Together We Fly

I can't remember how long it took me to get home. All I remember is seeing the look on Rumble's face and running home without a second glance. I remember hearing him say something but couldn't make out what he had said. Then I remember being home, crying too hard to even acknowledge my parents. Then, finally, I remember running into my room and slamming the door, crying harder than I ever had before.

It must have been at least half an hour before I heard a gentle knock on my door. My tears had dried up long ago and left me with dry, heaving sobs. I managed to get out two words between sobs.

"Come in." I called quietly to whoever was at the door, hearing my voice crack as I started crying again. It was my mother. I'm glad it was her and not my dad, he would have just told me to pony up and deal with it. If he was here...

"Sweetie, is something wrong?" She asked. I thought about replying with sarcasm but decided not to. She was the only one who decided to attempt and comfort me after all. Through my tears, I could only manage a small nod. My mother sat down slowly on the edge of my bed before continuing. "Would you mind telling me about it?" I shook my head 'no' as I slowly composed and prepared to tell my melancholic tale. I took one last shuddering breath before beginning.

"The day started off as it usually does. I went to the top of one of the hills outside Ponyville and stared at the clouds. I wish I could fly, Mom!" My mother nodded her head and gestured for me to continue. "Well, after about an hour of staring at the clouds, Rumble flew over to me. He took me flying like any pegasi would do for a Grounded like me. I wish they'd find a cure for this already!" Once again, my mother nodded her head as I continued. "Then when we landed, I... I-I kissed him! He looked as if he had witnessed a murder! I was scared, Mom! I was scared of being embarrassed. Then, when I ran home, he called out something to me, but I... I ignored him. I was just so scared!" As I finished my story, my tears began flowing freely again. My mother's face bore a look of pure, honest sensitivity.

"Oh, Sweetie. I completely understand. You know, I went through something almost exactly like this when I was your age. I had a huge crush on this one colt in class, but when I confessed my feelings for him, he just flat out rejected me. I was heartbroken for a month. But then I met your father, and things began looking up. Now every time I look back on it, I realize that if the first colt hadn't rejected me, I would never have met your father and we never would have had you." My mom's prophetic words were as soothing as they were confusing.

I managed to get a hold of myself and stop crying. 'Bawling like a baby won't fix anything.' I thought to myself as I sat up on my haunches and gave my mother a big hug. "Thanks Mom."

-----SWITCHING POINT OF VIEW-----

I watched, still shocked as Scootaloo ran away from where we had landed after our flight. I couldn't help but wonder if it was something I said. I pushed the guilty thoughts out of my head as I flew off in the direction Scootaloo had run off in. It took me a couple minutes to fly into Ponyville. Of course, I was flying pretty slowly. 'It wouldn't be polite to just ignore a mare's (or filly's, in this case) problems. I believe I'm doing the right thing by going to apologize. I wonder how she'll react though?'

I landed in Ponyville Square and trotted off towards the part of town I decided to search first. 'I need to find Scootaloo!' I thought to myself as I started knocking on doors and asking the ponies that answered if they had seen a distraught orange pegasus filly with a magenta mane and tail and sparkling amethyst eyes. Sadly, none of them had. Within a couple hours, my search of that half of Ponyville was complete and there was no sign of Scootaloo. 'Had I imagined it all? Could this all just be a dream? No, it couldn't be. That kiss felt too real...' I thought to myself as I galloped to the other side of town. It was blind luck that the first doorstep I stumbled upon happened to be Scootaloo's.

I knocked on the door gently and waited for somepony to answer the door. I didn't have to wait long. A mare, who I could only assume was Scootaloo's mother, opened the door. We were both silent for a few seconds before I broke it.

"Good evening, ma'am. I'm looking for Scootaloo. Do you know where she is?" I asked politely. The mare gave me a look that said 'Oh, it's you.' By Celestia, if looks could kill! There were another few moments of silence as she thought about what I'd said.

"I don't see any harm in telling you. You seem like a nice enough colt. She's up in her room and very depressed about what you did to her fragile heart." She replied finally with little emotion in her voice. She saw the question forming on my lips and answered it before I could ask it. "I suppose you may come in and see her, if you must." She said with a small sigh. I nodded my thanks and stepped through the open doorway. "Her room is the first one on the left. Watch yourself in there. If you cause my daughter any more pain, I'll make sure you can't walk for a month." Again, if looks could kill.

I trotted down the hall in front of me and stopped in front of the room I was directed to. I wondered whether or not I should knock, before I remembered that knocking was the more polite thing to do and that I was trying to be as polite as possible. I knocked gently on the door three times. I opened the door at a muffled, 'Come in,' from the other side.

-----SWITCHING POINT OF VIEW-----

Rumble walked into the room slowly, obviously hesitant at first, but becoming bolder as he saw the state of disorder he had caused me to fall into. I immediately saw his features soften in kindness, his muscles relax as he trotted to my side at a leisurely pace. He didn't climb onto the bed with me, but he lied down on the floor next to my bed. I was silent as I waited for him to say something, to do anything but stare blankly at the floor. Finally, after what seemed like ages, he slowly looked up at me, his face set in a grim seriousness that warned me not to laugh at what he was about to say.

"Scootaloo, are you alright? I didn't mean to hurt your feelings. If it was something I did, I'm really sorry." He paused looking at the floor again in order to gather his thoughts. "When you kissed me, did you mean it or was it just a... a sudden impulse?" He looked at me expectantly. It took a few seconds for me to realize I'd been asked a question.

"Y-Yeah. I'm alright. As for the kiss, I'm not really sure what happened. I-I wasn't upset about something you said, though." I spoke quietly, Rumble had to lean farther upward to hear what my response was. When I was done talking, he heaved a huge sigh of relief.

"Oh, I thought it was something I did. Not that I wish it were! I'm just glad not to have that raincloud following me around anymore. Seriously, I don't know if Rainbow Dash herself could have handled that one!" Rumble spoke clearly, obviously trying to lighten the mood. Just after he finished speaking, a rainbow colored trail followed a pegasus with the same colored mane and tail as she barreled into Rumble, tackling him to the ground.

"What did you say about me?" Rainbow Dash growled in his face. Rumble clung easily to his lighthearted mood.

"Speak of the devil." He replied with a smile. I couldn't contain it anymore. I broke out laughing and both the other Pegasi in the room looked at me and smiled. Well, Rumble did. Rainbow Dash looked utterly confused. Her face was priceless! I laughed even harder, falling onto my side and rolling on the bed. I rolled so much that I fell off the bed. I could feel myself falling, my bed is raised higher off the ground than the others. It all started when I was young and my now-late older sister was telling me that a monster lived under my bed. So I asked my Mom and Dad to raise it for me, to prove that I wasn't scared of anything. Anyways, I was getting off topic. I could tell that when I hit the ground it was going to hurt. But then Rumble jumped up and flew as fast as he could to my bed to catch me just before I hit the ground.

All we could do for a while was stare at each other. Then Rainbow Dash cleared her throat noisily and Rumble let me down. We were both embarrassed. Then Rumble looks at me again, his deep amethyst eyes an almost perfect mirror image of my own.

"Are you okay, Scootaloo?" He asked uncertainly. I nodded slowly but without hesitation. We scuffed at the ground, not quite sure what to do next. Then Rainbow spoke up again.

"Okay, then. I gotta get going, so I'll let you two lovebirds be." As she spoke she lifted off and flew slowly towards the window. It took a moment for us to realize what she had said. Rumble jumped up and started after her.

"Wait, what did-"

"Later!" Rainbow cut him off and zipped away before Rumble could react.

"Come back here, Rainbow!" Rumble called after her as she disappeared around a corner. Rumble gave up and walked back over to me slowly. Now that we were both at the same height, I could see into his eyes, his deep soulful eyes. His eyes burned with a passion I've never seen in anyone, save my parents and... and... her. My older sister, older by four days, mind you. Tornado Bolt. She was a pegasus like myself, but she got thrown out of the tornado (Ironic, isn't it?) that the Ponyville pegasi used to funnel the water from the reservoir and up to Cloudsdale. Tornado Bolt was thrown into the Everfree Forest and we never heard from her again.

But enough tears had already been shed over my sister, and crying wasn't going to bring her back. So I promised myself that I would stay strong for everypony I cared for. Rumble noticed my forlorn expression. I completely forgot about him, I was still lost in thought. I didn't notice he had walked over to stand next to me until he gave me a gentle, yet strong and comforting hug. I chuckled a bit before turning to face him once more.

Once more, I was face to face with his eyes. Those wonderful, soulful pools of amethyst. His eyes held a look of genuine compassion and concern at the same time. I wish now that I could've mustered the necessary strength to tell him the story of my sister, but those eyes were so entrancing. I only managed to pull three words from my head, although they were heartfelt and sincere.

"Thank you, Rumble."