Rumble let his head lean on his right hoof, eyes fluttering open and shut. At the edge of his consciousness, he heard Apple Bloom and Scootaloo mutter something or other about bats, but he didn’t quite catch it.
Everything felt heavy. His breath slowed down, his head wobbled back and forth on his hoof, he wasn’t even sure if he could really hear anything. The world around got tuned out for a little bit. It felt nice, actually.
“Rumble?”
The colt snapped out of it, sitting up straight again. “Umm, yes, Miss Cheerilee?”
“Were you sleeping in class?”
“No, Miss.”
“Then what have we been talking about?”
Rumble gulped. He remembered hearing something about the holiday coming up, so he went with his first guess. “Blue Moon Bloom.”
Cheerilee smiled, giving the boy hope right before crushing it. “Good answer. Why don’t you tell the class what you know about it?”
All eyes in class were fixed on him. Rumble grumbled. “Umm, okay. Blue Moon Bloom is a very old holiday, one that hasn’t really been celebrated by ponies in a thousand years. It started before the pony tribes were united.”
Cheerilee raised an eyebrow. Rumble kept going, feeling the pressure on him mount.
“According to the legend, it all started with a wedding. A great lord of ponies wanted his son to marry a princess, and the marriage was arranged so their nations could have peace. All the powerful wizards were invited as witnesses, and all the princesses, all the alicorns, mortal and immortal, were supposed to give their blessing. All of them, except the Mare in the Moon. She wasn’t invited because ponies thought she was evil or wanted to start a fight with the others. But she showed up anyway.”
“Wait, so Nightmare Moon showed up? Wasn’t she imprisoned already, then?” Sweetie Belle interjected.
Rumble rolled his eyes. “Not Nightmare Moon; the Mare in the Moon.”
“But they’re the same pony, right? Princess Luna?” Apple Bloom asked.
“Not in the old stories, they weren’t. In the older stories, Nightmare Moon was an evil mare who ate little children. Nightmare Moon lived on the part of the moon that sunlight never touched. The Mare in the Moon lived on the part that light did touch, and she was good in a lot of stories and evil in a couple of other ones. But they didn’t have the same powers, and they didn’t do the same things. They’re different characters, at least in stories. And then you’ve got the Shadow Sovereign, and the Sovereign of the Moon, and even the Shadow Sovereign of the Moon, and they’re all different and based on Princess Luna.”
“I have to admit, I’m impressed you know that, Rumble. Keep going,” Cheerilee encouraged.
“Anyway, the Mare in the Moon walked in during the party and placed a gift on the table; a blue flower. It was a gift for the bride, and it had a spell on it that made it so whoever holds the flower reveals their heart’s desire, and makes them tell the truth about how they feel. If they didn’t, the flower would turn white. It was to make sure that if the bride was ever unhappy, the princess couldn’t hide it from her husband. It was supposed to keep them together, by making them be honest. But the flower also had a message written on the stem.” Rumble trailed off to catch his breath.
Cheerilee nodded. “And the message was?”
“The message was in the old pegasus language: Kallisti. It means ‘for the fairest’, or ‘for the prettiest’, I’m not sure. Anyway, back then the Mare in the Moon was also the guardian of magic, or magic knowledge, so the wizards and princesses thought it was a gift for them. A fight broke out, and it nearly started a war. But the king decided that if the ponies couldn’t agree who deserved the flower, then they’d just have to find someone who could judge it fairly. They asked a young prince from a small tribe no one really knew or cared about. The king thought someone neutral would be the fairest judge. Some stories say it was a child, some stories say it wasn’t even a prince, but a commoner. It depends.” Rumble fell silent after that.
Again, Cheerilee nodded. “Go on.”
“Anyway, the point is that the one they chose to judge hadn’t learned to read yet, so he didn’t realise he was supposed to look at who was prettiest. But everyone tried to bribe him: every princess, every wizard, they all offered some kind of reward for picking them. They didn’t really care about the flower, or the wedding, they just wanted to be, well, the fairest, I guess. Their vanity got the better of them. But the judge didn’t go for any of them. He just said the flower belonged to the bride, since it was on the table with the other gifts for her. The flower went to the bride, the fighting stopped, and they all lived happily ever after. That was the day that love and honesty won over vanity and selfishness, the day that an honest answer brought a happy ending.”
“Very good, Rumble.”
“Except for the one who’d judged it.”
“What?”
Rumble winced. “According to the legend, because he’d offended their vanity, every princess, every wizard, and every witch cursed the pony who’d been the judge, and his whole tribe with him.”
Cheerilee shook her head. “That’s not how that story goes, Rumble. You just made that up.”
Rumble shrugged awkwardly. “It’s just a story, Miss Cheerilee: depending on what pony you ask, it’s all made up.”
Scootaloo felt sorry for the colt as they went out for recess. She’d had her fair share of tiring and tired days, but she’d never fallen asleep in class. At least, she didn’t remember ever falling asleep in class. She did rest her eyes from time to time, of course, but that was totally different. She was always wide awake in class. In fact, she was sure all those notes Cheerilee was making her pass on to her parents and aunt Vinyl were about something completely different, like her amazing athletic prowess. Not that she knew what ‘prowess’ meant, but it sounded like ‘powers’, so it had to be good.
As the children from Cheerilee’s class all went out to the playground out front, Scootaloo found that she didn’t see Rumble anywhere. Looking around, the changeling in disguise realised that Rumble usually didn’t play with any of the other foals in class. Featherweight and Lance were getting ready to play dodgeball with Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom, but Rumble wasn’t joining in.
She walked around the school building to the back and sped up when she heard a wooshing sound. She looked on in surprise when she saw what Rumble was doing.
He was lifting.
He was flapping his wings to make a gust of wind strong enough to lift up and keep aloft a pair of tennis balls. It looked a bit like he was doing a doggy paddle with his wings, but his face was locked in intense concentration. She’d heard Rainbow Dash talk about Rumble’s talent for weather control, or rather his dedication to it. She wasn’t sure what to think of the fact that he’d been practising right under everypony’s noses all this time without anyone realising.
“So this is where you keep disappearing to,” Scootaloo said. “How come no one ever noticed that?”
Rumble jumped and flew up a tree, before gently settling down. “Gah! Oh, it’s you.”
Scootaloo shot him a sheepish smile. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you. Were you training your wings?”
Rumble looked away. “Um, yes. Rainbow Dash said she’s got some time later today, so I need to be awake.”
Scootaloo frowned. The boy’s eyes still looked bleary. “Wow. Are you sure you can do it? I mean, I did kinda suck out some of your magic the other night.” She nearly slapped herself for saying it. Why don’t I just wear a sign that says ‘Look at me! I’m suspicious!’
Rumble got his tennis balls and started up another small twister. “I’ll be fine. I just need to make sure I keep moving, and then I’ll take a power nap once school’s out.”
“Want me to help? I’m pretty good with doing stunts and all. I can do a triple spin on one hoof.”
Rumble switched from keeping the tennis balls up steadily to knocking them up with a left and right gust, one after the other. His eyes were fixed on those things, the better to channel his magic. “Nah, I’m good.”
Scootaloo turned. “Okay, suit yourself.” She walked off, thinking. That was weird. Why wouldn’t he want me to help?
Uh oh. What if he knows? What if I gave myself away there?
The wind Rumble was making kicked up just as she rounded a corner. A single leaf landed on her nose.
“Achoo!”
She felt the change happen in a flash, which was appropriate given it was a flashy change in the first place. Her horn poked out of her forehead, her wings were stiff insect limbs, and her fur made way for hard hide.
She didn’t let it last for long, of course. As soon as she changed back, she looked about furtively.
Rumble came up behind her. “You okay? I thought I heard someone cast a spell.”
Scootaloo rubbed her nose. “Probably just Snips and Snails doing stuff again.”
“Oh, right, probably.”
The pair went to the front of the school again, since neither had anything to do. Rumble had done his reps, at least judging by what Scootaloo could see of the notebook under his right wing, and Scootaloo wasn’t much in the mood for playing anything, not until she got her new abilities under control.
“Hey, Scootaloo?”
The girl turned as they came into view of the rest. Apple Bloom and Lance were clobbering Sweetie Belle and Featherweight, who at this point were probably regretting pairing two Earth ponies together for a dodgeball team. It made Scootaloo wonder what kind of surprises she might end up with with her species change. “What?”
“Do you really wanna help with, you know, moves and all?”
Scootaloo shrugged. “Not if you don’t need it. Why, would you mind if I did?”
Rumble gulped. “Maybe. If I can keep up with Rainbow Dash this afternoon, then I won’t.”
“Okay. Let me know how that turns out.”
Rumble gritted his teeth as he pushed his wings to their limit, soaring through the sky. That afternoon nap after school had done wonders to refuel him, but even so he wasn’t quite up to flying with Rainbow Dash.
She turned a ninety-degree corner with no warning. Rumble pulled up and slammed his wings back to slow down and follow suit, biting away the pressure on his little flappers. In seconds, he was back to rushing into that distinct rainbow trail.
Come on, come on, just a little faster.
It was no use. The rainbow trail he was following went faint. Clouds rushed past, birds squawked in shock as they narrowly dodged one speedster pony after another.
Rumble fell behind.
Again.
The boy felt a tear roll down his cheek as he slowed down. His head pounded, his lungs burned, and his wings were about to fall off. He had to land, or he’d plummet. He managed to make it to the same lake he’d caught Rainbow Dash at earlier that week, but once his hooves touched the ground he knew it was over.
He didn’t even bother calling out to Rainbow Dash. He just sat down on his rump and rubbed his aching sides. Everything near his wings throbbed. Even his feathers felt like they hurt.
He didn’t get it. He did everything right. He did his pushups, his wing pushups, his crunches, everything. He had a routine, and he followed it.
Why can’t I keep up with her? Why can’t I fly like her?
Rainbow Dash landed in front of him. “Still can’t keep up, huh?”
Rumble panted and nodded.
Rainbow Dash put a hoof under his chin to make him look up at her. “Hey, don’t feel bad, okay? You’re gettin’ better. You lasted a lot longer than last time.”
Rumble shook his head. “Still not long enough. What am I doing wrong?”
Rainbow Dash looked away. “Beats me. Maybe you should ask Scootaloo sometime.”
The boy furrowed his brow. This again? “Scootaloo? Why? Can she fly like you?”
“No, not yet, but she might be able to help you out more. And Blue Moon Bloom is coming up. You’re not gonna get a better chance to ask.”
Rumble groaned. “You’re only saying that because you think we look cute together. And besides, you know I can’t ask her.”
Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes. “Yeah, I know, it’s complicated. Tell you what, big guy, if you don’t wanna ask a girl for help, that’s your call. If you do wanna ask, it’s your call, too. Just remember it’s your call, not anyone else’s, and if you ever need my help, just ask and I will. It’s my job, but you have to ask. You can make it back to Ponyville from here, right?”
Rumble looked at the ground and nodded.
“Good. And if you don’t ask Scootaloo for help, don’t complain next time you can’t keep up.”
Rumble bit his lip as Rainbow Dash took off. “I won’t. See you around, Rainbow Dash. Thanks for the help, anyway.”
She was already out of sight. Rumble pounded the sandy ground by the lake in frustration.
“Still not fast enough, huh?”
The colt looked up. Scootaloo was standing on her scooter, helmet donned as always. What struck him was where she was standing, though: she was right on the same spot Rainbow Dash had been when he’d heard her fly off. “Yeah. It hurts all over.”
“That sounds familiar.”
Rumble nodded. “Did your wings hurt when she was done with you, too?”
Scootaloo took off her helmet and got off her scooter to sit next to him. Both of them looked into the water at their reflections. “Uhuh. It hurt a lot, especially since I couldn’t even keep up with her.”
“I know, right? I’m supposed to be an ace flyer by now, I should be fast enough to keep up, but all she does is fly circles around me and tell me I should ask you for help, instead.” Rumble nearly slapped himself for saying it.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” The girl barely hid her ire.
“No offense, Scootaloo, but you haven’t been flying for very long. You can’t really help me out with anything. You’re good on your scooter, though, that’s something.”
Scootaloo glared at the boy. “Oh yeah? You think I can’t beat you?”
Rumble groaned. “You want me to tell you the truth, or be nice?”
“The truth, Rumble.”
“Okay, fine. The truth is, I’m sure you could beat me at flying, but not the kind of flying I do. I’m the fastest pegasus colt in town; my wingpower’s six point five. That’s twice as high as the national average, and way over what you need to pass Flight Camp’s final test.”
Scootaloo grumbled. “Wingpower’s not everything, you know.”
“I know. But if you want to compete with me, you need wingpower, and you don’t have that, not yet.”
The girl playfully slapped his shoulder. “Psh, right. So you’re telling me you could beat me in a race anytime you wanted?”
Rumble got up and stretched his sore wings. “I could race you right now, if you like.”
The changeling regarded him for a moment. Rumble didn’t show any kind of mockery on his expression, or pity, or anything that implied he was suggesting anything but a friendly competition. She grinned. “You’re on. But no cheating.”
The boy shrugged and pointed to a cloud in the distance. “We do one lap around that cloud over there, then come back here. First pony to cross this line wins.” He drew a line in the sand. “I’ll even give you a headstart.”
“You want to what? You think it’s not fair if I don’t get a headstart?” Scootaloo growled.
“Um, no, I don’t. I just raced Rainbow Dash, and my wings are still kinda tired. I need all the cooldown and rest I can get for a race.” Rumble gave a few cursory flaps. “You don’t think that’s fair to me, do you?”
Scootaloo kept her eye on him, but took her position behind the line, leaning down so as to get the best angle for taking off. “Okay, but don’t come complaining when a girl beats you.”
Rumble smiled brightly. “I promise I won’t, Scootaloo. You just go as fast as you possibly can.”
“Okay. On your mark, get set.”
Rumble shrugged and just stood there. “Go.”
Scootaloo bolted, flapping her wings at her usual racing speed. She tensed her body up to keep the speed going, just to make sure Rumble didn’t try anything funny. She saw the cloud rush to meet her.
Then it decided to leave.
She flapped her wings harder. The cloud was still getting away from her. Scootaloo looked down and found that despite her frantic flapping, she couldn’t keep herself up.
She barely had time to gasp when something grey zoomed past her, knocking her up with what she had to admit was the gentlest breeze to ever knock her anywhere. The grey mass passed the cloud, then tore off a piece, carried it along, and dropped it neatly under her before making its way to the finish line.
Scootaloo sat on the cloud as Rumble casually strolled over the finish line. She stomped her hoof into the cloud with a growl and rushed after him.
“You cheated!” She yelled after landing.
Rumble pouted, like the remark had really hurt him. It was only then Scootaloo remembered he didn’t hang out with girls with that much. The boy took a step back. “I did not cheat. You just have a bad flying technique, that’s all. You can’t go to top speed because you’re flapping the wrong way, so you fall when you go fast.”
“Oh yeah? Well, I want a rematch, and this time we fly through trees.”
Rumble looked away. “No thanks, I can’t really fly through trees.”
“Hah, see? You can’t turn very well, can you?” Scootaloo pointed a hoof at him.
Rumble shrugged. “Um, no? Why do you think I asked Rainbow Dash? I’m really fast, but only when I go straight. I can’t turn that well without having to slow down. So yeah, I guess you probably are better than me at that.”
Scootaloo tilted her head, confused. “Wait, you don’t want to find out? You’re just gonna take that? Come on, where’s your sense of pride?”
“Scootaloo, I just raced you, and Rainbow Dash, on the same day. I think I can call it quits for now. Besides, I’d bet you can’t turn very well, either.”
The girl chuckled awkwardly. “Actually, that’s about the only thing I can do really well, because of all the scootering.”
Rumble considered it for a moment. “Oh, right. I guess maybe you would. It’s not the same as when you’re up in the air, though.”
Silence fell between them. They looked at their reflections in the pond’s water again, both unsure of what to say. Eventually, Scootaloo had enough of the awkwardness, so she nudged him. “So, um, Rainbow Dash said you should ask me for help?”
Rumble nodded. “Yup.”
Scoootaloo nudged him again. Rumble didn’t get the hint. “What?”
“Aren’t you going to ask me for help, then?”
“Umm, I don’t think I should.” He shivered and looked up at the sky, nervous all of a sudden.
Scootaloo followed suit, and found a dark grey stallion going in circles above them. “Is it because of Thunderlane?”
“No, no! Well, kinda. It’s complicated. I appreciate it, Scootaloo, but I can fix it on my own.” Rumble turned to leave. “I just need a good planning, a workout schedule I can follow, maybe a new stretching routine.”
Scootaloo bit her lip. Planning? Schedules? Routines? She stretched, sure, and she worked out, but she never tried to do anything organised. “I can’t.”
Rumble froze. “What?”
“I can’t fix my problem on my own. And Rainbow Dash told me to ask you for help, too.”
“Really? Why?”
“Honestly, I think Twilight Sparkle is trying to play matchmaker, and she put Rainbow Dash up to it.”
Rumble shuddered. “I know what you mean. Twilight couldn’t stop smirking when I asked her for advice, either. She kept asking if I wanted to impress you.”
That took a moment for Scootaloo to process. “Wait, hold on. You asked Twilight Sparkle for advice?”
Rumble nodded. “Uhuh, on how to train for flying.”
“Why would you ask her about that?”
“Because Rainbow Dash told me to, obviously. She said Twilight knew more about schedules and muscles,” Rumble replied matter-of-factly.
“Oh. Did that work?”
Rumble shrugged. He caught himself looking more at the girl’s reflection in the water than his own. “Kind of. I’m a lot better than before I started, and I was already pretty good from the waterspout training, but it’s still not enough.”
Scootaloo clenched her teeth together. For just a second, she almost gagged, but once it passed, she shuffled closer to the boy. “Um, you know, if you’re not going to ask me for help, I might have to ask you.”
Rumble arched an eyebrow and looked at the girl. “Really?”
Scootaloo shuffled away, slightly apprehensive. “Not that I can’t fly perfectly fine on my own, of course. After all, I do have the coolest pony in all of Equestria coaching me. But, err, I can’t really tell if I’m getting better or not. And you did beat me, so you must be doing something right. Would you mind showing me sometime?”
Rumble bit his lip. Should I? I guess it couldn’t hurt. She is nice, and she’s a good athlete. She wouldn’t make fun of me or push me too hard, since she’s new to it, and she does have really tight sides. I’d bet she gives great hugs...
“What do you think?”
Rumble snapped out of his reverie. “Umm, I don’t know. Maybe.”
The girl raised an eyebrow. “Why not?”
Rumble looked at the sky again, tracking that dark grey form as it busted some clouds before heading back towards Tuber Lane. “It’s complicated.”
“You don’t want to hang out with me because your brother doesn’t like me?”
“Sure I do, and it’s not that he doesn’t like you, it’s just that…” He clenched his jaw.
“What?”
Rumble sighed in resignation before smiling. “Never mind. It’s nothing you need to worry about, he’s just being silly. I’d love to hang out, and I’d be more than happy to help you out if you wanna catch up on flying. I think I could really use a flying buddy, honestly.”
Scootaloo tensed up and put her helmet back on, quickly scampering away. “Oh, um, come to think of it, now’s not really a good time. I just remembered I have homework to do.”
Rumble frowned. “This late after school?”
Scootaloo flashed him a sheepish smile. “Yup.”
“After everypony in our class is done with theirs?”
“It’s special homework.”
Rumble’s frown deepened. “And you need to do it really quickly, right now?”
“Rainbow Dash told me to.”
That was all the explanation Rumble needed. “Oh. Well, you’d better get going, then.”
Scootaloo hopped back on her scooter and revved up her wings. “Okay. I’ll talk to you later. We can meet up sometime when we don’t have self-defense class.”
“Sure, sounds good. See you around.”
“See you around!” And with that, she was off.
Rumble got back on his hooves and rubbed his sore wings again.
Huh. Kind of weird how she showed up right after Rainbow Dash left. And she’s been acting kinda weird, too. She turns out to be good at draining, she’s scared of changelings now, and she’s been getting closer to Rainbow Dash and me. And I haven’t seen her around Apple Bloom or Sweetie Belle outside of class, either.
Maybe she’s… nah, she wouldn't.