It was a warm Saturday in Ponyville and summer was just around the corner. Ponies were strolling about in town and foals were playing in the park without a care in the world. Rumble was swinging on the swing set by himself, watching the Cutie Mark Crusaders in another corner of the park do what they do best: helping somepony get their cutie mark. Today, they had just helped a blonde Pegasus filly find a special talent in jump rope and she couldn’t be any happier.
“Thank you, Crusaders!” She beamed before giving them a hug and running off to show her friends her new mark; they waved goodbye.
“Another job well done, girls.” Sweetie Belle said proudly.
“That’s the third pony this week. Not too shabby.” Apple Bloom commented.
“And just wait until next weekend. The CMC Day Camp will be back and better than ever!” Scootaloo exclaimed as she and her best friends bumped hooves.
“Yeah!” They cheered.
Rumble paused; he remembered Cutie Mark Day Camp like it was yesterday. Initially, he didn’t even want to attend the camp, but his brother signed him up and made him go anyway. He thought the activities the Crusaders were offering at their camp, or basically anything else, would keep him from being a Wonderbolt, the thing he really wanted to be in life. He kept saying things like cutie marks restricted ponies from doing other things and being a blank flank was the way to go. And if that wasn’t bad enough, he turned all of the campers against the Crusaders and nearly shut down the entire camp. Luckily, Thunderlane was able to talk some sense into him before events escalated any further and Rumble learned to be more open-minded and try new things. Looking back on it now, he realized what he did to the Crusaders was selfish, cruel, and stupid and they were just trying to help.
“Those girls always go out of their way to help other ponies.” He said to himself, putting a hoof over his face in embarrassment. “And I tried to ruin their efforts, all because I wanted to be a Wonderbolt like my brother. How could I be such a stupid ego maniac?”
“How, indeed?” A new voice asked.
Rumble looked around for the source of the voice, but no one was around. Then he heard the same voice clear their throat. He turned his head to his left to see the upside down face of Discord a few inches away from him.
“Hi.” He said.
The colt screamed and fell off the swing in surprise; Discord was disguised as the swing set. He started to run, but he felt something grab him by the tail and lift him up off the ground. He was once again face to face with Discord who turned back to his old self and put the swings back to normal; a few foals passing by ran away in fear. Rumble stared in terror as beads of sweat dripped down his face; he had heard stories of the Lord of Chaos before, but he had never once met him in the flesh. What did he want with him? He was so scared he could hardly speak; all he could do what stutter.
“What’s the matter, little storm cloud? Cat got your tongue?” Discord asked mockingly.
After a few moments of stumbling over his words, the only thing Rumble could say was, “DON’T EAT ME!”
Discord suddenly burst out laughing as if he was just told a hilarious joke. The poor colt anxiously looked around, hoping for somepony, anypony, to come to his rescue. But then, while he was still laughing, the Draconequus gently set him back onto the ground. Rumble was very confused, but then he noticed Discord starting to calm down. He took in a few deep breaths and wiped a tear from his eye.
“Phew.” He sighed.
“Uh…” Rumble mumbled, unsure of what to say next.
“Sorry about that, sonny.” Discord said, wrapping a claw around the colt’s shoulders. “It’s Rumble, right?”
“…Yeah, that’s me.” He said, trying not to sound nervous. “And you must be Discord.”
“Indeed I am. And you know something? I couldn’t help but overhear your little predicament just a moment ago.”
“Predicament?”
“You know… the one where you caused some problems for my friends, the Cutie Mark Crusaders?”
They turned their heads to see Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo leaving the park and walking in the direction Sugarcube Corner to get a snack. Rumble froze; how did Discord know about that? Had the girls told him? Did they tell him to do something bad to him for revenge? Rumble was about to speak, but Discord promptly put a finger to his mouth to stop him.
“Ahp bap bap bap! Don’t you start jumping to conclusions, my boy.” He started. “Word spread quite quickly around here, and I came to you on my own accord. Let me speak… You said cutie marks limit other ponies’ abilities, yes?”
“Uh… yeah.”
“From what I could tell, you were, and to some extent still are, wrong about a lot of things… But you learned a valuable lesson about cutie marks that day, didn’t you?”
“…Yeah, I did.”
“And you still feel guilty about what you did to the girls, don’t you?”
The colt sighed in defeat. “…Yeah.”
“Then why don’t you go apologize? It’s only fair, and I’m sure they’ll understand.”
“Will they, though?” He took a step back. “I caused so much damage to their camp and almost destroyed their careers! And for what? To get a cutie mark in something I want? Ugh!” He facepalmed and fell onto his back. “I really messed up. I want to apologize, I really do. But I’m scared. What if they don’t accept my apology? What if they call me a liar? What if they hate me forever? What if—”
“Hold it!” Discord stopped him again and helped him back on his hooves. “You’re being paranoid. There’s no point in worrying about what could happen, because you never know what’s going to happen. No one knows, not even me. But let me ask you… have you talked to somepony about this?”
Rumble thought for a moment. “Well… I did talk to my brother, Thunderlane. And I also talked to Princess Twilight.”
“And what did they tell you?”
“…They kind of told me the same thing. If I feel bad about my actions, I should apologize and hope for the best.”
“Then that’s what you should do, even if you’re afraid.” Discord explained.
“Really?”
“Certainly. They may be fillies, but I know them. They’re not ones to hold grudges, even to those who’ve wronged them. It may take a while, but I’m sure they’ll forgive you.”
“You… you think so?”
“I know so… But know this.” He picked up Rumble again and looked him dead in the eye. He brought his voice down to a low snarl. “If you dare pull a foolish stunt like that to my friends again, so help me I will not hesitate to turn you into an acorn and feed you to the squirrels. Do I make myself clear?”
Rumble’s terrified response came quickly. “Yes sir.”
After a long moment of intense silence, Discord finally relented. “Okie-dokie. You can go now.”
And with that, he let the little colt go, allowing him to fly away to safety as fast as he possibly could.
“You’d better remember what I said, or else!” Discord shouted before Rumble disappeared from view. He groaned in annoyance and put his paw over his eyes. “Colts.”
0-0-0-0-0-0
At school on Monday, Rumble stood behind the school while he watched the Cutie Mark Crusaders talking with Twist on the playground. Discord’s words from that day before buzzed around in his head like a swarm of bees; he told him the girls would forgive him if he just went up to them and said he was sorry. But what’ll happen if they don’t forgive him?
‘No. Don’t be a wimp.’ He thought. ‘You got this. Just do it. Do it.’
Taking in a deep breath and puffing out his chest, Rumble finally worked up the courage he needed and walked towards the Cutie Mark Crusaders just as they finished their conversation with Twist. He stopped a few feet away from them and cleared his throat. The fillies turned their heads in his direction and gave him confused looks. Twist quickly noticed Rumble’s nervous look in his eyes and walked away, leaving him alone with the CMC.
“Uh, hey, girls.” He greeted, trying to remain calm. “Can we talk?”
Sweetie Belle raised an eyebrow. “About what?”
“About… the Cutie Mark Day Camp thing.” He replied. The fillies were about to speak, but he stopped them. “Okay. Before you say anything, I just want to say… I'm sorry, for everything.” This caught the girls off guard. “I'm sorry for being such a bully and a major jerk… and a selfish idiot. I was just insecure and scared, and I took it out on you. You were right about cutie marks, and I was wrong. According to Discord, I'm wrong about a lot of things apparently. So… what do you say? We good?”
The three fillies glanced over at one another, not sure what to say or do.
Scootaloo was the first to speak. “…Girls?” She quickly pulled her friends into a huddle and they started whispering to each other. Rumble couldn’t hear what they were talking about, but he had a hunch they were talking about him. After a few moments, they split and turned to face Rumble.
Apple Bloom cleared her throat. “It may take a while for us to get over it, but… I guess we're good.”
“Really? Thank you.” Rumble smiled and sighed in relief.
Sweetie Belle got up into his face and looked him dead in the eye. “But if you EVER try to do something like that again, don't expect any mercy next time.”
“You got it.” He gulped, backed away, and gave a salute. “No more stupid stunts like that again. I promise. Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye.”
“Good.” Scootaloo smirked before taking a few steps closer to Rumble. “And one more thing…” And with that, she swung her right hoof and gave the colt a hard punch in the face.
“Ow!” Rumble cried as he stumbled back, holding his throbbing cheek.
“THAT was for all the grief you caused AND nearly ruining our careers.” The orange Pegasus said, narrowing her eyes.
Rumble opened his mouth to speak, but then paused in thought. A few moments pass, and then he smirked in embarrassment. “Eh, fair enough.” A blush formed on his pale cheeks.
The three fillies giggled.
“So…?”
“Don’t worry, it’s all good.” Apple Bloom offered her hoof to him and he gladly shook it. “But I hope you’ll be joining us at Cutie Mark Day Camp this next weekend.”
“Totally!” He exclaimed, flapping his wings excitedly. “And if you girls don’t mind, I have a few ideas for future activities.”
“Like what?” Sweetie Belle asked, cocking her head to the side.
“Like… ghost hunting? Or snorkeling? Cheerleading? Racecar driving? Martial arts? Shadow puppets?”
“Whoa, whoa! Slow down, dude.” Scootaloo said with a chuckle. “I like your enthusiasm. But one idea at a time, okay?”
“Hehe, sorry.” He said sheepishly.
“No worries.” Sweetie Belle chimed in just as the school bell rang. “Time for class. Maybe we could discuss this after school.”
“Okay, sure.” Rumble said as he, the Crusaders, and their fellow classmates made their way back to the schoolhouse.
Hiding in the branches of a nearby tree, Discord saw the whole thing unfold with a proud smile. He was right; all Rumble had to do was say he was sorry.
“Told you so.” He smugly whispered before vanishing in a bright flash.