//------------------------------// // Chapter 9: Thunder-Scoots Are Go! // Story: From Rumble With Love // by Locomotion //------------------------------// Fifteen minutes later they arrived at the bluff, and Scootaloo stopped to let a breathless Pipsqueak catch up. “Where exactly is this doubloon you found then?” she asked. Pipsqueak came alongside her, panting heavily as he stopped to catch his breath. He pointed towards the very foot of the bluff; “Over...there!” was all he managed to say. Without a moment's thought as to what she was about to get herself into, Scootaloo leaped off her scooter and cantered towards where the “doubloon” supposedly was. Just as she reached it, however, two things happened; firstly, she noticed that it wasn't a real doubloon – just an ordinary one-bit coin. Secondly, a startled yelp caught her attention, and she turned around to find Apple Bloom racing towards her, brandishing a frying pan between her teeth. The yellow filly swung it hard as she closed in on the orange Pegasus, but Scootaloo only just dodged her in time to avoid being slugged over the back of her head. “What the hay, Apple Bloom?!” she burst out angrily. “Have you gone crazy or something?!” Apple Bloom wasn't listening. She turned back towards the bushes with an equally angry scowl on her face; “Noi!” she bellowed. “What part o' 'keep outta mah way' do ya have trouble understandin'? You've gone an' blown our cover now!” “I-I-I didn't mean to,” stammered Noi meekly. Scootaloo glared hard at Apple Bloom, her eyes narrowing. “I might have guessed you'd be setting me up,” she hissed, her voice laced with venom. “This is all part of your stupid matchmaking plot, isn't it?” “What......how did...” spluttered Apple Bloom indignantly. “I'm onto you, Apple Bloom!” snarled Scootaloo, pressing her face threateningly against Apple Bloom's. “You think you can mess me and Rumble around, you've got another thing coming!” “Oh yeah?!” snapped Apple Bloom, pushing back. “Well look who's talkin', chicken! Ya fall for a handsome young colt la'k Rumble, an' the last thing y'all admit is that y'all were wrong an' Ah was right!” “Call me a chicken again, and I'll punch you so hard you'll be acting like one yourself for a month!” The two fillies continued to stare each other down, hyperventilating in fury and ready to start a fight. Pipsqueak and Noi watched nervously, hoping to goodness it wouldn't happen... “APPLE BLOOM!!!” Both Earth pony and Pegasus broke apart and stared up at the sky. “What are y'all doin' 'ere, Tornado Bolt?!” demanded Apple Bloom. “Ah told ya ta stay away from Chevalier's Bluff until y'all an' Rumble 'ad nearly finished the race!” “Forget the race, Apple Bloom, we've got a problem!” shouted Tornado Bolt desperately. “Rumble's gone and crashed in the Whitetail Woods! He's trapped under a branch!” “WHAT?!!?” The horror in Scootaloo's voice literally spoke volumes for itself. “YOU TOOK RUMBLE ON......WH-......Y......ARE YOU OUTTA YOUR MIND?!” “What's all the panic about?” quizzed Apple Bloom huffily. “It's just a race.” But this turned out to be a big mistake. Scootaloo's temper finally snapped, and she punched Apple Bloom hard in the eye, knocking her onto her side in the process. “YOU'VE REALLY GONE AND DONE IT THIS TIME, APPLE BLOOM!!!” she screamed, her eyes popping in helpless fury. “RUMBLE'S IN DANGER, AND IT'S ALL YOUR FAULT!!!! I HOPE YOU'RE PLEASED WITH YOURSELF...” “Why is he in danger?” asked Noi, tilting her head. “DON'T YOU GET IT?!!” thundered Scootaloo, grabbing Noi by her shoulders and shaking her so violently that she thought her neck would snap in half. “THE RUNNING OF THE LEAVES IS TODAY! THOSE RACERS COULD TRAMPLE RUMBLE TO DEATH!!!!” The Cutie Mark Crusaders were horrified. In an instant, Sweetie-Belle, Tootsie Flute and Dinky leaped out of the dragon costume and were by Scootaloo's side. “We had to stage all this on the same day as the Running of the Leaves?! How could we have been so stupid!” wailed Dinky frantically. Apple Bloom's eye was horribly blackened and throbbing, but in her alarm she barely felt the pain. “Oh no!” she groaned. “Of a' the ponies who could've messed up, it had ta be me!” “WELL DON'T JUST STAND THERE!!!” roared Scootaloo at the top of her voice. “GO BACK TO SWEET APPLE ACRES AND GET HELP!!” Fearing what Scootaloo might do to her if Rumble didn't survive the inevitable stampede, Apple Bloom quickly forgot about their quarrel and galloped off towards the orchard. “What can we do?” asked Tornado Bolt anxiously. Scootaloo thought quickly. There was still a slim chance of saving Rumble before the racers came through the forest, she reckoned, but they had to work fast if they were to get him out of harm's way in time. “Dinky, you're the only one here who can use magic; you and Tornado go back to Rumble and try lifting the branch again,” she ordered. “I'll scoot ahead and see if I can't move it myself.” “Okay, Scoot,” conceded Tornado Bolt, “but we can't make any promises.” Gripping Dinky as tightly as she could with her forelegs, she flew away towards the woods with her unicorn payload while Scootaloo leaped back onto her scooter and donned her helmet. Flapping her little wings harder than she had ever done in her life, she set the scooter into motion and raced along the path, with Noi, Pipsqueak, Sweetie-Belle and Tootsie Flute following as closely as they could. Over in the Whitetail Woods, Rumble could do nothing more than scan his surroundings again and again. By now, he was becoming desperate; the tree limb he had broken on impact had brought him down over part of the Running of the Leaves course, in which race his father happened to be competing, and he knew as well as Scootaloo that he wouldn't stand a chance beneath the hundreds of hooves that would soon come stomping down on top of him. “Come on, Tornado!” he whimpered, shaking in fear. “Those racers will be here any minute!” Not too far away, Scootaloo, Tornado Bolt and Dinky were rapidly approaching the woods. The speed Scootaloo was doing was far greater than she could ever have dreamed of, almost enough to make Rainbow Dash's jaw drop in disbelief – indeed, she was opening up such a lead over Tornado Bolt that she and Dinky could very nearly have been as far behind as the others. The orange filly's wings were becoming increasingly sore, and part of her left one felt as though she had pulled another muscle, but she refused to tire; she had to reach Rumble, or he would be done for. “Hang on, Rumble!” she thought aloud, her teeth clenched with fear and determination. “I'm almost there!” and shutting her eyes, she willed her wings to flap even faster. The closer she got to the woods, the more she became aware that the weight on her rear hooves was beginning to slacken – and then, almost before she realised it, it had cancelled itself out altogether. At any other time, Scootaloo would have been overjoyed by what was going on – at long last she was actually managing to fly! How she was doing it, she couldn't quite comprehend, but in any case, now wasn't the time for celebration. Tearing off her helmet and ditching her scooter, she flung her forelegs forward straight ahead of her and slowly started to gain what little altitude she could. Far behind, Tornado Bolt was so amazed that she nearly dropped out of the air. “Whoa!” she gasped. “Would you look at that?!” “Scootaloo's flying? I don't believe it!” squeaked Dinky, awestruck. The two fillies glanced at each other in astonishment – and then raised a cheer for the orange Pegasus. “Go it, Scootaloo!” they shouted in encouragement. “Go it!” Even if they were within earshot, Scootaloo wouldn't have taken any notice. She could see the racers closing in on where Tornado Bolt had said that Rumble would be, and was now in a desperate rush to get to him before they did. Her wings were in agony by this point, and her lungs felt like they were on fire, but she didn't care – all she cared about was saving Rumble. Some way down the path, Rumble could hear a faint thundering of hooves rapidly approaching. He wriggled and strained frantically, calling out for help as he tried to pull himself free, but it was no use; the branch held him down securely, and none of the racers, least of all Blue Finch, could hear him over the thunderous stomping. A cloud of dust slowly began to appear over the horizon. “Oh no!” he cried, covering his eyes with his forelegs. “This is it! I'm done for!” Suddenly, he heard a yell over the sound of the racers – “I'M COMING, RUMBLE!!!” The grey Pegasus colt cautiously opened his eyes, and goggled in amazement at what he saw. There, rocketing towards him like an equine missile, was none other than Scootaloo, and not on her scooter either – no, she was flying! Scootaloo was actually flying! Only a few feet above the ground, but she was definitely flying towards him! Rumble was so flabbergasted that he almost forgot about the danger he was in, and stared in disbelief, wondering if this was all just a dream. But Scootaloo wasn't finished yet. Carefully angling herself round in mid-flight, she aimed her right hind leg for the branch and, yelling a warning of “HEADS UP!!” as she did so, gave it a powerful, well-placed kick, knocking it clean off of Rumble's back. Quickly coming into land, she ran back towards Rumble and sent them both into a barrel roll away from the path and down the hill, just half a second before the racers came thundering past. The two Pegasi came to rest at the bottom of the hill, badly shaken but grateful to be alive. Only then did Scootaloo finally stop to catch her breath, while Rumble just lay where he was, his jaw quivering like a fish out of water as he struggled to speak. “Scootaloo......I...” he stammered, but never finished. Before he could even think of anything else to say, Scootaloo tackled him in a great bear hug and slammed her lips onto his, tears streaming down her cheeks. Rumble's eyes widened in shock, but he quickly relaxed and melted into his and Scootaloo's first kiss, wrapping his arms tightly around her. They remained that way for a few more minutes before Scootaloo finally broke the kiss, pulled back from the hug and stared down at the ground, deeply ashamed. “I'm sorry, Rumble,” she faltered. “I didn't mean to......I was just so frightened for you when I heard what had happened.” Rumble continued to stare at Scootaloo in his bewilderment, once again wondering if he was dreaming it all – but if indeed he was, he definitely didn't want to wake up at this point. “But......why?” was all he could say. For a while, Scootaloo didn't answer. She felt like the most pathetic creature on the planet, and could barely hold back the tears that were welling up in her eyes. Rumble started to wonder whether it was something to do with what he had just said, but his fears were quickly swept aside by what she had to say next. “I love you!” burst out Scootaloo, her face becoming practically drenched as she began to cry her eyes out. “I never realised it at first, but you've come to mean the whole world to me – you've understood my problems, you've tried to help me through them, and you've even stood up for me against my enemies! The thought of losing you the way I almost did was way too much for me to bear; I don't think I could ever live with myself if I had!” Hanging her head with guilt and sorrow, she slowly got up and turned towards the now empty path. “I understand if you don't want to speak with me again, or......or even give me any more flight lessons after this, but I just had to get it off my chest. I'll go now.” As the orange filly plodded sadly away, Rumble felt lost in a sea of emotions. Hard though it may have been for him to believe, he definitely, definitely wasn't dreaming – by the tone of Scootaloo's voice, he realised in an instant that she really meant what she had said. This brought a few small tears to his own eyes, and at first he didn't know whether to laugh, cheer, gasp or cry. But he knew one thing; after what had transpired that morning, he was absolutely certain that he felt the same way towards her as she did to him. “Wait!” he called, extending a plaintive foreleg as if to reach out for her. Scootaloo stopped and turned back to face him, her eyes still moist with tears. “Please don't go, Scootaloo. You've done nothing wrong – matter of fact, if it weren't for you, I would have been horse-meat.” This had precious little effect on Scootaloo though. She merely sat and gazed at the ground, too embarrassed to look at him. Limping badly from the injury that had been caused to his back by the fallen tree limb, Rumble came up close and nuzzled her reassuringly. That did the trick; Scootaloo's eyes widened, and she slowly lifted her head to meet his gaze again. “I'm actually quite glad you confessed your feelings just now,” he went on softly, “because just before Tornado Bolt challenged me to that race...” he checked left and right, in case anypony was eavesdropping on what he was about to say, “...I realised that I love you too.” Scootaloo could hardly believe her ears. “But...but why me?” she stammered. “I'm the worst flyer ever – that moment where I took off from my scooter before the woods was just a fluke, and on top of that, I made a complete monkey of myself with what I just said to you! I must be the stupidest pony who's ever lived.” “Who says flying skills were what I looked for in a friend?” objected Rumble. “You may have been lacking in that respect, but your stunt-riding skills make flying look boring, and besides, part of the reason I became friends with you was because I wanted to help you learn how to fly. I wouldn't say you're 'stupid' either; just thinking about my disabled cousin tends to reduce me to tears, but you really touched me with what you said about her. Not only that, but you defended my honour against Silver Spoon and Diamond Tiara just the same as I tried to do for you, and above all, you saved my life. How could I not love you after all that?” “So......you're not mad at me for my sudden confession?” asked Scootaloo hopefully. Rumble smiled kindly. “If I had been, my response would have been way different to what it was just now,” he assured her. The two Pegasi gazed fondly into each other's eyes, the warmth of their new-found love radiating all around them. Scootaloo had never felt so happy in all her life; it was as if gaining her Cutie Mark would be no more of a joy than receiving a set of horseshoes as a birthday present. Blinking away further tears from her glistening eyes, she plucked up courage and asked another question that had been bugging her since her talk with Twilight; “Rumble,” she whispered, “will you be my very special somepony?” “Oh, Scootaloo.” Rumble nuzzled her cheek affectionately. “You didn't need to ask – of course I'll be your very special somepony,” and he pulled back slightly before leaning into another kiss.