Chapters Scootaloo was no longer the incapable CMC everypony once knew. She was coming into her own and growing like everypony else. Scoots was 16 now and her wings have grown since her foal years. Scootaloo still didn't do much flying but that was her choice. It was just another weekend in the life of a teenage mare. To avoid boredom she decided to go see her friends. So what if they weren't the Cutie Mark Crusaders anymore, they all still remained the best of friends.
Applebloom and Sweetiebelle were talking in the old tree house when Scootaloo soured in through the small window making a small thud as she crashed into the bean bag chairs.
"Hey guys. What's up?", Sweetiebelle just sighed as she noticed her bean bag arrangement ruined by her long time friend.
"Howdy scoots. How's life treating you? Me and Sweetiebelle were just chatting about the old days."
"Think you can peel yourself from the wreckage and join us?" said Sweetiebelle wise-crackingly. Scootaloo picked herself off the floor and drug a bean bag over to her friends to form a triangle of gab.
"So what were you guys talking about before I pulled in, RD?" The three giggled in response.
"We were just talking about the talent show from school." Sweetie Belle exclaimed.
"Oh you mean our comedy act?" Scootaloo said sarcastically." That was also when we stared our talents in the face and ignored them." The three young mares looked at the floor with somber faces but quickly cheered up.
"At least we won that year." Applebloom said enthusiastically.
"Yeah we were awesome fillies." said Scootaloo.
"Do you guys remember when I fought with my sis and tried to steal Applebloom's sister?" Sweetiebelle chimed in or at least she tried to because that is when they heard a knock outside their little clubhouse. The group was stunned because they were not accustomed to visitors.
"Just a second." Scootaloo cried out as she walked towards the door. When she got up after walking through the door, the light purple haired mare soon found herself almost nose to nose with a familiar gray colt. The two ponies quickly withdrew and Scootaloo spoke after regaining her composure.
"Rumble, Hey what's up?"
"N... Nothing just... I was just flying in the neighborhood so I thought I'd say hey." It took Rumble a bit longer to find his words as he looked into those beautiful magenta eyes. By now the rest of the former CMC were peering through the window.
"Hey Rumble." Apple Bloom stated.
"How have you been Rumble?" Sweetiebelle asked.
"Oh hey girls. I've been great. I hope I wasn't interrupting anything," Rumble answered.
"Actually w..." Sweetiebelle was interrupted by Scoots stepping in front of her; tail keeping Sweetiebelle from talking.
"Of course not. You are always welcome over here." Scootaloo tried her hardest to suppress her joy that came every time she talked to the ash gray colt. Both Rumble and Scootaloo have been friends since before they got their Cutie Marks. Other ponies around them might not have noticed, but the two were becoming really REALLY close friends. Deep down they wanted each other but neither of them could swallow their pride long enough to admit it out loud.
"So Scoots...um, I was wondering if you maybe... only if you wanted to... hang out later or something we could uh catch a movie." Rumble was shocked to hear the words flow out of his mouth so nervously. He thought for sure he would look like an idiot.
"Are you asking me out?" Scootaloo was probably just as shocked as Rumble, maybe even more so. Sweetiebelle and Applebloom just stood there in silence.
"No...well...not exactly; it's just a friendly day out. Mall, movies, chillin' you know fun stuff." AppleBloom and Sweetiebelle couldn't help but smile at the spectacle of awkwardness.
" Oh, well yeah...I don't see why not. we always have fun together, right?"
"Yeah always; like the old days. I'll get you at 8, does that sound alright with you?"
"Sure see you at eight."
Rumble flew away with as much composure that he could muster. When the CMC were sure that Rumble was out of sight they all gave out a girly squeal.
"OMG! I can't believe Rumble just did that!" Sweetiebelle said happily.
"I think he wants y'all to be his special somepony." Applebloom chuckled at the idea.
"Guys, guys calm down it's just a night to hang out with one of my best friends. No big deal." But it was a big deal. A very big deal. Scootaloo was practically screaming on the inside. Why? Why would Rumble do this so suddenly? Did Rumble really feel this way about her? Did Scootaloo feel this way about Rumble? Both ponies would have to wait until tonight to get their answers.
Scootaloo had a pit in her stomach when she walked into her house. She didnt even acknowledge her mothers existence when she rushed upstairs.
"Scoots honey, is everything alright?" Scootaloo's mom said in a very concerened tone.
"I'm fine mom." But in all reality Scootaloo was not fine. She was the exact oppisite of fine. How was she gonna go on this da...hang out with Rumble. She couldn't bring herself to deal with the reality, the possibility, of love. Love for a certain ash gray colt that Scootaloo grew up with. That ash grey pegasus that flew through her mind almost 24/7. That ash grey colt....
Tonight at 8:00. Tonight at 8:00. That is all that would playback in Scootaloo's head. Rumble asked her to 'hang out' only a few minutes ago. Scoots still couldn't believe he actually asked her. Friends were all they were, right? She wanted to believe that but at the same time hoped he wanted what she wanted. Much more of each other. To be each others special somepony.
"Scootaloo, its almost 8:00 now." Scootaloo's mom yelled from downstairs.
"Ok. Thanks mom." Eight already? She couldn't believe she thought about this 'hang out' for hours. About Rumble for hours.... A small blush was forming on her tangerine colored cheeks. She ignored it and got ready for the 'hang out'. Thats what she told herself anyway.
"Honey, Rumble is at the door." Said Scoot's mom. OMG she didnt even hear the door bell, she was so inside her own head. She felt like she was about to faint then she remembered she was Scootaloo, sister of Rainbow Dash, afraid of nothing, let alone a nervous little colt. She could do this. She knew she could.
As she walked down the stairs her eyes locked with her best colt friend. The moment their eyes locked onto each others, they were entranced by each others eyes, which seemed to last forever, but was lost in an instant.
"Oh you look good together." Scootaloo's mom had pulled out her phone and begun snapping pictures left and right.
"Mom!" Scootaloo cried behind her teeth. She had never felt so embarrassed. Rumble was frozen in place and didn't exactly know how to react to other ponies parents. Scootaloo rushed out the door dragging Rumble along who was still somewhat petrified. That night of 'hanging out' would prove to be the best night of their young lives...
The night was a perfect time in Ponyville to have a good time. You could do pretty much anything because there were clubs, house parties, and the theaters. Oh the theaters. Even with all the wild parties and fun to be had, everypony knew the theaters were the most fun. Especially since most teenagers didn’t pay to get in. it kind of hard to regulate security in a world that has pegasi and unicorns. Rumble and Scootaloo didn’t exactly have any plans.
“So…now what?”Asked Scootaloo as the two flew though the cool night sky.
“Well, I don’t really know. Honestly I didn’t think you would want to hang with me tonight.”Said Rumble.
“Seriously? We are like best friends. Why wouldn’t I?”
“Well ever since we got older, you seemed to get more and more popular while just kinda faded into the background.”
“I don’t care about any of that popularity stuff. I would never abandon my friends. Especially old friends like you Rumble.”Rumble found it getting progressively harder to fly while Scootaloo spoke due to a certain stiffness in his wings. Scootaloo began to notice the strain on Rumble’s face.
“Are you OK over there?”
“Yeah W…Why wouldn’t I be? Hey why don’t we land over there in the park next to the movies? I’m beginning to feel a bit tired.”
“Alright.”Scootaloo dove at the ground leaving Rumble behind. At this point that was probably the best. It took rumble a while to reach the ground and keep his distance long enough for his wings to go flat. When they finally lay flush against his back, he walked over to Scoots who was sitting at a nearby park bench.
“What was the hold up? You crash or something?”Said Scootaloo.
“I almost did. I must have been more tired than I thought. While are down here, want to catch a movie?”
“Sure. What did you have in mind?”
“Nothing really. Just see what is playing a watch it. I got a few extra bits on me for food and snacks.”
“Forget all of that. How about we just sneak in?”Rumble was a bit shocked by Scootaloo’s suggestion. Rumble hadn’t even stolen Wi-Fi before.
“Sneak in? Like not pay and sneak in? I never even knew I knew someone who knew how to get into a movie like that.”Scootaloo was a bit surprised at Rumble’s reaction.
“Well yeah. Isn’t your brother Thunderlane?”
“Yeah but I don’t do any of the stuff he does”
“Wow I guess I’m gonna corrupt a goodie-toshoes tonight. I guess I am pretty cool.”
“And beautiful.”
“What was that?”
“Nothing.”Rumble was really wishes Scootaloo hadn’t heard him say that.
“So how do we sneak in?”Asked Rumble.
“We just fly to the roof. That’s it.”
“It’s that simple?”
“Well there is this guard that is up there, but by now that unicorn is probably sleeping on the job.”
“Well what are we waiting for?”Rumble grabbed Scootaloo’s hoof and pulled her in to the air with him. His sudden movement caused Scoots to blush. He she didn’t know what it was about somepony who takes charge that had her so...intrigued.
“R...Rumble, slow down. We need to sneak in, remember?”
“Sorry just got a bit excited there.”
“Wow. You really are perfect aren’t you?”
“Not as perfect as you.” There was no avoiding it this time. Scootaloo heard him loud and clear and hovered. Rumble thought about backing out of what he just said but he couldn’t suppress those feelings anymore.
“Do...Do you really think I'm p...perfect?”Scootaloo couldn't help but blush
“Y...Yeah. I always have. We have been friends for a very long time and i just enjoy the very thought of you. Scootaloo...I...l love you.” Those words had been trapped in his mouth since the night began, but in one moment they were set free into the world.
“I hope you don't think I'm some kind o…”Rumble couldn't finish his sentence.She stopped him cold in his tracks with an embracing kiss.
“You have no idea how long I've been waiting to here you say that. I love you too, Rumble” The two found themselves locked together once more. They were both pretty inexperienced when it came to kissing but they found there own groove the longer the kiss went on. Scootaloo, at one point, found Rumble’s tongue wrestling with hers, which just made to experience all the more amazing. They had no idea how long that went on, but neither of them cared at the moment. When they finally came up for air, the only thing connecting them was a dissipating strand of saliva.
“Wow!” The only words Scoots could think of at the time.
“Yeah, likewise.”
“Has anypony told you that your a good kisser?”Rumble blushed.
“Well that was kinda my first kiss.”
“Mine too.”
“What are the odds? So, still want to catch that movie?”Rumble asked.
“I would love that.”The twosome then flew off in the direction of the theater holding hooves. Once they reached the roof, they had to let go of each other which caused a very unpleasant feeling. On the roof there was nothing but one unicorn guard sleeping soundly in a lawn chair with his back to the couple and an access door to the movie theater. The access door is surprisingly locked this time.
”Buck us." Scootaloo silently screamed.
“ What's wrong. Oh goddesses please tell me that that lock is not actually locked.”
“OK, i wont tell you.”
“is it usually locked like this?”
“No. The one time that pony ever did his job.”
“Well then how are we going to get in?”Rumble was less exited and becoming more and more worried by the minute.
“We are just going to have to get the keys over there.”
“Are you serious? This is sounding more and more like breaking and entering than just sneaking in. Who’s gonna have to do it anyway?” The was a moment of silence as Scootaloo just eyed Rumble.
“No no no. Not me. Not on your life.”Rumble started pleading but then Scoots gave him a certain look; a seductive look. One that could make a grown stallion lose it. Rumbles will was withering away the more he looked at the tangerine colored mare. He tried looking away but she would just move in front of him. She was constant with this beautiful little onslaught for 30 seconds before Rumble eventually couldn't take it anymore.
“Fine I’ll go. Just stop looking at be like that. It’s to much.”
“What look are you talking about?”Scoots said sarcastically.Rumble didn't know it, but his face was lit up redder than Celestia's sun. The keys that caused the embarrassment were only a few feet away from the two, but a few inches from the snoozing guard. Getting the keys would be easy enough, but the thought of getting caught terrified the gray colt. What was worse was he would have to risk if he didn't want to be persuaded again by that feminine charm Scootaloo possessed. Rumble slowly and sneakily moved closer to the guard. Rumble soon realized he would make less noise if he was crawling instead, so he got to crawling. As Rumble was creeping closer and closer to the guard, Scootaloo found her self staring at Rumbles plot. Not intentionally but she couldn't unfix her gaze to that plot. She also saw that Rumble would do anything for her, even if she had to persuade him a bit. Rumble was now close enough to the guard to here him snoring. He begun to reach for the keys and made sure to grab the ring by the keys so they wouldn't jingle. As he was pulling back, he noticed the guard shift a bit in his sleep and stopped dead in his tracks. After about 5 seconds of stillness, he begun to crawl back to Scootaloo not once turning his back to the guard. Scootaloo was still ogling Rumble when he finally stood up and turned around.
“I hope you don't trick me into doing things like this often. Are you OK? Your a bit red in the face.” Scootaloo was so focused on Rumble before that she didn't notice the blush that had formed on her cheeks.
“Yeah. Just fine. Why wouldn't i be? I’m always fine.”Scoots didn't even notice how nervous she sounded and looked.
“Were...were you staring at me a second ago?”Rumble asked
“N..no.”The lie was so obvious.
“And i thought i was the hormone ridden colt in this situation.”
“Sh...shut up.”Scootaloo gave Rumble a playful shove. She then took the keys from Rumble forgetting to take care not to make noise. The keys jingled and clanked together and almost woke the night guard. All the two heard was an inaudible murmur coming from that general direction. Scootaloo then tried the door as soon as she was positive the guard didn't wake. With one twisting motion she opened the door and smiled.’
“And with that you are officially cool in training.”
“Are you being serious?”Rumble almost jump out his feathers.Scoots just have a look that suggested she wasn't.
“You are so lucky your cute.”Scootaloo teased
“W...what?”Rumble blushed.
“What? I’m not aloud to compliment my coltfriend?”Rumbles wings went straight up without hesitation to that word. Coltfriend. He had never been anyponies coltfriend before.
“I...i guess you are.”
“You guess?”Scoots stared at his now fully erect wings.
“Maybe completely aloud.”Rumble just took Scootaloo’s hand as his wings were starting to go limp again.
“Then that makes you my marefriend.”Rumble gave Scoots a peck on the cheek and escorted the now blushing mare into the theatre. In the back Rumble’s head, he thought: This is really happening, and I'm not completely blowing it. I hope this dream never ends.
“Getting inside was supposed to be the hard part?” Rumble said as the two roamed the halls hand in hand.
“It was to me, but then again i was by myself before.” Scootaloo said.
“Well your not alone anymore,” Rumble booped Scootaloo’s nose, “get used to it.” Scootaloo smiled in response and giggled adorably. Rumble smiled back.
“You know...i’m really glad i came out tonight. I was nervous about it at first.” Scootaloo said.
“You? Nervous? If anypony was nervous about tonight, it was me.” Rumble scratched his head.
“Really? Am i that hard to talk to?”
“No not at all. It’s my fault for not being able to talk to any attractive mares and since you're beautiful, it doesn't help my case.”
“Oh? How beautiful?” Scootaloo smirked devilishly
“Well, where do i begin? On a scale from one to ten, you would be a twenty. Your looks always leave me wondering if i’m stuck in a dream and you have inner beauty too. As long as i’ve known you, you’ve had this welcoming attitude and determined spirit. Every minute i’m around you i can feel my entire day getting better. I could go on and on.” Rumble looked down at Scootaloo with a smile. His answers must have been more than satisfactory because that devilish smile was replaced with a quivering lip and tears forming in her eyes. Suddenly she hugged Rumble and held tight. tighter than she had ever hugged anypony. Rumble hugged back.
“That is the nicest thing anypony has ever said to me.” Scootaloo said.
“And i meant every word.” Rumble replied and wiped Scootaloo’s tears of joy from her face. The two stayed in each others arms for a while before entering an area where the movies were being shown. The first movie entrance read Monstrous Mares 2, The Relocation. Rumble gulped nervously he hated horror movies. You might say he had a bad experience when he was a little colt. His older brother, Thunderlane, found a mask of one of the super zombies involved in the movie and proceeded to scare, surprise, and startle little Rumble every chance he could for two weeks in a row. Thunderlane jumped out of closets, from behind curtains, even from under his bed. That was probably the worst thing to a colt his age.
“Lets go see that one!” Scootaloo broke Rumble’s train of thought.
“Why uh why that one...exactly?” Rumble tried to hide his fright but was failing.
“Monstrous Mares is my favorite movie series. What are yah, scare?” Scootaloo teased
“N...no. It’s just that i have uh already seen that one. Yeah, that.”
“Please please please Rumble?” Scootaloo began to plead. As she was pleading her voice began to sound really sweet to Rumble’s ears. Her eyes almost had sadness in them and that made Rumble feel really bad for being afraid. Why should he deny his marefriend anything?
“Okay. I guess i could sit through it one more time for you.” Rumble answered. Scootaloo jumped for joy.
“Thank you so much Rumble.” Scootaloo kissed Rumble on the cheek and headed speedily into the movie room. Rumble blushed and followed at a less-than-eager pace.
His wings always straightened when she kissed him. Do you have any idea how hard it is to hide a wing boner? Not to mention how hard it is to sit down with all the hard bending going on. The whole ordeal made for a long ten minutes or so.
Scootaloo had rushed to the front row and by the time Rumble caught up, she was already in a seat with one saved for him. Rumble was still a bit ‘straight’ at the moment so shuffling past ponies and sitting down took some doing. Once he was in his seat, or at least situated around the seat, he remembered his main problem. The movie was about to start and he was starting to shake.
“Oh celestia! I hope that Scoots doesn’t notice this. Last thing i want to do is look even dumber in front of her.” Rumble was pretty sure Scoots was gonna notice but he would try to play it off anyways. The room became as dark as Luna's flank and the title showed brightly on the screen. In a few seconds it faded and the movie Rumble dreaded began.
Thirty minutes in. So far so good. Rumble had a couple false alarms but he hadn't been truly scared anytime. His hands were still diggiing into the arm cushion on the seats but he was for the most part ok. He just kept telling himself it is worth it, it is worth it. Suck it up for her. Rumble glanced over to see the most joyful smile on Scootaloo's face. That smile kept him going most of all. But he couldn't shake this one question: why was she smiling? The movie was currently the most graphic movie in Equestria with no budget for special effects. It was so gorey in fact that Rumble almost puked a couple times.Scoots must really be enjoying herself.
Fifteen minutes later and Rumble was starting to remember why he was terrified of this movie. That main antagonist i spoke of earlier was basically a super zompony with no lower jaw and a broken neck. The characters referred to him as Harken. Harken just got done hunting and killing two survivor ponies, a mare pegasus and a unicorn colt no older than twenty. The way Harken ripped them apart made the entire theater exclaim "eeeeugh!". Scootaloo, however, didn't even flinch just watched in amazement. Rumble was so scared he was shaking uncontrollably. Every sound became danger in one way or another. A random pony chewing his popcorn too loudly turned into a zompony chewing up the bones and flesh of a survivor pony, a ringing cellphone was a city wide alarm. All these things put Rumble in a severe state of paranoia that made his eyes dilate. Scoots looked over for a sec at Rumble and back to the movie but back to Rumble when she noticed the terror in his almost violet eyes.
"Rumble...are you okay?" Scoots' words broke his trapped state.
"Huh? Oh yeah....im...im ok." Scoots could tell he was lieing.
"We can leave if you want."
"No no no. Im fine Scoots, t...trust me." Scootaloo found it sweet that Rumble was willing to go through this much stress just so she could have a good night. She leaned toward Rumble and kissed him on the cheek.
"Calm down, ok?" The shaking had stopped the moment Scootaloo's lips hit his face.
"Yeah. I can do that." Rumble sat back in his seat for once not gripping the armrests for dear life. Scootaloo rested her head on rumbles shoulder and from then on, during the movie, nothing scared him. Nothing would force him to jolt while Scoots was so close to him. That movie stopped scaring him for good that night.
"That was THE best movie in the entire series!" Scootaloo shouted excitably as she did a backflip in the air.
"It was OK." Rumble replied
"How would you know? Your face was buried in your wings the whole time."
"Oooh harsh Scoots."
"I'm just yanking your feathers. I really did have a great time." Scootaloo held Rumble's hand.
"Me too Scoots...me too." Rumble kissed Scootaloo sensually for a minute and began the walk home, hand in hand. Neither of the two wanted to fly because they didn't want the night to end to soon.
The two reached Scootaloo's house a short time later. They each let out a sigh.
"Well here we are." Rumble said with a fake smile on his face.
"Yeah...truth be told, i'm kinda sad."
"The night had to end eventually..."
"Your too great Rumble! I don't want to be alone in my room after the fun we had together." Tears where starting to form on Scootaloos face. Rumble wiped them away gently.
"Hey don't think like that. I will see you at school tomorrow and ill never let you be alone. We have all the same classes remember?" Scootaloo had forgotten but she cheered up thinking about it all.
"I actually forgot that...now i feel stupid." Scootaloo tried to hide her face but Rumble quickly grabbed her around the waist and kissed her deeply. This kiss was a way of making Scoots feel better so it meant more than the other kisses. When he released Scoots face was pretty red. She didn't expect Rumble to get so forceful all the sudden so it took her a sec to realize her wings were really stiff. Rumble giggled and Scoots put her back close to the door.
"Ill see you tomorrow Ok?" Rumble exclaimed with a smile as he turned around to leave.
"Yeah. Totally."
"Good." Rumble smiled widely and brightly then flew off.
Scoots headed straight to her room ignoring any words that might have been spoke to her by her family. She slammed onto her bed stomach first cuz her wings were still stiff and muttered to herself in a longing tone. That colt.
