Sweet Affection

by Masterob

Starting a Relationship

Later the foals had arrived at Twilight's Castle, the Princess of Friendship welcoming them with open hooves. The Foal Sitters sat with Twilight and talked a bit while the foals were playing with some stuff Twilight laid out for them. Spike was put in charge of watching them, much to his annoyance, considering how much of a pain The Crusaders were at least. While Spike didn't know Tender Taps too well, he would only hope that he's more well behaved, same with Rumble, though the latter he knows can be well mannered, having seen him before while helping Twilight with the flight practice.

Apple Bloom was trying out a chemistry set, trying to make some potions, Sweetie Belle had been using one of Twilight's magic books to practice her own spells, Scootaloo was looking for ways to improve her scooter's speed.

"Try not to break anything this time," Spike warned.

"One time, we broke something one time!" Apple Bloom complained.

Spike scoffed, "One time? You have some lousy memory." He saw Tender Taps practicing his tap dancing nearby. "Try not to knock anything over."

"Don't worry, I'm usually careful," Tender assured, still in rhythm with his dances.

Rumble had been reading a comic that Spike gave him when Dinky approached him with a book. "This book has tips on how to woo a filly."

Rumble blushed at her bluntness, "Dinky, I don't think a book's gonna have the answers I need, even Princess Twilight says some things can't be learned from books alone."

"Exactly, books alone don't work, but they can at least give you some ideas. Sweetie Belle's right there, you have a chance to talk to her without her friends around to make you feel even more embarrassed than you already are, just try it," Dinky said while giving Rumble the book.

Rumble looked unsure about this, he wishes he was as confident as the hero in the comic he had been reading. Eventually he decided to just get it over with and grabbed the book to start reading it.

Tender Taps was continuing his tap dancing when he saw Rumble with the book. He quickly went over to Apple Bloom and whispered to her, "Rumble's looking at a romance book, I think he really wants to win over Scootaloo but doesn't know how."

"We're working on that, we just need to get them in a room together, problem is that Rumble's too shy and Scootaloo's too stubborn," Apple Bloom said.

"I think we need to have Scootaloo get over her stubbornness, she's more likely to make the first move, but hopefully we can probably get Rumble to be less shy," Tender Taps said.

"He just doesn't have enough confidence, we need to find a way to boost his confidence, like ah helped boost yours," Apple Bloom said.

"How though? You boosted mine by showing me that I can't dance any worse than you," Tender Taps said, then realized his choice of words. "Or not worse but...what's the word?"

"Don't worry about it, ah know what you mean," Apple Bloom said. "Maybe we can though, try to be flirty yourself, maybe Rumble just needs to see another colt his age do it."

Tender Taps blushed, "Um, I can't be flirty, I'm no good with that. I don't even know if I'm good looking enough."

"Ah think you are, just try it, flirt with me," Apple Bloom said.

Tender Taps still felt unsure, "That's gonna seem weird, plus what if Sweetie Belle gets the wrong idea, she seems to like teasing the idea of us being a couple."

"Hey fer what it's worth, she thinks yer handsome too, if anything try flirting with her afterwards," Apple Bloom said.

Tender Taps gulped and nodded, "Alright, how should we do it?"

A moment later as Rumble's reading, Apple Bloom passed by with Tender Taps, the young colt putting the plan into action.

"Say Apple Bloom, did I ever tell you how cute your eyes are?" Tender Taps said, a little unconvincing though.

Apple Bloom furrowed her brow and whispered, "Come on, can't you do better than that?"

"I've never done this before," Tender Taps whispered back.

"Just try again, this time mean it," Apple Bloom said.

"Alright," Tender spoke aloud again, "You have such pretty hair Apple Bloom, it smells so nice, kinda like apples."

"Little better ah guess," Apple Bloom whispered and spoke aloud, "Why thank you Tender Taps, and ah think you have a nice mane yerself."

Both looked over to Rumble, who seemed confused. "So...are you two dating?"

"I knew it!" Sweetie Belle shouted.

Apple Bloom glared a bit, then glanced over to Tender Taps, pointing at Sweetie Belle with her eyes.

Tender nodded and looked to Sweetie Belle, "Don't be jealous, I think you're really pretty too, especially your mane."

Sweetie Belle looked surprised, Scootaloo and Dinky stifled a giggle but Rumble didn't seem too happy. Spike noticed this from nearby and had a sly smile. "This should be good."

Starlight Glimmer had passed by and saw the foals. She walked over to Spike, "What's going on?"

"Just watch," Spike said, pointing to the foals.

"I think you're really pretty Sweetie Belle, you and Apple Bloom both," Tender said, almost unconvinced in his tone himself. While he did find the girls to be pretty, he felt weird telling them that.

Rumble looked even more annoyed, Dinky caught on and whispered, "Better make your move before Sweetie Belle falls for this kid."

"What do I say though?" Rumble asked.

"Just bring up the fact that you also think she's pretty, this way it would seem like you're just agreeing with him, but you might gain her interest," Dinky said.

Rumble still felt nervous, but he stood up as if he wanted to say something. The others noticed and eagerly awaited what he had to say, hoping he would admit his feelings for Scootaloo, though he worried that they were waiting for him to goof up.

Spike and Starlight just watched on curiously, waiting to see what Rumble was gonna say.

"Um...I...I think that..." Rumble just couldn't say the words he wanted to. He started to feel nervous the moment all the foals had their eyes on him, wondering what his comment would be.

"Come on, come on," Apple Bloom whispered.

Rumble felt a lot of sweat emerge from his head, compared to his flight exercises, this felt much more intense. He looked towards Sweetie Belle, who looked confused, Apple Bloom who looked eager as to what he would say, Scootaloo who turned away a bit shyly, Tender Taps who gave an unsure shrug and Dinky who kept gesturing her eyes towards Sweetie Belle.

Before Rumble could say anything, Twilight came by as well, "Kids, I have some snacks ready for you, come try them."

Dinky, Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle and Tender Taps all groaned, that plan didn't work. Spike and Starlight groaned, wanting to see where this went. Scootaloo also felt disappointed, she hoped Rumble was gonna admit his feelings. Rumble however felt relief, he won't have to embarrass himself.

"Thank you Princess Twilight," Rumble said.

Twilight giggled, "Don't be so formal Rumble, now let's go."

Rumble followed Twilight to the snacks while the others foals tagged along. Spike and Starlight also joined, mainly to see if this continues.

"We really appreciate you letting us play here Twilight," Rumble said.

"It's no trouble, I love being able to help foals have fun, as well as educate them," Twilight said.

Apple Bloom trotted up beside Rumble, "Twilight's a great teacher, she helped me figure out some fun stuff, like potions."

Sweetie Belle trotted up, "She helped me with my magic, it's thanks to her I'm as good as I am now, with a little help from Rarity at least."

"Speaking of which, maybe I can help teach Dinky some magic, she looks like she has some potential herself," Twilight said, looking back to the Unicorn in question.

"Who me?" Dinky asked. She didn't expect Princess Twilight to take an interest in her.

Twilight nodded in assurance, "Of course you, Derpy has told me you are pretty good for your age and from the little bits I've seen I'd say that you can potentially be a big time magic user."

Dinky blushed at the compliment, "Wow, thanks Princess."

"I told you, call me Twilight, you don't need to be so formal," Twilight said.

"You're really humble, my foal sitters tell me it's a good trait to have," Rumble said.

Twilight nodded, "It is, I wasn't always a Princess, I started out just a pony like you, if I can ascend like this, I know all of you can. Maybe one day one of you will be an Alicorn."

Rumble tried to imagine himself as an Alicorn, to be able to fly and do magic, that sounds really fun. "That's a nice idea, though I hope you'll
be there to train me to do magic."

Twilight ruffled his mane, "Of course, I'd be glad to little guy."

Rumble felt his cheeks heat up, he looked away to hide his blush but he couldn't help feeling flustered. Twilight has always been such a pretty pony, and he's always had respect for her, despite her once mistaking him for a filly. He wasn't too mad, she made a mistake most ponies made and she did apologize, even saying it's mainly because she hasn't seen such a cute looking colt. To be this close and to have her compliment him was still a huge honor for him.

They had eventually arrived at a den area, the foal sitters were sitting around the snacks, joined shortly by the rest of the ponies. The foals sat near each other, Rumble staying close to Dinky while Tender Taps stayed close to the Crusaders. Twilight sat with the foal sitters while Spike and Starlight sat close together.

It didn't take long for the kids to grab the snacks, the Crusaders being quick about it while the other ponies took their time.

"So girls, you three are planning on getting Rumble and Dinky their cutie marks?" Twilight asked the Crusaders.

Apple Bloom nodded, "Sure thing, just like we helped Tender Taps get his."

"That was mostly you though, you did embarrass yourself on stage," Scootaloo said.

Apple Bloom gave a smug glare to Scootaloo, "I've seen you embarrass yerself plenty of times, so don't even try that with me."

Scootaloo stuck her tongue out, which Apple Bloom returned.

"Girls, that kind of behavior isn't tolerated around here, be nice to each other," Twilight said sternly.

Sweetie Belle whispered to Scootaloo, "Seriously, you want Rumble to think you're bratty? Remember what he said about Rainbow Dash."

Scootaloo quickly glanced over to Rumble, who just looked at her really confused. Realizing Sweetie Belle has a point, she quickly started to turn things in her favor. "I'm sorry Apple Bloom, that was immature of me to do." She looked over to Rumble with a nervous smile.

Rumble looked even more confused, then looked to Apple Bloom, curious to see her response. Apple Bloom looked between the two and seemed to understand the situation. Being the good friend that she is, despite Scootaloo's annoying remark, decided to help her out. "Thanks Scootaloo, that was real nice of yah, and mature too, and I'm sorry too."

The fillies looked toward Rumble, who still wasn't sure what to make of this, but shrugged it off. "That was nice of you girls to apologize to each other."

"Yeah, Scootaloo usually doesn't act this childish, but when she does, she realizes quickly, because that's the type of filly she is," Sweetie Belle said.

This little conversation seemed unusual to the other ponies, though Spike and Starlight found it a little funny.

Twilight decided to continue with the subject at hoof, "So anyway it's really nice of you girls to wanna help out Rumble and Dinky, but I hope this doesn't mean you'll get carried away."

"Huh? We won't get carried away, we're professionals by now after all," Apple Bloom boasted.

Cloudchaser shook her head a little, then turned to Twilight. "Rumble and Dinky are smart kids, they won't do anything that looks unsafe." She looked to the Crusaders, "Though I think these kids deserve more credit than they are given."

The Crusaders beamed out big smiles and simultaneously said, "Thank you Miss Cloudchaser."

"Don't call me 'Miss', like I told Rumble I'm not that old to be called 'Miss'," Cloudchaser said.

"Funny that you get that more than I do, and we're twins," Flitter teased.

Cloudchaser rolled her eyes, "Oh be quiet Flitter."

Derpy herself found this amusing, "I don't mind the 'Miss' stuff, it just means the kids are respectful, granted I don't like being called 'Miss' either, sometimes I still feel like I'm their age." Derpy pointed to the foals to make her point.

"Yeah, it seems so long ago, I just wish I hadn't spent so much time reading books, it actually caused me to distance myself from my friends when I was a foal," Twilight admitted.

"Yeah you were a lousy friend," Spike bluntly said. He noticed several glares in his direction, "What it's true?"

"I can somewhat relate," Starlight said. "I had trouble with my friend when I was younger, it changed me a little. That's why I'm so happy to have met Twilight, she's been teaching me some great friendship lessons."

"How are you taught friendship exactly?" Cloudchaser asked.

"I can go over it if you'd like, maybe I can bring you all back here sometime and do a big friendship lesson, I'm sure you can find some ways to benefit from it," Twilight said.

The ponies around seemed a little interested, though Rumble was the first to speak up, "I would love to have you teach me about friendship Twilight."

"Yeah, and anything else you have in mind," Dinky said.

Twilight showed her appreciation with a squee, "Oh this is so great, thank you all for this chance."

"We should be thanking you, you're doing us a favor," Rumble said.

"Yes, but I love to teach, any chance I have to pass my knowledge on is a chance I wanna take," Twilight said.

Once the snacks were done, the foals went back to doing what they were doing before, only this time Apple Bloom was thinking over some new strategies to get Rumble close to Scootaloo. She trotted over to Sweetie Belle and whispered, "When we get back, make up an excuse to leave the room."

"What for?" Sweetie Belle asked.

"Just do it, I'm gonna make sure Rumble and Scootaloo are alone together," Apple Bloom said.

Sweetie Belle nodded as Apple Bloom went to Tender Taps, telling him also to leave the room, then the same with Dinky, both with lesser detail.

When they got back, Apple Bloom started her plan, "Um, ah forgot something back with Twilight, I'll go get it."

She had left the room, leaving the others to come up with their own excuses.

"I'll go follow her, it's a big castle and she might get lost," Tender said and went with Apple Bloom.

Dinky grinned, realizing how close Rumble was to being with Sweetie Belle, or so she thinks. "I need to go ask Derpy something, see you in a moment."

She also left, leaving Rumble along with Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle. Rumble started to feel nervous, almost like they intentionally wanna leave him with Sweetie Belle alone. It would be so much easier for him if they just let him do this when he feels ready too, oh well.
That's when Sweetie Belle made her excuse, "I need to use the bathroom, see you in a moment."

With that, it was only Scootaloo and Rumble. For Rumble this seems weird, he thought he would be alone with Sweetie Belle, unless all the foals really did need to do what they said they were gonna do. Scootaloo however felt different, she knew what this was, she felt a great deal of annoyance at her friends.

Rumble shrugged and figured this is a good chance to get to know Scootaloo at least. He wouldn't mind making friends with another Pegasus Pony, even if she can't fly maybe he could give her some tips if she asks for them, maybe even ask about Sweetie Belle.

"So Scootaloo, how long have you known Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle?" Rumble asked.

Scootaloo blushed and did her best to keep her composure. He was just asking a few small questions, "Uh, couple of years, I've known Sweetie Belle longer than Apple Bloom though."

"That's nice, also is it true you train with Rainbow Dash?" Rumble asked.

Scootaloo nodded, "Yeah, she tries to help me fly, I'm just not getting it."

"My advice, don't try too hard, it's no big deal if you don't fly as well as you'd like, it's normal for your age," Rumble said.

Scootaloo started to feel a little less nervous, Rumble seems really nice, "Thanks, though I really wanna fly already."

"Try massaging your wings, I can help you with that if you'd like. Flitter and Cloudchaser massage my wings, that helped me when I first learned how to fly," Rumble said.

"Um, ok, I'll try that soon," Scootaloo said, suddenly feeling nervous at Rumble's suggestion to massage her wings.

Rumble wanted to talk about Sweetie Belle, but he was nervous she would figure out he liked her. But he did wanna figure out a way to be close to her. "So, does Apple Bloom really like Tender Taps? Or does he like Sweetie Belle?"
Scootaloo shrugged, "I don't know, Sweetie Belle has never been interested in him, I think Apple Bloom is but then again I really don't know with her."

"I see, so does he like any of you though?" Rumble asked.

Scootaloo felt some sweat drop, why was Rumble asking about all this stuff? Is he trying to ease his way into asking her out? "Um...I don't know honestly, he's too nervous to talk about that stuff."

"Oh, ok," Rumble needed to end this conversation before something slipped out. However it led to momentary awkward silence.

Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle and Tender Taps were watching from nearby.

"Man they are not doing good are they?" Apple Bloom said.

"That's an understatement, why don't they just make a move? Rumble should be trying to sweep Scootaloo off her hooves," Sweetie Belle said.

"Scootaloo doesn't seem like the type to want to be swept off her hooves, but Rumble should be trying something," Tender Taps said.
"Maybe next time you should give him some colt advice," Sweetie Belle said.

"Like what? I'm no good with romance, couldn't you tell from my poor attempts at flirting?" Tender Taps asked.

"Those had better be poor attempts, if you were serious about the way you called me pretty I would have thrown you through the wall," Sweetie Belle said.

Tender Taps backed away from her, not wanting to feel her wrath. For such a cute looking filly she has quite some sass to her.

Dinky came by a moment later, having finally found the others. While attempting to leave Rumble with what she thought was gonna be Sweetie Belle, she went far away enough to convince the fact that she left. She had nearly gotten lost just from taking one turn.

"This place is too big," Dinky complained. She kept walking until she found the others, but to her surprise, Sweetie Belle was among them. "Huh? Why is Sweetie Belle there, she's suppose to be in there with Rumble." She looked inside and saw Scootaloo, more importantly a big blush on her face. "Wait, did they think that he liked Scootaloo?"

Apple Bloom noticed her, "Hey Dinky, get here quick."

Dinky trotted over, looking really confused, "What's going on? Why is-"

"Talk later, right now it looks like Rumble's gonna try speaking again," Apple Bloom said.

They looked inside and saw Rumble attempt to speak to Scootaloo again. "Where are your friends, is it gonna take long for them to come back?"

"Too long apparently," Scootaloo muttered.

"Huh? Did you say something?" Rumble asked, getting a bit closer.

Scootaloo started to sweat a bit, feeling a lot of trepidation. Rumble was now inches from her, she looked into his eyes, his big, purple, cute eyes, the type that Scootaloo can't stop daydreaming over. It really annoys her how Rumble is able to make her feel this way, she hates feeling all soft, and lovey and what-not. She's Scootaloo, the toughest filly in Ponyville, she can't handle the idea of having a crush on some colt, or at the very least not being able to handle having a crush.

"Scootaloo? What's wrong?" Rumble asked, getting closer.

Scootaloo couldn't take it anymore, "I uh...I gotta go!" Scootaloo quickly ran off, not wanting to risk anymore embarrassment.

Rumble just stood there in surprise, "What was that all about?" He heard some whispering from nearby, so we went to go check it out.

"I can't believe Scootaloo, why won't she just admit her feelings?" Sweetie Belle asked, very annoyed at seeing Scootaloo run off.

"She's so stubborn, Rumble's a sweet boy, if she told him I'm sure he would have liked to take her out," Apple Bloom said.

Dinky looked curious, "Wait, they're trying to get Rumble and Scootaloo together?"

Tender Taps approached her with a nod, "Yeah, that's always been the plan, doesn't Rumble like Scootaloo?"

Dinky shook her head, "She's not the one he had a crush on."

Tender Taps looked surprised, "Wait, if it wasn't Scootaloo who was it?"

Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle continued talking, unaware of what Dinky had just said.

"Maybe she just needs more encouragement, or some tips," Apple Bloom said.

"Here's a tip for her, she should just go to Rumble and speak to him honestly. It's as simple as saying, 'Hey Rumble, I think you're kinda cute and I would like to ask you out'."

"Wow really!? That sounds great!" Sweetie Belle heard. She looked to see Rumble standing right near her.

"Rumble? How long have you been standing there?" Sweetie Belle asked.

"When I got here I just heard you call me cute and ask me out. Well it looks more like you were practicing since you weren't facing me. Is that why you left before, to practice?" Rumble asked.

Sweetie Belle looked even more surprised, "Um, well..."

"It's ok if you're shy, truth be told I was shy about asking you out, you're such a pretty filly after all, I've had a crush on you for a long time. But now that I know you like me I can ask you out, or technically you tried asking me out, do you wanna try to ask me out?" Rumble asked.

Sweetie Belle was at a loss for words, Rumble liked her? She thought he liked Scootaloo, not her! Thinking back it did make sense, he seemed really shy whenever she got near him. She thought it was with Scootaloo but just now when he spoke to her he was a little more confident. Also He didn't speak up about cute fillies when Tender Taps first did until he mentioned Sweetie Belle. All this time he liked her though?
Sweetie Belle just stood there in surprise as Rumble just looked on curiously, "Um Sweetie Belle, weren't you gonna say something?"

Sweetie Belle snapped out of it, "Oh, well I um...you see..."

Rumble chuckled lightly, "You're so cute when you act like this. It's fine, I guess I took you by surprise, you don't have to say it again if you don't want to, I'll go out with you. We can go to Sugarcube Corner, mainly because I don't know anywhere else we can go, plus I doubt we have the bits to go anywhere else. If you'd like I can pay the first date, I've been saving for it, because I always wanted to take you on a date, I just never had the courage to tell you."

Sweetie Belle nodded, still in surprise, "Ok, sure."

Rumble squeed, "That's great, um can I take you tomorrow? We still have the rest of this day to be at Twilight's castle, and it's gonna be too late later, so tomorrow I'll take you in the afternoon, sound good?"

Sweetie Belle again just nodded, "Alright then..."

Rumble felt so happy at this point, he finally got the filly that he liked. "Awesome! I promise it will be a great date! Anyway I'll go see if there's a book on that, I wanna make this the best date possible!" Rumble flew off, still cheering on his success.

Apple Bloom looked surprised, "Wow, didn't see that coming."

Tender Taps also looked surprised, "At least he's feeling confident."

Dinky chuckled, "Oh Rumble, you're so dorky. But at least you got your filly."

Apple Bloom turned to Dinky, "Wait, you knew it was Sweetie Belle?"

"Uh yeah, remember that I told you he liked one of you?" Dinky said.

"You didn't tell us it was Sweetie Belle! We thought it was Scootaloo!" Apple Bloom said.

Dinky rasied her eyebrow, "Um, I never told you it was Scootaloo, I just said it was one of you, wait why did you think I meant Scootaloo?"

"We thought that from how he acted around her! He seemed so shy whenever he was near her, when he tried asking Sweetie Belle something, he left when he saw Scootaloo, and he was blushing, we thought he was asking about some tips on her!" Apple Bloom said.
Dinky shook her head, "Rumble acted shy because he was near Sweetie Belle, and the reason he left when he saw Scootaloo was because he was afraid of asking Sweetie Belle out while any of you were nearby. He only did so now because he overheard her saying that stuff about asking him out. But did Scootaloo like Rumble?"

Apple Bloom nodded, "Yeah, she has a crush on him, but now he's going on a date with Sweetie Belle, now she's gonna feel all bad."

Dinky felt some pity for Scootaloo, she didn't want to see the poor Pegasus sad, but she also couldn't help but feel happy for Rumble. What should she do though? Should she support her friend on getting the filly he wanted, or should she try to help make things right? No, this is how it's supposed to be. She knows Rumble really likes Sweetie Belle, she doesn't think it's worth taking a chance on putting him with Scootaloo.

Even Tender Taps looked confused as to what to do. Rumble got the filly he wanted, but the filly that wanted him won't get him, he's instead with a filly who never knew of his affection.

Sweetie Belle herself was still surprised, she didn't expect this, that a colt liked her. Granted this isn't the first time a colt had a crush on her, she remembers Button Mash, though neither could admit their feelings. Now she's on a date with a colt her best friend has a crush on. What should she do? He seemed so happy, how can she tell him that she doesn't return his feelings either.

"I have some figuring out to do," Sweetie Belle said.

Author's Note:

Obviously that wasn't supposed to happen, but it did.

Comments

[OmniFox]

Time for an intervention.

[way_2_spooky_4_u]

Ah, so this is what it looks like when plane crashes into a train.