Chapter 7: Reassuring Signs
The day was slowly fading into evening as the sun began to set across the horizon. It wasn’t so late that the sky was changing color, but late enough for the four foals to know that it was time to head home. The four of them were trotting down the dirt path, heading to Sweet Apple Acres before going to Ponyville, all of them in complete silence. As they walked, they saw wide assortments of creatures scurrying about, like birds and squirrels and the occasional butterfly that hovered around them.
As they continued to walk, Apple Bloom decided to try and break the silence between them. “So...” she began with a sheepish grin on her face, “That kite-flyin’ sure was fun, right girls?”
“Yeah, tons of fun,” said Scootaloo with a hint of sarcasm in her voice, “Nothing but broken kites and no Cutie Marks. It was no different from the last time we tried it.”
Rumble lowered his head in shame. “Sorry about that,” he said to her, “I guess I should have come up with something better, huh?”
"It’s not your fault, Rumble," said Sweetie Belle with a smile, “It was worth another shot. Besides, it wasn’t like we had anything else better planned.”
Rumble offered a smile in response, but quickly fell silent again. No matter what the circumstances were, his heart always seemed to speed up whenever she talked to him. However, he decided to try and put those thoughts behind him for right now and focus on getting home.
A short time later, they all reached the main entrance to Sweet Apple Acres. When they did, Apple Bloom turned to the others and said, “Well, ah guess ah’ll see ya’ll tomorrow.”
“See you tomorrow, Apple Bloom,” the two fillies said in unison, offering a small giggle to each other when they did. Then, the two of them began trotting away.
“See you around, Apple Bloom,” said Rumble, offering another polite smile to her.
Apple Bloom returned the gesture by waving at him as she turned and began making her way towards the barn. However, like before, she kept her eyes on him for a moment too long as she accidently tripped on a rock, making her land flat on her face.
Immediately, Rumble trotted over to her with a worried look on his face and asked, “Are you okay, Apple Bloom?”
“Yeah, ah’m okay,” she said as she quickly got up. Nervously, she began brushing herself off with a look of embarrassment on her face.
“Are you sure?” he asked, cocking his head to one side.
“Oh, sure,” she quickly said, flashing a toothy smile to him, “Don’t ya worry ‘bout me.”
Rumble smiled at her as he began trotting away, speeding up to catch up with the others. As she watched him leave, she lowered her head and let out a sigh, her ears and hair-bow drooping when she did.
“Way ta go, Apple Bloom,” she said loud enough for only her to hear, “Why can’t ya just stand on yer own four hooves? At this rate, he’s never gonna...”
Her thoughts were cut short when she saw a pink butterfly beginning to hover in front of her. As it stayed there for a few moments, Apple Bloom couldn’t help but gaze at its beauty. It floated delicately in front of her, fluttering its tiny wings in rapid succession. She offered a smile to the butterfly as it continued to dance in front of her before it slowly began to fly away.
As she watched the beautiful creature fly off into the sky, Apple Bloom smiled, let out a small sigh and said, “Maybe things’ll go better tomorrow.”
With that, she turned and entered her home with a smile still on her face and her cheeks beginning to turn its interesting shade of red again.
As evening fell upon Ponyville, the clutter of ponies became less and less. Therefore, the streets were beginning to empty out when the three foals entered town. They trotted in silence as they began making their way through the streets towards the inn that Rumble was staying at. As they walked, Rumble kept his eyes focused on the road ahead of him, trying his best to not think about Sweetie Belle and what had happened throughout the day, like his failed attempt to make conversation with her.
Soon, the three of them were in front of the inn. Rumble turned to the two fillies but focused his attention on everything else but the unicorn that was in front of him.
“I guess I’ll see you two tomorrow,” he said with a smile (which was clearly forced, though he tried his best not to show it).
“See you tomorrow, Rumble,” said Sweetie Belle, smiling and waving at him.
“Bye, Rumble,” said Scootaloo, who also waved goodbye.
With that, the two of them trotted down the road together. As they made their way to the Carousel Boutique, which was on the way to Scootaloo’s house, Sweetie Belle looked at the orange Pegasus with a smile on her face.
“Well, that wasn’t so bad,” she said to her, “Still think it was a bad idea to invite him to join us?”
“Not really, no,” said Scootaloo.
“Why did you think was a bad idea in the first place?”
Scootaloo shrugged one shoulder. “I don’t know. I just had a feeling that something would go wrong if he did. But, seeing that nothing has, I guess there’s nothing to worry about after all.”
“See? I told you so,” said Sweetie Belle as she playfully nudged against Scootaloo, making her stumble slightly. With a smile on her face, Scootaloo retaliated by returning the gesture, causing Sweetie Belle to stumble. The unicorn let out a giggle before doing it once more, making Scootaloo start to giggle as well.
As they stopped horsing around, Sweetie Belle asked, “Was it just me, or was Apple Bloom acting very differently today?”
Scootaloo smiled. “You noticed that too, huh?”
“It was kinda hard not to! What do you think got to her that made her act so strange like that? She’s never that clumsy and never spaces out like she did today.”
“Who knows?”
The two of them shared a laugh as they quickly approached the Boutique. When Sweetie Belle saw the establishment, her laughter immediately stopped as she began recalling what had happened earlier.
She began remembering what Rarity had asked her the other day, about her being happy with Scootaloo and if she regretted being with her like they were. Furthermore, the question of whether or not it would be better if she was with a colt instead of a filly also echoed in her mind, making her feel worse than before. As the questions danced in her mind, she immediately hung her head and let out a sigh, a slightly saddened expression on her face.
Hearing the sigh, Scootaloo looked at Sweetie Belle with a concerned look on her face. “Hey, what’s wrong?” she asked.
“Oh, it’s nothing, honest,” she said, trying her best to hide her expression.
The Pegasus filly narrowed her eyes at her. “Come on, Sweetie Belle. I can see that it’s something. What’s wrong? You can tell me.”
“Well...” she began as she stopped trotting. Scootaloo followed suit, her face still with a look of concern. Swallowing, she continued, “I wanna ask you something, but you have to promise to give me an honest answer.”
The orange filly tilted her head in confusion. “Okay, I promise.”
“Pinkie Promise?” Sweetie asked as she took a few steps closer to her.
If it wasn't for the look on the white filly’s face, Scootaloo would have rolled her eyes. However, she didn’t as she said, “I Pinkie Promise.”
Sweetie Belle let out another sigh as she looked to the ground, making circles in the dirt with her hoof. A part of her didn’t want to ask the question she was about to ask, but she needed to know the truth; she needed to know how Scootaloo really felt.
She closed her eyes tightly as she readied herself to ask the question. Then, she opened them again and blurted out, “Do you regret being with me?”
The question hit Scootaloo like a slap in the face; out of all the questions that she could have asked, she wasn’t expecting one such as that. Silence dawned on the two of them as Scootaloo allowed the question to fully register in her mind. She shifted her eyes back and forth, trying to make sense of why she asked her such a question.
A few seconds had passed before she said, “Sweetie Belle, why would you ask me something like that?”
“Please,” Sweetie Belle said, “Just answer the question.”
The orange Pegasus let out a scoff. “You’re joking, right? Please tell me you’re joking.”
Sweetie Belle felt her heart begin to sink as she took a few steps back. She was on the brink of tears as she asked, “So...so, that’s it, then? You...you can’t answer me?”
Scootaloo blinked in surprise. “Of course I can answer you!”
However, because she felt like she was on the spot, it took a few seconds for the answer to come out. “No,” she finally said, “I don’t regret being with you. Why would you...?”
She was interrupted by the unicorn filly pointing her hoof at her and saying, with tears in her eyes, “Y-you hesitated! That means you had to think about it!”
“Wha-...hesi-...HUH!?” Scootaloo blurted out, “What are you...why are you...?”
Immediately, Sweetie Belle turned her back on her as the tears she fought so hard to hold back began streaming down her face. Through her sobs, she managed to choke out, “I should have known you weren’t happy. I should have known...”
“SWEETIE BELLE!” Scootaloo shouted. Immediately, she covered her mouth with her hoof as she realized how loudly she yelled; she caught the attention of several ponies that were passing by, who stopped and stared at her for a moment.
Embarrassed, Scootaloo trotted over to her friend, cleared her throat and said softly, “Sweetie Belle, what’s gotten into you? You know that I’m happy being with you. Why are you asking me these things? Why do you think that I regret being with you?”
The unicorn filly wiped the tears from her eyes and said, “I’m sorry, Scoots. It’s just that, Rarity was talking to me the other day about us.”
Rarity; I should have known, thought Scootaloo as she rolled her eyes.
“She asked me if I was happy being with you and if I regretted us being together,” she continued with a sniffle. She would have brought up the whole “being-happy-with-a-colt-instead-of-a-filly” bit, but decided it would be better if she didn’t bring that up. “I told her that I am happy and that I don’t regret being with you. I guess I just wanted to know if you felt the same way.”
The orange filly smiled as she wrapped her arm around her, bringing her into an embrace. As she did, Sweetie Belle felt her beating heart calm down to normal and her tears beginning to subside. Any unhappiness she was feeling was dissipating into nothing as she returned the embrace, rubbing her head against Scootaloo’s neck.
“I’m happy being with you, Sweetie Belle,” she said in a hushed whisper, “And I don’t regret being with you. Nothing will ever change that.”
“How do you know?” Sweetie Belle asked as she released the embrace to look into Scootaloo’s eyes. “How do you know that nothing will come between us? How do you know nothing will ever change? How do you know if we’ll...?”
Before Sweetie could finish her sentence, or Scootaloo could interject, the two of them were taken aback as a pink butterfly flew between them. It hovered in between them for a few moments before landing on Sweetie Belle’s nose. The white unicorn remained motionless as the orange Pegasus gazed in awe at it. After a few seconds, the butterfly departed, flying into the air before disappearing from sight.
The two of them sat in astonishment at what had just happened. They had always seen butterflies fluttering about in Ponyville, but neither of them had ever had one fly that close to them, let alone land on their noses. Having it finally happen made the two of them smile at one another.
“That was amazing,” said Scootaloo with a smile.
“Yeah,” said Sweetie Belle, her cheeks turning red. “I had read somewhere that, if a butterfly lands on you, it brings you good luck.”
Scootaloo tapped her hoof on her chin as an idea came to mind. “Well, maybe that’s a sign, then.”
“Huh?” aked Sweetie Belle as she looked at her friend.
“Maybe the butterfly landing on you was a sign that everything’s going to be fine and that you have nothing to worry about.”
Her cheeks turning red, the white filly smile and asked, “Do you really think so?”
Scootaloo returned the smile and said, “I know so.”
Then, the two of them embraced each other again, both of them with smiles on their faces. As they did, Scootaloo whispered, “Everything’s going to be fine.”
“I know,” said Sweetie Belle, “Sorry for asking you those silly questions.”
“It’s okay,” she said as she released their embrace and looked each other in the eyes.
“Maybe we can do something tomorrow...you know...just the two of us.”
“Sounds like a great idea to me.”
Then, the two hugged each other one last time. However, they quickly released it as they turned and gave each a soft kiss on the lips, again only a butterfly kiss.
Soon, the two of them began heading down the road again. They only went a short distance before they were in front of the Carousel Boutique. When they got there, Sweetie Belle said her goodbyes to Scootaloo and made her way into the building. As she did, she had a smile on her face as the thoughts of the two of them spending some time together danced in her mind.
“See you tomorrow, Rumble,” Sweetie Belle had said to him.
That was all that he could think about as he waved at the two of them. He could have sworn that he heard Scootaloo say something to him as well, but he was too preoccupied with the unicorn filly to actually hear what she had said.
As Rumble watched the two of them trot down the road, he kept his feigned smile on his face. When he was certain the two of them were out of earshot, he relaxed his face and let out a loud sigh.
“What is happening to me?” he asked aloud. “Why am I feeling this way whenever Sweetie Belle talks to me? Why can’t I ever find the right things to say to her? What exactly is going on?”
Rumble rubbed his mane with his hoof as he allowed his questions to go unanswered. Throughout the entire day, he had tried his best to make conversation with her, to say something other than sounds that came up in his throat. However, no matter how hard he tried, the words couldn’t come out of his mouth.
His thoughts dwelling on this, the grey colt began making his way to the inn. He opened the door to enter, but had to wait because a brown unicorn stallion with a black mask on was leaving as he was entering. Politely, he held the door open for him as he exited the building, holding a stack of papers with his magic. When he was gone, Rumble wanted to enter building but found himself lost in deep thought again.
“What am I going to do?” he asked himself. “Why is it that I feel this way about her? Why don’t I feel this way about anypony else?”
He shook his head to clear his thoughts as he began entering the building. However, he didn’t get a chance to because of an interesting sight that was in front of him. Hovering before him was a pink butterfly, its beautiful wings making it dance in front of him. Rumble watched as the creature came closer to him and lightly tapped his nose. Then, it took off down the road towards town.
Rumble watched for a few seconds before he blinked in surprise. I wonder what that was about, he thought to himself.
He scratched the side of his head as he began making his way into the inn. However, he couldn’t help but look down the road in the direction the butterfly went, just to see where it went. When he did, he let out a small gasp at what he saw next. He couldn’t believe what he was seeing; he moved away from the door and down the road a few steps, rubbing his eyes as he did so, just to make sure he wasn’t seeing things. After adjusting his focus, he was absolutely sure what he was seeing was real.
Just down the road, maybe several feet away, he saw Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo in the distance. They were definitely far enough so that they couldn't see or hear him, but that wasn't what caught his attention. There, on the tip of the filly’s nose, was the pink butterfly, the same one that was hovering before him not 20 seconds ago. Rumble stood there and watched as the pink creature stayed on her nose for several seconds before it took off into the air, disappearing into the town.
Rumble sat on his haunches for a moment, looking in the direction that the butterfly had gone. He just sat there, staring into the abyss as his thoughts raced in his head.
That butterfly landed on Sweetie Belle, he thought to himself. It was the same one that flew in front of me. I’m sure of it.
Slowly, the grey Pegasus looked at the ground, barely blinking at all. Could that be a sign for something? Could it mean that she and I have a special connection or something? Can it be that I...and her...are...are...
Before he could finish his thoughts, he shook his head violently and tapped the side of his head with a hoof. Don’t be ridiculous, Rumble thought to himself. We barely even know each other. We can’t possibly...
Rumble’s thoughts drifted as he looked into the sky. His heart began to beat a little faster as the thoughts sank into his mind. As they did, he couldn’t help but let out a sigh.
...or can we? Rumble asked himself.
With the thoughts still in his mind, he turned and began heading back into the inn. As he did, he kept his focus on what he was doing.
Don’t even think about it, he told himself. I’m sure it was just a coincidence.
He opened the door to the inn and began making his way up the stairs to his and his brother’s room.
I’m pretty sure it’s nothing, he kept repeating to himself. I’ll just put this behind me and not even think about it. Besides, it’s not like I’m going to be alone with her anytime soon.
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interesting love triangle you have set up.
Rumble, you back off right now, mister!
Is the butterfly in this chapter a reference to the gemmed satyr in the gem trilogy since that was what inspired your fic.
Also, I insert my OC into the stories I write as well. Nothing much, just a passing mention when there are a big crowd of ponies.
3218868 more like a square with a broken side... or a lollipop!
3218868>>3220121
As I stated before, I was thinking more of a rhombus
3219260
I take it you don't want him involved...call it a hunch...
3219609
Actually, "The Sweetest Gem" inspired my fic, not "The Gemmed Saytr", but still, yes, it was a tiny reference. Don't expect this to be as good as that one, though