//------------------------------// // Chapter 37; "Thanks," // Story: "Just Kiss Already!" And Other Rumbaloo Tales // by Candy-Sweets_12 //------------------------------// "Okay, so what did you want me here for?" Scootaloo asked. Opening the door and walking inside. "I was actually just hoping to talk to you a bit." "But why would you want us to do that in your room?" "I was also hoping we'd get to maybe cuddle for a bit." Rumble said. Scootaloo gave him a look as though she was considering the offer. She then smirked and shut the door behind her. "Spill it Romeo." she said, sitting on the bed next to him. Rumble grinned as well and lay on his pillows, pulling Scootaloo down to lay next to him, wrapping a wing around her and she put her head to his chest. "I actually wanted to talk to you about flying." "We do that all of the time, Rumble." Scootaloo said. "I mean, how you started flying." Rumble said. Scootaloo looked to Rumble in a bit of disbelief, not sure if he was actually talking about what she thought he meant. "You mean how I first learned how to fly?" she asked. "More like what motivated you to fly." Rumble said. Scootaloo paused, not sure if she felt comfortable telling him at the time. She started hugging her arms to her chest and took her head off of Rumble's. "That's a bit of a long story." she said. Looking away from his gaze, and lowering her voice. "You can tell me, I really want to know." Rumble said. "Well. It's not the happiest story." Scootaloo said. "You don't have to if you're not comfortable with it." "No, you needed to know sometime. What better time than now?" she said. She shut her eyes and drew in a deep breath. "When you learned to fly at first, did you have any trouble?" she asked. "Not that much." Rumble admitted. "After several tries, I was able to get myself off of the ground." "If someone told you, that, you might not have been able to, would you believe them?" Rumble was taken back. "Well...I'd deny it at first." "If you were told, that you may never fly the same way as other ponies, would you believe them?" "Um...no." Rumble admitted. "If you were told, that, you could never fly at all, would you believe them then?" Scootaloo asked. "No." Rumble said quietly. "Not right away." "That was my answer. No. I didn't believe it. I never wanted to. I always tried my hardest to try and fly. But at the time, it just wasn't working. I was a 'late bloomer', as some ponies call it. My wings just weren't big enough at the time. But that didn't stop me from trying, and practicing, and working through it until I was able to get in the air." "But there were many times when I felt like just giving up entirely. It often took the support of Rainbow Dash and other ponies to help me overcome that. But I never did give up." "That takes some determination." Rumble said. "Yeah. I had to stay determined. Otherwise, I would've just thrown in the towel right then and there. But, it wasn't always that way." "It wasn't?" Rumble asked, shocked. "No, we've all got to learn something from someone. And I learned from my Dad." "You're Dad taught you to be determined?" Rumble asked. "Yup." Scootaloo said, throwing on a smile. "Guess I shouldn't be so surprised." Rumble replied. "We were at the doctor's, they said that I may not be able to fly." Scootaloo felt boiling tears invade her vision, blurring the doctor in front of her, who had a sad and sorry look on his face as he put aside the x-rays and the clipboard. Scootaloo's mother looked to her, tears coming into her eyes herself as she looked to her daughter. Scootaloo, staring at the floor, choked back sobs. "Sc-" her mother began, reaching a comforting hoof towards her. But Scootaloo bolted. The tears boiled over, leaving red marks and puffy eyes on her face as they slid off of her face. She sprinted out the door, sliding across the floor as she ran down the hallway, dodging any ponies who were minding their own business. Ponies with looks of shock and concern on their faces as she ran past. But she didn't care. She just felt like doing one thing, running. She wanted to be as far from it as possible, as though distancing herself from the truth would make it all a lie. It had to be a nightmare. It just had to be. Any moment, Princess Luna could show up from one of the many doors in the hallway. "Scootaloo!" her father called out. Scootaloo ignored him and continued running at full speed. Turning at dangerous angles as she rounded the corners. Until she finally made it outside, where she ran and ran until she was as far from the hospital as her legs could carry her. Scootaloo panted, gasping for air through her sobs and burning lungs. She collapsed on the ground, right next to a tree and only continued sobbing. She didn't hear the muffled hoofsteps behind her, and became startled once she felt a hoof on her shoulder. She whipped around, hoping she wouldn't see any of her friends there. She was thankful to find her father there instead. He outstretched his arms, which she ran into. The stallion had a few tears in his eyes himself, and looked straight ahead, keeping a soldier expression on his face. And hugging his daughter tightly. He stroked his hoof through Scootaloo's mane and sighed. "It's going to be okay Scootaloo, I promise." he said. Scootaloo could only continue sobbing over her father's shoulder, dampening his coat. "No it won't!" she gasped. "I'll never be able to fly! I'll never be able to walk on clouds by myself or go to Cloudsdale." she said. Her father pulled Scootaloo off his shoulder, who took to wiping away any of the resurfacing tears on her face. "Don't cry, Scootaloo I don't want to see you cry." Scootaloo looked to her father's eyes, taken back by the tears in them. She'd never seen her father cry before. "The doctor said that you could never fly again. He never said you won't." "But he said that I had a small chance to fly like every other pegasus." she objected. Her father put on a look of understanding. He used his hoof to wipe away Scootaloo's slowing tears away. "It's a chance isn't it?" Scootaloo rubbed her eyes "Yeah, I guess." she said. "Scootaloo, you're never going to fly if you don't believe it yourself. You've got to be confident that you can do it. You've got to be determined to fly and fight with everything you've got." "But I tried in the past, and it still didn't work. What if...what if I never fly?" Scootaloo asked. "It won't change much. You're still you. Flying doesn't determine who you are. It's how you act that determines who you are. You never thought you'd find your cutiemark did you?" "No." Scootaloo admitted. "And now who's got the best cutiemark in town?" he replied. Scootaloo put a small smile on her face. "I do." "See? It's not impossible unless you say it is. You can't give up, Scootaloo. You can ask any Wonderbolt, and Princess, anyone who's living their dreams. They had to stay determined. Meaning, that whatever life threw their way, they had to make the best of it. So a little disability shouldn't stop you. Because flying's not impossible, if you put in the work." Scootaloo looked up to her Dad, wiping her face again before smiling up at him, dry eyed. "Thanks Daddy." she said. She went into his arms again and squeezed him. He smiled hugged her back, stroking through her hair again. Rumble stared down at Scootaloo. "You didn't stop, did you?" "Not until I was able to get myself off of the ground. My Dad and Rainbow helped me too." Scootaloo said. "If it wasn't for those words, I wouldn't be here, and my life would've been completely different." "Wow." Rumble said. "Okay, enough with the sentimental stuff. I think it's time you told me something." "Okay, like what?" Rumble asked. "Well, what was it like when you first met Blossom?" "Oh, well, Thunderlane knew Blossom ever since he caught the feather flu from her." "Well that's something I didn't expect." Scootaloo said. "She came over to our house and made some soup for Thunderlane. Saying how sorry she was for spreading it to him. That's probably the time I met her officially. She talked with both Thunderlane and I as though we saw each other every day. Of course they became good friends for the longest time. But they eventually started dating. Now here we are." "Well that was a disappointment." "I guess my life's just not that interesting." Rumble shrugged. Scootaloo grinned once an idea came to mind. "Then I'm going to make it interesting. 'You got to make life interesting, or else life's going to make it interesting for you.' Scootaloo quoted. "Where'd you get that from?" "Would you believe me if I told you that Daring Do said it herself?" "You read Daring Do?" Rumble asked. "Of course I do. Rainbow Dash introduced it to me." Scootaloo said boldly. "Even got me to meet the author of the books." "Well, I guess that I was wrong." "What do you mean?" "I mean that you make my life interesting. You basically turn my world upside down all of the time." "I'm just going to take that as a compliment." Scootaloo said. Rumble laughed. "You know, I'm glad that I came today." Scootaloo said. "And why is that?" "You're bed's pretty comfortable." Scootaloo teased. "Oh, and it's nice to see you and all. And cuddle. " "Thanks, and love you too, Scoot."