//------------------------------//
// XI - New Problems, New Solutions 
// Story: Mare Magnet 
// by Revenant Wings 
//------------------------------//

	That afternoon, Rumble left the schoolhouse and started making his way over to Twilight’s for tutoring, a letter for Thunderlane in his saddlebags.  This part wasn’t so bad; Twilight was at least supportive and he felt he was making headway; in just a few weeks, he already was almost up to speed with the rest of the class, and that was from starting back a few lessons behind.
“Stupid Diamond Tiara,” Rumble said to himself as he trotted towards the Golden Oaks Library.  “If it weren’t for her bullying I wouldn’t be in this mess.  She keeps carrying herself around like she owns the whole place.  How come?  I’ve met her dad before; he’s nice.  How come she’s such a bully?”
A strange thought appeared in Rumble’s mind.  “I kind of wish I had that magic on me again.  I mean, it’s stopped Cheerilee from being overly nice to me, but Diamond Tiara didn’t pay much attention to me when I had it.”
Rumble sighed and dropped his head to the ground.  “Oh, who am I kidding?  It’s better without it, and it’s no good to wish I still had it.”
Rumble shook his head and cleared the thoughts of Twilight reinstating the innate magic on him.  That wouldn’t help him.  It wouldn’t keep him from fighting with Diamond Tiara, at any rate.  Rumble continued onwards towards the tree library.
As he got closer to the library, Rumble noticed an interesting sight.  Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo were standing at the entrance as though waiting.  Rumble trotted a little faster, curious as to what they were doing.
“Hey!” he called over.  “What are you all doing here?”
“Hey, Rumble!” Apple Bloom called.  “Twilight is supervising us doing things to help with getting our cutie marks.”
“Oh.  I thought she would be tutoring me today.”
“She is,” Scootaloo said.  “She’s just going to get us started.”
“We’ll be working on our things while she’s tutoring you,” Sweetie Belle.  “She’s starting us out with working with plants.”
“Oh.  That sounds fun.”
“I don’t think it’ll work,” Scootaloo said.  “Why can’t she have us doing something cooler, like working on scooters?”
“To be fair, I think she’s just doing something that won’t interfere with his tutoring,” Apple Bloom said.
“Hey,” Sweetie Belle interjected.  “Hate to change the subject, but how come you and Diamond Tiara got into a fight?”
“Oh yeah, we saw you go into the schoolhouse with Cheerilee.  What happened?”
“Diamond Tiara was insulting me and my big brother,” Rumble said.  “I just couldn’t take it anymore and we got into a fight.”
“Did you get in trouble?” Scootaloo asked.
“Yeah.  But so did Diamond Tiara.  We’re going to be doing some ‘team-building exercises’ to help us work together.”
“Ooh, physical labor!” Scootaloo said, wings flitting excitedly so that she hovered above the ground a little.  “That ought to bring Diamond down a peg!”
“Wow...” Sweetie Belle commented.  “Cheerilee’s hardly ever scolded Diamond before now.  She gave her a talking to during that whole issue with the Foal Free Press, but she’s never actually punished Diamond for anything.”
“Yeah, it’s a little weird,” Rumble admitted.  “But I got in trouble, too.  For fighting.”
“Doesn’t matter to us,” Apple Bloom said.  “Well, it does, ‘cause fighting’s bad.  But mostly we’re just happy because Diamond Tiara always bullies us and now someone’s actually stood up to her.”
“Really?  You three never seem to have any problems.”
“Because we’ve got each other!” Apple Blooms said, wrapping a hoof around the other two fillies.
“Oh, great...” Scootaloo groaned.  “She’s getting all sentimental again...”
“It is true, though,” Sweetie Belle said.  “We’ve got each other for support.  We don’t let Diamond Tiara get us down because we can rely on each other.”
“Wish I could say that,” Rumble said.  “Not that I had friends; I’ve got Featherweight and Pipsqueak and Archer, but that she would leave us alone more often.”
“Eh, we still have our troubles,” Scootaloo said.  “But yeah, I suppose we get through it alright and she hasn’t been bothering us too much lately.”
“Hey, want to join our club?  The Cutie Mark Crusaders?”
“Um, I guess,” Rumble said, perking up a little.  “What do you guys do?”
“We just hang out and occasionally head out around Ponyville to try something to get our cutie marks,” Apple Bloom explained.  “You can also see if Pipsqueak wants to join since he doesn’t have a cutie mark either.”
“What about Featherweight?” Rumble asked.  “He already has his cutie mark, but he’s my friend, too.”
“He can come, too.  We just hang out mostly, and he can still participate.”
Rumble smiled.  “Cool.  That sounds fun.  Tell me after school when you guys want to head out and do something.”
“Alright!” Sweetie Belle exclaimed.  “Normally, we do this whole initiation thing, but I think we can forego that this time.”
“What do you mean, ‘forego’?” Scootaloo asked.
“Just that we can skip it,” Apple Bloom replied.  “And I agree.  We still haven’t reworked that thing yet.”
Not long afterwards, Twilight opened the door.  “Hello!  Come on in!  I’ll get these three started and we’ll pick up where we left off, okay Rumble?”
“Okay, Miss Twilight,” Rumble said with a smile.

*	*	*

About an hour and a half later, Rumble had gotten through another lesson.  Twilight had started him on word problems and even a little algebra; Rumble seemed to have an easier time converting the words to letters than he did with words alone.  Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle had difficulty with tending to plants – Scootaloo somehow managed to shrivel hers up by the end of the session – but Apple Bloom had actually had a somewhat strong, alive plant by the end of it.
The three were talking excitedly when Thunderlane came by.
“Alright, I gotta go,” Rumble said.  “Thank you!  See you at school tomorrow!”
“Bye, Rumble!” they called.  “See you later!  Hope your math goes well!”
Thunderlane and Rumble took off and headed off for Cloudsdale.  Rumble swallowed a gulp of spit despite his mouth being dry and steeled himself.  He had to tell Thunderlane about the letter he got sent home with eventually.  He thought about it and was so focused on the letter that he ran into three clouds, which threw him off his flying and slowed him down a little.
Thunderlane laughed gently.  “Something on your mind, bro?” he asked, slowing down and gliding alongside.  “You’re a little more distracted than normal.”
“Yeah,” Rumble admitted.  “I am.”
“That was Apple Bloom you were talking with it at Twilight’s, wasn’t it?  Is the magic starting to come back?”
“No.”  Rumble sighed.  “I got into a fight at school today.”
Thunderlane frowned, but he didn’t seem mad yet.  “What happened?” he asked.
“Well, I’ve been dealing with this bully named Diamond Tiara.  She’s Filthy Rich’s daughter, and she lords her status all over school.  She even thinks she’s superior and likes to act like we’re all beneath her.”
“Hm,” Thunderlane contemplated.  “Her father’s been pleasant every time I’ve talked to him.  We’ve done a few favors for him, but he’s always been nice about it.”
“Yeah.  But she thinks that means we’re all her servants.  So, when she ridiculed me and you, I... might have started a fight with her.”
Thunderlane looked sternly over at Rumble.  “Did you get hurt?  More importantly, did she get hurt?”
“We got a couple of scratches each.  I think mine have all cleared up, and I wouldn’t be surprised if hers were.  She’s an Earth Pony and hits harder than me anyways.”
Thunderlane sighed.  “Rumble,” he said, voice not getting louder but definitely sterner.  “I kind of get where you’re coming from, but you need to know that it’s better to tell someone if she’s bugging you.  You can’t go around picking fights even if someone else is being a bigger bully.”
“I know...” Rumble said.
“And honestly, it is somewhat important to make sure you treat ponies like Diamond Tiara with respect,” Thunderlane continued.  “If ever you have a problem with her, either talk to Cheerilee or me and we can speak with her father if things get too bad.”
“Yes, brother...” Rumble said.
Thunderlane and Rumble flew in silence until they reached home.  Thunderlane opened the door and went into the kitchen, starting to prepare the evening’s meal.  Rumble set his stuff down in his room and opened up his books.
“Rumble!” came Thunderlane’s voice from the kitchen.
Rumble got up and went out to the kitchen.  Thunderlane was slicing up some large peppers, stopping only for a moment to gesture to a chair nearby.  Rumble went and sat down as Thunderlane continued.
“Did you get in trouble at all?” Thunderlane asked.
Rumble nodded.  “Miss Cheerilee is making us both do lunch detention.  I also need a letter tomorrow.”  He grabbed the letter Cheerilee gave him.  “Miss Cheerilee sent this letter home explaining the situation.  She wants a response tomorrow.”
Thunderlane looked at the letter.  “Put it on the table.  I’ll look at it in a minute.  For now, go to your room and do homework.  If you finish before dinner, stay in there and read.”
Rumble nodded and went back to his room.  Thankfully he had no math.  He read some of his history book and answered some questions, then worked on a science worksheet that they had been sent home with.  By this time, Rumble smelled Thunderlane’s cooking and soon after heard his brother’s voice calling him to the kitchen.
Over a meal of stuffed peppers with cheese, Thunderlane read over the letter from Miss Cheerilee.  He contemplated the letter for a long while and they did not speak, which Rumble hated more than the fact that his brother was mad at him.  He never yelled, but when he got silent Rumble knew he was mad.
But after a while, Thunderlane gave a short chuckle and even smiled.  “It’s funny,” he said.  “Before we found out about that innate magic, you never had as many problems with her.”
Rumble nodded.  “I was thinking about that, too.”
“Wonder if there was anything good about it.”
Rumble shrugged.  “I’m kind of glad it’s gone.  I actually had a nice conversation with Apple Bloom and her friends today, and I’m glad ponies like Miss Cloudchaser and Miss Cheerilee aren’t going crazy anymore.”
Thunderlane shrugged.  “There is that.  I’m glad; I’d be nervous if Miss Dash was around you any longer.”
Rumble nodded.
Thunderlane smiled at Rumble.  “Well, I think Cheerilee’s current punishment is reasonable, even if it is multiple times.  When you’re done, finish your homework and I’m going to have a few chores for you to do, but I’ll let you off easy this time.  I’ll make sure to have a note for you before bed.”
Rumble smiled.  “Thanks.”
“Wonder what she’ll make you do,” Thunderlane wondered.  “Kind of unorthodox, isn’t it?”