There was something unsettling to Applebloom lately.
She rested her hooves on the lunch table and eyed her unicorn friend, her eyes meeting two foals across the table whose gazes were locked on nothing and no one but each others. She glared, not bitterly however. No, her glare was one of impatience. Applebloom could feel Sweetie Belles anxious hooves tapping the bench they shared.
She had been like this since, ugh, Scootaloo and Rumble became a...thing. A pair? An item? Applebloom wasn't exactly all together familiar with the terms used in romanticism and such, only knowing that Scootaloo really, really like Rumble and Rumble really, really like Scoots. Not she had a problem with it, of course! Scootaloo was one of her two best friends in all of Equestria. And hay, even Rumble was starting to grow on her since her had been hanging around them more often.
Scootaloo and Rumble really liked being together, and that was fine with her...it was just starting to get kinda gross and mushy to watch.
Sweetie Belle on the other hoof knew a whole lot on the subject of romanticism, possibly too much. While Applebloom sat quietly, Sweetie chewed the inside of her lip in thought. Why hadn't they gone on a date yet, why are they just sitting her when they should be traveling together? They were doing this all wrong, according to Sweetie's vast knowledge in love...taken straight from Rarity's romance novel collection hidden in the boutique.
It was all but peaches and cream on the other side of the table. Scootaloo gazed into Rumble's eyes, nearly pure reflections of her own which she's since grown to adore. The world around her was just about background noise and blurred imagery and simply haloed Rumble, as the sun shined down on the lunch table amongst the grass ground of the school at lunchtime. She felt all warm and fuzzy whenever the colt was near, and the longer he was the less she tend to feel awkward.
Same went for Rumble, too. To think, nearly a week ago he never would've thought he would make it to where he was. At that road side with Scootaloo, he surprised the filly and even himself by telling her his feelings. A few days later, their first kiss. And now, he's mere putty in this filly's hooves sitting before him. The goofy expression on his face explained it all, for this young colt's heart then beat for Scootaloo.
It was then it was too much for Sweetie Belle to bare any longer, for the romantic passed down from her mother to her older sister and into herself reached out. She slammed a hoof on the table, scaring the crap out of the ponies in company.
"Sweetie!" Applebloom clutched her chest. "What're ya tryin' tah do, give us a heart attack?"
"Yeah!" Scootaloo complained. "What's the big idea?"
Sweetie let out a breath. "You two...are adorable."
Rumble and Scootaloo furrowed their brows, turning to each other.
"Too adorable, in fact." She stated. "Knowing this, watching you two stare each other down like puppies, as your friend-" She stood to eye both of them, her voice taking a turn for the serious. "-you must go on a date!"
"A date?!" Applebloom turned to the unicorn filly, whilst the two across the table sat still. "Sweetie Belle, shouldn't it be up tah them ifn' they wanna go out on a d-"
"Sure."
The three fillies turned their heads to the sole colt at the table. Rumble scratched the back of his head, a sheepish smile on his face. "I-I mean, no really. I think that's not a bad idea."
Scootaloo smiled. "Not a bad idea at all."
Sweetie Belle wasn't finished however, shaking her head. "No, no, no! Not like that! You have to do it right! Officially!"
Scootaloo turned to Sweetie, scratching her head. "What are you talking about?"
"Ah second that question." Applebloom stated, crossing her hooves and eyeing her friend.
"You can't just say 'oh, okay let's go on a date' and be like 'cool'!" Sweetie explained. "You gotta ask her out like the grown ups do, like anyone would do."
Rumble squinted at Sweetie, scooting over to whisper to Scootaloo. "I think she's lost it."
Scootaloo, keeping eye contact with the unicorn, nodded and whispered back. "Diddo."
Sweetie Belle stood up from her seat and moved to wrap a hoof around both Rumble and Scootaloo. "Just hear me out, alright? Here's how it's supposed to go..."
Meanwhile, a small pyramid of apple cider cans towered on coffee table. A grumpy stallion glared at the cloud wall across from the couch he occupied in the living room of his cloud home that afternoon.
One he shared with a set of twin mares, and one lately-dead-to-him little brother. His body still ached from the savaged beating he had taken at the hooves of his beloved late last week, his grimace increasing at the memory of the many feathers she had managed to pluck from him due to the story his brother told, selling him out in order to hook up with his filly-friend.
In honesty, he got it. I mean, who wouldn't pull a stunt like that if they were seconds from a kissing their filly or mare. He'd been there, he's ran that track many a time when he was his brother's age. Only up till recently, had his game caught up with him and the mojo he honed had wore on him. No longer did he just seek for a hot mare for a week and ended, but to actually...have a filly-friend.
Thunder sighed, reaching out to grab a magazine from the coffee table and opening it to a random page. Maybe he'd find some dumb article on dating advice written by some forty-something mare.
"Hey, Thunder~!"
And this moment of peace and quiet was brought to you by... He thought to himself, letting out a sigh as a pegasus flew over the back of the couch and sat down besides Thunderlane. He glanced up to see that Flitter was smiling a little too wide at him.
"How are y-"
"What do you want?" He asked, monotone.
Flitter snorted, covering her muzzle as she giggled. "What are you talking about?"
Thunderlane frowned. "Usually when you, Cloudchaser or worse-both of you-come and play kind and friendly with me, you want something." He eyed the mare. "So what is it?"
"I'm just giving you some company, Thunder." She placed her hooves on her hips, sticking her bottom lip out in a pout. "Is that a problem?"
Thunderlane stared, then closed the magazine and tossed it on to the coffee table, carefully missing the small cider pyramid he had made. "I guess not, whatever. C.C. still at work?"
Flitter leaned back against the couch cushions, laying with her back to Thunderlane and her wings laying over to shield her flanks from his view. She watched him over her shoulder as she talked. "Yeah, the boss needs her to go over some exercises over at the coffee shop...So I guess that just leaves you and I here..."
"I guess." Thunder shrugged, wrapping his fore hooves behind his head and closing his eyes.
"All by ourselves..." Flitter stated, eyeing Thunderlane.
"Yup." He said.
Flitter stared, her eyes narrowing. "All alone."
"Hmm.."
"Together." She stated through clenched teeth, as the stallion laid unmoved by her advances.
Behind them, several knocks sounded at the front door. He sagged in his position, groaning as he brought his hooves over his face.
"We don't want any cookies!" He shouted over his shoulder, only to be interrupted by more knocks.
"Oh my god, Thunder!" Flitter snapped. "Would it kill you to be conscious to the world around you for once?"
"Pbbt!" Thunderlane retorted as would a foal, returning to his resting position. Flitter sighed, rising from the couch and flicking her tail at the stallion's head. "Ow!"
"Hmph!" Flitter turned her nose up at Thunderlane as she approached the door, reaching out to pull it open. Her eyes then fell on the knocker, the mare seemed to want to avoid looking up at whoever would answer. Her multi-color mane frazzled, one hoof scratching the back of her head.
"Ahem," Flitter cleared her throat, "hello."
Rainbow Dash jumped at the greeting. "Oh, hey. Hi...uh.." She shook her head. "Sorry, but uh...is there a Thunderlane who lives here or something?"
Thunderlane's ears flicked at the sound of his name. His name, in her voice.
"Why, yes." Flitter glared. "There is, but I'm afraid he isn't-"
Rainbow stood back as Flitter was nearly thrown aside as Thunderlane jumped into the door way, one hoof leaning on the door frame causally.
"Hey." He said, staring at the mare with lidded eyes. "Been awhile since we last...met."
Rainbow cringed, both from the obvious advances of this odd stallion and the reminder of why she stood on his door step. "Uh, yeah. Look...about that, Scootaloo coughed up the truth about her and your brother lying back at Sugarcube Corner."
"Oh?" Thunder mused, furrowing his brow. "That so?"
Rainbow rubbed her hooves together. "Yeah so...ugh!" She stomped. "Look, I'm really bad at apologies."
Thunderlane blinked. "Noticed."
"So how about this-I buy you lunch or something." Rainbow offered, slightly hoping for a quick okay so she could flee the scene. "As like, a Sorry I beat you up apology thing."
Meanwhile on the other side of the door way, Thunderlane's brain caught fire as his felt light as the porch made of clouds he stood on. Did she just ask me out? He thought to himself.
"N-Not like a date or anything!" Rainbow quickly added, a look of panic appearing on her face. "Just an apology...thing."
She totally just asked me out. Thunderlane grinned, placing a hoof to his hip. "Well, alright...but uh, how about we make it dinner instead?"
Rainbow Dash sighed, glaring at the stubborn stallion. "Ugh, fine. Dinner."
Thunderlane grinned. "Hows about tomorrow, noonish?"
"Sure." Rainbow rolled her eyes, and turning away from the front door. "Whatever...See ya then, I guess."
Thunderlane watched as the rainbow maned vixen dove off the porch of his cloud home, disappearing below before flying up and away nearly as a blur. His face dawned a dream like expression, a goofy smile on his lips and his eyes never leaving where the mare once stood before him.
Behind him, an intense anger rose from the fore ground and tapped him on the shoulder. His ears perked up, suddenly remembering the mare he shoved moments ago.
"Thunder..."
Thunderlane's left eye twitched, the pain from that day at Sugarcube corner coming back to memory.
"Crap."