Scootaloo sat in silence with her mouth slightly ajar as her ears rested against her head. She and Sweetie Belle were in front of her house as the morning sun shone overhead, a few clouds hovering about. Despite ponies going about their business all around them, all Scootaloo could hear were the words that Sweetie Belle had just told her, words that she never thought she'd hear her say.
"Well, that's what happened," Sweetie Belle concluded. She gave off a look of worry as the expression on Scootaloo's face remained the same for many moments. Nervously, she scratched the back of one of her legs with the opposing hoof as she waited for Scootaloo to say something, anything.
After what felt like an eternity had passed, Sweetie Belle finally asked, "Are you okay, Scoots?"
It was then that Scootaloo closed her mouth and sat on her haunches, her eyes shifting to the ground. "I...," she said softly. "I don't know what to say. I just...can't believe that...I was right. I can't believe...she actually tried to..."
"I know," Sweetie replied, her tone matching hers. "I know what she did was wrong, but...but you have to believe me when I say she had the best intentions at heart!"
Another moment of silence fell between them.
"Please, Scootaloo," she pleaded. "Please forgive Rarity. I saw and heard everything she said. She didn't mean for everything to happen like this. She really and truly is sorry for what she did."
Scootaloo raised an eyebrow. "If that's true, then why did she send you to apologize for her instead of doing it herself?"
"She didn't. I offered to do it for her because...she needs to apologize to Thunderlane. Out of everypony...she needs to talk to him the most."
"What about Rumble? She needs to talk to him too!"
"Well...that's where I'm going after this. I said I would talk to him and Apple Bloom."
Scootaloo nodded her head in understanding.
"What do you say, Scootaloo? Can you please forgive Rarity?" Sweetie Belle asked. Before she had a chance to respond, she trotted up to her and began rubbing her head against Scootaloo's neck, making her face turn a slight shade of pink. "Please, for me?"
It was only when Sweetie Belle gave her the wide-eyed, puppy dog look did Scootaloo give a small smile, let a sight escape through her nostrils and said, "Okay, Sweetie Belle, I guess I can forgive her...this time."
"Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you," she shouted as she wrapped her arms around her in an embrace. "You have no idea how much this means to us!"
"Yeah, yeah," said Scootaloo, as she returned the gesture. "Let's just hope she doesn't try this again anytime soon."
Then, the two of them shared a small kiss as Sweetie Belle said, "I love you."
"I love you, two," Scootaloo said, her cheeks beginning to flush. When the two of them released their embrace, she asked, "So, you're going to talk to Rumble now?"
Sweetie Belle nodded. "I was hoping that...you can come with me...if you don't mind, that is."
Scootaloo responded by raising an eyebrow and tilting her head in confusion.
"You see, not only do I have to apologize to him for what Rarity did, but...I have to apologize to him for what I did, too. I hurt him by not listening to you…by not telling him the truth about us when I should have and... I think he needs to hear the truth...from both of us."
Scootaloo nodded. "I guess you're right. Any idea where he is?"
She responded by shrugging a shoulder and smiling sheepishly, resulting in Scootaloo face-hoofing herself. "Well, we better start looking for him."
"Before we go, can you do me a favor?" asked Sweetie Belle.
"Sure, what's up?"
Scootaloo watched as Sweetie Belle picked up a small box from the ground with a hoof and asked, "Can you hold on to this for me? It's kinda hard to carry it around, since I don't know how to use my magic yet."
As Scootaloo took the box from her, she instantly recognized it and asked, "Sweetie, isn't this...?"
"Yeah," she interrupted. "I...I think it'd be better...for all of us...if I gave it back."
"Are you sure you want to do that?"
Sweetie Belle responded by nodding her head once.
"Alright, then," Scootaloo said as she placed the box underneath one of her wings. "Now, let's try and find Rumble."
"Okay," Sweetie Belle replied as the two of them headed into town. As they began heading toward the inn, only one thought kept swirling in her thoughts, making her feel more and more anxious by the second.
I hope he'll understand and find it in himself to forgive us for all of this.
It was late afternoon when the two fillies reached the center of town for the umpteenth time. The two of them starting to get tired and frustrated, they decided to take a small break from their search by resting in the shade of the "Our Founder" fountain.
"Where could he possibly be?" Sweetie Belle groaned as she rested her head on the side of the fountain.
"I have no idea," Scootaloo answered, sitting beside her. "He must be with Thunderlane somewhere, since neither of them were at the inn."
"I hope we find him soon."
"Don't worry about it. We'll find him...eventually."
The two of them sat in silence as the ponies around them went about the town, many of them cleaning up the remnants of the Festival that happened the night before. Earth ponies were sweeping the streets from all the litter that was strewn about as unicorns were taking down the tents and Pegasi were carefully detaching the lights that were still strung up.
As the crowds scurried about, the two fillies kept a close eye out for Rumble, hoping they'd spot him among the sea of ponies around them. They waited there for a few more moments before Scootaloo exclaimed, "There he is!"
The sudden outburst made Sweetie jump in surprise, but the shock didn't last long before she looked in the direction Scootaloo was pointing to see the familiar grey pony trotting through the crowds. The first thing the two of them noticed was the look on his face; it was mix of determination and anxiety, like he was preparing to do something, but having severe doubts about it.
Wasting no time, the two fillies got up and began trotting towards him. However, they didn't get very far before the colt spotted the two of them approaching, his eyes shrinking as his expression became one of alarm.
"Rumble!" Sweetie Belle called out to him as they drew nearer. However, she didn't say another word as she noticed him starting to back away from them. Immediately, she and Scootaloo stopped their trotting, only to see that he had stopped backing away.
That's not a good sign, Sweetie Belle thought as shame began to overtake her.
Oh, great, Rumble thought. Of all the times to run into...them...it had to be now.
Confident he could hear them, Sweetie took a step forward and said, "Rumble, we have to..."
"Stay away," he said firmly, taking one more step back. "Just stay away from me."
Her eyebrows furrowing, Scootaloo continued approaching as she said, "What's your problem? We just want to talk to you."
Rumble backed up until he bumped into a tree, making him stop for a brief moment. Despite this, he kept his eyes on the two of them as he moved around it. "I have nothing to say to you two, so just go away."
With that, he turned his back to them and began trotting away. Closing his eyes, he felt his heart race and his eyes beginning to pool with tears; the heartache from earlier returned with a vengeance. He was lucky he was able to hold his tears back because he heard the sound of hoof-steps behind him, making his ear twitch at the sound. Immediately, he turned his head to see that both Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo were following him. He looked ahead of him as his eyebrows began to furrow. Despite his heart already racing, he began trotting a bit faster than before.
Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo exchanged slightly confused glances at each other before speeding up to keep up with him. The moment they did, they saw that he began to trot even faster than before.
"I think we should just leave him alone," said Scootaloo as the two of them sped up, her voice loud enough for only Sweetie Belle to hear. "He clearly doesn't want to talk to us."
"No," Sweetie Belle said determinedly. "We need to talk to him. He needs to know the truth."
Can't they take a hint? Rumble thought as he groaned in frustration. Not stopping his stride, he turned his head and yelled out, "Why are you following me?"
"We need to talk to you!" Sweetie Belle answered. "We need to explain..."
"I don't want to hear it, so go away!"
"Rumble, please..."
"LEAVE ME ALONE!"
With as much strength as he could muster, he began galloping as fast as he could, his wings unfurling as he prepared for takeoff. However, he quickly clenched his wings back to his side as the thoughts of the paper underneath one of them resurfaced. It came to no surprise to him that the two of them were now galloping at full force, trying to keep up with him.
"Rumble!" he heard Sweetie Belle calling out to him. "Please, just listen to us!"
"GO AWAY!" he shouted as loudly as he could. He galloped as fast as he could, hoping that the two of them would run out of energy way before he did.
This went on for several minutes. Rumble galloped through town, dodging anything that got in his way, ducking down any alley he could find, and weaving through crowds of ponies that were all over town; he even went so far as to knock down anything he could in an attempt to slow them down. Unfortunately for him, no matter where he went or what he did, the two fillies were always close behind him.
Eventually, Rumble began to tire, causing him to slow down as the three of them approached a nearby bridge that overlooked a small stream. With the last bit of energy he had, Rumble managed to make it on the bridge before stopping to catch his breath; the heartache mixed with the galloping began taking its toll on him.
After several breaths, he turned to see that the two of them were also on the bridge, gasping for air like he was. Although this was the perfect opportunity to get away, he had little to no strength left in his legs to keep going.
"Rumble," said Sweetie Belle between breaths. "Please..."
"Why won't you leave me alone?" he asked as he turned his head away from them, his voice a bit more rigid than any of them were used to. "Can't you tell I don't want to talk to either of you?"
"Rumble, I know we hurt you...I know I hurt you," said Sweetie Belle, her voice cracking slightly. "But we need to talk to you about this. You need to understand..."
"I understand just fine," he responded through gritted teeth. Despite his best efforts to keep his demeanor, his voice started cracking as the tears he fought so hard to hold back began streaming out of the corners of his eyes. "You two are together. Good for you. Go be together somewhere else."
"Hey, we're trying to be nice to you about this," retorted Scootaloo. Although she tried to sound sincere, it was clear that she was just as annoyed as he was.
"Oh really?" Rumble asked as he turned to face her. "Were you 'being nice' when you lied to me about you two being in a relationship?"
Then, he directed his attention to Sweetie Belle. His voice completely overtaken by his heartache, he asked in a low, shaky voice, "Were you 'being nice' when you made me believe you loved me?"
Unable to keep his composure, Rumble turned his back on them again. This time, he squatted on the ground and buried his face in his hooves. Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo could hear that he was trying his best to muffle his crying, though it was pretty clear it wasn't working.
After several moments of silence had passed, Sweetie Belle finally answered through her own tears, "No, we weren't. I admit that we weren't! But, if you would just talk with us and let us explain, you'd understand that...we didn't want to hurt you like this. Me...Scoots...even Rarity. None of us wanted this to happen."
The three of them fell silent again as her words sunk in. Even though his thoughts kept screaming at him to get up and walk away, he couldn't fight the urge to ask, "What are you talking about? Rarity has nothing to..."
"Yes, she does," Scootaloo cut him off, wiping her eyes from her own set of tears. "She's the reason all of this happened in the first place. She lied about everything to everyone, including your brother."
"W-What do you mean?"
Sweetie Belle sat on her haunches and told him the whole story, from Rarity's feelings about Thunderlane, to how she lied about everything to maintain her own relationship with him. She told him about how she interfered with their relationship and tried to convince her that it was all a phase by using him and his feelings. She even told him about her and Scootaloo's fight because of their first kiss and how they had made up and planned to tell him the night of the festival. The only thing she didn't tell him was about Apple Bloom and her feelings towards him; she had made her a promise not to tell and she was going to keep it.
The more she told him, the more it started to make sense; it definitely explained why Rarity and Thunderlane were spending so much time together and why she was adamant about him and Sweetie Belle hitting things off. However, it didn't mean that Sweetie Belle, even Scootaloo at one point, had to go along with it.
"I know what Rarity did was wrong," said Sweetie Belle as she finished explaining. "But, you have to believe me when I say that she's really sorry and that she didn't mean for all of this to happen like this!"
Rumble didn't say anything.
Her voice lowering into a soft tone, she said, "And...And I'm sorry, too."
"So am I," Scootaloo added, her voice matching Sweetie Belle's. "We should have told you last night before..."
"No, Scoots," Sweetie interjected. "I was the one who decided to wait to tell you about us instead of telling you right then and there. It was all my fault."
"Why?" Rumble finally asked, his voice barely above a whisper. "Why didn't you tell me?"
Sweetie Belle sniffled. "You were having such a good time with me last night that...I didn't want to ruin your night."
Another moment of silence followed. Amidst the silence, Rumble finally stood up, his back still facing them. Although he wasn't crying anymore, they knew there were still tears in his eyes.
"Please, Rumble," Sweetie continued, her voice sounding desperate. "Can you ever find it in your heart to forgive us?"
Time stood still as Rumble's thoughts raced. Everything that she had said seemed to make sense, but that didn't take away everything that had happened; it didn't take away the pain he still felt. The word 'no' was on the tip of his tongue and was trying desperately to leave his lips. However, a sound he heard made him stop and really think about what he was told.
Turning his head, he watched as the water beneath the bridge streamed on, disappearing over the horizon. It was only then did the words that Thunderlane had told him that morning begin echoing in his head: "It's water under the bridge now. You have to be strong and try to move on."
He's right, Rumble thought. I have to be the bigger pony and move on.
With as much strength as his heart would allow, he turned to the two fillies, emitted a deep sigh, and said, "Okay, I forgive you, and Rarity, too."
A toothy grin beamed on Sweetie Belle's face as Scootaloo smiled and said, "Thanks, Rumble."
Rumble simply nodded as he turned and began trotting away again. However, he was immediately stopped when Sweetie Belle called out, "Does that mean we can still be friends?"
His heart started beating fast again as he hung his head. The gesture alone made the smile on Sweetie's face instantly disappear.
"I don't know," Rumble said softly, not turning to face them. "I'll have to think about it."
"But..." Sweetie said, her voice cracking again. "But...I thought..."
"I know," he interrupted. "I...I just need to...think about it. If you'll excuse me, I have to...do something."
Again, Rumble began trotting away before he was stopped, this time by Scootaloo asking, "Where are you going?"
Rumble tightened his wings against his sides as he said, "I need to talk to somepony."
"Do you need help?" asked Sweetie Belle.
"No, I...I know where to go, thanks." Learning his lesson, he looked at them again and said, "Anything else? I need to get going."
"Actually, there's one more thing," Sweetie said, as she tapped Scootaloo on the side. She unfurled it to give her the small box she had concealed underneath it. The second his eyes saw it, his pupils shrank into marbles. "I...I wanted to give this to you...if that's okay."
Rumble remained motionless as Sweetie Belle slowly trotted up to him, his eyes fixated on the small box she was now giving him. Slowly, he extended a hoof and took the box, his breathing starting to become a bit labored. The moment he had the box in his hoof, Sweetie Belle wasted no time wrapping her arms around him in an embrace.
"I'm sorry Rumble," she whispered. "I'm sorry about everything."
"But..." he managed to choke out.
"It's okay," she said as she released her embrace. "Give it to your true special somepony."
Those words made him look at her as she offered him a small wink and a smile before trotting away. Rumble was frozen where he stood as his cheeks began to turn crimson.
"Well, you better get going," said Sweetie Belle as she trotted beside Scootaloo, the two of them beginning to trot away.
"Yeah," he said softly as he watched the two of them trot away. He focused his attention on the small box as the words 'true special somepony' repeated in his head over and over again. Then, he looked in their direction and called out, "Sweetie Belle."
The two of them stopped as Sweetie Belle replied, "Yeah?"
A second or two passed before he said, "T-Thank you."
"You're welcome," she answered with a small smile.
"I'll...I'll see you two...later."
They only responded with a nod as the two of them trotted away again.
Confident they were out of earshot, Scootaloo said, "Well, that was...something."
"You can say that again," Sweetie Belle responded. "So, you wanna go to Sugarcube Corner and get something to eat?"
Scootaloo flinched for a second. "I thought you had to talk to Apple Bloom next."
"Don't worry about her," she replied, her eyes looking back to where Rumble was. "Something tells me she's already taken care of."
With that, she kissed Scootaloo on the cheek and rested her head on her shoulder, their tails entwining with one another as they headed back into town together.
Rumble stared at the box in his hooves, completely paralyzed at what happened.
Does she know? Rumble thought, not taking his eyes off of it. What felt like five minutes had passed before he could get his thoughts straight, making him shake his head to regain his focus. That doesn't matter now. I have to get to her and fast!
With that, he began trotting again, a bit faster than before so he could make up the distance; the whole chase had taken him way off course. As he trotted and kept an eye out for where he needed to go, he tucked the box beneath his wing, right next to the folded piece of paper he had there.
As the road he was looking for came into view, Rumble felt his anxiety beginning to return, making the butterflies in his stomach flitter on hyper drive. Despite this, he couldn't help but scoff and roll his eyes at the irony of what was happening.
They wanted me to forgive them for what they did, he thought as he trotted on the dirt road that led to Sweet Apple Acres. Now it's my turn to hope she can forgive me for what I did.