Previous Chapters
Close
Intro: New Student493 words
Act 1: Rumble's Rebellion1,240 words
Act 2: Skipping School1,084 words
Act 3: Who needs Friendship?1,090 words
Act 4: Rocky Re-Start1,607 words

Act 4: Rocky Re-Start

ACT FOUR

Over the next couple of days, the students worked with Rarity and Pinkie Pie to create fake rocks and boulders out of paper mache.

Applejack and Rainbow Dash picked the perfect sight to hold the setup; down near an old quarry where it was sure to look like there was a rockslide.

Fluttershy and Twilight convinced the workers to allow them to use the quarry as a setup for a much needed friendship lesson Twilight was tutoring.

“Just be careful.” said the quarry chief “The rock can be pretty loose in these parts, a real rockslide could happen anytime.”

Spike felt very worried to hear that. “I state again, this isn’t looking like a good idea!” but the ladies wouldn’t listen! “Why do I feel this is going to take a nasty turn?” Spike grumbled.

Friday morning, everything was all setup, and once again, Rumble refused to attend school, instead he was at the training grounds practicing, as well as enjoying his privacy.

He had been flying around the courses all morning, and eventually, he didn’t want to admit it, but he was feeling a bit bored that no one was watching him… maybe even, a bit lonely?

“No!” he snapped to himself “I can’t cave in! I won’t cave in!”

He looked around and realized he was really shouting at no one, making feel lonelier than ever, but still he remained unsure of what to really do about it.

He left the training course, too tired to fly from all that training he had done, and preferred to walk on such a lovely day anyhow.

On his way home, he had to pass near the quarry, and he saw his classmates from school calling for help!

“Help!” cried Ocelleus “Some Pony, help us!”

Though Rumble didn’t like being nice most of the time to others, he wasn’t about to ignore calls for help. After all, the Wonderbolts often helped ponies and creatures in need.

So he ran into the quarry. “What’s going on?”

Gallus put on the best act that he could, “We were… here learning about rocks… for… a friendship lesson, but there was this TERRIBLE rockslide, and our friends are trapped.

“Trapped?” cried Rumble, and he remembered long ago how he met Checker Flag and Fluffy Cloud the same way. He didn’t know them, but he couldn’t stand to see ponies, or any creature, trapped.

“Where’s Professor Twilight?” asked Rumble.

“Never mind that!” cried Yona, and she pushed him along “You come help friends.”

Little did Rumble realize that Twilight and the rest of the teachers were watching from high above the quarry walls, hiding in shrubs.

“I think it’s working.” said Fluttershy.

“Come on,” said Pinkie Pie “Let’s head to the other side.”

The teachers all made it to the other end of the quarry where they had set up their mountain of fake boulders at the base of a rock wall.

Twilight had enchanted the rocks with a magical spell to make them seem hard and solid, but still unreal and not really dangerous…

…and a good thing too! Silverstream, Sandbar and Smolder were all safely tucked in magical air pockets, and were told to make it look like they were stuck.

“This is ridiculous, and insult to dragons.” complained Smolder.

“Look, they’re coming.” cried Sandbar

Silver giggled “Okay, here we go.”

The trio then cried out for help when their friends arrived on the scene.

“Help us!” cried Silver.

“Get us out of here!” added Sandbar.

Rumble fell for the trick, “Quick, help me!” he said to the others, and together they moved the supposedly heavy rocks out of the way, digging the trio out.

“Look, they’re actually working together.” said Rarity.

Twilight grinned widely “I think it’s going to work.

The friends were soon free from the mess.

“We save friends!” cried Yona “YAAAAAAY… WE SAVE FRIENDS!” and she began to stomp for joy, which made the ground shake and caused the rock wall behind them all to start crumpling!

“Uh, oh…!” cried Ocellus. “REAL ROCK SLIDE!!”

The teachers all gasped as they watched from at the top.

“I knew something like this would happen!” shouted Spike.

“We’ve got to get them out of there!” cried Twilight.

Fluttershy, Twilight, and Rainbow were the only ones that could fly down quickly to help.

Rainbow zoomed in and scooped up Ocellus and Sandbar.

Fluttershy grabbed Smolder and Silverstream.

The best Twilight could do was cast a small catcher blanket of aura to hold the falling boulders at bay, but she couldn’t get them all in time, and some of the rocks actually fell all around Rumble. “Whoa!” he cried as he was trapped by a huge rock wall of real boulders, and he couldn’t fly out with more rocks falling through.

“RUMBLE!!” cried Gallus.

“Oh, no!” cried Twilight, and she created more catching sheets to stop the avalanche.

“Yona save Rumble!” shouted Yona, and she charged like the Yak she was and smashed right through the wall. Gallus then flew straight through, “Come on!” he called to Rumble, extending his reach to him, which Rumble wasted no hesitation in taking!

He was out, just as the rocks all fell in, and Twilight’s catchers ceased making a real rock pile.

Rumble was panting heavily in fright. He couldn’t believe what just happened. Twilight flew near him. “Are you alright?” she asked.

Rumble suddenly noticed some of the rocks that the students were trapped in before; some had been crushed in the rockslide exposing they were fakes. “You all set me up!” he scolded “You did all this just to make me try to trust in friendship!”

Twilight felt awkward and upset with herself for her plan going awry, and all the other teachers and students approached him.

“We didn’t plan for this, Rumble.” she told him “That real rockslide was an accident.”

“Which I warned you could happen…!” Spike muttered to himself.

“Huh! So you admit you set this all up!” growled Rumble and he turned his back to everyone, and they all felt upset that he nearly got hurt for real.

However, Rumble then turned to look at them all again, “Why did you save me?” he asked “I haven’t been nice to all of you.”

“Well, weren’t you willing to help us out?” asked Smolder “You didn’t want to be our friend, but you didn’t want us to get hurt, did you?”

Rumble couldn’t deny it, “No… I didn’t.”

“Well we didn’t want you to get hurt either.” said Ocellus.

Rumble had to admit that was very nice of them, especially considering how horrid he had been.

“I’m sorry, Rumble.” said Twilight “All we were really trying to do is help you recapture your love for friendship again.”

Starlight nodded, “Think about it, Rumble. You saved the others, and they helped save you. Don’t you think that’s an act of friendship and kindness?”

“Well… yeah… it is.” Rumble admitted “But we’re still not friends. We didn’t have to be. We all still wanted to help each other.”

“Also an act of friendship…?” said Gallus.

The others all nodded agreeing with what he said and Rumble really found himself at a loss… almost near tears even as he flopped onto the floor. “I can’t do it!” he cried “I can’t go through all that again! I don’t want to make more friends and then lose them!”

He tried his hardest not to break out sobbing, and everyone felt hurt for him; some near tears themselves.

Starlight approached Rumble and lovingly put her hoof on him, “Rumble, I know how you feel.” And she revealed how Thunderlane told her of his troubles with moving and losing friends “I know it seems like you can hide from your troubles by being alone, but are you really happy with what you’ve become-- always alone, no pony else to talk to, share things with?”

Rumble looked up at her through his tear-filled eyes.

“Rumble I know it seems hard,” said Starlight “It’s never cool to lose friends, but maybe choosing not to be friendly and not have any friends isn’t fun either.

I’m not saying you HAVE to change for us, but I am worried. I don’t want you walking down the same path I did. It isn’t cool, believe me.”

Twilight placed her hoof on Rumble’s back and smiled lovingly at him.

All the others looked at him willing to give him a chance, even after he had treated them so harshly. Could he really trust them?

The next day at school, Rumble sat next to Yona in Twilight’s home period, just as she offered him on Day One.

He even wrote in a new essay about wanting to make new friends, as well as a heart-filled apology for the way he acted.

He was very polite and helpful to his classmates in all other classed, and at lunch he asked the Young Six, “Is there room for one more?” to which Silver offered him the seat next to her at the table, and the new friends all sat joyously together.

Twilight watched from her office, and Thunderlane was there too. “He’s really starting to come out of his shell.” he said “I’ll take him out for ice-cream after school.

From now on, I’m going to try to fit more time for him in my schedule. He’s just a kid after all, and he deserves time to play… with his bro that is.”

Twilight and starlight were very happy things were going better for Rumble, and they high hooded one another and then continued to watch the students get along so well.