//------------------------------// // Chapter 26 // Story: "Just Kiss Already!" And Other Rumbaloo Tales // by Candy-Sweets_12 //------------------------------// Scootaloo sighed and continued walking forward, Rainbow Dash was trailing a bit behind her, asking her about her 'newfound relationship' with Rumble. The whole conversation just made Scootaloo want to sink into the ground and stay there. Fortunately for her, that very same pegasus the two were speaking of spotted her. In an instant, he could already see what was going on in the situation, and quickly swooped in to help. "Hey Scootaloo," Rumble said casually, coming up to the two as if he didn't know what they were talking about. Scootaloo grinned in relief, as Rainbow Dash fell silent, she threw him a thankful glance as he smiled wider. "Hey Rumble, how's it going? Anything you need?" "I was hoping if I could just steal you for a bit, if Rainbow Dash doesn't mind of course." he looked to the rainbow maned equine, who smiled widely, making him feel a bit uneasy. "Sure, go ahead. But maybe you can return the favor by coming over to my house later on with Scootaloo?" Rumble pinned his ears to his head as Scootaloo bit her lip. Throwing Rumble a glare. "Um....sure?" Rumble said, putting on a forced smile. "Good, see you at three. I should get going anyway." Rainbow Dash flew away with a triumphant smile, and the pair looked at each other. Rumble shrugged and put on a nervous smile as Scootaloo scowled. "Great." she sighed. "You got us into this mess!" Scootaloo whisper shouted at Rumble as they approached the cloud home. "I didn't think she'd do that," Rumble defended. "Now we're going to talk about that all afternoon." Scootaloo groaned, hanging her arms as she dropped her head. "Maybe it won't be so bad," Rumble suggested. "In what way will it not be?" Scootaloo asked. "Well..." Rumble tried thinking of something, but it all went against him. Even though the two were closer in their relationship, they still weren't that comfortable with talking about it with anyone else. Ever since she first started dating Soarin', once in a blue moon, she would ask Scootaloo about her relationship. Now that she was actually in one with him, Rainbow Dash would ask her like an excited filly about the two's romance. "Exactly." Scootaloo finished. "Nothing. This is going to be so embarrassing. And Soarin' will be there too." Scootaloo sighed and put a hoof to her face. "I'm sorry Scoots, I guess I just reacted without much thought." Scootaloo sighed again and straightened. "It's not your fault. You didn't know. I'm sorry. I just don't like having all of that type of attention on me, ya know?" "Yeah." Rumble agreed. "But it looks like we better suck it up, Rainbow Dash is waiting outside." Scootaloo looked ahead, and sure enough, he was right. Rainbow was standing right outside with Soarin', casually waving at the two. Scootaloo drew in a deep breath and dropped onto the door step. "Hey Rainbow Dash," Scootaloo said. "Glad ya made it Squirt." she looked to Rumble, "nice to see that you didn't chicken out." she smiled. Soarin', who Rumble had only met a few brief and select times in his life, smiled right back at him. "Hey kid," he said to Scootaloo, who smiled back. He then looked to Rumble. "Nice to properly meet you." he held out a hoof, and Rumble bumped it, making the stallion smile. "I can tell that we're going to get along just fine." "Come on in you two, I want to talk in the living room." Scootaloo followed behind the pair, momentarily looking back at Rumble. Who was no less than one step behind her. He never really went inside Rainbow's house, so he looked around at all of the medals and trophy's and pictures lining the walls or on the shelves. He took a seat next to Scootaloo on one of the sofas and continued looking around. "Like what you see?" Soarin' asked with a grin. Rumble nodded and proceeded to focus his attention on one picture with Rainbow and Scootaloo together. "Well, there's plenty more. Pinkie always liked playing around with that camera." Rainbow Dash shook her head and sat on the couch, immediately in the crook of Soarin's arm as she leaned back. Rumble and Scootaloo sat close, but they didn't want to do much more than that, not in front of another two ponies. Rainbow Dash watched as the two avoided each other's eyes, Rumble looking around the room while Scootaloo remained silent and twiddled her hooves. "Hey," Rainbow Dash started. "No need to be so tense." "Sorry, it's the first time I've ever been here." "I know that Rumble, but I mean you two should be a bit more relaxed." Rainbow Dash said. They both did the exact opposite and tensed. Prompting Rainbow to smack her hoof on her head. "You two are acting like this is your first time sitting together." Rainbow Dash said with a raised brow. "Chillax. There's nothing to be so worked up about." "Sorry, it's just this thing we kind of do around other ponies." Rumble said. "I don't think anypony would mind if you two were huddled up together like this." Soarin' said, gesturing between himself and Rainbow Dash "It's not that, it's just something we don't do in public a lot, ya know?" Rumble explained. "I can respect that," Rainbow Dash stated. "after all, we weren't much better." Soarin' laughed. "Not in the slightest." he agreed. "But we did eventually get used to being more affectionate." Rainbow Dash said. "Well that's good. I don't mean to be rude, but what exactly did you want Rumble and I to come here for.?" Rainbow Dash smiled. "I was wondering when you'd ask." she grinned. "Honestly, I invited you two love birds over to talk about our relationships. Since we never got the chance." "Oh..." Rumble said, stealing a glance in Scootaloo's direction. "No need to be so nervous, it's just conversation. I'm not going to make you two jump off of a cliff." she laughed. "Sorry." Rumble apologized. "You don't have to apologize so much either." "Well, I don't know how to start. I just like hanging out with this guy a lot. And I've known him for a few years, so when he asked me the question, I considered it and said yes. And now here we are." Scootaloo stated. "I know that, I mean is there anything you two want to talk about?" "Not really, no." Rumble stated. "Then what did you two do for Hearts and Hooves Day?" "Nothing." Scootaloo shrugged, leaning into the couch some more as she set her hooves behind her head. "Nothing?" the pair repeated. "Yup. Nothing." Rumble said. "No gifts?" Rainbow Dash asked. "Nope." Scootaloo replied, popping her lips. "Not even a date?" "Nada." Rumble shrugged. "How come?" Rainbow Dash said. "Neither of us felt like it was necessary. Rumble and I both made a pact a few years back to not obsess over getting each other gifts for Hearts and Hooves Day. And it just sort of stuck." Scootaloo explained. "Besides, neither of us are into all of the cheesy things everypony else does. Like getting each other chocolates, or buying flowers and teddy bears." Rumble added. "It just doesn't really click for us." "Then what did you two do for Hearts and Hooves?" "Nothing really. Just hang around with family, say hello to our friends, and hang out for a while." Scootaloo said. "Well that's a shock to me." Rainbow Dash said. "Why is that?" "Well, you're the one who decided to make a gigantic card for your teacher. And helped your friends make that love potion." Rainbow Dash teased. Scootaloo blushed and sunk into her seat, covering up her face. "Fair point." she mumbled. "Do you two ever do anything you may have seen other couples do?" "Not much, though I tend to wrap my wing around Scootaloo from time to time." "Anything else?" "Not anything that can come to mind, no." Scootaloo said. "Well I give up." Rainbow Dash sighed. "I can't get anything else out of you two can I?" "There's nothing worth mentioning." Scootaloo said. "Oh well. We can move on to something else then." "Good, because I wanted to ask you guys about something for a while." Scootaloo mentioned. "Okay, spit it out squirt." "You know how in order to get in the Junior Wonderbolts, you have to be recommended by another Wonderbolt?" Scootaloo asked. Rainbow Dash sat up. "Where's this going?" Rainbow Dash asked. "I was kind of hoping, that, since you two are in the Wonderbolt's and all, that you could maybe recommend us?" "Of course I can do that." Rainbow Dash said. "But I can't do the same for Rumble, since it's against the policy and all." "Wait, what policy?" Rumble asked. "You mean you don't know?" Scootaloo asked. "I knew about the recommendation, but not any policy," Rumble explained. "Basically, if a Wonderbolt has seen you fly and thinks your good enough to qualify, they can recommend that you get into the Junior Wonderbolts. But the policy is that a Wonderbolt can recommend one pony every time a new position for Junior Wonderbolts is opened. So I can't do the both of you." Rainbow Dash explained. "That's why I wanted to ask Soarin' if he could recommend Rumble." Scootaloo said. "Well, I wouldn't mind, but it depends on how well he can actually fly. You're going to have to prove it to me kid." Soarin' said. "You could come see us practice on Monday." Scootaloo suggested. "That's the perfect time to see how good we are. Rumble's improved a lot over the past couple of weeks since we've started." Scootaloo said. "Okay then, we'll stop by to see, if you two fit the role, then we'll recommend you." Rainbow Dash said. "But keep in mind that we can't be biased. Consider that we can only recommend one and only one pony each." she leaned towards the two and gave them an intense glare. "Understood." Rumble said hesitantly. "Good. Now what else did you two want?" "Nothing really. I mean, you invited us here." Scootaloo reminded. "Do you have anything else you wanted to discuss?" "I'm pretty curious about how you're taking being Blossom's bridesmare." Rainbow Dash said with a grin. "What? How'd you-" "Word can spread fast around a town like this." Rainbow Dash stated. "Never underestimate the power of gossip." Scootaloo mumbled. "I'm flattered that she wants me to be in her wedding, but I'm not sure if I'm suited as a bridesmare." Scootaloo said. "It may seem that way now, but it'll get better. You're looking at a pony who was a bridesmare at the big Royal Wedding." Rainbow Dash said. "Well when you put it that way," Scootaloo said. "It doesn't sound that bad." "Hence why I mentioned it." Rainbow Dash replied. "How about you Rumble?" "I'm happy for them, and I'm glad that my brother wants me to be in it. Not much else I can say on that." Rainbow Dash stretched and yawned. "Oh well, I've questioned you two enough, you're free to go." Scootaloo and Rumble stood up. "See you Monday then," Soarin' said. "Don't forget what I said." Rainbow Dash reminded. "We won't, thanks for having us." Rumble said. "Stop by any time you want." Rainbow Dash offered. "Later." Scootaloo waved before she shut the door and looked to Rumble. The sun was much lower in the sky and it was getting ready to set. "That was...interesting." Rumble said. "Yeah." Scootaloo agreed. They leapt off of the edge and caught themselves in the air. Flying at the same pace. "But next time, don't play hero." Scootaloo teased. "I won't," Rumble said with a roll of his eyes. "Though, that wasn't as embarrassing as I thought it'd be." "Rainbow Dash seems to really understand you." Rumble said. "Yeah. She really does. Though, sometimes, her questions can be a bit of a pain." "I know that for sure." From the distance, a faint cry was heard from the house. "I heard that!" the cyan blob shouted. Scootaloo laughed and turned, shrugging in the mare's direction, knowing she'd see the gesture. "But it was still nice to meet Soarin'. He seems like a pretty nice guy." "If you think he's pretty laid back, you should see him in the same room as an apple pie." Scootaloo stated. "Maybe I will someday." Rumble said. Scootaloo smiled and looked up to him. "Yeah, maybe." "That was a pretty nice visit. Hopefully I can visit those two in the nearby future. Maybe even fly with them as a Wonderbolt with you." "I sure hope so." Scootaloo said.