Chapter I: Clear Skies, Cloudy Sighs
Pegasi and Unicorns
a My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction by MLSonic
Chapter 1: Clear Skies, Cloudy Sighs
For a clear and sunny day at the beach, Rumble grinned at the possibilities he could do. He could build a sandcastle with his friends, or go swimming on the lakefront, or even to mess around in the sand. He could do whatever he wanted to, whenever he wanted to do.
But that wasn’t the case.
It WAS a clear and sunny day; however, it was almost forty degrees outside (due to the fact that he’s near the lakefront), and he was all by himself. All alone at Calumet Park Beach, near the abondoned Indiana factory, all he could do was to think of the possibilities he could do right at this very moment. He could see it right in his purple eyes: he was there, running around on the mushy sands; his friends were there, running around with him; and Thunderlane was there, interfering with the games Rumble and his friends would play.
Rumble breathed the freezing air of the lake, enabling him to see his own breath that came from his mouth. He slowly trotted closer and closer towards the lakefront as he paused for a moment. Already, he could feel the verge of winter. The sand was as hard as rock, several golden-brown leaves dotted the beach, and cold winds from the south began to merge into South Chicago.
Rumble halted his thoughts and continued his small-step journey towards the lake itself. He breathed the southern cold air once more and stopped.
Why the hell am I here? I should be home with Thunderlane right now. I could be inside room right now, all snuggled up on my bed, barricading myself from the cold.
And then… a voice was heard from the road behind him:
“Rumble!”
Rumble could realize that call from any pony. The perfect pitch, the perfect tone, and the perfect tempo. Out of all of the ponies around the vicinity, it was Sweetie Belle’s voice that was heard.
Rumble widened his eyes and turned around at a perfect one-eighty degree angle, and could see Sweetie Belle slowly approaching to him.
Oh Celestia, why is she here? How is she here?
Closer and closer, the silhouette of Sweetie Belle increased immensely; eventually, Rumble’s shadow was covered by Sweetie’s and her scarf. Rumble began to shiver from the cold as Sweetie Belle came into a halt. She was here now, and that made Rumble a bit better.
“What are you doing here?” Rumble asked Sweetie Belle. She grinned furiously.
“What am I doing here?” Sweetie Belle responded sarcastically. “Oh, I don’t know, I was just in the neighborhood and decided to take a stroll down the beach and- You’re so naive, Rumble. I came here to see you!”
“To see… me?” Rumble’s cheeks blushed two crimson circles, each standing out on Rumble’s cheeks. “Oh! To see me! Heh heh, yeah… to see me.” Rumble felt the sense of embarrassment all around him. A small breeze from the lakefront chilled the ponies’ spines. Sweetie Belle’s scarf flowed along with the wind, comforting herself but making Rumble envious.
“That’s a nice scarf you got.” Rumble complemented. “It looks splendid on you.”
“Oh, this?” Sweetie Belle mentioned the scarf. It was a simple green scarf that was knitted by her sister Rarity. “It’s just a plain old scarf.” Baffled by the statement, all she did was smile at the blushing grey Pegasus pony. Rumble wrapped his wings around his back to comfort himself from the harsh winds. Ironically, it did not help. It only made matters worse. Now, Rumble’s body was clattering like a spooky scary skeleton and rubbed his teeth together.
Sweetie Belle slowly realized that Rumble was shivering to death. Showing verisimilitude, Sweetie Belle grabbed the scarf that was still flowing with the wind, and wrapped it around Rumble’s neck. Already, Rumble could feel a difference by the miraculous move. Rumble’s crimson cheeks began to die away from the warmth of Sweetie Belle’s scarf.
“Th-thank you, Sweetie Belle,” said Rumble. “I was almost freezing to death.”
“I know,” replied Sweetie Belle, “I know you were…” Sweetie Belle smirked this time to Rumble. Rumble smirked back as the wind began to slowly fade away. Sweetie’s scarf impacted the ground a couple second later when the wind had came into a complete halt.
“That was some gust of wind,” said Rumble. “I should have brought a jacket or scarf with me while I was waiting. I was waiting for an half-an-hour at this very spot.” Rumble looked down at the shadows. Sweetie Belle’s eyes turned away from Rumble and caught a glimpse of the Indiana Factory that stood three: rusted but proud. Sweetie Belle was in awe of the factory, but the feeling faded away when a question blurted out her mouth:
“Isn't the border of Indiana not too far from here?” Sweetie asked to herself out loud.
“Just a few more miles,” replied Rumble, “why?”
“Oh, nothing. Just curious.”
Curious? Yeah right! You’re just looking for a way to escape me.
A moment of pondering flowed the minds of the two ponies, just a single moment of what to talk about. Then Rumble spoke out rather abruptly.
“So tell me,” commanded Rumble, “why’d you want me too see you here? In a place that haunts my memories?” Sweetie Belle looked down at the shadows this time, and raised her head up and said:
“Because, Rumble, it’s been a while since we've met at the beach, don’t ya think?” She was lying. The two have been at the exact same location every once a week. Every time before they've met, Sweetie Belle had to take a bus to the train station, take the train all the way to 69th street, then take another bus all the way to 99th street. Wasting almost ten bucks was worth it for Sweetie Belle to see Rumble.
“Ah, I see.” replied the Pegasus pony. “You are lying once more. Tell me the goddamn truth, Sweetie Belle!” Rumble bursted out in anger.
“It-It’s hard to let go of the truth!” Sweetie Belle yelled. She wanted to tell the truth, but the feeling is just too harsh to handle for Sweetie Belle.
“Hmm…” Rumble was intrigued by what Sweetie Belle had stated.
“Rumble,” Sweetie Belle began, "it is hard for me to let out the truth in front of you. I-I'm sorry..." Sweetie Belle let out a huge sigh to signify her apology. Rumble pondered for a second, and then realized the reason why its hard.
"Close your eyes," Rumble commanded Sweetie Belle.
"Why?" she said snarlingly. Rumble stated the command once again, this time, however, with a bit more description:
"Close your eyes, and pretend that I'm not here. Pretend that it's just you. Only you. And just let it all out YOUR way," he paused. "It's okay, Sweetie Belle, I won't even listen."
So Sweetie Belle did what Rumble had asked her to do and tightly closed her eyes. All she could see was uncanny patters in a darkened place. She closed them even more tightly, making her eyes throb in pain and tears, even gritting her teeth. All she could see was nothing... eventually, she heard nothing.
It had worked. She is all alone now. She could see herself floating in empty space, space swimming along stars, planets, and even galaxies. The feeling of being alone amazed her, albeit it was a temporary felling. She continued to freely swim in the vast nothingness of space, amazed by the beauty of the creation of the universe. But this wasn't a time for dilly-dandling, she had to tell the truth to herself, and then to Rumble. She took a deep breath and spoke out the words of the truth:
"Rumble, if you are listening to this, then I must congratulate you. Nopony has been inside my mind except for me. Now, the truth. Ever since I met you, I had this feeling. A feeling of starting a new life; a feeling of getting to know you better. I know how horrible your life is. Living in the streets of South Chicago is probably on of the harshest moves a pony would ever make. We have met a ton of times at the beach, especially here; but we do meet at the harbor at 31st street from time to time. The reason why we meet at the beach is because It's more private, more peaceful, more comfortable for me to understand. I'm sorry if you feel haunted by the morbid memories of the beach. I just hope you would forgive me for doing this to you..."
And then, it happened.
"I forgive you," Rumble said softly. "I forgive you for every mistake you have done to me in the near past, and I just wanted to say that I'm sorry for yelling constantly and just... acing all pessimistic in front of you. I hope you forgive me, too." Tears blurred Rumble's vision as Sweetie Belle opened her eyes and began to fill up with tears as well. Slowly, but surely, they both began to drip tears into the frozen sand, and the forgiveness train was at the station was now arriving in three, two, one:
"I forgive you," Sweetie said tearfully. "I must be real stupid to even come all this way just to say that I'm sorry."
"Sweetie Belle, shut up! You are NOT stupid! For pony's sake, Sweetie Belle, it was worth it that you came here! You did said to come at this very location, and I'm happy that I got the chance to meet you and apologize to you."
"Y-you are?" Sweetie Belle sniffled.
"Sweetie Belle..." Rumble cried.
"Y-yea?"
"Ever since I met you, I felt a like a new pony. You made a difference in my life, Sweetie Belle, and I thank you for that."
"Wh-what?"
And then, out of the blue, Rumble kissed Sweetie Belle on her wet cheek. He instantly looked down when Sweetie Belle let out even more tears, creating a mini puddle below her numb hooves.
"Why are we doing this?" asked Sweetie Belle, forgetting all about the kiss. Her vision blurred out, but could still manage to hear sniffles from Rumble. "Why are we suddenly telling the truth all of a sudden? Tell me Rumble. TELL me!
"Because," Rumble began, "it's the only way to cope with the feelings we hid from each other from the moment we first laid eyes on each other." Rumble cried even more, creating his own small puddle of tears. Eventually, with enough tears, the two puddles joined together to form one big puddle. And the weird part is: it almost made a perfect shape of a heart. And then, he wrapped his hooves around Sweetie Belle in a bug hug. Rumble and Sweetie Belle continued to cry for the next few minutes, still wrapped in a hug. A gust of wind blew off the heart-shaped puddle of tears, forcing the two to stop crying and to move on.
"I think its time for me to go," Sweetie said sadly. "I do hope we meet again sooner or later." Rumble grinned with passion.
"Y-yea," he said. "I also hope that we meet again." Rumble saw Sweetie Belle slowly trotting away from him with her head down. She went up the frozen hill and was no longer to be seen by the naked eyes of Rumble. All he could see was himself and his silhouette, the Indiana Factory, and strangely, a cloudy sky. Rumble turned and looked at the lakefront. Wave after wave, his front hooves soaked in sea water. All he could do now, was fill up the lake with his own tears, and to ponder even more.
