One fine day in Ponyville, the young grey pegasus stallion Rumble sat alone on a bench in the middle of the park. He was excited because today, he was getting to meet with his old foalhood friend Scootaloo for the first time in 13 years.
When they were kids, Scootaloo and Rumble would do everything together. Growing up in Cloudsdale together, they used to do things like play basketball, have sleepovers, and get into their fair share of trouble. The two of them were inseparable.... up until Scootaloo's mom got a job transfer and she had to move down to Ponyville when they were nine. It was hard for both of them, with Rumble having to stay in Cloudsdale and watch his friend leave town. They stayed in touch at first, but pretty soon they each got too busy making their own lives and eventually stopped writing each other altogether. The last thing Rumble heard from her was that she had made a new group of friends called the 'cutie mark crusaders' or something like that.
But now that they were both 22, Rumble decided that it was time to finally catch up. When he contacted Scoots, she seemed so excited to hear from him and said that she'd love to get together again and hang out. Although, it was already almost ten minutes past the time they'd agreed to meet and he was starting to get a little anxious.
"Rumble!"
He knew that voice anywhere. The voice that called his name belonged to none other than good old Scoots herself. He turned his head and saw her riding her scooter down the pavement straight towards him and waving to him with a huge smile on her face. He stood up in excitement and waved back at her. He wasn't surprised to see her on a scooter. She always was unstoppable when she was riding her trusty purple lightning as a kid. She came to a halt and climbed off of her transport. The two old friends embraced each other in a great big hug.
Scootaloo's hug was so tight that Rumble swore he felt his wing start to snap. They held each other for all of seven seconds before loosening up to get a good look at each other.
"Man, it's so great to see you!" Rumble said. "I mean, look at you! You look..." his voice trailed off a bit as he found himself admiring his old friend's new grown up body. She certainly wasn't a little kid anymore. Every muscle on her body looked highly strong and toned, from her arms to her stomach to her legs. She was wearing tight purple riding shorts and a matching sports bra that really accentuated her newfound curves. But Rumble stopped his mind from drifting into dirty waters. He did notice however, that she still had the same wing size as when she was younger, though he decided not to mention it and just finish his sentence.
"You look, uh... wow!" he said at last.
Scootaloo chuckled. "Thanks. You look great, too. Hey, when did you get a mustache?" she asked jokingly.
"Nevermind that. When did you get so ripped?"
"Well, honestly, it's sort of my way of making up for the fact that my wings stopped growing when I was a kid."
"Oh." Rumble suddenly felt the tone in the air drop a little bit. "I'm sorry to hear that."
"It's okay. It just means I'll never be able fly more than a few feet off the ground. They still work great for propelling me super fast on my scooter. But that's why I decided to get all my other muscles super pumped." She flexed her bicep to show him what she was talking about. "You know I can bench up to eighty pounds?"
"Hm, impressive," the stallion replied, placing his thumb and forefinger under his chin and nodding his head jokingly. "But has it improved your ball handling skills?"
"Oh, trust me. I can handle any balls may or may not have."
"Ha, very funny. Care to prove it, then?"
"You're on!"
And with that, the two pegasi were off to the basketball court for their first match in thirteen years.
The court was empty, so the two friends had it all to themselves. Rumble set down his back pack on the nearby bench and pulled out the ball for them to play with. While he did that, Scootaloo was stretching out her arms and legs in preparation.
"Warming up, huh?" Rumble inquired as he walked up behind the young orange mare.
"Yep. Gotta be nice and limber when I kick your skinny grey butt," Scootaloo teased.
Rumble replied with a playful chuckle. "That's real cute, but I'm pretty sure I'm gonna be the one kicking your..." Before he could finish, Scootaloo bent over to touch her toes and the young stallion got a full view of her perfectly toned rump pressing against those purple bike shorts. "... tight, round, perfect butt..." he concluded under his breath.
"Say what?" Scootaloo asked, standing up straight, apparently not having heard Rumble's accidental choice of words.
"What?! Uh, nothing! Just... that I'm gonna beat those gimpy little wings off of you!" He taunted as he tried to recover from his distraction.
Scootaloo seemed to buy it as she gave a cocky smirk and said "Oh yeah? Well, quit talkin' and start rockin', tough guy. First to three wins."
"Bring it!"
The two pegasi met in the center. Rumble tossed the ball in the air and the game was on. He was the first to catch it and start dribbling it to the other side. Scootaloo ran to try and block him, but he made his shot and the ball flew straight through the hoop. First point went to Rumble. "What's the matter, Scoots?" he said teasingly. "You sure those are muscles you've got there, 'cause they look more like leg fat slowing you down to me!"
Now Scoots was really fired up. She wouldn't let him get away with a comment like that. She snagged the ball and started running it toward the other hoop with Rumble in hot pursuit. She shot the ball at the net. It circled the rim and fell through the hoop, landing Scootaloo her first basket. She laughed, rubbing it in his face. "Who's slow now, you wingboner?!"
The competition was fierce between these two formidable opponents. Each tried their hardest to gain the edge over the other. Scootaloo scored the next point, much to Rumble's annoyance. She would've gotten the next one if he hadn't deflected her shot and dribbled the ball back to her own hoop.
Now they were down to the final point. The tiebreaker that would decide the winner. Rumble caught the ball and began to take it to the hoop, but Scootaloo snatched it away from him and bounced it back to the other side. He ran after her and tried to block her as best he could. She threw the ball at the hoop and both ponies watched as it bounced off the backboard and circled the rim. Finally, the ball fell through the net and Scootaloo won.
Rumble conceded defeat as his friend cheered and celebrated her victory. He had chosen not to use his wings since it wouldn't have been a fair match if he had. Still, he felt like he had lost fair and square. Although, the way she was gloating made him think she deserved some payback.
Rumble walked up slowly next to Scootaloo and suddenly wrapped his arms her waist. She was struggling to get him to let go, but she was also laughing with pleasure just like him. He started tickling her belly, which made her laugh and writhe even harder. After much screaming and begging him to let go, he eased up and she broke free of his grip.
The two of them sat down on the bench to catch their breath. "You've gotten sloppy with age, Rumble," Scootaloo taunted him. She pulled out a water bottle and took a big swig, tilting her whole self backwards. Rumble's eyes were drawn to her well-developed chest. He knew he shouldn't stare, but the way her perky breasts pressed against her sports bra was so alluring that he couldn't help it. "Whoa..." he mouthed under his breath. He slapped himself mentally for being so lewd. This was his childhood best friend he was looking at. Just because her body had developed so much with age, didn't mean he couldn't have a fun time with her like he used to without it being awkward.
When the orange mare finished her drink, he finally managed to look away. "Say, I got an idea," she said. "You wanna go play some pranks like in the good old days? There's a cranky old donkey who lives around here who'd make a perfect victim."
Rumble giggled. "You never change, do you, Scoots?" he said. "Let's do it."
Scootaloo and Rumble arrived at the home of Cranky Doodle Donkey. They snuck quietly onto his lawn with Scoots carrying an overstuffed backpack. They lowered down to a crouch to get past the two windows without being seen. Once they got to the backyard, they pressed their backs against the wall of the house.
"Okay. You ready?" Scootaloo asked, pulling off the backpack and unzipping it to reveal its contents. Twelve fresh rolls of two ply toilet paper.
"I don't know, Scoots. I'm starting to have second thoughts," Rumble complained.
"Don't worry. It's just toilet paper. What harm can it do?"
After thinking for a moment, Rumble was back on board. "Alright. Let's do this."
They each took a couple rolls of TP and walked up to the tall tree over in the corner of the fence. They were about to start throwing when Rumble suddenly felt something tickling his leg. He looked down and saw a little brown spider crawling up his leg, which made him panic and scream. Scootaloo tried to calm him down before they got caught, but it was too late.
"Who's out there?!" Cranky's voice called from inside the house. "I'm warning you! Trespassing is a federal offense!"
The two delinquents knew they had to hide quick, so they ducked behind a nearby barbecue pit made of stones just as the old burro came out of his house holding a fireplace prod. They tried to stay very quiet with Cranky scanning the yard for the intruders. "You'd better not touch my flower bushes!" he shouted.
"What do we do?" Rumble whispered.
Scootaloo searched the ground and found something. "Don't worry. I've got an idea," she whispered back.
Scootaloo picked up a rock and turned to peek over the grill. There was just one inconvenience. The way she was positioned, her chest was facing right next to Rumble's face. He tried his best not to look where he shouldn't, but her breasts were so enticing that it was hard for him not to. The grey pegasus cursed himself internally. Why did he have to suddenly be so physically attracted to his old childhood friend?! Although she didn't seem to notice as she finally found a good place to throw the pebble.
She threw it clear across the lawn and the sound it made got Cranky's attention. While he was distracted, Scootaloo and Rumble made a break for the nearest bush and hid behind it. They accidentally made a rustling sound which made Cranky turn back in their direction.
"Alright, who's there?!" he shouted. "Come out with your hands up or else!"
They tried to keep as quiet as possible, but Scootaloo suddenly felt an inch in her nose. Then she noticed what kinds of flowers were growing out of the bush. "Oh crap! Petunias!" she whispered. "I'm allergic to petunias."
"What? Since when?" Rumble asked. He didn't remember her ever having a problem with petunias when they were kids. Then again, not a lot of flowers grew in Cloudsdale.
"Rumble, I gotta sneeze."
"No! Don't sneeze. You'll give us away."
Scootaloo held her nose to stop herself, but with the old donkey getting closer by the second, they'd need a miracle not to get caught now.
Just then, a squirrel jumped up out of nowhere right in front of them. It looked at them for a second and then ran out from behind the bush. Cranky chased after it as it ran. "Get out of my yard, you lousy, no-good pest!" he yelled at it, chasing the rodent off of his property. "And stay out!" And with that, Cranky was satisfied, believing that he had scared off the only intruder.
As soon as the old grump was back inside his house, the two guilty pegasi ran for it, making sure to get far away from the place before stopping. Scootaloo finally let out the sneeze she'd been holding in and her friend blessed her.
"That was way too close," he said accusingly.
"Yeah," she relented. "Sorry."
"Don't be. It was awesome," he added with a smile. "Just like old times."
The orange mare smiled back at him and the pair decided to head to Rumble's place for a little chill time.
The two pegasi sat together on Rumble's couch watching one of their favorite movies. They used to watch it together all the time when they were kids and it was still a classic for them. They snacked on popcorn and soda as memories of sleepovers and late night TV marathons began flooding back into Rumble's mind.
He kept glancing over at Scootaloo every so often. He still couldn't believe how much she had grown over the years. She was still the same fun-loving, athletic, rebellious pony he had spent so much of his childhood with, but she looked so different now. Thirteen years had really been kind to her figure and he started to wonder, if he had been into fillies when they were kids together, could they have been more then friends all along? Would he have wanted to be? Would she have wanted to be? For that matter, how did she feel now?
His train of thought was interrupted when Scootaloo caught him staring at her out of the corner of her eye. He quickly averted his gaze back to the movie and took a sip of his soda.
"Say, Rumble," she said with a smirk. "You mind if I ask you something kind of personal?"
"Uh, sure. What is it?" he responded.
"Have you ever had a girlfriend?"
The grey stallion almost spit out his beverage. He wasn't prepared for that question.
"It's okay if you don't wanna answer," Scootaloo relented sympathetically.
"No, it's fine. Believe it or not, I've actually never had a girlfriend," Rumble confessed.
"Really?"
"Yep. I mean, there have been plenty of girls who've caught my eye, but I usually never had the nerve to ask them out. And one time, when I did, it turned out she already had a boyfriend."
"That's rough, dude."
"What about you? Do you have a special guy in your life?"
"Well, there was one colt a few years ago," Scootaloo admitted. "We went to school together and we dated for like a year. He was nice and all, but it didn't really work out."
"How come?"
"Well, he was really good at buckball and we bonded over that, but other than that, we didn't seem to have a lot in common. Eventually, we just sort of ran out of stuff to talk about."
"I'm sorry. That sucks."
"It's okay. It was for the best. Besides, he's with Diamond Tiara now."
Rumble recognized that name. "You mean that rich filly you told me about in your letters? The one who used to bully you and your friends?"
"She's a lot nicer now. She even donates a lot of her money to different charities."
"Oh, well that's good."
There was a brief silence before Scootaloo asked another question. "So, what is it you like in a mare, anyway?"
"What do you mean?" Rumble retorted.
"Like, what are you attracted to?"
The stallion thought carefully about how to answer this one. "Oh, well, uh... I guess I like girls who are... smart, funny, kinda sassy and tough, but totally chill."
"Anything else?"
"Uh... I don't... I'm not sure what you want me to say."
"Come on. What turns you on? Big boobs? Big butts? Or is it all about the gimpy little wings for you?"
That last part really caught him off guard. "Wait. What are yo talking about?"
Scootaloo flashed him a knowing smirk. "You think I haven't noticed? You haven't been able to take your eyes off of me this whole time."
Rumble's heart stopped. He had been caught red-handed and he figured there was no use denying it to his oldest friend. "Uh... Okay, yeah. I'm really sorry about that."
"That's okay. It was fun making you squirm like that all day."
Rumble's ears perked up again when she said that. "Wait, what?"
"Well, yeah. I mean, you really think I had to dangle my boobs right in your face just to throw that pebble?"
Rumble could hardly believe what she was saying. "You've been messing with me on purpose this whole time?"
"Yep. I knew you were hot for me the minute we hugged. I mean, come on. You don't see me for ages and then when you finally get a good look at me, you can't tear your eyes away."
The grey stallion searched his mind, trying to come up with the right words to defend himself, but again, he realized that he couldn't cover for himself to her now.
"Okay, I admit it. You have grown up insanely hot," he relented with a sigh, but there was also a sense of joyful relief in his voice that he could now just have it out in the open. "I didn't say anything because I didn't wanna make things weird. I'm sorry."
"Don't be. It doesn't have to be weird. We're still friends. We should be able to say things like that to each other."
"Really?"
"Yeah. Honestly, I'm totally flattered that you think that about me. In fact.... I'm happy about it."
Rumble was rather surprised to hear that. "Y-You are?" he stuttered.
Suddenly, Scootaloo was beginning to look more nervous than he was. Her face was turning a shade of red that was honestly pretty cute. "Rumble, the truth is....I always kinda had a thing for you, too. Even when we were kids."
The pegasus stallion was at a loss for words. He wasn't at all sure how he should respond. "S-S-Seriously," he stuttered at last. "Y-You're not still messing with me, are you?"
"No, I'm being serious," the orange mare exclaimed. "After I left, I missed you so much, I couldn't stop thinking about you. I took years before I was finally completely over it. At least, I thought I was, but then you sent me that letter saying you wanted to get together and I was so excited. I guess, deep down, I was hoping this would be a second chance to have what I really wanted with you all along."
Rumble took a moment to process what Scootaloo had just said. "Wow... I'm.... I'm so sorry, Scootaloo."
Scootaloo was confused and a little worried at the same time. "For what?" she asked.
"For being such an idiot! You had a crush on me all along and I was too stupid to notice!"
"You weren't stupid. You were just a little colt. At least we're here together now, right?"
He took a deep breath and relaxed himself. "Yeah, I guess so."
Another brief silence. This time, it was Rumble who broke it. "So, what do we do now?"
"Well, we've been doing things all day that we used to do," Scootaloo noted. "Why don't we try something we've never done before?"
"Like what?"
"Like this."
Out of nowhere, Scootaloo grabbed his head and locked her lips onto his. Instead of fighting it, though, he welcomed it. It was his first real kiss and he wanted to savor it as much as possible. Eventually, she broke away from him and looked him seductively in the eyes. "You know something?" she whispered. "I think mustaches are super sexy."
The two lovers kissed again. This time, they rubbed their hands all over each other's torsos to make it even more amazing. Rumble's mind was flooded with delight. Not only did he get to be with good old Scoots again, but now he would get to share something with her that he never would've imagined. Something wonderful. Even though she hadn't changed a bit. She was still Scootaloo and he was still Rumble. And they wouldn't want it any other way.
