An Agreement on Terms
Chitter steadied herself with a deep breath. Another night, another bat party, another girl for her dear cousin to meet. Oh, how she hoped he’d like this one, if only to get that oh-so-important tradition out of the way. She couldn’t stand to see Rumble get upset.
They were thick as thieves, Rumble and Chitter, always had been since Rumble’s time in the bat kindergarten. All the other rousettes had thought it was merely strange to see a bat with feathers on his wings, but, as time went on and the criticising looks and whispers started coming, Rumble had been forced to go to school in Ponyville just like Thunderlane had before him, to avoid shaming his family.
But shame them he had. While Thunderlane had a reputation among rousettes to be traditional and well-behaved, Rumble had forced his mother to dance around the issue of him being around girls he wasn’t introduced to.
Rumble wanted to make friends, and there weren’t any boys who really cut the mustard. That was Chitter’s understanding of it, at least.
So, needless to say, she was quite happy to see Rumble’s face light up once he saw Stella approach with Lord Nox not too far behind.
“I told you it was seven,” the burly rousette started.
“I said I was sorry, I lost track of time,” the girl replied.
Lord Nox sighed as he reached the pair waiting for him. “Alright, then, Stella, this is where I leave you to discuss. Chitter, I wish you a fine evening, and Rumble: good luck.”
Chitter didn’t pay it any heed, as Rumble’s reaction to seeing the girl said enough. He flicked his ears up nice and high, a sign of attraction among rousettes, and Stella did the same. The first hurdle was passed.
Not that Chitter had had any doubts about the first impressions. After all, she’d met Scootaloo at the Defense Against Changelings class, and she knew full well Rumble thought Scoots was, at the very least, cute. As such, it was a fair guess that he would like Stella’s hairstyle, which was brushed flat and into a peak just short enough not to fall in the noble filly’s eyes. Rousettes never let their manes fall in their eyes. Chitter wasn’t entirely sure about his colour preferences, but she figured royal blue with dark blue in the mane wouldn’t hurt his eyes that much. The lack of prominent fuzz on Stella’s ears may have been a concern for other bat boys, but Stella apparently liked to comb hers down, probably so she’d resemble a pony more closely. Likewise, she kept her fangs in as she walked towards Rumble, possibly for the same reason. As a future ambassador, looking like a pony might be a necessary sacrifice, though Lord Nox made no such concessions on his appearance. Perhaps it was just a silly phase.
Whatever the case, Stella had more of a rogue-ish look to her than Scootaloo’s brutish one, at least by rousette standards. Keeping with the look her mane and tail gave her, Stella’s physique was also something Chitter knew Rumble would like. While Chitter herself was in more than decent shape -- partly due to training with her favorite cousin -- Stella looked properly toned, again not that different from Scootaloo. Unlike Scootaloo, though, Stella was half a head taller than Rumble, and she had the slender shoulders and belly of a royal, a ballet-dancing one at that, though she only did that in private nowadays. While her hooves were just as thick as anyone else’s her age, her arms and legs narrowed more as they went up. Her eyes, finally, were a vibrant bluish green, a familiar colour among the bats.
All in all, Stella looked a lot like what some rousettes speculated was what princess Luna looked like when she was young. That was probably why the girl had been named after the Sovereign of the Moon in the first place.
Chitter waited patiently for Rumble to make the first move. When he didn’t, she prodded him.
Rumble snapped out of his reverie. “Oh, um, sorry. Hi, I’m Rumble.” He extended a hoof towards Stella.
Stella smiled warmly and shook it. Her whole demeanour just oozed grace, but a little tension at the corner of her mouth betrayed that it was still just an act. “I am Lady Stella, of the House Malpertuus. Pleased to meet you, Rumble. Sorry it couldn’t be in better circumstances.” She spoke very carefully and deliberately, enunciating every vowel like a proper lady.
Chitter tensed. Rumble hated that type of girl, she couldn’t let that act continue. She had to get them talking normally somehow, she had to step in before everything was lost.
“So, um, Chitter says you like the Wonderbolts?” Rumble asked.
Chitter’s left eyelid twitched. A personal question to a noble young lady he didn’t know for five minutes? Not waiting for his mediator to make the first move? Very much a faux pas. He was toast.
“Oh, darling, I love the Wonderbolts. I always keep track of the new recruits,” Stella said with a vague hint of excitement and a smile creeping at the edges of her mouth. Like a true aristocrat, she didn’t show it too much.
Chitter relaxed at that, though. Conversation, that was good. A topic Rumble and the girl were both familiar with, that was a rarity. Rumble had a chance to salvage this yet.
“But just to keep track of them or do you, you know, race? For real, I mean?”
Stella looked away wistfully. “I don’t really have anyone to race against, I’m afraid. I’d very much like to, if that’s what you were implying. I do enjoy seeing how I measure up against my peers, if I can find any. Does that answer your question?”
Rumble chuckled, wings rubbing against his sides from the nerves. “Uh, yeah, sort of.”
Chitter found herself needed. “Rumble’s a real athlete, Stella. He’s got a six point five wingpower, and he even helped Ponyville raise the water last time it was their turn.”
Stella pursed her lips, impressed. “Oh, my. You must train a lot, then.”
Rumble blushed and shrugged. “Just here and there, little bits. I do what I can.”
“I see. And what about rivals? Any, ah, boys in Ponyville who can keep up with you?” She looked away, doing her level best to sound as casual as she could, given the circumstances.
“Not really, no.”
“Girls, then?” She slid closer and flashed him a coy smile, close enough for him to feel the air from her nostrils.
Rumble bit his lower lip. “Chitter’s told you about Scootaloo, right?”
Stella winced, but didn’t back away. “She has. I gather your family has a problem with her and your attitude towards her?”
“It’s complicated,” Chitter interjected. “So what about those Wonderbolts, huh?”
“Chitter, it’s okay, I got this. Um, look, here’s how it is: I don’t know if I really am that good at flying. I hear ponies telling me I am, but I don’t have anything to compare against, not without joining a club, and I’m just not a clubby sort of pony, you know?”
The noble girl rolled her eyes. “Ugh, tell me about it, darling. Dear Nox keeps begging me to join the Duelist Society, but there’s no fun in that. All that does is put you on a schedule that you don’t get to choose and pit you against opponents you might not even want to face. I’m sure it’s fine for some, but I like my freedom, thanks very much.”
Rumble threw his head back in exasperation. “Exactly! There shouldn’t be anything wrong with wanting to get better on your own, or trying something new when what you’re doing isn’t working out. It’s just so hard to find ponies who feel the same way.”
“Indeed, darling, bats are the same. I’ve run into so many future Night Guards by now, I shudder to think where Princess Luna’s going to put them all. They’re more preoccupied with just spending a few hours mucking about on schedule than they are with getting ahead and trying something new for a change. All form, no substance. No choice in the matter, either.”
“I know. Like you have to be in a club, you have to have a piece of paper to prove you’re a member, just to show that’s something you like to do.”
Chitter couldn’t believe her ears. Rumble was actually having a full conversation with a girl who agreed with him. She’d expected progress, sure, but this was beyond even her expectations. At this rate, they might agree to tie the knot that very evening.
“But I take it Scootaloo and her friends aren’t like that?” Stella asked.
And there went Chitter’s hopes, fluttering out the nearest window.
Rumble shrugged. “No, they just decide to go do something and then they do it, mostly to try and get their cutie marks.”
“And have you ever joined them?”
“No, never,” Rumble quickly replied. “I mean, I’ve talked to them, sure, but never a lot. My brother usually snatches me away before I can really say anything, especially now. I’d like to join them sometime, but I can’t. I can’t even ask right now. I’ve never really gotten that close to a girl either. Any girl, except Scootaloo, but I only talked to her and tried to show her how to fly properly.”
Stella’s smile faded. “So you have had contact with another girl. You’ve spoken to girls you weren’t introduced to. That’s a clear breach of tradition, and a shame on your family.”
The colt sighed and nodded. “I guess, yes.”
Rather than being outraged, though, Stella looked curious. “Why would you do that? Why would you consort with a girl when you know it’ll get you in trouble?”
Chitter felt her heart skip a beat.
Rumble let his head hang. “I only do that because I want to be nice. I’m allowed to hang out with ponies, even if my family doesn’t like it, but only if I don’t hang out with girls. That’s not fair, not to me, not to them. When Scootaloo… when anypony needs help, I don’t think it should matter if they’re a boy or a girl. She has this thing with her wings so she couldn’t fly right. She’s really good on her scooter, her wings are, like, insanely strong for that, but she couldn’t fly at all for, well, forever. Then, when she finally could, it was big relief, but she was still clumsy and nopony could help. She didn’t have anypony else to ask, so she asked me, and I helped her fix it. I helped out a girl my parents didn’t pick out for me, without my mediator. I fixed it so well that she doesn’t even need my help for it anymore, not really. But to do that, I talked to her, she talked to me, we ended up spending time together and getting to know each other, that’s what happens when you help each other out. So I, umm, consorted with her, yes. That’s all there is to it.”
Chitter mentally slapped herself. The one thing he had to lie about, and he couldn’t do it. Rumble was just too good for his own good.
But to Chitter’s surprise, Stella didn’t walk away. Instead, she slowly moved towards Rumble and put her head on his shoulder, before rubbing her cheek against his and gently puffing out a little gust against his left ear.
Stella approved of him.
“That is very noble of you, Rumble. I’m glad to finally meet at least one rousette boy who thinks honour is more important than tradition. And it sounds like you have a fine set of friends just waiting for you to properly introduce yourself. I’ll be moving to Ponyville myself soon, you know.”
Rumble chuckled. “I know. You’ll love Ponyville, and Scootaloo and her friends will like you a lot, too.”
“I wouldn’t mind if we introduced ourselves properly, actually.” She blew another puff of air along his ear.
Chitter was frozen with nerves. Had she forgotten to tell Rumble what the ear thing meant? Had he forgotten? She was sure he knew, but he wasn’t responding.
Rumble gulped. “A-are you sure? There’s probably other boys you’d like. You know, boys without feathers.”
Stella backed away and looked at Rumble’s now erect wings. “I happen to think feathers are quite cute, actually. They make you look like an angel. And is this that ‘wingboner’ phenomenon I’ve heard tell about?”
Rumble’s cheeks turned red like a tomato. He reached behind him and tried to push those flappers back against his sides. “Err, yeah, it does that sometimes. It’s kind of awkward.”
She smiled brightly at him. “Well, I think it’s adorable, and I cannot think that there is any boy I’d rather tie the knot with, certainly not under these circumstances. What about you? Would you rather be wedlocked to another girl?”
Chitter held her breath while Rumble thought.
Rumble walked up, rubbed his cheek against Stella’s, and gently let a little puff of air towards her left ear. “No rousette girl I can think of, no. It’ll be nice to get it done, especially with a girl like you.”
Stella smiled and put one of her bat wings over Rumble’s back. Rumble did the same, though his feathers didn’t reach as far as Stella’s digits.
Chitter was overjoyed. Rumbley-Wumbley had finally found a girl he liked, and who liked him back. He could finally perform the rite and be considered an adult. “Umm, okay. I guess we’d better go tell everyone and make it official, then.”
Lord Nox smiled as he saw the trio coming towards them. Missus Strife and Mister Blade looked surprised. Thunderlane looked suspicious.
“Mom, dad, I think I’ve found a girl for wedlock,” Rumble announced proudly.
“Excellent!” Lord Nox exclaimed. “I’ll start making arrangements tout de suite.”
Strife smiled at her son. “Oh, that’s great news. I knew you’d find a girl soon, I’m sure you two will be very happy together.”
“Yeah, and now Thunderlane doesn’t have to keep tabs on me all the time, right?” Rumble blurted out.
Thunderlane cleared his throat. “Ahem, well, err, I’ll still keep an eye on you, big guy, just to make sure.”
Rumble grumbled. Stella rubbed his back in comfort. “Don’t worry about it. You can’t break tradition, after all. We are going to be together, darling, so you answer to me now, not to him. And that goes both ways: if you don’t like me talking to any of the boys in Ponyville, you need only say so.”
Rumble winced. “Oh, right, umm, now that you mention it, my classmates don’t know about my family. They think I don’t talk to girls because of a pony tradition.”
Stella nodded knowingly. “Say no more, darling. If any pony asks, we have been pen pals for years and we swore our undying love to each other, except for that one day I broke up with you.”
“You broke up with me?” Rumble frowned.
“Of course. All high class couples break up at some point; ‘tis tradition. If anyone asks, it happened on a charming day.”
“Wait, but why would you break up with me? Especially if the day was so charming?”
“Because I am a lady, Rumble. ‘Twould be rude to break up with you on a rainy day, now, wouldn’t it?”
Strife snickered. “Yes, I think you two will be just fine together.”
Stella hugged him with her wing. “This is going to be great.”
Rumble nodded in agreement. “Yup. Just great.”
Diamond Tiara gestured towards a cloud in the distance. “A little more to the left!”
Featherweight gave the thing a slight nudge to put it in place.
Diamond and Silver nodded in approval. “Perfect!”
Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom came trotting towards the track, with Truck already catching up. They’d only managed to ask Rumble to show up, which he’d agreed to, but he hadn’t made any formal announcements about his participation just yet.
Apple Bloom caught sight of him just as he flew by. She rushed towards him to block his path. “Err, look, Rumble, I know I’m not supposed to talk to you because of your family, but-”
“It’s okay,” Rumble interrupted. He looked up to see Derpy and Thunderlane up on a cloud, chatting away. Thunderlane kept his eyes on the boy, but that didn’t stop Rumble this time. “There’s been sort of a change of plans, so it’s not a problem anymore.”
“Oh. What kinda change?”
“It’s a long story. I’ve got something to tell everypony, but it can wait until after the race. I think they’re waiting for me.”
“Yeah, about that, would you mind terribly if I pretended to be your agent?”
Rumble smiled more brightly than she could remember him ever doing. “Nah, it’s okay. So what’s all this stuff for?”
Diamond grabbed a checkered flag and motioned for all the kids assembled to take their seat. “Okay, everypony, welcome to the first race between Rumble and Truck!”
Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle kept still, but all the other foals from class applauded. Lance and Featherweight even whistled to cheer their friend on.
Rumble looked around. “Doesn’t this track belong to the Ponyville Twisters?”
Diamond shook her head. “Not really. It’s a public track, but the Twisters just end up keeping it, like, reserved for them all the time. They won’t get here until after dinnertime today, though.”
“Uhuh. And how do you know that, again?”
“My daddy sponsors them, and I know what pony to ask about the tracks around here.”
Rumble didn’t press the issue. The Ponyville Twisters’ track was the same one he’d gone practising on for the waterspout, but there hadn’t been any clouds hanging over it then.
Silver Spoon cleared her throat. “This course is, like, a warm-up for the more serious stuff. It’s three laps, and every one hundred metres there’s a cloud with a flag on it. You have to fly under the ones with a blue flag, and over the ones with a white flag. Don’t worry about how close you are to the flags; as long as you’re high enough and still on the track, it’s okay.”
Truck took his position at the starting line. “Three laps, huh? Easy peasy.”
Rumble rolled his eyes. A quick look at the track told him the best course of action: stay ahead of Truck on the straights, try not to fly out the curves, and bolt on the final stretch.
He just hoped Scootaloo wouldn’t mind being beaten so soundly.
Derpy landed on Apple Bloom’s left, Rainbow Dash appeared on the filly’s right.
Apple Bloom gulped when Rumble took his position next to the disguised changeling. “Are ya sure this is safe? Do we have a first-aid kit?”
Derpy held up a white box with a red cross on it. “I do. Never leave home without it.”
Sweetie Belle furrowed her brow. “Really?”
Rainbow Dash nodded. “You’d be surprised how often it comes in handy.”
At the starting line, Diamond raised the flag. “Ready?”
The two boys -- one lifestyle, the other recreational -- bent down to get the right angle for takeoff.
“Set.”
They spread their wings.
“Go!”
The cheer from the crowds that followed the takeoff almost blotted out the boom the pair had caused from their burst of speed. Rumble zoomed under the first cloud, then hopped over the second. The first turn came up, forcing him to hit the brakes.
Truck didn’t catch up to him, but as they went into another straight, bobbing and weaving around clouds, Rumble knew he’d lost precious inches on his flying buddy.
They crossed the finish line almost simultaneously. The crowds cheered.
Rainbow whistled, impressed. “Truck’s gotten a lot faster all of a sudden, huh?”
Apple Bloom was inclined to agree. She idly wondered if that had anything to do with Scootaloo cheating by having Truck just have a faster body, or cheating by feeding off of the excitement from the crowds.
The second lap ended with the two boys neck to neck. Truck gritted his teeth trying to keep up with Rumble’s pace, but Rumble miscalculated and flew out of a curve, giving Truck ample room to take the lead. The dark orange pegasus -- mostly a pegasus, at least -- was already halfway the last straight by the time Rumble recovered.
Rumble growled and sped up again. His strategy was sound, he knew it.
And the crowd wanted a show, so he might as well give them one.
Stopping his wing motion and concentrating his magic in his hind hooves was second nature to him by now. He tensed up his whole body, then, like a cannonball, he released.
Apple Bloom felt something knock her chest when Rumble exploded. Looking to her sides, Sweetie Belle, Derpy, and even Rainbow Dash looked impressed.
Rumble came to a skidding halt, Diamond Tiara waved the flag.
The crowd went wild.
Truck’s arrival wasn’t that much later than Rumble’s, as it turned out. He certainly got enough attention to think he nearly won, and with a casual smile he accepted the praise that was showered on him.
Rumble, however, didn’t know what to make of Dinky Do and Twist jumping around him, not to mention the awkwardness of Lance and Featherweight giving him hoofbumps.
“Wow, Rumble, I didn’t know you were that fast,” Featherweight started. “No wonder you have trouble finding flying buddies.”
Rumble looked away, smiling nervously. “You really think so?”
“Yeah, totally,” Lance attested. “Why’d you never tell us you were an ace flyer?”
“Umm, I, uh, guess I just needed a little confidence booster.” Rumble looked up at the sky again. Thunderlane was watching him intently, still.
“Well, you sure put on a good show,” Silver Spoon added. “And not just for a couple of blank flanks, I mean. So what do you say about doing this again sometime?”
“You need to talk to my agent about that.” Rumble grabbed Apple Bloom by the arms and dragged her in between him and Silver.
“Well?” Silver persisted.
“I’m gonna have to ask my client about that.” She turned to face the boy. “Think you’re up to it?”
Rumble looked to Truck, then to all his classmates. His agent had only bought him a few seconds of thinking time. He sighed. “I’ll do it. Name the time and place, and me and Truck’ll race. We need the practice, anyway.”
Rainbow Dash had to suppress a grin at that.
“On one condition,” Rumble added.
“Name it,” Diamond Tiara said.
The boy took a deep breath and jutted out his chest ever so slightly to look bigger and more imposing. He didn’t want to falter saying this. “You don’t call anyone who shows up a blank flank or anything like that, and anyone who wants to join, gets to join. You have to let anyone who wants into the race.”
Silver Spoon frowned. “Hey, those are two conditions!”
“It’s a two-parter,” Rumble retorted stoically.
After letting the single two-part condition stew in her mind a bit, Diamond nodded. “Sure, okay, but there aren’t any pegasus ponies in town who can race, like you. Unless you mean Scootaloo, of course, she can join too.”
Truck shook his head. “Scootaloo can’t race, not like we do. She’s got, like, a thing on her wings. She can fly, but she’s not allowed to do much of it anymore.”
Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom exchanged glances. Truck’s excuse sounded genuine, to the point that it might even be true. Truck could certainly race now, but considering changeling abilities that may have been due to the crowds. Maybe Scootaloo was flying on borrowed strength. Either that, or she was a really good actress now.
Silver Spoon and Diamond Tiara exchanged glances of their own. Diamond shrugged. “Fine, if she gets better, you can let her know she can race if she wants to. And if she thinks she can keep up. Everypony’s invited. Well, everypony who can fly.”
All eyes fell on Featherweight, Alula, and the other pegasus ponies in class. They all quietly took a step back.
Rumble, however, wasn’t finished. “I don’t just mean every pony. Everyone who can fly.”
Diamond cocked an eyebrow. “You know someone else to race against? You mean like a griphon?”
Rumble looked away and gulped. “Uh, yeah, sort of like a griphon. My girlfriend.”
A tense silence fell over the crowd. Silver Spoon was the first break it. “So you really do have a girlfriend? Since when?”
Rainbow Dash’ heart skipped a beat. She stole a glance towards the cloud Thunderlane was on. “Rumble, careful what you say now.”
Rumble rolled his eyes. “It’s okay, Rainbow Dash. The truth is, I haven’t really gone out racing or talked that much before now because, umm, I’ve been pen pals with a girl named Stella, and we really like each other. Only, her family’s really traditional, so I kind of had to follow a couple of rules, or my letters wouldn’t get to her.”
“So this Stella girl is a griphon, she’s your girlfriend, and she’s coming over here to race?” Diamond asked.
“Not quite.” Rumble winced embarrassedly before smiling eagerly. “She’s going to live here, and since she likes to race I thought it’d be a good way for her to make friends.”
Lance furrowed his brow. “Wait, this isn’t Chitter you’re talking about it, is it?”
Rumble chuckled nervously. “Err, no. Chitter’s friends with her, and she’s just friends with me. And you should know, Chitter and Stella are both rousettes. They have hooves just like ours, manes like ours, they look like pegasus ponies, except they have bat wings. But you can’t call them bat ponies, ever. They hate being associated with that animal, really hate it.”
Apple Bloom frowned. “They don’t want to be associated with bats?”
Rumble shook his head dismissively. “No, no, ponies. They, umm, ‘self-identify’ as pure bats, so make sure you call them bats first. Never, ever, call them ponies. But other than that, you’ll like Stella, I’m sure. Especially you and Sweetie Belle. She and Chitter are, umm, active kind of girls. And you’ll like Stella too.” He turned to Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon. “She’s the ward of Lord Nox, a very important rousette in high society. So, is it okay if Stella and Chitter race, too?”
Diamond smiled. “Of course it’s fine. I think everypony would like to see some bat po-err, ahem, rousettes racing. As long as Truck’s okay with it, too.”
The changeling in disguise looked on for a second. If anypony had known, they might have guessed she had pangs of jealousy from hearing all this. As it was, Truck looked like he thought Rumble had gone crazy, which most of Rumble’s classmates would agree with. “Dude, like, the more, the merrier, right?”
“I promise you’ll like her,” Rumble said again. “And as long as she’s here, I don’t have to worry about upsetting her family by talking to anypony else.”
“Okay, Rumble, that’s enough.”
“Gah!” Truck jumped up when the stallion landed behind him. “Dude, you need, like, a bell around your neck or somethin’. And what’s up this time?”
Rumble glared up at his brother. “Yeah, big bro, what’s up this time? I’m allowed to talk to Apple Bloom and Diamond Tiara now, aren’t I?”
Thunderlane stared his brother down. “We’ll see what Stella and Lord Nox have to say about that.”
“And I’d better get you home too, Truck. Your parents should be back by now,” Rainbow Dash gestured to the boy.
Thunderlane squinted. “You need somepony else to fly you home? I thought you said you lived in Ponyville?”
“I’m, like, movin’ around and stuff now. My mom and dad are lookin’ for a new dig, you dig?”
The stallion thought that over for a second, confused. “Then why did you tell me you live in Ponyville?”
“Because you’re scary, Mister, and you’re a stranger.” Truck casually strolled past him and took off alongside Rainbow Dash.
Thunderlane shook off the remark and did the same, little brother in tow.
Looking down, Rumble found it didn’t take long for the crowd to disperse. “Why did you have to pull me away again? I was just asking if Chitter and Stella could race.”
“You’re not supposed to talk to girls, Rumble, you know that. You have to follow tradition.”
“I am following tradition, you’re the one who’s breaking the rules. I’m gonna be wedlocked to Stella now, remember? As soon as she said yes, you stopped getting any say about what I do. She’s the one who decides if I can talk to my friends, not you.”
“Apple Bloom and Diamond Tiara are not your friends, Rumble; you hardly know them.”
“And whose fault is that? Besides, I’ve started talking to them for about as long as I’ve known Stella. I know them just as well as I know her.”
Thunderlane groaned as they landed in front of their parents’ house. “Whatever. You just get inside and start practising your vows, I’ve already set up a mirror in your room. That girl’s gonna have her hooves full with you.”
Rumble scowled. “Maybe Stella likes her hooves full.”
Apple Bloom scanned the sky. “Rainbow Dash is gone, and looks like Scootaloo’s gone, too.”
Sweetie Belle shrugged. “Octavia said she was with her parents.”
“Uhuh.”
“But you don’t believe that, huh?”
Apple Bloom shook her head and looked the unicorn in the eyes. “You thinkin’ what I’m thinkin’?”
Sweetie Belle nodded. “I think so. But if her wings are getting worse again, why wouldn’t she tell us?”
Not what Apple Bloom had in mind, but part of her concerns. “Probably her darn stubborn pride again. But if she’s really sick, she’d tell us, right? She wouldn’t go behind our backs if it was that important.”
“Maybe.”
Apple Bloom sighed. “And what do you make of this Stella business?”
Sweetie Belle shrugged. “What about it? Rumble’s got a girlfriend, and he follows her tradition. What’s there to make of it?”
Apple Bloom looked around as they reached Carousel Boutique. There was nopony in sight, but still she waited until they were inside. Even then, she lowered her voice to a whisper. “I mean, isn’t it strange that Rumble’s talkin’ about this batty girlfriend nopony’s ever heard of this soon after youknowho finds out they’re a youknowwhat and starts hanging out with him? He knows about her, but nopony knew about Stella, not even Scootaloo?”
Sweetie Belle shrugged and whispered. “You think Stella and Scootaloo are…”
“I don’t know. It’s a mite suspicious, ain’t it?”
“Apple Bloom, no offence, but you’re being paranoid. And wrong.”
“How?”
Sweetie Belle rolled her eyes. “Well, for one thing, if what you say is true, then Stella is Scootaloo, who is also Truck, right?”
“Right.”
“So how is Stella ever going to race against Truck?”
Apple Bloom pondered it for a moment. “I guess you’ve got a point there. But then they have to race. If Truck or Stella gets some silly excuse to not show up, we have to confront Scootaloo about it.”
Sweetie Belle rolled her eyes. “Oh, don’t be silly. I’m sure the next race will go through without a hitch.”
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do i need to have read this other story before hand? at first i felt confused how this story got so popular so fast yet there's no link to said story in the description
NVM, just saw the sequal tag, look forward to giving this a try
Huh. Stella's isn't quite how I imagined her, but I still like her.
Heh. I'm not sure why that made me smile, but it did.
Hmm. I'm not sure what to make of the alleged worsening wing thing. I thought it was just an excuse so no one would expect Truck and Scootaloo to race together, but that doesn't line up with how seriously Sweetie Belle is taking it.
And Thunderlane has pretty much crossed over from traditional to suffocating. Especially the "you barely know them" excuse. Seriously?
In any case, next chapter should be quite interesting, especially now that Sweetie has tempted fate.
I'm actually with AB on this one, though I think you're gonna have to show us Tavi's business with Scoots rather than actually show us two ponies in the same vicinity.
So hard to tell which parts are the red herrings and which ones aren't...and surprisingly enough, I'm loving it.
Stella is so ideal that I am tempted to say that it all can be a dream. A plus for the double protgonists (Rumble, Scoots) who aren't romancing each other. Kindda reminds of Tales from the Borderlands...
And we got this story's misdirection plot going on. Stella gets accused of beeing a changeling. I also hope she will appear in black glasses for the race.
I certainly hope bat traditions don't make this betrothal into a mandatory future wedding. Other than that, they seem well matched and I hope they at least make lasting friends.
And suck a lemon, Thunderlane!