There was no better way, Flitter decided with a roll of her eyes, to spend Hearts and Hooves Day than lying on her sister’s bed and have her reading interrupted by Cloudchaser throwing lacy things over her book. She tossed the red gown to the floor. “Chase, I’ll bet anything that Thunderlane hasn’t seen you in any of those dresses. Just pick one!”
“This would go faster if you’d actually say something,” Cloudchaser shot back. She pulled a simple yellow sundress over herself. “Can’t you at least put the book down and try to help me? Would this clash too much?”
“I am helping, remember?” Flitter turned the page. “Someone has to keep an eye on Rumble while you and Thunderlane go be stupid.” She scrunched her face. “You weren’t really serious about tonight were you? The Funnel Cloud of Love?”
Cloudchaser met her eyes through the mirror and grinned. “Love ain’t always a box of fluffy ducks, little sister. If you can’t hang together through some bad weather then what are you doing with each other?” She looked herself over and frowned. “So I should probably wear something maneuverable, huh?”
“Just don’t toss it—” Flitter sighed as the dress fell over her hooves. She slipped her nose under the folds and sent it crumpling down to join its fellows on the floor. Her sister had already ducked back inside the closet. Flitter stuck out her tongue.
Cloudchaser’s tail swished back and forth. “I forgot I had this one!” She leaned back out, pulling a black dress along with her. Purring, Cloudchaser smoothed it over her coat—two sleeves for her forelegs that left her withers bare, and halfway down her barrel, it became little more than strips of cloth trailing over her flanks. “Slinky little number, don’t you think? Nice and breezy, and it lets me flaunt the goods.”
Flitter rolled her eyes. “So I should plan to spend the night over with Rumble again?”
“Ooh, I hope so.” Cloudchaser bent over to pull the sleeves on, and she shook her hips. “I’ve got Wonderbolt Academy approved stuff back here. Would you turn down a night with that?”
She wondered if Cloudchaser remembered Thunderlane shared that claim, but Flitter soon blushed at the unbidden image that followed the thought. Wincing from her sister’s chuckles, she pulled her legs and tail in as tight as she could and tried to focus back on her book instead of where she was sitting at the moment, or what Thunderlane might have done there.
But it was an old book—only another two weeks until the latest in the series hit, at least—and it proved a poor distraction from Cloudchaser humming along and busying herself with her make-up. The familiar words on the page blended together like her jumbled recollection. How many Hearts and Hooves together did this make for the two of them? Three? Four?
Three sounded right. It couldn’t be four. Flitter remembered how she and Cloudchaser would plan out double dates the first months Thunderlane started dating her.
It couldn’t be four.
“So? How do I look?”
Flitter lazily flipped to the next page. “Slutty.”
“Love you too, sis.” Cloudchaser planted a wet kiss on her cheek. “Maybe you could at least grab a different book at the library before you head over? Live a little. It’s good for you.”
“Or maybe I’ll get lucky and Rumble will have a date too, so I can spend the night all alone.” Again, she added silently, but Cloudchaser’s laughter as she left the room made her think the effort had been in vain. Bristling, Flitter scraped the lipstick off her cheek and wiped it on the sheets.
She pondered the chances that Cloudchaser would miss any of the dresses on the floor. Scooping up the sundress and holding it in front of herself, she admired it in the mirror. It was cute, and she imagined it would fit her at least as well as Cloudchaser. Maybe her legs were too slim to fill out the hemline, but the two of them were close enough in frame to be mistaken as twins from time to time.
It would just take her moment to dash to her room and store the dress away before heading over to Thunderlane’s. Or maybe she could wear it. Maybe if she hurried she could catch him before he left. He always cleaned up nicely, and she doubted he would recognize the dress. It wasn’t like she had many other reasons to dress up knocking on her door.
But after he took one look at her and said hello... She dropped the dress and sighed. No sense getting dressed when there wasn’t anything to look forward to. Even the Single’s Social at the Apples’ barn was called off this year. An evening with a little colt, or if he was more successful with his social life than she was, another Hearts and Hooves evening alone with a book.
Either way, it wouldn’t do to let Rumble get home before the babysitter. She looked herself over one last time, tightened the bow in her hair, and left. The town bell chimed the hour shortly after, and she took wing to cross town before school got out. One quick, uneventful flight later, she found a note waiting for her on the brothers’ door.
Hey Flit! We have some leftovers in the fridge you can heat up for dinner. There’s also some ice cream for dessert. Just make sure Rumble gets his homework done before sweets. Mom’s rule. You’re a lifesaver! TL
Gone already. Flitter tore the note away and let herself in. But since Thunderlane mentioned it, a big bowl of ice cream sounded like a lovely way to pass the time. She didn’t have any homework to worry about, and if Rumble’s mother had a problem with him eating ice cream early, she didn’t have to know about it. It was a holiday, after all. Good times were meant to be had.
She left her book on the coffee table in the sitting room and made her way into the kitchen. There was some pasta in the fridge along with sliced veggies and some kind of casserole, nothing difficult to warm up when dinner time rolled around. The freezer held the real treasure: cookies and cream with a chocolate fudge swirl. She pulled herself away for now. It was only fair to wait for Rumble to get home before starting the indulgence.
Flitter headed back to the living room to sit and think. Ice cream, then he’d probably curl up next to her and ask for help with homework. He was a decent card player, too. A boring night, perhaps, but at least it was something.
Hooves scraped the welcome mat outside, and she craned her neck to look over the couch, smile at the ready as Rumble opened the door. “Hey, kiddo. We’ve got some time before dinner, so do you want—”
“Homework, yeah, I’ve got ten math problems and some reading.” He bolted for the stairs.
Flitter let her words trail off on a soft note, blinking after him. A question came to her lips far too late to do any good. Something must have happened. No kid ever ran to get their homework done that quickly.
He didn’t sound too upset, though. No cracks in his voice. But she didn’t get much of a look at his face, either. Maybe he just had plans after all. Something to look forward to. No kid ever ran to get their homework done, and no kid wanted her poking into their business.
Shrugging, she opened her book and began to read. Just a little homework, he had said. He’d come back down soon enough. If not, she’d go ask.
Paragraphs turned to pages, pages to chapters, and the chapters brought growing shadows along the carpet. Flitter kept adjusting herself to catch the light. She was practically upside down now, head dangling over the edge of the cushions and hind legs hooked over the back, book angled just so in her hooves. And then someone coughed.
Flitter dropped the book—smacking into her face before tumbling to the floor—and she sputtered as she pulled herself up. Blinking to adjust her eyes to the darkness, she thought she made out Rumble. “Oh shoot, it’s this late already? Finished with your homework?”
“Y-yeah. I was just wondering about dinner.”
“Sure, sure, just give me some time to warm it up.” She made her way to a lamp and switched it on. “Sorry about that, kiddo. I got completely lost.”
Rumble just smiled up at her—shrugging his shoulders, twitching his head ever so slightly.
The movement drew her eye to a black strip of cloth tied around his neck, the bow knot resting an inch off-center of his throat. “What... is that?”
“It’s about dinner.” He finally swatted the knot into place, then cocked his head back, chest puffed out. “Would you like to go out instead?”
Her jaw fell slack. She closed her eyes, slapped a hoof over her mouth to try and hide the beaming smile that soon followed, but couldn’t do anything about the giggles shaking her body. How long had he been planning this? Where did he find a bowtie? How did he even know how to tie it? How old had Thunderlane been when he’d learned how to tie one? She almost sighed, but kept it back. He just looked so young, but trying to be like his older brother.
She saw herself for a moment, just a flicker of subliminal thought, dressed in one of her big sister’s older dresses, looking up at one of the colts in the school’s older classes as he laughed at her. She hadn’t even held her smile. Not like him, holding his firm during her outburst.
“Sure.”
Not for the first time that night, Rumble wished he had been born a unicorn instead. It would have made living in Cloudsdale when his parents were in town awkward, but he would have had more than hooves and teeth to try and tie the stupid knot around his neck. It slipped out of place every single time he looked up at Flitter on their way to the Hayburger.
She hadn’t said a word the entire walk. But she hadn’t stopped smiling yet either, so Rumble guessed everything was okay. Maybe for the best actually, saving the talking for when they sat down.
Rumble trotted ahead to open the door for her first, and his tie suddenly felt very tight when she held his eye a second longer after nodding her thanks. He took a breath, adjusted the knot again, and slipped through the door after her.
Flitter picked out a corner booth for them, and a waitress came to take their order. “Just the hayburger combo for me, please. With water.”
He sat down and glanced over the menu. “Soda and a double burger. Onion rings on the side.”
Flitter chuckled. “Onion rings? Tonight you want onion rings?”
Rumble furrowed his brow. “What do you mean? It’s just onion rings.”
“Yeah, and onion stays on your—” She waved the thought away. “Forget it. Just enjoy it while you can.”
They fell silent after that. Again. Rumble’s hoof fidgeted under the table. He wondered how long he could stare at her before it got weird, but he couldn’t think of anything to say. Whatever that point was, they must have crossed it, because Flitter dropped her eyes to scrape some dirt off her hooves.
Rumble blew out an exasperated sigh and turned away. The ‘Burger was crowded that night. He saw a few of his classmates—Featherweight eating with his brother, Archer sitting with a colt he didn’t know. Some families were also there, mares and stallions with their foals. Over it all, what really grabbed him was the noise.
Noise. Noise. Talking, laughing, voices young and old, boys and girls. And none of it was theirs yet.
Was he supposed to talk first? Or was it ladies first again? It was never this quiet when the four of them would all go out together. Maybe he should ask about the weather team. She always had a story or two to tell whenever Thunderlane was around.
Flitter sighed and looked up. “So what do kids talk about on dates these days?”
His mouth went dry. There it was, a chance to talk staring him right in the face, but he had no answer. He had to say something. “Stuff, I guess.” A chill went down his spine as she raised a curious eyebrow. She couldn’t know this was his first. He rushed out, “What do grown-ups talk about?”
She laughed to herself. “Stuff. I guess.” She leaned back, running her hooves through her mane. “Usually... it starts with some compliments. Some flirting, then getting to know each other more until we say, ‘Hey, this was a good time.’ That’s a cute bowtie, by the way.”
“Thanks.” Rumble straightened it. “I’m not sure I tied it right, though. Stupid thing keeps screwing up.”
Flitter just stared at him for a moment with a slight tilt of her head. She batted her eyelashes.
“Oh! Um... I like your bow, too. It makes your hair look nice.”
That brought a smile to her face. “It was very dashing of you to hold the door for me earlier.”
His cheeks flushed under her smile. It was one thing to see that smile by the door, outside in the setting sun. Now they were under the lights, and he had no doubt she could see the color creeping into his face. But he couldn’t help it. The light worked both ways, and her face shone in it. “You... you have really pretty eyes.”
She blinked a few times, and the dazzling grin on her face gave way to an open-mouthed surprise. “Thank you,” she said softly. A hoof went back to fiddling with her mane. “I think we can check that off the list now. Which leaves getting to know each other better.”
The waitress brought out their food, and Rumble collected some thoughts while scooping up his burger. “We kinda already know that one, don’t we? You’re Flitter, Cloudchaser’s sister, and you work on the weather team with Thunderlane.”
“And feel free to get grounded again whenever you’d like. We could always use community service on the team.” She dipped a fry in some ketchup. “That’s also not quite what I meant. Have you heard from your parents recently?”
Rumble nodded, taking a drink through his straw. “We got a letter a few days ago. They’ll be done in Fillydelphia next week, so I’ll move back to Cloudsdale then.”
Flitter waited a heartbeat. “For how long?”
He tapped on the table. “A couple of weeks, I think. Then they’re off to San Franciscolt to pitch in on their weather team. So I’ll be back here with Thunderlane until that’s done.” He raised his other hoof. “Then it’s Cloudsdale for me for about a week. Manehattan is testing a new pump or something they need to see, which puts me back here.” He crossed his hooves and tilted his head back. “Then it’s... Mareis?”
Flitter reached across the table to him. “Our mom had to keep Cloudchaser out of school for a year to look after me when things got rough. Hang in there, kiddo. It’ll get better.”
“I’m okay. It’s just... I don’t know, you know?” He looked around the restaurant. “I mean, I like Ponyville. I do. I’ve got friends here, but I’ve got friends in Cloudsdale too.” He snorted, shaking his head. “Miss Cheerilee started teaching us about the Buffalo Wars today. Mr. Quill covered that weeks ago.”
“Easy A then, right?” She offered him a gentle smile. “What do you think they’re learning in Fillydelphia now? Two schools might be weird, but it’s better than dragging you to a new one every month.”
Rumble bowed his head. “Maybe.”
She squeezed his hooves. Tightly.
He tried to tug back, but she held him pinned to the tabletop. Rumble looked up, curious, and her free hoof swiped one of his onion rings. “Are you kidding me?” He laughed as he ripped away from her and shot out to snatch one of her fries, only to be blocked by her wing.
“If you don’t like it, get bigger.” She tossed his ring into her mouth and chewed away with a triumphant smirk. “At least one day, get bigger. You know you’re always welcome down here until then, right?”
He took a long, slow sip of his soda. “Thanks.”
Flitter took a bite of her burger, looking thoughtful for a moment. “Well, thank you too. I wasn’t expecting much tonight when Thunderlane and Cloudchaser asked me to look after you, but this was a better idea than staying home all night.” She slipped him a wink. “You know how to show a girl a good time.”
Rumble grinned, chuckling nervously. “Does that make this a real date?”
She froze, and nearly spit out her food, laughing. “I guess it does! That’s everything on the list.” She waved to the room. “So tell me about all the kids here. Who’s with who? Give me the gossip!”
Back in her place on the couch, Flitter couldn’t help but smile at what her evening had turned into.
Rumble had proven to be a cute date in his own flustery way, well-mannered all the same, and now he sat nestled under a leg with her. He had curled up with her before, but now with a short stack of comic books replacing the math problems, she enjoyed his company a bit more. And they still had that ice cream to dig into.
Force of habit being what it was, Flitter stole a glance over his shoulder at the comic he was reading. A mare—bound and gagged—dangled helplessly over a vat of bubbling acid, the rest of the panel taken up by a speech bubble she couldn’t make out. She rolled her eyes, but in spite of herself, she couldn’t help but feel a little relieved. Just a colt enjoying boyish fantasies of the world.
It was good to see some kind of normalcy with him. It was an odd life he had, but she had enjoyed hearing him talk about his classmates at the Hayburger. He knew a lot of them, and as long as Ponyville could feel like a home to him, she was happy.
She wondered if he had thought to ask out a filly from class who might not have had a date that night. He might have enjoyed himself more with someone his own age rather than rushing home to get his homework done. It would have been a good experience for him, putting himself out there.
Didn’t she give her first kiss on a Hearts and Hooves Day? It was with Caramel, she recalled, after a rousing game of tag after school. She had leaned over and pecked his rather dirty cheek at Sugarcube Corner. Flitter always fancied that moment as Caramel’s first, too. At least that’s what his sudden refusal to meet her eyes until his smile and blush died down had told her. And all of that had just been over his buying her an ice cream cone.
Rumble’s cheek was right there.
He turned the page of his comic, and the helpless mare still just dangled over the acid. Such a selfless thing Rumble had done, saving her from a dull night of dangling loneliness on the couch with his idea for a date. A date she had to pay for, but the thoughtfulness mattered to her.
She felt a sudden kinship with Caramel, averting her eyes so the giggles bubbling in her throat wouldn’t betray her snooping to Rumble. So childish. A conquering hero he was not.
Oh, it was just one little peck on the cheek. If she had just done it, it all would have been over by now. Rumble would have blushed, she would have giggled at that, maybe winked, and she would have thanked him for a nice evening. But it would have made more sense after dinner, not after they’ve spent an hour reading together. The moment was gone.
Rumble was waiting for her when she looked back, silent confusion in his eyebrows.
She just smiled and shook her head, focusing back on her book. Until he turned around, at least.
Two seconds. He went out of his way to give her a special night. A lot more than one ice cream cone. Two seconds, and she could return the favor.
Flitter leaned down, lips pursed.
Rumble looked up, mouth open.
Their eyes met, mere inches apart, each set growing wide, and Flitter swallowed the breath of his question.
Heat. All that she knew was heat. Heat on her face, heat in her mouth, heat flowing down her throat, heat on her lips. Nothing but heat, and yet she was frozen, staring into eyes that just wanted to know what was going on.
And over it all, the spice of onion rings.
She snapped away, head up, eyes straight ahead. Nothing happened—no movement, no sound. He had to go. She needed him to go before she could explain what happened to him.
He didn’t move.
Her leg. Her leg still held him. But she was in control. He had to know she was in control. Inch by inch, she slid her leg away from his body. There was no problem. There was no panic. Slow and steady.
Rumble did not move.
She kept her eyes straight ahead. Straight ahead. Nowhere to go but straight ahead. No escape from what happened, but she was in control. She found her voice at last, slow and steady. “Go to your room.”
Rumble crept down. He walked away, tail dragging on the floor.
She sat, silent, and waited as his hooves climbed the stairs one by one. Still, she waited. Finally, the sound of the latch on Rumble’s door clicking into place echoed through the empty house.
Flitter cursed, the word quickly devolving into an exasperated groan as her head fell back to drape over the the couch’s edge, and as her breath carried out, it turned to a pained moan as if her hooves tearing at her face could rip away the memory. But nothing could.
She resorted to banging on her temples. “No! No! No!” She cursed again, doubling over to hide her face, but the grinding of her hooves continued. “They’re gonna kill me! What did I— no! No!”
She had to do something. It had to be her. He was just a kid, a kid who didn’t know any better. “Okay.”. She wiped her face, smoothed her mane. “Okay. Okay.”
There was no running from this. She had crossed a line. Flitter stood up on wobbling legs and took a breath. She crossed the line, so she had to explain things to him. It had to be her.
“I can fix this,” she said, walking around the room. She bounced from wall to wall, around the couch, skirting the coffee table this way then that. “I can fix this.” She tried to rationalize it all. Points and counterpoints and more points, she was just trying to thank him, and it was his fault that he turned... no, no, it was her fault. She had to be the responsible one.
The responsible one.
She stopped in her tracks. A hoof to her lips, the ghostly taste of onion still there, and another groan sent her doubling over, head on the floor. “How do I fix this?”
Rumble staggered into his room. He paused, keeping his ears perked to hear if Flitter called out to him, but he eventually pushed his door closed, the latch clicking heavily into place.
That happened. He had just wanted to know what was so funny, with her body shaking against him like that, and she just kissed him.
His mouth was dry, it hung open so long. Slowly, reluctantly, he started to lick his lips, only to feel a twinge of disappointment when there was nothing there to discover. Rumble hadn’t exactly tasted a mare before, and what happened on the couch came and went so suddenly he couldn’t believe what was happening. She was just gone, the warmth of her replaced with wet, slimy spit.
The moment, too, was gone. And he had just sat there like a lump, and now he had no sensation to remember it by. Almost like she had never been on the other end of his lips. Almost like it had never happened.
Still, she had kissed him. No doubt about it.
Rumble flapped his wings to keep himself balanced while he punched his forehooves back and forth. ”Yes!”
The force was too much, his head too light. He was forced to settle on all fours again, heart pounding, jaw slack once more. He just couldn’t believe it. That whole week he spent—borrowing the tie from his father, Archer shooting him down, Scootaloo rushing past him to meet up with her friends, all the teasing from Diamond Tiara after he asked Silver Spoon out—and not only did he get a date with a full-grown mare, she even kissed him.
He threw himself onto his bed with a huge grin. Tomorrow was going to be a good day. Maybe, maybe some of the other guys got a kiss too. He hoped Featherweight at least saw them together at the Hayburger, so they’d believe that part. But no one was going to believe him when he told them he kissed a mare like Flitter.
Full on the lips, just like Thunderlane and Cloudchaser.
Were they like Thunderlane and Cloudchaser now? He never thought that was possible before. Maybe he could stay.
His breath caught in his throat. Maybe he could stay in Ponyville all the time. Thunderlane trusted Flitter enough to let her watch him. She had met his parents before, too. Maybe... if he wanted to, maybe he could stay in Ponyville.
There was a bang on his door, and Flitter let herself in. “We need to talk.”
Rumble jerked upright. Was she going to do it again? He swung his hind legs over the edge of his bed to clear a space for her, kicking back and forth, waiting for Flitter to join him. She always did when she helped him with homework.
But she hesitated now, sitting on the floor and rubbing her forelegs together. Rubbed, and rubbed, and rubbed some more.
He frowned. “Are you okay?”
One ha escaped her, and she shook her head. “I should be asking you that.”
He didn’t know how to answer that, so he stayed quiet.
The silence seemed to embolden her, and Flitter finally looked at him. He recognized the look on her face: tight-lipped, eyes too focused, she looked like his mother detailing every trip away from him. “What happened down there,” she said in the same, familiar, rehearsed tone, “shouldn’t have happened. I screwed up. It won’t ever happen again.”
Rumble had no way to describe the feeling that crept over him. It was like something had broken. Everything he had been thinking about snuffed out before he had a chance to give a voice to it, but it was more than that. Thoughts of the future gone, but he couldn’t go back. He couldn’t go back. How was it possible?
Flitter continued, “I know you’re confused right now, but that’s my fault too. I shouldn’t have taken advantage of you like that.”
“But you—” His voice cracked, and Rumble blinked, shaking his head. “You kissed me. You were kissing me before I turned. What do you mean you took advantage? You were already doing it.”
She gave him a rueful smile. “And I shouldn’t have. That’s what I’m saying.”
“But you were!”
“And I’ll never do it again.”
Rumble pushed himself off the bed and onto his feet. “Why? You didn’t do anything wrong. I won’t tell anyone if that’s the problem. Can’t we do it again? We had a real date, didn’t we? You said so!”
Flitter winced, and her wings slapped to her face. “I’ve ruined you for life...”
He reached out to her, but held back from her feathers. “Wh-what did I do wrong? Didn’t we have a good time? I thought that’s what tonight was for. We were both alone.”
She didn’t answer him, or even move beyond shaking her head.
His ears fell. “I like you. Don’t you like me too? Don’t Thunderlane and Cloudchaser like each other? Why can’t we do what they do?”
Flitter lifted her eyes and studied him with a curious look. She peeled her wings away from her mouth. “And what do they do?”
Rumble stammered.
She challenged him again, “What do they do?”
“They date! They kiss. Like we did. They just do it more often.”
Flitter held his eye. “You don’t even know.”
His face burned. “So?”
“So I do.”
“Teach me.”
“No.”
He staggered back from the fire in her tone, the finality of the word.
“No,” she said again, shaking her head and taking a step forward. “Absolutely not.” She put a hoof on his shoulder. “You’re a good kid, Rumble, and it was very sweet of you to think about me tonight. But I went too far. Accident or not, I screwed up. Some things are better for you to learn about at your own pace, and I took that away from you. Don’t make my mistake yours.”
She left him then. Walked out with a mention of ice cream downstairs if he wanted to talk more, but Rumble didn’t follow. He just sat down to lean against his bed, head bowed as if he could see the line that had been crossed, but the floor held no answers for him. Flitter had never snapped at him like that before. But... she’d never really apologized for something like that before, either.
Rumble turned and pulled himself onto the sheets. He flopped over, staring at the ceiling, and sighed. Tomorrow wasn’t looking so good anymore. He couldn’t tell anyone what happened, not when Flitter was that upset about it. But what could he do about it?
Nothing. That’s what she said. She didn’t even tell him what he did wrong in the first place.
But he was supposed to figure it out on his own.
He rolled over and buried his head under the pillow with a long groan. Thank Celestia this day only came once a year.
