamiliar. She then shrugged and went back to Sherlock Pones.





"After you," Rumble said, holding the door out and bowing his head. Scootaloo rolled her eyes, but she couldn't help but smile.

She stepped out and Rumble quickly locked the door behind her. She paced in place frantically while Rumble struggled with his house keys,  growing impatient like a small child of sorts.

"Come on, I don't want to be late." she complained. 

"If that's the case," Rumble started, he sped past her, catching her off guard. Scootaloo dropped for a second before she caught herself, steadying her flying.

"race ya!" Rumble challenged from a distance. Scootaloo rolled her eyes again, but chuckled. "Oh grow up, Rumble."

"I'm not the one who has the patience of a filly." Rumble shot back.

"This is so silly, you know," she said, speeding up to him at an impossible speed. She stopped just in front of him, giving him a teasing look. "you already know I'm going to beat you." she claimed.

"We'll just have to see about that." Rumble grinned. He cracked his wings, slingshotting himself towards their destination. He left a loud BOOM, much like thunder, in his place, leaving Scootaloo's hair, as well as every poor cloud that happened to be in range, overturned. Scootaloo knitted her brows in determination, grinning, she quickened the beating of her wings, until they resembled a starting engine. She then took off, leaving a mauve and orange trail of color behind her.





In her years as a Wonderbolt,  Spitfire was used to seeing Flashy entrances for new recruits. While she would admit, many impressed her, she was never surprised to see them. Well, except for one certain entrance by a certain pair. Just as Rumble was going to land on the runway, ready to tease Scootaloo about his upcoming victory, Scootaloo came from seemingly nowhere and tackled the stallion.

The two went tumbling to the ground, rolling around before coming to a complete stop, where Scootaloo was standing over Rumble, her forelegs planted onto his shoulders, pressing him into the ground with a smirk.

"Pinned ya." she declared.

"Alright, alright, you win." Rumble said, sitting up. He shifted to a sitting position and looked at Scootaloo.

"And now you owe me dinner." she demanded, sitting next to him.

"I don't remember that being apart of the race."

"It is now."

"Fine." Rumble grumbled. "At least we made it in time."

"Are you two done?" one mare from the side said, pretending to gag at the two. She pointed a hoof towards her opened mouth and rolled her yellow-green eyes at the pair.

"Are you done sticking your muzzle in our business?" Scootaloo retorted. The mare smiled.

"Just about."

"Good."

"I like your style," the mare said, stepping over. "I'm Sky Bound," she greeted.  she held her hoof out for Scootaloo, who took to bumping it. "Welcome to the Academy."

"Scootaloo, and this is Rumble." she replied, standing up.

"Nice to meet some cool ponies around this place. I thought I was the only one." she laughed.

"Sure." Scootaloo plainly stated.

"Oh don't be like that, I'm not that cocky." the mare said, wrapping a wing around Scootaloo. "I'd like to get to know you two a little more. It'd be nice to know some future colleagues before we start."

"Fair point." Scootaloo said.

"Come on, we should go get our uniforms." the mare said. She brushed her light gray mane from her eyes, a very thin and light strip of blue, nearly white, hung loosely from one part of her short mane. Which was styled in an up-do, which suited the mare in her own way.

"Good idea." Scootaloo said. She matched the mare's pace, Rumble casually coming by close to her side.





"Wow." Scootaloo said, she turned in front of the mirror, amazed at how the uniform suited her. A few other female recruits had come in since the time she received it, and were putting them on, chattering with the others about how excited they were to have been accepted.

"Surprised?" Sky Bound asked, stepping up next to her.

"Yeah." Scootaloo admitted. "I can't believe I'm finally here is all."

"Can't really say I blame you." Sky Bound said. "We've all come pretty far to get here."

"Yeah." Scootaloo agreed.

Just then, a loud buzzer rang, signaling for everyone to go outside. Everypony bustled about, leaving the locker-room as quickly as possible. The mares mixed with stallions just as they started going out.

"Feel free to test out the training course." one stallion, who worked there, said. "Just be sure to get into formation." he fixed his sunglasses. Some ponies shrugged and took to the sky, moving to the obstacle course.

Not too long afterwards, Rumble came to a stop behind Scootaloo, as silently as possible trying to surprise her a bit while she talked with Sky Bound.

"If you try one thing, I swear to Luna's Moon you will never be seen again." Scootaloo said out of nowhere. Sky Bound looked confused before she looked behind Scootaloo to find a nervous Rumble standing there.

"How'd you know it was me?"

"We've known each other since we were kids, Rumble. I know a lot about you." she laughed.

"I could say the same about you." Rumble said.

"Oh really?" Scootaloo asked with a grin.

"Try me."

"Who are the three other crusaders of the Cutiemark Crusaders?"

"Discord, Imp, and Babs. Come on, Scoot, give me a challenge."

"When did I stop using my scooter to get around?"

"After you learned to fly properly." Rumble said with a yawn.

"Six years ago, who did I dress up as for Night Mare Night?"

"Daring Do."

"You're good."

"Could you two be anymore corny?" Sky Bound said with a roll of her eyes.

"No, this is basically the limit for us." Rumble answered.

Sky Bound rolled her eyes and jumped into the air. "Well I'm going to leave you two alone for a bit, try not to spare everyone of the romance."

"I'll try." Scootaloo shrugged. Rumble laughed and Sky Bound went to the obstacle course.

Scootaloo laughed as well. Until she stopped suddenly. Her smile faded, and the happiness in her eyes quickly turned to disbelief. It was like it was all a dream, being there. But then, one thing, one small yet gargantuan thing changed it, and brought her straight back to reality. Crushing the seemingly colorful and happy world into a dozen little pieces.

'No. This can't be real. There's no way this could actually be happening.' Yet it was. Such a small world she lived in. Such an unlucky, cruel, dream-crushing world.

"Scootaloo?" Rumble asked, worry painting his face. he followed her gaze. "What's wrong?" just then, he came to the same realization, and his eyes widened. "No way." he said.
> Chapter 4 "Unexpected"
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Scootaloo turned away, eager to turn around and keep from being seen. Rumble of course, was quick to realize, and turned towards her.  And she couldn't help but find the look of concern on her face to be comforting.

"Come on, we should probably get going." Rumble said. Scootaloo nodded, and quickly turned around, trotting in pace with Rumble.

'Please, don't let him see us." Scootaloo begged quietly. "Please, for the love of Celestia let that be somepony else."

But despite her best wishes, from afar, the stallion looked down. Noticing the familiar pony, he smirked and flew down, landing in an over the top matter before the pair. Taking Rumble and Scootaloo back a bit.

"Well, it's a small world after all." the stallion said, training his green eyes on Scootaloo. Smirking as he inspected her as though she was a meal.

Scootaloo said nothing, and instead tried to move around the dark blue pegasus. But he stepped into her path. Scootaloo tried to go another way, but he once again blocked her.

"Something wrong, Sweet Lips? Or are you just driven speechless?"

'Something's wrong, alright....' Scootaloo thought. Rumble glanced her way, pretty angry himself. The look he gave her nearly begged for a chance to intervene, but Scootaloo just gave  a tiny shake of her head, leaving Rumble more than a bit confused. Though he didn't let it show.

"What happened to the feisty mare I met a couple of months back? Or are you some sort of replacement?" the stallion remarked, edging closer.

"Can you move, I need to go somewhere." Scootaloo said, deciding to ignore the last comment. At this point Rumble looked like he wanted to pulverize the stallion. 

"You sure didn't seem to be in a rush from what I saw." he grinned. Scootaloo rolled her eyes.

"Well I am now. And I'd appreciate it if you got out of the way."

"For what exactly?" the stallion said, walking at an invasive pace next to her.

"To get as far away from you as possible." Scootaloo grumbled. Rumble followed close behind, giving Scootaloo looks that screamed, 'I'm going to kill him'

"Aw, and here I thought you liked me." the stallion said, talking as though he was in shock.

"Why would I like a pervert who spends his free time flirting with mares?" Scootaloo remarked, walking farther away.

"Just seemed like we had some sort of connection, ya know?" the stallion said casually, rubbing a hoof through his purple mane and pushing himself closer to Scootaloo, bumping into her. 

"Well, we don't. And there's no way in a billion moons, that we ever will." she said sternly. "Now leave me alone."

"There she is, there's the mare I was looking for." the stallion said. Scootaloo had to bite her cheek to resist the urge to scream at him.

"Well she's not interested. Now can you leave?" Scootaloo said more sternly, a scowl forming on her face.

"Oh come on, a little flirting never hurt no pony."

"You're really pushing it." Scootaloo mumbled.

"Am I?" the stallion said. "Little ole' me?"

"Yes. And I'm going to say it one last time, so you and your selective hearing best listen closely; I'm. Not. Interested. Leave. Me. The. Hell. Alone." Scootaloo said, pausing with every word.

"Is something wrong here?" a voice said. Scootaloo and the stallion turned, where Rumble was standing next to Spitfire, who took off her glasses and was shooting the two a piercing look.

"Not anymore." Scootaloo said, walking away from the stallion.

"Are you causing trouble, Comet?" Spitfire asked, moving closer to the stallion and giving him a piercing look.

"No Ma'am." the stallion said.

"Then don't give anypony any. Got that?" she said.

"Yes Ma'am."

Spitfire put her sunglasses back on and put her whistle to her mouth. Blowing at a deafening volume. "Formation! Now!" she screeched. Every recruit was quick to get in line, standing up as primly as they could manage.

"So these are the recruits I get this year. " Spitfire said, walking in front of the line of ponies, who stared blankly ahead. "A bunch of ponies that think they're Wonderbolt's material." she said.

"Yes Ma'am!" they replied.

"Well let me tell you, you're not!" she said, poking Sky Bound in the chest. "If you were, you'd be a Wonderbolt. But that's why you're all here. So we can whip a bunch of hot shots into shape! And Maybe," she stepped in front of Scootaloo "some of you will make it into the reserves." she then walked over to Comet. "And some of you will fail. Some of you probably wouldn't even make it past the first clouds." she said.

She stepped in front of another pony, who was a light orange with a scarlet mane and black stripes. "I bet you'd quit after the first course." she challenged. Smirking in the mare's face. Just as expected, she didn't get a response.

"No response, huh? Good choice. We could use some more smart ones like you." Spitfire said. She turned away. "Your first task of the day, 20 laps around the compound!" she grabbed her whistle and blew another deafening screech from it. "Now!!"

Everypony sprang up, eager to follow instructions, and started off. Scootaloo, who was glad to get away from this Comet guy, sped next to Rumble.

"Up for another race?" she said above the wind.

Rumble smirked. "You're on."





"What?!" Scootaloo said, stopping just behind Rumble. "I can't believe you beat me!"

"You shouldn't have been bragging so much." Rumble grinned. 

"Dang it." Scootaloo huffed. Rumble laughed.

"You owe me."

"Fine." Scootaloo said with a roll of her eyes. "What is it?"

"I'll think about it." Rumble smirked. 

"Whatever." Scootaloo said. At that point, a few ponies were finishing up their last laps, taking their time rather than going at a speedy pace as Rumble and Scootaloo did.

"Hey," Rumble said suddenly, turning to Scootaloo.

"Yeah?" Scootaloo said, pretending she didn't know what Rumble was going to talk about.

"What happened back there?" Rumble said.

"It's like you said, I got distracted and-"

"You know that I didn't mean that." Rumble interrupts, concern on his face.

Scootaloo sighed. "You're right." she said. "Can we talk about this later?"

"Now's a better time than anywhere else." Rumble said.

"I just didn't want to snap, okay?" Scootaloo defensively. "I didn't want to end up hitting him again, it's not like it's going to have much of an effect. The last thing I want to do is get kicked out of here for fighting another recruit, when he didn't even threaten me in the first place."

"But wasn't he invading your personal space? Didn't he make you feel uncomfortable?" 

"Of course he did. But that creep still didn't do anything to threaten me. He was just flirting, in an unacceptable way, but still flirting."

"What if he-" Rumble stopped himself.

"I won't let that happen. He's not going to hurt me. Not if I have anything to say about it." Scootaloo said.

"Just...you trust that I'll defend you, right?"

"Of course, but I don't want you to get kicked out of this place for something as silly as that. I've pushed you too hard to let that happen." she smirked.

"Yeah, fair point. My wings still hurt from all of those wing-ups." Rumble teased, stretching out his wings in exaggeration, knowing it'd make Scootaloo laugh.

"Oh stop being such a baby." she chuckled. Rumble smiled, glad to see her smile had returned, as if nothing had happened earlier.

"Let's hope the rest of the week will go well." Rumble said. Scootaloo smiled, walking towards Spitfire, who was waiting for the pair to join her.

"Finished early, I see." she said. "Since that's the case, how about you two start your wing-ups early." she said, adjusting her glasses. "Drop and give me 50!" she screeched. Scootaloo couldn't help but try to smother back a bellow of laughter.

'Spoke too soon.' Rumble thought. Sighing with defeat. "It's going to be a long week."
> Chapter 5 
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Later that day, in the mess hall, Sky Bound sat off to the side, and waved to Rumble and Scootaloo. "Hey, Lovebirds!" she called out. The two turned to her and smiled.

Scootaloo sat next to her, setting her tray down next to her new friend. "Thanks for saving us a seat." Scootaloo said.

"No problem." Sky Bound replied, waving it off. "Pretty crazy first day, huh?" she smirked.

"You can say that again." Rumble said with an annoyed roll of his eyes.

"I'm guessing it has something to do with all of those work outs they made us do." Sky Bound said, talking about the amount of wing-ups Rumble did. Who at the moment, was currently, stretching his wings out.

"Yeah." he sighed "It's just been a while, you know?"

"Yeah." Sky Bound answered. "But exactly how long is a while?"

"Two months." Scootaloo interrupted, a smirk growing on her face.

"You were keeping track?" Rumble asked, turning to her.

"Somepony has to." Scootaloo shrugged, a growing smile on her face.

"Wait, why do you even know that?" Sky Bound asked her.

"Rumble and I did a bit of practice together, since we both figured we could help each other out in some areas. And I may have been a bit rough with him." Scootaloo said.

"A bit?" Rumble stated, raising an eyebrow at her.

"And by rough you mean..." Sky Bound started.

"Okay, so I made him do a ton of wing-ups from time to time." Scootaloo admitted.

"Yep. As well as wake me up early in the morning just to run around the town, making me fly through a ton of trees whenever you were trying to teach me agility, laughing whenever I'd get stuck in a cloud," Rumble listed. "I could go on."

"I did help you whenever you got injured though."

"The worst that's happened to me was a bunch of tiny scratches and scrapes."

"Hey, I never was the teaching-or the helping type, believe me, I've tried." Scootaloo said. Sky Bound burst into a hoot of laughter, howling as Rumble kept a blank, bemused expression on his face.

"I would've paid to see that." she said, hugging her sides.

"I wish you were there to hear Rumble's constant whining. You'd swear he was a foal." Scootaloo teased.

"Har har." Rumble said. "At least I didn't pass out."

"I never passed out." Scootaloo said.

"You nearly did." Rumble said. "Miss-I've-got-too-much-on-my-mind." he teased.

"Oh, shut up." Scootaloo said, playfully pushing Rumble with a smile and a roll of her eyes.

"I don't recall getting cheesy romance with my tray of food," Sky Bound said.

"Whatever." Scootaloo replied.

"How are you two so...." Sky Bound struggled to find the right words.

"Awesome?" Scootaloo suggested.

"No," Sky Bound said with a chuckle. "close?" she finally said.

"Well, it wasn't like that at first. And we're still not that close. At least, not to the same extent as other couples are." Rumble said. "We're more like nagging friends to each other than love interests."

"Really?" Sky Bound said, a bit surprised. "But you two are always acting like one."

"Nah, I wouldn't say so." Scootaloo said.

"How come?" Sky Bound said, a bit curious.

"Well, it's like this. Other couples give each other eskimo kisses, " Scootaloo pretended to gag. "or are always giving each other nicknames and kissing out of nowhere all of the time. But for us, we're just not that type of couple."

"There are types?" Sky Bound asked, perking up from the information.

"Well, yeah. What'd you think that they were all the same?" Rumble chuckled.

"Honestly, I don't know that much about relationships, at least those kind anyway." Sky Bound replied, blushing a bit from embarrassment. "I just never really got caught up in it, ya know?"

"I'm guessing you just didn't want to date anyone." Scootaloo thought aloud.

"No, actually." Sky Bound replied, glancing away. "I just never exactly got to it, ya know. I can only make assumptions from what I see, or what I find in movies. Sure there was that one friend here and there, but I just never really got that involved." she said, she started picking at her plate, before she realized just how much she ranted.

"What about you?" she quickly asked, trying to turn the conversation away from herself.

"Me?" Scootaloo asked, pointing to herself.

"Yeah, who else? Tell me what type of relationship you have, since you're so close and all."

"Well that's a long story. Maybe during free time." Scootaloo said.

"That long, huh?" Sky Bound asked, returning back to her original tone.

"Yeah, I could write a whole story on it." Scootaloo said.

"And it'd probably have over 40 chapters or something." Rumble chuckled in agreement.

"Well, I've talked enough about romance, how about something else?" Sky Bound asked.

"Such as...?"

"Maybe you could tell me about that stallion from earlier." Sky Bound suggested. Scootaloo's smile shrunk, and she tilted her ears down. Now it was her turn to start picking at her food, and she started chewing a bit more slowly.

"I saw Spitfire talking to you three, do you know him?" Sky Bound asked.

Rumble looked to Scootaloo, a sympathetic look on his face. Scootaloo stared at the tray, struggling to answer.

"I'm sorry, did I hit a nerve?" Sky Bound asked, noticing Scootaloo's change of tone.

"Kind of, yeah." Scootaloo replied softly.

"I'm so sorry. I didn't know." Scootaloo looked back up at her, flashing her a small smile.

"It's fine, you didn't know."

Rumble and Sky Bound looked up in worry as Scootaloo stood up from the bench.

"I'm not hungry. I think that I'll just go get a breath of fresh air." she said. Sky Bound turned to Rumble as Scootaloo walked out of the room.

"I'm sorry, I wouldn't have asked if I knew mentioning him would hit a nerve." Sky Bound said.

"Don't worry about it, Scootaloo's tougher than nails. She knows you didn't mean it."

"Should we go after her?" Sky Bound offered.

"Yeah, we probably should." Rumble said. The two got up from their sitting positions, following the direction Scootaloo went in. As they went, as soon as they were out of hearing distance of the cafeteria, Rumble spoke in a low tone to Sky Bound.

"That Comet guy came to a friend's birthday party a couple of months back," Rumble started. "I was talking with my friends, and Scootaloo decided to sit down on the sidelines for a bit. And he came up to her and started flirting."

"Did he hurt her?" Sky Bound asked quietly.

"No, he mainly made her feel uncomfortable, and he invaded her personal space. When she tried to get away from him, he grabbed her wing."

"He did?" Sky Bound asked.

"Yeah, but he did let her go, after Scootaloo left a bruise on his face." Rumble explained.

"Well she doesn't seem like the type of mare to let that sort of thing slide." Sky Bound remarked.

"She's not really suited for the role of 'damsel in distress'." Rumble agreed.

"So I'm guessing that he hasn't learned his lesson." Sky Bound said.

"He sure hasn't, if anything, according to Scoots, he's more flirtatious than ever." Rumble paused for a moment. Can you do something for me?"

"Yeah?"

"I'm glad that we ran into you. You seem to be pretty loyal, if he does anything to make her uncomfortable, and I'm not there, can you help her out please? "

"Of course. Scootaloo's pretty cool. I won't let that guy come 100 miles close to her if he tries anything." 

"Good." Rumble said. "And one more thing."

"Yeah?" Sky Bound asked, pushing through the door in front of them.

"Scootaloo doesn't want to handle any future situations the same way as she did at the party. She told me she doesn't want me to either, since we could get kicked out if we start getting violent."

"I get it, so you want me to help her out, but not in a physical way." Sky Bound said.

Rumble nodded.

"Alright, but if he hurts her first," Sky Bound started.

"Go nuts."

They stopped outside, finding Scootaloo a few yards away and sitting in the grass. She seemed to be studying something when she heard the sound of quiet chatter.

She glanced up, finding Sky Bound and Rumble there. "Oh, hey guys." Scootaloo said, a bit surprised to find them there.

"What? Did you expect us to just sit in there the whole time?" Sky Bound asked with a smirk.

Scootaloo smiled. "No."

"They're going to assign rooms in a moment anyway, we should head back." Sky Bound suggested.

"Alright." Scootaloo said. 





"Formation!" Spitfire screeched. The reserves scrambled into place, straightening up and staring directly ahead as before.

"Since there have been a few," Spitfire cleared her throat, whilst throwing one of the troops a glare. "problems in the past with rooms, the girls are to sleep in one, and the boys in the other. Do I make myself clear?!" Spitfire asked.

"Yes Ma'am!" the group cried.

"Good, now a few ground rules, if you can follow them, then maybe you can survive the camp. Rule 1, don't leave your bedrooms after curfew. And don't try to give me any excuses such as potty breaks. Each bedroom has a bathroom built in it for that specific purpose.

Rule 2, keep the rooms clean, this is an Academy, not a pigsty, clean up after yourselves for Celestia's sake. We're not some cleaning service meant to look baby you. I'm looking at you, Comet." Spitfire said.

Rule 3, Do not open the windows or bring food without permission into the bedrooms, last thing we need up here is for any pests or anything else up here to get in. 

Rule 4, I do not, I repeat I do not want to hear any chatter after curfew. Any talking, running, or any other noises that does not pertain sleeping is strictly forbidden. You are all expected to be awake as soon as we alert you. 

And lastly, just so that you little pranksters could know, failure to abide to any of these rules leads to immediate suspension, and you will fail this year. So disobeying rules to get a laugh is not acceptable, and will not be tolerated."

Do I make myself clear?!" Spitfire asked.

"Ma'am yes ma'am!" the group shouted.

"Good. Now you are aloud to pick your beds, but if you want any free time you'd best hurry." With that, Spitfire walked out the hallway, leaving the other two workers to lead the recruits to their designated rooms.

"See you in a bit." Rumble said to Scootaloo.

"Alright." Scootaloo said with a smile.

The mares filed out into the room, chattering about the multiple beds as well as the Wonderbolt's theme of the room. "I call this one!" Sky Bound said, sprinting over to one in the middle.

The rest of the mares went into a frenzy as they claimed their own beds, whilst Scootaloo walked over to the one adjacent to her new friend. The mares took off their goggles, since they had about a couple of minutes before curfew.

"Hey," Scootaloo said, turning to Sky Bound. 

"Yeah?" the blue pegasus responded.

"Thanks for, well, being so cool with us. I appreciate that."

"Not a problem. I mean, it'd be a bit boring being here without any friends." Sky Bound said, wrapping her foreleg around Scootaloo.

"Yeah, that'd be pretty dull." Scootaloo agreed.

"Plus, you're pretty cool too, You've certainly got the skills it takes to be a Wonderbolt."

"You think so?"

"No. I know so. You're amazing!" Sky Bound said. 

"You're not so bad yourself. In fact, I'd say you were pretty good too."

"Scootaloo, I can tell this is the start of an awesome friendship."

Scootaloo smiled. She definitely agreed.
> Chapter 6; The Results
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Scootaloo jumped awake, nearly falling out of her bed from the sudden noise. A loud trumpet boomed around the room, startling all of the mares awake as they jumped out of their beds. They didn't need to be told to get ready for the day ahead. As quickly as possible, Scootaloo put on her uniform and fixed the bed she slept in.

Within a few minutes, Spitfire came into the room, her sunglasses setting a darkening hue over her expectant eyes. She glanced around the room, looking for anything out of place. She smiled when she found everything as it should be.

"Alright, outside! Now!" she screeched, blowing the whistle around her neck. The mares all jumped, before quickly filing out of the room, rushing out the doors.

Once outside, they mixed in with the boys, standing in formation as they waited for Spitfire. Who seemed to be taking her sweet time with them. She looked over the checklist, making sure everyone was there, before she handed it off to someone to the side of her. 

"Today we're going to determine who your wing ponies will be for the week. But first," she turned to two stallions, who were pushing a machine in front of the line of ponies, draped with a long sheet. "we're going to set you up to this." She pulled off the sheet, revealing the legendary Dizzitron.

Scootaloo couldn't help but break into a sweat, this machine was known for breaking a few bones every now and again. She was suddenly grateful that she hadn't eaten breakfast before.

"Each one of you are going to be strapped onto to this bad boy," Spitfire smiled as she set a hoof on the contraption. "it will make you dizzy, I repeat, very dizzy. How quickly you recover will determine whether or not you become a wing pony." She turned to the cadets. "Do I make myself clear?!" she asked.

"Yes ma'am!" they shouted. Spitfire cracked a smile, and took her checklist back from the stallion before. "Alright, Comet, you're up first." she said.

The stallion smiled proudly, and walked over to the Dizzitron, setting himself in and slipping his goggles over his eyes.

"Ready?" Spitfire called out to him.

"I was born ready." he replied Spitfire narrowed her eyes, before she signaled for the machine to start. At first, it went by slowly, almost like a carnival ride, but soon the stallion became a navy and purple blur, and was moving at bone breaking speeds.

Spitfire took a moment to finally say, "Release!" once she did, Comet went soaring into the sky, recovering at an impressive state before flying down as quickly as possible to his original spot, throwing Scootaloo a cocky smirk and a wink. Who prompted to rolling her eyes.

"5.2 seconds, not bad." Spitfire admitted. "Now get back in line!" she demanded. Comet did so gladly, nearly prancing over to his original place. 

"Astra! You're up next!" Spitfire said. The rose colored mare gulped, as her sea green eyes shrunk.

"Y-yes ma'am." she said quietly.





Within the next twenty or so minutes, the recruits were sent flying off into the atmosphere, some taking longer to come back down than others. By the time Scootaloo was called up, many finished with flying colors, Rumble himself earning an impressive 4.73 seconds. Just as Spitfire called her up, Scootaloo immediately set herself in the machine, strapping her goggles into place.

"Ready?" Spitfire asked. Scootaloo took a second to adjust the strap, before nodding. Spitfire gave the signal, and Scootaloo went spinning in the loop, as the speed increased, she grew dizzier until the whole world was taking violent turns.

"Release!" she heard. In an instant, she felt herself flying into the air the world seeming to flip upside down one or two times, before she caught herself, she folded her wings and dropped down, ignoring her tilting vision. She opened her wings before she could hit the clouds and flew as fast as possible to where she originally started.

"4.87 seconds." Spitfire said, "Impressive."

Scootaloo smiled triumphantly, and despite how dizzy she still felt, went over to Rumble in line with everyone who had finished. Just as Sky Bound went up last, she sat next to Rumble, who gave her a supportive smile.

"That was amazing." he said.

"You weren't so bad yourself." Scootaloo grinned. "I can't wait for our results. They've got to put us together!"

"Our times were pretty close." Rumble agreed.

"You and I are going to be unstoppable." Scootaloo said.

"As long as I don't get sucked into a wind machine, I'll be fine." Rumble shrugged. Scootaloo rolled her eyes and grinned. Sky Bound, by that point, came to a landing next to the two. 

"So, was I awesome or what?" she said, flashing the two a grin.

"What was your time?"

"4.6!" Sky Bound said, "If I do say so myself."

"Wow, we came pretty close." Scootaloo said.

"Guess it was destined." Sky Bound smirked, wrapping an arm around Scootaloo. 

"I guess it was." Scootaloo replied.





Later on that day, everyone crowded into the lunchroom, several recruits pushing at each other to see their name and who would be a wing pony.

Scootaloo and Rumble however, took their time. They knew that ponies with the closest time would be paired up. So rather than going straight over, they got in line for lunch first.

Once the crowd died down, Rumble glanced over to it, before he saw the names. "Um...Scootaloo?" he said, poking at her.

"Yeah?" she asked, turning to him. She followed his eyes to the sheet of paper, and nearly dropped her plate. "You've gotta be kidding me." she said. "Please tell me this is a joke of some sorts."

Just then, Comet walked over, striding in a cocky pose towards her, a big dumb grin on his face. He smirked at Scootaloo, and Rumble gave him a bone-chilling glare. "Hey there, Sweet Lips." he said. Scootaloo scowled, avoiding his eyes. "Guess who your wing pony is." he hinted teasingly.

"You mean the grabby player who walks around hitting on everyone he sees?" Scootaloo shot back.

"Ouch." Comet said. "Is that any way to talk to your wing pony?"

"If you were anyone else, I wouldn't. But you're not anyone else, are you? You're a cocky show-off."

"If you ask me, I'd say it was destined. Perhaps it's fate." Comet said, walking up to Scootaloo and wrapping an arm around her, bumping Rumble out of the way. Rumble bit his cheek and resisted the urge to hit the guy, not wanting to make a scene.

Scootaloo pushed herself away from him and walked out of the cafeteria, setting her tray down on a vacant table.

"Mares," Comet said with a roll of his eyes, he turned to Rumble, "am I right?" Rumble ignored him and went over to the table Scootaloo set her tray.

"What's his problem?" 





"Permission to enter, ma'am."

Spitfire glanced up, glaring at Scootaloo over her glasses. 

"What is it, Scootaloo?" she asked.

"Ma'am, I thought that I'd be on the same team as someone else, someone who had a pretty close time to mine."

Spitfire took off her glasses. folding them and setting them to the side. "Your score was actually pretty close between two other recruits. However, you were slightly closer to Comet. Is there a problem with that?" Spitfire asked.

Scootaloo swallowed the lump in her throat before continuing. "It's just that I've had a few complications with my wing pony in the past, ma'am. I don't think that we'd make the best team." 

Spitfire sighed. "I understand that, Scootaloo. But part of being a Wonderbolt is learning to cooperate with everyone, regardless of the situation and regardless of who they are. You have to make the best with what you have. I know, that can be difficult with some ponies, but unless some problems arise, you're going to have to work with what you have. So I'm sorry to say, but you have to work with Comet. " she said. Scootaloo held back a defeated sigh.

"Unless there are some problems I should be aware about." Spitfire added, raising an eyebrow.

"No ma'am, sorry for interrupting." Scootaloo said.

"In that case, you're dismissed cadet." Spitfire said, putting her glasses back on.





"What'd she say?" Sky Bound asked, waiting for an answer with Rumble. 

"She said that I'm going to have to cooperate with him. Even if I don't like him in the slightest way possible." Scootaloo sighed. She picked at her food, avoiding Rumble's gaze.

"I'm sorry, Scoots. I know that this must be pretty hard for you." Rumble said. "But you know I'm willing to help you in whatever way I can." Rumble said.

"I know." Scootaloo sighed. "I just wish it could've been a bit different. But I can't do anything to change it, so I guess I'll have to suck it up."

Rumble grit his teeth. "I hate that guy, you won't believe how hard it is to not punch him." 

"I imagine it must be, the dude's hitting on your girlfriend, who wouldn't be mad?" Sky Bound agreed.

Speak of the devil, Comet came their way with a tray, winking at Scootaloo, who scowled. "What do you want, now?" Scootaloo asked harshly.

"I just want to eat lunch with my partner."

"Well I don't. Last time I checked, we weren't required to. So leave me alone." Scootaloo shot back.

"Oh come on Sweetheart," he said. "don't be like that."

"I am not your 'Sweetheart'. I'm just a pony who was unlucky enough to have to work with you."

"Come on, admit it, you like me don't you?"

"No. I don't. I don't, and I never will. I don't like you in the slightest bit possible, and I don't even want to be your acquaintance, and I sure as hell never wanted to be your partner. But I am your partner, and you're my wing pony.  Meaning that when I say something, you have to follow it. And right now, I say leave me the hell alone, and save it for the next exercise."

Comet was taken back by this, and for the first time since he's been there, the sneer on his face disappeared for a moment, before it returned. "Fine, drama queen." he said. Scootaloo rolled her eyes and turned back to Rumble.

"At least you two'll be able to work together." Scootaloo sighed.

"I guess so. Rumble's an excellent flyer and all, but I think that you two would've been better off working together. I feel like I'm putting a wedge between you guys."

"No, you're not, if anyone is, it's him." Rumble said. "Besides, you're not hitting on either of us like he is, so I wouldn't consider this putting a wedge between us."

"I have a feeling that that Comet guy might be trying to." Scootaloo stated.

"Knowing you though, I'm pretty sure he won't be able to. He just doesn't know you like I do." Rumble shrugged.

"You got that right." Scootaloo said. "I can't wait to be as far away from him as possible."

"Considering we're only two days in, I think it's safe to assume it's going to be

 a long week." Sky Bound added.

Rumble and Scootaloo nodded. "Agreed."
> Chapter 7 Truce
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Scootaloo groaned as she pulled herself out of bed, knowing she likely wasn't going to have the best day. According to what Rainbow Dash and Soarin' have told her about the Academy, this was the day of the Flag Hunt.

Meaning she'd have to work with Comet. Unless she wanted to be disqualified.

"Rough night?" Sky Bound asked, hearing her groans.

"Yeah." Scootaloo brushed off.

Sky Bound shrugged, deciding to let the topic drop.





Once everyone had filed out of their rooms, and made it outside, Spitfire went on to explain the instructions. Scootaloo avoided looking at her wing pony, why him, of all ponies? She would've gladly have been someone else's lead, or wing pony. Why did it have to be the biggest jerk in the compound? Now she had to deal with his flirting, and whatever else for the rest of the week. If only she had flown a little bit faster, if only the smallest change in scores occurred- 

"Are you listening private?!" Spitfire screeched, moving into Scootaloo's face.

Scootaloo snapped out of her gaze, ignoring the snicker from everypony else.

"Yes ma'am." she said clearly. 

"Don't forget that I'll be keeping a close eye on you recruits this year, if you two get separated, you will immediately be disqualified!" she moved into Comet's face. "Am I clear?" she asked.

Comet swallowed the lump in his throat, his smug smirk long gone. "Yes ma'am."

Spitfire stepped back, a satisfied smile on her lips. "Good. As I was saying, there will be two teams, the red team, and the blue team. " Scootaloo felt a bit disappointed to see Rumble and Sky Bound on the blue team, but she didn't really acknowledge it. She did notice how the other pair on her team seemed to be a bit disappointed as well. "Whoever finds the most flags of the opposing team's color, wins." she announced. Everyone nodded in understanding.

"This is for training purposes, not recess," she glared at one particular pair of ponies "so lead ponies and wing ponies are to stay together. And I'm sure if you were paying attention to Scootaloo's demonstration, than you know what happens if you don't." Scootaloo bit her lip as a few ponies snickered.

'I really need to stop spacing out so much.' she thought to herself.

"Everyone got that?" Spitfire asked. 

"Yes Ma'am!" the recruits shouted. 

"Good." she said, she took the whistle and blew it harshly. "Now get out there!!"

Comet took off, leaving Scootaloo to follow after. "Hey!" she shouted, following after him, which proved to be a bit difficult, considering he was zigzagging about. "We're supposed to stick together, remember?" she shouted over the wind. 

"After you then, Ma'am." Comet said, holding his hooves out. Scootaloo rolled her eyes and scoped the place, looking for any hints of red. After a few minutes with no results, she turned to him.

"You see anything yet?" she asked. Comet didn't answer.

"Did you see anything yet?" she asked, a bit louder this time, in case he hadn't heard the first. 

"Not yet." he replied he replied with a smile, which she chose to ignore. When another flagless minute or so passed, Scootaloo turned back to him.

"Are you sure you can't see anything?" she asked.

"How could I? I'm too distracted by your beautiful mane."

"Comet, I'm not in the mood to deal with your flirting, now's hardly th time for it. Can you just pay attention and quit messing around?" she asked in a slightly annoyed tone.

"Alright, no need to be so bossy." he said.

Scootaloo bit her cheek. They did find a blue flag, and Comet was quick to snatch it and bring it back to Spitfire, leaving Scootaloo to follow.

"Can you maybe tell me if you find a-"

"Found one!" he swooped down.

"Wait!" Scootaloo shouted. She had no choice but to follow, knowing they were being closely monitored. 

Comet grabbed the blue flag with his hoof, before making a b-line to where Spitfire stood. 

'This guy just doesn't listen, does he?' she thought. She followed behind, scowling all the while. 

Once they came to a stop on the runway, the wing pony held the flag out proudly. Spitfire glared at the two.

"I'm confused, which one of you is the wing pony here?" she asked, taking off her glasses.

"What do you mean?" the stallion asked, raising a brow in her direction.

"I mean that you went by your own rules, cadet. Your job was to follow, not to take over. If you want to be a Wonderbolt, I suggest that you change that quickly." she said. Comet's proud expression faded.

"Yes ma'am." he muttered.

"And as for you, Scootaloo, you need to take charge. If he is out of control, your job as a leader is to confront him. If you want to be on the team, you'll have to work as one. Am I clear?!"

"Yes ma'am." Scootaloo said. 

"Good, now get out there and find the rest of those flags!"

The two took off, once they were out of hearing distance, Comet immediately zipped to another place.

"Oh no, not again." Scootaloo said. "Comet!" she yelled. The stallion turned back. "If we're going to win this, then we're going to have to at least try to work together, so can you maybe tell me if you find a flag before getting it for yourself?" she asked, clearly agitated.

"You know, I'd actually listen to you if you didn't have to be told to boss me around." he remarked.

"You know, we could actually win if you weren't so stubborn." she shot back.

"You don't have to be so demanding either. You're a big pony, you don't need my help 24/7. You can find flags on your own."

"But I do have a wing pony who can actually, you know, help me!"

"Whatever." Comet said with a roll of his eyes. "It's always the pretty ones that ask for the most." he muttered, flying away.

Scootaloo scoffed. "Fine. Don't listen to me, but don't be surprised when you get kicked out of the Academy."

As much as Scootaloo tried to keep her wing pony in check, the stallion was just too stubborn to listen. In the end, the blue team found all of the red flags, before Scootaloo's team could find all the blue ones.

As the red team came in for a landing, the other pair glared at the two, scowling all the while. Scootaloo glanced away from Comet, biting her tongue. She was afraid she'd yell if she said anything.

"The Blue Team wins!" Spitfire announced. The recruits cheered and gave each other a series of hoof bumps. "Congratulations," Spitfire continued. "As for the Red Team, some of you need to learn to cooperate."

"Blue Team, you go hit the mess hall early, as for the Red Team, you can start learning to work together by cleaning the hallways." The Blue Team cheered as they made their way to the cafeteria. Rumble and Sky Bound brushed past Scootaloo, and for a second, the two gave Scootaloo a concerned look, but she avoided their eyes.

"Everything alright?" Rumble asked quietly.

"Yeah." Scootaloo brushed off, still too angry to say much.





"I can't believe this! We should be the ones eating in there, not them!" Comet exclaimed, stomping into the hallway. Scootaloo threw a wet sponge at him, shutting him up.

"That doesn't matter, all we can do is worry about getting this done." she said flatly, before turning back to the wall, scrubbing it.

"Did you see how many flags I found? Not that my lead pony was any help. We should've won!"

"You found two flags, I found one, our team mates found the rest." 

"Well that Spitfire lady doesn't know what she'd talking about." 

"She's the captain of the Wonderbolts, and she's been teaching recruits for years, she's more than qualified to teach us." One of the other team mates shouted, training his angry rose colored eyes on him.

"Even a prick like you." The other added, training her silver eyes on him and tightening her jaw.

"Well then the blue team shouldn't have won, they must've had less flags to collect." he rambled, still refraining from doing any of his work.

"They totally had an unfair advantage, they had the team with the best scores!" he continued. Scootaloo tilted her ears down, glaring at a certain spot in the wall, biting her lip to keep from responding. She was tired of his complaints, he had no right to complain in the first place.

'Don't snap, don't snap, don't snap...' she told herself, though as the stallion continued, that proved to be more and more difficult.

"I shouldn't have been on this cruddy team." The other pair chose to ignore the comment, deciding to finish the wall they were working on.

"Or paired up with such a terrible lead pony."

That did it.

"Well maybe, we wouldn't have been stuck here, if you hadn't been too damn stubborn to listen!" Scootaloo said, throwing her sponge in a nearby bucket, causing some of the water to splash on him.

"Hey, what gives?" he asked, jumping back and turning to her.

"Newsflash, bucko," she continued. "I didn't want to be stuck with you either! But guess what? I did! And look at what's happened because of it!" She flew down from her spot and stepped into his face, giving him a bone chilling glare. 

"I'm stuck in here with you, cleaning hallways that the rest of us shouldn't have to clean in the first place! All you had to do was listen! But you could hardly listen for one damn second, yet you have the audacity to blame us?!" She lowered her voice an octave.

"Unlike you, I actually care about being here, and I actually respect the other recruits and their goals to become Wonderbolts. So if you want to complain and blame everyone else for your own choices, if you want to be stubborn and ignore the simplest instructions, and make yourself look like a damn fool, if you want to spoil my chances of becoming a Wonderbolt, then you really don't deserve to be here in the first place. Because I highly doubt that the Wonderbolts will accept someone as arrogant, selfish, and stubborn as you!"

Scootaloo's words echoed across the hallway, causing the sound of scrubbing sponges to stop. The other duo, went silent as well, turning to the pair with widened eyes. But they remained quiet, knowing it'd be better to not to intervene. 

Before he could respond, Scootaloo took the sponge and rung it, flying back up to her place from before, the tips off her ears still painted an angry red.





"So you finally snapped, huh?" Rumble asked.

"Yeah," Scootaloo sighed. "He was really getting on my nerves."

"What'd you say to him?"

"I told him about how much of a fool he makes of himself, especially since he has the nerve to blame me and our team mates, when they found most of the flags."

"Seems like it was pretty intense."

"I may have gotten a bit carried away, though." Scootaloo admitted.

"How so?" Sky Bound questioned. 

"I called him a stubborn fool, and said that he had no place in the Wonderbolts." she explained.

"Sheesh, that's pretty harsh, even to him." Sky Bound said. 

"I guess it was. I was just so angry, you know?" Scootaloo said. "Wouldn't you be frustrated if you had to work with someone like that?"

"Well, I guess you have a point there. But winning wasn't all that it was scraped up to be." Rumble said. "All they did was give out a few cookies with our trays." Rumble said.

"It's better than scrubbing walls for an hour." Scootaloo mumbled.

"True." Rumble shrugged. "but I snagged an extra one for you." he said quietly, as though it was a big secret. Scootaloo couldn't help but chuckle as he pulled it off of his tray.

"You mean that all that time, when I asked you for your cookie, you had an extra one?" Sky Bound asked.

"Yep." Rumble said, handing it to Scootaloo. Scootaloo chuckled again as Sky Bound playfully pouted and crossed her arms. 

"Cookie hog." she mumbled.

"Thanks, Rumble." she grinned.

Scootaloo bit into it, before glancing at a table to her left, which was completely vacant, save for one lone stallion sitting there, who didn't seem to have touched his food.

She sighed, pulling the cookie away, chewing slowly. She didn't really feel like she deserved it. Rumble followed her eyes and sighed too.

"You really feel bad, don't you?"

"Yeah, I mean I don't like the guy, but I shouldn't have yelled at him or called him that." Scootaloo muttered around chocolate chips. "Maybe calling him a stubborn fool was too harsh."

"Honestly, that's a little like the pot calling the kettle black if you ask me." Rumble said.

"What?" Scootaloo asked. Rumble rolled his eyes.

"It means it's kind of ironic of you to call him stubborn, when you tend to be stubborn yourself. You really ought to know this."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Scootaloo asked defensively.

"It means you tend to be pretty stubborn too, Scoot." Rumble continued, smirking at her.

"That was rhetorical." Scootaloo muttered. 

"I know." Rumble added. Scootaloo sighed.

"And how am I supposed to know what the pot telling the -whatever you said, means?"

"Well considering it's a common phrase in Ponyville these days, I would've expected you to know it by now." 

"Whatever, Rumble. Unlike you, I don't keep a track record of different phrases in Ponyville."

"Can we get back to the subject?" Sky Bound interjected. The two glanced at her before turning back to Comet. Before nodding in agreement.

"I really should go talk to him, I don't want the rest of the week to be like this."

"You want me to go with you?" Rumble said.

"Thanks, but I think I can handle it." Scootaloo smiled at him, before standing up.

Once she approached the table, Comet glanced up and scowled.

"What do you want? Did you come to scream at me some more?" he asked harshly.

"No, I actually came to apologize." Scootaloo shot back.

"Oh, did you now? So the feisty pony has finally developed a soft side for me?" he asked flirtatiously with a smirk.

"That's not the case at all." Scootaloo assured him. "I actually want to make a truce."

"A truce? What is this a war?"

"Can you just hear me out?" Scootaloo asked in an annoyed tone. She stopped and took in a deep breath. "Look, Comet. I don't want to spend the rest of the week screaming at you. That wasn't cool."

"You're right about that." Comet interjected.

Scootaloo ignored the comment. "I guess that I was pretty upset that I wasn't paired up with someone I was comfortable with."

"Oh really? Seemed like you were upset about losing too."

"Speak for yourself." Scootaloo remarked. "I'm just trying to say that we don't have to be friends, but can we at least put our own wants aside so we can get through this? Neither of us will make it through the Academy if we can't suck it up and work together."

"So that's what you came here for? To talk about teamwork? What's next, are you going to give me a friendship bracelet?" he mimicked.

"I also came here to say I'm sorry for screaming at you. Remember? And I shouldn't have called you those names. They wouldn't let you be here if you weren't Wonderbolt's material, and it's not my place to say or think otherwise."

Comet paused, taken back. He softened his glare a bit. "I guess I haven't exactly been the best wing pony I could be. And I guess I don't put in as much work as I should. I was lucky enough to be considered for the Academy, let alone let in it. But I haven't been showing it."

"Not a single bit." Scootaloo said.

"Well, I guess I could try and put up with your demands." Comet said, returning back to his usual tone. 

"I'm not going to settle for a try, I need a will. If I'm putting up with you, you're putting up with that. Can you handle it?" Scootaloo asked sternly.

Comet held his hooves up. "Sheesh, I hear ya. Fine. But I'm only doing it because of the pleading look in your eyes." he said with a smirk. Scootaloo took to rolling them.

"Good, we're busting clouds tomorrow, so you're going to have to bring your attention. And try not to be so stubborn. Got that?" she asked, turning away from him. 

"Yes ma'am." he said with a salute, winking at her. 

Scootaloo walked back to her table, where Sky Bound and Rumble waited.

"How'd it go?"

"He tried flirting with me towards the end, but I think he'll be willing to cooperate a bit more."

"Well good luck." Sky Bound said.

"I'm definitely going to need it." Scootaloo sighed.

"Wait, he tried flirting with you again?" Rumble interjected.

"Yeah. Something about doing it for the look in my eyes." she said in an annoyed tone. 

"Still the same old player." Rumble said with a shake of his head, "If he tries anything funny-"

"You'll pummel him to the ground." Sky Bound interjected. "We know." Scootaloo smirked.

"Aw, you'd really do that for me?" Scootaloo asked with a smile.

"Of course I would." Rumble huffed.

"Sometimes you can be such a gentlecolt, you know that?" Scootaloo smirked. knowing she'd make Rumble blush a bit.
> Chapter 8 
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"You okay?" Rumble asked, he landed next to Scootaloo, matching her pace. 

Scootaloo sighed. "Yeah, I'm just a bit tired, ya know?"

"Did you get any sleep?"

"Yeah, I guess so. I just can't shake this feeling, though."

"What feeling?" Rumble asked, arching a concerned eyebrow.

"I know that Comet said he'd try harder, but I guess I have my doubts." she admitted.

"I can't say I blame you, I'd probably be the same if I were in your position."

Scootaloo let out another sigh, stepping out of the building and stretching her wings. "I just wish that we could maybe prove ourselves ya know? I know we can both get better results. I just hope things'll turn out for the better."

"Yeah." Rumble agreed. The rest of the recruits were already outside, some of which were using the obstacle course for warm-ups. Rumble felt he had to lift Scootaloo's spirits somehow, and he had a pretty good solution. "You wanna race?" he asked hopefully.

Scootaloo tried to hide her smirk. "I don't know, depends on the prize."

"Loser has to clean the house for a week." he tried.

"Are you sure about that? Right now you already owe me dinner," she reminded him.

"You up to it or not?" he asked. 	

"Hm," she teased, putting a hoof to her chin, considering the offer. "how about two?" she challenged, smirking to her heart's contempt.

Rumble mirrored the expression, "First one to the end of the course wins."

"You're on."





The last thing Spitfire expected was to see a few of her recruits flying about the place, using the obstacle course with noticeably improved results. And some getting a head start on their daily exercises. She smirked and grabbed her whistle, blowing harshly into it. All of the recruits immediately snapped to attention, before rushing forward.

Comet who had been talking with another pony, noticed the look on Scootaloo's face as she passed by, and he couldn't help but feel curious as to why she had such a smug smile. Rather than taking the chance to ask her about it, he gave her a look, one that was asking, 'what's the deal?', a look she didn't seem to notice. For she was far too happy to have won her little race. She held back a chuckle as Rumble got into formation with a disappointed demeanor.

"Today," Spitfire began, "you'll be working on our famous air obstacle course, the object of this exercise is to work on precision flying under extreme circumstances." She paced in front of the line, motioning to the multiple machinery met to simulate harsh weather. "Don't worry about winning, this isn't a race." She glanced at over everyone when she said this.

"Get on your mark!" she yelled. The recruits responded by strapping their goggles in place.

"Ready?" Scootaloo asked Comet.

"I was born ready, sweetheart." he replied. Scootaloo prompted to rolling her eyes as she took to galloping off the runway, Comet close behind as they took off.

Scootaloo couldn't help but smirk once she saw Rumble wink at her a few teams ahead. 

"I'm sorry, but did I miss something?" Comet asked, turning to her.

"What do you mean?"

"What're you smiling like that for?" He then adopted a smug grin. "Are you excited to finally do this course with me?" 

"Nothing important." she responded, ignoring the last sentence. "Just stay in sync." Comet narrowed his eyes but obeyed, matching her quick but steady speed through the rings.

Scootaloo stole another glance to Rumble, who was smiling back at her for a quick second.

"Watch out!" Comet said, Scootaloo snapped back to attention, barely missing a cloud as she flew out of it's way. "Keep your head out of the clouds, lead-pony." Comet sneered.

Scootaloo bit her lip. "Sorry, I guess I got a bit distracted."

"Then don't, you were the one lecturing me yesterday about cooperating, do I have to tell you to pay attention?" he threatened.

"No, I'm fine. I just have a lot on my mind." she objected sternly. She quickly dove around a few other clouds before they made their way to more rings.

"Stay in sync," Scootaloo reminded him sternly.

"I get it, I will." he replied, "Bossy." he muttered. Scootaloo made a series of sharp turns through the rings, making sure Comet would be able to keep up. At one point, she did a dizzying spin before turning through at an unusually sharp angle.

"Show off, much?" he stated.

"Look who's talking." she shot back. "At least I kept up with you." he ignored the comment.

From below, Spitfire kept a close watch on the teams, seeing how noticeably better one certain pair got.  "Not bad." she thought aloud, noting the matched paces, and the speedy, yet agile turns around the obstacles.

Once they made it to the rain, Comet didn't seem to have much of a problem getting through the harsh winds. Scootaloo however, struggled a bit to keep pace. The wind nearly blew her back, and knocked her off course, Comet immediately noticed this, and flew a bit slower for her sake.

"Come on, it's just a little weather." he beckoned. "It's easy to get through." Scootaloo nodded and flapped a bit harder, she wasn't the best when it came to flying in the rain, she never really got used to it. 

"You can fly faster, I've seen you in our other exercises." he continued. Scootaloo pushed further, flapping her wings at a much more rapid speed, until they were flying through at the same pace.

"Was that so hard?" he teased.

"Shut up." Scootaloo stated. Although, she was kind of glad he didn't fly too far ahead of her, seeing how he had no problem getting through whatsoever. Maybe her lecture yesterday paid off.

Lightning flashed around the pair, making them even more eager to escape the storm and pick up the pace.

Once they reached the end of it, Scootaloo glanced to Comet. "You want to speed things up a bit?"

"I don't know, I'm not the most agile pony."

"Come on, I've seen you in other exercises, you can manage." she mimicked.

"You know, as much as I like a feisty mare, you sure can be a pain in the-"

Another duo raced past them, it took the two only a moment before they could catch themselves. 

"You see my point?" Scootaloo asked.

"Whatever." With that, he pulled forward, and Scootaloo quickly followed, where they dodged the fierce winds, Scootaloo in a much more graceful way than her wing-pony. She even did a few more spins here and there, but made sure not to get too carried away. 

"Comet, watch out!" she said. The stallion was nearly blown back by the wind machine, but he managed to steady himself and dodge the rest.

"How the hay are you able to do all of that?"

"I can ask the same thing to you and the rain."

"I grew up in a rainy city. If you think that's hard, try flying in the middle of stage four thunder storm." A chill went up her spine, she didn't even want to think about the damage that could be done.

"I basically just practiced with my Dad, and Rainbow Dash." she said, as the two came to a landing on the runway.

"Wait, you know Rainbow Dash? As in, the Rainbow Dash, one of the fastest current members of the Wonderbolts?" he asked, shock coming across his face.

"Yep. That's the one."

"That's a little unfair, don't you think?"

"I can see why you'd think so, but trust me, I couldn't come close to her skills."

"Whatever. It's still a little unfair."

"You think everything is unfair, don't you?" Scootaloo commented. "It's not like she took me on like some sort of protégé or something. She's like a sister to me, and just helped me learn to fly."

"You mean you didn't learn yourself?"

"No." Scootaloo sighed, adopting a more mellow tone to her voice. "I was a late bloomer." she summarized, not wanting to give him all of the details. "I just so happened to have her help me out a bit when I needed it, but she wasn't always there, she had things to do sometimes. But once I got the basics, I learned everything else myself. And a bit of help from other ponies, especially my Dad."

"I was a late bloomer too." Comet admitted.

"Really?" Scootaloo asked.

"Yeah, my brothers and my Mom helped me out the most. Two of them work for the Wonderbolts, actually, one helps with training and such,"

"Yet you say I have an unfair advantage." Scootaloo remarked.

"But they did help me out. They taught me everything I know."

"How many brothers do you have?"

"Three, all of them older."

"So you're the baby of the family?" 

"Yeah." he said. 

"Well, you're pretty good." Scootaloo admitted.

"You're not so bad yourself, hot shot." he remarked, "I like that in a mare." throwing her another flirtatious smirk.

Before a witty remark could be said, Spitfire approached them. "You two," she said. The duo stood up straight and turned to her.

"Yes ma'am," they replied in unison.

"At ease, I just wanted to say good job out there. Scootaloo, you need to work on getting used to rain storms, Comet, you need to work on your agility." The two nodded. "But I did see a major improvement, however. I'm assuming you two worked out your differences?" she said, peering over her glasses.

"I guess you could say that, ma'am." Comet said, throwing Scootaloo another smirk and side eye. Who prompted to rolling her own eyes.

"Good on you. I see you're finally attending to your positions, make sure you keep it that way."

"Yes ma'am."

"You two can go make yourselves busy, we're hitting the mess hall in ten." With that, she started towards the course, where a two or three recruits managed to get themselves stuck in the clouds.

Scootaloo turned to the other pairs that made their way down. Finding Rumble and Sky Bound off to the side. The two waved at her. She then turned back to Comet, who was already making his way towards another recruit.

"Hey, Scootaloo!" Sky Bound called out. She stopped doing her sit-ups and stared up at her. 

Scootaloo smiled and trotted over. 

"How'd it go?" Rumble asked.

"Way better than yesterday. I wouldn't say we're friends, but I think we'll be able to get through the rest of the week."

"Thank Luna, I'd hate for things to go South for you." Rumble replied.

"I'm fine Rumble, he's not that bad."

"Why do you say that?"

"Well, even if he's pushy, and a player, annoying, and talks too much for his own good, he's not that bad. How'd it go for you guys?"

"Everything turned out fine, we didn't have many problems. Except that lover boy here wouldn't stop blabbering on about how 'I hope Scootaloo's this,' and 'I hope Scootaloo will be that.' 

"Really?" Scootaloo asked, smirking and raising an eyebrow to the colt.

"I saw you had a bit of trouble getting through the storm section, and it seemed like you and Comet were going at each other a few times." he admitted.

"There's also how this guy nearly ran face first into one of the rings."

"He does need to work on his agility," Scootaloo chuckled in agreement.

"Hey! I'm not the only one, she had trouble with the wind machines." Rumble stated. "Not to mention you were a bit out of pace sometimes."

"Okay, I'll admit, I've got my flaws." Sky Bound said. "Nopony's perfect."

"So what's after this?" Scootaloo asked.

"Well, once we get cloud busting out of the way, we'll have the final course tomorrow." Rumble said.

"I meant for today, Captain Obvious." Scootaloo smirked.

"Well, we've got about..." she glanced at the position of the sun, "...seventy minutes before we start the next exercise, so I'm saving my energy until then."

"You up for another race?" Rumble asked.

"Nah, I think we've done enough for now. We seem to do it a little too often anyway, don't you think? Plus, I'm pretty sure I'm going to win."

"Don't be so sure, you know I beat you the other day." Rumble reminded her. "And I guess you do have a point, but what else is there to do?"

"Wing-ups?" Scootaloo teased. Rumble narrowed his eyes. "Okay, a no for the wing-ups then." she quickly added.





Later on, once the mess hall was cleared, Spitfire went to her office to fill out some last minute paper work, while the cadets were left with the next exercise.

"You all have thirty minutes to clear as many clouds as possible, we'll be keeping score on how many each pair can clear. It's not a race, but it will go down on your final results." one stallion explained. "And just to let you know, no one should be able to finish, we'll be pumping out more clouds as you go on. So we shouldn't see anyone slacking off." A few cadets groaned. "And tornadoes are not permitted, if we see any sign of one, whoever's responsible will be expelled from the Academy." With that, he blew sharply into the whistle, and everyone took off.

"What's with the tornado thing?" Comet thought aloud. "Who the hay came up with that?"

"I think that somepony tried it a few years back, I heard a few ponies were nearly killed." Scootaloo recalled.

"That's a bit obsessive to clear some clouds." he commented. 

Scootaloo nodded in agreement, before turning to him, he had his eyes set for a certain portion in the sky. "Ever bust clouds before?" she asked. 

He paused, "Sort of."

Scootaloo rose an eyebrow. "What do you mean 'sort of'?"

"I'm not really good at it." he admitted. "Half the time I just push it farther away."

"You can't be that bad." Scootaloo said, swooping down to one set, within a few seconds, she cleared six clouds. "It's easy."

Comet tried kicking at one, but his hooves bounced back.

"Oh." Scootaloo said. 'That's pretty bad.' she thought.

"See?" he asked.

"Aim for the middle, clouds have certain soft spots you can hit." she said. She kicked at two other clouds, aiming towards the middle in a soft spot. "Try it." she said.

He flew up to where she was and aimed at another set, managing to make it divide into three smaller puffs. He sighed at the pony taking score. 

"Try kicking harder, it's like flying, once you learn, you can't forget." she said.

"I don't need another lecture." he snapped.

"You don't seem like you can figure it out on your own." she shot back.

He sighed. "Where do I aim?"

"Just aim for the soft spot, in the middle, and don't hit it too softly." she said. He followed her advice, and drew in a deep breath. With that, he aimed for another cloud, managing to make it burst.

"See? It's not so hard." Scootaloo teased.

"Shut up," he muttered. Scootaloo rolled her eyes and smirked, the two started bursting through the clouds, Scootaloo, slicing through set after set, and showing Comet how he could do the same. Eventually, he got the hang of it, and managed to slice through more clouds even faster than Scootaloo could.

In the end, the whistle blew, and everyone flew down. The ponies counted their scores and were shocked at how close they all came. Scootaloo and Comet were actually in the lead, another set was just a cloud short of them, and Rumble and Sky Bound were just three.

Scootaloo turned to Comet, shock clear on her face. "Tell me I'm not miscounting that," she said to him.

"I can see it too." he said. He smirked. "I guess that we're just the perfect pair. Who knows, maybe it was meant to be."

Scootaloo was too shocked to acknowledge the comment, she looked to Rumble off to the side, who, with Sky Bound, threw her a supporting smile.

'I can't believe it,' she thought. She finally managed to prove herself. She smiled widely, unable to hide her grin. She felt like throwing her arms around someone, and she was sure that pony would be Rumble.

"Yes!" she said to herself.

The whistle blew three times, prompting everyone to turn their attention to the ponies left in charge. 

"20 laps around the Academy!" he screeched. Before anyone could let out a groan, he blew the whistle. Comet flew ahead, without much of a word. Scootaloo went up to Rumble, wrapping her arms around his neck.

"We did it!" she said happily.

"Good on you, Scoot." he said happily.

"Guess that telling him off worked out." Sky Bound said. 

Scootaloo smiled. "Yep." she smiled.
> Chapter 9; Betrayed
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Scootaloo's eyes cracked open, finding the room was still dark, and that sunlight barely came in through the window. She sat up a bit, realizing everyone else was asleep, and that she, for once, woke up before everyone else could. Though she felt like they'd be up soon.

She didn't try to fall back asleep, she was too energetic to. Today was the final course, the one everyone had been practicing for all week. And she was determined to get it right.

If only she were aloud to go outside, right then. She felt the urgent need to stretch her wings out. The sudden adrenaline and determination only fueling that urgency.

'This is it.' she thought. By tonight, they were all packing up and heading home. And they'd hear the news of whether they passed or failed the Academy.

Time however, was making her impatient. Why'd it have to go so slow? 

She wondered what her results would be, and who would finish at the top of the class. What would Rumble get? She was positive he'd be able to pass, especially when it came to the altitude section. When it came to Sky Bound, she was sure her friend would pass with flying colors. Who knows? Maybe they could get a medal or something. Rainbow Dash mentioned how they give out medals at the end of the week.

It didn't really matter to her, either way. She just wanted to get accepted.

'What about Comet?' she found herself asking.

She had the feeling he'd be able to do it. After all, the courses and exercises they did really paid off for him. Spitfire herself noticed improvement between the two. She was so glad she got him to cooperate when she did. She didn't know how her week would've ended otherwise.

Maybe, just maybe, she could become friends with the stallion. He was annoying as all hay, and as much of a smug player as the next. But she saw he could be serious when he wanted to be.

No matter what happened today, she was going to make the best of it. If she passed, or somehow failed, she was going to make the best of it. She wasn't going to let anything ruin such an important day. 

Right as she finished that thought, the trumpet blared, and the mares around her all groaned. Scootaloo smirked, hopping out of bed.





Scootaloo couldn't hold back the smile on her face, she was finally here! The moment she's been dreaming of ever since she even considered being a Wonderbolt. And it was so close!

"Someone looks happy." she heard, she turned to her right to find Comet there, smiling himself. Only his lips stretched into a more smug expression.

"I guess you could say that." she replied, making her way outside, where everypony else was.

"Were you thinking about me?" he asked.

Scootaloo rolled her eyes, finding it'd be pointless to comment. She wasn't going to humor him and let it spoil her good mood. She spotted Sky Bound and trotted up to her.

"Hey Sky," she greeted. 

Sky Bound jumped, turning to see her. "Oh, it's just you. Hey Scoot."

"Ready for the course?" Scootaloo asked.

"Yeah, totally." Sky Bound said. Scootaloo noticed how the confidence in her voice seemed faked.

"You nervous?" she asked.

"Well," Sky Bound said, dropping the act. "kind of."

"That's okay." Scootaloo assured her. "I can't say the same for myself though."

"How could you not be?" she wondered aloud.

"I've been preparing for this day for so long. I can't let my doubts get in the way of anything." Scootaloo said.

"I wish I wasn't nervous." Sky Bound said, looking down. "I just can't help but feel like I'm going to fail."

"You won't fail. If anything, you'll be so good they'll make you a Wonderbolt on the spot."

Sky Bound smiled. "Thanks, but I'm not so sure about that." she sighed. "I just can't shake it."

"My mother always told me, whenever I was nervous, that, 'Being nervous isn't always a bad thing. It just means you know something important will happen. You just have to try and push the negative thoughts aside and try to make the best of what will happen next.' " Scootaloo assured her. Sky Bound looked to the ground, before looking back up to Scootaloo with a smile.

"Your mom gives good advice." she admitted.

Scootaloo chuckled. "Yeah."

"Thanks," she responded. "I...really needed to hear that."

Scootaloo responded with a smile. "Don't worry about it."

"Hey Scootaloo!" she heard. Scootaloo turned to see Rumble flying above her head, holding her goggles teasingly.

"What the- damn it Rumble!" she said, flying up to his level. She couldn't fight a smile however, as she swiped them away.

"Don't look at me, I found them on the road."

"What do you mean?" she asked. She was pretty sure that she had it tied securely.

"Yeah, now that I think about it, you did look like you were missing something when you came up to me." Sky Bound admitted. "I didn't notice it until now."

"But I had them on ever since we left our room, there's no way it could'v-" just then her conversation with Comet came to mind. She turned towards the obstacle course, where the very stallion was glancing their way, winking and laughing at something.

"That son of a-" she mumbled. Before she could even say 'cockatrice' the whistle blew. And immediately, everyone flew into position. Scootaloo noticed how Comet was still snickering at her. She rolled her eyes, deciding to forget the situation.

Quickly, she tied her goggles back in place, Making sure they wouldn't come off as easily this time.

Spitfire flew down and landed in front of the recruits, and for once, she was actually smiling as she started talking. "So you finally made it. All of you rookies managed to make it through this week. I've got to say, I'm impressed. It's been a while since we had everyone do that. We trained you hard, the courses, the intense and extended exercises, all of the torment, but that's not going to end, not just yet. 

"You've still got one final course you need to pass if you want to call yourself a Reserve. And you'd best apply what you've learned from this week of training to it." She smirked, glancing at them as she spoke.

"Today, your final course will consist of high altitudes, durability, recovery, cloud busting, agility, speed, weather, performance, take off, and landing. Everything we went over this week. And it won't be counted towards your score, but style will also play a factor. Now if you don't think you can handle it, the exit's right over there." Spitfire said, pointing to the end of the runway.

She rose a brow when no one stepped up. "Looks like I got some determined recruits here. That's cute." she smiled. "Alright, let's get started." She blew into the whistle harshly, indicating the start of the course.

One by one, ponies went up to the start, goggles ready, and preparing for take off. They had to run through a machine of sorts, one that measured the force of the take offs and landings. 

First, there was high altitudes, in which recruits could go as high as desired, they'd then have to fold their wings closed and drop for at least 5 seconds.

Next, speed and agility, in which their speed would be measured, and they had to dodge their way through moving rings and clouds, as well as the wind machines used in the previous courses. 

Then, came the cloud busting, in which they had to bust a certain amount of clouds as quickly as they possibly could. 

Weather came up afterwards, where they'd have to go through the storm simulation, testing their durability and recovery. Then the force of the landing would be measured.

Each recruit did their own separate style, some, such as Sky Bound, did more barrel rolls and spins, though she had faltered a bit with agility, she did show much improvement than before. 

Scootaloo did sharper and daring turns, flying through agility as if there were nothing there, and speeding through the cloud busting within a matter of seconds. She did struggle a bit with the weather, but she kicked it into high gear and emerged with a reasonable speed. 

Rumble sped through the course the fastest, and flew to the highest altitude compared to the rest, as well as dizzying turns and curves. He wasn't as quick as Scootaloo with the cloud busting, but he went through the storm much faster than she had. All the more taking off and landing with the most force of the rest.

Comet was the most cocky with his performance, but even if he wasn't the fastest, he did manage to get through the course pretty quickly, especially when it came to the storm simulation. He wasn't the most graceful with agility and cloud busting, but he had improved with everyone else. 

By the time everyone had finished, it was time for lunch, and everyone was worn out. Scootaloo sighed with relief once she had finished. It felt like the biggest weight was lifted off of her shoulders once she finally landed. Her stomach no longer felt like it had dropped to the ground.

"You were amazing!" Sky Bound complimented. Scootaloo smiled. 

"Not as much as you were." she grinned. "I don't stand a chance against you."

"Are you kidding? I could practice for years in this place and I wouldn't go through agility as quickly as you did." she complimented.

"It was pretty impressive. Somehow you got even better than before." Rumble agreed.

"Please, it's not like I would ever be able to go as high as you did. You were like three thousand feet in the air," Scootaloo said.

"Could you three stop kissing each other's flanks? I don't want to hear you praise each other over a little course." Comet interjected.

"Yeah, or you could, I don't know, mind you own buisness?" Sky Bound snapped back.

He smirked. "Touché."





Later that day the recruits filed into the cafeteria, where Spitfire said the results would be given. They awaited their instructor, recapping the week they experienced.

"I don't think I've ever been so sore in my life." Rumble complained, stretching his tired wings.

"Don't forget we have to fly home tonight." Scootaloo reminded him teasingly. He groaned and folded his wings back.

Sky Bound chuckled at their antics, just as Spitfire came in. With her, were two other ponies, one balancing a black box on his wings.

"Congratulations cadets. You all passed the test." The group cheered, just as she had expected. She then waited for them to quiet down.

"We'll send your exact results home next week, but for now, we're awarding the highest rankers."

A few whispers among the crowd erupted, saying names about who'd get what. 

"Enough chit chat, let's get this over with." Spitfire said. She turned to the stallion holding the box, and opened it to reveal four medals. "These four medals represent agility, speed, highest achiever, and most improved results." she announced. She picked up the first golden pin, the highest achiever award, and glanced around the room with a smile.

"Sky Bound." she announced. 

Sky Bound froze, unable to believe what she had heard. "What?" she found herself saying she turned to Scootaloo and Rumble, who smiled at her.

"See? I told you you'd ace it." Scootaloo assured her. Rumble gave her a supporting smile, while the rest of the room gave her congratulations as she stepped up.

Sky Bound hesitantly moved forward, she couldn't believe it. There had to be a mistake of some sort. Spitfire smirked, as if reassuring it was, in fact, not a mistake.

She pinned the golden medal to her uniform, which was star with wings extended on each side. "Congratulations." Spitfire said.

Sky Bound grinned, "Thank you, Ma'am." she then went back to where she stood, earning a pat on the back from a few ponies in the crowd.

Spitfire took the second pin, the one for most improved results. Without much hesitation, she spoke, "Astra." 

The rose pegasus gasped in surprise, clearly not expecting it. "Me?" she said.

"Yes, you. You've improved the most ever since you first tried out." Spitfire said. "That's something worthy of a medal."

Astra smiled, earning more cheers as she stepped forward, getting the golden pin, which consisted of the Wonderbolts logo in great detail.

"Thank you Ma'am." Astra grinned.

"No need, congrats." she replied.

Then mare hopped back into her place, bearing her medal proudly for the other recruits to see.

Next, was agility, and to no one's surprise, Spitfire announced, "Scootaloo."

Scootaloo, taken back from this, grinned. She didn't expect to get any awards, Rumble gave her a supportive smile and urged her on. "You earned it Scoot." he said.

Scootaloo went up and had her pin pinned to her uniform. "Congratulations, Scoot." Spitfire said.  She then lowered her voice, so only Scootaloo could hear. "I'm sure Rainbow Dash would be impressed." Scootaloo grinned, wondering what her idol would say.

Once she was back in place, Spitfire took the final pin. 

"This one was hard to decipher, it came pretty close for some of you cadets." she said. "But alas, we decided that Rumble deserved it." she smiled down at him, while he walked up to her.

Everyone went ballistic, Scootaloo especially. She grinned at the pin, which were wings with a trail of flames.

"Congratulations, recruits. You can all officially consider yourself a member of the Reserves." Spitfire said. More cheering ensued. "I've been tough on you guys all week, and I'm glad to see everyone of you went through it. Despite the amount of exercises and challenges. Before you all leave tonight, let me just say it was an honor teaching you miserable maggots." she grinned.

Everyone stood in formation and beamed proudly. 

"You're dismissed." she said. With that, she and the two stallions she came in with, left the room, and the recruits, all eager to get back home, filed out to their respected rooms.

"You know, I think I might actually miss this place." Sky Bound said, walking alongside Scootaloo.

"To be honest, so will I. As much as I love having someone scream their head off towards me, I'm glad I got to be here. It was like a dream come true." 

"Geez, you really are sappy." Sky Bound teased.

Scootaloo playfully punched her arm. "Shut up." she grinned.

"You want to hang out again soon? I'd like to get to know you some more." Sky Bound said.

"Of course," Scootaloo said, stepping into the room. "do you live nearby?"

"I live in Cloudsdale." Sky Bound said, getting her saddlebag. "What about you?"

"Rumble and I live in Ponyville. Maybe I can visit you sometime."

"It'd be nice to get some more company." Sky Bound agreed. "Sure. " As they packed up their belongings, and made their way to the runway, the two exchanged addresses, promising to communicate later when they had the chance.

"See you in the skies," Sky Bound said, waving to Scootaloo. 

"See ya." Scootaloo replied. With that, Sky Bound took off, flying through the scarlet sky. 'Where the hay is Rumble?' Scootaloo thought. She glanced around, finding several other recruits saying their goodbyes to one another, some taking off down the runway as well. As the sun began setting lower into the sky, it became a bit more complicated to pinpoint him.

She glanced around, looking high and low for any sign of the gray stallion, before mistakenly bumping into somepony else. She glanced up, rubbing her head.

"Sorry." Scootaloo said, looking up to see who it was.

"Don't worry about it, sweet lips." he replied.

Scootaloo sighed, knowing who it was. "Oh, it's just you." she said with a roll of her eyes.

"You know you're gonna miss me." he said.

"Yeah I seriously doubt that." she said, walking past him.

"Lost?" he asked.

"No, I'm looking for someone." she said abruptly.

"Well you found him." he said, pointing to himself.

"Not you." Scootaloo said. "You were the last one I wanted to see."

"Still feisty, I see. Whatever happened to that nice mare I was partnered up with yesterday?" he asked.

Scootaloo sighed. "Sorry, I just want to get home. It's been a long week."

"I'll say, they really ought to loosen up on us." he said.

"I meant because I was partnered up with you." Scootaloo smirked.

"Whatever. We still passed."

"We probably wouldn't have if I didn't say anything."

"Fair point." he said. He paused for a moment, matching her pace.

"Nice pin." he said.

"Thanks." she said.

"I think you and your friends must have some sort of advantage over us. Why else would you all get those?"

"Because we practiced before we came here." Scootaloo reminded him. "It's not like we were expecting to get these. Besides, we weren't the only ones."

"Sure." he said, unconvinced. Scootaloo rolled her eyes and continued trotting along. He looked to the sky, spotting the sunset. "It's pretty nice, huh?"

"What?" she asked.

"The sunset." he answered. Scootaloo glanced up, taking a good look at the view.

"Yeah." she admitted.

"But it's not as pretty as you're eyes." he said.

Scootaloo sighed. "I really don't know why you even bother flirting with me, it's not going to change anything."

"Can't blame a stallion for trying." he shrugged. "You're just such an amazing flyer,"

"Comet," she tried.

"No, really, and you've always got a good comeback. Even if you're the bossiest pony I've ever met."

"stop." she said.

"No, I mean it." he said. He gave her a serious look, for once his smug smile was gone. Scootaloo turned to him, finding his eyes were full of hope. "I know I can be a jerk, and I know I annoy you too."

"Then why don't you ever stop?" she asked.

He continued, as if she hadn't said anything. "Honestly, as much of a pain in the flank you were this week, I'm actually glad you paired up with me."

Scootaloo was taken back. Was he giving her a legitimate non-flirtatious compliment? Did he really change that much? "You are?" she asked with surprise.

"Yeah, you helped me when I needed it and stuff. And put up with me. Not many ponies are very willing to do that." he leaned in a bit closer to Scootaloo, who leaned back a bit.

"Thanks." he said quietly. "For being my lead-pony." he said. Before she could respond, he quickly closed the gap between them, and for a moment their lips connected.

Scootaloo's eyes widened. This was wrong, it was all wrong. She knew he meant well, but she was with Rumble, and Rumble alone. He was the only pony she'd ever thought she'd kiss. The only pony she'd ever want  to kiss. Yet, her lips were touching another's. She felt like she was betraying him. With all he had ever done, sacrificed, put up with, here she was, getting kissed by somepony else. 

She felt moisture build up in her eyes. Less than one second into the kiss, a jolt of electricity shot through her body, connecting her hoof to his face, before she even realized she had just slapped him, with a loud, crack.

He held his cheek, looking to her with a scowl. "Ow! What was that for-" he stopped and softened when he saw the moisture in her eyes, and the cold angry glare she gave him.

"I have a boyfriend!!" she shouted at him. "And you, -you kissed me!" she said.

"You have a boyfriend?" he asked quietly. He gave a regretful, disappointed, and apologetic look to her. "I-I'm so sorry, I didn't know." He took a step closer, and Scootaloo roughly pushed him away.

"Why?" she asked quietly, looking down. She only ever wanted to have Rumble kiss her, and yet her lips burned from this stallion's. "What am I going to tell him?" she asked aloud.

"Scootaloo, I'm so sorry, I seriously didn't know. I swear I wouldn't have done it if I did. I'm so sorry." he said quickly.

Scootaloo couldn't stop the guilty tears from spilling over, she turned away from him, hiding behind her hair. She knew he felt guilty. That he was speaking the truth.

"Just le-eave me alone." she said, trying not to let her voice crack, to no avail.  "Just...leave me, the hell alone."

"I'm so sorry." he said, as she jumped into the air, ignoring the ache of her wings.

"I know." she said quietly, knowing he could still hear her.

She flew away looking around for any sign of Rumble. She did her best to wipe away any of the moisture, but her eyes were boiling in tears, and it felt like someone was trying to pull her to the ground with the guilt she felt in her chest.

"I should've told him." she said. She knew, as flirtatious as Comet was, that even he wouldn't have kissed her, had he known about her relationship with Rumble. 'I should've told him, I should've told him, I should've told him." she thought aloud. 

She rid her face of tears. Just when she thought this day would be a good one. What was she going to tell Rumble? It's not like she'd hide this from him. She could never do that. But maybe she could save it for when they got home. She didn't want to end up crying the whole way home. She would rather do that once she was in her own bed.

She still couldn't believe what had happened. She just couldn't. Rumble was the only other pony she had kissed, and was the only other pony she planned to ever kiss again. And now, she could still feel the ghost of Comet's on her own. And she didn't like it, it felt wrong, so different from the feel of Rumble's. It was like the that ghost was burning into her lips, filling her with regret.

She spotted a little figure, finding it was gray. Just as a navy and purple figure was taking off in the distance. She cleared her throat, and did her best to put on a casual attitude, though her lips still felt like they've be branded.

"There you are!" she said, coming to a landing next to Rumble.

"I've been looking all over for you, where've you been?" Rumble asked.

"I could ask you the same question." Scootaloo said, throwing him a smirk. Rumble returned it.

"You ready to head home, then?" he asked.

"Yeah." she said. "Wanna race?"

"I don't know," he said, catching Scootaloo off guard. "maybe we could just enjoy the view, it's not often we'll get to see it from this high."

"Oh, okay." Scootaloo said. She couldn't help but feel uneasy about it, right now, the sunset wasn't something she wanted him bringing up. But apparently luck wasn't on her side today.

"Come on." Rumble said. She nodded and ran off of the runway with him, opening her wings, and catching a good breeze.

Rumble glanced around, all of the colors of the sky and the clouds below them had a deepening orange and scarlet hue, the light gave their own coats an orange and red hue of their own.

"It's beautiful." Scootaloo commented, looking around.

"It sure is," Rumble said. "but not as much as you are." he said, expecting her to smile, blush, and/or make a witty remark. Instead, he found she turned away, looking ahead. 

Her eyes burned, more tears threatening to come into view. 'Not now, at least when we get home.' she reminded herself. She didn't know how to respond. What would she usually say in a moment like this? Whenever Rumble would compliment her just to tease her? She simply couldn't think of any response she'd usually give. Her thoughts were just on what Comet had said prior.

"Scoot?" Rumble asked. She darted her eyes to him matching his gaze for a millisecond before darting them ahead, trying to blink away the tears. In that millisecond, Rumble noticed how red her eyes were. Knowing it wasn't from the hue.

'Is something bothering her?' he wondered. "Are you okay?" he asked worriedly, edging a bit closer.

"Yeah, I'm fine." she responded, perhaps a bit too quickly.

"Are you sure? You're eyes are red." he pointed out?

They were? She was hoping they weren't, or at least he wouldn't notice. "Really?" she asked.

"Yes, are you okay, like really?" he asked. "You can tell me if something's wrong."

"Yeah, yeah. I'm fine." she assured him quickly. "Just a bit tired." It wasn't a complete lie, she actually did feel pretty tired.

Rumble decided to let it drop, deciding that he should probably save it for when she was okay with talking about it. He wouldn't want to make her uncomfortable by forcing her to speak. "Alright then." he sighed.





When the two landed on the front steps, the moon was poking out, turning the red sky to a dark indigo. Scootaloo said nothing as they landed on the first step, in fact she didn't say much the whole trip there, she hardly spoke. Whenever she would, it didn't have the usual casual tone, it actually seemed a bit forced.

Rumble was positive something was wrong, as much as he knew she'd deny it. He wanted to help her in whatever way. Once the door was unlocked, Scootaloo heaved out a sigh.

"It's so good to be home." she said happily. 

"It sure is." Rumble agreed.

Without much hesitation, Scootaloo and Rumble got ready for bed, showering and such. Neither of the two were hungry for dinner, for they were more tired than they were hungry. And neither of the two were up for cooking or getting anything.

"You...want to sleep with me, tonight?" Rumble suggested, knowing it would make her feel a bit better.

Scootaloo gave him a smile, one he could tell she was forcing. "It's okay, I'll be able to manage without you."

"I was hoping you would." Rumble admitted.

She blushed, she wanted to, she really did, but the one reason why she even considered sleeping in her own room that night was because she was still guilty. She didn't think she could face him directly like that. Not when she hadn't told him the truth. Not when Comet's ghost was haunting her.

"You...were?" she asked.

He nodded. "Yeah, I kind of missed having someone sleeping next to me." he explained. 

"Okay then." she gave in. She missed sleeping next to him too, not only were those beds they slept on at the Academy hard as rocks, but they were cold. At least without Rumble there.

She followed him to his room, and he climbed in bed, patting the spot next to him. She gave him a small smile and climbed in bed next to him. He took to wrapping his wing around her.

Her smile shrunk. What would he think of her? Would he want to break up with her? Will he hate her? No, Rumble wouldn't do that. But she was sure he'd be more than upset. Rumble pulled her closer, until she was lying her head on his chest. She listened to his heartbeat, and the warm feeling she felt. It brought her guilt, for she felt she didn't deserve any of it. 

She was being crushed, crushed with the feeling of shame. She bit her lip, trying to hold back a sob, as well as the tears building up in her eyes. The tears spilt over however, dropping onto Rumble's chest.

Immediately noticing the droplets, Rumble sat up, looking to Scootaloo. "Scootaloo?" he asked. "Are you okay?"

She broke. She buried her face in her hooves, fighting back sobs. "I'm so sorry." she said aloud. "I'm so sorry." she repeated, she said it over and over again, staining his fur with her tears. He squeezed her into a hug, rubbing her back. 

"What could you possibly be sorry for?" he asked. 

She sobbed harder. She couldn't shake the feeling that he'd hate her. That he'd hate her for not thinking to tell Comet about their relationship, for letting him kiss her for even a fraction of a second.

"I'm so sorry." she repeated.

Rumble sighed, waiting until her tears slowed. "What are you so sorry for?" he asked.

"Comet, he..." she tried to get the words out, but they caught in her throat.

Rumble scowled, "What did he do to you?" he asked sternly. Whatever it was, he was going to kill him for hurting her this much. Scootaloo wouldn't cry like this unless he did something unspeakable to her. 

"....he...kissed me." she squeaked out, avoiding eye contact.

Rumble had barely heard the words, but once he did, he scowled. "He did what?" he growled.

Scootaloo glanced into his cold eyes, which seemed to glow in the surrounding darkness. "It's not his fault," Scootaloo said quickly. "If anything it's mine."

Rumble was taken back. What could she possibly mean by that? "Your fault? Your fault how? He's the one that kissed you!" he defended.

"He didn't know. He didn't know about our relationship."

"That doesn't give him any right to kiss you!" Rumble said.

"Please, don't blame him." Scootaloo said.

Rumble softened, seeing the tears down her face, as well as the red in her eyes. "I should've told him, I'm sorry Rumble." she said, the new tears spilling over.

"You don't have to be sorry." Rumble sighed, letting his anger subside. Scootaloo was blaming herself for this, he knew she wouldn't ever want it to happen. As much as he wanted to blame Comet, he knew Scootaloo was right. She wouldn't defend him for no good reason. He let out a sigh. "It's not your fault, Scoot."

She paused. "You're not mad? You don't hate me?"

Rumble was, once again, taken back. "Why would I hate you? You didn't want this to happen, did you?"

"No, of course not."

"He just didn't know. You don't have anything to be sorry for." he said.

"But I could've told him, or stopped him. I should've guessed he'd try to do it, with everything he said leading up to it."

"You didn't know, just as he didn't know about us, it's not your fault, it just happened." he said. More tears came into her eyes, dripping onto his chest and the sheets.

"Why are you crying, Scoot?" he asked.

"It's just," she heaved a sigh, trying to keep her voice from wavering. "you've always supported me, and you do so much for me. You always put up with me. You're always there for me when I need you to be." she spoke, avoiding his concerned gaze once again. "And then, this happens. Of all things you've done for me, and the ways you've helped me. I go and let this happen. I betray you." she said. 

Rumble was speechless. He had so many things he wanted to tell her, so many things he wish he could say all at once. So many things he wanted to deny her. Yet he remained frozen, as she continued on.

"You were the only colt who's ever kissed me on the lips, the only one I can ever see myself do that or anything else with. You're always so understanding of me. And yet, because I never thought to mention our relationship, because I was so stupid, I ended up getting kissed by someone else." she croaked, choking back another sob.

"Sometimes, I still wonder, how through all I've put you through, you could even say you love me. With as little good I ever did for you." she stated.

That was enough to pull him out of his trance. Unfreezing, he took Scootaloo by the shoulders, holding her back so she could look at him. She gazed into his eyes, seeing his determined look. He then pulled her forward, making their lips connect.

Of course, Scootaloo was shocked at first. Her eyes had widened, and another jolt of electricity rushed through her. Only this time, rather than any slapping, she smiled into the kiss, and kissed him back, letting her eyes close. The feeling of his lips on hers, it just felt right. The kiss wasn't only passionate, but assuring, forgiving. It was enough to banish the wrongful burning and guilt built up in her chest.

Once he finally pulled away, Rumble glanced down at her, giving her a small side smile and wiped her tears away. "Scootaloo, every time I tell you that I love you, I mean it. Just because someone kissed you, doesn't mean you betrayed me, in any way, shape, or form. There was no meaning behind it, not on your part. Knowing you feel wrong, terrible about it, the fact that you're even blaming yourself when you shouldn't, shows that you really do care about me, and that you only care about me in that way.

"As tough as you were with training before hand, you did help me improve, and I passed the Academy thanks to you. As many times as you teased me, you never went too far. And as much as I may have screwed up when it came to asking you out, you put up with it, and made the best of what I had to offer. All those 'bad' things you say you've done, I'm absolutely grateful for. And I wouldn't have it any other way.

"You getting kissed doesn't change any of that, it's no one's fault, and there's nothing for you to feel bad about. You love me, and me alone, right?"

"Yes." she quickly croaked quietly. It was reflex.

"Then there's nothing, absolutely nothing, you need to cry about." he said.

Scootaloo smiled, wiping her red and puffy eyes once more. "Thank you, thank you so much Rumble."

"No need." he said. "Just don't blame yourself like that again."

She nodded, before setting her head back down to his chest. "I love you." she said quietly.

Rumble smiled. "I love you too."
> Chapter 10
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The next morning, Scootaloo was the first to wake up. For an instant, her mind was blank, only filled with the soft touch of the bed, and Rumble's protective grip around her.

The day before resurfaced in her mind, and she suddenly remembered the reason why her eye still felt a bit sore. She heaved a sigh, shutting her eyes for a moment.

She jumped when she felt a hoof tap her shoulder. She turned to see it was Rumble, who was throwing her a smile. 

"Morning." he greeted.

She returned it with a small smile of her own. "Morning." she replied.

"You want to do anything today?" he asked, shifting so she could have a bit more wiggle room. 

She sighed. "I've got a few ideas." she hinted.

"Does it have something to do with Rainbow Dash by any chance?"

"And Sweetie, and Apple Bloom." she finished.

"What else?"

"I could apply for a job too." she answered. "Now that High School's over, I can sign up for weather control." 

"So you want to be my colleague then?" Rumble asked flirtatiously. 

"In a different department," Scootaloo replied with a smirk of her own, playfully pushing him to the side. He chuckled as he rubbed his arm. "What about you? Any plans?"

"I was wondering if you were up for another date today." he stated, giving her a questioning glance.

She shrugged. "Maybe, it depends on how the day goes I guess." she said.

"Somehow, I knew you would say that." Rumble smirked.

"Then why'd you ask, lover boy?" Scootaloo teased, raising an eyebrow.

"Just to clarify." he simply stated.





Later that morning, Rumble and Scootaloo were just about ready to head out, with their saddlebags in tow, they made it out the door, deciding to stop by the office for weather control.

It was one of the many stations sprinkled across Equestria, they were always on the outskirts of towns, and almost always had a displeased pony working the front desk, some of which, like the sunny maned one Rumble approached, tended to be abrupt and dismissive.

"Hey Sunny," Rumble greeted, leaning against the front desk.

"Hey," Sunny replied with a bland tone, setting his head in his hoof. Rumble wasn't surprised that the stallion already seemed to have forgotten his name again, even though he was always called to the front desk, what with how he was new to the weather team. "What brings you here today? You don't work today, do you?"

"No, I'm just here with someone." Rumble answered. 

"Where are they, exactly?"

"She's coming, she just needed to get so-"

Right then, Scootaloo came in, opening the glass doors. She shook her mane, for she somehow managed to get tufts of clouds in it. She stepped over to the desk, smiling at the pegasus. 

Sunny seemed to be in a bit of a daze, he stared directly at Scootaloo, trying to keep his mouth from hanging agape. Scootaloo's smile shrunk, and she looked to Rumble for a split second before looking back to him.

"Um..." she started.

Sunny snapped out of his daze, blush tinting his white coat. "What? Oh, sorry. Excuse me for staring, I'm Sunny Days, but you can call me Sunny." he said, his tone now welcoming, as if he were greeting a princess.

"Scootaloo," she replied. "I'm here for that job opening?" she asked.

Sunny nodded, "Oh yes, hold on a second please." He proceeded to dunk underneath the desk, flashing her a smile once he slid the papers over the desk.

"Just fill these out, and we'll look into it." he said. Scootaloo nodded and took it, glancing around the front desk. 

"You have a pencil?" she asked.

"Oh! Yes, you want a pen or a pencil? I have quills too, if you prefer those." he offered.

"A pencil's fine, thanks." Scootaloo said. She took the pencil Sunny passed to her and gave him a friendly smile, walking over with Rumble close behind, to a nearby table, which seemed to be specifically made for signing paper work.

Scootaloo mostly fell silent, unaware of Sunny's eyes flickering her direction. Rumble couldn't help but frown, and Scootaloo noticed the displeased look on his face.

"Something wrong?" she asked, looking up from the paperwork.

"I think he's hitting on you," Rumble said.

"Really?" Scootaloo asked. She then proceeded to roll her eyes. "Are you sure you're not being paranoid?"

"Trust me, I'm sure." Rumble stated.

Scootaloo rolled her eyes and shook her head. 'Colts,' she thought. Why were they suddenly giving her so much attention? Was it her Cutiemark? That usually pulled a lot of ponies' attention. Or maybe it was something about her hair.

She couldn't quite place it, but either way, she decided to banish the thought. Finishing out the work.

It didn't take her long, within five or so short minutes, she returned with everything. "Thanks," she smiled.

"We'll keep in touch." Sunny stated. "-The company, I mean." he quickly added.

"Okay." Scootaloo said. "See ya later then."

"Thanks for stopping by," he said with enthusiasm. He gave her a big grin, and waved as they made their way out the door. He didn't seem to see Rumble's defensive glare towards him.

"Let him be, Rumble." Scootaloo said, she didn't even need to look to know he was doing it.

"But-"

"He's just being nice, it's not like he knows about us."

"Well he better know soon. Because he wasn't so nice before you came in."

"Is that jealousy I hear?" Scootaloo teased.

"I'm not jealous." Rumble assured her. "I just don't like the way he looked at you."

"You sound like my Dad," Scootaloo grinned. Rumble cringed, and she laughed.

"Don't say that."

"It's true, and you know it." Scootaloo giggled. 

"Whatever, can you blame me for getting defensive? What with everyone suddenly taking attention to my girlfriend? I don't want anyone picking up on you."

"It's not like I'm going to let them win my oh, so precious heart over Scootaloo said in an over exaggerated damsel-in-distress voice.

Rumble couldn't help but laugh. It was so different compared to her original attitude, it just didn't fit, yet she pulled the voice so well.

"Yeah, you're right there." he admitted.

The two sparked another topic for conversation, talking about other job options in the event weather-pony didn't work out for them. It didn't last very long, for they eventually reached their destination.

Rainbow Dash had asked to meet with her in the park, and Scootaloo took the courtesy to invite her friends over as well, so that she wouldn't have to travel to two or three different places.

She landed on the checkered picnic blanket, Rumble landing swiftly behind her. Sweetie Belle trotted up to her and embraced her friend in a near bone-crushing hug, letting out a squeal. 

"Nice to see you too, Sweets." Scootaloo grinned. 

"I'm so glad to see you guys!" Sweetie Belle explained, pulling away. She took a step back and examined them. "You look so different."

"You literally saw me like a week ago, I hardly changed at all," Scootaloo grinned, rolling her eyes.

"But you do! You look like a body builder or something, just look at your wings!"

"We were training all week, I may have built some muscle, but not that much." Scootaloo stated. "But it's nice to see you too. Where's everyone else?"

"Funny you should ask that," she heard. She turned, finding Rainbow Dash there.

"Rainbow Dash!" she exclaimed.

"'Sup, Squirt?" the pegasus grinned, giving Scoots a side hug. She smiled at Rumble. "How was the Academy?"

"Drilling, hard, Excessive, Exhausting," Rumble listed.

"So the usual?" Rainbow smirked.

"Yep." Rumble nodded.

"I'm glad to see you to made it. How was the class session?"

"It wasn't as bad as you said it was. I actually thought it was interesting." Rumble replied.

"I can't say the exact same for myself, but it wasn't that bad." Scootaloo shrugged.

"Whatever," Rainbow replied.

"Anyway," Sweetie chirped, interjecting. "I'm glad you brought Rumble, guess who decided to tag along?"

"Button." the other four, now including Apple Bloom, who just arrived, stated plainly.

Sweetie blushed, and cleared her throat. "Yes, he originally had plans, but they were cancelled, I hope that you don't mind if I invited him here?" Sweetie asked sheepishly.

"It's fine," Apple Bloom stated, the others nodding in agreement. She set a picnic basket down and went over to give Scoots a hug, "we don't usually mind."

"Just keep it PG." Rainbow teased.

Sweetie blushed a bright red, as she turned East, where Button was approaching. She went over to him, and the two seemed to engage in conversation.

"So how've ya'll been?" AB asked, setting the pie she was balancing on her back down.

"Pretty good, I'm still a bit sore from the Academy, but otherwise we're fine." Scootaloo said.

"That's good to hear, did ya meet anyone?" Apple Bloom asked.

Scootaloo and Rumble exchanged a glance. "I guess you could say that," he said. "There was this one mare, Cloud Chaser, she was my wing-pony."

"What about you, Scoots? Who was yours? And I have I heard of him?" Rainbow asked, as Sweetie approached with Button, listening in on the conversation. Rumble gave her a glance, as if to ask if she wanted him to say, but she spoke anyway.

"Some guy named Comet." she shrugged. "Not much to him, to be honest." The rest of the group shrugged, adding a few replies of their own to the statement, as they all went to sit on the blanket.

Rumble and Button went off to the side, letting the mares start a conversation of their own. Rumble wasn't quite sure of what to say, he knew Button for a long time, and they were friends, but he couldn't quite relate very much to him as he could with his closer friends. But that didn't mean they shared no interests, both were fans of some video games, though Rumble wasn't as in to video games as Button was, but then again, no one was. The stallion was a hardcore gamer, and he apparently had as much of a talent for making them as he did for playing them.

"How's it going?" Button asked, turning to him.

"It's going," he replied. Button chuckled at the remark.

"So I'm guessing you're tired," Button stated.

"Why is that?"

"The Academy and all, that place has a reputation for breaking spirits and necks."

"You got that right." Rumble agreed. "What about you? How's the new job?"

"It's awesome, I'm still an intern, until I can finish the courses and all, but the behind the scenes to making these games are awesome. I've already met a ton of ponies who are gamers."

"That sounds cool."

"It is cool. To me anyway. I'm glad Sweetie Belle supports it, but then again, she'd support me for anything I do."

"You must be pretty lucky, then." Rumble replied.

"And you aren't?" Button asked.

"What do you mean?"

"I've known Scootaloo for a while, I've been in school with her before you have, and I know she supports everypony."

"You're point?"

"You make it sound as if she doesn't." Button explained.

"Maybe so," Rumble admitted. "I guess I'm still not that used to it."

"You'll get the hang of it," Button said. "I know it took me a while to."

"Yeah, I know you've dated Sweetie for years."

"Not only her, there were a few others, though it wasn't dating dating, it was more of a friend thing, I actually started getting more serious when Sweetie Belle came around. She just has this sort of glow, you know?" he said dreamily.

"I guess so. I see it more in Scootaloo though."

"That makes sense. It's a good thing too, otherwise I'd have to go all Megalovania on you for hitting on my girlfriend," Button smirked.

"Please, Sweetie's nice and all, but I'm not a player. Scootaloo's all I need." Rumble said. "And I'm impressed, I'd have expected Super Smash Bros, or Street Fighter, maybe even Mortal Kombat X, but Megalovania?"

"Yes, and 'You're gonna have a bad time.' I don't mess around when it comes to Sweetie Belle."

"Trust me, I don't doubt it for a second." Rumble assured him, recalling a previous memory of when Button grew angry with someone. He shuddered at the thought, prompting Button to smirk.

"Good." he replied. "Speaking of games, you want to hang out sometime?" Button asked. "I mean, we already know each other and all, but I'd still like to get to know you a bit more."

"Sure." Rumble shrugged. "I'll see if I can."

"Great," Button said, giving Rumble a smile.

"You boys having fun over there?" Apple Bloom asked, prompting the other mares to turn their direction.

"We're just talking, I guess." Rumble shrugged.

Apple Bloom smirked and looked to the other three, before they all started to giggle.

Button and Rumble exchanged a glance as they all went back to their own conversations. "What's that all about?" Button asked.

"I have no idea." Rumble stated.

"Fillies," Button said with a roll of his eyes. "They've always got something to giggle about."

"Yep." Rumble agreed.

"But Sweetie's Belle's laugh is an exception," Button added. "it's like the chiming of bells."

"Of course you'd say that," Rumble chuckled, rolling his eyes.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Button asked defensively.

"It means that you and Sweetie are pretty close." Rumble stated. "You two are always together."

"Is that a bad thing?" Button asked, his voice slightly tinted with concern.

"No, I don't think so," Rumble assured him. "But I wouldn't really know, I'm not exactly an expert with dating, you know."

"You sure? You and Scootaloo seem to hit it off pretty well." Button added. 

"Yeah, I guess. But you don't think we seem more like close friends than anything else? Not much has changed ever since we started dating." Rumble said.

"That may be true, but you say that as if it's a bad thing." Button said.

"So you're saying it's okay that we treat each other like friends?"

"I'm no dating expert either, but I think you two treat each other as more than that. For all I know, you may be one of those couples that keeps it to themselves more than anything. Believe it or not, Sweetie Belle and I started off like that for the first couple of months."

"Really? Wow!" Rumble said with over enthusiasm.

"Shut up, and yes, we just became more comfortable with each other quickly, even in public. Though, at least most of the time, we don't really kiss or anything like that in public."

"Most of the time?" Rumble asked, cocking an eyebrow at him, trying to hold back a smirk.

"Okay, some of the time." Button admitted. "But there's nothing wrong with a couple that keeps to themselves."

"I guess you're right. I just don't want us to be so distant from each other, though. I want us to be more open, and I'm not sure if we are."

"I see." Button replied.

"And at the same time, I don't want to rush into this, I'd like to take it slow too, ya know?"

"That's a lot to ask for, ya know. Just to give you a heads up, no relationship ever works like that. They just sort of, flourish in their own way, the relationship I mean. If it works out, it'll be in it's own way, it may not be like you want it to be, or expect it for that matter, but as long as you two are happy with each other, it'll work out." 

"I guess you're right." Rumble sighed. "But I can't help but think there's more I could do to make it better."

"I feel that way all the time too, and I'm sure that Scootaloo feels the same with you, and Sweetie feels the same with me." Button stated. "But we all have the time to work on it, you guys especially, now that you live together."

"Yeah." Rumble agreed. He smiled. "You're right, we should hang out some time."

"Good." Button grinned.
> Chapter 11; First Impressions
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Scootaloo pricked her ears up, letting out a groan from the obnoxious tone emitting from the alarm clock. She took the pillow, doing her best to smother the sound away, until finally the increasing volume was too much for her to take.

She sighed and smacked a hoof over it, ending the ringing immediately. She groaned into Rumble's chest, who had brought a hoof up to rub her back.

"First day of work," he teased, putting on an overly-cheery tone. She lifted her head up, showing her displeased and tired eyes. 

"Shut up," she grumbled.

Rumble smirked.





"You got your saddlebag?"

"Check," Scootaloo said, strapping it into place.

"House key?"

"Yep."

"What about-"

"Rumble, calm down. You're acting like my Dad." she teased, glancing up from her saddlebag.

Rumble sighed, rolling his eyes at the accusation. "I just hope you're going to be okay." he said.

"Aw, look at you, all worried over little ole' me." Scootaloo continued, grinning.

"I'm serious," Rumble said with bemusement.

"I know, I'm just saying I'm going to be fine, I can take care of myself Rumble."

Rumble looked into her eyes, seeing trust in them. He sighed. "I just don't want you to feel..."

"Unsafe?" Scootaloo asked.

"Vulnerable." Rumble decided, referencing Comet.

Scootaloo softened, quickly catching on to what he meant. It was her turn to sigh now. "Look, Rumble. I'm going to be fine. I promise. Besides, the worst that could happen is that Sunny will try to flirt with me." she teased, re-adopting her smirk.

Rumble rolled his eyes. "I guess you're right." he looked to the time. "C'mon, we don't want to be late. It is your first day after all."

"Then let's go."

Before he could add any witty remark, she was already waiting outside the door.

He shook his head and smirked, taking the time to lock the door behind him.





"Good morning!" A cheerful Sunny greeted, smiling once Scootaloo came in. Rumble came in behind her, and earned a not-as-cheerful smile.

"Morning," Scootaloo replied. 

"I take that you got the call?"

"Yep, a couple of days ago."

"Congratulations, then! Hope you enjoy your first day. You might want to go talk with the boss." he said, pointing down a hallway. "She likes to greet herself to new workers."

"Alright then." Scootaloo said. Rumble took to following.

"Wait," Sunny said.

"Yeah?"

"She prefers for introductions to be..." he cleared his throat, "private. Maybe it'd be better if you went to work." he suggested, looking to Rumble.

"But-"

"I'll be fine, Rumble. I'll see you soon." Scootaloo assured him. Before he could object, she gave him a promising wink.

Rumble held back a sigh, before turning away.

"Fine, see you soon then."

Scootaloo went down the hallway, finding it was longer than she had originally expected it to be. She looked from wall to wall, glad to see there were signs indicating what each room led to. She didn't want to end up spending her first day in a maze of closets and storage rooms.

Towards the end of the hallway, she finally reached the door. She drew in a quick breath, and opened her mouth to speak, -you can't knock on a door made of clouds.

"Come in." she heard. She shut her mouth, surprised the mare inside knew of her presence.

She opened the door, finding a mare peering over her reading glasses, which were connected to a chain that hung at her neck. She gave a warm and friendly smile, showing laugh lines. "Take a seat," she offered.

Scootaloo did as asked, sitting in one of the chairs before her. She noticed the mare was drinking tea, and if she paid attention to it, there was a faint smell of mint leaves and honey in the room.

"I take that you're Scootaloo," the mauve mare asked.

"Yes ma'am. " Scootaloo said. "It's my first day here."

"I know." she said. "And you'll be with you station shortly, I just wanted to have the chance to introduce myself. I'm Feather Scheme. But if you'd like, you can call me Mauve."

"Mauve," Scootaloo said, testing the name out. It seemed to fit the mare. What with the coat of matching color and the indigo eyes, and the way her tea rose hair; tied up in a prim bun, complimented it all.

"Tell me, what made you consider this job?"

"Well, I need to pay the bills somehow, and Rainbow Dash suggested it for me, since she's worked here herself once. So when I saw there was an opening I qualified for, I decided to apply."

"Ah, yes. Rainbow Dash. She wasn't always the most...timely, with her position. She'd often spend her work hours practicing for those Wonderbolts. I hear you're trying to join them as well?"

"Yes ma'am."

"Well, good luck to you then. Hopefully you won't spend your time practicing as she did."

"I won't, ma'am." Scootaloo assured her.

"You know, when we first considered you, one of our employees, Sunny, I believe. He eagerly suggested that we put you into consideration."

'Oh no.' Scootaloo thought. She didn't let anything show on her face. "Did he?" she asked.

"Oh yes, I believe that he's been awaiting your arrival."

"Maybe so." Scootaloo agreed.

"Well, I won't be holding you much longer. Before you go on to work, is there anything you'd like to mention?"

"No ma'am, not at the time." Scootaloo said.

"Alright then. You're dismissed."

Scootaloo gave a friendly smile and turned for the door, just as she pulled it open, Feather Scheme called.

"Oh, and Scootaloo?" she said, directing her attention back to her paperwork.

"Yes?" Scootaloo asked, turning back to her.

"Enjoy your day."

"Thank you ma'am." Scootaloo said.





Scootaloo glanced around, looking for the other ponies of her station. She turned once she heard something, and before she could react, something ran straight into her.

"Sorry." a voice said. Scootaloo, who, unlike the pony who ran into her, was still standing, though she nearly fell backwards, she put a hoof to her head, hoping a bump wasn't forming where she'd been hit. "Oh my goodness, are you alright?" the voice asked.

Scootaloo glanced up to see a taller mare looking back at her, she stood in place, hovering a couple of inches or so over her, glancing behind black glasses, which she took to adjusting. She was lanky, and her baby blue mane hung in her orange eyes. She bit her lip nervously, worried about Scootaloo.

"It's okay." Scootaloo assured her.

The mare didn't seem very convinced. "I'm so sorry! I didn't see where I was going, and I guess I just sort of ran into you. Stupid mane, I knew I should've tied it up this morning."

"It's fine, really." Scootaloo assured her.

"It is?" the mare asked, she turned away, hanging her head shamefully, before glancing back to Scootaloo again.

"Really. I'm just trying to find my station."

"Wait, are you the new mare?" she asked.

"Yes, I just came here tod-" Scootaloo was stopped midsentence, interrupted when the mare smacked a hoof to her head, her mint green coat turning a light shade of red.

"Of course you're her. And of course I have to run into her, on her first flippin' day." she said to herself. "I'm such a clutz."

"It's fine, I don't mind, really." Scootaloo said. "Um, by any chance do you know where I'm supposed to go?"

The mare glanced back up, adjusting her glasses again. "Oh, yes. How forgetful of me. I was just coming here to introduce myself. You can call me Twister. I'm supposed to be one of our colleagues." She cleared her throat. 

"Scootaloo, nice to meet you." 

"Oh, what a nice name." Twister commented. "You want me to show you around, we're supposed to head over there," she pointed away from the balcony they stood on, towards a place where several clouds were, being pushed about by a variety of pegasi. 

"I see." Scootaloo said. "We're supposed to clock in, right?" she asked.

"Yeah, but you don't have to worry about that yet." Twister assured her, pushing up her glasses.

"So what do we do first?" Scootaloo asked.

"We're supposed to make sure everything goes according to schedule, in their scheduled places." Twister explained. "We make sure the right amount of clouds are distributed at their proper times, and that they're in the proper conditions."

"Sounds simple enough." Scootaloo said.

"You'd be surprised." Twister said. "Just wait until we have to schedule a storm, or winter. Anyway, there's our first batch for the week, fresh out of Cloudsdale." she said.

The two made their way over, coming to a landing on the runway, where several of Cloudsdale workers were herding the clouds into the building. "That's the storage area." Twister said.

"Neat. I never saw one up close before," Scootaloo admitted. She's studied them for a bit, she took a class in high school describing Equestrian weather, and recalled a lecture about how those storage areas were specially made to keep the clouds in working conditions, despite how long they may remain.

"Really?" Twister asked curiously. 

"Yeah, I never really got the chance to tour this place." Scootaloo continued. "It's pretty neat."

"I guess." Twister shrugged. "C'mon, let's head inside. Our shift's about to start."

Scootaloo nodded and followed, following her new colleague into the building adjacent to the storage facility. Once she stepped inside, she was surprised to see how few ponies there were. At the most, there were probably 15, Twister and herself included. She wasn't quite sure on how to feel about the room, it was big enough to walk around without bumping into someone, yet at the same time she felt pretty stuffy.

She followed Twister, who was going on about explaining the graphs and the charts on the walls. As well as the paperwork that littered the desks. She led Scootaloo to a space with an open window, in which she had a clear view of everything outside. She was glad to have some sunlight, she was worried she'd go crazy if she had to work in the dark so often.

"Here's your station, we made it all nice and neat for you." Twister said, motioning to the row of pencils and paperwork, as well as the diagrams on the wall. She then went over to the wall next to it, pointing to a calendar with a kitten on it. "I added this for you, to spice it all up a bit. -I hope you don't mind. I could always take it down or get you another one-"

"It's fine, thank you." Scootaloo smiled.

Twister paused, before shyly returning the smile herself. "I better get to work myself, Your trainer, he should be here soon," she said. "you can just look around until he arrives."

"Thanks." Scootaloo said.  

Twister crossed her forelegs, looking to the floor as she rubbed them nervously, unsure of what to say next. She pushed up her glasses and opened her mouth, before deciding better against it. 

"I guess...I'll see you, at lunch, then?" she finally stated awkwardly, finally convincing herself to say something, rather than just leave out of nowhere. Though her response came out choppier than she intended, making her mentally kick herself.

Scootaloo nodded. "Sure." Before she could get another word out, the mare hurried off to her own station.

'She was nice.' Scootaloo thought. She seemed pretty shy too, but nice. The mare reminded her a bit of Fluttershy, only a bit more clumsy and flustered. Scootaloo smiled, she could see herself making friends with her. She looked to the calendar, it was a bit too cute for her tastes, but she appreciated the gesture. It did bring color to the little corner after all.

"Are you Scootaloo?" she heard.

Scootaloo turned, finding an ivory gray stallion standing before her, his mane was a snowy white, and he had a scruffy salt and pepper beard to match his slightly snarky and displeased tone. 

"Yes Sir. Are you my-"

"So you're the new mare I'm supposed to train." he interrupted.

"Yes Sir," she replied. 

"Strange, I'd have suspected they put you outside, in another station, instead of this scruffy old room."

Scootaloo felt relieved to find she wasn't the only one to find the place scruffy. "Well, I applied for this position. The other spots weren't open at the time, and I had the requirements."

"I see. Do you know what you're supposed to be doing here? A mare fresh out of High School can only have so much experience."

"Well, I've done projects and I've used diagrams like this before, plus I know a few ponies who've worked here." She didn't add how they worked outdoors rather than in. 

He seemed a bit skeptical at first, but then shrugged. "Well, let's get to it then, we haven't a moment to lose."

"Yes Sir," Scootaloo said.

"Could you quit it with the 'Sirs', you're making me sound old." he grumbled.

"Oh, um...okay then."

"You don't need to be so uptight either." he said with a roll of his eyes.

Scootaloo wasn't sure how to respond, she would've responded 'Yes Sir' again, but grew hesitant. Rather, she looked to the first diagram the stallion motioned to.





By the time everyone went to lunch, the two had gone over the basics to the job, and Scootaloo found the work was more complicated than she had originally expected, though she was sure she could manage it, with a bit of practice.

Scootaloo took to going around, looking for Twister, since the mare said she'd see her at lunch, and found herself in a different room. She spotted Twister, who didn't seem to notice how everyone had gone.

"Hey," Scootaloo greeted, walking over. Twister glanced up, adjusting her glasses and dropping her pencil. She looked to Scootaloo before coming to a realization.

"Oh, is it lunch already?" she asked.

"Yeah, do you want to go anywhere?" Scootaloo questioned.

Twister seemed surprised. "You mean, together?"

"Sure, why not? I'd like to get to know you, anyway." Scootaloo replied.

"You're not going to go out yourself? Or with anyone else?" the mare asked, pushing up her glasses in surprise.

"There was someone else," Scootaloo admitted, referencing Rumble, "but he'll be fine. He should've left half an hour ago anyway."

"Oh...." Twister replied. "um, sure, I guess." a bit of surprise was still hinted in her voice.

"Great, where'd you like to go?" Scootaloo questioned.

"Oh, anywhere." Twister stated, getting up from her seat. "I'm fine with anything."

"We can go to this one place," Scootaloo suggested. "I go there with my friends all the time."

"That sounds nice. What do they have?" she asked, matching Scootaloo's pace.

"You don't mind hayburgers and fries, do you?"

"Oh, not at all. I adore them, actually."

"Good. Let's go, before it can get crowded."

Twister nodded and they took off.





By the time the pair had arrived, Twister was in hysterics, hardly able to steady herself with her flying. She wiped a tear from her eye, trying to focus her vision she couldn't crash to the ground. Her laughter was contagious, for she managed to get Scootaloo to laugh with her.

"You can't be serious."

"Believe me, I am."

"Why would he do that?" she asked.

Scootaloo shrugged. "That's just stallions for ya. Or at least the ones I've met."

"Amen to that," Twister agreed. She chuckled again, turning red from her laughter. "What is it with boys and being so protective?"

"I have no idea. He worries too much. But hey, at least he cares."

"So this Rumble guy," she said. "Is he your boyfriend, by any chance?"

Scootaloo smiled. "I guess you could say that." she shrugged, walking through the glass doors, relieved to find the line wasn't too long.

"I'll just take that as a yes." Twister remarked. "He sounds like a nice guy."

"Even if he suggests that I carry around pepper spray?" Scootaloo reminded with a smirk, raising an eyebrow. Twister broke into another fit of laughter again, trying to steady herself as they inched forward in the line.

"That's a bit over-the-top, don't ya think?" she asked.

"That's exactly what I told him. He must get it from my Dad."

"Don't tell me he does it too,"

"Please, he's the one who taught me how to defend myself. In case I ever 'run into trouble'. And he's basically raised me to cringe whenever someone mentions me getting married." she shuddered at the statement, proving her point, and make prompting Twister to giggle some more.

"That is hilarious. I wish I had someone to do that." she said, wiping away her tears.

"Yeah, but I love him for it. Not many other ponies can say they have someone who cares about them that much. Even if that means I need a curfew." she chuckled, referencing her father again.

"Well, save for Swan," Twister mentioned.

Scootaloo rose a brow.

"Oh, sorry, I'm getting a bit ahead of myself. I'm talking about this book character, from this novel I read."

"They sound interesting, with a name like Swan."

"Her first name's actually Belle, but yeah. To make a long story short, she has an overprotective spouse too."

"How so?"

"He-nearly-killed-someone-who-tried-to-hit-on-her-protective." she answered.

"Wow." Scootaloo stated.

"I know. Though, in a way, it's romantic."

"I suppose so. I guess that's just a stallion's way of saying they care about you. I can appreciate that. Even if they tend to go overboard sometimes."

"In the most comical of ways." Twister agreed.

"Amen to that." Scootaloo quoted. They finally reached the front of the line, and took to ordering their lunch. Once it was paid for, they decided to take a seat on the side lines to wait.

"So what else is there?" Twister asked. "You seem to be pretty interesting."

"Not much. I already told you the basics. What about you? Tell me about yourself."

"There's not much," Twister admitted. "I mainly live a pretty un-extraordinary life."

"It can't be that bad. There's got to be something interesting about you."

"I have two cats?" Twister tried.

"That would explain the poster." Scootaloo smirked. "What else?"

"I moved out of Manehattan a couple of years ago." The mare added. "I used to share an apartment with my little brother, until I saved enough money to go someplace else. You can only live in such a huge overpopulated city for so long."

"So you live here, now?"

"Yeah, but it wasn't the first place. I moved around a bit. That's how I got my little kitties." she smiled.

"Really?" Scootaloo asked curiously.

"Yep, one's from Trottingham, and the other's from Fillydelphia. They were strays, and I had some extra space, so I took them in."

"That's pretty sweet."

"I guess so. Right now, they're the light of my life." she sighed. "Boy are you lucky, though."

"Why do you say that?" Scootaloo questioned.

"You have a nice boyfriend and awesome friends you can visit all the time. All of my family and friends are back at home."

"Have you made any more?"

"Yeah, here and there. But we're not really that close. Not as close as the other ones. They're all busy with their own lives and such, I'm more of an acquaintance. Plus, I usually keep to myself. It's fair to say that I don't get out very much."

"I see," Scootaloo replied. She would've at least recognized the mare around the town before. Yet she didn't recall seeing her any time before that day. Plus, Twister mentioned she lived on the outskirts of Ponyville, near their workplace.

"Sorry," she suddenly said, tracing the pattern in the wooden table. "I'm spilling all of this on to you all at once. I probably seem like some sort of weird cat pony now." 

"It's fine, to be fair, I did it too. And you're pretty nice, you don't seem weird at all."

Twister smiled. "You're so easy to talk with. I haven't talked this much with anypony since I met up with my Manehattan friends a while back." she chuckled. "I think you're pretty nice too."

"Number 23!" The cashier called out. The two stood, heading over and taking the heavy paper bags. 

"Thanks," they said in unison.

"Have a nice day!" the teen replied, giving them a friendly smile. She then turned to another customer.

The two decided to take their lunch to outside, eventually finding a cloud that hovered close to their workplace. Twister pulled out a straw, sticking it in her milkshake. She took a long pull at it until she finally decided to say what was on her mind.

"So...um, Scootaloo," she started, picking at her salad.

"Yes?" Scootaloo replied, looking up from her fries.

"Does this mean we're friends, now?" the mare asked quietly. "-I understand if we aren't yet, or if you still only view me as a colleague, that's fine. I was just curious."

Scootaloo gave her a friendly smile. "Sure. I needed a work buddy anyway." she stated. 

Twister smiled, taking one of her own fries.

"Thank you."
> Chapter 12; Déjà vu
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Scootaloo glanced to the far off trees, seeing their brightly colored leaves, some of which had a redder hue then the others, just waiting to meet the ground. She turned to her right and waved to a few of the weather ponies, one of the many units that would set the scheduled late summer storm clouds into their designated places. She finally touched the ground, looking about for Rumble. Ever since she first started her job a few days prior, Rumble had been insistent on walking home with her. Even though she preferred travelling through the air, for it was much faster, she quickly grew to like the time spent with him. She actually started to look forward to their walks.

Yet now she couldn't find him. She started at a slow pace, hoping he'd show up soon, 'fashionably late' as Rarity might say. But eventually, the clouds started to darken the sky, threatening rain. She sighed. "Where is he?" she mumbled. She eventually quickened her pace, hopping into the air once the rain started to come down.

By the time she had reached their home, it was pouring down raining, and Scootaloo was soaked to the bone, she shivered, taking a very shaky step to the door. Bemusedly, she blew a tendril of her hair from her face, not bothering to ring out her dripping mane. She reached for her house key, pulling it out just as the front door opened. She glanced up to find a familiar pair of pink eyes staring back at her. She let out an annoyed sigh.

"Um, hey Scoot." Rumble said, seemingly a bit guilty.

Scootaloo didn't give much of a response. Rather, she blew at another tendril of her hair from her face, water flying from it in all directions. Rumble took a step back, letting her step inside, knowing she was going to question him. But then she noticed that there was food out in the kitchen, and that the stove had been switched on, a boiling pot of water and another simmering pot of pasta sauce sat atop it. She turned back to Rumble, who gave her a side smile.

"What's all this?" she asked, turning to him. 

Rumble shut the door, walking up to her. "You know how we had that race at the Academy?"

Scootaloo thought for a moment. "You still remember that?"  

"Yep. I owe you dinner, but considering the weather..."

"No way," Scootaloo said in mocking disbelief, a smile creeping to her lips.

"'No way' what?"

"You're not making dinner for me." she chuckled.

"Actually, it's for us," Rumble corrected. "and why not?"

"You don't need to Rumble, I would've been fine with another pizza." Scootaloo said, slipping off her saddlebag.

"I felt like treating you. Tomorrow's your first day off and I think you deserve it,"

"I didn't do anything special." Scootaloo stated, walking down the hall, Rumble following closely behind. " If anything, I did nothing while you cleaned the house all week."

"I wouldn't call scheduling several storms in the past week 'nothing special' you've been getting up every morning before I have, plus you made me pancakes this week."

"That was for the both of us. And I was just feeling productive." Scootaloo shrugged. "It's not that big of a deal. I don't need you to cook dinner for me, Rumble."

"But I want to do it." Rumble stated. Scootaloo turned to him, cracking a smile of her own. 

"You really want to?" she asked.

"Absolutely, I'm not as good as my mother, but hopefully it'll suffice."

"Fine." Scootaloo stated, turning for the hallway again.

"What're you doing?" Rumble asked, watching as she headed for the bathroom. 

"Taking a shower." Scootaloo smirked.

"Oh," Rumble blushed, mainly because he forgot how soaked Scootaloo had gotten on her way home. He immediately took on a bit of a guilty look, throwing her an awkward smile. Scootaloo grinned and shut the door, leaving him in the hallway. "I guess I'll...get back to the food."

She chuckled as he walked away, shaking her head at his antics.





By the time Scootaloo came out, Rumble was just about done with the sauce. He stirred it, unaware of Scootaloo coming up behind him.

"That smells good." she said. He jumped, nearly dropping the spoon into the pot. He quickly turned and immediately relaxed upon seeing it was her. Though he couldn't help but feel annoyed by her laughter.

He rolled his eyes. "Whatever you say. It's almost ready."

"What should I do then?"

He shrugged. "Nothing really, I am trying to treat you after all."

"Yeah, that's not happening. I want to help you out somehow." Before he could object, she stood next to him, looking at the sauce and then to the simmering noodles. "This looks about done." she stated. She took a fork and stirred to be sure, before ultimately turning the fire off and bringing it to the sink.

"You can be pretty stubborn sometimes, you know that?" Rumble said, watching as she drained the pasta into a colander. 

"You can be too nice, you know that?" she remarked, throwing him a smirk. "Is the sauce done?"

"Almost, just give it a few minutes." he replied.

Scootaloo set the remaining noodles next to the stove, before taking a seat at the table, keeping her eyes on Rumble. "Is this really why you didn't walk me home today?" she asked.

"Why? Did you miss me?" Rumble smirked. Now it was Scootaloo who rolled her eyes.

"Maybe." she stated. 

"I thought you believed walking home was a waste of time." Rumble continued, still smiling.

"It's grown on me. We haven't talked liked that for a while." she admitted. 

"What do you mean?" Rumble questioned, turning off the stove.

"I don't know, it's just, ever since we came here, we seem to have gotten a bit..." she glanced away in thought. "distant." she decided.

"How so?" he asked, setting the spoon he used in the sink.

"I mean, there was the whole Wonderbolt's Academy thing, but it seems like we're changing."

"Is that a bad thing?"

"Maybe? I don't know, really. I'm just a bit worried it may not be for the better."

"Why do you think this?"

"When was the last time we had an open conversation like this?"

Rumble paused, glancing away from the suspecting Scootaloo."I don't remember an exact date." he finally stated, choosing his answer carefully. "Unless you count the night we came home."

"I don't count it." she said. "You were comforting me, that's different."

"I guess you're right there."

"Ever since High School ended and we moved in together, everything felt...different. And I'm not sure how to feel about it. Sometimes I wonder if we may have..." her voice trailed off.

"Rushed into it." Rumble finished. She avoided his gaze, nodding as she stared at the design in the table.

"I know it's another step in our relationship, but do you think we were to quick to go into it? Don't get me wrong, I love being with you all the time. But I guess that it's just different now. And I don't think I'm used to it yet. Even now, it still feels weird to wake up everyday and find you next to me."

"I guess you're right." Rumble agreed. "Before, we didn't see each other as much, when we first started dating, I guess it made me want to be closer, you know? A bit of an 'absence makes the heart grow fonder' thing." he added. "Whenever you weren't there, and I was thinking of you, I wanted to be closer. Now that I can see you all the time, I guess I feel...different. Like I don't need to see you all the time, and I guess I've been branching out a bit from you."

"I have too." she admitted.

"Even with work and our friends, it just seems strange for me, to see you all of the time. I guess it's because I don't always have to wonder about what you're doing or when I'm going to see you again. I guess I'm just growing used to you. And I'm worried that I'll grow too distant, that our relationship will suffer from it."

Rather than making a witty remark, Scootaloo nodded. "Maybe we were too quick to jump into this." she suggested.

"Do you...want to take a break then?" Rumble asked, his voice wavering. He couldn't help but feel regretful of asking it, even though all of this was true, he didn't want to risk ending things with Scootaloo, he still wanted to be with her, he just felt like he could be show it more.

To his surprise, and to his own relief, Scootaloo shook her head. "No. I just feel like we're going too fast. I think we should just try to slow it down from now on, rather than rushing into such a big step or decision. I still want to be with you, but I don't want to end up in a relationship where I'm not as passionate to you as I used to be. You've done so much for me, and I know you love me, if you're willing to do all this" she gestured to the food, "and share your home with me. Especially when you say it to me all the time. I want to give it all back to you. To show you how much I really care for you, or think about you, or miss and love you as you do for me. And I think rushing into it is only going to prevent that.

"I don't want to live without you, Rumble. I can't see myself doing it. But I don't think I'm quite used to you yet, to the point in which you can just be a normal part of my life. You're so much more than that to me." her voice wavered a bit, and she shut her eyes, wiping the building moisture in her eyes away. Rumble set his hoof over hers, scooting his chair closer.

"I think I understand." he replied softly. "And I agree with you. Maybe we shouldn't rush into things anymore. I'll always be willing to support you whenever you make a decision, but I never want you to feel forced to do something you don't think you're ready for."

"I'm sure you'd never force me to do that anyway," Scootaloo chuckled, flipping her hair from her face, she turned to him. "but I'll let you know if I ever feel hesitant with any of your offers. I just want you to do the same with me."

"You have my word."

"Good." she smiled. "Now is the food ready? I want to see how good your cooking is."

"You might be disappointed." Rumble warned.

"I'm sure it's not that bad." Scootaloo said. "I mean, it is edible, right?"

Rumble rolled his eyes, smirking at the remark. "Har, har." he said. He poured the pasta in a large serving dish, before mixing in the sauce. After a good minute or two of stirring, he brought it over to where they sat, setting it in the middle of the table. 

"Sure smells good." Scootaloo commented.

"Doesn't mean it'll taste good."

"You'd really ought to take more pride in your cooking, Rumble. You're going to drive everyone away if you think it's terrible."

"Fair point." he shrugged. "You wanna try it now?"

"It's now or never." she shrugged. He scooped some on one of the plates he set out, and she took a bite of it, chewing slowly as she glanced up teasingly, as though she was trying to determine if it was good or not. In truth, she thought it was delicious, and a teasing smile crept to her lips as Rumble awaited her response.

"Well?" Rumble asked.

She smiled. "It's edible." she teased.

Rumble couldn't help but reflect it. "Oh, shut up." he chuckled.
> Chapter 13; Nicknames
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The next morning, Rumble was the first to wake up. He turned to Scootaloo, who was still sleeping the day away. It was a rare sight, seeing her in such a peaceful state. He found that she actually looked kind of cute when she was asleep. He thought back to the night before, smiling at the copious topics they discussed.

"Any plans for tomorrow?" Rumble had asked, nudging her with a wing.

Scootaloo had responded with her signature eye roll, "No, I'm just going to lie around while I have the chance,"

"So does that mean you'll be sleeping in then?" Rumble smirked.

"Please," she remarked. "I hate waking up late."

"You're version of waking up late is 9 am." he responded, raising a brow.

"Shut up," Scootaloo chuckled, punching his arm. "I'm fine with 9, I mean 2 o'clock in the afternoon. That's like, most of your day gone."

"Whatever you say Scoot." Rumble chuckled.

Now as he lay there, he couldn't help but ponder if she actually was going to sleep until then. The last time she slept that hard, Rumble had to carry her home. He smirked at the memory, finding Scootaloo looked just as peaceful now as she did then. Cute even.

Unfortunately for him, she started to stir awake, fluttering her eyelids. She glanced up to him, finding Rumble glancing back with the stupidest grin on his face.

"What're you smiling at?" she asked.

"You, sleepyhead." he teased.

"Oh screw you." she responded, rolling her eyes, she couldn't help but smile though.

"Someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed." he added.

"Nope, just woke up in the wrong room." she smirked.

"Wow, that's low, Scoot."

"I don't mean it." she continued. "You know I like it here."

"I'm going to hold you to that." Rumble warned. 

Scootaloo smirked, sitting up and playfully rolling her eyes. "Shouldn't you be getting ready for work or something?" she questioned.

"You say that as though you don't want me here."

Scootaloo's smirk grew.

"Now that's just mean." Rumble responded.

"I know." she giggled. 

"Alright, I'm going then." he grumbled.

"Then I'm getting some more shut-eye" she continued, lying back onto the bed. Teasingly, she stretched over Rumble's side, smiling with a sigh.

Rumble rolled his eyes. "You're such a tease."

"I know,." Scootaloo repeated.

Rumble shook his head, unable to help his smile from her antics. It didn't take him very long to get ready, by the time he was, he checked in on Scootaloo, finding she was half-asleep. He chuckled and went over, staring down at her face.

Her eyes fluttered open, and she smiled at him. "Have a nice day at work," she stated, yawning.

"Enjoy your day off," Rumble responded. He started out the room, grabbing his saddlebag.

"Wait a second," Scootaloo yawned. He turned, arching a brow at her. 

"Yeah?" he asked, going back to her.

She lifted a foreleg, wrapping it around his neck and pulling herself closer. She pecked his cheek, making his face burn a light shade of red. Unwillingly, his wings unfolded themselves, popping up into the air. Scootaloo giggled.

"Alright, I'm good." 

"You're such a tease." Rumble replied, turning back to the door.

She giggled again.





Rumble finally landed at station, getting ready to clock in. He and Scootaloo were always early, mainly because of her freaky sleep schedule. Just as he did so, he spotted a certain yellow stallion his way.

'Oh boy," he thought. Ever since he started to hang out with Scootaloo , it seemed like everyone was taking notice of her. Why is it that as soon as they officially started dating, everybody starts hitting on her? It was like their relationship sparked some sort of magnetic force of a sort.

He didn't notice Sunny had approached him until a yellow hoof was waved his face. He broke away from his train of thought, turning to the stallion before him, who appeared nervous.

"Um, hey...Rumble," the stallion said, as though he was having trouble remembering his name.

"Hey Sunny, you need something?" Rumble questioned, trying not to show his bemusement.

"No, well, actually, I came to ask you about something." the stallion stuttered.

"About?" Rumble started, heading towards his station. Sunny followed.

"Well, you know the new mare, right?"

"You mean Scootaloo?" Rumble questioned.

"Yeah, well, you two seem pretty close, so...."

"You want to ask me about her don't you?" Rumble asked, raising a brow at him. He couldn't help but try to hold back a smile from the stallion's oblivious statements. 'If only he knew,' Rumble thought.

"Do you...think I have a chance with her?" Sunny asked quietly, blushing a bit.

Rumble couldn't hold back his smirk this time. He found it to be amusing. He could've just told Sunny about their relationship right then and there, and tell the stallion to back off as apart of him wanted to do. But he decided he could lighten up a bit, and humor the stallion.

"That depends, I don't really know that much about you, I couldn't really say."

"Can you tell me about her then? If that's okay?"

"Well, she wants to be a WonderBolt, and she's pretty athletic."

"Okay,"

"She can be pretty stand-offish at times, but she's still nice. At least she tries to be."

"What else?"

"She's not the biggest fan of over-the-top romance, she likes keeping things simple. But even then, she is a pretty good kisser."

"Wait, how would you-" Sunny started. He looked to Rumble, who was smirking.

"Well, I am her boyfriend." he chuckled.

Sunny burned a bright red. "Oh! I'm sorry, I didn't know."

"It's fine," Rumble shrugged.

"Sweet Mother of Luna, I feel like a jerk." the stallion continued, smacking a hoof to his head and burning redder. "Of course she has a boyfriend, why wouldn't she?" he mumbled to himself. 

"It's fine, you didn't know."

"I'm really sorry about that. I never would've asked if I knew before." his blush brightened. "Oh, what does she think of me now? She must think I'm an idiot or something."

"She thinks you're nice." Rumble stated. "She thought that it was super sweet of you to offer your umbrella to her, even if she didn't use it."

"I-I wanted to be nice. She didn't have one and-"

"You were also flirting." Rumble said knowingly.

"Well, yeah." Sunny admitted, hanging his head down.

"It's fine, I don't mind you talking with her and all, as long as it's platonic."

"Yeah, look Rumble, I'm so sorry about this. I guess I should've known you two were a thing," he added. Now that Rumble had said so, it seemed pretty obvious. "I guess you might be mad at me or something."

"It's not like we talk about it with everyone, we don't really think we have to broadcast it to the world. It's just a relationship. We haven't told many of our colleagues. I'm sure that if you did know things would be different."

"Of course, I would've just left her alone."

"Good to hear. Otherwise-"

"I'd probably be a dent in the ground." Sunny finished.

"Yeah. So hooves off." Rumble said, his tone of voice for the last sentence made Sunny jump a bit.

"I get it, I'll leave her alone. Thanks by the way."

"For?"

"Telling me. You just saved me that embarrassment, and you're so neutral about it. If I were in your shoes I'd be pretty mad."

"I was at first, but it was admittedly pretty funny to tease you like that."

"Gee, thanks." Sunny added dully. "So...are we good? No pummeling or hunting me down to the ends of Equestria?"

"We're good."

"Oh thank the princesses!" he sighed in relief. "I'm glad that that's over."

"So am I, so let's just let it drop shall we?"

"Oh, sure, of course. But one more thing,"

"Yes?" Rumble sighed, pretending to be annoyed.

The yellow pegasus smirked, "about the 'good kisser' part," he added.

" Bye, Sunny." Rumble stated, trotting away.

"Wait, I'm just messing around!" Sunny chuckled, following after him.





"...and then he said I was a D.Va!" Sweetie scoffed. "Can you believe that?" 

"He must've been joking, Sweetie, it's just a name." Apple Bloom said with a roll of her eyes, she looked to Scootaloo, who was had mimicked the action.

"I'm not a diva!" Sweetie exclaimed. 

The other two rose their eyebrows expectantly, throwing her identical 'Really?' faces.

"I'm not!" Sweetie continued, her face growing red.

"I don't know, considering you were offended over playing Underwat-

"Overwatch," Sweetie corrected.

"Overwatch," Apple Bloom continued, "You can at least admit you take things to heart pretty easily."

"I do not!" Sweetie claimed. "Besides, how would that make me  a diva?"

"Do you even know what a diva is?"

"Well," Sweetie started.

"According to Wing it's a famous female opera singer." Scootaloo smiled.

"Oh," Sweetie blushed. "Well, I wouldn't really call myself famous, let alone an opera singer-"

"It's also a tempermental pony, typically a female, who's hard to please." she interjected.

Sweetie's blush brightened, and she scowled. "Hey!" she exclaimed. Scootaloo and Apple Bloom giggled. 

"We're just teasing, Sweets, just like Button was."

"Well I don't think it's very funny." Sweetie mumbled.

"See? Hard to please," Scootaloo added, emphasizing the syllables.

Sweetie playfully punched her arm. "And you say I'm a dictionary."

"You still are, but you should at least know what a diva is." Scootaloo teased. 

"Whatever." Sweetie mumbled.

"What about you, Scoot? Anything new at home?"

"Nothing really, just that Rumble and I sort of had a date last night."

"Sort of?" Apple Bloom questioned.

"And what did you do for this 'sort-of-date'?" Sweetie asked, adding air quotes.

"Does it count as a date if it's at home?" Scootaloo asked.

"Depends on what you did." Sweetie added.

"We had dinner and talked about things," Scootaloo tried.

"What type of things?" Apple Bloom asked.

"Just, things." Scootaloo stated flatly.

"Sure," Sweetie smirked, she and Apple Bloom looked to each other and rose their eyebrows teasingly.

"It wasn't like that," Scootaloo blushed, hitting Apple Bloom playfully.

"Sure, Scoot." Sweetie smiled.

"Whatever, Sweetie. Anyway, we just talked. He made dinner for us."

"Aw," the other two grinned.

"Is he a good cook?" Apple Bloom asked.

"He's good enough." Scootaloo shrugged.

"What'd he make?" Sweetie asked.

"Spaghetti." Scootaloo stated.

"Typical," Sweetie said with a shake of her head.

"How's that typical?"

"Don't worry about it," Sweetie giggled. Scootaloo looked to Apple Bloom for help, but earned a shrug in response.

"That reminds me," Sweetie suddenly added.

"Of?"

"Does Rumble have any nicknames for you?" she asked.

"He calls me Scoot,"

"Just like everyone else." Sweetie added. "I'm talking about a special nickname, reserved for you alone."

"It wouldn't be very special if I said so," Scootaloo commented.

"He doesn't have one for you does he?"

"No," Scootaloo admitted. "But it's not like I need one, we're still in a relationship either way."

"But it can keep things interesting," Sweetie added.

"What do you mean?"

"If you ask me, it's healthy for couples to poke fun at each other from time to time. You can't be completely serious in a relationship."

Scootaloo and Apple Bloom exchanged a glance, before they both bit their lips in a grin.

"What?" Sweetie asked,

"Says the diva." Apple Bloom snickered.

Sweetie blushed. "Okay, so maybe I was a bit too reactive."

"Diva," the two sang in unison.

"Buck you two," Sweetie said with a roll of her eyes. 

The pair broke into a fit of giggles, prompting Sweetie to wear a red bemused look.

"You do have a point though, at least I think you do." Scootaloo chuckled.

"Gee, thanks." Sweetie replied bemusedly.

"Really, I do. Maybe Rumble and I should stop acting so serious all the time."

"Please, the likelihood of you two bein' serious is about as likely as Button is of quitting video games."

"Fair point." Scootaloo admitted. "But seriously, maybe we've been treating this whole dating and moving in together thing too seriously."

"I understand completely." Sweetie said.

"So just because you and Button talked about moving, that makes you an expert on moving in with someone." Apple Bloom remarked.

"It's close enough," Sweetie defended.

Scootaloo giggled.





Rumble finally landed on the ground, looking to the restaurant in front of him.

"Hey Rumble!" he heard.

He turned, spotting the source of the voice in the air, a teasing smile on her lips.

"Hey Scoot." Rumble greeted, going up to her.

"On you're lunch break already?"

"Yep, thank Luna. We're scheduled for another cloudy day."

"Guess you need a break then,"

"Tell me about it,"

"Want to spend it with me?" she asked curiously.

He smiled. "Duh, Scoot" he teased.

"Oh shut up." she smirked. He didn't notice her saddlebag until she opened it, pulling out their lunch.

"Where to?" she asked.

"Anywhere's fine," he shrugged. "Long as I'm able to get back to work quickly."

"Classic Rumble, always willing to work." Scootaloo teased.

They flew to a nearby cloud, and Rumble sighed, lying back onto it. He stretched out his wings as Scootaloo took their lunches out.

"Long day?"

"Yep. And I'm only halfway through it." he sighed. "Oh well, beats homework and tests."

"Says the guy who doesn't have to do the paperwork,"

"Good point." he admitted. "So what have you done so far anyway?" he crunched on a French Fry.

"I went to see how the girls were doing."

"And?"

"Nothing important. We basically just decided Sweetie's a diva." she smirked.

Rumble laughed, "she kind of is."

"I'm totally telling her you said that." Scootaloo smirked.

"Oh come on Scoot, don't do that,"

"Fine." Scootaloo replied. "What about you?"

"I talked with your secret admirer," Rumble smirked.

"I have a secret admirer?"

"I mean Sunny, Scoot." Rumble chuckled.

"Oh, sorry. Wait, secret admirer? C'mon Rumble, I doubt it's that big of a-"

"He asked me about if he was in your league." Rumble stated.

"Oh," Scootaloo stated. She fell silent, and Rumble looked up to her, still lying next to her. Finally, she followed with, "I thought he was just flirting, I didn't think it was that erious. I'm flattered and all, but...well,"

"I told him about us."

"What'd he say?"

"He was pretty apologetic."

"I'm sure he was, and embarrassed too. You didn't hit him did you?"

"No, but I told him to keep it platonic."

"Poor Sunny," Scootaloo chuckled. "I mean he's a nice guy, but  I don't think he's my type."

"Neither do I. Considering he hardly knew my name before you came along."

"C'mon, Rumble. I'm sure he means well."

"He does, we talked about some other stuff and  he's not that bad. I can see myself talking with him in the future. You know, like a friend for work."

"Yay! Rumble made a friend!" Scootaloo teased.

"You can't be the only one making friends with colleagues." Rumble defended, referencing Twister.

"I suppose you're right there."

"Anything else happened for you? Other than work, that's about it for me."

"Nothing important." Scootaloo shrugged. she paused. "Hey Rumble?"

"Yeah?" Rumble asked, looking up to her again. She glanced down to him, a curious look on her face.

"Do you have any nicknames for me?" 

Rumble rose a brow, smirking. He didn't expect her to ask that.

"Why? Am I supposed to?"

"Not really, it was just a thought."

"Do you have any for me?"

"Not really." she paused, and then smirked. "Except for when I called you Tumble a few years back."

"Oh Luna," Rumble said with a roll of his eyes. "Don't start that again. Ever since you called me that around my cousin she's called me Tumblr."

"Sorry." Scootaloo giggled. "Tumblr."

"Don't you start." Rumble warned, though he couldn't hold his grin.

"Alright fine. What do you want as a nickname?"

"Don't know, I never gave it much thought."

"Let me know then."

"As long as you don't end up calling me some lovey dovey nickname like love bug or-" he pretended to gag "sugar pie."

Scootaloo joined him in the fake gagging. "Trust me, I won't."

"What could I call you though?" he pondered, finishing his lunch.

"As long as you don't give me the standard 'sweetie' I'm fine."

Rumble thought for  a moment, still chewing the last bit of his burger. He then smirked deviously. 

Oh Luna, what're you thinking?" Scootaloo asked.

"Nothing really," he paused. "Loo-loo."

Scootaloo cringed. "Loo-loo?" she asked. "I thought we agreed on no lovey dovey nicknames.

"It's not lovey dovey," he defended. "If anything, I'd say it sort of suits you.

"Or maybe the altitude's getting to your head." she stated.

"Maybe it's the angle," he teased. "You tend to be cuter upside-down."

"You did not," Scootaloo laughed.

"What? I did, and I'll do it again. You're even cuter upside-down." he restated.

"I'm not cute, Rumble." she laughed.

"Of course you are, especially when you're blushing like that. It suits you even more now."

"Okay, that's enough. You're not calling me that."

"And why not? You're the one who asked, that's what you're going to get."

"You can't come up with anything else?"

"Nope." he smiled, popping his lips at the P.

"Too bad, you're not going to call me that. Especially not in public."

"Can't I at least do it when we're alone?" he asked.

"No."

"I promise I won't let it slip around anyone else."

"No, Rumble."

"Please? It's perfect!"

"Nope."

He put his hooves together, throwing her a playful puppy dog look.

"Nada." Scootaloo said, not giving in. She couldn't help but laugh though.

"Fine, you leave me no choice."

"What're y-" She was caught off when Rumble tackled her, pinning her to the cloud. She laughed harder. "Rumble stop!"

"Not until you let me do call you Loo-loo."

"Stop! Ponies might see us!"

"We're on the outskirts of town, Scoot, and no one within a few mile's radius can see us." He used the feathers of his wings to tickle her side's.

"Let me go!" she giggled, tears pricking in her eyes.

"Not until you give in."

"I-I'm gonna pee!!" she giggled.

He took to nuzzling her neck with his nose, making her laugh harder.

"Okay! Okay!" she gave in.

"Okay, what?"

"I'll let you call me Loo-loo." she giggled. "Just don't do that again."

"I can't make any promises."

"Then at least do it when we're alone, and not in the open." she said, her laughter finally dying down.

"Deal," Rumble smiled, satisfied. "Loo-loo."

Scootaloo cringed, instantly regretting her decision. Curse her ticklish ways.

"This'll get old quick."

Now it was Rumble's turn to laugh.