> Rumble in the Jungle
>  by Minds Eye
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Chapter 1: Abort Mission
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	“-and while the dragon was chasing after Dust Storm the rest of his troops flew up and BAM!”  Rumble flew up and pounded his light gray hooves against the ceiling.  “They drove their spears right into his wing!”

His classmates pounded their desks below him, laughing and cheering on his performance.  Even Miss Cheerilee was beaming up at him.  The feeling was exhilarating.  Dust Storm was one of his favorite pegasi legends, and sharing it with his friends was a treat.  At least, that's what he wanted them to think.  The truth was that this whole shebang was for one pony and one pony alone.

Rumble listed to the side, faking a wing cramp.  “The dragon was wounded!  One wing alone couldn’t hold up his enormous size!  Down he went,” Rumble swung his body side-to-side like a pendulum, dropping down with every swing.  “Down, down, plummeting to the Ear-oof!”

Cheerilee had jumped and pulled him down with a laugh.  “Enough!  That’s enough!”  She set Rumble down on the floor and gave a smile that matched the flowers on her cutie mark.  “Thank you, Rumble, for that enthusiastic book report.  That’s an A+ if I ever saw one!”

He stamped a hoof.  “But I wasn’t finished!”

She gently pushed him towards his desk.  “I know dear, but the day almost is.  I have to make an announcement before I dismiss you all.”

But the epic tale of heroism and romance was incomplete!  Now she wouldn’t get to hear how Dust Storm’s courage finally won him the admiration of his love!  Rumble sighed and walked back to his desk to thunderous applause.  Apple Bloom whistled and whooped.  Featherweight slapped him on the back as he passed.  Rumble took his seat and looked for the one opinion that mattered to him.

Scootaloo turned around and flashed him a smile.

Totally worth it.  It didn’t matter that Cheerilee stopped him anymore.  Get her to notice you by telling a romantic story didn't exactly get to the romantic part, but he would still call Phase I of Operation: Confess His Crush on Scootaloo a success.

Cheerilee cleared her throat and addressed her class in her sing-song voice.  "Alright my little ponies, I'm sure some of you know, but today is a special day.  Scootaloo is celebrating her birthday!  Now I would ask you to sing with me, but I understand that we've all been invited to her party at Sugar Cube Corner tonight!"

The classroom erupted in applause again.  Scootaloo jumped on top of her chair, clasped her front hooves together, and shook them on either side of her head.  Rumble smiled at her, safely behind her back.  She was so cool.

The bell rang to end the school day.  Scootaloo, not surprisingly, dashed out the door with Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle as soon as she could.  Rumble hung back to avoid the rush.  He kept his saddle bag safe and close.  When the crowd thinned out, he went into Phase II.

Rumble slipped into the bathroom.  He knew nothing bad had happened, but the saddle bag was out of his sight for a whole twenty minutes at recess.  Thankfully, he was nervous for no reason.  The purple flower he bought that morning was still resting on top of his books.  It still smelled as sweet and looked as perfect as ever when he pulled it out.  Rumble set it aside and pulled out his comb.

He worked it through his black mane while going over his plan again.  Scootaloo was a hands-on filly, so she would probably be at Sugar Cube Corner to help with her own party.  His entry point would be the second floor; he knew Pinkie Pie usually left her window open during the day.  If she was still in her room, he would throw something shiny on the floor to distract her.  Then he would move down to the first floor.  If he was fast enough, not too many ponies would have arrived.  He’d find Scootaloo, hopefully alone, give her the flower, and tell her his feelings.  If she rejected him, or if he just made things weird, he’d bow out and the party would go on.  It was a good plan.

Except for that stupid flower!  The more he thought about it, the less he liked it.  Rumble bought it because it was purple, and that girlie magazine of Cloudchaser’s he flipped through mentioned something about “Bringing out your eye color.”  Except it didn’t match her eye color!  Or...Or did it?  Rumble dropped his comb with a disgusted sigh.  She smiled right at him five minutes ago!  How could he not remember her eye color?

His stomach twisted in knots.  The flower just looked so pathetic lying on the bathroom counter.  That was supposed to impress Scootaloo?  Scootaloo, the filly that hung out with Rainbow Dash?  The filly that risked life and limb in the quest for her cutie mark while he did nothing about his own blank flank?  She was awesome, and he...helped Rainbow Dash with the tornado that one time.  And...Yeah.

She was going to laugh in his face.  Her friends would laugh in his face.  Every guest that came to the party would hear the story of what he tried to do and laugh in his face.  Scootaloo would tell them all personally because it would be that hilarious to her.

What was he thinking?

You have to try and not think.  A jolt went through Rumble's body.  His brother’s voice played in his mind again.  You won’t be able to trust yourself.  Your guts will turn against you.  Your heart will tell you both “go” and “no.”  Your head will focus on one little thing and turn it into a litany of problems.  You’re going to feel like you’re on a chopping block, and every instinct in your body will scream at you to STAY AWAY.

That was exactly how he felt.  Again, Rumble was impressed that Thunderlane actually knew what he was talking about.  That was the second time today he tried to talk himself out of his plan.  The first was before he launched into his performance of Dust Storm’s story, and that earned him a smile from Scootaloo.  He had nothing to worry about.  After all, he still had his secret weapon.

Rumble reached back into his bag and pulled out a strip of black cloth.  He first deployed it the previous night when Flitter and Cloudchaser joined the two brothers for dinner.  Rumble could still hear their giggles as he wrapped the cloth around the back of his neck.  Looking back, wearing it last night was probably the smartest decision he had ever made.  It prompted the conversation that led the three older ponies to help him hammer out his plan.  Rumble considered himself lucky to have their help, and finished tying the knot in front of his throat.

The bow tie was ready to go.

Rumble slid the stem of Scootaloo’s flower between the tie and his neck, holding it in place under the left side of his chin.  He took a deep breath and studied himself in the mirror.  Mane combed down, bow tie in place, flower kept safe yet ready to go; he thought he looked good.  Phase II, Look like you know what you’re doing, was complete.

Now all he had to do was get out of the bathroom.  Yep, getting out of the bathroom was the next step on his way to Sugar Cube Corner.  On the count of three he was going to get out of the bathroom and put himself on that chopping block.  Actually, should he use the bathroom before leaving the bathroom?  Were there any other bathrooms he could use on the way to-

SLAP!

Rumble rubbed his cheek with the same hoof he used to slap it.  He was doing it again!  He had to get out of here before he started wondering why they were called bathrooms with no bath tubs.  Now that he mentioned it...

No!  Rumble grabbed his bag, turned, and charged out of the bathroom, forcing his feet to move faster than his brain.  Miss Cheerilee jumped back as the door blasted open.  “Oh, Rumble!  You’re still here.  I thought I heard a noise and-what is...?”  Cheerilee’s eyes dropped to his neck.  She blushed and raised a hoof to her mouth.

Rumble stared her down until her smile spread past her hoof and Cheerilee doubled over in giggles.  She actually sat down in one of the kids’ desks to support herself.  Rumble smirked and trotted past her to the exit, his doubts once again erased.  All three mares he knew best in Ponyville couldn’t contain themselves at the sight of his new accessory.  No filly could resist the bow tie!

He stepped out onto the playground with high hopes and eager anticipation.  Other colts and fillies played on the equipment before going home.  Featherweight tried to wave him over, but Rumble just waved back and trotted on.  He was focused, he was on a mission, and nothing could stop him!

“Oh, Diamond Tiara, would you look at that bow tie?”

“Uck, colts today.  They have no sense of fashion.”

Rumble stopped in his tracks.  What?!  He spun around to see two fillies, one pink and the other gray, one wearing a tiara and the other glasses.  They were walking towards him, eyeing him with a hunger and showing smiles that didn’t quite reach the rest of their faces.  He knew their names, Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon, but he never really talked with them before.

Silver Spoon lowered her face, looking over the rim of her glasses.  “Looking at it from the front, it’s even worse.”

Diamond Tiara studied Rumble, and a light went off in her eyes.  “Hey, you’re the one who gave the book report at the end of class.  Bumble, right?”

“N-No, it’s Rumble.”

”Stumble, got it,” Diamond Tiara corrected herself.  “That’s a good name, because that’s what you were about to do.”

Rumble froze as the two girls began to circle him, examining him head-to-toe, never changing their expressions.  “What do you mean?”

Diamond Tiara ignored him.  “What do you think, Silver Spoon?  There were Pinkie Pie sightings all over Ponyville at school kids’ houses yesterday, the quiet colt suddenly launches into a grand performance, and now he walks out in his own little version of formal wear.  Coincidence?”

“I doubt it,” the gray filly answered.  “He’s trying to woo the birthday girl!  But...he’s missing something.  Where’s the gift?”

“That is a good point.  Doesn’t he know anything about Scootaloo?  He’ll need something big to impress her.”

He was starting to sweat.  The spotlight of the fillies’ stares saw right through him, revealing every flaw in him, pulling up every doubt he had about this day.  “She...never seemed like that type of filly to me.  Are you sure?”

Diamond Tiara passed his field of vision, and Silver Spoon took her place.  "You're doubting us?  Us?  The most popular fillies in school?  Of course we're sure.  We know Scootaloo better than you do."

That made sense.  He saw these two talking with Scootaloo and her friends plenty of times before.  The circle continued, bringing Diamond Tiara back in front of him.  "You better have something besides books in that bag of yours."

Oh, he was sunk.  "I...I got her this flower."

"That?!"  Diamond Tiara snatched the flower away from his neck and glared at it in fury.  "A flower?  A flower?  You think you can impress a girl that easily?"

Silver Spoon walked around to take the flower herself.  Her lip curled up in disgust.  "It's not...even...a rose."  She dropped her hoof, letting Scootaloo's flower fall to the ground.

Rumble's body started to shake as he watched it lie in the dirt.  "M-Miss Roseluck was charging three bits for a rose.  I-I didn't have enough after buying the tie and-"

A gray hoof reached out and pulled on an end of his tie, undoing the knot.  "This little rat tail set you back that much?"

Rumble jumped back, slapping her hoof away.  "Flitter and Cloudchaser liked it!  Miss Cheerilee liked it!  Scootaloo probably will too!"

Diamond Tiara gave a joyless laugh.  "Easy there, Dumble," she said, walking forward.  "We saw the whole thing before you walked out of school.  Cheerilee wasn't giving you an 'Oh, that's cute' laugh.  It was more of a...more of a..."  She waved her hoof in a circle, trying to think of a word.

Silver Spoon stepped in.  "It was a 'This foal is going to humiliate himself, and he doesn't even know it' kind of laugh.  She doubled over and covered her face, right?  She was so embarrassed for you that she couldn't even bear the sight of your face."

The pink filly put a hoof on his shoulder.  "Is that what Flitter and Cloudchaser did?  Come to think of it, isn't Cloudchaser dating your brother?  Can you really trust them to give you an honest opinion?"

He was sure that the two fillies could hear the last of his spirit breaking like glass.

"Now this," Diamond Tiara said, "is an important question.  The most important question you have to answer right now.  How many bits do you have?"  One, but Rumble didn't say that.  He just bowed his head and didn't answer at all.  The two fillies shared a sigh.  Diamond Tiara leaned in closer to whisper in his ear.  "You don't have a prayer do you?"

He shook his head.

Silver Spoon joined him on his other side.  "Oh, don't be like that.  Did Dust Storm give up that quickly?"  Rumble's head snapped to the side.  The gray filly smiled and continued.  "Didn't you say he wasn't rich enough for the chief's daughter?  That's why he went to smite the dragon, to prove his worth to her and her father."

"That's right," Diamond Tiara said in his other ear.  "You can't buy Scootaloo anything impressive, so you'll just have to do something impressive."

"And we had just the thing in mind."

Rumble turned his head back and forth as they spoke.  "You...You do?  You'll actually help me with Scootaloo?"

There was a chuckle on Diamond Tiara's side.  "We all want Scootaloo to have a memorable party, don't we?"

"So here's what we were thinking," Silver Spoon began.  "You know how Mr. Cake always carries out the giant cake when every pony starts to sing Happy Birthday, right?  That will be the perfect time for you!"

Rumble was confused.  "The perfect time for what?"

"A stunt!  After all, you know who her idol is, don't you?"

"It will be the one moment in the whole party when every pony is focused in one place," Diamond Tiara explained.  "It's your chance to show Scootaloo your stuff.  Dive!  Flip!  Roll!  Bounce from wall to wall!  Make Rainbow Dash green with envy!"

Rumble was even more confused.  "That...doesn't sound right.  I mean, that's supposed to be Scootaloo's moment.  And wouldn't that distract Mr. Cake?  If he dropped the cake that would ruin everything."  Suddenly, Rumble felt under the spotlight again.  The fillies glared at him, and then looked to each other.

"I think he's doubting us again, Silver Spoon.  Can you believe that?"

"I guess that's what we get for helping little boys in affairs of the heart."

"You have a choice to make," the pink filly hissed, squeezing his shoulder as hard as she could.  "You won't get anywhere if you can't get Scootaloo to notice you."

"That is so true.  No risk means no reward."

The two fillies started walking away, heading back to the playground.  Diamond Tiara looked over her shoulder as she went.  "I think we all agree that Little Miss Blank Flank deserves the best."  One of her hooves crushed the little flower.  "How about it, Mumble?  Can you look me in the eye and tell me you're the best for Scootaloo?"

Rumble couldn't.  He couldn't even look at them.  His eyes stayed on the flower until they were gone, and a breeze carried off the purple petals.  All he could do was turn and make for Ponyville, head down, tail trailing in the dust behind him.

> Chapter 2: The Legend of Rumble
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Rumble plodded through the streets of Ponyville, taking care to avoid Sugar Cube Corner, thinking of life and love.  He couldn't make sense of it all.  There were too many questions, too many problems, too many ideas.

He thought he had a good plan.  The three ponies he trusted most in this town even helped him with it.  One of them was single mare herself, and the other two were dating each other.  One was where Scootaloo was, and the other two were where he wanted Scootaloo and him to be.  Shouldn't their ideas count for a lot?

He did still have one bit left to buy another flower...

But Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon destroyed that plan.  They didn't even know all the details, and they still dissected him and left him a shell of a colt.  They saw him just as Scootaloo would see him, a colt in a silly bow tie with a silly flower asking for a date.  Not only were they the same age as his crush, they even knew her better than he did.  If they tore him apart, wouldn't Scootaloo?

The bow tie hung loose around his neck, both ends dangling by his face.  He already wore it twice.  It didn't feel right trying to return it for a refund.  So, he was stuck with his one and only bit.  Buying Scootaloo a better gift was out of the question.

This left him only with the desperate plan of doing something crazy to get Scootaloo’s attention.  That...seemed...childish, but he...was a kid.  But would it even work?  Did fillies really go for stuff like that?  Sure, Dust Storm took off to fight a dragon in his legend, but it was a dragon.  It was kind of a pressing issue that some pony needed to take care of.  Besides, there were no dragons around Ponyville.

Actually, there was, but whaling on Spike for no good reason would just be mean.

Plus, Rumble thought Spike was a pretty cool guy.

Rumble needed help, and he had no idea where to turn to get it.  Thunderlane and Cloudchaser had already weighed in.  Miss Cheerilee wasn't dating any pony that he knew of.  The only other ponies in town that he knew had any romantic ties were the Cakes, and there was no way in Tartauros he was showing his face around Sugar Cube Corner until the party was over, or he had a new, solid plan.

His parents were the only other option, but they weren't much of one.  They still lived in Cloudsdale, and they didn't want him flying all the way there alone just yet.  He'd have to go with Thunderlane, but even that would take the rest of the day.  There was no way they would get back in time for the party, so there was no reason to rush to Cloudsdale.

Homes and stores grew farther and farther apart as he reached the outskirts of town.  Thunderlane's house was getting closer.  Rumble picked his head up, inhaling deeply.  The air was so much fresher in this part of town that he felt it made him think clearer.  He needed that boost now.  Now that he thought about it, he wondered if the closer proximity to the Everfree Forest helped recycle the air-

The Everfree Forest!

"Oooooooh," Rumble gasped.  The Everfree Forest was filled with all sorts of creatures and monsters.  And Rumble was, after all, a pegasus.  Of the three tribes of ponies, the pegasi were the warriors.  All of the legends-and not just legends, but histories!-that he read stressed that fact.  Every great pegasi, male or female, had a part in their story about trials, or tests.  Made-up or real, from Dust Storm to Commander Hurricane, they all had to prove themselves.  And there was one doozy of a proving ground right outside his hometown.

This might just be the smartest and dumbest thought he ever thought.

He would go into the Everfree Forest.  He would find...something.  A special kind of flower, or a gem, or maybe a funny looking rock, he would just find a trophy of some kind to prove he was there and bring it back to Scootaloo.  A rite of passage.  He would do something crazy to get her to notice him, and the party would be safe from any catastrophe on his part.  Worst case scenario, he would chicken out and stay home all night.  That, if he was being honest with himself, was what he was planning right now anyway.

First, he would need supplies.  And to drop off his books, they wouldn't do him any good in the forest.  He would have to go home.  Thunderlane would be waiting for him, and that would be an interesting conversation.  Would his brother even let him go?  Well, that would be his first challenge.

Rumble finally reached home and pushed the door open.  Cloudchaser's voice ripped through his eardrums.  "NO, THUNDERLANE!"

"I can't smell it on this side of the house yet!  More cheese, woman!"

The voices died down to reveal the sound of hissing steam from the kitchen on the left side of the house, and the bathroom door opening and closing on his right.  Rumble sighed and dropped his saddlebag by the door and headed for the staircase leading to his bedroom at the back of the living room.  Thunderlane's body cut in front of it on his way back to the kitchen, gray mane and black coat the opposite order of his brother's.  His head turned to look at Rumble, back to the hallway in front of him, and snapped back to Rumble, wide eyed.

"Whoa!"  Thunderlane ran a nervous hoof through his mohawk before walking to his brother.  "H-Hey, Rumble.  How are you?"

"Not great," he admitted, making his way to the staircase.

"Oof."  Thunderlane stopped him with a hoof on his shoulder.  "I'm sorry, Bro.  I know how much it stings.  Cloudchaser and I just made some soup if you want a bowl?"

"No, I'm on my way to-"

Cloudchaser's voice cut him off.  "Thunderlane, who are you talking to?"

"Rumble," his brother answered with a slight hesitation.

A bowl clattered on the floor.  The sound of beating wings and rushing wind filled the house.  Cloudchaser burst into the room, her silver, spiked mane actually lying flat for a split second until it caught up with the rest of her.  She stopped for a moment until her eyes landed on Rumble.

Rumble braced himself.  Cloudchaser zoomed in and wrapped him up, squeezing him tight for a moment before letting him go, keeping her front hooves around him.  She sat on the floor next to him with a rueful smile.  "I'm so sorry, Rumble.  She didn't go for the bow tie?"

"She..."  Lie.  LIE.  Don't tell them what's going on, or what you're planning.  Just LIE.  "She didn't see the bow tie."  How did she do that?  One quick squeeze, not too long or too short, and a sympathetic smile later, and he couldn't hold back from her.

Cloudchaser raised an eyebrow.  "But you're wearing it.  That...is it, isn't it?"

"He didn't go!"  Thunderlane stepped next to his marefriend, looking down at Rumble.  He didn't look angry, or disappointed, but genuinely surprised.

Cloudchaser looked the same way.  "Oh, Rumble, what happened?  You were so sure of the plan last night!"

He felt under a spotlight again, and he didn't like it.  "It wasn't impressive enough."  With that, he stood up and started to walk around the pair in front of him.

Thunderlane moved to block him.  "Oh, no you don't.  This is your first crush, Bro.  Trust me, this isn't going to get any easier the longer you wait.  If you don't ask her, you'll just feel this exact same way with the next filly.  And then the next.  And then the next."

"You should listen to him, Rumble.  He knows what he's talking about.  You should have seen him babble like a lunatic when he asked me out.  I said yes out of pity."

Rumble stuffed a hoof in his mouth to stop his laughter.  Thunderlane shot a glare over his head.  "Don't lie to the kid like that."

Cloudchaser poked her head into Rumble's sight, looking at him.  "Come on, Big Bro, he's smiling now."  She sat down in front of him again.  "Do you want to know what Flitter told me on our way home last night?  She said that if Scootaloo turned you down she would chew her out herself, right in front of Rainbow Dash, or those two friends of hers, or any pony if she had to.  Neither of us have had a colt do for us what you're thinking of doing for Scootaloo.  You'll make her day; I just know you will."

"I'm still trying to make her day."  Rumble flicked his eyes back and forth between them as he spoke.  "I'm not giving up.  Something better just came to mind."

"Oh?  What's that?"

Rumble grinned and hovered up to their eye level.  "I, Rumble, will venture alone into the Everfree Forest!"  He spun, dramatically pointing his hoof in the forest's direction.  "There I will fight monsters, brave dangers, and find a trophy worthy of Scootaloo!"

He hung in the air, holding his pose, until he heard Thunderlane's voice.  "I told you not to buy him those stupid books!"  Rumble turned in anger, and Thunderlane matched the fire in his eyes.  "Don't look at me like that.  What are you thinking, kid?  You can play Fantasy outside anytime.  This is her birthday!  You-"

"And I want to give her the best present that I can!  I'll go to the party when I'm ready to go to the party."

"And I," Cloudchaser said, stepping between the brothers, "think I left the stove on.  Thunderlane, could you check that to make sure nothing boils over?"

With a grunt, his brother headed for the kitchen.  Rumble started his way up the stairs, followed by Cloudchaser.  She climbed beside him, looking on in concern.  "You sound different today.  Yesterday, the bow tie was 'cool,' and you were going to find a flower 'as pretty as her eyes,' but now you think you can do better?  You wanted to do something special for her, but now today is about staying away until you get her the best gift you can?  Rumble, what happened?"

He was stripped down to the inadequate core of his being, but he couldn't say that.  He absolutely did not want Flitter chewing out Scootaloo for saying no, and the last thing he needed was a scene like that with Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon.  "I...I'm just not good enough for her."

"That isn't up to you.  That decision is no pony's but hers.  Do you want me to find Flitter?  She can give you some pointers if she's finished with her weather-"

"It won't make a difference."

They reached the top of the stairs.  Rumble started walking to his room, and Cloudchaser didn't follow.  "You're dead set on this, huh?  All the planning and pining you've done, and now you're going to go play outside.  You don't think you're good enough for her, and your response is to go play outside?"

Rumble smiled to himself.  She could have said that last bit a lot harsher.  "I won't be playing; I'll be searching."

Cloudchaser sighed and shook her head.  "Alright.  Just...I need to run home for a minute.  Don't leave until I get back, OK?"  She turned and flew downstairs without waiting for a reply.

Rumble pushed open the door to his room, pulling off the cloth around the back of his neck and dropping it on the floor.  Despite the clutter of books on a small table, and the unmade bed, and the few toys and games scattered on the floor, the room felt empty to him.

It was the walls, he thought.  They were sky blue, but there was almost nothing on them.  He asked Thunderlane about repainting them, maybe just a few gobs of white to look like clouds, but they hadn't done it yet.  There was a grand total of one thing decorating the four walls combined.

Rumble paused and looked over the framed picture again.  It showed a newly empty Ponyville reservoir in the background, and three ponies smiling in front of it.  Flitter and Cloudchaser stood close together with Rumble sitting on their shoulders, his forelegs raised in triumph.  Tornado Day was the one shining moment of his life.

And that was the problem.

Other colts and fillies had stuff on their walls.  Pictures for memories, or ribbons to show they did something, or trophies to show they won something, but Rumble only had the one thing.  As much as he loved learning about the history of his tribe, he just felt so small reading epic story after epic story.  There were more achievements on any one page of any one book in his room than he had to show for his entire life.

That changed today.

He heard the front door open and close.  Thunderlane's voice immediately cried out, "You know you're an idiot, right?!"

Rumble snapped, turning to shout out the door.  "You didn't try to impress Cloudchaser?!"

"I impressed Cloudchaser by spending time with Cloudchaser!  You're gonna go flying around doing who-knows-what.  Oh, sorry!  You're going to the Everfree Forest to find a trophy!  What did I tell you Rumble?  You're trying to find reasons not to talk to this girl!"

"I am going to talk to the girl!"

"When?  After you conquer the forest?"

"Well it might be quicker for me if I had a weapon!"

"Oh, not this again!"

"You said you'd buy me a spear!"

"I did buy you a spear!"

"It broke!"

"It was plastic!  You threw it against a rock!  What did you think would happen?"

He didn't have time for this.  The Everfree Forest was waiting for him.  Rumble marched to his closet and pulled out a pack of camping equipment his parents bought for him when he moved down to Earth.  Thunderlane helped him pitch the tent outside a couple of times, but he never really used the whole set before.  He pulled out the empty canteen and slung it over his shoulder, hanging it on his right side.

When he turned around, Thunderlane was in his room, holding out a thermos.  "Here, take some soup.  You'll get hungry."

"Thanks."  Rumble hooked the thermos on the canteen strap, dangling it on his left side for balance.

Thunderlane looked like he wanted to say more, but he held himself back as best he could.  "You're making a mistake.  I just want you to hear that.  You'll regret not going to the party."

He stepped to the side, letting Rumble leave.  Rumble left without looking back.  He trotted down the stairs and headed for the kitchen to fill his canteen.  Thunderlane followed him in, turning his attention back to the pot of soup.  The two brothers parted quietly.  There was nothing left to say.  Thunderlane said his piece, and words wouldn't be what proved him wrong.  Rumble left the house promising himself that no matter what, he would remember this day for the rest of his life.

"Wait!"  Rumble turned to see Cloudchaser coming in for a landing.  "I told you not to leave until I got back!"

"Ah, Thunderlane was being a jerk.  He doesn't think-whoa!  What is that?!"

Cloudchaser grinned and held out a wooden short sword.  "It's dangerous to go alone!  Take this."

Rumble's jaw dropped.  He slowly reached out and took the hilt with both front hooves.  They fit nicely under the hoof guard.  The "blade" was short, only about half the length of his body.  That actually worked to his advantage.  The smaller size and weight made it easier to wield with his hooves.  A few practice swings proved that.

Rumble hovered in the air and held the sword straight over his head.  "This...is so cool!  Where did you get this?"

Cloudchaser laughed.  "Some punk colt tried chasing me and Flitter around with it when we were growing up.  We got fed up, snatched it from him, and knocked him senseless with it.  We just kinda...kept it.  Anyway, it's yours now."

No way!  "This-This is awesome!  Thank you!"

"It's yours on two conditions.  First, I don't want to hear one word from Fluttershy about you messing with her animals."

"You won't!  What's the second?"  Even though he asked, he was pretty sure he knew.

"You talk to Scootaloo.  Tonight."

"Done."

Cloudchaser blinked in surprise a few times, and then she smiled.  "Alright then!  It's yours.  Go, find your confidence."  With that, she went back into the house.

Oh, he would find more than confidence.  Rumble slid the sword over his right shoulder, under the canteen strap.  He practiced drawing and replacing his new tool a few times to get the hang of it.  A few quick climbs and dives in the air got him used to the feeling of all his equipment.  Then, with a whoop, Rumble back flipped and took off for the Everfree Forest.

He was ready.

> Chapter 3: When All you have is a Hammer...
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	So...now what, genius?

Rumble trotted along the beaten path of the forest, willingly crossing the maw of trees like a bug entering a fly-trap.  He couldn't stay on the path forever, though.  It left him exposed to any surrounding predators, but they would have to reveal themselves to attack, hopefully giving him enough warning to fly out of reach.  It was a stalemate at best, and that wasn't what he came for.

But where would he go?  He had one place in mind: the castle of the Royal Pony Sisters.  What could be better than an abandoned castle in the middle of nowhere filled to the brim with treasures and relics from centuries past?  In theory, it was perfect.  In reality, it had been done before.  Also, the rumor around town was that Princess Twilight and her friends were renovating it.  Blazing his way down a trail already blazed only to snatch an item that might be noticed missing didn't sound like a good idea.

Rumble looked up to the sky.  The narrow alley between the trees that he was following left him a clear path upwards for now.  The canopy was closing, however.  If he wanted to take a look from the air he needed to do it sooner than later.  He dismissed the thought, thinking he could get to the sky whenever he wanted.  All Rumble would have to do was dodge a few branches, fly through some leaves, and he would be gone.  But what fun would that be?

The path curved left ahead of him.  Rumble decided to keep going straight, but his view of the forest ahead was obstructed by a curtain of vines and shrubs.  He grinned with anticipation.  There was only one thing to do.

With one quick motion, Rumble pulled out his sword and swung it in a low arc, cutting from right to left.  A thousand little snaps marked his weapon's progress.  The small twigs in the bush in front of him couldn't stand up to his thicker wooden blade.  Again and again he swung until the shrub was cut down, and he could walk under the dangling vines overhead.

The cool shade welcomed him.  Rumble's skin tingled at the sensation.  It felt so inviting, the shade, but he knew he was more vulnerable than ever now.  The electricity of the moment made him smile.  He was doing it!  It was weird to feel so alive while standing still, but he was doing it!  When he stepped into the shade, he stepped into his own personal legend.  There were things in this forest that would literally eat him alive, and Rumble was going to match himself against them.

But, even though he was one little colt who willingly came alone into a forest filled with more things that could kill him than he could count with no protection but a club of a sword, he wasn't stupid.

Rumble flew up and pulled himself onto a tree branch.  He put his sword back in its place and balanced on the branch, walking towards the end.  Rumble jumped over to another branch on another tree.  He stumbled and quickly flapped his wings once to right himself.  His eyes were already scanning ahead, looking for the next branch.  As long as he could keep this up, he could keep his wings fresh for an emergency.

He stopped and looked down after his next jump, keeping an eye out for any animals.  Rumble knew he wouldn't stand a chance against the brutes, the apex predators.  The manticores, the ursas, the cragadiles, he would just be a pesky fly to them.  If he kept off the forest floor, and out of their way, he would be OK.  They wouldn't waste their time and energy on him.

Rumble was more concerned with the monsters the next level down.  Running into a pack of timberwolves would suck.  They might be the fastest and smartest things in the whole forest.  A cockatrice would also be bad news.  Turning to stone was easy enough to avoid, just don’t look at them, but that left the obvious problem of not seeing the monster right next to you.  There were others, but thankfully, like the big boys, none of them could follow him into the air.  Maybe a cockatrice could, but Rumble was sure he could outfly one.  They didn’t sound very aerodynamic.

His biggest fear, by far, was the flying monkeys.  One, they could fly, obviously.  Two, they were monkeys, and monkeys just creeped him out.  Third, they had no weaknesses that he knew of.  Of course, as Rumble paused to take a sip from his canteen, he couldn’t remember ever reading about them at all.  He probably never would have heard about them if...Thunderlane...didn’t mention them when he first moved to Ponyville.  Rumble facehoofed and sat down.  Scratch one fear.

Overall, this place wasn’t so bad.  Rumble leaned against the trunk of his tree and took another mouthful of water, planning his next move.  The colors of the forest were no longer so vibrant.  Everything seemed a blend of gray and green and brown, except for a few rare spots of sunshine piercing the leaves overhead.

The forest itself seemed to be changing.  The trees ahead of him were getting taller.  Thick, gray walls of moss were starting to decorate their branches, blocking his view through them.  It wasn't just the vegetation that he noticed, either.  The longer Rumble sat, the more sounds his ears picked up.  Insects buzzed through the air.  Scurrying footsteps of smaller animals pounded the brush below.  Leaves were rustling over his head.  

Finally!

Rumble jumped to his feet and turned, right hoof resting on the hilt of his sword.  What beast was coming for him?  It had to be something small being this high in the tree, but quick and agile, like him.  Was it some swift bird of prey?  Maybe an ugly buzzard coming to defend his perch?  The rustling grew louder, and Rumble waited.

A pair of blue birds flew away, chirping happily.

Blue birds lived in the Everfree Forest?  Rumble was helpless to stop his laughter.  Maybe he could bring Scootaloo bird watching.  Why was every pony so afraid of this place?  To hear the old mares talk, you'd think there was nothing but toothy death three steps in.  With a sigh, Rumble turned and took a running start to jump to the next tree.  He just had to go deeper.

Rumble stretched out and grabbed the next branch.  A shrill, head-splitting shriek immediately shut his brain down.  The sound bounced within his skull.  His entire body reverberated under the continuous assault.  Rumble went numb, limply grabbing at his ears to try and stop the flow of pain.  After what felt like minutes, the terrible scream gradually faded away, and for that he was grateful.

Until he hit the ground.  The wooden sword bit deeply into the length of his back.  Rumble would have screamed himself if the impact didn't drive the air out of his body.  He arched his back before rolling onto his side, legs pulled against his chest.  Every breath was a burning labor, and Rumble held back the tears in his eyes.

What...in Equestria...was that?!

It didn't matter.  He was on the ground.  Noise meant attention.  He wasn't ready for any more attention.  Get off the ground!

In spite of his dizziness, Rumble forced himself up.  His head spun, sending him stumbling into the tree trunk.  Again, the horrifying scream bellowed down on him.  Rumble fell back down, clutching his head, trying to keep the sound out.  He rolled dumbly on the ground.  Away, away, he just had to get away!

His back hit another tree trunk.  Rumble instinctively curled up with his head buried in his chest and under his forelegs.  Silence.  Tentatively, his head emerged from its hiding place.  The forest was completely silent.  In a panic, Rumble scraped the bark behind him with his hoof.  He heard the sound, so he wasn’t deaf.

What did he do?  Rumble got to his feet more slowly this time, studying the tree in front of him.  Did...the tree itself scream like that?  The sound only came after he touched it.  He never heard anything like this before, either that horrible sound, or anything that could possibly make it.  This was a mystery, and mysteries were just asking to be solved.

This could be it!  He might have found something new, something no pony had seen before!  Rumble took several cautious steps forward.  There was no reaction.  It didn’t make any sense; Rumble was just inches away from the blasted thing.  Did the tree only react to touch?  And if that was the case, did it matter what touched it?  Rumble's right hoof rose to the hilt over his shoulder.  Here goes nothing.

The dull thud of wood striking wood rang out, and was immediately interrupted by the expected screech.  Rumble grit his teeth and endured, looking up to investigate.  A bulbous gray shape fell out of the tree and plummeted to the ground below.  What the-?!

Rumble jumped forward, pressing himself against the tree.  The gray mass hit the ground behind him, and he bucked his hind legs as hard as he could, knocking it away.  A fourth scream split his skull when his kick connected.  It was alive, whatever it was.  Rumble turned to face this beast he found.  His determined gaze met the infuriated eyes of the creature before him.  All six of them.

Two sets of three solid, cold blue eyes were set diagonally, the bottom pair closest together.  A pair of mandibles right under them snapped together from the sides.  Eight long legs covered in gray hairs spread out to support the biggest spider Rumble had ever seen.  The segmented body was at least as big as he was, and each leg was easily that length again.

The sword nearly fell out of his trembling hooves.  His wings refused his command to spread.  Every nerve and muscle in his body was paralyzed by the sight of the monstrosity glaring at him.  For the love of all that was holy, was this thing really what-

The spider shrieked and leaped, spreading out all eight legs to ensnare him.  Rumble dove forward, rolling over his shoulder and under the monster.  When he got to his feet and looked back, the spider stood on the tree trunk.  The head tilted back, giving Rumble a clear view of the top pair of blue eyes.  Oh, no.

The beast sprang backwards, twisting in midair to come down on top of Rumble.  The colt tripped over his hooves trying to make a hasty retreat.  Rumble fell.  A scream of triumph blasted down on him.  At the last moment, he thrust his sword upwards to meet his enemy.  His blade sunk deep into the soft underbelly.  The scream died with a blast of hot air in Rumbles face, the crushing mandibles inches away from his snout.

Rumble held firm, feeling the spider struggle weakly.  Instead of the hated screaming, Rumble only heard a sharp hiss of an inhale.  He threw himself to the side, pulling his forelegs along to throw the spider off of his sword.  The eight legged freak fell over to its back and wrapped its legs to protect its body.  Rumble seized the advantage, raining down blows on the winded monster.

Three strokes smashed into the creature's head.  His sword suddenly stopped cold on the downswing of a fourth.  One long claw partially hidden in gray hair hooked around the blade.  Rumble tried to pull it free, but the spider was too strong.  He did nothing but waste time until the spider could recover.

A swipe from one of its powerful legs sent him flying.  Rumble flapped his wings and managed to right himself before his body could crush his thermos or canteen.  His sword clattered to halt on his left.  Rumble dove for it and stood up, ready for the spider's next charge.

But it didn't move.  The spider stood where it just got up itself and screamed again.  It spread the front four legs out wide, one to the left, one to the right, and two overhead.  Another scream followed as the back four legs carried it side-to-side.

Rumble took the invitation and charged.  He wings propelled him, and he took aim at the leg on the left.  If he could break the legs, the monster wouldn't be able to move or attack.  He brought the sword overhead and zeroed in on a narrow joint.  Rumble swung down, only to be blocked by the two overhead legs.  The two claws wrapped around his hooves.

Not again!  Rumble kicked in the air until the other two legs slammed into his chest.  The strength of the push sent him flying back the way he came.  He hit the ground hard, flipping backwards and skidding to a halt on his stomach.  Dazed, Rumble stood up before he realized his sword was missing.  The spider still held it, and with a flick of its legs, the sword was sent spinning through the air.  Rumble managed to get his hooves in front of his face before it smashed into his muzzle.  The spider's throw was still strong enough to knock him backwards again.

Rumble stayed down this time, watching the spider carefully.  To his surprise, the monster chose not to attack him.  It backed up slowly to its tree and began to climb, never taking its eyes off of Rumble.  The legs moved one at a time all the way up the trunk until the massive creature slowly disappeared in the gray moss.  Rumble let out a heavy sigh and panted for breath.  Every muscle burned as the adrenaline of the fight wore off.

He just got his flank kicked.  There was no nice way to put it.  There was no way to avoid it.  He had no idea what he was getting into, and he got his tail handed to him on a platter.

The only silver lining was that nothing else came along during the fight.  The giants in the forest would have a field day with him right now.  Although, with that thing around, he couldn't blame them for not showing up.  It would still be a good idea to get off the ground.

In a minute...

Again, Rumble struggled to stand.  The spider was completely hidden from his sight.  Was that what all the moss was for?  The forest was blanketed with the stuff now.  Rumble looked up and took a slow step towards another tree.  With a menacing hiss, six blue eyes emerged from the gray strands hanging overhead.  This one probably saw the whole scuffle Rumble had with the other one.

Rumble stepped back, and the eyes returned behind their curtain.  He tried to weigh his options.  For the moment, he was relatively safe.  These things seemed content to leave him alone if he left them alone, and that worked just fine for him now.  He could push further into the forest, hoping that the spiders really were keeping the big predators away.  If he was wrong about that, he seriously doubted the spiders would let him get to the sky through the upper branches easily.  The other choice was to return to the path and try his luck in another section of the forest.

What did it matter where he was in the forest?  Better to stay on the path he knew than one that could be worse, right?  He really didn't have a clear plan or goal in mind anyway.  The first seed of doubt began to sprout in Rumble's heart at that realization.  He crushed it as best as he could.  He made his choice.  Second guessing himself led him here in the first place.  This was one plan he would see through to the end.

Rumble checked his gear, sheathed his sword, and pushed on.


> Chapter 4: Survival of the Fittest
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	You're making a mistake.  You'll regret not going to the party.

Thunderlane's words ate at Rumble's mind.  He was pressed against the rough bark of a rare moss-free tree.  His breath was shallow and quiet; his head tilted to side to let his eyes glimpse the thing moving on the other side of the tree trunk.  It was tall, taller than any pony he had ever seen, but that wasn't what surprised him the most.

It was a bucking plant.

There was no other word for what he was seeing.  The thing had a long, slender body topped with an oval shaped... head.  There were no eyes, no ears, no mouth, no arms, and with the exception of one pink spot dead center where a face should be, it was completely dark green.  Numerous roots snaked along the ground, digging in and pulling the body forward in short but fast bursts.

Rumble's thrill of discovery vanished with the shrieking spider.  He didn't care what this thing was, where it was going, or why it was going there.  Rumble just wanted it out of his way so he could keep moving.  His pride hurt more when he stood still.  He licked his wounds as best he could while waiting for the plant to pass him by.

The spider was bigger, stronger, and faster than he was.  It also had the advantage of its distracting and disorienting scream.  And it had experience on its side!  Who knew how many creatures it battled in the past?  Against all odds, Rumble landed some good smacks and got out alive.  He fought well.

But the spider let him go...

Good thing, too!  The whole fight was silly, really.  The spider started the fight in the first place!  Rumble hit the tree, not the spider.  If it just kept quiet Rumble would have passed on and nothing would have happened.

Although it gave him two clear warnings that something was wrong...

It shouldn't have screamed the first time!  Rumble was just trying to get through the forest.  He wouldn't have thought twice about one single tree.

He still invaded the spider's home...

Rumble snarled in disgust at himself.  How was he the good guy in this?  He stepped out from behind his hiding spot and crossed the small trail the plant-beast-thing made, resolving again to follow this quest he set for himself.  He couldn't go back to Ponyville like this.  Thunderlane was never going to hear the whole truth of the spider fight, but Rumble's pride still wouldn't-

Whip cracks snapped Rumble's reverie.  He turned in shock to see roots wrapped around his hiding place.  The tree bent under their pressure as they pulled in the body of the moving plant.  The head on the body blossomed into five pink petals, each one covered in long, thin...things.  Needles?  Rumble couldn't make them out.  He didn't want too, either.

The thing moved methodically around the tree.  It obviously couldn't see him; Rumble was standing right in the open.  It must have heard him.  Even from that far away, it must have heard him.  Rumble slowly moved one of his rear hooves back, and then turned to reach out its matching front hoof.  He pulled himself sideways, never taking his eyes off the creature.

Rumble repeated the process, softly sidestepping his way deeper into the trees.  The roots of the creature began to play across the ground.  Suddenly, they dug in and pulled the body in his direction.  The roots dragged on the ground again, digging in and pulling closer to Rumble once more.  This time, he recognized the spot.

The creature was feeling his footprints.

Rumble allowed himself one moment of panic.  The creature pulled closer again.  If it was following his footprints, he just wouldn’t leave any.  Rumble spread his wings and, with one strong push, propelled himself to hover in the air.  He put himself high enough to clear the pink flower head, carefully avoiding contact with any branches or leaves.

The thing froze in place.  One of the five petals snapped forward, sending a hail of needles to strike where he just stood.  Rumble faltered in surprise before quickly flapping his wings to right himself.  He heard the wind his wings created rustle the leaves on his side.  A volley of needles immediately flew by his head and buried deep into the branches behind him.  A third petal snapped forward.  Rumble ducked and dropped to the ground, letting the shot sail over his head.

Buck this!

Rumble turned and tore through the brush.  He could hear the thing's crushing body moving behind him.  He watched it move earlier.  There was no way it could outrun him.  The needles were another story.  Rumble ran zigzag, veering right, then left, and right again, always trying to keep a tree between him and his pursuer.

The whistling sound passed by him again.  The forest suddenly opened ahead of Rumble.  He dashed through the newfound clearing.  The gaping mouth of a cave waited for him on the far side, but that wasn't his goal.  Caves were bad news, especially without a light source.  What mattered was that the cave was burrowed into the face of a small hill.  This thing was following his noise and his footsteps, so if Rumble could get up there, he could lose it.  Rumble spread his wings and prepared to take flight.

A stabbing pain just above his right hoof brought him down.  Rumble fell on his face and skidded to a stop.  He looked back, but he still saw the mouth of the cave in front of him.  How was that...?  His head spun.  The world started to fade away.  In one brief moment of clarity, his vision focused on a thin needle sticking in his right hind leg.  One slow swipe, all the force he could muster, knocked it loose.

The crashing sounds from the forest behind him grew closer and closer.  Rumble crawled, trying to stand.  His stung leg refused every command he gave it.  He finally managed to pull himself up and limped towards the black hole in the fog of the world on three legs.  Rumble crossed the threshold of darkness and felt stone beneath his hooves.  Stone was good.  He wouldn't leave footprints.

Rumble walked about ten feet in before huddling behind an outcropping of rock.  His mind slowly cleared as he watched the plant creature pull its way towards the cave.  It would follow him that far, obviously.  His tracks were like a beacon to the thing.  But what would happen when it reached the cave?  He would have to avoid it somehow if it followed him in.

Rumble held back a chuckle at that thought.  The numbing effect of the needle was doing him a favor.  He would usually be panting like a dog after a sprint like that, but his breathing was now calm, slow, and, most importantly, quiet.

The thing stopped on the edge of the cave.  Roots tentatively stretched atop the rock floor.  Rumble watched it turn a circle, feeling the trail Rumble left behind it.  The root spread wide back in the clearing.  The thing was double checking itself!  Creepy as that thought was, Rumble took it as a good sign.  It was confirming that yes, the prey did run into the cave.  If it was smart enough to do that, it might suspect the dangers that could be waiting for it.  Maybe it thought Rumble was one of those dangers?

More dangerous than I really am.

The plant creature pulled itself backwards.  Its five pink petals closed into the green bud he saw earlier.  The slowly clearing haze of Rumbles vision eventually swallowed the creature as it retreated.  Though it was gone, it certainly left an impression on him.

Rumble turned and leaned his back against the rock.  He used his hooves to try and rub the feeling back into his hind leg, wiping away a drop of blood where the needle hit him.  A spark of sensation finally began to spread from the spot.  Rumble writhed in place as the pins-and-needles feeling slowly filled his entire leg.

He kept his ears perked up the entire time.  Even with the thing gone, he was nowhere near safe.  His eyes couldn't pierce the black in front of him, though if that was from the lack of light or a continuing side effect of the plant's sting, he didn't know.  It didn't matter.  He was dazed, half-blind, and hobbled.  If there was something in the cave with him, he wouldn't stand a chance.

Rumble stood up as quietly as he could.  His stung leg supported his weight OK; the discomfort was slowly dying down.  Rumble stepped back out into the clearing.  The world became sharper as he moved.  He must have been burning through whatever the creature did to him.  He heard of poison plants before, but needles being launched like a slingshot was new to him.

So now he could add running and hiding from an overgrown weed to his list of epic accomplishments on the day.  That would go nicely with his tail kicking from a horrifying beast of a bug that was leaving him alone until he totally provoked it on his own.  If he set his mind to it, and tried really hard, he might be lucky enough to trip over a stump.  Wouldn't that just be perfect?

He turned to his left.  The hill sloped up with rocks sticking out of its face here and there.  Could he fly yet?  It was probably better to climb the hard way to give himself more time to deal with the poison sting.  Rumble put one hoof in front of the other and pulled himself up foot by foot.  Maybe he could add conquering the hill to his list?

Rumble approached one of the rocks and jumped on it.  He grabbed the top with his front hooves and tried to pull himself up.  As soon as his rear hooves set themselves, the rock dislodged and rolled downhill.  Rumble face planted and rolled after it.  He hit the rock at the bottom, lying on his side and looking up the hill again.

"COME ON!"  Rumble jumped to his feet and glared at the rock.  "Seriously?!  You're, like, twice my size!  I can't...even...climb a hill?!"  He planted his front hooves and twisted his body, bucking the rock with his hind legs.  A jolt of pain shot up his right leg.  Rumble cried out and fell to his knees.  Tears came to his eyes, as much from frustration as the pain.  He panted through clenched teeth, trying to compose himself after his outburst.

His breathing stopped when he heard a noise behind him.  Rumble looked back and saw the rock roll along the ground on its own.  With the sound of grinding stones, a short stubby limb extended from the mass.  Four thick claws dug into the ground.  The rock rolled along its anchor point, stretching out three more limbs, each one covered in a stone shell with light brown scales underneath.

The legs pushed the remainder of the rock into the air.  A long head swung up, the pointed snout scraping the ground.  Two small black eyes set on either side of the head stared into his.  A long tail rose over the body.  Rumble's eyes focused on the blunt chunk of rock on the end of it.  The massive weight swung down, throwing soil high into the air and shaking the earth under him.

The good news was that, finally, this was a creature Rumble actually recognized.  The armored dillo was a plant-eating species that occasionally nested near Ponyville.  One time, Fluttershy invited Miss Cheerilee and the class on a field trip when she found a nest of newborns on the edge of the forest.  The juveniles would slowly graze their way deeper into the forest as they grew in their first days of life.

The bad news was that this was definitely not a juvenile.  As it grew, a dillo would become territorial and quite single-minded on whatever task it may have.  Adults were dangerous, but Fluttershy taught the class three things to do to escape a confrontation.  You had to avoid eye contact, stay out of their way, and never touch them.  That knowledge was absolutely no comfort to Rumble now.

He took off for the trees ahead of him like a shot.  Rumble both felt and heard the clubbed tail hit the earth behind him.  His wings spread out, lifting him out of harm's way.  Rumble landed on a nearby branch and turned back to watch the armored dillo.  There was nothing else he could do.  His sword couldn't even beat a spider.  What was it going to do against rock?

The beast's claws pulled against the ground, sending even more loose soil flying.  The body instantly collapsed into itself again.  The newly reformed mass rocketed towards the tree trunk.  Rumble watched, stunned, as it smashed into his perch like a bowling ball.  The tree shook violently under the assault.  Birds shrieked overhead.  Rumble lost his balance and fell, barely able to hook a foreleg around his branch to stop his fall.

Rumble dangled, still shocked from the impact.  The dillo had one more surprise in store for him.  It jumped.  The rock shell on the creature's back spun in front of his eyes.  The massive tail swung side-to-side, trying to crush him against the trunk.  Rumble let go of the branch and fell to the ground.  The tail pulverized the bark, showering him in wood chips and bending the tree with the impact.

Rumble forced himself to run.  His leg still bothered him, but he had no choice.  He needed distance to fly again.  The dillo didn't give him the opportunity.  Rumble felt the shaking ground under him as the beast's tremors grew closer.  He threw himself to the side in a roll.  Rushing wind flew by him as the tail swung around, passing inches from his face.  The dillo's momentum carried it too far for the blow to connect.

A clawed limb stretched out to catch a tree trunk.  The dillo cut deep furrows in the bark as it made the turn, slinging back his way.  Rumble sprinted back for the clearing.  He risked a look over his shoulder as he ran.  The rolling mass was gaining on him again.  With that jump and that tail, he'd get swatted out of the air like a fly if he tried to take off.  He needed some separation.  The hill should give it to him.  At least, he hoped so.  Could a rock roll uphill?

Rumble hit the clearing and darted for the hill.  The ground exploded behind him.  The shockwave from the heavy tail tripped him up.  Rumble braced himself with his front hooves and dove out of the rampaging rock's way.  The beast spun as it passed him, unfolding to its full size again.  He couldn't beat it.  Rumble only had one advantage.

The dillo's tail swung down.   His wings spread and pushed him up.  Rumble twisted his body, just dodging the attack.  The beast jumped after him, raking the air with his front limbs.  The claws passed overhead, forcing Rumble to stay low as he shot forwards.  The dillo followed him with the agility of a cat.

Rumble danced back and forth as claws and the club tail flailed around him, keeping him lower than he wanted.  He led the chase for the base of the hill.  A few seconds.  He just needed a few measly seconds to climb high enough and avoid this thing.  The tenacious beast wasn't going to give it to him.  The thing was tireless.  How could it have this much energy carrying that shell?

Claws brushed against his tail hairs.  Rumble gambled everything on the uphill climb slowing down the armored dillo.  He abandoned his evasions and set his eyes on the crest overhead.  Every drop of strength poured into his wings.  Rumble ignored the heavy impacts behind him.  The fact that he was still breathing told him his plan was working.

The crest passed underneath him.  Rumble was stunned to fly out into thin air.  Disoriented for a moment, he found himself suspended above a valley between two sheer rock faces.  The trees below-

WHAM!

A massive weight slammed into Rumble from behind.  Two clawed forelegs wrapped around his chest and pulled him down.  His scream of terror joined the high squeals coming from the armored dillo falling with him.  It jumped after him?!

The dillo's forelimbs loosened as the wind rushed by both of them.  Rumble turned and latched onto the rock monster.  The beast was out of its element, thrashing wildly as Rumble tried desperately to flap a wing.  The trees weren't far down.  All too slowly, he turned the beast so its rock back hit first.

The pair crashed through the foliage.  The trees seemed to roar in anger as they passed through every leaf, limb, and branch.  Rumble held tight, enduring the beast's chest pulverizing his muzzle from the jolts of collision.  Soon, Rumble knew he couldn't afford to wait any longer.  He let go of his ride and frantically flapped his wings.  His body fell...and fell...and fell slower until he hit equilibrium.  Rumble immediately threw himself on top of an undamaged branch to his side.

He collapsed.  Legs, wings, tail, tongue, it all draped over the side as he tried to catch his breath.  Rumble was only mildly surprised to see that the armored dillo was unfazed from its fall, although it looked like its back was stuck in the ground.  After grunting and groaning and rolling back and forth, the rock shell came loose.  The beast got back on its four feet and plodded along the forest floor.  It didn't even look for him.  It chased him over a bucking cliff, but it didn't even look for him now.  Rumble agreed with the thing.  Enough was enough.

The forest was silent around him.  Rumble wasn't surprised after all that racket.  He was just grateful for a chance to rest.

And then he heard the grunt next to him.  Rumble let the slightest whine escape his lips.  Now what?  He was too exhausted to even look up; he turned his head on the branch to look ahead of him at an angle.  His eyes fell on a grey ball of fluff perched a foot away from his face.  The absurdity of the sight forced him to lift his head and look properly.

It was a pigeon, staring him down with red eyes.  The feathers were puffed out like a blowfish, but Rumble could make out the feet and beak now.  The bird hopped in place, grunting again.  Was this really happening?  A bird was trying to chase him away now?  He couldn't believe this place anymore.

A giant spider was one thing.  Even though the one he fought let him go, they were carnivorous by nature.  The moving plant freaked him out because it could track him without sight, and it had its poison shot.  The armored dillo was all kinds of tough on top of its strength, speed, and agility.

He was not going to back down from a bird.

"Get lost," he hissed, stretching out a hoof to shove the pigeon away.  It bounced back to its place.  The bird swelled to an even greater size now.  The little thing started trembling, trying to hold its shape, all in the effort to trick him.  It was trying so hard to look bigger than it really was.

Rumble was out of patience.  He swiped his left front hoof and knocked the pigeon off the branch.  The bird rapidly beat its wings in the air, cooing loudly.  Rumble just shook his head at the sight.  What did it think was going to happen?

An all too familiar whistling passed by.  The birds cries stopped instantly.  Its body hung in the air, completely still.  Rumble barely had time to notice the three needles sticking out of it wing, breast, and leg before it fell to the ground.

Rumble watched, frozen in horror, as a set of roots pulled a tall green body from behind his tree.  The roots felt along the ground until they found the body of the bird.  The pigeon was wrapped up and lifted into the air.  Five red petals closed around it, and the roots pulled out.  The tranquility of the forest was shattered with a single, loud CRUNCH.

The creature retreated back the way it came.  Rumble couldn't take his eyes off where the bird just was.  It was, but now wasn't.  Just like that.  His legs and wings wrapped tight around his branch.  Leaves fell across his vision as his body's shakes knocked them loose.
> Chapter 5: Delusions of Grandeur
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Just like that.  Ten seconds flat.  The bird was alive, and now it was dead and gone.  The world didn't even care.

Rumble lie paralyzed on his branch.  His shakes already stopped, but he couldn't take his eyes off the spot.  It was his fault.  He lost his temper and lashed out at something that was no threat to him.  One stupid decision cost the bird its life.  The finality of it all was just...unfair!

It could just as easily been him.  It should have been him so many times over.  The spider had him dead to rights.  If one or two more needles hit him when he ran from the first plant monster, he would have been completely helpless.  The armored dillo almost killed him more times than Rumble had hooves.

As much as he wanted to think otherwise, it sure wasn't any skills of his that brought him this far.  Rumble didn't even draw his sword against his last two attackers.  He ran for his life and was lucky enough to find a way out each time.  Luck was not going to stay with him forever.  If this kept up, he would be as dead as that bird.

No pony even knew he was here.  Thunderlane didn't believe he was really coming in the first place.  Thunderlane...Thunderlane was trying to help him.  Rumble thought he was being a jerk in their shouting match, but Thunderlane just didn't believe his little brother could be this stupid.  Rumble was an idiot.  He knew that now.

What would he do if Rumble never came back?  He promised their parents he would look after Rumble, and he always did.  Thunderlane would be crushed.  He'd eventually come into the forest to look for him.  That thought didn't give Rumble any peace of mind.  He had no idea where he was; how was one pony, even his brother, supposed to find him?

Well, Thunderlane probably wouldn't come alone.  Flitter and Cloudchaser would help him.  The two sisters were always there for the two brothers when they needed a hoof.  Rumble remembered how quickly Cloudchaser stepped between him and Thunderlane back at the house.  Flitter, the younger sister, was always ready to smile and listen whenever Rumble ranted about being the little brother.  The two cared about the brothers.  Of course they would follow Thunderlane into the forest.

And what about Scootaloo?  Cloudchaser said he was going to make her day, and he ran away from her.  He ran away and got attacked by monsters because he couldn't pony up, look the girl he liked in the eye, and tell her how great she was.  Happy Birthday, Scootaloo!  At least no pony would be cruel enough to tell her she was the reason he died in the forest.

Right?

Rumble forced himself to stand and balance on the narrow branch.  He was not going to make any pony pay for his stupidity.  It was time to go home.  He turned and slowly made his way towards the slender trunk, already looking for another branch to climb up to.

As he noticed before the dillo dragged him down, the trees in this little valley were relatively short.  They were also clustered closer together than the area he just fell from.  It was curious, but it didn't matter.  Rumble wrapped a hoof around an overhead limb and pulled himself up, nearing the top of the tree.

All he had to do was push his way through the foliage and then take wing.  It would be a long climb out of the valley and over the rest of the forest, but he was sure he could make it.  Then, if he paced himself, he could hit Ponyville without setting a hoof back in this desolate forest.  He was almost there.  Rumble smiled and stretched out a hoof to pull down the leaves overhead.

"YEAAARGH!"

His quick cry of pain shattered the tranquility around him.  Rumble nearly fell of the tree limb in shock and pulled his hoof back.  He sat down, cradling it against his chest, to look it over.  Three deep scratch marks ran up his leg.  He looked back up to the leaves, waiting for whatever hurt him to show itself.

Nothing came down.  Not a sound was made.  Rumble wasn't in the mood for another fight.  Or escape.  Or whatever it was he did so far.  He dropped down a few branches, giving whatever was above him its space.  There was another tree close by, so he would just jump over and try again there.

Another jump, another climb, and Rumble found himself right where he just was.  This time, he reared up on his hind legs and balanced himself with a foreleg on the tree trunk.  His sword entered the leaves first.  Rumble waited.  He didn't see, or hear, any movement overhead.  He pushed deeper, up to the hilt, until he was sure nothing was attacking his blade.  Satisfied, Rumble stepped back onto his three legs and pulled the sword back down.

It stuck in the leaves halfway down.  Rumble dropped his head and groaned.  Of course it would get stuck.  Why would anything be easy?  Rumble grabbed his hilt with his other front hoof and pulled.  There was absolutely no give.

Rumble was stunned.  The branches were too small to be that strong.  He tried throwing his entire weight backwards, hoping that the shock force would pry the sword loose.  Save for some shaking in the leaves, there was no reaction.  Nothing even pulled back against him.  Maybe...the angle was wrong?  He pushed the sword up straight, and now he was trying to pull it back down after stepping back.

For lack of a better option, Rumble took a step forward.  The wooden sword jerked loose and pushed further into the leaves as he did so.  Rumble retook his old position and pulled the sword down cleanly.  He stared at it in disbelief.  How did that make any...?  What?!  Rumble put all his frustration in one swing across the canopy.  His blow cleared out a small section of leaves, giving him a clear view up.

Thorns.  Dozens of thorns hung overhead in a thick, jumbled mess of shoots.  Rumble could barely see the sky through them all.  That was what caught his sword.  Where in Equestria did they come from?  He never saw a tree capped off with thorns like this before.

To him, the thorns looked like they were growing on the tree rather than from the tree.  Rumble flew a slow circle around the slender trunk, dragging his sword along the leaves.  The tip of the blade danced the whole way.  The tangle of thorns completely covered the top of the tree.

Rumble's eyes dropped to his scratched hoof.  If this tree was covered...so was the other one.  He flew the short distance back to his first perch to test his theory.  He hoped he was wrong.  Rumble would give his left hind leg to be wrong.  From his quick glimpse of the valley, every tree looked to be the same height.  He didn't want to think about what that meant.  Silently begging for some small mercy from the universe, Rumble pulled down the top layer of leaves.  Thorns, thorns, and more thorns waited for him.

"No."  Rumble stepped back, disbelieving his own eyes.  His mind immediately showed him a net of thorns choking the growth of the valley, an unyielding mass that he already discovered his sword couldn't break through.  His biggest hope, his failsafe when he entered the forest, was his flight.  Now he was trapped under this cloud of pain.  He couldn't get through.

"No!"  Rumble hovered and lashed out between the trees, finding more thorns stretched between them.  Trapped.  He was trapped like a rat.  There was at least one of those plant things, and Rumble didn't want to know what else waited for him in the crowded undergrowth.

"NO!"  Rumble took off in a wild charge, holding his sword up to run it across the canopy.  The blade jerked in his hooves as it collided with knot after knot of the sharp barbs.  Rumble turned left and pushed himself faster.  He turned again, and again, and again.  He was trapped.

Rumble's world started to change.  He was trapped.  The primal fear was...unreal.  Was his heart even still beating?  Rumble didn't notice it.  Rumble didn't notice anything.  The sound of his wings beating didn't reach his ears.  The slap of leaves against his face didn't faze him.  Even the shaking of the sword in his hooves faded from his mind.  The sensations his body felt were happening to some pony else.

Stop!  Rumble stopped and hovered in midair.  He forced himself to swallow several deep gulps of air.  Flying around like a silly foal wasn't helping.  There had to be a way out.  There had to be a way out.  He somehow managed to get here in the first place, didn't he?  It wasn't exactly his choice, either.  That stupid animal jumped off a cliff and...dragged him down!

What an idiot!  The way out was right next to him!  Rumble turned and dashed back, laughing hysterically at himself.  His panic made him forget the obvious escape route.  Dust Storm he was not, nor Commander Hurricane.  He could probably scratch "Strategic Mastermind" from his list of potential special talents.

It took him a few minutes to find his way back.  Rumble had no business being in this forest; he couldn't even find his way around.  Rumble laughed at himself again.  Fight monsters!  Brave dangers!  Just a fun filled afternoon in the Everfree Forest!  Home never sounded so good.

There it is!  The crater left by the armored dillo passed by on his right.  Rumble's smile grew the closer he got to it.  Branches, leaves, and debris were scattered around it.  The path up would be a clear shot.  A few more seconds, and he was home free!  Rumble whooped and pulled up, ready to soar into the clear blue sky.

Blurry lines crossed his vision of said sky.  Rumble slammed on the brakes, stopping just shy of the thorns in front of his face.  Impossible!  The dillo just crashed through here!  Rumble screamed his denial and struck with his sword again.  This time, the blow pulled down a few threads of the barricade.

There was still a chance!  Rumble pulled his sword down with all he had, stretching the thorny vines as far as he could.  It wasn't enough.  He couldn't fit through the small window he created.  Worse, he felt the vines start pulling against him to reclaim the inches he took.

It was now or never.  Rumble braced himself and pushed his head through the only opening he had.  The sting from the thorns was unbearable.  Inch by grueling inch, he forced his head past them all.  More thorns started to dig into his shoulders.  Eventually, they bit the joints of his wings.  That pain convinced him to stop.  He couldn't do it.  He needed his wings to fly through.  They would get shredded if he kept this up.  Where would that leave him?

Rumble punked out.  He took the easy way, closing his eyes and wings.  His body fell clear of the vines and back into the crater below.  He watched as more vines threaded their way around the others to cover his chance of escape.  The forest itself was keeping him trapped!

The sting of the thorns was replaced with an even deeper one: Shame.  That was his one chance to get out, and he wasn’t tough enough to take it.  Rumble curled up under the weight of his failure.  The truth couldn’t be more crystal clear.  He wasn’t a hero.  He wasn’t a legend.  He wasn’t a warrior.

He learned his lesson!  Why couldn’t he just go home?!

Home.  He had a piece of home with him.  Thunderlane gave it to him, even after their fight.  Rumble sat up and unhooked his thermos.  The soup filled his nose with a release of steam the moment he unscrewed the top.  Rumble tilted his head back and took a mouthful of the aromatic broth.  He caught a few diced veggies on his tongue and bit down on them.  He couldn’t tell what they were.  The whole concoction tasted and smelled of cheese.  And he walked in on Cloudchaser refusing to let Thunderlane add any more!  The things she put up with...

Rumble took another drink of soup.  The new warmth in his body helped calm his nerves a little bit.  He needed that help.  He needed any help.  His brief look at the valley didn't show him any path out.  The only thing he knew was that he was stuck between two cliffs.  Rumble didn't even know which way he was facing now, much less which way would get him out from under the thorns.

The smell in the air changed.  The cheesy scent turned slightly rancid.  Rumble chuckled and capped his thermos again.  The forest must not agree with the soup.  So what did he do now?  It was hard to believe, but he knew things were going to get worse.

The smell grew worse.  Rumble huddled in his hole, pressing a hoof against his nose.  Bad as it was, the smell wasn’t his biggest problem right now.  The sun only had a few more hours in the sky.  He needed to find shelter, or a way out, sooner than later.

The smell was now an overpowering stench.  Rumble couldn’t take it anymore.  Bad enough his own stupidity trapped him in the forest, now he had his own personal noxious cloud hanging over him?  He growled in his throat and stood up.  He wasn’t sure which way he would go, but anywhere was better than here.

Two burning green eyes paralyzed him.  Two leaves set above them provided the only other color Rumble could see in the face looming before him.  The blackened wood parted with a snarl, revealing fangs constructed with ugly chunks of wood and stone.  Another snarl, from his left this time, grabbed his attention.

The same horrible face was waiting for him when he turned.  Two small branches crowned the top of the head.  The wooden body, so many times bigger than his own, was supported with four thick legs.  One leg stepped down the few inches into the crater, crossing the only pitiful barrier between it and its prey: Him.

This was happening.  He could barely wrap his head around that fact.  Rumble turned to run.  A set of jaws slammed shut in front of his face.  Rumble shrieked and jumped back.  His body slammed against the front legs of the Timberwolf behind him.  The head swung down to look at him.  The cruel fangs rested just inches from his head.

The wolf in front stepped down as well.  He was joined by two others coming from the sides.  Rumble tried to scream for help.  All he could manage was a pathetic whimper as he sank to the ground.  His breaths weren't even lasting half a second.  The entire world was shaking in his eyes.

The fangs above him opened wider.  Rumble squeezed his eyes shut and covered them with his hooves.  In the blackness, he said goodbye to Thunderlane.  He told Cloudchaser that he would miss her.  He thanked Flitter for listening to him.  He apologized to Scootaloo for not being with her on her birthday.  Hot breath blasted the back of his neck.

He could have been eating cake and ice cream right now.

"RAAAAAARRRRRGH!!!"

Rumble's heart stopped.  That roar was worse than the spider scream!  Shrill yelps rang through his ears.  Rumble opened his eyes just in time to catch the backsides of the Timberwolves running away.  Every instinct screamed at him to follow, but his terror still remained.  Rumble looked up to see this new beast.

The enormous body of an ursa minor towered over him.  The green mass was already just feet away from his hole.  A pair of fierce red eyes glared down.  The lips split apart, spreading around the monster's teeth in...if Rumble didn't know better, he would say the beast was smiling at him.  With a second look, Rumble saw tree branches sticking through the glowing green shape of the body.  How did that happen?  For that matter, how did something this big just show up like that?

Whoosh!

The gigantic bear instantly dissolved into green dust.  The cloud flew into Rumble's face.  He coughed and sputtered, waving his hoof to disperse the remainder.  What was going on?!  Where was the monster?!

A shadow walked towards him through the green mist hanging in the air.  The figure stepped closer, close enough for Rumble to make out a large cloak, but not much else.  Finally, the shadow walked clear of the dust.  It raised a hoof to the hood of its cloak.

Rumble watched in shock as the hood fell away.  The revealed equine looked down on him with blue eyes set in a face striped in black and white.  Zecora!  He knew the name, but he never met her before.  Rumble didn't care.  It was like seeing Princess Celestia herself.  This was the kindest face he ever saw in the forest.

The zebra smiled and reached out her hoof to help him off the ground.  Rumble jumped into her chest, tackling her to the ground.  He buried his face in her cloak and cried.  His fear, his pain, it all came out.  Zecora wrapped a leg around his shoulders, and her soft laughs mingled with his sobs.
	
> Chapter 6: How the Zebra Earned her Stripes
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Rumble wiped his nose with a hoof.  The zebra sitting in front of him smoothed out her cloak.  "I...I'm sorry about all that."

"Think nothing of it, little one," Zecora said with a chuckle.  "Our time together has just begun.  I'm sure you'll have a chance to give me a new memory of before we complete our journey."

Whatever luck Rumble lived by wasn't gone yet.  He knew Zecora lived in the forest, but he had no idea where.  What were the odds of the only two equines in this whole place running into each other?  "How did you find me?"

"The forest has a system, a balance to it.  Everything you do upsets this peace, even where you sit.  I knew some pony was lost here without seeing their face."  The zebra's eyelids partly closed, narrowing her eyes at Rumble.  "You led me on quite a chase."

Rumble flinched and shrunk into himself.  "S-Sorry.  I was...kinda running for my life.  My name is Rumble, by the way."

Zecora raised an eyebrow and looked him over.  He got that a lot.  "Zecora, but I'm sure you knew mine.  Now come, we're running out of time."

They were what?!  Zecora spun on her hooves and walked away.  Rumble galloped after her.  “What are you talking-“

The zebra looked back and cut him off with a glare.  “Learn this lesson: Never draw attention.”

Rumble froze in his tracks.  Zecora did the same.  After a moment, he took a slow step forward.  Zecora waited for him to catch up before nodding and making her way forward.  Rumble followed, reminded that he wasn’t home free yet.  He was right to be cautious when he first entered the forest.  Nothing that happened to him suggested otherwise.  He told himself no pony else was going to pay for his stupidity, and he was going to live up to that.

Still, he didn’t understand what Zecora was worried about.  Rumble dropped his voice and whispered, “Why are we running out of time?  Are the wolves coming back?”

“Of course they will.  Their bellies aren’t filled.  No predator forgets a meal that soon, so we must not squander this boon.  More importantly, we must get you back to the others.  The forest can deal with that bother.”

What others?  Rumble could only think of one possibility.  “Did Thunderlane and Cloudchaser send you to look for me?"

"I have seen no pony but you.  We'll find them before the day is through."

Rumble was even more confused.  "I...don't understand.  Are they in the forest or aren't they?"

Zecora stopped and looked down on him with furrowed eyes.  "Don't you know where they are?  Have you wandered so far?  Let's get you out of the monsters' lair.  We'll go back to the path and find them there."

Some pony was clearly missing something important.  Rumble just hoped it wasn't him.  "I don't think anyone followed me in."

"You are the only pony the forest reacted to, that is true.  Still, they must be looking for you."

"You think so?  I thought it might take them a couple hours longer before they got worried."

Zecora's blue eyes widened as his words sunk in.  "Your voice, your tone...," she said, looking him over again.  Her eyes landed on his canteen, his thermos, and his sword.  "You came here alone?!"

Ah, that was the problem!  "Well, yeah."

The glare returned to Zecora’s eyes, a hundred times over.  Rumble crumpled to the ground under the strength of her fury.  He was unprepared for this.  Sure, Miss Cheerilee got upset with him whenever he “lost” his homework, and Flitter would cut down his excuses for not wanting to practice weather duties, but he had never seen anything like Zecora before.

How was it possible for an icy stare to burn so much?  He was frozen in place, cowering like a mouse on his stomach.  Zecora’s eyes bore through him.  Rumble felt the spotlight again, only this time there was no way out of it.  He thought he beat himself up about coming to the forest, but Zecora was pounding him like he couldn’t believe.

And she wasn’t saying a word!

“You, uh,” Rumble hated how weak his voice sounded, but he just wanted to break this silence.  He said the first thing that came to mind.  “You’re mad?”

The zebra’s lips curled up to reveal her clenched teeth.  “My head is straightly screwed.  The mad one here is you.”

Rumble finally managed to pull his eyes away.  “I know.”

“Don’t you know how heavy the forest can take its toll?  You foal!”

Rumble squeezed his eyes shut.  “I know!”

He felt Zecora’s hoof slap the sword on his back.  “Were you playing hero with this little wooden knife?!”  He heard something heavy fall to the ground.  Rumble opened his eyes to see Zecora kneeling in front of him.  The zebra’s face lost its harshness, but not its shock.  Her voice dropped back to a whisper.  “You could have lost your life.”

Rumble forced himself to hold her gaze again.  “I-I know.”

A long moment passed as she studied him closely.  Rumble stayed silent.  She wasn’t telling him anything he didn’t already know.  Thunderlane, Cloudchaser, Flitter, Scootaloo, he knew exactly what he almost lost.  Zecora finally relented, her eyes showing some kindness again, and she reached out her hoof.  Rumble took it, and they stood together.

Zecora started to lead him through the trees.  Rumble was hard pressed to keep up with her.  Her timing was erratic, stopping and starting over and over again.  When she did move, she moved with a grace Rumble never saw in an earth pony before.  Zecora glided along the forest floor like a pegasus would glide through the sky.  Then she would pause behind a tree trunk, look around for a moment, and continue on.

Rumble was already nearly out of breath.  All his focus was devoted to moving as quickly and quietly as his guide, but these short sprints were completely new to him.  The rhythm was impossible to adjust to.  Whatever system Zecora had, he didn't understand it.  Rumble settled for a gulp of air whenever he was lucky enough to find a second.

He couldn't help comparing this to his own attempts to get through the forest.  Zecora said there was a balance to this place, so what did his jumping from tree to tree do?  Could that have been what tipped her off to his presence?  Did she really follow him that long?

Zecora suddenly veered to the right.  Now what was she doing?  Rumble sighed and followed.  She was helping him.  It was probably best not to question it too much.  He still shot her a curious glance when she looked back.  She stopped, raising a hoof up and to the left.  Rumble looked to follow her point.  He saw an odd shape hanging from the thorns above.  It was bulky and gray, but what caught his attention were the shapes flying around it.  They looked like wasps, but if he could see them from this distance...they were huge!

"A horse-hornet nest, my little dear," Zecora whispered, "and a painful sting for those that get too near."

Rumble was amazed.  "How did you even know...?"

"My eyes and ears, friend.  This skill, I can't lend.  You must follow close.  Be my ghost."

"But-"

"There is a pool outside the valley," Zecora interrupted.  "That will be a better place to dally."

The pair continued through the valley, Zecora always staying half a body ahead of him.  She cut a slower pace this time.  Rumble followed gratefully and quietly.  The forest passed in the background like a fog.  He let Zecora worry about that.  All he did was move when she moved, stop when she stopped, and look forward to the rest Zecora promised.

Half an hour into their trek, Rumble joined Zecora in looking around.  The tree trunks were starting to grow thicker.  The ceiling of thorns was thinning.  Rumble's heart jumped into his throat.  They were nearly clear!  How much further did they have to go?

Zecora was a step ahead of him, again.  She shhed in his ear, and leaned around the nearest tree trunk.  Rumble waited patiently for his cue to move.  She didn't give it to him.  Instead, she reached out and pulled him closer to her.  Rumble didn't resist, but her reaction did nothing to calm him down.  What was going on?

A deep growl answered his question.  Rumble instinctively grabbed his sword, but Zecora was faster.  A black veil crossed over his vision.  Zecora sank to the ground, pulling Rumble into her body and wrapping them both with her cloak.  No light penetrated the cloth.  Zecora's head rested on his, her breath tickling his ear.  "Calm-"

"What is it?!"

"Calm your breathing," she hissed.  "The beast is seething.  Don't let it hear, and it won't come near."

Heavy footsteps cut off his reply.  Why didn't she tell him what it was?!  The dark of the night inside the cloak wasn't doing him any favors!  His mind gave him hundreds of possibilities, each one more deadly than the last.  A bear?  A manticore?  A dragon?  Zombie ponies?!

The footsteps came swiftly, accompanied by angry snarls.  Rumble fought to keep himself under control as the beast passed by.  Then, without warning, something slammed into the ground, just feet from his head.  The impact was heavy.  Rumble flashed back to his close calls with the clubbed tail of the armored dillo.  A low whine escaped his throat.  Rumble slapped a hoof to his mouth.  The forest outside the cloak turned quiet.  The beast wasn't moving!

Zecora pressed him against her chest.  He felt it push into him as she slowly inhaled and pull away again with an exhale.  Rumble tried to match her cadence, but his vocal chords rebelled against him.  They took every chance they had to voice their fear.  With one last brief inhale, Rumble held his breath.

Short sniffs of breath began sounding off.  They were getting closer.  They were getting closer, but there were no footsteps!  Whatever it was knew they were there.  It was hunting.

"Lift the cloak," Zecora whispered, her voice barely above the sound of her breathing.  "Make no fuss.  Give me room for my dust.  Just an inch, it's a cinch."

Dust?!  That was her plan?!  But...did he have a better one?  Rumble pulled his hoof away from his mouth.  A cinch, she said.  So why was he still shaking?  The cloak brushed over his hoof.  Rumble pulled it up.  A sliver of light penetrated the darkness, and Zecora wasted no time.  A puff of breath blew by his face, carrying a stream of green dust with it.

The entire world changed in a matter of seconds.  A horrifying roar bellowed from outside.  Zecora's cloak flew off of him.  The unwelcome reexposure to light shocked his system.  The beast found them, there was no other explanation.  Rumble lied on the ground in a daze until his mane suddenly, and painfully, stretched out, pulling him up.

Zecora's teeth let go of his hair, and Rumble's legs shook as his hooves hit the ground.  His eyes focused on the hulk crashing through the brush in front of him.  The powerful body sprang after a green jackrabbit.  Two bat wings and a long scorpion tail folded behind the enormous red mane.  Even without seeing the face, Rumble knew it was a manticore, and-

And it was running away from him!

Rumble charged to the left, the way the manticore came from, and saw Zecora was already three strides ahead of him.  The zebra craned her neck once to look back, and galloped through the trees.  Rumble pushed himself until his legs were on fire.  They had to be close.  Zecora told him not to attract attention, and this sprint would pull in a whole lot of it.

Zecora led him to a ring of trees coated with gray strands of moss.  The growths fell from the branches like curtains between the trunks.  It was a sight Rumble recognized instantly.  He slammed his hooves into the ground, skidding to a stop just feet before his muzzle brushed against the gray.

"What gives?!  I thought we would be safe here!"

Zecora chuckled at his reaction.  "You met the spiders, yes?  I built this from their nests.  The beasts know to stay away, so, yes,  we will be okay."

The zebra pushed her way through the curtain of moss.  Rumble's jaw dropped.  She built this?!  How in Equestria did she do that?!  Rumble knew Zecora for less than an hour, and she did nothing but amaze him that entire time.

Rumble's muzzle parted the gray, and he stepped through to see this pool of Zecora's.  What he saw blew him away.  The pool of water was small, less than half the size of Ponyville's swimming hole, but it wasn't alone.  The ring of trees surrounded an entire clearing.  Soft green grass met Rumble's hooves.  A row of bushes on the other side of the pond flowered in delicious looking reds, yellows, and blues.  Zecora built an entire oasis for herself.

Zecora lapped up some water with her back turned to him.  How long did it take her to prepare all of this?  Why did she prepare all of this?  Just...Just in case?

Rumble's legs cried out for relief.  He slipped his canteen strap over his head, and let his things fall to the ground.  He had a canteen, a thermos, and a little wooden sword.  He had that inside a private garden that one zebra put Celestia knows how much time and effort into making.  The same zebra that also had some kind of freaky magic dust that saved his life twice, not to mention that she could see, hear, and smell more than he could on his best day.

He never knew what he was doing.  Frankly, that was old news.  Rumble was beyond caring.  He sprawled out face up on the grass, stretching out all four legs and wings.  It was incredible, but he actually felt safe in the forest.  Zecora was his best bet for getting out in one piece, and she hadn't let him down yet.

The cool shade from the leaves overhead cast shadows over the entire clearing, but Rumble's eyes focused on one small patch of blue in the dark green ceiling.  The sky!  In a flash, Rumble was back on his feet, wings spread and ready for takeoff.  He had a clear path right to it!

Not yet, Rumble.  His wings screamed to fly, but his head kept him on the ground.  He couldn't just fly off like this.  Zecora spent hours tracking him down, risked her life to save his, and brought him to safety.  The least he owed her was an explanation.

"Feel free to leave," Zecora said in a muffled voice.  "Your safety is what matters to me."  She stood next to him with a mouth full of flower stems.  The yellow petals were long and slender with several filaments sticking out of the center.  Rumble gaped at the unexpected treat.

"You have honeysuckle?!  Aweso-!  Oh, uh, I mean...thank you."  Zecora chuckled and dropped the flowers between them.  Rumble took three of them in one bite.  The taste of the sweet nectar on his tongue nearly knocked him on his back again.  He chewed slowly, savoring every bit of the flowers that he could.  Leaving now was the last thing on his mind.

The corner of Zecora's mouth turned up in a smirk.  "You're going to stay then?  Answer me one question, the mystery of my year.  Why in the world are you here?"

Well, he saw that one coming.  Rumble took a mouthful of water from his canteen, taking his time before he answered.  Where did he begin?  Why not from the beginning?  Zecora had him pegged the first time she saw him.  "You were right.  I was...um, playing hero."

"Rumble, there's more to this story.  It's a long way going from Ponyville to being a Timberwolf's quarry."

"I was trying to impress a girl."  The silence was deafening.  Zecora tilted her head to the side, eyes stretched wide.  His cheeks started to burn.  Rumble was about to make it worse.  "It's her birthday.  I was gonna find something for her.  I thought this was my chance to do something special for her."

Zecora was a statue.  Her words finally came out slowly.  "That was an interesting plan.  Her birthday came, and away you ran."

Rumble fought back tears.  It sounded horrible in his head, but hearing someone else say it aloud was just humiliating.  Actually, now that he thought about it, someone else already said it.  Thunderlane was so right.  It was embarrassing just how right he was, and now some pony else was ridiculing him with his brother's words.

Zecora stood and walked a small circle.  "I fail to see any filly.  Is this truly where you want to be?"

"No."

"Yet here you are.  Why did you go this far?"

"I shouldn't have!  At all!  Is that what you want to hear?!  I screwed up!  I screwed up everything!"

Rumble clenched his eyes shut after his outburst.  He bowed his head, shaking it in disbelief.  He shouldn't have done that, either.  When he opened his eyes, another honeysuckle flower was lying at his feet.  He pushed it back to the pile.  "Thanks, but I shouldn't have shouted at you like that.  I'm sorry."

Zecora's hoof rose to his chin.  She lifted his face, but Rumble looked away.  He just wanted to go home.  Nothing good could happen to him in this forest.  Still, Zecora held his face.  By Celestia, she was tenacious.  Rumble lifted his eyes to hers.

As he feared, her head was tilted to the side.  "Did I say something stupid again?"

"On the opposite, in fact.  You said something quite exact.  Follow me, and you will see."

"Wait, what?"  Zecora turned away and headed for the pond.  What just happened?  What did he say?  Rumble darted after the zebra.  She did tell him how to find out.

Zecora waited for him at the edge of the pool.  "You want to know why all this bother?  Look into the water."

Rumble did.  One ray of sunlight beamed down on the surface of the pond.  It allowed him to see a mirror image of himself.  He could hardly believe the sight.  His mane was an absolute mess, with leaves and twigs sticking out of it.  His muzzle was scratched and covered in streaks of red.  It was probably his own blood.  His own eyes looked back into him in shock.  Who was this colt?  Was this the same guy who slid a flower into his bowtie just earlier today?  Even though he knew the answer, Rumble wondered what this pony could have gone through.

Zecora's head slid into view.  "You said you screwed up everything.  Say what mean.  Hold back nothing."

Rumble's tongue went numb.  This felt like a test.  What was she expecting him to say?  "I screwed up.  I shouldn't have come here."  The moment the words passed his lips, he knew what Zecora meant.  Her reflection gave him a nod of encouragement.

"There was never a reason for me to come here.  My family tried to help me with my problem, and I ignored them.  I tried to be something I'm not.  I let my pride screw with my head.  I never thought about what I was doing.  I killed a bird because I got angry and chased it away from safety.  I nearly killed myself, and I didn't think about what that would mean until it was too late.  I almost killed you because I couldn't even breathe right!"

Rumble slumped down after his confession.  Stupid, stupid idiot.  Zecora's hoof touched his shoulder.  "I underestimated you, lad.  Listen, there's no reason to be so sad."

"What are you talking about?"

"That took a courage too many never find.  You can look at yourself and say 'the fault is mine.'

"Fat lot of good it does me."  Rumble was sick of looking at himself.  He raised a hoof and slapped the water, destroying his reflection.  He brought his hoof back up to his face, wiping the blood off.

Zecora laughed behind him.  "You said you wanted to be a hero, like in old storybooks and tomes.  Would you like to hear such a tale from my home?"

A zebra legend?  Rumble certainly never heard one before.  "That sounds really interesting.  Thanks."  Zecora led him away from the pond and lied down on the grass.  Rumble lowered himself next to the honeysuckle and waited for her to begin.

"It is a tale that comes from olden times, before zebras met ponies, griffons, or even spoke in rhymes.  To the zebras, in all the world, there were only three things.  The mindless beasts of the world, our goddess, and something in between."

"A goddess?  You mean like Princess Celestia?"

"We believe this goddess is our creator, though none have ever seen her.  She gave the zebras our wisdom, our minds.  But what she didn't give us were more like our kind.  We were alone.  There were no other societies like our own.  We were neither monstrous nor divine, beast nor god, black nor white."

"Oh!  Were you actually gray?  You didn't have stripes yet?"  Zecora nodded.  "Nice, it's an origin story!  I read this one legend, where pegasi got their wings, that had the hero cut the wings off an eagle and-"  Rumble shut up at the look Zecora gave him.  The zebra cleared her throat and continued.

"One day, the creator came to speak with the queen of our tribe.  Her Majesty asked what role the creator had for us in mind.  Our goddess was confused.  Did she not give us our knowledge, our voice?  However, since she was dissatisfied with her lot in life, our queen was offered a choice.  She could live as a beast out in the field, or live as the goddess, able to make others yield."

"I'm...gonna guess she took the second one?"

"In a flash of light, her coat was turned snow white.  The goddess left her, still stunned, and said she would return to see what the queen had done.  With all the wisdom of the goddess, the queen ruled thusly: Benevolent at first, then all too unjustly.  Gold, jewels, goods, they all became hers.  None could resist her honeyed words.

"One day, as the queen held court, the goddess came back.  She ridiculed the queen, mocking her for failing her task.  The goddess recounted all the queen's wrongs, and with each one she spoke, a stripe of black ruined the queens coat."

Rumble could only imagine what that felt like.  He couldn't even tell his mistakes to himself without punching his reflection in the face.  But having a goddess spell them all out?  In front of an entire court?  He felt a surprising sympathy for the queen.

"With each stripe, the queen's shame grew.  And then, at long last, she knew.  She knew the lesson the goddess was teaching.  One must have humility with power far-reaching.  The wisdom of the goddess was too much for her.  She accepted her life among the zebra herd.  The queen carried her stripes to the end of her days, and her rule is said to have been a golden age."

"Is...that story true?"

"Little Rumble, who could know?  The lesson is what matters most.  Knowledge, power, wisdom, whatever you seek comes with a price to be paid.  It is a joke among the zebras that a stripe is added to us with every mistake that is made."

Zecora twisted to lie on her side and lifted her cloak.  For the first time, Rumble saw all of her.  He saw the stripes on her face and in her mane, of course, but now she showed him everything.  All four legs were ringed with black.  Her back was covered in the color as well.  Black even dominated her tail.

"That's a lot of stripes," he weakly offered.

"There is a story behind every last one, and there could be more when all is said and done.  Rumble, we must put our mistakes on ourselves.  Learn from them, and you can start to trust yourself."

Go, find your confidence.  This probably wasn't what Cloudchaser had in mind, but Rumble never heard a better definition of the word.  He already paid quite a price, so is that what he found?  Maybe this trip to the forest wasn't a complete waste after all.

"You should substitute for Miss Cheerilee one day."

Zecora threw her head back and laughed.  "Perhaps, but now it is time to get you home.  From here, it is an hour's roam."