//------------------------------// // By Her Side // Story: Chasing Apples, Bells and Oranges // by Solarip //------------------------------// Chasing Apples, Bells and Oranges By: Solarip Chapter 4: By Her Side Where am I? Rumble was conscious. He realized he can't see anything but darkness. He felt a sharp and intense pain on the back of his head, then a soft and comfortable sensation all over the rest of his body. It felt like he was lying on a cloud, but he wasn't. There was the absence of the cool breeze blowing across his mane and coat. There was also silence, void of any of nature's symphonies, save for the tiny breaths of a pony. What happened? The last thing I remembered was a sweet and crispy taste, then something really bad. Rumble stretched his forelegs and opened his eyes. What he first saw was a dim ray of light from the window. He turned to the left, only to see the moonlight from a full moon. He turned the other way, and saw Sweetie Belle sitting beside him. The sight made his heart drop. Sweetie's head hanged low. Her ears were dropped and her eyes were tightly shut. A river of tears was seen on her left cheek. She sniffed a few times, then continued to cry again. Her hooves would wipe her tears every now and then. Poor Sweetie Belle. Does she know that I've woken up? He stared at her for a few seconds more before he heard something from her. "I c-can't do anything right. I'm s-such a useless blank flank. He c-can't like a filly like me," she whispered, and then burst to tears once more. The melancholic atmosphere filled the room, which made him feel even worse. I really don't want to see fillies cry. A crying Sweetie Belle is one I would never want to see. She's adorable when she's happy and full of energy, but when she's in tears... ...all I can do is cheer her up. Nothing else. What if I... no. I can't do that to a filly I haven't known much. He placed a hoof on hers. Surprised, Sweetie opened her eyes and looked to Rumble. He held her chin up to face her. He wiped her tears and placed his hoof on her shoulder. Sweetie, on the other hand, still had a frown on her face. She couldn't move, which made Rumble worry. "Why were you crying?" he asked with concern. "Um..." her voice trailed off as she held his hoof. "I'm sorry, *sniff* Rumble," she continued. She leaned her head on the colt's chest. He rested his hoof on her mane. I think this is one way of comforting her. I hope this isn't too awkward for her. "It's alright, Sweetie Belle. Just don't cry anymore. I don't like to see a cute filly like you crying," he said, nuzzling her mane. "Um, okay," she said, a faint smile on her face. I think it worked! "Now, please tell me why were you crying," he requested. "Sure," she said. She buried her face on his chest. Rumble didn't mind, even though her slight movements were ticklish. Her tiny breaths made him on the verge of laughter. Few seconds later, she pulled her head up and began to speak. "When I saw you pass out, I panicked. I thought my scrambled eggs poisoned you or something. I tried to call somepony for help, but no one came. Luckily, Twilight was passing by the boutique. I called her, saying it's an emergency. She rushed in and I told her you passed out from eating the eggs. After a short while, she found out that you had an allergic reaction. Fortunately, she had just learned a spell that can treat allergies. Talk about coincidences, right? Then she told me to let you rest so you can recover. I decided to carry you to my bedroom," she explained. "Then why were you crying?" he said in a flat tone. "Well... I sorta blamed myself for all this. I will never forgive myself if anypony was hurt, or worse, because of me," she said on the brink of crying. Rumble pulled her in for a hug. Come on, don't cry again. Seconds later, Sweetie wrapped her hooves around his waist and calmed down afterwards. "What was in those eggs?" he asked. "Well, there were salt, pepper, peanuts and some chives." "Did you say peanuts?" "Yeah. I thought adding it would taste better. Why?" "I'm allergic to peanuts," he concluded. "Oh! That explains you passing out. You would've told me earlier," she said. "Yeah, I know. Sorry." "It's alright. As long as you're here by my side." The pair sat still, enjoying their company. Sweetie rubbed her cheek against his own. Rumble seemed to be enjoying it, since he didn't react violently when she started. Moments later, Rumble rested his head on the pillow, bringing the unicorn with him. He tried to push her off, since her grip was too tight for him to breathe. "I-I c-can't..." he stuttered. "Oh, sorry," she released her grip on Rumble. She rolled and landed on his right side. Rumble stared at the ceiling, thinking of what to say next. Sweetie continued to stare at him. A short eternity had passed, and Rumble finally turned to face the filly. The moment he did, his muzzle was met by her lips. He was surprised as his eyes widened and his face blushed madly. His wings acted on their own and popped open. Moments later, she pulled back to see him as red as an apple and giggled. "Oh Rumble, why did you turn? I was aiming for your cheek," she pouted. "I-I um..." he stammered. Before he could finish, Sweetie poked his muzzle. "Boop!" she squeaked. "Hey! Why'd you do that for?" he cried out. "Oh nothing. You just look so adorable," she cooed. "I'm not adorable!" he yelled, hiding his face behind a pillow. Seconds later, they started giggling. Rumble placed his pillow back and rested his head on it. After a minute or so, the laughter subsided. They stared at each other, until Sweetie yawned, with Rumble yawning afterwards. "You ready to sleep?" "Yup. I'm pretty tired. Oh! We have to go to the clubhouse tomorrow so we can start our project," she said. "Then we should get there early. The earlier we finish, the more time we can have for fun." "Right." Rumble pulled out the sheets from under and blanketed them, save for their heads. Rumble gazed at the familiar ceiling, waiting to fall asleep. Sweetie moved closer to him and whispered. "Your soup was delicious." Soon after, he began to hear faint snores. He turned to face her, who was sound asleep. She slept while leaning towards him; her muzzle was inches away from his ear. Her face looked innocent and gentle. Her forelegs were folded close to her. Rumble could feel her hind legs gingerly poking his own. This is my first night with a filly. I'm... really lucky. I mean, Sweetie Belle is the first filly whom I spent the night with. When I first saw her, I thought she's the sensitive and shy type. But when I saw her with her friends, it turned out that I was wrong. Honestly, I don't know her much, but there's something we both have in common that I just don't see. Maybe the fact that we both don't have our cutie marks yet? We're both little siblings? I don't think those were the right things. Maybe I'll find out soon enough. One thing's for sure, though. She can't cook that well. I think I'll teach her, like what Rarity said. He ended with his train of thought and turned to his side. He stared at the moon until he slowly drifted off to sleep. * * * * Rumble opened his eyes and found himself sitting under a shady apple tree in the middle of a vast blanket of velvet green grass under the clear sky. The branches swayed in time as the pleasant breeze blew across the field. He stared at the sky, admiring the perfect shade of blue above him. Afterwards, he felt a familiar sensation on his right side. He turned to see a filly, but it wasn't anypony he knew. She was grey in color and her mane was long, straight and black like the midnight sky. She was cuddling him like a teddy bear. Her right hind leg was resting on top of his and her right foreleg was lovingly wrapped around his chest. She was staring at Rumble with a bashful smile on her face. Seconds later, he realized his right foreleg was wrapped around her. Where am I? Who is she? Where's the boutique? "Good morning, Rumble," she greeted. Her voice was smooth, as though it was silk, but sounded strange at the same time. It was like she wasn't exactly a filly, nor a pony. It was something else. "Where are we? Who are you? How'd you know my name?" he asked. "I don't really know, and I don't care as long as I'm with you," she cooed. Okay, this is weird. "Rumble?" she called. "Hm?" "Do you love me?" she asked as her tangerine eyes were locked on Rumble. "What?!" "I said, 'do you love me'?" she repeated. "I-I um..." he stuttered. Why would she ask that out of the blue? "You don't love me?" she asked. "Y-you I n-no, I..." he continued to tumble in his words. "You hate me, don't you?!" she released Rumble from her embrace and stood up. Her eyes were tearing up as she stared at him. He was speechless and frozen at the same time. He wouldn't dare to move as her eyes bled and dripped down her cheeks. Her legs started to bend outwards. Soon, it turned to legs reminiscent to a spider. She went closer to Rumble, step by step. He crawled away from her, and then stood up. He began to run away, as her legs grew taller and more slender. The more he ran further from it, the more the grass turned to tar. He struggled to keep distance from it, but one of his hooves were stuck. Soon enough, all of his hooves were completely stuck to the tar. Rumble tried to pull them out, but to no avail. After a moment of struggling, his hooves were deep into the ground. He fluttered his wings as a last resort, but it was useless. He had nothing else to do to escape. The spider-like monster ran towards Rumble at an unreal pace. There's no reason to struggle anymore. Seconds later, his body was buried to the puddle of tar, save for his head. The grotesque creature entered his vision, startling him with its dreadful smile. "There is no escape," it whispered. * * * * "GAH!" Rumble opened his eyes and quickly sat up. He was in cold sweat and his heart was racing. It's just a bad dream, no, a creepy nightmare. He looked around the bedroom, only to find that it was not his. Oh right. I'm in Sweetie Belle's room. He turned to look at Sweetie. She was sound asleep with her hooves wrapped around her pillow. A faint smile was on her face. He turned his attention back to the room. He saw the rays of the sun shining through the window. It must be morning. He looked at the wall clock in front of him. It's quarter to seven. She's still asleep. Should I wake her up? Nah. I'll just make some breakfast before she does. The thought of eating another plate of burnt eggs made him cringe. He decided to cook for the both of them. He slowly got out of bed. Being light on his hooves, he walked with minimal noise. He made his way towards the door, turned the knob and carefully opened it. On his way out, he looked back to the bedroom. He saw Sweetie Belle nuzzling her pillow. I wonder what she's dreaming about? He slowly closed the door and made his way down the stairs and to the kitchen. He thought of a delectable dish to start the day with. A moment of contemplation later, he decided to cook pancakes for them. Just a short stack of pancakes topped off with a generous serving of cinnamon apple syrup. He flew up to the cupboards and opened them. He searched for the ingredients. Luckily, everything he needed was there, even the cinnamon apple syrup. "Alright, let's get cooking," Rumble said to himself as he grabbed a small bag of flour and a few eggs. He flew down and landed on a chair in front of the counter. As he poured the flour and cracked a couple eggs, his mind was filled with questions. Who was that in my dream? I haven't seen her before. What was my nightmare even about? Maybe it has something to do with my allergies? Or maybe because of what happened last night? He continued to dwell in his thoughts while he adds a cup of sugar and a teaspoon of butter into the large bowl. After he had put all the ingredients in the bowl and mixed them thoroughly, he grabbed a pan and placed it on top of the stove. He turned it on, and then a blue flower of fire appeared below the pan. He put a small portion of butter on the pan. After a few seconds, the butter completely melted and were spread throughout the surface. He grabbed a ladle and scooped enough batter from the bowl and poured it on the pan. While he was busy waiting for the batter to cook, he heard a voice from upstairs. It looks like she's awake. "Rumble? Where are you?" Sweetie asked with concern. "'I'm in the kitchen," Rumble yelled in response. He heard a set of hooves making their way to said kitchen. He turned to see Sweetie Belle. She had a worried look on her face and a white blanket on her back. Why does she still have the blanket? "Good morning, Sweetie Belle!" Rumble greeted. "Good morning," she said flatly. "What's wrong?" "It's that... you didn't wake me up?" she asked as she went closer to him. "I didn't, but it's not that I don't want to! I just don't want to disturb you and all," he explained while he rubbed his foreleg. "Oh, okay." Sweetie Belle sat on a chair by the dining table with an innocent smile on her face. She stared at Rumble as he continued to cook. Feeling a little concerned, he glanced at her occasionally, only to see her still staring at him. I think she wants to cook for me. He turned to the unicorn who had a tiny smile on her face. "Um, Sweets?" "Hm?" "Do you, um, wanna help?" "I'd love to!" she squeaked. She jumped out off the chair and trotted to him with a spring on every step. Moments later Rumble flew down of the chair to face her eye to eye. "Great! You can start by pouring flour into a bowl," he said. "Okay!" Moments later, Sweetie Belle started to do what she was told. Rumble continued to flip pancakes skillfully. She stared at him, mesmerized by Rumble and his pancake flips. Seeing her blatantly gawking at him, he smiled at her and went back to work. Sweetie blushed madly and continued her task. After a few minutes, he was done with a stack of pancakes on a plate. He turned to Sweetie, who seemed to have started cooking. It's a good thing she knows how to cook pancakes, since she didn't ask me anythi— Sweetie Belle turned the knob on the stove too much. It let out a huge fire underneath the pan. That's not good. Rumble flew to the stove and turned the knob the other way. He looked at the fire and saw it was blue and stable. He turned to Sweetie and said, "You might not want to turn it up too high. Otherwise, all your food might get burnt to a crisp." "Oh! So that's where I went wrong," she said, placing a hoof on her cheek. "Yeah. You better be careful with the stove next time. Okay?" "Got it." * * * * Rumble and Sweetie Belle had finished their breakfast. Both of them were satisfied, especially Sweetie. She seemed to enjoy everything Rumble cooks, which made him curious. A moment later, he shrugged it off, seeing as there was no need to be bothered about it. She just likes my cooking. That's all. Now what did she say last night about my soup? He looked back to what she said before she went to sleep. "Your soup was delicious." That's what she said, right? I should thank her. Rumble looked at Sweetie across the table. She looked really happy, which somehow warmed his heart a little. "Sweetie Belle?" he called. "Yes, Rumble?" "I-I want to thank you, a-about what you said last night," he stuttered. Why am I so nervous? "You're welcome," she said as tiny blushes formed on her cheeks. Rumble forgot about his nightmare when he saw the filly's smile. Maybe what I needed was a smile, and I think she needs a pony to smile with. Well, if there's nopony with her, I'd be happy to be by her side. It feels like I don't want to leave her.