Rumble was looking good, as always.

The grey pegasus colt admired himself for a moment. With no one else in the house, he had full access to the mirror in his parents’ bedroom and, given the importance of his task, he needed it.

“Okay, Rumble, you can do this.”

Rumble took a deep breath and steadied himself in front of the mirror. He patted his chest with a hoof and took some more deep breaths for good measure. His eyes wandered to the two-pony bed behind him, but he shook his head before any bad thoughts could surface. No need to get distracted now.

“Just go out there and ask her. That’s all you need to do.”

He did not go out, not yet. His head began pounding just at the thought of asking her again. He didn’t want to think about what might happen. He shook his head and went over his checklist one last time.

“Hooves: check.”

He looked at the bottom of his right front hoof, then his left. He was squeaky clean underneath, nothing to remark there. He checked his hind hooves next, same story. His mom would say they were ‘pristine’, even. He shoved that thought aside.

“Arms and legs: check.”

He gave his limbs the once-over with those pinkish eyes, noting with no small amount of glee that he was getting nice and toned already, though not bulky like a workhorse. He’d seen some of the heavier pegasus kids around in Canterlot, and whatever they did to get that buff, he didn’t think he had the guts to do himself. That is, not yet, at least.

“Chest: check.”

The boy jutted his chest forward proudly, gulping in the air to make it swell even more. He was flat and hard on his front, just as he had to be. All those push ups since his last failed attempt had paid off.

“Wings: check.”

He turned so he could see his wings in the mirror. Even with the small size of his flappers, he knew they were in perfect order. They were about as big as Scootaloo’s, even, maybe slightly larger, and judging by how fast she could go on her scooter, that must have meant her wings were powerful. And if hers were, his probably were, too. He’d wanted to ask his dad about that sometime, but he never got around to it. He forced himself not to dwell on it. Dad probably wouldn’t have been able to help, anyway.

“Hair: check.”

He ran a hoof through his mane one last time, just to make sure he looked okay. Dry, shiny, not too greasy, his mane was groomed to perfection.

“Okay, Rumble. You’re ready for it this time. You just have to walk up to her and ask. You’re not gonna fail like you did before. You can do this.” He nodded to himself, desperately reaching for whatever reserve courage he could muster.

Without further delay, Rumble turned and jumped out of the window, opening his wings to glide down gently onto the street, right where Tuber Lane blended into the normalcy of Ponyville. Every town in Equestria had a street like Tuber Lane, a place where the trees kept everything in a perpetual shade and where proper ponies never came. The place was haunted, some ponies claimed, and overgrown with poisonous plants. No pony ever wanted to get caught in the shade of Tuber Lane, which was just fine, since Rumble’s place was outside of the tree line.

The boy trotted along the main road on the edge of town to find the pony he was looking for, always keeping one eye on the sky just in case he caught her. If he knew her schedule well enough, and he did, she would be at the lake, and he’d ask her.

Just one simple question. He just had to ask one simple question.

It didn’t take him long to find her. His heart raced as he picked up the pace. Today would be the day. Today he’d ask.

“Okay, Scootaloo, you’re doing good. Just keep going back and forth; you gotta get those wings used to it.”

Rumble skidded to a halt. Up in the sky, at about the height of the trees around, was Rainbow Dash, with a flying Scootaloo. The filly had to flap her wings hard to stay up, but not as fast as her usual buzzing rhythm. Scootaloo was flapping her wings with a lot more force than speed, and actually staying up, to his surprise. She was doing figure eights over the water, an exercise Rumble knew was meant to strengthen her core muscles and maneuvering skills.

Rainbow Dash was so preoccupied with Scootaloo she didn’t even notice the colt until he reached the water’s edge. “Oh, hi, Rumble. What’s up?”

Rumble’s eyes darted from Rainbow Dash to Scootaloo, who stopped her exercise to flap in mid-air. He cleared his throat. “Umm, are you giving Scootaloo flying lessons?”

Scootaloo squeed and nodded. “Yup! I finally managed to fly a couple of days ago. Isn’t it great?”

Rumble felt a bead of nervous sweat roll down his neck. “Uh, yeah, that’s great, Scootaloo. Congratulations. Guess you don’t have to worry about that anymore now, huh?”

Rainbow Dash shook her head. “Nope. So what brings you here? You wanted a swim?”

The colt looked away and idly kicked the ground. “Not really, no. I was kind of, sort of, hoping to ask you for, you know…”

Rainbow Dash landed in front of him and chuckled. “You wanted another flying lesson from me, is that it?”

Rumble gulped. As much as he hated to admit it, he did need some pointers. But Rainbow Dash was the best pony to teach him, and she was the only pony who’d offered, so there he was. “Yes, Ma’am.”

“Well, I’m kind of in the middle of training Scootaloo right now. You two could fly together, if you like. I’m sure it’d be good for both of you.” Despite her best efforts, she couldn’t hide the look that Rumble knew and dreaded. It was the same look every mare in Ponyville had shot him at least once, the look that said “You’re so cute, and if you do this you’ll be even cuter. Please do this, cute stuff?”

He got that look a lot from ponies, and it usually wasn’t much fun for him.

Rumble’s heart sank, and suddenly his mom’s voice in his head started to sound a lot more menacing. “Umm, no, that’s okay. I don’t really need another lesson right now, and Scootaloo’s got more catching up to do anyway. I don’t wanna get in the way.” He was sincere with that, of course, because Rumble was a good boy, as everypony who knew him would attest to. Still, a hint of disappointment and embarrassment shone through his words.

Rainbow Dash shrugged. “Suit yourself. But between you and me,” Rainbow whispered as she leaned in, “you should probably just ask her sometime anyway. Trust me, you’ll both like it.”

Rumble blushed and backed away. “I’ll keep that in mind, Rainbow Dash. I think maybe I’ll just stick my normal schedule, make sure I’m ready, since, you know...”

“Hey, last time was different, I’m sure you’ve gotten better since then. You look a little more buff than before, too. I’m sure you’ll have plenty of girls to choose from for the Blue Moon Bloom, too, huh, big guy?” She gave him a playful nudge.

If his heart had sunk before, he could feel it turn to goop and drop down into his hooves then. The nudge felt like a blow to his chest. He couldn’t quite remember that one day, that one accursed holiday, feeling so utterly wrong.

Rainbow backed away once she realised she’d hit a sore spot. “Oh, sorry, I forgot-”

“I think I’d better go. See you around, Rainbow Dash. You too, Scootaloo!” He turned away from the pair just as Scootaloo came in for a landing.

“See you around, Rumble!”

He went from a walk to a steady trot to try and clear his head, but even so he heard the telltale sound of hooves dragging against dusty soil, the mark of a new flyer who hadn’t managed a proper landing yet. He heard Scootaloo sneeze and then another sound he couldn’t place.

It sounded like some kind of magic being cast, but none he’d ever heard of. It wasn’t a snap, or a crackle, or a pop. It sounded more like a rock being cast into water, with the sound of ripples following shortly behind. It only lasted a split second, though, and in that split second he turned just in time to hear a very clear splash of water.

Rainbow Dash stood there, sheepish grin on her face. It looked like she’d pushed Scootaloo into the water for some reason.

Rumble shook his head and resumed his trek towards Ponyville.

Rainbow sighed in relief once Rumble was out of earshot and out of sight. “Okay, he’s gone now.”

A black pony came out of the water, or at least something that looked like a black pony. It had the transparent wings of an insect, though more jagged around the edges than a dragonfly’s and without the little air pocket cells. Its pale purple mane looked less like it was made of hair and more like it was made of a form of webbing or silk, while its skin had an uncanny shine to it that looked more at home on a plastic figurine. Its forehead was adorned with a black horn that curved up into a sharp dagger-like point.

“Sorry, Rainbow Dash. It just slipped.” The thing spoke with two voices at the same time: one that belonged to Scootaloo, and one that sounded like Scootaloo’s aunt Vinyl.

“Yeah, I know. You sneezed, and you slipped.”

Scootaloo sighed and conjured her normal pony form back on. “Do you think Rumble noticed?”

Rainbow shook her head. “Nah, he probably thinks I just pranked you. Do you think you can stop that from happening next time you sneeze?”

The filly nodded. “I think so. I mean, I sneezed while I was on my scooter getting here, and that didn’t make me change. Maybe I just can’t let it sneak up on me.”

“Okay, so it’s only if you don’t see the dusty stuff coming. That’s not too much of a risk.” The mare breathed a sigh of relief.

Scootaloo let her head hang. Rainbow Dash lifted it back up with a hoof. “Look, kid, I know this is a big change, but just remember you’re still the same pony, alright? So keep your chin up. Even if you got turned into a changeling because of some mumbo jumbo in your blood, that doesn’t change who you’ve been. Besides, it let you fly now, didn’t it?”

Scootaloo perked up at that. “Yeah, that is a pretty big upside, I guess. As long as nopony finds out about it, I’ll be okay, right?”

“Of course you will. And don’t worry: nopony will know, not before you’re ready to let the world know. Me and my friends will make sure of that.”

Rumble lay on his parents’ bed, alone. He’d blown it.

It was just one question. One stupid question, and he’d blown it.

Why couldn’t he just take lessons with Scootaloo? Why did he have to say no? Rainbow Dash said it would be good for him, and she’d know.

That was wrong, though. He didn’t want to hang out with Scootaloo just because Rainbow Dash said so; that would be dumb. Scootaloo was a good athlete, he frequently caught himself staring at her as she did tricks on her scooter, racing through Ponyville like a real daredevil. Not that she’d ever noticed. No one ever noticed him.

He’d never talked to her, though, not really. What was stopping him?

He looked to the pillows on the bed. One for mom, one for dad.

That was the only thing that was stopping him, really. Was it a good enough reason, though? It couldn’t be. Other pegasus colts could talk to girls and hang out with them. Rainbow Dash knew Rumble better than anypony else did, except maybe Thunderlane. If Rainbow Dash said he should ask Scootaloo, then he should ask Scootaloo. It was just that simple.

But Thunderlane would tell him not to. He probably wasn’t too happy about Rumble asking Rainbow Dash in the first place.

So who would know better?

I’m gonna have to think this through.

Author's Notes:

Just setting the scene here, move along. Standard sequel stuff.