Sweet Affection 5: The Quest to True Love

by Masterob

Scooting over to Love

At the edge of the destroyed Ponyville, Changeling and Storm King Guards were circling the area, keeping an eye out for ponies who were trying to escape.

Unbeknowest to them were two mares hiding in the bushes, the farm girl Apple Bloom and the skater girl Scootaloo.

"Come on," Apple Bloom whispered, gesturing Scootaloo to follow her. The two snuck away as the Changelings and Soldiers walked past them.

"Busy day huh?" A changeling said.

"Yeah..." the solider replied.

"Just a few more patrols, then I'm taking a nice long nap," The Changeling said.

"Nap sounds good," the solider replied.

The two continued on as Apple Bloom and Scootaloo made their way out of town, away from the guards.

"Phew, made it," Apple Bloom said. "Thought we'd never get out of Ponyville."

'I still say we should have trashed a few," Scootaloo said. "Given all the trouble they've given us, they more than deserve that beating."

"If we did that we'd attract attention, now come on, we gotta find Twilight, mah sister or any of their friends and let them know what happened to Ponyville," Apple Bloom said.

"And what happened to some of the ponies, what happened to Starlight, Trixie, Lightning Dust and Tender Taps," Scootaloo said.

"Ah still can't believe the villains overpowered them, of course none of them were prepared for The Storm King teaming up with Tirek, they destroyed almost everything," Apple Bloom said.

"All to find Twilight, you think she rounded up all the teammates she was hoping to find?" Scootaloo asked.

"Hard to say, let's just hurry," Apple Bloom said. "Hopefully we can find Sweetie Belle too."

Scootaloo cringed at her name, it just reminded the Pegasus that she failed to prevent her friend from getting captured, she only hopes she's alright. "Think we should have brought some help?"

"If we tried bringing others, we'd just attract more attention," Apple Bloom explained. "Smaller group means easier to sneak around."

"Guess you have a point, but I don't think if there's much the two of us could do on our own," Scootlaoo said. "What if we run into a fight?"

"Hey ah got years of Apple bucking on mah side, and you've got combat training from Rainbow Dash, ah think the two of us could handle it alone," Apple Bloom said.

"Lot of good my training did, I couldn't even keep Sweetie Belle safe," Scootaloo said.

"Hey ah wasn't around to help at the time, with the two of us working together, we can accomplish anything," Apple Bloom said.

"I think you're being a bit too optimistic Apple Bloom," Scootaloo said.

"Better than giving up hope," Apple Bloom said. "We got this Scootaloo, we free Sweetie Belle then the three of us can be the heroes that Twilight always thought we could be."

"Well when she said that, we had three other friends with us," Scootaloo said. "Tender Taps is taken, Dinky's still back there and losing hope, and none of us have seen Rumble."

"I'm really worried about him," Apple Bloom said, thinking about the poor stallion. "Ah can't believe he just ran off like that."

"Rumble blames himself for some reason, like he thinks he should have seen this coming ,but honestly who could have?" Scootaloo asked.

"Rumble was close with Cozy Glow, so of course he feels connected to all this," Apple Bloom said.

"Cozy Glow was our friend too, maybe Rumble was right when it came to Cozy Glow, we should have tried helping her out back then," Scootaloo said. "I know she was turning evil and she did lock us in a closet but maybe it's because we went about it all wrong, and even after we should have tried reaching out. She did something bad but that's probably when she needed us the most, I mean it'd be like if Twilight just gave up on Starlight, she could have just thrown her in a dungeon and been done with it, but she chose to make her a pupil and help her understand Friendship better. We should have asked to do that for Cozy Glow."

"Scootaloo, you make a lot of sense," Apple Bloom said. "We all messed up, but now we have the chance to make up fer everything. Now let's go rescue our friends."

Scootaloo joined with Apple Bloom on their quest. During their travel, Scootaloo started to remember the early days of Cozy Glow coming back to Ponyville, right after the break-up of Rumble and Sweetie Belle.

Scootaloo has always had a crush on Rumble, and originally the Crusaders expected her to be the one who ended up with the colt. Unfortunately Rumble had a crush on Sweetie Belle, and over time, the filly returned the crush and the two began dating.

Scootaloo was understandably crushed at first, the colt she liked not only didn't like her back, he fell for one of her best friends, arguably her first real friend. Scootaloo's known Sweetie Belle longer than she's known Apple Bloom. She made the effort to move on, she even tried going for Tender Taps, but that didn't last long, between his original crush on Apple Bloom, then fully falling for Twilight Sparkle, Scootaloo was romantically out of luck. Until the day she finally took a chance and had a payoff she truly desired.

It was one day after the date between Tender taps and Sweetie Belle, and the day that Sweetie Belle officially gave Scootaloo her blessing to try and ask out Rumble. She was riding to his house on her scooter, feeling a bit nervous about this decision.

"Come on Scoots, it's no big deal," she told herself. "Rumble's a friend, he knows me, it's not like I'm asking out a colt who I barely know."

She approached the door and knocked, patiently awaiting an answer. She was starting to have some second thoughts and even considered just leaving, but the door opened before her final decision could be made.

"Scootaloo? Wow it's great to see you," Rumble greeted, little surprised to see the filly.

Scootaloo started feeling a bit nervous now, this was awkward for many reasons. For one she hasn't talked to Rumble much since his break-up with Sweetie Belle, her best friend, and now she's about to ask out that same friend.

Or he doesn't have to know it's a date, she can disguise it as something else. "Hey, how's it going Rumble? I haven't seen you since...that day."

"Yeah, I really miss being with you girls," Rumble said. "Wanna come inside?"

"Yeah, sure thing," Scootaloo said, making her way into Rumble's house. "So, Rumble, I was thinking."

"What about?" Rumble asked.

Scootaloo gulped a bit but did her best to speak what was on her mind, "I know there's been drama with you and all, with the return of Cozy Glow, and your break-up with Sweetie Belle, but you're still my friend, and I want to be there for you."

"Well, thanks Scootaloo, I really appreciate that," Rumble said.

"So I was thinking, you and I should go out and do something together, if you don't mind," Scootaloo suggested.

"You and me hanging out together?" Rumble asked. He was planning to go see Cozy Glow but he did miss being with the Crusaders, so if anything this could be a great first step. "Well yeah, that sounds like a great idea."

"Sweet, I was thinking we head to the park first, we can decide what to do after that," Scootaloo said.

"The park? What do you want to do there?" Rumble asked.

"Well, I was thinking, I mean it's something I've wanted to do for a while but..." Scootaloo began. "I kind of want to race against you."

"A race?" Rumble asked.

"Yeah, your flying against my scooter skills," Scootaloo said. "I may not be able to fly like you can but that won't stop me from testing my skills against yours."

"Oh, well if that's what you want, then you're on," Rumble said, extending his wings.

Rumble started making his way to the park with Scootaloo following closely behind on her scooter, grateful that things seem to be going well right now. She wasn't sure what to expect after this, but she was just gonna roll with it.

The two arrived at the park, choosing a more private and secluded area to have their race, that and Rumble really didn't want to attract attention from some of the ponies.

"Is it me or were some of those ponies looking at you funny?" Scootaloo asked.

"It's been like that since my run in with Cozy Glow," Rumble explained. "They think I'm some jerk who messes with fillies, breaks their hearts and associates with villains."

"Wow, some ponies have way too much time on their hooves to start hating on a colt," Scootaloo said.

"I honestly can't blame them," Rumble admitted. "I mean, I did cheat on my girlfriend with a filly who was known for doing villainous acts after all, it makes sense that ponies look down on me now."

"That's bogus!" Scootaloo said. "They're seriously judging you for that? I know it was bad but I thought ponies would have a little more faith in you."

"Sweetie Belle is the sister of one of Equestria's heroes, so of course ponies are gonna sympathize with her more," Rumble said. "Plus making out with a villain, and still being seen hanging around that villain isn't really doing me any favors."

"Ponies are way too quick to judge," Scootaloo said. "You shouldn't be treated any differently all because of some mistakes you made."

"They were big mistakes though," Rumble said. "I mean, weren't you mad when I did what I did?"

"Well I wasn't exactly proud of what you did but that doesn't mean I'm gonna hate you forever," Scootaloo said. "You're my friend after all Rumble, and as your friend, I'm gonna stick by you."

"But what about Sweetie Belle? And Apple Bloom?" Rumble asked. "They probably hate me, honestly that makes me worry for you, what if they find out we were hanging out together?"

"First off, Sweetie Belle doesn't hate you, she even told me it was alright if I hung out with you," Scootaloo said. "Now she's still pretty upset don't get me wrong but she'll get over it soon. Apple Bloom, maybe she's still pretty ticked, but you know her, she can be unreasonably stubborn at times."

"I just hope we can all be friends again soon, I miss hanging around with you girls, and Tender Taps," Rumble said.

"Have you seen Tender Taps at all since all this?" Scootaloo asked.

"Yeah, he pretty much hates me," Rumble said. "Or did, he's starting to lighten up, helps that Cozy Glow showed some signs of reformation when she made peace with Flurry Heart for throwing her in a garbage can."

"Cozy's making progress?" Scootaloo asked. "That's great to hear! I'm hoping Twilight knows."

"She does, it was at her castle after all, I think with enough time Cozy Glow will have put her villainous past behind her," Rumble said.

"Well, that's great, maybe she can actually be our friend this time," Scootaloo commented, not forgetting her betrayal back at the school.

"That reminds me, Cozy Glow helped you and the other Crusaders get a tutoring position at Twilight's school, correct?" Rumble asked.

"Yeah, she did, why?" Scootaloo wondered.

"I was just thinking, if Cozy Glow was really that bad, why would she do that for you?" Rumble asked. "I mean, didn't she fake flunking a test and make you three look bad? If she really wanted to, she could have let you take the blame, but she didn't. Not like she had much to gain from helping you."

That seemed to open Scootaloo's eyes for the moment, she hadn't really thought of that. Cozy really didn't have anything to gain by confessing, Twilight already believed they were at fault, without really listen to their side of the story, which thinking about it, Scootaloo's a little ticked about that, Twilight's known them a long time, she should have at least had some faith in them...she's getting off topic, but she still had to admit that Rumble had a point.

"I never thought of that, good eye Rumble," Scootaloo said. "I really gotta talk to Cozy Glow soon, I just hope I'll be able to get through to her."

"It might be tough, she's a little stubborn right now," Rumble said. "I've even asked her about this, she insists it's nothing, but I feel like there's something she's not telling me."

"We'll get her to talk soon, for now let's do that race!" Scootaloo said, getting on her scooter.

"Right, what are the rules?" Rumble asked.

"We'll go around the whole park," Scootaloo said, making a mark near the tree with a nearby stick. "Whoever crosses this line first wins."

"Whole park?" Rumble asked. "To any other pony that's probably a lot but honestly it doesn't feel like that much to me."

"Yeah, we are pretty fast," Scootaloo admitted. "Alright, we'll do laps, first to do five wins."

"Still seems like a little bit, but alright then," Rumble said, stretching his wings. "You're still gonna lose regardless."

"Getting cocky huh?" Scootaloo said, tightening her helmet. "We'll see if you still have that same cockiness when I wipe the floor with you."

The two stood by each other, just near the line. Rumble turned to the filly beside him, "Ready to begin the countdown?"

Scootaloo nodded, focusing on the path ahead, "3, 2, 1...GO!"

The two took off in an instant, leaving a mighty gust of wind behind. They wasted no time amping up the speed, both foals trying to outdo one another. Rumble had the slight advantage of flight, not having to worry about the terrain, but Scootaloo has ridden her scooter all over Ponyville, she can get by just fine.

"Try to keep up Scoots!" Rumble taunted.

"Talk a big game all you want, just more words for you eat!" Scootaloo taunted back, flapping her wings faster.

The two were close, swapping lead positions, Rumble still using his air advantage, but Scootaloo showing off her scooter tricks, including using boulders and rocks like ramps and even doing a few fancy tricks mid-air.

The two zipped by a lot of ponies, many stopping and trying to figure out what just happened and why there was a sudden gust of wind. Others who could see them racing made sure to steer clear out the way, or make sure no other pony was blocking their path.

One pair of ponies they zipped by were Lyra and Bon Bon, the two having their manes ruined by the gust of wind.

"What just happened?" Lyra wondered.

Vinyl Scratch was enjoying a walk in the park when the two zipped past her, spinning her around, making her a bit dizzy, her glasses halfway off her face.

They sped past other ponies like Berry Punch, Bulk Biceps, the Flower Trio, even Button Mash, who spun around and fell.

"Ow! I know that was you Rumble! Jerk!" Button Mash shouted.

The two sped past a pair of fillies as well, one filly Toola Roola looking ahead, "Was that Rumble?"

"Think he noticed us?" Her friend Coconut Cream asked.

The two also sped past Big Macintosh and Cherilee, the two ponies sitting on a bench and catching up together.

"What in the world?" Cherilee said. "Is Scootaloo speeding on her scooter again?"

"Eeyup," Big Macintosh said. "Not alone either."

They also passed by Dinky and Derpy, the two having been in the park for a day. Dinky recognized Rumble's speed immediately. "Go Rumble!"

The two passed by the line and continued on for the remaining laps, increasing their speed each time, Scootaloo finding time to do even more fancy tricks. Rumble was not about to be outshined in stunts, so he pulled off a few himself, such as doing Barrel Rolls.

Soon came the final lap, both Rumble and Scootaloo giving it their all in this last portion, the two eyeing each other, the race being close, neither one losing the lead for long.

However Scootaloo slowly picked up a lead, getting closer to the finish line. She turned back to Rumble, taunting him by patting her flank, "I'm about to win Rumble! Get ready to bask in my-"

"Watch out!" Rumble warned, Scootaloo looking ahead and seeing a log. She couldn't stop in time and crashed into the log, flying through the air. Luckily Rumble was able to speed in and catch her before she hit the ground.

He held her in his forelegs, gently floating toward the ground and letting Scootaloo down very gently. "Hey are you alright?"

"I'm fine," Scootaloo said, shaking off the shock. "That was dumb of me, I passed that log a bunch of times, I should have remembered it was there."

"Mistakes happen, I'm just happy you're not hurt," Rumble said.

"Thanks to you, I could have gotten messed up pretty badly," Scootaloo said.

"You might have gotten a few scrapes at least, I don't think it would have been that bad," Rumble said. Truthfully he wasn't sure but he hoped that downplaying this would take some of the shock off Scootaloo.

"Still, thanks," Scootaloo said.

"Hey you're my friend, and I care a lot about you," Rumble said.

Scootaloo seemed enamored with Rumble right now, she remembers why she liked him so much. In addition to his athletic capabilities, he was also very kind and caring. "I care a lot about you too Rumble, I really do."

Rumble turned his attention to her scooter, it looked a little banged up, "Uh, your scooter might have taken a hard hit."

"Don't worry, this isn't the first time, I can get it fixed," Scootaloo said, checking on the scooter. "Shouldn't take too long, then I'm back on the road."

"The longer the better!" They heard. The two foals turned their attention to a group of annoyed ponies led by Lyra and Bon Bon, the former having been the one to get their attention.

"Oh no," Rumble said.

"Oh yes," Lyra said, standing before the crowd, consisting Button Mash, Berry Punch and the Flower Ponies. "We should have known you were the cause of all our troubles Rumble, now you got one of The Crusaders in your mess?"

"I thought they would have at least ditched you after you decided to make out with a villain!" Bon Bon said.

"Hey lay off him, who are you to judge Rumble?" Scootaloo asked, standing by his side.

"He deserves it, he cheats on beautiful fillies!" Button Mash shouted. "Especially fillies who should have been dating me instead!"

"Honestly if there was one bright side to Sweetie Belle dating Rumble is that she never got stuck with a dork like you," Scootaloo said.

"Oh you're just jealous because I liked her more than I liked you, maybe get a mane-style suited for a filly and not a colt," Button Mash said.

"Wh-what!?" Scootaloo shouted, looking furious.

"Hey, say what you want about me Button, but don't drag Scootaloo's name through the mud!" Rumble warned, then turned to Lyra and Bon Bon. "As for you two, do you like spend your days in this park? What were you doing another picnic?"

"It's our favorite hobby to do together, when you're in love with somepony you always find something to do together," Bon Bon said. "Sometimes we have picnics, sometimes we walk through the park, we don't care what we do, as long as we're together."

"That's something you've forgotten about, something you took for granted," Lyra said to Rumble. "It's such a shame too, your relationship with Sweetie Belle was so adorable, ponies loved how loyal you two were to each other."

"What happened to that Rumble? What happened to your love?" Bon Bon asked.

Rumble wasn't sure how to answer that, the question truly stumped him. He knew they had a point, he had to wonder how he was so in love with Sweetie Belle and in an instant, that love was gone.

"Hey give him a break!" Scootaloo said, coming to her friend's defense. "Alright he made a mistake, we all have at some point haven't we? He didn't mean to upset Sweetie Belle, and believe it or not she's not that bummed out about it."

"That's not what I saw," Button Mash said.

"Yeah, she looked so sad the other day," Daisy said.

"Look obviously I know Sweetie Belle better than any of you, she's gotten much better as of late, and on top of that, she doesn't hold a grudge against Rumble," Scootaloo explained.

"Scootaloo is one Sweetie Belle's best friends," Berry Punch said. "So she would know her better than any of us, maybe we should give Rumble a break."

"She's correct," they heard. All the ponies turned to see Cherilee making her way over, alongside Big Macintosh. "All of you are judging this boy too harshly. Regardless of what happened between him and Sweetie Belle, that is their dispute to resolve, and not a matter anypony should be indulging themselves in."

"Miss Cherilee?" Rumble said, surprised to see the local school teacher.

"He is young, and those young are prone to mistakes," Cherilee said, trotting over to Rumble and rubbing his mane. "Rumble isn't a bad colt, he just made a few bad decisions."

"Instead of passing judgement, y'all should do what you can to educate him," Big Macintosh said. "Lyra, Bon Bon, you two seem to believe you understand love, if that's the case, then perhaps you can try to offer your wisdom to Rumble, then maybe he could benefit from your guidance."

"Who us? Guide Rumble?" Lyra asked.

"If you so choose to, might be better than assuming him to be a lost cause," Big Macintosh said.

"Hey we never said anything about that," Bon Bon insisted. "We're just disappointed in him, that's all."

"If you are, then help him right the wrongs you see," Cherilee said. "Trying to understand others, especially foals, can do a great deal of service for them."

"Now if y'all are done bothering this boy, I suggest you start leaving, leave him and his friend to themselves," Big Macintosh said.

"Well, we would but we did have another reason for gathering here," Lyra said, turning to the two. "You both need to watch where you're going when racing around the park!"

The other ponies murmured in agreement, Rumble taking the moment to calm their nerves, "Alright, we'll ease up."

"Yeah, we're really sorry about that," Rumble said. "We might have gotten carried away."

"Well, see that it doesn't happen again," Bon Bon said, turning away. "Though with you two, that might be asking for a lot."

The other ponies started leaving, with the exception of Cherilee, Big Mac and Button Mash, the little gamer pony standing around and confused.

"Wait, that's it?" Button Mash asked. "That's all you ponies have to say? This is the same Rumble that caused Sweetie Belle so much distress!"

"Oh buzz off Button Mash," Scootaloo said. "Go back to your video games."

"Scootaloo, try to be nicer," Cherilee said, then turned to Button Mash. "Young colt, I expect better behavior from you, I hope you're not causing too much trouble."

"Uh, no Miss Cherilee," Button Mash insisted.

"Good, now you should be going about your business now, and no more bothering these two," Cherilee instructed.

"Yes Miss Cherilee," Button said, making his way home.

Cherilee turned to Rumble, "As for you, it seems like you've been through a lot these last few days."

"Well, that's an understatement," Rumble said.

"Well if there's anything you want to talk about, just let me know, I am still your teacher after all, it's my duty to properly guide you" Cherilee said.

"Uh, yes Miss Cherilee," Rumble said.

"Scootaloo, try to stay out of trouble," Cherilee said.

Scootaloo groaned in annoyance, "Yes Miss Cherilee."

Cherilee turned to Big Mac, "I should be heading home, thanks for the day out."

"Sure thing," Big Mac said as Cherilee made her way home. He turned his attention to the two foals, "Looks like you two are getting along quite nicely."

"Yeah, I can't be mad at Rumble forever," Scootaloo said.

"Good to hear, holding a grudge does no favors," Big Mac said. "Well, ah should get going mahself, got some Apples to buck."

"See you later Big Mac!" Scootaloo said, then turned to Rumble. "Let's head back to my place."

"What about the race?" Rumble asked. "We never finished."

"We'll call it a tie," Scootaloo said. "Now let's get going."

Scootaloo and Rumble made their way to her house while Big Mac was returning to his farm. Though on the way there, he ran into Sweetie Belle and his youngest sister Apple Bloom.

"Hey big bro, have you seen Scootaloo around anywhere?" Apple Bloom asked.

"We want to do a Crusader meeting but we can't start without her," Sweetie Belle said.

"She's busy spending time with Rumble, you might want to ask her later," Big Mac said.

"Rumble!?" Apple Bloom said. "She actually went and asked that traitor to spend the day with her!?"

"Apple Bloom!" Big Mac scolded. "It ain't proper to say things like that."

"But is a traitor!" Apple Bloom insisted. "Just ask Sweetie Belle!"

"Apple Bloom, listen to your brother," Sweetie Belle said. "Don't say mean things about Rumble. Please just move past it."

"But he hurt you," Apple Bloom said. "How could you be ok with that?"

"I'm not ok with what he did but I don't want to be angry about it forever," Sweetie Belle explained. "I don't want you to be angry either, I mean it's sweet that you care about my feelings so much, you're such a good friend for that, but it's alright to forgive and move on from it. Rumble and I didn't have a bad break-up, that's something I wish everypony would understand, including you."

"And she will," Big Mac said. "Just leave it to me and Applejack, we'll get things fixed up."

Apple Bloom didn't like the sound of that, wondering now what her brother would be up to in getting this 'fixed'.

Back with Rumble and Scootaloo, the pair had returned to her house, Rumble briefly greeting her aunts as the two made their way into her room.

"Your aunts are really nice," Rumble said.

"Yeah they're the best," Scootaloo said. "Thanks to them I don't feel lonely without my parents."

"Am I ever going to get to see your parents?" Rumble asked. "They've been gone so long ponies started spreading rumors about you being an orphan."

"Yeah, that was very annoying," Scootaloo said. "I'm surprised no one spreads that about Sweetie Belle, she spends more time at Rarity's house than her own. But my parents are gonna be coming back to town soon, so you'll be able to see them then."

"I look forward to that," Rumble said.

Scootaloo sat on her bed, getting herself comfortable, "So Rumble, it's been a while since we've had a chance to talk, and I kind of want to ask you some stuff, mainly to understand what's been going on with you and Cozy Glow."

"Right, I do owe you an explanation," Rumble said. "I've been wanting to tell all of you but, you weren't really that keen on being around me at the time."

"Well I'm here now, and I want to hear what happened from your side of it," Scootaloo said, then pat the spot on the bed next to her. "Come, make yourself comfortable, and start explaining things."

"Sure thing Scoots," Rumble said, leaping onto the bed. "Well it started when I met Cozy Glow on Mount Aris."

Rumble from that point explained the details of his adventures with Cozy Glow, from his initial meet-up, the Crystal Empire, the night in Our Town and the culmination in Ponyville and why they were kissing. He was even honest about the night they spent together, how he allowed her to cuddle against him, figuring she may find out sooner or later and he'd rather be the one to tell her.

"So, it sounds like she was really flirty," Scootaloo said.

"It was weird, I mean it was also very flattering but at the same time, I knew it was wrong to do," Rumble said. "She just had this way of getting to me."

"Cozy Glow is pretty manipulative, she played on your greatest weakness, your willingness to help fillies," Scootaloo said. "By acting helpless and clueless you couldn't help but fall for her charm."

"So girls are a weakness for me?" Rumble asked.

"You do proclaim to be a knight and anytime you need to help a filly you seem absolutely dedicated to it," Scootaloo said. "When Sweetie Belle needed you, then you showed single minded determination to help her, same with Flurry Heart and Dinky has told me times where you made it your life goal to help her out when she needed it. Cozy Glow probably picked up on this, so the more helpless she acted, the more she had you under her control."

"Wow, she really is manipulative then," Rumble said. "Honestly, maybe I should have seen her evil side coming, given how suspicious she was acting during the ride, but maybe it's because she was just a filly that there was no way I would have expected her to be a villain."

"I don't think anypony would have, so don't blame yourself too hard on that," Scootaloo said.

"Still, I just wish I could have actually done something useful, instead I made a giant mess," Rumble said. "My efforts to make friends with Cozy Glow made me lose my girlfriend."

"So tell me, why did you an Sweetie Belle break-up?" Scootaloo asked.

"Because I cheated on her, and I didn't think it was fair for her to date a colt who would do something like that," Rumble said. "I broke up with her to punish myself for my mistakes, that and I needed to be sure if I could love another filly or not. But I guess it doesn't matter, one way or another this would end up bad for Sweetie Belle, either she's dating a colt who willingly kissed another filly, or she's heart-broken while the colt that left her is essentially dating other fillies."

"Uh, how many other fillies have you dated?" Scootaloo asked.

"Just Cozy Glow and Kettle Corn," Rumble said. "And somewhat Dinky, but with her it's never anything serious."

"Oh right, Dinky has a weird attraction to you," Scootaloo said. "So, you're not exactly in love with Cozy Glow?"

"I don't know for sure," Rumble said.

"So...you're still open to dating anypony who's interested?" Scootaloo shyly asked.

"Like I said, I dated Kettle Corn last night, so I'm open for just about anypony," Rumble said.

"By any chance, would that include me?" Scootaloo nervously asked.

Rumble didn't know if he should be surprised or not, after all Scootaloo did have a crush on him, and if the Crusaders' plan from a year and a half ago worked, he might have dated Scootaloo instead of Sweetie Belle. But he also figured that Scootaloo wouldn't be too quick to date him after the Cozy Glow mess.

"Why would you want to date me though?" Rumble asked. "I mean, I did hurt Sweetie Belle."

"And I already said before, she's getting over it," Scootaloo said. "Plus you said it yourself, you need to know if you could like another filly. I know this might sound tiring to hear, but don't you wonder what would have happened if we dated instead?"

"Honestly, that thought does run through my mind, I never think about it much but it does linger," Rumble said.

"Well then, there's only one way to find out," Scootaloo said. "Let's just try it at least, for real, not that pity date you took me on a year ago."

"Right, a real one," Rumble said. "Sure, maybe you would make a good pony for me to date."

"If given the chance, then yeah," Scootaloo said, bashfully rubbing her mane back. "So can we consider today our official first date?"

"If you want, I mean we just raced through," Rumble said.

"And it was fun," Scootaloo said. "Hey you don't have to take me anywhere fancy Rumble, any fun activity we do together is enough for me."

"Alright, good to know," Rumble said. "So, if we're dating, does that make us...you know."

"We don't have to use labels yet," Scootaloo said. "I know you have other fillies you're interested in, so I'll give you that freedom until you're ready to make a choice, but you know how competitive I am, I will be bringing my best on these dates."

"I wouldn't expect anything less from you," Rumble said.

"Better not...but come see me again sometime, alright?" Scootaloo said.

"You got it," Rumble assured.

"Oh, one more thing Rumble," Scootaloo said, then brought Rumble's face to hers, locking him for a kiss.

Rumble should have expected this, for the last few days he's kissed at least one different filly, so why not add Scootaloo to that list. But unlike her last kiss from their 'pity' date, this time Rumble was a bit more free to allow this feeling to resonate within him.

Rumble pulled Scootaloo closer and returned her kiss, with much force than he would have. This time he was enjoying his kiss with Scootaloo, and he knows for a fact that she's enjoying it as well.

Scootaloo broke away, a heavy blush on her face, "Wow, it's like a dream come true. We're kissing, and enjoying it. I mean you are enjoying it right?"

Rumble answered that by pulling her in for a kiss of his own, which she graciously accepted. This was pretty much everything she wanted, the only thing that could make it better is if they truly were an item, and this time she has the chance to make that happen, she'll make sure he chooses her this time.

Rumble quickly broke away, a huge blush on his face, "Uh...can I feel your flank?"

"Uh...sure," Scootaloo said, properly adjusting herself. "Go for it."

Rumble did just that, moving his hooves down her backside, just as he expected, it was really round, much more form than Diamond Tiara's or Sweetie Belle's. "Wow, you work out a lot."

"Thanks," Scootaloo said, the two resuming their kiss once more, enjoying their time together.

Later Rumble had bid his farewell to Scootaloo and started making his way toward Flitter's house, figuring he could spend a little more time with Cozy Glow. On the way there, he ran into Lyra and Bon Bon, Rumble dreading the worse.

"What happened now?" Rumble asked in a deadpanned tone.

"Nothing happened, we just wanted to talk," Lyra said.

"Yeah, it's about our attitude lately," Bon Bon said. "We've been a little mean to you, and thinking about what Cherilee said, it really wasn't very fair to you."

"Yeah, you're not a bad kid Rumble, we just felt so surprised you would do what you did," Lyra said.

"I know, I made a mistake, and it did hurt somepony, I don't blame you for being mad," Rumble said.

"That's the thing, instead of us being mad, we should have tried to be more understanding," Bon Bon said.

"We should be making sure you're still the nice boy we've grown accustomed to," Lyra said. "You're an amazing kid Rumble, the type of kid me and Bon Bon would love to have."

"Heh, thanks ladies," Rumble said, bashfully rubbing his head.

"Aw, you're so cute," Bon Bon said, rubbing his mane. "How could we be mad at you?"

"Tell you what, why don't you come over to our place sometime, we'd kind of like to see where you went wrong and give you some advice," Lyra said.

"Yeah, you're still a colt, you should be able to make mistakes, helps you grow into a better pony because you have something to learn from," Bon Bon said.

"Plus I've been in your position before honestly," Lyra said.

"Wait, you have?" Rumble asked.

Lyra shamefully nodded, "I once hurt Bonnie here and it took a while for us to rekindle our love. That's why I was so hard on you, because deep down I was still mad at myself."

"So, you hurt Bon Bon, and she forgave you?" Rumble asked. "Like you two have a nice healthy relationship?"

"Yeah, I think so," Lyra said.

"So there's hope for me!?" Rumble asked. "Like if I wanted to fix a mistake?"

"Of course, we should have told you this from the beginning," Bon Bon said. "We're really sorrt Rumble."

"Yeah, we're really sorry," Lyra said.

"It's fine, I forgive you girls," Rumbe said, flying in to hug them both, which they returned. They parted from the hug and each kissed him on the head.

"Now be a good colt Rumble," Bon Bon said.

"We'll see you around," Lyra said.

The two mares made their way home, leaving Rumbe to himself for a little bit, happy to know that he at least made peace with them. Before long, he was joined by his best friend Dinky.

"Sup Rumble?" Dinky greeted. "I just saw you with Lyra and Bon Bon, they weren't giving you crap were they?"

"No, they just wanted to apologize for being mean," Rumble said. "That was really nice of them."

"Oh, well good," Dinky said. "I saw your race earlier with Scootaloo, freaking awesome."

"Thanks, anyway I'm gonna head on over to Flitter's house to see Cozy Glow," Rumble said.

"You've been spending a lot of time with her, are you two actually gonna become a couple?" Dinky asked.

"I don't know, I'm still deciding," Rumble said. "I mean, I just agreed to also date Scootaloo."

"You what!?" Dinky asked in amazement. "You and Scootaloo!?"

"Not so loud Dinky!" Rumble said. "But yeah, me and Scootaloo."

"Huh, looks like Apple Bloom is gonna get what she wanted after all," Dinky said.

"Hey I'm not doing this for Apple Bloom, I'm doing this for me and Scootaloo," Rumble said. "She is kind of cool, and honestly she's really pretty." Rumble looked around quickly and spoke in hushed tone. "Plus her butt's really tight."

"Ha, you're such a pervert, I love it," Dinky said. "I knew you liked a filly's tender spot."

"Hey there was nothing tender about it, all muscle," Rumble said. "Felt it myself."

"Dang Rumble, lucky you," Dinky said. "Starting to think you prefer blank flanks because the flanks already look nice without the mark."

"Something like that," Rumble said. "Well I'm off, oh and if you want to come by later on, or tomorrow, feel free, we'll 'practice' some stuff together."

"Dude I'll be over anytime you want," Dinky said, trotting off, making sure Rumble got a nice view of her backside.

"Man, what's happening to me, think all this dating is going to my head," Rumble said. "I just made a promise to Lyra and Bon Bon about being good, I don't want to disappoint them."

Rumble flew toward Flitter's house where Cozy Glow was waiting for him, wanting to once again spend time with the colt she loved.

Elsewhere at the market place, Big Macintosh was seen speaking to both Applejack and Twilight, explaining what Apple Bloom had said.

"She really does have it out fer Rumble," Applejack said. "Ah know what he did was wrong but...she can't go on with this type of resentment, it ain't good fer her."

"Maybe you should try to rekindle their friendship," Twilight suggested. "Get them together for something."

"Good idea, maybe like a dinner," Applejack said. "Ah could invite Rumble over so he can try bonding with Apple Bloom again, maybe even invite Cozy Glow over, help her out too."

"Great idea Applejack," Twilight said. "Soon you can introduce her to your cousins too."

"Bet she'd like to meets Babs, might have somepony to relate to," Applejack said. "Too bad she's in Manehattan, might be too must of a hassle to up and bring her over."

"One step at a time," Twilight said. "Before long, hopefully all the foals can be friends again."

"Ah hope so," Applejack said. "Ah don't like seeing them fight. Though ah guess this wouldn't have happened if we handled Cozy Glow turning evil a lot better."

"What's done is done, let's stop wondering what we could have done better and worry about what we could do now," Twilight said.

"Yeah, yer right," Applejack said. "Well, see ya later Twi."

The two Apple siblings made their way home, Twilight making a note of this as she went back to her castle. On her way there, she spotted Sweetie Belle walking with Tender Taps, the two looking to be getting along quite well, and walking quite close together.

"Huh, that's interesting," Twilight noted, then continued back to her castle, wondering if Tender Taps was already trying to move on, curiously with Sweetie Belle.

Twilight of course paid no mind, at least she tried not to. She looked again, catching a glimpse of them nuzzling their muzzles. Twilight should be relieved that Tender Taps might have found somepony else to be with, but now she can't help but feel like she gave something up. She hopes this feeling is nothing but in time she might learn to regret this decision.

Comments

[Evil HERO Malicious Bane]

Hope Rumble gets a herd/harem

[Awesometacular]

Well, there is one part that kinda doesn't make sense at least to my knowledge. Particularly this part.

"Dang Rumble, lucky you," Dinky said. "Starting to think you prefer blank flanks because the flanks already look nice without the mark."

Don't the CMC already have their cutie marks at this point?

[Masterob]

10414348
She's trying to reference his dislike for Cutie Marks and the time he tried urging foals to not earn their Cutie Marks. Another way of it would be "So do you not like Cutie Marks because they limit you or because they cover up the goods?" The CMC (And Cozy Glow for that matter) all have their Cutie Marks.