The three ponies' lunch was only a simple affair of marigold sandwiches and hay fries, but Scootaloo enjoyed getting to know Rumble and his father better all the same. Blue Finch was quite a jolly stallion with a good sense of humour, and spoke fondly of all the races he had won so far as well as a great many other athletes he had befriended. When Scootaloo mentioned how Rainbow Dash had taken her under her wing, he was most intrigued.
“You're being tutored by Ponyville's top athlete? By Princess Celestia, you're definitely a lucky filly, Scootaloo,” he admired.
Scootaloo chuckled. “Yeah, you're telling me,” she agreed. “I had always wanted a big sister, but I'm pretty much an only child in my family. When I first heard of Rainbow Dash, I instantly thought her the best pony in all Equestria, and kept wishing I had her as a big sister; but it took a camping trip and a few nightmares for that to happen,” and she told Blue Finch about her trip to Winsome Falls.
“You certainly know how to pick 'em, Scootaloo,” smiled Blue Finch. “I tell you what, though, I'm surprised you didn't become as good a flyer as my Rumble overnight.”
“Well, she's enrolled in the Wonderbolt Academy, so she doesn't have that much free time right now,” confessed Scootaloo sadly. “She can only spare the weekends to spend time with me, and even then she's usually too tired to give me more than about a few hours of flight training. I mean, don't get me wrong, I'm really happy that she's living her dream at last, but I miss her dreadfully.”
Blue Finch nodded in solemn agreement. “I know what you mean,” he sympathised. “My eldest son Thunderlane went to Wonderbolt Academy at the same time as her, and he's so busy with his training that he can never even find time to write home.” He sighed heavily, glancing wistfully at a photograph of himself, his wife and both their sons. “It was difficult for Rumble, but even more so for me and Memphis Belle; I kept missing out on training to the extent that I lost a race at the Canterlot Racecourse at one point, and even when I did train, I would arrive home to find her crying in the living room with a photo of Thunderlane in her lap. It took over a month for things to get back to normal.”
Rumble, who hadn't said a word during the conversation between his father and Scootaloo thus far, finally spoke up; “Thunderlane and I had always meant a great deal to each other, and him leaving for his first day at the Academy was almost as if he had passed away. My only consolation was that Flitter, one of my two favourite foalsitters along with her twin sister Cloudchaser, was there to help me through it, not least because her sister was undergoing Wonderbolt training too.”
“Why just Cloudchaser?” wondered Scootaloo.
“Flitter just didn't feel she was ready yet, and took up a job in the Ponyville Weather Team instead so she could gain a bit of experience,” explained Rumble. “It was a hard choice for them both, but Mom, Dad and their own parents helped them through it; and whenever Flitter came to foalsit, I too did my best to reassure her that she was still a great flyer just like her sister. She too hopes to join the Wonderbolts one day, but only when she feels the time is right.”
Blue Finch stifled a chuckle at this point, causing Scootaloo to raise a confused eyebrow. “Hopefully it should make things easy for Thunderlane,” he quipped. “He's always had a pretty close attraction to both of them since they first started foalsitting Rumble, but he's always found it difficult to choose between one or the other – and it certainly didn't help that both were making......'advances' towards him, if you take my meaning.”
Scootaloo smirked cheekily. “Might as well have just gone the whole hog and married them both!”
“That's what I keep thinking,” mused Blue Finch, “but I'd only fluster my son if I told him that, so best if we just let him work it out for himself.”
Both Scootaloo and Rumble could only agree.
All three Pegasi were sorry when it was time for Scootaloo to leave. Rumble thanked her for bringing him home, and Blue Finch told the orange Pegasus that she was welcome at their house any time she wanted to visit. With that in mind, Scootaloo bid them farewell and thanked them for letting her stay for lunch before heading off aboard her scooter.
But for some strange reason, she didn't seem to feel like performing any stunts as she made her way through town. Instead, she just cruised sluggishly along, deep in thought, as the time she had spent with Rumble that day played over and over again in her head. While Sweetie-Belle and Apple Bloom may have been her best friends, neither of them had been capable of helping her learn how to fly, and most of the other Pegasi in her class at school weren't much better either. Featherweight, the scrawny buff-coated colt who worked for the Foal Free Press, was one of the few exceptions along with Tornado Bolt; but his duties as Editor-in-Chief kept him so busy that he never had the time, and although Tornado Bolt did, she didn't have the confidence.
Looking back over what had happened that day, she was unusually humbled by how lucky she was to find somepony who had the time, the ability, the motivation and above all the kind heart to train her whenever Rainbow Dash was unavailable. He hadn't even taken it as a mere excuse to flaunt his own talents, nor had he put her down in any way for having such feeble wings – he had been full of praise for her gift at stunt-riding as well as sympathy for her inept flying capabilities.
“Rumble sure is a nice colt,” she murmured dreamily.
Meanwhile, at Sugarcube Corner, the other Cutie Mark Crusaders were by no means as contented as Scootaloo. They had been sitting around for quite some time, trying to make the most of their day, but by the end of the afternoon, some of the Crusaders' “dates” still hadn't turned up, and none of them had their Cutie Marks.
Dinky looked down from her glass of cranberry punch at her right flank. “Still nothing,” she muttered unhappily. “So much for getting our Cutie Marks in dating.”
“Ah, never mind,” soothed Pipsqueak's soft Cockney tone. “I still enjoy hangin' out with ya – a lot.” He turned his head away, blushing shyly.
Tornado Bolt, who was at another table sharing cupcakes with a deep red unicorn colt, seemed rather bored as she nibbled at hers. She was resting her head on one hoof while the other traced non-existent patterns on the table, occasionally pausing to pick up her cupcake so she could take another bite out of it. “Is it just me,” she mumbled, “or does it feel like there's something missing?”
“Well, we've not got Scootaloo around here right now, that's for sure,” agreed Tootsie Flute thoughtfully as she returned from the counter with a milkshake each for herself, Apple Bloom and Sweetie-Belle. “I tell you what, it does seem a little quiet without her around.”
Apple Bloom was still cross. “Who needs her?” she scowled. “It's bad enough that our Cutie Marks are takin' so long to appear, but ta have somepony la'k her hinderin' us all the time by sayin' we're bein' too sappy an' that is just ridiculous! Ah can't understand how Ah thought some feather-brained Pegasus would be of any use ta this club!”
“Excuse me?!” burst out Tornado Bolt, offended. “I happen to be a Pegasus too, Apple Bloom!”
“Yeah, Apple Bloom!” added Tootsie Flute severely. “Leave Tornado Bolt out of it, will you!”
Sweetie-Belle took a demure sip of her milkshake before turning to face the yellow filly. “Come on, Apple Bloom,” she said reasonably, “there's no need to go so hard on Scootaloo just because she didn't think much of a Cutie Mark in dating. Besides, we've been here for hours and not got any; she may well have had a point after all.”
“Well perhaps one of us might if our other dates actually bothered ta turn up!” retorted Apple Bloom impatiently.
Tootsie Flute rolled her eyes. “Maybe yours would have if you hadn't been overly assertive with him,” she reproached. “I'd have thought you'd have remembered just how skittish Chip Mint tends to be, but no – you just had to march up to him and go 'you – me – Sugarcube Corner – three o'clock – today' and leave it at that!”
“You should have been more gentle with him, just like I was with Lickety-Split,” put in Sweetie-Belle, indicating towards the chocolate-brown Earth pony colt sitting between her and Tootsie Flute.
“They're both right, Apple Bloom,” agreed Lickety-Split, looking up from his bowl of ice cream. “It's okay to be assertive when dating, but you shouldn't take it to the point of aggression – it just doesn't work that way. True, I've been going out with Sweetie-Belle for some time before now, but all the same...”
“Alright! Alright! Ah admit it – Ah've messed up big time!” snapped a frustrated Apple Bloom. She turned back to her milkshake, downed the last of it in one go and stomped a hoof on the table; “Right, so maybe Scootaloo was right about dating not bein' a sensible option...”
“Maybe?” interjected Noi innocently.
“...but we are still gonna get our Cutie Marks one way or another,” continued Apple Bloom, ignoring Noi completely. “C'mon, Crusaders, we've gotta go work out a new plan,” and she dashed towards the door.
“But Apple Bloom, I haven't finished my...” began Sweetie-Belle; but it was no use. Apple Bloom was already out of the bakery and on her way towards the clubhouse.
Dinky simply shrugged her off. “Let's just get back to our dates,” she said nonchalantly to the rest of the Crusaders. “We've got time enough for Crusading tomorrow.”
The others heartily agreed, and continued to hang out in Sugarcube Corner for the rest of the day.