> Keep Me Up
>  by Meteor_Mirage
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> I'm always out of time
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Rumble sighed softly in his bed as he stared blankly up at his ceiling. He’d been like this for a few hours, wracking his brain for the hundredth time about his most recent problem. One that had been bothering him for weeks at this point. 

Writer’s block.

He’d spent quite a bit of those weeks in this same position, glaring into the blank expanse of his ceiling to find some form of answer to his questions. The words he was in a dire need of to start, hoping that they’d be enough motivation to follow through to the end.

Instead, like always, he found a mix of aggravation, anxiety, and self-doubt. And, like always, he moved into step two of his three step cycle.

With a groan, he peeled himself from his bedsheets and kicked his hindlegs over the edge of his bed, taking a moment to wipe away the sweat from his brow before planting his hooves on the ground.

The grey colt hesitated before approaching the desk that sat across the room, still the same as the last time he’d been through this cycle. And the time before that. And the time before that. 

It was immaculately clean from one of the previous times he’d approached as he had hoped that maybe straightening his room up would help with his focus. All it accomplished was him having a cleaner room to pace about in and stress further.

As he sat down, Rumble found himself glaring down at the mostly blank notebook before him. He gripped a pencil in his hoof and hovered it above the page, hoping somewhat that a half-formed thought he had just before slipping in and out of consciousness in his bed for a few hours. 

Rumble scribbled a few words, then erased them just as quickly. He proceeded to do this another three times, leaving a horrid stain of smudged graphite in the top line of his page, before tossing his pencil aside with a frustrated growl.

Its tip stuck in his wall next to the previous discarded writing utensils, proving that you don’t need a cutie mark in darts to be any good at it.

Rumble sat back in his chair, breathing a sigh to calm himself as he pulled out another pencil to just try again. He ripped the marred paper out of his notebook, balling it and his aggression up as small as possible, and tossed it behind him into a wastebasket.

He missed, the paper ball instead landing among the rest of the flock, as, unlike darts, basketball wasn’t exactly in Rumble’s repertoire of skills. Ignoring this and instead leaning forward again, Rumble grabbed for the only paper that had any words on it, though none of his own design. 

The rubric that Cheerilee had handed out for this project was as clear-cut as anything she gave to her class. It was just meant to be a three page paper on ‘Your Most Important Moment,’ graded on spelling, organization, style, and just general quality. 

Simple and open-ended, maybe even deceptively so, making it perfect for the first grade back from summer vacation. A deadline that, upon looking at the calendar on the edge of his desk, Rumble noticed was quickly approaching and only two days away. Upon this realization, the grey colt threw his head back and emitted a short, sharp groan at the revelation of his situation.

Clearly something needed to change. 

Dragging himself up from his desk and hopping off his chair, he slowly stretched his body out. The aches and pains from spending so many hours in bed, trying his hardest to “write” his paper in his mind meat, finally made themselves known, and Rumble had the urge to return to try “writing” yet again.

Or, more realistically, he’d phase in and out of consciousness until he tried to write again.

He nearly broke, taking a few cursory steps towards his warm and inviting bed, before shaking his head and letting out a small sigh. He clearly needed something to do that wasn’t just pacing around his room, taking a nap, and struggling against his own brain to produce a simple essay.

He needed something beyond the boundaries of his own bedroom.

Rumble stared out the window of his bedroom, something he’d done many times in his search for Inspiration. He saw quite a few ponies making their way through the streets without a care in the world. He even saw a few of his friends who were extremely nonchalant about flaunting their freedom from Cheerilee’s assignment.

As he watched, or more glared, as the Cutie Mark Crusaders paraded their way down the street on their way to whatever adventure they had planned next, Rumble knew that he needed an escape of his own. 

Looking at the clock on his wall, he saw that the time stood at 12:30. With a heavy sigh, Rumble concluded that if he was to take the walk he believed he needed, he’d have to make it quick.

Just as Rumble was approaching his door, moving to open it and hopefully get through the rest of the house unharmed, he was quickly distracted by the sound of a door unlocking and being pushed open in another room.

Thunderlane was home.

Or perhaps his house had just been broken into by a courteous thief.

Either way, the teenage colt now had an obstacle. 

Rumble waited a few moments before leaving his room, not wanting to make immediately it obvious that he desperately needed equine contact. He waited for a long, dejected sigh and the sound of keys clinking onto a table, as only then did he know that his brother had begun to relax.

Perhaps he could just sneak by while he was distracted? It was a good idea in the short term, but it would definitely have lasting consequences if caught.

Opening his door slowly, with as much care as possible, Rumble immediately caught the eye of Thunderlane, who was already on his way down the hallway that led to Rumble’s room. Caught off-guard, the tired and haggard Wonderbolt only had an instant to straighten up and force a grin, waving at Rumble as he entered Big Brother Mode. 

“Heeeeeey! What’s up, little dude?” The tall, dark grey stallion asked. “I was just coming to check on how that essay was going.” His grin, as wide and kind as it may have been, spoke fear into Rumble’s heart.

Rumble averted his gaze, looking anywhere but at his brother as he chuckled nervously. “Well it’s, uh, going!” He said as he scratched the back of his neck. “I’d show you, but I was just about to head out so...” 

To his credit, Rumble still did try to follow through with his plan, giving it his all in attempting to brush past his brother on his way to the outside world. 

Despite this, Thunderlane blocked his path with an extended foreleg, shooting his little brother a curious look. “Hey now, we talked about this.” He sighed as he gave his head a small shake. “I know, it’s summer, so you just want to go and play with your friends. But you’ve gotta finish your schoolwork first, dude.” 

“I’ll get it done!” Rumble complained almost immediately, rolling his eyes with the amount of angst that only a teenager could manage. “I just need to take a walk and clear my head. Then I’ll start my essay.”

There was a small moment of silence between the two of them, giving Rumble a very nice moment to catch his breath and raise his head in triumph, sure that his brother would consider his perspective valid and allow him egress. 

And in that moment, Thunderlane indeed did himself some considering. Despite being absolutely exhausted, his brain was still able to piece two bits of information together into a coherent thought. 

Though it did take him another few moments, he blinked his eyes a few times and tilted his head, looking to his little brother curiously. “Wait, start your essay? Rumble!” 

Thunderlane’s shout caught the both of them off-guard, causing another abrupt moment of silence between them. The slate grey pegasus stood stock-still for some time before stomping a hoof, the very same he was blocking Rumble with moments previous, onto the ground. 

With a soft huff, he eyed Rumble warily before motioning down the hallway. “Go sit in the living room. We need to have a talk.” And, without letting his little brother have room for response, Thunderlane turned and walked to wait for him.

Now left alone in the hallway, Rumble only had one option. Well, he had two if he wanted to jump out the window in his room, but self-defenestration didn’t seem to be in the cards today. Perhaps next week.

Instead, he made his slow, trudging march to the living room, breathing a slow sigh as he steeled himself for the lecture of the century he was sure he’d be getting in just a moment. 

Upon arrival, however, the living room was strangely empty with Thunderlane nowhere to be seen. For the slightest moment, Rumble considered that maybe this could be his chance, but he quickly realized that he would probably be better off following orders . So he simply sat down on the couch against the wall and twiddled his hooves as he waited.

It took almost no time for Rumble to get bored with waiting, wanting to get the argument over with so that he could just go back to brooding and being frustrated in his room. To occupy himself, he found solace in inspecting his familiar surroundings in the hopes that whatever Thunderlane was doing wouldn’t take that long. 

The table in front of him, a well-worn wooden table that had been beaten up from years of use in many of the brothers’ previous homes, was absolutely littered with sports magazines of varying ages, some months old while others printed as far back as before Rumble was born. Rumble thought to take one and pass the time with that, finding immense interest in one depicting the Wonderbolts’ newest recruit, Spitfire.

However, upon moving it, he revealed just the corner of a tapestry of water damage, cracks, and wood warping that was just as old as the magazines, if not older. Though it did have some recent additions in the recent past.

Neither brother had learned what a coaster was until it was far far too late. 

Placing the magazine back to hide his shame, he was forced to find something else to occupy himself with. 

Depressingly, the room was otherwise very sparse aside from a few piles of trash that littered the floor. Due to being Thunderlane’s second bedroom, meaning he’d pass out on that sofa whenever he couldn’t make it to his bed just a few yards away, it was clear of anything that would distract the Wonderbolt from passing out for twelve hours. All that was left was whatever he brought with him on a half-dazed shopping trip between work and home and then consumed almost immediately. 

Before he could try in vain to find another distraction, Rumble was startled by the sound of whirring in the other room. After a moment of confusion and concern, the following sound of trickling liquid served to remind the young stallion of his brother’s recent, and most assuredly needed, purchase of a coffee machine. 

It was only moments later that Thunderlane made his reappearance, this time with a large cup of coffee to hopefully help alleviate his tiredness. He took no time to settle down opposite his brother, sitting on the floor and placing his coffee cup precariously on the pile of magazines.

There was a long silence between the two of them, the only sound being the ambient noises of their small home and the infrequent sips Thunderlane took from his drink.

As his cup neared half-full, or maybe half-empty as Rumble saw it, the dark grey stallion finally cut the silence with sudden: “Alright!” Thunderlane said, letting out a sigh of what seemed to be relief, though Rumble was unable to notice as he was far too busy being startled out of his skin. 

Ignoring this, or perhaps being more interested in the magazines on the table, Thunderlane just continued. “So, how can I help you get started on this essay of yours?” He asked simply, looking to his little brother to provide all the answers.

It took Rumble quite a bit to process the question, reeling from the utter lack of anger or disappointment in his brother’s tone. He looked at Thunderlane with a bit of hesitance and warriness. “Well, uh, I guess I still need something to write about.” He offered a shrug as he scratched the back of his neck nervously. 

Thunderlane blinked, then tilted his head with a confused look to Rumble. “Hoooold on, you told me you were writing about our trip to Appleloosa.” He complained with a bit of a whine. “You could probably write an entire book on how fun that trip was!” 

Rumble rolled his eyes with a small chuckle. “Yeah totally. My favorite part was when you signed me up for Mild West Dancing lessons so you and Brae could hit the bars.”

This garnered quite the sly grin from Thunderlane, though he tried his best to hide it behind his coffee cup. What he couldn’t hide, however, was the loud laugh he gave after the sip of his drink. “Aw, come on! You know it was great! You even got a little outfit and everything.”

As his brother shot him a wordless glare, all Thunderlane could do was put up his hooves defensively. “Okay, alright, it was totally more important to me. But there’s no way you didn’t like spending time with your ol’ ‘Uncle Braeburn.’” 

Rumble couldn’t even begin to hold back his sudden, loud snicker at that, though he did try his best to hide his face behind his hooves as he shook his head. “Nooo, you can’t just bring that up now. I just spent the last three years trying to forget how awkward that was.”

“Aw come on, it was sweet.” Thunderlane rebutted, though even he couldn’t resist a few chuckles of his own. “I’m pretty sure he still doesn’t believe you’re just my little brother, but at least his heart was in the right place.” With a soft hum, the dark grey pegasus shrugged.

“Are you and him still, you know…” Rumble asked, though he trailed off at the end, preferring to instead press the tips of his forehooves together suggestively. “I mean, I guess with all your Wonderbolt stuff, you’re probably too busy for stuff like that.”

“Well he’s with Soarin’ now, so I guess it wasn’t the Wonderbolt thing that he broke it off for.” Letting out a small, mournful sigh, Thunderlane shrugged again. This was followed by a moment of silence, but one quickly broken as the stallion tilted his head slightly. “Hey, well, what if you wrote about that time I took you flying with the Bolts? You could totally write a page and a half on that, and with a little embellishing you can probably stretch it to however long you need it.”

“I dunno, Scootaloo said she’s probably gonna do hers on her first flight with you guys and Rainbow Dash, and it seems way more important to her than it was to me.” Rumble flopped back against the couch he was sitting on, throwing up his hooves in defeat before crossing them across his chest. “I just don’t know what else I could write about.”

Tapping his head gently with a hoof, Thunderlane wracked his brain for whatever he could do to help. “Well what are the rest of your friends writing about? Maybe that’ll help.” 

“Apple Bloom has her family or her potion making with Zecora, Sweetie Belle is writing about her first concert, and Snips and Snails are probably writing about each other for all I know.” Rumble wrapped his forelegs across his chest tighter as he let out a deep sigh. “Kettle and Skedaddle are writing about that Cutie Mark Camp, but only because they actually got their marks there. And, you know,” he trailed off with another sigh, gesturing briefly to the blank of his flank before returning to his pouting stance.

“And Pipsqueak?” Thunderlane asked simply.

And he at first received a similarly simple response of a gentle shrug before Rumble explained. “He left for Trottingham before I could ask him, and I’ve been too cooped up here, being grounded and all, to know if he’s back yet or not.” 

“Well that’s not exactly my fault, now is it?” The older stallion asked, rolling his eyes. 

There was a long beat of silence that fell after that question, both boys shuffling a bit uncomfortably as they sat. The silence was only broken after a grumble from the dark grey stallion. “Well, I’m already all out of ideas. Unless you’re willing to rethink that Appleoosa one.” He waited for Rumble’s response, a roll of the eyes and a slight smirk, before continuing. “Thought not. I dunno, unless you can think of any other way I can help, I think I can just support you on the sidelines.”

“I still think I just need a walk to clear my head.” Rumble explained, garnering an eyebrow raise from his older brother. “I’m serious! It’s way too hard to think of something new when I’m just looking at the same stuff all the time!”

Thunderlane was silent. For a moment, Rumble thought this was a bad sign, though his fears were pushed aside the second his brother began to nod in agreement.

“If you think it’ll help.” Thunderlane sighed with a shrug. With this, he stood up from the floor and began to brush himself off. “I guess I could get a few things done with you out of the house.”

“Like inviting that one wizard pony over instead of just staring at him from across the market?” Rumble asked with a smirk as he too stood up, but just the sight of the bright red flush of his brother’s face was enough to turn his smirk into a grin while he began to walk towards the front door..

As Thunderlane tried his best to hide his blush with a hoof, he grumbled towards his little brother. “Well I meant more cleaning up your disaster of a room, but I guess that works too.” He said. Giving up on hiding his growing blush after a moment, he stamped his hoof down to draw Rumble’s attention. “Woah, hold on. Ground rules before you go.”

Rumble quickly spun around to face his brother again, tilting his head questioningly as he did so. 

Thunderlane took a moment to straighten his mane and figure out just what to say, brushing a hoof through his light blue mohawk. Breathing a long sigh, he shook his head. “So, ground rules, right. First of all, you’re waaay grounded. Like, for the next month.” The pegasus stallion waited for a beat to see Rumble’s reaction, clearly expecting something less reserved than the soft pout and shrug the teenage colt actually managed.

After another beat, Thunderlane continued. “Right, well, second: Tomorrow, you’re starting and finishing your essay. I don’t care if it’s the worst thing you’ve ever written, but it’s getting done. You can make the grade up later.”  Another beat, and no arguments from Rumble. “Finally: Just get back before dark.” He ran another hoof through his mane. “That’s pretty much it. Grounded, writing, home before dark.”

Rumble breathed a sigh of relief, expecting much worse than just more of a grounding for basically lying to his brother for weeks. He waited for a short moment, thinking that his brother might want to add another last-minute stipulation to his punishment. Finding nothing, he finally continued a speedy approach to the front door.

At the last moment, just as Rumble placed his hoof on the doorknob, he was interrupted with a, “Woah wait, hold on, one more thing,” from  Thunderlane.

Spinning around slowly, Rumble was only given a short moment to dodge the umbrella that was suddenly hurtling towards him. As quick on his hooves as Rumble was, all he could do was dodge the brunt of the hit while the handle of the umbrella smacked him square in the cheek before clattering uselessly against the ground.

“You were supposed to catch that.” Thunderlane said as he watched his brother gently rub his cheek. Thankfully the lack of weight to the object allowed the pain to fade quickly, meaning Thunderlane could quickly sweep it under the rug. “A rain is scheduled for later, and I don’t want you drenched when you get back. And don’t think getting sick is gonna give you extra time on your essay.”

While Rumble hadn’t considered it earlier, he was most assuredly thinking about it now. Despite this, however, he still picked up the umbrella and tucked it under his wing. “Yeah, whatever. Can’t I just-” 

“No, you cannot just bust the clouds so you don’t get rained on.” Thunderlane quickly interrupted with a deep sigh. “The weather team is still getting on my case about last time. So an umbrella will have to do.”

Despite rolling his eyes in response, Rumble was unable to think of any arguments to his brother’s statement. He may have needed to protect himself from the rain, but that wasn’t any reason to set back hours of Weather Pony work in the process.

As fun as it may have been. 

Pleased with himself for reigning in his little brother, even a little, Thunderlane gave a soft smile. “Well, have fun out there. Don’t get into any trouble or anything. I’m gonna go and take a huge nap, and hopefully I’ll wake up before dinner.”

With this, Thunderlane made his way back to the living room, flopping audibly onto the couch as he quickly fell into a deep slumber.

Lacking any adult supervision, Rumble quickly untucked the umbrella from his wing. Refusing to believe in the wisdom of his older, more mature brother, he leaned the umbrella against the wall and instead trusted that he surely wouldn’t need it for a little rainstorm.  He was made of tougher stuff than Thunderlane took him for.

Without any further hesitation or interruption, the teenage stallion was finally able to open his front door and get on his way. His next stop: The Park.
> Don't let me go
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

It was a fairly average summer day in Ponyville, which was exactly what Rumble needed after spending weeks cooped up in his room. Only a few steps out his front door, the teen took a deep breath of fresh air and immediately felt more relaxed than before. It was only then that he knew he’d made the right decision to leave.

The only thing that gave Rumble the smallest of halts was the dark, ominous looking clouds that hung in the sky in multiple places above the town, being swiftly added to by the Weather Team in preparation for the impending storm. 

There was the briefest of moments where he considered turning himself around and grabbing the umbrella his brother had tried to gift him with, but he was a stallion who was stalwart in his decisions, no matter how poor they may be, so the only turning he did around was to lock the door behind him before embarking on his journey.

Even at a slow trot, Rumble’s walk to the park only took a few minutes of weaving through the streets of Ponyville. On his way, he was surprised to see that the bustling streets he’d seen not an hour before had fallen away to a near-emptiness with only a few ponies paying him no mind as they rushed to where they needed to go. Or perhaps just a place to wait out the oncoming storm.

As the skies grew darker around Rumble upon his arrival to the park, he began to consider that he may have made a mistake. 

But he’d be damned if he was going to take a walk of shame back to his home, where Thunderlane would surely be to ridicule him. After his nap.

Continuing onward, Rumble’s first plan was to find some shelter inside the park. Fortunately for him, Ponyville’s park came well equipped with multiple gazebos for just this purpose. This way he could be protected by the rain while also still taking in nature as was his plan all along. 

Unfortunately for Rumble, he wasn’t the only one in the park with this plan. No matter which of the structures he approached in any of the corners in the park, he always found them packed with ponies. Normally he’d be fine with sharing space with any of the Ponyvillains, but he came to the park to relax and think, and that was much harder done when surrounded on all sides no matter which gazebo he picked.

Well, aside from one. 

It is said that deep in Ponyville Park there was a small area of hidden away overgrowth that went unnoticed by those who weren’t told of its existence. Those who were made aware of it, usually through word-of-mouth from those who came before, were only sent that way due to needing somewhere out of the way to bring a prospective partner to for a number of reasons.

It was why Rumble knew of it, though he had chickened out before actually making use of his newfound knowledge.

However, the secluded space also sported a structure that could act as a place of refuge for the teenage stallion, and one that would almost certainly allow him to relax and think for a while. So, Rumble made his way towards the more dilapidated side of the park with as much hurry as he could muster. 

And yet, despite the usual lack of equine presence in that section of the park, Rumble still saw a familiar figure looming on the edge of the small circular clearing he’d entered. 

Drawn out of his work by the sound of grass crunching behind him, Pipsqueak spun around in place and, in the process, accidentally watered a quarter-circle of the grass around him with his watering can. The water poured out for a half-second longer before the tall, pinto stallion managed to right it. 

He stared out into the distance before him, tilting his head as he tried to figure out what had just caused the noise that distracted him from his work.

His eyes soon fell on Rumble, staring at him from the distance.

It only took moments for the watering can to hit the floor, forgotten by the large stallion as he barreled towards his friend at a full gallop. “Rumble!” He squealed with a wide grin, preparing to give the hug to end all hugs.

Knowing better, Rumble took a step back to let Pipsqueak’s momentum take him much farther than he initially planned, instead skidding past the pegasus as he attempted to slow his acceleration to a halt. Surprisingly, however, the earth pony didn’t take even a small tumble as both stallions expected he would. He just stopped, stood as tall as he could, and looked around for a moment.

“You’re getting better at that.” Rumble said, yet again startling Pipsqueak who, again, spun around to face him.

The large stallion, easily standing over a head taller than the smaller than average Rumble, immediately flushed red with a blush nearly as large as he was while scratching the back of his neck. “I’ve been practicing." He took a very small moment to look over his smaller friend, then he quickly scooped Rumble up into the hug he had already prepared to give.

Immediately, Rumble was squished against the chest of his very large friend, the pinto earth pony’s hooves wrapping around him tightly enough to constrict his breathing a bit as Pipsqueak drew him closer. 

“Rumble, I missed you!” Pipsqueak squealed yet again. His hug grew ever tighter as he practically bounced with joy at seeing his best friend after spending so long away.

“Y-yeah I missed you too buddy!” Rumble squeaked out with the air that was quickly rushing out of his lungs. He gave Pipsqueak’s side a rapid tap with his hoof, trying so hard to indicate his struggle, as he utilized the last of his breath in what could be his final cry for help. “Pip! Too tight! Can’t breathe!”

It took only a moment before Pip realized what had happened, and he released the small, fragile pegasus from his grasp as soon as he could. He stepped away from Rumble with a wild blush on his face, paired with a look of concern as he made sure he didn’t actually hurt him.

Despite coughing and sputtering as he drew in a breath of fresh air, Rumble waved his friend’s concerns away with a hoof. “I’m fine, just didn’t expect you to crush the life out of me like that. Damn, did you spend your entire vacation in the gym or something?”

“Nah, just spent some time working for my uncle.” Pipsqueak said as he looked his forelegs over, flexing them just the slightest bit before continuing. “I guess spending a couple months lugging cider barrels around is gonna help me bulk a bit.” He shot a proud grin towards a very distracted Rumble before looking him over curiously. “You sure you’re alright, mate? Did I get you on the head a little?”

It took Rumble’s brain a moment to register that as a question, and even longer to shake his head and turn his attention elsewhere for a moment. “Nope, totally fine! I’m just, uh,” there was another small moment of hesitation before he looked back up at Pipsqueak’s concerned face, “hey, what’re you doing here anyway?”

Pipsqueak perked up immediately, a wide grin forming on his face as he completely dropped what had happened moments before. “Oh, Roseluck wanted me to come check on the flowers over here. They looked a little dry so I figured I’d give them a little water.” He looked to his side, intending to indicate to the watering can he assumed he was still at his side, but becoming confused at the revelation that it wasn’t there. “Huh, I coulda sworn I had…” The tall pinto stallion trailed off, proceeding to do a small circle in search of his missing gardening implement.

As Pipsqueak did this, Rumble looked to the edge of the clearing where Pipsqueak had approached from. Seeing a small metal spout sticking out of the ground, he elbowed the still spinning stallion to get him to cease his rotation. With his attention now gained, Rumble pointed a hoof towards the fallen watering can without a word.

“Oh!” Pipsqueak said as he gave another large blush. After a few seconds’ pause, he shot Rumble a wide grin. “Aw, thanks mate. Where would I be without you?” He said with a chuckle, giving the tiny pegasus another hug, though much smaller and less intense than the one before.

Rumble couldn’t help but chuckle unison, lightly wrapping a hoof around his friend’s neck. The two parted soon after, though both stallions still shared a chuckle between themselves. 

Still, Rumble breathed a small sigh as he shook his head. “Well I guess you’d be watering plants in the middle of a rainstorm. Don’t you see the storm rolling in?” He asked as he  pointed up towards the sky, towards the clouds that looked close to bursting and the weatherponies that looked ready to kick the show off at any moment. 

Pipsqueak followed the gesture and tilted his head questioningly. “Huh, when’d all that get up there? I coulda sworn it was clear a couple minutes ago.” He squinted at the sky for a few moments, almost as if attempting to force a change in the weather. Finding that, much like the rest of his ground-bound brethren, he was unable to part the clouds, Pipsqueak instead looked back to Rumble.

Before the large lad was able to say anything, however, he was distracted by a single solitary droplet splashing against the tip of his nose. Soon, one droplet became two, and two became very many more as the sky opened up around the two stallions. Just not in the way that Pipsqueak was hoping moments before.

Before Rumble could even begin to think of a sarcastic quip, he was distracted from any form of thought as Pipsqueak lifted him off the ground with his immense Earth Pony Strength, along with the mass amounts of strength he naturally possessed, and held him under his foreleg like the purse of a very fashionable stallion. 

“Let’s get you outta this storm.” Pipsqueak said as he rushed for the dilapidated gazebo in the center of the clearing, free of any equines as Rumble had hoped. 

It was only moments later that Rumble was placed as gently as possible onto the wooden floor in the center of the gazebo, left blushing from the closeness and the kind gesture. Looking up at Pipsqueak, he found the stallion searching around the rain drenched seats of the gazebo.

Rumble tilted his head questioningly at this, cocking a small wry grin as he did so. “”What’re you looking for, dude?” He asked before patting the ground beside him, the only other moderately dry spot in the structure due to a very leaky roof. “Come on and lay down. You’re gonna get soaked like that.”

Rumble’s offer went ignored for now as Pipsqueak continued his search. “I just remembered leaving a,” he paused for a second to duck his head under the last bench, “towel out here when you invited me that one time.” Now standing up on the bench, Pipsqueak began to search the ceiling for his discarded cloth, perhaps hoping that it was thrown up there rudely after he’d lost it.

While Rumble did remember inviting Pipsqueak along, then spending the rest of the day with him at the lake, he was mostly caught up on the memory of the most embarrassing moment of his young life. That being the very reason he’d invited his friend along in the first place.

Just the memory caused a blush to engulf his face.

But Rumble was quickly drawn out of his remembrances as Pipsqueak flopped down beside him, the absolute size of the lad causing the gazebo to shake for just the briefest of moments.

“Welp, looks like I couldn’t find it.” Pipsqueak said as he looked down at Rumble with a grin. “I guess you’re just gonna have to dry off the natural way, huh?” He nudged his friend with an elbow, though misjudging his own strength had him land his nudging implement right into Rumble’s ribs.

Rumble jumped, looking up at his friend and opening his mouth to say something, but quickly becoming distracted by something much different.

Pipsqueak was drenched in water at this point, unlike Rumble who had already begun to dry from his brief, chance encounter with the rain before Pip snatched him up. He hadn’t noticed due to the short bite of pain, but even the elbow he was jabbed with was absolutely soaked, setting that part of his coat’s drying cycle back by a few moments.

“How did you get so wet?” Rumble asked as he looked over his friend.

Pipsqueak took a moment to respond, using that moment to look over his body, think, and then give a small shrug. “Huh, must’ve happened while I was looking for something to dry you off with.” 

“Dry me off with? What’re we gonna do about you, you big dork?” Rumble chuckled as he shoved Pipsqueak with a hoof. Though, due to his small stature in comparison to Pipsqueak, the blow was glancing at best.

“Hey!” Pipsqueak still squeaked, brushing his side off with a hoof. “C’mon, I’m only back in Ponyville a day, and you’re already gonna hit me?” He gave a gentle chuckle of his own, grinning down at his friend. 

The question, rhetorical as it may have been, was left unanswered as a quiet formed between the two, leaving the silence and calm that Rumble was looking for from the structure. And yet the stallion still felt that he couldn’t focus on his problem. 

Perhaps it was due to the stallion that was essentially pressed up against him, grinning widely as he stared out at the rainstorm happening around them. Rumble couldn’t help but stare up at the large lad, unable to stop himself from grinning along with him. There was something infectious about that stallion’s smile, something that always gave the lithe pegasus a strange sense of peace.

And it was in that peace that the two stallions found themselves laying in, each watching the rain and enjoying the company of the other. 

It may have not been the relaxation that Rumble was looking for, but it was seemingly what he needed.

It was nice.

And it would have continued to be a nice, calm moment. That is, until Pipsqueak jerked upwards slightly. As Rumble looked up to the pinto stallion, he saw a look of pure thought on his face and a figurative lightbulb above his head.

It was only seconds later that Pipsqueak looked down to Rumble, a quirk in his lips as his thinking continued. “Hey, could I ask a really really tiny favor?” 

All Rumble could do was respond with a nod, unable to read anything about the question aside from the thought that was put into it.

Pipsqueak’s face brightened in an instant, forming a wide grin as he chuckled softly. “Aaaalright well I sorta didn’t finish fixing up that essay thing Cheerilee told us to do.” His grin grew a bit bashful as he scratched the back of his neck. “I did it in a rush on the train home so it’s probably not great, but you’re a pretty good writer so I was hoping you could help me edit tomorrow?”

It was now Rumble’s turn to be bashful, a soft blush crossing his face as he looked away from his friend. He hummed for a moment, tapping his hoof against the ground, then he let out a long sigh. “I’m, uh, actually grounded tomorrow.” He admitted without looking back at Pipsqueak. “And the next day. And the next few after that.” 

Pipsqueak blinked, taking an instant to process that, before laughing again. “Aw, what’d you do this time. Were you out popping clouds again?”

Rumble rolled his eyes. “No, I just didn’t finish my essay either! Or, you know, start it for that matter.” He sighed, leaning a little against his larger friend for comfort. “Thunderlane found out so I’m not gonna be let out of the house for a few months at the best. And I’ll be writing all day tomorrow. With supervision.”

Pipsqueak began to laugh at Rumble’s joke for an uncomfortably long time before realizing it wasn’t. “Oh.” He said as he looked at the lithe pegasus seriously. “So what’s the problem then? Spending too much time out and about with our favorite Crusaders?” 

“No, I’ve been cooped up in my room all summer. Still trying to figure out what in Celestia’s name to write about.” Rumble said as he shook his head, sighing mournfully. “I feel like I’ve tried everything! I’ve tried my first flight, I’ve tried the funeral, I’ve even tried that stupid trip to Apploosa with my brother!” He cradled his head in his hooves, rubbing his eyes as mental exhaustion began to grip him. “I’m all out of ideas.”

Another bout of silence, this time filled with enough tension that it could kill an ape. As Pipsqueak began to inch himself closer to his friend, patting him on the back with a large hoof for comfort, he tried to figure out how to begin to respond. 

But it was Rumble who broke the silence first. 

“I’m sorry, Pip. I’ve just been trying to figure this out for a while now.” Rumble said as he dipped his head, resting it on his hooves crossed in front of him. There was a second more of silence, then he turned his head to look up at Pipsqueak, the other stallion still wearing his concern on his face. “What’d you end up writing about?” 

Though Pipsqueak was taken a bit aback by the sudden change in tone, his expression grew less serious as he wrapped a hoof around Rumble. For comfort. “I… wrote about my first Nightmare Night. The first time I got to meet everyone and make real friends. And meet Princess Luna too, which was cool, but it’s mostly about the friends.”

“It was a pretty unforgettable night.” Rumble agreed, breathing a soft chuckle. “I honestly figured that you’d be writing about your cutie mark or your stargazing, but instead you’re writing about the time you were dressed as an adorably dorky little pirate.”

“I wasn’t that dorky!” Pip squeaked, a blush growing on his face as he dipped his head low, almost level with Rumble’s still resting head. “Did you really think I was adorable?” He smiled softly and, as Rumble looked back up at him, he saw a smile on the tiny gray pegasus’ face.

“Everyone thought that. You had a cute little eyepatch and everything.” Rumble sighed as he leaned even more against Pipsqueak, finding the hoof around him more comforting than he was expecting. “Totally stole the show away from my custom fitted, hundred percent accurate Wonderbolts costume.”

“Custom fitted? Is that why it ripped at the rear half through the night?” Pipsqueak chuckled as he pat Rumble on the side briefly.

“Maaaaybe I had a few too many snacks between the fitting and the day, but it was you who poked me in the butt with your absurdly sharp sword!” Rumble responded as he elbowed the large stallion to his side. 

The elbowing had no effect, but the words caused Pipsqueak to snicker at the memory. 

His snickering quickly blossomed into chuckling, and it quickly drew Rumble into his fervor. It wasn’t long before they were giggling openly and loudly, Rumble leaning harder against Pipsqueak to keep his balance and inadvertently nuzzling his neck in his fit of laughter. 

Whether the large stallion noticed or not, he said nothing about it. Instead as Pip began to wind down, he gave a deep sigh and leaned equally against Rumble, who let out a sizable sigh of his own. 

As they settled down from their jubilance, they returned to resting as they were before. Just staring out at the rain, still snickering every now and then as Pipsqueak’s hoof grew tighter around Rumble. Still just for comfort, or at least he told himself. 

The rain continued to fall as hard as ever, but Rumble found it just wasn’t as loud as it was prior. Instead, all he could hear was Pipsqueak’s slow, heavy breathing and his powerful heartbeat while they leaned against each other. 

It was soothing.

And even more soothing was the warmth of the stallion, both in temperature and emotion. With just the hoof wrapped around him, Pipsqueak was fully able to keep the cold rain from coming close to bothering him. Instead there was no bother, because he was at peace.

It was strange. For the slightest moment, Rumble felt a rough pull towards his best friend. Usually he ignored things like this, but there was something that inspired him to follow the instinct to its fruition. 

So somehow there was no hesitation as he raised his head high and pressed his lips against Pipsqueak’s cheek. 

It didn’t last very long, just a few seconds, but felt absolutely electric to him, leaving him wondering why he didn’t do it years ago as he pulled away from the stallion.

The look on Pipsqueak’s face as he pulled back, a mixture of frozen shock and confusion, reminded him exactly why he’d hesitated. 

Rumble’s next moments were filled with anxiety, fear and shame as he leaned away from Pip, putting distance between the two of them and yet again cradling his head in his hooves. “Oh Celestia, I’m so stupid. And sorry. I’m both stupid and sorry. And hot. Did it get hot all of a sudden?” He asked as he fanned himself with a hoof, the atmosphere of the gazebo becoming absolutely stifling and only slightly because of the large blush on his face.

With Pipsqueak still frozen and rebooting, still staring at Rumble with wide eyes, the grey pegasus was left only to ramble on.

“I just thought that, well I wasn’t thinking, but I thought that you were sending some signs or something and…” He trailed off, still fanning himself furiously as his large blush grew massive enough to trail to his ears. “I don’t want this to make things weird between us, so can we just-”

As Pipsqueak finally reloaded, his first instinct was to press his lips against Rumble’s while the smaller stallion began to give his heartfelt plea. It was just a small peck, much briefer than the one Rumble gave him, but it was still as electric, if not moreso.

It was now time for Rumble’s brain to break, his lips still pursed to either continue his rambling or his kiss, but far too frozen to accomplish either in any meaningful way.

And now that he was thoroughly shut up, it was up to Pipsqueak to keep the conversation going. And he did so by first closing the distance between the two of them, going back to wrapping a hoof around Rumble, but this time far more tenderly.

“You’re not bright, but there’s not a damn stupid thing about you,” he said as his hoof trailed across his frozen friend’s side, “and the only thing you’ve gotta be sorry about is not kissing me like that earlier! The last one is pretty true though.”

Rumble blinked once, twice, three times before he was able to open his mouth and respond. “Huh? ...what?” He asked with an extraordinary amount of confusion. It took him a great deal of effort to put the broken bits of his brain back together and, when he did, he gave a tiny and very shy smile as he stared up at Pipsqueak.

“Oh, that’s what I love to see. Your smile is absolutely lovely.” Pipsqueak said with a soft giggle, leaning down to give Rumble another small peck, but this time on the cheek. “I’ve been waiting so long to do that. Ever since you got me here and tried to confess that first time.”

“You knew‽” Rumble squeaked loudly, though the blush on his face was much louder than his voice. 

“I knew, but I didn’t wanna say anything. Didn’t wanna ‘make things weird’, you know?” He grinned, nuzzling down on Rumble’s fluffy mane with another gentle giggle. “But I’d like to think that this is a very good kind of weird.”

Somehow, even as Pipsqueak continued his soft, little nuzzling against his mane, Rumble still managed to keep his brain from splitting in two again. Instead, he just lifted his head to press against his friend’s muzzle, extending a wing to wrap itself as best it could around Pipsqueak’s large form.

“So what now?” He asked as his much larger friend stopped his loving nuzzle and instead began to just hold Rumble closely.

Pipsqueak thought for a moment as he looked out at the storm that, while steadily becoming less of the torrential downpour that it was earlier, wasn’t going to let up completely any time soon. “I dunno.” He finally decided after a long while of being hypnotized by the falling droplets. “I guess after this all passes, I can walk you home. Unless you wanna go now get soaked on the way.” He continued as he shot Rumble a cheeky grin.

“No I meant-” Rumble began before interrupting himself,  trailing off as he shook his head and gave off a sigh. Despite how moderately annoyed he was, there was just no way he could hold onto those feelings with Pip grinning at him like that. 

So instead he resigned himself to leaning against him, sighing again before he continued. “I mean, what are we now? What comes next?”

“I’d like to be your boyfriend if you’d let me.” Pipsqueak responded immediately, without a hint of hesitation or indecision as he said it. His hoof moved from stroking Rumble’s side, up to his head to ruffle the pegasus’ dark grey mane. “As for what’s next, how about you come over to my place tomorrow so we can hang out. Just like old times, with a few extra benefits.” He gave another cheeky grin and a quick kiss to Rumble’s forehead before popping back up seconds later. “Parents are still away for work, so pizza and a movie?”

Rumble lay his head down as he groaned mornfully. “I caaaaaan’t! Grounded tomorrow, remember? I’ve gotta work on that stupid essay.” 

“So we bring the party to your place!” Pipsqueak said, roughly wrapping his hoof back around his boyfriend and shaking him a little as he did so. “We just trade movies for homework, as boring as that is, and everything is right as rain. And, hey, look at that.” He gestured towards the outside of the gazebo.

The rain that was falling moments before had seemingly slowed down to a trickle while the two were distracted with their plan formulating.  

They were free to leave now, even if they’d get a little bit wet in the process, but neither of them wanted to make the move. Rumble made a movement against it, in fact, as he nuzzled deeply against Pipsqueak’s neck, wiggling closer and closer as he did so.

“I can try and float the idea, but no promises.” Rumble decided as he pulled his head back. “Thunder likes you, obviously, so he might let it go if we focus on the homework and not on the-”

Another interruption as Pipsqueak planted another peck on Rumble’s lips. It was only a smidge longer than the last, but it still managed to daze and confuse the poor stallion to the point that he couldn’t remember what he was saying.

With a grin, Pipsqueak pulled back and pat Rumble’s side to jar him back to alertness. “I’ll try and not do that when your brother is in the room. And Thunder loves me, so it shouldn’t even be a problem. Especially if he’s all tuckered out after work.”

“He’ll just take a slice, take a nap, and leave us to do our… ‘homework’.” Rumble agreed with a sly, loving little grin.

Pipsqueak nodded along. “Yep! You can help me edit my stuff, then I can help you figure out what you’re gonna write about. Any ideas yet?” 

Rumble just shrugged noncommittally for a moment, then looked up at Pipsqueak with a soft smile. “I… think I’ve got an idea that’ll at least get me a C. And it’s perfect for you to help me with.” 

Pipsqueak’s face brightened immensely as he looked at Rumble with elation, his ears perking as he heard some fantastic news. “That’s great! What’s it about? How can I help?” 

As Pip continued to stare with barely contained glee, Rumble just proceeded to lean against him and bark out a very poorly contained laugh. “I’ll tell you later, bud.”